Raven had a very methodical mind, and so she took some sort of enjoyment out of tasks that others would deem dull or tedious. It was how she managed to survive in her job. She excelled at the boring, repetitive tasks of scheduling meetings and filing documents. That was why part of her looked forward to the weeks leading up to a fundraiser or cotillion. It gave her hooves something to do. There was nothing but her and her tasks, for the most part. No surprises, no twists, nothing to throw her off.

The actual day of the fundraiser, however, was a different story entirely.

From the very first task, things seemed set to go downhill. When Raven was sent to the Canterlot Boutique to retrieve Princess Twilight’s dress, she was very peeved to discover that the dress was accidentally sent to the wrong boutique from Manehattan. This forced her to take the train to and from Ponyville in order to retrieve it, and put her noticeably behind schedule.

From there, she had to meet with catering, which meant talking to a pony that annoyed Raven on a fundamental level. Though this was her third encounter with Pinkie Pie, she was still not prepared for the strangeness of the pink baker. Somehow, despite being left alone for only a few minutes, she had managed to bake fifty cupcakes, twelve pies, and a batch of cookies. She then proceeded to eat most of the confections, claiming this to be part of her process. A warm-up, she said.

With the disturbing image of a mare scarfing down about a million empty calories worth of sweets, Raven had to meet with the princess herself. This was the most difficult part of her day. Just as she expected, Celestia was displeased with the speech Raven prepared, claiming it to be dull and “on the nose”. Raven explained, again and again, the importance of staying on-message, especially after the whole fiasco with Preston Pass. Of course, Celestia chose to remember that situation as an opportunity rather than the hurdle to her administration that it actually was.

Raven hadn’t forgotten about her reporter friend, of course. Ever since his story went out, she’d been thinking about how she would get back at him. Raven wanted to bring him down, damage his credibility. The less ponies who believed his lies and half-truths in the future, the better. Unfortunately, she didn’t have an abundance of time to think about him. Not with Celestia begging to ab-lib.

“Raven, I understand your concerns,” said Celestia, pacing the throne room. “But I urge you, please just trust me. I don’t get many opportunities to speak freely, and what better time than at a party to cut loose?”

“Princess… It’s just too risky. After that picture scandal…” Raven shook her head firmly. “We dodged a bullet with the swimsuit photoshoot, but we might not get so lucky this time. Now is not the time to cut loose. Now is the time for caution.”

“But it wasn’t luck, Raven. It was your brilliant organizational skills and public relations work that got us through that little debacle.” Celestia flashed Raven a smile, her pearly whites shining. “And I’m confident that, in the unlikely event that something were to go wrong, you would get us through it, just as you have before.”

While that flattery may have worked on less jaded ponies, Raven wasn’t buying it. Where others may have seen an employer’s confidence in their employee’s abilities, Raven saw reckless abandon. She wasn’t sure if Celestia was taking this seriously, and that was starting to annoy her.

“Princess, it is my opinion that we should err on the side of caution. We’re in a very precarious situation,” said Raven. “We can’t possibly let anything go off-model. The press has us on the ropes, and what we need to do is sit back and let things die down.”

“Hm… How about a compromise?” Celestia grinned, which instantly made Raven feel uncomfortable. “How about you come to the fundraiser with me, stand by side, and you supervise me? I tell my speech the way I want and, if I start to get off-message, you just give me a little nudge. It’s a perfect solution!”

Raven rubbed her chin thoughtfully. That was actually a really good idea, despite how little Raven wanted to admit it. She typically lurked around the outskirts of these sorts of fundraisers, only popping in when needed. She never really felt the need or desire sit through the whole thing, but, if Celestia was really insistent on the matter…

“Well… I suppose that would work,” said Raven. “If that's what you want, we can do that.”

Celestia grinned, setting her pre-written notes to the side.

“Let's get you in a dress.”

Raven grabbed her third glass of champagne, trying her best not to glare at anypony. There was a reason she normally avoided these sorts of events. She hated the atmosphere of nobility and snobbery that these parties always had. Yet she was stuck there, single-hoofedly keeping the kingdom of Equestria safe from Celestia’s babbling nonsense. If she was going to be forced to endure this awful event, she would at the very least be taking full advantage of the bar, which she did now.

