Metal Fyre, an orphan of Stable 113, shouldered his pack and checked his pipbuck. It was near time for him to leave. It was his time to leave the stable, as he turned 27 recently and at nearly the same time, two new foals were born to a young couple. As it was law within the stable, when a new foal is born, somepony has to leave the stable, and as he was an orphan, it was easy for him to volunteer, having nothing and nopony to hold him down, nothing and nopony to make him want to stay in Stable 113.
“Well, time to say goodbye to those who cared for me” he says, looking at the jacket, that he was found wrapped up in, when he was found at the door to the stable, it said S.T.A.L.K.E.R on the arm patches and had an odd Ankh symbol on it. He didn't know what either meant, only that, he was found wrapped in it.
He goes to the couple who had the foals and smiles as he hugs them both. Out of everypony in the stable, they were the only ones who truly cared for him, having given him clothes to wear, food to eat, toys to play with when he was younger, home education, and his pipbuck when he had turned ten.
“You be safe out there Metal” Crystal Heart, the mare who was like a big sister and guardian to him, says, hugging him tightly and wiping her tears away. He hugs her back and smiles at the mare's husband.
“Here Metal, take my sniper, I know it isn't much, but she's been faithful to me, and will be to you as well. She'll protect you and keep you from dying” Seris Night-Hunter, the stallion who was like his brother in law, gives him his rifle with a few clips of ammunition in it.
Metal smiles and shoulders the strap of the rifle onto his shoulder and hugs Seris “Thanks bro, you take good care of your beautiful wife and your two beautiful little ones” he says, leaning down, to gently hug the foals and to kiss their foreheads. “Uncle Metal will be back, I promise” he says, as the little filly latches onto his muzzle and looks up at him with big loving eyes.
He wipes his own tears away “I'm sorry little ones, but uncle needs to go now.” He looks at Crystal and Seris, “Crystal, you and Seris are the only 'family' I've ever had, but you two have your own foals now, a real family. You treat them well, treat them just as you and Seris treated me, they can have all my old clothes and toys, I am sure they will enjoy them” he says, hugging her again.
It was then, that the Stable Master trots in, she looks at him and sighs “It is time Metal Fyre, we will miss you, but you know the law” she says, giving him a few supplies and a couple of pistols and holster with ammunition on the belt. “Be safe” she says, as she leads him the way out to the stable door and lightly hugging him before he waves goodbye one last time to Crystal and Seris and trotting out of the stable.
Half an hour later, Stella returns with a tray that had two plates of fresh salad and a hayburgers. She knocks on the door to Metal's room “Guess whooo” she calls out in a sing song voice. Metal smiles and leans up a bit.
“Come in Stella, the door is still unlocked” Metal says, as he sits up a bit more and moves his pack and jacket from the bed, so as to make room for Stella and the tray of food she carried with her. She nudges the door open with her elbow and trots in, using her magic to carefully levitate the tray. She then places the tray down on the bed and sits opposite Metal.
Metal smiles “mmm hayburgers, smells delicious” he says, licking his muzzle and picks it up to take a bite. He moans slightly as he feels the sensation of fresh food and the tastes swelling up his taste buds as he chewed and then the warmth of it as the food slid down his throat. “Oh my stars, this is delicious!” he exclaims with enthusiasm, taking another bite, slowly chewing his food, so as to savor all of the flavors.
Stella giggles a little as she watches him eat and as she nibbles on her own hayburger. “He's so cute,” she thinks to herself, “and he isn't afraid to show his true self, Stella girl, take it easy, but not too easy” she smiles as she begins to scoot closer to Metal. This time he noticed a bit quicker than before, he wraps his arm and wing around again and gently pulls her in closer to him, he was glad for her company.
Suddenly his pipbuck blipped with a message for him, he checks it and smiles. “It's a message from Crystal, Seris and their two little ones. They've decided to name their colt after me and their little filly Seraphima.” he tells her as he shows her a group photo of the young couple and their newborn foals.
