//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: The Lone and Level Sands.... // Story: The Original Mad Scientist in Equestria // by Br0nyb0y123 //------------------------------// ONE NIGHT PRIOR.... Tesla entered his room, trying to take his kiss from Rarity just a few minutes ago, "It wasn't as abrupt as Twilight's kiss at least" He thought to himself. Tesla looked down at his suit and thought about what Rarity said to him about getting his forty bit suit ruined at the volcano, "It'll probably annoy her" Tesla chuckled to himself, "I'll take it off" He did so, he then opened up the wardrobe in his room and see two coat hangers, he placed his shirt and jacket on one of the hangers and put his tie in his jacket pocket, and yet again he was bored out of his mind. He paced himself back and forth. He then opened the balcony door to let in some air and then sat on a nearby seat. Tesla's attention span didn't last long though, shockingly enough. So he decided to go outside on the balcony and did so, but as soon as he stepped outside, so did another pony on the balcony beside his balcony, it was Princess Luna, "Oh hello Mr. Tesla" Luna greeted. "Hello, your Highness" Tesla greeted back. "It's nice to see you here again" She said. "You too" Tesla replied, "You out for another smoke?" "No, I need to quit the stuff, I came out for fresh air" Luna told him, "Why are you outside?" "Bored" Tesla uttered, "Also, I guess I need the air" There was a short silence that followed after, Luna broke it, "Are you feeling okay?" She asked. "Yeah, I guess" Tesla sighed. "You nervous about the volcano?" Luna asked with concern. "I am. I feel a bit nauseous because of it" Tesla replied. "It's normal to feel like that, Nikola" Luna said. "You ever done anything like this before?" Tesla asked. Luna thought to herself for a bit, "Yeah. The more I think about it, the reason you're going up to the volcano is because of me" Luna told him. "How, Princess?" Tesla asked in confusion. "Chrysalis probably not only wants to make an arrangement about you, but about me as well.." Luna began, "You see, Nikola. I'm the reason for most of the big threats; I became a threat as Nightmare Moon, I killed the Changeling King and Sombra..." She teared up Here we go again, another crier, Tesla thought to himself, though he knew he had to try and make her feel better. But he also wanted to know the truth about Sombra, since Twilight left his story very vague, "What happened with Sombra? Twilight told me he was a monster" Tesla asked and explained. "He wasn't always like that" Luna replied. "What happened?" Tesla asked. "Sombra and I were good friends about...I don't know, a few thousand years ago. I guess he wanted to be more than friends, he developed more romantic feelings towards me. Huh, I never felt that way. When he finally decided to tell me about how he felt, I didn't know what to say, I seriously didn't. He then felt a little annoyed after that, a few months later, his parents died, he became heir to his family's throne, but he also became more unstable. It wasn't until I was shortly losing it when he finally snapped, he began ruling his kingdom with an iron hoof, some me and Tia had to stop him. I hurt me more to do that than it was hurting him" Luna told Tesla, "I feel worse about it because he's dead now" "God, that must have been horrible for you" Tesla said. "It was horrible" Luna sighed. Luna closed her eyes and continued to think about how she and her sister defeated Sombra all those years ago, it saddened her. With her eyes closed, she tried to hold back tears, "I need a cigarette" Luna uttered. "I thought you were trying to quit?" Tesla asked. "I don't care. I need one" Luna replied as she went into her room. About twenty seconds later, she came back outside, levitating a packet of cigarettes and a box of matches, she got out a match, swiped it against the sandpaper and lit another cigarette. She inhaled her cigarette, then exhaled, she felt a little bit better, "I've really never understood the appeal of cigarettes" Tesla said. "They relieve tension. It takes off edge. They may not be good for my health, but it doesn't really matter, I'm not going to die for a long, long, long time anyways" Luna replied. "Do you want to talk about something