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Change: Avia

by tom117z

Chapter 2: 2 - Princess

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“What were you reading, anyway?” Twilight asked in amusement, placing the book back on the shelf while her daughter had been deposited on her back. “It must have been interesting if it kept you glued to the book all night long.”

“Yeah!” the filly chirped happily, doing a quick joyful jump on Twilight’s back just to convey how interesting it was, and then immediately pretending she didn’t almost slip off.

Twilight chuckled, examining the title on the book’s spine. “So… ‘Prophetic Dreaming’, hm?”

“Yep!” Avia confirmed with a quick nod. “I almost got through it all! There are some really interesting things in there! Have you read it, Mama?”

“I have. I believe it was some point after I first experienced Princess Luna entering my dreams, and I do recall it is a subject she herself holds some interest in,” Twilight confirmed. “So tell me, what did it teach you?”

“Oh, all kinds of things!” Avia stated. The filly then jumped form her mother’s back and landed on the ground, hopping around to face Twilight head on. “It started by talking all about the dream realm and stuff. How someone’s experiences shaped by their rampant imaginations, and only lucid dreamers have any control of what they’re seeing!”

“Go on,” Twilight encouraged, laying down as she gave her eager daughter her undivided attention.

“Uh, and it also said how time is all weird and stuff inside the dream realm. Like, you can have a dream that seems longer or shorter than you’re asleep,” Avia continued, tapping her chin as she thought back to her late night read. “And then sometimes people see important stuff. Things they didn’t imagine.”

“Since time is distorted within the realm, sometimes people can have glimpses of both past and future events from inside it,” Twilight concluded for Avia. “It’s extremely rare to happen, though it’s more likely to transpire in someone who is powerful in the magical arts.”

“Have you ever seen one?” Avia enquired, tilting her head inquisitively.

Twilight shook her head. “No, I have not. I know Princess Celestia has though.”

“Really?”

“She has,” Twilight confirmed. “When Lord Tirek returned, she saw a vision of him stealing a pony’s magic. And it all came to pass.”

“Wow…” Avia hummed in awe. “I know that Princess Luna can control the dream realm. But the book didn’t say much about her.”

“Yes, Luna…” Twilight entered thought for a moment. “I’ve talked the subject over with her. It’s true she can enter the dream realm, and both alter the dreams of those within reach, allow them lucid dreaming or even talk to someone in that state. But when it comes to prophecies and visions, she’s a little murky.”

“Why? Shouldn’t she be able to see them?”

“If she was to have one herself, then yes,” Twilight responded. “But while she was alerted to Celestia’s vision when it occurred, she apparently could not enter it. I guess prophetic dreaming works different than normal dreaming.”

Avia frowned, tilting her head. “Different? Maybe… because time is all warped or something?”

Twilight chuckled, dragging Avia forward with a wing and giving her a nuzzle on the head, causing the nymph to giggle in delight. “You are a smart girl, you know that?”

Avia suddenly gasped. “Oh oh! There’s something I’ve been really wanting to ask you!”

Before Twilight could ask her child for clarification, the young changeling shot up and buzzed into the air. She flew to the top of one of the bookshelves, grabbed a specific book and quickly flew back down to her confused mother. Avia then wasted no time in flicking through the book in search of something, before giving an excited squee of victory as she deposited the open book into her mother’s hooves.

Twilight was almost hesitant to see what had gotten Avia so excited, but the duty of a mother is an endless one…

“…A Book Wyrm?” Twilight questioned Avia with a frown, giving her a quizzical expression. “Why am I looking at a picture of a Book Wyrm?”

“It’s a dragon made from books. From books!” Avia squealed excitedly, prancing in place. “It’s like you took Uncle Spike and made him awesome!”

“Are you saying Spike isn’t?” Twilight teased, getting her daughter to freeze in place. “I’m sure he won’t be offended at all.”

“No no no!” Avia protested, waving her hooves in some vain attempt to placate her mother. “Spike is cool! Mega cool! But… books…”

Twilight couldn’t hold in her amusement, and let her laughter rip its way through the bedroom. It is at this point that Avia realised that Twilight had been pulling her leg, and she crossed her forelegs with a huff and indignation.

