(Raven's memories, Canterlot Castle, Six years ago, The Throne Room)

It was just another day in Canterlot Castle. Celestia was going through yet another huge stack of paperwork that her assistant/good friend "Raven Inkwell" had brought to her to go over and sign.

It was tedious work but also important, and a necessity when you are the co-ruler of an entire country. It's nothing The Sun Princess can't handle, after all she does haves a little over a thousand years of experience so something like this doesn't bother her that much but she would be lying if it wasn't still annoying to deal with.

It didn't take too long to finish signing the papers it was just same basic stuff she have to deal with, no biggie. Once she was done Celestia let out a satisfying sigh of relief.

"Finally! That's the last one!" Said Celestia. As she added the last sign paper to the large pile, as well as the pen which was all being held in Raven's magic as she levitated everything closer to herself.

"It wasn't that bad, Princess!" Said Raven, smiling happily. "Their was a lot less to sign than usual."

"Yeah! I only had to sign 500 instead of the usual 5000!" Celestia said jokingly.

Raven chuckled at the little joke, before clearing her thoat, and regaing her composer. "Well! I should head on get these documents taken care of." Raven bow her head. "Thanks for all your hard work Princess."

Celestia chukled. "Raven!? I told you before, you can just call me Celestia in public! You and I known each other for a long time now and became good friends, you don't have to be so formal with me anymore on duty as well as off!"

"I know, but I think its best I should remain professional when in public!" Raven adjusted her glasses and put on a sly smirk. "Besides I don't wanna make anypony jealous!"

Celestia snickered for a bit before bursting out laughing at Raven's little joke. Raven soon joined with her in laughter as well. The throne room was empty besides the two of them and the two Royal guards standing at the foot of the ramp leading to the throne, but they weren't bothered by the two mares change in character, after all this isn't the first time they seen the two joke around.

Everypony who works in the Castle be them staff or guards already knows about the friendship between Celestia and Raven, so the unicorn doesn't mind dropping her professional act in front of them. She mainly keeps it up in front of The Nobles, visitors, and guests, be them high status or not. Despite all this she still prefers to be formal when on duty, it just felt right to her is all.

After the two mares laugh for a bit, they both calmed down enough to speak.

"Oh Raven! You truly have changed a lot from back when you first became my assistant!" Said Celestia with a smile. "I'm glad you are able to open up to me like this."

"And I have you thanks for that!" Said Raven. "It makes working for you, enjoyable and I'm happy to have you as a friend."

Celestia nodded. "As do I! So is their anything else that's in need of my attention?"

Raven shook her head. "Not anymore, its been an easy day so far and with these papers now signed, you have completed all your Royal duties for the day."

"Well then I guess I can just enjoy the rest of the day and you don't have anything else to do after you take care of those documents, right?" Celestia asked.

"That's right!"

"Then after you're done, you wanna meet with me for some tea later?"

"But of course, I wouldn't miss one of our tea times, I'll meet you in The Royal Tea room after I'm done taking these to Mrs. Scroll in the archives!" Raven said gesturing to the large stack of papers.

Celestia nodded. "Very well!" She then stood up from her throne and began walking towards the main doors. "I'll have everything ready by the time you arrive."

"Then I'll see you soon!" Said Raven as she headed towards the throne room side entrance, opened the door and left.

***

Raven was trotting down the large halls of the castle to deliver the sign papers all while humming a soft happy little tune to herself, everypony she'd pass by greeted her with a smile and she did the same for them.

"Hey Raven!" A maid greeted as she walk bye.

"Hey Sandy!" Raven greeted back.

"Good Afternoon, Ms. Inkwell." Greeted a Royal guard, standing at his post.

"Good afternoon to you too, Silver Wing!" Raven said passing by.

Raven continued her walk as more and more ponies greeted her happily. Everypony in the castle knew Raven for she had been Celestia's assistant for many years. When she first started she was really shy, nervous, and afraid to disappoint the princess. But thanks to the sun princess encouraging her, Raven was able to do her job without worry. She would always remain professional at all times but spending so much time with someone like Celestia help the unicorn mare open up more and more and freely express herself.

Throughout the years of working in The Castle, Raven had made many friends among her fellow staff, and help those who were new to working in the castle get over their nervousness the same way Celestia did for her. Everypony who knew her would tell nothing but good things about her, she wasn't perfect (no pony is) but she always does her absolute best for her job, friends, and fellow ponies.

Raven was always sweet and kind yet strong, smart, and confident, she's also very helpful, always willing to lend a hoof to anyone who needs it. Because of her kindness and selfless attitude. The castle staff secretly planned a surprise birthday party for their glasses wearing friend and with the help of both The Princess and Raven's three close friends, she didn't even see the surprise coming at all. The day she walked into the dark ball room only for the lights to suddenly turn on and everyone yelling out-

Will be a day she will never forget, as all her friends, family, co-workers, and even Princess Celestia was there to celebrate. Raven could only cry tears of absolute joy of the wonderful sight of everyone she knew was there to wish her a happy birthday. It was one of the most happiest day of her life and it reminded her how thankful she is to have such great friends and a happy life.

After walking through the large halls and taking a few shortcuts, Raven eventually made it to the Archives, where she delivered the papers to Mrs. Scroll who happily took them. The two chatted for a few minutes until Raven realize she had to go, not wanting to keep The Princess waiting too long. Mrs. Scroll nodded in understanding and let Raven go, both mares saying their goodbyes before Raven left and began heading towards the royal tearoom to meet Celestia.