different?" Tesla asked. Luna nodded, "Yeah, but what can we talk about?" Luna asked back. "That's up to you" Tesla said. Luna had a think of a subject, "Do you ever miss anybody from your own world?" Tesla nodded, "Who?" Luna asked. "A lot of my friends, my assistants, but most of all I miss my lover" Tesla replied. "Were you married?" Luna asked. "No, me and her never got a chance to, she died almost thirty years ago in my world. So told me to move on, but I couldn't do it" Tesla explained, "It was tough to let go, I guess I still never did" "I miss pretty much everyone I knew before I was banished to the moon, my friends all died and the ones that are still alive, aren't really my friends anymore" Luna replied. "You know, almost everyone here has became a good friend of mine, even though some are a little too eccentric. It's a shame, after this is all over, once I visit the volcano, fix up my machine and pulse back at Ponyville, I'm out of here" Tesla said. "You going to miss your friends here?" Luna asked. "Yeah, I will. No one will ever believe what I have to say when I get back home" Tesla chuckled, "Maybe I can visit here again, though it could be unlikely" "You have a big day ahead of you in the morning, Nikola. You should probably get some sleep. I'm going to walk around the palace anyways" Tesla yawned, "You're right" He said as he approached the door, "Got any advice before I head out on the big expedition?" "Just try not to get hurt" Luna replied. "Right" Tesla said. "Also, good luck" Luna wished. "Thanks" SEVENTEEN HOURS LATER... A bruised and battered Tesla walks out of the other exit of the volcano, his left eye swollen from Masai's punches. As he stepped outside, his right eye adjusted to the bright sun, which was almost obscured by cloud clouds, after he stepped out from the dark cave exit. With Twilight and the rest separated from him, he was on his own, with no sense of where he was meant to be heading, but quickly, he came up with a plan, "That changeling and Sombra head out this way, I'll tail them, whatever plan they have, I'll just eavesdrop in, then make my way back to Canterlot" Tesla spoke to himself, "And maybe I'll just speak to myself, because that's not weird at all" Tesla then felt the ground shake beneath him, along with a roar from Lyth and Umberoth. Tesla's time was limited and he realized it. He then thought to himself, Fuck, I haven't got long. I need to get away from here, and fast, I hope everyone will be okay. He then made his way down a steep looking slope. His left eye was annoying him a lot and it was also seeping a small amount of blood, "You just had to follow one piece of advice, don't get yourself hurt. And you know what you did, Nikola? You got yourself hurt" He spoke to himself. He struggled to keep himself up whilst going down the slope. Once he got to the bottom, he looked ahead and saw Canterlot on it's slope. He was hesitant on trying to tail Ozymandias and Sombra, worrying it would too much time, he needs to get back to Canterlot to tell the Princesses what's happened. But when he went ahead, he heard voices in the distance, he then followed the voices. Large shadows shaded over him, Tesla looked up and noticed that the shadows belonged to dragons, who were flying away from the volcano in fear of Lyth and Umberoth's release. As he approached the voices' direction whilst listening to the roars of fear come from the dragons, he stopped when he saw the two figures who's voices he heard, it was Ozymandias and Sombra, "What's the plan, Ozymandias?" Sombra asked. "Well, with Lyth and Umberoth soon to be released and the Brotherhood separated from me. I know a place where there is creatures dumb enough to help us regain the Crystal Empire" Ozymandias replied. Tesla hid behind a large rock, listening to the two's plan, "Why did you help me?" Sombra asked. "I'm done with Masai's plans, I'm done with the Brotherhood, they want destruction, I don't, and you want power. I, unlike my brothers, I keep to my promises, and I'm going to help you take back your kingdom and I'm fucking out of here for good" Ozymandias replied. "In addition to helping me, you killed two of your friends" Sombra said. "Friends? I don't need any" Ozymandias replied, "Besides, those were two bad scumbags, they needed