With a pounding head and aching body, Otto cracked his eyes open to find a set of blue eyes staring down into his. Reflex kicked in and he hurled himself backwards. The covers that had been placed over him entangled his body and caused him to trip, sending him tumbling across the floor as the covers wrapped him up. His tumbling ended when he crashed head first into the wall, dazing him slightly as the mare let out a gasp.
"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" she asked Otto as she raced over to him, but when she tried to get close he gave her a such a glare with his bloodshot eyes that she was frozen in place. Otto then used his strength to free himself of his confines before rising to his hooves, feeling infinitely worse than before.
'At least I know that the only danger in this place comes from the bed,' he snarled before casting a quick glance around the room. The room was wooden and tiny, with only room for a bed, a cabinet and some belongings that he perceived to be personal. Otto then cast his glance towards the mare, who gave him a tiny smile when his eyes rested on her. "Why are you staring at me?"
"I-I'm just checking to see if you're okay," she replied with a slight stammer, one that irritated Otto immediately. "I found you in the rain last night after you fought off those nasty criminals. You were in pretty bad shape, so I brought you back to my place and helped fix you up."
Otto reached up to touch his head and found a few bandages wrapped around his head. He winced slightly when he touched them, but he then forced the pain out of his mind as questions took the pains place.
"I'm glad to see that you are doing better, though," the mare said with a relieved smile. Otto kept his face neutral in response while his eyes quickly took in the pony. She was a pale color, but her mane was a vibrant blue, almost to contrast her pale look. She wore a collar with a tie around her neck, the choice of apparel making Otto raise an eyebrow, yet he couldn't make out the mark she had on her flank.
'Apparently all of these horses have that mark on their rear,' Otto thought as he narrowed his eyes at her mark, trying to figure out what it was. The mare caught where he was staring and quickly covered her flank with her tail, blushing slightly. "My apologies ma'am, I just couldn't make out your mark," Otto said once he realized he had been staring.
"T-that's alright. I can't make out yours either," she replied with a slight chuckle. Otto nodded in reply before taking one last look at the pony, or rather, her eyes. He saw a kindness in them, one that he had not seen in eyes that looked at him in the past.
'Of course. She knows not of the man that she brought into her home,' he realized. 'And it would be best if I keep it that way.'
"Thank you for your hospitality ma'am, but I must be going," Otto decided as he walked past her. The mare panicked behind him and followed after him into the next room. The room Otto had walked into was far more decorated, with fabrics and string filling nearly every compartment she had. Those, along with the designs for dresses he spied lying around, allowed Otto to determine her occupation.
'Fashion designer or a horse that works with clothing,' he deduced. 'Of course I would end up with a fashionista and not a scientist that could help me discover what has become of my mind.'
"I'm Coco Pommel, by the way. In case you were curious what my name was," the mare said from behind Otto, who turned to look at her with a bored gaze.
"No, I was not curious in anyway," he replied. He turned his head in time to miss seeing her face sink. Otto spied an open window and walked over to it, spying a huge city down below. Thousands of different color horses walked through the streets, baffling Otto completely. He then turned his gaze to the sky, finding dozens of pegasi soaring past. 'Perhaps I am not dead. Perhaps this is another reality altogether.'
Plans once more began to formulate in the mind of the genius, but his train of thought was derailed when Coco spoke. "Um, you haven't told me your name yet. And while you might not be curious about me, I am curious about you."
'As you should be, considering you are speaking to the greatest human that ever lived...and most arrogant,' Otto corrected as the memories surfaced for a moment. "I am Otto Octavius. Dr. Otto Octavius."
"Wow, you're a doctor?" Coco asked with some amazement. "Do you perform operations, your do you only prescribe pills?"
"Not that kind of doctor you ignorant...No Coco, I am a scientist," Otto corrected as he forced himself back under control, clearing his throat with a cough.
"Oh, a scientist," Coco said, either not catching or simply ignoring the first part of Otto's statement. "So are you with the magic division or are you more of an experiment kind of scientist? But you don't have a horn, so you can't do magic yourself..."
