"At least I can take a small modem of comfort in that one thing between our worlds is the same," Otto grumbled to himself as he forced his way through the sea of ponies that blocked his path. "And it is that the congestion in both New York and this place is unreasonable. And where in the infernal hell is that mare?!"
Yet even as he looked around, he could only see the faces or backs of ponies heads all around him. He snarled with frustration as he found that he could not spy Coco in the mess of ponies, his frustration growing even further when some ponies began to complain at him for standing still. One pony was daring enough to try to shove Otto out of the way. Otto, wanting to honor the customs in the new world, slammed his shoulder into the pony in reply and sent them sailing over the other ponies.
'And not one of you seems to notice,' Otto seethed internally, before narrowing his eyes as he spied a very familiar looking headpiece being crushed by the crowd. Otto walked towards it, pushing any and all challengers out of his path, before finally spying a hoof sticking out of a clump of ponies. He grabbed hold of it and pulled, ripping Coco free of the unyielding crowd of horses.
"T-thanks. Any longer and nopony would have ever seen me again," Coco said with a smile of thanks, one that Otto did not return.
"Come, we have wasted enough time dawdling and if this city is half of the size of the one I come from, then we have much to see today," Otto instructed sternly. Coco nodded and tried to take the lead, but a few moments later she was almost swept away by the crowd again. It was only when Otto used his spider like strength to start shoving ponies out of the way did they gain any room to breath.
"Thanks again. You're really strong, aren't you?" Coco asked as Otto took the lead, using a combination of glares and physical strength to dissuade any ponies from trying to use the pair as doormats.
"Improving ones mental fortitude is only half of the battle. In order to defeat those that wished to do me harm, I had to make my self physically superior to them as well," Otto replied in a tone that was harsh. Coco hung her head slightly at the harshness of his words, not knowing that they were not aimed towards her. "You still have not told me where at what place I have found myself in?"
"I'm sorry, what did you ask?" Coco asked as she snapped her head back up.
"The name of this city, woman! What is it?" Otto asked impatiently, this time all of his frustration aimed at the mare.
"Oh, we're in the city of Manehatten, the largest city in Equestria!"
A lesser man would have been slain by the sheer absurdity and stupidity of the pun, yet with all of his mental fortitude Otto managed to prevent his soul from departing to the next life. He forced himself not to lose it at the name and forced himself to give a nod to the mare, who seemed happy by Otto's response.
'Manehatten. By all that is unholy, Manehatten. It is like the universe itself is mocking me,' Otto roared within his mind, but his face never showed the torment that was blazing across his cortex.
"This is the city park, where I like to hang out and draw my designs...when I can make it here without being trampled, that is," Coco said to Otto, who buried his frustration and lifted his head. The park that greeted his eyes almost immediately reminded him of Central Park, before he and the other members of the Sinister Six ruined it. "You should see it at night. The lamps come on, the stars come out and sometimes fireflies dance around while I draw. It's truly a divine sight."
"Yes, I'm sure it's beautiful. Where did you say that university was again?" Otto asked, completely ignoring Coco's words. Coco's expression drooped for a second, but then she perked back up before waving for Otto to follow her.
"The Manehatten University is the pride and joy of our city!" Coco exclaimed as they walked, Otto once again having to take the lead as the congestion grew intense once more. "There hundreds of ponies study the effects of magic and science, trying to figure out the many mysteries of our world. I haven't been there that often since my younger years, but I'm sure a doctor like yourself would get much more enjoyment there than I would nowadays!"
"That is why I requested to go there, after all," Otto said with as much restraint as he could. 'Of course one such as yourself would not find interest in the wonders of the universe. Only those such as myself...control yourself, Otto. You are in a strange land with no access to your technology and only a spit in the face as a gift from your old life. You need allies and Coco is the only one that seems to not hate your guts.'
