The Twilight Child

by Detectivefish

The Daily Grind

After the celebration party for creating the tornado wrapped up, Twinkle and Spike returned to the library, mainly because Spike had to check up on Peewee.

"What exactly are you feeding him, anyway?" she asked, as the phoenix chick flittered briefly about the room. Spike looked suddenly sheepish.

"Well, I kinda had to check and see what I was feeding him," the dragon said, "Which wasn't easy because most ponies don't know anything about phoenixes..."

He frowned as he stared at the ceiling, where Peewee was desperately trying to stay in the air, "What is the plural of phoenix, anyway?"

Twinkle paused. "Probably just phoenix. Or phoenixes, or phoenii. I don't know, I'm not a structural linguist."
Spike just nodded, "So, I asked Princess Celestia if she knew anything about what to feed a phoenix."

He smiled brightly for a moment, as Peewee landed back in his nest, while Twinkle just stared at him.
"And?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Spike looked a bit confused and looked up at her.

"Well, apparently a phoenix eats things like meat. You know, gerbils, mice..." he looked suddenly nervous, "Rabbits."
Twinkle just stared at Peewee, who had apparently decided it was time to go back to sleep.

"I've been seeing if worms are alright, and he seems to like them" Spike said, looking proud with himself.
"You haven't told Fluttershy about any of this, have you?"

Spike looked at her, "Yes," he said in a complete deadpan, "I should tell Fluttershy I've been feeding worms to a phoenix chick, because that'll work out really well."

Twinkle stared at Spike with a look that suggested the little dragon had given perhaps a bit too much thought as to what Fluttershy's reaction would be.
"I don't think she'd react that badly," Twinkle said, "After all, what about the birds she looks after, and that bear?"

Spike's expression changed. "Oh, yeah" he said, staring down at his feet.
"Forgot about the bear" he muttered. For a few minutes nothing happened, save the occasional noise from the slumbering phoenix. Then he looked up at Twinkle, and a thought seemed to have occurred to him. He motioned for her to come closer, in case anypony was listening in, despite the fact that only Spike, Twinkle and Peewee were in the room, Trixie evidently having woken up before lunchtime.

"I was gonna see if Peewee likes ice-cream" he whispered conspiratorially. Twinkle stared at him, then over to the slumbering bird, then back to Spike.

"I thought you'd gone off ice cream" she eventually said. Spike stared back at her as if she'd just suggested Pinkie Pie had decided to become a lawyer, or that Applejack had turned into a supervillain.

"No," he said, "What, did you think I went off ice cream just because of one stomach ache?"
"And the mess." Twinkle helpfully reminded him. Spike's expression indicated he hadn't forgotten the mess, or that he'd been the one who had to clean it up. Even now his nose was wrinkling at the memory.

"Yeah, that too" he muttered, before recovering, "But it's just ice cream. It can't be bad for him, right?"
"I... don't think a digestive system used to handling meats is going to handle ice cream, Spike. Especially not the amount you eat in one sitting."

Spike frowned in irritation, then he looked at Peewee. He suddenly sighed. "I wish I could keep him, but Twilight says I've gotta return him to his real family."
Twinkle stared at Spike's expression, which seemed to shift repeatedly, and noticed his fists were clenched. She bit her lip, and nudged him. He looked up at her.

"I mean, I get it, I do. He belongs with his family but..." he looked down at his feet, "Why do I still feel like this?"
Twinkle sat next to him.

"Spike..." she said quietly, before realising she wasn't sure of what else to say. He looked at her, then back to Peewee.
"It'll be alright, little big brother," she added, trying to smile warmly, "You can still see him, after he's returned to his parents. And you're the first thing he ever saw, you're like his... surrogate dad. He'll always remember you."

Spike said nothing. Then, he very slowly sat down next to Twinkle. For a few moments both of them sat together.
Then there was a low moan from Spike.
"What is it?" Twinkle asked.

"I was gonna show him what it was like being with ponies," Spike said, dabbing at his eyes, "And I was g- I was gonna be cool."
She smiled at him. "You are cool, Spike. You're the coolest big brother I could want."

Spike sniffled, "You mean it?" he asked.
Twinkle nodded, before frowning. "Okay, you are kinda insensitive, like you were with Fluttershy the other day, but apart from that? Coolest big brother ever."

There was a another pause.
"Am I cooler than Shining Armor?"

Twinkle smiled slightly, "Oh, yeah. Way cooler."
Spike stared at her. "You're just saying that," he said, "Nopony would ever say I'm cooler than Shining Armor."

"Spike," Twinkle said with a sudden sterness that spooked even her, "If it weren't for you..."
She paused, and considered what to say, "If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been born. You're a cooler big brother, and you are definitely cooler than Shining Armor."

Spike looked at her in disbelief, "How much cooler?"
Twinkle's smile turned playful. "Well, there are points off for the whole Fluttershy thin-"

"You know Twilight already gave me the whole lecture for upsetting Fluttershy, right?"
"I know, Spike. I was there when she started crying. I was there when Twilight gave you the whole lecture on 'tact'. "

Spike stared at her for a moment, before sighing again and wiping a few more tears out of his eyes.
"Oh, yeah," he said, before smiling at Twinkle.

"Anyway," she said, "You are cooler than Shining Armor. Not by much, I'll admit, but just enough to count."
She smiled at him.

"Thanks" he mumbled.
"Feeling better?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I'm okay," he said, trying to seem nonchalant. Twinkle looked at him.
"You sure?"

He paused.
"I'll be okay," he amended.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked. Twinkle looked at him.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Spike stared at her.

"You don't really look okay, and you haven't told anypony what happened to you when you got attacked by that plant."
Her expression suddenly dropped, her stomach clenched, and her mood soured.
"I really don't want to talk about that" she said, woodenly.

"Why not?" Spike asked, his face the dragonification of innocence.
"Spike, I really don't want to talk about it," she stressed. Spike considered this.

"Yeah, but... why?"
"Making me really uncomfortable, Spike!" she hissed. The dragon took a step away from her, before saying "Sorry."
She kept taking deep breaths, and then stood up, before walking down the stairs, and then out of the front door.

*****

Twinkle's walk eventually led to her sitting on a bench, staring at the clouds, which there seemed to be a lot of at the moment, doubtless due to Cloudsdale's weather ponies trying to make up for lost time. She lay there for a moment, until she heard hoofsteps.

"Hey," a familiar voice said. Twinkle opened an eye, and once she got over the minor irritation of almost being asleep until she saw the pony looking at her.
"Hey, Twilight."

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shrugged.
"Sitting on a bench, trying not to fall asleep."

There was a pause before she added, "Failing miserably."
She opened both eyes and looked at Twilight, "What's up?"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "Nothing. Nothing's up. I just wondered what you were doing."
Twinkle tried sitting up, and after a few attempts managed to succeed. "Well, if you're here I'm guessing the party ended, and we're back to the usual routine, then?"

Twilight just nodded. Twinkle smiled. "Nice day for it, then."
Twilight looked up at the sky, "It is actually a nice day, isn't it?"

"'s been nice for a while," Twinkle said, before a thought occurred to her, one that chilled her to the bone.
"How long has it been since the last 'incident' with the CMC?" she asked. Twilight gave this some consideration.

"A while, I think."
Twnkle nodded slowly, before smiling. "A while. Guess that means we're probably past due some of their usual mayhem."

She slowly slouched off the bench. She noticed Twilight was looking at her.
"What?"

"I was just wondering," Twilight asked, "Why were you talking with Spitfire while you were at the celebration?"
Twinkle tried to look nonchalant. "I was just asking her about the Wonderbolts and their upcoming schedule."

Twilight raised an eyebrow as the two began walking along, in the sort of aimless fashion of two ponies with nothing to do on a Monday afternoon.
"And?" Twilight asked when Twinkle proved unforthcoming.

"Well, the majority of the team are staying away from Canterlot right now. Apparently there's this big event that's coming up, and nopony anywhere would be mad enough to try and get in its way" she said, staring at Twilight with a look best described as 'pointed'.

"I've not heard of it," Twilight said, "But then, what with all the time helping to supervise with the water preparations, and everything else that's been happening," she shot Twinkle an equally-pointed glance at this, "I haven't had time to check up on the latest news."

Twinkle said nothing, as the two continued walking, before Twilight spoke up.
"Then again, apparently Lyra's been telling anypony she can that she's been invited to a wedding in Canterlot."

Twinkle looked up at the sky, "Nice weather for a wedding" she observed.
Twilight nodded in agreement. Then something occured to her.

"Surely you'd know if something really important was about to happen."
Twinkle smiled nervously, though the smile faded in quick order. "Yes. I may not know everything about this time, but I do know..."

There was a pause, as she looked up at the clouds again, then back to Twilight, and tried to smile again, "Twilight?"
"Yes?"
She paused for a moment, and tried to think of something, anything to say. A warning, a caution, careful advice about dancing lessons, anything. But she couldn't focus.

Mainly because she was still thinking of Lilac.
"You know I'm always here for you, right?" she eventually said.

Twilight stared at her in concern for a second, "Of course."
She smiled gently, as the two continued walking.