“Well, well, well. Isn't this a coincidence?” Raven froze at the voice, trying her hardest not to scowl. Instead, she grabbed a glass of champagne and turned to face her nemesis. Preston Pass strolled up to her with a very smug, superior grin plastered across his muzzle. Raven didn’t let on just how much she despised the stallion before her. She put on her “work face”, pretending that Preston was just some unpleasant noble that she had business with. In a way, he was.

“Preston Pass. I didn’t think I'd see you here,” said Raven. She offered him the glass. “Can I offer you a drink?”

“They have you playing bartender now?” said Preston, accepting the glass. “Is that a step up or down?”

“It’s a step closer to the drinks, and that is all I’m concerned with for the time being.” Preston gave a laugh that matched Raven’s in artificiality. They were both players of this game, and Raven’s attempt at humor didn’t fool Preston for a second.

“I hear that.” Preston accepted the champagne, clinking glasses with Raven. “Hm… Brilliant photoshoot, by the way. I mean, what better way to show Equestria that Celestia isn’t a slut than to have her posing in skimpy bikinis?” Preston took a sip of his drink. “I might have to write a follow-up story on how she managed to coerce the other three princesses into participating. What do you think it is? Blackmail? Bribery?”

“I didn’t think a stallion of your stature would read those sorts of magazines, to be honest,” remarked Raven. “Personally, I thought the shoot was wonderful. Princess Celestia doesn’t often get to show her fun, adventurous side. So thank you for that opportunity. As for the other princesses, I can’t say I know anything about blackmail or bribery. I think you’ll find that this administration is above such under-hooved tactics.”

“Maybe. In any case, I think Equestria could do with more of my investigative journalism,” said Preston with a shrug. “Hm… Hey, where’s that boyfriend of yours? The griffon.”

“Oh, he’s around. His name is Garrus, though I have a feeling that you knew that.” Raven couldn’t help but let her tone go a bit flatter. Preston was incredibly good at getting under her skin, though she tried not to let that deter her. “You sound like you have some… resentment, towards my friend. Is it because you don’t like authority or because you don’t like griffons?”

“I’m not a racist, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“And Celestia isn’t a whore, but that doesn’t stop ponies from saying it.”

“Fair enough. I’m glad I ran into you, Inkwell, because I wanted to give you some advice,” said Preston. “Give up. Move on from… This. I’ve got no issue with you, Inkwell, and we both know that you have your hooves full enough as is. Don’t give yourself another problem to deal with.”

“Hm?”

“Look, Slutlestia is old news. The general public has moved on, they want a new scandal. I have no reason to keep churning out stories about what your boss gets to between the sheets. It’s not worth my time. Just like it’s not worth your time to try and screw with me. So why don’t we just put this in the past, call it fair play, and go along with our lives?”

Raven sipped her champagne carefully, measuring Preston. He seemed genuine in his offer and, to make matters worse, he was making a lot of sense. Besides a twisted sense of self-satisfaction, Raven gained nothing by pursuing Preston. She could let him go.

Then, she caught sight of Preston’s shit-eating grin, and her decision was made for her.

“Fair play…” Raven sighed. “Is anything in life really fair?”

The clinking of a glass stole Raven’s attention. Near the back of the banquet hall was none other than Princess Celestia, tapping her glass to attract the attention of the party-goers. Raven nodded to Preston before crossing the room and standing by her princess’ side. By the time she made it there, a small crowd had amassed around Celestia.

Raven had to take a moment to admire Celestia, despite how annoyed she knew she inevitably would be with her. She was stunning, as usual, her form made all the more gorgeous by the elegant dress that Rarity had designed. Celestia smiled as she always did, with confidence and grace and an obnoxious amount of uncaring for how the words about to come out of her mouth would impact Raven.

“Ready?” said Celesita. Raven nodded, ready to get this over with.

“I am, your majesty,” said Raven. Celestia cleared her throat, silencing the entire ballroom. You could hear a pin drop as the partygoers stopped, waiting to hear what their princess had to say.

“I thank you all for taking this night to give back to your kingdom. Thanks to your extremely generous donations, I have been able to greenlight several new projects, both for the city of Canterlot and the entire kingdom of Equestria. I’m sure you will all be pleased by these additions to our great land.” Celestia gave a little wink to the crowd. “And I’m sure you will all let me know if you’re not.”

