As interested as Seven was in the workings of this imaginary world, her annoyance was starting to outpace her curiosity. Twilight had been speaking through most of their trek to the orchard, but Seven had only given her a fraction of her attention. There were much more important tasks she could be performing. The Borg never had to deal with frivolous "exercises" in friendship and empathy, and they seemed to function quite well.
Finally, the strange pair crested the final hill to their destination. Even through her sour demeanor, Seven had to admit that the vibrant color palette of this world made for some beautiful sights.
Sweet Apple Acres swept the horizon with trees full of bright and gleaming apples. At the edge of the orchard nearest the barn, an orange pony, similar in size to Twilight, bucked her hind legs into the trees and managed to catch all of the falling apples into the surrounding buckets. Upon seeing Seven and Twilight, she trotted over to welcome her guests.
"Well howdy there Twilight, Twilight's friend! I'm Applejack."
"Applejack, this is Seven of Nine. Tuvok wanted me to show her around town and teach her some of the lessons I learned when I first came to town."
"Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm afraid we can't give you quite the same welcome that we gave to Twilight since most of the Apple family is out of town, but I'd be happy to share some of the things I've gotten from our adventures here. How's that sound?"
"Given that I do not have a choice in the matter, I will comply," Seven replied, her lack of enthusiasm quite clear.
"Right...well, where should I start? Ooh, how about I tell y'all about the time I tried to pull off the apple harvest by myself? I was determined to prove that I could take on any challenge without help, so, despite all the commitments I had, I tried to take this whole farm on because I didn't want to have to rely on others. Barely took a week before I was so tired that I ended up causing all sorts of calamities, and I had only gotten half of the apples harvested. I had been so stubborn. My friends were there to help me the whole time, but my pride kept getting in the way. When I finally accepted their help, it took barely any time at all. Having friends and being part of the community is not only fun, but it creates a network of people that you can rely on to help you, no matter what kind of mischief you get into."
Applejack glanced over to Twilight, who gave her an approving nod, and, then, turned back to Seven, hoping to hear her thoughts.
Seven was, as usual, more than willing to share her input.
"If your society was efficiently run, your difficulties would only have caused a slight delay. Your desire to do the job alone would have been irrelevant as resources would be diverted to replace you the moment your work slowed. Friendship is merely a flawed solution to fix a flawed collective."
The last words were punctuated with a hint of superiority, and Applejack, not expecting the sudden rebuke, was a bit offended. Even Twilight was starting to be a little annoyed with Seven's stubbornness.
"Seven, I don't think that you are really opening yourself up to the idea that friendship could be good. Applejack and I are just trying to explain how it has enriched not only our lives, but also the lives of everyone in Ponyville. The crew of Voyager are good people. Tuvok, despite his stoic Vulcanness, is a good friend and his bringing you here was an attempt to help you, not punish you."
The former drone's patience was at an end.
"This futile exercise is over. Computer, end program."
Other than confused looks from the two ponies, nothing changed.
"Computer, end program! Comply!"
The continued lack of response only fueled Seven's frustrations further. Tuvok must have set restrictions against her leaving prematurely. She would just have to find him and demand that she be allowed to exit.
Seven stormed off quickly, leaving the confused locals behind. Twilight started to canter after her, but a powerful hoof from Applejack blocked her path.
"Let her go, sugar-cube. Sometimes a pony just needs to have a minute to themselves and think things out. She might come around after a bit of alone time."
Twilight sighed, "I guess this is a lot to take in at once. I really hoped that I wouldn't overwhelm her, but I don't always get how humans work. Of course, I don't always know how ponies work either. Maybe I pushed a bit hard."
"Don't sweat it, Twi. Why don't you come in and have an apple or two while we think about it?"
As they trotted towards the farmhouse, they missed the blur of pink that seemed to be following Seven of Nine's trail...