//------------------------------// // Chapter 42: Yellow Eyes // Story: The Original Mad Scientist in Equestria // by Br0nyb0y123 //------------------------------// Tesla went pale, the dragon was staring down at him, eagerly awaiting Tesla's answer, his warm breath blasting at Tesla like a heatwave. Umberoth inhales, sniffing his potential prey, Tesla's blood began to boil, he wished he had a heart attack, "Well?" Umberoth croaked, "Why did you... come back...?" Umberoth sniffed once more and further analysed Tesla, "You are pony... Yet... You are not," Umberoth observed, "What are you?" Tesla opened his mouth, but words couldn't escape, "Speak!" Umberoth ordered, "Who are you?" "I'm... Nikola Tesla," He introduced himself. "Tesla?" Umberoth questioned, "What a peculiar name. What are you?" Tesla shuffled to the side, moving slowly across the platform, He won't attack yet, Tesla thought, "I'm an inventor," Tesla told him. "Inventor? So you are no warrior," Umberoth responded, "You shouldn't be a threat to me." Tesla felt a cold sense of relief, "But... I've yet to feast on any pony since my release from my desolate prison," Umberoth told Tesla. Umberoth open his jaws, his mouth unhinging like a snake. Tesla smelt his foul, deadly breath and leaped out of the way before he could snap his jaws shut, "Wait! Stop!" Tesla begged as he stood up. "Stop?" Umberoth questioned, "You do not wish... to offer yourself as a meal?" "No, I don't." "Then why... did you foolishly return to Canterlot? You were begging to be roasted alive... by me. Why else... would you return?" "Something belongs to me here," Nikola told the dragon quickly. "You lie," Umberoth accuses. "No! Of course not. I wouldn't lie in the presence of one of the remaining Great Dragons of Equestria," Tesla told him. "I'm am... the only Great Dragon," Umberoth informed the inventor. Tesla made it to another stairway, he carefully trotted down that one unlike the last, "But what about Lyth?" Tesla quizzed, "Surely he's also worthy of the 'Great Dragon' title?" Umberoth growled at Tesla, just as he was about to leap off of the final step, Tesla found himself between two monstrous black claws that Umberoth had placed on the platform, "I've spent an eternity with that green-scaled invalid. He is nothing... compared to me. Ever since I was imprisoned I've endured his presence long enough. I had to return here, I almost expected the Princesses to fight back against me," Umberoth said. "They fled," Nikola replied. "Cowards," Umberoth stated, his voiced brimmed with venom and malice. "They're not cowards. Their army wasn't big enough to face you, they had no choice," Nikola told him. "Well... that is a pity. I know you're not a coward, inventor. You came back here," Umberoth said, "What is it that you returned for?" "A suit," Tesla replied. "A suit?!" Umberoth barked. Umberoth began to laugh, a loud engine revving, Tesla was intimidated by it, "You trek far and wide, you return here... all for a suit?" Umberoth queried, almost flabbergasted by the concept, "For an inventor you really are foolish." "Got to keep up appearances somehow," Tesla lightly chuckled, nervously around the monster, "I left it here before I went to the volcano..." "Who exactly did you... accompany on that journey? I gathered... several scents from underneath the bridge," Umberoth explained, "Several ponies, changelings and even a dragon." "The ponies were my friends, the dragon was too," Nikola responded, choosing his words carefully. "A pony, friends with a dragon? The times have changed I see." "He's an assistant to one of my pony friends." "So, in other words, he's a slave?" Umberoth asked, "He disgraces my race. No true dragon would ever subject himself to becoming friends... with ponies." "He's not a slave," Nikola informed, "He's my friend, and he's the truest dragon I know." "Well... I guess that makes all the difference," Umberoth sarcastically pointed out, "It seems... to me, you don't know any other dragons. Real dragons" Nikola grew slightly angry at the old dragon's dry sense of wit, he knew fully he couldn't express his anger, as much as he wanted too, he let out a slight grunt, "So, why... did you release me?" Umberoth asked. "I didn't. The changelings did," Nikola told him. "Changelings? Chrysalis wanted me released?" "No." "Hmm," Umberoth