Stella smiles “They look like a lovely couple, you must have been special to them for them to name their son after you, and their foals both look so adorable” she says to Metal, having finished her hayburger while Metal checked his message, she rests her head on his shoulder again.
Metal smiles and hugs her close “It is true, they are a very lovely young couple and they are as special to me as I was to them. I feel very honored that they named their son after me.” he says, as he finishes his hayburger and swallows his last bite of it and starts on his salad. He then lays down, gently pulling Stella down with him.
She giggles, and kisses him as she falls on top of him, “Hey now, we need to turn the lights out first, silly” she says as she gets up and turns and trots over to the light switch, switching it off with a wink to Metal, then using her magic to light the way back to the bed. She then crawls up to Metal and kisses him right on the muzzle before she lays down next to him and snuggles into his embrace, resting her head on his chest, as they cuddled together and both fell asleep in unison.
During the night, Stella could feel Metal slightly shiver and occasionally toss and turn in his sleep. She was worried about him, he must have had bad memories of the stable flashing in his sleep and that was what was causing him to have nightmares. She told herself she would ask him what was troubling him in the morning and was content with snuggling up to him and gently stroking his mane to calm him down for the time being.
It was then, during the time that they were snuggling at night, that she let it slip out of her mouth as she was asleep. “I think I'm falling in love with you Metal Fyre”, she says, smiling as she drifts into a pleasant dream of the two of them spending the rest of their lives together.
The morning sun rose early, shining it's rays in through the suite that Metal and Stella were sleeping in. The light shines on the both of them. Metal was the first to wake up, not being used to the sun light shining in his eyes in the morning, He smiles as he sees Stella still asleep next to him. Gently getting out of bed, so as to not wake Stella up, he then trots to the kitchen to find a fully stocked fridge of plenty of food and drinks.
Smiling and quietly humming to himself, he takes out some haybacon and some eggs. He then gets a pan out and puts some ground coffee into the coffee maker and starts it, as he turns on the stove and begins to cook the both of them breakfast.
A couple of minutes later, the smell of haybacon and eggs being cooked wafted through the air and reaches Stella's nostrils and wakes her up. “Mmmmm” she absent mindedly licks her lips as she slowly opens her eyes and looks around. She stretches and silently walks up behind Metal and presses her firm, round breasts against his back as she wraps her arms around his waist and kisses his cheek, “Cute and a good cook.” she says lovingly to him, “How are you this morning?”
Metal smiles slightly and moans quietly at the feeling of Stella's breasts pressing up against his back, he stops cooking for a moment to hold Stella's hooves in his, then kisses her cheek as he goes back to cooking. “Not too well, and um..Stella?”
Stella smiles, she knew this was the perfect time to ask him about his nightmares, and hopefully she could help get rid of them. “You were having nightmares last night, weren't you? And yes Metal, what is it?” she asks, still hugging him from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder and watching him cook.
He nods, “Yes, I will talk about them during breakfast, and Stella..you said you l..l..loved me, what is...what is love?” he asks her, as even though he was 27, he was still pretty naive and didn't know what love was, except for the sibling like love that Crystal and Seris had shown him.
Stella smiles softly, “Love is...love is when you feel a strong feeling of attachment to a pony, when you want nothing more than to spend the rest of your life with them and to take care of and look after that pony. You want to hug and kiss them, and when the two of you are separated for what-ever reason, you want nothing more than to return to each other and hold that pony in your arms...you enjoy their company a lot and you want nothing but the best for that pony..” She does her best to explain to him, “Metal, those are the exact feelings I am beginning to feel for you, I know it is crazy as we had just met yesterday, but they say that love will come to you at the most unlikely times, that it has no boundaries, and I believe that...I...”
