The Soldier And The Princess Of The Night

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 4
Update

Chapter 1

Chapter: 1

Sentinel is a 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 caused 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 thatCelestia 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 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, anearth 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 yathink 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 friend.

Nightshade was a new breed of pony no pony knew aboutuntil 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 theforest 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 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 smallbow, Big Mac followed suit upon seeing the newly appointed princess enter the room. The two got up from their bow andSentinel 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 twodon'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 andFlash 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 confusedat 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 Canterlotright 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 maneand 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 ofa 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."

Author's Note

I would like to give thanks to Dnny99 who told me that my ideas for the story were good and convinced me to write them. And I would also like to thank Robobronywhose stories inspired me to write my own and use Nightshade, Shadow Night, Night Wing, and Silver Spark. I promise that the next chapter won't take as long and I will try to make the chapters a little longer if they're seeming a little short. and please write reviews personal message me on ideas you may have four chapters or ideas for characters and I will try to get them in and try to get chapters out faster.

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 Lunas 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 of 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 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 COMPAT 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 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 5

Sentinel did not sleep last night, and when he went to breakfast this morning, Cadence saw how tired he was. "Sentinel did you get any sleep last night?" Cadence asked with concern on her face.

Sentinel looked up at Cadence. "No, I just couldn't sleep. I just can't sleep knowing that Luna is being held captive by those dragons." Sentinel said with sleepy eyes.

"But uncle sentinel you need to sleep." Shadow Knight said looking up at Sentinel from the chair next to him.

"I will be fine Shadow Knight I just need a cup of coffee, a strong cup of coffee." Sentinel said as he rubbed his temples.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Cadence asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine." Sentinel said as the doors opened up and Big Mac, Thunderlane, Silver Spark, Night Wing, Soarin, and Shining Armor entered.

Shining Armor took a seat next to his wife while the others took seats around the table. Twilight noticed that Nightshade was not with them, neither was Flash Sentry. "Sentinel where is Nightshade and Flash Sentry?" Twilight asked Sentinel.

"I have them doing something very important for us to be able to go save Luna." Sentinel said.

"And what is that?" Twilight asked.

"Something important." Sentinel said trying to keep Nightshade out of as much trouble as he can.

Twilight just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't make me order you to tell me." She said in a stern voice.

"I have him and Flash Sentry on a reconnaissance mission in the Dragon Empire. We had no information and no way of knowing anything there because our informant that was in the Dragon Empire has not been heard from in weeks. He and Flash were the two best choices to go." Sentinel said as he began to wonder what was taking the maid that takes their orders for breakfast so long to come.

"You WHAT!? How could you send my husband somewhere so dangerous!? And since he's my husband, that makes him royalty. How could you send royalty into danger? He could be hurt, or even worse killed!" she said furiously.

"With all due respect Princess Twilight, when it comes to secret guard business I am his superior, no royalty, no nothing, just the soldier. You don't have to worry about him, Nightshade is one of the most skilled soldiers I have ever met. I'm more worried about Flash Sentry then Nightshade. This is his first combat mission and he has yet to be properly trained or informed of what we do." Sentinel said.
Everything was quiet after that until the maid came in to find out what everyone wanted. The princesses asked for a cup of tea and a salad, Shadow Knight got pancakes with a glass of orange juice, and the rest of the guys got egg sandwiches or pancakes with coffee, sentinel asked for and egg and cheese sandwich with the biggest and strongest cup of coffee the cook could throw at him.

While they were waiting, they began to talk among themselves. Sentinel remained silent the entire time until he heard Shadow Knight. "Uncle Sentinel, when I grow up, will I be able to be in the secret guard like you, uncle Big Mac and dad?" Shadow Knight asked while looking up at Sentinel.

Sentinel looked down at Shadow Knight and smiled. "It's not up to me it's up to those who are on the team at the time and all of the royalty and you get in by majority vote." Sentinel said with a gentle smile.

"Absolutely not!" Twilight said from across the table. "Shadow Night, this secret guard is too dangerous. There is no way my son is joining the secret guard." Twilight said as she stared sternly at her son.

"If he wants to join, why stop him? He would receive the proper training and get to be strong like his father.” Sentinel pointed out.

"I don't want to be talking about this right now, he's too young to anyways." Twilight said as a maid set her food in front of her. Everyone just started talking to one another finding out what they've been up to and how they were doing. During the chatter, everyone found out that Big Mac was wanting to propose to Fluttershy and Soarin was wanting to do the same with Rainbow Dash.

After everyone was done eating, Sentinel excused himself from the table after having his third cup of coffee. "I am going to go take care of some business for right now. I'll meet up with you guys later on ok." Sentinel said before he left the table and left the room.

It was now noon and Sentinel was standing in Luna’s bedroom with a sad and distant look on his face. He just stood there and all he could think about was that he could have done something to prevent this. He could've taken Luna’s offer on eating breakfast with her. Even though he knew that none of this was his fault and that there was no way he could've known that this was going to happen, he still felt that he should have been there, he should have been there to protect the mare that he cared about so deeply but was afraid to tell her. The bodies of the guards had been removed the day before and they were being pieced back together with magic so that way the families would be able to have a funeral for their loved ones. Sentinel stood there looking around the room at the still blood stained walls and floors and the piles of broken furniture around the place. Something in one of the piles caught Sentinels eye. He stepped closer. Using his magic, he dug what caught his eye out of the rubble. In Sentinel’s telekinetic grasp, he held a stuffed teddy bear that was about the size of a newborn foal. The bear looked like the ursa minor, but smaller and more cuddly it was the teddy bear that he gave Luna on her twenty fifth birthday just after the Dragon pony war.
He had put an enchantment on it so that way, it would not weather with time and made it virtually indestructible. He then took it in his hooves and held it close. When he did, he could still smell her perfume on it. He began to silently cry to himself. "I promise you Luna, I will do whatever it takes to bring you home and make sure that you are safe. Even if it cost me my life, I will die happy knowing that you are safe." Sentinel said sadly. He remained like this for quite a while until he heard someone knock at the doorway. Sentinel quickly wiped away his tears and turned to see who it was. When he turned around, he saw Silver Spark. "Silver Spark, what is it?"

"Sir, it's Nightshade and Flash Sentry. They called in requesting to start the mission earlier." Silver Spark said as he saluted his commander.

"I will be there shortly. You are dismissed." Sentinel said waving a hoof to dismiss Silver Spark. Once Silver Spark had left, Sentinel turned his attention back to the stuffed bear that he now held close to his chest. He gave it one last tight hug before he used his magic to teleported to his office for safekeeping. "Hold on Luna I'm coming to save you." Sentinel said to himself before he turned to make his way to the mission room.

When sentinel arrived, he saw that Silver Spark was fiddling with a large clear white gem. "Why are they calling in? They should be resting right now." Sentinel said as he took his seat at the table with the rest of the team sitting around it.

"Ask them yourself." Silver spark said motioning to the now glowing gem sitting in the middle of the table.

"Come in command, can you hear me? This is Nightshade, over."
"This is Flash Sentry doing a coms check. can you hear me over." Sentinel heard Nightshade and Flash Sentry’s voice come from the stone in the middle of the table.
Scene change, just outside the Capitol city of the Dragon Empire:

Nightshade and Flash Sentry were standing just outside the Capitol city. They were both dressed in their complete armor and they were awaiting orders from command.

"Could you two please explain to me why you guys are requesting to begin the mission several hours earlier than what we discussed?" Nightshade and Flash Sentry heard sentinels voice through their communication crystals in their helmets.

