The Soldier And The Princess Of The Night

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Chapter: 1

Sentinel is an alicorn Stallion with a black coat, a red main and tail with his mane cut short in a military style and his hooves are dark grey. His cutie mark is a large gray three pointed mid evil style shield, with two swords crisscrossing behind it. One sword has a silver guard and hilt with a blue gemstone at the end of the hilt. The other sword has a gold hilt and guard with a red gemstone at the end of the hilt. Sentinal’s eyes are golden in color with three large jagged scars across his right eye.

As he sat on the balcony overlooking the countryside, he gazed at the stars and moon enjoying the cool night air. The moon was out and full as the stars twinkled in the sky with a few clouds lazily drifting by. Sentinal sat and stared out at the sky as his mind began to drift back to when he was a Pvt. and he lost his Younger brothers.

Flashback:

Operation: fire extinguisher

Sentinel was among the last ones to arrive on the battlefield. When he did, he could see that the battle was practically over. As he was walking he could hear the cries and screams of his fallen comrades around him screaming and crying in pain and fear. He could tell by the sounds of the crying and pain in their voices that many of them believed they would never see their family again. "Sentinel!" He heard a familiar voice callout in pain. He started looking around trying to find the source of the voice. That's when he saw a hoof reaching out to him. "Sentinel over here!" The voice called out again, filled with even more pain. It was then that Sentinel realized who the voice belonged to. It was his youngest brother. Sentinel galloped up to him as fast as he could. When he got closer he saw that half of his brother's body was burned and the bottom half of him was missing.

"Lightning cloud what happened to you!" Sentinel asked with fear and horror in his eyes as he looked his brother over.

"That." Lightning cloud motioned to the dead body of a dragon. Sentinel looked to see the massive dragon about the size of the largest ships in their navy lying dead with thousands of dead ponies around it.

Sentinel looked back to Lightning cloud "Everything is going to be ok." Sentinel said to his brother to try and reassure him everything would be fine. He looked up from his brother and looked around in a panic. "MEDIC!"He yelled. He felt his brother touch his hoof.

"It's too late for me." Lightning cloud said weakly as he held something out to Sentinel in his hoof. They were two sets of dog tags. One was Lightning Cloud's. Sentinel's whole body went cold once he saw the name on the other dog tag. It was Storm fly's, his other younger brother. Sentinel looked at his brother with shock and horror. "He tried to protect me from that dragon, but it was too powerful" He looked Sentinel in the eyes "Tell Cadence I'm sorry." With that, his brother took his final breath and died in sentinels forhooves.

End Flashback:

Tears began to form in Sentinel’s eyes from that awful memory. He stood there silently as he let his tears fall and cried to himself. Just then he heard hoof steps approaching from behind. He quickly wiped away his tears with his foreleg and turned around to see a mare as beautiful as the night sky. She stood a head shorter than him. Princess Luna made her way over to Sentinal. He bowed as she approached.

"Sentinel how many times do I have to tell you, you do not have to bow to me. We have known each other for almost our entire lives. Friends do not bow down to friends." She said with a smile.

"Sorry." He said with a smile, his eyes still a little watery from his crying.

Luna notice his eyes. She frowned as she walked up to him and place a hoof on his shoulder. "Is everything alright Sentinel" She asked in a gentle soothing tone.

He turned his head away and down, trying to hide the tear that began to fall down his face. "Yeah I'm fine." He lied. He just couldn’t let Luna see him sad. He cared about her too much.

Luna wrapped her forelegs around his neck and her wings around him. "You don't have to lie to me Sentinel" She said sadly.

Sentinel returned the gesture in the same way, wrapping his forelegs and wings around her. Feeling her this close to him made him wish he could tell her how he felt about her, how he would give his life for her. But he couldn’t, for she is a princess that rules over Equestria, and he is not royalty and fears it would ruin their friendship. But what he doesn't know is that Luna feels the same way about him, she's just waiting for him to tell her the same. They release their hug after a moment and looked each other in the eyes. "Sorry I just wish they were here to see this." He said as he broke eye contact and looked down and to the side.

"I know you do." Luna said as she leaned in and gently kissed him on his four head. "You should be inside celebrating your new promotion after all, you are Commanding General of the equestrian army now." She gestured towards the five stars on the shoulder of his officer’s uniform. She then used her foreleg to lift his head to make him look at her. She wore a smile to try and cheer Sentinel up. "Come on, you can introduce me to your special some pony or Ponies." She said nudging him with her elbow, slightly hoping he would say he has no special some Pony.

He shook his head. "Ha.. I don't have a special some pony." He said with a gentle smile.

"Oh I'm relieved to hear you say that." She said under her breath while blushing.

"What did you say?" He asked as he cocked an eyebrow and leaned his head in closer.

Luna opened her eyes wide and blushed, realizing she just said that out loud. Thinking quickly she spoke to try and change the subject. "Come on let's go get some of that cloud cake you like so much." She stated with a smile.

"Yeah okay, I just hope your sister hasn't eaten it all already." He said with a smile. This cost of them both to laugh on their way inside.

Luna sighed internally, feeling relieved her subject change worked.

Sure enough, they found Celestia about to start eating the last cake, so Luna used her magic to levitate it away from her. "Sister don't you think you've had enough of these? They made 10 of these, eat anymore and I don't think you would be able to fit on your throne." Luna said with a Joking smile.

Celestia looked up at them, she could see that Sentinel was having a really hard time trying not to laugh and it wasn't working too well. "I don't know what you're talking about." Celestia said with a pout as she stood up and trotted off.

By the time Luna turned to look at Sentinel, who was beginning to laugh at this point, she just smiled at him. "Come on, let's go find a place to eat this." The two went to find an empty table to eat the cake and enjoy the rest of the night together.