“Oh, I’m sorry Avia,” Twilight apologised, but couldn’t hide that amused glint in her eyes. “You just remind me too much of a purple filly I used to know.”

“Really?” Avia questioned. “Was she nice?”

Twilight gave her daughter a bemused look, before shaking her head. “A hoof full, or so I hear. But again, why am I looking at a Book Wyrm?”

“We can make one!” Avia exclaimed. “Please!”

“Avia, we know we have to be going soon,” Twilight reminded the nymph. “I don’t think we have time to be playing around with new spells.”

“Pleeeeeease?” Avia asked again, conjuring the puppy dog eyes. “It’s still early, we have time! Pretty please?”

Twilight sighed, but she felt she had no choice but to relent. It would have to be relatively quick, but it would prevent Avia from pouting for the entire journey to Ponyville at least.

“Alright, let’s see…” Twilight muttered as she stood up and began refreshing herself on what the book had to say about Book Wyrms.

She hummed and nodded as she read up on the spell, not having casted it in years, relaying what she was reading to Avia whenever the bouncing filly asked about it. It wasn’t too complex of a spell, more mid-level if anything, and she was always a prodigy when it came to magic if she were allowed to toot her own horn.

Because Twilight Sparkle would never do that. Ever.

Not at all.

But still, she very quickly had her own time studying such things when she was Celestia’s student all come rushing back to her. She’d been a little older than Avia when she’s approached the Princess of the Sun, who’d helped her master the spell. All those lessons and study sessions flooded back, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile to herself as she felt her confidence in the spell soar.

“Alright, I got this,” Twilight announced, Avia giving a ‘yeep’ of excitement. “I need a book to cast it on, might as well use the spell book itself… Avia, get behind me.”

Avia complied, scuttling over to her mother and standing in between her legs. Finding that being used as a makeshift shelter was acceptable, Twilight allowed her curved horn to light up with lavender magic before reaching out with the aura to envelope the book. The tome began to glow, and it became so bright that all the text and images became illegible as it turned into a miniature lavender coloured star.

Then the book shifted form, twisted and contorting this way and that before launching itself from Twilight grasp and into the air.

And then the pages expanded out, twisting into the form of a small but elongated dragon made entirely from the pages of the book. They could see the book’s text running down the dragon’s body like a large tattoo, the front and back covers forming the jaw filled with jagged shards of papers that were the teeth, liable to maybe scratch a changeling’s chitin or give a pony a paper cut. Two small craters in the face formed eye sockets, and they were filled with a mote of light each the same colour of Twilight’s magic.

“YEE! It worked!” Avia announced in victory, slinking forward from her mother’s legs and looking up at the magic creature. “Hiya, Mr Book Whyrm!”

The spell looked down on Avia as the filly looked up gleefully. But beyond that, it showed little recognition to the Princess’ presence.

“Um, can it hear me?”

“It’s just a book animated by my magic, Avia. It’s not alive,” Twilight answered. “No consciousness of its own. It's just a complete extension of my own will-”

Just as she said that, the Book Wyrm went haywire.

Avia gave a shriek as the creature knocked several books off the shelf towards Avia, Twilight dragging her daughter back beneath her in a nanosecond. The Queen raised a shield around herself and Avia as the Book Wyrm started rushing around the room, crashing into bookshelves and making a general mess of the place. It smashed into the shield a few times, though clearly not in attack but rather in a maddened flurry of rampant magic that had no directive.

Twilight released the shield, her horn glowing brighter as she concentrated. Then, in a flash and a pop, the Book Wyrm contorted and shrank back down to the simple spell book that it had once been. The book then fell and landed on the floor with a thud.

And it had landed right at the hooves of Façade, who had frozen up the moment he walked into the room. He looked down at the book, and then up at his sheepish looking wife and daughter.

“Do I even want to know?” he deadpanned.

“Uh, I may have been a bit rustier than I thought,” Twilight said as she stepped forwards and picked up the book, placing it and the other scattered tomes quickly back to their places on the shelves. “I guess I forgot to give the spell a directive, so it just went haywire. Whoops.”