"We got here a lot earlier than expected and were able to go to sleep a whole lot earlier as well. The reason why we were wanting to start the mission earlier is because of all the smoke and ash that fills the sky from all of the volcanoes around here. They make it almost pitch black here so it wouldn't matter if we did the mission at night or during the day. We await your orders." Nightshade said.

There was a long pause until they finally got their answer. "Permission granted. But be careful." Sentinel said.

"Alright, let's go. You know what to do." Nightshade said to Flash Sentry before he sank into a shadow under him.

"Okay, let's do this." Flash Sentry said as he flew straight up and started flying just below the clouds of smoke and ash that was above the city so he wouldn't be seen.

"Okay you guys, here's what we want you to do. Flash, we want you to mainly focus on what their numbers are and report the patrols, and also find a few good vantage points for Thunderlane. Nightshade we want you to find out where they are holding princess Luna and scope out the place that they are holding her, and if you can save her." Silver spark said explaining the mission details to them.

"Got it." Both Flash Sentry and Nightshade said in unison.

Nightshade moved through the shadows of the city that was carved out of the side of an extinct volcano. He swiftly moved through the shadows stopping at every group of guards to try and overhear what they were talking about, if they were talking about where Luna was or if they were talking about some random useless information. About an hour or two into the mission, Nightshade found a group of guards that were talking about a new prisoner that they just got in. They revealed it was Princess Luna, and they were on their way for the changing of the guard to the dungeon that she was being held.

"This is nightshade reporting in. I have discovered where they are holding princess Luna. I am on my way there now." Nightshade quietly said as he followed the group of dragons.

"Good work Nightshade, and be careful. We don't want you to end up getting caught and us having to save your sorry flank as well." Sentinel said.

"You don't have to worry about me. After all, I am strong enough to fight Discord." Nightshade said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well the small group of these dragons were able to take down four guards, Princess Celestia Princess Luna and discord and still manage to get out of here before anyone really realized what happened. So don't get cocky." Sentinel said with a slight annoyance in his voice.

"Yes sir." Nightshade said. He began to follow the group of four dragons that looked to be not fully grown but not real young either They all looked like about around twenty or twenty five feet tall and extremely muscular. The biggest one in the group looked maybe about thirty feet tall. He was a black scaled dragon with white scales on his belly and was far more muscular than all the other dragons in the group. His wings, even folded up, at least double the size of his body, and the membrane of his wings were a deep Crimson red, his claws were the same color. "Hey guys, guess what King Draco Demonio said? He said we can do whatever we want to the prisoner. He said we can make that stupid little pony princesse’s life a living hell until her execution. We can do whatever we please." The large black Dragon said with a devilish smile on his face.

"What did that overgrown lizard just say? And who is King Draco Demonio?" Nightshade heard Sentinel say with anger and his voice.

"I don't know, and I thought Iron Scales was the king." Nightshade said as he tried to get closer to hear more of the conversation.

"Why are you guys so mean?" Nightshade heard a small timid voice say. It did not come from any of the dragons that he saw, this voice sounded like it was much younger and smaller than any of the larger dragons before him.

"What did you say you little runt?!" The large black Dragon snarled looking down to his side. Nightshade then noticed a very small baby dragon. The baby Dragon looked to be about a foot shorter then spike may be about 2 feet tall. Nightshade noticed that this baby Dragon was extremely skinny and had several bruises all over his little body. He had midnight blue scales with silver scales on his belly, he also had a silver star shaped patch of scales on his fore head. "Well, are you going to answer me you little waste of skin?" The large dragon said as he continued to stare daggers at the little trembling Dragon now curled into a little ball.

"N-n-no m-master Smog, I-I didn't s-say anything." The tiny Dragon studded. His voice was full of fear and his body was shaking.

"You little shit, you were trying to stand up for that stupid little pony weren't you?" The Dragon now identified as Smog said with anger and rage in his voice.

"N-n-no I w-wasn't. I-I'm s-s-s-sorry master, please f-forgive m-me." The little Dragon said as he began to whimper.

"Insolent little worm, did I say you could beg?" Smog growled as he reared his foot back and kicked the little Dragon with enough force to send him flying into the wall of a nearby building. When he hit the wall, nightshade heard a very loud crack of a bone breaking and the little Dragon yelping out in pain. "There, that will teach you a lesson you little runt." Smog said earning laughter from the rest of the dragons in the group. "Now get over here and keep your mouth shut before I decide I want an afternoon snack!" He snarled causing the little dragon to tremble as he limped with his arm hanging limply back to the dragon’s side.

Nightshade could barely watch the horrible scene that was happening before him, he had never seen such brutality or hatred towards another living being since he was young. "This guy is a monster." Nightshade said. "Hey, did you see that?" Nightshade asked.

"Yeah I saw. It almost makes me wish that we weren't on a stealth op. How old do you think he is?" Flash Sentry asked.

"I don't know. He's pretty young, but it's kind of hard to tell exactly how old he is with how bad he looks. Maybe younger then Spike? I don't know." Nightshade said as he continued to follow the group.

"What are you two talking about? Nightshade what happened?" Sentinel asked.

Night Shade began to explain everything that he just heard. He gave a description and the name of the dragon that was the leader of this group. While Nightshade was doing that, they came upon the entrance to the dungeon where Princess Luna was being held. That is when nightshade discovered the name of the other dragons in the group except for the younger one.

One of them was Cinder, a red dragon with gray scales on his belly and very large black spikes going down his back. He seemed to be the second in command and was almost as big as Smog. Cinder was the only one in the group that did not have wings even the young dragon had wings but looked extremely small and weak. Then there was Fire Wing, an all gray scaled dragon with wings that had a scale pattern that made them look like fire. He was a slender build dragon that looked like he was better suited for speed and agility. And finally Pyro, a white scaled Dragon with black scales on his stomach and black wings. He was probably only a little bit bigger than Fire Wing.

Nightshade followed the group through what looked like an old lava tube. Here and there, Nightshade would see prisoners chained up into little out cuts in the wall with bars in front of them. The types of prisoners he saw were dragons, Minotaurs and even a couple griffins. As he followed the group, he noticed that his communicating Crystal and his helmet began to make funny noises. "Hey guys, if you can hear me, I am going to go silent for a little while I'm getting a lot of interference down here. I think the walls might be distorting the magic down here or something." Nightshade said.

"Copy that. Continue on with mission and be safe Nightshade." Sentinel said.

After following the group of dragons deeper into the lava tube, Nightshade began to notice that it was getting progressively harder for him to keep himself concealed in the shadows, so he decided to hang back a ways, so that way, he could exit the shadow and follow quietly on hoof. Luckily, none of the prisoners could see him and alert anyone to his presents because of the color of his fur and the color of his armor that he wore allowed him to blend in with whatever shadows he would hide in. He continued to follow the group for several minutes until one of the prisoners caught his eye. It was a very large black scaled dragon with red scales on his belly and red wings. It was King Iron Scales, and he was heavily chained to the wall where he couldn't even move. But what made Nightshade stop in his tracks was not the sight of him, but Iron Scales was staring directly at Nightshade.