As she walked an empty hall, she was just about to pass by one of the many rooms until.

"You know what everypony saying about Princess Celestia?" Asked a stallion voice, coming from inside a room with its door left slightly ajar. The second Raven heard what was said her ears perk up, and she stop dead in her tracks, before the door and listened.

"Oh yes! That how a thousand years of peace made her so lazy she won't even lift a hoof to help stop any threats to Equestria, no matter how small." Answered a mare. "She just sends those six mares to do it all for her. Is she insane!?"

"I surely think so! I mean I get they were the ones who defeated Nightmare Moon and saved Princess Luna with the Elements of Harmony and all but where was she during that whole event?" Said the Stallion.

"It was said that she was captured by Nightmare Moon!" Answered the Mare.

"Captured?! HA! I don't believe that for a second!" The Stallion argued. "Especially if you think about it, everything that happened that day was weird and suspicious."

"Yes! Just as weird it is to send six regular, untrained ponies to face a Giant Fire Breathing Dragon by themselves! I mean what in Tartarus was she THINKING? I know Dragons don't eat ponies and eat gemstones, but that doesn't mean that Dragon could have hurt them or worse!"

The Stallion sighed. "And yet they still got the dragon to leave and saved Equestria from being covered in smoke for a hundred years."

The mare rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes! They always been saving the day again and again but that doesn't excuse Celestia laziness. Give me one good reason why she doesn't lift a hoof to help or better yet take care of these problems herself? Isn't it her job as a Ruler to protect her country? Heck, before her theirs the Royal guard but she sends six civilians to protect us!? WHY?"

"Maybe there's a reason! Something she sees that we're not! We can't deny their accomplishments; Nightmare Moon, The Dragon, The Changelings, Discord, King Sombra, and every crazy disaster Ponyville gets into!"

"I swear that town was built on top of some native graveyard and Nightmare Moon return woke the spirits and they curse that poor town!" Explained the mare.

The stallion shrugs. "Eh! At this point I'm willing to believe anything, since it is crazy how many troubling disasters that town haves and it all started after Nightmare Moon return. So far, the only place that comes close to Ponyville disaster records is Canterlot and this city only had two of its own disasters!"

"The Changelings and Discord!"

The Stallion nodded then turn to look at the clock on the wall. "As much as I would love to continue this conversation our break is over, and we should get back to work."

"Agreed, let's go!" said the mare, as she and the stallion got up from their seats and headed straight to the door. Before they reach it Raven quickly hid around the corner of another hallway not far from one of the many employee break rooms, where she heard the two talking.

After hiding she peek around the corner to see a stallion butler and a mare maid exit the room and trotted in the opposite direction away from Raven.

When coast was clear Raven let out a breath, she didn't know she was holding, after which she couldn't help but think about what she just heard. This isn't the first time Raven heard these rumors, they started circulating around Canterlot ever since Discord's defeat by The Mane 6 and grew that much worse after Sombra's defeat.

All most everywhere she goes theirs a chance Raven will hear ponies talking about Celestia being lazy and leaving the defense of Equestria to six mares who never faced a world destroying threat before Nightmare Moon. Sure their accomplishment in protecting the land is noted but it doesn't mean they were letting Celestia off the hook for not helping at all. Even if she can no longer wield the Elements anymore, she could still help by joining in the fight especially since not every threat required a rainbow laser to the face.

So why doesn't she help? Why does she always have The Mane 6 do all the protecting? These thoughts plague Raven's mind ever since she first heard the rumors. She usually pushes them out and forget about them for a time, not wanting to think anything bad about Celestia and don't want to believe what everypony was saying about her being "lazy" but no matter how much she believes in the Princess Raven couldn't help but questioned The Sun Monarch actions, which made Raven sick to her stomach just thinking about it. She would never question the Princess for she had earned the love and trust of all her subjects and would always protect her little ponies from dangerous threats so they can live their lives in peace.

But despite knowing all that Raven still couldn't get what the butler and maid said earlier and as much as it pains her to think it, there's just too many things that didn't make sense and Raven's great curiosity was telling her to go tell Celestia about the rumors and hear her side of the story on things. After all she must have a logical explanation to all this......right.

Raven took another deep breath and exhaled before finally resuming her walk to meet Celestia for tea. As she walked, she thought about how she going to bring up the matter of the rumors to The Princess. Will she answer her, would she lie and create vague but convincing story to hide that she is lazy? Raven shook her head at that last thought. Celestia is her friend, they known each other for years, so she wouldn't lie to her, after all "Honesty" is one of the elements of harmony and a part of what makes friendship magic, but even with that revelation Raven was still too scared to even ask her question.

(The Royal Tea Room)

Celestia just sat at her table reading a book as she waited for her friend arrival. A unicorn maid had just finished making the tea and preparing snacks, setting the Tea pots, cups, and a tray of small sandwiches down on the table before bowing and leaving the elegant looking room. It was around this time that a knock was heard at the door. Celestia smiled, closed her book and levitated back in its place on her bookshelf before saying.

"Come in, Raven!"

The door soon opened revealing Raven Inkwell with a cheerful smile on her face. She steps inside and use her magic to close the door behind her as a trotted up to the table and took her seat across from Celestia.

