Chapter 95: Ponyville Confidential
The next few days went by after Easter and Ponyville was buzzing with excitement and peace after the little disaster that involved the some random eggs that Midnight tried to use to ruin the holiday, but failed as Spyro had managed to foil it without anyone getting hurt, but the disturbance he felt was still on his mind as he knew it too well and it was when someone used the Force, but who used it was a mystery to him, so he decided to figure it out however he could. That afternoon, Spyro was working on his ship, doing some routine maintenance when he felt the presence of Applejack heading his way, pushing himself out from underneath the ship to see them heading his way as he got up.
"Hey there AJ." Spyro said. "What's up?"
"Came to see if ya'll were busy right now." Applejack replied, seeing him covered in grease and oil. "But it seems ya'll are busy."
"Oh don't worry, I just finished up." Spyro replied, grabbing the nearby towel and wiping his face off. "What do you need?"
"Well, Ah need ya to go and pick the girls up form school if ya don't mind." Applejack replied. "Granny Smith was supposed to get them, but she's havin' one of her famous power naps right now."
"Oh, sure thing AJ." Spyro said, getting up and giving her a kiss. "Be back in a minute."
He went into the house and got himself cleaned up of all the excess grease and oil that was still on his coat and scales before going to the school to pick up Apple Bloom and Scootaloo as the school day was ending. At the school, the bell rang to let them know that class was dismissed and eveyrone was running out the doors and to the courtyard where a crowd had gathered but Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked annoyed and unhappy about something.
"Can you believe Featherweight got his Cutie Mark?" Sweetie Belle asked, clearly annoyed. "Featherweight, before us!
They looked to the crowd and saw a cream colored Pegasus with a brown mane and tail and his cutie mark was a feather, which was confusing, but the two crusaders just sighed in defeat as they just laid there in defeat.
"Girls, I got it!" Apple Bloom said, hopping over them with a newspaper. "The answer to all our problems!"
She tossed the newspaper to the two other crusaders, who were confused about what they were looking at then to Apple Bloom.
"The Foal Free Press?" Sweetie Belle asked. "How is the school newspaper going to help us get our Cutie Marks?"
"Hey girls." Spyro said, walking up to them. "You two ready to go? It's Lasagna night."
"Oh yeah, we are." Scootaloo replied. "We'll meet up later, alright Sweetie Belle."
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom ran over to him and the three of them walked with the young prince on their way back to the orchard, but as they walked home, Scootaloo was looking to Spyro and then watched him as he used the Force to lift a few apples up and pay for them, tossing one to Apple Bloom and another to Scootaloo as she thought about if she should tell Spyro or not, conflicted with the decision she wanted to make, which was something Spyro picked up on as he felt conflict arise inside her. As they reached the farm house, Spyro pulled Scootaloo aside while Apple Bloom went to do her chores, wanting to get to the bottom of what was causing her conflict and why.
"Scoots, you seem... distracted." Spyro said. "Is something bothering you?"
"Well, sort of." She replied. "Remember those Grublin things? When one of them flew right at you?"
"Yeah, it was that Axe Orc that came out of nowhere." Spyro replied. "What about it?"
"Well..." Scootaloo said, looking down at her hoof and wanting to tell him it was her that sent it flying, but lost the nerve at the last second. "You know... never mind. It's nothing."
"Scoots, if something's bothering you, you know you can come to me." Spyro said, ruffling up her mane. "Remember, we're siblings, and we always stick together, through thick and thin." He then hugged her, which she hugged back, smiling at her big brother as he comforted her. "Now tell me, what's bothering you."
"Hey Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said, running up to them. "Come on, I got some ideas we could try with the newspapers."
Scootaloo looked up to Spyro, who looked like she was begging if it was alright, so he just breathed a sigh of defeat as he nodded his head to let her go and be with her friend so they could do whatever it was they were cooking up, knowing better than to get in their way when they were trying to get their Cutie Marks. The young Pegasi followed the unicorn filly to carousel boutique, helping Rarity with ripping newspapers up to use for packaging for fragile vases and other fragile items, but got no Cutie mark, so they moved onto trying to help birds make nests, ripping stripes of newspaper and giving it to the birds to help them make their nests, looking back to see if they had their cutie mark, but still nothing. They then moved onto making a massive paper boat from newspaper and sailed on it, surprised that it actually worked and was sailing down river, so they checked their flanks again to see if it worked, but still nothing, looks of sadness on their faces as the boat sank.
After they fished themselves out of the river, they weren't straight for the club house, where Apple Bloom was sitting inside reading a newspaper when she heard the door to their clubhouse open, looking back to see Scootaloo and Sweetie belle covered in mud and in stripes of newspaper..
"Apple Bloom, your newspaper idea was a complete bust!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Yeah, we tried everything from paper mache to making birds nests and nothing worked." Scootaloo replied.
Apple Bloom started to laugh at the two of them for trying some ridiculous ideas, confusing them as they wondered what she was laughing about.
"What's so funny?" Scootaloo asked.
"I meant we should write for the paper for the paper." Apple Bloom replied, smacking the paper on Sweetie Belles horn. "We can get our Cutie Marks as journalists."
The two other fillies looked at one another and both fell back comically after hearing that, collapsing from exhaustion after spending all day trying to get their Cutie marks doing random things. The next day at the school house as it was ringing the bell to end classes for the day and many of the foals left the schoolhouse while others remained behind to join the school newspaper staff, which was having a meeting right at that moment.
