//------------------------------//
// S1E13: Oh, Dream Weaver 
// Story: The Adventures of Peaches and Mandy 
// by marmalado 
//------------------------------//

Anyone who's worked in an office will tell you that paperwork is one of the most torturing and tedious things you can do during your shift.

Mandy was absolutely no exception.

She didn't mind paperwork. Really, it was all part of the job. That's what she was here for. And Oprah wouldn't really take a story about a huge squirrel being turned back to normal if she were told of it verbally. Odd Squad was an organization, and a lot of organization had paperwork in some form or another.

But there came a point where she just became so bored with it. Paperwork was more fun with a friend, but Pinkie Pie was back in Equestria working a shift at Sugarcube Corner, and no one was around for her to make idle chitchat with.

As she blankly stared at another O-135 form, one question stuck out to her.

Is there anything else Odd Squad should know about this case?:

Her gaze drifted to another section.

Odd Problem: Star Flight was unable to fly because her wings felt like lead. After talking over the issue with her, we came to the conclusion that she was not confident in her flight abilities and needed to believe in the power of flight in order to fly. She

Yeah, needless to say, Mandy couldn't finish that part. Professional author she was not, but she often liked the writing in her forms to be meticulous. She often held her writing in high standards as the second-in-command of the precinct. It was good to see everyone marvel over her use of the English language sometimes, to hear everyone remark on how someone who looked so dim-witted on the outside wield her best subject to her advantage.

It was that ego she lived on. That sweet, sweet ego nectar.

Her eyes became half-lidded, but it didn't stay that way for long, as something in the computer screen caught her eye. Half of a dark-skinned face, including a pair of eyes, peeked over the bottom and stared at her.

"Oh fun. Another virus." Mandy said, a sarcastic edge to her voice while she reached for her keyboard that was stashed under her computer. "Last one tried to eat me alive. Maybe this'll be the one that'll get Oprah to finally mass-install antivirus software..."

"They stole our plans."

Sure enough, Oprah lifted herself up until her upper body was the most prominent thing on the screen. Mandy's eyes widened. She tapped the screen once, and then twice. Nothing happened. "Since...when can you go inside computers like that?"

"Since forever."

Mandy probably would have asked how she could go inside of computers like that, but something else caught her attention instead. "Okay, I'll bite the bait and go with my next question. What plans?"

Instead of responding, Oprah ducked back down below the computer screen. Mandy waited with her breath held, seeing if she was going to come back up, but nothing happened.

The hybrid bit back a groan and continued working on her paperwork. A few seconds later, the sound of slurping caught her attention.

"Mm." She whirled around in her chair. "Are you going to elaborate?"

Oprah swallowed her sip. "The Thrimes. They stole plans for the Dream-Thief-inator."

"The Thrimes?" Mandy tilted her head. "You mean that villainous pantomime trio?"

"Yes. But they're not alone. They've brought the Sandman with them too."

"Okay, but he's the idiotic one, isn't he?" Mandy rolled her eyes. "All bark and no bite."

"He can create deadly sandstorms, Mandy." Oprah slowly said, punctuating each word. "He isn't just an expert in the realm of sleep."

"Hmm." Mandy tapped a finger to her chin. "So what does the Dream-Thief-inator do?"

"It steals others' dreams and replaces them with nightmares."

"So like the Dream Weaver's Bad Dream Machine."

"Will you stop interrupting me?!" Oprah snapped, before she sighed and continued. "The Dream-Thief-inator, at its 'ultimate' power level, can strip victims of their emotions and feelings. The Bad Dream Machine doesn't have that capability."

Mandy buried her face in her hands. "Oona, you just had to install a 'high' setting for the thing, didn't ya..." she muttered to herself. She shook her head as a realization came forth. "But how are they going to build it? I doubt they'll make it anything like what's outlined in Oona's plans."

"No, but we're talking about villains who managed to build a silence ray and got..." Oprah pinched her fingers close together. "...thisclose to shutting up the entire planet Earth."

"Ah, fair point."

"I'm calling a meeting first thing tomorrow. Just to tell everyone to be on their guard."

"Why not today?"

"There's no way they can get anything like the Dream-Thief-inator built in a day."

"The Thrimes had the silence ray up and ready in a day. Who's to say they won't have this gadget built in the same timeframe?"

"The silence ray is their own creation. Oona's gadget plans are a bit complicated to follow, so they're bound to run into some trouble."

Mandy felt conflicted. On the one hand, she doubted her boss's ruling and opinions on the matter and thought she was wrong, even with hardly any evidence to prove it. On the other hand, she wanted to place her trust in her judgment, as she had done so many times before for years on end now.

Still, if the villains did come after her with the Dream-Thief-inator, she could fight them off. She did it before, albeit individually. She could do it again, this time with them as a group.

"All right...if you say so." she responded, a hesitant tone to her voice. "I have to get back to work, so wouldja mind, uh..." 

Oprah looked at where her co-worker was gesturing. "Not even a goodbye?" She chuckled. "Fine, fine. I see you're busy. I'll leave you alone." 

She began walking away, and Mandy was free to go back to the utterly boring form she had to fill out.

"Oh, and Mandy?"

The hybrid looked up.

"Antivirus software will be installed next month."

"Oh, thank the odds."





Deep in the thralls of a dark lair, four villains gathered together around one gadget that looked nearly complete. All it needed was a few final touches, which the villainous trio clad in black and white were furiously working on.

"Duhhh, is it almost ready?" a large creature asked. He towered over the trio, though not by much, and his entire body was made of sand that looked almost wet in appearance. His eyes were crooked, as were his teeth. He looked to be the epitome of idiocy.

In response to the creature's query, the trio nodded and then got back to work.

"Ugh. This plan is doomed to fail."

"Who said dat?!"

Another figure stepped out of the shadows. The ring of thick arches she had around her waist, which were secured by a girdle striped with an array of colors, bobbed as she walked. One could mistake her as being an interstellar traveler just from the onesie she sported, which was dipped and covered in all sorts of astral designs and colors along with the arches. Half of the arches had silver rims while the other half had gold ones, and the swirl patterns embedded in them matched each color. The clothing she wore under the girdle overlapped, gold over silver, and were topped with respective beaded gold and silver epaulets as well. She looked to be half silver on the, half gold on the right -- and to complete the ensemble, her gloves matched each side, as well.

The trio and the creature took in the appearance of this rather otherworldly person, completely stunned by her fashion choices.

"I did, you lumbering idiot." the woman snapped, her eyes narrowing as she adjusted her poofy white cloud-like hair that illuminated with a soft off-white light. "You two aren't a perfect match for each other at all. When villains team up, they need to mesh together, work well together." She then muttered, "Believe me, I learned that the hard way..."

The trio squinted in unison as they sat on her words.

"You three, the Thrimes..." She pointed at the mime trio. "...can't speak. And you, the Sandman..." She pointed at the sandy creature. "...you're an idiot."

"Am I not an idiot?!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Congratulations. You just made a coherent sentence by acting like a fool. Have a cookie."

"Ooooh, thanks!"

"I'm being sarcastic!" The woman took a deep breath, and continued. "Anyways. Have you even decided what your next course of action will be? Odd Squad is a very populated place, as you know. Are you planning to attack any precinct or any agent in particular?"

The Thrimes moved over to a small desk, where they shuffled some papers around until they held up one in particular with the beaming, cute, and very recognizable face of an agent.

"Agent Mandy. Known for beating villains within inches of their lives." She smiled. "Such a doll. Her love of sleep is almost unrivaled. I would be lying if I didn't say I didn't enjoy victimizing her the most." Her gaze flicked to the group. "That's who you're planning to use this ray on?"

"Yeah!" the Sandman piped up. "She, uh, duh, she's done troubley-nothin'!"

"You three are underestimating her."

The Thrimes made shocked face expressions. The woman couldn't tell whether they were faking it as part of a mime act or not.

"Haven't any of you ever interacted with Mandy? Or at least gotten into combat with her?"

A lot of head-shakes.

"Well, uhh, duh, there was one time, uhh, and she threw water on me, and, and, uhhh, she made me a sandilycastile!"

"Uh-huh. I knew you four weren't good fits for each other." The woman sighed. "Well, since I'm such a nice villainess, why don't I give you some advice." She winced. "Ehh...and maybe some of my assistance."

"We don't want your stinky assistance!"

"Would you rather your plan fall to shambles, then? Or would you rather have it go off without a hitch? Your choice."

The Thrimes didn't need to be asked twice. They all mimed the act of begging on their knees.

"Well, uh, duhhh..."

"Ah! Just as I thought." The woman giggled. "Now, I happen to know a lot about Agent Mandy. If you want to use this ray on her...you'll need to do it during the nighttime."

The Thrimes, rising to their feet again, looked confused -- as did the Sandman, even through his derpy features.

"Mandy may be a fierce battler, but she also sleeps for a majority of the day. At night is when she lets her guard down, when she'll be in too tired of a state to fight back. And, see, while she is a heavy sleeper regardless of the time of day, nighttime is her weak spot."

"But, uh, ummm, dummm, what about those colorful mishmashows?" the Sandman asked, the Thrimes nodding in agreement as though asking the same question.

"Colorful marshmallows...?" the woman uttered, only just slightly surprised she could understand the creature's broken way of speaking. Still, that didn't mean she felt frustrated by it, as she quickly snapped, "They're called 'ponies', you nitwit."

The Sandman took a step back.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. "Anyway. Yes, they are friends of Mandy's, but I don't think they'll be much of a threat. In spite of my...horrible lack of experience in dealing with them..." A bite of the lip as a wave of regret washed over her. "...I can deal with them easily. Regardless of them, I believe I can help you execute this plan live."