Metal smiles, now understanding the feelings he was having, he turns around and looks Stella lovingly in her eyes and smiles at her as he holds her close, he kisses her “shh, I love you too” he says, holding her close and gently rubbing his hoof up and down her back, relaxing her. Stella melts in Metal's embrace then smiles as she smells the haybacon. “Mmm, I think breakfast is ready dear” she says, kissing him before going to sit at the small table in the kitchen.
Metal nods “I believe you are right honey” he says, kissing her back, returning to the stove and turns it off as he serves up Stella's breakfast first and pouring her a mug of hot freshly made coffee, he then serves up his own breakfast and coffee, sitting opposite Stella. “I am still not completely sure I am grasping all of the meaning to what love is, I've only known sibling...love from Crystal and Seris” he says as he cuts off a small piece of his haybacon and chews it.
Stella nods “I understand, it will take time to really grasp it all, especially if you haven't known what it is for a long time, but Metal...” she pauses, not so sure if she should press the matter of Metal's nightmares anymore. She had heard that sometimes talking about something that was troubling you with someone else could help but she wasn't sure if this was the case. “You said you would talk about your nightmares over breakfast, but..you don't have to if you don't want to” she finishes, reaching over and placing her hooves gently on his reassuringly.
Metal shakes his head “N..no, I have to tell someone, and it may as well be you, as I have nopony else to tell them to...” he says, smiling softly at her, reassuring her that she was right to ask him to tell her, “My nightmares...they start when I was still at the stable.” he begins, “I dreamed of all the times the other ponies would bully me whenever they got the chance to, but that isn't the worst of the nightmares.” he says, tears filling his eyes, “No, the worst, the worst by far, is set after I've left the stable, I dreamed that.. a while after I left, something bad happened, something bad had happened to..to C..to Cr...” he starts to choke up, the tears freely rolling down his cheeks.
Stella knew what he was trying to say and finishes for him, “to Crystal and her family, right?” he nods and she leans over and kisses him on his cheek, “It's alright darling, I am sure that nothing bad has happened, but if something has, I am sure that Crystal or her husband Seris would have let you know, right?” she asks, getting up to stand behind him and give him a shoulder massage, which he greatly appreciated, as the massage helped release the tension and sadness from his nightmares.
He smiles slightly “Thank you Stella, for everything. For keeping me company last night, for listening to me go on about my nightmares and for this wonderful massage” Metal says, as he reaches up and places his hooves on hers.
She smiles and nods, “Of course dear, tell you what, I'll move your stuff in to my room and you can live with me, but right now, I have to get to work, if you need anything, the store is just a couple meters away to the right from here.” Stella says as she hugs and kisses Metal again before trotting to the door and smiling at him “Remember, i'll be at the desk, the bar or our room if you need or want me” she says with a giggle. Metal only simply nods and collects the dishes and brings them to the kitchen to wash.
He sighs as he gets dressed, packs his bits and caps bag into his pack and walks over to the door of his room. He locks the door behind him as he leaves it and walks downstairs to the front desk, he kisses Stella on the cheek and hugs her. “Just going down to the store honey, I'll be back shortly” he says with a soft smile, hiding the fear in his eyes behind his mane.
Stella smiles and hugs and kisses him back, “Alright sweetie, if you're going to the store, do you think you could get a few things like milk and such? Just tell the clerk that I sent you, and he'll send the bulk orders to the Inn.” she asks with a soft smile in return, noticing he was hiding behind his mane, but decides not to ask him if something is wrong.
He continues to smile as he walks to the doors of the Inn and walks through, then trots to store to purchase some modification kits, some more ammunition and some medical kits. As he gives the bits and caps to the counter, he tries to push the memories of his nightmares aside. He packs his new purchases and trots back to the inn.
He tries to smile to Stella as he walks in with his new supplies, but the fear was more apparent this time and it worried Stella. She gets up from her desk and walks over to hug him, “if you're that worried about them sweetie, you should message them, just to be sure” she says, holding him close and reassuringly stroking his mane.
