Immortality was a blurse.
On the one hand, Oprah was utterly immune to time. The villainous Father Time's ability of aging his opponents had very little effect on her because she could change her age back and forth at will. In that way, she supposed she was a surpasser of him, as he could not age objects, people or ponies backwards. It had been fun when he had found out, that day inside of the supermarket when he was going wild aging fruits so that they became moldy and downright unrecognizable.
"What...what are you?!" he had bellowed, to the shoppers' fear as they cowered and scuttled inside of shelves and under displays.
Oprah had blinked. "What do you mean? I'm human, just like you."
"No you're not! No human could possibly withstand my powers!" He had raised the tall wooden staff in his hand. "I'm going to freeze you permanently. If I freeze you, then you won't be able to...to..."
"To what?"
Father Time had no coherent answer to that. He had banged the staff down, and the shockwave from the blue crystals that sat atop it washed over Oprah. Her expression had been stuck in the same bemused position, and no matter how much she willed herself to move, she was unable to.
"Haha! You try and get out of this one, now!"
55 seconds remaining. He better not move.
"Ah, no witty comeback, hmm?" He had fiddled with the staff in his hands. "Good. Although it's a pity you had to be stuck with...that expression." He had turned. "But no matter! I shall continue my reign of oddness here in the produce section. You are free to watch, of course."
He had ambled away.
30 seconds. And he's moving.
Luckily, he hadn't gone very far. Still in Oprah's line of vision, he began his assault on a display of apples.
It was his final attack.
Oprah had been freed, had tackled him to the ground and had taken him into Odd Squad custody, where he couldn't do any lasting damage for a while. All the while, he had kept insisting she wasn't human, but she had ignored his cries.
Now, on the other hand, for all of her immortality, she was not immune to outside forces. If her body took physical damage by any means -- whether from a gadget, or from something more deadly -- then she would pay the price in death, if said damage ruptured an organ.
This especially held true for disease.
Oprah had gotten many a disease throughout her life. For some of them, she had been cooped up in a hospital bed, weak, frail, and requiring nurses to help her do even simple tasks. For others, she had resolved to tough it out, believing in her body's strength and her own willpower to push through and come out alive. This held true for both regular diseases and odd ones -- rumors had especially built around her surviving all kinds of odd diseases to the point where she was now immune to them. (Which was only partially true. The only illness she was immune to was the Jinx.)
But there was one disease that always seemed to get her above all else. A disease that, if she had it, one could easily mistake for what adults called a "hangover". A disease that often seemed to strike her moreso than other agents.
And the worst part? It left her completely and utterly helpless.
That was one of the worst feelings of all, to her. After she first got the disease, she vowed to never get it again.
But fate has a funny way of dealing its cards.
“C’mon, Twilight!”
“I’m trying my best, Rainbow!”
Heading up to Oprah’s office, Twilight and Rainbow were in the midst of transporting a heavy and rather sizeable chest that was studded with gems and indents of swirls. Even with Twilight’s magic levitating it and Rainbow pushing it, both mares found the item to be a little uncooperative.
Finally, after a few minutes, the chest came to rest on the second floor. Twilight and Rainbow took a moment to catch their breaths.
“Finally!” Rainbow exclaimed. “We made it!”
“I wonder why Ms. O wants this chest, anyway.” Twilight mused, running her hoof along the item’s top.
“It’s gotta be full of super-cool treasure!” Rainbow hovered just in front of Twilight, clasping her hooves on the alicorn’s cheeks as her cerise eyes shimmered with curiosity and excitement. “What do you think’s inside? Gems? Gold?!”
“I’m not sure. But what I do know is that we shouldn’t open it.” Twilight let her corona surround the chest once more as she began to trot for the glass double-doors. “Come on, we gotta...bring this inside!”
Rainbow groaned, her head slumping before she reluctantly began to help Twilight push the chest into their actual destination.
Once they set it out of the way of any agents who might come barging in, the two mares stopped to take a break. However, the sound of snoring caught Rainbow’s ears, and her head perked up. Her gaze rested on the slumbering form of Oprah, with her head on the desk and a juice box beside her.
“Uhh, does Ms. O usually take midday naps? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that’s my thing.”
"Maybe she just worked late into the night yesterday." Twilight gave a soft exhale as she made eye contact with Rainbow. “It happens."
As Rainbow reached a tentative hoof out to Oprah, she felt the end of her tail being grabbed by magic, and then felt her rump meet the ground. “Hey!”
“And we are not waking her up.”
“Why not?”
