//------------------------------//
// A Golden Stream of Light 
// Story: Crystal's Hopes 
// by Crystal Wishes 
//------------------------------//

"Thank you all for your patience," Derelict Apathy said from her spot at the head of the long table.  "I apologize for the delay.  The warrant officer is ensuring there are no more ponies to bring in before we get started."

Crystal shifted in her seat.  An emergency support group meeting had been called, and they all knew why.  The discomfort slithering through the air kept all of them on edge, the tension too thick for conversation.  Instead, they all merely sat and waited.

Verdant was sitting beside her and staring down at the table, an unreadable expression on his face.  On her other side was Dawn Walker, the poor, sweet mare.  She clutched both of her hooves around one of Crystal's and had just about squeezed the life out of it by the time Radiant Orchid finally walked in.

"It looks like everypony who is going to be here is here," Orchid said, a tinge of disappointment at the edge of her words.  "I want to thank all of you for coming here on such short notice, but I know you understand why we're here."

The older mare stood beside Derelict, the two stark contrasts of one another.  Orchid looked every bit like a loving mother in the way her sorrowful eyes sought them all out, while Derelict was merely observing.  She had the eyes of a hawk that scanned for anything of note that might slip by.  What that might be, Crystal couldn't quite fathom, but she was certain there was something Derelict was watching out for.

"I'm so sorry," Orchid started.  Her voice was heavy with unabashed sorrow.  "My heart, and the hearts of every pony across our kingdom, are with the fallen, the ones who had to witness the tragedy, the ones who now fight for their lives, and you brave, strong ponies here at home."

Derelict nodded idly.  "As soon as we know any names, we will begin dispatching grief counselors, including myself.  If you want or need one sooner, reach out to me and I will schedule an appointment for you."

"Don't be afraid to reach out to somepony, anypony," Orchid continued.  "And on that note, you may see new faces here.  Yesterday, Derelict and I sent a letter to every pony in Canterlot that has a loved one that went overseas.  These new faces are here to join your support group and become involved in the weekly meetings."

Crystal's gaze wandered the room.  There were seven ponies she didn't recognize.  Only seven?  Her ears drooped.  How many ponies had been too scared, too bereft, or too stubborn to come?  Surely there were more ponies than that in need of a community.  Perhaps they already had one of their own.  She certainly hoped that was the case.

"I recommend introducing yourself as a first step," Derelict suggested in her usual monotonous cadence.

After an awkward silence, Crystal piped up, "My name is Crystal Wishes."

"Dawn Walker," Dawn quietly chimed in.

"Toffee Stru—"

One of the doors opened with a loud, high-pitched whine.  All heads turned to see a golden mare standing in the doorway, an almost horrified look on her face that snapped into a scowl when her eyes met Crystal's.

"You?!" the mare practically snarled.

Crystal felt her hackles raising, but the feeling of a whole room watching them kept her from lashing out on foalish instinct.  "Au?"

With a huff, Au inclined her head to leer down her snout.  "What a surprise that you're here."

Now it was Crystal's turn to squeeze Dawn's hoof and find strength from the gesture.  "The same could be said to you, honestly."

Au started toward the small table set against one wall that held snacks and a punch bowl, all of which she eyed with clear disdain.  "Did your little guard leave you all alone?  You poor thing.  I can't imagine why he'd do that."

That was it—she could hear the sound of her resolve snapping in that moment.  She couldn't just sit idly by while Au marched in and all over her ponies, not when they were all at their weakest and most vulnerable.  There was no way in Tartarus she was going to smile politely and bite her tongue like a civil little mare.

Her chair nearly toppled over from how quickly she stood up.  She marched up to Au to put herself between the mare and her support group, almost protectively of them.  "What are you doing here?  Are you just here to laugh at us?  Is this some kind of joke to you?!"

The simple question resulted in an awkward pause.  Au's blue eyes darted away from Crystal and she huffed again.  "You couldn't possibly begin to understand."

"I—"  Crystal was cut off by a wall of magic sparking to life between her and Au, pushing them apart.  She looked over to see Derelict Apathy approaching, horn glowing.

"Calm down," she said in an even tone.  "What is the problem here?"

Au waved an absent hoof.  "This little mare is the problem, of course."

"I'm the problem?"  Crystal felt her temper flare like a burst of heat across her face.  "I'm the problem?!  You're the—"  The magical barrier pushed her again.

Derelict looked up at Au.  "If you're not here for the support group, then I'll have to ask you to leave."

"That won't be necessary," Radiant Orchid cut in, trotting over, a nervous smile on her face.  "I remember sending her a letter given that she's, well, a notable pony.  Miss Au is a welcome, invited guest."

Crystal blinked a few times.  "What?  Why?"

"Why else?"  Derelict glanced at Crystal, then back at Au.  "I apologize, in that case.  Please, have a seat."

Why else?  Why else?!  There was only one good reason for a pony to be there, and that was if—

Crystal bit back the lifelong, blinding disdain to take another look at Au.  The mare stood there and, despite her glimmering shawl, something was amiss.  Her eyes were void of fire; instead, they were drowning in sorrow and pain.

