Brand New Day

by Look-Out-Here-Comes-Tom

This is something like a proof-of-concept and a "what if" story combining G-5 spoilers and speculation on my part. It's a kind of a first attempt at what a G-5 pilot might look like, based on what we know about G-5.

3. Chapter 3

This fanfiction is intended to be a proof-of-concept for ideas that could be used for in the future for Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise; therefore, the author of this work hereby grants Hasbro Inc. and its affiliates and licensees, including but not limited to DHX Media, express, written permission to use, create derivative works of, sell, claim as their own intellectual property, and in general take any action they see fit with all and any content of this fanfiction, including, but not limited, to narration, dialog, story elements, story events, names of characters, names of fictional locations, names of fictional objects, fictional properties assigned to objects that exist in real life, character traits and backstories, worldbuilding elements, lyrics, and fictional magic spells. The author of this work relinquishes all and any intellectual property rights for all and any content of this fanfiction work to Hasbro Inc. and its affiliates and licensees, including but not limited to DHX Media.

It had been an emotional roller-coaster for everypony that evening. The thanks that Buttercup had showered on Shining Armor as she'd brought a fresh masterpiece pie had made him blush, and Twilight had grinned uncomfortably, knowing that she'd given her gold coin in cruelty while Shining Armor had given his two with genuine charity. The contrast didn't look good to anypony, but Buttercup either didn't know about the coin Twilight had given to Applejack, or else she was kind or polite enough not to bring it up.

Applejack, for her part, could hardly be torn away from working like crazy. She seemed to have an inkling that she'd done something very, very wrong by not being at the stall, but her family had made the decision not to tell her about the theft, knowing she was already feeling absolutely terrible. Bright Mack and Buttercup had to both come and insist that she stop working and eat to get her to stop her nigh-ritualistic shoveling of chicken manure into buckets.

She cleaned herself up from the filthy work and showed up at the dinner table just in time for her carrot stew to be cold. She tried to take only a half-portion of it and began to eat in furious silence, but her mother insisted she take the full portion, that she'd need her strength for the work tomorrow. Reluctantly, Applejack ate the whole thing and then went up into the bed she shared with Big Mack, feeling insulted, babied, bullied, and betrayed...though these feelings weren't quite articulate enough for her to feel angry at anypony except Twilight.

Twilight's emotional roller-coaster took a nosedive minutes after she crawled into the bed she'd shared with Shining Armor since she was a toddler. As she often did whenever she'd had a nightmare or an especially horrible fight with Applejack, she found herself cradled in her brother's arms, sobbing into his shoulder. "It's all my fault!" she whimpered.

Shining Armor rested her head against his cheek and whispered, "We don't know that for sure. If he had spies in the courthouse, he might've known we had those mineral rights long before that argument."

She kept crying, and Shining Armor let her.

Applejack was a little more reluctant to cry on Big Mack's shoulder, until he assured her that his broken leg was safely set in its cast, and it wouldn't hurt him to be touched. When she finally found herself in his embrace, she found she was all out of tears.

He wondered...should he tell her now about how the stand was ransacked? ...If he did, he could tell her that Shining Armor paid for the damage...which was sort of true; his two gold coins had paid the two months' mortgage for the farm, his medical bills, and there was just barely enough to pay for another cashbox with change in it. While Shining Armor had given him the coins before the news came back that the stand had been robbed, it was close enough to the truth, and Applejack would need to have a forgiving attitude tomorrow...

"Hey...Applejack?"

Applejack grunted in response.

"Listen...the reason I have this cast...the reason Mom and Dad could afford to pay for a doctor...is because Shining Armor...he shared some of the loot from his find."

"That was nice of him," Applejack said neutrally.

Big Mack hesitated a moment, then added, "He also paid for the losses...from the stand..."

"You mean how I wasn't there?"

"Yes, but...listen, I don't want you to feel bad about this; Shining Armor has already paid for it, but...while you were away, the stand...well, it got robbed."

Applejack stiffened. She said nothing for a long time. Finally, she hissed, "I bet TWILIGHT robbed it!"

