The dark liquid swirled around her mug as Rarity carelessly fidgeted, her flanks starting to ache for sitting too long. She needed to move, to send some blood back into those legs of hers. Even so, she couldn't leave without seeing-

"Whoa! Watch it! Hey, coming through..."

...-Rainbow Dash.

The pair of them had a meeting scheduled for today. Rarity made sure she had meetings with all her friends regularly... although her colourful friend could hardly ever be called regular, except as a joke. Checking her watch, Rarity noticed that she was already half an hour late. She had to admit, she was improving, but even so, Rarity shouldn't bother arriving early any more. It was too frustrating.

Rainbow swam through the chairs, waiters, and customers, her wings knocking almost everything that could possibly be knocked over, as she bumped her way over to Rarity, sipping her third coffee nonchalantly.

"Hey, Rares'."

"Rainbow. I see you're punctual as usual." Rarity deadpanned sarcastically. Rainbow checked the sun, squinting until her eyes were barely slits.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that. But this time I have a good reason." she said, and dropped a newspaper onto the table. Rarity chuckled derisively as she picked it up.

"The Equestria National Paper? You read this drivel?"

Rainbow grunted. She knew about the ENP's reputation as much as Rarity, even if she wasn't prone to newspapers much. It's reputation mostly stemmed from it's rather controversial 'page three'. "It was given to me by a friend," she explained. "If I wanted to have anything to do with headlines, I'd go make them myself."

Rarity ignored her friend's ego attack as she read through the paper, unsure what Rainbow wanted her to do with it. Eventually, once Rainbow got bored of waiting, she rustled through the different pages until she reached the part she wanted.

"That column there."

"The gossip column? I really think I've had enough of those ever since-"

Rainbow nodded forcefully. She knew exactly where she was coming from. "That's exactly it! Look closer at the article!"

Rarity sighed, unamused by Rainbow's little game, and read on. Her jaw dropped as she read the contents. It was not a very flattering tale.

"Goodness! I never knew that was how Filthy got his fortune!" she exclaimed. "Forging an inheritance from his uncle... why, that's illegal!"

Rainbow bobbed her head. "Yeah, it'll ruin him all right. But that's not even the weird part. Read the end."

Her curiosity now thoroughly piqued, Rarity read all the way to the end. She had no idea how the paper had gotten a hold of that information, but she imagined it would have to be an incredibly powerful source...

Rarity stopped in her tracks when she reached the end.

"G-Gabby Gums?" she stammered. "But they stopped! The girls stopped! That's impossible!"

"I already checked out Scootaloo's place for clues." Rainbow told her, sitting down in a most serious manner, as if rifling through a filly's room was considered normal. After their previous encounters with a gossip column, it wasn't hard to imagine why. "Her room was clean. I was wondering if maybe Sweetie B-"

Rarity shook her head. "I haven't noticed anything Gabby related about her." she said. "And I'm dead certain this time."

Rainbow Dash frowned. She had a pretty good idea about what that meant for the column. Rarity was beginning to consider the ramifications of this as well.

"That means that there's another Gabby Gums." she said. Rarity swallowed, and read on.

"There's a bio about her." she said.

"I know. I read it."

Rarity's eyes followed the small printed words as they crawled across the page, taking in as much information as she could.

Gabby Gums is a pony dedicated to truth and honesty, and is one of the most reliable sources and writers in the ENP

Rarity growled. "That isn't true. Gabby was only invented a few months ago!"

"She's not being a very good 'paragon of honesty' if she's living under a fake name." Rainbow added. "It's hypothetical."

"Hypocritical." Rarity corrected.

"Yeah. I hope this garbage get's axed. Gabby messed up so many ponies lives, even when she was just three fillies and a school paper, not this new guy and the ENP."

"I'll make sure to bring he issue up with Twilight. We can't let another mistake like that happen again." Rarity said resolutely. "I can't stand that name."

"Me neither."

When the pair arrived, library was already abuzz with activity. It seemed that nopony had missed the morning's column, and all of their friends had a very personal stake in removing Gabby from the paper, even if it was just the ENP, a disreputable paper at best. Twilight herself had already set events in motion, much to Rarity and Rainbow's delight. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie were anxious to see the end of the column, although as far as Rarity could tell, Pinkie was mostly just there to be a part of the exitement.

"I've already sent a letter to Celestia, warning her about Gabby." she told everypony. "She was very understanding, especially when I explained what had happened last time something similar arose. It looks like my friendship studies are good for something after all."

"Can she do anything? I don't want t'see this all end in tears..." Applejack asked.

"Celestia said that this wouldn't be the first time she controlled the press. I'm sure she'll be able to remove the column."

"The good news is that the crusaders have nothin' to do with it, this time." Applejack went on. "The paper is based over in Canterlot, so they wouldn't have been able to send those secrets all the way there..."

"Not to mention, Scoots learned her lesson from last time." Rainbow added.

"Sometimes it takes a long time for children to take a lesson to heart." Twilight replied. "But even so, I have to agree: this Gabby is completely new."

Applejack growled as she reread the bio provided on Gabby. "Dedicated to truth, my flank. All she wants is t'cause trouble! She's a menace, ruinin' lives when it's none of her business."

Everypony clamoured in agreement. None of them could imagine anypony without a secret or two they absolutely had to keep: either for themselves, or more worryingly, for other ponies. If somepony were to cast a light on those secrets...

"Well, I'm glad it'll be over with soon." Rainbow declared. "I was worried that it'd be trickier to get the ENP to stand down, but I suppose that when you have two princesses on your side, there isn't much we can't do."

Twilight smiled. She had to admit, she hadn't expected things to go quite so smoothly. Most of the time, her problems got out of hoof quite quickly. Simply sending Celestia a letter was a liberating change of pace to her usual chaotic endeavours.