Confused looks crossed the Thrimes' faces.

"I mean while we're actually setting the plan into motion."

That was better. They all nodded in realization.

"So, what time are you planning to use this ray?"

The Thrimes mimed out the number 10.

"10 PM. All right, that's perfect." The woman clapped her hands together. "Meet me at Precinct 13579 then, and we can discuss what to do going forward. Believe me, you'll all be in my debt when this plan goes well."

An evil chuckle rolled about in her throat. "Oh, Mandy...don't you worry your pretty little head. The Dream Weaver will help get you through the night."

The chuckle turned into a hearty reverberating laugh that sounded for what seemed like hours upon hours.

This time...this time, I'll get you. I'll leave you incapable of dealing with oddness for the rest of your life!





As nighttime fell on Precinct 13579, five villains crept their way through the hallways, making sure to stay out of the prying eyes of any rogue agents and out of the prying lens of the security cameras stashed into seemingly every corner of Headquarters. They pushed the now-completed Dream-Thief-inator ray, which was rather huge and needed to be transported on wheels instead of being held in hammerspace.

"Now, to my understanding, Mandy no longer sleeps with the ponies." the Dream Weaver explained. "She has her own room now, isolated from everyone else."

"And, uhhhh, is that good news?"

"What do you think, of course it's good news!" the Dream Weaver snapped, her voice at a whisper so she didn't wake anyone up. A heavy sigh left her. "But I digress. We only have one shot, so it must be executed well. Got it?"

Nods all across the board.

The group stopped in front of the multi-colored door, and slowly opened it. It made a light creaking noise, which didn't surprise them, and they decided to time the creaks with Mandy's snores just to play it safe. Once it was fully open, the ray was wheeled inside, its bulb pointed straight at her.

The Dream Weaver, ignoring the sounds of the ocean that resounded in the room as white noise, poked her head out of the room, looking around and using her sense of hearing to see if anyone was nearby. Still dead-silence. "Okay, there's no one around. Charge it up."

A few buttons were shifted upwards, and the ray began to charge up. It was rather noisy, moreso than the Dream Weaver expected, and she grit her teeth. "You had to make it noisy..." she uttered, before she noticed one of the Thrimes was giving her a thumbs-up.

In spite of the noise, Mandy hadn't stirred so much as an inch.

The Dream Weaver returned the thumbs-up and made her way to Mandy's bedside, a malicious smirk on her face.

"Nighty-night, you dreamless, thoughtless, emotionless abomination." she said. "See you on the other side."

The ray was fired, a bright blue illuminating the room as the beam was aimed right for Mandy's exposed ankles. From there, her whole body became bathed in a blue light.

The whole ordeal was over within 15 seconds. The ray was powered off, and Mandy's eyes slowly opened until they got stuck at the halfway point, the innocence held within them entirely gone and becoming glassy.

"Hurry, you villains, we need to make a break for it!" the Dream Weaver said, wheeling the ray out of the room as fast as she could while the Thrimes and the Sandman followed suit.

Once she felt the group was, more or less, at a safe distance, the Dream Weaver let out the sigh she had been holding in. "Yes! I told you this plan would go off without a hitch." she said, her voice returning to its normal volume.

The Thrimes mimed a sentence that would be near-unintelligible to anyone who didn't understand the art of pantomime.

"It doesn't matter if I did all the heavy lifting! What matters is that we got Mandy!" she said. "Now let's get out of here, before someone catches us!"

The sound of a foot hitting the ground that wasn't any of the villains' own caught their attention right quick. Slowly, ever so slowly, their heads turned towards the source -- and what an unexpected source it was.

"Going somewhere?"

"You!" came the angry shout, before the Dream Weaver stopped and blinked. "Wait, who are you?"

"Peaches. Catgirl from Vallea." Peaches crossed her arms. "Now just what do you think you're doing?"

A shrill cry from afar cut into the conversation. Everyone turned to look as Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Rarity rushed up, Twilight holding the emotionless Mandy in her magical grasp.

Whatever smug confidence Peaches had in regards to taking the villains down was evaporated within the snap of a finger. Her ears and tail both drooped. Her body slumped. Her eyes shrunk so they were more sclera than iris and pupil.

Mandy had about the blankest expression on her she had ever seen. She looked dead, even though she was very much alive. Any identity she had was sucked out of her, leaving her a complete and utter blank slate.

"No..." Peaches whispered, a soft cry of despair dancing on a soft puff of air. She stayed like that for a good long time.

Until she snapped.

With a mighty yowl, she plowed past the villains and threw herself at the ponies, nabbing Mandy from Twilight as the alicorn released her grip on the hybrid.

"Mandy. Mandy! Snap out of it! Please, snap out of it!!"

Mandy's eyes moved towards Peaches. "Why are you holding me? Who are you?" she asked, her voice completely monotonic in a way that would put Pinkie's sister Maud to shame.

"No!!" Peaches screamed, shaking her cousin. "Mandy, please!! This isn't you! Snap out of it!"

"I do not know you. Set me down."

"Darling." Rarity stepped forward and placed a hoof on Peaches' leg. "It's hopeless. Mandy has been robbed of all of her feelings and emotions. She's..." She shut her eyes tight. "...an empty shell!"

An empty shell.

Peaches looked into Mandy's eyes again. Those glassy, glazed eyes that once held life, innocence, and a sense of being. It was painful just to even make eye contact with her anymore. Still, Peaches hugged her close, her body shaking as she became on the verge of a breakdown.

Before sadness overtook her, however, rage hip-checked it and sent it flying out of the room. 

"You." Her icy voice cracked as she slowly stood up and turned to face the villain group, holding Mandy close to her body. She extended an index finger towards the ringleader. "Who are you, and what have you done to my cousin?"

The Dream Weaver didn't answer right away, instead scanning Peaches' face for any sign of familiarity. Yes...she remembered tormenting her once. She had been a rather unusual victim. But talk of her around the villain community got her curiosity piqued, and so, she had done her thing to the result of failure.

But she and Mandy were related? That answered a lot of her questions.

She giggled. "What a feisty kitty!" she taunted. "I can see how you two are related now. Both of you have the same spunk."

"ANSWER ME!!" came the angry roar, claws unsheathing as the Dream Weaver became one step away from being the victim of an attack.

"Ohh all right, fine. Since you really want to know." The villainess smirked. "My name is the Dream Weaver, and my area of expertise is the dream realm. I am one of the most respected villains in Toronto, just for my sheer abilities to twist dreams and nightmares to my liking."

The ponies' eyes all widened. All of their minds immediately flashed to Princess Luna, who also ruled over the dream realm, but was firmly on the side of good now instead of evil.

"So who are they?" Peaches pointed to the Thrimes. "And who's he?" And then to the Sandman.

"Duhh, I'm the Saaaaaandmaaaaaan." came the dopey response from the latter.

The Dream Weaver sighed and pointed to the trio. "And those are the Thrimes. We are ever so pleased to make your acquaintances, Peaches!"

"I don't want to engage in casual conversation with filth like you." the catgirl snapped. "Return my cousin to normal."

"Aww, now why would we do that?" the Dream Weaver taunted. "We villains have long since come to the realization that Mandy is the biggest threat, not just to our evil plans, but to our very existences! If she is left devoid of emotion, then she can't attack us! The cosmic forces can decide when it's our time to go, not her!" 

Peaches could only stare as the villainess delved into a bout of evil laughter.

"Peaches, be careful!" Twilight called. "The Dream Weaver is a very dangerous villainess. Don't do anything hasty!"

Twilight has a point. The Dream Weaver can shape dreams and nightmares as she wishes, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume she can put her enemies to sleep, as well. I don't have control over my sleep and dreams like Mandy does...which would put me at a serious disadvantage if I'm not careful. 

Peaches bit her lip as her mind ran through a list of options. It didn't take her long to settle on one she deemed fit.

Wait, what if I...yes...yes! I know exactly what I have to do!

She took a deep breath to expel her anger before she spoke. "Okay, then. Perhaps a deal would change your mind."

"A deal?"

"Yes." Peaches nodded. "See, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but us catgirls are a very rare find in Toronto. We don't come around here very often, I'm afraid. If you caught me, then you would have something that would truly leave a mark on the other villains' legacies." She stopped and backtracked. "No, no...your legacies."

All five villains looked very intrigued. If one looked close enough, they could see their eyes shimmering just a little.

"C'mon now. Surely I look tempting to you?"

"Well duhhhh I dunno..." The Sandman squinted. "You don't look appephepatizing."

The Dream Weaver slowly turned to face him with a disgusted look. "You're grossing me out, you disgusting twit." She turned back to Peaches. "All right. So what's the catch?"

"You turn my cousin back to normal. And in exchange, you can have a more powerful capture of only the highest rarity." She smirked. "How about it?"

The Dream Weaver took a moment to think, then looked at both the Thrimes and the Sandman. Both of them gave nods of approval, knowing that respect was one of the highest things a villain could achieve -- and they didn't have much, whether combined or individually.

"You've got yourself a deal, pretty kitty." the Dream Weaver said. "But I must warn you."

"Hm?"

"Where I'm taking you is purely hybrid-proof. If it just so happens that your pathetic little cousin tries to rescue you...she won't be leaving alive."

Oh, I love those odds. Peaches almost wanted to laugh, but settled for a smirk instead. Mandy will rescue me, no doubt about it. Besides, with her zany ways, she could probably cheat death singlehandedly.

"I understand."

"Heh. You've got gusto!" The Dream Weaver smirked in return, turning to the ray. "Thrimes, undo the effects on Mandy, if you please."