“I once did when I was a filly. She gave me a really harsh scolding.” Twilight began making her way out the doors. “Besides, she deserves to get some sleep if she needs it.”
Rainbow bit back a groan. “I guess.”
“Come on. There’s a case on my desk that we can work on together.”
“Wait!” Rainbow flew past Twilight, stopping right in front of her to block her path. “What if other agents go to see Ms. O and find her sleeping?”
Twilight took a moment to think, having not considered the fact that Ms. O did indeed get agents who often barged into her office to ask her questions or receive cases. It didn’t take her long before her face lit up with an idea.
“I’ve got just the thing.”
Only five minutes later, the glass double-doors closed, revealing a sign that was hung on them by a hook. “Command hooks”, Twilight had called them. Strong, sturdy, and sticky, they were perfect for heavy things, and she had a fond memory of seeing one in a store for the first time and then buying at least 5 to hang around her bedroom in the castle. Spike hadn't really understood the appeal, and for all Twilight would have taught him, he wasn't likely to.
“’Ms. O’s office is closed. Do not enter. Please direct all needed inquiries to Agent Mandy.’ There!” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “That way, Ms. O can get some sleep, and she won’t have to be bothered by anyone. And just for extra measure...” The doors shimmered, revealing the symbol of a lock. “I put a lock on the doors and made them gadget-proof.”
Rainbow blinked. “Wow. You’re really thinking of everything.”
“That’s how I roll.” Twilight said, a smug air to her voice as she began trotting down the stairs. “Now come on. We’ve got work to do!”
Down on the first floor, Olive and Otto were watching Mandy repair yet another gadget of theirs.
“Hand me a wrench.” Something heavy was placed in her hand. She didn’t bother to see who the giver was. “Thank you.”
Her mind was focused solely on the gadget -- so focused that she barely missed Twilight’s greeting.
“Hey, Mandy?”
“One sec. If I don’t tighten this stupid bolt, it’ll-”
As if on cue, the boxing glove that was attached to the gadget cut loose, hitting her square in the nose and nearly sending her toppling backwards to the floor. “Nyaaah! Pickleferries!” she cursed, clutching her nose and shooting daggers at the glove as it swung side to side like a jack-in-the-box toy trying to be menacing.
“You okay?”
“My noshe would shay no...” Mandy rubbed her nose in an effort to alleviate some of the pain from it. “Dang it. Now I gotta re-tighten the boxing glove too!”
“What are you making?” Rainbow asked.
Mandy bit her lip. “It’s...a gift. For someone.”
“Who?”
“Just...someone.” Mandy heaved a sigh. “Momma, hand me the bigger wrench.”
“Here.”
“Thank you.” Mandy looked at Twilight and Rainbow, her eyes half-lidded. “Now, can I help you two mares?”
“Actually, you can.” Twilight looked up at the second floor. “Ms. O is taking a little impromptu nap in her office.”
Mandy rolled her eyes playfully. “Ah. Haha. Sugar burnout. Been there, felt that. Gotta be rough, buddy.”
“Well, you’ve probably experienced firsthand how upset she can get when she’s woken up.”
“She threatened to put me on probation.” Olive said.
“She threatened to poison the precinct’s food supply!” Otto chimed in, his tone filled with horror.
“And she threatened to rip the forelock off my scalp!” Mandy stroked it, her eyes quivering as the memory replayed in her head. “My beautiful...pretty brown forelock!”
“Yes. Which is why I’ve delegated her duties to you, Mandy.”
“Ah, well, that’s understanda-” Mandy blinked. Her eyes slowly shifted towards Twilight. “You did whozawha now?”
“Agents are going to be asking Ms. O left and right for things.” Twilight explained. “If they find her asleep and try to wake her up, there could be trouble.”
Mandy sighed. “Well, this is my job as the second-in-command. It’d be criminal not to handle Oprah’s duties while she’s OOC.”
“Out of character?”
“Out of commission.” Mandy said in response to Otto, shooting him a dirty look before turning her attention back to the gadget. “If I could just fix this up...”
“Let me help.”
Before Mandy could utter out a single sound of protest, Twilight swooped the gadget up with her magic and began tinkering with it.
Within a few seconds, she was “Done.”
The gadget was fully repaired, the boxing glove’s spring having been squished down so that the glove was back in its regular position.
An audible clunk sound was heard as Mandy’s jaw fell straight to the floor at such a high rate of velocity that the spot where the jaw made impact left a small dent. Olive took the liberty of closing it for her.
“Wh- b- b- how- why- when- whaaaaaaaa-”
“No need to thank her.” Rainbow said. “Twilight is kinda an expert on this stuff, y’know.”
