Bow down to the First Order

by part time pony

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Crossover, Dark, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Other
Length: 12636

30 Years after the Imperial Occupation and the ponies live in peace. That was until a year ago when the First Order arrived and occupied the world just like the Empire did. Now the ponies find themselves under occupation yet again.

The First Order has occupied Equestria. Their banners, flags, propaganda, and their military are some of the only things the ponies now see in their day-to-day lives. Having already lived under a tyrannical regime the ponies are clearly not happy. Even worse, they're unable to make contact with the Resistance for help. And even if they'd manage to send a signal through the weak naval power of the Resistance wouldn't even be able to safely send troops to liberate the ponies. Finding themselves without outside help the ponies decide to rise up against the First Order. The question is if they will be able to defeat the First Order or if the First Order will deploy its genocide machine and possibly make the pony species extinct. Find out in this fanfic.

Published 2017-12-17 20:00:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-01-06 03:03:52 UTC

Chapter 1: "Do we take prisoners?"

The Resurgence-class Battlecruiser commanded by Admiral Kejim was in orbit of the planet. The Battlecruiser was the only ship in the sector, apart from smuggler's using this system as a way to get their passagers or cargo into the core worlds without being detected by the First Order or The New Republic. The Battlecruiser known as the 'Arrestor' could be clearly seen from the ground on the planet of Equestria. The 3,000 meters long ship was twice the size of its predecessor. Kejim was a Vice Admiral during the Galactic and Imperial Civil War. His faction, the Imperial Remenant retreated into the Unknown Regions to become what today is the First Order. He often was praised for his tactics, after all he was the younger brother of High Admiral Vosh. Not to mention that his father was also an Admiral. But for the Republic and the Galactic Empire. Unfortunately both were now dead. His father was killed in the Battle of Endor and his brother died during the Second Battle of Coruscant, both of which ended in Rebel and New Republic victory.

Operation: Cinder was supposed to help the Empire retaliate and defeat the rebellion but instead it failed. After Cinder and the Battle of Jakku it was enough for the Empire to split into different factions. Some controlled just maybe one planet while others controlled multiple systems. The Imperial Civil War ended quite quickly with the signing of the Galactic Concordance.

Those who were either a part of the Imperial Remenant or still loyal to Palpatine fled to the Unknown Regions, where they became the First Order and secretly built their military up. Then the First Order revealed itself to the New Republic and destroyed it. With a single command from General Hux the entire Hosnian system was no more. Though it didn't take long after the Hosnian Cataclysm for the Resistance to fight back and destroy Starkiller Base.

Admiral Kejim saw to avenge everyone who died that day. His occupation of Equestria was the way he saw it. While he had to admit that the ponies were a unique species that the galaxy has never seen he still had plans to exterminate them. But unsurprisingly the High Command was worried that another genocide would lead to the Resistance fighting the First Order head on.

An officer approached Kejim from behind.
"Sir, our scouts have located what seems to be a third high value target south of the capital."

"Send down a detachment to arrest her, see to it personally Commander."

"Yes, sir." The officer left the bridge of the Battlecruiser.

Three troop transports left the main hangar of the Arrestor. They began to enter the atmosphere and were difficult to be seen due to night time. The Transports were flying approximately 20 feet from the ground to cover their approach. It wasn't long before they arrived infront of the castle. The three troop transports landed and opened the front door.

Three squads of Stormtroopers left the transports. The first consisted of mostly Riot Control ones that were supposed to keep any curious ponies away while the other two would secure the castle and capture Princess Twilight Sparkle and arrest any surrendering ponies.

The two guards at the entrance attempted to stop the Stormtroopers from entering but their attempts did nothing as two shots to the head were enough to make them fall dead to the ground.

A Pegasi guard on the balcony saw this and knew what he had to do. He quickly made his way to where the Princess of Friendship was, in the cutie map room.

"Uh, no. But I'm a fast learner!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Too fast I'm afraid.." Rarity replied.

The guard burst into the room. He saw the Alicorn sitting in her chair on the opposite side of the room and quickly trotted to there.
"Your Highness, they're here!" He said.

Suddenly a loud sound coming from the doors was heard. A detonator had blown the doors open. The thick smoke disappeared slowly and the Stormtroopers used it to their advantage.
The squad of 9 Stormtroopers quickly entered. They gathered up the three guards and the Main 6 towards the east wall. 8 of them were aiming their blasters at them while the ninth attempted to locate the Princess. The sergeant eventually saw how the lavender pony was different than all of them. He assumed that she was the Princess and unknowingly he was right.
He instructed the Alicorn to follow him. He took her outside of the castle where he told her to enter one of the transports. She did as told and immediately upon entering the door closed. The lights turned on and she was greeted by two Stormtroopers. Both having a black pauldron. She stood silent.

About 10 minutes later the ship had landed. The door slowly opened and revealed a massive hangar. Stormtroopers, Officers and other essential crew were everywhere. To her it was quite a surprise to see how well organized the enemy was. Though right after she felt an extreme amount of pain coming from the back. She looked back and saw how one of the Stormtroopers had grabbed her tail and was just ignoring the fact that Twilight was being dragged on the floor and getting hurt. His friend didnt seem to care and did not even look once at the Alicorn.

Minutes passed and eventually the Stormtrooper holding her stopped. But she was then thrown into a cell. The unclean and cold floor made everything worse. Though she was at least grateful that the cell was quite big. Even had bathroom. It was nice for her to know that the First Order at lead cares about its prisoners more than the Empire.

Elsewhere

The remaining Main 6 and the three guards were at Fort Kilo. The old Imperial base. It was still night and freezing temperature while being outside didn't help. Infront of them stood an officer and what seemed to be a heavy Stormtrooper preparing his FWMB-10 to fire at the ponies if the order is given.

The officer was just about to order for the death of the ponies when his comlink beeped. The officer pressed on a button and made the comlink display a live image of a person in blue.

"Commander. I have new orders for you. Instead of executing the associates of the Princess, have them transferred to the brig on my ship."

"Yes, sir. We'll do it right away." The commander replied and finished the conversation.

Once that was finished he ordered some of his men to move the ponies to a transport. Once they finished, the transport took off. Heading for the Arrestor. The transport landed inside of the same hangar that Twilight's did. But instead of being dragged onn the floor they were escorted at gun point.
Suddenly one of the guards attempted to flee he managed to avoid the blaster fire coming from the Stormtroopers but he bumped into a Stormtrooper on patrol. The guard looked up at the Trooper who was also looking down at him. Without question the Stormtrooper aimed his blaster at the guard and fired. The dead body of the unicorn guard fell to the ground.

Applejack was thrown into the same cell as Twilight, Rarity and the young pegasi guard, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and finally Pinkie Pie and the last guard.

"Applejack?" Twilight asked.

"Ya, it's me Twilight." The country mare answered.

"What happened?"

"Well, ima be honest and say that we nearly got killed but then the officer got new orders and brough' us here."

"Oh. Well, I suppose we're all stuck onboard."

One day later...

Kejim was on the bridge of his Battlecruiser. He was looking at the TIE Fighters heading beyond the sector to intercept a Corellian YT-1930 freighter which scanners had picked up. Further scannings showed that the ship was transporting massive amounts of kyber crystals. The same crystals used to power up lightsabers.

Suddenly a scanner started to beep.
"Sir, we're detecting a ship exiting hyperspace!" An officer in the pods where all technical stuff to command the ship was said.

