//------------------------------//
// S1E10: Cutie Mark Crusader Odd Squad Agents, Yay! 
// Story: The Adventures of Peaches and Mandy 
// by marmalado 
//------------------------------//

Pinkie laughed and snorted as her eyes fell upon what was placed on Mandy's desk.

Mandy, on the other hand, was not so receptive.

There, sitting on a plate, was some weird and disgusting brown conglomerate of food that she had only seen once when she went to some New York precinct and met the Director there who was a master of making food that looked just like that. It was shaped like gelatin, and didn't have much of a smell to it -- at least, nothing she could sense. She wasn't surprised it didn't erode the plate on contact.

"This thing?"

"Yes!"

Mandy looked towards Otto and then back again. Wincing, she slowly extended a finger towards the gelatinous edible object and poked it, her stomach doing flips as it wobbled.

I have to tell him, don't I... She buried her face in her hands, only letting her eyes peek out. It was lucky that she hardly had anything in her, and rarely anything made her overly nauseous -- she would have been voted "The Agent Least Likely to Get Carsick, Ferris-Wheel-Sick, or Airplane-in-Space-Sick" by Odd Squad Magazine if such a category existed.

Otto's cooking, however, was on another level. It was the stuff of nightmares.

Finally, wanting to relieve the tension in the air, she sighed. "Er, Otto...if I hafta be honest with you..." She couldn't stand to look at the food anymore, and made eye contact with him. "I think you should stick to eating food, and not...making it?"

Otto's eyes widened. "What?"

"Momma wasn't kidding when she said meatballs were your strong suit. This looks like it can kill me the moment it enters my tummy!"

"Just try it!" he urged. "You'll like it. You eat everything else!"

Mandy's mind was screaming "no" at her, but her body was telling her that yes, she needed food. And there was food right in front of her. One bite wouldn't kill her.

...No wait, it probably would. Immortality only goes so far.

She groaned. "Okay, fine. But if I get sick...I'm coming to yooooour hoooouse!" she called in singsong.

"Fine, whatever, just eat it!"

Pinkie excitedly clapped her hooves together, a grin settled on her face.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly snatched the spoon, scooped up a piece, and shoved into her mouth in only a few swift movements. Some people had tiny bands in their mouths that would be killed by this food -- if not by large bites of it, then by its contents. She had taste buds that were far sturdier and began to scream when the piece slid across them in a most unnatural manner.

Her hair and tail bushed out and stuck straight upwards. Somehow, she managed to swallow her piece, feeling it slide down her esophagus and head towards her stomach, with acids inside of it that would hopefully disintegrate most of the bite for good. 

She coughed...no, that wasn't an accurate description. She hacked. She hacked like what every pet owner's nightmare was right before their pet started to throw up. Her body heaved and heaved, either trying to force the bite down or force it back up and out. 

"Partner!" Pinkie put her hooves up on the desk, looking for something Mandy could swallow. When nothing presented itself, she resorted to reaching into her mane and pulling out a two-quart bottle of apple juice, using her forelock to screw open the cap and pop it off. "Here, Otto, give this to her!"

Otto, still shocked by what he was seeing, hastily grabbed the bottle and shoved it right into Mandy's mouth. Immediately, the taste of the juice began to wash away the horrid taste of whatever he had just made, and she eagerly grabbed the bottle in her shaking hands and drank it all.

Pinkie and Otto could only stare, the latter with a look of utmost disbelief and the former with a look of surprise that her partner was pretty much chugging the thing. 

"B-but I baked the recipe to a T! I don't get it!" Otto exclaimed when Mandy was nearly done with the bottle.

A few more swigs, and she set it down, giving a mighty sigh. "Yeah?" She side-eyed him. "Momma said the same thing about your chocolate creme pie!"

"It was good!"

"You idiot, it dented her pie server! Pies aren't supposed to be hard!"

The two agents faced each other with growls rumbling about in their throats. Mandy, however, had something else rumbling about, and she covered her mouth as a mighty belch came forth. "Pardon." she said, although she didn't take her eyes off of Otto.

The sound of the automatic doors opening put a brief halt on the duo's hostility, and they, along with Pinkie, turned to see Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash walk into the bullpen, along with three fillies standing next to them. 

"Hey y'all, gather 'round! We got some ponies we'd like y'all t' meet!"

Agents in the bullpen began to approach the group, noticing the new arrivals and murmuring amongst themselves. Mandy, Pinkie and Otto made their way forth as well.

"This is Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash introduced, as an orange Pegasus filly with a feather-shaped purple mane and tail stepped forward. "She kinda looks up to me as an older sister."

"And this is my sister, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity went next, pushing a unicorn filly forward who had white fur and a mane and tail that was half violet and half pink.

"And this is my sister Apple Bloom." Applejack glanced at her younger sister, who made her way forward. She had yellow fur and a red mane and tail, complete with a pink bow that was larger than Mandy's own.

Mandy glanced at the flanks of each of their fillies -- they all had their cutie marks. Yeah, I remember Dash, AJ and Rarity telling me that their sisters had gotten their cutie marks a while ago...and they're all similar to each other, too.

As the three fillies gave their greetings, the crowd's murmurs grew excited. Agents introduced themselves eagerly and began shaking hooves and hands.

"Agent Applejack and Agent Rarity have sisters?" Otto asked.

"Yeah, they've brought them up before, but I've never actually met them." Mandy explained, before she turned to the crowd and made a sweeping motion with her hands. "Part the way, please!" she called. Agents did as they were told and gave the group some breathing room.

"So you three fillies are these mares' sisters, huh?" she asked, turning around to face them.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo said. "Well, not an actual sister, but Rainbow Dash and I have a bond that's totally like sisters!"

"You're Mandy, right?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head.

"Yup! Agent 57 at your service! Nice to meetcha!" Mandy chirped, gesturing to Otto. "And this is Otto. He works at the Odd Squad precinct in the next town over from here."

"Odd Squad precinct?" Apple Bloom's expression brightened.

"Our sisters told us all about Odd Squad!" Sweetie Belle's did, as well.

"Yeah, and we'd really really like to join!" Rounding out the enlightened expressions was Scootaloo, ending her sentence as she gave a big toothy grin.

Mandy responded with a nervous chuckle. "Um, w-well, I can't help you with that, unfortunately. But I know someone who can! Be right back, okay?"

Spreading her wings, she quickly soared up to the second floor and poked her head into Oprah's office, wondering how the Director hadn't heard the commotion before realizing she had an earbud in. "Oprah?"

"Hm?" Oprah took her earbud out. "Oh, Mandy, hi. What's going on?"

"Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are here with their sisters, who want to join Odd Squad."

"They do?"

"They seem like very nice fillies. I'm on board with sending 'em to the Academy!"

On the word "fillies", something in Oprah's brain clicked. Her face lit up like that of a kid who was told they just won a lifetime's supply of candy. "Let me see!" Her voice was practically a squeak, a rather drastic change from the steely voice she usually had. She quickly scrambled out of her seat, forgetting all about her music player, and followed Mandy downstairs.

"You three brought your sisters?" she asked as she descended the staircase.

"We sure did, Ms. O!" Applejack nodded. "This here's my sister Apple Bloom, and that there's Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They're the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ms. O. I'm the head of this Odd Squad precinct, 13579. I heard you'd like to join Odd Squad." Oprah smiled. "In that case, I'd love to have you join!"

"Yes!" Scootaloo cheered.

"However, you need to go through training at the Odd Squad Academy first. You'll learn about our organization and how to combat oddness. Are you up for it?"

The fillies each gave excited cheers of agreement.

"Wonderful!" Oprah could feel the excitement growing within her. "Agent Rarity, Agent Applejack, Agent Rainbow Dash, please take them there posthaste and have them enrolled."

"Of course, darling." Rarity nodded. The trio ushered the three fillies out of the bullpen, all of them talking excitedly amongst themselves.

When the automatic doors closed, Oprah giggled. "This is so great! I can't thank you enough, Mandy!"

"Huh? What did I do?"

"You let me meet these three wonderful fillies, of course! They're going to be amazing additions to Precinct 13579, I just know it!"

Mandy gazed at Otto and Pinkie, who both gave her confused shrugs in response. Neither one of them knew what was going on with Oprah. "Ooookaaaaay, who died and gave you their happy pills?" was the only question the hybrid could ask right now, feeling utterly confused herself as to why her boss was acting so out-of-character.

All said boss did, though, was giddily laugh again, and then turn on her heel as she went back up to her office.

Mandy took an inhale. "What?"

The sound of a yawn cut into her dazed stupor, and she turned her head towards the right hallway entrance to see Peaches emerge, rubbing her eyes. "Jeez, it is still daytime...?" she murmured, before her eyes caught the sight of her cousin. "Oh, hi, Mandy. You look a little...lost in thought."

"Hm?" Mandy blinked and vigorously shook her head. "Ahahaha, no, no, I'm not lost in thought! See, the sisters of Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity came by and wanted to join Odd Squad. So Oprah accepted. They're on their way to the Academy now."

"That's good. It'll help boost the numbers a little bit. Why so concerned?"

"'Cuz Oprah was a little too...giddy for my taste." Mandy twiddled her fingers about. "Like real talk, I haven't seen her that happy since Shmumbers came out with the limited-edition Jumbo Jivin' Juiceboxes!" She shuddered. "It's so unnerving...she never smiles like that."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better..." Pinkie trotted up to her partner, Otto following behind her. "I can do a certified Pinkie Pie Smile Analysis, Brief Edition!"

"S-sure, I guess."

"Hmmm..." Pinkie stared at Oprah's office and squinted, the gears in her anomaly of a mind clicking and turning. Finally, she came to a conclusion. "Ah! Okay, so her smile was totally legitimate. Waaaaay outta character for her, but legitimate! She's super-duper happy about this!"

"Why?" Otto asked. "Agents being picked to join her precinct are pretty routine. What's so special about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in particular?"

"I dunno." Pinkie shrugged. "Maybe she just had one too many juice boxes?"

"She doesn't really get like that when she's had one too many." Mandy shook her head.

"Maybe she's just excited about having new agents?" Peaches offered. "I'm sure the excitement will wear off after a while."

"Maybe. Hopefully." Mandy continued to gaze up at Oprah's office, a hefty sigh escaping her as she hoped her cousin was right on the money.





At around 9:00 in the morning the next day, Mandy's sleep was disturbed by the Bedroom door slamming open so hard that one would be surprised it didn't come off of its hinges.

Well, there was an attempt at disturbing her sleep, anyway. One that failed spectacularly.

