Fallout Equestria: Chivalry

   Westwood's eyes slowly opened to the sounds of chirping birds. The grey wasteland he had recognized before was gone and in its place was a familiar room. Princess Luna's room to be exact. Sunlight trickled in from a curtain that had opened slightly to reveal everything inside. Including the princess nestled up in his arms. "It must have been some insane dream." Westwood mumbled to himself before pulling the mare tightly into his bare, scarred chest.

    Luna shifted with the sudden tightness. A small silver band wrapped around the base of her horn showed itself from under the current mess of a mane, "Finally awake your highness?" Luna playfully asked with a smile curled up in the corner of her lips.

    Westwood chuckled softly to the question, "Yeah." His claw tips gently brushed into the fur on Luna's chest, a matching silver band around one claw digit, "Been waiting long?"

    Luna slowly shifted her head to glance back to Westwood, "It has not been long, but I was too comfortable like this." Her head and neck arched back into the crook of his neck.

    Westwood pressed his scaled lips to the nape of Luna's neck, "Glad I could be of some use." Slowly, Westwood's claw shifted down to her stomach where it rested. Neither of the two seemed eager to move as it was.

    It was several minutes after Luna finally broke the silence, "We should probably let ourselves out before the world forgets us." She reluctantly pulled herself away from the drake who was equally reluctant to release his mare.

    Westwood pulled himself up and seated himself at the edge of the elaborate and currently disheveled bed. A smile pulled on the corners of his cheeks while he played with the ring on his finger. Luna posted herself up and beside the dark colored drake. Her eyes glanced to Westwood's claws twisting the ring along the length of his claw, "You could have asked sooner if you wished."

    Westwood was pulled out of his thoughts and shot his head to Luna, "What now?" He asked taking his claws from the silver.

    "You could have asked sooner than the gala if you desired me so." Luna elaborated as her horn glowed, "I would not have refused."

    Westwood nervously grinned after the question, "You know me. Always the hopeless romantic." With some effort he straightened out with more of a sense of calm, "I couldn't have asked just any time. It had to be the right time." His claws fiddled with themselves as he explained, 'Wouldn't have felt right if I just asked you on some day in the park or something. Had to be that day at that moment."

    Luna stared for the moment. After said moment, she started to laugh at the explanation, "I would say hopeless is the correct description for you." She nuzzled up to his snout, "But I suppose that's better than other stallions, or in your case drakes."

    Westwood laughed softly with Luna in turn, "Yeah, I guess I am kind of hopeless like that." His eyes glanced down to the ring and then to Luna, "Do you think we'll be able to make everything official soon? War-time isn't exactly the best time to throw a fancy wedding fit for a princess."

    Luna pressed a soft kiss to Westwood's cheek, "I'm certain that we will dear king." Luna answered with a nuzzle to that same cheek, "Though, I would be happy with something simple until we can have a more celebrative display if you so desire."

    Westwood's arm wrapped around Luna and pulled her in close again, "So long as you're happy my princess." He whispered.

    With a nuzzle in return Luna whispered into the frill covering Westwood's ear, "As much as I enjoy these cuddles my king, we will have to break away soon. We have our duties after all."

    With a somewhat annoyed sigh, Westwood nodded, "I know. I just wish that we didn't have to."

    "You're such a hopeless romantic." A soft giggle resonated between the two.

    Westwood chuckled in return, "But I'm your hopeless romantic." One last kiss between the two signalled their separation, "'Til next we meet my princess?" He asked with a formal air to his voice.

    Luna responded with a brief bow, "'Til next we meet my king."

    Westwood grabbed the suit jacket and shirt from the floor where it had been discarded and slipped the tight fabric back onto his body. As much as he enjoyed the fact that clothing wasn't a required item in this world, he was still in the home of a royal and needed to be suited as such. The top button to his shirt was left undone to allow him to breath.