pondered, "If not her, then who?" "A group of terrorists, they call themselves the Banished Brotherhood," Nikola replied. "The Banished Brotherhood? What a silly title," Umberoth observed. "Trust me, they're silly. Especially the leader, Masai," Nikola told him. "If I recall," Umberoth began, "Masai is the one who spouted all that... foul language above me?" Nikola nods, "You recall correctly, great one," Nikola confirms. Umberoth growls and leans towards Tesla, his large skull near two feet away from Tesla, "Flattery will not... confirm your safety, inventor," Umberoth warned, "I only choose not to kill you, because you... intrigue me." "Of course, Umberoth," Tesla nervously agrees, nodding his head frantically. Umberoth pulls away his gigantic head and stares at Tesla, "You are a very peculiar pony, inventor. When I caught your scent, I also mentioned earlier, you are pony, yet, you... are something different," Umberoth spoke. "I'm... I'm a creature from an alternate world." Nikola stated before pausing, "I'm what they call a human." "Human?" Umberoth asks, "I've never heard of them. Do all of them speak with accents like yours?" "No, I'm from a different country but on my world, different languages, different dialects," Tesla stated, "You speak what I call English. But my first language is Serbian." "English? Serbian? What odd titles for languages." "I..." Nikola coughed, "I agree." "Why did the changelings release me? Surely they must know of my hatred for those insignificant insects." "From what I gather, they want to spread anarchy across Equestria as a means of revenge," Nikola informed, "They convinced Sombra and Discord to help you escape. It's a terrorist plot." Umberoth grew wide eyed at that sentence, he exhaled, loudly and hokey, "They managed to convince the Draconequus and that... that demon child to release me?" Umberoth asked, "Either Sombra and Discord are weak-willed, or that Brotherhood aren't as silly as you've led me to believe." Nikola sighed and thought to himself, an idea sparked in his mind, "Couldn't you kill them?" Nikola asked. "What? No," Umberoth responded, almost shocked by the request. "Why?" "I hold the Brotherhood in veneration, they did release me after all. I have a code of honor unlike other beasts," Umberoth told him. Nikola sighed again, more angrily, Damn, "And can I give you advice, inventor?" Umberoth asked before approaching Tesla. His yellow eyes glowed with malice and contempt, complete darkness and hatred hidden within his slit irises, "Don't ask a dragon to to fight a pony's battle." He threatened. "I apologize," Nikola gasped in worry. "If you really returned here... for your suit, why did you come down here to see me?" Nikola widened his eyes, Has he figured it out? "I was intrigued to see what you looked like, Umberoth." Umberoth growls, "Really? You haven't came here... to slay me instead? Because, inventor, that would be a very injudicious thing to do..." "No, I wouldn't slay you... l-l-like you said, I'm no warrior..." "But... you are brave." The fuck I am... Rouge quietly trotted along the desolate and Chernobyl-esque ruins of the once grand Canterlot palace, her hoofsteps lightly echoing with each movement, her body shivered with each gust of wind that seeped through the cracks and open windows, she would've enjoyed the castle much more if it was more organised and tidy, its lost its grandeur ever since the dragons were released. She continued her way until she caught sight of two massive doors, she desperately wished Tesla was with her, Damn... to think I'd miss the cherry orchard festival. She pushed against one of the grand doors, her soot covered body leaving a permanent shadows on the wooden door. She finally made it inside, she was in the throne room. She glanced around at the wide open space and she saw two thrones on the other end of the room, along with what seemed to be a metallic and glass tube. It was the machine. With a sigh of relief she galloped over to the machine and looked at the control pad, Button to the right... lever upwards... She repeated that mantra in her head, following Tesla's instructions, she pressed the button and pushed up the lever, and a metallic thunk and electric fizzle came about with the machine, Rouge jumped and looked at it, she knew now she had to hide.