"I hope I haven't been keeping you waiting too long, Celestia?"

"Of course not, Raven. The Tea and food were just brought in a minute before you arrived." Celestia said as she used her magic to lift the teapot and pour both herself and Raven a cup before setting the pot down and levitating one cup to Raven and the other to herself.

They both grab their cups in their hooves and took a long sip of the warm, freshly made tea and let out a relaxing sigh at the same time after finishing half their cups. Both mares giggled at their synchronized drinking for a bit before Celestia spoke.

"So, what should we talk about today?" Celestia takes another sip of her tea. "Any particular topic you want to discuss?"

Raven just barely caught herself from coughing up the sandwich she ate when she heard that question. It made her wonder if the Princess knows that she wants to talk about the rumors before remembering that Celestia always start their conversations like this, so it's just a coincidence that Raven heard more rumors just before her teatime with Celestia.

But that doesn't mean that Raven didn't want to talk about the rumors, she really wanted to know why Celestia doesn't help Twilight and her friends but the fear of questioning the Princess still grips at her tightly. She felt like her old self from when she first started working as an assistant to the crown. Too nervous and scared to disappoint her Princess, so Raven decided to tread familiar ground.

"Has there been anything new going on with Twilight?" Raven asked.

Celestia chuckled. "You really do love hearing about Twilight tales, do you!?"

Raven smiled. "Of course! She may have been like a daughter to you, but she was like a little sister to me! We have so much in common, studying, organizing, sure she haves me beat for her love of books but she made me feel like a foal again when I found out she loves to make forts out of books too!"

"Which explains why I caught the both of you playing inside that giant book fort you two build together!" Celestia said with a sly grin.

Raven face instantly turned red after being reminded of that old memory. She remembered how embarrassed she was for anyone, especially Celestia to see her, a full-grown mare acting like a little filly.

Raven gave a light chuckle as she rubs the back of her head. "I know it was silly of me, but I never had a friend who shared the same interests and I just, even for a moment wanted to feel like a kid again!"

"I understand!" Said Celestia. "I too have moments where I would wish to return to the simpler times of my foalhood. Not having to worry about the responsibilities of both adulthood and being a ruler." Celestia levitated two sandwiches up to her mouth and ate one of them.

"A vacation would be nice to!" Raven added. "I know I can get vacation days, but such a luxury doesn't apply to you all that much, since you always have to be here running the country. Even with Luna's return not much has changed in that category." Raven then ate another sandwich and refilled her cup of tea and drink some of it.

Celestia nodded and swallowed her second sandwich before speaking. "True! I hope someday I will be able to take some time off and enjoy doing some of the things I always wanted to try." Celestia refills her tea and takes another sip. "Ahhh, anyway enough about all that you wanted to know what Twilight been up to, hmmm!" Celestia tap her chin trying to think of a subject. "So, which one do you want to hear about. The one where Pinkie Pie created an army of clones of herself, and they ran amok through Ponyville or Twilight's magical duel with Trixie?"

Raven was surprised when she heard the former. "Pinkie Pie created an army of clones of herself?"

Celestia simply nodded as she sips her tea.

"How? Why? What happened to the clones?"

"Magic mirror pool that lies in an underground cavern in the Ever Free Forest, Pinkie heard of the legend as well as the chant use to create a clone. She did it simply so she can be in more places at once so she wouldn't disappoint any of her friends who separately asked her to hang out with them." Celestia takes another sip of her tea. "And the more friends who asked for her the more clones she created with the help of the other clones she made, but then the clones continued to clone themselves, creating a small army and to figure out which one is the real one and send the others away. Twilight had them watch paint dry and if anyone of them got distracted they get blasted back to the mirror pool until only one Pinkie remained."

"Is it possible to send the real Pinkie to the pool?"

"Yes!"

"But what if-"

"I assure you Raven," Celestia interrupted. "The test was a success and the Pinkie Pie still standing is in fact the real one."

Raven let out a sigh of relief. The thought that Twilight might of banish the real Pinkie was just too terrifying to think about.

"But how do you know this Pinkie is the real one?"

"As much as I believe in Twilight that doesn't mean she could have made a mistake and banish the real Pinkie Pie. So, after Twilight sent me the letter about what happened I had to make sure that this Pinkie was real. So, I went to Ponyville to provide a test of my own that will guarantee is she was real or fake."

"And what was the test?" Raven asked.

"To see how the Element of laughter would react to her. The Elements can only be used by its chosen wielder, not even a clone can fool them. So, if the Element reacted negatively, it would of darken and banish the clone away itself, if acted positively it would glow a in bright soothing light thus proving that it's the true wielder is wearing it, which it did."

"And if that Pinkie was a clone how would get the real Pinkie back?"

"I wouldn't but I know the Element would. We just needed to take it to the mirror pool, and it would use its connection to the real Pinkie and pull her out, unharmed."

"Well, that's good but even better that they got it right the first time around."

"Indeed!"

"I just have one last question!? Are the girls sure they rounded up every single Pinkie Pie and didn't miss at least one?" Raven asked.

"Of course, they did! How could they?" Celestia exclaimed. "I mean what, you think one of them somehow managed to escape capture, sneak out of Ponyville without being noticed and started a new life for herself someplace else?"

(3 years later)

(Present day)

Celestia laughed, albeit nervously. "That's crazy, I mean they were practically mindless drones with nothing but "fun" on their minds! They're not even sentient."

