//------------------------------//
// 129. The Heart of the Forest 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

        The feeling that was now coursing through Storm’s body as he slowly regained his consciousness was in sharp contrast to the searing pain he had felt prior to losing it. Instead, he now could feel a sensation similar to waking up after a very long night sleep.
        “Where… am I?” he wondered weakly, still in the process of waking up.
        Storm hadn’t opened his eyes yet, he was too weak for that. Instead, his other senses began to register his surroundings.
The first was smell. As soon as he started to regain consciousness, his nose had caught the surrounding aroma of many flowers, as if it was spring and not fall. Mixed with it were the scents of resin, wood, grass and honey.
The second sense that started scanning his location was touch. Storm Clash was laying on a surprisingly comfortable moss and grass. His own bed in the Abbey’s barracks was of no comparison. If he hadn’t felt several blades of grass brush against his coat as he shrugged, the paladin would think that he had somehow found himself on a bed worthy of a princess.
The third was hearing. As Storm was about finally open his eyes, his ears caught, to his confusion, the chirping of small birds. That, alone, wouldn’t be so odd, if it weren’t for two things. One, he was fairly certain that he was in the Everfree Forest prior to losing consciousness, and there weren’t many (if any) small birds in it. Two, Storm was fairly sure his ears picked up among them cries that belonged to no critter in Equestria.
Finally, Storm opened his eyes. His vision, though blurred, quickly focused around two points he saw immediately: two burning amber orbs.
Provato’s eyes.
For years to come, Storm would forever blame his confusion and mental exhaustion after the bizarre day for what he had blurted seeing the timberwolf demigod lying not far away from him.
“I-I don’t want to mate with you!”
And Zecora. He would blame Zecora for this.
Provato’s expression hadn’t changed in the few seconds it took Storm to realize just what he had said. However, before he got a chance to add anything else, the demigod spoke: “You’ve read Quirky Scribe’s book. ‘The Folktales of Eastin’?”
“Um…” the pegasus stuttered, feeling extremely embarrassed. “Y-yes, sort of.”
The demigod made a weird sound, one that Storm could swear sounded like snorting. “Of all the things that pony could made up about this forest…” he sighed as he rose up from the ground on his forelegs, sitting up. “Rest assured, child of the skies, that I do not mate with someone against their will… and when they are of the same gender as me.” Provato added. He fell silent for a short moment, during which concern flashed in his glowing eyes. “How do you feel?”
Storm gulped nervously. “I’m… fine,” he said hastily, also rising. Feeling anxious about the gaze of the demigod, which he felt as if it was piercing into his soul, the paladin took a look around, curious as to where exactly he was.
What greeted him was a not everyday sight. Storm found himself in a meadow. He could have assumed as much based on what his other sensed had observed. However, his sight now allowed him to see three oddly shaped trees. They all had a fat, short trunk, which quickly split into multiple branches, each of them very long. The branches somehow spread out at certain height, mingling with each other and vines that sprouted from somewhere on the edges of the meadow, forming a ceiling of sorts above it.
From the distance they were from him it was impossible for Storm to tell which exactly species each of them were, assuming those were normal trees (which, recalling what he had witnessed to today, he doubted). Whatever they were, however, small animals weren’t afraid of them. The birds that Storm heard singing earlier sat on their branches, and two of them had big bee hives attached to them. Movement on one tree caught his eyes, and Storm managed to get a glimpse of a bushy red tail disappear between its leaves.
While he looked at them, Storm found one thing strange: two trees grew on the edges of a small, ten feet high cliff, while the remaining one stood in a straight line from the one on the paladin’s left in the exact same distance as the two by the knoll.
“As if there was meant to be a fourth,” he thought, glancing at the spot where straight lines from the tree behind him and the one of his right had crossed. “If it grew there, they would form a square’s corners.”
It quickly hit him as odd that he could see everything so well, as he could see the night sky through the living ceiling. However, he even faster localized the source of the light: mushrooms. Big, knee high mushrooms. They grow around the meadow, in random places, though most concentrated they were around the three trees and the hill. And they glowed. The sight of them, glowing with a gentle blue or green light, was breathtaking.
