"As the pain sweeps through,
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill is gone
Wasn't too much fun at all,
But I'll be there for you
As the world falls down..."
-David Bowie, "As the World Falls Down"

The following italicized text is an excerpt of the diary of Silver Screen, dated November 17:

Dear diary… I know it’s a stupid cliche to start a diary like this, but I’ve never kept one before… not until Dr. Slipp told me to try keeping one, so I guess this’ll have to do to start. He told me to start keeping one to keep my thoughts and feelings and make sense of them and that maybe it’ll help me with what happened. I hope he’s right.

I met him yesterday. It was part of my deal with Principal Celestia to make sure I got the help I needed, an hour with him and my mom after school every day. His very name, Freud E.N. Slipp… it brought thoughts that he was going to be some hippy-dippy lovey dovey sixties relic or one of those people who think everything wrong with you can be traced back somehow to your mom, but no. He’s a cool guy, and best of all, he likes movies as much as I do. I’m making a note here: remember to lend him Deadly Prey. He told me the cheesier the better, so I figure I’ll go all out.

What amazed me the most about him is that he had a professional practice that he gave up to become the counselor. He wanted to keep kids from doing what I nearly did, said he read that teen suicide rates were going up and wanted to “stem the flow,” as he put it. Honestly, it’s making me give him a chance. If he gave up something that paid a lot to do this, I guess I owe him that much.

Mom seems to like him, too. At least, better than she liked Sunset at first. That meeting last week with Principal Celestia, where she learned what happened… hoo, boy. I’ll never forget what she said to her.

“I want to slap the taste out of your mouth for what you did to my son… but I also want to hug you for stopping him…”

She seems to have warmed up to her since then, probably because she’s seen the two of us together and sees that she really isn’t who she used to be. Sunset even introduced me to her friends, and Pinkie’s “Glad You’re Alive” party is scheduled for next Saturday. That shy girl from the animal shelter is one of them, Fluttershy is her name, and she gave me a hug when she learned about what happened. I never felt so warm and cozy in my life. I also don’t know why I stayed away from Pinkie for so long. I guess I thought she was overbearing and annoying from what I saw around school, but she really helped me feel at ease and even got me to laugh a few times. Rainbow Dash wound up congratulating me on the prank I pulled on Blueblood, saying he totally deserved it, and suggested putting Icy Hot in his jock strap next. Applejack, who I found is the one who supplies the school with the apple juice in the vending machines, told her that was going a bit far, even though she was laughing when she heard about Blueblood going bald. And Rarity, even though she seemed a bit stuck up from what I saw of her around school and suggested I burn my Hawaiian shirts, was supportive as well.

Babs and I have texted constantly since I gave her my number. I even called her and introduced her to my mom. Mom liked her immediately, and Babs later texted how she wished her mom was like mine. That left a lump in my throat and her telling me how her mom pushed her down the stairs ran through my mind again. I apologized again for how I acted toward her, and she told me again to forget it, she understood why I did it. I still feel ashamed, though. All that time I spent hating my uncle and I nearly became him…

Oh, I’ve still seen him since that day, and I’ve tried my best to ignore him. The fact that Sunset was around helped me to ignore him, but I fear that one day he’ll finally succeed in sending me over that edge and she or Babs won’t be there to stop me… I try to shove that thought to the back of my mind, but last night, I had a nightmare about what would have happened had she and Babs not been there to stop me… and it took me a while to get back to sleep.

Ah, Sunset… she still surprises me. I still can’t believe that this was the same girl who utterly humiliated me. What she did to help me… how she helped me stand up to Blueblood… the fact she stuck by me that weekend to make sure I was okay, and the fact she was actually interested in what I knew about movies… is this what really having a true friend is like? I’ve always been the weird kid who’s been obsessed with movies, always alone because I bored people by talking their ears off about them… I’ve never really had anyone who’d listen, aside from mom, and at times, I thought she only put up with it because I’m family. But Sunset is proving me wrong… and my uncle, too.

In addition to seeing Dr. Slipp at least once a week, Principal Celestia’s deal included having me take part in a group after school that one of Sunset’s friends just started for survivors of suicide attempts and self-harm. She figures that me being around others who have been through what I have would help me immensely, and I can see her logic, even though the idea of participating in a group like this scares me, like giving a report in public. What if I screw up and wind up getting laughed out? Sunset assured me that won’t happen. I hope she’s right.