    Westwood slowly opened up the door to the hall where his life was forced to continue on without his princess in his arms. The white light of the morning sun slowly filled the room to a nearly blinding point.

ooo.OOO.ooo

    Westwood found himself in a slate grey room, he was once again on a bed though this one was much less comfortable than last one. Unlike the standing position he was in just a moment before, he was seated upright. He glanced around to get his bearing. A faded eye chart on the wall to his left, a rust brown sink to his right and,most notably, a yellow box on the wall beside the sink. This was a kind of infirmary, one different from the makeshift lab he had been trapped inside of at another point, a little better maintained from the Camp Pendelcolt lab as well.

    At his bedside was a familiar fuchsia pegasus with her head pressed softly onto his claw. Unlike when they had first met, she was completely bre of any uniform or any coverings. With that noted, his eyes slowly wandered until they viewed her cutie mark. A grey shield bearing a a gear and two wrenches crossed in front of them. It seemed a little odd after seeing the many moods she seemed to possess at the drop of a hat. No idea what that would look like though.

The sudden disturbance however had woken phenom up with a groggy look still sagging into her eyes. When her eyes finally met up with the reptile's the groggy look suddenly exploded into one of unparalleled excitement, "Mister Westwood!" Phenom exclaimed and leapt from her spot to wrap her forelegs around his trunk.

    Westwood grunted with the reminder that he was been stabbed a few dozen times shortly before. Thankfully the wounds had healed up well enough, "Morning Phenom." He added through the grunt of discomfort.

    Phenom pulled herself back from the drake with a nervous smile on her face, "Sorry Mister Westwood." Phenom spoke poking her hooves together, "I was just so excited to see that you were alright." She added in with her head tucked behind her hooves.

    Westwood lightly exhaled with relief returning again, "Good to see you too." He greeted with a soft pat on her head. He slowly pulling himself out of the rather uncomfortable mattress, "Anyone else awake?" He asked with a claw perched up against his back.

    Phenom nodded, "Oh yes." She started, "The high commander and the major have just about been pacing back and forth all over the base. Though that was a while ago, so maybe Summer finally went to sleep."

    “Is that so?” Westwood asked letting a few pops in his back echo in the small room, “Then I guess I should meet with this high commander.”

    Phenom let out a squee at the mention, "Alright. Let's give everyone a big hello." A wide smile stretched from cheek to cheek. Her rear hoof gently kicked the door open into the dimly lit halls, "Right this way."

    The walk through the halls went by somewhat slowly. Instead of being one long hall to where they needed to go, it branched off into several other halls to other places that didn't seem important right at that moment. The lack of any sort of life other than the cheerful humming of the fuscia mare beside him was rather unsettling. Thankfully that all ended once they both made it to the door labeled 'Commander's Quarters'.

    Phenom knocked her hoof against the steel door, "High Commander. I brought him up just like you wanted." She called out through the door.

    The hall fell silent again until the speaker box on the side of the door buzzed, "Thank you Sergeant." Phenom pushed the button on the door with that confirmation. The door quickly slid open to reveal the office on the other side.

    The first thing that Westwood noticed taking his first step inside were all of the propaganda pieces that lined the walls, shelves and even the little bobble head that was posted on the desk directly in front of him. Familiar slogans for recruitment, morale boosters of the king decorated in armor, even newspaper clippings with headlines like "Black Knights Lead The Way" or "Collaboration Effort Stops Drug Trade" were framed and hung on the walls. There was always one common item with each piece, the Draconian King was always the point of focus. It was flattering and unnerving all at once.

    That was when he focused his eyes on the midnight blue, uniformed mare seated behind the desk. A pair of reading glasses bridged her muzzle. Other features like the leathery wings, long spiral horn, tightly wrapped black mane and the claws protruding from her hooves didn't seem to be important enough to hide, "I have been waiting to meet you for a long time Black Knight. Can't say that I'm disappointed on how." Her voice was calm and cool. As expected of a military commander, "Please. Take a seat." Her head shifted to the door, "You are welcome to come inside as well if you wish Phenom."

    There was a slight squeak at the door before the pegasus mare slowly poked her head inside the office. A nervous smile split her face, "Sorry Commander. Wasn't trying to eavesdrop."

