The settlement was big.
Really big.

The settlement that I quickly learned to be 'Big Top',
based on the large sign with the only two letters remaining on it being those exactly. Perhaps there was once a 'Circus' there as well.
As we came closer to Big Top, the sight grew larger, it's true size becoming more and more present.
There was a large strip of flat-land covered in faded asphalt, a huge parking lot of some kind that was once pitch black in coloration, now a cracked and overgrown patch of light grey rock.

The real eye catcher of the area was the enormous red and yellowing white tent, it's age revealed itself as we came closer. Patches of cloth painted sloppily to blend in with the rest of the tent were stitched here and there.
both were surrounded by a makeshift, yet sturdy looking scrap fence.
There was a few ponies arguing with a serious looking mare in a blue uniform at an entry point in the gate.
Two watch towers by the entrance was patrolled by two ponies in body armor with large, scary guns.
One looked at us as we came closer, I tried my hardest no to make eye contact.
I managed to sneak a peek inside however, there seemed to be a few makeshift houses, but other then that, I couldn't see much.
We stayed clear of the situation because it didn't look like it was going to end well.
I heard three bangs behind me and a few scream of pain answered my hypothesis.

I knew that it wasn't my business, and I knew that if I had involved myself, I might have met the same fate,
but something told me that the guns were not necessary.
Whatever the argument was about.
I don't think I'm going to like those ponies in blue.

As we continued to walk, I could see past the large focus point.
Behind the tent was a town,
a large one, but not quite as large as the parking lot.
The fence didn't protect it either.
Shops and houses were made out of booths and smaller tents, hinting that the area was possibly a small carnival or fair before the fallout.
The town was bustling with ponies walking and hurrying to and fro, no real destination in sight.

We made our way around and gathered into a group at the entrance of the town.
There was a makeshift sign that read 'Little Top'
Not very creative...

Trotter took a deep breath and smiled.
"Nothin' like the smell of a busy market in the mornin'."
Hundreds of conflicting aromas lashed at my nostrils, a bit over-whelming
Nothing like it indeed.
Trotter continued, now facing the three of us,
"How 'bout you three go an' see if you can find residence here,
I'll go sell what I've picked up, and Red.."
He paused for a second, looking at the griffon.
"What do you usually do?"

The griffon scoffed and walked off,
"I'll be by the job board, don't go out of eyesight dumbass."
See grumbled without looking back, disappearing into the crowd.

Trotter scoffed himself, looked over at us one last time, and then disappeared as well.
These two are very good at leaving you lost. Must be a gift.

We ourselves entered Little Top shortly after, the crowd wasn't as dense as it looked from the outside.
The market place was the only area that was difficult to move through,
which was great because we had to move through there to get to the large tent, which I assumed was where the pony running this place resided.

Of course, as usual for my luck, there's a line of ponies nearly the size of the 'A New Start' building.
Well that might have been a bit of an over-statement,
but judging by how the line hasn't budged in the last twenty minutes,
well,
your mind begins to overlook some details.

Suddenly in the corner of my eye, I saw a very familiar and very welcoming word flashing in bright and large, yellow letters
'Bar'
Well, the sign read 'The Jolly Bull Diner and Bar',
but it had booze, and that's what mattered right now.
At that moment, I had forgotten all about our original plan, and the fact that it was still morning...

I told Hush and Doll to save our place in line as I ran to grab a drink,
both were a bit unhappy with the fact that I got to wonder off, but were ok with it.

I walked out of the surprisingly well organized line and made my way to the structure I had set my target on.
I wonder, does this place have a police or law force?
I had seen a few buff looking ponies in blue uniforms 'escorting' some drunken looking ponies before.

The bar/diner was interesting looking, Multiple buildings and mobile homes were welded together to form one larger building,
similar to a few other of the larger structures in Little Top, but this one was much more, 'professional' looking.
The welds were neat and the different sections were put together smoothly, unlike the other similar structures that had haphazard welds and looked like they were being held together by a few screws, duct tape, and some gum.

I pushed open the metal door that once had glass windows, but had been smashed some time in the past,
a little bell rang as the door slid open with a little bit of resilience.
a few pairs of eyes watched me as I stepped into the diner, but slowly drifted back to what they were looking at before.

The interior of the Diner/Bar was remarkably nice, the walls had a faded peach wallpaper plastered on it, the floor has some relatively clean white tiles, the bar top and tables were polished nicely, and the decoration made the whole area feel very comforting.

