The sound of hoofsteps brought Ms. O out of her oddness-stuffed mindspace and back to reality.
Because the last thing I need while drinking juice is somepony barging in and-
"Ms. O? May I speak with you? It's important. And concerns the mission."
All right, never mind. Some things are more important than juice.
Oh, dear odd, I can't believe that's a thought that entered my brain.
The Director got up from one of the brown leather couches that sat adjacent to each other in her office and made her way to her desk, taking a seat in her chair and finishing up her latest juice box. "Go ahead."
"I met with Odd Todd and he gave me a list of tasks to complete before joining the Todd Squad. One of them mentioned a special key that you have that turns off all of the lights in Headquarters."
"What about it?"
"I have to take it to him."
This was met with a long, exhausted sigh from Ms. O as she mentally ran through her options. Of course he would want the special key. The melon isn't exactly the most reliable power source. I could make a fake duplicate... She closed her eyes. No, he would be able to sniff out a fake duplicate. Maybe a different key? No...
An almost-deathly silence fell over the office. All Twilight could do was watch her boss seemingly think about the next course of action while also formulating her own plans in her head. C'mon, Twilight, think of something. This is your mission. You don't know much about Odd Todd, but surely you can come up with some way to give him the key...
"I've got it!"
"How about we-"
"We can-"
"But that would-"
Twilight cleared her throat. "Sorry. You go first."
"As I was saying...I can give you the key. But first, I'm going to cut all the power."
"Cut all the power? Are you crazy?! Doesn't this Headquarters rely on electricity?"
"Calm down, agent!" Ms. O snapped. "I'm not going to leave everyone in the dark. I'll turn it back on by removing and placing the melon back. It'll be an alternate power source. And just in case Odd Todd tries anything funny, I'll send agents to get more melons."
Twilight still didn't seem convinced. All she could do was fix Ms. O with a disbelieving stare as she tried to process what the Director just said.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. This will work. After all, he's not coming to Headquarters just yet, right?"
"R-right. He hasn't said anything about attacking the precinct yet."
Ms. O got up from her chair and kneeled on the floor. "I'll go and get the key." As Twilight stood on her hind legs and peered over her boss's desk, she could see her knocking and then crawling into the wall below her television screen, where an entryway formed that seemed just her size.
This place is filled with all sorts of weird things. But then again, isn't that what this place does? Twilight shook her head. The irony...
A couple minutes passed before Ms. O emerged again, the entryway closing behind her. She had quite a bit of dust on her, which she shook off upon standing up.
"Here's the key." She handed it to Twilight, who levitated it and began to observe it. "If you can, make sure to get it from Odd Todd and bring it back to me."
"And what if I can't?"
"That's fine." Ms. O shrugged in a surprisingly nonchalant manner, as though the key was of no particular importance to her. "I can always have a new one crafted by Odenbacker."
Well, Twilight couldn't argue with that. "Thank you. I'll keep you updated."
"Please do. And be careful, Agent Twilight. The last thing I want is to receive word that you've been killed."
Killed? Please. She was much too vigilant to be killed. But while it did make her wonder, she set aside all of her thoughts about it and decided to focus on the task at hoof. With a nod, she hopped off of the chair and-
"Well, what are you waiting for? GO!"
Ah, there it was. The catchphrase that defined most every Director's career. Any agent that worked at Odd Squad was bound to be on the receiving end of it at least once, and the Mane Six were no exception. Twilight guessed that, if Ms. O hadn't suddenly forgotten, then she wasn't quite as used to shouting the phrase at ponies as she was with humans. Still, it filled the alicorn with confidence, and she strode out of the glass double-doors and down the stairs, ready to continue her mission.
"You want me to WHAT?!"
"Please, Rarity. I need to do this. It's one of Odd Todd's tasks."
"But I simply cannot imagine you with...with...white in your mane! You are a young mare, Twilight. You do not need to dye your mane white to look elderly!"
Well, one thing was for sure. Rarity may not have fainted, but giving the request to her proved to backfire spectacularly.
All Twilight could give in response to her friend's shock was an exasperated moan.
"You will dye it pink again, won't you?"
"Yes, I'll dye it pink again. I promise. It's not like this place will let me keep it in my mane, anyway. Just...please do it, Rarity. You know about dyeing manes and tails better than anypony I know."
