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.

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.

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.

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 Notes:

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.