While the pantomime trio got to work on activating the reversal setting of the gadget, the Dream Weaver rubbed her hands together. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to put you to sleep..." she murmured, before she pulled her hands apart and sent a cloud floating Peaches' way. In one swift movement, it swept her off of her feet, allowing Mandy to make impact with the ground.

Slowly, Peaches' eyes closed. Mandy...please, save me. I know you will. Good luck.

Once the Dream Weaver was sure Peaches was asleep, the cloud floated back to her and remained by her side, the soft snoring from her tickling the villainess's eardrums and making her smile.

On the flip side of the coin, the Thrimes had the ray all set up, and with a few clicked switches, a bright red beam shot out of it and swirled around Mandy's entire body. Slowly, like liquid being poured into a glass, her eyes filled with the color blue, and the shine in them returned.

"Duhh, shouldn't we get outta here before Mandy wakes uuuup?" the Sandman asked, tilting his head.

The Dream Weaver rolled her eyes. "Lo and behold, it can think." she muttered to herself, before she turned to him and put on a great big smile. "Yes, yes, let's go. Chop chop!"

Quickly, the group made their hasty retreat, Peaches floating by the Dream Weaver's side before they completely disappeared from view.

"Mm..."

The ponies backed up a step or two, eyeing Mandy as she squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them.

"What happened...?"

"Oh, thank Celestia!" Rarity cried out.

"Mandy, Peaches was taken by a group of villains. She offered herself up willingly as a capture to save you."

"Y' don't say..." came the sleepy murmur as Mandy slowly rose to her feet.

"We gotta get her back!"

"Hold on, partner." Twilight said, using her magic to grab Rainbow by the very end of her tail before the Pegasus could go far. "We need to formulate a plan. The Dream Weaver said that wherever she's taking Peaches is hybrid-proof. That means it'll be full of traps."

As Mandy tried to fully come to, she furiously shook her body out like a dog trying to get rid of as much water as it could. "Wha-huh?! I-I'm awake, I'm not late!" she cried out, before a blink brought her back to her senses. "Why do I feel like I'm missing something important?"

"Your cousin was taken, Mandy."

That woke her up. "Taken?!" she said, whirling on Rarity. "By who?!"

"The Dream Weaver, along with the Thrimes and the Sandman." the unicorn explained. "If I had to make a guess, they tried to attack you while you were sleeping. Peaches made them take her instead of you as a sacrifice."

"WHAT?!" came the scream, her eyes widening. "T-that's impossible! How do they...I-I mean, they can't...wha?!"

"There's no time to worry!" Rainbow said, still fighting against Twilight's magic but failing. "We gotta save Peaches!"

"The Dream Weaver said that wherever she's taking Peaches is hybrid-proof." Twilight added.

Mandy thought for a moment. "If I know the Dream Weaver well -- and I'm confident I do -- she's probably taking Peaches to her lair."

"And where's that?"

Mandy did her usual giggle-and-snort laugh in response to Twilight's question, waving a dismissive hand. "Her basement, silly! Where else?"

Everypony exchanged confused looks.

"Wait!" Rarity perked up in realization. "What about the rest of the girls?"

Twilight sighed. Of course -- leave it to Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack to be in Equestria for the night and not in Odd Squad. Terrible timing, if one asked her, but it couldn't be helped. "We don't have time to get them. This is something that we'll have to do on our own!"

"Then let's go!"

Mandy led the way down the hall, Rarity, Twilight, and the now-released Rainbow Dash quickly following suit.





By the time Peaches arrived at the Dream Weaver's lair, she was awake, much to the villainess's chagrin. She had gotten a personal tour of her rather luxurious two-bedroom apartment, which planted a ton of questions into her head she was forced to put aside for now.

Eventually, she was taken downstairs into a dingy, dark, low-hanging room with a washer and dryer set up on the right, a large wood table with a chair on the back wall, and insulation everywhere. 

Eugh...basements in Vallea definitely don't look like that. She keeps her house clean, except for her basement, apparently. Peaches wrinkled her nose. But on the plus side, maybe there are some mice in here I can eat if they decide to starve me.

"Have a seat." the Dream Weaver said, dragging the table out a little ways while the Sandman and the Thrimes carried the Dream-Thief-inator down the stairs. Peaches did as she was told, taking a seat in the chair and wincing at how rough it felt. She might as well have been sitting on a slab of rock.

The Dream Weaver waved at the cloud to make it dissipate, then took a pencil and some paper out from her hammerspace spine, laying it on the table before she adjusted the lamp that was above the table so its snake-like extension kicked in and the light shone on the paper.

"I believe you come from Vallea, correct?"

Peaches stared at her. She wasn't expecting a question that had absolutely no relation to "write this thing" or "draw that thing". She blinked a couple times, becoming distracted by the villainess's white hair that was now lit up, like it was a glow-in-the-dark hairstyle. "Um, I...y-yes. I do. H-how do you know, exactly?"

"Oh, we're all well-acquainted with Toronto and a few of its citizens. You, however, seem to be a new face." The Dream Weaver leaned in closer, just as the Sandman and the Thrimes approached the duo. "We're quite interested in you. And your cousin is quite the blabbermouth in battle."

An annoyed "tch" forced its way out of Peaches. Of course. Mandy enjoys monologuing. No doubt she'd mention me at some point.

She stared at the paper in front of her. "Um, so...what's the paper and pen for?"

"Oh, nothing..." The Dream Weaver pressed her thumbs together. "I just need you to write down everything you know about Vallea."

Everything?! Peaches stiffened. Oh no...they're gonna wreak havoc in my hometown, aren't they? And who knows if King Ashero is even prepared to deal with oddness like that!

But then again...I could always lie. Isn't it common knowledge that villains aren't necessarily the smartest people? Because if so, then I could easily fool all of them.

She closed her eyes for just a moment.

I don't want to hurt Vallea. Mandy can take care of King Ashero, I'm sure. But if these villains get involved, they'll hurt more than just the King.

A sigh danced on her lips before she picked up the pen and silently got to writing.

The Dream Weaver smirked, as did the Thrimes and the Sandman.

"Good girl."





It was rather easy to find the Dream Weaver's apartment. After all, it was the only one that looked like something straight out of a dream, with its blinding-white...well, everything.

Plus the tag inside one of the mailbox slots in the front yard that was marked with DREAM WEAVER. That too.

Using her telekinesis, Mandy opened the front door, slowly and carefully. Her eyes scanned the living room for booby traps, her body relaxing slightly when she couldn't see any.

"Okay. Try and keep a low profile." she said, her voice low as she made her way inside. The mares followed suit, keeping an eye out for any surprises.

Sure enough, within just a few steps, two puffs of smoke appeared. One materialized a large structure with bright pink, dull pink, and blue-and-purple bowl-shaped glowing fixtures on its base, as well as six jagged lightning-bolt-shaped pieces that surrounded a glowing purple orb. The other obscured the rescue team, causing them to give startled cries and stumble about as they were temporarily blinded.

Mandy coughed, her eyes watering and looking rather bloodshot as she looked around. "Rarity? Rainbow Dash? Twilight?" she called. "Where are you? I can't see you!"

Her search was interrupted by a weird sensation in her head, like something had entered it, and she shook it off before she continued. She could hear coughs, cries of fear and worry, and her name being called, but she couldn't see anyone.

Her eyes began to close involuntarily.

"What'zz...happening...Raiiiiiii..."

Sleep claimed her quickly, and she was reduced to a snoring mess within the span of a minute. 

Unbeknownst to her, the ponies had also fallen asleep, and they were sprawled out on the living room floor, snoring away and completely incapacitated.

"Ah." The Dream Weaver smiled. "I believe our guests have arrived."

Peaches looked up. "Guests?"

"Mm, yes. Agent Rarity, Agent Rainbow Dash, Agent Twilight Sparkle...and of course, who else but Agent Mandy."

She came for me.

But something's wrong.

"What did you do?" she asked, struggling to keep an innocent tone to her voice to mask her anger.

"Just laid them down to rest for a while, that's all." the Dream Weaver said. "For Mandy in particular, however...that little ringleader will be receiving a special surprise from yours truly. Thrimes? Sandman?"

All four villains looked at her.

"Please keep an eye on Peaches for me. I have some matters to attend to."

She became surrounded by a bright pink glow, and then, just as quickly, she was gone in a flash.

Peaches got back to writing without another word, letting her thoughts do the talking for her.

Mandy got put to sleep, didn't she? Along with the ponies. This villain is the biggest threat to her, without a doubt.

But somehow...I'm confident she'll pull through. She has to pull through.

For my sake.





When Mandy awoke, she felt a warm sensation overtake her body. It felt welcoming, and so she stood up, her head beginning to ache.

"Rainbow? Twilight?" she called out. "Rarity?" came the final desperate squeak, her eyes darting around for any sign of her co-workers within the purple-hued setting.

"My dear sweet Felicity."

The voice was smooth. Not in the same way Rarity's was, mind -- this smoothness sounded like something that came from an adult woman, not a mare.

Mandy's eyes fell on a silhouette of such a woman. As thin as a twig, clad in a dress with long hair. Her figure was obscured by fog, the same way the view of the child she was holding was obscured.

"You will grow up to be such a happy and healthy child." the silhouette murmured in between the baby's coos. "And with my spirit guardian by my side, we will be safe and protected. Don't worry about a thing."

She set the baby down onto the ground. "Now, I must leave. I cannot be late for the dinner party." She gave a soft huff. "I'll be back soon."

With the sound of clicking heels echoing through the space, she walked away, her silhouette gradually fading until it was no more. Only the baby remained now, giving inquisitive coos while reaching its small hands out in a futile attempt to call for its mother.