I haven’t met this friend of Sunset’s yet, but she tells me he’s very nice. The group’s first meeting is this Friday. I wonder if bringing snacks to pass would be in bad taste?

Silver took in a nervous breath as he stood outside the gym, waiting for Sunset to show up. He was starting to tremble in nervousness and his palms were sweating, causing the handle of the large bag containing several packages of dollar store sandwich cookies to become slick and his backpack and grey Members Only jacket to feel much heavier than usual. His muted blue Hawaiian shirt, covered with white palm trees, would have been pitted out if his antiperspirant wasn’t extra strength. He started doing what Principal Celestia had told him to do when he felt like this: breathe in through your nose, count to five, then breathe out through your mouth. After a few reps, his nerves started to subside.

“Silvy!”

Silver turned to see Sunset strolling up, offering a friendly wave. Her leather jacket covered up most of a comfy looking red sweater with a red and orange sun on the front, accenting her jeans and boots nicely. Silver returned the wave.

“Hey, Sunny.” He said, setting the cookie bag down to accept a warm hug from Sunset. “I was starting to get a little worried.”

Sunset removed her backpack and opened it up. “Sorry, I had to stop by my locker so I could get this…”

Reaching into her bag, Sunset pulled out something in a brown paper bag and handed it to Silver.

Silver was stunned. “For me?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Sunset said. “I found that at a yard sale, and I had to get it for you. Didnt remember to bring it here until today.”

Silver opened up the bag and reached in. He felt… a book? Two books? He pulled them out.

“No… no way!” Silver exclaimed, a smile coming across his face. To his joy, Sunset had replaced two of the books that had been destroyed. He was looking at new copies of The Incredible Melting Man and Buckaroo Banzai. “How… these are hard to find…”

“Just lucky, I guess.” Sunset said, a small blush in her cheeks.

There was one more item inside the bag. Silver pulled out…

“Holy shit…”

It was a brand new, sealed figure of Ash, chainsaw and all.

“Sunny…” Silver started, stunned. “I… I don’t know what to say… just… thank you…”

Silver hugged her tightly.

“That’s all you needed to say, Silvy.” Sunset said, returning the hug. “You’re welcome, big guy.”

After a few moments, Silver let go so he could slip his new stuff into his backpack.

“Ready to go in?” Sunset asked.

Silver hemmed and hawed as he zipped his bag shut and slipped it back on. “I’m not sure…”

Sunset took his hand. “Come on, Silvy. I know it’ll be fine.”

Silver took a look at Sunset’s smiling face, and then took a few deep breaths.

“If you say so.” Silver told Sunset. “I’m ready.”

Still holding hands, the pair entered the gym.

The gym at Canterlot High was spacious, befitting a place where a lot of physical activity occurred. There were four sets of bleachers, two against each wall, as well as one at the end of the room, in front of a large set of windows. Between one set of bleachers was a scoreboard, while the other end of the room, where the emergency exits were, had a large stage for plays and recitals.

In the middle of the gym sat a circle of eight chairs, alongside a table where two boxes of donuts from Sugarcube Corner sat.

“Pinkie…” Sunset said warmly. “…bless her heart.”

Silver walked to the table, set down his dollar store bag, took out the three packs of sandwich cookies, and set them next to the donuts.

“Sunny!” A voice said, happily. “You made it!”

Silver turned to see a skinny boy with black, spiky hair and parchment yellow skin walking over to Sunset. He wore jeans, sneakers, a denim jacket, and a white t-shirt adorned with a quill pen crossed with a flower. He smiled as he hugged Sunset.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Dac.” Sunset said as she returned the hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“Sorry about the wait.” Dac said. “Therapy took a bit longer than I thought it would, but my parents wanted to make sure I was in good shape before I came back for good.”

“You look great!” Sunset said. “You’re definitely better than when we saw you last!” She then turned to Silver.

“Is this the guy you texted me about?” Dac asked. Sunset nodded as she and Dac walked over to the table. Dac held out his hand. “You must be Silver Screen.” He said, as friendly as can be. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Silver took his hand and shook it. “Might be obvious, but I’m guessing you’re the friend Sunset told me about?”