*****

Meanwhile, in the hideout of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, two mud-soaked fillies stared at Apple Bloom in confusion.
"What ah meant was we should write for the paper!" she explained, before pointing to a poster of a filly carrying the stereotypical journalistic equipment.

"We can get our Cutie Marks as journalists!"

*****

When the Twilights returned to the library they found Trixie idly scanning through a newspaper, which raised several eyebrows between both ponies. There was an awkward pause as eye darted from pony to pony.
"What exactly is going on?" Twilight asked.

"... Nothing" Trixie smiled, before lifting the newspaper in front of her face.
"Oh, look," she exclaimed, with about as much forced cheerfulness could be placed into a sentence, "Sports. Haven't read that in a while."

"Trixie..." Twilight said, sternly. The newspaper slowly lowered, revealing an embarrased look on Trixie's face. She sighed.
"If you must know, Trixie was looking for somewhere to live."

There was a pause, punctuated by the slow ticking of a clock.
"You're moving out?" Twinkle asked. Trixie rolled her eyes.

"It's either that or I keep sleeping in Twilight's spare bed. This was only supposed to be a temporary thing anyway, right?"
Both Twilights exchanged glances indicating that neither had actually given the issue much thought.

"Of course, Trixie's attempts at doing so are being hampered somewhat due to a lack of houses available to a pony with Trixie's current level of income. Which is zilch."
Twilight smiled, "Well, Trixie, if you need any help with that, just ask."

"So eager to get rid of me?" Trixie asked, in mock-offense.
"No," Twilight said, blinking in confusion, "Of course not. Why would I want to get rid of you?"

Trixie stared at Twilight, who stared back. There were several moments where nopony said anything.
"Nevermind," Trixie said, "If I do require assistance looking for a house, I shall ask you."

And with that Twilight left the room, leaving Trixie and Twinkle staring at each other.
"What?" Trixie asked.

"Nothing" Twinkle said, "Just... surprised, is all."
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Surprised? Really? You aren't going to throw some dramatic speech about friendship at me?"

The two ponies stood there for a moment.
"She's probably thinking of writing a letter to Celestia right now, isn't she?" Trixie asked.

Twinkle nodded. Trixie gave this due consideration, and then both mares grinned.
"Does she still do this in your time?"

Twinkle bit her lip. "Not to my knowledge. Althought..." she said, rubbing a hoof against her chin, "Now that I think about it... she probably does"
The two mares grinned slightly. This quickly devolved into giggling, which, when Twilight returned turned into them rolling about on the floor laughing. Later on, neither was rightly able to identify why exactly they'd been laughing so much, but at the time, that hadn't mattered. They laughed until they could not laugh any further.

******

The rest of the day passed without much in the way of incident, along with the next day as well. Indeed, it seemed as if all of Ponyville had gone quiet. Indeed, one might have said almost too quiet, were they not aware of the hazards of remarking that events were too quiet.

It was in fact Spike who first made the remark, as Twilight, Twinkle and Trixie were all lounging about in a field one afternoon. As it had been a slow day, Twilight had suggested going out for a picnic, and with that done, everypony had taken to sitting and staring at the sky.

"Really quiet today, huh?"
There was a pause. "Hey, yeah, it is quiet" Trixie observed.

"Hey, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Yes?" she said, from an astrophysics book she was 'correcting'.

"How come we don't hang out like this more often?"
"Mostly the weather, Spike. And we have been distracted by other things" she said, smiling at him as she did. He nodded at this, and went back to staring at the sky.

Twinkle, meanwhile, found herself summoning illusionary falcons, which swooped and stooped in the air, until Trixie decided to join in, summoning an illusionary dragon to chase her falcons. What followed was a strange fight between the two illusions, which seemed to be heading toward a draw, ending when they heard somepony rushing toward them.

"Twilight!" a voice cried out. It was Rarity, but she didn't sound like she was anxious, or concerned. In fact she sounded excited. Twinkle looked up and saw Rarity carrying a newspaper behind her.
"What is it, Rarity?" Twilight asked. The mare grinned at her.

"Well," Rarity said, "I was just sitting there in the boutique, brainstorming and trying to think of new ideas for a dress, when I found this just hanging out of Sweetie Belle's saddlebag, and-"

"Hold up," Twinkle said, "Were you looking through your little sister's stuff?"
There was a silence awkward enough for a whole army as Rarity grinned sheepishly.

"... Maybe" she said, before making a truly heroic rebound, "Anyway, I found this."
She unfurled the newspaper, and brandished it at them, and the first thing Twinkle noted was the spelling errors.

She made a noise of disgust.
"What is Cheerilee teaching those kids? How do they not know how to spell 'exclusive'?" she asked. Rarity stared at her in surprise. Twinkle stared back, and then she noticed Rarity's hoof, indicating a picture next to the badly-misspelt words. It had two colts, one bright blue and one lemon yellow, stuck to each other by bubblegum.

Twinkle stared at it for a moment, then to Rarity, who was grinning at Twilight.
"Two foals with gum on their butt," she said, "So what?"

Rarity looked confused. "'So what?' Isn't this one of the most hilarious things you've ever seen? Look at them!"
Twinkle looked again. She heard a snort from Trixie and a guffaw from Spike, but otherwise all she saw were two colts stuck to each other with gum.

"And the way this foal writes," Rarity said, "It's so dynamic."
Twinkle looked up at Rarity. "Did you seriously just say 'dynamic'? With a straight face, no less?"

Rarity didn't seem to notice that, "Whoever this 'Gabby Gums' is, she is extraordinary."
"Gabby who?" Twilight asked, examining the paper again and frowning.

"That's the name of the pony who wrote it, Twilight," Rarity said, "Although I must confess I do not know who this pony is."
Twilight looked up, "Maybe Pinkie knows who she is."

Rarity sighed, "I did try asking Sweetie Belle if she knew who this Gabby child is, but she just waltzed off while I was speaking to her. The nerve of that young lady."

A thought occured to Rarity, "I suppose I could ask Pinkie Pie if she knows this 'Gabby Gums', but I did ask the Cakes and apparently she's busy."

Then a thought walked into Twinkle's mind, "Rarity," she asked.
"Yes?"

"Are we the first ponies you've shown this... article to?"
Rarity gritted her teeth, and then smiled again, "Yes."

Both Twilights stared at her. She crumpled. "Well, I might have shown it to some other ponies on the way here, and while I was enquiring as to your whereabouts."
"And?" Twilight asked.

"They couldn't stop laughing," Rarity grinned, "And who could blame them? This is so much better than the usual rubbish of the Ponyville Express. I was thinking of finding a way of having this delivered regularly."
"Really?" Twinkle asked. Rarity paused, giving the question some thought.

"Yes. I think I shall," she she said, "After all, it is free, and I happen to think it's quite amusing."
And with that she turned and walked away.

For a moment, nopony said anything.
"Sometimes that mare scares me," Trixie eventually said, "Although, that picture was funny, wasn't it?"

Twinkle found herself agreeing, though somewhat reluctantly. However, for some reason she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding about the newest aspect of the Foal Free Press, which was not helped by the fact that two days later, while fetching groceries, she saw a newstand proclaiming that it was carrying the school newspaper, and the fact that there was a smaller sign underneath it informing everypony that it was sold out. She shook her head at this and returned to the library. When she got back she saw a strange sight.

Twilight and Spike were both eagerly reading the Foal Free Press.
"Not you two too," she said. There was a sudden shuffling, as Twilight looked mildly guilty.

"I wasn't reading Gabby Gums!" she declared instantly.
"Right," Twinkle said calmly, as she made her way into the kitchen. There was a scrambling of hooves, as Twilight followed her.

"And what's wrong with reading a gossip column? It's not like anypony's really being hurt, it's just... harmless gossip."
Twinkle said nothing, just placing groceries in their appropriate place, noting Twilight's eyes darting about, making sure everything was where they were supposed to be. Twinkle's expression hardened.

"You are asking me what harm comes from gossip?" she said quietly, turning to stare at Twilight, "You are really asking me what harm could come from gossip?"
Twilight blinked in confusion. "I... don't understand."

Twinkle stared at her for a moment, "Oh, yes. Sorry. I forgot you lived in a big castle for most of your childhood, and were therefore shielded from the usual result of being a pony in the public view. You know, what with being the personal student of Celestia and everything."

"I still don't follow" Twilight said after a moment. Twinkle took a deep breath.
"What I'm saying, and utterly failing to convey, is that as your daughter, there was a lot of speculation about me when I was a child, and despite some valiant efforts from a lot of ponies, I did get exposed to some of them, which, while I was usually smart enough to ignore them, did cause the occasional problems."

She sighed, and then slouched, "I don't like gossip. I don't think it's harmless, and I don't think it's funny. And yes, right now 'Gabby Gums' is just showing silly everyday things like Pumpkin and Pound Cake crying, but soon it'll get out of hand."

She frowned, and sat down on one of the small stools in the kitchen, before looking at Twilight.
"You're wondering who Gabby Gums is, right?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "You know who Gabby Gums is?" she hit herself on the head with a hoof, "What am I saying, of course you do, you're from the future."
Twinkle just stared at her, "Actually, no I don't. I don't know who she is. Probably because 'Gabby Gums' doesn't exist."