Chapter 2

Chapter: 2

Sentinel was sitting at his desk drinking his morning cup of coffee as he was going over his paperwork. It had been a month since he started his new position as the commanding general of the equestrian army. He was about to pour another cup of coffee when he heard someone yelling. He got up from his desk, went to the door, and poked his head out to see what was going on. "THE PRINCESSES HAVE BEEN ATTACKED! LUNA IS MISSING AND CELESTIA IS HURT, SOMEONE GET THE DOCTORS!"

Sentinel's eyes widened in fear, he began running as fast as he could to Celestia's and Luna's bedrooms. When he got there, he saw that Luna's door was open and all the Doctors were heading in there. When Sentinel entered the room he saw that Celestia was unconscious on the floor and she looked like she had been badly beaten. He also saw two of Celestia's guards and two of Luna's guards lying dead and in pieces on the floor. "What happened here?" He asked with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth as he looked around the room, seeing blood and shattered furniture all over the place.

"Dragons." Sentinel heard a voice say weakly behind him. He turned to see a beaten and bloodied Discord pulling himself out of a pile of rubble, he looked worse than Celestia did.

"Dragons B-but how? How did they get past the guards?" Sentinel asked angrily.

"Because we let them in." Discord said as he began to cough up blood and breathing heavily. "*Cough Cough* We thought they were ambassadors and dignitaries from the dragon empire so we let them in. But they tricked us, they were sent by the dragon emperor to capture one of the princesses.” Discord paused a moment to try and breath. He then continued with his story. “They said if we don't want them to kill Luna, then things need to go back to the way they were before the Dragon pony wars and before the treaty was signed." He coughed up even more blood and began to fall forward.

Sentinel was able to catch Discord with his magic before he hit the ground. Discord struggled to speak more. "I-I'm sorry, I-I did everything I could. I just wasn't strong enough." With those last words, Discord’s body went limp and several doctors rushed over.

"We need to get him to emergency surgery now or he's going to die." One of the doctors said.

"B-But what about the princess?" Another doctor said.

Sentinel could tell that this doctor didn't want to save discord, so he spoke up. "The castle hospital has more than enough surgeons to perform surgery on both of them." Sentinel said eyeing all the Doctors sternly. He then glanced over to Celestia. Just looking at her, he could tell that both of her wings were broke and that she probably had a few broken bones. But Discord looked like he was much worse. "Get them to the hospital now and into surgery, I want every single guard we have on duty and guarding this castle. I don't care if they are off-duty or on leave, I want them here NOW!” He ordered loudly and with anger. “I am going to go get Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight Sparkle and bring them back here to the castle for their own safety and protection. I will then assign guards to them to stay with them at all times, I will be back shortly. And I want the entire intelligence department working on this incident to find out why we didn't see this coming." Sentinel said, looking at the new captain of the royal guard standing at the doorway. He had proven himself thus and was given his position since the previous captain, Shining Armor, was now married to Cadence and was the co-ruler of the Crystal Empire.

He took one last look at all the ponies present before disappearing and gave one last order. "Oh and not a word of this leaves castle until I get back." He then lit up his horn with his red aura and disappeared in a flash.

He reappeared at one of the orchards at Sweet Apple Acres. 'If I'm going good to save Luna, I'm going to need to get the team together' Sentinel thought to himself. After about a minute of searching, Sentinel found the pony he was looking for, an earth pony stallion with red a coat and a short cut Main and tail that was orange and light yellow hooves. "Hey Big Mac longtime no see." Sentinel said as he approached Big Macintosh.

Sentinel’s greeting startled Big Mac, he turned to see Sentinel standing near him. "General what are you doing here?" Big Mac asked. He quickly looked around to make sure no one was around and leaned closer to Sentinel. "Is something wrong?" He whispered.

"I will explain everything later once we get everyone. For right now just follow me." Sentinel said as he too glanced around to see if someone was listening. Big Mac nodded and the two began to walk.

They were just about to leave Sweet Apple acres when they heard a mare's voice call out. "Big Mac, where in tarnation do ya think yer going?" They turned to see Applejack trotting up to them. "You better not be try'n to get out of yer work." She said when she got close to them, sounding a little upset that her big brother seemed like he was trying to get out of work.

Big Mac looked at Applejack with a straight muzzle. "Sorry little sis, but I got somethin I need ta do right now.”

"What do ya mean ya got somethin ya need ta do?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m sorry Applejack, but I can’t say.” Big Mac simply stated.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “And why in tarnation not?”

Sentinel interrupted the argument. “Applejack, I’m sorry but I need Big Mac to come with me for something important. I’ll let him explain everything when he gets back, for now, we need to go. Please try to understand.” Sentinel said as he looked at her.

Applejack thought for a moment before responding. She sighed as she hung her head and closed her eyes. She looked back up to finally respond. “All right then, but you better not be up ta somethin dangerous or anythin.”

Big Mac walked up to his sister and hugged her. “I promise I’ll come back sis, I care about ya’ll too much.”

Applejack was a little surprised by this gesture. She hugged back as she spoke. “You better come back soon, whatever yer up too.”

They broke their embrace as Big Mac gave one last smile to his little sister. “I promise Applejack, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that, Sentinel and Big Mac left for Ponyville to gather the other ponies Sentinel needed.

They arrived at the home of princess Twilight Sparkle and her family. It was a two story house painted white with a black roof. The house had a pair of large wooden doors at the front with a greenhouse on the right side and a stone balcony on the left. Sentinel knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a Stallion with a blue coat, dark blue mane and tail, two horns that curve back over his head, light blue eyes and slit irises. His hooves match his mane color and he also had bat like wings. The pony was shocked at first when he saw both Sentinel and Big Mac standing there. "Sentinel, Big Mac, what are you guys doing here?" The pony asked, a little surprised to see them.