"Ain't it exciting girls!?" Apple Bloom asked. "Cutie marks in Journalism!"
"This was such a good idea." Scootaloo said.
"Welcome everypony." Cheerilee said. "Now as you know, our Editor-in-chief graduated last year..."
"Oh, oh, oh, what's an Editor-in-Chief?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Good question Sweetie Belle." Cheerilee said. "I like those reporter instinct you have there." Sweetie Belle smiled at the compliment, pleased with herself. "Now as you all know, the Foal Free Press is a student run newspaper and I'm only an advisor, so I cannot get involved all that much. But the Editor-in-Chief is the pony in charge from choosing the stories to making sure they get to the press on time. And as i said, we have a new editor this year."
They all looked to the door and eagerly awaited for the Editor-in-Chief, but Scootaloo then felt something, something familiar, but couldn't describe what she was feeling, but didn't like it. Whatever feeling Scootaloo had was proven to be right as the door opened and revealed their new Editor-in-Chief was none other than Diamond Tiara, shocking everyone.
"Diamond Tiara!?" Everyone asked at the same time.
"I'll leave you all alone so you all can discuss the first assignments." Cheerilee said as she left the building and Diamond Tiara walked to the desk. "Have fun!"
As soon as Cheerilee closed the door, Diamond Tiara revealed her true colors and kicked the wall, dropping a picture of Diamond Tiara from the projector screen.
"Alright everypony, listen up!" Diamond Tiara said. "The Foal Free Press is a joke, no pony here takes it seriously. So I, as the new Editor-in-Chief, will deliver us to newfound glory!" No one was saying anything, trying to process what she was saying only for one pony to cheer. "Now, first things first, who is the staff photographer?" Featherweight raised his hoof to show he was the one who handled the photos. "I want you to get out there and document everything, photograph everything!" Featherweight then got out of his seat and ran to the door, running outside as Diamond Tiara closed the door. "I'll decide what's important. As for the rest of you, I want hard hitting news and interesting think pieces. No more namby-pamby like last year's editor."
"But, Namby-Pamby was a great editor." One unicorn filly said.
"Well I'm here now and I want juicy stories!" Diamond Tiara replied, looking annoyed. "The juicier the better. Now get out there and report!"
She kicked the wall again and spooked everyone, scaring Scootaloo enough to cause a pencil to float in the air next to Apple Bloom, which she noticed and grabbed it to make sure Diamond Tiara didn't see it as she and some of the other foals left.
"Maybe we should try packing boxes again." Scootaloo said.
"But this might be our last chance to earn our Cutie Marks." Sweetie Belle pointed out. "If we're meant to be journalists, isn't a little grief worth it?"
"I guess you have a point." Scootaloo replied. "We can take a little bit of Diamond Tiara for a lifetime of Cutie Marks."
"But ya need to be careful Scootaloo." Apple Bloom said. "Ya accidentally used the Force to make a pencil float."
"I did?" Scootaloo asked, looking at the pencil now on Apple Blooms desk.
"Ya sure did." Apple Bloom replied. "The last thing we need is for Diamond Tiara to know ya'll can use the Force like Spyro or Rosy Hearts."
"Then we'll be extra careful!" Sweetie Belle said. "Come on girls, let's go get those marks!"
Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Spyro was helping Appejack finish up some chores that were passed onto her since Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were helping with the school reporting stories around town, though what kind of stories they could find was beyond him, but he was happy their sisters were having fun helping with the school paper. As he was helping to clean up the porch at the farm house, Spyro felt the disturbance again, this time he could feel it and looked back to the town, wondering where it was coming from before it disappeared again, but this time he was able to trace it to the school house, now knowing it was a foal who was strong with the Force.
"Is something wrong Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, seeing the serious look on his face.
"I felt the disturbance again." Spyro replied. "This time I was able to trace it back to the school house. One of Ms. Cheerilee's students is Force Sensitive."
"Ya really think so?" Applejack asked, looking in the direction of the town. "If that's the case, what will ya do?"
"Well, the old way of the Jedi would be to separate the foundling from their parents at a given age, begin their training right away." Spyro replied, shocking Applejack. "But I'm no ordinary Jedi as I use the light and dark side of the Force, so if I were to train them, they can stay with their parents. You can try to deny your feelings and your emotions for as long as you can, but in the end, your emotions make you who you are, giving you strength and a reason to fight."
"And... if they don't want to be a Jedi?" Applejack asked.
"Then I'll respect their wishes." Spyro replied. "It must be their choice to learn and to be guided. I will not force them if they do not wish to train."
After a little while, Spyro finished up the chores and saw that the fillies walking up, Scootaloo covered in mud as if she fell in a mud puddle.
"Hey, there are our two future journalists!" Spyro said, ruffling up their manes.
"Hey big bro." Scootaloo said.
"Hi Spyro." Apple Bloom said.
"Found any good stories?" Spyro asked.
"Well I got something about a batch of new baby birds that had hatched, but I fell into a mud puddle." Scootaloo replied.
"And I was going to ask Granny Smith about the history of Ponyville!" Appel Bloom said. "Might make for a good story."
"Well, you're both certainly on your way to being great reporters." Spyro said.
"Hey Spyro, maybe you have something I could use for the paper." Scootaloo said.
"Well, there is one thing that might work for your paper." Spyro replied. "I have been feeling disturbances in the Force recently."
