Stepping out of the Shower Room, Twilight heaved a sigh. Her coat was now clean and free of the lemonade that Odd Todd had splashed on her earlier, although taking a shower didn't free her mind of her conversation with Ms. O.
Even if the Elements of Harmony don't work on the villains of this world...there's no harm in trying. We will prevail, and we will win, with or without the Elements.
Taking a right and heading through the hallway, she watched as the doors shifted positions, as it usually did every once in a while. Had she not been so troubled, she might have appreciated the sight more, but alas, her mind was far too cluttered.
So cluttered, in fact, that she didn't see Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy standing right in front of her.
Luckily, the two mares turned around just in time, waving their hooves and giving warm, inviting smiles.
"Hiya, Twilight!"
"Oh, hello, Twilight."
"Hm? Oh. Hi, Pinkie. Hi, Fluttershy." Twilight attempted to make her tone cheerful, but it fell flat. Not that it mattered much anyway, since Pinkie in particular could tell if a person or pony was down within seconds of meeting them, and Twilight was no exception.
"Something botherin' ya? Not enough cakes in the Breakroom, huh?" Pinkie scoffed. "Believe me, I know. I looked at the Odd Squad Cafeteria menu and found no cakes listed on there! Last time I got into a big argument with Oksana about it...she didn't take well to that..."
"No, it's not that." Twilight shook her head. "Can we round up Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash and meet at the ball pit?"
Pinkie and Fluttershy exchanged concerned looks for a brief second.
"Of course. Let's go find them. I think I remember Applejack saying she was at Sweet Apple Acres, so I'll go get her and then come back to Odd Squad." Fluttershy, ever the kind one, began trotting off in the same direction that she and Pinkie had been standing.
"And I'll call Dashie and Rarity up!" Pinkie waved a hoof at her partner as she turned the corner, just before the pink Earth pony unclipped her badge phone and punched in 1-1-4 to contact Rainbow Dash. "C'mon Twilight, let's go to the ball pit!"
All the alicorn mare could do was watch as Pinkie bounced away, her badge phone held up to her ear. They're acting normal...if only they knew. It wasn't so much Ms. O's rage and anger that disturbed her. No, it was the death wish she left hanging above Odd Todd's head. She knew Ms. O was a rather disturbing child, with her bad temper, her fits of verbal and physical violence, and her juice addiction that strangely resembled that of an alcohol addiction. But deep inside, Ms. O had a soft side, a side that came out whenever her agents needed help. She was a strong and effective leader because she was (not literally) made of iron, but also kindhearted. It was because Twilight had seen her soft side before that she was greatly unnerved by her wanting Odd Todd dead.
Some unknown force made her hooves move as she plodded towards the ball pit. She briefly considered going back to Princess Celestia for advice on how to proceed, but decided against it. She couldn't rely on her mentor for every little issue. She couldn't, wouldn't, keep running to her like a filly would run to their mommy. She was a grown mare on a mission.
And so, with that issue settled, the gears in her mind got to turning.
I can't be responsible for a death in this world. What impression would that leave on Odd Squad, to see a foreign pony kill one of their own, even if he's a villain? And what impression would that leave on the ponies of Equestria, to see one of their princesses -- their Princess of Friendship, no less -- resort to murder instead of trying alternative methods?
Odd Todd can be reformed. I just know it. I need to stick by my beliefs and follow through, with the help of my friends.
Before she knew it, she emerged from the right side hallway and into the bullpen, where the sounds of agents chattering away and phones ringing off the hook dug into her thoughts and made it too hard to dwell on her predicament further.
"Twilight!"
The sound of Pinkie's voice made her swivel her head to the left, where she saw the party-loving Earth pony staying afloat amidst the infinite amount of colorful plastic balls, laughing heartily.
"Rainbow Dash and Rarity said they'd be right over! They're in Equestria right now." Pinkie flung her legs over the front wall of the ball pit, her mane becoming frizzed due to static electricity. "Rainbow's in Wonderbolts training and Rarity needed to grab a couple things from the boutique!"