to die" "Whose to say you're not a scumbag either?" Sombra questioned. Tesla looked the two, and thought to himself, Masai's former friend is more crazy than he is, he's not really going to keep his promise to Sombra. Maybe I can sneak behind him, knock Sombra out and interrogate Ozymandias? No, that's a stupid idea, Nikola. They surely can't kill me because they both know Masai will find out, and Masai needs me alive for whatever the fuck he wants to make. Tesla then sighed, realizing the little dilemma he's got himself in. But then he came up with an idea with another idea, he picked up a small stone beside and chucked it a little bit behind Ozymandias, "What was that?" Ozymandias asked. "I don't know" Sombra replied. "I'll scope out, you keep facing forward, they could be surrounding us, okay?" Ozymandias made sure. "Sure" Sombra said. Ozymandias approached to where he heard the rock hitting the ground, which the direction heading towards the boulder Tesla was hiding behind. Get over here you son of a bitch, he thought to himself. Ozymandias passed by the boulder Tesla was at, then Tesla sneaked up behind him and dragged him, behind the boulder, so he would be out of Sombra's field of vision. Tesla had his hoof over Oz's mouth, "Tell me Masai's plan. Full detail. You have a minute" Tesla quietly told him so he wouldn't alert Sombra, "When I move my hoof away from your mouth, you better not yell for help or I swear I will kill you. You understand?" Ozymandias calmly nodded his head as Tesla released his hoof from off his mouth, making Ozymandias have a small gasp for air, "Talk" Tesla ordered. "Masai is wanting you to build machines for him" Ozymandias told him. "What kind of machines?" Tesla asked. "Weapons, teleportation shit, among other types of rubbish, I'm not exactly sure" Oz replied. "I know you're not really going to keep your promises to Sombra" Tesla said. "Changelings are good liars. Just look at what happened to Discord, he's not going anywhere" Ozymandias chuckled. Tesla got angered, remembering what happened to Discord. He then proceeded to punch Ozymandias in the face, oblivious to the fact that Sombra was now paying attention to the impact Tesla was making across Oz's cheeks, it drove Sombra towards Tesla, "Hey!" Sombra yelled. Tesla stopped punching Oz and looked over the boulder, "Fuck" Tesla uttered as he tried to back away. As Tesla tried to get away from Sombra and Ozymandias, Sombra went one step ahead of him and teleported in front of Tesla, with Ozymandias catching up to him, with Oz's nose bloodied for about the third time in the course of two months, "You're going to be in a world of hurt now, Nikola" Ozymandias told him. "I hate my life" Tesla said to himself. Sombra and Oz looked at each other and gave each other small smirks, right before Sombra lamped Tesla in his left eye, knocking him to the sandy ground where Sombra and Ozymandias proceeded to kick Tesla on the ground. But Tesla wasn't going to lose to them without packing in a few punches. He saw a rock near to him as he felt the repeating kicks dig into his stomach and spine, he picked up the rock and chucked it at Sombra's head, hurting him and knocking him back a few steps, giving Tesla enough room to throw sand in Oz's face, which got him moving a few steps back as well. Tesla then stood up and got into a scrabble with Oz before Sombra attacked Tesla from behind, but Tesla retaliated with a buck to the Dark King's jaw. But Ozymandias managed to get the upper hand and knocked him down to the ground once more, Ozymandias then stood beside Sombra and attempted to do a transportation spell which would send him to another location, but Tesla didn't stay down for long, as the inventor managed to pounce into the spell portal as soon as it closed off. The three reappeared and rolled on the Canterlot Palace's grounds. The palace was not where Ozymandias was intending to go, but with Tesla jumping into him and Sombra whilst performing, it must have confused the spell. When the trio appeared, Sombra rolled furthest away, with Tesla and Ozymandias, still fighting whilst rolling across the ground. Ozymandias kicked Tesla off of him, but Tesla quickly got himself and punted Ozymandias in the side of his face. The guards patrolling the palace