Otto then cast a glance at Coco and noticed that she seemed to be lost in thought, those thoughts causing a look of doom and gloom to cast across her face. "Is there something the matter? You do not generally look like this," Otto pointed out.
"What...oh, sorry about that," Coco apologized as she shook her head and regained her focus. "I was just thinking about...all of the attacks that I've been reading about in the paper lately." Otto raised an eyebrow at her words and motioned for her to continue speaking.
"Well, from what I've read strange abominations have been attacking pony settlements all across Equestria. Princess Celestia has moved her forces all across the land to try and stop them, but aside from Rarity and her friends none of them have had any success. I'm just worried...that our city may be next."
"And why, pray tell, would they come to this place?" Otto asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Because Manehatten is the one of only two places that hasn't been attacked by one of the abominations yet," Coco explained with a hint of fear in her voice. "Celestia has figured this out as well and has sent more security here, but she sent Rarity and her friends to the other city, which has less protection. And if I was the one creating these monsters..."
"I would attack the city where those who have ruined my plans before are not currently located," Otto finished for her, nodding his head. 'Yes, that is exactly what I would do if I was still the cold hearted monster that I once was.'
"But what's the point in being worried?" Coco added as she put on a brave face and smiled at Otto, who wondered if she had a defect that made her immune to sorrow. "All we can do is keep living and put trust in Celestia. Actually, if we have the time we should..."
"Oh, hold on a second," Coco muttered as she looked up at a building that had a large clock on top of it which read twenty till one. "I just remembered that I had something that I needed to grab real quick. Um, here's a map of the city and here's a few things that I'd like for you to get for me. Think of this as your introduction to being my assistant. I'll meet you later at the park! Around one!"
'Assistant? You should count yourself lucky if the great Otto Octavius even glimpsed your way. Assistant is...' Otto thought before both his memories and his will reeled him back in. He bit his lip so that he would not say anything as he took the map and list from Coco, giving her the most forced smile that he ever produced. Coco seemed happy with his response, for a moment later she waved goodbye to him and ran off...only to be swept up by the hustle and the bustle of the city a moment later.
'Inconceivable. That mare gets into trouble faster than any woman Parker has ever been with,' Otto thought with a shake of his head before he glanced down at the map, his eyes resting upon the university almost immediately. 'If these directions are correct, then it would be a straight path from her to the university. Perhaps there they would have access to the technology that would allow me to discover where I am and what has become of me.'
Otto then gave the list Coco had given him a glance, but his eyes had barely rested upon it for a moment before he tossed it to the side and began to walk towards the university. 'Perhaps my mind occupied the mind of another when I erased myself...no, that sounds like a stupid plot to a story than scientific fact. Perhaps I was teleported here with magic. That is reasonable, especially as those magic casters make no sense.'
'But the true question is if I was teleported here by another being, why did they bring me here? What would they have to gain from taking the mind of a former mad scientist and place him in a whole new world, in the body of a horse no less?' Otto pondered as he walked, not really paying attention to where he was going. He would have remained lost in his thoughts had his spider sense not chosen that moment to blaze through his mind.
Octavius was instantly on alert and glanced around at his surroundings. Out of the corner of his eye he spied movement in the alleyway to his left and that was where he directed his full attention. When he squinted his eyes to glance inside, he saw that a group of ponies were beating up a smaller pony, who was huddled up on the ground cowering.
For a brief moment Otto felt the weight in his saddlebag become heavier, before he scowled and walked on, forcing himself to ignore the blazing in the back of his mind. 'I am here to find out how I ended up in this land and nothing more. I cannot allow myself any distractions to my task...no matter the burning in my chest,' Octavius reasoned as he pushed on.
"I said, give us all the money you got!" the stallion said before kicking the pony in the guts once more, him and his friends smirking down at the bloodied horse beneath their hooves
"I told you, that's all I-" The pony didn't get the chance to finish explaining before three sets of bricks struck the ponies attacking him in the back of their heads. They all fell without another word, but when the pony looked at the entrance he found that nopony was there.