Nightshade couldn’t help but stay behind a moment to take in what he was seeing. The dragons had gone pretty far ahead to where, if he wanted to, he could talk to the dragon without the guards noticing. “I know your there little pony.” Iron Scales said. “You need not worry, I shall not alert the others of your presence. Come out of hiding so we may speak.”
Nightshade rose from his shadow and approached the cell. “You are Iron Scales, the dragon king aren’t you?” He asked. “How did you know I was here?”
“I could smell you. My senses are stronger than those young ones.” He stated. “And I was the king, but I was overthrown.”
“How? How was that possible?” Nightshade asked.
“It is not important at this moment. I believe you are here searching for someone, go, you must find your princess.”
Nightshade nodded and sunk back into his shadow. He moved a little faster to catch up to the dragons. He managed to do so and followed them to Luna’s cell. Eventually, it soon became impossible for him to stay in his shadow by his surprise and was forced to follow on hoof. He stuck to the shadows as best he could and was able to keep from being seen. Eventually, he finally reached his destination and found princess Luna. The guards had gone further past Luna’s cell and Nightshade would be able to speak with her. Nightshade approached Luna’s cell and saw her in a horrid state. Her coat was a mess, she had scrapes and bruises all over her, and she looked like she was in pain.
“Princess Luna.” Nightshade said to get her attention.
Luna looked up with shock and surprise upon seeing Nightshade. “Nightshade, you’re here. But how?” She asked.
“Don’t worry princess, I’ll get you out.” Nightshade took a step back. He tried to focus his magic to blast the bars but his magic wouldn’t work. “By the stars what is going on? Why won’t my magic work?” He asked.
“It’s no use, the dragons placed anti magic measures around here. Magic is impossible to use.” Luna said as she started looking sullen again.
“Don’t worry your majesty, we’ll get you out. I’ll come back with help when I can and we’ll get you home back to your sister and Sentinel.” Before Luna could respond, Nightshade took off. Once he was able to, he sunk back to his shadow and sped off for the exit.

Once he was outside, he used his communicator to call Flash. "Flash, meet me back where we made camp, we need to hurry back as soon as possible." Nightshade said as he quickly made his way back to the campsite.

"I'm on my way." Flash Sentry said.

"Sentinel, we are on our way back." Nightshade said.

"Good, as soon as you guys get back, I want Nightshade to teleport us to the entrance of that dungeon. We are going to bring Luna back tonight." Sentinel said.

Meanwhile back in the dungeon

The group of dragons had come back to Luna’s cell and stood in front of her. Smog stood there staring at her with the devilish smile on his face. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Princess Luna." He said. He then leaned down and got eye level with her. “Later on, me and you are going to get better... acquainted. But for now, hey runt, get over here." He yelled at the little dragon that was standing next to him.

"Yes sir." The little dragon said as he quickly made his way over to him. Luna looked at the little dragon as he made his way over to them. When she saw how bad of condition the little dragon was in, she immediately felt sorry for him.

"I want you to get her cleaned up for me I want her to be clean by the time I start my fun." Smog said with an evil grin.

"Just wait, someone is going to come and save me, and when they do, they are going to kill every single one of you." Luna said staring angrily at him.

"We’ll just have to see about that." Smog said, he then stood up and left the cell with the other three dragons that was with him, leaving Luna alone with the little dragon.

After they left, the little dragon left the cell then came back a minute later with a bucket of water and some rags. He set the bucket down next to Luna and dipped one of the rags in the bucket. He then looked at Luna. "Can you let me know if I accidentally hurt you so I can try to be more careful?" He said in a calm and gentle voice.

Luna took this time to take a closer look at him as he very gently began to wash her. She noticed all the bruises. What startled her most of all was she could tell that one of his arms was broken, but he wasn't allowing himself to show that he was in pain. Seeing what this little dragon has probably had to live through every day of his life tugged at Luna’s heart. "Tell me little one, what is your name?" Luna asked in a very sweet, soft and motherly tone.

This caused the little dragon to pause a moment. He looked toward Luna, then hung his head sadly. "I-I don't have a name, just r-runt." He said as he began to tremble again.

Luna tried to reach out a hoof to comfort him, but when she did, he saw her reaching out to him and he yelped out in fear and curled up into a little ball and began to shake harder. Seeing this caused Luna to frown. She looked sadly at the little dragon. "Please little one, there is no need to fear me, I am not going to hurt you like that monster." Luna spoke as sweetly as she could, almost like a mother trying to comfort a frightened child. She reached out her hoof again and very gently began to rub up and down the side of the little Dragon to help calm him down.

After a minute, he finally calmed down. He calmed his shaking and looked to Princess Luna with worry. "Is it true what you said to my master? That when your friends come to save you that they are going to kill all of them including me?" He asked with fear in his eyes.

"Oh no, they would never even think about harming someone as small and innocent as you are." Luna said as she gently pulled the little Dragon close for comforting hug.

"When they come here to save you, c-can I come with you? If I stay here, my master will probably try saying it was my fault that you escaped and he’d probably kill me." He said, looking down in sadness.

"Of course you can, I will make sure of it." She said with a sweet smile as she nuzzled the top of his head. He gave a small smile in return.

They stayed in each other's embrace for a few minutes before they broke it and the little dragon went back to gently washing Luna, he even tended to some of her wounds. Luna smiled at the little Dragon. "Tell me little one, how old are you?" Luna asked.

"I'm four, what about you?" He asked with a gentle smile.

"It's not polite to ask a lady her age." Luna said with a light smile on her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude." He said with his head hung low.

Luna reached her hoof out and placed it on his chin lifting his head to look in her eyes. "It's alright, I am two thousand twenty five years old." She said with a gentle smile.

"When's your birthday? Mines December 21st." He said as he looked up at Luna.

She was about to answer him but was cut off. "Did I give you permission to talk to her you little runt?" A voice said angrily. The cell door burst open and in stepped Smog. He reared his foot back and kicked the little Dragon so hard that it sent him flying into the cell wall. There was a loud thud, he bounced off and rolled a couple feet and laid motionless. Smog was about to kick the little Dragon again but instead of his foot hitting him, it hit something bigger.

Luna had thrown herself over the little Dragon to try and protect him from the angry Dragon. She grunted in pain when the dragon kicked her. “Ugh.” She then glared up at Smog. "Leave him alone!" she yelled.
Smog stared angrily at her and began to kick her repeatedly. With every kick, Luna could feel her bones breaking, sending waves of pain through her body that caused her to scream out in pain with every blow. She did not move, but continued to protect the small dragon that was underneath her, still unconscious.

This went on for what seemed like forever until the kicking stop and Luna heard the sickening crunch of bone and metal meeting together. Luna was beginning to lose consciousness as she slowly looked up and saw a tall dark figure with the wings of the Pegasus and the horn of a unicorn standing over her looking down at her with golden eyes of concern. "S-Sentinel..." She said weakly before she passed out.

Thirty minutes earlier back at Canterlot:

Sentinel had already raised the moon by the time Nightshade and Flash Sentry got back. Nightshade and Flash Sentry appeared in the briefing groom where everyone was getting into their armor and strapping on their weapons. Sentinel sat in a corner already with his armor on and sat there with a distant and focused determined look on his face. After a couple minutes everyone was ready to go. Nightshade walked up to Sentinel and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "The men are ready to go. Are you?" Nightshade asked.

Sentinel looked at Nightshade and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm ready." He said as he stood up and put his helmet on. He grabbed his two swords and placed them crisscrossing on his back, then grabbed his hammer that was in the corner with him. Finally, he walked over to the group. "Let's pray." Sentinel said.

Everyone but Nightshade stood in the circle with their front hooves on the shoulder of the one standing on either side of them. Nightshade may have been a part of Equestria for a few years, but he wasn’t about to start praying to some other deity. He had his own beliefs from his old tribe that he stuck to. They bowed their heads as sentinel began to speak. "Dear King Solaris, may you watch over us as we go deep within enemy territory. May you watch over us and keep us safe as we go forth to save your daughter Princess Luna. If one of us should fall in combat this day, we pray that you will watch over the families and the loved ones of them and take their soul and welcome them as a hero and a great soldier. In your name we pray."

"We pray." Everyone else said in unison.
As the group said their prayer, Nightshade performed his own prayer. He placed a hoof to his chest and bowed his head with his eyes closed. “Mother of stars, I pray to you this day, and ask that you watch over me and my friends that we may rescue one who is important to this world. Guide us to her and grant us your protection that we may rescue Luna from the darkness she is in. Praise to the heavens above.” He finished his prayer and walked over to the group when they finished theirs.