Twilight paused. "Oh, yes, that would explain why nopony's heard of her before, not even Pinkie Pie knew."
"You've seen Pinkie Pie lately?" Twinkle asked. Twilight nodded.

"That's weird. I haven't seen her."
"She's been busy lately" Twilight said, "There's this big baking competition sometime next week, and Sugarcube Corner's been asked to provide an entry."

"Wouldn't that be 'entrée'?" she asked. Twilight stared at her.
"Seriously?"

"You just wish you'd thought of that."
"I really don't" she said, though the fact that she was grinning suggested otherwise.

They sat there for a moment.
"You really think this Gabby Gums column is going to lead to disaster?" Twilight asked. Twinkle frowned.

"I wouldn't say 'disaster', but I do think that somepony, or ponies, are going to be seriously hurt by the time this passes."
Twilight stood there for a moment, considering this. "Okay."

Then she looked at Twinkle, "By the way, everypony's going to the spa in a few days. Are you going to want to join us? You look like you could use some relaxation."

"Do I?" Twinkle asked, "That's news to me."
"Well..." Twilight looked down at her hooves, "You haven't been getting as much sleep as you should lately, and Spike told me about what happened the other day."

Twinkle blinked. "What? What happened?"
"He said you just randomly stormed out in the middle of a conversation. Is there something bothering you?"

Twinkle shifted slightly. "I've just got a lot on my mind right now, is all."
Twilight nodded, "Then come to the spa with us. Try and relax a bit."

"I might just" Twinkle smirked.
Twilight turned toward the door, and stopped, and looked at Twinkle with concern.

"You know, if there is something the matter, you only need to say the word, and we'd try and help."
"I do know, Twilight."

The mare smiled, but there was something else in her expression that gave Twinkle pause.

*****

The days passed, and Twinkle found her boredom being supplanted by concern about the presence of the Foal Free Press. Wherever she went, there it was, or somepony was talking about it, or spreading information about it. And with each day her concern grew, and while she tried to reassure herself that no harm could come from a group of foals being foals, this cautious optimism vanished when she saw the name of the paper's editor, one Diamond Tiara.

Her mood did not improve on arrival at the spa, where she saw a truly alarming sight.
Rarity had managed to arrive at the spa early, and was calmly perusing what appeared to be an evening edition of the FFP.

"What." Twinkle said, at the sight. Rarity looked up from her newspaper.
"Hello, Twilights. Would either of you care for something to read?" she said, not waiting for an answer and levitating three copies towards them. Twinkle batted one away with a hoof.

"No" she said. Rarity looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. Twilight calmly took one, and settled down on one bench. Twinkle, meanwhile, just stared at it.
"You don't have to be worried," Rarity said, "It's perfectly harmless, and these ponies are professionals."

"I didn't say I was worried," Twinkle smiled, "And this may surprise you, Rarity, but I have been to a spa before."
The fashion-designer raised an eyebrow, "That would perhaps explain why you were dyed that lilac colour when you first showed up."

Something occured to Twilight, and she turned to look at Twinkle, "Why were you dyed that colour?"
Twinkle hopped onto the bench, and tried to get comfortable, "Do you know, I'm not really sure. It just seemed the sort of thing to do. I think it was because I didn't want anypony to recognise me, and then get into trouble because somepony found my picture in a trashy gossip magazine."

Rarity gave a small hum, and for a while there was utter quiet, as everypony began relaxing, and enjoying themselves. Twinkle soon found herself being massaged, and to her mild surprise, enjoying it.

"Somepony's looking like they're enjoying themself" Applejack smirked.
"Yeah, I guess I am" Twinkle grinned back, then a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, where's Trixie? Didn't she say she was coming here?"
There was a sudden silence, and she couldn't help but notice Applejack's eyes slowly moving toward the newspaper she was reading.

"Why do I get the feeling I probably not going to enjoy the answer to this question?" she sighed.
"You guys!" the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash called out, as the mare raced into the room, startling Spike in the process, causing the cucumber slices the dragon had over his eyes to fly out, landing on Rainbow Dash's face. Strangely enough, she didn't even seem to acknowledge this, as she brandished a newspaper on the floor.

"The new Gabby Gums just came out!" she declared excitedly, "The Great and Powerful Trixie's secrets revealed!"
There was a new awkward silence, one that was obviously the previous one's bigger, more learned sibling. Everypony started looking at the lighting, or the walls, as if just noticing them for the first time.

Rarity was the first to break it, "We've... already read that one, darling" she said awkwardly.
"Have you, Rarity?" Twinkle asked, her voice a dangerous fusion of sickly sweet and icy cold, "That's extremely interesting."

Rarity looked at Twinkle, "Oh, come now, Twilight, it's hardly anything shocking. It's just a bit of..." she seemed to wilt at Twinkle's Stare, "harmless... gossip?"
"I haven't read this Gabby Gums yet" Rainbow Dash opined, flexing in just the right way to dislodge one of the cucumbers from her eye and into her mouth. From the looks of it, the vegetable didn't have time to touch the sides before Spike reached over and yanked it out of Rainbow Dash's mouth.

"Well do it quietly, will ya?" he said, brushing the cucumber off mildly before replacing it over his eye, "Some of us are trying to unwind."
"That's... disgusting" Twinkle frowned.

"Some of us aren't having much luck, getting all worked up over nothing" Rarity smirked. Twinkle's head shot back to look at the mare.
"How am I worked up just because Trixie's not shown up at the same time the FFP is proclaiming to reveal all her secrets?" Twinkle asked.

"You're the one making the fuss about it. Maybe Trixie is just off practicing her routine, or something like that."
Twinkle frowned, but said nothing. There was a small noise from Twilight.

"I like Gabby Gums," she said, "But don't you think she can be a bit little... mean?"
Applejack grinned, "She's not mean, Twilight, she's a hoot."

"Unless you're Trixie" Twinkle said, loud enough for everypony to hear.
"Oh, calm down," Rarity smiled, "It doesn't say anything slanderous."

Twilight brandished her copy, "Look at this."
Everypony looked. Twinkle, despite herself, grinned at the sight of Celestia deliberately mugging for a camera as she held a massive slice of cake aloft.

"'Celestia, just like us?'" Twilight read out.
"To be fair, that is the image she'd like to present" Twinkle said, "And she's eating more cake than any single pony could reasonably endure, that's hardly acting like your average po-ny..." she winced off as the massuse hit a sensative area.

"Gabby Gums doesn't respect anypony's privacy" Twilight frowned.
"And if Celestia felt even slightly bothered by that," Twinkle said, fairly certain she'd just seen a camera in the corner of her eye, "That camerapony would have been in some hot water."

"I'm in some hot water!" Pinkie Pie chimed from the large tub she and Fluttershy were soaking in, "And it's so great."
"Lighten up, Twilight, and Twilight," Rarity scoffed, "There's nothing in here but harmless gossip."

There was a sudden shift in the temperature, and Spike was aware of a strange burning smell, which he noted was coming from Twinkle.
"What... did you say?" she asked quietly. Rarity smiled.

"Just harmless gossip" Rarity repeated. Twinkle nodded.
"Right, okay. Harmless, sure. So, if it was about your 'relationship' with your business rival, one G. Embrace (deceased), you wouldn't mind, then?"

Rarity shuffled, "I didn't have a 'relationship' with her. We were rivals. Nothing more."
Twinkle nodded, before staring at Rarity, "So, when does the gossip stop being harmless, Rarity? When does it become wrong? This pony (or ponies, more likely) is being paid to make things up. When does that start being harmful? How many ponies would have to be hurt for it to be wrong? One? Ten? A hundred? How many ponies does it take?" she hissed.

Rarity stared at Twinkle, "Why are you acting like this?" she asked quietly.
"Probably because I was never the pony making rumours at school. I was the sort on the recieving end. It's a lot less fun to be on the recieving end, Rarity."

There was an awkward silence as nervous glances were exchanged.
"I... sorry," Rarity said, "I didn't realise you felt this strongly on the subject."

"I don't, usually," Twinkle said, "Normally I don't really care, I just..." she paused as the masseuse continued.
"I think this appointment came along at the right time," she said, involuntarily grinning as she did. There was a giggle from Pinkie Pie.

"Listen to this one," the party pony proclaimed, splashing water about as she moved across the giant tub, "'Mayor, not naturally gray!' The mayor, in a mane dyeing scandal, who wouldn't wanna read that?"
She brandished the paper showing a panicked mayor desperately applying hair dye to a clearly rose-pink mane.

"Well, the mayor, for one. I mean, it looks a lot like the photographer wasn't supposed to be in her home at the time" Twinkle said, "So that picture's not been taken with her consent."

"I agree," Twilight said, "With Twilight Twinkle, I think. Mainly because I can't help but feel sorry for the ponies focused in these columns, it's gotta be a little embarrassing."
"Frankly, I'm amazed Cheerilee lets her students get away with so much" Twinkle frowned, "Especially since she could get herself into a lot of trouble with the wrong article. It'd be a shame if somepony were to 'over-react' to all this 'harmless gossip', wouldn't it?"