Rarity gave a small whine, as though she knew that if she said yes, she would be committing a fashion crime. But at the same time, she knew that this was for her friend's mission, a mission whose outcome would determine the fate of this world and the world of Equestria.
"Fine! But if I do not see that mane dyed pink once more when this is over, then I will simply not hesitate to drag you into the Carousel Boutique and fix it by force."
Twilight chuckled. "It's a done deal. Just lead the way."
Five minutes later, she was at Canterlot Boutique of her own free will, sitting in a chair with a hooded dryer on her head, eyeing Rarity as she levitated a small box of white mane dye.
"There. That should take care of things." She placed the box on a nearby countertop. "I'm going to work on a few client orders. I'll come check on you in a few minutes."
As her friend trotted away, Twilight came to a sudden and rather obvious realization: If I can't find Olive on my own...then perhaps I could try this? She unclipped her badge and levitated it in front of her face, observing the silver rim placed around the headshot of a jackalope surrounded by banana bunches and her agent number, 190, engraved on the bottom. Isn't this supposed to be...what had Odd Todd called it...a "phone"?
For all of her smarts, she knew next to nothing about working a cell phone. Did they teach her what it was at the Odd Squad Academy? Yes, but as a pony native to a world that lacks such technology, it would take a while before she was used to how it worked.
She opened up the phone and stared at the keypad, realizing that she didn't have Olive's phone number. Or did she? If I remember correctly, badge numbers are calculated by adding up the letters in a name. So Olive's name would add up to...63! With as much precision as she could muster, she tapped the 6 and 3 keys, and began to hear a ringback tone.
"Go for Olive."
"Olive? It's me, Twilight."
"Is something wrong? You sound like you have an emergency on your hands. Uh, hooves."
"Yes. Where are you? I need to speak to you, right away!"
"Otto and I are on our way back from a case. We'll be at HQ in about five minutes."
"And so will I. Bullpen?"
"Bullpen. See you in a few."
Twilight snapped the phone closed and clipped it back onto her suit, heaving a sigh as she began to grow impatient. She wondered how long it took to dry a dyed mane, anyway -- or at least part of it. Either way, she didn't have time to wait.
"Rarity!"
She could hear the sound of hoofsteps, and sure enough, Rarity came barging into the room. "Yes, darling? How is your mane?"
"It should be dry by now. But putting that aside, do you think we could hurry this up? I have to meet Olive in five minutes."
"Oh, of course, darling. Just let me examine your mane first." What followed seemed like at least twelve eons of Rarity pacing around Twilight, eyeing the formerly-pink streak from various angles and making sure it was both dry and worked somewhat well for the alicorn mare.
"Magnifique! Heh...and I said white would look horrible on you." She shook her head, feeling foolish that she would forget such a simple rule of fashion: next to black, white was one of the colors that went with most everything. And ponies' manes were no exception. "Now go and meet Olive. If you see Applejack, you can tell her that I'll be at Odd Squad in a little bit."
With only a nod and nothing more, Twilight raced out of the Carousel Boutique and began flying towards the portal as fast as her wings would flap. Given how she had heard Olive's usual workday involved her spending little time at Headquarters, she came to the conclusion that if she missed meeting Olive now, there would be no telling when she would get a chance to speak with her again.
And time was the one thing that she could not afford to lose. Not with Odd Todd.
Not even bothering to acknowledge the guards, she dove into the portal and hoped that she would make it back in time.
"I'm beat." Otto let loose a yawn as he walked alongside his partner through the Trophy Room.
"Me too. Why don't you get us something to eat from the Breakroom, and maybe..." She very nearly continued her sentence with "if Ms. O doesn't call us on a case" -- a phrase that was the absolute epitome of why tempting fate was never a good thing -- but she bit her tongue back. "Maybe if we have enough time, we can grab a quick nap or something."
"Didn't some tube operators in another precinct team up with the Medical department to do studies on agents who rode the tubes? I thought I read about that in an issue of the Odd Squad Magazine. Agents who take more than four tube rides a day can start to feel really tired."
"Sounds legitimate. Being squished into a tiny ball and having your organs mixed up and turned around more than once can really do numbers on your- wah!"