"Really!?" Apple bloom asked with excitement. "What kinda disturbances!?"
"Recent Force activity that has been going on for the past few days." Spyro replied, making the fillies hearts stop beating. "This recent one happened not too long ago at your girls school. I traced it back to there, so one of your fellow students is Force Sensitive."
"Y-you don't say." Scootaloo replied, sweat dripping from her forehead, which Spyro noticed and could sense her anxiety rise.
"Scoots, do you know who it is?" Spyro asked, now growing suspicious of the fillies.
"N-no, but I can look around and ask!" Scootaloo replied. "Anyway, gotta check for more stories, bye!"
She and Apple Bloom both rushed into the house to see if they could find more stories they could use for the paper, but Spyro started to wonder if Scootaloo knew more than she was letting on, hiding something from him as if she was ashamed of it. After a little while, the fillies made their way back to the school house where Diamond Tiara was waiting for them, a few foals on typewriters and another colt on the press putting ink into it.
"Well, did you three get anything juicy?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Because most of this is worthless and unusable." The three of them tossed what they wrote onto the table and Diamond Tiara looked at it, looking very displeased with what was brought to her. "Baby birds born? Rarity's hot new hat!? Ponyville: The early years!? Ugh, I don't know what you call this, but it sure isn't news!"
"We just thought that..." Sweetie Belle tried to say, but Diamond Tiara slammed her hoof onto the desk, silencing them and knocking the three previous pieces off to reveal the forth piece.
"I want something else on my desk at the end of the day!" Diamond Tiara shouted. "And it better be..." She then looked down at the desk again and saw the fourth piece, reading over it as a smile appeared on her face. "Jedi in School? According to resident prince, there is a foal in the local school house that is said to be Force Sensitive!? I don't know what a Force Sensitive is, but I think you have something here."
"Uh oh." Scootaloo whispered, her anxiety rising as several pieces of paper started to float, which Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stomped on to stop them.
"Scootaloo, you got something good here." Diamond Tiara said, passing it to the ponies typing up the paper. "I want you girls to get back out there and find me more juicy news before the end of the day, and they better be juicy."
The cellar door opened up and the three fillies were thrown out of the cellar along with their hats and their note pads, the three of them seeing stars before regaining their composure.
"Oh, I forgot to ditch that piece into the trash." Scootaloo said. "Now the whole school will know that I'm Force Sensitive!"
"No, it only said somepony in the school, not you specifically!" Apple Bloom replied. "They won't know, but you need to be careful as you used it again and this time the entire news staff saw it."
They then heard what sounded like Snips and Snails arguing about something, so they walked around the corner to see what it was about and saw Snips and Snails had gum stuck to their flanks, putting them into an embarrassing situation.
"Ah, stop pulling Snails!" Snips said. "You're making it worse!"
He tried to karate chop the gum off, but ended up getting his foreleg stuck in it, making him groan as Snails then tried to kick Snips way, thinking the gum would break off, but Snips flew back to them and made it completely worse, now the two of them had gum on their backs and now they were really stuck together.
"AH, GET IT OFF!" Snails shouted. "GET IT OFF!"
"Oh, this is too good!" Sweetie Belle said, seeing Featherweight near a tree taking photos of a squirrel. "Hey Featherweight, come here and get some shots of this. I got a really good story."
The next day at the school, the school paper was out and on the front cover was a picture of Snips and Snails stuck in the bubblegum and looking miserable.
"Snips and Snails and Bubblegum Fails." A filly said, giggling at the title as she read the paper. "And that's when the biggest jokester really stuck his hoof in it!"
The three fillies were happy to hear that their news article was a success, Diamond Tiara calling them in as she wanted to talk to them about their article.
"Your column was a sensation!" Diamond Tiara said, making them smile. "Even the one about the foal who can use the Force."
"You put that in there!?" Scootaloo asked, making a can of ink float in the corner and fall without anyone noticing.
"Well duh, of course I did." Diamond Tiara replied. "It was something juicy, which is why I don't want you girls doing news anymore. Instead, i want more columns like this. Columns about ponies and their private lives, the things they do when they think they're alone." She spun in her chair and looked very excited, turning to them. "You three are my new gossip columnists! And the way you signed it, Gabby Gums, that was pure genius!"
"Well we couldn't fit all our names, so we created one for all three of us!" Sweetie Belle said, wrapping her foreleg around a nervous Scootaloo.
"Oh, and if you find out who that Force Sensitive pony is, get their name and a picture of them!" Diamond Tiara said. "I want to know who it is and what makes them special!"
the three of them left the cellar as the door closed, leaving them alone.
"Well, we certainly have a knack for gossip." Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, if we can write more Gabby Gums columns, we'll earn our Cutie marks a fortune sure!" Sweetie Belle said.
However, when they tried to find more news worthy enough for the gossip column, they drew a blank, not having much luck in finding anything around the school so far, so they decided to split up and see what they could find throughout Ponyville, hoping to find something worthy of the gossip column. Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Spyro was looking through his tomes while in his garage for a spell he needed to try out right as Scootaloo walked in, hoping her brother had more news for her she could use.
"Hey Spyro!" Scootaloo exclaimed, getting his attention.
"Hey Scoots." Spyro said, closing the tomes. "How'd your first article piece go?"
"It went pretty well!" Scootaloo said, pulling out a copy of the school news paper. "I used the one about the foal who could use the force and it was a hit!"