"Why would they?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You'd want to be interviewed by Gabby Gums?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Are you kidding? Do you know how awesome it would be to have your name in the paper?"
Behind Rainbow Dash, Twinkle was certain she could see a cream-coloured shape moving about, and shook her head.

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity called out, "Won't you join me for one of these delicious hooficures?"
The speedster looked skeptical, "Did you forget who you're talking to? The day I get a hooficure is that day I turn in my daredevil license."

"Just give it a try" Rarity sighed, "Trust me, even you will enjoy them."
Rainbow Dash frowned in apprehension, "It's that good, huh?"

She gave this some though, staring down at her hooves. "Maybe just one hoof."
She made her way over to the bed besides Rarity and laid back, before seeing one of the spa attendants approaching, at which point she winced. The pony got closer, and closer, and closer...

And then Rainbow Dash shot up into the air. "Forget it!" she yelped, "I don't like ponies touching my hooves."
She flew back to her newspaper and stared at it. If there was one thing that could be said about Rainbow Dash, it was that when she got an idea in her head, she never let it go.

"Man, I'd love it if Gabby Gums did a story on me" she sighed.
"She did one on me" Spike said, with an air of nonchalance that was immediately destroyed by his being swarmed by six extremely eager ponies. He smiled nervously at their manic grins.

"What did you talk about?" Rarity asked.
He smiled nervously again.

"Oh, hay," he proclaimed, "Look at the time, I've gotta go home and feed Peewee!"
And with that he leapt over Rainbow Dash's head and rushed for the door.

"Didn't know the little guy could move that fast" Rainbow Dash said.
Meanwhile, Twinkle sat there still enjoying her massage.

"Haven't felt this relaxed in years," she murmured, "Not since my honeymoon..."
She was aware of the return of the silence, and the fact that everypony was staring at her. She carefully analysed her previous statement.

"Oh, Belgium" she muttered.
Everypony stared at her for several moments.

"You... never mentioned you were married before" Rarity eventually got out.
Twilight Twinkle bit her lip. "Well, there is a reason for that..." she said.

"It's 'cuz of that weird thing with the plant from your birthday, right?" Applejack said.
Twinkle smiled, grateful for the free foothold in her sudden mental quagmire. "Yes! That's exactly why. The plant showed me my greatest desire, and apparently part and parcel of those desires was getting married to this colt I... had a crush on."

"'Had'?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow in delight.
"Had. It's not complicated. I had a crush on him, but he wasn't interested in me, so it went nowhere. Not much to tell, really."

Rarity frowned with the disappointed air of a pony who had been expecting titillation.
"What was he like? If it isn't too much to ask" Fluttershy asked, causing Twinkle to jump, mainly because she'd forgotten Fluttershy was there. She scrambled for words to think of to describe him.

"He's quiet, nice, friendly. Selfless but slightly awkward around most ponies. Has a bit of trouble with telling a young mare he's not interested in her. I would say he is, very slightly, a bit of a mother's boy, though. Or he can't cook, though considering who his mother is, that's unlikely."

"This guy's mother's one of us right? She is, isn't she. She is!" Pinkie Pie beamed, "Which one of us is it?"
Twinkle stared at Pinkie Pie, "No, Pinkie. She isn't."

She felt slightly unsure about that. Technically, what she'd said was the truth, but if she knew anything about Fluttershy and Wisp, she knew they wouldn't have seen it the same way.
She shuffled slightly as she noticed the massage had stopped. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to change the subject."

Pinkie Pie immediately seized upon the lull to talk about the up-coming National Dessert Competition, at length. As she did, Twinkle made a note to seek out a certain trio of fillies at some point, and have a long talk with them. She noted that she should've been feeling concerned about their behaviour, but at that moment, she felt too relaxed.
And then she started thinking about Lilac again, at which point her good mood vanished.

****

Eventually, their business at the spa concluded, and the two Twilights slowly walked back toward the library.
"So, did you enjoy the spa?" Twilight said. Twinkle just nodded.

"Aside from the bickering, and talking about what that plant did to me? Yes. It was good. And I do feel more relaxed now."
Twilight smiled, which then flickered when she saw the look on Twinkle's face.

"What is it?" she asked. Twinkle stared at her.
"I..." she paused, and looked down at her hooves, "I was just thinking about things. A lot of things, actually."

"Such as?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," she said, "Not right now."

Twilight looked at her, but said nothing.
The walk back to the library was without incident, but once they arrived at the library, they noticed something wrong. Trixie was sitting in the chair, staring out of the window, her expression utterly blank.

"Trixie," Twinkle smiled, "What is it?"
"Nothing," she muttered, "Nothing at all."

Twinkle stared at Trixie. "Trixie, what is it? You can tell us"
The mare shuffled slightly. "Nothing. I'm not angry."

Twinkle felt her stomach drop out. Trixie continued.
"I wasn't angry when I saw the Foal Free Press proclaiming it revealed 'the secrets of the Great and Powerful Trixie'. I wasn't angry when I saw everypony staring and whispering behind my back, and I certainly wasn't angry when I saw Rainbow Dash flying toward the spa with a copy of the FFP. The spa Twilight told me everypony was going to, and invited me to come along."

Twinkle bit her lip, turning to look at Twilight, who was staring at her hooves.
"I'm not angry," Trixie re-iterated, "But I am hurt."

"I'm sorry," Twilight said, "I... I didn't..."
Trixie just stared, her eyes hidden by the brim of her hat.

"I thought we were friends" she said quietly.
"Trixie, I really didn't mean anything by it. We just thought it was harmless gossip" Twinkle stared at Twilight, who looked like she was disgusted with herself for saying those words.

"Whatever" Trixie muttered, slouching off the chair and moving towards the stairs. She slammed the door after she went through it, leaving Twilight and Twinkle standing there.
"Harmless gossip" Twinkle said, her voice leaden. She stared at Twilight, who was looking down at her hooves.

"Now, are we going to go talk to her, or what?" Twilight's head shot up, as Twinkle walked over to her.
"I do know you. You aren't the sort to let Trixie remain unhappy so long as there's still the smallest chance you can make things right" she said, trying not to smirk or grin as she did. Twilight stared at her.

"That's not fair," she frowned, "You already know how I'm going to act."
"Twilight, I'm pretty sure Trixie knows how you're going to act. Now then," she jabbed Twilight with her hoof, "Stop standing there with your mouth open and go and apologise."

Twilight frowned at her, and then walked past towards the stairs, Twinkle following after. As she walked up the stairs she wondered where Spike was, but dismissed this.
They found Trixie sitting on her bed, with a tiny orange blob next to her, happily chriping.

"Trixie?" Twilight asked, knocking on the doorway as she entered. The mare looked at her, but said nothing.
"I wanted to say that I really am sorry, for reading what Gabby Gums wrote about you," Twilight said, "I have no excuse for my actions."

Trixie stared at her, then stared at Twinkle. "Aren't you going to try and apologise to Trixie? Maybe give one of your little speeches?"
"Me?" Twinkle asked, "No. No speeches. Why would I? I don't read Gabby Gums' column."

Trixie stared at her, before turning back to Twilight. "You're sorry?" she asked, coolly.
Twilight nodded. "But, I didn't read it because it said it was about you, I just read it because... well, because it's Gabby Gums." There was a pause, as Twilight looked at Trixie, "I do think she's beginning to get out of hoof."

"(Beginning?)" Twinkle muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.
"So... I am sorry for hurting your feelings, Trixie, and I know the others will be as well, if you talked to them."

"I wouldn't put to much faith in Rainbow Dash or Rarity being too sorry, if I were you. Rarity seems unwilling to accept that there's anything wrong with the fact that everypony's reading a gossip column in a children's newspaper, and Rainbow Dash... is Rainbow Dash."

Twinkle looked and saw Twilight staring at her. "What?"
"Well, in addition to that harsh, cynical and accurate remark about Rainbow Dash, you keep mentioning the fact that it's a children's newspaper. What's up with that?"

"'What's up with that?' I find it disturbing. Don't you find it disturbing?"
Twilight just stared at her, "Do you have some sort of obsessive tendencies I should know about?"

"I am not obsessed, I'm just concerned by the tendency of Ponyvilleians to read a newspaper designed and intended for foals!"
"Stop shouting" Twilight said calmly, in a voice that was alarmingly close to her best 'mom' voice.

"I'm not shouting! I'm just really annoyed by it" she paused at that, before frowning, and muttering something unladylike. Twilight turned to look at Trixie, who was just staring wide-eyed at the scene she'd just gotten a front-row scene to (which, incidentally, was mirrored on Peewee's face, inasmuch as a bird can look alarmed at witnessing two ponies yelling at each other over newspapers)

"So, anyway, Trixie. I'm sorry I didn't take your feelings into consideration on reading Gabby Gums."
The mare stared at Twinkle for a few seconds, before her eyes moved back to Twilight.

"Sorry, what? I was just... watching whatever that was."
She turned to look at Twilight and grinned, "Can I work you two into my act? I reckon ponies woud love it."

Twinkle just buried her face in her hooves, "At least somepony's cheered up."
Trixie shrugged, "Not entirely, but that whatever-that-was helped. That, and the fact that I have realised dear Gabby Gums is probably going to do articles on the rest of you."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "She is?"
Trixie just raised an eyebrow at her. Twilight's expression dropped.

