Second Thoughts

I run to the clubhouse, but I got no idea why. Scootaloo told us to meet up here today, and to make it at 6:00 a.m. sharp. And, although it's in Sweet Apple Acres, it still takes me a while to get there. Or maybe, it's just to get out of bed. Turns out I need my sleep. By the time I arrive at the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are already climbin' the ladder.

"I reckon you had a good reason to call over here so bright and early. The rooster ain't even awake yet," I complain. I look at Scoot as she took my usual spot on the podium, sittin' down on the floor and eyein' Scoots warily.

Sweetie Belle sat down beside me. "Yeah," she yawned, "why are we here again? If Rarity finds out, I'll bet you she's not going to be happy. And I can just blame it on you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, but I've got important business to talk to you about," Scootaloo dismissed with a wave of her hoof. Sweetie Belle and I exchange glances.

"What important buisness?" Sweetie Belle questions, concern pushin' through her sleepiness. I nod in agreement, 'cause I wanna find out just as bad as she does what all the fuss is about.

"You know how, like, a few months ago we helped Diamond Tiara change for the better good?" she asked. Sweetie Belle and I nodded simultaneously, not sayin' a single word. "Well, she's kind of started doing more... old her stuff."

"Like what?" I question.

"I heard she's spreading more gossip through the Foal Free Press," Scootaloo explains. Still too vague.

"Like what?" I ask again.

Scootaloo took a deep breath. "You know Princess Twilight's new student?" she asked.

"You mean the really powerful unicorn?" Sweetie Belle asked, unsure of what to think. Scootaloo nods.

"Oh!" I interject. "Applejack told me 'bout her. Starlight Glimmer, I reckon. I think she even traveled through time!"

"And didn't she used to dictate that village?" Sweetie Belle adds. Scootaloo nods to that, too, but doesn't say anythin' more. Soon, I come to a realization.

"The gossip," I finally say. "It's 'bout her, ain't it?" After a while, Scootaloo finally nods to that. I knew it! "So, are we gonna stop Diamond Tiara or... what?"

"We have to stop her!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "We can't let her go back to the pony she used to be." I agree right away, but Sweetie Belle is a bit hesitant.

"Shouldn't we tell Twilight? Or Rarity or Applejack? Or even Starlight?" she pleads. After our incident with Babs, y'all would think that I'd learned somethin' about askin' others for help. And I did, I'm positive! I'm just not sure that a bit of news is gonna hurt anypony...

"It's fine, Sweetie Belle. It's not bullyin' or anythin' like that this time," I defend myself.

Scootaloo walks over and stands beside me. "Yeah. Besides, if it gets out of hoof, we promise we'll tell Twilight this time." I'm pretty sure Sweetie Belle doesn't trust us, but she goes along with us anyways. We dash over to the schoolhouse and go into the publishin' corner.

Like I expected, Featherweight is there, writin' stories and being lead newspony. It's been so long since the Crusaders had fun in the publishing business, so I have no idea what anythin' is called anymore. Don't blame me if the titles are weird.

Diamond Tiara is sittin' at the front desk next to Featherweight. That's where she used to be when she was our boss. It's been so long seein' her up there, but it looks perfectly normal to see her leadin' everypony. I'm just 'bout to confont her, and I'm sure the girls are too, but then we realize somethin'. It's too late for that. The papers are already printed and ready to be sold. I almost smack my face in front of everypony here.

"Hi, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" she greets us. But what surprises me most is that she used a nice voice, a real, friendly voice. So this obviously wasn't a bully's plan. It was her plan, but she didn't see anythin' wrong with it!

"Diamond Tiara!" I say in a real cheerful voice. Maybe too cheerful, but still. "Are you... publishin' news 'gain?"

"Yes, I am. I got bored being Vice Student President, so I decided to go back to a job that was fun," she explains.

She obviously doesn't realize this is a bad thing, so I try a different approach. "Remember when you did that before you learned the true meaning of your destiny?" Clearly, she can sense somethin' is wrong, since she nods pretty seriously.

"Well, it's still pretty bad this time around," Sweetie Belle explains. "I know you like this job and all... but..."

"But it's not right to spread any gossip, no matter how harmless it seems," I finish for her. Diamond Tiara's face drops.

She starts to stammer, "Oh. I didn't know it was wrong. I tried to make it as nice as I could, while keeping the facts. I was just trying to-"

"It's fine," Scootaloo says, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Sweetie Belle does the same. I give her a respectful nod and the Crusaders walk outside with me. I give Featherweight a bit and a thank you, and we open up the newspaper we got in return.

"It isn't so bad," Sweetie Belle says, her voice audibly inflecting. "It's not mean or anything." But I'm pretty sure we all know that no matter how "news-worthy" or factual it is, it still sounds just as bad.

Princess Twilight's Pupil

Starlight Glimmer is former dictator of the village "Our Town" and is the most recent bearer of Star Swirl's time travel spell. She had used the spell to travel back in time, creating multiple universes where Equestria was suffering. Even though she was once fighting with the Princess, Starlight is ready for redemption.

Now, Starlight Glimmer is the new pupil of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight claims she just wants to teach the Magic of Friendship to her new, misguided student and friend. She hopes she will be sucessful, and so does her new student.

The girls and I eye each other. This sounds awful, no matter how sweet she summed up the story. And how did she even get her information?

When we ask her later, all she says is that she overheard Twilight saying those things yesterday after she returned from the past. Wow, a lot sure can happen in a single day.