Raven laughs a bit nervously too. "Yeah, because if they were you, might as well say that Twilight practically committed mass murder and denied those Pinkies the right to live."

Although both mares laugh at the thought of the clones being more than copies. The nervousness in the way they laughed indicated that they don't fully believe their own words and this conversation was starting to get a little too dark for their liking.

"Anyway, Twilight sealed the mirror pool by using a boulder to block the entrance. Ok, ok! Now let's talk about something else....anything else!" Celestia said eagerly.

"You read my mind! So, tell me about this magic dual Twilight had with Trixie." Raven said. Taking another sip of her tea and eating another sandwich.

"As it turns out Trixie wanted revenge against Twilight for showing her up back at her last visit to Ponyville." Said Celestia. "She used a powerful ancient artifact called the alicorn amulet that grant its wearer great power but corrupts them the more they use it. Trixie defeated Twilight with ease and banish her from ponyville."

"But why? All Twilight did was protect Ponyville from an Ursor Minor and it was those two colts that brought it into town! So why does she want revenge on her for, she didn't do anything to her!" Said Raven.

"Trixie blamed Twilight for her misfortune and humiliation after she left Ponyville. Word about what happened spread quickly to other towns and when she visited them to do her shows they only laugh and made fun of her!" Celestia said sadly. "Ponies would vandalizes her wagon, dirtied it with eggs, tomatoes and the picture of a crudely drawn Ursa minor, complete with a baby bottle, as well as an "X" across her cutie mark sign on the wagon."

Raven gasp in both horror and disgust. "That's horrible!" She said angrily. "I get that she lied about vanquishing an Ursor Major, but that's no excuse to treat her so bad." Raven sighed. "I'm still upset about how Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity treated her that day. Getting all mad about how she was boasting about being Great and Powerful!" Raven groan in annoyance. "I mean seriously she's an entertainer for crying out loud!" She exasperated by throwing her forehooves in the air. "It's her job to entertain ponies, even if she was being serious about being better than anypony else, who cares! She was just trying to make the show fun for everyone, it's clear she had no bad intentions, she was just doing her job."

"You're absolutely right, Raven! Trixie is a stage magician and she's not the only one! I've seen many magicians during my time, and they too would boast about how great they are, and the audience should never take that too seriously as it all a part of the show." Celestia sighed. "Trixie may have lied about defeating an Ursor Major but she didn't know that two colts would go into the forest and lure one into town.....Thank goodness it was just a baby though. As talented as Twilight is with magic, there was no way she could defeat an Adult Ursor, even with the help of her friends if it was on a blind Rampage."

That last bit got Raven's attention as her ears perk up. "Would you have gone and help them it that were the case?" She said nervously.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at Raven sudden question. "Of course, I would!" She answers as if it was obvious. "No doubt Twilight would of quickly send me a letter asking for help and I would be there in a heartbeat! Just like when Spike sent me letter asking for help when Twilight went crazy during that lesson zero event!.... What made you think I wouldn't?" Celestia asked somberly.

Raven froze up, as she began to sweat lightly. She was afraid something like this would happen. What the hay was she thinking questioning the Princess morals. "Good job, Raven. You offended The Princess, for someone so smart you're stupid, stupid, stupid." Raven quickly thought before answering Celestia's question.

"I-I mean no offense, Princess!" Raven said nervously and scared as she taps her forehooves together. "It was just a slip of the tounge, of course you would have gone to help Twilight if she needed it." Raven chuckled nervously while putting on an obvious forced smile. "I'm sorry for bringing it up!" Raven takes another sip of her tea. "So, what happens next in the story?" She said trying to change the subject.

Raven's nervousness did not go unnoticed by Celestia. Sure, it was clearly obvious from how she instantly reverted back to her old self, to calling her Princess instead of using her real name, whenever she gets like this. Although Raven have indeed changed and become more confident and carefree over the year, there are still times where she would start acting like the shy, scared, little mare when the two of them first met and this usually happens when something's bothering her.

Celestia knew immediately that something on Raven's mind was getting to her the second The Sun Princess asked what the unicorn wanted to talk about. The way she tried to hold back a cough after just taking a bite of the small sandwich, made Celestia realize that there was clearly something Raven really wanted to talk about but tried to play it off by wanting to talk about Twilight as they usually do during these tea times and the way she acted after asking her that earlier question about helping Twilight all but confirms it.

Celestia had a pretty good idea what Raven wanted to talk about, and she wanted to bring it up but decided against it, for now. She didn't want to push her friend and make her feel even more uncomfortable than she already is, so Celestia decided to drop the subject for now and wait for the right moment to bring it up. Until then, she will just continue her story.

Celestia cleared her throat. "Well! By using the power of the amulet, Trixie easily defeats Twilight in their duel and banish her from Ponyville, she then created a giant glass dome and sealed the town inside and enslaved its citizens."

"She enslaved the entire town?" Raven asked in shock. "That's terrible! I understand she's angry at how ponies treated her but that's no excuse to punish Ponyville for it?"

"It's no doubt that the news of her mishaps started in Ponyville and spread to the other towns one way or another, because of this she deemed Ponyville to be just as responsible for her misery."

"But still she doesn't know how the rumors spread or who spread them! For all we know a pony visiting Ponyville that day told the story to his friends when he got back to his town." Raven suggested.