"Okay Nightshade we're ready." Sentinel said.

Nightshade nodded his head. He formed a large shadow under the group, they sank into it and dissapeared. They reappeared in the Dragon Empire just outside of the entrance to the dungeon that Princess Luna was in. Nightshade then remembered that he forgot to tell Sentinel what he saw in the dungeon when he came back. "Sentinel there's something you should know before we go in there." Nightshade said.

"What is it?" Sentinel asked, keeping his focus on the entrance to the dungeon.

"I saw king Iron Scales in there, he was chained up close to where Luna was being held." Nightshade said.

Sentinel continued to stare at the entrance as he thought for a moment. "Ok, there is a change in plans." Sentinel said, then turned to face the group. "Everyone is going in there. Nightshade, you will lead half of us to go free Iron Scales. I will lead the other half to go save princess Luna. Flash, Thunderlane, Silver Spark, and Night Wing, you will go with Nightshade. The rest will come with me." Sentinel said and started to quickly move into the dungeon.

Sentinel stopped when he heard a familiar voice echo off the walls. "Leave him alone!" It was Luna’s voice. The next thing sentinel heard fueled his anger. It was Luna screaming out in pain several times. He spread his wings and began to fly as fast as he could through the dungeon toward Luna’s cries of pain. As Sentinel got closer to the noise, he began to hear the sound of something hitting her and that caused him to beat his wings faster. He grabbed his hammer off of his back and held it in his forelegs. He rounded the corner and saw three dragons standing outside of a cell while another one that was much bigger than the rest kicking something that was blue in the floor of the cell. Sentinel already knew it was Luna that the dragon was kicking. The first thing he decided to do was take out the three dragons that were in front of the cell. He threw his hammer toward one of the dragons and the spike embedded itself at the base of the dragon’s skull instantly killing him. While the other two were trying to figure out what happened, sentinel closed the distance and lobbed their heads off with his twin swords in one swoop. Sentinel then quickly grabbed his hammer and swung it around with the head of the hammer connecting to the side of the large dragons skull with a sickening crunch once the hammer made contact.

Sentinel was now standing over Luna looking down at her with concern. She slowly began to look up at him and tried to speak. "S-Sentinel..." She said before she passed out.

"LUNA!" Sentinel cried out full of worry as he dropped his hammer and quickly knelt down beside Luna. Big Mac, Soarin, and Shining Armor finally caught up with him. "Luna please wake up, Luna!" Sentinel cried as he began to feel tears in his eyes from seeing how badly beaten she was. Sentinel quickly took the chains off of her using the keys he found near the body of the large dragon. "Big Mac, I want you to carry my weapons, I am going to have to carry her out." Sentinel said as he tossed his swords sheaves. Sentinel began to lift Luna onto his back, when he did, he noticed that she was on top of the baby dragon that Nightshade described. From the way he looked, sentinel figured that Luna tried to protect him, so Sentinel decided to bring him with them. Sentinel turned his head to Shining Armor. "Shining, can you put him on my back as well." Sentinel motioned toward the small baby dragon that was still unconscious. Shining nodded his head, used his magic to very gently pick the baby dragon up and laid him on Sentinels back next to Luna.

They swiftly began to make their way back to the entrance. As they got closer to the entrance Sentinel kept glancing back at Luna with worry. Shining Armor noticed this. "Don't worry Sentinel, we will get her back to the castle and get the doctors to take care of her." Shining Armor said to reassure Sentinel that everything was going to be okay.

"I hope you are right." Sentinel said with his voice filled with worry.

When they got to the entrance they noticed several dead bodies of dragons near the entrance, they could hear fighting to their left. Sentinel looked over and saw iron scales along with a couple other dragons that still had lengths of chain still attached to their wrist from them being chained up. He also saw the other half of his team fighting alongside them. Iron scales noticed sentinel standing there and he turned to Nightshade. "Hey, they got her, you guys get out of here and we can handle this." Iron Scales said in a deep booming voice.

Nightshade was in his super form and just got done skewering a large dragon with some spikes. He glanced over to the entrance of the dungeon and saw Sentinel standing there with Luna on his back with the baby Dragon next to her. He turned his attention back towards the fight. "Every pony, Luna had been rescued, we’re leaving now." He said as he blocked a swipe from a dragon then used his shadows to pierce the Dragon through the heart. Nightshade, Flash, Thunderlane, Silver Spark, and Night Wing made their way back to the entrance to regroup.

"Alright Nightshade, take us to the hospital at the castle now!" Sentinel ordered.

"I will come to Canterlot once I have gotten a few more supporters. We can discuss what happened!" Iron Scales called over.

Sentinel nodded, he then felt something shift on his back. He turned around to look. It was Luna, she had coughed up a bunch blood and it covered sentinels side. His eyes widened in horror as he could sense Luna slipping away. "NIGHTSHADE! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!!" Sentinel yelled. Nightshade remained in his super form to make the teleporting easier. A large circulars shadow appeared under them and they sank into it.

They re-appeared in the middle of the hospital and sentinel began yelling for doctors "WE NEED DOCTORS OVER HERE NOW!" Sentinel yelled.

The head doctor quickly rushed over and began to assess the condition of Princess Luna and the small baby Dragon on sentinels back. He was a white unicorn with a light blue main and tail, his cutie mark was a heartbeat Monitor. He quickly used his magic to scan both Luna and the baby Dragon to determine what had to be done. After about a minute he determined that both Luna and the baby Dragon were in severe condition. He determined that he would have to operate on the worst one, that was the baby Dragon, and would have one of the other doctors operate on Princess Luna. "I want both of them prepped and ready for surgery now. I will take care of the baby dragon’s surgery. I want Dr. Stitch to perform the princesses surgery." The doctor said.

Several nurses came over with two gurneys, Sentinel helped them put Luna and the baby Dragon on them. It was only after they wheeled Luna away and into surgery that everything finally hit Sentinel. He dropped down to the ground on his belly and broke down crying in front of everyone. “Luna.” He let out quietly as he hung his head and closed his eyes. “Please hold on.” Tears flowed from his eyes.

Chapter 6

Twelve hours have passed since Sentinel and his team brought Luna to the hospital. Sentinel was still in the same exact spot he was when he fell to his belly and started crying. He had cried so much that his eyes stopped producing tears. Now, he just laid there with a distant and sorrowful look on his face as he stared at the surgery room doors that princess Luna and the baby Dragon went through hours ago. He was still in his armor that had Luna’s blood on the side of him that she coughed up. "Sentinel, you need to go home and get some rest. You have been up for two days without a single bit of sleep." Cadence said as she walked up behind Sentinel and placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine Cadence." Sentinel said as he tried to hide that exhaustion in his voice.

"If you don't get your rest, you won't be able to have enough energy to raise the moon tonight. Please don't make me give you an order. You know I don't like to do that." Cadence said with a worried look on her face.

Sentinel looked up at her for a moment, then turned away and let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "*Sigh*... alright Cadence, you win. I'll go home and rest. But promise me that if you hear anything, you’ll come get me, ok?" Sentinel said as he stood up, his armor clanked and clattered as he did.

Cadence smiled up at Sentinel as he began to turn around and head out of the hospital. "Maybe you can spend some time with Shadow. I know you haven't been able to spend much time with him since your promotion." She said, reminding him of his pet.

"You're right, he's probably hungry too. I haven't been home for two days now." Sentinel said with a weak smile.

"Don't worry Sentinel, I will make sure to send someone as soon as we hear something new about Luna." Cadence reassured with a smile.