"At a girl little daredevil." Spyro said, opening the paper. "Hello, what's this? Snips and Snails with gum on their bum? Heh, that's embarrassing. Reminds me of when I tripped and got gum in my hair one time in middle school."
"Really?" Scootaloo asked.
"Oh yeah, really." Spyro replied. "Some nitwit spat their gum out and didn't get it in the trash. My shoe lace was untied and I tripped on it, having the rotten luck to fall onto the gum. Don't... put that it the paper please, some ponies prefer not to have their embarrassing stories on the paper."
"Alright Spyro." Scootaloo said, crossing out what he said. "Hey, you got any news on the Force Sensitive yet?"
"Well, there was another disturbance, but it was faint, so I couldn't determine who it was." Spyro replied. "I'll find out who it is, eventually. Right now, I got some work to do. Catch ya later Scoots."
Spyro ruffled his sisters mane and walked out of his garage, using his magic to take the tomes with him so his steer doesn't end up getting into them and accidentally blowing the place up with one of his spells. Over the next couple of days, Gabby Gums was writing stories about some of the personal lives of some of Ponyville's residents, the cake twins having a melt down while out shopping with their parents and the next issue was due to come in any minute now, but Spyro was bust at the local Ponyville spa having a spa date with most of the members of the Mane Six and Spike, who were all near the large hot tub getting massages and facials as they relaxed while Fluttershy and Pinkei were in the tub enjoying a good soak, Spyro reading the latest issue after it came out.
"Yikes, Trixie's secrets getting revealed like that." Spyro said, folding the paper. "Gotta fell bad for her."
"Oh don;t worry about them Spyro darling." Rarity said, lying back and relaxing as she got a Hoofacure "Just lay back and enjoy the rest and relaxation."
"Guess you're right Rare." Spyro said, lying back and the lotus twins putting cucumbers over his eyes. "Man, this is the life."
"You said it Spyro." Spike said, lying next to him. "I've never been so relaxed before."
"Me too." Applejack said, enjoying a massage from Aloe.
"Hey guys!" Rainbow Dash said, rushing in with the newspaper. "Did you see today's issue of the Foal Free Press?"
"Sure did Dashie." Spyro replied, sitting up.
"Yes Rainbow Dash, come on and have a hoofacure with us." Rarity said. "It's so relaxing."
"Did ya forget who you're talking to?" Rainbow Dash asked. "The day i get a hoofacure is the day I turning in my daredevil license and wear a pink too-too."
"Yeah, can't imagine you wearing one of those honestly." Spyro said.
"Besides, I haven't read this issue of Gabby Gums yet, so i wanna see what's going on." Rainbow Dash said, picking the news paper up.
"Well do it quietly will ya?" Spike asked, seemingly annoyed. "Some of us are trying to relax here."
"I also like Gabby Gums." Twilight said. "But, I think she's being a little... invasive... and mean."
"Well, it is rude how she seems to expose everyone's secrets, I won't lie there." Spyro replied, lying back down. "That's the one thing I don't like about gossip columns, always embarrasses someone and ruins their life."
"Oh come on Twilight, she ain't mean." Applejack replied. "She's a hoot."
"Oh yeah, then what about this?" Twilight asked, presenting the paper with Celestia's face on it eating cake. "Celestia just like us? This Gabby Gums doesn't respect anyone's privacy."
"Oh lighten up Twilight." Rarity replied. "Nothing more than harmless gossip."
"Usually gossip goes from being harmless to being hurtful little diamond." Spyro said. "Gossip then turns to rumors, and rumors spread like wildfire."
A second later, a splash came from the tub, but Spyro used his ice breath and froze it, using the Force to lift up the ice and put it in the hot tub.
"Yeah Twilight, I mean, listen to this one." Pinkie said, pulling a dry paper from the tub. "Mayor's mane not naturally gray. The Mayor in a mane dying scandal! Who wouldn't wanna read that?"
"Well, I actually feel sorry for all the ponies mentioned in her column." Twilight said. "Like how Spyro feels sorry for Trixie. Must be awful to have your secrets exposed."
"You kidding?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You know how awesome it is to get your name in the paper?"
"Rainbow, come and try a hoofacure." Rairty said, Lotus using a nail file on Rarity's hoof. "It's simply divine."
She looked between Spyro and Twilight, both motioning for her to give it a go, which she reluctantly flew over and lied down, Lotus approaching to do her hooves, but unknown to them, Featherweight and Scootaloo were nearby and were watching, waiting for something to happen, but as they watched, Rainbow Dash looked very nervous as Scootaloo was writing it down, Featherweight snapping a photo right as Rainbow Dash shot into the air.
"Forget it!" Rainbow Dash said. "I don't like ponies touching my hooves!"
She flew out of the room and to the newspaper on the ground, hitting one of the blinds, causing it to tip over and knock a couple of bottles down and towards the two foals, which Scootaloo saw and panicked, reaching out her hoof and catching them with the Force, surprised she actually did that, but lost control, dropping them onto the table without breaking them. However, when she turned back, she saw Spyro had shot straight up, removing the cucumbers as he looked around, getting everyone else's attention.
"What is it Spyro dear?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"I sense it again." Spyro replied. "The disturbance, it's nearby."
"Shoot!" Scootaloo said, grabbing Featherweight's leg. "Let's bail!"