“Where…” he finally spoke, only to lose his voice in the next second as he continued to stare in wonder at this beautiful place. “Where am I?”
“You’re in a place that nopony had seen in over two thousand years,” replied Provato. Storm, who was more speaking out loud that actually asking, turned back to him. The demigod was observing him with great interest, as if curious to his reaction. “I’ve brought you here to mend your wounds… and to thank you for defeating Lord Tirek.” Much to Storm’s shock, the demigod bowed his head before him. “Welcome, child of the skies, to the Heart of the Forest.”
Storm’s eyes widened. “The Heart of the Forest…”
This was the place. The place he had been searching for. The place where he could find his birthday gift for Rarity: The Eon Petals.
However, despite finally being there, Storm pulled his thoughts away from the Eon Petals for the moment. He was aware that it was already night time, and if he hoped to deliver Rarity her present today he should hurry. Above all, though, he was a paladin, a knight defender of Equestria. What happened there with Tirek was too important to leave now, when there was so much he didn’t understand. Nor could Storm Clash waste this opportunity to gain information regarding the most dangerous place in Equestria.
“Even though it doesn’t look so much in here,” he commented, once again glancing at the tranquil place.
Turning back his attention to Provato, he noticed that the demigod looked much healthier than when he had last seen him. The effects of his magic being drained away by the centaur have disappeared, and now he was once more the covered in green plants… as bizarre as it was.
Storm cleared his throat, feeling nervous about speaking to the timberwolf. “Thank you for healing my injuries,” he said, bowing his head with respect, “as well as letting me see this wondrous place…” Storm hesitated briefly, confused as to how address the demigod. Finally, he decided to just use his name: “Provato. However, you don’t need to thank me for defeating Lord Tirek. It is my duty as a paladin of the Holy Light to fight against evil… and besides, it was mostly a stroke of luck, anyway,” he added, feeling a bit ashamed that if Tirek hadn’t tried foolishly to absorb the Light he would have won.
If Provato took notice of his embarrassment, he did not show it. Instead, he tilted his head slightly; Storm immediately thought of a dog doing the same gesture when listening to somepony and not understanding. “‘Holy Light’... that’s the power you wield, correct?”
“Y-yes… well, sort of. It’s more like I’m working together with It...” the paladin corrected him, anxious about explaining the Light
Provato stayed silent for a moment before he spoke again: “There was another… a child of the earth, with fur white as snow and mane in the color of wheat-”
“That’s Sir Lightbringer!” Storm exclaimed, interrupting the demigod in his surprise. He flushed when he realized that, but continued nonetheless: “That’s the head of my order and my mentor. He’s the one that taught me and others how to summon the powers of the Light. When did you meet him?” he asked, confused. If Sir Lightbringer had met Provato, wouldn’t he had mentioned this to Storm?
But Provato shook his head. “I did not meet him… or rather, when I did, I was not of a sane mind. He and another, a child of skies like you, approached me after I had killed their friend. Instead of harming me, however, they healed my injuries. While doing so, the female managed somehow to open my feral mind to this force you call the Holy Light, letting it purge the Darkness’s influence out of me. In time, I made a complete recovery.”
“You’re that timberwolf that attacked Applejack?!” Storm exclaimed, shocked. He heard some things about that incident, though nopony had mentioned anything about Applejack being ‘killed’. All he knew was that she had been attacked and Sir Lightbringer had healed her. “She’s not dead. Sir Lightbringer healed her injuries.”
He pondered briefly if he should inquire as to how serious those injuries were, exactly.
“She’s alive?” Provato asked, clearly taken by surprise by the news. When Storm nodded, he exhaled with relief. “That is good to know… so good…”
“What is this ‘Darkness’ you keep mentioning?” Storm asked as the demigod had trailed off. “You told Tirek that it had engulfed this forest. What did you mean by that?”