Celestia shrug. "True! But I guess we'll never know." She said while refilling her cup of tea.

"So, what happened next? What did Twilight do and how was she able to stop Trixie?"

"Twilight went to Zecora for help, while she was training her magic with her, the mane 5 and Spike was able to find a book telling them about the alicorn amulet and because of its magical lock only Trixie can take it off. So, they sent Fluttershy to go find Twilight and deliver the news to her."

"How was she able to get pass the dome?" Raven asked.

"With the help of some beavers!" Celestia answered. "She hid inside a log they were carrying and alerted Trixie to their location by smacking the magical dome with their tails. Seeing the problem, Trixie let beavers out with their log and a small flock of birds had to carry a very scared Fluttershy to where Twilight is, she then told Twilight about the amulet."

“What was Fluttershy even afraid of?” Raven asked.

“The Ever free Forest!” Celestia answered. “But she did brave it, so she can tell Twilight what was going on, so she can come up with plan.”

"It must have been very hard for Twilight to come up with a plan to defeat Trixie and get her take off that amulet?" Said Raven

"Actually, it was super easy, barely an inconvenience!"

"Oh, really!"

"Mmm, hmm! Thanks to Zecora's wisdom all Twilight needed to do was use her friends, so she immediately came up with plan and sent Fluttershy back into Ponyville to tell the others!" Celestia takes another sip of her tea.

"How did Fluttershy get pass the dome without alerting Trixie?" Raven asked.

That question gave Celestia paused as she tried to search her memories for an answer. "Huh! I don't know! Twilight never said how Fluttershy got back inside the dome, only that she wrote down her plan on paper, gave it to her, and she left......maybe she got back in the same way she got out!?"

"That would be suspicious as well as weird! Why would the beavers want to bring a log back into town? Sell it at the market?" Raven questioned. "Trixie may be corrupted by the amulet but that doesn't mean she's stupid."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you Raven, maybe you should ask Fluttershy the next time you see her!"

"Ok, I will!"

(Memory paused)

Raven rubs her chin in thought. "Huh! You know I never did ask you that question, Fluttershy." Raven turned around to face her opponent in this heated debate. "I know you and I are enemies right now but let's put all that aside for the moment and can you please tell me how you got pass Trixie's dome the second time?" Raven asked nicely.

"Yes Fluttershy! How did you do it?" Asked Celestia.

Fluttershy shrug. "It wasn't anything special, I just dug under it!" She answers.

"You dug under it?" Raven asked.

"Well not by myself, I asked Mr. and Mrs. Gopher for help! They're very strong diggers so making a simple tunnel large enough for me fit through was no problem since they didn't have to dig far." Fluttershy rub the back of her head. "Although I had to take a quick bath afterwards."

"Huh! Well, thank you for sharing Ms. Shy!" Raven turned back around facing the screen.

"Uhh, you're welcome!" Fluttershy said a bit nervously. She didn't know exactly how to react to how nice Raven was acting right now. She was more use to the mean Raven she grew to know since this whole debate started it and it made the yellow pegasus wish that was the nice Raven she was dealing with instead of the mean one.

"Now don't take my moment of kindness to literally, Ms. Shy," Raven adjusted her glasses. "I just wanted an answer to a simple question, no more no less. You and I are still enemies in this debate, and I still plan on showing you all why Discord should be punished."

Fluttershy let out a depressing sigh. "I know!" She whispered in understanding, knowing full well that despite the Raven she'd been watching in the memory isn't the Raven sitting before her now.

With nothing more to say Raven lit her horn and was about to unpaused the memory until.

"WAIT!" Smolder cried out, stopping Raven from resuming the memory. "I have something I need to say to you?"

Raven groaned in annoyance. "What is it Ms. Smolder?" She asked as she turned to face the orange female dragon.

"I just want to know what your deal is?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is why are you even doing all this?" Smolder asked. "Ever since the start of this debate, I thought you were just a cruel, cocky, self-righteous, SMART ASS!!!"

Fluttershy gasp. "SMOLDER! Language, young lady!" She said sternly.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy but someone had to say it!" Smolder apologize.

"Still, that's no excuse for such language." Said Fluttershy.

"Oh, just let her speak her mind Ms. Shy!" Raven said. "After all, if I was given permission to speak freely, I don't see why not extend that to everyone involved in this debate and besides I'm willing to bet she speaks such language in front of her friends, and they don't care."

Ocellus nodded. "She does and we don't, the same goes for Gallus sometimes and the rest of us accept them despite that, after all we spent enough time together to really get to know one another, so no harm no foul."

Fluttershy let out a defeated sigh. "I understand what you mean Ocellus. Rainbow and Applejack are the same way and the rest of us treat them no different......Fine," Fluttershy turns to Smolder. "Just at least try to keep the swearing to a minimum, please."

Smolder saluted. "Will do, Fluttershy!" Both females turned to face Raven. "Now what I wanted to say is why you're hung strung on wanting to punish Discord so much? As I mentioned earlier, I thought you were just a jerk but after seeing you in your memory, you were actually a pretty cool pony, someone I could respect if I got to know you more but the Raven in that video is nothing like the Raven I see standing before me now and I want to know why?"

"I don't know what you mean!" Raven said nonchalantly. "I'm just trying to open all of your eyes to the truth that Discord is still and will always be a monster who will bring doom to this world if he isn't stop and as for the me you see in the memory, I'm still the same mare I was back then, I haven't changed at all."