Mandy’s eye began to twitch. “B-but I spent...I spent three hours...three hours on fixing that whole thing...”
“And now your efforts won’t go to waste!”
“You’re welcome.” Twilight smiled, then turned and began heading towards her desk. “Good luck with taking over for Ms. O!”
“Ya miiiiight need it.”
As the trio watched them go, Otto smiled. “Looks like Twilight has a little Scientist blood in her!”
Mandy’s head went thunk on the desk. “I can’t believe I wasted all that time...three hours of my life, just wasted...”
“Well, the point of the matter is, your gift’s complete.” Olive said, grabbing the roll of wrapping paper that was leaning up against the desk.
“How many does that make? Ten?”
“Fifteen.” Mandy said, lifting her head off of the desk and grabbing the roll of wrapping paper in her corona.
Olive watched as her adopted daughter went through the motions of tearing off a piece of wrapping paper, then covering the gadget with it before topping it off with a nice red bow. “You sure are adamant about giving gifts to people lately.”
“Ah, well, it’s a helpful community, we got each others’ backs.” Mandy gave a shrug, intentionally choosing to forget her entire backstory and one of the times where Torontonians did not, indeed, have each others’ backs. “I figure it’s the least I can do.” She sighed. “Now all I have to do is my paperwork, my new Director duties, and-”
“Mandy!”
The shout of her name caused Mandy to perk up. As her gaze moved about, she found Fluttershy gliding over to her with soft wingbeats, a piece of paper in her hooves.
“Is it true? You’re filling in for Ms. O?”
Mandy blinked in confusion. “Yes...?”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Fluttershy smiled and placed the paper down in front of Mandy. “I have something that she needs to sign off on. Could you sign it?”
Mandy looked over the paper. To her, it was filled with nonsense words that she didn’t really care about, except for the words “TERMS & CONDITIONS” stamped in bold at the top.
She gazed at Fluttershy with a look that was half bemusement, half disdain. “You want me to forge a signature?”
“I- w- well, no...” Fluttershy twiddled her hooves together. “You could always put your own.”
“Maybe. Let me see.”
Mandy had expected her boss to have received a paper to become a stockholder in a company. (That was how it worked, wasn’t it?) In reality, it was a paper detailing a magazine publishing company’s wishes to make a magazine out of Odd Squad. She chose not to question how or why Fluttershy, of all agents, had such a paper.
“Doesn’t say anything about it needing to be signed by a Director...and having Odd Squad in another magazine is kinda cool.”
With a click of a pen, Mandy got to scribbling her own signature. Her ears caught the sound of Olive groaning -- likely about Mandy’s absolute butchering of the concept of cursive -- but she willfully ignored her.
She floated the paper back into Fluttershy’s hooves when she was done. “There.”
“Oh, thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome!”
As soon as Fluttershy floated away, Mandy teleported a Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise into existence, chugging it the same way college people chugged beer at a party.
“Why are you drinking another Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise?” Olive asked.
“Because I have a feeling I’m gonna need all the energy I can get today.”
“But don’t you usually have a ton of energy?”
Mandy heaved a sigh. “Admittedly...ever since we went to the Odd Side, I’ve completely lost my mojo. I figure it’s from the whole Clementine shimmy-maboo and spilling my backstory to Peaches. I’m just...not myself.” She pawed at her hair, which felt just a tad more limp than usual. “And I don’t think I will be myself again until I patch things up with Clementine.”
Olive and Otto exchanged glances. Of course, they were the first ones to notice that something was wrong with her off the bat. She was functioning much like she did before the transformation, like all the energy had been sucked out of her by an industrial-grade vacuum cleaner. It felt weird to both of them, to not have Mandy doing the usual crazy cartoonish stuff she did or to see her with the boundless energy she usually had -- and not only that, the air in Precinct 13579 had shifted since she became more moody and down-to-earth.
“I’d ask why you don’t just go and patch things up with her, but...”
“We all witnessed your last battle.” Otto finished for his partner. “I don’t think Clementine will welcome you back into her life so easily.”
Olive’s eyes widened slightly in realization. “Is that who the presents are for?”
“No, I told you, they’re for the townsfolk.”
The defensive tone in Mandy’s voice caused Olive to blink, a concerned expression crossing her face before it faded away. “All right. Well, if you want help, just give us a call. Otto and I have to get back to our own precinct.”
“Thanks for taking the time to help me out.”
“No problem. Good luck!”