"Hello again, Twilight." Fluttershy approached the duo, a small smile resting on her face.
"Howdy there, Twilight!" Applejack trotted alongside her, giving a hoofwave to the princess. "So what's all this about?"
"I just don't know what to do."
About ten minutes later and Twilight had her face in her hooves as the rest of her friends processed the story.
"Kill Odd Todd?! She's crazy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Even if he's a villain, and even if he's killed agents, we shouldn't try and kill him in retaliation!"
"I agree." Applejack nodded. "Ms. O's jumpin' the barrel just a mite too quick there. Odd Todd ain't irredeemable, just corrupted."
"I'm not quite sure about that, darling. Odd Todd did bring great harm to this Odd Squad precinct and its agents. Ms. O is obviously going much too far with murdering him, but his crimes should not be forgiven." A sympathetic look was in Rarity's eyes as her gaze bore into Applejack.
"Well I think your plan is great, Twi! Using the Elements of Harmony on Odd Todd is an amazing-tastic idea! Once we hit 'em with generosity, magic, honesty, loyalty, kindness, and..." She giggled. "...laughter, it'll teach him a lesson for sure!"
"I...I want to use the Elements of Harmony on Odd Todd, too." The meek Fluttershy was the last to speak up. "We shouldn't murder him, no matter what he's done! It's like you said, Twilight -- he could do great things for this town if he were good."
"And exactly what is stopping Ms. O from killing him herself, anyway? Why does she need us to do it for her?"
It was like the world fell silent around them. Everypony turned to look at Rarity with widened eyes, as though neither one of them had considered the prospect. Even Twilight was thrown for a bit of a loop.
Rarity is...right. Ms. O should have gotten the impression by now that we haven't killed anyone, and we don't kill anyone. And meanwhile, death is just such a common thing here...because of all the strange things out there...
Many a letter sent to Princess Celestia described just how brutal Odd Squad as an organization really was, especially as Twilight began to see what oddness agents had to fight on a daily basis. She had to admit, it was quite tragic, seeing children bearing the weight of saving the entire world from dangerous threats on their shoulders. From her time at the Odd Squad Academy, she wondered why children were so eager to attend. Why they were so eager to put their lives on the line to save the world from threats that shouldn't exist to begin with. Was it the sense of heroism? Was it out of love for the world? Out of kindness for everyone who lived in the world?
Who knew. For a smart pony, Twilight didn't have all the secrets.
"Rarity, you make a good point." The alicorn mare nodded. "I'm not planning on killing Odd Todd. And I hope none of you are, either." Her gaze moved towards the two sets of stairs, one with a slide over it, that led to Ms. O's office. "Instead, I'm going to go through with my plan, and I need you all to help me with making sure it's a success."
Murmurs of agreement rippled among the group.
"I'll go to the Tree of Harmony and remove the Elements. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, work together and come up with a counter-plan to Odd Todd's. Rarity, you'll help me in the Odd Squad Library, finding books on every villain they've ever had across history. We need to be prepared."
"What about me?"
"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight's ears folded down. "Find Olive. I need to speak to her."
As soon as the other five mares received all of their instructions, they separated, leaving Twilight alone as she watched them leave. I hope I'm doing the right thing...
Who am I kidding? Of course I'm doing the right thing. With my friends by my side, we'll be unstoppable!
For what seemed like so long since one had come forth, a smile danced on the alicorn's face as she followed Rarity and trotted off towards the Odd Squad Library. I can go back to Equestria later. For now, it's research time.
All was quiet. The library seemed almost devoid of life, but the smell of books still lingered in the air.
And on a desk that Twilight and Rarity were currently sitting at, as they scanned through history book after history book for any semblance of facts on Odd Squad's villains. Both mares had experience with a couple villains out on the field -- the Shapeshifter, Rainbow Robyn and the Noisemaker, to name a few -- but they weren't aware of the full rogues gallery that Precinct 13579 in particular seemed to have.