"First Order or the New Republic?" Kejim asked.

"First Order. It's the Tector."

The Battlecruiser known as the 'Tector' emerged out of Hyperspace. A smile appeared on Kejim's face. Seeing the Battlecruiser of his friend Admiral Tarron. Admiral Tarron also used to be an Imperial Admiral like his friend. Both pledged their loyalty to the First Order at the same time and have been in it for more than a decade. The First Order Admiral hailed his friend in order to open a communications bridge.

"Kejim, it is nice to see you again." Tarron said.

"Indeed. Though may I ask why you have come here?" Kejim asked.

"High Command has located a new threat, well two. The Imperial Archives state there were four rulers. We've captured three so far. The second thing is that there is apparently something called the Elements of something. If we don't capture them as well then, I don't know what can happen."

"Very well. My scouts will work on finding this fourth ruler and these elements." Kejim finished the conversation.

About five minutes he saw two Troop transports leaving the ship. Presumably carrying the scouts. The Admiral left the bridge afterward and went to his own quarters onboard. Kejim opened the door and closed it. He sat down on his desk and started to read on what these Elements could be.

'According to speculation, these so-called Elements of Harmony are capable of bringing balance, harmony and spreading friendship. The books regarding the history of the world claim that they've helped in saving the planet from chaos more than twice in recent history.'

"Interesting." He muttered.

Kejim's studying was cut short. A knock on the door leading to his quarters was heard. The Admiral stood up and made his way to the door. He opened it and was greeted by an officer. The officer had a worried type of expression on his face. Kejim could tell that there was trouble onboard his ship.

"Sir... It's the p-prisoners..." The officer struggled to say.

"What about them?" Kejim asked.

"T-they've escaped!" The officer let out.

Author's Note

Apologies for the previous version. It was poorly written I will admit. Hope you like this new version. If not I'll write it again I suppose :/
For those who haven't read an Imperial Occupation let me tell you that this fanfic takes place one year after the events of The Last Jedi. Don't worry! Even though I've already seen the movie I promise that I won't spoil anything!
Feel free to show support and if you don't like this fanfiction then please tell me why so that I can improve!

Also yes, the title for the chapter is a reference to Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 1, Episode 5 in which a B1 Battle droid asks "Do we take prisoners?"

Chapter 2: "The Frozen North"

"What do you mean by they've escaped?" Kejim asked the nervous officer.

"They're gone! They're not in the brig!" He replied.

Kejim looked at the officer for a few seconds, he was thinking about what to do. It was rare for someone to escape prison without help or previous experience. Especially if you're part of a species that doesn't have hands. The officer could be lying but his facial expression was saying otherwise.

"Sound the alarm, lock down every hangar bay and station troops at every escape pod station. Deploy all available foot patrols." The Admiral ordered.

The officer stood to attention and then slowly walked to the left. He made his way to the bridge where he relayed the orders further to the ship's captain. Meanwhile, Kejim went back to studying. He continued to read about these so-called 'Elements of Harmony'. While studying your enemy's art was something few did, for Kejim it wasn't just to learn about them and be able to predict their moves like Grand Admiral Thrawn. For him, it was to be fascinated by what the galaxy had to offer. While there were some things that weren't fascinating at all, creatures like the Zillo Beast, Ishi Tib or now, the Ponies were fascinating to him. But of course, he couldn't get ahead of himself. His current orders were to bring order to this troublesome world. If he didn't he'd either be demoted or worse, executed. While there hadn't been any large attacks lately, there had been reports from the Stormtroopers indicating that the civilian population is showing rude behavior and signs that they hate the First Order. The Empire may have ruled with an iron fist on this world but Kejim wasn't like the Emperor. To him, it mattered that the population felt comfortable under occupation. But the experienced Admiral wasn't afraid to use force and commit acts of crime in the name of the First Order to bring order to Equestria.

Elsewhere onboard the Arrestor

The group consisting of the Main 6 and the two surviving EUP Guards were now attempting to make their escape. They knew that the First Order knew about them since a Stormtrooper had seen them. However, Applejack had knocked him out. Unfortunately, he had already contacted the bridge. Every sign onboard the ship was in Galactic Basic All of them could understand the language but couldn't write or read it. Only Twilight Sparkle which had studied the language and learned it in doing so knew. So everyone in the group was relying on her to get them to the escape pods or the hangar bay where they could 'try' to fly a ship. And by trying most of them knew it meant 'Crash and hope you don't die'.
They also knew that First Order foot patrols were everywhere on this ship. They had barely avoided detection twice already and their luck wasn't going to stay with them forever by the looks of it.

"Are you sure we're going the right way egghead?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, and Rainbow. Your wings are making quite a lot of sound. I wouldn't be surprised if were to get caught right now!" Twilight replied.

Rainbow Dash realized that the pony she liked to refer to 'Egghead' was right. Her wings were making quite a lot of sound. The cyan pegasi dropped down and landed on her four hooves. Twilight got back to what she was doing previously, doing her best to read Galactic Basic and find a way to make it to the escape pods.

Back in Admiral Kejim's quarters, the Admiral was starting to grow frustrated on how his men were unable to find creatures unable to even hold a blaster with their hoofs. A thought came to his head. It was regarding something he had heard a while ago while talking to General Hux onboard the 'Finalizer'. He was saying how Kylo Ren suggested that the Supreme Leader should be using a Clone Army instead. The thought of a First Order Clone Army was expensive though. During the Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic almost went bankrupt due to the cost of war. It even had to take money away from certain public services and put them into the war machine. Even if the war was a short one, four years and not as long as for example the New Sith Wars that lasted from 2,000 BBY to 1,000 BBY. A thousand years. In the end, the Jedi won the war. The Clone Troopers were superior to the Empire's Stormtroopers and possibly were equally matched against the First Order's. Instead of recruiting civilians when they're adults, the First Order abducted children at a young age, often when they're infants and taught them everything. Everything they needed to know when they were going to become a Stormtrooper.

Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends had made it to the escape pods. The only problem was that there was a squad of Stormtroopers guarding it. Even if they'd make it inside the room they wouldn't be able to close the hatch in time to launch. And there was always the risk that the escape pods were sealed off and they'd have to make their way to the bridge somehow to unseal them. She couldn't see the pods themselves so she had no idea if they were sealed or not.¨

"Princess?" One of the guards asked.

"Yes?" The Princess of Friendship replied.

"I may not be an expert in magic but could I suggest if you try to distract the guards by making them believe we're to the left of them when we're actually here." The guard suggested.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Twilight responded.

The somewhat young alicorn used her magic to grab a wrench. She then threw the wrench towards the left. Just as the guard had predicted the Stormtroopers guarding the escape pod went to investigate the sound. Now was the time to make their escape. The Escape pods weren't sealed thankfully. Time was short on them. They knew that the Stormtroopers would return to their guard post any moment now. They had to launch in the pods before the guards would come.

"If that rebel Zinn taught me correctly, you need to press on this and thi- WHOAAA!" The escape pod launched just as Twilight was speaking.

The pod stabilized. Twilight was in the same pod as the young guard who had suggested the idea, Applejack, and Rarity. The other four were in the second escape pod. It had launched a bit late but once it launched the Resurgent-class Battlecruiser had begun firing at the escape pods. One of the turbolasers managed to hit the second escape pod. Thankfully it didn't hit dead-eye otherwise Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and the other guard would've been dead. Instead, it barely touched it. But it was enough for the escape pod to have a thick black smoke trail.