I sat down next to another tough looking stallion in a blue uniform, he had a scratched golden star on the left of his chest, somehow it was still shiny despite it's condition. I was surprised to see that the pony had wings! A mysterious lightning shaped scar was where his cutie mark should have been. The pegasus looked at me for a second, but didn't really acknowledge my existence. He continued to consume the breakfast platter in front of him.
I decided not to pry into his business.

A slightly pudgy looking mare made her way over to me on the other side of the counter, leaning on the marble and making eye contact with me.
Now that I could see her closer, I could see her age.
It was weird, seeing somepony that was at an age you never knew existed.
I never knew that your body wrinkled and your hair became grey.
Of course, the mare wasn't that old, but she had a few strands of grey in her bun of maroon.
She had the same clothes as every other waitress/waiter serving there, but she seemed to have more authority.
"What can I get you darlin'?"
The mare said with a tired yet professional smile.

"I don't suppose you would have alcohol at this hour right?"
I asked with a bit of a yawn, trying to hide the fact that I was fascinated by her age.

The mare chuckled and stood up from the table, grabbed a small notepad out of a pocket in her apron and flipped through it.
"Well no, but I can get you a coffee and pour some whisky in it."
She said, making eye contact with me yet somehow still looking through her notepad.

Fuck it.
"Sure, thanks."
I said rubbing my eyes.

The mare made her way to a shelf right below the order window, it was filled with different types of beers and wines.
It took her a while to find an almost empty bottle of whiskey and placed it on the counter, and then beginning to prepare the coffee.
"You new to the Walk. Right boy?"
The mare said, her tired, purple eyes. Seeing my confused and curious glare, she continued.
"It's the way you carry yourself, I've seen many characters walk through that door, so trust me when I say you're less experienced than a brain-dead brahmin."

I didn't quite understand the metaphor but I still felt a bit insulted.
The conversation ended in silence for a minute or two before I brought up a different topic that I believed would be more helpful.
"What can you tell me about Little Top and Big Top?"
I asked, deciding that anything would be helpful knowledge at this point.

The machine behind the mare sounded, breaking the silence, the rattling of plates and other utensils came from the kitchen.
Placing the coffee on the table, the mare topped off the rest of the cup with whiskey and put in front of me like hurrying an almost over-filled cup over to a customer one-hoofed was a piece of cake.
Taking a sip from it, the coffee was hot, which was nice, but the whiskey really had a kick to it.
I wasn't sure if the whisky over-powered the coffee or the other way round.
"Well, I'll start with the mayor, or the 'ring leader', as we call him/her due tradition."
She leaned on the counter again.
"He and a small group of ponies run Big Top, Little Top, and The Lot"
I haven't even been to The Lot yet, perhaps it's the parking lot in front of Big Top?
"From what I can tell, Big Top is where all the merchants live, The Lot is where the ponies that are cast away from society live, and Little Top is where most visitors, shopkeepers, and where ponies like my husband and I live."

"What do you mean by ponies like my husband and I?"
I interrupted, quickly apologizing.

The mare gave her tired smile again,
"Well, my husband and I used to be personal merchants for the previous ring leader, but we got attacked by raiders,
my husband lost a good chunk of his skull while I on the other hand,"
She lifted one of her back legs, the entire lower forelimb was missing, leaving only her thigh,
a makeshift replacement was made out of a modified crutch.
"I lost both my back legs."
She lowered the 'limb' and continued.
"We spent the next few years in this horrible place, the raider utopia itself, Sparkle-World."
The mare finished with a hiss.

I whispered an apology despite not knowing what the place was like, but she instantly dismissed me with a grin and continued,
"Thank the two sisters that we got out."
"When we made it back to Big Top, the ringleader set us up with this nice place, we've been running it for a good few years."
She looked over at the stallion next to me.
"We have a pretty nice enforcement group here, if the ponies in the blue shirts can't handle a problem, we have plenty of bang stored in Big Top."
The pegasus must really be enjoying his breakfast because he didn't even raise his head a bit to realize that the topic was now relating him.

The mare looked up from the counter toward the door, her tired smile turned to an annoyed grimace.
I heard the bell above the door ring as the whole Diner went silent.
Almost every customer hurried out of the door,
well one tried to hurry,
but his lack of three legs slowed him down a bit.

"Well that's a warm welcome home."
said Red.

There was a moment of silence,
even the sounds of the kitchen stopped.

The pegasus clad in a blue shirt, who could have been mistaken to be dead up to this point,
stood up from his chair next to me.
He nodded to the mare, placed a few bottle caps on the table, and left.
On his way out, he patted Red on the back, silently her luck and for her survival.

