I frown and tear open the strange envelope I have just received in my mail. It doesn't look like fan mail--I've made a deal with the post office that allows me to get it, but not in ten ton sacks--and it doesn't look like junk mail either.
"What's that, TD?" Cheerilee asks, looking up from her paperwork.
"I'm about to find out."
"Who's it from, Daddy?" Comet asks, closing the fridge door behind her with an apple in her hooves.
"Not sure yet. We'll just have to..." I take a letter out of the envelope and unfold it so that I can read it. "Hmm. It looks like its from a magazine."
"Oh, did we win a free cruise to Mexicolt again?" Cheerilee deadpans.
I chuckle and sit down on the couch. "No, nothing like that. They just want to do another interview with me in honor of the third run of my book." I chuckle and toss the letter aside. "Nothing too big."
Comet flies over to me and takes the letter in her hooves so she can read it. "So, why don't you ever do any of those interviews?"
"Well firstly, if I did, I'd have to do a lot of them, and they can get pretty exhausting."
Comet frowns and tilts her head. "But you just sit there and talk. You don't do anything, really. You're not running around."
I smile at Comet and ruffle her mane. "No, not the kind of tiring that means I just need to take a nap, although that certainly helps. I guess a better word would be 'drained.' Traveling around and being the center of attention all of the time takes a lot of energy, even if I'm just sitting there and talking."
"Oh." Comet looks back down at the letter. "But these ponies say they're gonna pay you ten thousand bits if you do."
"Pocket change, Comet," I say with a smile. "When you have millions of bits, ten thousand doesn't seem like too much money."
"Well, you could always give it to someone," Comet replies, giving me Bambi eyes. She's been my daughter for just under a year, so I'm not going to fall for that.
"You already have a good sized allowance, Comet," I respond. "There isn't much you could really do with ten thousand bits, other than a college fund. Or, you could set up a college fund if we hadn't already. We don't need the bits."
"Well, while Comet's motives might be a little selfish..." Cheerilee gives Comet an amused look. "I can't actually fault the idea. We could just donate the money to some charity or organization."
I shrug. "Could do that, yeah."
"It says here that they want to interview all of us, not just you!" Comet grins and flutters her wings in excitement. "That would mean that they'd want to talk to me too!"
"Yes, it would," I agree.
Comet hugs the letter close and hits me with another dosage of Bambi eyes. "We gotta do this, Dad!"
"It would be fun to do just one," Cheerilee chimes in. She rests her head on her foreleg thoughtfully. "I have never been interviewed before."
"Well no, that's not true. You did one for the Ponyville Press a few years back. The one about education standards in Equestria."
"Oh. Yes." Cheerilee facehooves. "Yes, that's right. I did do that. Either way, though, that's still not as interesting as being interviewed in a national magazine. That could be something to write home about to my parents."
"I guess." I chuckle again and look down at the letter still in my daughter's hooves. "So Comet's obviously in favor of it..." Comet nods vigorously. "And you don't sound too opposed either, Cheers." I gently take the letter back and give it another look. "It looks like they'd need us in Manehattan."
"Ooh, we haven't been there since your book came out the first time!" Comet says, clapping her hooves together. "This is gonna be awesome!" Comet puts her forehooves on my arm and once more gives me a pleading look. "Can we go see Phantomare of the Opera when we're there. Pleeeease? And can we also go stay in a really nice hotel with room service?"
"Oh..." I look at Comet, who's giving me her best cute look. Cheerilee has fully stopped doing her paperwork, and is looking at me intensely. At the end of the day they both know I will be the one that's doing most of the work.
But hey, who am I to say no to my wife and daughter.
"Alright. Let's go to Manehattan."
"Yay!" Comet shouts, flying up into the air and doing a backflip. "We're going to Manehattan! We're going to Manehattan!"
"I'll see about getting a substitute for the trip." Cheerilee walks up to me and wraps her forelegs around my neck. "I think we'll have fun."
"I'm sure we will."
"So, what kind of questions do you think they'll ask you?" Cheerilee asks.
I shrug. "I have no idea. I guess we'll see."