//------------------------------//
// Nerves 
// Story: Along Came A Spider 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

"Okay, today's the day," Coco said as she breathed in and out quickly, trying to pump herself up as she, Otto and Stonewall all stood on the sidewalk as they waited for their cab. For a brief moment Coco seemed to be unbreakable, but then a moment later she curled up into a ball and began to hyperventilate. "Today's the day that the world sees me for the fraud that I am and I get nationally embarrassed in front of everypony!"

"Glad to see that you have so much confidence in yourself," Otto said with a shake of his head as the mare began to rock back and forth. He shifted the large trunk that he was balancing on his back, carrying it himself despite Stonewall's offers to take it. "Alright, now this is get pathetic. On your feet, woman."

Otto grabbed Coco by the back of the neck and hoisted her up like a cat, yet she dangled there as if she had no bones. Otto snarled in an annoyed tone as he tried to shake some sense into the mare, yet she dangled in place lifeless. Otto was prepared to simply toss the mare onto the cab whenever they decided to show up, but before he had the chance Stonewall butted in.

"Come on Coco, you know that you're just as good as all of those ponies if not better," Stonewall said in a fatherly tone as he snatched the mare from Otto, who watched with an annoyed expression. "Your dresses are second to none and more ponies come here to shop from you than anypony else in this city."

"Aside from Cherry Bomb," Coco whimpered weakly, getting a snarl out of Otto.

"Perhaps, but now is your chance to show her up," Stonewall tried to remind her, but before he could continue talking a cab in a bright yellow screeched up beside them and ran right through a puddle that created a massive splash. With his enhanced speed Otto could have dove in front of the water to shield Coco, but instead he chose the smarter method and pushed Stonewall in front of the water. A moment later Stonewall was drenched in water and Otto was placing the trunk on the back of the cab.

"Come now, if we're late they will never let you live it down!" Otto called out to Stonewall as he held out a hoof to help Coco into the cab, helping her to her seat before turning around and giving Stonewall a smirk. "You finally decide to take a bath and you do it with street water. I am amazed you managed to make it into adulthood."

"I swear Octavius, if it wasn't Coco's big day..."

Seconds later the cab was racing through the streets, whipping back and forth as it weaved in and out of both ponies and traffic. The ponies inside were bounced around in their seats, aside from Otto who managed to keep a stern grip upon his seat. After nearly getting clocked in the face by Stonewall's hoof, he pinned both Coco and Stonewall to their seats with his strength.

"Urgh...thanks," Coco said with a weak smile to Otto after she took a moment to force down her breakfast. "Do you think that the trunk will stay on? I mean, we're going pretty fast..."

"Do not worry, I attached the trunk to the back of the cab personally. It would take one of those monsters that have been plaguing this city to pry it free," Otto said with nothing but utter confidence in his work. 

"You may have gotten it on, but I hope you can pry it off. The last thing you secured took you two hours to open up again," Stonewall reminded Otto with a smirk, one that smacked the look of confidence off of Otto's face. For a brief moment the two scowled at each other before Coco glanced down and saw the small bag Otto was carrying.

"That? It is something that I would call...insurance," Otto said in an evasive manner, causing both of his associates to raise their eyebrows in interest. "And no, I will not tell you what is in here. All you need to do is pray that I have no need to break it out."

"So what would compel you to bring it?" Stonewall asked with genuine curiosity, yet neither him nor Coco were expecting Otto's face to darken.

"I met with Cherry Bomb the other day, when I was at the post office," Otto admitted to the two, causing their eyes to widen. "She didn't try to harm me or worm information out of me, but...she was testing me, poking me and seeing how I would respond. She is up to something, but I am not certain what. For the time being, I would advise just staying clear of her and leaving her to me."

"What are you going to do if she tries something? Take her to your evil lair and turn her into goo or something?" Stonewall asked with a smirk.

"Of course not, I do not have an evil lair anymore," Otto corrected, his words getting a laugh out of both Coco and Stonewall. But when Otto failed to smile and his eyes seemed to darken, the mirth was sucked out of the cab and the three rode in silence the rest of the way.

"We're here," Otto said to finally break the silence when the cab pulled up to a massive, domed building that was packed head to hoof with thousands of ponies. Both Coco and Stonewall let out a gasp as they saw the number of ponies just hanging around outside of the building, but Otto wasn't fazed in the slightest by the number. The moment the cab pulled to a stop, he kicked open the door and hopped out. "Alright, now we just need to find our spot in the back and...Coco, get out of the cab, dammit! All of these ponies are here to see you!"

"NO! This is too much for me!" Coco screamed back in from the cab, causing Otto to snarl while Stonewall walked to the back of the cab and grabbed the trunk that Coco had brought.

"Coco! I swear to the heavens that if you don't get out of there I will drag you out myself and that is what all of these photographers will take a photo of!" Otto roared into the cab and after a moment of silence Coco weakly staggered out, her face as white as a ghost while her eyes stared blankly ahead. Otto shook his head and walked beside her, leaning against her to support her so that she wouldn't fall over. The cab driver held out a hoof for a tip, only for his hoof to retreat when Otto gave him a menacing glare.

"There are so many cameras...all taking pictures of me," Coco whispered weakly as she walked alongside Otto, who was giving death glares to each and every pony that go too close.