"Oh and one more thing, have them put the baby Dragon in the same room as Luna when they both get out of surgery." Sentinel said, knowing that is probably what Luna would want. Then he turned to continue walking out of the hospital.

Cadence smiled and nodded. "Of course. Know what Sentinel?" Cadence said, making Sentinel stop and turn to face her. "Most ponies who have seen the things you have seen would be cruel and hateful towards everypony or would have gone crazy and started killing everypony.." She stated with a slight frown.

"Um Thanks I guess." Sentinel said with a shocked look on his face that Cadence would say such a thing to him.

"You didn't let me finish, most ponies would be cruel and hateful or just go insane, but you are different. You are one of the nicest and most gentle stallions I have ever known. After everything you have been through, you still find a way to be kind and caring to others. That is why you should really tell Luna how you feel about her." Cadence said with a warm smile as she walked up to him and placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder. "I know that one day you will make Luna feel like the happiest mare in the world."

"Thanks cadence, I really appreciate that." Sentinel said as he leaned in to give her a hug. They held the hug for a couple seconds before they broke it. Sentinel waved goodbye to Cadence and continued to head home.

"And try to cheer up, everything is going to be okay now!" Cadence yelled after him.

'I hope you're right cadence.' Sentinel thought to himself. 'I hope you're right.' As Sentinel made his way through the streets of Canterlot, he kept getting nasty and snooty looks from the ponies that lived there. 'Maybe I should move somewhere less judgmental' Sentinel thought to himself. As Sentinel was walking, he suddenly remembered that there was some business that he needed to attended to. But first, he needed to go find the captain of the guard. Instead of going straight home, Sentenal decided to head to the castle to find the captain. When Sentinel got to the castle gates, Instead of seeing the normal 2 guards there, he saw ten. They were all standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the gate. He also saw several reporters standing around; and when they saw him, they rushed over to him.

"Can you tell us what is going gone General Sentinel?!" One reporter asked.

"Why are there so many guards on duty?!" Another one asked.

Sentinel held up a hoof to get them all to quiet down. "I will answer everything at a press conference at a later date that is still to be determined." Sentinel said as he began to make his way toward the gate. The guards at the gate parted to let Sentinel through, two unicorn guards used their magic to open the gate. Before sentinel entered the castle grounds, he turned to face the group of reporters. "I want all reporters to stay away from the castle until the press. If any of you are found near the castle or near any of the family of any of the guards, you will be arrested and held in custody until I see fit." Sentinel said with a stern voice.

"Did you just threaten us general?" One of the reporters asked.

Sentinel just looked over the group of reporters. "You should all know by now from dealing with me in the past I do not make threats, only promises." He said as he glared at each and every single one of them. Before they could respond, Sentinel turned around and headed inside, the guards closed the gates behind him. "I hate reporters." Sentinel mumbled to himself. Sentinel walked in to the Castle court yard and looked around. He spotted the captain over by a group of high ranking guards and filling them in on what happened. Sentinel made his way over to the group and, when they saw him approaching, they all snapped to attention and saluted. "At ease." Sentinel said when he got closer to the group.

"Good morning general. I was just briefing the other officers of the situation." The captain said.

"That's good captain." Sentinel said.

"How did the rescue mission go? Were you able to save the princess?" The captain asked with a concerned look.

"Yes, the mission was successful. We also saved a baby dragon that the princess was protecting." Sentinel said to the group. "Oh, and one more thing. There will be a group of dragon's coming here but we do not know when it will be or how many will be coming. If you see King Iron Scales with them, do not engage. They are friendly. I want you all to pass this onto your Units." Sentinel ordered. All of the officers saluted Sentinel and the captain then left to go and inform their units, leaving Sentinel and the captain of the guards standing there alone. "Captain, are you ready to go inform your family of your brother's death?" Sentinel asked looking toward the captain.

"Yeah, I'm ready." The captain said with a solemn look on his face.

"We should probably go and inform the other three families first before we go to yours." Sentinel said.

"You're probably right general." the captain said. For the next two hours Sentinel and the captain of the guard went to the other three families to bring them the bad news. They finally got to the captains families home and he proceeded to knock on the door.

When the door opened, it revealed an elderly Pegasus stallion covered with battle scars. He had a dark blue coat and white mane and tail. His cutie mark was of a sword and shield. Sentinel automatically recognized him as captain Iron Wing, the captain of the guard that Shining Armor replaced. "Blaze Wing, general Sentenal, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Captain Iron Wing asked in a cheerful voice.

"Hey dad, is mom and Rose here?" Captain Blaze Wing asked.

"Yeah, Rose Is here. She got worried because your brother didn't come home last night. What's going on over there? Notice that they have nearly tripled the guard and there have been more patrols. Did something happen?" Iron Wing asked curiously.

"Can we continue speaking inside Captain Iron Wing?" Sentinel asked.

"Sure, come on in." Iron Wing said as he stepped aside to let them in.

Sentinel and Blaze Wing followed Iron Wing into the house. They followed him into the living room where Sentinel saw an elderly Pegasus mare with light bluish green coat and a yellow mane and tail with a few gray hairs in them. Her cutie mark was a group of three clouds. Sitting next to her was a young unicorn mare with a tan coat. She had a red main and tail. Heard cutie Mark was a rose bush with multiple different colors of roses on it. She also appeared to be very pregnant and looked like she was due any day now. The two who looked up to see Sentinel and captain Blaze Wing enter the room. The older mare looked at her son with a smile, but then her smile faded once she noticed that her other son was not with them. "Blaze Wing! Your home. where's your brother? Why isn't he here with you?" She asked with concern in her voice.

Blaze Wing couldn't look his mother in the eyes. He hung his head and looked to the side. He was about to open his mouth to tell his parents what happened as tears began to form in his eyes, but Sentinel stopped him by putting a hoof on his shoulder. Blaze Wing looked up at Sentinel. Sentinel had a Look on his face that told Blaze Wing that he would tell his family so he wouldn't have to.
Sentinel took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh before he looked up to face the other three ponies in the room. "*Sigh*... Sir, ma'ams, I regret to inform you that two days ago at approximately one hundred hours, your son gave his life to protect the princesses from a dragon attack. Your son, along with three of his fellow guards, will be given a full honors funeral and burial at the Equestrian National Memorial Cemetery and will be awarded the Equestrian golden shield of valor. I am sorry for your loss." Sentinel said with a heavy heart. He then decided that it was time for him to leave and let the family grieve. When Sentinel got outside, he began to hear the cries of sorrow coming from the family inside the house that he just left.

Sentinel let out a heavy sigh "*sigh* I don't think I will ever get used to having to do this no matter how long I live or how many times I do it." Sentinel said to himself. He then spread his wings and flew off toward his estate that was neighboring the castle. After flying for about a minute or two, Sentinel landed in his front yard. The house that stood before him dwarfed the largest houses in Canterlot. The only other buildings that were bigger were some of the public buildings like the library, some of the office buildings, and the castle. It was a red brick house with dark blue shutters and the front door was a dark brown solid wood double doors. It also had chimneys on top of the roof to help keep the place warm during the winter.
Sentinel approached the front door and used his magic to teleport a key in front of him. He then used it to unlock the door and headed inside. When Sentinel got inside and closed the door behind him, his ears were met with the sound of nails clicking on the hardwood floors of his house. Sentinel turned his head to face the sound and his eyes fell upon his faithful companion shadow.

