//------------------------------//
// Bother Me a Little Bit Longer 
// Story: Crystal's Hopes 
// by Crystal Wishes 
//------------------------------//

Crystal stared at the deep, rich mahogany wood as her forehoof traced the pattern of it.  The surface was almost perfectly smooth, rivers of black running through the dark brown that created the subtlest of ridges and valleys.  A tree had been cut down to make this table.  A tree that had grown in a forest—tall and strong and proud—until somepony came along and tore it down.

How did that tree feel, having survived for so long only to be felled in one, single moment?

A hoof waved in front of her face and Miley's voice squeaked, "Hi?  Equestria to Crystal?"

Crystal blinked and lifted her gaze to see several pairs of eyes on her.  "Huh?"  She flushed.  "Oh, I'm terribly sorry.  I must have gotten lost in my thoughts."

"Yeah, we noticed," Winterspear lightly teased.  "You didn't close your eyes for the night phase.  You've just been sitting there with your eyes open the whole time."

"I thought something was strange when I opened my eyes for my night action and you were awake, too," Runic said, his nose scrunched up.  "But then I thought, maybe she just forgot how the Clairvoyant works."

The Clairvoyant.  Crystal's coat bristled as she stared at the role's token in the middle of the table and spat, "There's no such thing."

Runic tilted his head.  "Huh?  Of course there is!  That's one of the roles."  His hoof started to reach for the face-down card in front of Crystal.  "Let me just—"

"Runic!"  Miley swatted at his hoof.  "Don't cheat!"

"Why not?  She cheated first!  I just want to see what she was supposed to do.  Maybe she has a special role I've never seen before?"

Winterspear tapped a hoof on the table to draw attention to herself.  "I think I know what this is about."

Crystal glanced up at her, ears folding back.  "You do?"

"I overheard your talk with Mom," Winterspear admitted with a sheepish smile.  "Is that what's bothering you?"

Crystal didn't respond; she didn't have to.  The traitorous tremble of her lower lip said everything she tried to shove aside and ignore.

Luna leaned forward to catch Crystal's eyes.  "Would you like to talk about it?"

After a moment of hesitation, Crystal sighed and crossed her forelegs on the table, shaking her head.  "Princess—"

Luna's ears stood up at the formality, but she said nothing.

"—you know a great deal about magic, don't you?"  Crystal furrowed her brow.  "How much do you know about magic relating to conjuring spirits?"

A rustling sound of her friends at the table shifting in their seats and glancing at one another filled the air with confused tension.

"Spirits?"  Luna straightened up.  "As in of the dead?  I am aware of much speculation, but little proof."  Her eyes narrowed just slightly.  "What brings this topic to light?"

Crystal's chin trembled.  The gazes on her turned sympathetic and concerned, and all at once, she hardened her resolve as she looked up at Luna.  "There is a pony who claims she can reunite ponies with their lost loved ones by conjuring their spirits.  Is such magic even possible?"

The crease of Luna's brow smoothed and her lips pulled into a taut, thin line.  She met Crystal's gaze and held it, a serious, contemplative look in her eyes until she finally asked, "Are you asking me as a friend for my personal opinion, or as a princess for the reality of the matter?"

"Both?" Crystal asked in a soft voice.

"Very well."  Luna leaned back in her seat and sighed, her flowing mane glimmering with countless stars.  "I do not believe in such magic.  To my knowledge, it is beyond even my sister's powers and she is the most magically proficient pony I've ever known, alicorn or unicorn alike.  No tome or scroll I've read has ever proven such magic to be true."

Crystal's heart leaped into her throat.  If the princesses spoke out against Madame Ouija and her ilk, then surely—

"But," Luna continued, interrupting Crystal's thoughts, "I cannot prove that it is an impossible feat.  More importantly, however, that matters not.  It is a service not unlike a stage magician, and ponies like the one of which you speak fall under the purview of..."  Her nose scrunched up and she finished with a distinct tone of distaste, "entertainment."

And just as easily as she was elated, Crystal felt as though a rock had fallen to the pit of her stomach.  "Entertainment?"