"She is."
"Turnabout's fair play, Twilight" Trixie grinned maliciously.

Twinkle shook her head and made her way downstairs, where she found Spike replacing several books.
"Hey, Spike," she said, making the dragon leap.

"Sorry, I was... kind of expecting you to be Pinkie Pie."
Twinkle gave this some thought, "What, you were expecting her to hound you until you give up the secret of Gabby Gums?"

Spike blushed, "Kinda."
Twinkle just grinned, and after a few seconds Spike grinned as well.

"So, Spike, you met Gabby Gums, in person?"
He nodded, and then stared at her. "And I'm not telling you who she is, so don't bother trying to wring it out of me. I promised I wouldn't tell anypony about her."

"That's okay, Spike," Twinkle said, helping to move some books into Twilight's current designated arrangement for books, "I'm quite certain I know who 'she' is."

Spike chuckled, "Yeah, I guess you would. They probably told you all about it when you were growing up, or something, right?"
There was a pause, and Spike turned to stare at Twilight Twinkle's triumphant smile. "I just told you, didn't I?" he sighed.

"No" Twinkle said, "But you have confirmed my suspicions. The 'they' really helped though, because there's only one 'they' I could possibly know of who'd be foalhardy enough to do everything Gabby Gums has been doing."

She gave this some thought, "You see, I was thinking to myself, 'Gee, Diamond Tiara is editor of the Foal Free Press, and what pony would be foalish enough to stick around when Diamond Tiara's involved in something. Why, obviously it would be three ponies so desperate to get their Cutie Marks they'd do anything for them'. By which I do of course mean Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo."

Spike stared glumly at his feet. "I promised them I wouldn't tell anypony who Gabby Gums was. Now Pinkie Pie's probably going to hunt me down."
Twinkle stared around the room. "I think if you had actually broken a promise, she'd shown up by now. Besides, it doesn't count if I figure it out, does it?"

Spike gave this some thought, "Doesn't it?" he asked, his voice full of hope. Twinkle just smirked.
"Don't worry, Spike, I don't think Pinkie Pie would do anything serious even if she did find out. She'd probably just... ask you some questions.

"Really?" Spike asked, glancing about the room. Twinkle understood his current panic. Pinkie Pie's strange tendency to appear out of nowhere was already legendary, even in what she considered the past. She'd never seen it for herself, at least not before her arrival in the past.

"I don't know. That doesn't sound like something I would do. Do you really think I would do something like that, because I don't." a suspiciously familiar voice said. Twinkle stared at Spike.

"She's right behind me, isn't she?"
"Nope, I'm right next to you!" Pinkie Pie smiled. Twilight Twinkle could see the mare's toothy (and oddly well-maintained) smile very clearly. Her mind, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie had gotten in without making any noise, despite the rest of her pointing out the first truth of Pinkie Pie. She just was.

"Spike, did you break a promise?" she asked sternly, leaning in toward the dragon. He smiled nervously.
"Sort of. I mean," he gulped, "I wasn't meaning to, but I sort of did, and I'm really sorry and I won't do it again!"

Pinkie Pie leaned back out, and looked regretful, "See that you don't, Spike, or I'll be upset with you."
And with that her smile returned, "You'll be at Sugarcube Corner on Sunday, right?"

Spike nodded, to which Pinkie's smile increased.
"Goody" she said, and then she bounced out of the door, closing it gently behind her, and as was usual with Pinkie Pie, left Twinkle and Spike just standing there staring.

"She really does just mean that she'll be upset, right?" Spike asked, nervously.
"Considering Pinkie Pie, it's probably safe to assume the answer is yes" Twinkle sighed. Then her thoughts turned to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"What?" Spike asked. Twinkle shook her head.
"I think it's probably an idea to get in touch with the girls, before they do something they'll regret."

Spike frowned. From the looks of it, he was trying to think of a way to sound supportive of the trio, but considering their usual tendencies, it seemed to be giving him some strain.
"Like what?" he asked. Twinkle bit her lip.

"Probably best not to think about it, Spike. I should probably find them before they do something they'll regret..."
"On your own?" Spike asked.

"Are you offering to help?"
He shrugged, "So long as I don't have to carry anything heavy, yeah."

"We're only looking for three highly visible fillies, Spike. I honestly doubt there'll be much heavy lifting."
His expression changed, "You say that now, and next thing you know, I'm carrying a whole roll of parchment, three puppies, some guard armor, and twenty-eight books."

Twinkle stared at him with a bemused expression. "Long story. Don't ask" he muttered.
She walked towards the door, Spike following after her.

*****

Two hours later, as the two walked through Ponyville, Twinkle found herself getting increasingly frustrated. Searching the school had proved fruitless, checking at Sweet Apple Acres had proved fruitless, and neither knew where Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents resided, which made that pointless.

"Couldn't we just go from door to door and check?" Spike asked.
"Because that would be incredibly time-consuming, and I don't really want to spend my evening searching through all of Ponyville for Sweetie Belle's parents, especially since we don't know if she's even at her parent's house."

She gave an irritated sigh.
"What about Scootaloo's house?" Spike asked. There was a pause.

"Which is... where, exactly?" Twinkle asked. Spike gave this some thought. And then he gave it some more thought.
"... I could've sworn she told me at some point" he muttered, "She must have. And I know I met her mother..."

Twinkle felt a pang of curiosity at this, "Really? What does she look like?"
Spike's expression changed. "That's weird... just slipped my mind. Sorry," he sighed, "Drawing a great big blank on Scootaloo, her house, the whereabouts of, finding and or locating."

Twinkle stared at him, and grinned. "Well, nevermind. I'm sure they'll turn up sooner or later."
She looked at the setting sun, "I suppose we might as well go home, then."

"I guess," Spike said, smiling gently, "After all, what's the worst that could happen?"
She glared at him. "What?"

"Spike, seriously, don't ask 'what's the worst that could happen', unless you really, really want to find out what the worst possible thing that could happen is. Especially where Diamond Tiara and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are involved."

"So, what do you think is going to happen?" he asked, cautiously.
"I think you're going to get into some trouble" she said solemnly.

*****

That Sunday, everypony gathered in Sugarcube Corner, save Rainbow Dash, and to Twinkle's mild annoyance she noticed everypony came bearing copies of the Foal Free Press, save herself, Trixie and Twilight. Applejack showed up last, and from the very instant she stepped into the room, it was clear she was furious.

"Have you seen this?" she declared, through a mouthful of newspaper, "Have y'all seen this?!"
She threw the paper on the floor, and kicked it open to the Gabby Gums section, which by now had apparently been expanded to several pages. Twinkle leaned over Trixie's shoulder to see an image of Applejack resting again a tree, her hat over her eyes.

"'Applejack, asleep on the job!' she angrily read out, before turning to everypony else, "Can y'all believe this?!"
She turned back to the paper, and jabbed a hoof at the column opposite, "And this one - 'Big Macintosh - What's he hidin'?"

There was a picture of a startled Big Macintosh with his Smarty Pants doll between his forelimbs. Twilight looked up at Twinkle, who just smiled as innocently as possible.
"What?" she mouthed. Twilight just grinned, and shook her head.

"Who the hay does Gabby Gums think she is?" Applejack demanded.
Twilight Twinkle opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Twilight Sparkle speaking first. The mare had spotted a less-than-flattering photo of her snoring, and she began to scrutinise the page, her expression growing more outraged with each moment.

"Listen to this one, 'Twilight Sparkle: I was a Canterlot snob. A well-placed scaly source-" Twinkle and Spike exchanged glances. Spike looked like he'd just been placed on a guillotine block, "- close to the prissy pony says Twilight Sparkle thinks Ponyville is nothing but muddy roads and low-class rubes'"

She turned to Spike and yelled, "How could you say such a thing?!"
"I didn't! Gabby Gums made that up! I never said anything like that!" Behind Twilight's shoulder, Trixie was scanning the discarded newspaper, silently relishing the sight.

"Everypony, please," Rarity said from the table she was sitting at, Pinkie Pie sitting across from her, with Fluttershy watching them from over the counter, "She's just a harmless schoolpony engaged in some harmless gossip. You're really making too big a deal over this."
Twilight stepped forward, before Twinkle cut her off.

"'Harmless gossip?'" she asked, her voice icy cold. Rarity looked at her, "Rarity, she's writing, or possibly being made to write, outright lies! That's not harmless, or gossip. And I will thank you not to utter anything so mind-bogglingly idiotic again in my presence."

Rarity stared at her, and then gently chuckled, "There is absolutely no need to get so worked up about this. It isn't as if she's printed anything ab-" she cut off when she saw the deapan glares from Applejack, Trixie, Spike and both Twilights.
"It is not. Harmless" Twinkle hissed.

Behind her, Trixie flipped over the page, and then her eyes went wide in shock, and her glance turned toward Fluttershy. She nudged Applejack, and the farmpony turned to look at what the showmare was indicating.
"Gabby Gums prints whatever she wants!" Twilight pointed out, as behind her Applejack gave out a very audible, 'uh-oh'. Twilight levitated the previous day's copy of the FFP in front of Rarity.

