“Woah… Apex has grown a lot since the last time I visited…”

“Never been here myself…” Applejack mumbled, looking down at her sister. “I’ve seen a lot of wooden buildings in my life, even concrete! But this… Where’d they get all that metal?”

Apple Bloom grimaced, carelessly kicking about a small bolt, feeling the weight of the apple cart behind her. “One of ‘em told me they pull mountains off of the ground,” she said, looking up at Applejack, whose eyes had widened upon hearing the words. “But they also told me they only do that on planets without people on them…”

“Phew…” Applejack sighed, slowly coming to a stop with the cart full of apples behind her. “Now where…” She looked around, hoof tapping against the metallic pavement. Her neck craned around, gazing up at the numerous humans that walked to and fro upon the streets of Apex. Her ears flicked upon hearing a loud, thumping sound, then looked behind her to see a large human inside a machine effortlessly carrying about a massive crate.

“Careful!” the human yelled. “Loader coming through!”

“E-eh…” she muttered, stepping to the side, then staring up. “G-good luck with that… crate, partner!”

“No worries,” he exclaimed back. “I handle high explosives like this all day!” he chuckled as he stomped off.

“Wha…” she mumbled. “What do they need all those explosives for, even?”

“It’s how they get all the metal!” Applebloom said, smiling. “Instead of picking away at rocks, they just blow ‘em up altogether!” Together, they continued to drag their carts around. “Very efficient!”

“Pfft!” Applejack scoffed. “What’ll ya’ tell me next? That they can make apples weigh three pounds and make them grow twice as fast all year?”

“Uhh…” Applebloom looked away. “Nooo… T-they didn’t say that.” She scratched behind her ear. “Can we switch the subject?”

“Yeah,” the mare said, frowning. With one hoof, she reached inside her hat, pulling out a small piece of paper. She squinted, reading it. “Where in apples is ‘Supply bay six-seventy beta’...?”

“No clue.” The filly looked up. “We should probably ask of of ‘em.”

“Right.” Applejack stuffed the letter back into her hat. “Should just get these apples to that one place and go see Rainbow Dash, it’s gettin’ late.”

“Howdy!” Applejack exclaimed, looking up at a passing woman. “We need some uh, directions.”

The woman looked down. “Oh my…” she mumbled, kneeling down. “I didn’t believe what the ground teams were saying but… ponies really are little!” she chuckled as Applejack hid her blush behind her hat. “You do look a little lost, though. Where do you need to go?”

“Supply bay six-seventy beta!” Applebloom exclaimed. “Got a load of apples for them!”

“Apples?” the woman asked, furrowing her brow and looking at the red produce. “That’s fruit, right?”

Applejack shot her a devastated look. “Ya’ don’t know what apples are!?”

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Right, well, we used to have apples in our native planet. I’ve heard they’re a real delicacy now!” The woman smiled, rubbing her chin with one hand. “Do you… Do you mind if I take one? I’ve only heard stories of the taste!”

“Of course!” Applejack happily exclaimed, hastily turning back, grabbing an apple and offering it to the woman. “I believe everypo-, I mean, everybody, should always have the option to relax and have an apple!”

“Ooh…” The woman smiled, taking the apple. “You’re so nice!” She slowly brought the ripe red fruit to her mouth, taking a small bite out of it. Applejack grinned and looked up to her expectantly as she chewed.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, taking another bite. “This is what my people ate a thousand years ago! And it’s really good!”

“The apple family’s apples always deliver!” she exclaimed, nodding.

“You said you were going to bay six-seventy B?” she asked while chewing. “I think Randall’s there. You need to get these apples to him, he’s right around the corner!” She pointed behind her with her thumb. “Thanks for the apple! I need to get to my post, though, so I hope we see each other again!”

“See ya’!” both of the ponies exclaimed, waving their hooves at the woman.

Together, they began walking again, apple carts in tow. They rounded a corner, finding themselves in front of a small warehouse. The two looked at each other, frowning.