'When in the hell has magic ever been considered a part of science?' Otto fumed internally, but he kept his thoughts to himself. 'But that answers my question about last night. That unicorn did attack me with magic and that is how it managed to best me. And if what this fool is saying is true, then unicorns are magic wielders. I shall pry more into that later.'
Otto continued to stare into the crowd of ponies for a long time, observing their actions and learning as much as he could. Occasionally Coco cleared her throat and tried to gain his attention, but he shut her out with relative ease. That was until she pushed his bag over to him.
"I also found that in the rain. I dried it out as best I could, but it's still wet in some places." Otto felt his blood begin to boil as he spun to face her, his face revealing his thoughts. Coco backed away slightly as Otto stalked towards her, doing his best to keep his fury under control.
"You did not, I hope, look inside, did you?" he asked in a seething tone.
"Of course not! I would never go through another ponies things!" she replied with both indignation and a bit of fear, but her words chilled the rage that had been boiling inside of Otto. He let out a small sigh as he regained control of himself, standing up straight as he nodded at her before picking up his saddlebag.
"Thank you Ms. Coco for aiding me when I was incapacitated, but I must be on my way," Otto said as he bowed slightly to her before walking towards the door.
"W-wait, before you go can I ask you a question?" Otto turned around to look at Coco, letting out a sigh as he did so.
"Very well, Coco. ONE question."
"Well...why did you go out of your way to save that mare?" Otto raised an eyebrow at her question, wondering why she would choose to ask him that. He made a motion with his hoof for her to continue. "I mean...you're clearly not from around here, yet you risked your life to save a total stranger. You were nearly killed because of it. Why?"
Otto did not answer immediately, for his mind flashed back to the last events that he remembered. The burning of New York. His hesitation that almost cost a child her life. Anna. His final, and perhaps only, selfless decision. He then shook his head and forced the memories away, before looking up at Coco with a look of stone.
"Okay, so you won't answer that one. Then can I ask another question?" she asked.
"You just did."
"Please."
"Oh very well, out with it."
"Where are you going?" Octavius raised another confused eyebrow, not sure how to respond. "You keep trying to leave, saying that you have somewhere else to go. Can you at least tell me where it is?"
'She called my bluff,' Otto realized with a small sigh. "I do not know. I plan to simply move on until I can find what I am looking for."
"What are you looking for?"
"I said one question and that is your fourth. It is time that I was on my way," Otto replied, placing his hoof on the door and using his adhesive abilities to grab hold of it. He turned the nob and opened the door, only to be stopped by Coco's hoof.
"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" she asked him. Otto replied with a stern glare, but to his moderate surprise she didn't shrink back like she had before. "If you don't, then why don't you come with me. I have a proposition for you."
"Why are you being so kind to me?" Otto asked her, suspicious of her actions. "I am a complete stranger, yet you invite me into your home, heal my injuries and then offer to aid me even further. You are far too kind for your own good."
"A pony was kind to me, despite me being a stranger to her. Consider this...paying her kindness forward," Coco replied with a smile. "Come on, it won't take that long, unless you have somewhere else to be?" Otto smirked at her lip, while realizing that she was right, to an extent.
'She is correct. I am in a strange land, with stranger creatures and have no idea what to do next. Perhaps I should take advantage of her offer, for the time being.' Otto then sighed before bowing slightly to the mare. "Very well, Coco. I shall humor you for the time being. Let us see this offer of yours."
\\ ( ) //
// ; ; \\
Otto crinkled his nose at the dusty smell of the old building, resisting the urge to gag aloud or make a snide remark. A glance at Coco showed him that she was immune to the old and dusty place as she walked ahead of Otto without any problems. She turned down a hallway and the pair reached a single, wooden door with the words "Coco: Fashion Designer" written upon them in gold.
'Seems I was correct. As I always am,' Doctor Octavius smirked. Coco tapped her hoof against the door twice and a moment later Otto could hear the sounds of hooves walking towards them. The door creaked open a moment later and a tall pony stepped out.