“Yep.” Dac replied. “Dactylic Pentameter. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet sooner, but I was out of town for a bit.”

“Same boat I’m in, I heard.” Silver said. “We both nearly did something stupid…”

Dac looked Silver in the eye. “I wouldn’t say it was stupid, Silver. We just both experienced more pain than either of us could stand, and we just chose the wrong way to try and deal with it.” Dac said. “A good friend once told me that I just had a really bad go, but I’m back on earth and I got a chance to start over and guess what?”

“What?” Silver asked, nervous,

Dac smiled at Silver, “You got a second chance, too. I’m gonna use mine to try and help others like me and like you. How you use yours is up to you, but I hope you’ll help, too.”

“Dunno…” Silver started. “…I’m not much when it comes to conversation and the like… I’m not very social, either.”

Dac gave a sympathetic smile. “Neither was I. I’m still struggling with it, but it’s not talking that’s really important here. It helps, but it’s not what’s really important. What really helped me when I saw Dr. Lyze was that she listened to me.”

“Just listening helps?” Silver asked.

“A lot of times, it does.” Dac replied. “I mean, what didn’t help me is that it felt like nobody truly listened to me, and when it feels like that, you start thinking that nobody cares. And when you think that nobody cares, that pain builds up to the point that… well…”

“I’m sorry…” Silver said.

“What for?” Sunset asked, stepping next to Dac.

“I mean, I made him bring up what he nearly did…” Silver started.

“Silver.” Dac started, a concerned look on his face. “I’m not proud of what happened on the roof, but still, it happened. I gotta live with it, just like you have to live with what you nearly did. If we don’t bring these things up, we’re not going to be able to overcome what happened and support the others that need it.”

Dac’s smile returned. “So don’t apologize for causing me to bring it up.” Dac finished. “We need to face what we did.”

The doors opened and four other students came in. Among them were a somewhat bubbly, blue-skinned girl with soothing blue eyes, light-blue hair with dark blue highlights tied into a ponytail, wearing a purple hoodie, jeans, and white tennis shoes; a cream-skinned girl with teal hair in alternating light and dark highlights adorned with a multicolored flower, teal eyes, a teal jacket over a purple blouse with a purple, long-sleeved undershirt and small red dickie, a red skirt with a picture of a purple hat on it, and red dress shoes; a massively-muscled blonde-haired guy with snow-white skin, a red and black letterman jacket over a t-shirt with a picture of a barbell, black jeans and white tennis shoes; and finally, a caramel-skinned young girl with messy red hair tied into a ponytail and uneven bangs, green eyes with freckles underneath, her green fatigue jacket covering a white shirt that was stylishly torn at the bottom, a black skirt, black combat boots, and a scar on her leg. The last one beamed at Silver and dashed toward him.

“BIG BRO!” Babs shouted happily.

“What’s up, little sis?” Silver said warmly, holding out his arms as Babs ran into him for a hug. Babs hugged him as tightly as she could. Silver looked up briefly and saw the blue-skinned girl in the hoodie silently mouthing an “Awww…”

“Nothin’ much, just glad to see youse.” Babs said. She then saw Sunset. “Get over here, big sis!”

Sunset came over and pulled both Babs and Silver in a group hug. “Nice to see you too, Babs.”

“Seeing both of ya here makes me feel better about doin’ this.” Babs said, a warm smile on her face. “At least it won’t all be strangers.”

The remaining group members set their stuff down by the table and stared quizzically at the food on the table. Sunset noticed and looked over. “Oh, those are for everyone! Help yourself to a donut and some cookies while we get things situated.” Sunset said as she strode over to Dac, who was looking at his phone.

Silver and Babs strode over to the table and grabbed a cruller and an apple fritter, respectively, from the box. They touched donuts together like they were clinking glasses before they started taking bites.

“Hi!”

Silver looked up to see the blue-skinned girl standing next to Babs, munching on a Bavarian crème-filled donut. She smiled politely.

“Uhh… hi…” Silver greeted, nervous.

“I’m Sonata Dusk!” The girl greeted as she took and shook Silver’s free hand.

“Uhh… Silver Screen…” Silver replied, just a little rattled at Sonata’s forwardness. “Nice to meet you.”