Big Mack let out a sound of exasperation. "Twilight wouldn't do THAT!" he insisted.

Back at the treehome, Twilight had run out of tears and sputtered, "I STILL think it was Applejack that told Filthy Rich about the mineral rights!"

Shining Armor shook his head. "That can't be how it happened, Twilight...I was at Sweet Apple Acres when she came back crying her eyes out."

"You weren't there at the market. You didn't hear how NASTY she was to me! She actually said she hoped our whole family would end up on the auction block!"

Shining Armor hugged his sister a little tighter. "Sometimes...we all say terrible things that we don't really mean."

"Oh, she meant it. I got her back good, though."

"Hey...hey..." Shining Armor said, trying to sound disapproving, but only sounding like he was trying to console her. "Revenge? Please, tell me you didn't go there! You're a better mare than that!"

"Shining Armor!" she scolded. "She's a complete jerkface! Somepony has to take her down a peg!"

Shining Armor wanted his sister to see the good that was in AJ, just like he and Big Mack were able to. The only thing he could think of to say was "...Maybe Applejack thinks she has good reasons to take you down a peg, too..."

Twilight was taken aback. "YOU don't think she did, do you?"

Shining Armor reflexively said "No, of course not!" After a pause, he added, "I'm just trying to...well, get you to think about what the whole thing looks like from her perspective."

Twilight scoffed. "Her perspective is just plain WRONG!"

"Even if it is...it's seeing how the world looks through another pony's eyes that lets you understand why they are who they are, why they act the way they act...it might be harder for you two to hate each other if you two just...tried to understand each other."

After a few moments of silence, Shining Armor asked, "I'm not sure I want to know, but...what exactly did you do to Applejack? Did just seeing the mineral rights make her run away crying?"

Twilight was silent for a few moments. "I rubbed it in her face by asking if she had change for one of my gold coins when I bought an apple. And when she didn't, I patted her on the head and told her to keep the change."

Shining Armor was taken aback. "You...paid for one apple with a gold coin?" He was debating in his head whether to add You spent ten weeks' worth of a pony's wages just to make her miserable? In the end, he decided not to. Twilight was miserable enough as it is, and he didn't want to make things worse. Especially since things were going to get worse, much worse, in the morning.

At that very moment, Applejack was making that very accusation. "You know what the worst part is?" Applejack asked.

Big Mack asked, "The fact that you left it there and it got stolen?"

"No, there's something even worse than that...if I told Mom and Dad about that coin, you know what they'd say? They'd say Twilight was being generous, and I was being ungrateful."

Big Mack said nothing; his first thought was to defend his best friend's sister by pointing out that Shining Armor was VERY generous, and apparently she read his mind on this:

"Maybe Shining Armor really was being generous when he gave you those two gold coins...but generosity had NOTHING to do with what Twilight did. She thinks spending a gold coin is worth it to make me miserable! And you know what?"

Big Mack gulped. "What?"

"I'm GLAD that coin got stolen! It's better than taking a handout from a jerkface like her!"

"Don't say that, Applejack...! Especially not in front of Mom and Dad; they're afraid...and rightfully so. The next mortgage payment is coming up, and even though we've paid the back payments and late fees for the last two months, Mom and Dad probably aren't going to make the next payment, unless..."

"Unless they get a handout from a jerkface?"

Big Mack was silent. He couldn't tell Applejack about the plan; she needed her sleep so she'd be alert for that carry, and there's no way she'd be able to sleep knowing that she'd need to travel for the better part of a day with Twilight, the one mare she hated most in the world. Finally, he said "Listen...you're going to have a big day ahead of you tomorrow...try to get some sleep. ...I want you to know just one thing. No matter how much you screw up, I love you unconditionally. Mom and Dad do, too, even if they have to ask you to do unpleasant things or put up with unpleasant ponies. They still love you."

Shining Armor, at that moment was giving about the same speech to his own sister: "Even if you've done some cruel things...you're a part of this family. And I'm still glad you're here. Now...try to get to sleep; we'll need our rest to tackle Rainbow Mountain in the morning."

