Fa'Diel - Natural Spring
The scent of wildflowers and plants is overpowering here, such flora
surrounding a naturally-made depression in the ground filled with clear
water. The lilting melodies of native birds and stiff percussion of
rustling greenery and colorful insects meld together in a perfectly
harmonious composition. Dense, untamed foliage prevents passage anywhere
except to a large clearing, which is barely visible itself through the
towering trees.

Deep within the forest, amid the chirping of crickets and calls of other nocturnal wild animals, there's a faint glow that seems to be oddly out of place, punctuated by the faint rustling of underbrush. "It's a good thing Zecora taught me everything she knows about identifying herbs and what they can be used for... This isn't the Everfree Forest, but I should still be careful." The faint glow, meanwhile, illuminates Twilight Sparkle's face, as she examines the plants around her.

In the meantime, Ambience is up against the edge of a workshop-like building behind a large cabin, silently studying a shiny black motorcycle; he doesn't seem aware of Twilight's presence, and appears to be getting ready to leave, judging by the way he's looking over the various components of the vehicle. His own green aura lights up a wide range of the area around himself, basking it in a flickering glow.

A brisk wind cuts sharply through the region, bending the tops of several trees for only a moment as it blows past, then grows still again; Ambience's short, midnight-blue hair is rustled considerably in its wake, but he opts to ignore this, too.

As she moves on to keep gathering herbs with her magic, Twilight Sparkle steps on a fallen medium-sized branch, causing it to splinter underhoof. "Oh, come on... I don't need to be letting whatever lives out here know that I'm alone, and risking an attack." The sunrise provides enough light for the unicorbrarian to see clearly, prompting her to dismiss the illumination spell, at about the same time a faint green glow catches her eyes. "What a beautiful start to the d-...what's that light? It

Twilight says 'It's not coming from any of the trees here...'

Ambience removes a helmet sitting atop the seat, and looks at it blankly for several moments before tossing it to one side, where it rolls several times before coming to a stop. Pausing momentarily, he turns to glance back at the cabin's back side, almost thoughtfully; his expression is somewhat clouded, almost glazed over.

The helmet's unexpected appearance from beyond the dense foliage has Twilight Sparkle on edge now, and she stops long enough to set her herb-filled saddlebags aside, then prepare her sniper rifle before moving forward at a much slower gait. "Ok... There's clearly someone out there, and something seems very off. Be ready, Twilight..."

Ambience hesitates further, as if considering something. He backs up a step, and gestures with a hand as a small, orange-ish ball of light forms in front of it, giving off its own light; bright hues of red, orange and yellow swirl about its interior as it grows, and flickering coronae revolve around it, condensed ultraviolet light brought to life by the power of mana. It pulses dangerously, and Ambience appears to be gauging a use for it, still focused on the cabin in front of him. His expression, still compromised, is focused as Ambience's spell materializes.

In all this, Ambience still seems to be disregarding Twilight's presence; whether he knows she's even there or not is uncertain.

"Ok. I'm not going to get any information by just skulking around and using cover. Time to get out there and see what's going on." Simultaneously, Twilight Sparkle is setting her rifle down and preparing a teleportation spell, as her horn glows a harsh white instead of its usual lavender up until the moment she's reappearing in between you and the cabin. "...Ambience? What's going on? You've had me worried-wait. What are you planning to do with that orb?!

Ambience's eyes narrow at the intruder now between him and his target, and at once, the orb he's conjuring expands to twice its side, and he draws back, preparing to release it at not only the cabin itself, but now Twilight as well! His face is a harsh form of determination and focus, and the black, upside-down heart marking on his neck is clearly visible as he pulls back.

You say 'Suffer with them, then. This is your choice, not mine..!'

That's enough to make Twilight Sparkle is setting her rifle down and preparing a teleportation spell, as her horn glows a harsh white instead of its usual lavender up until the moment she's reappearing in between you and the cabin. "...you? What's going on? You've had me worried-wait. What are you planning to do with that orb?!

That's enough to make Twilight Sparkle's eyes widen in alarm, though that doesn't last for very long as she's suddenly conjuring a thick magical barrier around both herself and the cabin with her horn. "Oh, sweet Celestia...! What's gotten into you, Ambience? You were a lot nicer not that long ago, and I trusted you to protect Rarity..." For just a moment, the unicorbrarian looks down, before fixing you with an angry gaze. "If you're going to threaten me, and my friends..."

Twilight says 'Then expect me to stand firmly against you! I WON'T let you hurt Rarity!'

"Then you can die with her!" With that, Ambience releases his spell, as an explosion of ultraviolet light energy erupts from the sphere he'd create crashes into a wide area directly in front of him; the force of the spell even pushes HIM back about a foot, his feet digging into the ground to prevent being pushed further.

Needless to say, this causes quite a spectacular light show, barrier or now, going so far as to bring all-but daylight to the entire glade around Ambience, Twilight, and the cabin as a whole.

Only briefly, Twilight Sparkle raises one forehoof to shield her eyes, even as the intense light sets her lavender fur to smoldering as it passes through the strong defensive spell. Without regard to the pain from her burning skin, she's casting a gaze back at the cabin, with worry for her fellow unicorn and best friend clearly written on her face. "Even if I die here, Rarity... Know that I died protecting you from Ambience - the very same one who promised that he'd protect you."

With that, Twilight Sparkle returns her gaze to you, preparing an offensive spell. "Do your worst. I trusted you, and you broke that trust! I'll NEVER forgive you for this, even if she does!"