Sonata looked at Babs. “I’m sorry. You’re…”

Babs smiled. “Babs Seed. How ya doin’?”

“Well…” Sonata started, “…better than I’ve been in a while, but I wanted to ask. Are you two really brother and sister?”

“Well…” Silver began, wondering how to put it.

“Eh, we found each other.” Babs said. “We ain’t blood, but we’re family.”

“Aww…” Sonata cooed. “Reminds me of me and my sisters. We aren’t related either, but we found each other and we look out for each other, too.”

Silver took a look around between bites of cruller. He saw Dac and Sunset talking while Dac showed her his phone, and then saw the other two across the way: the other girl was looking uneasily at Sonata, while the muscled boy was glaring daggers at her. Sonata had apparently noticed that, too.

“Yeah…” Sonata said as she looked on, sadly taking a bite of donut. “…I should’ve guessed they’d still be angry about the Battle of the Bands.”

“What happened?” Silver asked.

“…you don’t know?” Sonata asked, confused. “I thought everyone knew.”

“I wasn’t there.” Silver replied. “I kinda swore off social events after a rather hurtful prank. You’ll hear about it later.”

Sonata gave him a look of pure sympathy, then turned to Babs. “You weren’t there either, I guess?”

“Nah.” Babs said. “I don’t like stuff like that. Kinda sucks when ya can’t enjoy it with anyone.”

“Well…” Sonata started. “…what happened was…”

“Okay, guys!” Dac shouted. “We’re going to get started! Everyone take a seat, please!”

Sonata breathed a sigh of relief. Silver gave a quizzical look as he, Babs, and Sonata wolfed down the rest of their donuts and made their way to the group of chairs. Sonata got there first and took a seat, then glanced at Silver with a warm smile and patted the chair on her left. Silver took the hint and sat down next to her. Babs took a seat on Silver’s left, with Sunset taking the seat on Babs’ left. Dac took the seat on Sunset’s left. The cream colored girl was going to sit down next to Dac, but he politely waved her off, causing her to take the next chair. The muscled boy took the last seat between Sonata and the cream colored girl.

Dac cleared his throat. “Okay.” Dac started. “Welcome to the first meeting of the Survivors of Self-Harm and Suicide Support Group. I know the name is a bit of a mouthful, but we can always come back to that later. We’ve got one more member, but she’s going to be a little late due to work taking a bit longer than she expected, and she gave the okay to go ahead anyway.”

Dac stood up, visibly nervous, but powered ahead anyway.

“My name is D-Dactylic Pentameter, Dac to my friends , a-and I hope that’ll soon include you guys… and… I have attempted suicide…”

Dac took a deep breath and continued.

“Two months ago, I nearly jumped from the roof here. I… I…”

Dac started to tremble. Sunset got up and put her arm around him.

“You can do it, Dac.” Sunset said, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

Dac looked down, sighed, and gathered his courage. “I… couldn’t take it anymore. For the longest time, I felt like I was worthless and unlovable, and I honestly felt that I would better off to the world dead.“

Silver looked down, in deep thought, as Dac continued.

“I don’t know why I kept going, because I hated life and felt like I was just the universe’s punching bag. I couldn’t take it… my poetry had been mocked and I had faced nothing but rejection when I tried to find love… I wondered what the point of living was…”

A teary-eyed Dac turned to face Sunset. “And then, you showed me that people can really change. You went all out to try and save me from myself… you’ve become the best friend I’ve ever had. I got a second chance that night, and thanks to you and your friends and Dr. Slipp, I’m not going to waste it.”

Dac smiled and wiped his tears away. “He suggested I start a support group as soon as my therapy was finished, and, well, here we are. I figure if I can keep just one person from doing what I nearly did, it’d change the world more than if my poetry ever got published.”

Dac sat back down as the others clapped, Sunset doing so more loudly than the others and throwing in a whistle or two. Silver couldn’t help but smile.

“Now, does anyone else want to introduce themselves?” Dac asked. The group looked around nervously until Sonata stood up and cleared her throat.

“H-hi…” Sonata started. “I-I-I’m Sonata Dusk…”

“Oh, we know who you are…” The muscled boy said, anger in his voice. Sunset gave him a very hard stare.

“I don’t.” Babs said.