She then rushed out while pulling Featherweight away and out the door without being noticed, but when Spyro walked over tot he spot where the foals were at, he looked around and saw something on the ground, a few feathers of different colors and a strand of hair, using the Force to pick them up and examine them, now having something to figure out who the foal was that was Force Sensitive. Back at the school, the crusaders walked out from the cellar and back into the courtyard where they walked over to the table after turning in their latest column, which was an interview with Spike.
"Guess that column was softer than all our others." Apple Bloom said, sitting down.
"Hey, you guys feel guilty about all the gossip like I am?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Like, maybe we're hurting other ponies feelings?"
"Yeah, Ah kinda do." Appel Bloom replied. "Ah didn't want to say anythin' because everypony loves Gabby Gums so much. But, I was hoping we could start writing more stories like this one."
"Me too." Scootaloo said.
"Well, if we're going to get our Cutie Marks, we gotta give them what they want." Sweetie Belle said.
The three of them groaned a as they high hooved, heading back home for the night to get an early start. The next day however, Scootaloo was going to Spyro's garage to see if he was there to see if he had anything, but when she walked in, she froze, her color draining from her coat as she saw her feathers and Featherweights feathers in a tube while Spyro was examining a strand of her mane.
"H-h-hey Spyro." Scootaloo said, giving a nervous smile. "W-what's all this?"
"Oh, hey Scoots." Spyro replied, walking to her. "Glad you're here. Got something for your column."
"Y-you do?" She asked.
"Sure do." Spyro replied. "Yesterday i was at the spa with the girls and I felt the disturbance again. this time it was very close and stronger than last time. Found these feathers and strands of hair where the filly was hiding at."
"F-filly?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yep, our mysterious pony who can use the Force is a filly." Spyro replied, walking to the strand of hair. "Though I didn't;t get much DNA from the hair follicle as there wasn't much from it, it was enough to tell me the pony with the Force is a filly."
"G-great." Scootaloo said, backing away. "Well, gotta get to class now, bye!"
Scootaloo then ran out of the garage, which got his attention at how fast she ran away, shrugging his shoulders, he got back to work determining who the filly was that was Force Sensitive, but got nowhere fast, so he decided to go to Sugarcube corner to get something to snack on as he was hungry, but when he arrived, he could feel anger and rage inside the place, walking in to see Applejack was fuming after reading the paper.
"Do I wanna know what was on this issue of the Foal Free Press?" Spyro asked, feeling concerned for his own safety.
"Why don't ya read it for yourself and see." Applejack said, putting the paper in his face, which had a photo of her taking a break against an apple tree. "Applejack asleep on the job! Can ya'll believe it!? And this one!" She turned the page and revealed Big Mac trying to hide a doll, which looked like Smarty Pants, Twilights old doll. "'Big Macintosh, what's he hidin'?' Who the hay does this Gabby Gum's think she is!?"
"And what about this one?" Twilight asked, showing a picture of herself napping after studying. "Twilight Sparkle: I was a Canterlot snob!? A well place scaly source close to the prissy pony says twilight Sparkle thinks Ponyville is nothing more than muddy roads and low-class roofs."
"Spike!" Spyro said, scaring the dragon to burn his copy.
"Spike, how could you say such a thing?" Twilight asked.
"I didn't!" Spike replied, picking up his burned paper. "Gabby Gums made that up! I never said anything like that."
"Looks like Gabby's taking her gossip column up a notch." Spyro said, taking the paper. "She's now resorting to making up gossip, which was what I was afraid of."
"Ponies, please." Rarity said. "She's just a school pony who's engaged in a bit of idol gossip. Now this, this is interesting. 'Mystery Force pony rumored to be a filly according to local royal source.' Spyro, is the Force Sensitive really a filly?"
"She is." Spyro replied. "She's also got tangerine orange feathers and a fuchsia colored mane. Helps to narrow down who it is and who isn't. But Gabby is taking it too far. Most of the stuff here is lies, has no truth to it what so ever."
"Spyro's right." Twilight said. "She prints whatever she wants, whenever she wants without taking into consideration that ponies feelings. Here, listen to this, Fluttershy has tail extension."
They all looked out Fluttershy, who looked embarrassed as she shrunk down to not be seen.
"And this one, Pinkie Pie, an out of control party animal?" Spyro asked. "Ok, that one's true actually."
"It is true!" Pinkie said, tears shooting out of her eyes after reading the paper. "I do have a problem!"
"Oh look, the cakes are breaking up!" Twilight said, bringing the cakes out.
"We are!?" Mrs. Cake asked, looking horrified.
They then heard something crash open, turning to see a massive pile of newspapers flying in with Rainbow Dash carrying them, looking horrified and broken as she threw the papers down.
"Well my life is officially over!" She shouted. "Gabby Gums has made it to Cloudsdale."
She showed a section of the gossip column where she was lying on the chair as Lotus was about to give her a hoofacure, looking like she was enjoying it.
"Rainbow Dash: Speed Demon or Super Softy?" Twilight asked, reading the paper.
"I tried to get every copy I could, but it's too late, I'm a laughing stock!" Rainbow Dash said, sliding down and crashing into the ground.
"See Rarity, harmless gossip can be very hurtful." Twilight said, turning to her.
"Honestly, you have no sense of humor." Rarity said. "So she tweaks a few details about some ponies every now and then. Maybe they..." She didn't finish as she then saw one about her on her couch having a breakdown, looking very angry. "I'LL DESTROY HER!"
"Looks like someone saw one about herself." Spyro said, looking to the paper. "The drama queen diaries? Wait a second, how'd she get your diary Rare?"