Applejack knocked on the door, hearing the sound of breaking glass inside and someone shouting the word, “Shit!” They took one step backwards as someone on the other side began to fumble with the door. “I’ll have you know that I just spilled grade-three genenanites ‘cause of you!” The door swung open, allowing for a man in a lab coat, hazard goggles, and patchy, burnt hair to stand outside.

He looked around. “No one, eh? I’ll get the intellicam footage, and your ass is gonna get a combat boot stuck far inside of it!”

“Uhm…” Applejack muttered. “Down here…”

“Huh?” the man inquired, then looked down. “Well fuck me… natives!” He exclaimed, kneeling down. “Command said they wouldn’t give me a specimen, let alone two!”

“Hey!” Applejack yelled as the man lifted propped her up by grabbing her forelegs.

“And females, too!” he laughed. “Perhaps Command wants me to experiment on these two, oh the possibilities!”

“We’re just here to bring apples!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. The man froze.

“Oh…” He let go of Applejack, dusting her off letting her stand on her own. “Right… Forgot about this little delivery…” He chuckled. “Sorry for uh, examining you. I was expecting humans! I knew ‘Applejack’ was a weird name for a woman!”

“Offense taken,” Applejack mumbled.

“So that’s the apples, huh?” He stood up. “Come in, come in! Name’s Randall, by the way, nice to meet you!”

The two sisters glanced at each other before walking into the warehouse, greeted by the sight of many plants, glass jars with weird things inside of them, and many test tubes lying around. “You were probably expecting an actual supply bay or something, heh!” He hastily swiped a bunch of holopads and other paraphernalia off of a table, letting them clutter up on the floor. “I was just assigned to this place as a temporary lab, you see!” He briskly made his way over to an apple cart and took an apple. “I’ve been told I’m part of the team examining native flora!” He produced a knife and sliced it in half. “If everything goes right, we’ll be growing fruit four times the size of this one and in half the time!”

“Wha-!” Applejack exclaimed.

“And that’s the problem!” Randall continued yelling. “Nothing’s gone right so far!” He stuffed one apple half into his mouth. “Everything in this planet or, uh, dimension just resists changes on it’s base genetic code!” The two ponies watched as he stuffed the other half of the apple into a jar, grabbed a small syringe filled with dark liquid, and carefully placed a single little droplet on the apple. “You see,” Randall grabbed the jar with the apple. “When genenanites are applied,” he exclaimed, watching the apple slowly start to decompose, “the whole thing starts dying! Now, this only applies to vegetables so far, so we’ll have to resort to less invasive methods to grow bigger fruit faster!” He placed the jar on the table. “We’re not even considering animals or other beings so far…”

“Hold it right there for one second!” the orange mare yelled, causing Randall to flinch in surprise. “Ya’ mean to tell me you plan to grow bigger apples and faster than me and my family!? That’s gonna put us out of business!”

“Huh?” Randall looked down at her, eyebrow raised. “Oh, right!” He stuffed his hand into his pocket, fumbling about until he produced a small holopad, reading it. “We’re not aiming to put anyone out of business, just…” He sighed.

“Just what!?” Applejack glared at him.

“Things are gonna change, Applejack,” Randall said, speaking in a softer tone, his eyes shifting back and forth between the two ponies. “There are many more mouths to feed, and they’re hungry.” He turned and walked over to the table. “You and your family will remain in charge, but we uh…” The man placed his hands on the table. “We strongly suggest you accept our help.” He turned to face her. “We’ll provide workers and technology, all we want is to boost production.”

“No.”

“Applejack-!” Randall exclaimed.

“No way I’m gonna do that! It goes against what my family has done for generations!” she yelled. “We’re a family business, and it’ll stay that way!”

Randall looked down at the floor. “Apple-”

Applejack waved her hooves around. “Now yer coming to me asking to destroy all that!?”

“It’ll…” Randall began. “It’ll happen with or without your help,” he said, closing his eyes. “Save me the speeches, I’ve heard them all in a dozen different languages.” He turned back, leaned down and began to pick up all the items he had thrown on the floor. “I’ve done this several times,” he said, placing some of the items on the table. “You have to adapt, Applejack. If you don’t give way for progress, it’ll chew you down until there’s nothing left.” The man walked over to her, crouching down. “You’ll be swallowed by the rising mega-corporations, you’ll fall into bankruptcy and be forced to sell your farm for a few credits.”