"Good night, big bro."

"Good night, big bro."

"Good night, sis."

"Good night, sis."

Everypony was up at the crack of dawn the next morning. There was a grand breakfast of sunny-side-up eggs and orange juice and buttered toast and fresh milk and cinnamon oatmeal and yarrow flowers waiting for Twilight, all of which was an extra-special treat-money had always been so tight that she often never got any breakfast at all (unless you counted grazing on the mountain), and if she did get breakfast, it was usually plain hay. But not this time!

Twilight Velvet had the foresight to send a portion of these ingredients to the Sweet Apple Acres farm as well, so that they'd be able to give Applejack a grand breakfast, too, to keep her spirits as high as possible...she'd need them, and both families knew it. At first, Applejack was reluctant to eat such a meal, but Buttercup insisted, "Applejack...I want you to know that, even though you made a mistake when you ran away from our fruit stand, we still love you very much. And you've got a big day ahead of you, and you're going to need your strength for it." Applejack's stomach growled, and she relented and ate.

With a full belly, Twilight was about to head upstairs to pack her bags for the trip, but her parents and Shining Armor stopped her.

"Dear," Twilight Velvet began, "There's something...unpleasant that we need to talk about. You should sit down."

Twilight swallowed hard. "Mom, I know what's at stake and that we might end up on the auction block; if we're going to talk about the consequences of-"

"No," Night Light interrupted, "The less we talk, or even think about that, the better...it's something else."

At that very moment, Big Mack, Bright Mackintosh, and Buttercup were sitting Applejack down for a talk. Applejack started: "I know what I did was wrong...even if I couldn't stop from crying, even if I couldn't attract a single customer, I should've at least stayed and guarded the cashbox and the apples we'd already harvested. I'm sorry." She sniffled back a tear. "I want you all to know that I love you all very much, and I'm grateful forever to this family for showing me all this love, right at the moment I least deserve it."

Buttercup hugged her daughter. "Even if it is the time you least deserve it, it's the time you most need it. And our love for you is unconditional, even if we have to ask you to do unpleasant things."

Applejack swallowed hard and declared, "If I could walk through Tartarus to make it all up to this family, I'd do it!"

At this, tears sparkled in all their eyes. They tried to think how to say what was coming next...

Night Light took a deep breath, then said, "We've found a pony we can depend on to help you and Shining Armor carry diamonds back from your cave. She's responsible, a hard worker, very strong, and we can trust her not to try to steal anything from you." After a pause, he added, "It's...Applejack."

Twilight's jaw dropped at the exact same moment Applejack's jaw dropped. "HER?!" they both shouted in unison. "But she's a complete jerkface!"

Twilight balked. "Isn't there ANY other pony we can hire for this?!"

Shining Armor shook his head. "Every pony in Ponyville is either crushed under debt, working for Filthy Rich, or both. They'd be either desperate enough to try to steal the diamonds, or they'd be paid to steal them from us. Applejack's different; she's religiously devoted to her family. She'd NEVER abandon them, and she'd have to leave town if she stole the diamonds we're having her carry for us. And you know Mom and Dad can't come."

Applejack swallowed hard, her huge breakfast having turned to stones in her stomach. "I know we need the money...and I realize I've done wrong and deserve to be punished, but...but sending me on a day-trip with Twilight Sparkle? That's WAY too much punishment! Dad, can't you go with them, instead?"

He shook his head. "We've put off planting the winter wheat too long already; I HAVE to plow the fields today!"

"Let ME plow them, Daddy!"

"You're not big enough for the yoke, honey!"

Applejack turned to her mother, but she was already shaking her head. "Applejack...I can't be the one to go, either...I'm...pregnant!"

Applejack's face turned white for a moment at the thought of her family, down on its luck with one less worker, behind on its mortgage, and suddenly with a baby to feed! "So..." she said, angrily, "The trip up Rainbow Mountain is just dangerous enough so a pregnant mare can't go, and at the same time, just safe enough so I can go...is that it?"

Buttercup looked down at the ground, then after a pause, nodded gently.