Luna gave a solemn nod.  "Yes.  It is not within my rights to deny ponies a service for which they willingly pay.  Just as my sister and I cannot force a pony to cease drinking to excess or spending bits on frivolous luxuries, the same is to be said for entertainment."  The word came out with the same venomous note as before.  "My personal opinions cannot interfere with a pony's freedom."

"But—"  Crystal's throat felt tight.  "But, Luna, she—I just—"

Luna reached out a hoof to gently stroke Crystal's cheek.  "I know this is not the answer you sought, and I'm sorry for that."

That wasn't fair.  Luna couldn't do anything?  But she was a princess!  An alicorn!  She could move the heavens, but she couldn't stop a charlatan?

Winterspear snorted.  "It's despicable.  So Crystal just has to watch as Bunny—"

"Bonnie," Crystal quietly, almost sadly corrected.

With a small, strangled sound of a chuckling snort, Winterspear tried to keep her expression from showing her amusement by scrunching up her nose.  "—as Bonnie throws away her life on a lie?"  She shook her head.  "This Madame should be ashamed of herself."

Luna turned her empathetic but strong gaze to the whole table.  "Please understand.  It is not my place to say what is and isn't acceptable in a situation like this.  Ponies go to mediums of their own free will.  They are spending their own bits.  There is no serious, undeniable harm done to themselves or others.  Many ponies would call pastimes such as what we do"—she gestured at the game on the table and the cards in front of them all—"a waste of bits and a waste of time.  That we are harming ourselves by not using our time toward more substantial pursuits."

Runic sighed, idly hoofing at his card.  "Some ponies say I'm a menace with my experiments."

Iridescence winced and rubbed a hoof along her foreleg.  "And I buy way, way too many cosmetics.  Even Winters teases me about it."

"But that's not the same!"  Winterspear looked at Iridescence with wide eyes.  "Cosmetics and—and that aren't the same at all!"

Luna shook her head.  "Where is the line to be drawn, then?  Who decides where that line is?  What is fair to everypony?"  Her magic started to gather up the role cards into a pile.  "It comes down to harm.  Were I to have, beyond any shadow of a doubt, certain proof that mediums cause harm to others, then I could urge the parliament to take action.  Otherwise..."

After they were shuffled together, one by one, each card was dealt back out.  Luna offered a small smile.  "Shall we try again, this time closing our eyes appropriately?"

Normally, the distraction would be welcome, especially with the way Crystal felt drained as her last option had vanished into thin air.  She had to accept the truth: Bonnie was free to make decisions for herself, and Crystal could do nothing about it.

The game, instead, felt tiresome and slow.  All she wanted to do was go home, make some tea, and go to bed.  Perhaps she'd feel more like herself in the morning.

Crystal caught a pair of violet eyes on her and she flashed a weak smile.  Velvet returned it with a frown, then cleared her throat.  "Sorry, guys, but I need to go.  I just remembered that I have practice, like, tomorrow morning."  She stood up and glanced at Crystal.  "Hey, Crystal, can you come with me?  I found something of yours the other day when I was cleaning your old room."

"Aww," Runic said with a foalish pout.  "You're turning in early?"

Velvet waved a hoof.  "It's, like, almost midnight!  That's not early."

"'Tis early for us, thy Princess of the Night," Luna said in a haughty tone, mock offense on her face.  "Hardly hath my moon reached its zenith and already thou seekest to leave us?"

"Yup."  Velvet faced her with a grin.  "I mean, come on, Princess.  You want me to stay cooped up when I could be out under your glorious moon?"

Luna's lips quirked into a smile before she cleared her throat and waved a hoof.  "Very well.  Thou hast our permission to steal away fair Crystal and enjoy our night."

Crystal slowly stood, smiling at the table of ponies.  "I'm sorry to leave early.  To be fair, I'm not quite feeling like myself.  I'll bring my normal self to the next game night, though, I promise."

"Don't worry about it," Miley chirped.  "Just rest up and feel better!"