The journey down to the planet took longer than anticipated. But after sitting in a pod for five minutes the two pods had hit the ground. Fortunately, for the ponies, they didn't land near a base this time. The only problem was that they were probably miles from Ponyville. Everything around them was covered in snow. They were in the Frozen North. Applejack stepped out. Infront of the country mare was a small hill. She climbed up to get a sight on where in the Frozen North they were. She had expected to see miles of snow, some trees covered in just snow and.. well... more snow. Instead, she saw an Imperial Shuttle. It wasn't a destroyed one like most ships from the Battle of Equestria but it was intact. Landed. Next to the shuttle was an entrance. The same entrance to the frozen vault. By now the rest of her friends had made it up the small hill. All of them, except for the two guards who didn't even know about the vault. Although the vault contained some of Equestria's relics it wasn't where they wanted to go. The closest settlement from them would be Snowy Hills, then it'd be the Crystal Empire. While Snowy Hills was quite a small town it did provide what the group needed, a train. The small town of approximately 5000 ponies had a train station. And a train route to Crystal Empire.

Eight Minutes Later, onboard the Arrestor

"Sir, we've detected two unauthorized escape pod launches from bay 7B." A Navigations Officer said.

"Open fire at once, and alert the Admiral!" the Captain ordered.

The turbolasers began to fire at the two escape pods. One of the shots hit one of them but somehow the pod had survived and was still going down to the surface.
The turbolasers continued to fire but to no avail. They were too small for the crewmen to locate. The Arrestor now had to rely on the ventral cannons to destroy the pods. The captain saw two missiles departing from the launcher heading towards the escape pods at a fast speed. Faster than a TIE Fighter. Unfortunately, the missiles were unable to catch the escape pods in time. They had lost the targets.

"Sir, we've predicted for them to land in the Frozen North." A crewman said by a console that was projecting a map of Equestria and the two escape pods, with an arrow pointing to the Frozen North.

"Send down a platoon of Snowtroopers. Deploy an AT-M6 and two AT-ST's for support. We cannot underestimate this filth." The captain said. While filth was maybe a strong word the Captain did not care.

The galaxy had for a long time been xenophobic, humans argued that because they had contributed the most to the galaxy meant that they should be seen as superior to the aliens. They weren't wrong though. The humans had colonized most of the galaxy, including important worlds such as Coruscant, Corellia, Anaxes and more. When the old Republic used to exist this xenophobia didn't exist as much as it when the Galactic Empire took over. It was quite rare to see aliens in the Imperial Military and even if there any they likely had low positions such as cargo hauling. The Captain used to be a part of the Empire and had a big dislike towards other species.

Eight Minutes later, The Frozen North

The walk towards the town known as Snowy Hills had begun. It wasn't a very long walk, about 20 miles. If they were walking at a fast pace they'd be able to reach it in 12 hours. Problem was that it'd be night time already. And at night time, the temperature can drop drastically. So low that you might freeze to death. All of them in the group of 8 ponies knew about the freezing temperature. How to counter it, they did not. A shelter in the caves would be enough to keep them warm until daylight. The question was if there were any caves, and if there were, would there be dangerous animals?

To be continued...

Author's Note

Lesson learned: Never release a chapter when it's 9 PM or more and you're tired.
Sorry for poorly writing the last chapter again, I hope I improved slightly here and if not please tell me why. I often see people leaving thumbs down and I accept the fact you may not like my fanfictions but in that case please let me know what you didn't like instead of not saying anything.
Anyways I hope you liked Chapter 2 and the blooper I added the end. (Yes I actually did write that originally)

Chapter 3: "Avalanche"

Two Days Later

The train had begun braking and was slowly arriving at the Crystal Empire's train station. The Crystal Empire was one of the last places in Equestria where the First Order had no presence. It looked just like it did a year ago before the occupation. Even though all the residents of the beautiful city knew that sooner or later the First Order would come and conquer this last part they made sure to enjoy as much time as possible before the occupation would come to them.

The train came to a full stop. The group of 7 ponies left the train. They were seven now. Because the unicorn guard had sacrificed himself to protect Princess Twilight Sparkle from death. Even though she didn't know the guard that well it still felt as if someone important in her life was gone.

The streets of the Crystal Empire had some snow in them. Mainly the outskirts of the city. The deeper you got inside of the city the less snow there was. The area surrounding the castle was completely snow free. There wasn't a single snowflake to be seen. The ponies knew how violent a snow storm in the north can get. But they always wondered how the snow dumping ponies were able to clean the streets so well. The answer might have been because they're used, but it could always be something else.

Infront of the castle entrance was the Queen of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess Cadance. To the right of her were Twilight's big brother and Cadance's husband. Shining Armor. Twilight approached the white-coated unicorn and gave the stallion a big hug. Maybe too big because Shining's face was starting to turn red. The Alicorn almost felt like a filly again, back in the good old days. Before the First Order. Before the Empire...

Onboard the Arrestor

"What is the status of the platoon?" Admiral Kejim asked.

"They've made it out of the Frozen North and are approaching a village of 5000 residents." The Captain answered.

"And the vehicles?"

"They've run into issues, sir. According to FN-117 the vehicles are going to be picked up and sent back to the Arrestor. He didn't say much but the drivers said that the legs of the walker were malfunctioning."

"Have the mechanics run advanced maintenance procedures. Deploy TIE Fighters to track down the fugitives."

"Understood."

Two TIE Fighters from the Special Forces branch took off from one of the hangars of the Resurgent-class Battlecruiser. Back on the ground, the platoon of 50 Stormtroopers had made it to the village. Snowy hills, which previously had no First Order presence was now under the Occupation of the First Order. Now there was only the Crystal Empire and the Forbidden Jungle that remained unoccupied. Everything else was controlled by the deadly regime. The Snowtrooper platoon had no intention of staying in the small village. According to the footprints, or hoofprints for the ponies, the group of seven stopped here. There were no hoofprints leading further. The Lieutenant leading the platoon ordered some of his men to ask the ponies if they knew where the fugitives went. The rest, search the buildings for them.

The residents surprisingly told the First Order where the fugitives went. To the Crystal Empire. The Lieutenant then relayed his orders to the Arrestor and the Tector. Making sure they'd get them. After that, he saw two TIE Fighters flying over him. Towards the Crystal Empire.

20 Minutes later, the Crystal Empire

The TIE Fighters had passed the city twice now, either they were patrolling or they were securing the airspace for the ground forces to arrive shortly. Both were likely theories, Cadance herself thought it'd was a patrol. It actually wasn't the first time the First Order's Starfighter Corps had flown over her Empire and not sent the ground force to her city.

"I'm worried about those air patrols. Do you think they know we have them here?" Shining Armor asked his wife.

"I'm sure it's nothing, they've passed through our city numerous times. I'm sure it's just another patrol." Cadance replied to her husband's worries.

"Yes but what if this time they actually invade?"

"Well, honey. You've said a thousand times yourself that our guards have been trained to handle a situation like this."

"I did say and I did train them. But what if they have those walking machines like the Empire did years ago, we barely even took down one back then."

"Not to mention that they have walkers much taller and with better stabilization." Shining Armor continued

"We'll figure something out. We always do..." Cadance finished the conversation.

