Intermission Sibling Highway

During our flight back home, about a mile away from the hive, I initiate a conversation with Carve.

“Carve, I’m very disappointed with you. This was my first interview in Canterlot. Are you sure this couldn’t wait? And who were you mimicking anyway? He looked familiar.”

“I’m so… sorry Chrysalis. Someone had a scroll that looked like a spell. And I think I remember seeing him during my childhood. Didn’t he used to say to one of his friends ‘stop hitting yourself; why are you hitting yourself’?”

I gasp. i know exactly who Carve is talking about. “Those two were not friends. They were brothers.”

“Brothers?”

“Remember what happened while I was exiled from the hive?”

“Thorax? He had a brother? Neat.”

“I suppose now that Pharynx is the only one of his family left, he’s about to try and save Thorax any way he can.”

“Oh come on, Chrysalis. Everyone grieves, but I doubt that grief means finding a way to save loved ones that are already dead.”

“When you word it like that, it sounds a little ridiculous.”

Carve and I fly into the throne room. However, coming in, someone is already on the throne: the changeling that Carve imitated during the interview: Pharynx. He has a scroll just like Carve said.

“Welcome home Chrysalis!” He lights his horn onto the scroll, which makes the throne glow.

“What are you doing Pharynx?” Carve harshly inquires.

“I’d tell you, but good ol’ Chrysalis wouldn’t wanna know.” Pharynx crumples up the scroll and throws it past us. “Won’t be needing these instructions anymore.”

Suddenly, a wind starts blowing throughout the throne room. Above the throne, a portal appears with a teal colored highway inside. Then, he starts flying into the portal, which closes. At the same time, the wind stops.

“How in the… what did he do?” I ask, more or less to myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, Carve approaches the crumpled up scroll. “I guess we could start finding out with this.”

“Wait! Carve! Don’t float tha-”

Both of us scream as the wind reprises, picks us up and takes us to the portal. Once in, Carve holds on to me for dear life as we speed through the highway. Suddenly, we see an opening that indicates we’re near the end of the trip. The wind is gone, so now we regain flight.

I take a look at my surroundings.

“Hm… it looks like my throne room, only exposed to the elements.”

“You don’t think we…” Carve starts before the scroll from before glides around us. She catches it with her magic. “We did.”

“Oh… no. Thorax is around. Wait, is that me?” I look around the hive and spot someone at the edge of the greenlands north of the hive.

Carve gasps. “I know this part. This was when Thorax was overthrown,” Carve realizes. “Should we get a good view of that moment? Or should we-”

Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! I know that scream anywhere. It seems slightly shorter than I remember though.

I sigh with disappointment. I was hoping to see Thorax’s literal downfall. “Looks like it’s too late for that now, doesn’t it?”

“Why did Pharynx travel to now? There is no way he coul-” I interrupt Carve by flaring my wings. “Oh, right. Then why didn’t Thorax fly to try and save himself?”

Now that was scary! Thank you so much Pharynx! I owe you a vacation! Pharynx and Thorax arrive at my old throne room, completely unaware of me and Carve’s presence.

I leap forward towards Pharynx and stomp on the floor with all four hooves. “What did you do?!?”

“What do you think?” Pharynx answers, turning to me.

Before I can say anything, the wind picks up and takes me and Carve through that time-highway. When we land back in the present, we crash into the throne with the other me barely dodging us. This is probably going to get confusing.

“C-Carve? Where’d you come from?” this present’s version of me asks. “And is that m-me?”

I wave at the me from this present. “Huh. I thought I would be at the interview.”

“Well, that solves that. Carve, care to explain what happened?”

“I think. See Chrysalis and I were sucked into some sort of highway, and before we knew it Thorax ended up getting saved from that fall he had.”

“Ah! I see what you mean. I hear Pharynx is a hero for that in Equestria. I don’t fault the ponies for it.”

I gasp. There’s hope. I’m still friends with Equestria. “Not for us he isn’t. And probably not for this present’s Pharynx either. Where is Twilight?”

“She should be in Ponyville. You know the way, right Carve? Other me?” Carve and I nod. “Then come back when you’re finished here.”

Spike and I are coordinating a new frame in the throne room. I hold the frame with my magic so it doesn’t fall, while Spike is moving his claws where I tell him.

“A little higher on the left… now on the right… a little more.”

While I’m instructing, the throne room door opens. I look to see who it is. I gasp at the sight. My magic fades from sight as I run to the visitors with joy.

“Carve?!? Chrysalis?!? It’s so good to see you two! What are you doing here?”

Chrysalis and Carve seem a little out of breath. But Carve comes forward first. “It’s a long… story.”

“We couldn’t find Starlight or Aita, but we knew you and Spike would be here.”

“Aita? Last I knew he was still in Wisconsin with Carina and Kuma.”

Chrysalis and Carve jump in shock. “Kuma?!?”

“Aita’s baby brother?”

“Chrysalis, this is amazing! Carina survived?!? How?!?”

“Carve, you of all changelings should remember. We brought Thorax to Carina’s world and he shared his love with her.”

“Not where we come from. Carina died in my hooves mid-hug. I’m still traumatized by that event a month and a half in.”

Spike drops the frame on the floor. “Huh. Didn’t that sound familiar Twilight?” he inquires, prompting a nod from Twilight.

“Yeah, it did. But I thought the map got rid of that spell. How can this be?”

“I think Chrysalis and I owe you one. Pharynx must’ve recreated it to go back in time to save Thorax, but for whatever reason, that action also saved my best friend’s life, not to mention that egg. As amazing as it is to find out how much better off everyone is here, that might not be the case if we try and fail to get our timeline back.”

Carve shows the spell we’ve been talking about. My eyes widen, it’s almost exactly the same. Only difference is that it seems to take the user back, and not the activator.

“Wait Carve, it’s not amazing for all of them. If memory serves me right, Aita was the catalyst for the arrest of that racist Superintendent Spitfire.”

“Superintendent Spitfire? Does she work at CHS?” Chrysalis nods at me. “Well then, Chrysalis, Carve, I know how I can help you. The turning point seems to be when Thorax was overthrown. I really hate to do this to the map, but…”

I float the spell next to the map and set it off. Then I give the spell back to Chrysalis and Carve for them to use to go back in time and set things right.