Tesla and Rouge paced around the palace halls, crumbled and decayed. Rouge wanted to ask where they were going, but she saw the look on Tesla's face. His face was painted in courage, yet was fearing... something, at the same time. The awkward silence became too painful to bear.
"Where are we going, Nikola?" Rouge asked.
"I need to pick something up," Nikola replied, "My suit."
"Your suit?" Rouge questioned.
"Yeah, Rarity bought it for me. Forty bits."
"Huh, must be a crummy suit. No offense," Rouge joked.
"Nah, it doesn't look too bad," Nikola chuckled, "I'm still trying to get used to the currency here."
"How...? Oh, yeah, different world," she remembered.
Rouge and Nikola hopped over a large crack in the ground.
"What's your world like?" Rouge asked with intrigue.
Tesla thought to himself, he almost forgot what it was like back home.
"It isn't perfect, Rouge. It's a different world. Less threats like other species. It's other humans who can be monsters," he replied.
"No dragons then?" Rouge quizzed, "Huh, you guys are lucky then."
"I suppose we are. But we humans, we fight a lot."
"Ponies fight ponies too," she said.
"This world is full of weird and wonderful creatures. I suppose that's true for my world, but humans are the most intelligent, the most dangerous. If anything, we're the cruelest animal too," Nikola explained.
"Changelings are more dangerous and cruel, if the Brotherhood are anything to go by."
"I think it's time for me to get crueler in order to beat them," Nikola optioned.
Rouge stood in her place. Nikola dragged his hooves with a tired limp, he continued for five seconds before stopping in his place too and facing Rouge.
"You should keep a clear mind about this, Nikola. Don't stoop to their level..." Rouge told him, "You're a good person, Nikola. You've already done so much good. You can't let this get to you."
Nikola looked down, and with a sigh, he felt a sense of defeat. Everything felt like it was moving quicker than him, and as great as his mind was, it was tough to handle it all. Likewise, he felt the need to remain strong, for his friends, and for Equestria.
"Rouge, I'm sorry, it's just... all of this, it's..." Nikola paused, "To think Twilight used to deal with this all the damned time... I don't know how she did it."
"She had her friends, Nikola. She didn't have to do it alone," Rouge said, "Equestria, we'll band together. It's what we're good at."
Rouge smiled warmly at him. Nikola looks at him and smiles back. Rouge continued trotting, as did he. They continued their trek towards Nikola's quarters, when they finally got there, past the cracked floors and crumbling walls. The room smelt of stale ash, the bed Nikola once laid on now in pieces across the room, the windows were smashed and jagged and sharp. Tesla let out a sharp sigh, he was tired, his forelegs and back aching stupendously. He hoped to get rest eventually.
"I need this suit, I need it to keep appearances," Tesla uttered, to Rouge he seemed a little delirious.
"That's okay. Check in the closet," Rouge said.
Nikola opened the closet, his suit was still there, sat on a hanger, now sugared in dust and ash. His dislike of germs didn't matter to him anymore, all that mattered to him in that moment of time was his suit. He felt his mind begin to twist, he was eerily silent as he stared at the suit. Rouge was unnerved.
"Nikola?"
He glanced at her, a small smile crept on his face.
"I'm so tired, Rouge," he explained, "All of this is insane, I want to take out my brain and scrub it clean, get all of that bad stuff out of my head. I need to focus on Masai, the Brotherhood... Ozymandias... They can't... They can't do this..."
Rouge was tired as well, "We can rest before we head back to Ponyville."
"We should move," Tesla said, "The smell of Umberoth's carcass will keep me awake if we stay here, I guarantee it."
Rouge giggled at his wisecrack. Tesla let out a soft chuckle, he slung the suit off the hanger and quickly slid into it. The dust came off in flaky chips, he shrugged the last patches of ash off his suit. He was pleased with his look, Rouge was too.
"We'll rest once we're far from here, there's bound to be a few fruit trees on the way there," Rouge said.
"Yeah, I'm starving," Tesla said as his empty stomach nearly barked at him.
The journey back to Ponyville started with silence. Nikola wasn't in the mood to talk, Rouge was comfortable to just be in the company of another pony, especially that of a pony who can kill a creature as large and horrific as Umberoth. Tesla replayed Umberoth's demise in his head, over and over. From all angles. Something inside Tesla made him feel alive when it happened... the last screeching roar as the dragon's vocal chords drowned in crimson liquid, the sickly glow of his yellow eyes fading into wet grey stones, the thud his body made as he fell to the earth knocking Tesla back with a small concussion. Nikola was still surprised he could do it, it was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time, in the moment when he killed the dragon, he felt power. He enjoyed it. He felt like any idea he could conjure up could become a reality. He thought further about his predicament, about Masai and Ozymandias, how he could take both of them down, and he would enjoy every minute of doing so...
No, he thought, Don't be like them. You're better than that. You sound like Edison.
Nikola stood still in his tracks, he looked back to see Canterlot, now far away. He smirked, one task was done. He was cautiously excited about the next one, but equally as nervous too.
If you die, Equestria will be done for, be careful.
"Rouge," Tesla said.
She stood still too, just a little in front of him, "Yes, Nikola?"
"I'm worried about something..." He paused, "I'm scared of becoming like Masai… I... Umberoth, I... I liked defeating him. I... Am I a monster? I fear I'm going mad."
Rouge was taken aback by his question, she felt a shiver. She looked at him intently, she didn't see the brave genius from this morning, what she saw was a hurt and tired man who had to take in a triumphant yet traumatic victory.
"I don't think you're a monster, Nikola," she said carefully, with sensitivity, "Take a step back and ask yourself this, 'why did you do it'?"
Tesla let this question sink deep into his thoughts. Why?, he knew why, it was his task from Masai. But something else let him know why.
"I love this country," he said, "I wanna protect it. This place gave me a home to stay in, food, shelter... friends. I've had so many good moments with them..."
That was it, Nikola had his mind back on track. His friends were the seed of all of this, the times he shared with them. The cart race, the apple farm, teaching him to walk like a horse, it was those moments he cherished the most. A thought that kept passing his mind was if he could never be able to get his machine to work again and go back home, then he thought to himself that he'd gladly stay in this new one.
Rouge smiled, "That's the difference between you and Masai. You cherish life, life for everypony. Even in the face of all of this, you care enough about your friends and the people Equestria to do this, even if you hurt yourself and your mind doing so."
"You know, Rouge, I've never done much with my life. I've always been plastered to my work, always dreaming about if I can do wonders for the world," he replied, "One man... back home, a rootless man told me I'd never amount, and I'd be forgotten."
"You won't. After this, I can guarantee you'll be known forever, at least over here in Equestria," she told him, "And that man who told you that you wouldn't amount? Fuck him."
Tesla laughed, he perked up. He was still tired yet he was more focused.
"And as for going mad? We're all a little bonkers," Rouge said, "There's nothing wrong with a little madness here and there."