"GUESS WHAT TODAY IS?!" came the cacophonic cry of one charged and crazy Director, splitting grin a mile wide and brown eyes sparkling with glee. Instead of her usual Director uniform, she had on a grey shirt with the Odd Squad seal on it and grey sweatpants, complete with purple hoodie (the Management department symbol sewed on her left, of course) and a whistle hanging from a sparkly purple necklace -- the perfect outfit for training.

A snore was her only response.

"It's time for you to watch me train the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" She rushed over, yanked the sheets off of Mandy, and grabbed ahold of her ankles. "Come, come!"

Mandy could feel something on her body being grabbed, but it wasn't like she had any energy to spare in trying to instinctively attack whoever was grabbing it. She gave a soft moan as her body hit the floor and was promptly dragged across it, out of the room and at the complete mercy of Oprah.

A few minutes later, the hybrid was positioned upright in a chair, still asleep and still giving raucous snores. The room that Oprah had taken her to was a gym of some kind, complete with weights, punching bags, and a boxing ring, where the Crusaders were located.

"Now, the first thing you'll learn is how to use gadgets." Oprah reached behind her back and pulled out one, coated in a particular substance that made it have a frozen appearance. Littering the gadget were designs of various snowflakes. "See this one?"

The fillies nodded. 

"This gadget is called the Freeze-inator. Can anyone guess what it does?"

"Uhh, it freezes stuff?" Apple Bloom guessed. The other two fillies had to resist rolling their eyes at how obvious the question was.

"Right! I should have taken out a harder gadget, huh?" Oprah chuckled. "Now, each of you try and use it on those three statues."

The Crusaders looked at the statues. They were small, only about as tall as them, but they all depicted Oprah in various poses. Eagerly, Apple Bloom took the gadget from Oprah's grasp and began fumbling with it, not used to holding such a bulky object in her hooves. Still, she did her best, and successfully froze one statue.

"Whoa." Sweetie Belle breathed, touching a hoof to her own horn as she began to feel rather jealous that she couldn't do crazy magic like that.

She and Scootaloo each had their turns, with Scootaloo finding it no less easier than Apple Bloom to grip and use the gadget due to her small wings (meaning she couldn't use them as an extra set of fingers) while Sweetie Belle had an easier time due to being a unicorn who could wield the power of telekinesis.

"Gadgets are how Odd Squad agents solve cases." Oprah explained. "There are 10,000 of them currently in existence, but Scientists are always building more."

"Huh. So Scientists are the ones who build gadgets?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yep, and they often build other useful devices too. If ever you have a gadget issue, go to them."

"That's so awesome!" Scootaloo got stars in her eyes.

"It is, isn't it?" Oprah pretended that the Pegasus filly's comment also referred to her joining Odd Squad, and that made her smile more. "Now, let me show you a few of the more frequently-used gadgets. Once I give you a tour of Headquarters, we'll head out onto the field to try them out!"

The Crusaders were so busy cheering that they didn't notice Mandy topple backwards in her chair upon giving a mighty snore, scratching her tummy as her slumber continued on.

About an hour-and-a-half later, the group returned, feeling exhilarated. The fillies each looked a little worse for wear, but that didn't stop their enthusiasm any.

"Okay, now that you're familiar with some gadgets..." Oprah wiped off some stray grass that was caked onto her knee. "Let's give you three a personalized tour of Headquarters!"

"Yeah!" came the unisonant cry as the trio rushed for the door.

Apple Bloom, however, was hesitant when she reached it, and turned around. "Wait, what about Mandy?" she asked.

"Ah, forget about her. She'll be fine." Oprah waved a dismissive hand, glancing at the hybrid and giving a bemused roll of her eyes before following the fillies out the door. Before she did, however, she made sure to turn the lights off.

"Zzquare's fittin' n' round cracker..." Mandy sleepily murmured, the sound of her own snores and sleep-talking being the only noise in the room. The darkness aided well in letting her slip deeper into sleep, and from then on in, not even the sounds of a nuclear explosion could wake her up.





Peaches, Otto and Olive walked through the hallways, calling out Mandy's name for any sign of her. Peaches' heightened sense of hearing and smell also lent themselves well to the search, although neither one of them was particularly helpful.

"Ugh, where could she have gotten off to?" Olive asked, opening her mouth to call out her daughter's name again before she was promptly shushed by Peaches.

"Wait, I hear something!" the catgirl said, straining her ears and picking up on a faint rumbling sound. "This way!" She ran, and both Directors eagerly followed her as they snaked through a couple more hallways.

Finally, they reached their destination -- a room with a painting of a weight and a pair of boxing gloves on its red door. Peaches hadn't seen this room before, but Olive and Otto both recognized it well as the aptly-named Gym Room.

The door was opened, and what met their visions was absolute darkness. Or, well, what met Olive's and Otto's visions were absolute darkness. Peaches had another ability on her side, and she could easily pinpoint Mandy even without it. "I hear her." she said.

"It's so pitch-black in here!" Otto remarked, flicking the light switch up and down repeatedly only to find that nothing was happening. Whatever had happened to the lights after Oprah and the fillies had left was a mystery. "And the lights don't work."

"No problem! I can see in the dark. Stay there." Peaches reassured. She stepped inside, easily spotting the shape of Mandy lying on the floor amidst everything else in the room. At one point, she heard bugs skittering, and found that some of them had made their way onto Mandy's body -- no doubt mistaking her for a corpse that was ready to be consumed. But the rise and fall of the hybrid's stomach, plus the strident snores and silly sleep-talking she was giving off, warded a lot of them away.

Peaches gave a soft moan as she picked Mandy up in her hands, nearly collapsing from just how heavy she was. Which was saying quite a lot, given how generally lightweight she actually was. "Cuz, why are you here? It's so dark...were you sleepwalking or something?"

All that answered her was, of course, more snoring and more gibberish.

"C'mon, let's get you back to bed." Something tickled the catgirl's nose, causing her to sneeze. "Mm, all this dust..." she murmured, shaking it off of her hand and making a mental note to have someone sweep the room.

Olive and Otto made way for the duo, closing the door behind them as they walked out.

"Why is she covered in dust?" Olive asked, surprised that no dust bunnies (literally or figuratively) had called Mandy's suit home yet.

As if on cue, Mandy snorted, and she gave a mighty sneeze of her own. Her eyes squeezed shut for a moment.

"Look, she's waking up!"

Otto's comment was met with a loud yawn as Mandy stretched her body out. Peaches had to fight to not to let her slip out of her grasp.

"Hi there!" Olive gave a friendly wave.

"Where 'm I...?" Mandy lifted her head up and narrowed her eyes. "Peach...?"

"Hi." Peaches smiled. "We found you in some dark room-"

"The Gym Room." Olive pointed out.

"Right...the Gym Room." Peaches' brow furrowed in confusion, not understanding what this precinct needed a Gym Room for. "Anyway, we found you there and we were going to take you back to the Bedroom..."

"Really?" Another loud yawn escaped Mandy. "Didn't even noti-i-i-" Her nose wrinkled and she sneezed again, sniffling as she raised her arm. "N' I'm covered with dust..."

"Why don't I go see if the washer's open? I'll stick your suit in the wash for you!" Otto offered, moving to help Mandy take her jacket off.

"Otto, maybe it would be best if we got her a pair of shorts, too...and if we did this in the privacy of the Bedroom?" Olive said, hoping her partner would pick up what she was implying.

"Oh." He blinked. "Ohhh...right. Sorry." Taking a couple steps back, his face began to flush and he gave a nervous chuckle.

"Moving on...do you want me to make you breakfast, Mandy?"

To Olive's surprise, Mandy shook her head. "Mm-mm. Today's a sleepin' day for me..."

"Mandy? Denying food?" Otto chuckled. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that happened! Talk about odd!"

"She rejected your abomination from yesterday. Which was food, right?"

"I-" Otto stammered. "S-shut up, partner."

"Mandy, you're not really planning on sleeping all day, are you?"

"Will Oprah even let you do that?" Peaches tilted her head.

"Go ask her..." Mandy yawned again. "Talked m' four ears off all last night m'bout the Cutie Mark Cruzzaderzz..."

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"That's the collective name of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They're Applejack's, Rarity's, and Rainbow Dash's respective sisters." Otto explained to Olive. "Uh, well, Rainbow Dash isn't really Scootaloo's sister, but...y-you know what, it's complicated." He waved his hands. "Anyway, they want to be Odd Squad agents, so they're attending the Academy."

"Not anymore...they're trainin' under Oprah now..." Yet another yawn left Mandy's body as her eyes began to droop.

"Why? Were they kicked out?" Olive asked.

"Who knows. Oprah was acting really happy, though. Like, she was gushing over the fillies. Or so Mandy tells me." Peaches remarked, absentmindedly scratching her cheek.

"Hmm...maybe she had second thoughts about sending them to the Academy and wanted to train them herself?" Olive offered, although she couldn't really make heads or tails of her old boss's new mentality on this whole issue.

"Wait, if Oprah trains the fillies on her own, will they still be accepted as agents?" Otto asked.

"I...don't know." Olive had to admit, for all her knowledge on Odd Squad, Otto's question stumped her. Both of them had attended the Academy, and she knew of no loopholes otherwise. "Agents are picked at the Academy by Directors themselves, and are promoted that way. But if a Director takes it upon themselves to train agents..." She trailed off, her mind beginning to swirl with so many questions that she felt like she was on the verge of a headache.

"Why don't you go and ask the Big O?" Peaches asked. "You can do it while Mandy's sleeping."

Sure enough, Mandy had fallen back asleep, no doubt from a combination of all the talking and her already-existing fatigue.

"Hey, that's a good idea!" Otto nodded. "C'mon, partner, you can go ask! I can watch over the precinct for you while you go to the Big Office. How about it?"

Relieved that they had come to a solution, Olive nodded. "Sure. The last thing I want is for Oprah to get in trouble."

The trio began walking towards the Bedroom to put Mandy to bed. Upon arriving there, however, they found Fluttershy, who was rummaging about in a toy chest that sat against the wall on the other side of the room.

"Oh? Hello, everyone!" 

Her greeting was eagerly returned. 

"I'm trying to find a small bell. Do any of you have one?"

"What do you need a bell for?" Peaches tilted her head, trying to fight the urge to drop Mandy and go crazy looking for one herself.

"Just to calm a creature. It loves the sound of ringing and tinkling bells."

"I think I remember seeing one in the bottom of that toy chest you're looking in." Peaches said. "Let me help you find it. Just...keep it away from me. You know the deal with cats and bells, I'm sure."

Fluttershy gave a soft giggle as the catgirl set Mandy down on her bed. She then made her way over and bent down, pushing all sorts of items out of the way in the search for a bell.