Mandy watched with intrigue. She wasn't sure who "Felicity" was -- it certainly wasn't her name, and she didn't know anyone with that name, either. Still, something in her told her to pick the child up, and so she did, carefully moving through the fog while also keeping her ears open for any other sounds.

Like the entryway of a door, she broke through the haze. Her eyes fell on the baby. It was a rather healthy-looking and slightly chubby baby, with a head of brunette hair that looked like hers. 

But it wasn't until she picked it up and cradled it in her arms that a wave of familiarity slammed into her.

The baby gave happy coos, grabbing at Mandy's nose and moving it around. Mandy, however, was rendered in a state of shock.

Why does this feel so familiar to me? This baby looks familiar...and that woman...

Her voice sounds familiar.

Who is she?

Her being lost in her own thoughts left her immune to the sound of heels clicking as they got closer and closer.

"Might I ask what you're doing with my child?"

Mandy's eyes widened. She whirled around, and found the same woman standing behind her. With her strawberry-blonde hair, her sparkling black dress, and black heels, she looked every bit like a model who had stepped out of a fashion magazine.

A rather mean model, if the angry expression on her face was any indication.

"Oh! I-I'm so sorry, b-but you left her here a-and I thought..." Mandy stammered, sweat beginning to drip down her face.

The woman's expression softened and became warm. "Felicity." she murmured. "How you've grown."

Mandy took a step back, her eyes remaining in their widened state as her gaze moved from the baby to the woman and back again.

Is...am I holding...nonono, this can't be me...

The baby continued to give elated coos towards Mandy, gurgling and giggling while making mad grabs for her suit.

It took a while before Mandy was able to give at least some semblance of a coherent response. "I, uh..." She cleared her throat. "M-my apologies, but my name's not Felicity. I'm Mandy."

"Oh...you changed your name." The woman once again switched moods on a dime, becoming downcast. "But I thought you enjoyed the name Felicity?"

"I- wh- my name's not Felicity!" Mandy reiterated. "W-who are you? Why do you have a baby that looks like me?!"

The woman stooped to Mandy's height and looked her dead in the eyes. Her eyes held a sort of maternal warmth to them that flew completely over Mandy's head.

Especially when she said her next words.

"I'm your mother."

Oh, did Mandy very nearly drop the baby in her hands.

Her heartbeat quickened. Her brain began the process of slowly melting into a pile of mush, thoughts conversing all on their own while she stared at the woman for what felt like hours.

M-my mother?

Don't be ridiculous, Olive's your mother! 

Adoptive mother, thank you very much.

So this woman's my...real...

She's my real mother. The one who brought me into this world.

This can't be. This is a dream. How can she be my real mother?

Most Odd Squad agents are humans. Humans are brought into the world one way or another.

She slumped to her knees, her shock leaving her paralyzed just enough for her to not notice the woman and the baby disappearing in translucent pixelated flecks. In spite of her eyes being wide open, she also didn't see the familiar form of the Dream Weaver materializing in the woman's place.

"Won't this be some juicy gossip to tell everyone in the Villain League." The villainess chuckled. "I honestly thought the whole thing with your birth mother wouldn't be such a big deal. I suppose I was wrong."

Mandy was still in a state of shock, unable to form any sort of response. She looked like she was in a state of suspended animation.

The Dream Weaver sighed. "I already know what you're going to say before you're even saying it. 'This is all your doing, isn't it?' Do I have that right?" She smirked. "You see, I can pull dreams from memories buried deep under the sea of people's minds, as well as those that are floating on the surface of the water. As a special gift to you, I decided to go deep. Really deep. Twilight-zone deep." A chuckle slipped past her lips. "And it looks like I hit the jackpot!"

Ever still, but listening now, Mandy's ears swiveled towards her opponent.

And she took notice. "Mm, glad I don't have to repeat myself." Her lungs filled with air, and then she gave a satisfied sigh. "Now, with you and the rest of your rescue team out of commission, I can continue extracting every piece of info about Vallea as I can get from your feline friend."

Mandy blinked once, and then twice. The shock slowly began to wear off as the taunts from the Dream Weaver sunk into her brain. What festered in shock's place was anger and confusion.

"You inconceivable, low-lying, scum-of-the-earth thing."

The Dream Weaver merely tilted her head, not fazed by this insult in the slightest.

Mandy slowly got to her feet. "You dug into my memories, memories I didn't even know I had, to expose who my real mother is?" she asked. "Why?"

"If I have to be honest, it was never my intention to dig up that specific memory." The Dream Weaver shrugged. "I just got lucky."

"Lucky?" Mandy spat. "You have the nerve to call this vile act 'luck'?"

"What are you getting so wound up for? I haven't even turned this dream bad yet." The Dream Weaver rolled her eyes. "Honestly, save your anger for when I actually do, hm? Which will be...right now."

In a bright pink flash of light, the structure from earlier reappeared. The Dream Weaver made her way over to it, grabbed a pull cord that Mandy couldn't see before, and gave it a single yank, causing the bowl-shaped structures and the orb on top to start glowing intensely.

Within seconds, the setting changed. What was once a purple void filled with fog was now the bullpen of Mandy's very own workplace. In a bright flash of pink light, agents from all kinds of different departments materialized.

This is going to go bad.

Very, very bad.

She barely registered the Dream Weaver's evil laugh, instead remaining vigilant and lighting up her horn in preparation for battle.

Suddenly, she felt a hugging sensation on her tail, like someone was squeezing it.

And the next thing she knew, she was air-lifted and was face-to-face with a snarling Olive, along with Otto, Peaches, and the others.

Her horn's magic died down, her eyes being reduced to pinpricks as she braced for the worst.

"You are in so much trouble." The words came pouring out, laced with venom. Olive narrowed her eyes as she continued. "First of all, take off those accessories. What, are you going to the Toronto Cosplay Convention? Try to look civilized, for odd's sake."

Using the hand that wasn't securing Mandy's tail, she effortlessly tore off Mandy's horn and wings as though they were apples from a tree. The pain shot through the hybrid, and she gave a scream, beginning to thrash about. She only barely registered a couple small streams of blood leaking from the hole that remained in her forehead.

"Eugh, Olive, don't make us look at that!" Pinkie said. "Cover it up or something!"

A sigh, and then a pulling of a roll of duct tape from a hammerspace spine. "Fine. Rarity, tear off two pieces of this tape and arrange them into an X shape, would you please?"

Wordlessly, the unicorn mare did as she was told. The sound that was produced as a result of the tape coming apart from the roll was a horrific screeching sound that only made Mandy start screaming louder, using her hands to cover up her two human ears and letting the flexibility of her pony ears do the rest.

"Stop." Olive held up a hand, causing Rarity's levitation to cease movement. "You can't put it on the thing when it's thrashing about like that."

"Give it a couple whacks on the floor, partner!" Otto suggested.

Murmurs of agreement followed suit.

A malicious grin split the girl's face as Mandy felt her body being swung up into the air, and then felt it brutally collide with the floor.

Painfully.

Several times over.

By the tenth go-around, the hybrid was shaking and whimpering, the air knocked out of her lungs. She felt her body being picked up again, but only barely reacted. The Dream Weaver, on the other hand, watched with intrigue, knowing that she and her machine were invisible to everyone but Mandy herself.

"Aw, come on!" Oprah whined. "You stained the floor!"

"Sorry, sorry. I'll clean it up when I'm done. Rarity?"

The mare stepped forward, levitating the tape shape and securing it to Mandy's forehead. She gave a satisfied sigh. "And finished. That shouldn't be too much trouble anymore."

"Good. Now can you clean the mess on the floor?" Oprah snapped. "I don't need my agents walking in here and thinking a murder was committed."

"Would've been a much better idea, if'n ya ask me." Applejack muttered under her breath.

Mandy tried to speak, but no words came out. Her lungs felt deprived of air.

"Go away and become a waste of space in the Volcano Room, why don't you." Olive said.

A word eked out. "Momma..."

"Don't call me that."

Mandy's eyes widened. Her gaze stared at Olive's expression, steely and emotionless.

"Not after what shame you've brought on us, little miss horrid abominable freak of nature."

With a hefty swing of the Director's arm, Mandy's body went careening through the air, then made impact with the floor and rolled before coming to a dead stop. She could barely make out the sound of retreating footsteps and retreating hoofsteps.

The Dream Weaver laughed. "Oh, wow. That was quite something, wasn't it?" She gave a satisfied sigh. "Seeing your friends, your family, just beat you up like that. Not even I got that treatment in my school days!"

Mandy slowly got up, hacking and coughing as she tried to register what, exactly, had happened within the past few minutes.

"And lest I forget the funny thing..." The Dream Weaver raised an eyebrow. "My Bad Dream Machine was on one of its lowest settings."

Mandy's body suddenly became aware that essential limbs were missing. Her back rippled, but no wings opened. Her fingers tenderly touched her forehead, but felt nothing that would indicate there was a horn, just something smooth covering something gaping.

"That's riiii-iiiight." the villainess cooed in singsong. "You caused your own wings and your own horn to disappear. Just. Like. That. And there's absolutely no hope of getting them back, because your supposed 'tormentors' are long gone by now!"

Just as she let loose another heinous laugh, Mandy looked in the direction Olive and the others had gone. Her eyes began to water involuntarily.

How could Momma just...do that?

How could anyone just do that?!

First I meet my real mother, and then everyone decides to take away my wings and horn and assault me for no reason!

And all of it...is her fault.

The Dream Weaver tilted her head. "Oh? Is this it? Are you finally falling into despair?" she tittered with excitement. Her smile turned into a beaming grin. "Oh, it's about time!"