"Ah, good to see you boss," the elderly stallion said with a nod to Coco before casting an unfriendly gaze at Otto. "Is he the help that you went to find?"
"Maybe. I'm still trying to lock in the deal," she replied cheerfully before walking past the stallion, who Otto noticed was a Pegasus when she moved out of the way. He was a maroon color, with multiple scars and slashes across his body. Otto raised an eyebrow as he spied that one of the stallions wings was completely severed, leaving only a stump behind.
"Something catch your eye?" the stallion asked Otto with some heat, turning Otto's attention from the stump to the stallions eyes. "Yeah, I'm missing a wing. Got sliced clean off. Got something to say?"
"Perhaps if you had the brains to know when to get out the way, you would not be as asymmetrical as you are now," Otto coldly replied. The stallions eyes narrowed dangerously and Otto could feel the spider sense begin to tingle as he glared back, but before either could start anything Coco got between them.
"Alright Stonewall, Otto: break it up," she growled as she tried to push the two of them apart but was unable to budge either of them. Stonewall obeyed her command and backed up slightly, while Otto simply kept his eyes narrowed. "Otto, this is what I wanted to show you."
Octavius managed to tear his eyes away from his foe and glanced past the open door into the room beyond it, his eyes going wide for a moment as he glanced at what was inside. The room was a royal purple, with drapes and decorations that nearly made Otto confused simply looking at them. Dozens of horse mannequins lined the room, with a different design or dress upon each of them. Even more designs than the ones that he had seen at Coco's home lined the floor, while material for clothing was strewn in wild abandonment.
"This is what I wanted to ask you about," Coco said as she spread her arms around the room, helping him to take it all in. "I've been looking for a pony to assist me for a while. And I'd like you to be that pony." Otto blinked twice before throwing his head back and laughing, using a laugh that he had not had the chance to use in a long time. When he could no longer breath he ceased to laugh, allowing him the chance to wipe tears out of his eyes while also taking a glance at the other two. Coco looked confused while Stonewall looked pissed.
"Coco, while I am grateful for what you did for me, I am not the person to ask about this," Otto replied in a far more serious tone. "I know nothing about fashion. I care even less about it. In fact, I see it as a waste of my time and intellect. So why ask me, of all people, to be your assistant?" Coco hung her head for a moment after hearing Otto's words.
"Because I think I can trust you," she replied after a moment of silence. "I've been working my way up the designer tree for a while now and I've gotten somewhat famous. But some of my rivals keep trying to sabotage me and have been sending their flunkies to hinder me in any way they can. The last two assistants I had have both been spies. One of them tried to steal my ideas and the other simply tried to destroy them. So I've been working without an assistant for a while now."
"But the work load is too much. I can't do it by myself. And I can't trust any pony that's applying to be my assistant. So I'm kinda stuck," Coco continued with a smile at Otto. "That's why I've chosen you. Because you've shown that you're trustworthy...to some extent."
"Coco...I fail to see what I did that convinced you to put this much faith in me," Otto replied dryly.
"That's simple. You saved a mare's life. You helped a stranger you didn't even know. Just like how Rarity helped me," Coco replied. "So if you're like Rarity, then I know I can trust you. So what do you say Otto, will you at least give me and this place a chance?"
Otto took that moment to glance around the room once more, able to feel his brain cells dying simply by being near the waste of resources and brain power. But then he glanced at Coco and saw both the desperation and the confidence in her eyes, intriguing Otto for a moment.
'She did save my life, after all. What was that she said earlier? Paying the kindness forward? And for the time being, until I can determine where I am and how I can get home,' Otto decided, his sigh answering Coco's question. "Very well, Ms. Pommel, I will aid you for the time being. But on one condition. When I wish to be alone, I am to be left alone. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Coco replied as she held out a hood. Otto glanced down at it, reconsidering for a moment before he reached out and shook it.
'Look at her, actually giving this stranger a chance. She truly knows nothing about the man she has just let into her life,' Otto thought bitterly for a moment. 'She had better hope that I do not fail her the same way I have failed everyone else.'