    The odd looking mare behind the desk smirked at the tone, "Eavesdropping implies that I cared if you listened to my conversation." She motioned a hoof-claw to the empty seats, "If you will?"

    Westwood slipped into the office chair, his posture straight and ready should this meeting turn sour. Phenom cautiously hopped up into the elevated chair seemingly made for someone taller than she was. She held herself up straight as addressing a superior, the slight drop of sweat slowly running down her face betraying any hint that she was anything but calm.

    The mare and Westwood stared at one another, sizing the other up, "I suppose you're curious about me." She stated while keeping her eyes focused on the other set of golden eyes above her steepled claw digits, "At least I can assume. Nearly everyone else is."

    Westwood maintained his eyes contact to the familiar gold orbs in front of him, "I suppose that it has crossed my mind." His claws placed at his knees while he stared at the other military leader, "I assume you're a type of hybrid."

    The mare nodded and shifted her eyes to Phenom as though expecting her to start talking. Her glance was met with a nervous smile, "Your assumption would be correct." Her grin returned, this one fillled with an 'I know what you dont' sort of vibe, "High Commander Starset. Heir to the throne of Dracous and Equestria. Daughter of a Draconian king and an Equestrian princess." She bowed her head slightly without taking her eyes off of the drake, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, dad."

    Westwood's eyes did their best impression of a broken terminal monitor. A look matched by his slack jaw and suddenly loose posture.

    Starset snickered at the odd reaction that the king of dragons, "Phenom." She started her hoof-claws dropped down to a more relaxed formed, "Could you do me a favor?" The dracony mare asked pulling open a drawer from her desk and setting a vial down on the stained wood, "Could you open this up and waft it past his nose."

    Phenom picked up the vial carefully with her hooves and yanked the cork free with her teeth. The intense, indescribable smell that seemed to erupt out made the pegasus gag for a second before recovering. She did as instructed and carefully waved the opening in front of the holes in the front of Westwood's snout. The dragon jumped and attempted swatting the offending odor away and flopped back in his chair from the sudden reaction. Westwood let out a groan while he recovered from both the sudden offending odor and the sudden drop to the metallic floor. Phenom quickly jumped from her seat and hovered over the temporarily indisposed drake's face.

    Starset shifted herself from the seat and stood over him while he was still on the ground, "Glad you could join us again." She snarked. The look on her face suddenly reminding Westwood of those times where Luna would have been mischievous in her time before the war, "If you react like that to just that news. I can only imagine how you'll react to the rest of the last hundred and fifty years."

    Westwood's mind passed by a mile a minute thinking what more could be said that would make him react worse, "Oh joy." The words came out in a groan while stuck half seated in the overturned chair with his tail dangling in front of his face. He rolled out of the seat and dusted himself off.

    Phenom let a sheepish smile slowly cross her face, "Well. It's not all that bad." Extra emphasis on the word 'that'.

    As soon Phenom finished her sentence the door opened. A green and orange blur blew past the dragon leading to said blur leaping off the ground and hanging off of Starset's neck like a foal sized pendant. Said foal sized pendant being a filly with emerald fur and a red mane. Her hooves bore the same hoof-claws that Starset possessed though the rest of her seemed like a perfectly normal pegasus filly, "Mommy! You're home!" The filly giggled while nuzzling her cheek into the mare's chest.

    Through the still open door, Summer Storm trotted in to see where the filly had gone, "Sorry hun. Rain heard you got back an-. Oh, Commander. Didn't know you were up."

    Westwood was frozen solid for a moment as he took everything in. The filly with only a smidge of any kind of hybrid features, the major calling Starset 'hun'. The filly, Rain presumably, calling Starset 'mommy'. The filly tilted her head back to look at the stunned drake, "Mommy? Is that grandpa?" With those last four words, Westwood's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell backwards onto the metal floor again.

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    Several hours after finding out about his family, Westwood and Starset both laid back on the hard dirt outside of what he discovered was a bunker. Between them a bottle of whiskey stayed upright with a set of shot glasses next to them, "You know. I never thought I'd end up meeting my daughter like this?" Westwood added as he watched the swirling clouds overhead.