"She doesn't care whose reputation she destroys!" Twinkle looked at the image currently on display, which was Fluttershy, with her back to the camera-pony, with arrows pointing to her tail, "'Fluttershy has tail extensions!'"
At this, Fluttershy's face changed, and she sank out of sight, her eyes trembling. A few seconds later there was a scuttling noise from behind the counter.

"Wait," Trixie declared, "She does have tail extensions?!"
"Well, there's another childhood idol destroyed in front of me" Twinkle muttered, ignoring the odd look she got from everypony.

Twilight changed the page, and read out another headline, this one connected to a photo of Pinkie Pie dancing in a punch bowl with a lampshade on her head, "'Pinkie Pie is an out-of-control party animal!'"
"WHAT?!" Pinkie shrieked, before diving across the room and staring at the paper.

"You know," Twinkle mused, "Despite my objections towards her actions, I do appreciate Gabby Gums' ability to spin this pictures wildly out of context. She must have an impressive imagination."
"It's true!" Pinkie wailed behind them, tears gushing from her eyes, "I do have a problem!"

Trixie suddenly found herself being weapt on by the mare. Twilight, sensing she was on a roll, flipped the page again.
"Look! According to this one, the Cakes are braking up!"

"We are?!" Mrs Cake asked from behind the counter, as she and her husband walked in carrying an assortment of cakes, exchanging mutually confused glances.
Then there was an almight crash as a pile of newspapers flew into the room, a set of sky blue limbs just barely visible underneath. The pile landed in the corner, and a bleary-eyed Rainbow Dash emerged from it.

"Well," she said, "My life is officially over. Gabby Gums has made it to Cloudsdale."
She nudged an already open paper toward Twilight, showing Rainbow Dash's abortive attempt at a hooficure.

"'Rainbow Dash: Speed demon or super-softie?'" Twilight read out, before looking at Rainbow Dash.
"I grabbed up as many copies as I could, but it's too late!" she burst out into tears, "I'm a laughing stock!" she wailed.

Everypony (Or rather, everypony who wasn't Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy or Rarity) stared at Rarity, who had a look of infuriating indifference. Twinkle looked at Trixie, who had casually read ahead in order to distract herself from the still-sobbing Pinkie, and she couldn't help but see the almost cruel smile spreading across Trixie's face.

"See, Rarity?" Twinkle heard Twilight say, "Your so-called 'harmless gossip' can be very harmful!"
Twinkle shuffled over toward the newspaper Trixie was scanning, and saw what she was smiling about, and despite everything, she couldn't help but feel amused, if slightly sorry for Rarity. Until the mare spoke again.

"Honestly, you ponies have no sense of humour," Rarity sighed, "So she tweaks a few ponies every now and then, maybe they de-"
"If you say what I think you're planning on saying, I will tell you every detail about the future that will horrify you, starting with your greatest mistakes!" Twinkle quickly shot out. Applejack gave a small horrified gasp at the last segment. Rarity, for her part, looked hesitant.

"Perhaps my statement was... somewhat hasty" she said, noticing she had just managed to upset everypony in the room, "But these are hardly life-ending things that are being said."
"I can't study friendship if everypony in town thinks I'm a snob and won't talk to me."

"Good thing only a foolish, ill-tempered and gullible pony would believe these things" Twinkle frowned, "Except this one about Rarity, of course."
There was a sudden moment of quiet, as Rarity's face began to immitate that of the sort of creature whose lives usually ended in a damp crunch. Slowly, she turned the page of her newspaper. Her eyes went wide.

"I'll DESTROY HER!" she yelled, leaning back dramatically, before leaning back in to analyse the article, "'The Drama Queen Diares'... she's reprinted my diary! How could Gabby Gums get access to my diary?!" she wailed.

"Honestly, Rarity" Twinkle said, almost deadpan, "You have no sense of humour. Maybe you deserve this."
Rarity blinked for a few seconds, before slowly crushing the newspaper between her hooves. "Destroy her..." she hissed.

Pinkie Pie had stopped crying by now, and was analysing the article. She made a small noise of intrigue. "It's even got the bit about your mini-break with that ex-rival of yours, Generous Embrace" she smiled.

Rarity's expression went into a strange mixture of confusion and blood-rage. "Mini-break?" she said, her ears twitching violently, "Pinkie, she held me captive and tortured me! With cheese! And we shared that shower out of neccesity!"
There was a sudden pause as everypony exchanged glances. Trixie spoke first.

"That explains so much, and so very, very, very little."
Twilight just frowned, a natural leadership seeming to exude from her as she spoke, "We've got to put a stop to this once and for all!"

"Why?" Twinkle cut in, "I mean, 'Gabby Gums' doesn't exactly have many ponies to spread gossip about."
"There's you" Twilight pointed out, "Imagine if she found out about you."

There was another pause, "Yeah, Twilight, fairly certain 'she' knows already."
"You know who she is, don't you?" asked Rarity, before the fashion-designer rushed over to her. "Tell!"

Twinkle stared at Rarity, "No. Why don't we calmly use our brains to figure it out, instead?"
Rarity stared at her, "But she could be anypony!"

Twilight, meanwhile, just shook her head, "Sweetie Belle's on the newspaper staff, maybe she knows who Gabby Gums really..."
There were a few seconds as Twilight's mind filled in the figurative jigsaw puzzle.

"Rarity?" she asked, as the colour drained from her face, "Sweetie Belle, she'd probably know where you keep your diary, am I correct?"
Rarity gasped, "My sister would never associate with anypony as ghastly as Gabby Gu-"

Twinkle coughed, loudly. Rarity stared at her, and then to Twilight.
"Oh, no" she said quietly, "Don't say that. I resent that implication. Why, she's the most innocent-"

"Ignoring the incident with the catapult, and the prank war" Twinkle muttered, before she started wondering where that catapult had gone, now that she gave it some thought. After all, it wasn't as if it had just walked away...
"How did they get all the tree sap on the ceiling, by the way?" Trixie cut in. Twinkle frowned, filing away her concerns over the catapult for later.

"I have no idea. And I've done some very crazy things in my life, so that's saying something."
"The. Most. Innocent, most lovely pony in all of Equestria!" Rarity said fiercely.

"Who, along with her friends, is near-insanely devoted towards getting her Cutie Mark, and utterly heedless of the consequences of her actions when 'crusading'."
Twinkle glanced at the newspaper, "Of course, this is utterly unlike them, which leads me to the conclusion that those three are perhaps being pressured into doing this by somepony. Somepony in a position of power, perhaps."

"That'd be Diamond Tiara, then" Fluttershy said. Everypony stared at her.
"What?" she asked. It was difficult staring at Fluttershy, especially when she looked like she was about to burst into tears, as she did at that moment. Twinkle didn't feel up to speculating about the amount of willpower she was using to hold them back.

"You sound really sure of yourself" Rainbow Dash noted, with a not inconsiderate amount of what sounded like sisterly pride.
"I am sure," Fluttershy said, sounding almost spooked for saying it, "Diamond Tiara is the editor of this newspaper, which means it's her job to make sure they follow the standards and practices of the newspaper. If they aren't, she isn't doing her job properly, which might actually be worse."

Practically everypony stared at Fluttershy, who just blinked in confusion, "But, I could just be completely wrong" she mumbled.
"No, Fluttershy," Twilight said, "That's it! All we need to do is talk to those three about about their actions."

There was a small chorus of agreements, and one 'eyup' from Applejack. Twinkle edged over to the mare.
"Applejack, are you alright?"

"Eyup" the mare said.
Twinkle gave this some thought. "Really?"

"Eyup."
"And you aren't just to shocked at the fact that your baby sister had a part in all this and are unable to speak?"

Applejack's mouth twitched and she hung her head. "Yup."
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, looked like a barely controlled cyclone of irritation. Twinkle decided not to bother trying to talk her down, and looked at Fluttershy, who was looking less and less emotionally stable by the minute.

"Okay, then" Rarity announced, "I shall have a talk with Sweetie Belle, after ascertaining the whereabouts of my diary, and then I shall have a conversation with the young lady about certain subjects she obviously isn't being taught at school."
Everypony nodded, though Twinkle noted nopony looked absolutely sure about.

And on the walk back to the library, both Twilight and Trixie, she noticed, were walking incredibly fast. And there were certainly a lot of ponies glancing suspiciously at the two mares. She looked at Spike, who was walking incredibly close to Twilight. He was also glancing at the ponies, none of whom looked happy to see Twilight. Some were even whispering to each other. Twinkle couldn't help but notice she was trailing behind Twilight and Trixie by then.

'No, I'm not trailing behind,' she thought to herself, 'They're just walking much faster than usual'. She glanced at the varied ponies of Ponyville, who looked at her the same way cats sized up potential targets. She quickly trotted after Twilight.

*****

Rarity and Sweetie Belle exchanged stares. A battle of wills was waged between the sisters, which eventually ended in a draw, as Rarity leaned in to her sister. Their argument, like so many before, had been brief and volatile. And then Sweetie Belle had mentioned that she and her friends had just been trying to get their Cutie Marks, and it had all slid into place for Rarity. Her anger evaporated, as she turned and looked at her sister.