As the pair left through the steel double-doors, Mandy groaned and flopped back into her chair. Her ears picked up on the sounds of the Cutie Mark Crusaders arguing about who could solve the most cases, rushing up the stairs, and then reading aloud the sign that had been put on the door -- no doubt put there by Rainbow and Twilight.
“Hi!” she chirped, attempting to straighten herself up and make herself at least somewhat chipper. “C’mon down! You three are the next contestants on ‘Go Ask the Ms. O of the Day Something’!”
The fillies descended the stairs, eyeing Mandy with confusion.
“Uh, what’s goin’ on? Did ya get promoted or somethin’?”
“No!” Out came a laugh that definitely sounded more forced than anything that could even remotely relate to Mandy’s actual laugh. “Come now, Agent Apple Bloom, let’s not kid ourselves here.”
Apple Bloom merely shot a confused glance at Sweetie and Scootaloo, who shrugged.
“Oprah, uh...overworked herself and is getting some well-deserved rest in her office.” Mandy explained. “So I’m taking over her duties.”
Murmurs of realization swept over the trio.
“Do you have any cases for us?” Sweetie asked.
Mandy grit her teeth, mentally cursing out both Rainbow and Twilight for not thinking that far ahead when they decided to appoint her the temporary Director. “Ah, no, but...why don’t you stay here, and I’ll be right back?”
A second later, she arrived at the interior of Oprah’s office in a bright rainbow-colored flash. The snores the Director were giving were almost as loud as Mandy’s own.
Jeez, is this what I snore like? Odd bless those ponies for putting up with me for so long.
Pressing the three buttons on her jacket, she turned herself invisible, and got down on all fours. From there, her fingers moved with all the dexterity of someone who treated a keyboard as a third hand, tapping the floor and allowing her to move across it in a way that only she could perform. She managed to head behind Oprah’s desk as well as her chair, where her screen laid.
And then she moved to the right, where a crudely-drawn image of two stick figures in a meadow sat on a wall, because she realized that the files weren’t in the spot below the screen like she thought.
Her eyes narrowed. Ah pickleferries...I gotta knock on it to turn iiiiii-HAAAAAAAAAAA-
A sharp sensation rocketed through her tail, and she swiveled her head around to see that Oprah’s chair had rolled on it, effectively trapping her. She held her breath, trying not to scream, and she attempted to grab the jutted indents that stuck out from the wall in order to reach the part of the wall she knew held the case forms.
It took a couple minutes of trying, and failing, to reach the wall before Mandy simply resorted to just using magic to quietly move Oprah’s chair and free herself.
She knocked twice on the wall.
It spun upwards to reveal a rack full of cases.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Mandy grabbed them (and the phone, she completely forgot about the phone) with her magic and teleported back down to the bullpen, where the Crusaders were still waiting.
“There ya are!” Apple Bloom said. “Ya got th’ cases?”
“Yep...” Mandy said, setting the files and the phone down on her desk and taking her tail in her hands. “She nearly woke up, too...and I nearly lost a quarter of my precious tail!”
“What’s so bad about waking Ms. O up?” Scootaloo asked.
“She can get more than a little...crabby when she gets woken up. It’s not a pretty sight to see.” Mandy’s eyes briefly shrunk to pinpricks, as though remembering a time when she accidentally woke Oprah up and got heavily reprimanded for it. “T-take my word for it.”
A chorus of “ohhh”s echoed among the trio.
“Oh, oh, Assistant!” Mandy waved, flagging down a girl with blonde hair who was dressed in a gray T-shirt and navy shorts that both had the Odd Squad seal imprinted on them. “Please let the other assistants know that I will be serving as Precinct 13579’s Director for the day.”
“Oh!” The girl nodded. “Yes, of course, Mandy. Will do.”
As the girl walked away, Apple Bloom tilted her head. “Must be nice t’ have agents at your beck and call all th’ time.”
“I wouldn’t know. Second-in-commands don’t have that privilege.”
All of a sudden, the phone rang. Mandy was quick to pick it up.
“Odd Squad Precinct 13579, how may I help you?” A pause. “Uh-huh...oh wow. You don’t say, that’s horrible!” She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. “Place of residence, ma’am? ...Got it, we’ll send agents right over.” Another pause. “Oh, no problem! Buh-bye now.”
Mandy placed the phone back on the receiver and waggled the piece of paper in front of the fillies. “Good news. Duty calls for you three. Some lady is having her home overrun by blobs. 131 South Street. Think you can handle it?”
“We’re on it! We’ll have it done in no time!” Apple Bloom rushed towards the steel double-doors. “C’mon girls, let’s go!”