"Yes, you did!" Said Celestia stepping up to stand next to Smolder. "You have changed Raven, I noticed it for years now, and I know you been trying to hide it." Celestia sighed. "Just like how I knew you seriously wanted to ask me something in the memory, but I waited for the proper time to bring it up. You and I have been friends for a long time, and I know when Something's bothering you. For the past five years you been acting strange, I thought I knew why at first but remembering how distant you've been towards Discord and seeing how you're acting towards him now, tells me that something bad happened between you two and I for the life of me don't know what it is."

That last part caught everyone by surprise. What exactly was Celestia talking about?

Smolder speaks. "I knew it, I had a feeling there was more to this than you been letting on." She snarls. "It was clear from the start; I can understand your reasons for why you think Discord should be punished after all he did do a bad thing but even after Fluttershy explained why she and the others forgave him you've been pushing really hard to make sure your point gets across. Not to mention how angry you were when he wasn't being punished, and I don't see why you would be that mad unless there was a reason for it. Like you have some kind of personal grudge to settle with him!"

The crowd surrounding the debaters began murmuring to themselves about what Smolder just said, she was right after all. Everyone remembered how angry Raven was when she first called out for everycreature to stop leaving, as she then explained what Discord did. Sure, anyone can understand why she needed to expose his crimes but why was she so angry when she was told he was pardon for his crimes? Why push so hard to ensure all his wrong doings were revealed? Some creatures even noticed the death glare she gave the draconequuss, so why does she hate him so much?

Raven adjusted her glasses then calmly spoke. "Whatever you think you believe about me Ms. Smolder, I assure you they are false." Smolder snorted, not believing the unicorn words. "I have no grudge against Discord, I just learned what he did and piece together why he did it. It's not my fault you all refuse to see reason and blindly ignore all he has done, which begs the question why are you defending him in the first place, Ms. Smolder?"

Smolder raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She asked although she could tell Raven was just trying to change the subject, a part of her was highly curious to hear what the glasses wearing mare had to say.

Ocellus speaks up. "Oh, come on Smolder, she's obviously talking about when Discord came to the friendship school to mess everything up for no good reason," she pointed out. "Remember, it was the same day he'd trick The Mane Six into going on that fake friendship quest just so he can freely mess around. He caused nothing but grief and trouble for Starlight and us students, he even put some of us in danger by sicking a bug bear on us." She said as she stomps her hoof on the ground to emphasize her point.

The crowd gasped in horror at what they just heard. They soon started murmuring about, how could anyone endanger children lives like that. There were even those who were actually taking Raven's side as they voice their opinions, others were still on Fluttershy's side as they believed that there must be a good explanation and those on The Unicorn's side were jumping to conclusions, and there were those who were still on the fence about the whole thing, not entirely convinced which side they should choose.

The crowd grew silent when Ocellus resumed speaking. "And let's not forget one major important fact!"

"Which is?" Asked Smolder.

"That at the end of the day when Starlight "thought" she'd figured out Discord's problem, she wanted to make him temporary vice headmare and we the young six didn't like the idea of him being vice headmare, temporary or not and yes that includes you and to prove it," Ocellus turns to face Raven. "Do you think you can use your memory spell on me, I know we still have your memory to still go through, but I really want to prove my point just as well, if only I was present for all of Discord's mishaps then I show everyone, everything he did that day!"

Raven smiled. "Actually, I can use the spell on multiple creatures at once, although too many would be quite exhausting all I need is at least one creature who's been there during at least one of Discord's incursions and my spell will combined the memories together in a fluent motion. Any creature you know who have seen at least one of Discord's mishaps?" Raven asked.

"Well besides me, theirs of course Starlight and Spike, and either Yona, Sandbar, or SilverStream would do!" Said Ocellus.

Raven nodded before turning to Spike. "Mr. The Dragon, you mind helping us out with or little project?"

Spike sighed. "Yeah, sure!" He said as flew up to stand next to Ocellus.

Raven then turned her attention to the rest of the young six. "So, which one of you three wants to-" before Raven could finish her sentence, Silverstream flew up into the unicorn's face.

"Ohh me, me choose me, I want to try getting mind read!" Silverstream said super excitedly.

"Ok! Just go stand next to Ocellus!" Raven pointed behind her.

Silverstream did as she was told and stood excitedly next to her friend.

Raven took a moment to compose herself before her horn begins to glow. She looks at the three creatures standing before her and asked. "Are you all ready?"

They all nodded and stood stood firm. Raven fired three separate beams at each of their foreheads and soon a giant screen appeared above them, and the events of their shared memories played for all to see.

Raven closes the screen the second the memories were done, making disappear so that only her own memory screen remained. Spike and Silverstream went back to their spots after Raven thank them and said they were free to go.

"And as added bonus everyone got to see how the Mane six look after returning from the fake friendship mission that Discord trick them into going on, as I've mentioned earlier before!" Said Raven as she then turned to Ocellus and raise a hoof to her. "Good work Ocellus, I knew you and I would make a great team."

Ocellus smiled and hoof bump Raven's hoof. "Thanks Raven, I'm happy to help."

After the two finished their hoof bump, Smolder spoke. "Don't pat yourselves on the back just yet, now it's my turn!"