Olive ducked just in time to avoid a purple blur that threatened to barrel right into her, while also yanking Otto backwards.
"What was that?!"
"If I had to guess, probably Agent Twilight. She was supposed to meet me here."
As though she had heard her name, Twilight slammed on the brakes and turned back around towards the bullpen, rushing towards Olive and Otto at a much slower speed this time.
"Oh dear Celestia, I'm so sorry! I was in such a rush to get here that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."
It was only when she slowed down that Olive noticed the white streak in her mane.
And the white streak in her tail.
As if on instinct, she became paralyzed, her face stricken with a look of pure fear.
"Olive, are you-"
"I'm fine!" The girl shook her head in a rapid motion. "Really. It's just that the white stripes in your mane and tail brought back...memories. That's all."
Twilight nodded, knowing that she didn't need to elaborate any further. But a few seconds later, the realization hit her like a two-ton brick. "Wait, my what?!"
"Your mane and tail. They both used to have a pink stripe in them. Now they're white."
Sure enough, Twilight turned her head to find that, just like her mane, her tail had also been given a splash of white. When did Rarity do my tail?! She didn't even dry it...
But I guess it's better this way. After all, Odd Todd probably wouldn't have let me join the Todd Squad if I didn't have both pink streaks dyed white. So in a way, Rarity was one step ahead. She gave a soft chuckle.
"It looks..." Otto struggled to find the right words. "Good on you?"
"Yeah, oddness looks good on her. I can think of absolutely nothing better."
"I'm gonna ignore that snark."
"Fine by me." Olive gave a smirk towards Otto before she made eye contact with Twilight once again. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about, Twilight?"
"You might want to sit down." the mare advised, gesturing towards Olive's office chair. It didn't take so much as a second for the 12-year-old agent to grab the chair, move it over to Twilight and Otto, and sit.
"The day before I began my mission, I went to Princess Celestia for advice on what to do, because I was hesitant about facing a villain I had no familiarity with. One of the things she told me was to go to you for guidance, because you're so familiar with Odd Todd." A pleading tone took over Twilight's voice. "Olive, I need help. Odd Todd threatened me. He told me not to betray him. That Odd Squad already tried to do so once and received consequences for it. I don't know if he can be beaten with the power of friendship like all of the other villains me and the girls have faced before. I-I don't know..." She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared her vocal cords for a shout.
"I don't know how to deal with such a dangerous villain in an unfamiliar world!"
Otto glanced at Olive. Olive glanced at Otto. Neither one of them said anything, only wearing expressions of sympathy on their faces as Olive in particular tried to find the right words to say.
Her concerns are valid. I would have the same issue dealing with a villain in Equestria...that is, if Equestria even has villains. She heaved a sigh. But if anyone can give her advice on dealing with Odd Todd, there's no denying it's the agent who was his first and only partner.
"I...can sympathize." Olive had to clench practically everything in her body she could possibly clench in order to not bring out the side of her that gave melodramatic speeches worthy of going memetic on the Internet. She wasn't exactly the best at pep talks -- that was more befitting of Otto and Ms. O than anyone else -- but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. The lack of awareness about Twilight's talks with Ms. O and Rarity aside, she knew she was the only one who was able to give Twilight an upper hand in dealing with Precinct 13579's most dangerous threat, so she had to give pep-talking a shot, at least.
"Odd Todd is a threat to us all. You have a right to be terrified." Otto opened his mouth to speak, but Olive's hand thrown over his mouth stopped him, and all he could do was look disappointed. "But Ms. O wouldn't have picked you for the mission if she didn't believe in you with all of her heart." A snort from Otto, which Olive ignored as she continued. "The power of friendship is, more or less, just a bit on the back burner for us. Odd Squad is all about perseverance and teamwork. That's where we shine. We're all just one big happy family here." Odd damn it, I'm getting sappy...ugh. "But who knows? Maybe Odd Todd will have a change of heart and be a useful ally to us. Perhaps not an agent again, but an ally in a similar vein to Polly Graph."
All Twilight could do was listen as Olive spoke to her in a soft voice that the alicorn didn't even know was in her. It put her at ease. Almost sounded like it was...born out of a mother's love for her child. Almost.