"Oh, here's something on a villain named 'Symmetric Al'. It says here that..." Rarity tilted her head as she tried to process what was written in the book. "He wants to be the only symmetrical thing in the entire universe. And in order to further his goal, he steals half of any symmetric object he can find." A gasp escaped her lips. "According to this book, he can also steal the halves of people who have symmetric names!"
"Well, none of our names are symmetric, so we don't have to worry about him." Twilight waved a dismissive hoof. "What else does it say?"
"Nothing. Oh, but here's something on Fladam!" Rarity pointed to a black-and-white image, a mugshot of sorts, of a human with dark skin, a sizeable afro, a dark beard, and white square-shaped sunglasses. "His name was originally Adam before he hurt his hoof- er, foot by stepping on a toy block." She remembered a time when she did the same thing back when Sweetie Belle, her younger sister, was but a foal. The pain had been unimaginable, but she couldn't imagine turning into a villain over something so trivial. "Because of that incident, he began to despise cubes, which continued into his growth until he became an adult. His powers consist of using his special sunglasses to flatten both objects and people, making them two-dimensional."
A worried look settled on Twilight's face. No doubt that Fladam is definitely a more viable threat than Symmetric Al. If we get flattened by him, then we won't be able to move...but...perhaps my magic can make us three-dimensional again? She made a mental note to run some tests later.
"...and she uses her wand to send people to other kingdoms!"
"Huh?"
"Oh." Rarity blinked. "I was talking about the Evil Queen, darling. She has a scepter that she uses to send her enemies to different kingdoms."
"I see. S-sorry about that, I was just thinking. Do you think she could send us back to Equestria?"
"Perhaps...but it is always possible."
"And if innocent civilians get involved, who knows what'll happen?" Twilight gave a shaky sigh as she continued turning pages in her book, quickly making mental notes of every villain written in there. Seeing just how dangerous they were only seemed to further the mystery of why agents, mere children, tussled with them so often, but that issue was firmly on the back burner for now.
"Archer Achilles...an archer who is able to shoot lasers from her bow?" Rarity tilted her head. "A rather strange and, dare I say, odd power." She couldn't help but giggle at her wordplay as she continued to parse through her own book.
About an hour later, the two mares were finished taking notes and reading up on Odd Squad's current reprehensible repertoire of villains. Rarity helped Twilight put the books back on the shelves they came from, and they made sure to leave the Library just as they found it before heading out.
"I must say, I didn't realize how many villains Odd Squad actually has. They're all quite powerful in their own ways."
"To some degree or another, yes." Twilight's voice seemed rather listless, as though she was drained of energy. "But we'll take them down. We can't fail."
Rarity was not convinced. She stopped trotting, watching Twilight as she continued to plod down the hallway.
"Are you coming with me to the Tree of Harmony? For the Elements?"
"Hm? Oh! W-well, unfortunately, no. I have many a Form O-135 to fill out." The white unicorn gave a sheepish chuckle. "You go on ahead, darling."
Wordlessly, Twilight continued on her way until she had turned the corner and was gone from sight.
Rarity's look was one of nothing but concern.
"I know, I know! How about we do a surprise cake?! We can plant ponies in it, and surprise Odd Todd!"
"Pinkie, ah don't feel like draggin' innocent ponies into this mess..."
"We could always get the creatures around here to help us?"
Deep in the thralls of the Dimly-Lit-Because-It's-More-Ominous-That-Way Room were Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. A single lit lightbulb hung over their heads as they sat at a round table, spitballing various plans as to how to take Odd Todd and his nasty cronies down.
Pinkie's plans, of course, had involved sweets in some way or another. After all, she was a baker by trade. And she was very hungry. That too.
Applejack was the sensible one of the group, quickly taking the role of leader as she listened to what ideas her two friends had while also giving ideas of her own. So far, she hadn't found much to work with yet, but was quickly growing exasperated with Pinkie's ridiculous suggestions and Fluttershy's insistence.