"It's nice to see you too Nightshade, can we come in?" Sentinel said as he smiled down at his old friend.

Nightshade was a new breed of pony no pony knew about until his appearance in Equestria. About two thousand years ago, there was a clan of ponies that lived in a forest no pony knew about just outside the northern borders of Equestria. They called themselves shadow walkers. They each had the ability to control and manipulate the shadows. Back when Discord was evil, he led an army to wipe them out and kill all of them. If not for his parents, Nightshade would have died with the rest of his clan. His mother and father were the rulers of the clan.

After that incident, Nightshade lived a life of solitude in the forest he called home until his fateful meeting with Twilight Sparkle, his wife. Shortly after their marriage, Sentinel approached Nightshade and offered him a place in the royal guard. Nightshade was a little hesitant to agree, but realized it would give him the opportunity to protect the country he now calls home. Sentinel had assembled a team of ponies for a secret squad to handle certain situations the regular guard could not.

"Sorry, you just surprised me is all, come on in." Nightshade said as he stepped to the side to let the two in. The inside of the house had brown walls with a red velvet couch at the center of the living room with a kitchen in the back. Stairs to the second floor were to the right of the kitchen and another pair of wooden doors were on the left. A glass door to the right was seen that lead to the green house. Sentinel and Big Mac walked in to the living room where Sentinel saw a little colt that looked just like Nightshade, but with a pink streak in his main and tail playing with a little purple dragon.

The little pony looked up to see Sentinel and Big Macintosh. "Uncle Sentinel, Uncle Macintosh!" The little colt said happily as he ran up to both of them, giving them a hug. The two weren’t his uncle by blood, but they had grown close that they might as well be his uncles.

"It's good to see you too Shadow Knight." Sentinel said with a warm smile to Shadow Knight.

“Howdy there little partner.” Big Mac greeted happily.

Just then an alicorn mare with moderate violet eyes with a light purple coat and a moderate sapphire blue mane with moderate violet and brilliant rose streaks through it walked in. "Oh, hi Sentinel, Big Mac, I didn't know you were coming over to visit. So what brings you by?" The mare asked cheerfully.

"Hello Princess Twilight." Sentinel said, giving a small bow, Big Mac followed suit upon seeing the newly appointed princess enter the room. The two got up from their bow and Sentinel was about to explain why they were here when Nightshade cut him off.

"Hold on Sentinel." Nightshade turned to Shadow Knight. "Shadow Knight, can you and Spike go to your room and play for a little bit while the adults talk." Nightshade said smiling at his son.

“Why?” Knight Shade asked curiously.

“What’s going on Nightshade?” Spike asked, also curious.

“Because we may need to talk about something you two don’t need to hear. Please Shadow Knight, be a good boy and do as you’re told.” Nightshade said.

"OK dad, I’ll go." Shadow Knight said, the two then turned and headed upstairs to Shadow Knight’s room.

Nightshade faced Sentinel again. "So what is going on Sentinel?"

Sentinel frowned as he spoke. "Something…..happened at the castle." He said seriously. He did his best to hide the pain he felt for Luna being taken, he didn’t want his friends to see him sad. He closed his eyes a moment to collect himself before he broke down a little and continued. "Nightshade I need you to go get Silver Spark, Night Wing, Thunderlane, and Soarin. Twilight, you, Spike, and Shadow Knight will come with me and Big Mac to the Crystal Empire to get princess cadence and your brother Shining Armor. Then we will all meet back at the castle and everything will be explained there." Sentinel said looking at Twilight.

"What is going on Sentinel, and why do you need me, my brother, princess Cadence, Spike, and Shadow Knight to go with you to the castle?" Twilight asked, looking at Sentinel with a confused look.

"It is for your own protection and everything will be explained back at the castle, for right now though, we need to hurry and get back to the castle as soon as we can." Sentinel said. He then turned to Nightshade. "Nightshade I need you to go now and get every pony and meet in the castle throne room."

“All right Sentinel, I’ll see you again soon.” Nightshade then turned to face Twilight to give her a kiss on the lips. "I will see you back at the castle, I promise. Just go with Sentinel and we will meet back at the castle Ok?"

Twilight nodded and kissed Nightshade on the cheek. After, Nightshade took a few steps back away from every pony. A circular shadow formed under Nightshade. He quickly sank into it and disappeared just after the shadow itself shrank back down to nothing.

Twilight turned to the stairs and called up to Shadow Knight’s room. "Spike, Shadow Knight, you can come down now!"

The two came back downstairs. Shadow Knight noticed his dad missing and got a little worried. “Mom, where did dad go?”

Twilight gave her son a comforting smile. “Don’t worry Shadow Knight, we’ll see him again, he just went to get some friends for a little meeting. We’re taking a little trip to Canterlot, but first, we’re going to get my brother and Cadence.”

Shadow Knight lit up at this information. “We’re going to see uncle Shining and aunt Cadence?” He asked happily.

“Yep, then after, we’ll meet up with your father at Canterlot.” Twilight informed.

“Ok, I can’t wait to see them again.” Shadow Knight exclaimed.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little at her son’s energy.

Sentinel then spoke to get every pony’s attention. “All right every pony, gather around and I’ll teleport us to the crystal empire.” They all did as told and gathered around Sentinel. He lit up his horn and, in a flash, they disappeared.

They reappeared in the castle throne room of the Crystal Empire and in front of Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and Flash Sentry. Upon seeing Shining and Cadence, Shadow Knight quickly rushed over and hugged them. “Uncle Shining, aunt Cadence, It’s good to see you again.”

“Shadow Knight?” Shining asked, feeling a little confused at his nephew’s sudden appearance.

