The Heart Of Avarus
By Daniel Bennett
If one were to journey far enough to the West they would come across a sea of black, a sea of death. This entire region has no wildlife except for one creature, because of one creature. The ground, the trees and the singular mountain have been charred black over the course of time uncountable. For nearly as long there has been no living thing that would dare to enter the remains of the forest, nor enter the mountain itself. But this would be the day when that and a great many other things would change forever.
The wind had been the sole lover to the ashes on the ground, it's delicate touch the only thing to make marks. Every step she took left an imprint in the them, and each imprint left became more noticeable the closer she got to the mountain. As the figure reached the entrance to the mountain she couldn't help but notice the stark contrast between her path and everywhere else. Inside her pinged a tinge of regret and fear that the wind might be jealous and exact revenge, but these thoughts were put aside as she steeled herself for the task ahead.
The tunnels here echoed with every step sending a chill up her spine but was soon followed by relief as she felt a hot breeze on her face that would ebb and flow. This was surely a sign that the task ahead could be completed as the breeze was created by a slumbering monster in the center of the mountain. The echoing of her footsteps were negligible because she knew that it would not be enough to wake the beast, at least not from this far away.
The heat was the first thing that she noticed, it had been creeping up on her since she entered the mountain but now that she had reached the center it was only barely within her ability to withstand it. The second thing that came to attention was exactly what she expected to be here. Tucked away in every crevice in sight were treasures of gold and jewels unrivaled by any kingdom. These riches however were but trinkets to her real goal and thus were ignored. The real treasure that she had her eyes set on was a fiery red gem that was nearly entirely circled by scales. These scales of course belonged to their guardian of legend which to everyone but the intruder was simply that, a legend.
Slowly she wound her way through the piles of treasure, careful not to disturb anything lest the gold or gems tumble down and spell her doom. Her pace slowed even more as she was only meters away from the slumbering giants head and it's equally terrifying tail adorned with razor sharp spikes. As the threshold was reached, the closest the thief would end up to the dragon's head before claiming her prize, she froze. Stopped in her tracks because something else had stopped, the dragon's breath. Moments went by as she was unable to move until at last she dared to turn her head. Without warning a huge gust of breath had hit her and knocked her over. If she hadn't put a few feet between her and the beasts tail then she would of ended up a little too friendly with those spikes. She had thought it fruitless luck anyways because the monster would surely gobble her up now. Yet nothing happened besides the return of it's slow and steady breathing. Her heart was pounding like a stampede as she realized that she was still safe for the moment, however she decided not to press her luck and picked herself up to walk towards the jewel at last.
Looking at the prize seemed to make her more aware of the treasures around her. She found herself lost, gazing at the gold all around her. Moments or ages later, she couldn't tell, she stole herself away from the sight and placed it in her pouch. With nerves shot nearly beyond repair she retraced her steps without incidence until she was at the edge of the dead forest. With a final step she left that place, and the next step lead her towards her next goal, Ponyville.
At the center of a dead forest is a burning mountain. At the center of this mountain is a horde of treasure beyond dreams. At the center of this treasure is a slumbering dragon of legend. Finally at the center of this dragon is The Heart Of Avarus, a gem like no other. This jewel had originally been clear and was simply called The Heart but as soon as it fell into the hands of the dragon it began to absorb it's essence. Since then it has become a thing of greed, an extension of the desires which dragons are cursed with. Never again would this heart be anything else.