The guests gave Celestia a little chuckle, the joke not lost on them. Raven frowned at Celestia’s poor attempt at humor, though. Sure, it was funny now, but in a few weeks, when the nobles actually weren’t pleased and decided to bombard the castle with angry letters, it wouldn’t be Celestia who had to sift through them all.

“While I don’t want to give away all of the surprises, there is one project that I am simply too excited to keep secret any longer,” continued Celestia. “Over the course of the next six months, we will be rolling out a debt forgiveness program. Under this program, we will be forgiving the debts of countless lower and middle-class ponies, starting in Canterlot and hopefully extending to Equestria as a whole.”

The entire room was shocked, Raven included. This was the first she ever heard of any sort of debt forgiveness, and she was, understandably, peeved by the sudden announcement. She just knew that the blowback would be terrible. Bankers would be furious, the finances would be an absolute nightmare, and that’s not even factoring in the logistics of handling such a large amount of ponies at once. Raven was not looking forward to the rest of the year.

“And what this means is simple. Qualifying ponies will have their debts completely forgiven and forgotten. These can be student loans, mortgages, any debt that would plague and otherwise dampen their lives. This also means tax breaks for you, as a thank you for donating tonight. Some of you might be asking why I decided to establish such a program. This, too, has a simple enough answer. I believe in second chances. I believe that, sometimes, bad things happen to good ponies, and they don’t deserve to be punished for it. They deserve to be forgiven. We all have had need for a bit of forgiveness before, I’m sure. Perhaps you forgot an engagement, or you made a misstep for your company. Perhaps you even lied to your employer about a family emergency to get the day off.”

Raven was just about to nudge Celestia, to bring her back on course, when she heard that.

Shit…

“Bah, but I’m rambling. My point is, I think we need to be a bit kinder to each other. Forgive each other more. I think it will make us all the stronger for it. So, I thank you for giving me the capacity to make our kingdom stronger,” said Celestia, raising her champagne glass in toast. “I promise, your money will be well-spent, for the betterment of Equestria!”

She bowed slightly, at which point the crowd of guests began applauding. They toasted their princess before bowing away and returning to the party. Celestia herself retreated slightly, sending her drink (noticeably untouched) away with a flash of magic. Raven watched her go, contemplating her next move. She could leave now. Her job was finished, and Garrus must’ve been getting off-shift soon. If she wanted, she could turn tail and head to Ne’er-Do-Wells.

Instead, she crossed the room, stopping before Celestia. The princess smiled at her, waiting with a look that Raven couldn’t recall ever seeing on her before. Celestia was studying her, trying to figure out what to make of her. She looked as if she was planning her next move in a game of chess.

“Hello, your majesty,” said Raven.

“Hello, Raven. Good to see you, as always,” said Celestia. “Can I get you a drink? I’ve been told that the champagne is—”

“How did you know?”

It was quiet for a moment. It occured to Raven that she had just cut off the Princess of the Sun. Then, she realized that she was probably out of a job anyway. What use would her niceties be to her now?

“When you get to be as old as me, you tend to pick up on deception rather easily,” said Celestia. “It was something in my gut, so to speak.”

“So. What now?”

“Hm?”

“I’m assuming I need to start looking for other work?” said Raven with a sigh. “God, my mom is going to be insufferable when she hears.”

“What? No! Raven, don’t be ridiculous! I’m not going to fire you!” Celestia chuckled. “By the Goddess, what would I do without you?”

“But… I lied to you. You have to fire me. Or put me on probation. Something.”

“I know it wasn’t what you prepared for me, but did you listen to any of my speech just now?” said Celestia. “This entire thing is about forgiveness, Ms. Inkwell. Just as we’ll be forgiving student loans, I will forgive your little lie.”

Raven looked up at Celestia, absolutely baffled. Why would she do that? They both knew that Raven was in the wrong, and Celestia would be entirely justified in firing her. Yet, for some reason, Celestia said she would forgive her.

“Why?” asked Raven.

“Because you’re good at what you do. Because I like you, and I know that you’re not a bad pony.” Celestia sighed, almost tiredly. “Because you’re not a liar, and I know that you must have had a very good reason to lie to me as you did. Pick one.”