Ambience completely disregards this worry, fear, and concern that is evident on Twilight's face; he is apparently fully focused on eradicating everything in front of him, though the effect of his 'Burst' spell wanes into nothing after the initial explosion, likely absorbed by at least a fair majority from Twilight's barrier. At that, he lowers his hand, glaring evenly at Twilight but making not a move to defend himself from whatever is coming next.

Ambience's aura glows brightly, flaring up on occasion but remaining steady as it radiates around him.

There's a faint crackling around Twilight's horn, just before a large orb of earth rises in front of her, held aloft by her magic. "Take this!" With an angry snort, she's sending the massive - and DENSE - orb flying at you.

Ambience smirks, a brief but malevolent act. "You stupid twit." He flicks one wrist downward, calling into existence two tiny tree maidens who appear with a subtle pop and seperate flashes of green light to announce their arrival.

Simultaneous to their arrival, they both raise tiny wooden arms, bringing into existance a glittering silver barrier in an arc over Ambience's form; this barrier not only takes the force of the earthen impact, but deflects it, as well; the orb is sent hurtling off to one side, likely taking out a tree or two from its density, along the way.

In the midst of this action, Ambience's grin is a sardonic one, full of malice and unpleasantness.

"So you can use defensive tactics, too. It won't matter for very long, because I have a bigger arsenal of spells to rely on." The damage to the surrounding forest is ignored, as Twilight Sparkle focuses considerably more of her magic into chain-teleporting Rarity to safety far from the cabin, and their fight, even as the very wide awake unicornista protests the repeated movement.

Twilight says 'I plan on leaving this clearing alive, so I'll just have to strategize more than usual to outsmart you. Enough talk. Let's turn things up a notch!'

"Magic, magic, magic. You think that's all there is to th' world? Let me tell you somethin', then." In a flash, Ambience's golden longsword is unsheathed and in his hand, looking a bit unwieldy due to its size compared to his own, but held tightly and firmly enough. Though, this isn't truly the frightful part.

What happens AS he draws his sword is; moments after, the roof of the cabin suddenly comes crashing down and into the cabin interior, sliced clean from an wide-reaching slash that bore no visible cut or action. Another brisk wind blows through the region, though it does not disperse this time, and seems to match the dour demeanor now present on Ambience's face.

You say 'Do you know what I am? Don't answer that, 'cause even -I- don't. But let's find out anyway.'

"You're right there, at least - there IS more to fighting than the use of spells." Even as she lets the defensive spell fade, Twilight Sparkle is galloping headlong for the sniper rifle hidden among the foliage, though she deviates long enough from her intended target to double-buck you with both hind legs before rushing away once more.

Ambience holds his weapon at an angle to absorb the impact from Twilight's hindkick, lowering it again as she gallops away and merely holding his position as the wind whips around him, forcing his aura to go equally wild about his form.

Ambience faces Twilight, narrowing his eyes once more. "You're wastin' my time, coward. I don't care to play with horses today." As he turns, heading toward the glade's exit; as he makes a few steps in that direction, more of the cabin breaks apart, seeming to crumble in on itself from not visible outside influence, as the sound of splintering wood fills the early morning air.

Twilight Sparkle, by this point, is resting behind one of the trees as she watches you leave through the scope of her rifle, before sighing heavily. "Oh, Celestia... What happened to Ambience that made him so eager to kill, when he was friendly only a few weeks before...? Rarity, whereever you are now... Please understand I was only doing this to protect you. I don't want to lose any of my friends, you included..."

"The world is a harsh place. Those with power should right the wrongs that we are forced to deal with." Ambience comes to a stop at the edge of the glade nearest the footpath leading through Oreyndur Forest.

Ambience then turns, and with little more than an upward wave of his hand, the very ground itself cascades suddenly upward, rising into a mountainous ridge of caked dirt and rock that lines the edge of the glade on all sides; pieces of soil crumble and fall from this structure, newly removed from the earth itself.

Behind this, Ambience's face grows level once more, as he turns to leave.

Twilight Sparkle gets back to her hooves, wincing in response to her burns as her adrenaline surge finally wears off, leaving the unicorbrarian fatigued as she finally comes to rest near the herbs she'd been gathering only an hour ago, tearing up at what she ended up witnessing.

In the midst of Ambience's departure, the two Dryads have yet remained, but look severely distressed. They exchange worried looks between each other, as expressed through their enormous green eyes, and simply hover in the air where they were summoned, almost helplessly.

The cabin, at this point, is a total loss. It barely even looks like the place Ambience only recently used to live, let alone a housing structure at all, anymore.

Twilight Sparkle turns, casting a sad gaze at the pair of tree-sprites as tears roll freely down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry... I only knew the kind side of him, and failed to recognize his true nature, even with my suspicions..."

The wood spirits look at each other uneasily, then back at Twilight, uniformly shaking their heads in a negative. They look confused, though, themselves, turning in unison to survey what used to be Ambience and Seikou's cabin.

Twilight Sparkle stands, gathering the herb-laden saddlebags and her sniper rifle before preparing a teleportation spell to return to the nearest city. "...for once, there's nothing more I can do. Rarity, it's up to you now to bring back the Ambience we both know... Succeed where I failed..."

The Dryads seem to come to some sort of mutual agreement between themselves, and turn to give Twilight one last look, then nod at each other, poofing out of sight altogether with a burst of green light. Ambience's handiwork, the ring of risen earth, remains towering over the glade on all sides, an ominous reminder of what he's now capable of.