Just as she finished, the TIE Fighters passed the city again. This time straight for the castle and then breaking off at the last second before crashing. Shortly after two Atmospheric Assualt Landers landed on the main street. Sixty Stormtroopers left the transports. They broke up into four squads. Two would go to the castle and the other two secure the escape routes. Just like they did in Canterlot a year ago.

"And you said they wouldn't be coming," Shining said.

"Okay, I was wrong, let's just get to safety before something bad happens to all of us!" Cadance said loudly.

The alicorn made her way to where the Main 6 were. The Throne room. An explosion was heard coming from the main entrance. Following this, they heard blaster shots. Time wasn't on their side again. But in situations like this, it never really was. They began to run towards the Throne room. Shining decided to look back at the end of the hallway and saw a Snowtrooper firing his F-11D at the two ponies. Luckily they managed to make it inside the room before being hurt. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were all in there. The living elements were safe. For now...

"We need to get out of here. They're coming!" Cadance yelled.

"But how? The only way out is the main door!" Twilight responded.

"That's what you may think, but. Shining, could you please let them in on the secret?" Cadance asked Shining Armor.

"Right. There's a hidden hatch behind the throne chair."

Cadance approached the chair and then went behind it. On the left side, there was a hidden camouflaged button. Only she and her husband knew where it was. The alicorn mare pressed the grey button and the door slowly crept open. The door led to a whirl staircase. Cadance went first, followed by her sister-in-law. At the bottom of the stair was a catwalk. This catwalk didn't lead to a secret underground base but about 5 miles inland. The direction was towards the Yaket Mountain Range. The Yaket Mountain Range was largely undiscovered. If the First Order had mapped every area they occupied then the mountain range amongst other areas would remain out of the map. It was also impossible to reach this place with ground vehicles. They'd have to walk.

A day later, onboard the Tector

Admiral Tarron was waiting on the bridge. Not waiting for the enemy to appear or for a status report. But for a special person. It wasn't a love interest but a human in the First Order with lots of knowledge on this world. More knowledge than the archives could tell you. He used to be a Brigadier in the Empire but for his heroic actions and bringing lots of systems into the First Order he had become a General. The General was none other than General Drant.
The door to the bridge opened. An officer in a dark uniform and hat approached Tarron.

"You wished to see me, Admiral?" Drant asked.

Tarron turned around. General Drant was standing at attention right in front of him.
"Do you remember when you used to be the highest commanding officer in this world? Not counting the High Admiral." Tarron asked.

"Yes. Yes, I do." Drant replied.

"Hmph. You see, we are quite in a pickle at the moment. Similar to 31 years ago, we have fugitives. Princesses."

"I see sir."

"Is that the reason you called upon me?" Drant asked.

"Yes, mainly because of that. But also because you know this world. You have been on it longer than most of us. Well apart from my colleague and friend Kejim who's already been a year here. But to be fair he's only visited the surface twice."

"Your orders are simple, capture the royalties and anyone that is following them on their journey. If the people of this world get to know that two of the royalties are currently on the run it will be used as a great motivator for conflict. And that is not what the Supreme Leader wants."

"Now go General. Make the First Order proud." Tarron finished.

The General saluted and left the bridge. Tarron resumed to what he was doing previously before the announcement of General Drant's arrival. Figuring out the most likely place the fugitives escaped to. He was thinking it'd either be the civilization to the west of the city. But the First Order had already captured it, no point in going there. Suddenly two red dots on the map began to beep. One was in the mountain range known as the Yaket Range and the second one in the mountains east of the Crystal Mountains. He looked at the map thoughtfully. Then a third red dot appeared in the Crystal Empire. Once that happened he had figured out the puzzle. Tarron triangulated the red dots and low and behold, he had figured out the likely area in which the fugitives were in.

The First Order Admiral immediately ran over to a console. He needed to call Admiral Kejim, General Drant, and FN-117. The Commanding Officer of the platoon tasked with finding the fugitives.

Elsewhere

The wind was howling strong with no sight in it ending soon. With the wind came the snow that was coming down hard. The winds were starting to get faster and faster. It was almost hard to keep the balance. None of the 8 ponies were used to this much wind and snow hitting at their face. And worse, because they had to leave quickly none of them got the chance to get their equipment for this sort of wheater. The Yaket Mountain Range felt like it continued on forever, with every step they took the more exhausted they got. Some of them wanted to just fall down into the cold thick snow and rest. While some wished to continue and make it to a shelter where they could heat themselves up using a fireplace.
Just when it couldn't get worse they could hear TIE Fighters flying in the distance. However, there was no visual contact. Neither the ponies or the special forces pilots could see them. It didn't take long for the TIE Fighters to leave the area due to the high wind speed. They didn't want to risk crashing because of the poor visibility.

While the ponies were having a hard time to find shelter, the Snowtrooper Platoon trained for climates such as this was having no problem at all. They had run this type of exercise a hundred times in training. For them, it was quite easy. Especially because their helmets were protecting them from the snow, the small visor was doing the same but from the glance, the snow could make. Their heating units were also keeping them warm. It made it much easier for them to walk. Not to mention that the hoofprints were guiding the Snowtroopers to the ponies. The Snowtroopers were about 7 klicks from the ponies. All of the sudden though, a loud noise was heard coming from the top of one of the mountains. FN-117 looked behind and saw an avalanche. Coming straight for him and his men. The Lieutenant and began to run. So did his platoon. Fortunately, they had already started to climb the next mountain so they'd have an advantage of height. The Platoon made it up safely. All except for one Snowtrooper who was unfortunate to be caught in the avalanche. Being a wise team leader, the Lieutenant ordered two of his men and a medic to look for the missing soldier. Meanwhile the rest of the platoon, now 46 men would continue looking for the fugitives.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading Chapter 3. I hope you liked it and feel free to comment feedback in the comments. If you didn't like it then please tell me what went wrong so I can improve for the next time!

Also, I have an announcement to make. This Friday I will be going on vacation so I will be unable to write while gone. This obviously means no chapters will come out until 2018. Don't worry though. I will try to release Chapter 4 tomorrow!

Chapter 4: "All Aboard!"

Two First Order squads of Stormtroopers were in the Forbidden Jungle, conquering one of the last few pieces of land not under control of the First Order. While the tropical first did not contain any raw materials or ancient figures, it could serve as an outpost. The jungle was a dangerous place and without an expert, it'd be hard to navigate. The 20 Stormtroopers were mapping the territory and sending the information to both the Arrestor and the Tector. The only problem the Stormtroopers faced wasn't the wildlife but the heat. If the First Order had EVO Troopers then they'd send them to do this. Not the two squads of Stormtroopers. The terrain consisted mostly of mud. Every trooper had mud on their boots and on the lower parts of their armor. Leading the two squads was TK-892 an officer in the First Order.

Every trooper was sweating due to immense heat the jungle was producing. Even if they hadn't been trained that much for this type of environment the squads pushed on. Unbenknowst to the Stormtroopers, there were 2 tigers getting ready to attack. They had been following them for a good 8 minutes since spotting them. All of the sudden the tiger jumped out of a bush followed by his friend. He landed on one of the Stormtroopers and broke the helmet. The Stormtrooper was gone. The other one wasn't as fortunate. The Heavy Assualt Stormtrooper he was aiming for had dodged the attack. The Stormtrooper got his balance back and fired without aiming or deploying the elevation gear. The other tiger that killed one of the Stormtroopers attempted to go for the one who killed his friend. However, his quest to avenge his friend would end before it began. TK-892 fired his F-11D blaster four times at the tiger. He fell down onto the ground. Blinking one last time before dying.