“I… I thank you for your kindness, your grace.” Raven bowed to Celestia, not daring to look the goddess in the eye. “I thank you for your mercy, even if I don’t deserve it.”

“It’s not about whether you deserve it or not. It’s about letting past mistakes stay in the past, and learning from them. Everypony deserves a bit of forgiveness. Be they friend… Or foe.” Celestia tilted her head slightly, directing Raven’s attention to the corner of the room. Her eyes immediately fell on the foe in question. Preston stared right back, smiling that smile of his. It annoyed Raven to no end. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to run his name into the dirt.

And that was when everything clicked into place for Raven.

“Thank you, your majesty,” said Raven. “I assure you, this will never happen again.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Raven. Now, what are you going to do now?”

“If it’s all the same to you…” Raven turned for the door. “I have some business to attend to.”

“So that’s it, huh?” asked Garrus. “We’re just gonna let him go?”

“That's about the size of it, yeah,” sighed Raven, sipping her beer slowly. Since she was already several glasses of champagne deep, she decided to take it easy tonight. “There's no reason to really do this.It’ll be easier for everyone if we just live and let live.”

“That’s… Unlike you,” noted Garrus. He peered cautiously at Raven. “He’s… He’s not blackmailing you, is he?”

“No. I just really think that we have nothing to gain. We should look to the future. If we don’t mess with him…”

“He’ll have no reason to mess with us. Makes sense.” Garrus dropped his empty flagon onto the table, tapping his claw idly. He was impressed with Raven’s approach to the situation. Garrus knew his friend to be a very bitter, vindictive pony, and to let bygones be bygones like this was incredibly out of character for her. That talk with Celestia really did a number on her. “And if he doesn’t play nice?”

Raven snickered, finishing off what she promised would be her last beer of the night.

“Then, we burn that son of a bitch to the ground.”

“Fair enough.” The bar doors swung open, and in trotted Princess Luna. She seemed tired, and stopped at the bar to pick up a tray of shots before making her way to the table where Raven and Garrus were sitting.

“Yo. What’s going on?” Luna immediately knocked back a shot, offering the liquor to her friends.

“Where the hell have you been?” asked Raven. She watched with a slight, petty envy as Garrus helped himself to one of the shot glasses. “We’ve been here for like an hour.”

“I was at work, Inkwell. Shocking though it may be to learn this, I actually do my job sometimes,” remarked Luna. “And, considering I just did you a favor, I could do without that tone.”

“Favor?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about how you two idiots still didn’t get your revenge on that dickhead reporter dude, so I did it for you.” Luna downed two more shots, apparently unphased by the large amount of alcohol she was consuming. “So, I went into his wife’s dreams and told her about his affair. Then, I went to his mistress and told her about the wife. Turns out, she didn’t know that she was the side piece, so she’s pissed. Both of them are coming for blood, it’s kinda funny.” Luna let out a little chuckle at Preston’s impending demise. “Hell hath no fury like a mare scorned, am I right?” Luna only just then seemed to notice Raven and Garrus’ aghast expressions. “What? This is what you wanted, right? To ruin his life like he almost ruined Celestia’s?”

“Moon Shine… We literally just agreed that we weren’t gonna do that!” groaned Raven. “Me and Gary decided it wasn’t worth the effort, so we were just gonna let him go!”

“Oh. Huh. Oh well, I guess. Asshole is gonna get what he deserves.”

“Goddess above, Luna, you’ve ruined this guy forever.”

“And we didn’t have to raise a claw,” noted Garrus. “So thanks. I didn’t want this guy to get off scot-free anyway.”

“Well, there ya go, Inkwell.” Luna smirked, beyond amused with the situation. “Karma is a bitch, isn’t it?”

Raven sighed tiredly. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. She was supposed to forgive her enemy, just like Celestia had said. Now, Preston was going to be ruined anyway. Then, strangely, she smirked. Technically, she did forgive Preston. She had no control over what Luna did in her spare time. And, if that just so happened to screw over Preston… Well, that was beyond Raven’s control.

“Well, all’s well that ends well, I guess,” said Raven, grabbing a shot from the tray. “Heh. As far as fundraisers go… This one wasn’t half bad.”