“Shadow Knight, what are you doing here?” Cadence then asked.

Before Shadow could answer, Sentinel spoke. “Hello Shining, Cadence, I’m afraid there’s an emergency going on. I need you two and Flash sentry to come with me to Canterlot right away.”

Flash stepped forward to address Sentinel. “Sir, what is going on?”

Sentinel looked to Flash to answer. “We have an emergency, something happened to princess Celestia and Luna, so I’m bringing you all to the castle for safety.”

Twilight became worried. “What? What happened to them? Are they all right?”

Spike looked to Twilight with worry. Shadow Knight heard the news as well and went to his mother in a bit of fear. “Mom, are they all right?”

Twilight held her son close. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”

“Sir, what happened?” Flash asked.

“I’ll explain everything at the castle, we need to go now.” Sentinel said.

“All right then, let’s go.” Shining said. They all gathered around Sentinel to teleport away.

They reappeared in the throne room of Canterlot castle. Nightshade was already there with the ponies sentinel asked him to get, waiting for him.

One was a unicorn with light gray coat with a white mane and tail, his hooves were the same color of his main and tail, his cutie mark was of a black shield with silver sparks on it. He was wearing dog tags with the name Silver Spark on them.

There were two other pegasus ponies in the group. One was in a wonderbolt officer’s uniform that had a light blue coat and a dark blue main and tail. His cutie mark was a thunderbolt with wings and the name tag on his uniform said Soarin. The other Pegasus was dark gray, his mane and tail were light cyan gray with lighter streaks. His cutie Mark was of a thundercloud with a Streak of lightning coming out of it.

There was a large bat pony about the size of Big Mac with a black coat, a midnight blue mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a full moon with the silhouette of a bat against it. His eyes were deep blue and the irises were slit.

Upon their appearance, Shadow Knight ran up to his dad. “Dad, what is going on? Sentinel said something happened to the princesses.”

Nightshade held his son as he responded. “He did?” He asked. “Don’t worry son, whatever is going on, I’ll keep you and your mother safe.”

This didn’t seem to ease Shadow Knight’s worries. “But what about aunt Luna and aunt Celestia?”

Princess Cadence was the first to speak up "Sentinel we are all here, now can you explain what is going on?" She asked with worry and a bit of impatience.

Sentinel nodded, then he turned to Spike and Shadow Night "Spike, can you take Shadow Knight to the kitchen and see if you can find yourselves something to snack on while we talk?"

"Ok Sentinel." Spike said. He walked over to Shadow Knight who was still holding on to his dad. "Come on buddy let's go find us something to snack on."

"Ok." Shadow Knight said sadly. He released his hold on his father and let Spike lead him away and to the kitchen.

Sentinel waited for the two to be out of the room before he used his magic to close the doors. He sighed heavily and turned to face the group before him. "The princesses have been attacked."

Chapter 3

Sentinel waited for Spike and Shadow Knight to be out of the room before he used his magic to close the doors. 'I'm going to have to find a way to make it up to the little guy for upsetting him so much' Sentinel thought to himself. He sighed heavily and turned to face the group before him. "The princesses have been attacked."

Everyone in the room was dead silent with looks shock and horror on their faces. Sentinel took a moment to calm his nerves before he continued with the painful memory. He took a deep breath and sighed heavily before he continued "*sigh*... Earlier this morning, just before noon, I heard one of the guards yelling that the princesses have been attacked and that princess Luna was missing. Upon hearing this I ran as fast as I could to the princesses bedrooms and I saw that princess Luna’s bedroom doors were open and a bunch of doctors were rushing in there..."

Sentinel was cut off by Princess Twilight. "Where is Celestia is she okay!? Can we see her!? Who attacked them and took Luna!?" Twilight asked in rapid secession and deep concern for her fellow princesses and her former mentor.

"Celestia is in the hospital right now and probably still in surgery." Sentinel said.

"Take us there, you can explain everything later." Twilight said as she turned her head to the kitchen. “Spike, Shadow Knight, come out here please!” She called out.

Spike and Shadow emerged from the kitchen. “What is it Twilight?” Spike asked.

“We need you two to come with us, we’re going to the hospital to see Celestia. Since we don’t have any pony to watch you while we’re gone, you’re coming with us.” Twilight informed.

“Is aunt Celestia ok?” Shadow Knight asked.

“Were going to find out. Come on.” Twilight informed. She then took the lead and headed out to the hospital.

Upon arriving, the Tygert hospital was in chaos. Doctors and nurses were running all over the place trying get to get supplies and medication for Celestia and Discord.

Sentinel stopped one of the doctors that was rushing around. "What's going on, is there anything you can tell us yet?" Sentinel asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I’m sorry but no, they're both still in surgery. Go sit in the waiting room and we will have someone come get you as soon as either of them are out of surgery."

When they got to the waiting room, Shining Armor spoke up. "Okay Sentinel now that were settled in, can you please continue and explain to us what happened?"

Sentinel nodded. "Ok, as I said before, earlier this morning just before noon, I heard one of the guards yelling that the princesses have been attacked and that princess Luna was missing. Upon hearing this I ran as fast as I could to the princesses bedrooms and I saw that princess Luna's bedroom doors were open and a bunch of doctors were rushing in there. When I entered, I saw Celestia on the floor unconscious and she looked like she was badly beaten. Her guards were torn to pieces, and there was blood and broken furniture all over the place. When I asked what happened, Discord said that dragons were the ones responsible. When I turned to look at him, he was badly beaten and covered in his own blood, he did everything in his power to try and save the princesses, but the dragons overpowered him. They told Discord to relay a message .They said if we don't want them to kill Luna, then things need to go back to the way they were before the Dragon pony wars and before the treaty was signed." Sentinel turned away beginning to feel the rage build up inside him. He leaned a forhoof Against the wall he was standing near "I should've been there, I could've done something!" Sentinel yelled angrily as he breathed heavily through his nose.