"Move on," TK-892 said

The 19 Stormtroopers continued again. Ignoring the fact that one of their teammates just died. The team continued for miles, it seemed like they would never stop. They were not getting tired at all.

| - - - - - - - |

A lodge made out of oak was the temporary home for the 'fugitives'. The fierce snowstorm that had occurred recently had turned out be an advantage for the ponies. The First Order was unable to scan the area for them. Now for possibly the first time ever, the First Order didn't know where the ponies were. The only question was for how long until they would be on the run again, from the First Order and it's elite ground forces.

The inside of the lodge was comfortable. The fire coming from the fireplace was making the resting feel better. The wooden oak logs were also relaxing to rest the head on. All of the ponies were sleeping. Except for Fluttershy. Even though she loved the heat that the fire provided and the cozy lodge she was finding it hard to shut her eyes. Something or someone was preventing her from sleeping. So much so that the pegasi mare decided to go outside. Outside into the freezing temperature that the night provided. But if it meant she'd feel more comfortable afterward it would be worth it. She opened the door carefully. She didn't wish to wake her best friends up who were having such a peaceful sleep. The yellowish colored mare closed the door behind her and approached a wooden railing. At first, she did not feel the cold, but now she could feel it. The moon was shining, the reflected light was bouncing back and hitting Equestria. It was so bright that you did not need a flashlight or torch to see.

"Is everything alright Fluttershy?" A familiar voice spoke, the voice of the most generous pony she knew. Rarity.

The pegasi turned around to face her friend. Somehow the beautiful mane that she carried was unaffected by sleeping on a carpet.
"Oh yes, everything is okay." She said.

"Are you certain? You sound a bit. Hm. Worried I'd say."

"everything is fine Rarity. I just have some trouble sleeping."

"Fluttershy, I understand you have trouble sleeping during this time but something else is affecting you," said Rarity.
"We are frien- No, best friends Fluttershy. We can trust each other."

Fluttershy sighed. She knew that she couldn't avoid this.

"something is troubling me. I don't know what it is but.."

"but it's preventing me from sleeping." She added.

"Fluttershy, whatever this thing is, don't think about it. You have loyal, funny, generous, smart, honest and caring friends. We'll be here for you. Always..."

"thank you Rarity."

Out of surprise, the pegasi approached Rarity for a hug. She accepted it and hugged her back. The hug, while not being a romantic one lasted for quite a long time. What truly made this moment something not to forget was the night sky, the constellations and everything else making it perfect. Rarity broke the hug and smiled at Fluttershy. Nothing could beat friendship or love. Not even in times of conflict.

"Do you feel better now?" Rarity asked.

"Yes. Much better." Fluttershy responded.

After this, Fluttershy was able to sleep like a baby. She probably never had a better sleep than this one. The next morning seemed perfect. But during times like this, time would rarely help them. The First Order had probably searched half the mountain range during the night. Now was the time to leave more than ever. The group was starting their walk. Their direction was the village of Rainbow Falls. The city where the qualifiers for the Equestria Games had taken place once and the famous trading location. Though, this was the home of the First Order's Equestria Starfighter Corp's home. A large airbase laid half a kilometer from the village. This airbase held about 60 TIE Fighters, 10 of them were from the Special Forces branch.
With this important asset to the First Order, it was no question that the village was heavily fortified. Trains carrying passengers rarely came in. Mostly cargo trains carrying goods for the city. Not to mention that the base was the new home for a First Order Commander going by the name of 'Edulo'. Edulo was not the best Commander in the First Order, but he wasn't the worst. His strategy often led to... High death counts for both Military Personel and Civilian.

Meanwhile, the ponies were exiting the Yaket Mountain Range. For the Twilight and her friends, it was a familiar place. A place they had been on their first adventure using the Cutie Map. Starlight's cave. They weren't that far from the place and it could indeed be used as a great hiding spot from the First Order but that wasn't their destination. No train stations were here so the ponies had to hope that no train would be coming. Especially when they would cross the thin bridge.
Falling down would be worse than getting shot. If a pegasus was to fall down then they'd be fine. But Earth Ponies or Unicorns, unfortunately not.

Princess Cadance went first. Once she stepped onto the tracks and on the thin bridge, she could feel the cold winds coming from the right. They were strong but the alicorn as able to maintain her balance. Second, went her husband. After a long 30 minutes, every one of them had made it across. They were now in Rainbow Falls after having somehow managed to pass through the security control. The town of which the ponies rarely visited seemed normal. None of the ponies living here showed signs that they were affected by the presence of a large military installation in their hometown. Meanwhile, the Snow Trooper platoon had already finished searching all of the Yaket Mountain Range. Fortunately, no hoof prints of the Main 6, Cadance or Shining Armor were found.

The group was currently in the old marketplace. Where the trading often took place. The First Order itself had built what seemed to be a bank. In truth, it was a tax collection agency for the town. Two Stormtroopers were standing guard outside of it. The building was dark colored and at the top was a flag of the First Order. It was by the looks of it two stories tall and features a tall and sharp roof. The ponies went unnoticed while walking past it. They knew that they couldn't stay here. They saw a dark spot where two roofs lapsed together to form a dark spot underneath. The two houses provided also some cover.

"We need to get out of here. Fast!" Twilight said. Following this, she saw most of her friends nod in agreement.

"But how do you suppose we can get out?" Cadance asked.

"We could uh, sneak onboard a train?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"It could work..." Shining Armor responded to Rainbow's suggestion with a 'Let's do it!' type of voice.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Loud enough to attract attention.

Footsteps of Stormtroopers could be heard approaching their position, they weren't walking. But running. "Quick!" Twilight said as she began to ran.

Once the Stormtroopers arrived they saw nothing. The ponies had managed to escape in time. And it wouldn't be the last time that they'd escape in the nick of time. They began to trot towards the train station located right next to the entrance to the airbase. Not the ideal place for them as they are wanted by the enemy.
They were waiting by the track for the train. They could see it in the distance and the trail of smoke it was creating. The train was coming from Griffonstone. All of the sudden though.

'This is a Public Service Announcement on behalf of the First Order,' said a voice coming from a speaker.

'The following are wanted by the First Order High Command, Twilight Sparkle, Cadance, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. If you happen to spot one of them in public, report to the nearest First Order Patrol. Your reward for finding one of them is 500 Credits. Finding the whole group will result in a reward of 5000 Credits.'

Once the announcement finished several ponies began to look at the 8. Though none of them went to the base nearby or to a patrol. They just stared and eventually stopped. It seemed as if they were not supporting the First Order. Otherwise, Twilight, Cadance & Co. would have been imprisoned by now.

The train arrived, and just in time. The 8 entered the train that was the Friendship Express. The wagons were mostly empty. Just a few ponies, mostly business ones sitting and awaiting their destination. They took a place in the second class cabin, the first class one would have attracted too much attention, the attention they did not want at the moment. The train began to move. Towards the Crystal Empire.

The Departure was halted. The train stopped moving. Out of curiosity, Fluttershy looked out the window. Outside there was an officer and two Stormtroopers.