Otto reached the gates of the university twenty minutes later, but as he approached he found that his luck hadn't gotten any better. 'Closed. Of course a university of such prestige would be closed when I came to view it. It seems that I still retain a small piece of Parkers incredibly terrible luck,' Octavius snarled to himself as he gazed at the gate, reading the closed notice once more.
'But since when have locks and rules ever stopped my genius?' he thought with a smile as he glanced towards the building, beginning to plan his route inside. 'If I open a window there and stick to the ceiling, I should be able to-'
The spider sense came blazing back to life, burning with far more intensity than Otto had felt since he arrived in this land. He spun around on instinct alone, his eyes going wide at the sight that greeted him. A colossal, two headed monster had appeared out of thin air in the center of the city, roaring with fury as ponies around it fled for their lives.
Even at a distance Otto could see that one of the heads looked like an orange reptile, while the other head looked like a lion. The rest of the body was a mismatch of other parts, yet these ones Otto could not discern at a distance. The creature then let out a bellow of fury as it smashed a crab like claw into the side of a building, sending debris and glass hurling in all directions.
'What a specimen. I wonder how whoever created this grew it to such size after sewing all of those beings together?' Otto asked himself, but then as his gaze turned from the monsters to the screaming ponies, he felt the weight return both in his bag...and in his heart. 'No, that is not who I am. I cannot help them. That was made clear. It is best for them if I simply leave and-'
Otto snapped his head to the side, glaring into the window of a store that was at his side. As he glared into the shaking glass all he saw was his reflection. 'But for just a moment, I could have sworn that I saw...brown hair...and that infuriating stare...' Otto then looked back at the creature, noticing that it had begun to move. Towards the park. Where Coco said they would meet.
The weight grew heavier upon his heart, but Otto ignored it as he glared at the glass once more. 'Even on another world, even in my death, you will never stop hounding me, will you?' Otto snarled before he raced into a side alley across the street from him, reaching into his bag and pulling out an article of clothing that he had hoped never to wear again.
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Coco let out a cry as a foot covered in scales slammed into the ground ten feet in front of her, sending her an numerous other ponies flying into the air. She grunted in pain as she crashed down a moment later, feeling pain lance through her body as she forced herself back to her hooves. With all of her might she ran as fast as she could, barely avoiding the second foot that crushed the ground where she had been standing. When she glanced behind her she saw that not all the ponies had been so lucky.
Balls of fire rained down from one of the creatures maws, incinerating the very earth around her. She let out a cry as walls of fire sprung up around her, forcing her to skid to a halt. Coco turned her head to see that she had been completely surrounded by fire, leaving her no option but to turn around and stare up at the twin heads that glared down at her.
Fire began to spread in the maws of the two heads as the glared down at the pony, who knew that she had nowhere else to run. All she could do was close her eyes as the two creatures unleashed their fire upon her, bracing herself for the bitter end. All she hoped was that it didn't hurt too badly.
Yet inside of torrents of fire, she felt something else strike her and the next thing she knew the wind was rushing through her mane. Figuring that she was dead, she cracked open her eyes slightly, only for them to snap open when she saw where she was.
She was high above the ground, at least a dozen stories off of the ground. But she only stared at the ground for a brief moment before her eyes turned to the pony that was currently holding onto her. It wore a red mask with black eyes, a mask that had black lines running across. She then glance to her side to see that a suit covered the ponies body, a suit that was black as well except for the red on its chest and shoulders.
The pair landed a moment later in the streets, where the masked pony laid Coco gently onto the concrete. She gazed up at it once more to see that the black and red formed what looked like a spider on the pony's chest, and the black lines almost looked like webbing.
"Who...who are you?" she asked the pony. Silence was its response, before it glanced over its shoulder at the creature that had stumbled out of the park. Without saying a word it leapt up onto the side of a building, before hurling itself towards the monster.