saw the three beings fighting, it took the guards a few minutes to recognize one of the fighters was Tesla, as his bloodied face left him almost unrecognizable to the guards. Some guards went over to help Tesla, but as soon as they saw Sombra, they backed away in fear. The guards were impressed with Tesla's fighting ability despite his age and body structure. Sombra regained his strength and went over to Tesla and lifted him up off the ground, "I would kill you here, Nikola. If only I knew that Masai would find out about it and kill me" Sombra threatened. "STOP!" A stern female voice called from afar. The female's voice came Princess Celestia who was coming down the stairs that led to the outside part that the three men were fighting on, Luna was there as well, and trying to make out the pony grasping Tesla, and she finally recognized him, "Sombra?" She asked. Sombra instantly recognized the voice and looked over to her, he then dropped Tesla, "Luna" Sombra replied in shock. They both looked at each other, for the first time in over thousands of years. They smiled at each other, until Luna looked at the bloodied pony at Sombra's hooves, "Oh my word, Nikola!" Luna yelled, "What happened?" "I got into a fight with King here and that Changeling behind me" Tesla coughed. Ozymandias stood up but limped, his jaw pained from Tesla's kick to the face, "Sombra. We need to get the fuck out of here" Ozymandias told Sombra as he realized guards were closing in for him. Sombra didn't listen, he was still looking at Luna, "Luna.." Sombra began, "I'm sorry for everything that I did before..." "Fuck this" Ozymandias uttered. Ozymandias set himself up for a really powerful magic attack, "Sombra. Come with me, or I'm fucking leaving you" He told the Dark King. "I thought you were going to help me?" Sombra asked. Ozymandias breathed out his nose and let out a small smirk. Then blasted Sombra with a dark blast of magic, and just before Sombra had the fraction of a second to react, the spell paralyzed him as he collapsed to the ground, "News tip, Sombra. I was lying" Ozymandias told him, "If I wasn't going to tell you now, it would've been later" Ozymandias then looked down at Tesla, then Luna and smirked with arrogance, before finally vanishing with another transportation spell, this time to a place he's intending to go to. Tesla was surprised as Sombra collapsed to the ground. Sombra was out cold. Luna's eyes widened as she screamed, "SOMBRA!" She stormed passed her sister and many guards in order to get to Nikola and the unconscious Sombra. Once she made it over to the two of them, she cradled Sombra in her forelegs and began to cry, "Oh no" She winced and whispered, "Is he dead?" Tesla, who of course was no doctor, did manage to tell that Sombra wasn't dead, "No, he's out cold though" Tesla told her. She laid Sombra back down gently, then helped Nikola up, "What was it that Chrysalis wanted?" Luna asked worryingly, "You look horrible" She said in a panic. "It wasn't Chrysalis, Luna. Try to calm down" Nikola told her. She breathed quickly, with the knot in her throat, her breaths felt bumpy. A tear dripped from her eye as she gave Tesla a hug. A hug out of worry, "Who was it then?" Luna asked. "A few Changelings, they said they were banished from their Hive. Luna, listen to me, Discord is dead and they plan to release Lyth and Umberoth" Tesla told her. "WHAT?!" Luna asked in horror as she recognized the names of the great dragons. A loud rumble then came from the distance, everyone at the palace grounds looked over to where the sound was coming from, and it was coming from The Dragon's Volcano. The volcano had been missing an upper part of it, Lyth and Umberoth crawled out of the large crater left of the volcano. The size of the Dragons was monumental to say the least, their size and magnitude was a terrifying, everypony was scared. Both of the Dragons were about the size of Ponyville. As one of them roared from the volcano, it was so loud it could be heard from Canterlot. Then the two dragons leaped up and flew away from the volcano, the flapping of their wings were powerful, like two tornadoes being formed. Tesla felt Luna come closer towards him, she was terrified of what was now to come, "Nikola..." She whispered, "...we have to evacuate"