Shadow is a two headed dog known as an Orthros. The left head was that of a German Shepherd with brown eyes while the right head was that of a Wolf with one blue eye and one yellow eye. Shadow's fur was dark grey and he had a white underbelly that was just as white as Princess Celestia's fur. He had bandages on his right leg that he hurt when he got into a fight with a large manticore that eacaped from the local zoo. Sentinel smiled as shadow got closer. Shadow sat down in front of Sentinel wagging his tail happily and staring up at him happily greeting his owner. Shadow was big for an Orthros, he stood maybe just a couple inches shorter then Luna.
Sentinel smiled and sat down holding out a hoof. "Here boy, let's take a look at your leg to see how it has healed." Sentinel said as shadow lifted up his paw and put it in sentinels hoof. Sentinel then began to carefully remove the bandages with his magic to check to see how the leg was healing. Once the bandages were removed, Sentinel saw that the leg looked completely healed. He raised his other hoof and ran it gently across the leg to feel the bone under the skin to make sure it had healed properly. Once he was done, he set Shadow’s leg down and reached both hooves up to pat each head. “It looks like you're all healed up. Maybe you can be able to join me on our next mission." Sentinel said happily.

Sentinel had trained shadow to be useful on the battlefield when he was just a pup. But that was a little over a thousand years ago when Luna became Nightmare Moon. Between him, Luna, and Celestia using the elements of harmony against Luna, there had been so much magic being thrown around that shadow got hit by a powerful blast that was a combination of every ones magic together. Giving him something that nopony could have predicted, it gave him immortality, it also amplified his senses and abilities. He was now able to see farther and also in complete darkness, and he could hear and smell better than he used too. Not to mention that it made him stronger and faster. He also had increased stamina so he could run for longer periods of time without getting tired. In a dead run, Sentinel would have to fly just so he can keep up with Shadow.

It was actually Luna who gave Shadow to Sentinel as a birthday present. Making Sentinel extremely attached to Shadow. Sentinel noticed that Shadow’s wolf head was sniffing the air. The other head soon noticed and began doing the same thing. They moved to follow what they were smelling and Sentinel then realized what they were smelling the side that Luna had coughed up blood on Sentinel. When they got closer, they sniffed a couple times and stepped back and started whining and looked up at him with worried filled eyes. "Don't worry boy, she is alright and is at the hospital now." Sentinel said as he patted him on the shoulder. He then stood up and made his way to the kitchen to get himself and Shadow some food. "Come on boy, you hungry?" Sentinel said to Shadow as he made his way into the kitchen. When Sentinel got into the kitchen, he used his magic to pick up shadows food and water bowls, filled them up and set them down for Shadow to eat. He then went to the fridge to get himself something quick to eat before he went to bed.

Once Sentinel had something to eat, he made his way upstairs to go to his bathroom and take a quick shower before going to bed. Sentinel came out of the bathroom levitating his armor next to him and set them in the corner of his room as he made his way to his king size bed. He set his alarm clock to go off and hour before he had to raise the moon. He then crawled into bed and pulled the covers over him and laid his head down on one of the pillows and slowly closed his eyes. Just before that though, he heard whimpering before he could completely close his eyes. He opened them to look to who was whimpering. Shadow was sitting next to the bed staring at him. Sentinel smiled and patted a spot next to him, letting shadow on the bed to sleep next to him. Shadow hopped up and curled up next to Sentinel. Sentinel started petting him before sleep took him.

Later that evening.

Sentinel had just woken up and was in his kitchen pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee and fixing himself a little something to eat before he had to head outside to raise the moon. Sentinel had just let shadow outside so he could go do his business before Sentinel left to go back to the hospital to see how Luna was doing. Once Sentinel was done with his food and coffee, he put the dishes in the sink and checked the clock that was on the wall and noticed that it was just about time for him to raise the moon. He made his way outside and looked to where the sun was setting. Once it was out of sight, his horn started to glow as he spread his wings and started flying high into the sky. Once the moon was set for its course for the night, he saw that Shadow was looking up at him. Sentinel flew down and landed next to him. "Hey boy, are you all done with your business?" Sentinel asked with a smile on his face as he scratched shadow just behind his two heads at the base of their necks. Shadow barked happily as he wagged his tail and started thomping one of his back legs. "Come on boy, let's head inside." Sentinel said as he turned to make his way back into his house.

When they got inside, Sentinel went to his room to grab his saddlebags so he could take a couple of things with him to the hospital. They were dark blue with silver shield shaped buckles on them. Sentinel started putting a couple things in them like a bag full of bits and couple inkwells with paper and quills so he can write a statement for a press conference. As sentinel was packing, he suddenly remembered something of Luna’s that he put in his office back at the castle. He concentrated on Luna’s stuffed bear and used his magic to teleport it in front of him. After a couple of seconds, it appeared in front of him floating in his telekinetic grip. He moved floated it into his saddlebags. He lifted them up in his magic and put them on his back as he made his way downstairs to his front door. He was just about to leave when he heard shadow whimpering behind him.

Sentinel turned around to face him and Shadow looked at him sadly. "What's wrong boy?" Sentinel asked. Shadow looked at him with big puppy dog eyes and the German Shepherd head tilted to the side. "You want to come with me don't you?" Sentinel said with a slight smirk on his face. Shadow just continued staring at Sentinel with his puppy dog eyes and head tilted. "Fine you can come with me, but you have to behave or I will bring you straight home ok?" Sentinel said with a smile. Shadow became very happy after that and stood up and started wagging his tail with excitement. "Come on boy, let's go see how Luna is doing." Sentinel said as he opened the door and him and shadow left the house and Sentinel locked the door behind him putting the key in his saddlebags. Sentinel and shadow then began to make their way to the hospital.

Author's Note

I am looking for OC's to put in future chapters so please leave a description in the comments or me with your character’s name and full description and a little backstory they can be anything pony, griffin, donkey, or minotaur I will use both OP OC's and regular OC's so send them to me and you might see them in the next chapter or two.

Chapter 7

Sentinel and Shadow were making their way inside the hospital. When they got inside, the mare at the front desk looked up and smiled at Sentinel and shadow as they came into the front lobby. "We were just about to send somepony to go get you." The mare said. "And I see Shadow is all better. All the kids over in the children's wing were beginning to really miss him." she said causing Sentinel to glance over to Shadow who was looking off down the hall towards the children's wing.

"It's okay boy you can go visit them. But only for a little bit because it is late and they will be going to bed soon." Sentinel said with a smile "Just come find me when you're done visiting okay." Sentinel said while scratching Shadow between the shoulder blades. Shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident, Sentinel went and got Shadow approved for being able to visit hospitals and retirement homes to help ponies cheer up when they are feeling down.

"He really enjoys his visits here doesn't he?" The mare said behind the desk watching as shadow walked happily wagging his tail down the hall and making a right at the end.

"Yeah, I think he's been looking forward to this for a month now. I would have brought him while he was healing but the vet told me that he had to stay at home and rest." Sentinel said as he walked up to the desk and stood in front of it."Which room is Princess Luna in?" Sentinel asked.

The mare look through some papers that were in front of her and found what she was looking for. "Second floor room 214. Both her and the baby Dragon are in there." She said moving the stack of papers in front of her.

"Thank you ma'am." Sentinel said as he went over to the stairwell to get to the second floor. When Sentinel got to the second floor, he saw that there were guards everywhere, all of them wearing the armor of Lunas elite guard. Some of them saluted him as he walked over to Lunas room. When he got there, he saw that four of Lunas elite guards at the door were two unicorns and two bat ponies. They saluted him as he walked Into the room. When he entered the room, he saw Luna lying on a hospital bed covered in bandages and had Several machines and IV’s hooked up to her. They also had her on oxygen to help her breathe easier. When Sentinel looked over to the baby dragon, he saw the same thing, the only difference was that he was completely covered in bandages. Only his mouth and eyes were visible. That is when Sentinel noticed that the baby dragon’s eyes were open and looking at Luna with tears in his eyes. Sentinel could only assume that the only reason he was awake was because he was a dragon and a lot tougher then ponies. It looked like he was trying to say something and he hadn't noticed Sentinel yet. So sentinel stepped back into a shadow and just stood there watching and listening to what the baby dragon was saying.