Provato’s attention shifted back to him. “I do not know what it was,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “This Darkness… it was something not of this world. An ancient evil from beyond stars, maybe even older than our world. It’s gone now,” he quickly added; no doubt seeing the panic in Storm’s eyes. “Whatever this evil was, it had long since left the forest, leaving only its corruption behind.”
“Corruption?”
“Yes. Though its stay in this forest was relatively short, the evil this thing emanated began affecting everything that lives here as soon as it arrived.” Provato’s gaze softened. “Look around you.” Storm did as he asked, taking in the sight of Heart of the Forest once more. “This forest had always been what you ponies would call ‘wild’. However, it was far more like this: full of life… beautiful. Everything existed in balance with one another. Now, though…”
As the demigod once again had trailed off, Storm dared to ask something that was bugging him about this place. “Why hasn't this place fallen into the darkness?”
The question had an unexpecting effect: Provato looked away, as if… ashamed. Storm furrowed his brow, confused by that reaction, but before he could ask another question, the demigod rose. “Come with me,” he told the paladin simply as he started to walk.
His wooden paws making no sound against the ground, nor did his legs rustle the grass. In fact, as Storm noticed, the blades of grass were moving out of his way.
“As if they are letting Provato pass,” Storm thought as he followed him, watching as the blades caressed the demigod’s coat.
He quickly realized that Provato was leading him towards the tree that stood away from the small hill. The demigod eyes’ were locked on it as he walked. He stopped right before it, gazing intently at the strange bough growing about his head level.
“What do you see, young pony?” he asked as Storm landed beside him, not even turning away to address him.
Confused, the paladin turned his gaze towards the tree. It looked much higher up close… and weirder.
“The branches sprout from the main trunk right about Provato’s height,” Storm noticed in passing as he raised into the air to get a better look at the bough that the demigod was so absorbed by…
His eyes grew wide with shock.
Storm looked at Provato, then back at the bough. What he just thought couldn’t be true… this tree could have just grown like this. Provato had the power to make the plants grow; he had seen it during his fight with Tirek. Couldn’t he have coaxed this tree to grow into this shape? And yet, somehow, Storm knew that he was right.
“Yes,” Provato said, confirming his suspicion.
The bough he had been staring at was nearly identical in shape to his head.
“Those trees are my littermates.”
About hundred questions came to Storm’s mind, none of which he dared to voice out of fear of offending the demigod. He was resigned to just looking at the timberwolf and the tree, his sibling, as he landed on the ground. Thankfully, Provato soon began his tale, sparing Storm from asking.
“I do not know what this Darkness was, or how did it come to our world. What I do know, is how it got into the forest. Almost eleven hundred years ago, an island plummeted from the skies-”
“An island?!” Storm blurted.
Provato turned his head slightly to peer at his with one eye. Storm immediately fell silent.
“Not too long after I was born, two thousand years ago, the Air and Earth had collided on the other side of our world. The clashing of the violent energies caused the entire continent to shatter.”
“The Sundering of Griffonia!” the paladin realized. Provato nodded. “Y-you know what caused it?!”
        “I was but a pup then,” he replied. “I’ve only repeated my mother’s words.”
        As the demigod’s attention shifted back to the tree - his sibling - it didn’t escape Storm’s notice that Provato hadn’t exactly answered his question.
        “The ground was shattered and split,” Provato continued. “Not all shards of land were separated by water, though. A few were raised above the ground, suspended in the air by the energies released that fateful day.”
        “And on of those ‘shards’ fell here?”
        “Yes. You’ve probably seen it - the big mountain not far away from the ruins of the castle the last Unicorn King had build.”
        Indeed, Storm had seen it. He escaped from the underground tunnels by the cave underneath it. He also knew that there was something there being investigated by Equestria.
        “I do not know how that… thing got on that island,” Provato resumed his tale, “but I am certain that it caused it to crash. I could feel its fear, as if it was running from something… Whatever it was running from, I wish they would have finished it. The Darkness hid itself in this land, perverting everything. Corrupting. Tainting. Darkening. We - me and the other demigods, and everything that lived - became feral versions of ourselves, mindless beasts dominated by their primal instincts.”