Olive took initiative in getting Mandy's suit off, making sure to use her body as a makeshift privacy screen. Otto, likewise, decided to help Fluttershy and Peaches with their search. Only a minute later, Olive had put the sleeping hybrid's outfit in the shared wardrobe closet and had dressed her up in a grey shirt and navy shorts, both emblazoned with the Odd Squad seal.

"All right, let's get you to bed." With ease, she carried Mandy over to the bed and laid her down in it, but not before removing the blankets and sheets first. Once that was done, she pulled them over Mandy, and couldn't help but smile as the hybrid gave a loud yawn that concluded with an adorable squeak, indicating she was quite happier in bed than sitting upright in a chair or laying down on a dirty floor -- as most anyone would.

"Sweet dreams, okay? Rest up." Olive soothed.

"You know, that little squeak when she yawned was pretty adorable."

"Can it, or I'll smack you into yesteryear." she playfully said to her partner, who gave a bout of sheepish laughter in response.

"Here, I found one!" Peaches pulled up a medium-sized jingle bell. Almost immediately, her pupils widened to be the size of saucers, and her mouth slightly hung open as she became entranced by one of the most wondrous sounds she had ever heard. Somewhere deep inside, she was beginning to feel thankful that Mandy had never thought of putting bells in her hair or tail, even at Christmastime, because otherwise she would have been following her cousin around like an excited puppy waiting for their owner to throw the stick already.

"Oh, that's perfect! Thank you." Fluttershy took the bell and tucked it under her wing, quickly trotting away with it so it was out of Peaches's sight. The catgirl watched her head towards the Bedroom door with the same hypnotized expression on her face, her focus completely on the bell that her friend had so willingly made disappear.

"How are the fillies doing?" the Pegasus asked Olive and Otto.

"Wait, how do you know about them?" Olive asked.

"Oh, I know them very well. I foal-sat them once, as a matter of fact." Fluttershy smiled. "They're such sweethearts!"

"No, don't, go n' train 'em yourzzelf...!"

Any response either Olive or Otto were going to give was interrupted by Mandy's sleep-talking as she raised her head off of the pillow. Just as quickly as she did that, though, the head went right back down, and the cacophonic snoring continued.

"Mandy's still asleep?" Fluttershy tilted her head.

"Oprah kept her up late last night talking about the fillies. I'm going to the Big O's office to get answers on if Oprah can train them herself so they can become agents."

"That's a possibility?"

"Apparently. I don't know the details or the logistics behind it, though." Olive shrugged.

Fluttershy gave a soft hum as she tried to make sense of the situation. Ultimately, though, she chose not to ponder about it too much -- she trusted Oprah enough to know what she was doing. "Well, I suppose I'll take this bell back, then. Thanks for helping me find it, Peaches!"

"Whuh-huhzz?" Like the snap of a finger, Peaches broke out of her trance. Her pupils returned to normal size, and she brought her hand up to her mouth to wipe away some drool that had begun its descent down her chin. She shook her head and blinked a couple times. "Oh, uh, w-where's the bell?"

"I have it. Don't worry."

"Oh. Well, good! Have fun with it! I, uh..." Peaches moved towards the door. "If you're leaving, Fluttershy, I'll just, uh, follow you out."

Otto, not understanding why Peaches was being so dodgy about something that was natural instinct for her, wore a look of confusion. Olive, on the other hand, rolled her eyes, a smirk on her face as she bit her tongue in order to hold back a witty comment.

Still, Peaches acting suspicious didn't stop them from moving towards the door as well. "Let's give Mandy some room, partner." Olive urged, keeping an eye on Peaches as she made a right down the hallway.

"Sweet dreams!" Otto gave one last wave and a smile before he closed the door, following his partner as she took a left.





Olive didn't really know what to expect when she arrived at the Big Office. It hadn't really been too too long since Oriella was made the new Big O, and a little seed of doubt about her experience weaved its way through Olive's brain. Still, she held optimism, and made her way inside.

To her surprise, she got rather far -- normally, the second she opened the door, an assistant would be telling her to stop and would then ask her for identification. However, this time around, the door closed behind her and she took a few footsteps before she was spotted.

"Hello!" an assistant greeted, a pleasant smile on his face as he made his way towards her. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

She blinked. Oh, wow. These assistants are much nicer than the previous Big O's. Must have come with Oriella becoming the new Big O. Naturally, she took this as a good sign that Odd Squad was in much better and much safer hands. She cleared her throat. "My name is Olive, I'm an Odd Squad Director at Precinct 73955. I'm wondering if I can ask the Big O a question regarding agents-in-training?"

"Sure thing!" The assistant nodded. "Her office is right this way, if you'll just follow me."

As the duo walked, Olive took note of how shiny everything looked -- not that it wasn't already shiny to begin with, but now, everything, from the walls to the windows, were even shinier. Other assistants even gave her polite looks and friendly smiles as she walked by, which she was all to happy to return. Everything looks so clean and inviting. Quite a massive change from the old Big O for sure. A haunting feeling suddenly began to loom over her. But what Mandy said in her sleep..."go and train them yourself"...

She blinked, and shook her head. No, no, don't be silly. It was just another one of her weird dreams. Don't think anything of it, Olive. It doesn't mean anything in the long run.

"We're here!"

She was jolted out of her thoughts suddenly by the assistant, who was facing the door that she felt like she was at only yesterday. "Huh? Oh!"

The assistant opened the door. "Big O? There's an Odd Squad Director by the name of Olive here to see you."

"Bring her in." Olive made her way inside.

"Ah, she's available. Go right on in!"

"Thank you."

"It's no problem! Have a nice day."

"You as well."

As Olive waved the assistant off, she made her way inside. Almost immediately, her gaze drifted to the spot where Mandy and the previous Big O had battled. The walls had since been fully repaired, and the ugly scene had overall been cleaned up. There were no major changes to the room aside from that, and similarly, there were no major changes with Oriella's appearance -- she still wore her black hair in twintails, with two hairbands marked with transparent cubes securing them in place on her head.

"Oh, Olive! Good to see you." Oriella greeted as Olive closed the door. "How's your precinct faring?"

"Just fine. Everything's in working order." Olive gave a friendly smile, approaching the desk and allowing her body to relax in a way that it just couldn't do when she was speaking to the former Big O.

"Wonderful!" Oriella clapped her hands together. "Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, you see, it's not my precinct that needs help. It's 13579."

"Oprah's precinct?" Oriella blinked. "Is it in danger?"

"No, no, it's not in danger." Olive gave a lighthearted chuckle at her slightly-panicked expression. "See, Oprah recently got introduced to three fillies, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She allowed them to become agents at the precinct if they went through the Academy, but something happened and they're not attending the Academy now." She scratched the back of her head. "I think...she's training them herself."

"Training them herself? In the ways of fighting oddness?"

Olive was relieved that she wasn't the only one confused by whatever loophole Oprah had either found or created out of thin air. If it were the latter, it would certainly explain things. "Mhm. I don't really know what happened that they weren't admitted to the Academy, but she's becoming their teacher and plans to make them agents herself. I'm just wondering if...that's allowed? The last thing I want is for her to get in trouble with you because she broke some hidden Odd Squad rule or something."

In spite of her confusion, Oriella laughed. "Olive, please. Don't be so high-strung. Oprah won't get in trouble, I promise." She sighed. "Although, it's funny you mention that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren't accepted into the Academy. Assistant?" She flagged down a passerby carrying a small stack of papers. "Bring me yesterday's Odd Squad Academy reports, if you will?"

"Of course." The assistant made her way inside, placing the papers on her boss's desk and heaving a small sigh.

"Thank you. Now, let me see here..." 

For the next minute or so, Olive watched as Oriella muttered to herself, all of it completely unintelligible. A few times, her expression turned into one of disappointment as she thumbed through and scanned every single paper, but then turned into an expression that could best be described as "ah, well, I figured as such".

Finally, she flipped through the stack until she got to a specific page. "Ah, yes, right here. It says that all three fillies were denied admittance due to the Academy reaching its full capacity of students."

"What?" Olive stepped forward. "I'm sorry, may I see that?"

Oriella pushed the paper forward and allowed Olive to read it. Sure enough, right next to Apple Bloom's, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's names, one "DENIED" each was written in big black letters.

"As it goes." Oriella shrugged. "There's always that one time of year where it gets a large influx of students."

"Huh. So that's what happened." Olive internally breathed a sigh of relief -- if not for the fillies not causing so much trouble that they'd get kicked out on the same day they were admitted, then for Oprah not causing the fillies to get kicked out on the same day they were admitted. "So can Oprah still train them herself and have them become real agents, then?"

"Mhm!" Oriella nodded. "However, I will need Oprah to come to the Big Office first thing tomorrow for an anti-oddness proficiency evaluation before she can begin training. Otherwise, she won't be qualified to train the fillies."

"Makes sense. I'll let her know as soon as I get back." Olive bowed. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me."

"Olive. Straighten up. With me, you don't need to go through any formalities."

Olive did as she was told. "I...s-sorry. I'm so used to doing this with the old Big O...guess I'm still getting used to you."

"You're not the only one. Would you like a cupcake before you go?" Oriella offered, pushing a plate of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that Olive had somehow missed.

"No thank you. I had a big breakfast."

"All right. Have a good day, okay? Do no odd!"

"Likewise."

For the first time since she became Director, a wave of friendliness, peace and welcome washed over Olive. She left the Big O's office with a smile rather than a frown. It was a refreshing change of pace for sure -- although she couldn't imagine if she'd feel quite the same way had Mandy become the new Big O instead.

She closed the door and made her way out, feeling reassured that Odd Squad was in good, strong and capable hands.

Oriella's got some leader experience for sure. Even if she was just one of the Big O's assistants.

Mandy, you did a good thing, picking her. I'm so proud of you.





On her way back, Olive got to thinking about something else Oriella had told her.

So Oprah has to do an anti-oddness proficiency evaluation, huh? Ahh, she'll ace that easy. But...will she actually go? Or will she be too busy training the fil-

The sound of a groan cut into her thoughts. A groan that sounded very familiar...too familiar. She upped her gait to a speed-walk, kicking herself in the butt for not being completely fine-tuned to what each groan meant -- one of her many failures as a foster parent, she supposed.

As she got closer to the source of the groan, she could hear an equally-familiar voice. "And we're gonna have so much fun together! I mean, have you ever seen more adorable ponies?!" A laugh followed, something completely unusual for the voice's origin.

I haven't heard that kind of a laugh since the one she gave when she wanted to win a Jackie...and that was an "I may need professional help and a trip to a psych ward" kind of laugh. Olive shuddered. What is happening?