Even the servers had fled to the kitchen.
The hole situation made me feel like I had a rock in my throat.

I sat there like an idiot in the middle of all of it, staring down at my drink.
It was starting to cool down, which was a bit annoying,
but at the moment, it didn't matter.
I was too busy worrying about my own safety.

The mare walked calmly around the counter, and in front of the griffon.
They stared at each other for a moment or two,
the silence was broken by the sudden slap Red received across the face.
I feel really out of place at the moment...
I just wanted a drink.

Red held a claw to the location on her face,
I couldn't see the mark the slap left because her feathers completely covered the area, but judging by force of the sound,
it must have hurt like a mother fucker.
She looked like she was in a daze, shocked, yet understanding.

The mare, the other hoof, held her arm in the same location for a few seconds,
a look of anger, and long awaited justice replaced her usual calm look.
Females in general are scary, but mares in the wasteland are terrifying.
The glare melted away into a very complex one, but one that looked like she wanted to use for years.
The mare lowered her hoof and embraced the griffon in a hug.
"Thank Celestia that you're ok..."
The mare said, a tear rolling down her eye.
"I missed you too, mom."
Red replied with a smile of her own, giving into the hug.
I feel really fucking out of place...

A minute went by, and the two finally let go of each other.
I tried my best to not exist.
"What happened? I thought that the raiders took you."
The mother asked, wiping a tear from her own eye.

"Yeah, after you and dad got out, I got my ass handed to me."
The griffon said, wincing as she placed her claw back onto the area of her face that was slapped.
"They sent a group of trouble makers and myself to The Hoof, a lot of ponies died..."

Judging by how Red's mother reacted to the mentioning of this 'Hoof', I could assume that it was not a very friendly place.
"Made it look like I was dead, and since then, I've been surviving the last few years being an independent mercenary."

Her mother didn't seem to like that either, but nodded her head.
"At least you made it back in one piece, You want anything to eat?"

I coughed by accident
Shit

"So I see that you've met baldy over there?"
The griffon asked the mare, who replied with a shrug and a
"Briefly, you know him?"
I really, really, really don't like fate.
I faced them, trying my hardest not to be awkward, but I think my chance had already been blown.

I made a half-hearted attempt to introduce myself,
"Hello, my name is Speak Easy, I've met your daughter a few minutes ago..."
I'm an idiot

The two stared at me for a while Red saved the microscopic amount of dignity I had left.
"This is one of the Stable dwellers my current client found, decided to take him and his friends here."
She then looked at me,
"Baldy, this is my mother, Desired Lane."
I wish she didn't call me that.

"Lane is just fine, Plytra's father should be in the kitchen."
The mare chirped, the mention of her birth name made the griffon look a bit embarrassed.
Plytra? I guess that must be Red..

Lane turned back to her daughter and spoke again.
"Why are you here anyway? Knowing you, you'd get whatever business you had to do in town before you visited us."

The griffon tapped her claws on the ground as she spoke,
"Well, I was just at the job board... I was wondering if the dweller wanted to come with."
The response made the mare scoff.
"Fine, I'll go tell your father you're in town."

Now looking back at me, she continued.
"You're gonna have to pay the tab some way anyhow."
That sentence kind of felt like I was just shot in the heart.
I was hoping to slip out without having to pay, especially since I had no money to my name, whatever the money used out here was.
She saw strait through me.

"You want me to fix a toilet?"
I asked the griffon as we were walking through the market.

"Yeah, the job's 50 caps, so I thought it would be a good idea to grab it."
The griffon said, she was holding a lighter to a cigarette she had just placed in her mouth.
"Problem is, I don't know a shit about plumbing. I took a gamble and guessed that you had more experience then I did."
She held the lit cigarette in her claws as she blew out a cloud of smoke with a grin.
"Happens that I made the right choice."
What's it like having luck? Is it nice I wouldn't know...
Red, or Plytra had a completely different way of speaking/acting when she was everywhere else but with one of her parents.
Interesting.

"What's in it for me?"
I asked, watching the ground ahead of me.

"50/50, You get 25, I get 25."
She answered, some burnt remains falling from the cigarette onto the ground.
I was a bit annoyed, how come I had to do all the work, yet she gets half of the profit.

"Can I at least get 3/4?"
I asked.
"No."
The griffon firmly responded.

"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"No"
"How about you shut the fuck up before I put my smoke out with your eyeball?"
The griffon finished.
"Honestly, what the hell do you think I am? A tomato seller?"