"Au?" Crystal asked quietly.

She glared in response.

"What happened?  Who is it?"  Crystal reached out to put a hoof on the mare's shoulder, but it was slapped away.

"Oh, and I'm to believe you suddenly care?"  Au rolled her eyes.  "Please, don't bother.  You and I know better."

Crystal's muscles tightened, but she held her tongue.  "Golden—"

In one fluid motion, Au lunged forward, and Derelict's magic pushed her back.  She snarled and spat, "What?!  What, you want to be friends now that you've faced adversity for the first time in your precious, charmed little life?!"

"Excuse me?!"  Crystal straightened up as tall as she could.  "And just what do you know about my life?!"

"Ladies," Radiant Orchid tried to cut in, but neither paid her any mind at all.

"What do you know about mine?"  Au's eyes narrowed.  "I know that you are the beloved C.W. Step, that you have your fairytale prince, that you have had everything you've ever wanted and more"—the tears that had been hiding somewhere deep inside started to well up and fall down her cheeks—"while I've lost everything!"

The anger inside Crystal was extinguished all at once, and the room fell into stunned silence.  All eyes were on them while Crystal just watched Au break down in front of her, like a proud castle that crumbled and dropped into the sea below.  The grand structure of her image built over so many years was lost to the deep, dark depths of despair in a single moment.

"I've had to work—work so hard for everything that I've had, while you—you've just had it all given to you!"  Au dropped down and raised a hoof to hide her face, but the tears still fell into view.  "And now, the one thing I had, the one thing that mattered...  He's gone!"

There were too many questions running through Crystal's mind for her to think straight.  Both she and Au jumped when Dawn seemingly came out of nowhere to embrace the sobbing mare, followed by Toffee.  One by one, several ponies in the room left their chairs to come over and add onto the growing group hug.

Crystal just stood there.  Not because she didn't want to comfort Au, but because she wasn't certain if it would do any good.

"Golden Pants is the daughter of Lieutenant Pants," Orchid said, her soft voice cutting the silence as she read from a clipboard held in one hoof.  "He volunteered, got his commission after training, and was assigned to the quartermaster corps."

Crystal's ears perked and she took a step toward Au.  "Your father volunteered?  But—"  She quickly shook her head.  "Did you hear that?  He likely wasn't there, Au.  He's fine.  It's okay."

Au jerked her head up.  "So what if he wasn't?!"

The ponies hugging her hesitated, then—just as slowly as they came—they slowly pulled back to give her space.  She rose back onto all four hooves and glared down at Crystal, fire in her eyes once again.

"You don't know anything!  You don't know my father!  Even if he wasn't there, once he heard about it, he probably charged headfirst into the Sudramoar lines!  You don't know what he's like!"  She sniffled and trembled.  "He'll...  He volunteered without a second thought, a pony like him, who's never held a sword in his life!  What was he thinking?!"  Her head drooped and tears pattered against the floor beneath her hooves.  "He left me... all alone...  How can you possibly understand?"

"We all understand," Dawn said in a surprisingly firm voice, moving to stand by Crystal.  "All of us are here because somepony we love is over there right now."

Au opened her mouth to speak, but Orchid reached out a hoof between them and waved it.  "I think we've all said enough.  We're here to help each other, not to hurt, so why doesn't everypony take their seat?"

Begrudgingly, Au walked past Crystal, avoiding eye contact with her.  She took a seat at the far end of the table, an empty chair between her and Starlit Bastion, who was similarly avoiding Crystal's gaze.

Crystal sighed.  A confusing mess of guilt and frustration boiled in her chest, but she kept her mouth shut and returned to her seat with Dawn sticking close to her.  That small gesture of companionship calmed some of her nerves; it helped her to feel a little less like the group's villain.

Orchid cleared her throat and put on a calm smile.  "The meetings scheduled and run by you all seem to be effective.  Those of you who have been attending them already seem to be close.  I'd like for the new ponies here to have the same support available to them, especially now more than ever."

"There has also been a lot of research conducted in the past few weeks," Derelict said, her magic distributing envelopes to each pony at the table.  "Exercise is highly recommended.  Time spent out of the house, as well.  We recommend coordinating events together on the weekends.  I've collected free vouchers from businesses in Canterlot and other cities that offer entertainment and distractions for group events."

"That is something to think about later, though," Orchid cut in.  "We'd like to take this time, in this safe, non-judgmental space with ponies who understand, to do an informal group therapy.  If anypony wants to talk, you are in a room full of listening, compassionate ears."

Uncomfortable shifting and glancing went around the room like a wave of tangible awkwardness.  Finally, the voice of one of the newcomers piped up, "Does anypony else still feel lonely at night?"

There wasn't a head in the room that didn't, in some small or large way, nod in reply.

The mare stared down at the table, her ears pressed flat against her mane.  "Just as I'm about to fall asleep, it's like a wave crashing over me.  I... I just feel so incredibly lonely."