"Do you really think that writing nasty things and making everypony feel horrible is your destiny?" she asked. Sweetie Belle stared down at her hooves.
"Well," her little sister said, "When you put it that way..."

Rarity smiled, and after a few seconds, Sweetie Belle smiled back.
"Thanks, Rarity."

And with that the filly rushed out of the room. Rarity smiled, and stood there, basking in her victory. All alone, with nothing to do and nopony to talk to, or brag to.
A few seconds later she rushed downstairs to find a copy of the Ponyville Express lying by the door. She stared at it, and sighed.

'I'm going to miss Gabby Gums' she thought.
Five minutes beyond that she was pouring through a small pile of back issues of the Foal Free Press she'd gathered over the last week.

*****

Twinkle woke up, stretched, and yawned. She brushed her teeth, and made her way downstairs.
"Morning!" she smiled cheerfully at Twilight, who said nothing. Twinkle walked past her and into the kitchen.

Then she walked back out into the main room, and saw the look on Twilight's face.
"Is... something wrong?" she asked. Twilight looked at her.

"No, I'm just... taking it easy today. Relaxing, and reading up on..." she slowly looked at the book she was reading.
"'The Giant Rat of Sumaretra'" she grinned, and then paused, her smile replaced with a look of utter confusion as what she'd apparently said occured to her, and checked the title again.

"Yes, that's (apparently) what I'm reading" she smiled. Twinkle stared at her. Twilight stared back, still grinning.
"Alright, then" Twinkle said.

After her breakfast she walked back into the main room, and sat down for a few moments.
"So, are there any plans for today?" she asked.

"No" Twilight said instantly.
"Okay," Twinkle said hestitantly, "Not even going to Sugarcube Corner to talk with Pinkie Pie about that giant cake she's making?"

"No."
"Twilight, is something the matter?" that got Twilight's attention. The mare looked up at her.
"Nothing's the matter, I'm just enjoying this book, and want to stay indoors to finish it in peace and quiet, okay?"

Twinkle nodded slowly, noting the odd look on Twilight's face.

*****

Some three hours later, and Twilight Twinkle found herself sitting, staring, and casting images of illusionary birds again, mainly to pass the time. As she did, she noted to some small amount of pleasue she was no longer thinking about Lilac, especially the filly's smile, her eager bouncing gait, the way she'd frequently woken her up in the mornings...

Twinkle frowned, and then moved to scowling, staring up at the clouds. She wasn't thinking about Lilac, that was certainly true. She couldn't stop thinking about the date, though, and Shining Armor, and Applejack, and a dozen other things, so it was perhaps no surprise she didn't notice the Cutie Mark Crusaders approaching her.

"Miss... Twilight?" she heard Apple Bloom say. Slowly she turned to look at the young mare, and tried smiling.
"Apple Bloom. What's got you running about at lunchtime?"

Then she noticed the miserable looks on the filly's face, and those of her companions.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. The three fillies looked at each other.

"We were just wondering... if you would let us do a story on you?" Apple Bloom asked.
"A story? Me? Thanks, but no thanks girls. I've already got one, and I'm quite certain it's nearly at the end."

There was an awkward pause, before Scootaloo spoke up, "No, we mean a Gabby Gums story."
"Are you alright?" Sweetie Belle asked. Twinkle looked at her.

"It's just... you look kinda... sad" Sweetie Belle said. Twinkle just nodded.
"It's not something you'd want to hear. And more to the point, you're still doing Gabby Gums stuff? Didn't your sisters slash role models have a talk with you?"

"They did," Sweetie Belle said, "But... we can't quit now."
Twinkle felt concerned, "What do you mean you can't quit?"

The look on the girls' faces was alarming, "Are you being made to do this?"
"... no" Apple Bloom said, "We ain't bein' blackmailed into still bein' Gabby Gums."

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle nodded, "It's just that nopony wants to tell us anything about themselves anymore."
"We only just finished drying off from the raincloud Rainbow Dash emptied on us" Scootaloo said.

Twinkle just nodded, "She took your article a bit hard. Nopony holds a grudge like Rainbow Dash"
"Told you" Scootaloo said to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. A thought occured to Twinkle.

"How come you three didn't do an article on me?"
"We did," Apple Bloom said quietly, "It's todays article. We kinda said you... might be related to one of the Princesses."

Twinkle found herself grinning at this, "Well, you wouldn't be making that one up, in a manner of speaking, though nopony'd ever believe you."
"'specially not anymore," Apple Bloom said quietly, "Rainbow Dash made it rain on us, Fluttershy can't speak 'cuz she's crying so much, and that rabbit of hers won't let us in, we haven't seen Pinkie Pie all day, miss Twilight set up a forcefield around the library-"

"She did?" Twinkle asked, before standing on the bench and craning her neck. Just visible over the roofs of Ponyville was a forefield around the library.
"I think you three might have upset a few ponies with that article on her as well" she said quietly. Then she saw the truly miserable look on Apple Bloom's face, "An' Big Macintosh told us t' go away..."

While it was a known fact that there wasn't anything as heart-rending as watching Fluttershy cry (at least, nothing that didn't border on unethically cruel to even think of), the Cutie Mark Crusaders looking miserable was a close contender.
Then something Apple Bloom had said set off warning lights in Twinkle's mind.

"Sorry," she said, "Run that by me again, Big Macintosh did what?" she said, her voice as cold as death.
Apple Bloom looked up at her, "He said he didn' want to talk to us, and then he told us to 'go away'."

"I see," Twinkle said, in a tone than made all three fillies take a step back, before smiling a smile that made them take another step back, "Tell me, girls, did he even ask why you were still trying to get a story off of him?"

"Well," Apple Bloom suddenly felt incredibly small, "No."
Twinkle's face changed. In an instant, her smile vanished. Her pupils shrank, and all three fillies became aware of a burning sensation.

"He didn't even ask... he just yelled at you?" she asked, her voice as calm as the eye of a hurricane.
"Maybe?" Sweetie Belle said.

"That..." Twinkle paused, and then her mane and tail burst into flame, "NO!" she snarled.
"I will not have it! I will not!" she said, and she turned in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The CMC watched as the mare marched toward Sweet Apple Acres.

"Your mane's on fire!" Scootaloo pointed out, her mind grabbing onto whatever it could in that moment. Twilight Twinkle didn't seem to hear her.
"What are you going to do?"

"I will! Not! Have! It!" Twinkle repeated, blazing fury driving her slightly-starved self toward Sweet Apple Acres, "No big brother yells at his little sister while I am here! Not on my watch!"

*****

It was almost lunchtime at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack stood up and sniffed the air.
"D'you smell that?" she asked her big brother.

"Smell's like something burning" he noted.
Applejack looked about, "Go check on Granny, make sure somethin' ain't happened to her."

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow, managing in an instant to non-verbally state his opinion on what Applejack was implying, but he still turned and headed toward the farmhouse anyway. Applejack wandered onto the small dirt path that lead to town, and then she saw it. A pony-shaped aura of flame was approaching the farm, and in front of it, three terrified looking fillies rushing ahead of her. Applejack stared at the sight.

"What'n tarnation?" she asked. She looked at the three fillies as they approached.
"Apple Bloom, wha-"

"We don't know! We were just talkin' to her, and she just burst into flames and started yellin'! Ah think she's gonna hurt Big Macintosh."
Applejack stared at the approaching firey spectre, who was slowly walking closer, then back to Apple Bloom. "What did you do?" she asked.

"Nuthin'! We were jus' talking with miss Twilight Twinkle about how everypony's all mad at us about being Gabby Gums, and then she just went up in flames."
Applejack continued staring, and after a few seconds, a cold thought came into her mind.

"Apple Bloom, don' worry, it ain't your fault.."
She slowly walked toward the fiery mare, noting that no matter how much the young mare's mane blazed, her trees seemed fine.

She stood in front of Twilight Twinkle, and shored herself up.
"Afternoon, Twilight Twinkle, what brings you here?"

The mare's eyes turned on her, and Applejack flinched, remembering what she'd seen during the strange journey into Twilight Twinkle's mind.
For a minute, nothing happened, and then the mare took a deep breath.

"BEN DAVIS MACINTOSH!" Twilight Twinkle roared, "COME OUT AND FACE JUDGEMENT LIKE A STALLION!"
Applejack was certain she could see some apples falling off theirs trees as the mare yelled. Then, slowly, the fires seemed to dim, her hair going back to the usual purple-blue it normally was.

Big Macintosh slowly approached, and Applejack decided to shelve her curiosity over where Twilight Twinkle had learnt her big brother's real name.
"Yes?" he said. The mare stared at him with an icy fury.

"Did you... yell at your little sister?"
Big Macintosh did seem afraid, though there was an interesting reaction in his eyes. "Eyup."

"And why," Twilight Twinkle said slowly, "Did you do this?"
He looked sheepish, "'cuz I was angry at her."

"I see. And do you think, Ben Davis Macintosh, you had to yell at her?"
He said nothing, and Applejack stared at Twinkle's truly alarming smile.

