"PRINCESS?!" Twilight gasped, fully realizing the implications.
They were caught- and Twilight had no idea what the punishment was for rebellious drones. It really didn't matter, though.
"I am no longer Celestia of Pony. I am Celestia of Borg." Princess Celestia replied. "And your actions are most unforgiving. You have-"
"Yeah, yeah. Can it, sister!" Pinkie shouted, and suddenly her party cannon was in her hooves. With a confetti-popping sound, the cannon propelled confetti and streamers all over Celestia. Applejack stared at her, shocked.
"Pinkie, are you out of your ever-buckin' mind?!" Applejack yelled. "You just confetti-cannoned Celestia!"
"That isn't Celestia!" Pinkie said. "That's a mind-controlled drone! YOU GIVE US BACK OUR
PRINCESS, YOU FOAL!" Applejack's hoof was back in Pinkie's mouth.
Celestia blinked. “Princess Celestia is gone,” she repeated. “You have committed treason. Prepare to be assimilated.”
“Never!” Twilight shouted. “Equestria will never fall lightly! Not to changelings, to Nightmare Moon, to King Sombra, or anypony! We will fight, if it’s the last thing we do!” She sounded uncharacteristically fierce, but it did not deter anypony. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike stood behind their friend, determined to end this fight.
Celestia sighed. “I am sorry, my little ponies.” Surprisingly, the six ponies and Spike could see a tear going down Celestia’s face. With obvious effort, Celestia raised her hoof. On the end was a laser of some sort. Twilight gasped, then flew into the air.
“She… She’s flying away?!” Pinkie blinked, shocked. “But… she wouldn’t leave us… She’s our friend!”
“Oh Tartarus…” Rainbow Dash muttered. “We’re doomed.”
“No, we aren’t!” Applejack shouted. “Look!”
Twilight, who hadn’t been flying away at all, slammed into Celestia from behind. The mind-controlled princess fell face forward and would’ve face planted into the ground had Applejack and Pinkie Pie not grabbed her.
Twilight landed. “I’m terribly sorry, Princess. But you’re not acting like yourself right now! Anyway… let’s do this!” She quickly ran through her memory for the teleportation spell, and activated her magic. Suddenly, the seven equines and Spike disappeared.
****************
Ten seconds later, Twilight opened her eyes. She and her friends, along with Princess Celestia, were standing inside the Golden Oak Library. Princess Luna, along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, was also standing there, looking very surprised to see the newcomers.
“Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Apple Bloom, I’m fine. Blame Unimatrix Zero. Anyway, what are you doing here?” Twilight replied, and Apple Bloom winked at her.
“We’re helpin’ Princess Luna! We’re trying to get our cutie marks in Borg-defeatin’!” she answered. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“What would a cutie mark in Borg-defeating even look like?!” Scootaloo sounded annoyed. “We’ve been here all day! No information’s showing up!”
“Well, that’s alright. ‘Cause I’ve got the answer!” Pinkie shouted, jumping up and down. She shoved a type of scroll into Twilight’s face. Twilight read through it twice, and then gasped.
“Of course! Hang on, everypony!” She activated her magic, then read the scroll’s contents out loud. A hot pink light shot out of the tip of her horn and surrounded Princess Celestia. For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happened – then suddenly, the princess rose into the air. The metal on her horn and wings disappeared, and soon Princess Celestia stood before them, completely normal.
“Yay!” Fluttershy squealed. “Thank goodness.”
“Hello, my little ponies.” Celestia smiled down at them. “Thank you for saving me. Now about that ship…” She concentrated, and suddenly her magic activated.
*ON THE BORG SHIP*
“Damnthose ponies!” The Borg Queen smacked the console, angry. “Why does everyone try to get in our way?!” She stopped suddenly. “What is that noise?”
A faint humming was heard in the background of the Queen’s rant. As she listened, it soon grew louder, until the humming turned into a loud beeping noise.
The Borg Queen ran into the engine room and beheld a sight so strange that she had to blink a few times. The restart sequence button was surrounded by a glittering yellow glow- almost like a transporter beam, but not.
“Uh-oh…” The Queen cursed under her breath, then looked closer. The glow seemed to have expanded – around the whole ship.
She cursed again. Suddenly, the ship exploded, and all went black.
*BACK IN EQUESTRIA*
Princess Celestia’s horn glow dimmed, and she opened her eyes. Twilight and the others stared at her, concerned if what the princess had done was safe and/or had worked.
Princess Celestia smiled. “The ship is no more,” she said. “Equestria is safe once again.” Pinkie cheered at this, and soon the rest of the ponies joined in – except for Twilight, who was busy trying to decide if she should be happy (because Equestria was safe) or scared (because her princess had just decimated an entire spaceship and was nonchalant about it). Finally, she looked up.
“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, Twilight?” Celestia looked at her former student, smiling in a kind of motherly fashion.
“Do you think… do you think that the Borg will ever return?” Twilight was hoping that they wouldn’t, but one never knew.
“Don’t worry, Twilight.” Princess Celestia looked determinedly at the ceiling. “I don’t think they’ll return. But if they do? We’re ready… and we WILL win!”
Twilight smiled. Suddenly, she felt a golden glow surround her, and suddenly she felt the metal implants remove themselves from her body. She looked up to see Princess Celestia’s horn glowing, and when it stopped, the implants fell to the ground.
“Everypony, we are safe once again,” Twilight told them. “It’ll take a while to get back to normal, but that’s how it always is.” She looked out the window, where ponies were starting to hesitantly exit their homes and go back out into the open. “We did it. TOGETHER!”