Crystal nodded and waved to them all before she trotted after Velvet, who was already making her way out of the room and into the hall.  As they made their way out of Luna's wing, the House Guards would nod in acknowledgement of her passing by.  However, when they were out in the common hall, she noticed a palace guard that seemed out of place.  She paused to look up at his face beneath his helmet, her lips pursing in a moment of thought.

He was young.  Young and inexperienced.  His eyes wandered rather than remaining fixed forward.  Somehow over the years, Silent’s experience had rubbed off on her; she could spot everything wrong with the way this guard stood.

Her lips curled into a smile and she stood to attention.  "Like this."

He blinked and looked down at her, then flushed as he snapped into action like a spring-loaded toy.  "S-Sorry, ma'am!"

"You'll get the hang of it."  She winked and turned to see Velvet staring at her.  "What?"

"Are you flirting with him?" Velvet whispered, glancing around almost nervously.

Crystal's ears jolted upright, her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open.  After a moment to recover her senses, her expression dropped into a scowl.  "Velvet Candylicious Step!  The gall of you to even suggest such a thing!"  She shoved her shoulder against Velvet's and trotted forward, tail held high and nose stuck in the air.  "Honestly."

Velvet hurried to fall into step beside her.  "Well!  I mean, you know.  You know?  It's been a while, right?"  Her ear flicked.  "Aren't you... lonely?"

"Of course."  Crystal's playful air deflated into a somber mood as her tail drooped and her eyes lowered to the ground.  "But you and I are opposites.  You have intimacy with no love.  For me, I can't fathom being intimate with a pony I don't love."

There was a pause before Velvet replied simply, "Oh."

They walked in relative silence out of the castle and courtyard, Crystal merely following Velvet's lead until they started to wander into what she recognized as the more Velvet-friendly district of Canterlot.  Rave music permeated the air from a nearby club when a door opened to let a group of giggling mares out.

"Uh, Velvet?"  Crystal sidled closer to her.  "Where are we going, by the way?"

Velvet shot her a lopsided grin.  "Where else does a pony go at midnight to feel better?"

"The club?" she squeaked.  The idea of alcohol was tempting, granted, but Velvet sometimes pushed it to the limit and she wasn't looking forward to a hangover.

"Okay, where else does a pony that's not me go at midnight to feel better?"

Crystal blinked, tilting her head.  "Bed?"

Velvet let out a playfully frustrated sigh.  "Oh my gosh, the Pancake Shack, of course!"

"The... what?"  Crystal furrowed her brow.  "Pancake Shack?"

Velvet came to a sudden halt and looked at her with wide eyes.  "Wait, seriously?  I mean, I know we've never gone there together, but you've never been to the Pancake Shack?"

Crystal gave a slow, cautious shake of her head.  "I have no idea what that is."

"Wow, okay, Mrs. Apparently-Too-Good-For-Pancake-Shack."  Velvet grinned and hooked her foreleg around Crystal's to tug her along.  "I don't know if our commonfolk fare will be good enough for your high class tastes, but hopefully you can survive the experience!"

A laugh escaped Crystal and she hurried to keep up with Velvet's excited gait.  "I'm sure I will, but I thought we were going to your place?"  She gasped.  "Wait, did you lie?  To the princess?  Velvet!  What would your mother say?"

Velvet snorted.  "Probably something like 'Velvet Candylicious Step'.  Seriously, where did that even come from?"

"It seemed appropriate."  Crystal giggled lightly, the sound dying in her throat like a fading ember.  "I... don't feel quite like myself lately.  One moment I'm fine, the next I'm grasping desperately for something to make me feel normal."

Velvet's expression grew serious as she nodded.  "I get ya.  Kinda.  I mean, sort of.  I know things are—well, they—they're different for you than they are for me."

Before Crystal could press her for more details, Velvet gestured at the building they came to a stop in front of.  "Here it is!  The Pancake Shack!"

