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.
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Thank you come again.
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Admit it, you guys read that with the accent.