"I don't know!" She replied. "No pony should have access to it. But... wait, why isn't there one about you Spyro?"
"Because I'm careful." Spyro replied, turning the page. "I had a feeling this would spiral out of control, so I took..." He paused when he saw a photo of himself examining the feathers he found at the spa yesterday, reading the title and the paper ignited into flames, his eyes turning to Sith eyes as he was enraged by what he read. "I'M GOING TO PULVERIZE THAT BRAT! 'Prince Frankenstein and his Monster!?' When I get my hooves on that brat, I'm going to..."
"Spyro, calm down, we'll get this sorted out." Twilight said. "Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are on the newspapers staff, maybe they know who Gaby Gums is."
Rarity looked appalled as Twilight said that, getting up and walking to the door and away from her friends, flaring at Twilight.
"Honestly, my sister would never associate with someone as beastly as Gabby Gums!" Rarity said. "I resent you'd suggest such a thing Twilight! Why she's the most innocent, the most lovely..." She then went back home and saw Sweetie Belles bag and decided to have a look to see if there was another issue of Gabby Gums, but when she opened it, she was horrified and outraged at the same time. "MOST EVIL PONY IN EQUESTRIA! How could my own sister steal my private diary? How could my own sister be... Gabby Gums?"
"I knew the filly was hiding something." Spyro said, walking in. "Didn't think she'd be Gabby Gums."
"Well, she's gonna get it now!" Rarity said, running up and kicking her sisters door in, surprising her as Spyro just walked up, looking equally as angry as Rarity. "It's you, Gabby Gums."
"WHAT!?" Sweetie Belle asked, surprised her sister figured it out. "How did you find out!?"
"We found your sister's diary in your bag." Spyro replied, Rarity lifting her diary up.
"Oh yeah." She replied, looking nervous and guilty
"How could you do this to me?" Rarity asked. "You stole my diary and published it for everypony in Equestria to read! Gossip is a very hurtful this and an invasion of privacy!"
"Now she says it's hurtful." Spyro said, the fashion mare leering at him.
"Stay out of this!" Rarity said. "As I was saying, Gossip is nothing more than an invasion of privacy, like when I looked through your saddle bag. You didn't like that much did you?"
"No." Sweetie belle replied, looking down in defeat.
"What you need to understand is that your column is hurtful to other ponies and how it makes them feel!" Rarity said.
"I do understand." Sweetie Belle said. "And we do feel guilty, but we really want our Cutie Marks so badly."
"And you'd resort to hurting ponies feelings and embarrass them?" Spyro asked, the filly shying away. "Honestly Sweetie Belle, there are other ways to get your Cutie mark."
"He's right Sweetie belle." Rarity said, putting her hoof on her sister's shoulder. "Is writing nasty things and making every pony feel is your destiny?"
The little filly looked between her sister and her colt friend, thinking it over before hugging them, knowing what she did was wrong and she needed to make it up to them.
"When you put it that way, no, no I don't think it is." Sweetie Belle said. "I'll get Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and we'll quit the newspaper."
"You don't have to quit if you don't want to." Spyro said, kneeling down to look her in the eye. "Just be mindful of what you write and think about how it will make them feel."
The filly hugged them again and ran out the room to get her friends and tell them about how she felt and what they needed to do, leaving Rarity ad Spyro alone as they watcher her run out of the room.
"You think she'll do the right thing?" Rarity asked.
"I think we both know our sisters better than anypony else." Spyro replied. "They maybe trouble makers, but they will always do the right thing in the end. I believe this whole thing is over."
"No, I won't let you quit!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed at the crusaders.
"But the gossip that we've been printing is hurting everypony's feelings." Sweetie Belle said.
"Feelings!?" Diamond Tiara asked, leering at the. "I don't care about feelings! Gabby Gums is a gold mine of juicy stories and I am not going to let your goody two horseshoes take that away from me! Plus, you haven't found out who the Force Sensitive pony is yet!"
"We're sorry Diamond Tiara, but we've made our decision." Sweetie belle said.
"Yeah you can't force us to keep gossiping." Scootaloo said. "And if this pony doesn't want to be found, then we won't reveal their identity."
"Oh no?" Diamond Tiara asked, showing a folder to them. "When you see these, you might change your minds."
She tossed the folder to them and it opened to reveal some embarrassing photos of them, Sweetie Belle wearing what appeared to be an outfit with peacock feathers all over it for a dance group, Apple Blooms baby pictures, and Scootaloo having fallen in a mud puddle after trying to get the story about the baby birds hatching.
"I told Featherweight to document everything." Diamond Tiara said, making the fillies blush and look to Featherweight, who just smiled at them. "And he did exactly that."
"Hey, give us those!" Scootaloo said, trying to take the photos away, but Diamond Tiara took them before Scootaloo could.
"Sorry, property of the Foal Free Press." Diamond Tiara said. This annoyed Scootaloo as she was getting angry, Diamond Tiara turning around right as Scootaloo's Grayish purple eyes turned to Sith eyes as her temper flared, which Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle saw and covered her eyes to hide them, pushing Scootaloo behind them as Diamond tiara got back to her desk and faced them. "And if Gabby Gums does go into retirement, I'll need something to fill that empty column space. Now get out there and get me more Gabby Gums!"
Trapped in a corner, the fillies walked out of the cellar and as far away as they could from the school before trying to calm Scootaloo down, making sure Featherweight wasn't around before telling Scootaloo she could open her eyes, which had returned to normal.