    Starset glanced back to her father, "Is that so? Care to enlighten me on how you thought you'd meet me?" She asked as the bottle of amber fluid was levitated by a tendril of black and poured into the two glasses.

    Westwood scratched at his snout while he thought, "Well. Me coming back to the castle, I get the news that I'm about to become a father, I run as fast as I can through the castle halls possibly knocking some things over in the process. Then I throw the door open to see you and Luna. Luna asks me to hold you and we all be that happy family."

    Starset was quiet for a moment before bringing the glass to her lips and shooting the burning liquid down her throat, "That has got to be the corniest thing I've ever heard someone say."

    Westwood chuckled with a grin on his face before slowly picking up the second shot glass, "You wouldn't be the first to say that to me. Probably won't be the last." He chased those words with the shot, "Your mother always did say I was the most hopeless romantic that she knew."

    Starset let a laugh bubble up with the admission, "I think I remember her saying that once or twice. Especially after she told me about how you took her on that little carnival date, incognito, with a little help of Auntie Twilight. And how absolutely ridiculous you looked trying to walk on all fours after that little transformation spell."

    Westwood laughed with Starset at the pleasant memory, "Those were such better days. Not a care in the world and everything could be either solved with friendship or a orbital friendship cannon." The slight laughter subsided remembering how things went with the zebra shortly after that, "How I wish we could all go back to those days." He set the shot glass down, his eyes focused on the sky once again.

    Starset was quiet after Westwood's tone turned more solemn. She gave him the next few minutes to himself. She softly bit her lip with one of the four sharp canines she inherited. With a deep huff and another shot of alcohol she pulled herself up to a seated position, "Hey. I know it's a lot to ask for," She paused to gauge the interest in Westwood's expression, "Me and some of the others are going to be headed out on a caravan escort thing. You're welcome to join if you want."

Westwood shifted his gaze from the sky to Starset. A smile slowly curled his lips, "Well, I'd be all for a little trip. Only problem I have is my armor."

Starset say the look in Westwood's eyes and offered her own grin, "Already taken care of. Phenom installed a Steel Ranger repair talisman in your Specter suit and fed it enough scrap metal to fill in all those holes and dents."

Westwood arched a brow at the mention of Phenom installing a talisman, "Didn't take her for the techy type." He commented before swinging his weight up and bringing himself into a seated posture, "But if she went through the trouble, it would be rude of me if I declined now." He spoke in a somewhat sarcastic tone and a grin pulling at the corner of one of his lips, "First thing in the morning?"

Starset picked up the neck of the bottle with her claw and lifted the two small glasses with her ever present shadow, "Yup." She poured a couple more shots for the drake and herself, "So try not to drink too much and get a hangover." One of the shots lifted to Westwood.

Westwood took the glass from the mare's shadow crafted tendril which nearly melted back into the ground and to the rest of her shadow, "I'll do my best not to." He and Starset clinked the glasses together before downing the contents.

As Westwood jumped back onto his feet Starset cleared her throat, "Though I should mention. Freya is going to be joining us. And she isn't exactly happy about what happened yesterday." Her shadow tucked away the glasses and now sealed bottle back into her pack.

Westwood looked back in mid-stride, "Freya?"

"Yes. That gryphon you disarmed  and, I quote, 'knocked the fuck out' yesterday." Starset trotted past the drake with a smirk, "She was undercover in the camp. Glad you didn't outright kill her."

Westwood chuckled nervously at the revelation that he had attacked a soldier on his side, "Sorry about that. Put a shotgun to the back of my head and all that."

Starset stuck her tongue out at the drake, "Oh, I'm not sore about it. Freya on the other hoof." She swirled a claw whimsically in the air, "She might want dragon steak for tomorrow's meal."

Westwood sighed in irritation while progressing back into the military bunker, "Perfect." With an opening of a hatch, he jumped back down into the long, expansive halls below. Now to not get lost and find an empty room.

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