Otto knew that he had made a terrible mistake when he found himself sitting on a bench in front of a large table, where Coco had set up a sewing machine and a few pieces of cloth that seemed to have had better days. Otto sifted through the pieces of fabric while hating himself for having to do this. 'But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. And unfortunately for me, I am the one. Which means I must learn how to do this.'
'Not that it should be difficult. I have mastered sciences far beyond anything a regular person would even admit exist. I have conquered the world and bested the greatest champions of justice,' Otto thought to himself as his confidence returned to its usual lofty levels. 'Learning how to stich together a few pieces of clothing should be child's play. Even though I had my robot or Watson do all the sewing before.'
Coco then entered the room with a smile so large that it immediately caused Otto's spirits to fall slightly in response. She hummed to herself happily as she practically glided over to where Otto was sitting, dropping off a few large manuals on sewing next to the stallion as she did so. But what Otto's spirits truly crumble was when he saw Stonewall enter into the room with a camera clutched in his hooves, telling Otto that he was only now just going to begin suffering for his crimes.
"I can't tell you how happy I am that you have decided to take up an interest in sewing!" Coco exclaimed in a voice that was devoid of any and all sadness. Otto gave her as kind a smile as he could muster given the situation, although from the reflection of his face in her large eyes he found it was more of a smirk. She then rested her elbows upon the table and leaned in close to Otto, slightly creeping him out. "The other day you laughed at my job and now today you want to learn to do some of what I do. I just have to know, what caused the change?"
"Yeah Otto, what made you want to make fancy dresses?" Stonewall said with a snicker that infuriated the doctor.
"If you must know, it is because I had a talk with someone and they suggested that I...become more skilled in my trade," Otto said as truthfully as he could, not necessarily lying as he did not specify the trade in question. "And as I am currently working under a fashionista, it would be best if I learned how to sew and, heaven forbid, learn a bit more about the industry."
"Good enough for me!" Coco exclaimed before she whipped over beside Otto and practically slammed into the stallion. "So what you want to do first is line up your material here and then hold onto it like this. If you don't do it this way then there is a chance you can get your hooves caught under the needle and trust me, that hurts like you wouldn't believe."
"Trust me Coco, I am certain that I could fathom a pain far worse than...sewing needles," Otto corrected her as he thought back to every battle he had with a hero and the broken state they often left him in.
"Well, here is the end result in case you want to try and test that theory of yours," Coco added on as she held up her left hoof, which was covered in small scars that matched the needle.
"Those are your scars? Cute," Otto said, but his words caused Coco to blush slightly and she turned her head. "Not like that, you fool. I was being condescending."
"I knew that," Coco quickly said before she returned her focus back to the machine in front of her. "Now you'll want to pay close attention on this part, because if you mess it up, like I tend to do, then you can lose the entire machine."
For the better part of an hour, Otto worked under Coco's tutelage. Yet after that hour passed and Otto was tasked with making a few designs, both Stonewall and Coco found that Otto was able to quickly learn the ropes faster than they thought possible. Within another thirty minutes Otto was able to put together a nearly perfectly stitched table cloth.
"This was not as hard as I thought it would be," Otto said with a laugh after another successful design, holding his creation before his face with a nod of approval. "I am amazed that Parker had as much trouble as he did when he first started out. Then again, in terms of actual intelligence he was always below me..."
"Whose Parker?" Coco asked and Otto internally cursed himself when he realized that he had been monologing out loud again, a nasty trait that all villains struggled to shake.
"My most hated enemy," Otto answered, figuring that there was little harm in telling the two of them a little bit. "The one who was responsible for so much of my pain and suffering."
"So he was the guy that beat some sense into you whenever you tried to do anything stupid?" Coco asked and Otto nearly gave himself whiplash with how fast he spun his head to face her. "Well, somepony had to stop you from being you're cruel self and if he's your most hated enemy, then he was the one that stopped you. Right?"
Otto could say nothing in reply, having not expected that kind of intelligence from a mare that made dresses. The booming laugh of Stonewall snapped Otto out of his shock and he turned with anger blazing in his eyes towards the Stallion, who clicked a picture of Otto's face.
"You should have seen the look on your face when she figured you out. Looks like she clean just smacked the arrogance off of your face," Stonewall laughed with mirth.
"Be nice Stonewall," Coco chided and Stonewall closed his mouth, though Otto could still hear the stallion stifling his giggles. Coco then picked up the material that Otto had made and examined it with a professionals eyes, nodding her head while occasionally muttering her approval.
"It's pretty good for your first time," she admitted proudly after a minute. Yet her words insulted Otto far worse than the mocking laughter of the stallion had. He snatched the item out of her hooves and gazed over it, unable to find a flaw or any sort of imperfection that would have garnered a "pretty good".
"What in the blazes do you mean pretty good?! It is perfect! Every stitch is set perfectly and there are no overlapping areas, nor places where I have made a mistake!" Otto roared with fury, but Coco simply smiled at him as he raged.
"Otto...it's ugly as sin." Otto glanced down at the table cloth that he had made, unable to see how it could possibly be ugly. Each color was set in an order that would not be distracting and was also set in a way that stains would be hard to notice. It was perfectly functional and Otto told the mare so. "Your right. It is sewn perfectly and it is as functional as you say, but most ponies don't want that. Most ponies want a good looking tablecloth or one that matches the other colors of the room. This...I would be hard pressed to find a room that this would go with."