Speaking of the yellow Pegasus mare, she, on the other hoof, was confident that the animals and odd creatures of Toronto would aid them in defeating the villains. After all, it wasn't every day that an agent saw a swarm of Tadams feast on a creator of oddness, and she wanted to learn more about the creatures here, anyhow. To her, it was a win-win situation.
"Look, y'all. Twilight trusted us with comin' up with a plan to stop Odd Todd. We have to remember that he is a serious threat, as are the rest of the villains 'round here." Applejack declared, slamming a hoof onto the table to punctuate her words. "Now, Pinkie, do ya have any ideas-"
"Yes!"
"That don't involve food?"
"...No..."
"Come up with some. Ah know you can do it. What about you, Fluttershy? Care t' explain your idea?"
"Well, since I'm very friendly with the lovely animals of Equestria, I thought my skills would also be useful in this world. Odd Squad does have a lot of creatures that just need a little love and caring. If I give them some of that, then I think they will help us in return."
This idea made Applejack widen her eyes a little as she sat on it for a few moments. It really ain't such a bad idea to have 'em help us. But if one of 'em got hurt in battle... She shook her head. Poor Fluttershy would most likely be devastated -- she hated to see one of her animal friends get hurt needlessly, let alone if it was a villain's doing.
"Y' raise a good point." she said. "But...ah don't wanna see any of 'em get hurt."
"Oh." Fluttershy sounded disappointed, ruffling her mane as her gaze moved downwards. "But, um...wouldn't it be best if I fought alongside them? I-I'm not the best at physical fighting...with them around me, I would feel safer."
Applejack closed her eyes. She wanted to tell Fluttershy that she would in no way be prepared for any of her creatures to be injured, but at the same time, she bit her tongue back, knowing that she was underestimating her friend and her strength. Twilight was counting on all of them, after all -- and with Odd Todd, they needed every hoof they could get.
"All right. You can bring your lil' critters along." The orange Earth pony nodded. "But exactly how would they fit into the plan?"
"That would depend on what the plan is. But I'm sure I can figure out something." In a much better mood now, Fluttershy smiled.
"Pinkie? Y' got any new ideas?"
The pink pony had her cerulean eyes wide open and fixed on a certain spot, as though she was staring off into space. She made no movements in response to Applejack's question.
"Uh...Pinkie Pie?"
Still no response.
Applejack let a mighty groan escape her lips as her head made contact with the table. We're gettin' nowhere fast. Guess it's just up to me and Fluttershy. With that realization, she quickly got to thinking, and soon the pieces began to fall into place.
"Ah got it!" she exclaimed, causing Fluttershy to give a yelp of surprise and nearly fall off of her chair while Pinkie remained frozen.
"W-what's the plan?" Fluttershy asked, shaking her head as she righted herself once again.
"We get ourselves captured. Once we're captured, the villains'll take us to their lair and we can ambush 'em!"
"What about Twilight?"
"She can work with the villains and pretend to lend a helpin' hoof in capturin' all of us. That right there is when she'll reveal the truth."
"And what about Odd Todd's plan?"
"Twilight can work together with Odd Todd to capture us. He'll have an eye on us since we're from another world and all, so havin' us in his grasp will make him quite the delighted fella!" Applejack gave a hearty laugh.
"I got a plan, I got a plan!" Pinkie snapped out of her daydreaming state and raised a hoof in delight, waving it around as she wore a grin.
"No need, Pinkie. We got a plan all worked out."
"Aww...but I spent forever and a half just thinking of a plan that doesn't involve the good stuff!" Now it was Pinkie's turn to be disappointed, looking at Applejack with pleading eyes as though begging her to reconsider. Unfortunately, her friend wasn't biting.
"Now, here's how it'll go. Twilight'll relay a plan to Odd Todd about capturing us. Once he approves, she'll go to Headquarters and take us to him, allowin' him to do whatever he wants to us."
"That sounds te-"
"Ah'm not finished." Applejack cleared her throat. "While Twilight's away, Odd Todd'll gather up the other villains, and we should return to find them all there at their lair. When they trap us, we'll break out and then attack all the villains at once usin' everythin' we got! And for the final touch..." A sly smile formed on the orange mare's face. "The Elements of Harmony."
