The Cutie Mark Crusaders -- Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo -- had just started their big delivery of their final Gabby Gums column: an open apology letter to all of Ponyville. The three poor fillies had realized just yesterday how much their gossip stories had hurt the entire town, including their own friends and relatives. Nopony wanted to talk to them, so they had retreated to their clubhouse where they stayed for who knows how long until they came up with a solution to what was arguably the biggest crisis of their lives. Sure enough, what they came up with was nothing short of a great deal of maturity on their part. They even managed to slip it under the nose of their heartless editor-in-chief, Diamond Tiara, who was probably the nastiest, brattiest filly they had ever known in their lives. Along with her friend Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara was always cruelly mocking, taunting, and putting down other foals who had not yet gotten their cutie marks yet, and the CMC (that's short for "Cutie Mark Crusaders") had put up with her so many times. This time, of course, she had gone too far by making them come up with hurtful gossip stories and even worse, she explicitly did not care about how everypony else was feeling. But worst of all, she blackmailed the CMC with embarrassing photos of themselves into continuing the gossip columns, so the three fillies knew they'd risk public humiliation for the sake of earning everypony's forgiveness, which they were about to earn right now.
The CMC had just finished delivering their first few copies of the apology letter when suddenly, it began to rain -- down on them, no less! A raincloud was placed over them by one Rainbow Dash who was still ticked at them for their harmful gossip. As the bitter-filled pegasus continuously stomped on the cloud, the poor little fillies used a copy of the letter as an umbrella.
"Do you think we should tell her to stop and take a look?" Scootaloo softly asked her friends.
"No," said Sweetie Belle in an equally hushed voice. "She'll find out."
"I sure hope so," put in Apple Bloom.
Well, the three friends had endured a lot of rain for almost five minutes, until the light blue pegasus with the rainbow-colored mane and tail finally stopped and peered down at the fine bold print laid out below her. Seeing her attention grabbed at last, the fillies poked their heads out from under the paper, looking as sad as any pony their age would be when caught in a storm. Rainbow Dash's face produced a wide grin, and with one swift kick, knocked the raincloud off their back. She swooped down and grabbed the copy of the letter. Out loud, she read:
"To the citizens of Ponyville,
For some time now, you've been reading this column to get the latest dirt and the hottest buzz, but this will be my final piece. We want to apologize for the pain and embarrassment we've caused. You see, I'm actually three little fillies: Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. As the popularity of our column grew, we got swept up in the hype. We knew that what we were doing didn't feel quite right, but we ignored the guilt because everypony seemed to want to read what we were writing. From now on, we promise to respect everypony else's privacy, and we won't engage in hurtful gossip anymore. All we can do is ask for your forgiveness, Ponyville.
Signing off for the very last time,
XOXO
Gabby Gums"
As soon as she finished reading the letter, Rainbow Dash looked down upon the fillies who all looked contrite.
"Yeah, we're all really sorry, Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo.
"Hey, I'm sorry, too," replied Rainbow Dash, much to the fillies' surprise. "I just realized that I had pushed myself too hard into getting an article written about me, and I know I shouldn't have been so hypocritical about it." She then drew her attention to her biggest fan, which was, of course, Scootaloo. "And, Scootaloo, I'd understand if you didn't wanna be my number one fan anymore."
Scootaloo walked up to her heroine with a warm smile. "Hey, I'll always be your biggest fan, even if you did make it pour rain down on me and my friends."
Apple Bloom stepped up. "Now that she mentions it, that was real harsh of you, Rainbow Dash."
"Yeah," added Sweetie Belle, who had just thought back to yesterday when she said that she and her friends had ruined all their friendships. "Come to think of it, we know you had every right to be mad at us, but what you did to take your anger out on us, that was very mean."
Rainbow Dash's face fell. "Oh, yeah," she said glumly. "I'm sorry about that."
"That's alright," said Scootaloo. "We forgive you."
"Thanks," replied Rainbow with a warm smile. "I forgive you three, too."
The fillies smiled as Rainbow Dash wrapped them up in a hug.