Cadence approached sentinel an placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "Sentinel, there was no way you could've possibly known that this was going to happen, please don't blame yourself." She said soothingly in hopes to calm him down.

Sentinel glanced at her, then faced forward again. "Luna invited me to have breakfast with her but I told her that I had paperwork I needed to catch up on..." Sentinels main and tail began to turn into fire and his fur began to look like it was charred and flakes of it were drifting off from the heat of the fire. His eyes turned Crimson red. Cadence removed her hoof and backed away from Sentinel "…and now because of me, who knows what those dragons are doing to hurt her right now! Because of me it is possible that we will lose her forever!" Sentinel yelled with so much rage and intensity in his voice, it caused everyone in the room to take a step back. Sentinel slammed his hoof against the wall he was leaning on and punched a hole in it.

Sentinel snapped out of it when he felt a hoof on his shoulder again, he turned to see Princess Cadence standing there again with a look of concern. Out of everyone in the room, she had known him the longest for she used to date his youngest brother before he died in the war. "Sentinel, you need to keep calm and be strong for Luna right now." Princess Cadence said as sentinel began to turn back to his normal self. With her being the princess of love she could tell how strong his feelings were for Princess Luna.

Sentinel let out a heavy sorrowful sigh "*sigh* You're right…. thank you Cadence I needed that." Sentinel said as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He looked to her with a smile. Cadence smiled back, glad to see him calm again. Sentinel turned to face the others. "Twilight, were you ever told about the secret guard?"

Twilight shook her head "No, who are they?"

"Here, let me introduce you." Sentinel said before he turned to the stallions that were in the room. "MEN, TEN HUT!" Sentinel commanded. All the stallions in the room then lined up in front of Twilight. "I WANT YOUR NAME RANK AND SPECIALTY/DUTIES ON THIS TEAM!" Sentinel commanded before taking his place in the line and standing at attention. One by one they each stepped forward saluted and proceeded to tell Twilight their names, ranks, and duties, then stepped back in line at attention from lowest to highest.

"FLASH SENTRY, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, EYE IN THE SKY!"

"BIG MACINTOSH, COLONEL, DEMOLITIONS!"

"THUNDERLANE, ONE STAR BRIGADIER GENERAL, SCOUT, SNIPER!"

"SILVER SPARK, ONE STAR BRIGADIER GENERAL, TACTICAL SPECIALIST!"

"NIGHT WING, TWO STAR MAJOR GENERAL, CLOSE QUARTERS HOOF TO HOOF SPECIALIST!"

“SOARIN, THREE STAR LIEUTENANT GENERAL, MID RANGE COMBAT SPECIALIST!"

"PRINCE SHINING ARMOR, FOUR STAR GENERAL, OFFENSES MAGIC SPECIALIST!"

"NIGHTSHADE, FOUR STAR GENERAL, SECOND IN COMMAND!"

“SENTINEL, FIVE-STAR GENERAL, TEAM LEADER!"

Then they all spoke in unison "WE ARE THE SECRET GUARD! TOGETHER WE FORM THE DEATH SQUAD. WE GLADLY WILL LAY DOWN OUR LIVES SO OTHERS MAY LIVE! WE WILL NEVER LEAVE A FALLEN COMRADE ON THE BATTLEFIELD! WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, WE DO NOT! WE ARE THE ELITE OF THAT ELITE, THE ALPHAS OF THE ALPHAS! WITH THIS, WE PLEDGE OUR LIVES, OUR STRENGTHS, AND OUR WILL AS SOLDIERS TO THE GOOD WILL OF EQUESTRIA!"

Twilight stared in shock for a moment. Spike and Shadow Knight looked on in silence. Twilight finally found her voice. “Wait, secret guard? Nightshade, you’re a part of some secret guard? Why didn’t you tell me about this!” She exclaimed.

Nightshade stepped out of line and up to Twilight. “Twilight, please try to understand, I couldn’t tell you.”

She glared at him. “Couldn’t tell me? COULDN’T TELL ME!? I’m your WIFE for Celestia’s sake! How could you not tell me you were part of some secret guard that could put you in danger!?” She closed in on him.

“It was for your own protection Twilight, yours and our family.” Nightshade stated raising his voice a little.

Twilight turned to Cadence. “Did you know about this Cadence, did you know Shining Armor was a part of this guard too?”

Cadence looked at Twilight with worry as Shining took her side. “I did Twilight, but I was…..”

Twilight cut her off. “How come you knew about Shining being in this guard but I didn’t know about my brother or my husband being in this?!”

Shining tried to speak with her. “Twilight, calm down. It was for your own good. Cadence knew because she was a princess at the time.”

Nightshade spoke to get Twilight’s attention. “Twilight, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to, believe me, but I was under orders not to say anything. Only those involved in the secret guard and princesses had a right to know. If any pony knew about me being in this guard, they could use you, Spike, or even Shadow Knight, against me for revenge. You understand, don’t you? I kept this a secret for yours, Spike’s, and Shadow’s protection. Please forgive me.”

Twilight’s look softened. She looked to the side in thought. “I…..I need some time to think about this.” Was all she said.

Nightshade sighed. “*Sigh*….I understand. And again, I am sorry for not telling you.”

