The Heart Of Avarus
Chapter 4
By Daniel Bennett
Getting up was the last thing that Twilight wanted to do. Her body, magic and mind were all drained as the images slowly returned to her of her memory of the events leading up to this. She was at odds with herself, part of her wanted to lay there and wallow in her guilt of not being able to help. A smaller part urged herself to get up, to not give up.
The smaller part won out in the end thanks to the towering figure that stood above her, mustering her on. "Please stand Twilight" asked Princess Celestia. Tension was clear in her voice which made Twilight feel even worse because her majesty had always spoken in a soft tone. "Thank you for your efforts Twilight regardless of the outcome, I know you did your best. Which is why it shames me to ask you for more." Twilight turned her head to the side. It was shocking for the young mare to hear that, never did she expect Celestia to feel shame, she always made the right choice, it was as if she could do no wrong.
Trying to clear her head Twilight gazed at her surroundings, they were on a hill just outside of Ponyville. The princess turn to her side and also looked upon the destruction that swept over the town. Fires were still burning and the citizens hadn't yet evacuated so she couldn't have been out for very long. The Princess waited for Twilight to compose herself before continuing. "Do not worry about Ponyville dear Twilight, your friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are bringing over rainclouds to fight the fire. Assisting are a few able pegasi from Ponyville and any ones that were available from Cloudsdale. I have also brought my royal guards to assist with the evacuation." Listed Celestia as Twilight patiently waited. She glanced at the alicorn and studied her face, it still looked full of worry. Either there was something she wasn't letting on about or the tough part was yet to come.
Suddenly a question dawned on her "What about the rest of my friends? Please tell my they're okay!" She took a step forwards accentuating her impatience for the answer. Celestia turned her head to Twilight and gave her a soft smile worn by a weary face "They are all right, but I can't say they aren't in danger. Pinkie pie, Applejack and Rarity have gone to the West, their goal is to undo what happened to Spike and bring him back." She waited for the younger mare's interjection. "If there's anypony that can help Spike I know it's Rarity. But you have to know Princess Celestia that this time is different, I tried to reason with him but he didn't even speak. I couldn't see the slightest bit of the dragon we love inside of him." Warned Twilight with a hint of despair. She had hoped that her smile would stay, that she would tell her everything would be alright but instead Twilight caught It disappearing and the princess turned her head back towards the town.
"That would be the third thing that I wanted to inform you of. I had my guards ask for information from anypony that saw what happened. From what I gather I believe this to be the work of The Heart of Avarus. It became a powerful gem when it was corrupted Avarus. When somepony has this gem they are touched by this greed, it takes a much greater hold on dragons though because of their affinity for treasure." Explained the Princess as she seemingly danced around the conclusion that she wanted to make.
"But how did something like that end up in Ponyville? shouldn't it be out to the west with that dragon?" questioned the young mare. "Yes it should, which brings me to the last point before I must send you on your way. We have witness's that tell us that they saw Trixie at your home before this all happened. She gave spike something that looked very close to what they saw the adult version of spike carrying. She was last seen boarding the train to Canterlot. I'm afraid I must ask you to go there on the next train of evacuee's and retain her until I get there." her words sounded more militant as she got to what Twilight was supposed to do, surely it was a sign of just how important it was.
She was still shaken from all this news coming to her at once, but it was a chance to do something right. Twilight closed her eyes and calmed herself before responding. "I thought that Trixie would have learned her lesson by now, and I never would have thought she could do something like this. I swear to you princess, I will not give her any more chances, I WILL find her". her rage at the great and powerful traitor was reaching it's crescendo. "Please keep her there until I return and nothing more. She has done much to hurt everyone but things will be taken care of in due time. Even though I'm asking you to refrain from doing anything you'll regret, I DO have faith in you my dearest student." The tension in her voice was gone, replaced with sorrow. Maybe it was all too much for her, despite being an Alicorn she's still a pony like anypony else.
They exchanged silent goodbye's as equal's that understood each other's pain. Twilight then used what stamina she had regained to dash towards the train station. There were plenty of things to worry about but she couldn't think about any of them, her mind was focused on her counterpart unicorn. It still baffled her how Trixie could have fallen to this. What could she possibly gain? is it simply for pride? she was always very full of herself, she always talked in the third person referring to herself as "The Great and Powerful Trixie". Like a broken dam the questions kept flooding into her mind. Could she be after something else? shouldn't she be trying to get far away from here? why go to Canterlot? what could she possibly want there!? The last question was a cliff, after that they stopped and left her mind blank except for a conclusion. She must be after the Elements of Harmony, maybe so we wouldn't be able to stop Spike or perhaps for some other plan. It didn't matter, Twilight had a place to start her search and that was all she needed.