        “How could all of you become corrupted by the Darkness?” Storm inquired. “I’ve seen you fighting with Tirek, you are powerful. If the other demigods were as powerful as you-”
        “It is because of our powers that we have fallen to it so easily,” Provato interrupted him. “That thing was something alien to us, not of this world, while we… we are of this world. We are a part of it, some of the others even more than I. When the Darkness engulfed the core of the land, my mother was the first to fall.”
        “Why?” he asked gently.
        “She’s not just a demigod like me. My mother is the Spirit of Nature, old as this world, one of it’s Ancient Guardians. As you might have realized, her being touches everything in this forest, be it a plant or animal… or the other demigods.”
        “‘As I might have realized’?” Storm asked, confused. “I don’t-”
        Provato turned once again towards him. “My mother used to be a part of everything that lived here. She was in every leaf and every blade of grass, at the same time. However, just like the Darkness caused our minds to become feral, so have that trait of her been perverted. Instead of being omnipresent, my mother spirit transformed into something I would call a ‘pack mind’.”
        Now Storm understood, “Those timberwolves.”
        Provato nodded and continued. “Because of her bond to nature, the Darkness had that much bigger effect on her, and when she fell, it was only a matter of time. But…” the demigod fell silent as his gaze returned to his sibling. “Me and my littermates had two advantages over the other demigods. We were young; life was stronger in us as it had just sprouted. Our souls had also inherited from our father a pony element.”
        Storm’s eyes went wide. “Y-you… you are… you mean t-that tale of Forest and Wind was real?!”
        “One of the few tales Quirky Scribe got entirely right,” Provato nodded, amused by his . “Yes, I am son of Everfree and Commander Hurricane.”
        …
        “WHAT?!” Storm exclaimed after a second, utterly shocked.
        He tried to process this information as best as he could while Provato chuckled. Commander Hurricane, one of the legendary Founders of Equestria, the last leader of Pegasi Armada… was this demigod’s father?!
        “The changes of time lead to such interesting moments,” Provato commented, smiling. “I hadn’t seen a reaction so amusing in ages. I take your kind had really forgotten that story?”
        Storm nodded, not trusting his voice.
        “I suppose thats not too weird… considering how unbelievable this tale must seem. But let’s leave that matter for now and return to what happened eleven hundred years ago,“ the demigod told him, his voice losing its nostalgic tone. “As I have said, my littermates and I had a pony element in our beings, and for some reason the Darkness hold wasn’t corrupting us as swiftly as others. I am not sure exactly why that was, but it felt as if… something - or someone - was holding it back. Whatever the reason, we planned to use that to our advantage. We were to come here and forsake our animalistic aspects, thus becoming one with the nature.” He nodded at the tree before him. “By doing so, our souls were to become the part of the forest as much as our mother. Together, the four of us, would have been enough to bring her back to her senses.”
        Provato fell silent. Storm, who managed to recover from his shock, didn’t utter a word, as he knew what the demigod was about to say.
        “I didn’t make it,” the timberwolf finally said quietly, his voice laced with sadness. “The island fell atop of the eastern part of the forest… where I lived. The corruption had taken me, before I could make it here.” He sighed. “With just three of them, all they could do was protecting this place from sharing the fate of the forest. Even if I were to join them now, it’s too late. Our mother has been like this for too long now; our souls would no longer be able to reach her.”
        “What about the Holy Light?” Storm asked hopefully. “You said It healed you. Surely it should do the same for your mother, right? Or maybe the Elements of Harmony? They’ve managed to transform Nightmare Moon back to Princess Luna-”
        “I do not know what exactly you speak of,” Provato interrupted him, “but it doesn’t matter now. Thanks to that damned centaur, my mother’s spirit had scattered across the forest. It will take her months, if not years, to focus her being into a single form once again.”