"No, m'm. I was upset at the actions of her, and her friends and what they'd written, and ah wasn't willing to listen to their side of the story."
Twinkle stared at him with a truly terrifying stare. "So, I save your life, and I saved hers, and you both hurt Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. And while I expect that from a brat like Disgustingly Rich, I do not expect it from you."

"Now, hold on," Applejack said, not entirely certain about what she'd just heard the mare say, "Apple Bloom an' her friends-"
"Are being pressured into doing this, by Diamond Tiara" Twinkle snapped, before shuffling, and giving a nervous smile.

"Sorry, angry. Apple Bloom said her big brother yelled at her, and everypony turned on her without willing to see reason, and, well, I just saw red. Actually, you're lucky my anger had time to burn off, I don't know what I might have done otherwise."

Applejack just nodded, "We gotta tell Twilight about... that thing you told me about, then" she said, glancing at the confused face of her big brother.
"Later," Twinkle nodded, "Right now, making sure everypony listens to their apologies would be an idea."

Applejack turned to look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, "You girls are sorry for what you did?"
"Yes" they instantly said as one.

"We should've said something earlier, we knew what we were doing was wrong," Scootaloo said, "But... we thought that if it meant we could get our Cutie Marks, maybe it didn't matter, so long as it was what everypony wanted."
"And we did want to write nicer stuff, like our interview with Spike, but..."

"Diamond Tiara" Applejack said. She sighed.
"You should've told somepony. Is it really worth yer Cutie Mark if you upset everypony in town?"

"No," the fillies said as one.
"And if you don't enjoy it," Twinkle said, "Then why bother doing it? You choose your Cutie Mark, you define it, not the other way around."

Six eyes stared at her. "What?"
"Didn't you get your Cutie Mark when you were five, and have no idea how you got it?" Scootaloo asked. Twinkle nodded.

"I still have no idea how that happened. All I really remember is that I was wrestling with a bar of chocolate at the time..."
She paused in recollection, and then shook her head, "Anyway, have you learnt your lesson?" she asked.

The three fillies nodded. Twinkle smiled.
"Wonderful."

Then the three fillies huddled together, and turned back to face Applejack and Twinkle, grinning eagerly.
"In fact, we've got a plan for solving the Gabby Gums problem once and for all!" Sweetie Belle smiled. At this, the three fillies rushed off in the direction of their clubhouse. Once they were out of sight, Twinkle slumped.

"Are you alright?" Applejack asked.
"Getting angry when I'm already magically drained, really takes it out of you," Twinkle muttered, "Plus, I can't think of the right way to begin a conversation with Twilight about... you know what."

Applejack nodded, "Ah've been giving it some thought, and ah don't know, should we maybe just tell her together?"
Twinkle considered this. "Yeah. But after that dessert competition, otherwise we're going to spend the whole time having awkward conversations with each other throught the whole thing, and it won't be any fun for Pinkie."

"No kidding" Applejack said, pawing at the ground. Then she started thinking about Diamond Tiara.
She frowned, "How come ah never noticed? All this time, and ah never noticed? Ya'd think seein' her yell at my little sis in front of everypony would've been a clue! Ah must be the world's worst sister, ever!"

Twinkle just groaned as she stood up, "Can't believe you just said that."
"Ah'm supposed to be looking out for her" Applejack said, "What kind'a sister am a-"

Big Macintosh loomed over her. "Calm down" he said gently.
Applejack took a deep breath, "Bit hard to be calm when you've just seen a young mare shake off bein' on fire like it weren't nothing."

"Sorry about that" Twinkle said, "I was probably going to burst sooner or later. Those three just... removed some of the guesswork."
She stared at Big Macintosh, "Nothing personal, just a bit of bad family history. Plus, did it not occur to you to just talk to them?"

"I'm already feelin' guilty," Big Macintosh said, "Don't need to add more guilt."
"Well, then I shall leave, and see if I can't get Twilight to remove that forcefield she's got around the library" Twinkle frowned as recollection came to her, "And you might want to talk to Fluttershy. I'm pretty sure she's probably crying her heart out right now."

*****

As it turned out, the difficulty with removing the forcefield around the library was getting Twilight's attention, though fortunately Twinkle was able to get the attention of Spike, who brought the concerns about the forcefield to Twilight, who dropped it.

"What was that all about?" Twinkle asked. Twilght just muttered and stared at her hooves.
"If this is because you're afraid of another attack of the Gabby Gums trio, don't worry. That's being dealt with."

Twilight smiled, "That's good."
Twinkle stared at her, and found herself smiling as well. Twilight's good moods were almost infectious, sometimes.

The rest of the day passed largely without incident, save Spike showing the latest edition of the Foal Free Press, which proclaimed 'Secret love-child of Nightmare Moon living with Twilight Sparkle?', followed by a small section of speculation as to how Twinkle was 'clearly' Nightmare Moon's daughter, somehow, which had resulted in Twinkle finding herself laughing for quiet some time.

"Those three have a pretty active imagination" she eventually said.

The next morning, Twilight and Twinkle were both eating breakfast when there was a knocking at the door. Twilight made her way over to it, and opened it, to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders holding a newspaper between them and smiling. Twilight examined it, and after she did, smiled at the trio.

"Apology accepted" she said.

*****

Later that day, everypony met up in Sugarcube Corner once more, and there was not a single copy of the Foal Free Press in sight, which cheered Twinkle up to no end, and apparently it had the same effect on everypony else (although Twinkle wasn't entirely certain Rarity was completely over her gossip addiction).

"So, what happened to Diamond Tiara?" Rarity asked. Her little sister grinned.
"Well, when Cheerilee found out about what Diamond Tiara had been doing, she said she couldn't be editor of the paper anymore, and she put Featherweight in charge."

"That's nice" Rarity said.
"But, we decided we're not gonna work on the newspaper anymore" Scootaloo said.

"You aren't?" Rainbow Dash asked. The fillies nodded.
"We talked it over, and we agreed it's a lot more fun readin' the news than making it" Apple Bloom said, before pausing, "Well, not that we did any real reporting, but ya get the point."

There was a general chorus of nods.
"Shame, though" Scootaloo said, "I kinda wanted to see what Featherweight would be like as an editor, even if he is freaky-quiet."

She glanced at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's expressions, "But yeah, we all agreed to quit."
There was a pause, as everypony shuffled about nervously.

"So, anything else happen today?" Twinkle asked.
There was a small chorus of 'nos'. Silence fell over the room.

"What about you, Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked.
The pasty chef shook her head, "No, I've been too busy preparing for the super-secret National Dessert Competition to think of anything else."

Then she gasped, and her eyes brightened, "Hey, are you guys excited for the National Dessert Competition? I know I am, and I can't wait for when you see the super-secret entry the Cakes have made that I can't tell you guys about because I promised I wouldn't but you're going to find out about tomorrow but I'm so excited about it and I can't wait and I want to tell you all right now by I said I wouldn't but I'm just so excited."

"Anypony want to guess as to how long this'll last?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Shouldn't be more than a few minutes" Applejack said.

Twinkle wasn't focusing on the strange flow on Pinkie's statements, most of which were about why she couldn't tell anypony anything about whatever it was the Cakes had made, mainly because it would apparently spoil the surprise.
She looked over at Applejack, who just looked back, firm resolution in the mare's eyes. Then she looked at Twilight, who was just smiling good-naturedly, at which point her soul sank.

'This', she thought, 'is going to be harder than I thought'.

Author's Note:

Sorry this is so late. The writers' block came back, stronger than before, (and on a few occasions the warm weather made my computer freak out, thus erasing some of my work. Not much, but enough to set me back by several minutes).
(Note: The Ben Davis is a type of apple that has, on occasion, been cross-bred with the Macintosh. Apparently it tastes like cork. And now, you know.)

Comments

[fuckyoudeletemyaccount]

I now know one more fact about apples.

[Siras-chi]

And Knowing is half the Battle

[Midnitemist]

heh I liked the chapter especially that last bit with Pinkie Pia.

[The Random Lord]

would be funny if Twinkle had a bite of the cake as well
who could resist that cake anyway

[Detectivefish]

2674771
Hmm... interesting notion...
(scribble, scribble)
The cake is not a lie. The cake is very, very real.
Perhaps... too real?

[arachnidsGrip]

checking at Sweet Apple Acres had proved fruitless

Really? What season was it? I would have thought th8re would 8e fruit th8re, if only attached to the trees.

~Vriska Serket

[Alex Prior]

....Did you have to use the "fruitless" pun?

[RealityCheck]

Snails is orange and snips is bluish-green. You should get your eyes checked for color blindness, seriously

[RealityCheck]

THe whole problem with busting the CMC's chops for GAbby Gums:
They were writing gossip--- but it was the ADULTS who were buying it.

I cannot stress enough what hypocrisy that is, to scold and punish the girls for gossip, even as the adults were gobbling it up like a chocolate eclair.

[matt s0101745]

"What is the plural of phoenix, anyway?"

Phoenices
On a related note, the proper plural of pegasus is probably pegases; or possibly pegasids, as Pegasus is a proper noun of a population patriarch, so perhaps the proper plural is the postfix for "proceeding from".

[Dorath]

"That explains so much, and so very, very, very little."