"um.," Fluttershy said in an attempt to get everyone's attention.

However, it did not work. The seven ponies kept on talking. The pegasus mare tried again to get their attention. "hello?"

This time it did work. They turned their heads towards the mare that often was shy.
"What is it Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash asked.

"um, white armor humans are coming onboard."

"Oh, no.," Twilight muttered.

The train began to move. Now with their enemy onboard. The train was going to go on the rock bridge again. A bridge so thin with strong winds and no railing that you're likely to fall off. If they were to get caught then this may be the end of Equestria's uprising. Ending it before it began.

Author's Note

Going on vacation tomorrow, which means no more chapters for 2017. Don't worry though. 2018 will bring lots of new chapters (that is if you want them). As I won't be releasing any new chapters for the rest of the year I would like to take this time to say Happy Christmas!(or I guess I should say Hearts Warming Eve) and a good new year to you all!

If you have any suggestions please comment them or message me them. If you did not like this story please tell me what you did not like so that I can improve for the next chapter.

Chapter 5: "A New Enemy"

Author's Note

I wish you all a Happy New Year 🎆! Sorry that I couldn't say it yesterday but I arrived home at 11 PM and instead of doing a blog post wishing you all a happy new year I decided to watch the fireworks, and then go to sleep.
Alright, I won't bother you anymore, go ahead and read Chapter 5.

Chapter 5: "A New Enemy"

Canterlot used to be a thriving city. Ponies would be enjoying their times in the capital knowing that they were safe. But that wasn't the case. Canterlot was now a ghost town. The city that used to stand as a monumental place with its iconic castle, schools and main street was no longer.

A First Order Command Shuttle was approaching its destination, the main square in the city. Onboard this shuttle was General Drant. Accompanying him was a droid. An intelligent, self-sufficient model coming from the YT-90 series. There was also about four Stormtroopers.
The shuttle landed and the door slowly opened. The General left the shuttle followed by the droid which was hovering. Two of the Stormtroopers would stay with the shuttle while the other two followed Drant.

Walking in a ghost town was new for them. It was rare that the First Order had done such a massive operation of killing an entire city with such a massive population. Instead of ponies walking about with smiles there was nothing. All the building's doors were closed and some of them had even begun collapsing due to nopony renovating or repairing them. Others were gone from the fires created by the Flametroopers, about 20 buildings were now ash and rubble from the fire.

Nonetheless, it did not matter whether this city would survive to see new residents or not. Not for him at least. His mission was to capture the princesses who can cause an uprising. Chasing them like a cat chasing a mouse didn't work and neither did imprison them. His last idea was simple. There are four princesses, two on the run and two behind bars. Imprisoned and tortured daily, right underneath Canterlot. Except for Celestia who instead was on the Tector. Admiral Tarron's flagship.

A Stormtrooper guarding the Dungeons opened the door for General Drant and his droid. The two Stormtroopers entered and stopped right when they entered. The dungeons had seen better days. Namely being much bigger and being able to hold much, much more prisoners. But due to a thermal imploder that went off by accident, there were only 5 cells left. All of the other ones were now buried.

The first cell had a white coated Unicorn in royal guard armor. He also had a blue mane. His helmet laid in pieces on the ground.

"Identify," Drant asked.

The YT-90 model droid hovered towards the General. "Subject is known as Defensive Heart. He possesses the rank of Sergeant in the Royal Guard."

"Would he be able to get us to the fugitives?"

"The possibility of him knowing the location of the fugitives is very slim."

Drant made eye contact with the guard.
"Execute him," Drant said.

The guard's eyes widened. He looked at the Stormtrooper approaching the cell with his F-11D blaster cocked. The trooper slowly positioned his blaster so that he would hit the guard bulls-eye. Once he did that, he emptied his entire magazine. Slight smoke came from the blaster marks left on the body of the now dead guard.

The second cell had an orange-yellow pegasus guard with his entire armour broken. He had a blue mane and his neck had clearly been hurt hard as it was missing some fur. It was hard to see it still but looking closely it was visible.

"Identify him as well," Drant asked the droid.

"Subject is known as Flash Sentry, he possesses the rank of First Lieutenant. He is also the announcer for royalty and sometimes an escort for Princess Cadance or Prince Shining Armor. It is also rumoured that he is the love interest of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"He seems like someone who could get us to the Princesses and their friends."

"It is possible. But the answer wouldn't be the precise location and just an estimate."

Drant looked at the same Stormtrooper who killed the guard. He ordered the trooper to open the door for the cell.
The rusty door slowly glided to the side.
The General and the droid entered the cell. Drant looked at the injured guard.

"I've told your minions multiple times already, I have no idea where they are." The guard said weakly without looking at the General.

General Drant looked at the guard on the ground. He was weak from all the pain he was suffering. Drant knew what to do. The most effective way to retrieve information was sometimes tortured. And while torture was outlawed by the Galactic Concordance it didn't stop the First Order from using it. The General swung his foot back and then forward towards the Pegasus. He hit him in the back and in doing so almost broke the bones situated there. The guard groaned in pain right after.

"This one is a fighter I can tell," Drant said.

"Droid. You mentioned he was the love interest of Princess Twilight Sparkle, correct?" Drant asked.

"Affirmative."

"We'll use him as bait in that case."

General Drant and the droid left the cell. The same two Stormtroopers that escorted them to the Dungeons would go inside the cell where he was grabbed by the two. They then dragged him along the stone floor to the exit and towards the shuttle.

"Now for the royalty," Drant said.

The General approached the cell where the Princess of the night was. Luna. The cell door opened and both stepped in.
Princess Luna was attached to two cuffs on the walls where her chest and stomach were exposed. On her horn was a metallic ring preventing her from using her magic. The wings were also held together using a rope.

"According to the history books, Princess Luna previously went by the title of Nightmare Moon and brought eternal darkness to the land until Twilight Sparkle managed to use the elements of harmony to defeat her."

General Drant looked at the vulnerable spots on the body. But right when he was about to deal pain to her just as he did the guard known as Flash Sentry he stopped. The mentioning of her past opened a window of opportunity.

"How is it being reformed, Nightmare Moon?" Drant asked.

"I no longer go by that name. I am Princess Luna, not Nightmare Moon." Luna responded.

"Are you sure of that?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"General, if I may. The possibility for her to turn into Nightmare Moon is 573,891,450 to one." The droid said.

"Hmph. I suppose that's true. Let's move to plan B shall we?" Drant said.

"Plan B?" Luna asked.

The door to the dungeons swung open violently. A unicorn pony was standing at the entrance but its appearance was blocked by the sun. The shadow of the unicorn pony began to move. Slowly the unicorn became visible. She was a mare. Pitch-Black coated and a mane made out one colour. Black. The most unusual thing about her appearance wasn't the scar she had in her left eye or the iron boot on her left hoof, but the cutie mark. There was none.

She approached General Drant.
"Everything is going as planned, I assume." She asked.

"Indeed it is," said Drant.

"Princess Luna. Meet Queen Iron Hoof." Drant introduced the name of Iron Hoof to Luna.

Luna stood silent. She examined the mare that held the title of Queen and was thinking how in Equestria did she get it. The Princess of the night knew something was wrong. The eyes gave it away. The pupil had an evil looking green color. As if she was corrupted. If she could use her magic she'd have the answer to whom she was. But she couldn't. And by what she was about to say next, she may never truly know the one suffering behind a mask.