Mandy watched as her tears dripped onto the floor. She didn't bother to look up when she heard the sound of footsteps.

"Would you stop crying already? You're just asking for it." came the familiar voice. "Honestly, I can't believe I raised you to be so pathetic. Do you know how many times I've ever cried in my life?" She leaned closer. "Zero. Zilch. Nada." She topped it off with a raspberry.

Slowly, Mandy's rage marched up to her heart and began forcefully pushing the sadness aside.

"Now, if you want to be a good girl, you'll shut up, and stay shut up." She blinked. "Oh yeah, and don't bother asking about your cosplay accessories. Twilight disintegrated them."

Mandy's body began to quiver, now. Olive began to mop the blood up from the floor.

"Not that you would understand, but have I ever told you how you're just an unfortunate and unwelcome accide-"

With a punch, Olive was unceremoniously cut off. The force behind the attack was so strong that it sent the girl onto her side, the mop clattering to the ground in the process. She blinked a couple times, trying to process what just happened.

I'm not going to even give her room to breathe.

A mighty roar echoed through the bullpen as Mandy swung her fist again and let it collide directly with Olive's cheek. The blunt force caused a couple teeth to fly out along with some blood.

"Well that's not a nice way to treat your mother!"

The Dream Weaver's taunt was lost on Mandy. Something snapped inside of her with that punch, and from there, the attacks got more and more brutal.

She punched, she kicked, she bit, and she bashed with her hammer. She screamed, she cried, she roared, and she became engulfed in flames that incinerated everything and everyone within a fifteen-foot radius. Amidst the tears and wails of her opponent, she beat her up from head to toe.

By the time she was done, Olive didn't even look human anymore. She looked like a grotesque shell of one, shuddering and whimpering and crying and begging for mercy that would never come.

With a snap of her fingers, the Director's pathetic and pale replacement was gone in a flurry of translucent pixelated flecks.

The Dream Weaver had watched the curb-stomp battle go down in awe. She was well-aware of Mandy's sheer raw power in battle, but certainly wasn't expecting this turn of events.

"You."

The villainess blinked innocently as Mandy whirled on her.

"I'm destroying your Bad Dream Machine and getting myself out of here. You've committed horrible acts here today, and you won't be getting away for any of them."

In the blink of an eye, the Machine was destroyed. All it took was a few pumps of power into the hammer's head to make it grow three times its size, and one hell of a mighty swing from one hell of a pissed-off agent.

"Noooooooo!" came the anguished cry of the Dream Weaver, slumping to her knees. "What have you done?!"

"You just saw what happened." came the plain and simple answer of Mandy, her flames dying down. "Gonna take ya a while to rebuild that, huh?"

The setting began crumbling away. Mandy's eyes widened, and she jumped up into the air, only to come plummeting down to the ground, realizing just a second later that she didn't have wings nor did she have her horn.

Eventually, what met the pair was sheer darkness. The eerie silence sent a chill down Mandy's spine.

"Curse you!" the Dream Weaver spat. "I'm getting out of here."

Conjuring up a remote from hammerspace, she pressed the singular red button on it, and Mandy rushed to grasp her arm before the Dream Weaver left her in a state she had been in before and certainly didn't feel like revisiting again.





Mandy's eyes squeezed shut, and then slowly opened. They met the bright light of the kitchen, as well as a view of what looked like a living room in a house.

"Oh, thank Celestia! You're awake!" Rarity sighed, extending a hoof. "Here, let me help you up, darling."

"Jeez...we thought you were a goner for sure!"

"Are you all right?"

"Aside from my throbbing head? Yes." Mandy winced as pain began ricocheting through her forehead. "The Dream Weaver got into my dreams pretty good."

"She got into mine too." Twilight remarked, the other two mares nodding in agreement. "It was awful."

"There's a reason why she's one of my biggest threats." Mandy shook her head and sighed. "Anyway, enough chittychatty. We have to save Peaches, and quickly!"

Together, the group moved quickly but cautiously through the living room and into the kitchen, more vigilant than ever before. It wasn't until they heard a muffled scream followed by a loud thump that they stopped dead in their tracks.

"What was that?!" Rarity cried out.

"That sounded like Peaches!" Rainbow said.

"Duhhhh, stop tearin' up. We ain't done with you yet!"

Eyes widened. Everyone recognized that voice. And even though its owner was as dumb as a bag stuffed inside of another bag, everyone feared that voice.

Slowly, Mandy took her hammer out from behind her back. "Hammer, do your worst." she murmured, just before she booked it to the basement door like a person running last-minute to a store about to close.

"Odd Squad, Odd Squad, stop right there!" she cried out, busting down the door with one mighty swing of her hammer and sending it careening down the stairs. The Dream Weaver had to nearly dive to get out of the way of the impromptu projectile that was sent weaving and soaring down the stairs.

"Aw pooh, the cavalry arrived." said the Dream Weaver in mock surprise, before she waved a hand. "No matter. You got through my trap, but that doesn't mean we'll so willingly hand Peaches off to you."

Rage began settling into Mandy again. "You will give me back my cousin or I will bash in your face so hard that every single anatatomincal piece of your head will feel it."

"Oh, Mandy. You are just too predictable. I see it all the time whenever we do battle." The Dream Weaver shook her head and gave a mighty sigh. "Your anger issues tend to cramp your style. It causes you to make hasty decisions that ultimately lead to your losses." She tilted her head slightly. "Admit it. You haven't won every single battle with every single villain, now have you? You aren't much for a Mary Sue, if you ask me."

Mandy's eye twitched once. And then twice. And then more and more. Her fists slowly clenched, her knuckles turning white as she bared her teeth.

"And the word is 'anatomical', darling."

A growl rolled about in her throat, and then she charged with a primal battlecry, hammer in hand.

The Thrimes and the Sandman didn't see that coming.

The Dream Weaver, on the other hand, saw it coming a mile away like it was an airplane descending onto a runaway in the dead of night.

She lunged, making a mad grab for the hammer's handle. Using quick agility, she caught it with only a single hand, leaving Mandy shocked and wide-eyed. This made for the perfect distraction for the villainess, who yanked the hammer out of Mandy's hands and threw it backwards, letting it land amidst a maze of boxes with a clattering noise.

The three mares all gasped in shock, as did Peaches.

"My hammer!" Mandy cried out, immediately booking it for the boxes before the Dream Weaver used the power of offscreen teleportation to land in her path and stop her.

"And that's that!" The Dream Weaver clapped her hands together. "With this basement negating any unicorn and alicorn magic..." She looked towards Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who all wore expressions of worry. "...you're defenseless."

Mandy's pony ears drooped. The Dream Weaver cradled her neck in three of her fingers.

"So what are you going to do, my little pony-human hybrid?"

Mandy swiveled her head around. She looked straight-dead into the eyes of Peaches, who fixed her with a look of worry. Inside that gaze of worry, however, she also saw a glimmer of something else. Something else she direly needed right now, here in this moment with no powers available to speak of.

Determination.

She sighed. I can't leave Peaches alone. I won't leave Peaches alone. But it's impossible to get my hammer back through artificial means -- I can't float it back over here, and neither can the ponies. Using my tail's out too...I don't know where the hammer is.

"What's wrong? Catgirl got your tongue?" The Dream Weaver snickered at her terrible pun. "In that case...Sandman! Fire up the Dream-Thief-inator!"

"Uhhhh..." The Sandman eyed the gadget, the Thrimes looking completely unamused. "How does this thing go where again?"

"Oh for Pete's sake, must I do everything myself around here?!" The Dream Weaver snapped, before she eyed Mandy with a look of surprise, as though not expecting her to overhear that. Regardless, she made her way over to the gadget.

Mandy turned to face the mares. "Rarity, I hope you've brushed up on your physical combat skills, 'cause we're gonna need 'em."

"Well, I am rather rusty, seeing as how I use my magic more than my bare hooves, but-"

"Say no more." Mandy said. She had confidence in the mare, even in spite of her words to the contrary. Her gaze flicked to  "Rainbow and Twilight?"

"Oh, I'm pumped and ready!" Rainbow said.

"Just tell us what to do!" Twilight said, marking her words with a nod.

Mandy took a deep breath. "Twilight, I want you to assist Peaches. Get her out of the house and get her to Headquarters, far away from these guys."

"Got it."

"Rainbow Dash, Rarity and I will work on beating them to a pulp."

"Um..." Rarity said, her eyes widening. "Should you be saying all of this in front of three mimes?"

Mandy, Rainbow and Twilight whirled around. Sure enough, the Thrimes were standing right in their path, angry but devious looks on their faces. They began advancing on the group, slowly but surely, counting on their shock to last until they had a clear shot at catching them.

"Well." Mandy snickered. "They're gonna regret they ever listened."

Taking a step back and winding up her fist, she stayed poised, taking great delight in the Thrimes stopping dead in their tracks. With a mighty swing, the fist was flung forward and collided with air, sending the trio soaring across the room a little ways before colliding with the floor.

Rainbow was absolutely dumbfounded. All she could do was stare in complete disbelief. "What was that?!" she finally said after a few moments. "That punch didn't even hit them!"

"Which was my intent."

"Huh?!"

"See, Oprah and her former partner, O'Donahue, have both dealt with the Thrimes before. The way they defeated them -- which is, in fact, the only way to defeat them -- was by miming their own actions in battle. So you just have to do the same."

Twilight nodded slowly, understanding what Mandy was saying even though she wasn't going to take part in the battle herself. Rarity did as well, although she was still a bit confused -- she wasn't exceptionally skilled in the art of pantomiming.

"Oh yeah! Battling and defeating enemies without even touching them is super-cool!" Rainbow said, doing a few loop-de-loops in the air.