        “I see…” Storm said, making a note to report all of this to Sir Lightbringer. “I’m sorry. About your mother, and your siblings.”
        Provato’s ears perked up. “My siblings?” he asked, confused. “Oh, no, they’re still here.” Seeing Storm’s confused expression, the demigod explained: “They’ve became one with nature. They’re still here, only in a different way that before. Though I admit, I kind of miss my sister pouncing on me unexpectedly,” he chuckled humorously.
        “Oh, that’s… good to hear,” Storm stuttered. He was not sure if he understood what Provato meant. “I just assumed otherwise because we’ve been standing here for so long…”
        “No, she just wanted to get a good look at you,” Provato replied casually.
        “What do you mean?” the paladin asked, confused.
        Without as much as turning to Storm, Provato said, “Take a close look at yourself.”
        Still confused, Storm did as the demigod asked and looked down on his chest.
        He gasped and tried to fly away, but he couldn’t move. His body was covered by vines.
        A chuckle escaped Provato. “Calm down; if she had wished you harm, she would have done so long ago.”
        As he spoke, the vines’ hold lessened, and they began to unwrapped themselves from his body. Storm - his heart in his throat - waited for them to leave while he tried to calm himself. It wasn’t easy; some of the vines tickled him as they moved. One of them brushed his crooked jaw; another very briefly touched his ear, one of its leaves actually getting inside of it.
        When it did,  Storm’s was certain that he heard a female’s laugh.
        Finally, all the vines hid back underground, letting him go. Storm exhaled air with relief and flexed his wings.
        “Her name is Artemi,” Provato spoke, gaining his attention. The timberwolf demigod had touched his nose to his sister’s and began moving away from her. Storm followed him. “She used to guard the south part of the forest. Those two are our brothers,” he motioned to the other two, “Cernunn of the west and Frisian of the north.”
        “And your mother’s name is Everfree,” Storm asked for confirmation, “as in Everfree Forest?”
        The demigod nodded. “Originally, you ponies had called this ‘Everfree’s Forest’,” he shrugged. “Like I said, changes of time. Now, then...” Provato said, sitting down underneath the knoll’s edge. His gaze pierced Storm. “What are you doing here, child of the skies?”
        Storm gulped nervously due to the demigod’s attention shifting back to him. He bowed his head as he spoke: “Provato, my name is Storm Clash. I came here searching for Eon Petals.”
        He risked to take a look at him. Provato’s gaze narrowed on him. “Why do you seek them?” he asked, suspicious.
        “I wish to give them to somepony I... to somepony I like very much,” he finished, flushing. “It’s her birthday, and I thought-”
        He trailed off, surprised at what he saw before him. Provato, the demigod, son of the Spirit of Nature and the most famous pegasus in history… was looking at him with his jaw dropped.
        To the demigod’s credit, he recovered quickly, though he continued to stare at Storm with disbelief. “You came here, to this forest, where everything would like to either kill or eat you or both (and not necessarily in that order at that), to the very center of it, to find flowers of mystic power… to give them to somebody as a birthday present?”
        “Um…” Storm stammered, slightly embarrassed. “y-yes.”
        For a second, Provato’s glowing eyes continued to pierce him. Then, in the next, the demigod threw his head back and laughed.
        The wind blew past them as he laughed, as if awaken by it. The plants around them resulted, with the leaves on the trees being the loudest. The birds hiding in their branched all started chirruping.
        The symphony of nature’s sounds began to quiet down as Provato slowly calmed down. He looked down at the paladin, amusement painted on his muzzle. “I’ve forgotten how unpredictable your kind can be,” he said, smiling. “Follow me.”
        Storm looked, astonished, as the timberwolf rose and with one swift jump he was at the top of the hill. Shaking his head, the pegasus followed him on his wings.