"But...but..." Applejack sputtered. "It's too dangerous on that mountain! There's cliffs, and...and we could get lost and-"

"Twilight has the mountain mapped front-to-back, and she and her brother have been exploring it for years," Bright Mack pointed out. "You couldn't ASK for better guides than them, and Shining Armor promised to bring you back in one piece."

Applejack kept making excuses: "It rains like a howling banshee on that mountain! You can't go mountain-climbing on that mountain unless you've got a raincoat, and I don't own one!"

Bright Mackintosh handed her an already-packed set of saddlebags and opened a flap, showing her a large coat inside it. "You'll be taking my old duster, Sugarcube."

Applejack stared for a moment, then squirmed. In desperation, she shouted, "There's GOT to be another way!"

"There's GOT to be another way!" Twilight howled at her parents and at Shining Armor. "You weren't there when we had our fight at the farmer's market! She saw a pony from our graduating class on the auction block for bankruptcy, then she said, TO MY FACE, that she'd laugh when all four of us end up there! She even said that about Shining Armor, her own brother's best friend! And THIS is the pony we're trusting to help us avoid that?!"

Shining Armor insisted, "Applejack...it's one of her faults that, when she gets upset, she says awful things that she doesn't really mean."

Applejack snorted. Furious and sulking, she slung the saddlebags over her back, glaring at her family. "Fine!" she spat. "But I hope I get eaten by a grizzly bear when I'm out there!"

"We KNOW you don't mean that, honey," Bright Mack insisted, looping his cowboy-hat's strings around Applejack's neck and resting the hat on her shoulders.

"Oh, yes I do!" Applejack shouted back. "Being dead's WAY better than spending time with a pony who's willing to spend ten weeks of a pony's wages just to make ME feel terrible!" Applejack was breathing hard and didn't know how her family would react to what she'd just said, so she kept talking: "I know Shining Armor gave us two gold coins, and I'll admit maybe what HE did was generous. But Twilight tried to give me a gold coin to pay for an apple, and maybe you think she was being generous, too, but I absolutely KNOW she just did it to show off how rich she was to make me miserable!" She began to storm off, but just before she reached the door, she added over her shoulder, "And THAT'S the kind of pony you're asking me to travel with! ...I'm walking through Tartarus for this family, all right!"

She slammed the door behind her and bolted for Night Light's bookbinding workshop without looking back, trying her best not to cry.

It became much, much easier to avoid crying when she saw Twilight and Shining Armor stepping out of their parents' treehome. She stiffened herself and gave Twilight a steely glare, determined not to let her archenemy see her cry again. Twilight returned her gaze.

Shining Armor looked at both their faces, then swallowed hard. He'd need to find some way to get these two to NOT fight, and that wasn't looking like an easy task...maybe not even a possible one. He cleared his throat, and neither mare took her eyes off her rival. "Hey-we're out here to get diamonds, not to have a staring contest!" he sputtered, nervously chuckling a little. Still no reaction.

Finally, he decided to put himself between their gazes, and said, looking back and forth between them as he said it, "Listen...I know you don't like each other at all, and I don't know why. But the 'why' doesn't matter...not one bit; both our families NEED us to do this."

Now both mares were staring at him, though less harshly. That's at least a LITTLE progress, he thought to himself. He continued, "We...need to set some ground rules. First of all, if neither of you starts a fight, there won't BE a fight, and that's what's best for all of us. So: no talking to each other, unless it's something important that'll either help us get the diamonds, or something that'll keep us all safer on this trip. Twilight, do you understand this rule?"

Her eyes widened with surprise: her brother was starting off by trying to hold HER back? She was so shocked, she didn't answer.

"Twilight, I need you to focus, here!" Shining Armor insisted. "I don't like laying down rules on you like this, but I promised Big Mackintosh I wouldn't take sides if you fight, so it's important that you and Applejack don't fight! Do it for me, if you can't do it for yourself! Come on, now Twilight-do you understand the rule? No talking unless it's to help get the diamonds or to keep us safe!"

Twilight was very flustered, but she managed to say, "I get it."