“How can you be so sure about that?” Applejack asked. “You’ve no idea what the Apple family can pull through!”

“I’ve seen this happen time and time again,” Randall stood back up. “We’ve met many other species along our galaxy. Usually this would be a much slower process, but given the current circumstances, we need this now.” He looked to the side. “You don’t have to give up your family or all of your traditions, but if you don’t adapt, you’ll lose it all anyways.”

Applejack closed her eyes, covering her face with her hat as she began to shed a few tears.

“That’s it, huh…?” Applebloom asked.

“I hate to be the one to tell you all this,” Randall said, sighing, “but you need to give this a shot. We don’t expect an answer right now, but it’ll have to be quick. You can save parts of the ship, but if you stay in it, you’ll sink to the bottom.”

“Let’s go…” Applejack grabbed her sister, turning around and heading for the exit.

“Damnit all…” Randall muttered, watching them go.

“Would you like some more ice cream?” the nurse asked.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, instinctively trying to flare her wings open in surprise, only to feel a sharp sting of pain on her left side. She looked up at the human nurse, smiling. “No thank you.”

“Are your bandages too tight?” the nurse asked, looking over at the mare’s side.

The pony looked over to the window, looking at the cityscape that was Apex. “Nah…” She reached under her pillow, pulling out a book. Rainbow winced as she accidentally pulled a bit on the serum line attached to her foreleg.

A knock on the door made both the nurse and Rainbow to look over. A man peeked through. “Miss Rainbow Dash?” he asked. “You have visitors. Is that alright?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, it’s alright.” She watched as Applejack and her sister walked through. The nurse nodded at them on her way out, locking the door behind her.

“Hey AJ, hey Apple Bloom” Rainbow smiled. “Why the long faces?”

“Nothing, just…” Applejack trailed off. “Apple business, is all.” She smiled weakly, walking over to the bed her friend was on. “How’re the humans treating you?”

“Well,” Rainbow began. “I’m feeling alright, just never been hooked to so many things before. I feel a little doozy, cause all the medication.”

“When’s yer new wing gonna be put on?” Applebloom asked, leaning over the bed.

“They said they’re working on it.” Rainbow huffed. “My doctor told me they’ll have the implant done next week or so.” She looked at Applejack. “Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong with you, now?”

“Huh?” Applejack looked away. “Is it.. Is it that obvious?”

“Pretty much,” Rainbow said. “I’ve learned to read you pretty well over the years.”

Applejack sighed. “It’s just that the humans want to take part in the orchard, what with all their fancy technology and such…”

“What’s so bad about that?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s just…” Applejack muttered, looking over at Applebloom. “What if they take over? This is my family business we’re talkin’ about! What me and my family does has been tradition for generations! I can’t let the humans come in take that away!”

Rainbow sighed, “Applejack…” She looked over at that window. “You see that?”

“... What?”

“Apex,” Rainbow continued. “It’s grown from a few little metal buildings into a colony bigger than Canterlot!” She huffed. “You think you can stop this? You think you can stop progress?” The pegasus looked back at Applejack. “Applejack, I lost my fucking wing. I was literally crushed by combat walker.”

“Wha…” Applejack muttered. “But…”

“I really wanted to die the day after,” Rainbow continued. “But they gave me a solution.” She chuckled. “I’m gonna be the first pony to ever receive a cybernetic implant, for clouds’ sakes!” Rainbow took a deep breath, then sighed it out. “I thought I was never gonna fly again, how crazy is that? What makes me myself was taken away, but I’m getting it back. You following me here?”

Applejack sighed. “But… I don’t want to lose what makes me myself.”

“You won’t,” Rainbow continued. “You just have to stop being so stubborn and let some change come your way.” She smiled…

“It’s not that bad, Applejack. Just make a little room for change.”