"That...sounds terrible." Pinkie Pie piped up, echoing what she had previously tried to say before she was cut off.
"What? How so?"
"You gotta think about it, Applejack! What if we lose the battle? We're outnumbered a tooooooon of bad guys to just six of us! Or, or, what if they trap us in something that we can't break out of? Or-"
Pinkie was interrupted once again by Applejack's laughing. The pink pony, usually full of eternal happiness, stifled a growl. "Would you stop interrupting me?!"
"Sorry, it's just..." Applejack sighed. "These guys ain't anythin' like Equestria's villains. They're dumber than pigs rollin' in water on a hot summer day. Don't you set your bar high, Pinkie Pie."
"Really?" Pinkie tilted her head. "I dunno, they seem pretty smart to me. The Noisemaker once had me going for a whole hour!"
"That's because you kept singing duets with him." Fluttershy pointed out. "And then he trapped you using music bars as a rope when he had enough of your voice."
"Well, it's not my fault his music's really good!"
Another groan escaped Applejack's mouth, along with a roll of her eyes. "Can y'all get back to the topic at hoof?!"
"Sorry." Both mares adopted guilty looks as their eyes avoided meeting the farmer pony's.
Sighing, Applejack continued on. "I can understand what you're sayin', Pinkie. This plan does carry a lot of risks...but I'm confident we can pull it off."
"What about the animals?"
"Why don't ya coordinate somethin' with 'em? Brief 'em on the plan, and then you can decide what role they can play in all this."
Fluttershy nodded and smiled. "Of course. I'll do that."
"Now c'mon, y'all. Let's go tell Twilight!"
Applejack hopped off of her chair, only to stop as her eyes darted across the room, her vision meeting nothing but darkness. "Uh...anypony know how t' get outta here?"
"Allow me!" Pinkie, hopping off of her chair, took a big inhale then closed her eyes shut, making various sounds of effort. Just as Applejack was about to ask what she was doing, her pink body began to glow, providing another source of light in addition to the lit lightbulb. She happily trotted away, waving a hoof and giving an excited "Follow me!"
"How did-"
"Sometimes, it's better not to ask questions about Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy advised, taking flight with soft wingbeats as she followed her partner through the mostly-darkened room.
All Applejack could do was adopt a bewildered look before giving a shrug and galloping after her two friends.
"Greetings. You've reached Agent Olive. Leave a message."
*beeeeep*
"Olive, where the fuck are you? Twilight wants to talk to you so you better get your flank back to Headquarters right now, you hear me?! It's important!"
Snapping her phone shut, Rainbow Dash stifled a growl as she resisted the urge to throw it on the ground and begin smashing it to bits and pieces. She had tried to reach Olive approximately 17 times, and no attempt proved successful. At this rate, she was going to have to resort to dragging Olive to Twilight by any means necessary.
She landed on the ground, folding in her wings to give them a short rest. Calling Otto had proven fruitless as well -- it only took her 9 tries to reach him before she gave up. Walking through the sleepy street known as Hazel Road, she gazed at all the houses, some small, others as big as her Cloudominium. These houses weren't made of the same material that the houses in Ponyville were, appearing more sturdy with their slate roofs and wood paneling. Furthermore, there were machines lying still in the driveway -- cars, she heard someone call them once. It was certainly a fresh sight from the fluffy white aesthetic of Cloudsdale and the medieval-style aesthetic of Ponyville.
As she continued to walk along, she could hear two distant voices. Voices that sounded rather...familiar.
"Pull it out!"
"I'm trying, but it's not budging!"
"Oh for odd's sake, get out of the way and let me try!"
It was lucky that the sources of the voices were continuing to argue, because it gave Rainbow enough time to investigate what was going on. She took to the sky once again, moving as fast as she could and getting a bird's-eye view of the area.
And what she saw was something that made her question the concept and nature of coincidences.
"So!" she exclaimed, zooming towards the two black blobs until she was hovering directly behind them. "I finally found ya!"