“Me either.” Silver said. “Let her speak.”

Sonata gave a thankful look to both Silver and Babs before she continued.

“I’m Sonata Dusk, and I have attempted suicide…” She gave a worried look to Silver and Babs, as she knew they wouldn’t like what she had to say next. “F-for those who didn’t know, my sisters and I… tried to take over the world by using our music to cause and feed off the disharmony of the students here…”

“I remember that.” The cream colored girl said, timid but angry.

“Coco!” Sunset hissed. “Let her finish!”

“Well… Sunset and her friends stopped us, and we haven’t been able to sing since our pendants broke. And since we can’t leave this world…”

Silver and Babs got a little confused. Magic music? Other worlds? Feeding off disharmony? And the others are taking this in like it happens every other day? What were Silver and Babs missing? It sounded like something for Unsolved Mysteries or even Sightings.

“…we have to just co-exist.” Sonata looked down. “I just wanted to try and make up for whatever we did to hurt you but you guys wouldn’t accept it… we tried to help around the school, we tried a bake sale to benefit the school… we even tried apologizing to everyone personally…”

The muscled boy glared at her. “Yeah, more tricks to get our guard down and feed again, huh?”

“What?” Sonata said, genuinely hurt. “No! We can’t do that anymore! Not since our pendants...”

“Right!” The muscled boy said angrily, “You’ll just find some other way to do it.”

“We’re… I’m… I’m not like that anymore.” Sonata said, tears falling from her eyes. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone in the first place… Adagio said it was the only way we could survive…”

“Making us turn against our friends?” Coco started, anger creeping into her voice. “Trying to take over the world? That’s the only way you could survive?!?”

“Yeah!” Bulk said. “Sounds like a pity party to get us to let our guard down so you can-“

“This has gone FAR enough!” Dac shouted. “Bulk, Coco… stop it, NOW!”

“You’re sticking up for this… monster?” Coco asked, surprised.

Sonata sat back down, dejected and sobbing, her face hidden in her hands. Silver looked at her, his heart full of sympathy for her, his mind replaying a fateful conversation…

"My problem is punks like you thinking you can just say sorry and suddenly everything's fine! You can't fool anyone into thinking you're decent! Once a bully, always a bully!"

"Hey, c'mon! I ain't like that no more!"

"Bullshit! Don't try being all friendly now! Your kind doesn't deserve friends!"

"That . . . that ain't true. You're just bein' mean-"

"Well, that's the way it is. People are mean. You gotta toughen up. The world is a cruel place."

“Granted, I don’t know what she did all too well…” Dac started. “…but she’s here, so she needs our help!”

“Figures.” Bulk said. “If you were at the Battle of the Bands, you would be hating her too.”

“As long as I’m in charge of this group, Bulk…” Dac started. “…anyone who’s a member will be treated with respect and dignity and nothing less than that!”

“That monster…” Bulk started.

Silver had had enough as well. To the shock of Babs and the confusion of Sonata, he strode right up to Bulk. Bulk tried to stand up, but Silver angrily shoved him back in his seat.

“What’s the matter with you?!?” Silver yelled. “Your muscles cutting off the bloodflow to your brain?” He pointed to Sonata. “I wasn’t around for what she did, but I am seeing what YOU’RE doing RIGHT NOW! She took the first step to try and change and wants to make the effort to do it, and she wants help doing so!”

“Monsters don’t change.” Bulk said defiantly.

“She’s not a monster, Bulk!” Sunset said as she got up and strode toward Bulk. “She really wants to change, and she really needs our help!”

“How do you know it’s not a trick?” Bulk asked.

“BECAUSE I HAD TO TAKE HER TO NURSE REDHEART TO GET HER TO VOMIT UP THE BOTTLE OF SLEEPING PILLS SHE SWALLOWED TO TRY AND END IT!” Sunset yelled. At hearing this, Bulk and Coco’s faces were awash with shame. Sonata looked down, trying not to cry again. “I HAD JUST AS MUCH A RIGHT AS YOU TO BE ANGRY AT HER FOR WHAT SHE AND HER SISTERS DID, AND I STILL HELPED HER, BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO CHANGE!!!”

Silver glared at both Coco and Bulk. “Now, aren’t we ashamed of ourselves? What do you have to say now?”