"Stay strong, girl. They are not here to see you, they are here to see what you have created," Otto said to her in a near whisper while keeping an eye on the ponies around them. "One of the greatest compliments to a creator is that the world will take their invention and accept it. I may have been a super-villain, but a lot of the things I created were reverse engineered for the greater good. And to be honest, I am glad to see that the world did more good with my inventions than I ever did."

"R-really?" Coco asked as the two walked into the front doors of the domed building.

"Yes. And it is the same way with your dresses," Otto continued as he kept an eye out for any that might be out to sabotage Coco. "As much as I despise them, there are hundreds of ponies here to see what you have created. To see what you have done and perhaps learn from it. So if you cannot bring yourself to do this for your sake, then do it for those that you might inspire."

"...you're right, Otto. I need to be strong for those that might look up to me," Coco said with the strength that Otto had begun to see in her. She pushed herself off of Otto and began to walk on her own, yet the moment of confidence was ruined a moment later when the pair came across Cherry Bomb. The mare turned her head towards the pair and smiled when she spied them, bounding over with a look that Otto couldn't read.

"Coco. Otto!" Cherry exclaimed with a smile as she opened her arms for a hug, but a look from Otto shut the hug down. "I wondered if you would show up Otto, but I am glad to see that you didn't chicken out Coco. Oh, and I see you brought that workhorse with you. You can go to the back." Stonewall gave Cherry Bomb a cold look as he walked by her, but as far as she was concerned he didn't exist anymore.

"Whatever you what to say, make it quick woman. We have somewhere to be," Otto snarled in a dark voice, but once again his threat was met with a wide smile. 

"Come now Otto, I mean no harm here. I am simply here to prove that my designs are the best in the world," Cherry Bomb said with a laugh, yet Otto could feel Coco beginning to vibrate with anger and the mention of designs. "And with Rarity off in another city trying to deal with the monster threat, this competition could go to either of us. Or anypony else here."

"This competition will go to only one of us. And that will be me," Coco said with a fire and confidence that surprised both Otto and Cherry. Yet after a moment of surprise Cherry nodded with approval and a smile crossed her face. 

"That's the spirit that I want to see in you. Now this will be a real competition," Cherry said with a laugh as she turned to leave. "I look forward to seeing what you came up with, Coco. And as for you Otto, I hope that I get to see more of you later."

"What a detestable woman," Otto snarled under his breath as Cherry walked away, glaring at her until she was gone before he glanced down at Coco. Coco still wore the look of rage upon her face despite the mare being gone and it was only after Otto nudged her that she broke her glare. "That was quite the look of rage you gave her. I am surprised that you could make such an angry face."

"Well, I am more than just a pretty face," Coco said with a laugh that was devoid of any nerves. Despite himself Otto couldn't help but smile at the sudden change in confidence for the mare. "Now come on, we need to go meet up with Stonewall and get this dress to Sapphire Shores."

Otto followed Coco to the back of the building, where he was moderately amused by the dozens of ponies all wearing different dresses and outfits. Some of the dresses were tacky and made Otto smirk, while others genuinely impressed him and made him wonder if they had worked magic into their designs. He then glanced forward to see Stonewall talking with another pony, one who he knew the name of despite never having seen her before.

'Sapphire Shores,' Otto thought to himself as he gazed upon the pony with a deep blue mane and outfit that looked like something from a circus. She gave off the aura of a person that was used to being followed by hundreds of others while also keeping a professional look that Otto remembered using a few times. She spied Coco and waved the mare over to her, before raising an eyebrow as she spied Otto standing behind him.

"Hello again Coco, I am so glad to see that you made it here!" Sapphire said in a voice that Otto immediately recognized as one that a celebrity used. Coco stammered out something in a very flustered reply, but Otto quickly grew bored of their conversations and wandered over to Stonewall. 

"You still have the dress in there, do you not?" Otto whispered to the stallion once he knew he was out of earshot of the mares. Stonewall nodded silently in reply, but the eyebrow he raised asked his question for him. "I just do not wish for this dress to go missing like the other one. This is Coco's only chance to win this competition and if she does, then I believe Coco will finally have something to be confident about."

"Go missing? I thought we all agreed that Cherry stole it," Stonewall whispered back, but after a second Otto shook his head.

"That is what I thought at first, but some of the facts aren't adding up. If Cherry unveils the dress here, then we could nail her as the thief and report her. But if she simply wanted to destroy it, it would be a futile effort as Coco could always make another," Otto reasoned and from his nod Stonewall showed he was following along. "No, Cherry is one that we do need to keep an eye on, but I believe that there are other things going on here." 

"I don't like the sound of that. Should we warn somepony?"

"No, not at the moment. Perhaps I am just reading too much into things. But I did want to share my thoughts with you, so that someone else was on the lookout."

"Really? And here I thought you hated me."

"Oh, I do. But Coco's victory and the safety of those here comes first," Otto clarified with a stern expression. "So if you see anything out of the ordinary at all, I wish for to either alert me or somepony with a considerable source of power."

"Think it'll be that bad."

"We're in a world of superheroes and supervillains. It's always that bad."

Otto walked away from the stallion when Coco waved him over, the two of them walking towards the dressing room with the trunk in tow. Coco began to tell Otto about what she and Sapphire had talked about and how excited she was to see the look on Cherry's face when Coco unveiled her new dress, but while Otto smiled and nodded, his mind was locked on his worries.

'My spider sense hasn't acted up yet, so that is something,' he thought to himself once the two of them reached their destination. 'But I need to be on guard. Something about this feels both off...and very familiar to me.'