"And what could you possibly add," Ocellus argued. "You saw it yourself as well as remembered everything Discord did to us that day, so I don't understand why you want defend someone who nearly hurt your friends!?"

"And you're right he did nearly hurt my friends and yes the Bugbear was going too far even though we weren't in any real danger cause Discord wouldn't actually hurt us."

"Tell that Yona!?" Ocellus countered.

"Yeah! Mean bear bug, nearly hurt Yona if Pony teacher, hadn't stop it." Yona said.

"Look I get it! But do you seriously believe that bug bear was actually going to hurt anyone or that Discord would have allowed such a thing to happen?" Asked Smolder.

"No, he wouldn't!" Ocellus answered. "But that doesn't excuse endangering others in the first place, which he always does and did now with The L.O.D. so I asked again why are you defending him!?"

"Because of what Starlight taught us!" Smolder answered. "Don't you remember Ocellus she shared her story about her past with us and how her life became better after Twilight forgave her and took her in as her student. It was all a part of the lessons we learned about forgiveness and understanding, and by remembering she had to understand Discord's problem, she was able to forgive him as well, you saw it yourself in the memory. Yeah, I to didn't want Discord to be Vice Headmare even if it was temporary but I remembered everything we learned about friendship and being able to forgive your friends for their mistakes is a strong part of that and Fluttershy is here doing just that and I wanted to help her save her friend, after all we forgave him after he apologized for messing up the school."

"True, but that was before I figured out that he lied about his reasons for causing trouble at the school in the first place. As I've mentioned before Starlight "thought" she knew what Discord problem was." Said Ocellus.

"And what make you think that Ocellus?" Asked Starlight.

"Think about it, you thought Discord felt left out when he was never asked to help with the school!" Ocellus shakes her head. "But now I can say without a doubt that he was lying!"

"And how was Discord lying?" Asked Starlight.

"Easy! He never showed up to apply for the job of Vice-Headmare that you were interviewing other applicants for!" Ocellus answered.

Raven spoke. "Which would have made sense for him to do, seeing how he just wanted to be a part of the school and help out!"

"Yet he never did, despite going to trouble to get rid of the Mane six, which he only did so he can take over the school in the first place!" Said Ocellus.

"And don't even think for a second that he didn't know about you, Ms. Glimmer!" Said Raven. "After all, do you really think that Twilight would have left the school without someone to look after it while she was gone?"

"It was obvious she was going to ask you to do it and besides if Discord really wanted to run the school himself for a day, why didn't he just send you along with the others? You've been called by the map before including Spike!"

Raven adjusted her glasses. "It's clear that he needed you there, so the school would remain open or else Twilight would have to close it for the day, and she would have to announce that to the students, which means-"

"That it would be difficult for him to convince us into breaking into the school when we know, we're not supposed to be there." Ocellus finished.

"So, in conclusion Discord didn't care about being a part of the school at all-"

"He just wanted to goof around, and he couldn't do that with the Mane six there, especially you Fluttershy!" Ocellus said as she pointed to the mare in question. "Do you honestly believe he would have done the things he did if you were there?"

Fluttershy didn't answer.

"Of course not, and if Discord wanted to be a part of the school so badly, why didn't he just asked? He could have just talked to Twilight about it!"

Now that's the "key" statement to this entire debate, but we're not at that point yet. Raven thought.

"I mean she was the headmare and is Discord's friend so why do what he did and cause all that trouble and endangered us students just because he was never asked to be a part of the school, when all he simply had to do was talk to Twilight about it?

It was hard to tell because she was keeping a calm neutral face, cause Raven was trying really hard to hold back her laughter. Not to mock Ocellus, oh no, she just couldn't believe how everything was coming together so perfectly for her. Who knew that the incident at School of Friendship would pretty much resemble the whole mess that is Discord Legion of doom plan. It took everything Raven had just not burst out laughing right then and there, as well as bring up her own theory about why Discord even came up with his stupid plan to begin with but that would have to wait for theirs something very important, she needed to take care of first and she can't deal with it until after her memory is finished.

As much as she is enjoying this little side trip, Raven hopes to get back on the main track soon for there is still a lot to do.

Starlight tried to say something, anything to come up with a reason for Discord's actions but couldn't, cause no matter how hard she tried to, she can't deny that Ocellus was right. If Discord wanted to be a part of the school, he could of just talk to Twilight about it and if he really did care all that much, he would have at least showed up to try and get the job as Vice-Headmare, even if he didn't get the job, he could have made a great teacher after all he's always testing and teaching others in his own unique way so it would have been perfect. As she realized all this, Starlight bowed her head in defeat.

Raven speaks up. "I believe that's enough of that! As entertaining this has been I say it's time we get back to my memory!"

"Now just one minute I still have questions for you!" Said Smolder.

Raven sigh. "I don't want to answer any more of your questions, right now! I'm done wasting time with your questions! Whatever it is you want to ask can wait until later." Raven said, she then turned around facing her memory screen and lit her horn, preparing to unpause it.

Smolder cross her arms as she stood defiant. "Fine! I don't need you to answer my question when I could just ask someone else." Hearing that gave Raven paused, as she stops trying to resume the memory. Smolder notice this and smirk smugly as she was able to get one over the smart-ass mare, even if it was a little but one could wonder what would happen if the orange dragon pushed further.

Smolder haven't forgotten what Celestia said when she mentioned that Raven had been distancing herself from Discord, which could only mean the two know each other and were close in some way but what was their relationship? Theirs was only one other pony who knew the answer to that question.

