Intermission Sibling Highway

I’m currently on a vacation in Canterlot with Carve for an interview. It’s been approximately 2 days since our trip, and we have until tomorrow before that interview. Our first few practice sessions have been really successful. Carve is with me for that very purpose of practice, us being changelings and our ability to mimic any pony we desire. I’ve gotten quite used to the atmosphere of interviews, a bit musty in places, but it’s nothing like an abandoned mall. Where we’re staying, Carve has been amazing with our practice.

Our room has four windows opposite of the entrance, a queen-size bed for me on the left upon entering, a twin bed for Carve on the right, one side-table for each bed, a desk in front of the window on the left, and a bookshelf of the right. I’m currently sitting at the edge of the queen bed while Carve, impersonating the pegasus stallion that is appointed with me, is flying at eye level with me. The pegasus has a cyan coat with a camera-recorder screen for a cutie mark. The mane and tail are colored yellow with wavy front and back ends.

“So, tell me one of your long-standing favorite activities,” Carve recites from a paper she’s reading at the corner of her eye.

“One, hm?” I take a few seconds to think. “One… one, one… ah! I know. I’ve always had a soft spot for juveniles, even before I became Queen Areola’s student. It would be preposterous to see one of them feeling under the weather. I would always softly sing to them in those cases, and every single time it would lift their mood at least slightly. It developed into one of only a few long-standing habits of mine.”

“If there was anything you could take back, but you were limited to just one, what would it be?”

“Oh, there’s an entire laundry list of regrets I have. But if I was limited to one event I could stop, I would’ve stopped Areola from enacting the Canterlot-Ponyville cross invasion from fourteen years ago. All that time recovering could’ve been spent bonding with my kingdom. The hive could’ve been a much friendlier place, sooner. And I certainly wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of getting dethroned.”

Carve lets the paper go, changes back to her normal form, and begins clapping her hooves. “Now THAT was some practice! You’ve been acing this!”

“You think? Aw, thanks Carve.” I wrap my hoof around Carve in a small hug before letting go. “I certainly hope confidence will be on my side like it was here.”

“I know it will. You’re Queen Chrysalis. If there’s anyone who has auxiliary confidence this strong, it’s you, and it’s finally being put to good use in such a mundane setting.”

“I’m so excited about this. My first time as a proper public figure… I could just… just…” I stop myself from getting too excited, seeing Carve’s disapproving look, emitting a spicy taste. “Okay, it’s just an interview. I can control myself.”

Carve quickly grows a smile. “I know you can.” She hugs me now, so I hug back.

The next morning, Carve and I arrive at the convention hall in Canterlot to meet the interviewer: Sky View, the pony Carve changed into during our practice sessions. Currently, it is getting close to noon, about 11:30 to be exact.

“He must be running late,” Carve remarks.

“Hm… I do find it odd. Normally, they’d be breathing down our necks about schedule, but where is Sky View?”

As we are about to enter, a pegasus comes racing toward us and stops just feet away.

“Sorry I’m late. Long line at the grocery store. But I made sure I brought everything with me: water, script, camera-”

“Quite alright there. You must be Sky View, right?” I ask.

“Absolutely. Now, let’s go in.” Sky View leads the two of us into the main foyer of the building, and to a part of the room that has a table and two chairs. He takes a suitcase out of the saddlebag, a suitcase with a pedal instead a normal handle. Once he presses on it, it springs to life by transforming into a camera-recorder. Getting behind the camera, he adjusts the view so that both he and I can get in the shot. He waves in my direction, then points to Carve with his wing.

“You wouldn’t mind, would you?” I ask Carve, who takes the hint to move out of the shot.

Then Sky View leaps into the air and lands on his chair. “Alright let’s get started. So Queen Chrysalis, you’ve been everywhere in Equestria from what I could gather. What is the most interesting place you’ve been to?”

“That depends; am I restricted to Equestria?” Sky View shakes his head as a no. I beam. “As recently as last month, I went with Princess Twilight’s newest castle resident, Aita, to a realm that fixed my form as a human. It seems to have only equivalent doppelgangers that are either students or faculty at this higher level school. Twilight’s been to that realm longer than me. She’d surely know what that is.”

“Okay. I couldn’t help but notice one of the changelings is with you. Who’s that?”

“Oh her?” I answer. “That’s Carve. She’s the stand-in queen; if something ever happened to me, Carve would temporarily take my place.”

“Ah, so like the Wonderbolts Reserves, right?” I nod. “Next question. What do you do in your free time? I’m aware I’m speaking to queen of the changelings, but surely you’ve got to have at least a little free time, right?”

“Well, ever since it’s been quiet around here, I’ve had ample free time. I’m either moderating some game my changelings play, or I’m on the throne talking to myself about whate’er happens to be on my mind. It could be a wide range of topics, so I won’t go into very much detail.”

While I’m answering the topic of free time, I hear tapping on one of the windows. Carve seems annoyed at the window based on smell, that is until I hear her approaching the window. Suddenly, she gallops back to me. Having now finished, I take a brief glance at her. Why does she look and smell worried? Hah, the show must go on though.

“Is something wrong Queen Chrysalis?”

I turn around to face Sky View. “Oh, it’s nothing. I’m sure we can- ow!” Carve bites my tail to grab my attention. “What?!?” Carve changes into a familiar looking changeling with much more indigo eyes and wings, rolls out an imaginary scroll, then changes back. “So sorry Sky View. I think we’ll need to cut this short. Carve here seems to be alerting me with something more important.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll just pick up at a better time. Sound okay?” I nod as Sky View goes and turns off the camera-recorder, then transforms it back into a suitcase. “See you later, Queen Chrysalis.”

I wave back to him as he leaves. Afterward, I look at Carve in disapproval. Seriously, I was doing okay until she nipped my tail. Because of my glare, Carve is smiling nervously. She knows exactly what she did, and she knows it was wrong to distract me during an interview.