After Twilight and Nightshade were done with their argument, Sentinel spoke up "Princess Twilight, Princess Cadence, I will assign guards to both of you as well as Shadow Knight and Spike for your own protection. We have no idea what these dragons have in store and it is best that we all be on our best guard. The other reason I brought you here is because with Celestia hurt and Luna being held captive by the dragons, there is no one else to raise the sun and moon, my power is strong enough to handle one of them but not both, so I will take care of raising the moon and it will take both of you to raise the sun. I will teach you the spell it takes to raise the sun. It will only be temporary until Celestia is strong enough to take over. We must do this to prevent panic and alarm to ripple throughout Equestria. Speaking of that, it's about time to raise the moon. You two come with me and I will show you the spell that is required to raise the sun and moon. Nightshade, I want you to take the guys to the briefing room over by the intelligence department and tell them that I will be there shortly, I want them to have all the information they have gathered so far."

“Yes sir.” Nightshade went up to Spike and Shadow Knight. “Shadow Knight, you need to stick with mom for now. I’ll see you again soon. You be good now ok?”

Shadow Knight looked up at his dad. “Dad, are you and mommy angry with each other?” He asked sadly.

Nightshade gave a comforting smile to his son. “Don’t worry son, we just had a little argument. It happens sometimes, you don’t need to worry.”

Shadow Knight smiled back. “Ok dad.”

Nightshade then turned to Spike. “Spike, I’m counting on you to look after your big sis and little nephew.”

Spike gave a salute. “Yes sir.”

Shining hugged Cadence. “I’ll see you soon Cadence. You take care now.”

Cadence hugged back. “I’ll be fine. You watch out for yourself and be careful.”

The two shared a kiss. “See you soon.” Shining said to Cadence.

Nightshade then turned to lead the team to the briefing room and wait for sentinel to get there. Then Sentinel, Twilight, and Cadence all went to one of the castles balconies so Sentinel could raise the moon and show the princesses the spell that is required. When they got to the balcony Sentinel turned to Twilight and Cadence. "First, I am going to show you how to perform the spell, then I will use my magic to transfer my knowledge of the spell to you so that way, you two will be able to raise the sun in the morning." Sentinel said, then he lit up his horn, spread his wings, took to the skies and rose with the moon. Once the moon was started on its path for the night, sentinel landed back down on the balcony and turned back to the princesses. "Are you ready?" He asked. They both nodded.

"Yes Sentinel, were ready." Princess Cadence said.

Sentinel then lit up his horn and touched it to the foreheads of each princess to transfer his knowledge of this spell required to raise the moon and sun. After a couple minutes, he finished and the princesses now had the knowledge necessary to bring forth the sun.

“I’d better get Spike and Shadow Knight ready for bed.” Twilight said. “Come along you two, it’s bed time.” She said as she ushered them forth and made her way out the room.

“I’ll come with you Twilight and help you get them in bed.” Cadence offered.

Twilight smiled at Cadence. “Thank you Cadence.”

"I will send two guards to watch them. Then send some to the hospital to watch you and Cadence as well. I assume that's where you two will be?" Sentinel asked after them.

"Yes, we will be in the waiting room waiting to hear any news about Celestia, and if we hear anything, we will send word to you." Cadence said with a warm smile.

Sentinel bowed before he turned to go talk to the captain of the guards to get guards assigned to the princesses, Shadow Knight and Spike. He found the captain in the castle courtyard ordering guards to their stations as he arrived. "Captain." Sentinel said as he approached.

The captain turned around to the sound of sentinels voice. "General!" The pony said as he saluted Sentinel.

"At ease." Sentinel said dismissing the captain from his salute. "I want the best guards that you can spare to be assigned to guard the Princesses and also Princess Twilight’s little brother Spike and her son Prince Shadow Knight. The Princesses will be in the hospital waiting room once they put Twilight’s son and Spike to bed"

"Yes sir." The captain said as he saluted Sentinel again. The captain then turned to a group of guards that were standing near them. “I want you guys to go guard the princesses and prince Shadow Knight and Wait until your permanent replacements arrive. After that, I want you all to report back here for more orders." They all saluted and turned to go inside the castle.

Sentinel turned to go inside the castle but stopped when he heard the captain speak up. "Um..Sir, can I ask you a favor?"

Sentinel turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Yes Captain?" Sentinel asked, now looking at the captain who had a solemn look on his face.

"I assume that you will probably be leading the team that will go rescue Princess Luna, am I correct? Can you make sure the dragons that killed those guards are torn apart like the guards were?" The captain asked with a stern but sad look in his eyes.

"Why do you ask for such a request?" Sentinel asked in a curious but stern tone.

"Because one of the guards was my twin brother. He was supposed to get married next week and I was going to be his best stallion. Now, I don't know what I'm going to tell our parents or his fiancé, and she's pregnant." The captain said with his head lowered and his ears open but back.

Sentinel just looked at the captain as he remembered the pain he went through when his brothers died. Sentinel then walked up to him and placed hoof on the captain’s shoulder. "If it helps, I would like to be there with you when the news is given to your parents and your brother’s fiancé. I know how it feels to lose a brother, in my case, two of them, to dragons. You were just lucky you weren't there to see any of it happen or see anything far worse."

The captain looked up at Sentinel and gave him a sad smile "Thank you General Sentinel, I would really appreciate that."

"Are you going to be okay or do you want me to find someone to relieve you so you can go be with your family right now?" Sentinel asked.

"No, I'm fine, being here will actually help keep me calm." The captain said.

"Good, because we could really use your help right now, but especially with what all has happened. Now I have to get to the intelligence department and see what they have found out so I can get to work on trying to saving Princess Luna." Sentinel said as he gave the captain a salute. The captain returned the salute and Sentinel turned around to head back into the castle toward the intelligence department where his team was waiting for him to discuss what they were going to do.