We walked in silence for a few minutes before she spoke up again,
"If you keep relatively quiet for the rest of this job, I'll buy you a hat. Your head is weird looking, and it's kinda distracting."
Thanks.

It took only a minute more till we reached our destination,
I would feel more accomplished about my first job outside of the Stable,
it it didn't involve fixing a centuries old, overused toilet in one of the most disgusting public bathrooms I have ever seen.
Then again, I've only seen three public bathrooms in my life, but this bathroom looked like it was still going through the days right after the blast.
The note specified the mare's bathroom, so I took a deep breath and made my way in.
The smell inside was very putrid and very unique, the term that one would use to describe it would usually follow, which happened to be my reaction to such a smell.
"It smells like fucking shit."
Now, I don't usually curse out loud, mainly because I don't get very angry often,
but looking back and seeing that the female griffon whom followed me inside had a gas mask on,
made me just a little bit 'pissy'.

I found the problem fairly quickly, one of the two somehow working toilets didn't flush.
Which was great because I couldn't figure out if this was a problem that could be fixed with a simple plunger, or if the drainage pipe was blocked.
The fact that the plumbing was a couple centuries old only added to the frustration as well.
I began using the plunger that was already by the toilet,
wondering why there was one in nearly every stall.

I don't understand why I'm even doing this? I haven't seen one pony come near this place and it look like nopony has in a while. Well, anypony after the bombs of course.
I kind of had a nicer picture of what the first thing I'd do to help somepony on the outside would be.
Feeding a poor pony.
Delivering an important message
Stopping a criminal
Hell, even saving a cat from a tree!
But nope, I'm back to pushing shit down a pipe with a plunger. Reality is a bitch.

I attempted to pass the time by starting a conversation with Plytra.
"Anyway, weren't you watching Trotter?"

The griffon was leaning on the stall door, bored.
"Yeah, but he decided to head to his room at Big Top and write a report on your Stable."
Her voice was s;lightly distorted by the gas mask that she wore.

That confused me, I stopped and looked back at her.
"Trotter doesn't strike me as the type that would write a book."

That made the griffon laugh for a second before continuing.
"You have a keen eye. He doesn't, but he works for some mare that hired him to collect information on spots that might interest scavengers."
She said, scratching the red feathers on he neck.
"I forget her name, but she said she'd pay me 2000 for the job. 500 for keeping Trotter alive, 1500 for bringing his findings back in one piece."

Huh, so this mystery mare values Trotter's life over his well being. I'll have to keep that in mind for when I meet her.

I continued to work for a few minutes in silence after that.
Even after using the plunger so many times, It wouldn't flush. I was getting quite annoyed with it.
I lifted the tank cover to inspect the flushing mechanism and found the reason.
The lever and chain were gnawed apart by some kind of animal.
You know what? I'm not going to question it, just going to fix it.
I found a spare one of the other broken toilets, it's bowl was smashed open and few dirty magazines were stuffed inside.
Not going to ask, just gonna fix the toilet.

The repair was easy, just had to replace the parts, plunger the bowl a few more times, and I was done.
Satisfied and relieved, I watched as the dirty water swirled into the unknown and more replace it.
How the toilet was still working, even after a few generations of not having been worked on, was a miracle.
The bubbles that came from the trap and the gargling sound were not usual however,
nor was the snake that shot out of the toilet and attempted to grab my throat.

It barely missed me with it's fangs luckily, but I wasn't sly enough to not get slapped in the face with its tail.
The snake landed just outside the stall, curling into a coil ready to attack once again.
I dashed out of the stall and was stopped by Plytra, who already had her tec-9 out and ready.
The large serpent watched us with angry eyes.

"May I ask what the fuck that is!?"
I screamed, my eyes not leaving the viper.

"It's an adult RadViper. Dangerous fuckers. Never seen one jump out of a toilet however, you must have pissed it off by flushing water on its head."
The griffon said, her gun didn't flinch off of the snakes head.
"We have to be careful. One bite and you die, no cure, lots of pain."

I looked at the creature's huge fangs dripping with venom, they were at least three times the length of the snake's head!
Well heads
There was a second head right behind the first one, it's fangs were just as long.
The scales were like razor blades and shifted as the snake swayed back and forth.
Tired of waiting, the viper's two heads hissed loudly, and its scales shook.
It pounced at us, but didn't get far, it was shot out of the air with five bullets from Plytra's gun and collapsed twitching on the ground.
I let out a breath of air that I had been holding for a while.
I almost died there.
I stared up at the rotting plaster ceiling of the bathroom and laughed.
You are a real asshole fate, a real fucking asshole.