As Sweetie and Scootaloo followed her, Mandy’s attention drifted towards the small pile of paperwork she had on her desk. “Ah...well, now that that’s done, maybe I can get started on my own paperwo-”
The phone rang again.
“You’ve gotta be stinkin’ kiddin’ me.”
A few hours had passed. Mandy felt her energy slipping away from her with every phone call she took. What was more, her voice was starting to grow quite raspy. And although she didn’t have access to a mirror at the moment, she was pretty sure her hair and tail were starting to make stray hairs curly as they jutted outwards.
“Odd Squad Precinct 13579...” She coughed. “How may I help you?” A pause. “Right away, sir. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair. “This is a horrible existence...”
Her magic took ahold of a glass of water that sat on her desk, which she chugged in only a few seconds. While it was hydrating, it didn’t relieve the stress and the irritation of her vocal cords. “All the liquids in the world can’t help my voice...” she uttered, setting the glass back down.
“Hey Mandy, I brought the...” Olive, entering the bullpen with a tall golden staff in hand, stopped and gazed at Mandy, her eyes widening as she saw just how much of a wreck her daughter was. Her hair and tail were both matted, and she could have sworn she saw bags beginning to form under the hybrid’s eyes. “What happened? You look like a wreck!”
“I’ve been wearing my voice thin with all these phone calls.” Mandy explained, turning to look at Olive. “Do you know how many I’ve answered so far? Two hundred. And a quarter of those were wrong numbers!”
Instinctively, Olive tucked the staff under her armpit and grasped Mandy by the shoulders. “You need to rest your voice. You’re going to develop laryngitis.”
“I can’t. I’m the only person who’s able to do this job.” Mandy took Olive’s hands off of her shoulders. “If Oprah finds out that I’ve delegated it to someone else-” A round of coughing interrupted her. “-she’ll never forgive me.”
Olive moved her gaze to Oprah’s office. “Don’t tell me she still hasn’t woken up?”
“No. She’s still up there.”
A groan. Olive ran a hand through her hair. “Okay, well, don’t tell me she went on another crazy juice binge...the last time she did that, she was out for a week.”
“A weeeeeeeek?” Mandy asked, the words morphing into another moan.
“I really wish I could help, but Otto and I have our own precinct to run.” Olive perked up for a moment, and pulled the staff out to show me. “Oh yeah! I brought the Oblivion Staff like I said I would. It was a pain finding it because our Odd Artifact Room is not the most organized. And...”
A mug with a bag of tea inside of it was placed in front of Mandy.
“Have some lemon honey tea. It should help your throat.” Olive then added for good measure, “I’ve got plenty of bags to spare.”
“Thanks, Mandy said, coughing a few times.
“Don’t overexert yourself, okay? At least try and get some sleep.”
Before Mandy could even finish coughing, Olive was already out the double-doors.
“Olive’s...bleh...right.” Mandy rubbed her head. “I can’t overexert myself. Every time I’ve pushed myself, it’s cost me big time and has only brought me more suffering. If I’m gonna do Oprah’s job...then I’m gonna do it right!”
A few minutes later, the tea was prepared, and Mandy took an eager sip of it, sighing as she sat back down in her chair.
“Hey, partner!”
Her head swiveled to her right, finding Pinkie trotting up to her covered in blob from head to toe. She blinked, remembering that she sent the Crusaders on a case involving blobs...did Pinkie somehow get involved? She wasn’t sure.
“You got a towel or something? I became all gunked up with blob on my way to a really difficult case! And you were there!” She grinned. “In spirit.”
A bright flash of rainbow colors marked the appearance of a fluffy white towel, which Pinkie caught in her hooves.
“Ooh, thanks!” As she began rubbing it on her face, she eyed the folders on Mandy’s desk. “Uh, what’s with the stack of cases?”
“I’m taking over Oprah’s job.”
Mandy’s voice went unnoticed by Pinkie as she gasped in excitement. “Don’t tell me. She’s promoting you?!”
“No, no. She’s...asleep. Prolly a sugar crash. So I’m taking over her job for her.”
“Yeah, been there!” Pinkie laughed, before her smile morphed into a frown. “But your voice sounds like it’s gonna give out! Are you doing okay?”
“Wish I could say yes, but...” Mandy fiddled with a case file. “I have to do this. It’s my job as the second-in-command. I’ll let Oprah sleep.” She grabbed a case file in her corona and levitated it towards Pinkie. “Anyway, I’ve got a case for you. Think you can handle it?”