"Take away this filthy princess away." Queen Iron Hoof demanded.

The two Stormtroopers, that had just finished putting Flash Sentry inside the shuttle took the princess away. Not to the Tector. But to Camp Vanoi. The newest facility built to hold the First Order's prisoners. With a capacity of 500 inmates. Its location was just south of Dodge Junction. A city that surprisingly had a few First Order sympathizers.

"Now we just have to find the other two," Drant said.

"Leave that to me..." Iron Hoof responded.

The Queen began to march out again. Back to the castle that was now hers. The First Order's presence on Equestria may not have been as big as the Empire's. But it was working, the newly appointed Queen was to trick the ponies that the First Order's presence was a peacekeeping one. When in reality, it was much bigger and worse.

Two Months Later

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were no more. They were still alive but no longer with the group. Having been captured to let their friends escape. Except for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy who got caught. This meant that the fugitive group that previously was made out of eight were now 5. While from a normal perspective it would seem alright, for them it wasn't. The only good thing was that they hadn't stumbled into any First Order soldiers since the capture of Fluttershy. They knew about Queen Iron Hoof. Her propaganda had replaced all First Order ones and her 'Royal Guard' as she called it patrolled the streets now. The First Order was mainly only guarding locations of high interest. Such as Camp Vanoi, Canterlot or the old Imperial bases. Quite a brilliant plan to let the population think that the First Order was now Peacekeepers.

The new temporary home for the group of ponies was the crashed Imperial II-class Menacer. It may not be the most comfortable home at first but on closer inspection, the surviving officer quarters or Stormtrooper barracks that were still intact made it quite better. Not to mention that every Imperial II-class Star Destroyer has enough rations to feed its crew for six years without restocking and with there only being 5 consumers the food could theoretically last for more than a decade.

Princess Cadance and Twilight Sparkle were currently looking around the crashed ship measuring a thousand meters for items that could help them. Eventually, they would stumble upon the private quarters of Captain Maponoa. On the ground was the body of the Captain, by the looks of it it had already begun its decomposition phase. On the desk, there was a hologram projector. Twilight approached it, interested in what she could learn about the galaxy. She used the magic that her horn possessed to activate it.

A mini-map of the entire galaxy appeared. Complete with the names of the planets, names of the different parts such as the Inner Rim, the Colonies, and the famous Outer Rim. While it was interesting she was more interested in the history of the galaxy. She got her wish when the projector suddenly switched from the map to a HoloNet recording of a combat cam from the Clone Wars. On the sides, it read vital signs and information about the clone. All of it was written in Aurabesh, also known as Galactic Basic. Luckily for Twilight, she was capable of reading it. She looked carefully and read:

"CC-8484, Marshall Commander, 'Hike', 98th High Altitude Assualt Battalion."

She then looked at the recording. Infront of the Trooper were three other ones and a woman. She was wearing a peculiar outfit and was holding an item. Twilight guessed that it was a weapon. By now Cadance had also begun to watch.
On the ground, there was lots of snow, and it was also snowing. Guessing by the amount of snow they both guessed that this was taking place on a mountain. It would explain why it said 'High Altitude Assualt Battalion'.
Suddenly two beeps were heard. The trooper took out his hologram projector and a live image of a man with black robes appeared.

"The time has come. Execute Order 66." The man said.

Immediately the four Clone Troopers began to fire. Either firing their DC15A's or DC15S's. Immediately she fell down on the cold snow. She was dead.

Then the HoloNet recording switched off.
The events were more than the Alicorn had asked for. Instead of a maybe an audio recording talking about recent events she got a horrible recording. A dark one. But she had learned new things. One of them being the Clone Army and Order 66.

She left the room that belonged to Captain Maponoa. She saw Cadance, standing right outside with the same expression. They had gone through worse. But to be feeling shaken after a recording wasn't something that happened every day. There's always a first time for everything.

Without saying a word, both began to make their way to the Stormtrooper Barracks where the five slept, it may not be the most comfortable place to sleep onboard but the majority of the luxurious chambers for the officers were sealed shut. With only Captain Maponoa's being accessible.

| - - - - - - - |

A loud thumping sound was heard. Shortly after another one. The loud thumps weren't stopping anytime soon. The town of Ponyville was the only populated area in all of Equestria in which the First Order had a presence. All other cities and towns were guarded by Queen Iron Hoof's Royal Guard.

An AT-AT would stop right on the outskirt of the town. Following it was an AT-MA. Two squads of Stormtroopers would deploy via rope from the All Terrain Armoured Transportation. The 20 Stormtroopers would form a perimeter and clear the area of curious ponies.
The All Terrain Mobile Artillery would position itself into firing mode. The two laser cannons would begin charging in preparation to fire.

Meanwhile, 4 Kilometers from Ponyville, in the Everfree forest laid an abandoned mansion. This mansion wasn't abandoned, however, It was the home for the Ponyville resistance fighters. They resisted the First Order's occupation and moved to the forest to set up camp. Little did they know that the First Order was about to crush their uprising before it'd he thought to begin.

The two canons fired. A continuous barrage of laser fire would fly over the sky and land at the mansion. The mansion, along with its resistance members were gone. After firing for a full minute the AT-MA stopped. It returned to walking position and along with the two squads of Stormtroopers and the AT-AT returned to Fort Kilo.

| - - - - - - - |

The Tector was slowly turning portside. All its TIE Fighters and ground assets were returning onboard. Admiral Tarron had been ordered by the Supreme Leader to assist in the fight against the Resistance and therefore, the Arrestor would be alone in the blockade of Equestria but because the Resistance didn't know of this world it wouldn't matter much. As for ground troops, the Imperial bases still had a few abandons vehicles and heavy weaponry so the First Order did need to worry as much.

Though for the ponies of Equestria, this meant that they were one step closer to liberation. One step closer to living in peace, harmony and in a beautiful land.

Chapter 6: "Sacrifice"

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 7: "History is on the move"

Two days after the Skirmish in Manehattan

Word had come of the heroic death of Valiant. The group of 8 whose home was the Menacer knew he what he did for a good cause. He had inspired ponies to revolt against the First Order and that was happening in Ponyville mainly. So much so that Admiral Kejim had given the order for shoot-to-kill if any Pony was outside their home during the night or attacking First Order Troops.

Because of this, action, Twilight Sparkle, Cadance and Shining Armor knew that now was the time to rise up. Against the First Order and Queen Iron Hoof. Now when the morale was as high as ever. It was chosen, that the Crystal Empire would be the temporary capital during the Uprising, as it had no First Order presence and Iron Hoof's Royal Guards were not trained to fight in cold climates, unlike the Crystal Empire's Royal Guard that still remained, probably imprisoned in one of the Empire's facilities.

One Week Later

The Crystal Empire was the first part of Equestria that was free from the First Order and Queen Iron Hoof. How this was done was simple. Queen Iron Hoof had underestimated the power of the old Royal Guard and Cadance was able to free them from the prisons in the North. With the new army, they were able to overrun Iron Hoof's royal guard and take control of the Crystal Empire. In the end, it was a successful attack with minimal casualties.

The Crystal Empire could now serve as a beacon of liberty, in a time of darkness. Against the First Order. For this was the mission, defeat the First Order and Queen Iron Hoof. They were weaker than the two combined and had no vehicles like those walkers but they had something that the Rebellion had a secret weapon. That being hope, with hope they were going to win, whether it takes years or heavy losses, it will all be worth it for the next generation to live in peace and harmony.