"Such childlike innocence, I rarely ever see it anymore! I mean, you're old, and Olive and Otto are practically, like, centuries old now, and a majority of my agents are old too. Even Twilight Sparkle and her friends are full-grown mares! I just wanted some good old childhood antics, the whimsy and the wonder and the nostalgia that comes with it...and I've finally found the ones who can make it happen! Can you believe it?!"

Another bout of that unhinged laughter nearly made Olive forget about the gushing preceding it. Her mind only had one question.

Did...did Mandy and Oprah have a personality switch?





Mandy, sitting at a desk inside of a large spacious office decked with two couches and a coffee table, took a sip of her juice box. Her brown hair was tied up into a bun, with her bow gone completely. She wore the Odd Squad Director's uniform for girls, down to the skirt.

"Aah, juice! Nothing I love more than relaxing with a good juice box and no anarchy going on outside." She stretched in her chair and closed her eyes, putting in some earbuds and picking "Love in a Million Ways" by Brittany Gomez from the playlist stored on her ShmumberPod.

This, however, allowed her to drown out the screams and shouts going on just outside.

Desks were overturned, support beams were falling, and agents were running for their lives like the apocalypse was coming.

In the midst of it all was Oprah, boasting Mandy's hairstyle (and her tail and ears, for some reason), bow included. Her brown eyes shimmered, and she took off like a rocket, bouncing off the walls again with a bout of maniacal laughter.

"It's no use! We can't stop her!" Twilight cried out, using her magic to shield her friends as best she could, but soon finding the effort fruitless. "Ruuuuuun!"

The crazed laughter continued as the ponies ran for their lives, going where every other agent was going -- out the steel doors and fighting for tube rights. Anything to escape to the outside world and avoid the wrath of the monster within their ranks.





Nngh...yeah no, I don't want to think about it.

Olive's eyes widened as the realization of what Oprah said hit her.

"Wait, did she just..."

With a twitch of her eye and her fists balled up, her speed-walking grew more intense.

"Ohh, it's going to be so nice having those fillies around, working to fight oddness with the same innocence that Odd Squad was made fo-" 

Oprah felt a few taps on her shoulder, and turned around with a smile on her face. Unfortunately, she didn't get a single word in edgewise, especially when her opponent was a very furious Olive.

"You dare call Otto and I 'centuries old'? We're both far younger than you by a landslide, how dare you call us old!"

"Olive?!" Oprah scrambled backwards, to the point where her chair nearly fell over. "I-I'm so sorry, I-I-I didn't mean super-old. I meant...uh...old as in twelve years old compared to the Crusaders' young age! Yeah! Y-you're...you're...you, and..."

Olive squinted. "For one, we're nearly 100. I look twelve, I'm not actually twelve. For another, your sad attempt to save face doesn't help the fact that I'm still hurt."

Before Oprah could respond, Mandy gave a moan. She had her head down on the table, clearly in some kind of distress. Strands from both her hair and tail were sticking out and skewed in every single conceivable direction, and there was a strange smell emanating from her that Olive knew all too well as the "bathtime neglect" smell.

"Mandy? Are you okay? You look exhausted! And...incredibly filthy. You smell like it, too." Olive had to fight hard not to gag and puke.

With a grunt, the hybrid pulled herself up and got off of the chair, grabbing Olive by the wrist. "Just come with me..."

"You'd better join us for our training this evening, Mandy! The Crusaders really wanna see you in action!"

"Uh-huh..." Olive could have sworn she saw Mandy deflate a little right then and there, but it was rather hard to tell since she was in motion.

As the Bedroom door closed, Olive took in Mandy's face. It looked sunken. Bags under her eyes, said eyes nearly soulless, and bow turned vertically...somehow. It was like Olive was looking at something she didn't want to be -- an adult living the repetitive monotonous life of going to work and going home, every single day. It was far worse than what she looked like when she had been turned into an adult. (Granted, she was turned into a 21-year-old, but that didn't mean being an adult sucked any less.)

"Soooo...what's going on?"

"Please." Mandy grabbed Olive by the shoulders. "Please tell me you have earplugs."

"Earplugs? What for?"

"Oprah has been talking my four ears off all day. I remember I was last in someone's arms, and then I fell asleep, and then I woke up in some dark room. It was so dark that even with my horn lighting the way, it was hard to see. So I went to the Breakroom to get something to eat, but then Oprah came, sat down, and started talking about the fillies. All three of them. Endlessly."

"Again?" Olive rolled her eyes. "For Pete's sake, doesn't Oprah have assistants she can flap her gums to for hours on end?"

"Yeah, she does...but I guess I'm a good listener." Mandy shrugged. "You remember when Otto made us sit through a two-hour nutrition lecture of irony because he thought Odd Squad wasn't 'feeding him properly'?"

Olive blinked twice. "I still have nightmares. Terrible nightmares. Soul-sucking nightmares."

"Now change the subject to the Crusaders."

"Well, I guess that crushes my theory as to you switching bodies...I don't think Oprah would be dedicated to a 'I'm so tired, give me release' bit this intense."

All of a sudden, Mandy flew down onto her knees and clasped her hands together, like she was praying to an oracle (which, really, was the highest religious power in Odd Squad). "Please, Momma, I can't take any more! If I hear anything, anything, about those three fillies one more time, I'm gonna..."

Olive tilted her head, deciding to entertain the idea. "What are you going to do?"

"I..." Mandy thought for a moment. If one looked close, maybe they could see smoke coming out of her ears. Maybe. "I'm gonna throw myself into the ocean and drift away to one of those cool islands in the distance that you see all the time but you wonder 'hmm, can I really get to it and live there?' but then you realize you can't so you come back home!"

Olive really didn't have the heart to tell Mandy that for one thing, she already did that, and for another, it was her dream to do that with every single island in existence. She sighed, trying to figure out how to remedy this situation, and then settled on an idea. "Didn't Twilight teach you how to cast a force field? It was one of the first things she ever taught you after your transformation...the memories." A smile spread across her face briefly before she got back to the task at hand. "Why don't you just use that?"

"I could, but noise still gets in and out."

"So find a way to make it soundproof. I'm sure there's some modification Twilight could teach you."

Olive could tell that Mandy wanted to fire a witty retort, but knew that she would do so and miss in spectacular fashion, so she refrained. "Look, I'll take anything at this point."

"I'll see what I can do to help you. In the meantime, though..." Olive's nose wrinkled. "You should go and take a shower. Because-"

"I stink? Yeah, I know. I didn't wanna take one this morning because..." Mandy waved her hand. "You know what would've happened."

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Olive sighed. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on Oprah so she won't bother you."

"Thank you." Mandy moved over to the wardrobe closet and opened it, taking out a fresh Odd Squad Investigation department uniform. "And if you don't hear from me after a half-hour or so, I've drowned."

Olive watched as Mandy moved about as slow as molasses -- certainly not with the same speed she usually had. Poor Mandy...Oprah really has to consider her thoughts and feelings in all of this. I'm sure she's happy that she has three potential new agents, but-

Wait. Hold on, did she just say she was going to drown?! Immediately, she decided to stick around and stay outside of the Bathroom door, just to be safe. Or at the very least, get one of the ponies to do it.

Her badge phone sounded the familiar Odd Squad theme tune, and she unclipped and opened it promptly. "Go for Olive."

"Olive? It's Otto. There are two agents here who are having an argument and I can't stop them no matter how hard I try!"

She would have jumped on her partner for making some silly excuse to make her come back to Headquarters because he needed help with a menial task. She really would have. But the sound of arguing in the background was enough to convince her that he was being truthful. "I'll be right there!" she assured, before promptly hanging up.

Well, it looks like I'll have to find someone else to watch Mandy. There's no doubt she's going to fall asleep in that tub. Sighing, Olive pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil from behind her back, and got to writing a note.

"Mandy, I'm really sorry, but I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can to check up on you, okay?"

"Mm..." came the sleepy murmur.

Olive shouldn't have taken this as a sign that she was okay, but she did anyway for the sake of Otto, her precinct, and whatever two agents were arguing about who-knows-what. After all, he wasn't necessarily the best at stopping arguments, and he could use someone unbiased. She hastily left the note on the nightstand and rushed out without another word.





Sure enough, Mandy had fallen asleep in the tub.

Luckily, Olive was able to find someone -- or somepony, rather -- to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't die by way of drowning.

After about an hour, Mandy emerged from the bathroom, a yawn escaping her as she glanced over at her friend. "Thanks f' helpin' me there, Dash..."

"Don't mention it." Rainbow smiled. "Though if you want my advice: bathe in cold water. It'll help keep you awake."

"Cold water isn't so conducive to relaxin', y' know."

"Maybe not to you. But I love a cold bath or shower every now and then." Rainbow stretched her legs. "Just call me if you need me, okay? Good luck with Oprah and the Crusaders. I hear they're becoming a handful."

Before Mandy could even utter out a goodbye, the Pegasus had already taken off, and all she could do was trudge on back to the Bed Room.

Her body became weighed down, as though it knew exactly where she was and it knew exactly what she wanted it to do. Before she could actually do it, though, her gaze drifted to a white piece of paper on her nightstand. "A note...?" she murmured, picking it up and reading it aloud.

Sorry I had to leave abruptly like this, but there was a problem back at my office. Hope you have (or had) a good shower. I promise to stop by later with earplugs for extra protection. Four of them, not two, of course.

- Olive

She sighed. "Typical Momma." Setting the note down, she stuck her head out the door and called out Twilight's name, in the hopes the mare was wandering the hallway.

"You called?"

Mandy immediately fell to the floor, using one hand to secure the towel wrapped around her body and the other to move backwards towards the wall on the adjacent side of the hallway. Standing in front of her was the mare herself, eyeing her with confusion.

"Wh- I- who- she-"

"Sorry. I'm still getting used to the whole 'pop up suddenly out of nowhere' thing. Though being an alicorn with teleportation powers certainly helps!" Twilight took Mandy in for a moment, and her eyes widened. "Are...are you..."

"NAKED UNDER THIS TOWEL?! YEEEES IIIII AAAAAAM, WHAT MADE YA GUESS THAT, WISEMARE?!"

Twilight's face began to turn a color that Shmumbola factory workers would have spent a good six months trying to find a name for. "Oh gosh, I-I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" She moved out of the way. "Please, by all means...don't let me stop you. I won't peek."

"For odd's sake, Twi..." Mandy got up. "We grew up together all the way from babyhood, sure. But that doesn't mean you hafta sneak up on me when my only article of clothing is a towel!"

"Look, I had no idea-" Twilight stopped herself, and resigned to giving a sigh. "Just get dressed. I'll wait outside."