“Sure! I just have to go and take a shower first, then I’ll be on my way!”
Mandy couldn’t help but crack a smile at her partner’s enthusiasm.
Likewise, said partner’s smile remained on her face.
The pair stared at each other for a minute.
Mandy tilted her head. “What?”
“The catchphrase!”
“The ca-” Mandy gave an eyeroll. “Ohhh, the catchphrase. Ha, right.” Putting on her determined face, she said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Go!!”
“Now ya got it!” Pinkie said, grabbing the case file and trotting away with a giggle, not caring that the folder was stuck to her chest.
As soon as the party pony left, though, Mandy’s happiness died down. She took another few sips of the tea. “I dunno if this is helping...”
The phone rang again.
Mandy groaned, and let her forehead collide with the table.
As Peaches arrived in the bullpen, she was quick to find Mandy resting her cheek in the palm of her hand. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t snoring or sleep-talking, which was unusual for her.
The catgirl took ahold of her cousin’s shoulder and lightly shook her. “Cuz?”
“Wh-huh?!” Mandy shot up with a start. “I-I’m awake, deeeeefinitely wasn’t sleeping, nope!” A bout of nervous laughter left her throat as she stared at the one who had woken her up. “Peach, where’dja ever get the notion I was sleepin’ on the job, huh?”
Peaches only stared as Mandy gave another round of nervous laughter. “What are you doing? And why do you sound a little ho-”
“Make the pun and I’ll smite you.”
“Fine.” Peaches’ eyes went half-lidded. “Why do you sound raspy?”
“I’ve been answering phone calls all da-” Coughing interrupted Mandy’s explanation. As her eyes darted around, she came to a realization that she had emptied her cup of tea a long while back, and hadn’t replaced it with something else.
“You sound like you’re getting sick.”
“I can’t rest, before you ask.” Mandy held up a hand. “Oprah’s been asleep since this afternoon, and I’ve taken over her job.”
“Hi, Mandy!”
The call of Twilight caused Mandy’s gaze to shift to Twilight, who was trotting up the stairs. “Hi. Where’re you going?”
“To remove the magic locks on the doors of Ms. O’s office. She has to be awake by now.”
Curiously, Mandy watched as Twilight undid the seal and threw open the doors. Her eyes widened as she saw the swaying form of Oprah standing right in the doorway.
“Whoa! M-Ms. O?”
“Have y’ ever thought...” A long pause. “...ever thought of what the world would look like...”
She poked Twilight in the cheek with her foot. The alicorn looked visibly uncomfortable.
“...if it were full...of fish?”
“Uh, what?”
Oprah slowly pointed up to the sky, and Twilight got a good look at her face. The first thing she noticed was that her eyes were glazed over and half-lidded. The second thing she noticed was the trail of drool that led from her mouth and went down her chin. “Ooooooh, look, a rainbow!” she said, laughing in a rather slurred manner as she tried grasping the air with her hands.
“Are you...sleepwalking?” Twilight tapped her chin. “No, that can’t be it. Your eyes would be closed! But...”
Her head moved towards the Medical Bay, which was completely dark with no trace of Dr. O or any other Odd Squad Doctors.
“Of course Dr. O’s out for the night...”
“Oh, hi, butterflyyyy!” Another bout of slurred laughter bubbled up and spilled out of Oprah as she continued to paw the air.
“All right, let’s get you home.” In one fell swoop, Twilight grabbed her boss and angled her onto her back. To the alicorn’s surprise, she wasn’t as heavy as she had thought she would be, and together, the pair made their way downstairs with little effort.
Peaches tilted her head. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight shrugged. “I thought she was sleepwalking, but-”
A loud gasp cut into the alicorn’s explanation, and two hands instantly grabbed ahold of Mandy’s cheeks, pulling her downwards. “Lookitchu, all pretty-witty!”
“Schtop, let go of the cheeksh, let go of the cheeksh!” Mandy’s arms waved frantically, her eyes widening when she felt pain shoot through her mouth. “Ah, ow, that’sh my jaw...”
“I’m gonna take you hooooooome!” Oprah said. She giggled again as her hands moved around Mandy’s cheeks, squishing them in any way she could.
Mandy’s gaze became fixated on Twilight, her eyes narrowed. “Twilight, if you casht any weird magic on her then sho help me odd...”
“N-no! I came across her and she was like this!”
Peaches blinked. “She might be hallucinating.”
“Halluchinating?” Mandy asked, giving a sharp yelp as Oprah grabbed ahold of her jaw again.