Shining Armor turned to Applejack. "Do you understand the first ground rule? No talking unless it's to help get the diamonds or to keep us all safe?"

She rolled her eyes, but answered, "I get it. Any other ground rules?"

Shining Armor thought there had to be more; he had expected he'd think of them as his initial pep-talk continued. But he suddenly realized he couldn't think of any offhand. Then he thought of one, and gave voice to it: "Don't throw things at each other."

Applejack's eyebrow went up. "What would we even throw at each other up there?"

"Knowing you, your own manure," Twilight snarked.

"TWILIGHT!" Shining Armor exclaimed. "We're not even off Mom and Dad's property, and you're already breaking rule number one?! Do you WANT this trip to be like walking through Tartarus for ALL THREE of us?!"

Twilight became flustered again. "No, I-"

"Then don't SAY things like that! ...Ground rule number three: you need to apologize SINCERELY if you can't control yourself and break another ground rule!"

Twilight balked.

"She can't do it, Shining Armor," Applejack insisted. "I know you're trying, but she can't do it."

"Applejack!" Shining Armor scolded.

"I'm not saying this to try to make this worse for either of you," Applejack stubbornly kept saying, "But it's how it is, and we all know it. I'd like to propose one more ground-rule, and no, it's not an insult, and it's not to start a fight: if a grizzly bear eats me, then come back later to the mountain and leave it some honey as a thank-you present."

"Sure thing," Twilight snarked.

One look from Shining Armor made her resolve not to say more. He angrily growled at her, "Ground. Rule. One!"

This was a whole new experience for Twilight; she'd never had a fight with Shining Armor before in her life, and didn't know how to react to his...hostility!

"Oh, come now, Applejack, we all know you don't MEAN that!" a new voice crooned. Silver Spoon had walked up behind Applejack and gently slapped her on the back, right about where her saddlebags were resting.

Shining Armor looked at this newcomer. "Who are you?"

"My name is Silver Spoon; I'm vice-president of operations for the Filthy Rich Savings and Loan office. And I'm here to issue an apology to your family for the paperwork mishap," she explained.

"'Paperwork mishap?'" Twilight asked, her eyebrow up. "Is THAT what your office calls it when a family is in danger of losing everything they own and being separated forever?!"

"Forever? Oh, no-no-no; indentures only last for a few years!"

Applejack scowled. "What's to stop an indenture-owner from changing the papers and turning 10 years into 100? The indentured pony doesn't have a right to sue, you know!"

"Girls!" Shining Armor interrupted. "We should hear what she has to say, here!"

"You can't tell me you trust anypony who works for Filthy Rich!" Twilight hissed. Shining Armor did something he'd never done before, and put his hoof over her mouth. Twilight was stunned into silence.

Silver Spoon smiled in a mix of amusement and diplomacy, and explained, "There was a typographical error about your family's payment previous to their last payment, and it came back marked as being a year late instead of an hour late. Surely you know how a badly-written O can look like a lowercase E, or a badly-written U can look like a lowercase A? And Y is a lowercase H upside-down?"

Shining Armor resisted the urge to roll his eyes at a lesson as elementary as the shape of letters. Applejack and Twilight did not. "So...are you withdrawing the use of Section 63? Because that'd be absolutely terrific news, right about now...and...let's be honest, here: withdrawing Section 63 is about the only REAL way to apologize that I can think of! Even without Section 63, the bank will get its money back from us within a few days."

Silver Spoon's smile widened, but her eyes didn't reflect her mouth's smile. "I'm afraid that Section 63 bankruptcy proceedings can't be withdrawn until and unless the debt is paid in full in the time allotted. However, it IS at our discretion to provide you with additional time, which we have elected to do. Instead of 24 hours to pay that debt back, you now have 72 hours."

Applejack's face brightened a bit. "If 24 hours is enough time for a round-trip to that cave, then 72 hours is enough time for three. You two don't need me after all, do you?"

"Nope! You can go right on home and toss your manure at things!" Twilight declared.

"And you can go on up your mountain and play in the rain while SOME ponies do some REAL work!" Applejack spat. She turned around and began to trot back to Sweet Apple Acres.