Metal nods and nuzzles into her beautiful mane, “I...I will” he says before hugging her and going back to their suite. He smiles as it would seem that his things, including his rifle and jacket were moved there already, and that there was a modification bench against one of the walls. He takes out his kits and places them on the bench, he then grabs his rifle and starts to modify it, making it more stable and the sight more accurate. He smiles as he looks over his new rifle, “Still not as good as a brand new one, but it's hard to come across one that is brand new these days” he sighs to himself, then begins to work on his jacket, reinforcing it for radiation protection and also padding it with bullet proof material.
Smiling he decides he would message Crystal to check up on them, he quickly sends them a message telling them he had reached Atomica safely and without trouble, and that he had met a beautiful mare who he loves and who loves him back, he then asks how they are doing and how everypony else is at the stable. He then takes his pipbuck off to give his wrist a break and goes to get a cider from the fridge.
He sits back at the table and sips on his cider, thinking about how well things were going, despite his nightmares. He then hears a blipp on his pipbuck and goes to check it, hoping it was Crystal, only to find out it was an alert that an anomaly had recently appeared near the town. Even though it wasn't what he was hoping for, he still smiles, knowing that even if it was a rather common artifact he found there, he could still sell it and use the bits and caps to buy Stella something nice.
Grabbing his now modified jacket, he slips it on and then straps his modified rifle over his shoulder and puts his pack on. He then trots down the stairs to the front desk and kisses Crystal again, “well haven't heard from them yet, but they're probably busy with young Metal Fyre and Seraphima.” he hugs her, “In any case, I got an alert of a nearby anomaly, so I am going to go check it out, maybe there'll be something useful, like an artifact there” he says, kissing her again.
Stella nods and hugs him tightly “Please be safe out there honey, you know those anomalies are surrounded by radiation, possible mutant beasts and most likely raiders as well, looking for a easy target.” she says to him, stroking his cute little ears.
Metal smiles as he shifts the rifle on his shoulder to get more comfortable, “Don't worry dear, my rifle and six shooters will protect me, plus I've reinforced my jacket too” he says, chirping happily as he enjoys his love's embrace and the feeling of his ears being stroked. He then kisses her again and smiles “See you in a bit dear” he says, trotting out of the Inn, swishing his tail slightly, leaving Stella with a slight blush across her muzzle.
As he trotted out of the town and following the signals of where the anomaly was, he stops as he hears voices from a distant. He then raises his rifle and looks through the scope, what greeted his vision though, made him gasp in shock. What he saw was the young couple, Crystal Heart and Seris Night-Hunter and in their arms were the two foals, Metal Fyre and Seraphima. He shoulders his rifle and gallops down the hill to them, they were huddled up and the foals were crying.
He calls out to them as he gallops “Crystal! Seris!” he calls,s topping a couple of meters away from them. Hearing the familiar voice of Metal's, Seris looks up, he looked terrible, his body was covered with cuts and scratches, his clothes were torn and his eyes were bloodshot. “W..what happened to you? W..what are you doing here? It's far too dangerous!”
Seris looks at him “M..Metal, it's..it's too dangerous back in the stable, the Stable Mistress she...she's gone insane. New curfews, new laws that doesn't make sense, she's...not kind and gentle anymore, she's...changed” he says sadly, holding little Metal Fyre close to his chest protectively.
Metal sighs and hangs his head “Right, I'm going over there, the town Atomica is just over the horizon, go right to the Inn, the mare there is called Stella, tell her who you are and what happened and she will give you a room and look after you.” he says, hugging them, “wish me luck, and tell her not to worry, please” he says as he trots off.
Crystal calls out to him “Be careful!” she calls before she and her family weakly set off for Atomica. She sighs but then smiles slightly as she thinks of the fact that Metal had found love at last, she nuzzles her husband “Isn't it wonderful dear? Our Metal Fyre has found love” Seris simply nods and looks around him, to make sure they weren't being followed.