The little eatery was nestled between two larger, more prominent buildings, and seemed insignificant by comparison.  It had one large window that had an image of a stack of pancakes on it and the door was a deep pine green in color, some of the paint flaked and faded.  The interior, Crystal discovered when Velvet led her inside, did not make up for the exterior.  The tacky black-and-white checkerboard floors paired with the seafoam green booths just screamed desperately for a serious renovation.

"I know, I know," Velvet said, sliding into the nearest booth.  "It doesn't look like much, but they make great, cheap pancakes and are always open."

Crystal paused to examine a tear in the seat she was supposed to take.  The material around the rip was crackled, like a refining mask that had dried too long.  Gingerly, she settled onto the cushion, trying to ignore the mental image of what was beneath her.  "It's fine."  She levitated the menu in front of her and blinked.  "Oh.  Well, that's rather straightforward, isn't it?"

The menu was split into three sections: a short square of the prices per pancake stack that got cheaper the more you ordered, a long list of ingredients that could be baked into the pancake, and an even longer list of syrups, toppings, and creams.  The variety was, admittedly, quite impressive, even if the font was somewhat gaudy for such a down-to-earth establishment.  And the corner of her menu had a coffee stain on it—at least she thought that was coffee.  Or was it maple syrup?

Velvet's voice cut into her thoughts and brought her back from the land of critical overthinking.  "Yeah, right?"  She grinned.  "But the problem is narrowing it down.  Seriously, though, one day, I want to bring a bunch of friends and just be like, 'Bring me everything!'  Just a huge trough of pancakes and fruit and syrup and, well, yeah.  Stuff."

Crystal shot her a sly smile.  "With you involved in eating it, I'm not sure you need a bunch of friends.  Just one or two."

Velvet tossed her head back as she laughed freely.  "Rude!"

A companionable silence fell on them while Crystal mulled over what she wanted to eat, the stillness disturbed by Velvet asking, "So, uh...  You okay?"

Crystal glanced up at her, one brow raised.  "Hmm?  What do you mean?"

"With, stuff.  Life."  Velvet rubbed her neck, gaze darting down and away.  "Like, I know we're living different lives right now.  The—the war doesn't really affect my stuff.  I'm doing ballet, I'm trying to adopt, I'm hanging out with my family... like normal."

Normal.  The word rang in Crystal's mind with a certain hollowness to it.  It echoed from her ears down to her chest, which clenched with a strange, bitter feeling of envy.  "It is what it is."  She smiled, waving a hoof to dismiss the topic.  "Tell me more about the adoption.  How is that going?"

Velvet scrunched up her nose.  "I dunno.  I guess it depends.  It's great, but not for me."

"Why not?"  Crystal dropped her gaze back to the menu, though her ears remained alert and facing toward Velvet.

"There just aren't a lot of foals in need of parents."  Velvet sighed as she set down her own menu.  "Which is, you know, great!  Great that there aren't orphanages everywhere overflowing with lonely foals.  But, well, not great for me.  There's a long list of ponies ahead of me that have been waiting a while.  I'm—I dunno.  I guess I'm feeling down about it.  And I feel guilty for not—for not knowing how to understand you?  For not being on the same page?  I dunno, I just..."  She trailed off with a shrug.

Settling on poppyseed pancakes with lemon syrup, Crystal put her menu aside and reached out to take Velvet's hooves in her own.  "I admit, it's strange for me to imagine living a life right now that's not consumed with the war."  She smiled, giving a brief but comforting squeeze.  "But our lives have always been different from each others', haven't they?"

Velvet snorted and grinned.  "Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"And yet, we've still found ways to support each other."  Crystal leaned across the table to press her forehead to Velvet's.  "So, I'll encourage you while you struggle with adoption, even though I can't fathom how you're not brought low by the war."

Velvet's grin softened to a smile and she nodded just slightly.  "And I'll encourage you while you struggle with the war, even though I can't fathom how you're not brought low by my adoption woes."

After a moment of holding each other's gazes with serious expressions, they burst into laughter and pulled apart.  For one night, at least, Crystal could enjoy a taste of normalcy, a taste of the way things used to be before she lost her sense of self to the war.  And, wonderfully, that tasted like delicious pancakes and sweet friendship.