The Thrimes slowly got to their feet, looking even more upset than before. However, Rainbow was quickly on that, swooping over to a Thrime and bucking the air, allowing him to collapse to the ground as though he was actually hit. The Pegasus's eyes shimmered, and a grin began forming on her face.

"Oh, let me try!" Rarity trotted over, reared her legs back, and extended them in a mighty kick towards another Thrime, sending him careening with the ground once again. She turned around, surprised that the move actually worked. The only Thrime still standing eyed his colleagues with fear and worry.

"Awesome job! You two handle the Thrimes. I'll handle the Dream Weaver and the Sandman."

Rarity swiveled her head around. "You're going to fight them alone?!"

"They have the unfair advantage over you! It's two to one!" Rainbow added.

"I have to agree with Rainbow." Twilight said. "The Dream Weaver already got you once. Who's to say she won't get you again? Her odds are boosted with the Sandman at her side -- the one that can put people to sleep and create harsh sandstorms!"

"Aww, Twily-wily, ya worry too much." Mandy waved a dismissive hand. "Trust me, I know what I'm doin'!"

Neither mare needed to express their doubts. As silly and scatterbrained as Mandy was, she certainly didn't get the position of Oprah's second-in-command by kissing her Converse shoes and bribing her with dollar bills and bits -- they all knew that.

"All right." Rainbow nodded. "Good luck!"

Twilight, still possessing the power of flight due to an oversight on the Dream Weaver's part, made her way over to Peaches, who had been writing the entire time in a desperate attempt to keep up the ruse. "Hang on tight, okay, Peaches? I'll get you out."

Peaches blinked and nodded wordlessly. "Just let me transform into my cat form first. My fur is black, it'll be hard to see me."

With a bright flash, she transformed, and hopped onto Twilight's back. Together, the pair silently made their way up the stairs without being noticed -- the Dream Weaver and the Sandman were still working on the Dream-Thief-inator, while Rarity and Rainbow Dash had the Thrimes on the ropes, miming all sorts of things with their hooves to capture and subdue them.

Mandy watched Twilight and Peaches go up the stairs, internally breathing a sigh of relief. Good. They'll get out safely. She turned to the maze of boxes on the other side of the basement. Now, all I need to do is enact my revenge.

Slowly, she used her wings to gain lift, then began making her way towards the boxes, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of the hammer.

It didn't take her long before she realized she wasn't going anywhere. And not only that, but her tail felt...caught on something.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Mandy's wings nearly stopped flapping for a minute. Pickleferries, I should've known they would be done with warmups eventually! Ah, how she wanted to slap herself for her reckless and plain idiotic thinking. 

"After your hammer, I see. My, you just keep playing into our hands, don't you?" The Dream Weaver tutted. "You're making the Sandman look like Einstein in comparison!"

The Sandman, standing a little ways behind her, laughed sheepishly at her comment.

Rage began overtaking Mandy again. "You will pay for what you did to my cousin, and to me." she said, before she combusted into flames again, her gaze searing into the Dream Weaver. "YOU WILL PAAAAAAAY!!"

"Oh no, here she goes again." said the Dream Weaver in a response of mock concern.

The more she taunted Mandy, the more enraged the hybrid grew. She lunged for her opponent, swinging her fist in a mighty punch. Unfortunately for her, the Dream Weaver caught it barehanded with nary any effort. 

"You never learn, do you?" The villainess scoffed. "You may have beaten me in the past, but your streak is ending today. And this time, since you destroyed my precious machine..."

She reached behind her back and pulled out a long staff, the likes of which Mandy had never seen before. It was gold-plated, wrapped in a ribbon with an astral pattern and bearing a crescent moon on its top, adorned with moonstones.

"...I'll beat you with my own two hands!"

Mandy lowered her fist and stood slack-jawed. Where the heck did she get a staff?! Has she just had it on backlog this entire time for when her machine failed?! She had to admit, she didn't pin the Dream Weaver as a fighter with a staff...but then again, she didn't pin her as having a lair of a spacious basement in her own home, either. First time for everything, she supposed.

Still, confidence flowed through her. She was absolutely hellbent on revenge. Just as she was for Cherry Moriarty, she was for the Dream Weaver. She scrapped the tactics and reasoning she usually employed in battles for the end goal of leaving the villainess a bruised, battered mess, begging for mercy and vowing never to hurt Peaches ever again.

Yes...that would make this all worth it. 

Some would view Mandy as insane, and in a way, they were right. As of this moment, her mental health wasn't exactly in the best state, and it would worsen with each and every attack she made. But she didn't care. So long as Peaches was avenged, that was what mattered. Her not being physically harmed in any way -- or at least not in any way Mandy could see -- mattered not.

"That's not 'with your own two hands'..." Mandy rolled her eyes. "But semanihantics. I don't care whether you have a staff or not."

"Oh? You haven't seen what this staff can do." The Dream Weaver smirked. "Trust me, I've made many backups for my Bad Dream Machine over the years. As durable as it is, it's been broken by Odd Squad agents one too many times."

So it's her Bad Dream Machine in a different form. Mandy blinked. But if she can't put me to sleep...

Her eyes darted over to the Sandman, looking absolutely confused, between Peaches going missing and Rarity and Rainbow Dash still tussling with the Thrimes.

And she can't. The Sandman is a non-threat. I can wrap him up and ship him off when our fight's over.

She glanced behind her, and smirked. "Would you like a way to test your staff's power?"

"By trying in vain to get your hammer?"

"Mm, no."

The Dream Weaver blinked.

Mandy moved backwards, towards the maze of boxes. Her cat smile stayed plastered on her face the entire time, as though enjoying doing a little trolling with her enemy.

Finally, she took flight, and charged.

"By doing this!"

Extending her two feet forward, she gave a mighty kick to the front of the Dream Weaver's body, causing her to go soaring to the other side of the room. Her body made two impacts with the ground before it began rolling on the second impact.

"Weavoo!" the Sandman cried out. "Are you okay?"

All he got was a groan in response.

He turned on Mandy, and wordlessly began firing bright beams from his hands, which she was easily able to dodge -- in part due to his aim being absolutely terrible. 

"You'd be wise to stay out of this. My beef's not with you! My beef's at home, waiting to be eaten!" Mandy said, making her way over to the Dream Weaver as fast as her feet would carry her.

Not fast enough, though.

"Mighty kick you got..." The villainess slowly stood up and gave a cough. "But I'm not done!"

"Bring it on!"

For the next few minutes, a swordfight ensued -- the Dream Weaver's staff versus Mandy's next-best weapon: her very own tail. It deflected beams and straight attacks with ease, which surprised the villainess, as she had completely taken Mandy's tail out of the question when it came to how she battled.

Giving a battlecry, Mandy decided that enough was enough and charged, sliding across the floor and using her tail as a blunt-force weapon to send her opponent to the floor once more. It wasn't much, but it was just enough.

"Now's my chance!" she remarked, booking it over to the Dream-Thief-inator and launching her entire body at it. With the help of her tail, she dismantled the large gadget piece by piece, tearing off paneling and exposing loose wires that she easily snipped with the aid of the Scissor-inator. All the Sandman could do was stare in all of his idiotic glory as he was overwhelmed by two battles happening at once, as well as still trying to pinpoint where Peaches had gone.

Wrapping her tail around the gadget's base, Mandy yanked on it, using her wings as a sort of motor the way she had seen Scootaloo using her scooter before. A snapping sound ensued, and the heavy gadget made its way towards the ground with a large crash, with Mandy falling forward as her tail let go.

Before she could even utter a word, the gadget exploded, causing her to be sent towards the boxes, along with Rarity, Rainbow and the Thrimes. The Dream Weaver and the Sandman, likewise, were sent towards the table that Peaches once sat at, the force of the explosion sending them careening with the wall.

Mandy's body rolled and rolled, and then came to a dead stop. She grunted. "Wasn't expecting an explosion...'specially not one like that..." she muttered, rubbing her head and surveying the situation. Both mares were getting to their hooves and going after the Thrimes to make sure they couldn't get away. The Sandman and the Dream Weaver both laid unconscious. Where the Dream-Thief-inator and its stand was, there was only a charred black patch.

And Mandy...Mandy was where she was meant to be, by nothing more than sheer luck.

Her eyes widened as she took a look behind her. Sure enough, the hammer she was seeking laid head-down in a box full of tinsel. She extended her tail and watched as it grabbed the weapon before it snaked back to her.

I should work on honing my punches and kicks instead of using my tail as a lazy crutch...Oprah's prolly gonna rip me a new one when I tell her. She got to her knees and grabbed the hammer, twirling it around in her hands. But that'll be for later. I'm not done.

Sure enough, her body was still in flames, her heart still wrapped in the coils of revenge. The Dream Weaver wasn't down -- Mandy knew that. She was unconscious, but she wasn't down.

"Mandy, darling!" Rarity called. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine..." Mandy wiped her face. "A lil' beaten-up, but fine."

"What shall we do with these Thrimes? We have them all tied up."

"Take them back to Headquarters." Mandy remarked. "Throw them into the bullpen."

Rarity nodded, grabbing the invisible rope in her teeth and pulling the Thrimes out of the basement with Rainbow's help.

"Not you, Rainbow."

"Huh?"

"Tie up the Sandman." Mandy reached behind her back and produced some rope, which she threw to the Pegasus. "Lead him to the bullpen, too."

Without another word, Rainbow flew around him in a multi-colored blur, and only a few seconds later, he was tied up and fully awake.

"Lemme go!" he cried out.

"Hmm...nah. Not a chance." Rainbow snickered. "Come on! Back to Headquarters!"