The Royal Guard of the Crystal Empire was about 150. Though, 12 had been lost in battle so it was now 138. If they managed to liberate the Royal Guard from Ponyville and the City Guards from all the cities in Equestria then their numbers would outnumber Queen Iron Hoof, but not the First Orders. Considering there was about 100 Atmospheric Assualt Landers onboard a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer and each could carry 20, that means that there could be as much as 2000 Stormtroopers, though the question was where they all were. They could be scattered all around Equestria and finding them won't be so easy. Especially since the ponies d not have any recon equipment unlike the First Order who can use their TIE Fighters to scout ahead, the fast speed of them would be able to avoid any missile launches which the ponies didn't have as well, not to mention they didn't have anything to use against the Starfighters there could be as much as two wings of Starfighters onboard, and there was also the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer now so in the end there could be as much as 11700 Stormtroopers. And if every Royal Guard and City Guard did accept to join then that would only bring the number up to around 1150. Not even a quarter of the First Order's Stormtroopers. Something had to be done about it but the problem was that none of them could think of a solution.

In the end, Twilight Sparkle, probably the smartest Princess out there figured out a possible solution. Her idea was to flank the Stormtroopers Corps and take them by surprise, that way while a small force surprises them the main force can advance from all directions and basically trap them while unicorns could use long ranged weaponry such as bows or rocks to deliver attacks from range. At first sight, this seemed like a perfect plan. But considering that the First Order is in possession of vehicles unlike the ponies it creates a problem. They could try using the same tactic as they did during the fall of the Crystal Empire but that only took down one walker. The First Order still uses AT-AT's but not as much as the AT-M6 which has better stabilization than the AT-AT and therefore, can't be brought down using a rope. Destroying it from the inside would be the best option, but then Cadance though of something. Her idea was that instead of blowing it up, the ponies capturing it would seize control of it and use it to destroy the other walkers. That was the best way. At least, if somepony knew how to drive one.

But then, an idea came to Shining Armor's mind.
"What if we use the current guards we have and recruit ponies into the guard so that we actually have a chance at winning?"

"Are you so certain that there would normal stallions and mares just lining up to become a guard?" Cadance asked.

"I am," said Twilight Sparkle.

"I remember back when I was fighting Starlight Glimmer, I saw an alternate world where there the elements of harmony did not exist and therefore a war broke out between Celestia and Sombra, I saw how there were ponies lining up to join the war."

"That was an alternate world though, egg head! This is real life!" Rainbow Dash came in the room.

"You're right but it still does leave a chance that they will join the ranks of the Royal Guard, after all. They hate the First Order." Twilight replied.

"It could work..." Shining put a hoof under his jaw and thought.

"It will work!" Shining later said.

24 hours later

The same First Order Command Shuttle that had landed in the main square of Canterlot was on it's way to the royal castle situated in Canterlot. It landed right in front of it and out came General Drant, without his droid this time. But with an escort of twelve Stormtroopers. The six Royal Guards guarding the entrance recognized the General and two of them opened the door for him while the other four saluted. General Drant and his Stormtroopers entered the castle that previously belonged to Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna.

Inside there were even more Royal Guards. All of them saluted the General when he passed them. The General did not salute back but continued to walk. Eventually, the General reached his destination. The throne room. The two guards guarding the door opened the heavy doors for him. Once they were open and he had a clear view of the throne room the General began walking, but slower this time. Queen Iron Hoof was sitting on the throne.

"This visit is unexpected, General." Queen Iron Hoof started.

General Drant did not bother to answer politely, instead, he went straight to the point.
"Do not act surprised Iron Hoof. It has been months since we put you in charge of this pathetic world and you haven't managed to capture the two Princesses and the one Prince!"

"I have put every available guard on the task of finding them, what else do you want? I do not have your technology of being able to fly at 1,600 kilometers an hour or these gorilla walkers with their enormous guns!" The Queen reasoned.

"That may be the case but how hard should it be for your guards who know this land like the back of their hand? Meanwhile, our Stormtroopers have at least managed to capture the royalties and their friends once without knowing the land!"

"General. You need to understand that we aren't the same species, yes, my guards my know most of Equestria like the back of their hoof but do you think that means they know where the fugitives are?"

"I think you underestimate your men, Iron Hoof. They are capturing them, that's not the problem. The problem is that they're unable to find them. The Supreme Leader will not tolerate an uprising in this world and has already proposed the destruction of this planet. Now, see to it personally that you find them." Drant finished.

Iron Hoof was about to reply but General Drant had already left. He was leaving and headed back to the task of maintaining security in the areas that the First Order controlled. But there was something that Queen Iron Hoof did not know about. One thing that he, Admiral Kejim and Commander Valin had discussed. The thing they had discussed was killing Queen Iron Hoof to trick the ponies that it was Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Cadance and their friends who did the killing. In theory, it would work and if it did it could turn the tides of the situation leading to the discovery of them where they would be taken into custody by the First Order at the same time as they would act as the saviors. Once in custody, they would be trialed for their crimes and likely executed.

History was on the move, every day was an opportunity to change it forever or let nature take its course. It was only a question until someone or somepony decided it was time to change the history of this world. Whether Equestria was to be destroyed or not did matter to Drant. He would be fine with both. And maybe destruction of Equestria was the best option, no more princesses, no more chances of an uprising.

48 Hours after the meeting between General Drant and Queen Iron Hoof

Over the two days, over a thousand ponies from all over Equestria had pledged their loyalty to fight against the First Order. It was quite a surprise, but a welcome one. They hadn't expected such a large number in the first week but they were grateful for it. The more the better. Supplying them would be the problem in the end. There wasn't enough equipment to supply them all so, some had to go without armor. Weapons wasn't a problem though. The Crystal Empire had namely a warehouse full of weapons meant for the Castle Guards and, some black market dealers surprisingly gave their Imperial E-11's to the cause. Learning how to use them would be a challenge though. Luckily for them, Fluttershy had found a holodisk while looking around a Sentinel-class Landing Shuttle at the vaults. The Holodisk was opened by Shining Armor, who with the help of her young sister Twilight Sparkle was able to read it. It taught them perfectly how to safely use it.

In preparation for the uprising, secret codewords had been created. Each codeword was meant for a pony or a group of ponies. If a letter said something like "The Summer is a hot period of a year." then the pony or the group of ponies who knew what the code meant would perform actions to distract the First Order behind enemy lines. All of this would theoretically scatter the First Order forces and give an opportunity for the ponies to attack the now scattered groups. If it all worked, then the uprising would succeed. Assuming the First Order wasn't going to use something deadly to wipe them out at least.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading Chapter 7. Also yes, the name of the chapter comes from one of Grand Admiral Thrawn's quotes. Here's the full quote:
History is on the move, Captain. Those who cannot keep up will be left behind, to watch from a distance. And those who stand in our way will not watch at all.

Cancelled

Bow down to the First Order has been canceled.
The reason for this is because I feel that this story will be too similar to An Imperial Occupation, I also have no interesting ideas for future chapters apart from war. Sorry if you were really into this story but, all good things have to come to an end at times.

Not to worry though, I will be releasing a new Star Wars-MLP Crossover fanfic later this month for those who need it.