"I suppose that's that, then." she said. "I'm sure the Princess will send us a letter soon, so we might as well relax in the meantime."

Some ponies might be wondering what this new leaflet is, and what it is for. The answer is simple: this is a vector for which the truth may be found. Our column, formerly found in the Equestria National Paper, has been forced to relocate to an independant source in order to continue our quest for honesty. I am Gabby Gums, and I will continue to serve as a knight of understanding. If you are not content with the lies of your fellows, then read on. Today we have constructed an article focussing on our newly crowned Princess, Twilight Sparkle, who has attempted to crush us and the truth.

Twilight Sparkle was born, not to Nightlight and Moonshine, but to poor travellers who couldn't afford food. Not willing to care for a foal, they dropped Twilight onto the castle grounds. Her life was saved only thanks to Celestia's pity, who ordered her to be taken in by her adoptive parents, who were in a position to care for a second child, due in no small part to her large magical potential.

Unable to properly fit in with her family, she became an awkward and shy child unable to form relationships properly. It was not until much later that this unsociable pony was moved away from the crowds of Canterlot, again on order of Celestia.

We will leave it up to the reader to decide whether this loveless creature is worthy of being a princess.

The truth will set you free,

Gabby Gums

Rarity and Fluttershy looked up from the leaflet and at the door of the library, shut and locked. The curtains were drawn. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Twilight was not responding to Gabby's latest article well.

It had been two days since they had sent their request to Celestia. They had done exactly what Twilight had suggested: they had sat down, and relaxed. It had been a job well done, and they had managed to stop a rude and egotistic reporter from ruining ponies lives.

The day after, nothing had happened. Nothing at all. The ENP hadn't featured any gossip column, and Celestia had written back telling them that they had ceased communicating with 'Gabby'. It had been a normal day. Boring, even.

But today, a new leaflet had began circulating, and a few even made their way into Ponyville. Ponies had gobbled the news on their Princess up like it was candy, much to Twilight's distress, who had instantly retreated inside her library with Spike.

"I can't believe Gabby. How could she write something like this?" Rarity demanded, furious. "How does she even know, for heaven's sake?"

"Maybe she knows Twilight personally... maybe she's lying..."

Rarity shook her head. "Spike told me that she sent a letter to her parents about it. It's true." She shook her head in disbelief. "If even Twilight didn't know, how on earth could Gabby have any inkling about it?"

Both ponies went silent, and stared at the door. They had tried knocking and shouting, but Twilight remained impossible to contact.

"I suppose we'll jut have to wait until she's ready to talk." Fluttershy commented.

It would be a long wait.

The press was inelegant and old, it's metal frame painted black to prevent corrosion, and slick with ink besides. The paper, cheap and pulpy, smudged easily until about half an hour after it had been used, but it had it's uses. Ever since the ENP had proven itself useless before Celestia...

It could be operated by one pony. One pony to write the article, one pony to set up the machine in the dead of night, and one pony to discover the secrets of those he needed. Twilight had been a good pony to start with: a Princess, and an adversary. That would attract attention. Soon, everypony would have the truth: as much truth as they could handle.

The pony in the dark hesitated briefly. There was no doubt that Celestia would view this as an attack on a princess, which would put him at odds with the Canterlot Guard... but really, what could they do against a secret underground printer nopony knew about? How could they stop ponies reading? They'd have to find 'Gabby' first. That wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Gabby Gums had been a brilliant idea: print the truth, and nothing but the truth. No care for feelings, for hurt, or consequences. Just the truth. It was appealing: it was righteous.

His teeth flashed in the dark as he grinned.

He lived for the truth.

Evening took it's sweet time to replace the afternoon. Private Eye knew full well how paperwork made time slow down to a trickle. At least he could console himself with having a case: and an interesting one, too. The ponies in the department were referring to it as the 'Rotten Gums' case. Private had already been called a dentist twice today, ever since he had been ordered onto the task force.

And now, he was sitting down again, on a chair even more uncomfortable than before, with three other ponies, all of them detectives, opposite a faceless pony hidden in the shadows.

He decided that he would be the first to speak.

"Okay... I know that now Gabby's gone and messed up a princess, we've been formally tasked with hunting her down... but seriously, who are you?"

Everypony was thinking the same thing... except for the shadow, probably.

"I'd rather keep my identity a secret for now. You can call me Spectre."

Private Eye grunted.

"That's a funny name to pick." he commented. "It sounds like something a five year old would-"

"Hey! Some ponies think it's cool."

Private Eye recognized that the voice was female. At least he knew that much about her.

"It's part of an experiment. I'll explain it later." she continued. "Anyways... I asked to be on this case because I'm really, really good at this. Celestia knows exactly what I can do, so... here I am."

Celestia herself, huh? Private Eye wasn't convinced, and if he hadn't gotten a formal document, double checked, right from the top, he wouldn't have believed that Spectre wasn't some kind of prank. He was a detective, though, and he knew how to ask questions. He asked his partner. He told him that Spectre was for real. He asked his captain. Same answer. Everybody agreed that Celestia had hoof-picked her to head up the task force.

Her hidden identity told him another important fact about Spectre: she was selfish. She was hiding.

"You just don't want to get attacked like the Princess. You think Gabby will-"

"Okay, so if I reveal my face, would you trust me any more? I mean, really, all you've got to go on is that I am dedicated to bringing Gabby down. She's mean, and evil besides. So can it, and let's get cracking." she snapped. Private Eye decided not to press the issue: her tone said she meant business, and arguing wouldn't have helped it: so long as Celestia was on her side, he was working for her.

"Okay, 'Spectre'... where do we start?" Next Chapter: Chapter Two: Escalation Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 3 Minutes