Equestria's first warp drive

by CCC

Borg

The Borg hivemind assimilated its newest captives, their individualities vanishing as their thoughts sank into the morass of minds. But even as their personalities began to dissolve, one strident certainty stood strong, anchoring one of the minds and holding it together for a little longer.

Dash is coming

Certainties were nothing new to the Borg. It made the mind a little harder to absorb; but all minds succumbed eventually.

Dash is coming

This certainty was a particularly strong one; but the Borg had a few shortcuts to deal with this sort of thing. But first, the hivemind needed information.

Fortunately for the Borg, they had access to all the memories of all the ponies they'd assimilated. It took a fraction of a second to draw out the necessary information.

Rainbow Dash. Pegasus. Fastest Potentially fastest pegasus currently alive. Rumoured to be capable of performing sonic rainboom (direct witness accounts: 0; One eyewitness account by word-of-mouth from Rainbow Dash to Scootaloo; one eyewitness account by word-of-mouth from Rarity to Sweetie Belle; one eyewitness account by word-of-mouth from Twilight Sparkle to Spike). Significantly idolised by new pegasus drone not yet assigned a full designation; sees self as comparatively insignificant. Has been observed to pass through significant personal difficulty to fulfil a promise.

Relevant promise; letter from Rainbow Dash to new pegasus drone. Text of message: Scoots, I'm coming – Dash Letter considered sufficient promise by personality of new drone.

With the source of the certainty identified, the hivemind took action.

Edit memory: edit text of letter as follows: Scoots, I'm not coming – Dash. Re-check certainty; certainty collapsing. Assimilation of personality complete.

And with that, Scootaloo's individuality finally vanished.

But now the hivemind was curious. The pegasus designated “Rainbow Dash” was still on her way to rescue the filly in question. A grown pegasus, and especially the fastest flier in Equestria, would be well worth assimilating.

A review of the letters that had been sent via Spike revealed that:

a) All six Bearers of the Elements were approaching
b) They were travelling on a starship, which arrived at Equestria three days after the Ferengi had left (accuracy of time estimate unknown)

A review of Starfleet troop data, lifted from Pog's computer system, revealed that the only Federation starship capable of reaching Equestria in that short timeframe was a small merchant vessel, maximum speed warp four. The Ferengi ship had been travelling much of the way at warp six. If the Federation ship travelled at a constant warp four towards the Ferengi ship, it would not reach the Ferengi ship for another two weeks.

A small merchant ship did not, as a rule, possess weapons capable of threatening even a small Borg probe.

This ship, however, carried some tempting assimilation targets.

Twilight Sparkle. Unicorn. Her great knowledge of theoretical magic made her a perfect target to assimilate to learn about unicorn magic. And with Borg implants designed to magnify her abilities, she could wrest control of the sun and moon from Celestia and Luna, leaving the entire planet of Equestria ripe for assimilation.

Rainbow Dash. Speed flier. With some Borg implants to allow her to survive in vacuum and manipulate subspace with her wings, this drone could become a high-speed space fighter, too small and manoeuvrable for the average starship to hit.

Fluttershy. While her flying abilities were below par, she could apparently emit an effect from her eyes that could cause other being to sit still. If this Stare could be weaponised on a large scale, it would make future assimilations far easier.

Pinkie Pie. Short-range prescience. The benefits of proper study of 'Pinkie sense' to the aims of the Collective would be immense. Preliminary calculations suggest that it would reduce drone losses due to accidents by at least 73%. Borg implants to enhance this sense would improve the benefits.

Rarity. Unicorn. Her control over multiple levitating objects was impressive. Implanting her with a set of co-processors to improve her multitasking capabilities and enhance her reaction time would allow her to form a perfect defence against kinetic impacts; she would be able to catch bullets mid-flight and control them as necessary.

Applejack. Few directly useful skills(1). Great strength. If 'Pinkie sense' can be induced in this subject, it should be.

And these six mares were on their way. Warping directly towards the Borg, practically throwing themselves away from Celestia's protection, and into the Borg's assimilation tubules.

Better yet; these six mares were the only mares capable of using the Elements of Harmony – a magical artifact capable of severing even a Borg Queen's connection to the hivemind. (And the memories of the ponies – especially Spike and Scootaloo – suggested that Luna still lived, she hadn't been obliterated like the Borg had assumed. Interesting.) Assimilating even a single one of these ponies would render the artifact useless.

Of course the Borg would set up an ambush and assimilate them. It was the only sensible course of action.And since they would not arrive for at least two weeks, the Borg would set up their ambush in ten days. (Two Borg cubes promptly had their schedules altered in order to take part in the ambush).

There was a simple plan to deal with the Elements of Harmony. It relied on Spike's memory of Twilight's recounting of the tale of their use against Nightmare Moon...

...and when we woke up, Princess Celestia had returned...

...when we woke up...

Use of the Elements to cure one drone tired out the Bearers, making them fall asleep. This would leave them vulnerable to another drone stepping forward and assimilating all six Bearers before they recovered.

The Borg also considered the possibility that a unicorn might be able to track certain people directly; none of the new drones knew how or whether such a thing could be accomplished, but they did know that if anyone knew how to do it, it would be Twilight. Therefore, in order to bait their trap for Twilight, all of the new drones who had personally met her would need to stay in this part of space.

They would be accompanied by several dozen drones from the probe, as reinforcements.

The cockatrice bore a memory of having once turned Twilight to stone. For that reason, it too remained on the Ferengi ship.

But the changeling; the changeling had never met Twilight. Her true nature had been unknown to even the other new drones. (It was known now, of course; the Borg do not keep secrets from themselves for long). Her true nature would be unknown to Twilight; she was untrackable. The changeling would be transported to the Borg probe, and from there to the nearest Borg cube.

The Borg did not believe in taking even the slightest of chances with a being able to emulate an alicorn.

(1) The Borg do not farm, and they believe that rodeos are irrelevant

Comments

[CCC]

3812506

They can't in this story; but when they have control of the cockatrice, the Borg can also decide when to turn them back to flesh again.

Imagine for a moment that the cockatrice-drone turns somepony to stone. It can then free the pony's barrel, inject nanoprobes, and then free the pony's head and legs; unless the pony has some way of dealing with nanoprobes very quickly, it will end up assimilated. And uninjured.

3813155

'tis a pleasure. Here, have another.

[Foal244]

3822873 ok

[CvBrony]

Jeez. Where's the dark tag when you need it?

[Ellington]

Dang Borg!

I'd like to see the time when Doctor Whooves fought them

[CCC]

3822964

Hmmmm. I didn't think it needed it. I know the last two chapters have been a bit shadowy, and ending the tale there would warrant a Dark tag... but we're not at the end yet.

I do think there is enough information currently present in the story to predict the end, though.

3824229

So would I I have absolutely no idea how he would have stopped them, but it sounds like the sort of villain he'd deal with.

[Strange quark 42]

I hope the elements can free everypony from the borg

[Shadow_8472]

8666577
Me too. Even Flam.

Editing Scootaloo's memory was a cheap shot, but it's what the Borg would do.

[tsaukpaetra]

Wow, this collective is extremely confident in its assumptions. Hoping that goes well for them...