Dawn of the Force

Canterlot, Equestria

06/14/2025

1241 hours

All around Canterlot, it would seem as though nopony remembered Twilight, as none of them appeared to be concerned when she failed to show up at the wedding. Her name was never spoken all throughout the ceremonious day. Now, though, was not the time for such things, as it was time for vows to be taken and fates to be tied together.

"Just look at all these fools," Cadance thought as she walked up the aisle, "No idea what's coming".

As soon as she reached the end of the aisle, Cadance turned to face Shining Armor as princess Celestia began her speech. Those eyes, filled with love meant not for her, but somepony else. He was not aware that the love he had for the mare whose face was planted on this other pony would soon be used against him and everypony else. The time drew ever nearer as the time of vows approached.

"And do you, Cadance, take this stallion to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Celestia asked.

"I do," Cadance said, feigning sincerity as best she could.

"Then, from this moment forward, I now pronounce you husband and wife. May the rest of your lives be filled with happiness everlasting," Celestia said, "Shining Armor, you may now kiss the bride".

And kiss her, he did. The sudden surge of love from that one motion gave Cadance more power than she had ever thought possible. Now was the time, she had never been so full in her life. Her eyes lit up with an eerie green glow as she backed away from the kiss to address the crowd.

"And now, it is time," Cadance said before her body became encompassed in green flames.

What now stood where Cadance once did was something terrifying. A black alicorn like creature. In place of fur was rock hard chitin. Her legs and horn looked like Swiss cheese with all the holes. The once regal, tri purple, pink, and tan colored mane and tail were replaced with a creepy, blue hued mane and tail with a couple of holes near the ends. Wings once graced with feathers were now nothing but nearly crystal clear blue membrane. And atop the creature's head was something akin to a small crown. What stood where Cadance once was, was now a creature of nightmares.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Celestia growled.

"It's quite simple, dear," The creature said, "I want Canterlot for a little while. Eventually, all of Equestria, but that will have to wait for a while".

"You will not take any scrap of Equestria while I draw breath," Celestia said as she lit up her horn.

"Challenge accepted," The creature said as it's horn also lit up.

Two beams of intense light clashed against one another, neither letting up. Before long, the solar diarch started straining to power onward, her strength weakened by years of peace. As the seconds flew by, Celestia continued to grow weaker, while the creature seemed to stay as strong as ever. Within only a few minutes, Celestia's light became overpowered, and she was struck down. All the ponies watching were stunned as their fearless leader hit the ground, exhausted, her tiara clanging on the ground, and the tip of her horn burned.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing!" The creature exclaimed as it took in the sight of victory, "Shining Armor's love for that crusty old mare is so great, it gave me enough power to defeat even princess Celestia, and still have plenty to spare for the rest of you".

"Girls, you have to get to the elements!" Celestia yelled as loudly as her aching throat would allow.

"Ah, ah, ah, you're forgetting something dear Celly," The creature said, "You need six ponies to use the elements, but I see only five. Forget about dear Twilight already, have we?"

Celestia silently scolded herself as the realization finally hit home.

"And where is Twilight, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew over.

"Oh, get out of my face you pitiful pest," The creature said as it brought a leg up to the pegasus' face, knocking her backwards with surprising force, "If you really must know, your beloved Twilight is no longer of this world. I do have to thank all of your for helping with that. Were it not for your scorn, she wouldn't have been so easy to take care of".

Every pony in the room froze in shock and disbelief at that. Twilight, their best friend, was gone.

"There'll be plenty of time to cry later," The creature said as it motioned over a couple of smaller creatures who once stood as guards for the ceremony, "Bind them and lock them in the dungeon".

The streets of Canterlot were filled with a mix of ponies and creatures. Guards fought while civilians ran for their lives. Despite their brave efforts, however, the struggles did not last very long, and the guards were eventually overpowered, disarmed, and bound in a strange gooey substance that seemed nearly impossible to break. Among all this fighting was a white unicorn stallion known as Artemis, his armor worn and cracked from the fighting. He fought alongside his two most trusted guard friends: a light brown Earth pony stallion named Thunder, and a bat pony mare named Gale Wind. Though the trio fought bravely, Artemis knew they would not last long, and did the only thing he could think of.

"Gale Wind, Thunder, we need to get out of here!" Artemis yelled, "Don't question it right now, just follow me!"

The trio of ponies fled the city in haste, not even stopping to help any other ponies in their struggles. After they were a reasonable safe distance away from Canterlot, and could be sure they weren't being followed, The trio sat down to discuss the situation further.

"What should we do now, sir?" Gale Wind asked.

"Nevermind that, I want to know why in Tartarus we just left those ponies back there to fight on their own," Thunder said, a hint of an angry growl wanting to escape.

"We wouldn't have made it out of there if we'd stayed and fought," Artemis pointed out, "I'm actually surprised we made it out of the city, period. But now's not the time, just thank Celestia for small favors. Right now, we need to think of how to push back in force".

"What do you mean?" Gale Wind asked.

"Those creatures took us completely by surprise, we had no way of defending against them," Artemis explained, "Next time, that won't be the case. We'll have an army of ponies who'll be prepared for anything those creatures throw our way next time we face them".

"And how, sir, do you plan on acquiring such an army?" Thunder asked.

"No pony in their right mind is going to just let this slide. That, and I seriously doubt we're the only ones who escaped," Artemis said, "We find them first, if possible, then spread out, ever so slightly at first, and gather more ponies to our cause. A rebel militia hasn't been required since the time of King Sombra, but that ends here and now. We'll rebuild the militia of old, and retake our home".

When no rebuttal was put forward, the agreement was settled.

"From this day forward, until Equestria is free once more, we are no longer royal guards, but Equestrian Minuteponies," Artemis said.

With that, the Minuteponies, the long forgotten Equestrian militia, was brought back to life.