"All of this is my fault. If I hadn't of been talking to you, my master wouldn't have hurt you like he did." The baby Dragon said as his voice cracked and more tears began to flow.

Seeing the baby Dragon so upset triggered something within Sentinel that he had never felt before, he couldn't tell what it was, all he knew was that he needed to comfort the little Dragon. Sentinel step out of the shadows causing the baby dragon to notice him and start to tremble. He walked over and sat down beside the bed as the baby dragon looked up at him with his eyes full of fear. "You don't have to be scared of me little one." Sentinel said with a gentle and soothing voice as he brought up a hoof to gently wipe away his tears. "You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. It was not your fault. From what I could tell when me and my team came to rescue the princess, she was trying to protect you." Sentinel said with a gentle smile on his face.

"W-why would she do that." The baby dragon asked.

"Because she probably cared about you enough to put her own life at risk to protect you." Sentinel said with a smile. "And I would do the same for her and anyone she cares about." Sentinel said as he turned his head to face Luna.

"AHHHH MONSTER!" The baby Dragon yelled causing sentinel to turn his head to look at him again. When he turned to face the baby Dragon he was looking past Sentinel with fear in his eyes as he trembled so hard that the bed was shaking. Sentinel quickly turned around to face what was scaring the baby Dragon ready to face anything that could be scaring him so much.

But when he turned around, all he saw was Shadow sitting there wagging his tail and looking at Sentinel. Sentinel just smiled and turned to face the baby dragon. "You don't have to worry about him he is my pet Orthros his name is Shadow he won't hurt you." Sentinel said as he gave the baby dragon a reassuring smile while rubbing up and down his side with his hoof to calm him down. After about a minute or two, Sentinel got him to calm down. "Would you like to pet him? He really likes children." Sentinel said with a warm smile.

The baby dragon looked around Sentinel at shadow and slowly nodded his head with a slight worried look on his face. Sentinel turned his head to face Shadow. "Come over here boy, there's someone here that wants to meet you." Sentinel said as he scooted over so the baby Dragon would be able to reach him, but close enough to where if he got scared he would be right there. When Shadow got to the side of the bed, he laid both of his heads on the bed near the baby Dragon. The baby Dragon then slowly reached out one of his claws and slowly started to pet Shadow. "You know, his favorite spot to be scratched is right behind his heads between his shoulder blades." Sentinel said as a suggestion.

Shadow then put both front paws on the bed and put both of his heads on either side of the baby dragon so he could reach his shoulders better. He then reached out his claw and started scratching Shadow in between his shoulder blades which made Shadow’s legs to start thumping against the ground. Seeing that the baby dragon was no longer afraid of Shadow, Sentinel turned around and went to sit by Lunas bed. He took his saddlebags off and set them beside him. "Hey Luna, it's me Sentinel." Sentinel said quietly as he picked up one of Lunas hooves and held it in both of his. "I am so sorry, I should have been there for you." Sentinel said as tears began to fill his eyes. It was then that Sentinel decided that he would refuse to leave Luna's side until she woke up. He would stay by her side and help the nurses with whatever they needed help with for either Luna or the baby Dragon.

Four days have passed since Luna was rescued. Now Sentinel, along with princess Cadence and princess Twilight, were getting ready to speak to the public about what happened and what they are going to do. Sentinel was dressed in his officer’s uniform and the princesses were wearing their full royal attire. "Sentinel, are you sure about your plans? I mean are they really necessary?" Twilight asked.

"Yes princess, they are necessary. As it sits, Equestria is not strong enough to go to war even with the help of our allies." Sentinel said.

"But can't we just use a spell to banish them somewhere like the changelings instead of going to war where so many lives would be lost?" Twilight asked.

Sentinel looked Twilight in the eyes causing her to shiver under his cold gaze. "Yes Princess, there is a spell strong enough for us to banish them." Twilights ears perked up at the thought of being able to avoid so much death and also learning a new spell. "But the spell would not be able to tell the difference in between friendly dragons and dragons that are our enemy." Sentinel said.

Twilight looked at him confused. "What is that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked.

"Tell me princess, would you be willing to force spike, who I know you consider to be your son, or the baby dragon that I saved and all the dragons that are like them to the same fate?" Sentinel asked. Twilight didn't answer him. Instead she just looked away from him with a sad look in her eyes. "Then there is no other choice then to go through with my plan." Sentinel said.

There was a knock at the door and Sentinel went over to see who it was. When he opened the door, he saw a guard standing there. Once the guard saw Sentinel, he saluted and then gave a quick nod as he dropped his salute. "Sir, we are ready for you."

"Thank you. You may return to your post now." Sentinel responded.
The guard did a quick salute before he turned and went back to his post.

"Are you two ready?" Sentinel asked. Both Twilight and Cadence nodded. Sentinel used his magic to open the doors to the balcony. Twilight and cadence took their places at the front and center of the balcony while sentinel stood off to the side and slightly behind them. The skies were filled with Pegasus guards while all around the castle walls stood countless number of unicorn and earth pony guards. The city Square was packed full of its citizens with an area at the front roped off that had representatives from every single newspaper in Equestria. Every pony went silent when the princesses appeared on the balcony. "Citizens of Equestria." Cadence began speaking loud enough for the entire square to hear her. "Princess Twilight and I regret to inform you that one week ago, the Dragon Empire broke their treaty with us by sending a group of dragons that attacked Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They kidnapped Princess Luna and severely injured Princess Celestia." There was a collective gasp from the crowd and many of them began shouting questions and things.

"Why didn't the guards protect Princess Celestia!?!"

"Is Princess Celestia going to be okay!?!"

"It's nightmare moon's fault, she was probably just pretending and got the dragons to help her out and attack the princess!!"

"Yeah, everything was peaceful before she came back! Since then, Equestria has been attacked by Discord and the changelings! Even the king Sombra returned and try to take over the Crystal Empire again! She has to be behind everything that's been happening!"

After that, the whole crowd went wild and the princesses were trying to do their Best to calm them down but to no avail. After that last comment, sentinel's emotions got the better of him. "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!!!" Sentinel’s voice boomed all across the mountain side city breaking a few windows and causing the ground to shake. Every pony turned to see Sentinel hovering in the air with his wings flared out to their full length and his eyes glowing white with his mane and tail a fiery inferno. Every pony stared on with eyes widened and a mixture of Shock and fear of the enraged alicorn general washed over the crowd. Cadence watched on with shock and worry because she knew how much pain Sentinel was going through at this moment. "How dare you ponies accuse princess Luna of such things!!" Sentinels voice boomed again.

Cadence walked up to Sentinel and reached up and placed a hoof on his foreleg to gain his attention. When Sentinel looked at her, his eyes went back to normal. He then began to calm down as he slowly drifted back to the ground and his main and tail slowly began to return to their normal form. "Sentinel, you shouldn't let what they say get to you." Cadence said.

"I'm sorry Cadence, I can leave if you want me to." Sentinel said as he hung his head down in shame for letting his emotions get to him as they did.

"No, its okay Sentinel, just try to ignore them if they say anything more about Luna." Cadence said with a gentle smile. Cadence then turned back around and went back to the front of the balcony to continue speaking. "As I was saying, the princesses were attacked by a group of dragons sent here by the Dragon Empire. They disguised themselves as representatives of the Dragon Empire. That is how they got into the castle and attacked the princesses and kidnapped Princess Luna. But thanks to the swift action of an elite unit of ponies, they were able to rescue her. We have also received word that the dragons attacked leaders of Neighpon, Jayponese, Saddle Arabia, zebra tribes, buffalo tribes and the donkey Kingdom. I will now let general Sentinel speak to inform us on what we are going to do next." Cadence said as she stepped aside and gestured a hoof towards Sentinel.