Otto growled in a dismissive tone at her words, not wanting to accept that his work was anything less that perfect. Then he remembered what happened the last time he had believed himself to be so perfect and he let go of his stubborn pride with a sigh of defeat.
"You are the expert. You would know over me," Otto grumbled, though both Coco and Stonewall could tell that it took every ounce of his willpower to admit that. "But I am a very fast learner. So tell me what I must do in order to make this perfect...as you say it is."
"There's no easy answer. You can match and mix all you want, but the only way to create something great is to...find your inspiration," Coco explained to Otto, who replied with a look that Coco she had spoken in a foreign language to him. "Er, find your creativity! Make something that comes from the heart, not your mind...um, improvise?"
"Why would I ever need to improvise?" Otto asked with a scoff as he stood up and pushed the tablecloth away. "I always have a plan ready for whatever situation comes my way. Improvisation means that your plan failed and you should fail for creating such a weak strategy."
"But improvisation is what keeps you alive when that plan falls apart," Stonewall butted in, turning both Otto and Coco to face him. His face had hardened like his name and he walked over to Otto with a look the Doctor couldn't read. "And trust me Otto, in a real fight, that plan will fail. All plans are bulletproof until the first bullet strikes."
Otto didn't reply. He instead recalled what the Green Goblin had done to his perfectly laid out plan. And how he had just swung around blindly after his plan had crumbled, with no idea of how to fight back. Otto chose to stay silent, leaving the room open for Coco to cut in.
"Y'know, you've been doing a lot for me lately and I figure that it's time that I went with you to do something that you want to do," Coco said. "So if there's a place that you'd like to go visit or, I don't know, a performance that you'd like to go see, just tell me and I'll do the best I can to get you there."
"Coco, we really don't have that much time to mess around," Stonewall reminded her in a tone that sounded more like a father talking than a pony talking business. "Sapphire Shores is going to wear your dresses in two weeks alongside the big show and you have to make some changes to them. And I've learned that one change quickly turns into a hundred."
"We've got time. After all, Otto's been working pretty hard, going around gathering things for me and putting up with Cherry," Coco grumbled under her breath, but loudly enough so that the both of them could hear. "Come on, Stonewall, when you wanted to see that...classical singer whose name keeps escaping me, I went with you even though I had work, didn't I?"
"And because of that you had to work three days straight to make up for lost time," Stonewall reminded her.
"There is nothing in this backwards land that I wish to see. All I wish to do, if we are done working, is to be left to my own devices," Otto butted in before Coco could answer. "I have learned all that I have needed to for today. Coco, would you be fine if I...practiced my skills with the sewing machine late at night?"
"Not at all, as long as you keep an eye out for Cherry's spies," Coco added and Otto nodded. He then bid them farewell and turned to leave, but then Coco remembered something. "Hey, what about that university that you seemed to interested in? You want to give that place a try?"
Otto opened his mouth to tell the mare off, but then he took a moment to think about it and found that he did indeed wish to examine where was said to be the zenith of pony science and learning. "Very well Coco, as it seems that you will not cease to bother me until I agree to do something."
"See, he's already starting to learn how things go," Coco said with a laugh to Stonewall, who shrugged with a smile. "Alright, sounds like a plan. When do you want to head out?"
"...soon," Otto replied as he headed for the door. "There are a few things that I wish to check on first and I ask to not be bothered until I say that I am ready. Can you two follow those instructions?" Coco nodded while Stonewall gave him a look.
"He seems to shift personalities often, doesn't he?" Stonewall whispered to Coco once Otto had left the room and closed the door behind him.
"What do you mean?"
"A few minutes ago he seemed to be listening to your words and actually respectful of your opinion, then when I mention about the plan he took on that guilty look that I've seen upon his face a few times. Not to mention that he's stubborn as an oak and now he talks like he's the boss of the place who's far smarter than everypony else in the room."
"Well, if he's telling the truth about his profession, then he most likely is smarter than all of us," Coco admitted with a smile, but Stonewall did not share in the joke. "So he tries to mask his pain with overconfidence. Do you know how many other ponies I've seen that act like that?"
"But how many of them are criminals?" Stonewall added on and when Coco stayed silent he continued on. "I know, Coco. And I also know that you are giving him another chance, so I have refrained from saying anything. But I do not know if I can trust him. He acts like he's on the tipping point, as if he can't decide who he wants to be."
"I know how that feels," Coco replied with a sigh, before she turned to Stonewall with a small smile. "But hey: Luna, Starlight and even Discord. How many villains have become allies of Rarity and her friends? I can see it in his eyes. He's been hated and hurt all of his life. And I think that maybe, if he's shown genuine kindness and friendship, maybe he can...heal?"
"You're too good for this cold world," Stonewall admitted to her with a kind smirk, which only caused Coco's smile to beam even larger.
"Actually, while we're waiting for him I should go over the upper part of the dress quickly," Coco added on before she turned and ran over to where the dresses were.
"He should only be a moment."
"That's still a moment I can spend working!" Stonewall shook his head at her with that smile still on his face.
"I take it back. Both of you are stubborn."