The Soldier And The Princess Of The Night

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.