        His eyes widened when he saw what was atop of the knoll. He had thought the what he saw so far of the Heart of the Forest was beautiful, but this…
        Before Provato laid a large, flat rock, which was surrounded by the flowers he sought: The Eon Petals. They were… beautiful. That was the only description that came to Storm’s mind. Their stem and leaves were not just green, but emerald. The leaves were heart-shaped at that. But the flowers themselves… their petals were white, snow white, to the point it almost hurt to look at them. And they glowed. Each Eon Petal emanated gentle white light, which was the source of the glow he had seen from below and mistook it for mushroom. Aside from the white light, however, each plant was… burning. At least, that’s how Storm at first thought of it, that they burned with green flames. After a second he realized that it didn’t look as much as burning, but as if they were… evaporating emerald steam.
        “These are what you have sought,” Provato told him as Storm landed beside him, speechless. “The Eon Petals. In the past, many ponies tried to find them, tempted by their beauty and power. None have made it this far. As far as I know, only once had those flowers been picked from here, by my mother. Now, though,” he added, looking at the paladin, “I am allowing you to take one. Consider this to be both a reward for managing to find your way here, and the symbol of my gratefulness for defeating Tirek. Also,” Provato smiled, “I can understand and respect a male’s need to give his mate beautiful gifts.”
        Storm wings sprung up by itself at the comment. Flustered, he looked at the demigod. “S-she’s not my mate!” he stammer, flushed.
        “Of course she’s not,” Provato replied in mocking tone, grinning. He waved off Storm’s further words of the denial. “Now, pick one, Storm Clash.”
        Embarrassed, and still blushing, Storm turned back to the flowers. Each of them was nearly identical… and very beautiful. He began to wonder if this was a good-
        “Do not worry,” Provato spoke, as if reading his mind. “Those flowers are called ‘Eon Petals’ for a reason. They will not wither when they are picked, and will even grow back if planted back in earth as well as regenerate the cut part.”
        Calmed down by the demigod’s words, Storm picked one that had six petals around it’s center. He bent down and bit it around the half of its height, so that it would have two leaves.
        Some of the flower’s juices dropped down on his tongue. Storm quickly placed it on his hooves as he licked the inside of his mouth. The Eon Petals tasted… oddly.
        “Kinda like a watermelon,” Storm thought, surprised.
        He placed the flower carefully into his saddlebags and turned back to Provato. “Thank you, Provato-” he started, but the demigod silenced him.
        “Think nothing of it. However… you said that her birthday is today, right?” he asked.
        “Yes, why do you-”
        Before he finished that question, the demigod breathed at him. Storm, taken by surprise, inhaled the strange green mist… and found that it smelled like flowers. But that was not all he realized. He flapped his wings, finding them to move faster, and he could feel his muscles to be stronger.
        “I gave you my blessing,” Provato spoke, gaining his attention once more. “For a short time, you’ve gained the speed, strength and grace nature can grant. You must hasten - your mate’s birthday will last only for two more hours.”
        “WHAT?!” Storm exclaimed, horrified. He didn’t realize it was this late. He quickly jumped into the air. “Thank you, Provato,” he told him, turning back and bowing his head. “Thank you for everything!”
Having said that, he quickly flew up, in between the branches of above the meadow and turned towards east. Towards Ponyville.
        “I will make it in time!” he swore, dashing through the air.
        Storm opened his mind and reached for the Light, asking for Its aid in his hour of need. He smiled as he felt the Light answer.
        




        Provato looked up from outside of the Heart of the Forest. His eyes trailed the glowing pony, pondering the nature of his powers.
        “This Holy Light,” he mused. “It reminds me of Mother’s stories…”
        Lost in thoughts, his eyes left Storm Clash - who he wished good luck - and traveled towards the direction he was heading; the small town build in place of Eastin, called Ponyville. The town he have avoided for months now, ashamed for what he had done so shortly before his recovery. The news of that mare’s surviving took a load off his mind.
        He spent some time, outside of the ‘den’ he had been born in, contemplating all that have happened recently.
        “Just like you said, Mother: ‘changes are coming rapidly’,” he thought. “Now those changes seem faster than ever…”
        Provato closed his eyes, pondering his next move, before he opened them and ran in the same direction Storm had flown.