“Yeah!” Babs said as she came to her big bro’s side. “I used to be a bully, too. I hurt a lot because I got bullied for my size and my looks and my ma would always get drunk and hit me and I wanted to make everyone hurt as much as I hurt too!”

Silver put an arm around her. With angry tears, Babs continued.

“I was just standin’ on the train tracks outside my apartment after I realized what I was, and I just wanted to die! I just wanted to stop hurtin.’” Tears of anger and pain streamed from Babs’ eyes, but she kept going. “What kept me from lettin’ me get creamed by the train was thinkin’ about how my pa would feel, and thinkin’ about the guy who got my backpack back from that yutz Blueblood, and how there could be more people like him out there..”

Babs looked up at Silver, smiling faintly.

“…more people who were nice and kind and willin’ to help. Because when you’ve been hurt a lot, the fact that someone stops to help ya means a lot.”

Babs wiped her eyes with a sleeve and hugged her big bro. Sonata looked up and smiled.

“So I believe in Sonata, and I believe that she’s legit, cause I see me in her.” Babs finished. “And if you aren’t goin’ to give her that chance, then I’m outta here.”

“I’m with Babs.” Silver said. He turned to see a teary, red-eyed Sonata smiling at him. “If you guys aren’t going to help someone who needs it, then why are we here?”

Bulk and Coco looked thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

“Look…” Bulk started, subdued. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize to them.” Dac said sternly. “Go up, both of you, and apologize to Sonata directly.” He then turned to the rest. “Okay, you guys. Get back to your seats.” There was a faint buzz, followed by Dac pulling his phone out of his pocket. He looked at it for a few moments, then added “And we’re going to take a few moments to cool off before we continue.” With that, he went up to Sunset, whispered something in her ear, and then left the gym. Silver, Babs, and Sunset then returned to their chairs. As Silver sat down, he turned to look at Sonata.

“You okay?” Silver asked.

Sonata sniffled. “I’ll be fine.”

Coco was the first to come up. She looked nervous and was stuttering a bit. Despite it, she managed to look right in Sonata’s eyes.

“I-I-I’m sorry… about what I said there…” Coco managed to get out. “Dac’s right. I mean…”

“Yeah… I’m sorry, too.” Bulk said as he stopped next to Coco. He was looking anywhere but at Sonata. Silver could tell that it wasn’t out of a lack of respect; from the look on Bulk’s face, it was deep shame. “I went really overboard, and they were right. You’re here, you seem like you want to change, so we need to give you a chance.”

Bulk and Coco held out their hands. “Do you forgive us, Sonata?” Bulk asked.

Sonata smiled and took their hands. “I do.” Her smile slowly became a frown. “Then again, I don’t blame you guys there. I wouldn’t have believed me either after what happened.”

Coco and Bulk, who had managed to look Sonata in the eyes, smiled. Silver then cleared his throat. “Yeah… I gotta apologize, too, Bulk… about the comment and shoving you like that…”

“It’s cool.” Bulk said. “Things got heated. I understand.” He held out his fist, and Silver awkwardly brofisted him. “I’m used to stuff like that, especially when it comes to my dad…”

“Your dad?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah…” Bulk frowned. “…we got into it a lot. He wanted me to be this football great like he was when he went here and to Canterlot U.” He took a deep breath. “My dad got my mom on this special diet while she had me, and then ever since i could walk it’s been training, training, training. Day in, day out…”

Bulk pulled a chair over and sat down in front of Silver, Babs, and Sonata while Coco moved to an empty chair by the three. Bulk looked down, in thought.

“…all it’s been is pushing me to be better, pushing me to be the best… its like he only saw me as some kind of tool for his legacy. I mean, I like playing football, I really do, but…”

Sunset walked over and put a hand on Bulk’s shoulder. Bulk looked up, his eyes moist, and smiled slightly.

“…I just wished he could have seen me as his son, that I could do stuff other than football… every time I missed a pass or got sacked… he’d get into it with me… how I should be doing better with everything he’s done. I… I… I.. just…”

Bulk let out a small sob as tears streaked down his face. Before anyone else could do anything, Sonata got up, pulled Bulk out of his chair, and pulled him into a hug. Bulk, after a moment, gingerly raised his arms and returned it.