"I believe in you, Agent Twilight Sparkle. Please, free this precinct, this organization, this city, this country, this planet from his reign of terror. Do whatever you have to...just free us."
Olive's voice turned to one of desperation at the end, Twilight noticed. The girl had such a steely exterior that it was rather surprising to hear her begging for help. But it had perfect justification.
She nodded. "Don't worry. I'll do whatever it takes." A sigh escaped her lips as she could feel relief flowing through her body. "Thank you, Olive. But there is one concern weighing on my mind."
"Hm?"
"Ms. O said that I have to do this alone. It seems rather...contradictory. If Odd Squad relies so much on teamwork, why must I go on this mission by myself?"
Olive chuckled. "You're a smart horse, aren't you?" Otto's muffled protesting nearly spoiled the mood between his partner and her friend, but both of them opted to ignore him. "Ms. O may be our leader, but she's not without her stupid moments..." Her eyes darted to and fro, as though expecting the Director herself to pop up behind her at any moment -- an innate skill she, and many other agents, possessed. Once the coast was clear, she cleared her throat and continued. "That being said, if you need to rely on your friends for help, then by all means. Partners always help each other out." She was well aware that Agent Rainbow Dash was Twilight's partner, but she had the feeling that all six ponies were somehow connected. So in a sense, perhaps there was an unofficial six-way partnership between the Mane Six.
Twilight sat on Olive's words for a few moments. She's right. Even though Ms. O said I have to do this alone, and even though I can't go against her orders...I have friendship on my side. There's no way I'll be able to defeat Odd Todd on my own.
I need the help of my friends.
She gave a relieved exhale, and then a breathy chuckle. "I can see why you're a respected agent around here. You really do know how to cheer ponies up."
"Well, that's not really why I'm respected...but I appreciate the compliment." Olive pointed towards one of the hallways that sat to the side of the metal double-doors. "Now, I believe you have five other ponies to find?"
"I do. You wouldn't happen to have seen them around town?"
"No. Toronto is a very big city. And they wouldn't be standouts compared to all the other odd stuff out there."
A frown settled on Twilight's face that quickly turned into a grin. "No worries. I'll find them eventually."
"Good luck!" Olive watched the mare trot towards the left hallway, looking a lot more confident than she had been before. She removed her hand from Otto's mouth, allowing him a moment to breathe. "You may now speak."
And speak he did, only his dialogue was nothing more than a bellowing laugh as he clutched his stomach and keeled over. "You...you got that 'believe in you with all my heart' thing from when we had the Jinx! Aw man, you truly are a master of the English language."
"Oh, like you're any better? You couldn't spell the word "adulation" the other day when you were filling out Form O-135 for Hopkins! Don't be such a hypocrite."
This earned a scoff and an eye roll from Otto, who sauntered off to the Breakroom without another word. All Olive could do was chuckle in response before following him, feeling rather hungry after a long day of solving cases.
It had taken some time, but she had finally turned a fish into a...phone.
Somehow.
She didn't catch a real fish, of course. Fluttershy would have torn her a new one if she did that. Instead, she had gone to a store in town and asked about singing fish on the wall. Much to her surprise, they had plenty, and were more than willing to give one to her for only a few of her bits.
I'm surprised they take bits in this world. Perhaps the currency here is also bits?
So here she was, walking in the same dark corridor of doors, levitating Ms. O's special key and the singing fish she had managed to turn into a functional phone. Along with the white streaks in her mane and tail, she had completed all of Odd Todd's tasks.
All that was left to see if it was enough to earn her a spot on the Todd Squad.
She knocked thrice on the door, wincing once again as the prickly mat rustled against the undersides of her hooves. As with the first time around, she had to wait quite a long time before someone answered the door.
"Boo."
Or so she thought.
A mixed feeling of fear and deja vu ran through her as she jumped and swiveled around to face the ex-agent. "Can you stop scaring me like that?!"
He largely ignored her question, only giving a sinister-sounding laugh. "Nah. It's fun to see you startled." He walked towards the door and opened it. "Come on in. We have much to discuss."
This is it. It's now or never.
Feeling braver than ever before, she marched inside, Odd Todd following her as a resonating slam from the closing door echoed through the halls.