“Right…” Façade muttered, before looking towards Avia. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“That was… SO AWESOME!” Avia proclaimed, giving her parents a beaming smile. “Can I try next time?”

“Maybe when we come back after the Summer Sun Celebration, Avia,” Twilight answered, looking towards her husband. “I suppose the escort is ready?”

“It is, they’re waiting for us now,” Façade confirmed. “Some of the hive have already left. Carduus just went with his family, so we’ll probably see them on arrival.”

“Good to know,” Twilight said, picking up Avia onto her back and stepping forwards, sharing a nuzzle with her husband. “Shall we go?”

The family of three exited Avia’s room, closing the door behind them. They then made their way through the hive, moving past many more changelings of all kinds of colouration. Blue. Red. Purple. Sometimes it still amazed Twilight, especially when remembering how things used to be when she was Princess of the Badlands Hive.

So very long ago…

“You okay, honey?” Façade asked Twilight, looking up at the Changeling Queen. “You seem distant.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Twilight responded with a shake of her head. “Just remembering when I was young, nothing more.”

“Well, you do look pretty good for a fifty-year-old,” Façade cheekily jabbed.

Twilight shot him a smirk. “So you say, dear. But you’re not so bad yourself, at forty-two.”

Avia stuck out her tongue. “Bleh. You’re giving each other lovey-dovey looks again. Stop.”

Façade laughed. “We’d better then, since we’re embarrassing our daughter so much. Because hives forbid she see her parents showing affection.”

“I can’t even eat love when it’s from a changeling!” Avia complained. “So what’s the point?”

“Love is more than a snack, Avia,” Twilight gently admonished. “You will understand when you’re a bit older.”

“No, I won’t. You’re just weird!”

Both parents looked towards the other, and then they rolled their eyes in practised unison. Whatever Avia said, they knew she would change her tune when the teenage years came about. Every parent’s biggest anticipation and yet worst nightmare was the day their daughter would bring home a coltfriend.

Or marefriend? Well, only time would tell.

That line of thought then led Twilight to another. Namely: what would Chrysalis have thought of Façade if she were alive? And her grandchild? If she were there, with them…

Twilight shook her head to rid herself of that thought. This was Avia’s first Summer Sun Celebration, and Twilight still held extremely fond memories of her own. This was going to be a fun-filled couple of days with friends and family, and there was no room for such depressing things to come creeping into her mind.

Avia, for her part, was ignorant of her mother’s inner ruminations. She just sat comfortably between Twilight’s wings, her own fluttering in anticipation when they finally emerged from the hive and out into the fields of Equestria.

The royal sky carriage was already waiting for the three, with two guards hitched up to the front while three more of the blue armoured drones saluted the Queen as she approached before taking up their positions around the carriage. One of them opened the door for the trio to get inside, and Twilight nodded a quick ‘thank you’ to the drone.

The family got comfortable inside, Avia electing to sit between Twilight’s hooves while the husband and wife sat side by side for the trip to come. Once they were secured, Twilight sent a quick bit of confirmation over the hive mind.

Then, silently, the carriage began to move. For several metres the guards cantered forwards, dragging their precious cargo behind them, before jumping and taking to the air. The enchanted carriage followed them up as if it was as light as a feather, and the three escorts also let loose their wings and took to the skies.

With them fully under way, Avia hopped up and looked eagerly out of the window, seeing the rolling plains passing them by. To see the vast green fields, the infinite expanse of the blue sky and even the distant City of Canterlot sitting atop its mountain… All of it just added to the filly’s jubilation towards the coming event.

And in due course they would be arriving at the town of Ponyville, meeting friends and family alike, all ready to behold the one thousandth and thirty-second Summer Sun Celebration.

Author's Notes:

And so the next chapter in the Change series has begun! And now releasing Saturday, while Fallout is Sundays. A little different than the order I said previously, but eh, plans changed a bit.

This story is going to be far shorter than the others, and is more slice of life over the 'tearing out your hearts' adventures the other two were. At least until the fourth one.

Enjoy the book bug filly! :twilightsmile:

Next Chapter: 3 - Equestria Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes
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