“Her eyes are open, and she seems awake, but her view of things is warped.” Peaches mused, watching as Oprah let go of Mandy’s cheeks.
Twilight perked up. “Aha, that’s it!” She tapped her chin. “But if that’s the case, why is she hallucinating?”
“She doesn’t usually hallucinate after a sugar binge...” Mandy, rubbing her sore cheeks, glanced up at the Medical Bay. “Where’s Dr. O?”
“He went home.”
Mandy heaved a sigh. “Well, if that’s the case, then there’s nothing we can do. Twilight, take her ho-” Her eyes widened as she felt a lump attached to her leg. Slowly, ever so slowly, her gaze drifted downwards, where she found Oprah gripping her leg tightly.
A shrill scream left her. “Owowow! Get her off of me! Get her off of my legs!” she cried, kicking her leg out and stumbling about. Oprah didn’t budge, and every attempt just served to bring Mandy more pain.
Twilight’s eyes widened, but it only took a couple seconds of staring before she took quick action, lighting up her horn and prying Oprah off of Mandy’s leg with ease. The hybrid fell backwards onto her rump, clutching her leg and gritting her teeth. She heard Twilight’s apology, but didn’t bother to respond.
“Are you okay, cuz?” Peaches asked, her tone concerned as she knelt down to inspect Mandy’s leg.
“I’m...fine...” Mandy winced. “But that weight...I dunno if my leg feels the same way...”
“I’ll go and take her home, don’t worry.” Twilight assured, before she and Oprah disappeared in a bright purple flash.
A round of coughing burst out of Mandy. “My voice...” she rasped, her voice far less prominent than it was before.
“That yelling must have strained it further. Try not to speak.” Unfortunately for Peaches, in spite of her advice, even she knew that Mandy was the “I will never shut up and you couldn’t pay me enough Jackalope Dollars and bits to make me shut up” type. Getting her to stay quiet was about as much of a success as telling a fly to stay still.
“But I have to speak!” Mandy protested. “If I don’t-”
Peaches waited until the hybrid was finished coughing before she spoke again. “Look. I’m not a part of Odd Squad, but I’ll handle your job for you. Just tell me what to do.” Seeing Mandy open her mouth, she raised a finger. “Ah- and write it on paper.”
Exhaling in defeat, Mandy grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from nowhere, and began scribbling on it. When she was done, she floated it in front of Peaches for her to read.
“Okay, so all I have to do is hand agents cases that I think are best suited for them, and take calls from clients. And...” Peaches slightly squinted. “I have assistants that are able to help, all I have to do is call them over. Right?”
“Yep.”
Peaches scoffed. “How hard can it be?” she said, giving an eyeroll. “Besides, I don’t think I’ll have to do it for very long. Oprah’s probably just fallen ill with a bad fever. A few days of rest will do the trick.”
Now it was Mandy’s turn to narrow her eyes. “You’d better be right.”
“Have you tried anything to help?”
“Yeah. Momma gave me some lemon honey tea to help soothe my sore throat.”
“Hmm...honey is good.” Peaches smiled. “But steam also helps. Try taking a shower and inhaling the steam.”
Mandy’s nose wrinkled. “Really?”
“Yeah!” Peaches said. “Skeptical you may be, but I read somewhere that it reduces swelling in your throat and helps with the pain. A humidifier can also help, too. Whatever that is.”
“Huh...” Mandy shrugged. “I’ll have to try that. Couldn’t hurt.”
Another bright pink flash marked the arrival of Twilight. Her mane and tail were slightly matted, but she was without Oprah.
“Hey, Twilight!” Peaches greeted. “How’s Oprah?”
“I put her to bed. She tried to grab me like I was a stuffed toy, but I managed to replace myself with an actual stuffed toy she had.”
“Never took her as a stuffed animal lover.” Mandy muttered, although her muttering to herself didn’t do much against the wave of coughing that rattled her lungs.
“Anyway, the point is that she’s fast asleep now.” Twilight turned towards the steel double-doors. “I’m going to go back to Equestria for a little bit and take a shower. And Mandy, you should really rest your voice.”
The hybrid groaned. “I know, stop reminding me.”
As Twilight left, Mandy got to her feet and looked down the right-side hallway. “Guess I’d better hop in the shower.”
“You want me to make you something?” Peaches offered. “I can whip up some hot soup for you, and some mac and cheese.”
“Sure, go for it.” Mandy said nonchalantly, before heading down the hallway. She only barely heard Peaches’ call of the food waiting for her while she was in the shower. She didn’t really feel all that hungry at the moment, anyway.