"What are we going to do?" Scootaloo asked. "She'll expose us in the gossip column."
"Don't worry, we'll find a way out." Sweetie Belle said.
"Hey. Maybe Rainbow Dash might have something for us." Scootaloo said.
They then went to Rainbow Dash in hoping she had a story for them they could use for the gossip column, but word had already spread that the three fillies were Gabby Gums and they tried to ask Rainbow Dash if she would let them write a column on her, but she just brought a rain cloud down to them and kicked it, causing a downpour on them. They then tried to go to Fluttershy to see if she had something, but she was crying and didn't want to talk to them, so they tried to go to Twilight's, but created a force field that kept them from coming in. They then tried to go to Sweet Apple Acres and hoped Applejack would help them, but she too was mad at them for what they did, even Big Macintosh was mad and and chewed them out instead of Applejack, which surprised the fillies as he shouted for them to go away. They then traveled through town to find something, but everypony there refused to talk to them, shutting their doors, closing their windows, even refusing to look at them as they were all angry with them for what they did, returning tot heir clubhouse to think.
"We ruined all out friendships and we still don't have our Cutie marks." Sweetie belle said.
"This is the worst day ever." Apple Bloom said.
"Oh yeah, wait until tomorrow." Scootaloo said. "All our embarrassing moments are going to be published for everypony to laugh at."
"And she still want's us to find out who the pony in our school is that can use the Force too." Apple Bloom said. "What will we do?"
"I don't know." Sweetie Belle said. "But we won't be leaving this clubhouse until we think of something."
The fillies looked out the window and saw the sun was setting and were staying in the clubhouse, thinking up a way to get out of the situation, but as they were thinking, Spyro grew worried for the fillies and went looking for them, heading to their clubhouse as it would more than likely be the one place they would be at. As he walked up the ramp, he saw that they were there thinking up a way to get out of their current predicament until Scootaloo noticed him coming in.
"Hey girls." Spyro said, getting their attention. "Looks like you're reaping the seeds you've sown."
"Yeah, we are." Apple Bloom said. "We should have just quit while we were ahead and not print more of those gossip columns. Now everypony in Ponyville hates us."
"I admit, they are disappointed in you, i won't sugar coat it." Spyro said. "But the best way to fix this is to apologize for it all in tomorrow's column and explain how terrible you felt after realizing what you did was wrong."
"Knowing Diamond Tiara, she won't let us print that." Scootaloo said, hitting her head on the table they got.
"Diamond Tiara?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah, she's the Editor-in-Chief of the Foal Free press." Apple Bloom replied. "She's the one who wanted all the gossip, real or not."
"And now she has embarrassing photos of us and says if we don't find something, she'll print them in tomorrow's issue." Sweetie Belle said, looking tired and defeated.
"Black mail." Spyro said, hissing at it. "So she's resorting to Black Mail now is she? Seems someone needs a lesson they won't soon forget."
"How?" Scootaloo asked. "She won't give us the photos and she'll keep using them to make us get more gossip."
"That, my little ponies, I can help you out with." Spyro replied, their ears perking up. "She want's gossip, well, she won't get one, but instead, something all of Ponyville will want to read."
Through out the night, Spyro was helping them brainstorm some ideas about what they could do to repair all the damage they had caused to both Ponyville and themselves and how they could get the photos away from Diamond Tiara, coming up with a plan that should help them publish a special story that she won't have time to look over. As they were finished, Spyro was escorting the fillies to the farm house as it was late and he didn't want to let Sweetie Belle go back home during the night, so he invited her to stay with them for the night, but as they were walking, Scootaloo wanted to say something, looking up to Spyro and finally decided to come clean.
"Spyro, I have something to tell you." Scootaloo said.
"Yes Scoots, what is it?" Spyro asked.
"It's me." Scootaloo said, making Spyro raise an eyebrow. "I'm the Force Sensitive."
"I know." Spyro replied, surprising her.
"You know!?" The fillies asked.
"Of course I knew." Spyro replied. "I figured it out when I saw the hair and feathers Scoots. You're the only filly I know that has that kind of hair and feathers."
"So... why didn't you say anything?" Scootaloo asked.
"Because I wanted to let you tell me yourself." Spyro replied, putting his hoof on her shoulder. "I knew how much you wanted to keep it secret because you didn't know what to make of it. But even if you are Force Sensitive or not, you're my sister, and I will always love and support you." He then hugged her, a tear rolling down her eye as she returned the hug, happy to have a brother like him as he picked her up and walked to the house with her on his back. "Now how about we teach you something About the Force Scoots? Might be helpful for tomorrow."
The next morning, the sun was rising as the new day arrived and Diamond Tiara looked very annoyed as the crusaders had run out of time, getting the folder out.
"That's it!" Diamond Tiara said. "Gabby Gums run out of time! Run these instead." Diamond passed the photos to the pony running the printer. "I want these on every corner of Ponyville!"
"Yes ma'am!" The colt said, about to start when the three crusaders came in.
"Stop the presses!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Uh, they haven't started yet." The colt said.
"Well, about time." Diamond Tiara said. "You better have a Gabby Gums column."
"We do in deed have one." Scootaloo said, tossing the notebook up on her desk.
"You're lucky I'm nice." Diamond Tiara said, tossing the note pad to the colt as the type writers got to work. "This had better not happen again, or else!"