“It’s okay, Bulk.” Sonata said. “Let it out.”

Bulk continued in between small sobs. “I couldn’t… couldn’t take it anymore… I couldn’t take it…” Bulk’s voice became little louder than a whisper. “I just… couldn’t… take it…”

Bulk gripped Sonata tighter.

“I saw the weight machine at home… I… just wanted it to stop… I… I took the cord for the handle… looped it around my neck… just wanted it to end…”

Bulk broke down. The sobs started openly now. Sonata rubbed his back.

“It’s okay, Bulk.” Sonata said softly. “It’s okay…”

Sunset joined Sonata in hugging Bulk. Soon, Silver got up to join in. Babs was next, and soon, Coco as well. Bulk was enveloped by the warmth of his potential new friends, and Sunset could only think at this moment about Twilight and how proud she would be. Like she said at the Fall Formal, the magic of friendship wasn’t just in Equestria… it really was everywhere.

After several moments, Bulk was able to calm down and compose himself. The others returned to their seats as Bulk did a deep breathing exercise to keep calm. Several reps later, Bulk was fully composed.

“You okay, Bulk?” Sonata asked, genuinely concerned.

Bulk took one last deep breath and exhaled. “I am now.”

“So…” Silver started, “…what stopped you from… you know…”

“…my dad.” Bulk said. “I’d never seen him move so fast in my life… he was in the doorway one second, and then in the next he was over getting the cord off my neck… and for the first time outside of me winning a game or training… he hugged me… he was crying… it actually felt like he loved me…”

Bulk smiled slightly.

“My mom and dad and I talked to Principal Celestia, and she sent us to see Dr. Slipp. He got us into family therapy, and I gotta see him once a week after school. He told me about the group and put me here, and, well… here I am.”

Sunset gave Bulk an encouraging smile, then looked at Coco. She was looking at the ground, in deep thought.

“You okay, Coco?” Sunset asked. “You’ve been rather silent.”

Coco sighed. “Just been thinking… it sounds like what sent me here. I didn’t try to kill myself, but… uh…”

Coco nervously brought up her left sleeve. The cream-colored skin of her arm was covered with small, white, horizontal scars. It didn’t take a doctor to know what she had done. Silver closed his eyes and sighed in sympathy. Bulk put a comforting hand on Coco’s shoulder. Sunset gave a comforting look, thinking back to Luna’s story about her sister. Sonata looked around uneasily.

“I used to… used to be friends with a girl named Suri Polomare.” Coco started. “She was my only friend. I’d been afraid to talk to a lot of people and she was the only one who didn’t act like I was invisible.”

“Suri Polomare?” Sunset asked. “The one who won the Future Fashion Designer’s Award?”

“Yes.” Coco answered. “She… she started talking to me when she saw me sketching an outfit during free period. She loved it, and we started talking. It was great at first, and I sketched her this lovely casual outfit as a gift. She loved that, and she asked if I had any more ideas. I should have seen this sooner…”

Coco sighed deeply and continued.

“When she wanted to do something, I had to drop everything to do it with her. She never did the same for me. She’d put me down if I didn’t want to do what she wanted, or if I didn’t have any new designs, she’d brush me off when I needed help or to talk to someone… and I thought it was my fault.”

Bulk put an arm around her in comfort.

“I blamed myself.” Coco said. “I hated myself because I thought it was my fault that she didn’t want to hang out with me and that she put me down… I started cutting with an X-acto knife. It… it just helped me feel better… it was something I could control…”

Coco’s frown became a scowl. “…and then I found out that Suri entered the Future Fashion Designer’s contest and she won. She won! And she used the gift I made her to win! She said I wasn’t good enough to enter, that my designs weren’t stylish enough… that… that… BITCH!”

Coco covered her mouth in surprise. “I’m sorry… I don’t say that stuff normally, I mean it, I just got so angry-“

“It’s okay.” Bulk said. “We all understand.”

Coco took a deep breath. “I was cleaning out my locker, just throwing away my other designs. I didn’t want Suri to steal any of my other designs and I just wanted to give up…”

Coco was starting to tear up.

“I was just angry that she tricked me… that was stupid enough to believe that anyone wanted to be friends with me… and Rarity noticed. She had the locker next to me. My sleeve came up when I was getting a sketch book out of the top part of my locker… and she saw my scars…”

Coco took another deep breath.