"Princess Celestia!" Smolder call out to the mare still sitting next to her.

"Yes!" Celestia replied.

"Earlier you mentioned that Raven been distancing herself from Discord, so I asked you, what was their relationship?" Asked Smolder.

"Well, you see Raven and Discord use to be-"

"I would rather you keep personal business that are not your own to yourself, Celestia." Raven interrupted. Her back was still facing those behind her, not bothering to look them in the eye as she speaks. "There's no reason to bring up such trivial things and I'm not in the mood to answer any more questions at the moment, so drop it!"

"But Raven-" Celestia didn't even get to finish as Raven quickly turned around and stared at her old friend with hate filled eyes and screamed.

"I SAID DROP IT!" Raven yelled in anger. Once again shocking everyone with her rage and causing everyone to recoil from the sudden outburst.

But that's not the only thing her anger did. For unknown to everyone else, the changelings felt a moment of slight pain the second Raven's rage burst out. It was quick, gone in a second but it still left a cause for concern, for this wasn't the first time every Changeling felt this pain today.

It happened earlier before the debate, when Raven was arguing with Fluttershy and Celestia about Discord's pardon for his crimes and because Changelings can sense and feel other creatures' strong emotions, Raven's anger both back then and now couldn't be miss. Normally a changeling would have to be close enough to someone to feel their emotions, even then the emotion has to be strong enough to feel without a Changeling trying to sense it.

But Raven emotions could be felt by every Changeling in the crowd no matter how far they were, and it worried them as to why the unicorn rage caused them a bit of pain in the first place as something like that have never happened before.

Even Ocellus notice the slight pain she felt from Raven's anger once again, but she didn't let it bother her, for she does remember from earlier that she also felt great sadness from her partner a very strong and deep sadness that made her want to cry even if she didn't know why. All she knows that it clearly had something to do with Discord, he must have done something horrible to Raven, when it happened, she could not say and the mare refusal to even talk about her connections with the Draconequuss is more than enough proof to say that something indeed did happen.

Thinking about it was probably the reason why Raven accepted her request to team up to take down Discord. She remembered how Raven look at her with eyes of understanding and as smart as she is the unicorn mare knew exactly why Ocellus wanted bring Discord down they were both kindred spirits in a way. The only difference was that Discord did something to hurt Raven and almost done the same for Ocellus.

The young Changeling may not know what turned the once kind and happy mare she saw in the memory to the sad, rage filled one standing next to her, but there's one thing she did know, she understood her pain enough know that whatever did happen to Raven could have just as easily happened to Ocellus and it's all because Discord never bothered to think about the possible consequences of his actions.

Raven let out a few deep breaths to calm herself before speaking. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to resume the memory so we can get on with this debate and I'm not going to pause the memory again for any reason from here on out, so whatever questions you have can wait till the end." Raven gave a stern glare at Fluttershy's group. "Do I make myself clear!"

The just group nodded, not wanting to make her angrier.

Raven adjusted her glasses. "Good! Now let us continue!" Raven turned back around and lit her horn as she ready to start the memory back up.

Smolder just stood there silently with her arms cross and just watch the memory once it started again. She was irritated that Raven refuse to talk about her past with Discord for she thought if she did then maybe, just maybe she could find a way to help the unicorn, after all helping others is a part of the magic of friendship and it was clear enough to Smolder that Raven was indefinite need of it, she just needed to know understand why the mare is so angry at Discord that also includes Ocellus as well, for Smolder knows she's hiding her true reasons for joining Raven's side and no doubt Discord is this cause, if only she figure out what it is.

Smolder was in deep thought until she heard a voice calling out to her.

"Smolder!? Smolder can you hear me?"

Smolder recognize the voice instantly and slowly turned her head to look up at the one still sitting next to her. "Princ-"

"Shhh! Don't speak with mouth but with your mind and keep your attention forward and on the screen, we don't want Raven catching on to us. She does not know about this old spell I haven't used in so long, but she'll definitely guess what's happening!"

Smolder did all what Celestia told her to do, then spoke with her mind. "Ok! I definitely have some questions about this, but I don't think you have much time for that?

"You are correct, Smolder the telepathy spell I'm using isn't good for long conversation, nor is it perfect and I can only hold it for 6 minutes at most."

"Got it! So, let's get straight to point you want to tell me what's Discord's connection with Raven?"

"Yes, and hopefully later we could find the time to discuss more on it and figure out what wrong with Raven and why she hates Discord so much!" she said sadly.

"I too want to know and if we can understand that then maybe we can help her!"

"You want to help her."

"I do! It's not difficult to tell that under all that cockiness and rage, is very hurt mare who's using this L.O.D. mess Discord started as a means to get back at him for something."

"I've noticed it too, back when she first yelled at me. The pain in her eyes, just what happened to her? What happened between those two to cause all this? Why does Raven want her "friend" punish so badly?

"Wait! What!?"

(sigh) "That's what Raven's trying so hard to keep hidden from everyone, that both she and Discord use to be such good friends!"

............WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!

DISCORD AND RAVEN USE TO BE FRIENDS?

I sure didn't see that coming (although I'm the one writing the story.)

It would seem things are getting a bit more complicated and who knows how things will turn out.

Can Smolder actually help Raven or would the problem be too big for her solve?

We can only wait and see.