Twilight Sparkle smiled around the room at her friends. "I'd like to officially welcome you all to the first weekly meeting of the Harmony Support Group!" She settled in her armchair and continued. "Thank you all so much for agreeing to start this group together! I think it'll be really helpful for all of us."

"I agree," Rarity said. "And thank you for providing your lovely home, Twilight!"

"Oh, it was nothing! I wasn't really using this sitting room for anything—except for reading books by myself!" She sniggered awkwardly. Once she regained her composure, she explained that each person would share something about their journey, going clockwise. "You can start, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy grabbed her hair nervously with both hands and partially hid her face. "Oh! Are you sure it should be me?"

"Well, I figured since you struggle with diffidence, it would help you overcome it by going first."

"Well, um… if you think that's best," she murmured. She took a breath and spoke more loudly, just under a normal speaking volume. "I went to my first meeting with my therapist on Thursday, and she encouraged me to talk about my past with a close friend. I told her I talked about it with Angel Bunny, but she said that didn't count." Fluttershy blushed. "So I talked about it with Rainbow Dash, and… I haven't cut myself since then."

"That's great, Fluttershy! That's almost a whole week!"

Everyone congratulated her.

Twilight gestured to Rainbow Dash. "What about you, Rainbow?"

Rainbow shifted uncomfortably. "Um… I don't know if I'm ready to go to a therapist, but…" She exhaled tensely. "Just, um, this morning…" Her face reddened and she rushed the rest of her sentence. "I called myself 'pretty' for the first time."

Everyone responded positively like before, then Rarity interjected, "I'm sorry I never told you before, Rainbow Dash, but… you are pretty." She smiled sincerely.

Rainbow became redder.

Pinkie Pie wrung her hands anxiously. "Is it my turn yet?" She was sitting on the edge of her seat, but her shoulders were hunched in timidity.

Twilight nodded calmly.

"Sorry! I'm just so nervous! Do you have any cupcakes?"

Twilight smiled knowingly. "We'll have some light snacks afterward, but for now I want us to focus on each other."

Pinkie grimaced. "Right." She sighed. "Okay. I can do this. Um… I guess you all know I just got released from the hospital this weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Cake said I can stay with them as long as I want, as long as I keep up my chores. But they have me on an eating plan now—doctor's orders." She gave an insecure smile. "It's been helping, I guess, but… it's been really hard. I've been, um… talking with the Cakes about my childhood. I didn't really realize how much pain I had, and I guess I thought I could just cover it up with acting happy all the time. I thought maybe the pain would go away, like I could forget it and the problem would disappear. And… making others happy just feels good, like I guess I use that as a replacement for my own happiness. Because… if I'm honest… I'm not happy." She sighed miserably, then sped up. "But everyone thinks I am, and if I show that I'm not happy, I'll disappoint them, and then they won't be happy, and—" She stopped herself short, grinning in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"Don't be ashamed of rambling, my darling," Rarity encouraged. "Sometimes you just need to get it off your chest—and we're here to listen."

Pinkie Pie blushed. "Thanks, Rarity."

Applejack sat up straight on the sofa and cleared her throat. "Well, shucks, I guess it's my turn. Uh… Apple Bloom and I are a mite bit closer now. I've been tellin' her stories about our mom… and I've answered a couple questions about our dad, too. I don't wanna go into too much detail about 'im since she's so young, but… it's actually been goin' pretty well. She has a lot o' questions." She glanced around the room. "Well, that's about it."

"I'm glad your relationship with your sister has been going better, Applejack," Rarity said. "My relationship with Sweetie Belle is still… a bit of a challenge." She looked down at the rug. "I still haven't told her about what I did." She lifted her eyes again. "But I cut off my relationship with my former…" She practically muttered the word, "pimp." She cleared her throat. "So… I believe I've taken a step in the right direction."

"That's great news, Rarity." Twilight smiled. "Each of you is doing a great job! I know this journey is a challenging one, but that's why we're doing it together." She took a sip of water. "Spike and I are doing a lot better now. I, um, gave him permission to tell me when I'm being annoyingly overbearing." She chuckled awkwardly. "But I think I'm doing better, and we've been communicating better, too."

"That's wonderful news," Fluttershy almost whispered. Everyone else agreed.

"Yeah." A smile spread over Twilight's face. "We've all taken first steps toward improving, and we'll continue together." She looked around the room once more at her friends. "I'm so proud of each of you."

"We're proud o' ya, too, Twi."

"Thanks, Applejack." Still smiling, Twilight reflected on what had happened the past couple weeks. She and her friends had grown so much, both in maturity and in intimacy with each other. She felt a spark in her heart. "I think… it's okay if we're not perfect. We don't have to have it all together. We're gonna get through this, and we're gonna be okay. We have each other." She grasped Fluttershy's and Applejack's hands, and the rest of them joined hands, too. They all smiled at each other, and hope ignited the sparks in their hearts.

And they knew they were gonna be okay.

THE END