"Thank you princess." Sentinel said as he bowed his head to the princesses. He then turned his attention to the crowd and began to speak loud enough for everypony to hear. "As princess Cadence said, princess Celestia and princess Luna, along with the leaders of our allies, were attacked by the Dragon Empire thus breaking the treaty we have had with them since the great Dragon pony wars. What they did was an act of war but as it sets, we do not have enough soldiers in our army to do much of anything. The Dragon empire is strong and it is safe to assume that the griffins will be taking the side of the dragons. I am left with no choice but to issue a draft that one member from each household will be required to serve in the army. Also, I am reactivating the wonder bolts military status. The parameters of the draft are you must be in between the ages of 18 and 35 years old. The ones who bear the elements of harmony are not required to participate in the draft..... however if they choose to sign up freely of their own free will, they will not be stopped."

At that last little bit, Sentinel could feel Twilight’s angry glare directed at him. He pushed the feeling aside for later and continued his speech. "The draft will commence immediately, but we will not take any action until one year from now. That will give us the time we need to strengthen ourselves and gather the forces we need to win the war. All of those who will be drafted are to report here in Canterlot where you will be divided up and you will be sent to training camps that will be set up in different locations in Equestria. For the first three months, you will be going through conditioning for your three months basic military training followed by four months of special training. Close to the end of basic training, there will be skills tests. If you show any pacific talent for a certain skill during this time, you will be assigned that pacific type of special training. I am also reviving the beast tamers program. For those of you who do not know, the beast tamers program is where we use Ursa majors, phoenixes, Sybariss, and many other creatures that are tamed and then trained to be used in combat. That is all I have to say for now." Sentinel said then he turned and started to walk away. He heard them begin to scream and shout at him in protest, but he just ignored them.

When Sentinel entered the room that led to the balcony, he began to make his way toward the door to exit the room so he could get back to the hospital and back to Luna. However, Sentinel sensed a strong surge of magic that was directed towards him. Thanks to his many centuries in the military, Sentinel’s highly sensitive reflexes kicked in, causing him to react by putting up a strong shield. A beam of raw purple magic connected with his red shield. "I'm guessing this has to do with what I said about your friends?" Sentinel asked as he turned around to face an angry Twilight.

"I won't let you Sentinel, I won't let you put my friends into the military where they can get killed." Twilight said while glaring at him.

"I said that it was their choice whether or not they join so I won't be forcing them, and technically, one of them is already in the military." Sentinel said.

"What do you mean? None of them are in the military." Twilight said continuing to glare at Sentinel.

"If I remember correctly, your friend Rainbow Dash, the element of the loyalty, is on her way to becoming a wonder bolt. The wonder bolts have always been a reserve branch of the military's air command." Sentinel said as he dropped his shield. “In fact, I had a paper come across my desk about a week after my promotion describing a pony that fits her description. She was highly recommended for squadron leader upon her becoming a full fledge member of the wonder bolts." Sentinel said. Just then Sentinel sensed someone passing through the barrier that he put up around Luna's hospital room. It was a special kind of barrier that could not be seen and ponies were able to pass through it. When they passed through it, Sentinel would be able to tell who they were and what they were doing. But what caused sentinels body to go cold was that he sensed that they were very powerful and that they were using shape shifting magic. "Somepony just entered Luna's room using shape shifting magic!" Sentinel said as he began to gather his magic for a teleportation spell.

"What?! Is it a changeling?" Cadence asked with concern.

"I don't know, I can't tell. Whoever they are, they’re strong. You two stay here." Sentinel said right before he teleported away to Luna's hospital room.

When Sentinel appeared in Luna's hospital room, he saw a dark blue unicorn mare with the light blue main and tail and a doctors uniform. She was standing near Luna's bed with her horn glowing. Sentinel acted quickly and rushed the mare. He tackled her and pinned her against the wall while summoning his silver handled sword.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slit your throat right now." Sentinel said angrily as he pressed the blade of his sword against her neck.

"I was just trying to help. My name is Dr. Heart. I was sent from Mainhattan to help." The mare said with a horrified look on her face.

The door to the room burst open and two lunar guards came rushing in with shadow right behind them. "What's going on in here?" One of them asked.

"I just caught an intruder." Sentinel said as he glanced toward the guards. Shadow had gotten in between where he was and where Luna’s bed was, crouching and practically saying hello with his ears perked up and fangs bared. Luckily for Sentinel, the baby dragon was not in the room at the time. He was over in the children's wing visiting the other fillies and colts in the hospital. "As for you, I know that you are lying we didn't send for anypony. I put up a barrier that lets me know when somepony enters this room. It also tells me things like for example I know that you are using shape shifting magic. You have two choices, show us your true form and tell us why you are here and I might not execute you, or I can use my magic to force you into your true form which would be very painful. After that, I will interrogate you until you reveal your purpose here, then you will be executed." Sentinel said with a deep glare. "If I were you, I would choose the first choice. That way, you won't have to see a side of me that no pony has seen in over eight hundred years."

The mare nodded and her horn started to glow as her body began to morph into its original shape. But when her magic was done, what Sentinel saw was something that he was not expecting. There was a look of shock and confusion on sentinels face for a moment, then it quickly shifted to anger. The mare looked exactly like Luna, the only difference was her eyes and her cutie mark. Her eyes were dark purple and her cutie mark looked the same but it had a diamond on the crescent moon. "Fine, if you don't want to show us what you really look like, then I will make you." Sentinel said as his horn began to glow. Sentinel closed his eyes to concentrate on the spell but when he tried to cast to it, something didn't feel right.

"Who are you?" Sentinel asked as he opened his eyes. "I can tell from my spell that you are already in your true form, so tell me. Who are you and why did you come here?" Sentinel said as he stepped back allowing her to stand on her own.

The mare reached up to rub her neck as she cleared her throat. "My name is Midnight Diamond and I am Luna's twin sister."

Author's Note

Authors note: Ooooo cliffhanger mhahahah hahaha haha.... cough cough cough... heck wheez. Anyways I am sorry that it took me so long on this chapter I've just kind of forgot about it and I've just been really busy with work and other things. I would just work on this here and there but never really got much done on it and before I realized it, I had a really long chapter that I decided to split up I already have a good portion of the next chapter done so I promise that it won't be as long of a wait.

The idea for midnight diamond was submitted by Warrior Princess Luna.

Anyways The OC that appeared at the end of the chapter was submitted by Warrior Princess Luna I will have more backstory on her in the next chapter. I am still looking for some OCs to use in my story. So just put your ideas in the comments or you can personal message me.
....
Thank you come again.
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Admit it, you guys read that with the accent.

Chapter 4

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 with steel plates spaced out around his body. Crisscrossing on his back or two black katanas.

Thunderlane had on black leather armor And on his back was a Gilly suit rolled up into a bundle. Next to that was a large cross bow the size of his body. Strapped to his side work to quivers full of crossbow bolts He also had a short Katana sword

“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.

Update

Hey everyone sorry I haven’t posted anything in so long a lot of major things came up in my life that caused me not to have time for any writing or any reading so I have like five years of on read chapters to catch up on. I have decided to start up writing again and I have decided to start over with this story but I would like to have a editor before I start posting. Though I am having trouble finding a editor So if anyone has a suggestion or wants to offer please message me or comment down below. I already have most of her first chapters are done and the rest of the story mapped out.