Both pony-human hybrid and mare switched positions, with Mandy heading straight for the wardrobe closet while Twilight made her way outside and sat outside the door, trying to make her face turn back to the color it was supposed to be.

After a couple minutes, Mandy was dressed in her usual cat-adorned PJs, throwing the towel onto her bed. "Okay, you can come in now."

Twilight hesitantly peeked inside. When she saw the coast was clear, she breathed a sigh of relief and made her way in. "Um, so anyway...sorry about that." she apologized again. "What did you need me for?"

"I'm not sure if you know about the whole dealio with Oprah and the Cutie Mark Crusaders..."

"The CMC? They came to Odd Squad?"

"Yeah. They wanted to join, so Oprah decided to have them go to the Academy. Something happened, though, and they're training under her now."

"Huh. I guess they got wind of all the talk of Odd Squad back in Equestria."

Mandy blinked. She had to wonder exactly what talk Twilight was referring to -- what were ponies there saying about her, she wondered -- but she set that aside. "The problem is, she adores them. Way, way too much. I dunno the whole dealio with that, either...something about 'childlike innocence' and 'nostalgic whimsy'...but it's driving me up the wall. Not literally."

"How so?"

"She keeps talking to me about them!" Mandy threw her hands into the air. "At least Momma has the decency to talk about other subjects besides the Burly Bears whenever they get a win. Oprah, on the other hand, sees the three fillies once and that's it. That's all she can talk about."

Twilight slowly nodded in understanding. "So you want me to get her to stop talking about them?"

"Well, no...I mean if you could, that would be nice, but no." Mandy said. "See, I had this dream where she kept begging me to train them for her. I kept refusing her, but she wouldn't listen. Finally we decided to fist-fight...and I lost." She rubbed the back of her neck. "She got me good in just a couple blows."

Twilight had to resist the urge to comment on how Mandy had the weirdest dreams of anyone she knew, inside of Odd Squad and outside of it.

"So I had to train the fillies all by myself." Mandy sighed. "Nightmares are still such foreign territory to me...I hardly ever get them. And I think this one was caused by Oprah dragging me to who-knows-where. So I want you to teach me how to create soundproof force fields."

"But you already know how to create force fields."

"Soundproof. Force. Fields." Mandy slowly repeated. "Please. If I can learn how to do that, then maybe I can stop having nightmares so much...and I can stop waking up in weird places."

"Well, you already know the basics." Twilight explained. "What sort of force field were you hoping to create?"

Mandy let out a slow hum as she thought, then perked up. "One that can fit over my bed, of course. But if you touch it, you get electrocuted!"

Twilight opened her mouth.

"But! There's a lil' secret door you can go through, that shows up when the shield shimmers every once in a while. That will take you inside the shield, see? And you won't get electrocuted!"

How...how much thought did she put into this? Twilight wondered. She understood Mandy's request, but she had never been approached with a request by a unicorn (or another alicorn, in this case) to help them make a specific force field before. Still, Mandy had quite a ways to go with her alicorn magic, and Twilight supposed this was just another step towards progress.

"Um...well, it's quite simple, really. You remember what I taught you about teleportation? To just visualize where you want to go and let your magic do the rest?"

"Yeah?"

"It's the same thing with force fields."

Mandy's jaw dropped.

"Force fields come in all shapes, sizes, and power levels, Mandy. All you need to do is imagine a force field in your head-"

"A-a-a-"

"And let your magic do the rest."

Mandy slumped to her knees, her arm raised and her finger pointed straight at Twilight as her brain had to do a hard reset. She stuttered, she stammered, but no matter how hard she tried, she was absolutely incapable of speaking the English language. Twilight's smile remained on her face as she sat on the floor, knowing it would be a fair bit before she would snap to her senses.

"I...y-y-you mean...all this time...all these people, all these ponies, barging into the Bedroom, trying to wake me up...and all I had to do was use magic for five seconds?!" she screeched. "W-why didn't you tell me this sooner?! Do you know how many times I could've used somethin' like that?!"

"Yeeeeah, that's my fault. I'm sorry. But I wanted to take things slow with you. Force fields aren't something to be trifled with, especially in battle."

"Okay, fine, but still...when were you planning on telling me this?"

Twilight's expression became shifty, and she suddenly avoided eye contact with Mandy.

"Answer the question, Sparkle."

"E-eventually!"

Mandy groaned and hung her towel up on the coat rack next to the wardrobe closet. "Fine. Let's try it out, then."

Laying on her bed, she lit up her horn and tried to visualize the force field she wanted to have. Something strong, to keep Oprah out...a simple, static-electricity-that-makes-the-hair-go-up shock wouldn't do. No, she needed something bigger, something powerful. Something that, if Oprah touched it, it would be a one-hit KO.

Five seconds later, a force field materialized. Pink-purple in color, and crackling with lightning.

"Can you hear me?!" Mandy called from inside the magic field. When all she got in response was a mouthed word from Twilight. A satisfied smile settled on her face, not noticing Twilight's shocked and concerned expression.

"That's great, Mandy..." the alicorn said, when the force field disappeared. "But maybe something that isn't so infused with lightning would work better."

"But I wanna keep Oprah out! That's the whole point!"

"Do you really think she's so dumb that she'll come back for more after getting shocked once?"

"No, but she's persistent. She'll try again and again and again and again and aga-"

The sound of Mandy's badge phone ringing cut into her words. It took her a few moments to remember where she had put it, but she eventually found it on the nightstand. "Mandy speakin', how can I help ya?!"

"Mandy? It's Olive. I forgot to tell Oprah that the Big O wants her to stop by the Big Office tomorrow for an anti-oddness proficiency evaluation, to see if she's eligible to teach the Crusaders in the Academy's place. Could you tell her for me?"

Mandy groaned. "Do I have to? Being around Oprah is..." She blinked as an idea came to her. "Wait, never mind, I'll do that!"

"Thank you. See you later!"

"Bye!"

Twilight watched as Mandy closed her phone and set it back on the nightstand, then conjured up a small slip of paper and a pencil. "I can just write her a note!"

"And how do you know she won't come to you asking you about it?"

Mandy scoffed. "Twi. It'll be so straight and to the point that she won't need to come askin' about it." She got to scribbling on the slip of paper, then a minute later, she sighed. "And done! This way, I won't have to face her and play the game of 'When Will the Gums Fly Outta the Mouth?'"

Twilight just tilted her head.

"Aaaaanyway..." Mandy turned around. "Thank you so so sooooo much, Twi! Oh, you're the best! Finally, I can get a good night's sleep without being bothered by my brinnocently brinsensitive boss!"

"Those aren't wo-"

"Thank youuuuu!" Mandy was already shoving her out the door by magical means. "Now to do some book-readin'!"

Before Twilight could get another word in edgewise, the Bedroom door closed. Huffing in confusion and disappointment, she decided to head on back to the bullpen to finish up her work and get back to the Castle.





Absentmindedly chewing on a nacho from a small paper basket, Mandy used her horn to turn the page of her latest book, Old Rabbit's Book of Practical and Particular Pussycats. She began to feel sleepy by the 30th-or-so page, although she still had quite a bit of energy left.

The Bedroom door opened, and she immediately flew off of the bed, drawing her hammer from her back and giving a low growl.

"Whoa, whoa, relax, it's just me!"

Mandy blinked, and then gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank odd. I was gonna whack Oprah if she even thought of barging in here. Hiya, Momma!"

"Hi!" Olive waved. "Didn't she mention that she wanted you to attend some sort of training tonight?"

"Yeah, but as you can see, I'm kinda underdressed for the occasion."

"Even if you're underdressed, you certainly look a lot better than you did when I last saw you." Olive smiled and pulled something small out of her back, which was wrapped up in a tiny box. "Anyway, I bought some earplugs at a nearby everything-you-could-possibly-and-conceivably-sell store I passed by when I went out for a walk. It's really a shame the Scientists haven't thought of inventing an Earplug-inator yet...gotta ask Odie about that. Or Oscar, the next time I visit him."

Mandy took the box eagerly and opened it, eyeing the earplugs inside. "Thank you!" she chirped, applying one to each ear. "Say somethin'!"

"Uh...strange, weird, and especially odd!" Olive screamed, as loud as she could make it. Mandy didn't even flinch, instead continuing to wear her big silly smile.

Olive moved to take the earplugs out of Mandy's ears. "Wow, they work perfectly." she said. "How'd it go with Twilight?"

"Great! She, uh...w-well..." Mandy twiddled her thumbs. "She taught me how to make more powerful force fields...which was simple...and something I coulda used A LONG TIME AGO!" She raised her voice at the end so it would echo out the door, just in case the mare in question happened to be trotting by. "Aaaaanyway...yeah. So I'll have a double layer of protection!"

"That's exactly what I bought the earplugs for." Olive winked. "Now you can get a good sl-"

The door suddenly slammed all the way open, and a familiar face bust in.

"GUESS WHO'S READY FOR SOME TRAININ'?!"

"Well, I can assure you that none of us are." Mandy rolled her eyes, a pit of dread beginning to form in her stomach.

"Too bad so sad, 'cause you're coming with me!"

Olive watched as Oprah moved towards Mandy and aggressively dragged her wrist. Something clicked in her brain right then and there as she witnessed her former boss go completely off the rails, and she decided to speak up. "Okay, I've had enough. Oprah, stop this. You're being irrational."

Oprah stopped and turned. "Irrational?!"

"Yes. Haven't you ever once, just once, thought about how Mandy feels about...whatever it is you're doing? I'm sure she doesn't appreciate you dragging her out of bed and forcing you to watch the Crusaders' training."

"But Oliiiiive..." Oprah whined. "These fillies have to learn from the best of the best, and no one is the best of the best like her! It's not my fault if all she does is sleep and eat all day."

"Hey! I do actual work too, y'know! Why do you think I'm employed here?!"

"Because you were raised here. But also, to train these adorable fillies, of course! Ohh, they're gonna make their sisters so proud!"

"Oprah. Look. I know how passionate you are about making the Crusaders into agents. But you're bringing down Mandy's health to do it. Can't you have some empathy just this once?"

"But I do have empathy! For these fillies!" Oprah began to sway back and forth, her brown eyes shimmering. "Oh, how I long to be a child just like them, even if just for a few hours! It would make my heart soar more than swimming in the vast blue waters of the ocean!"

If Oprah's blatant misuse of the concept of empathy didn't get Olive, the giddy laughter she heard certainly did. All she could give was a look of sheer confusion as her mind tried to make sense of the situation. Childhood innocence...is that why she's acting like this? Because she wants to be a kid again? She is millennia old...I don't think she's been a 'kid' kid since...last century, I'd bet. When she was running that fruit stand with Yucks.

