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.