"D'awwwww..."

With both hero and villain on their way out, now it was just down to Mandy and the Dream Weaver, the latter of whom snapped awake and jumped to her feet.

"You." she growled. "First you destroy my precious machine, and now you ruin my entire plan!" She raised her staff into the air. "Weeeell, we'll just see how you like it when I put you in a state of endless sleep!"

"How's that?" Mandy chuckled. "The Sandman's long gone. Just admit defeat and let's get this dull fight scene in this dull chapter wrapped up already."

With a scream, the Dream Weaver charged.

So did Mandy.

The swordfight continued, with Mandy having a proper weapon this time around. Blow after blow was exchanged. Neither side was letting up even so much as an inch. Every beam that the Dream Weaver fired either whizzed past Mandy's shoulders or missed her entirely. Likewise, Mandy was aiming for an opening where she could easily and skillfully perform her finishing move, but couldn't find any that wouldn't end with her missing a shot. She knew better. She couldn't afford a miss.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Mandy threw aside the hammer in what appeared to be frustration.

"Oh, are you finally giving u-"

It all happened in a matter of seconds.

With one swift kick, the staff was knocked clean out of the Dream Weaver's hands and careened towards the ceiling, where its handle got wedged in a long wood plank.

The villainess went slack-jawed.

Mandy won the fight.

"You're pathetic." she spat, as the Dream Weaver began to choke and collapsed on the ground in a sitting position. "My cousin...she risked her life to save mine. She put herself in the face of danger to save me. And yet...and yet...you didn't use the Dream-Thief-inator on her." She narrowed her eyes. "You attacked her outright."

Without waiting for an answer, her grip tightened on the hammer's handle.

"Since she saved my life...then I'll save hers. By destroying the one person who caused her so much strife -- and who caused me much strife as well."

The choking noises the Dream Weaver made had a sort of pleading edge to them, now, that Mandy caught on to.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANY MERCY FROM ME, YOU VILE DISGUSTING BEAST!!" she roared, with such intensity that it ruffled the Dream Weaver's hair a little. The villainess's eyes widened, and Mandy could swear she saw tears in them.

I should kill her. For what she's done to Peach...for what she's done to me...for what she's done to countless other people! Make her see that she can't get away with her actions!

Mandy grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes tight, fighting off the insanity that was bubbling inside of her.

But...but...it goes against my moral code. I don't kill. I don't have a heart stained black enough to kill my foe.

...I don't have a heart stained black enough to kill anyone.

Not even if the person who I was saving asked me to.

She slumped to the ground, keeping her grip on the hammer nice and firm. Her expression darkened, and the room became filled with near-silence.

I'm just one slip-on-the-edge away from accidentally murdering someone.

But what if I intentionally murdered the Dream Weaver, right here and now? How would Peaches react?

She would scold me, wouldn't she...

Momma would fear me...

Everyone who wasn't Oprah would fear me.

Suddenly, she didn't feel so confident anymore. She gazed at the Dream Weaver, her eyes looking tired and holding a glaze of sadness.

"I will have mercy on your life. But only if you are taken into Odd Squad custody." Mandy said, not realizing how saddening her voice sounded. "Do we have a deal?"

The Dream Weaver nodded, and Mandy yanked the hammer from her mouth, after which she coughed and clutched her throat.

Wordlessly, Mandy conjured up another rope and began tying it around her opponent, knotting it up with a nice neat bow. "We're going back to Headquarters, you and I. And I don't want to hear a peep out of you the entire ride there, you got it?"

The Dream Weaver nodded again.

When the pair made their way outside, they found Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight waiting in the front yard.

"Hey!" Rainbow waved. "We brought those villains to HQ, and Peaches as well. Twilight insisted we go back and see if you needed any help."

"Actually, yes I do." Mandy thrust the Dream Weaver forward. "Take this one to HQ. Put her with the rest of the villains. We'll deal with all of them in the morning."

With magic available and free to use on the outside, Twilight and Rarity had a much easier time guiding the villainess to where they wanted to go. Working together, they made their way towards the nearest tube entrance, telekinetically yanking on the rope.

"Aren't you coming with us, Mandy?"

"I'll catch up." The hybrid waved off Rainbow, who simply gave a shrug and went to assist her friends.

Mandy's gaze flicked towards the house. Without even thinking, her feet took her down to the basement again, where she saw the Dream Weaver's staff still in the ceiling, not having moved at all.

She yanked it out, eyeing the weapon with curiosity but also regret. She knew this would be returned to the Dream Weaver once Odd Squad was done examining it and whatnot, and to be honest, the examination was better done sooner rather than later.

The adrenaline and rage she had been feeling was wearing off. Her flames died down, leaving her a tired and achy mess.

A tired and achy mess who had free reign to let it all out now that no one was here.

She gave an anguished scream that slowly segued into choking sobs as she laid on the dirty, grim floor. Her mind began to replay a horrible memory, a memory of her suddenly snapping at one of her friends and ramming the head of the hammer down their throat...ripping it out with such force and such velocity that it left their jaw in a completely broken state, leaving them crippled...

She had the power to disfigure anyone. Anyone she pleased, if they pissed her off enough.

That included Peaches.

I have terrible anger issues.

The realization pushed its way to the forefront and provided Mandy with just a small bit of clarity.

Maybe I should just give up fighting. Maybe I should just be like every other agent and have my weapon of choice be gadgets, rather than something silly like a hammer or my own limbs...

...No, who am I kidding. Those gadgets are dangerous. I could ruin my opponents' appearances in other ways, just with the gadgets' odd effects.

Only one thing became apparent, now.

I have to be more of a pacifinist. Towards my friends, and towards villains.

The sobs continued to come for a very long time, echoing throughout the large space and reaching her eardrums. Time passed, as it did, but she didn't care about that very much. 





Footsteps made their way down the stairwell leading into the basement, followed by a set of hoofsteps.

"All right, Agent Pinkie. Start looking around. We need all the clues we can get."

"Righty-o, Ms. O!" came the cheerful response, as Pinkie bounded down the stairs and began scanning the area. 

Oprah, meanwhile, let her flashlight fall on what appeared to be a dead body.

A body she recognized.

"Agent Mandy?"

Slowly, she approached the body, kneeling down and pressing her ear to the agent's backside. Her heartbeat grew steady when she heard the sound of air entering and being pushed out of a pair of lungs -- Mandy was alive.

Glancing at Mandy's face, the Director saw tear stains that made their way downwards, from her eyes, to her chin, and then to the floor. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened.

She cried herself to sleep.

But why?

Suddenly, Mandy's fingers began to twitch. Her teeth were clenched together as a groan rumbled about in her throat.

"No...no! I'm not Felicity! Get away from me!"

Pinkie lowered herself from the desk she was looking at, eyeing her partner with worry.

"Mandy?"

Both girls' heads swiveled towards the entrance, where Peaches stood at the top of the stairwell.

"Oh cattails...what's going on?"

"She's having a nightmare."

Peaches was very much fazed by Oprah's response, and threw herself at Mandy's side in an instant. "Mandy, wake up! C'mon, wake up! Come back to us!"

"No! I'm not Felicity! Why are you claiming you're my real mother?!"

That stopped Oprah dead.

Her eyes widened. "Real mother...?" she breathed. "It's...she's not..."

Pinkie trotted over, eyeing Mandy with concern but also with intrigue. "Could Felicity be her real name?"

Peaches grit her teeth and shook her head, violently shaking Mandy in vain attempts to wake her up.

"Stop it!!"

The cry made Mandy's eyes snap open, tears filling up within them again as she gazed at the one who was holding her, then at her partner, then at her boss.

"What's going on? Why are you crying?"

Those two questions became the trigger. Mandy buried her face in Peaches' chest and began loudly sobbing, blubbering about the nightmare that the Dream Weaver had sewn into her brain, how the nightmare had continued just now, and how absolutely guilty she felt.

"I j-just wanted t' make sure Peach was okay!" Mandy sniffled. "Don't agents p-protect their partners with intense passion? Just like how Momma protects Otto, a-and Otto protects Momma..." She looked up at her cousin with her eyeballs quivering in their sockets. "Don't I do that for you, cuz?"

Peaches opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't get a single word in edgewise.

"I just f-feel like...like I'm too harsh on villains. Like I'm just one snap-of-a-twig away f-from actually murdering someone! Murdering you, or you, or..." As Mandy pointed to each of her friends, her gaze lingered on Oprah. "Or you!"

Peaches again tried to speak, and failed.

"I-I don't mean to kill anyone!" Mandy sniffled again. "It's just...I want justice t-to be served. I want villains t' know that when they mess with the people and ponies I l-love...then they get hurt." She gazed at her hands, watching through a blurred view as tears dripped down into her palms. "I...I lost control of myself. Adrenaline and rage took over..." She started giving out choked sobs again, struggling to say anything more.

"Cuz." Peaches pulled Mandy close to her. "Don't feel so regretful. You did what you had to do in order to save me and stop the Dream-Thief-inator from being activated and used on anyone else. The Dream Weaver needed to be taught a lesson. And you...you gave her that lesson."

This only served to elicit a wail from Mandy, nestling her face into Peaches' chest and continuing to cry.

"If you hadn't fought like you did, I wouldn't be here. I would be robbed of my identity. Of my thoughts, my emotions, and my feelings. Seeing you fight the Dream Weaver without mostly using your hammer...it was impressive." Peaches smiled. "Odd Squad agents fight hard to save and protect the world from oddness. Even if they have to resort to more violent means to do so. That means you, too." She caught Oprah and Pinkie nodding in agreement with her, and she began to stroke Mandy's hair. "Don't ever, ever be afraid to fight, Mandy. You're one of the strongest fighters of this precinct. You took down the Big O even when you were on the brink of death. You beat him to a pulp, and you showed him what-for. That takes guts."