"Look, fine! Fine." Mandy sighed. "I'll attend the training tonight. On one condition." She held her finger up. "You let me sleep in my own bed for once!"

"Mandy, you always sleep in your own bed!"

The hybrid groaned as she realized her boss was right. "Let me rephrase that. You let me wake up in my own bed."

"Why? You can sleep anywhere! And you always get a good night's sleep, don't you?"

Oh, how Mandy was absolutely tempted to whip out the list of every time she didn't get a good night's sleep. She was only eleven, but the list was pretty expansive, and it was growing all the time. Still, that didn't mean Oprah's comment wasn't offensive to her. "W- does that even matter?!" She was set aflame, her voice gaining that reverberating echo once again. "For odd's sake, Oprah, have some respect! I shouldn't have to work under someone that refuses to have even a little bit of empathy for her other agents! I bet you're so stinkin' enamored by those three fillies that you refuse to even help your own agents! If we were all falling to our deaths and could only save one of us, you'd save all those fillies single-smeggin'-handily, wouldn't you?!"

"Mandy, calm down!" Olive said, trying to diffuse the situation before Mandy decided to upgrade from verbal spats to physical punches. 

Luckily for her, the hybrid complied. The flames fizzled out and she returned to normal, breathing heavily and glaring at Oprah with icy blue eyes.

The room fell silent for a brief moment. Oprah was surprised at Mandy's sudden outburst, her eyes growing wide. Olive had thought that maybe, just maybe, she would reconsider her words, apologize, and the rest of the night would go smoothly.

Unfortunately, her fate of the day had dealt her a bad hand of cards.

Oprah smiled. "You know, I never noticed how terrible you look when you're angry."

That was it. That was the trigger.

Mandy's eye twitched.

And then she whipped out her hammer. "All right, that's it, you're goin' down!"

"Mandy, Oprah, both of you stop this!" Olive clutched Mandy, wrapping her arms around her chest and lifting her with minimal effort. "Mandy, go to Oprah's training. And Oprah, have some empathy for Mandy. You're being a terrible role model for the fillies!"

"Nonsense!" Oprah giggled. "Conflict is a natural part of Odd Squad, and it happens all the time!" She gasped. "In fact, I should get them to witness this! Stay here, I'll be right back!" The Director quickly dashed off before another word could be spoken.

Mandy gripped the handle of her hammer tighter as Olive set her down. "She's starting to get on my nerves...and my nerves can only take so much..." she muttered through grit teeth.

Olive's gaze drifted to a purple book that sat on the floor. "What's this?" she asked, picking it up. "Was this here before?"

"No. It's not mine. Maybe Oprah dropped it on her way out?"

Olive hesitated.

"Go on, open it!"

"Mandy, it's wrong to read other people's diaries. You, of all people, should know that from the last ten times I caught you reading mine!"

"No one's watching!" Mandy shrugged. "Oprah's too infused with happiness about the Crusaders to get angry over a silly thing like an invasion of privacy. Read what's inside!"

Damn it. She has a point. Olive shut her eyes, then tore open the book to a random page.

By some crazy happenstance, it just so happened to be one of the most insulting entries in the book -- and one of the most recent ones.

"Today I had the honor of meeting three wonderful fillies: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They arrived at Precinct 13579 with their sisters looking to become agents, and they’re just the sweetest little things! I will admit, my precinct has lots of agents, but a lot of them are old and no longer have the whimsical child-like innocence that these fillies have. They’re so small and cute, it makes me wonder why I didn’t just promote one as my second-in-command sooner! I’m working on training them myself, and I’m employing Mandy to help me. Thing is, she’s incredibly lazy, and she sleeps so much that it’s hard to get her to do anything. If she keeps this up, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I want her to help me train the fillies, but it’s kind of hard to do that if she’s sleeping all the time! Maybe I should promote the fillies as my second-in-commands instead, when they become agents. They seem to be a lot more efficient for sure, and with my office usually in a state of being busy, I could use the extra help! They truly appear to bring such joy to the precinct, and to Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash too. I’ll have to think about it!

"Anyway, I'm mostly writing this by the seat of my skirt. But if Mandy's not around, then who do I have to talk to? She's so tolerant, letting me talk about the fillies all the time. I appreciate her for that! I just wish she had more drive and motivation, you know? The fillies have it, for sure. They may have their cutie marks, but they help out other ponies like nobody's business!

"Hmm. Perhaps Mandy's growing old too...it wouldn't surprise me. Who knows what that transformation did to her? She's probably 80 or something by now. Well, with all that being said, it's bedtime for me. See you tomorrow, diary!"

The room fell dead-silent. Olive lifted her head up and blinked, re-reading the entry twice, thrice, frice (yes, it was a word in Odd Squad's dictionary) to make sure she was reading it correctly.

Mandy slumped to her knees. Her hammer fell out of her hand. Tears began to pool at the corners of her eyes, and her ears folded down as the gravity of Oprah's words hit her.

"She...she..."

Her eye twitched again.

"HOW DARE SHE!"

Olive backed up as Mandy let out a loud and anguished roar before she was set aflame again, her eyes holding the same spark of hurt and malice they did before.

Sweetie Belle was the first to enter the Bedroom, her hooves rushing there the second she heard the roar. "What's going on?"

"Agent Mandy?" Apple Bloom flanked her.

"Ms. O, what's happening?" Scootaloo was the final arrival, her eyes wide with shock as her vision met an enraged Mandy.

Finally, the Director herself arrived. She looked rather indifferent to the Mandy in flames...until she saw exactly what was sitting next to her. "My diary!" she cried out.

"M-M-Mandy's on fire!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out, with all of the bravery she had sapped out of her.

"D-don't worry!" Olive tried to reassure. "This is just something Mandy does when she's very, very upset. I-I think you three should leave and-"

"No! They need to stay and see what happens when you make Mandy very, very upset." Oprah entered the room -- a bad move, given how Mandy's flames seemed to intensify with every step she took, but a move she didn't care about.

That is, until Mandy charged.

As soon as she made contact with Oprah, the pair began fist-fighting each other, exchanging blows and cries as they tangled and moved around the room in a two-man ball. Mandy was going all-out, treating Oprah like she treated any villain that made her mad enough, making sure she had no opening. Oprah, for all her skills in combat, wasn't able to hold off Mandy for long. She relied on the hybrid's predictability in magic, to which there was none in existence now -- it was a completely physical battle.

"Break it up!" Olive shouted, moving about to try and find an opening where she could nab Mandy once again.

The Crusaders looked on fearfully.

"Should we help 'em?" Apple Bloom asked. "Uh, h-help 'em stop fightin', I mean."

Before any of the fillies could respond, Rarity came rushing in. "Darlings, what's going on?" Her head swiveled to the fight, and she gasped.

Oprah managed to stop Mandy by holding a hand against her face, using her strength to hold her back. "Mandy, why are you doing this?" she yelled, any semblance of her overly-sweet personality gone as she felt bruises begin to form.

"You know why! Just look in your diary!"

"My diary?"

"You wrote some really hurtful things." Olive explained. "Like how you wanted the fillies to be your second-in-commands instead of Mandy, how you called her lazy...you even said that all the agents of your precinct are old! Just like you called me and Otto old!"

"What?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Ms. O, we are certainly not old!"

"Now hold on, what's all the fuss in here?" Applejack asked, making her way into the room next.

"I'm here!" Rainbow followed a second later, her eyes widening when she took in the scene. "Whoa, what's going on?"

Olive turned to her. "Take a look at Oprah's journal entry."

Rainbow snatched the book from Olive's hands and had herself a read. Slowly, as she read its contents, she lowered herself down to the ground and held it up for Rarity and Applejack to read, too. Even the Crusaders wanted in on the action, trying to lean over their sisters' bodies to read the entry.

"What?!" was all the blue Pegasus could exclaim when she was finished.

"Sugarcube, how could ya say such hurtful things about us?! Not only about all of us, but about Mandy!" Applejack's nostrils flared. "I thought ya knew better!"

"I'm gonna make you PAAAAAAAY!!" Mandy screamed, finally employing her magic to grab Oprah and send her careening towards the Bedroom wall. Once her body made contact with it, bands of magic wrapped around her wrists and legs, securing her in place. However much she struggled, and however much strength she put into it, she couldn't break free.

Mandy twirled her hammer in her hand and pointed it at her. "Explain yourself, or the skull goes boom."

"L-look, I-I'm sorry!" Oprah stammered. "It's true. I did write all of those things. But don't deny that it isn't true! You do sleep a lot, and you do eat a lot. But...maaaaaybe you aren't lazy all the time."

"All the time?!"

Oprah sighed. "All I wanted was for you to help me train the fillies, Mandy. You can be a great role model for them. Plus, you grew up with Twilight and the others. They cared for you. You can bring such joy to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, but...not if you sleep for most of the day."

Mandy grit her teeth, not wanting to delve into the topic of her sleep right now. It was rather complicated, given that there was a lot left unexplored about how she slept, and she had thought Oprah knew that. Apparently not. She's received how many lessons on it, and she still hasn't learned? Is her brain a sponge or did all the effects of that juice she drinks finally go to her brain?

She shook her head vigorously, setting that issue aside. "Okay, fine, but what about calling all of us old? Even if we're under the age of twelve, we're still children. Excluding the mares!" she snapped, upon seeing Oprah open her mouth to interject. "Children under twelve are the defining base of Odd Squad. What, do you want all of us to be young as Orson so we can still have that 'whimsical childlike innocence' you so desire?" She huffed. "From what I understand, the fillies are just as old as Olympia and Otis. So what're you gonna do with 'em, ignore 'em?"

Oprah blinked. "W-well, no, but-"

"And one more thing we should address." Mandy slammed her hammer down onto the ground, producing a loud banging sound that frightened the Crusaders and sent all of them cowering behind their sisters. "You trying to get rid of me as your second-in-command. Do you know how long I've served under you, Oprah? Do you know how deep my loyalty runs for you?"

Rainbow blinked. Oprah's eyes shimmered, although with what emotion, no one could say.

"I'll always be loyal to Odd Squad. And I've always been loyal to you ever since I became an agent." Mandy turned. "But you're losing me."

"Mandy..."

"If you don't want me as your second-in-command, then maybe I should take the firing." She narrowed her eyes and looked at Oprah. "At face value."

"Mandy, don't! We need you." Oprah tried to fight off tears. "I need you."

"Clearly you don't."