"It was worse last night for me than ever before," Crystal said, trying to keep a smile on her face.  "I had this awful thought of, what if he was on the Harmony?  What if he never comes home?  What if I've lost him?"

A sniffling sob fell from Dawn, who buried her face against Crystal's neck.  "M-Me, too."

"I felt that way the first night without my wife," Bastion said, his voice deep, a startling contrast to the delicate ones that had spoken before him.  "And then I thought, 'I can either let this break me, or I can let it make me stronger.'  So I bucked up."  His ear twitched as he turned his head to look out at the room of eyes staring at him.  "Buck up, fillies and colts.  Letters are going to be arriving from our soldiers, and they're going to need us to be strong after what they went through.  What they're going through."

Nopony said anything at first.  It was harsh, but it was true, and Crystal knew it.  She straightened up in her seat and nodded.  "Bastion is right.  We will take today to mend, and tomorrow, we'll prepare ourselves to reply to our loved ones with the strength they need us to give them.  That is our job now."

Pink magic wrapped around the envelope in front of Crystal and she retrieved its contents.  Warmth filled her at the voucher sitting, almost miraculously, at the top.  "And I know just what we should do.  How about dinner in Ponyville?  A little trip away from Canterlot, some fresh air, and some free food.  I think that will do wonders."

"Ponyville?"  Dawn's ears perked as she turned her head to look at the papers in Crystal's magic.  "Oh, if we go, I should see my family while we're there..."

"You've got family in Ponyville?" Bonnie asked, smiling.

Dawn rubbed her eyes and pulled away from Crystal to sit up straight on her own, then nodded.  "Mmhm.  My family owns a farm just outside of town."

"A farm!  How wonderful."  Bonnie clapped her hooves together.  "I think this Ponyville trip could be exactly what we all need."

There was just one more thing Crystal needed to do now that she had regained some semblance of calm: extend an olive branch.  Slowly, she leaned forward and looked down the table at Au.  "Golden, do you think you could help me organize this?"

"Would you stop calling me that?" Au snapped, glaring.  "And what do you need my help for?"

Crystal smiled despite her urge to frown.  "You have connections here in Canterlot that I don't have.  I was hoping you could help us get into the more comfortable seats in first class.  I understand if—"

"Oh, is that all?"  Au gave her mane a dignified toss.  "That's a simple task.  Honestly, you can't manage that yourself?"  That perfectly practiced smile flashed its way across her face.  "Don't worry.  I can take care of that."

Crystal just kept smiling.  It was easier said than done, but she managed it.  "Thank you, Au.  Now, how many of you will be coming, by a show of hooves?  I'd like to go tonight, unless anypony has any plans already."

A few hooves raised, followed by a couple more, and even more until every hoof was in the air save for two: Bastion and Toffee.

"Toffee?" Dawn asked, blinking at him.

"O-Oh, don't get me wrong!"  Toffee quickly waved his hooves.  "I'd love to!  But I don't do trains well."  He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.  "They just make me nervous.  So, you all have fun.  I'll be fine."

"Don't worry, brother," a stallion piped up, his wings flaring out.  "I'm 'ere for you.  I'll get you to Ponyville, no train needed."

Toffee's ears wiggled and his face lit up.  "Oh, really?  You don't mind?"

The stallion winked.  "My honest pleasure.  No pony left behind, an' all that."  He looked over at Bastion, a crooked grin on his face.  "Doubt I could carry the both of you, though."

Bastion snorted.  "I'm not afraid of trains.  I'm just not interested."

"Well, I'm afraid Mr..."  Crystal glanced at the pegasus.

"Weather Front, ma'am."

"Mr. Front is right."  Crystal smiled at Bastion, struggling to keep it from curling into a grin.  "No pony left behind.  It's a free dinner, Bastion."  The grin finally won the battle and took over her expression.  "Buck up and come along."

Though his ears flattened to the sides, Bastion didn't frown.  Instead, he chuckled and shook his head.  "Well played, filly."

"Then it's settled."  Crystal nodded.  "Au, if you'd please make arrangements with the train?"

Au rose from her seat and trotted to the door, her usual aura returned; her head was held high, her tail was perked, and her stride was long and graceful.  "Yes, yes.  You're lucky I decided to come... here."  She paused at the doorway and lingered a moment.  After a quick glance over her shoulder, she started forward again and disappeared from sight.

Dawn wasted no time in whispering, "So, um, you two know each other?"

Crystal snorted and nodded.  "We've known each other since elementary school."  The burst of amusement faded as her gaze slid over to the door, watching it slowly close.  "And yet, I suppose, I know very little about her..."

"So," Bonnie started, clearing her throat to draw their attention, "where are we having dinner?  I've been to a few good restaurants in Ponyville."

"Right!  Yes."  Crystal's magic picked her stack of papers back up.  "Everypony, please make sure to bring your voucher for Haut-Savoir, though if you lose yours on the way, I'm sure the owners will trust that you're with us."  She smiled.  "More than sure, in fact."