Chapter 4

Dragon Empire capital city dungeons:

Luna was barely conscious, but she was still able to tell where she was and what had happened. Her horn had several hairline cracks in it from one of the dragons that Ponynaped her. A group of Dragons lead Luna down into the deepest darkest dungeons they had. They Eventually came to the last cell of the caves. One of the Dragons grabbed Luna by her horn and unceremoniously threw her into the cell. "Get in there!" The dragon snarled. Before Luna was brought down here, they had placed a ring on her horn that prevented her from using her magic. The Dragon then went into the cell and shackled all four of her legs to where she couldn't even move, then wrapped chains tightly around her waist to prevent her from using her wings.

Luna looked up at the dragons with fear in her eyes. "Welcome to your new home princess." Another mocked. All the dragons laughed at the comment.

Another then made a snide remark. “Make yourself comfortable, you’ll be here for a long time.” They laughed again and walked away, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts.

Luna looked a mess. She had bruises all over her and a few feathers were messed up. Her fur was dirty and messy. The only light she had came from a nearby torch. A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Please Sentinel, come save me." Luna said to to herself sadly with her head hung low. She then broke out into tears and cried silently.

Back to Sentinel

Sentinel entered the intelligence department and looked for the pony that was in charge. He approached a brown earth pony stallion with a black mane and tail and a cutie mark of an eye under a magnifying glass. "There you are Seeker. Come with me and bring all the information you have." Sentinel commanded and turned to go into the briefing room.

“Uh, yes sir.” The stallion answered, startled by his superior officers appearance and sudden order.

When Sentinel entered the room, he saw that everyone was already getting their gear ready and making sure everything was in working order. "You guys seem like you're working faster than usual." He said as he saw that they brought his armor and weapons as well. Sentinel’s armor was black dragon bone that covered his entire body. The helmet was in the shape of a dragon's skull and had two large horns that curved back and a whole cut into it so that Sentinel’s horn could go through the forehead part of the armor, the helmet didn’t cover his face. His weapons were a large Warhammer with a serrated spike on the backend and two 2 1/2 foot long swords, both of them resembled the ones that were on his cutie mark. One had a silver handle with the blue gemstone in the hilt and the other had a gold handle with a red gemstone in the hilt.

"I figured you would want us to go as soon as we possibly could." Nightshade said. He had on armor that looked similar to the armor worn by the castle guards but his was solid black and did not have a plume on the helmet. Sentinel still had not been able to figure out how Nightshade could get his helmet on with his horns curving back like they do. Nightshade saw Sentinel looking at his helmet curiously with his horns sticking out. “Yeah, I was wondering how I was supposed to get this thing on myself. I just used a bit of magic to make the holes in the helmet for my horns.

Flash Sentry had on a deep shade of dark brown leather armor with black metal plates on it. His weapon was a crossbow and a sword that was not quite as long as Sentinel’s, it was about a foot shorter.

Silver Spark and Shining Armor Both wore armor similar to Nightshades just that it covered their entire bodies but left their face open. They both also had a sword the same length as sentinels.

Big Macintosh and Night Wing were probably the heaviest armored out of all of them besides Sentinel. They both wore black chain mail and had large metal plates all over their bodies. Big Mac's Weapon was a large two hooved sword that he wore on his back. He also had a pair of tramplers on all four of his hooves that he used for his demolitions and also in unarmed combat. Night Wing had a tomahawk and sword the same length as Flash Sentry’s sword, he also had a pair of tramplers on his front hooves.

Soarin had black leather armor and a gilly suit rolled up into a bundle on his back next to a large krosp about the size of his body. On his side, he had two quivers full of large crossbow bolts and a sword strapped to the other side of his body.

“Um, sir, there’s a bit of a problem with the information you asked for." Seeker said.

"What do you mean?" Sentinel said as he turned to face seeker. The rest of the team did the same with confused looks on their faces.

"We don't have any information at all. We have not been able to get a hold of our agent in the Dragon Empire for about two weeks now." Seeker said with a grim look on his face. "I fear he may have been discovered and probably killed."

"I see. Thank you seeker, now leave us so we can discuss what we are going to do." Sentinel said as he dismissed seeker. Once Seeker left, Sentinel closed the doors behind him and put up a sound barrier. "Dammit... what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Sentinel said as he slammed both front hooves down on the table that they were all sitting at. Sentinel looked at every member of the team that sat around the table, they were all just sitting there deep in thought trying to figure out what they were going to do next.

They were silent for a while until the silence was broken by Silver Spark. "I have an idea that just might work." Silver Spark said. “We could try sending a two stallion team on a reconnaissance mission to scope out the area, we can keep in contact with them with the new crystals that were put in our helmets so we can come up with a plan as they're doing their mission." Silver Spark said as he met the gaze of Sentinel.

"Well what is it?" Sentinel asked.

"We would send Flash sentry and Nightshade on a reconnaissance mission. If they leave now they'll get to the Dragon Empire by daybreak and then they can wait outside of the capital city until nightfall and begin their mission. Flash will be taking information down on their guard patrols where their alarms are and keeping an eye on everything aboveground. Nightshade will be on the ground and trying to gather information about Luna, where they got her and scoping out where they have her so we can get the plan set up. If everything goes as planned, then moon should be here in less than 48 hours. The reason why I am not suggesting that nightshade just go ahead and save Luna is because it is safe to assume that they probably have her in the cell that is impervious to magic, meaning that it would take the entire team to probably break into it and free her, especially with how strong the Dragons forged steel is."

Sentinel thought over what Silver Spark just said. After a minute or two of thinking, he turned and saw that Flash Sentry and Nightshade were already geared up and ready to go. "You don't have to give us any orders Sentinel. We will leave immediately. We will use the crystals in our helmets to communicate with you so that way, while we're on our mission, you guys can be here coming up with a rescue plan and a strategy on how to save Luna, and if I can, I will save her myself." Nightshade declared with a confident smile. Flash had the same expression.