"But I do!" Oprah sighed, her voice shaky in a way that Olive had only rarely seen when she was an agent. "Look. What I wrote in my journal, and how I've been acting...I've made a grave mistake. I just got so swept up in how adorable the fillies are and having three new agents that I got carried away. And...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have written those things about you, or about anyone else." She shut her eyes. "Olive was right. I should have had more empathy for you, especially since you've done the same thing to me before...especially when you got Fluffy." A small smile flickered on her face for only a moment before it dropped like a clear hot potato. "I should have taken your feelings into consideration, and I didn't."

Mandy listened to each and every single word her boss said. She wanted to take it all into consideration and respond, but a realization ticking in Olive's brain interrupted that first and foremost.

"Oprah, riddle me this. However rhetorical it sounds." she said, her voice soft. "If you don't want to hire more ponies into your precinct, then why did you take on Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle so willingly?"

Oprah blinked. Mandy slowly turned towards her adoptive mother, like she had just been told she had a deadly incurable disease, but didn't say anything, instead allowing her boss to answer.

"Aside from the fact that they were children, and that they were fresh blood...I felt I had an obligation. To Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack." Oprah made eye contact with them. "I didn't want them to get upset with me for not hiring any of their sisters. So I took them all on when they asked."

Now that that question was answered, Mandy could go ahead with hers. "You...don't want more ponies in Headquarters? Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Oprah turned her head away.

Mandy looked at Olive. "Sorry. I'm not telling you either." was all she said, giving an apologetic shrug.

The hybrid sighed. If she doesn't wanna talk about it, then I guess I can't force her...but man, is it gonna be itching at my brain until it gets answered!

"I-if it's any consolation, Mandy..." Sweetie Belle cautiously stepped forward, wrapping her front legs around one of her sister's front legs, now, instead of her back leg. "I think you're pretty cool. And...I wanna get to know you more."

"Same here!" Scootaloo stepped forward confidently.

"Our sisters have told us a lot about you, and we'd love it if you could train us!" Apple Bloom smiled, stepping forward to stand beside her friends.

Mandy's flames died out. She wasn't quite sure why -- she still felt a little angry and hurt -- but she supposed the Crusaders' words had touched her more than she knew. "That's kind of you to offer. For your sakes...I'll take you up on that. However." Her gaze moved back to Oprah. "I'm not gonna tiptoe around this issue. Your boss really did make a grave mistake. A whole slew of 'em."

Oprah grit her teeth.

"So let this be a lesson for you three." Mandy said, without making eye contact with the Crusaders. "One, don't push me over the edge. And two, if either one of you ever gets promoted and becomes an Odd Squad Director, never, and I mean never, backstab your own agents. Got it?"

The fillies all gave nods and murmurs of agreement.

"Good. Now, Oprah..." Mandy gave a exhale. "I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to skip out on tonight's training. If you really want me to help you train them that badly, then we're going to have to spend some time apart. Mainly for my sake, so I can get some sleep." Fatigue slowly, ever so slowly, began to creep up on her now, and she had to bite back a yawn.

"Y-you're not resigning?"

Mandy didn't answer that. Instead, she levitated the diary over to her, flipped to the page she had read, and tore it out before throwing the book onto the floor. "Tear out every last page of your trash-talking diary, and stop talking smack about your agents, unless you want an empty precinct." she said, her voice icy in a way that sent a chill running down Oprah's spine. "I'll be training the fillies tomorrow, all by myself."

The magic bands around the Director's wrists and legs went away, and she landed on the floor, stumbling about a little bit but managing to find her footing.

A yawn managed to escape Mandy, and her eyes widened briefly before she continued. "Now, if you'll pardon me, I'd like to sleep. And don't even think about waking me up." She narrowed her eyes as she made eye contact with Oprah. "Twilight just taught me how to make stronger force fields. One touch of mine will send ten thousand volts running through every single inch of your body. Ten thousand volts that not even you can handle."

Oprah could only watch as Mandy moved towards her bed and began fluffing her pillow. "Mandy..."

"Oprah, leave her be." Olive urged. "It's clear that she's hurt. She doesn't want to talk to you right now."

However much she wanted to butt heads with Olive over what was plainly and simply the truth, she refrained. Her head swiveled towards the fillies as she rubbed her wrist. "Agent Rarity, Agent Applejack, Agent Rainbow Dash, teach your sisters everything you know about Odd Squad. That'll cover their training tonight."

"Oh, and one other thing, Oprah." Mandy turned. "The Big O wishes to see you at the Big Office tomorrow for a mandatory anti-oddness proficiency evaluation, to see if you're eligible to train the fillies and have them become agents that way." I'll probably have to take one too, now that I think about it... she thought.

"I know. I got your note." Oprah nodded. "Thank you for letting me know. It'll be my first stop in the morning." She started to walk out the door, and then paused. "Good night, Mandy." And then she left.

Rarity was the first one to break the silence. "I simply cannot believe our own boss would say such horrid things!"

"Now, now, Rarity. She realized what she did and apologized. And it certainly seems like she feels just awful about it." Applejack reassured, rubbing her partner's back.

"That doesn't make what she said any better!" Rainbow scoffed. "How could any boss do that to their own employees? I mean, calling us 'old' just because we don't have any childlike innocence? That's so..." She grit her teeth, struggling to find the right word, but nothing came out.

"And just look at how she treated Mandy!" Rarity said. "Wanting to promote Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as her second-in-commands instead. Doesn't she realize that Mandy has done a fine job serving the precinct by her side?"

"All right, y'all, calm down now. Believe you me, I'm mighty upset about what Ms. O said, too. But let's give her a chance to sleep on it. She already apologized."

"But Applejack, darling-"

"Mandy took the words right outta our mouths, Rarity." Applejack nodded. "There's nothin' more that needs t' be said. C'mon."

She urged Apple Bloom out the Bedroom door, following her younger sister's lead.

"See ya tomorrow, Mandy." Apple Bloom waved before she left with Applejack.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanged worried glances, but figured that their friend's advice held merit, and decided to leave the Bedroom with their own sisters in tow.

"Have a good night, everyone!" Sweetie Belle said, leaving with Rarity by her side.

"See ya." Scootaloo was the last to go with Rainbow Dash, climbing onto the mare's back and hitching a free ride home.

As Mandy teleported her nachos into a random trash can, Olive sighed. "This spiraled way out of control. Are you okay, Mandy?"

"I'm fine." Mandy brushed off some dust from her PJs, which had become dirty as a result of the scuffle between her and Oprah. "I just need some sleep."

"All right. Well, if you need anything, I'm just a call away, okay?" Olive began to leave. "Have a good night."

"You too."

As soon as the Bedroom door closed, a pent-up sigh finally came out. Mandy buried her face in her hands.

Immortality really is a blurse. On the one hand, as long as nothing kills us physically, then we're fine. We can never die of old age. But on the other hand...when you're millennia old like Oprah, you long to be a child again. And the Cutie Mark Crusaders were shining examples of who she was, who she wanted to be, and who she never could be, not ever again.

Her mind drifted to another topic as she snuggled under the sheets.

Am I really that expendable? To think she could just replace me in the snap of a finger...even if she says she needs me, she could always just toss me away and replaced with someone she deems more worthy.

How much does she really 'need' me, anyway?

She felt tears prick at her eyes. With her horn alight, she set up her new force field, just as Twilight had instructed her.

I guess...I can only hope she apologizes and makes up for her actions. Somehow. There's no use dwelling on silly-millie "what-ifs". I should get some sleep.

Her eyes closed, and she let the fatigue she had kept at bay for so long overtake her.





Mandy opened her eyes and yawned as a new day dawned upon her.

Her eyes flicked to the clock, which read 12:19. Only nineteen minutes late, which wasn't too bad -- and she was still in her own bed, too.

She lit up her horn and lowered the shield, leaving her bed free to access again without the fear of electrocution. A sigh left her body, and she levitated her Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise drink over to her, sipping it.

A knock at the door interrupted her.

"Come in."

The door opened, and to her surprise, it was none other than Oprah. She poked her head in briefly, then decided to walk in when she figured the coast was clear. Mandy set her empty glass to the side, another yawn escaping her.

"Hi. Um, about last night..." Oprah began. "I tossed out my diary, just like you wanted me to. And I thought about what I did all last night." She sighed. "It was wrong of me to have such a lack of empathy for my own second-in-command. Not only that, but it was unprofessional as well."

Mandy tilted her head and listened further.

"I respect you, Mandy. You, and all that you do for this Squad. I never want to replace you, ever, and I don't have any intention of doing so, whether it's with the Crusaders or someone else. I just...wanted you to help me train them..." Oprah's voice began to crack. "...so they can become great agents, like their sisters. That's really all I wanted."

Mandy's eyes widened as she saw a tear roll down her boss's face, then another, and then another. "Are you...crying?"

"I'm sorry!" the Director cried out, burying her face in her hands. "For everything I did, for everything I wrote...I'm sorry for it all!"

Mandy blinked. She watched Oprah sob, and with each sob she did, the feeling of hurt slowly washed away.

"I-I know you must hate me still, for what I did." Oprah looked up. "And...I wouldn't blame you if you wouldn't be up for co-training with me at all. Not as a team...and not as friends."

Is she guilt-tripping me? What a lowball move. 

But then again, those are real tears...and it's not like her to guilt-trip with malicious intent.

The room fell silent for what seemed like hours. Mandy gripped the fabric of her pants as she thought.

Finally, she sighed. "Well, you do seem remorseful. And as long as you promise to have a little more respect for me and your agents..."

"Pinkie Promise!" Oprah went through the motions earnestly. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

"Then I suppose I can accept your apology."

Wordlessly, Oprah scooped her into a tight bear-hug.

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Mandy laughed. "Ya don't hafta hug me so hard!"

"Thank you." Oprah released her grip and gave a sniffle before wiping away her tears. "So what do you say? Once I get back from my anti-oddness proficiency evaluation, you want to get started on training the fillies?"

"Oh, I'm one step ahead of ya!" Mandy chirped, her mood instantly brightened. She hopped off of the bed. "I can go ahead and train 'em while you're doing that. And maybe I can come with you to your evaluation and take one of my own, too!"

"Good idea. You can catch up with their sisters on what they learned last night."

"Sounds good!"

The sound of a rumble put a brief damper on the mood -- a sound that Oprah and Mandy knew all too well. The former's gaze drifted to the latter's stomach as she laughed. "Just, uh...lemme have lunch first."

"You got it. See you in a bit."

Mandy eagerly waved Oprah off as she left the Bed Room. Giving a satisfied sigh, she moved towards the wardrobe closet and took out a fresh suit, feeling livelier and full of energy again, much better than before.





Before leaving for the Big Office, Oprah had taken the time to catch up with Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, as well as the Crusaders, gathering them in her office to apologize.