Mandy wiped her tears away and gazed up at Peaches once more. "B-b-but...but am I...t-too violent?"

"Not to me, you're not. And you never will be." Peaches said. "You're silly and weird, and your mental health is...questionable. But you have standards, even when fighting your enemies. Killing one of them is always a possibility..." She glanced at Oprah and Pinkie. "...but we won't hold it against you if it happens. Not now, not ever."

Oprah blinked. For all the years she had lived, and for all the years she had known Mandy, she didn't ever consider her agent up and killing anyone. There were close calls, sure, and it was certainly a possibility -- but she wouldn't actually do it.

Or, well, maybe she would.

Still, death was not a new concept to her. It was as common as brushing teeth. "Of course we won't!" she said, putting on a smile. "Honestly, it's not like death in Odd Squad is uncommon. Even if it's by your hands. Or hammer. Or horn."

"Yeah! If you kill someone, it'll be with good intentions!" Pinkie chimed in. Her cheery tone of voice elicited strange expressions from Oprah and Peaches, who both wondered why she didn't seem bothered by Mandy killing anyone.

Mandy sniffled and hiccuped, wiping away the rest of her tears. "Y-you all mean it?"

Three nods, almost in unison.

This was enough convincing for the hybrid, who smiled. But just as quickly as the smile came forth, it quickly went away, and her expression darkened.

"What's the matter?" Peaches asked, before she realized. "It's about your dream, isn't it?"

Mandy nodded.

"You're worried that your name is actually Felicity, huh? And that woman and baby you saw...it was mother and child. Your real mother...and you."

Another nod.

Peaches went silent. She didn't want to invalidate Mandy's memories or the dreams she had by saying they were false...but she also didn't want to say they were true. It was clear that Mandy enjoyed her life the way it was now, with her actual name and her actual life with an actual adoptive mother and an actual cousin and an actual family. She didn't want that to change.

I have to choose my words carefully.

She took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Consider the possibility that the Dream Weaver was lying about pulling the memory deep from within you. She has power over the dream realm, after all. She can craft dreams and nightmares both, letting them go exactly according to her desires. It's always possible she created a situation with a real mother who loved you and protected you. But...in the event that it turns out to be real..."

Mandy sniffled.

"...that's a long, long way away."

Oprah and Pinkie just stared, not saying anything and instead allowing themselves to listen to Peaches' words.

"We don't have to find out the truth for years and years to come. Which just means that you have years and years to spend with us." Peaches winked. "That's more years than you think, by the way."

Mandy's eyes quivered. "R-really?"

"Really!" Peaches said. "I want to spend all the time with you that I can, even if it's for the rest of your life. Or my life. Definitely somebody's life." She chuckled. "You're a good person, cuz. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for fighting so hard, all for my sake."

Mandy stared at her for just a couple moments.

And then, the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile.

"Aaaall right! Smile mission accomplished!" Pinkie said, pumping her hoof as she leaped into the air.

"I love you so much, cuz!" cried the hybrid, embracing her in a tight hug.

"I love you too." Peaches returned the hug eagerly. "Now, let's go home. No doubt you need a good night's sleep after this whole ordeal."

"Hey, Peaches, before we go..." Pinkie trotted over to the desk and used her forelock to grip the paper that was still on it. "What's this?"

"Oh, they wanted me to write down everything I knew about Vallea. Since I thought they were going to use the information to attack them, I decided to write down a bunch of fake facts to fool them."

Oprah smiled. "Well done. I have to say, you handled yourself well, for being a willing captive."

"It was tough going...but I pulled through."

"Now..." Oprah picked up the Dream Weaver's staff, as well as Mandy's hammer. "Let's head back to HQ."

With that, the group made their way out of the basement, with Pinkie making sure to turn off the lights and close the door behind her.

When they arrived at the nearest tube entrance, Mandy stopped Peaches from going inside.

"Peach?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I wanna sleep with you. Just for tonight."

"You mean today." Peaches pointed to where the sun was beginning to rise. "You want to keep me safe, don't you?"

Mandy nodded. 

"Of course you do." Peaches ruffled her cousin's hair. "All right. When we get back, let's wash up and sleep sleep sleep, huh?"

Mandy took her cousin's wrist and yanked her into the tubes, their exit marked with the same bright blue flash as any other time an agent used the tube system.





It was to absolutely no one's surprise that Mandy collapsed on Peaches' bed not even a minute after arriving back at Headquarters.

Peaches, who had long gotten used to the sound of her cousin's raucous snoring by now, was also getting some well-deserved sleep on the floor of her room, having changed into her cat form since Mandy took her bed.

Oprah, meanwhile, reiterated the story to Olive and Otto in the Breakroom.

"You're kidding!" Olive blinked. "The Dream Weaver got Mandy?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Otto said, swallowing his bite of ham sandwich.

"I don't really know whether Mandy has any memories of her real mother or not..." Oprah sighed. "And I don't know if her real name is actually Felicity or not, either."

"I named her Mandy on nothing more than a whim. To think she has a real name, especially one like Felicity...it just doesn't seem..."

"Plausible?"

"No..." Olive rolled her hand about as she tried to come up with a word, but couldn't think of any. She shook her head. "Anyway, i-it's like Peaches said. We won't have to find out her true origins for a long time, right? So we should enjoy what time we do have with her. Spend as much time with her as we can, doing whatever she wants! Spoiling her rotten! Buying her all the food she can eat and all the toys she can play with!"

Otto raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but otherwise said nothing in response.

"Oh! You three." Oprah waved Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow Dash over. "I never got to thank you properly for your efforts in stopping the Thrimes and the Sandman."

"Aww, it was nothin'!"

"Yes! We put our all into rescuing Peaches from those ruffians, and we would do it again in a heartbeat!"

Twilight nodded. "Even with the Dream Weaver's anti-magic properties, we were able to stop them easily. Using your technique, of course."

"My technique?"

"Mandy told us that the way to beat the Thrimes in particular was by miming our actions and using them in battle, saying that's how you defeated them once. I have to say, I was a little skeptical...but it all worked out."

Oprah had to take a moment to think about what, exactly, Twilight was referring to. And then it dawned on her -- it was during O'Donahue's time as an infiltrator for the Thrimes. She nodded in understanding, mentally cursing the fact that her memory was apparently growing shoddy. "Ah, I see. Very well done." she said.

Rainbow suddenly perked up, a look of horror settling on her face.

"Rainbow? What's wrong, darling?"

"We..." The Pegasus clasped her hooves to her cheeks. "We forgot the plans!"

Oprah bit back a groan. Another thing she was kicking herself for -- she had been so focused on Mandy that she forgot about the plans entirely when she went to Pinkie Pie. And apparently Mandy had forgotten as well. "You three, go back to the Dream Weaver's house and look for them. Bring them back here when you're done."

The three mares nodded and eagerly made their way out of Headquarters without a second thought.

"Olive? What's going on?"

"Huh?" Olive blinked, having been brought back to reality and having been oblivious as to the agents' arrival and departure. "I-it's nothing. I'm...just going to go for a little stroll. You should get back to Headquarters." She patted Otto's shoulder and then left, heading down the right hallway.

"Great. She's gonna be worried about Mandy's real identity and real origins for weeks." Otto complained, going back to his ham sandwich.

Oprah only looked at the direction Olive went in, a sigh dancing on her lips before a frown settled on her face. She was concerned for her former agent, sure...but a small part of her had confidence that Otto, being the best friend and crutch he was, would keep her well under control.





Olive rubbed her forehead, struggling to make heads or tails of the situation.

Mandy's real mother...a model who leaves her child, no more than a mere baby, behind, alone, for fancy dinners...

And me...an Odd Squad agent who loves my adopted child and would protect her with my life...and has been, ever since she was a baby.

It seems like an open-and-shut case to me -- Mandy should stay with me, forever and ever. But every human has to be born from someone, somewhere, in some way or another.

And I'm not Mandy's real mother. Not by a long shot.

Her feet took her to the door leading into Peaches' room. Her ears picked up on the sound of raucous snoring -- no doubt that Mandy was still fast asleep and roaming about in dreamland.

Without thinking, her hand gripped the doorknob and turned it. Her head poked inside, and her eyes landed on Mandy. Fast asleep in her PJs from the previous night, position askew, and a trail of drool leading down her mouth to the bedsheet she was on. On the floor, the cat form of Peaches slept peacefully, not being disturbed by the sound whatsoever.

Olive wanted so badly to wake Mandy up. To ask her to do something with her, anything she wanted to. Like it was her last day on Earth.

But the hybrid needed her sleep. She knew that. She knew better.

Sighing, she closed the door and rested her forehead on it, closing her eyes and letting herself wander in her own jumbled thoughts.

I'm not letting Mandy go back to her real mother.

It's been years. Why would she start looking for her now?

Mandy deserves someone who will love her and care for her.

She deserves... me. And only me. I'm the one who will give her what she needs to survive. What she needs to live a happy life. What she needs to be a good agent of Odd Squad.

The sound of shimmering caught her attention, and her head swiveled to the right, where she saw the tip of a tail that appeared to be made out of grass and surrounded by a shining and sparkling golden light. However, it was only for a fleeting moment, and it disappeared so quickly that she had to wonder if she had imagined things.

A heavy sigh leaving her body, she made her way back to the bullpen, a wave of determination washing over her as she made a silent promise to herself.

A silent promise to spend all the time with Mandy she possibly could...before the opportunity slipped out of her hands.