One of the two sources of the voices turned around, only to make eye contact with a blue-furred Pegasus mare that looked about ready to blow her stack.
"A-Agent Rainbow Dash?"
"You think it's normal to ignore my calls, huh?! And for what?! Pulling..." She took a few moments to observe the situation before continuing. "...weeds out of a garden?!"
"Rainbow, you don't understand, we had-"
"I don't want to hear excuses from you!" The sheer volume of Rainbow's voice caused Otto to take a step back, fearing that, although the mare's attention seemed to be focused on Olive, she was going to come for his throat next. "I want you to come back to Headquarters with me, damn it!"
"Come back to HQ? Why?"
"Because Twilight wants to talk with you! Now c'mon!" Before anyone could blink, she zoomed towards Olive, ripped out the red tie that was tucked into her suit, and gripped it in her mouth before preparing to take off.
"Rainbow, what are-"
Those were the last words Olive ever spoke before a choked yelp of surprise left her throat as she was yanked away, like someone had taken a shepherd's hook to her during a performance and pulled her off the stage.
All Otto could do was watch wordlessly as he stared at the pony and her unfortunate human victim until they were completely gone from view.
"Is everything okay out here?"
"Huh? Oh, y-yeah. Everything's fine, Ms. Miller. I'll have your weeds out for you in no time."
"Oh, you're such a dearie. Thank you. I'll be inside if you need me." Ms. Miller, an elderly woman in her 70s, smiled warmly before heading back inside, the door closing with a loud creaking sound.
Struggling to figure out exactly what transpired within the span of the past 60 seconds, Otto got back to weed-pulling, grunting as he struggled with one particular weed that was rooted deep into the ground.
Meanwhile, Olive coughed and sputtered as she dangled in midair. She thought her face was beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen, and her vision began to grow hazy. Rainbow Dash was a fast flyer, she noted, and for that she was grateful, but it didn't stop her from realizing one thing.
This...this is how...I'm gonna die...death...by horse.
Immortal as Odd Squad agents were, it didn't stop them from dying of unnatural causes -- something as simple as a gadget pointed the wrong way could end an agent's life in the blink of an eye. It was rather rare, though, for an agent to die via being choked by someone yanking on their tie.
Rainbow swooped in for a landing near one of the tube entrances she had come to grow familiar with, causing Olive to stumble while simultaneously grasping for whatever air was accessible to her.
"C'mon, let's-" Adrenaline still coursing through her, the pegasus mare looked back to find her co-worker's face about as blue as her own fur, taking deep inhales as she kneeled on the ground.
"Yeah...maybe taking you with me by your tie was a bad idea."
"What the hell..." Olive coughed. "...made you come to that conclusion?"
"W-well, I'm not a unicorn, so it wasn't like I could lift ya or anything!" Rainbow gave a shrug. "Anyway, sorry. But you need to speak to Twilight. She said it was really important."
Slowly, Olive got to her feet, the blue gradually draining from her face as she shot daggers at Rainbow. "Yeah, I get it. But you couldn't be decent about it?"
"Hey, this is a super-important mission! One that concerns your old partner? Helloooooo?"
"Sure. Where's Twilight?"
"Either in the Odd Squad Library, or she's in Equestria. Ask Rarity if ya can't find her."
"Great." Olive readjusted her tie. "And if you ever touch my tie again, little horse, I'll punch you straight into orbit."
With that threat made, she entered the tubes, a blue glow and a loud whooshing sound accompanying her. Rainbow watched her go before heading in the tubes after her, her mission complete.
Once Olive arrived at Headquarters and greeted tube operator-on-duty O'Donnell, she made a beeline for her desk, where a bottle of water sat. Eagerly, she unscrewed the cap and got to drinking, taking out half the bottle in the same way Ms. O would often take out a bottle of grape juice in one go. A satisfied sigh then left her lips as she put the cap back on and left to go search for Twilight.
A search that lasted all of five seconds as she spotted the pony in question leaving the Lab, a gadget held in a levitation field of magic.