“She was actually concerned. And… I just cracked and I told her everything. She hugged me and she let me cry… and she didn’t judge me or put me down. She acted like how I wished Suri would have. She took me to Dr. Slipp, and he started therapy. The both of them helped me break things off with Suri. If it wasn’t for her, I might… might have…”

Coco started to shudder as Bulk gave her a comforting hug. “You don’t need to worry, Coco.” He said. “You got friends here now.”

“Yeah!” Babs said. “Ya don’t need that yutz! Ya got us now!” She shot a look at Sonata. “Hey, Sonata, ya okay?”

Sonata was looking down at the floor.

“I… I can relate.” Sonata said. “I mean, about hurting yourself…” She lifted her left sleeve. Silver’s jaw dropped and there were some gasps from the rest of the group. Among the white marks on the blue skin was a bandaged portion starting at her wrist and heading halfway up to her forearm. The bandage had a curved vertical streak of blood.

“Aw, nah…” Babs said, solemnly.

“I had a relapse…” Sonata said, nearly quiet. “Last night. I was afraid of how things would go, and I was so scared I nearly… I nearly cut my radial artery…”

The sight of the bandage caused Silver to think back to the incident in the boys’ bathroom… to what he nearly did…

“Adagio and Aria helped me bandage it. If Dagi hadn’t drank a lot of fruit punch before bed, she wouldn’t have seen me in the bathroom with that razor blade…” She sighed. “I didn’t tell them what was going on since my thing with the pills because I thought they would yell at me for doing something stupid, or say that I was the worst, like what happened when I washed Adagio’s favorite sweater on high heat and it shrank… but they didn’t.” Sonata sighed a relieved sigh. “They were patient and understanding… and they let me know that they loved me, even if I screw up sometimes.” A warm smile came across her face. “It was nice to see they really care about me after all. I know they do deep down, but they don’t really say it very often.”

Babs saw Silver in thought, staring ahead but seeing nothing.

“Big bro…” Babs asked. “Ya good?”

Silver shook himself out of his fugue. “Uh… yeah. Sorry, I was miles away there…”

“Got something you need to get off your chest, bro?” Bulk asked.

“Well… uh…” Silver started, nervous. “…I nearly did what Sonata almost did there. It’s part of why I wound up here.”

Sonata put a hand on Silver’s shoulder and smiled sweetly. “Go on, Silver. It’s okay.”

Coco gave him a supportive look. “You can tell us.”

Silver sat for a moment, then took a breath… as the gym doors opened. Dac stepped through, holding hands with a blonde-haired, gold-eyed, gray-skinned girl, clad in bike messenger gear. The first thing the group noticed about her was her wall-eyed appearance, along with her warm smile.

“Okay, guys…” Dac started. “I’m sorry I had to leave you alone there, but I had to go meet our last member here at the front. Guys, this is Derpy.”

“Hi, everyone!” Derpy said, in a ditzy-but-kind voice.

“Hi, Derpy!” The group said in unison.

The group took a minute to get the chairs back in order and for Derpy to drop off her things and get situated. After some quick introductions, she took the empty chair next to Dac, a bear claw from the box in her hand.

“Well, you guys seem to have calmed down.” Dac said with a smile. “I’m glad. It means this may work after all.” Giving Derpy a peck on the lips, he turned back to the group. “Okay, I started, then Sonata here… Silver, why don’t you go next?”

Silver was nervous. Even though he had seen these people bare their souls to the others, he was still nervous about speaking to a crowd. He closed his eyes and took a breath… then felt a hand on each shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Babs and Sonata giving him supportive looks.

“Go on, big bro.” Babs said. “Ya got this.”

“For realzies, Silver.” Sonata added.

Silver took one more breath and stood up. Taking a look around, he saw all eyes on him. They weren’t judging him. They weren’t laughing at him. They weren’t making fun of him. From what he saw, they looked genuinely interested in what he had to say.

“My… my….” Silver started. The words would not come easily, but he would try. The look of silent encouragement on Sunset’s face was what caused the rest of the sentence to escape his lips.

“My name is… Silver Screen… and… I have attempted suicide…”

Author's Note