Silver Spoon's face showed alarm for a brief moment, and she suddenly stood in Applejack's way. "Now-now, isn't your family expecting you to come back with half a load of diamonds for them? Won't they be disappointed when you come back so soon, empty-hoofed?"

"Not as disappointed as I was being told to do this," Applejack growled, trying to go around Silver Spoon.

"Ah, but this could be a wonderful bonding experience with your new friend Twilight Sparkle!"

Applejack looked at her like she was crazy. "She is so not my friend, and you know it! The only bonding experience I want with her is to superglue her to a tree and leave her there," she answered, still not ceasing to move her hooves.

Shining Armor shouted after Applejack, "If the storms are bad enough on the mountain, we might not have time to make two trips...and the storms are unpredictable! And if we lose the mineral rights...well, the point is, this could be your family's only chance at those diamonds!"

Applejack thought it over very reluctantly.

Twilight hissed to Shining Armor, "It's a risk I'm willing to take!"

Shining Armor calmly, but firmly answered, "Well, I'm not. We're talking about rolling the dice with the fate of our family!"

While they were debating, Silver Spoon suddenly became much, much less diplomatic, and while the expression on her face might technically be called a smile, it was a smile like a wolf might have as it was closing in on a deer. She quietly hissed to Applejack, "Go on this trip with them, or I'll invoke Section 63 on YOUR family, and then YOU will end up on the auction block, yourselves-and your injured brother, too!"

Applejack's face whitened at the thought of Big Mackintosh, injured with nopony to take care of him, put on an auction block where nopony would buy him...

Silver Spoon struck while the iron was hot: "Tell nopony I issued this threat; if you do, section 63. You are going with them because of the risks in the weather. Capice?"

Applejack swallowed hard and galloped back to Twilight and Shining Armor: however awful Twilight was, she WASN'T threatening her family, and for once, that made her better than another pony in her mind. She panickingly sputtered, "Shining Armor's right; we can't risk our families. I'll be good, I swear! Let's just get the diamonds and get this over with!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Applejack's sudden submissiveness. For his part, Shining Armor was just breathing a sigh of relief, and he decided not to look this gifthorse in the mouth.

"Okay...another ground rule: Twilight goes first, then I go, then Applejack follows behind."

Applejack muttered, "Fine. The less I see of that mare's fat, lazy-"

Shining Armor cut her off. "First of all, what happened to your promise to be good? Second, ground rule one, remember?"

Applejack sucked her lips into her mouth and bit them, trembling a little. Shining Armor took that as a sign she was done talking, so he just followed Twilight as she trotted along the trail they'd tracked up the mountain.

Silver Spoon smiled and walked back to Filthy Rich's office. "Delivery successful," she told him. "I gave them an extra 48 hours, but that won't make any difference."

He turned his enormous, throne-like chair around and smiled at her. "Good. It's always nice to put a little spin of kindness on what I do now and then, and, as you say, it won't make any difference-only a difference in 48 hours that I'll need to wait to get those mineral rights, and you can't be a pony of business without patience."

His smile widened. "This is one of the reasons why I keep all of Ponyville under my hoof with these mortgages: I can make any one of their discoveries or treasures mine with just one little piece of paper. They find gold nuggets in the stream behind the shed? Section 63, and it's all mine. One of them discovers a magic formula worth mass-producing? Section 63, and it's all mine. One of them turns out to have a priceless heirloom? Section 63, and it's mine. And I made sure there isn't a single thing they can do about it-that, my dear Silver Spoon, is how you win."

Silver Spoon smirked. "Just out of curiosity, what would you have done if they hadn't made the payment an hour late?"

He smirked back. "And what makes you think that situation could ever have happened? I told the bank manager to have his employees work slowly that day."

Silver Spoon's eyes bulged. "How could you have known that you'd need this one family to make a late payment so that you could invoke Section 63?"

"I didn't. I wasn't targeting any one family; I like to have as many families with late payments as I can, so as to keep my options as open as possible. That," he added, "Is also how you win."