"Twilight!"
"Huh? Oh, Olive!" Twilight gave a wave of her hoof before making her way over to her co-worker. "Did Rainbow Dash find you?"
"Yes. She pulled me to a tube entrance all the way by my tie and nearly killed me, the little bitch. She got mad because I wouldn't answer her calls or something."
"That's Rainbow for you. She has a pretty short temper and definitely doesn't like it when other ponies -- or people -- ignore her." Twilight gave a roll of her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine now. But I told her that the next time she touches my tie, it's a trip into space." Olive said. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well...Ms. O and I talked about my plan...and she said that she wanted Odd Todd dead." Twilight's voice quavered as she spoke, and her ears folded downwards. "She gave me permission to go ahead and use the Elements of Harmony on him, but said that it might not work."
"The Elements of Harmony?"
"They're six magical artifacts that me and the others all wield. They've helped us defeat many Equestrian villains in the past." Twilight explained. "I'm the Element of Magic. Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness. Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty. Applejack is the Element of Honesty. Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter. And Rarity is the Element of Generosity."
"Huh. Sounds cool. Can't say we have anything like that in Odd Squad. Though there was a time where our badges would glow if we were feeling proud of ourselves." Olive remembered reading about it in one of Odd Squad's history books, being an Odd Squad historian whose knowledge on the organization was vast. "But I digress. Ms. O wants to kill Odd Todd?"
"Yes. I offered to help reform him, since I believe he can do good for this town and this world if he were on the side of good instead of evil...but you told me that you wanted us to get rid of him."
"I..." Olive bit back her tongue, trying to find the right words to say to a pony who was obviously at odds (pun not intended) on what to do. Did she want him dead? For all the times her snarky, "I'm surrounded by idiots and I fucking hate it" attitude came out, she drew the line at murder, but when it came to her old partner, she had no opinion.
"I do want you to get rid of him. But...no..." She shook her head. "Let me lead off with this question. Have your 'Elements of Harmony' ever killed anyone?"
"No, of course not! The worst they've done was turn Discord to stone." Twilight waved a hoof. "You don't have to worry."
"Okay..." Olive took a moment to think before she proceeded further. "Well, in answer to your question..."
The tension in the air was thick enough to be sliced with a knife. It was like time stopped for a few moments as Twilight held her breath.
"I really do want to see him dead."
"What?"
"He tried to kill us, Twilight. He's psychotic, unhinged, with no common sense. He caused me so much strife and pain." Olive could feel her own voice begin to quaver, and tears began to form in her eyes before she could stop them. "Precinct 13579...no, Odd Squad would feel much safer without him around."
"But- but he can be reformed! We've reformed villains in Equestria before-"
"But Odd Todd isn't a villain from Equestria!"
Both of them fell silent. Agents passing by stopped what they were doing to glance at them before continuing along.
"Olive...I don't want to use the Elements of Harmony as weapons of murder. That's not what they're supposed to be used for. Me and my friends, we all want to try and reform him."
"And if that doesn't work? Then what will you do?"
The two questions pierced Twilight's heart like a sword. She watched as Olive began to cry, her body quivering with each sob she took. It was a rather rare sight to see -- Olive was so steely that making her cry wasn't an easy feat. But after all, she was only a child, something that Twilight was well aware of.
"Look." she began. "I'll go back to Equestria and ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for their advice. I don't want to keep going back to them for help, but...the Elements used to be in their care. I want to hear their thoughts on using them to kill Odd Todd." A tear fell down the alicorn's face, and she wiped it off. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, Olive."
She began to head for the steel double-doors.
"I'm not the Princess of Murder."
Olive, with her brown eyes completely bloodshot, could only watch her go before she slumped to the ground and another round of sobs wracked her body.
Over in the adjacent hallway, all Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie could do was watch the aftermath of the entire conversation. As much as they all wanted to chase after their friend, they found it in their best interest to give a simultaneous nod towards each other and separate, each pony making a mental note to talk to Twilight about their counterplan later.