The Alicorn Warrior

by iAmSiNnEr

Interlude - Nothing is What it Seems

As Twilight fell to the ground, the entire arena held its breath, most of them sure that the Sneaky Sparkle was only faking, and that she would get up in a moment and then beat Maximus.

After almost a whole minute of tense silence, whispers started to fill the air, doubt flooding through the spectators in a wave. Bell coughed.

“And so,” he said awkwardly. This wasn’t in any of the scripts he had prepared! Shuffling his hooves, he looked out at the uneasy crowd. “For the first time ever, Sparkle has been defeated and knocked unconscious by her opponent. I think I speak for everyone when I say,” he chuckled nervously, “this was an unexpected outcome.” 

Up in the private box, most of them were frozen, staring down at Maximus and the unmoving body of their friend in shock. None of them had been prepared for this. Hard Line was the first to move.

“I have to get down there now,” he mumbled, his usual mask of indifference slipping away, replaced by genuine concern for his friend. Getting off his seat, he hurried into the passageways that would lead him down to the main section of the arena.

Rarity unfroze, her eyes sweeping over the scene. Something about Maximus unnerved her. She pawed the ground nervously as she peered over the railing, looking down. 

As she locked eyes with Maximus, he looked up suddenly. Rarity’s eyes widened as their eyes met, something about Maximus’s eyes...disturbed her. There were no discernable emotions like Maximus wasn’t even a pony.

“Girls,” she said, suddenly aware of how shaky her voice was. “We have to get down there too, and help Twilight.”

At the sound of her voice, they looked away from the scene and slowly nodded, all of them getting up from their seats. “There’s something off about that stallion,” Applejack scowled. “Look at his expression. He’s not even surprised, happy, or celebrating. Instead, he just doesn’t care.” 

Rarity nodded. “We can ask him once we’re next to him.”

“I swear,” Rainbow muttered, her wings twitching on her back even as she trotted into the passageways. “If I didn’t know this was just a challenge, I’d beat the living daylights out of him. Did you see how-”

“Yes, yes,” Rarity said impatiently. “He was toying with our dear Twilight. I saw it all, Dash. That and I know how to lip-read.”

Noise filtered through the passageways as the crowd started to rise from their seats and move off. Gone was the air of excitement. Instead, it had been replaced by a general sense of unease and dissatisfaction. There were groans from most of the audience as they realized the event was over, and many had annoyed looks due to them losing their bets.

As they arrived at the field, Hard Line was already barking instructions to a few ponies, and a medic was giving the unconscious Twilight a check over as he bandaged the few wounds they could see from her tumble to the ground.

“How is she, doctor?” Hard Line asked once the stallion straightened up. They held their breath as they approached, waiting for what he would say.

“She’s fine,” he replied. “Aside from a few scratches and cuts from where she slammed into the ground, I can find nothing wrong with her. Her mana levels are well above half, and she did not exhaust herself physically. After all,” he shrugged helplessly. “This is the first time I’ve had to check on Miss Sparkle.”

“Thank you,” Rarity said respectfully as they arrived. “When will she wake up?”

“Hard to tell.” He frowned. Packing up his box of assorted instruments, he looked at the group. “Could take a few hours to a day; it all depends on her. She could even wake up in the next hour; alicorn physiology is something I am not well-versed in, after all.”

As Rarity opened her mouth to speak, she noticed Maximus giving them a weird look, scrutinizing them.  As their eyes met each other, the latter grinned before slinking off in the direction of the exit. “I’ll be right back, girls,” she heard herself saying.

“Where are you going?” Rainbow flew up to her face. “Twilight’s injured!”

Rarity gestured towards Maximus leaving the arena. “...oh. Well, I’m gonna go too-” Rainbow said after a pause.

“No, Dash,” Rarity interrupted. “I think he’ll feel better about answering questions from only one pony, not a whole group.”

“I-”

“Alright,” Applejack interrupted as she lifted Twilight onto her back with the help of Pinkie. “No need to argue with her, Dash. She knows what she’s talking about. As for you, Rares, we’ll be in…” She looked at Hard Line questioningly. “Where can we bring Twi to rest?”

“The medbay, or home, either one's fine, as long as she gets some rest,” he answered. “The day’s pretty much over,” he said as he gestured to the rapidly emptying stands. “But...it did end differently from what we expected.”

“Alright,” Applejack nodded. “See you latter, Rares. I expect you know where to go?”

Rarity nodded distractedly, her attention on the disappearing Maximus, before proceeding to follow him. He had just left the arena so Rarity was fairly certain that she should be able to catch up with him in no time. As she hurried after him, she glanced around nervously just in case somepony or something ambushed her. After recent events, as well as the last four years in this horrible wasteland, Rarity had learned that she could never be too careful.

As she rounded the corner of the passageway, she could see his tail disappearing into an alleyway between two houses right outside of the arena. “I have to catch up,” she mumbled to herself. I have a few questions for him. Wait, where did that bravado come from?

As she trotted into the alleyway, she saw Maximus facing a dead end. He facehoofed as he turned around to leave. As he turned around, he sighed as he saw Rarity. 

“I knew someone was following me,” he muttered. “Just didn’t know who.”

“I just have a few questions for you, dar-” she stopped herself. That was only for friends and ponies she knew. “Nothing more, nothing less. I believe we have not been formally introduced, my name is Rarity Belle. What about you?”

“Don’t you already know my name? And why should I answer them?” Maximus challenged. “I could just teleport out of here.” He lit his horn, and it gave out sparks. “Or maybe not. I used more mana than expected, and I have no wish to use a,” he shuddered. “As they call it, a mana crystal. No point going through that discomfort just to get away.”

“Well then,” Rarity said, unfazed. “Will you answer my questions?”

“Nah,” he took a step forwards, and he stumbled as his hoof hit an errant rock on the ground, tripping over it. As he tumbled over, face first, there was an audible crack noise from his neck as his face slammed into the ground. 

Rarity backed up in shock, her eyes looking at the unmoving body. “Mister Maximus…?” she asked weakly. “You okay…?”

Tirek, she thought, It’s honestly quite similar to how Tirek drained the magic from us, in fact.

There was no answer, and as she trotted forwards to help the clumsy pony up, she noticed a trickle of blood from where his neck was bent at an awkward angle.

Not possible! She backed up hurriedly, her face growing paler. But that’s ridiculous, preposterous even! 

“Sir…” she trailed off as she looked at Maximus’s chest. It wasn’t moving.

“Oh, dear.” Her world went grey, and she fell over, her eyes closing as she fainted. 

The white unicorn had fallen unconscious from shock, and the other?

Their eyes looked as if they were starting to fog, like the beginning of the coming storm.

The smug smile that remained on his face, betrayed the horrible situation he found himself in.

His mysterious nature left unsolved, his true face forever uncovered.

Or that's what Rarity would be thinking.

Unbeknownst to the passed-out mare, a stallion stepped over the inert body, staring straight at the dead body of Maximus. 

“Well, that’s a complication,” Maximus said, staring at his own dead body. “Well, at least no one will believe her if I remove the body,” he thought out loud, tapping his hoof on the ground thoughtfully. With a flash of his magic, the body was gone, teleported away to a location only he knew. 

“Well then,” he stepped back over Rarity’s unconscious body gingerly, making sure not to disturb the mare. “Problem solved.” He started trotting away but paused as he was about to leave. Considering Rarity, he sighed as he cast a perception spell over the alleyway, making sure that no one would be able to see that the alleyway ever existed. “I’m not that bad as to let you be kidnapped while you were unconscious,” he whispered, before trotting away, leaving Rarity behind.