"There's more!" Sweetie Belle said, putting her note pad up.
Diamond Tiara looked it over to see what else they had, grinning at the gossip they brought her wine her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait, the filly with those Force powers will reveal herself during lunch!?" Diamond Tiara exclaimed, the room going silent. "This is huge! And it says she'll be near the playground waiting for me. Well, I guess I can make time to meet her. Now get out!"
The ponies on the type writers got to work and typed up the column as fast as they could, the three fillies smiling that the plan was already working as they ran out the room, grinning that their plan Spyro cooked up was going to work. At lunch, all the foals were outside reading the latest edition of the Foal Free press right as Diamond Tiara was coming out and heading to the playground where the crusaders were waiting for her, smiles on their faces.
"Well, where is she?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"She'll be here in a little bit." Scootaloo replied. "Have you seen the paper? Everypony's enjoying it."
"No." She replied. "What's so...?" She stopped when she saw the cover of the newspaper, horrified by what she saw. "WHAT!? An open letter to all of Ponyville by Gabby gums!? You tricked me!"
"Ya'll tried to blackmail us into doing something we didn't want to do anymore!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. "All that gossip really did was hurt everypony's feelings. And when we wanted to quit, ya threatened to expose our embarrassing photos."
"Well, because of this little stunt, I'm going to!" Diamond Tiara said, pulling the folder out. "And since the filly didn't show up, I'll make sure you never hear the end of it!!"
"Oh, she's here alright." Sweetie Belle said, smiling as their plan had worked.
"Oh yeah?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Where?"
Scootaloo reached out her hoof and concentrated, feeling the Force going through her as it yanked the folder out of Diamond Tiara's hoof, surprising Diamond Tiara and everyone who was within view of the altercation, Scootaloo taking the folder in her hoof and handing it to Apple Bloom, who took it with a smile as they all smiled at her.
"Right here." Scootaloo replied. "Name's Scootaloo, Force Sensitive, Jedi in training, one of the original founder of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Nice to meet you."
Diamond Tiara was in disbelief, looking at Scootaloo in total shock before running away as everyone else crowded around to cheer for her, patting her on the back and making the young Pegasi filly blush from all the attention she was getting. After school, all the other foals had left for the night as it was a weekend for them and they were excited to have the two days off while the staff for the Foal Free Press had another meeting in the press room as Cheerilee had something to say to them.
"Well staff, it seems I gave too much authority to a first-time editor." Cheerilee said, looking down at the power hungry filly. "I am sorry Diamond Tiara, but I must strip you of your title as Editor-in-Chief." She then kicked the wall and caused the picture of Diamond Tiara to roll up, infuriating her as she stormed over to the rest of the staff. "And for the next Editor-in-Chief of the Foal Free Press, I'd like to introduce... Featherweight!"
The door swung open and the skinny Pegasus colt flew in with everyone, but Diamond Tiara cheering for him, Diamond Tiara looking horrified.
"Him!?" She asked in shock. "What about me!?"
"Here you go." The colt who was running the press said, passing her the apron and hat. "I've been promoted to Staff Photographer!
He snapped a picture of Diamond Tiara, blinding her and causing her to slip on some ink and crash into the machine, getting ink all over her and looking annoyed as the Crusaders laughed.
"And Scootaloo, I wanna congratulate you on wielding the Force and standing up for yourself and your friends." Cheerilee said. "Took a lot of courage to reveal yourself as the Force Sensitive and to stand up to her."
"Very courageous indeed." Spyro said, walking into the room, Scootaloo running up and hugging him as he returned the hug. "I'm very proud of you Scoots. You did very well in using the Force for the first time, but make no mistake little sis, the training you will be receiving will be long and hard, but if you are dedicated and willing to learn, someday, you will make a great Jedi."
"You think so?" Scootaloo asked, looking up to him.
"I know so." Spyro replied, hugging her as the sun went down to end the day.
As they had returned to the farm, Spyro sent Scootaloo to bed so she can rest after having used the Force for the first time while he went into his garage to work on something, putting together some special items and putting them in small boxes while also placing a crystal in an orange bag.
"Sir, I am unable to comprehend what the purpose of these items are." AIVA said. "I am not familiar with their construction nor the magic behind them. They do not appear to be in my data banks nor in your private archive."
"That's because I purposefully left out a single tome." Spyro replied, putting the boxes into a small chest. "The tome held a spell I needed and another I gave to Rosy, if she decides to help."
"Sir, what spell have you given to Rosy Hearts that's so important?" AIVA asked. "Archive data indicates there are thousands of spells that can help you prevent any disaster.'
"Not all of them." Spyro replied, closing the chest and walking to the console. "The spell I gave to Rosy is one that will help me reach Stage Three of my evolution."
"Sir, you are not due to reach stage three for another few years." AIVA announced. "If you wait for a while, you will-"
"No AIVA, I can't wait." Spyro replied, pulling up an image of a new ship he was working on. It looked to be one that was similar to a Naboo transport ship from Star Wars II Attack of the Clones. "The futures I saw... I can't let them happen. And in order to prevent them from coming to pass... I need to take drastic action."
"And how shall you accomplish your evolution sir?" AIVA asked.
Spyro looked solemn and unhappy, pressing the command to begin assembling the ship as the holographic projection deactivated.
"In order for my evolution to happen, there is only one thing I need to do on my part." Spyro said, walking to the exit before stopping and turning to look at AIVA. "I need to loose my heart."