Sentinel nodded and saluted both of them "Good luck you two."

"Thank you sir." they both said and saluted back. They turned to head out the door and make their way through the castle to outside so they can get on their way to the Dragon Empire. "We will begin the mission at 2200 hrs. tomorrow night." Nightshade said just before they left the room.

When Nightshade and Flash Sentry got outside Nightshade turned to Flash Sentry. "I’m going to turn into my super form so I can fly a lot faster and use my magic to help you fly faster to keep up so we can get there quicker and have more time to rest." He took several steps forward and closed his eyes, a round shadow appear under him. The shadow then formed a dome of black and purple swirling around violently. Then it Shot up into a pillar right into the sky. After a moment, it fell back to a dome, only bigger than how it was when it first formed and it began to dissipate, revealing Nightshade in his super form. He was all black, stood as tall as Celestia, his mane and tail were totally black as well and moved like fire. His eyes were completely red except for his pupils that were black. Nightshade then cast the spell that would help Flash Sentry to keep up with him. "Are you ready?" Nightshade asked. Flash Sentry nodded. "Alright then let's go." Nightshade said as both him and Flash Sentry spread their wings and took to the air. Once they got to decent altitude they began to fly in the direction of the Dragon Empire. Almost immediately they both broke the sound barrier.

"Whoa!! At this speed we might get there earlier than what we thought." Flash Sentry practically yelled over the sound of the air rushing by them.

"Yeah I know, I figured the sooner we get there the better!" Nightshade yelled back. Soon, the badlands came into view quickly off in the distance.

Meanwhile back at the castle

Sentinel was on his way back to the hospital waiting room after he told everyone else to go on ahead and get some rest. Silver spark insisted on staying awake so he can make sure that the crystal communication system is working properly and run some communication tests in between them, nightshade and Flash Sentry. When Sentinel got to the hospital, he saw that the princesses were talking with one of the doctors. "So what's going on?" Sentinel asked as he got closer to the group.

"Oh hey Sentinel, the doctor was just telling us that Celestia is out of surgery." Twilight said. "Where is nightshade isn't he with you?"

Sentinel thought for a moment, not wanting to get Nightshade into anymore trouble than he already is. "I have him working on getting everything set and ready for the rescue mission and he will probably be pretty busy until sometime tomorrow night."

"Oh ok. The doctors said that Celestia is in a medically induced coma for right now." Twilight said as she turned to face the doctor standing in front of them.

Sentinel did the same. "So what all happened, and what is her condition right now?" Sentinel asked.

"Both wings were broken. In the right one, every single bone in the wing was broken, and in the left one, the main bone was severely shattered, She probably will not be able to fly for about a year after some intense physical therapy. She had five broken ribs and her left hind leg was dislocated, the bone was broken in three places. She probably will not be able to walk for about two months, and all of this will not happen until she wakes up from her coma." The doctor said with a look of disbelief on his face.

"And what about Discord?" Sentinel said as he met the doctors gaze.

"He is still in surgery. He suffered massive internal bleeding and nearly every single bone in his body was broken and a lot of the doctors were hesitant to perform surgery on him." The doctor said.

"Thank you." Sentinel said to the doctor. Then he turned to face Twilight and Cadence. "I'm going to go get some fresh air before I have to turn in for the night. You two should get some sleep. Don't forget you have to raise the sun in the morning." Sentinel said to the two princesses before he turned to leave the hospital waiting room.

"Sentinel wait!" Sentinel turned around to see Cadence trotting up to him.

"Yes Cadence, is there something you need me to do?" Sentinel asked as he turned completely around to face the Princess.

"You should tell her." Cadence said.

"What do you mean? Tell who what?" Sentinel asked with a confused look on his face.

"Luna, you should tell Luna how you feel about her after to you save her." Cadence said with a straight face.

Sentinel turned his nose up defiantly. "I don't know what you're talking about, what do you mean I should..." Sentinel said before he was cut off by Cadence.

"Sentinel, I am the princess of love, so you know exactly what I mean.” She said with a serious look on her face and a hoof on his shoulder.

Sentinel was quiet for a while and he just stared off to the side not wanting to look cadence and the eye. “She doesn't deserve someone like me. I am nothing but a soldier and that is all I will ever be. She deserves a prince, not someone who is a trained killer and who has seen more death in his life then anypony could imagine..." He was cut off with a hoof to his mouth.

"Sentinel, now you know none of that is true. In fact you would be a perfect stallion for her. The only reason why I didn't take you for myself was because you are practically like an older brother to me. She would be more than happy to be with you." She said with a concerned and caring look on her face.

After she took her hoof off of his mouth, he just looked at her with a small smile on his face. "Older brother huh?" Sentinel chuckled a little bit "Haha So I guess that makes you the annoying little sister I never had." He said jokingly.

"So does that mean you'll tell her?" Cadence asked with a smirk.

"Yeah I will tell her, but only because you will bug the crap out of me if I don't." Sentinel said with a smile. "I am going to go for a quick flight around Canterlot to clear my head before I come back in, then try and get some sleep if I can."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cadence asked.

"No I'm fine I think I just need to be by myself for a little bit. I will see you tomorrow at breakfast, ok?" Sentinel said with a sad smile.

"Ok, Sentinel but if you ever need someone to talk to, I am always here for you." She said as she gave him a hug before she turned to leave for her room.

"Good night little sister." Sentinel said before he turned to head out the doors of the castle.

"Good night big brother." Sentinel heard Cadence say before he closed the doors behind him.

Sentinel took a deep breath of the night air and let out a heavy sigh and looked to the star filled sky with the moon overhead. "I promise you Luna, I will save you, even if it cost me my life I will make sure that you are safe." Sentinel said to himself before he spread his wings and took to the skies.