I took a step toward the corpse but was quickly grabbed by Plytra.
"Don't get and closer, it may be dead, but it can still pounce and kill you. I watched it happen once myself."
She said in a serous tone, still watching the corpse.
"A stallion I knew was killed by a RadViper as he was trying to skin it. Poor bastard."

I stared at the corpse in horror, if Plytra hadn't told me that, or stopped me, I could have ended the same way.
God damn it fate!

We waited there for at least thirty minutes, until Plytra was certain it was safe to leave.
I watched as the griffon cut the head off of, skinned and bagged the remains of the RadViper before we left.
She put the snake's heads into a metal tube just to make sure everything was safe.

"Why did you have to do that? Skin the RadViper or whatever."
I asked, enjoying the fresh air once again.

"To sell it. RadViper venom sacks and skin can get you a couple caps, I'm not going to use the money I gained from the job to buy your hat."
The griffon said, taking her mask off. the remains of the snake were in a sack she had slung over her back.
I didn't know whether to feel grateful for her buying my hat, or insulted and annoyed.
Somewhat a combination of both perhaps?

I stopped in my tracks remembering something that I'm probably going to regret.
Shit! Hush and Doll!
"I need to go! Like now!"
I yelled at the griffon as I ran toward the huge tent,

"But what the fuck I'm I going to do about your hat?"
The griffon asked nopony as she watched Speak Easy disappear into the distance.

I haven't realized how much time had passed since I had left my friends on the line.
As one might guess, they weren't very happy with me,
even after I explained the situation I was just in.

'So let me get this strait.'
My brother signaled, with a judgmental and annoyed face.
'You went to get some coffee, you got caught up in some family matters, the griffon gave you a job, which you accepted without our consent. Then, as you were doing said job, you were attacked by a snake with two heads, which after killing it, you had to wait a half and hour to make sure it was dead and that you could then skin it?'
Hush showed off his strait-forward-ness once again by somehow transforming my rambling into a single yes/no question.

"Yes."
I said, hoping the both of them would be just a little bit less angry.

'Bullsh-'
The stallion quickly responded, but was cut off by Doll.
"Were you bitten?"
Doll didn't look at me as she asked that question, just stared at the scene in front of her.
This was what she usually did when she was angry, as I was told by Hush when they had just started dating.

"No, luckily. I was told by Ply-... Red that the snake's venom kills instantly. I did get waked in the face by it's tail."
I said to the uninterested mare, who didn't respond.

We waited in silence for the rest of the time we were on line.
By the time that I had returned, Hush and Doll had moved further up the line then I had expected, and it only took around twenty minutes before we reached the entrance of the large tent which made up a district of Big Top.

A stallion in a blue uniform was standing at the gate,
Unlike the other ponies in the blue uniforms, he was a lot scarier.
By scarier I mean he was at least twice the size of the other blue uniformed ponies, and so were his muscles.
He had an overpoweringly stern and focused face, and he starred at us with cold, red eyes.
If I had the choice, I would hire him as security as well, in a heartbeat.

"State yer names, occupation, previous destination, time ay stay an' business here."
Said the monster of a pony, his voice and tone could turn sand to glass.
He had a accent that he was trying to hide, foreign, and I couldn't quite put my hoof on what it was.

We looked at each other, and spoke up one by one,
"Speak Easy, mechanic, Stable 45, unknown, to speak with the 'Ring Leader'?"
The stallion raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and looked over to Doll.
"Joy Pill, trained surgeon and medical doctor, Stable 45, unknown, same."
Then Hush.
"Hushed Novelty, mechanic, Stable 45, unknown, same"
That made me raise an eyebrow. I haven't heard Hush's actual name in a while, let alone from himself.

The large stallion looked us over one last time looked us over one last time, and smiled.
He spoke up again in a kinder tone, but this time his accent slipped out, heavily.
"Ye frae th' sam stable? huvnae seen a crew ay dwellers in a guid while!"

I don't think any of us understood a word of what he said, so we just nodded our heads, smiling and trying not to laugh.
"Anyway, ye can go through, guid luck wi' whatever ye need tae dae."
I'm very confused.

He opened the large gate behind him and let us through.
It swung closed with a bang.

As we continued inside, I could hear the stallion behind us mumble about his accent, then repeat himself to whomever was behind us in line.
"State yer names, occupation, previous destination, time ay stay an' business here."

What a charming, yet terrifying stallion.

Perk Gained:
Absolutely Nothing- You have no new perks! Good for you!
+1 Wasted Anticipation