"Again, I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me when I met you three fillies for the first time." Oprah blinked. "But I see a lot of potential in you. You're gonna be good agents."

All the ponies exchanged smiles with each other.

"I'll be putting out a mass apology to everyone else, as well, in an announcement later on. It's the least I can do." Oprah took a sip of juice. "Now, I'd like you all to meet in the Gym Room. I'm off to the Big Office for my anti-oddness proficiency evaluation."

"What's that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"It's a test to see if I, as an Odd Squad Director, am eligible to train you so you can be promoted to the Investigation department when the time comes. Mandy will be taking the same test, as well." Oprah explained. "Don't worry, it shouldn't take long."

"Oh, yes. We haven't met the new Big O personally yet, have we..." Rarity mused.

"I'm sure you will. Any human -- and any pony -- is welcome at the Big Office now, after all." Oprah took a deep breath and moved towards her personal tube, where the wooden automatic doors opened to reveal it. "Agent Rarity, Agent Rainbow Dash, Agent Applejack, if you'd like to train the Cutie Mark Crusaders further while you're waiting, please feel free."

The three mares nodded.

"Squishinating!" Oprah called, and with a crump, a boing, and a whoosh, she was off towards her destination.

"Looks like everythin' is just fine n' dandy again." Applejack said.

"This place has a Gym Room?!" Rainbow's eyes shimmered. "Oh man, if they ever get an Open Sky Room...now there's something I could visit the new Big O for!"

"Rainbow Dash, darling. Surely you know the rooms here change every so often, with some exceptions, of course. I say, if you want an Open Sky Room, then you must make an Open Sky Room!"

"There you go again with your crazy wisdom." Sweetie Belle chuckled.

The six ponies walked away, the fillies chatting excitedly about their training while their sisters chatted away about what kind of training they were going to receive next.





"Now, Agent 57. State your name."

"Mandy! Agent Mandy!"

"Good." The assistant wrote her name down on the clipboard he held. "And you, Agent 58?"

"Oprah."

"Good." The assistant then wrote Oprah's name down. "You will begin the test by stating Odd Squad's operations statement."

"We are an organization run by kids that investigates anything strange, weird, and especially odd!" Mandy chirped in unison with Oprah.

"Very good." The assistant let out a soft hum as he wrote the results down. "It says here that you both wish to go through Odd Squad's Director-to-AIT Training, is that correct?"

"Yes. Mandy and I wish to be co-trainers for the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?"

Mandy and Oprah nodded.

"All right. Now." The assistant set the clipboard down on the table next to him. "I will be bringing a host of oddities into the room, one by one. Your job is to defeat them using the gadgets you have on you, as well as teamwork. You cannot defeat them by physically attacking them, nor can you defeat them by..." He glanced at Mandy and struggled to find a good word. "Erm, your...otherworldly magic."

"Alicorn magic. It's alicorn magic." Mandy said.

"Right, yes. Um..." He turned to the other assistant standing in the room. "Oleisa, if you would be so inclined as to bring the first thing in?"

"Yes, right away."

A minute later, Oleisa returned with a large white albino mouse. Oprah and Mandy were both quick to notice that this was a Ginormouse, but slightly shrunken so it could reasonably accommodate the size of the testing room.

Oprah gave a knowing smirk.

Mandy's pupils enlarged to the size of saucers, and she gave an unnerving, face-splitting grin.

"Let's do this!"





"All right. Now, let's move on to gadget usage." Rainbow took charge, guiding the Crusaders in the boxing ring in a way that certainly wasn't unlike that of Spitfire. "Apple Bloom, you're an Earth pony. That means using gadgets might be a bit harder for you, compared to a Pegasus or a unicorn. Try using this Sweater-inator."

Apple Bloom took the gadget in her hooves as she was offered it. She looked it over, finding that it was shaped funny -- certainly not for her hooves. Or any hooves, really. She nearly dropped it as she tried to position it in a way that felt comfortable to her.

"Press that tiny red button on the top."

Hesitantly, the filly did as she was told. A bright blue beam of light shot out of the gadget's front, producing a gray human-adult-sized sweater.

"There ya go!" Rainbow cheered. "That might be hard to do in battle, though..."

Applejack, sitting off to the side with Rarity, bit her tongue in an attempt to avoid snarking a witty retort at her friend. Both of them were taking turns teaching the Crusaders about different gadgets, and now, it was Rainbow's turn once again.

"Run to that door and back, and then fire the gadget as fast as you can!"

Apple Bloom wanted to protest, but seeing her sister gave her a little boost of confidence, and so, she did as she was told once again. Sliding through the elastic borders of the ring, she took a deep breath, hopped off, and rushed to the door as fast as her hooves would carry her. She struggled to hold the gadget firm in her hooves as she was running, but decided to try something unique, using her teeth to grip a small arch that stuck out from the gadget's top. It was much easier for her this way -- less risk of tripping and falling, and less risk of taking a swing and a miss at an enemy.

When she got to the door, she spun around as fast as she could, took the gadget in her hooves, and fired it into the air. Another sweater materialized, this time one in a color that Rarity could not even begin to describe, and it fell to the ground.

"Whoa...did you just use your mouth to carry the gadget?"

"Uh, w-well, I just-"

"That's so awesome!" Rainbow's eyes shimmered. "You got the hang of that quick, kid!"

Apple Bloom blushed as her gaze drifted to Rainbow, and then to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who were also watching her with admiration sparkling in their eyes.

Rainbow cleared her throat to direct attention to her. "When you all become agents, you may get a unicorn or Pegasus as your partner, someone that can help you use gadgets. In the meantime, you can consider that a test run. An awesome test run!" She flew over to Apple Bloom. "How'd you figure out to use your teeth like that?"

"When ya work on the farm long enough, ya pick up a few skills." Apple Bloom shrugged. "Thank Applejack for that one!"

"Eatin' apples require strong teeth!" the farmpony called. "I raised her right!"

Rarity giggled at her partner's enthusiasm.

The door opened, nearly sending Apple Bloom careening as she hastily moved out of the way.

"Hi, everyone."

"Hiya!"

"Oh! Mandy, Ms. O, darlings!" Rarity greeted. "How did the test go?"

"Oh, I passed, of course." Oprah gave a nonchalant shrug.

Mandy's eyes shimmered, tears pooling in them.

"Aw shucks. Ya didn't pass?"

The hybrid sniffled. "N-n-no...they said, they said I got too distracted...I failed one...I..." Her speech delved into unintelligible blubbering as she collapsed to the ground in a fit of sobbing.

"How could you not pass?!" Rainbow cried out. "You were raised in Odd Squad! You know every oddity in the book! Who do I have to yell at to make sure-"

"Now now, Dash. I'm sure the Big O had her reasons." Applejack said. "Mandy tried her best. That's what matters."

Oprah, instead of comforting Mandy, looked rather confused at her sudden outburst.

Even moreso when she went from sobbing to gut-busting laughter.

"Darling?"

"Oh, I got you all good!" Mandy rolled onto her back, her legs flailing back and forth as she gave out laugh after laugh.

All six ponies just stared at Oprah.

"She passed. With flying colors." she explained. "But I didn't know she had this trick up her sleeve."

"Come on, Mandy! Don't scare us like that!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

Mandy stopped laughing after a few minutes, wiping away the tears from her eyes. "Ahh...I'm really sorry. Guess I'm just in a funny mood today!"

"When are ya not?" Applejack muttered.

"Aaaaaanyway...whatcha been learnin'?"

"I was just teaching Apple Bloom how to use gadgets." Rainbow proudly explained. "She figured out to use her teeth instead of her hooves if she's in battle!"

"It's really not that special, Rainbow Dash..." Apple Bloom absentmindedly kicked the ground with her front hoof.

"Yeah it is!" Mandy spoke up before Oprah could. "I figured your hooves would make it hard to hold gadgets that are specifically designed for human hands. I'll hafta ask Oona to make some adjustments!"

"Changing the subject..." Oprah interjected. "I was planning on making you, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo partners."

The three fillies' eyes widened.

"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Oprah nodded. "From your sisters' accounts, it seems you three work very well together. Even your cutie marks are the same. And far be it from me to speak professionally on the topic of cutie marks, but I don't think that's something you see every day."

"You mean..."

"Yes. A three-way partnership is completely unprecedented for Odd Squad, but I couldn't just split two of you off and send the other one to be with another agent. Once you're promoted and officially partnered up, you'll be the first trio in Odd Squad history."

A moment of silence hung over the room.

Then, the room echoed.

It echoed with the sound of excited squeals and cheers as the fillies hugged each other and hopped up and down excitedly. Likewise, the three mares also gave excited cheers as they hugged and laughed.

Oprah let them get their excitement out before she continued. "But that isn't to say you don't have a long way to go. You'd better be ready..." She nudged Mandy. "Because we're both going to bring our A games. And we expect you to do the same."

"Darn straight!" Mandy chirped. "Just work together as a team and never give up, and you'll be fine!"

"Of course we will!" Scootaloo jumped up into the air, her tiny wings briefly providing her lift before she landed on the ground again. "You can count on us!"

"We'll be the best agents Odd Squad's ever seen!" Apple Bloom said.

"We won't let you down!" Sweetie grinned and began trotting in place, unable to contain her excitement and eagerness.

A few minutes later, Oprah urged the fillies to take a short break. They were now conversing amongst themselves, while Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack did the same. Oprah herself, along with Mandy, took a seat on the edge of the boxing ring.

"You know, they're well on their way to becoming good agents. And...I'm really glad that we're training them together." Oprah said, taking a sip of her juice.

An "aah" sound came out of Mandy as she finished chugging some water from her water bottle. "Yeah! We make a gooder than good team, you and I. Let's-"

She was cut off by the sensation of a body being wrapped around her. Sure enough, it was Oprah, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection in "A hug? Another one? Usually you save those for super-duper emotional occasions!" The hybrid sighed. "But all right, if that's what ya want..."

She hugged Oprah back. It was a rather touching moment...that is, it would have been if Mandy didn't feel like her body was slowly getting crushed in a meat grinder.

"Okay...maybe not so tight...need air...need air..." she squeaked, trying to wriggle out of the hug. Luckily, Oprah set her down the second she heard her agent's protests.

"Now, after this...why don't we go for a bite to eat? My treat."

"Oprah, you don't have to-"

"I insist." 

Mandy blinked, and then shrugged. "Well, okay. There is a diner that just opened that I wanna try..."

"It's a done deal."

The two girls shared a laugh before sighing and hopping off of the boxing ring, approaching the fillies.

"All right, let's get back to work!"

"Who wants to learn about agility?"

"I do, I do!"