Mandy had tried, really tried, to inhale all the steam she could from her shower, at the cost of her skin feeling like it was about to get third-degree burns.
But no matter how hard she tried, the pain didn’t go away.
As she turned the water off and grabbed her towel, she heard a few knocks at the door.
“Occu-” Her cough this time was more of a hacking. “Occupied...”
“Mandy, darling? It’s Rarity.” came the silky voice on the other side. “I have a favor to ask of you, if you don’t mind?”
“Yeah, can you wait a few minutes? I just got outta the shower.” Mandy asked, her eyes widening as she realized that her voice had gotten even more hoarse.
“Oh! Why yes, of course! Take your time.”
As Mandy coughed again, she wrapped the towel around her body and made her way over to the sink, where she gazed into the mirror at her reflection. Ugh, I’m getting worse. That’s not good. I have presents to deliver to the group tonight! She dried off her body and shifted the towel to her hair. I should conserve my voice, but...it’s so hard to not talk...
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed by the time she got done in the bathroom and opened the door, and as such, she wasn’t sure whether to be impressed by Rarity still being outside or not surprised at all.
“Oh, there you are!” The unicorn got to her hooves. “My, you took so long in there I thought you drowned in the tub!”
As Rarity gave a chuckle, Mandy spat out a “Sorry” as her lungs once again rattled with coughing. “What’s your favor?”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Goodness, are you all right? Your voice sounds terrible!”
“I’ll be fine. What is it?”
“Um, yes, well, I was going to ask you to help me put on some last-minute touches for a dress I’m making, but it sounds like you’re getting sick! You really should-”
“Rest, yeah, I know, I’m getting there.” Mandy said. As much as she wanted to snap at Rarity for being the millionth-gazillionth agent to tell her to rest, she didn’t have the energy, and she knew that yelling at the unicorn ran a risk of her losing her voice entirely. So, she stuck with an irritated tone of voice instead. “Look, I’ll help you out another time with something else, okay?”
And with that, the hybrid left, old clothes in hand. Her stomach began to ache with hunger, which was a good thing since her next destination was the Breakroom.
“Steam didn’t help, huh?” Peaches shook her head. “Well, it was worth a shot. Just try to save your voice, okay? I know it’s probably hard because you talk so much.” She shunted the two bowls towards Mandy, one filled with chicken noodle soup and another filled with mac and cheese. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Mandy said, before taking a huge chunk of mac and cheese and shoving it into her mouth.
Weird. She’s not scarfing it down like she usually does. Something’s definitely up. But it isn’t like she’ll tell me if I ask her directly... Peaches frowned, and took a seat right across from Mandy.
“You planning on going out?”
Mandy looked up. “No. Why would I go out when I’m losing my voice?”
The hybrid’s “what, do you think I’m stupid?” tone went intentionally lost on Peaches. “Ah, you know, just for a fly. It really helps to clear your head.”
“I should probably stay here, to help you out. You’re not used to this.”
“Mm. Fair point.”
It was only a few minutes later that Mandy was done eating, and as Peaches took the empty dishes down to Olly, Mandy took a few sips of orange juice.
“Mandy.”
The hybrid performed something that was in between a spit and a complete inhaling of liquid without using those swallowing muscles. She peered ahead of her, and found Haruko standing a few ways from her, sparkles littering her ethereal body.
“Haruko-”
“Shhh. Do not speak. I will do the talking.” Haruko raised a paw, watching as Mandy began coughing and wiping her mouth on her napkin. “Your boss is in danger. Her symptoms far exceed that of a mere sugar binge. She has been struck down with disease. Enlist the aid of Dr. O, quickly, before it becomes too late!”
And just like that, the kitsune was gone, dashing down the left-side hallway that flanked the steel doors.
Mandy stared, her expression twisting into one of upset. “Haruko!! Why do you have to give me these stupid cryptic riddles?! You can’t just give it to me straight?!” More coughing ensued. “Great, now my voice has to suffer even more...” she muttered, taking a huge swig of her drink.
Her head rested on the table for a few moments, up until her brain was able to fully process what Haruko was saying.
“Oprah’s in danger?! With disease?!” Her words were shrill, nearing a screech, but she followed it up with a sigh. “And Dr. O’s out for the night!”
She felt like crying. Crying, however, would be reserved for when she inevitably lost her voice, which she was at least 90% sure she would do. The 10% she kept aside for generosity’s sake.
“Okay, okay, I can handle this.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’ll go see Momma and Otto! They’ll know what to do!”
Not five seconds later, and she was grasping an office-bound Olive by the shoulders and telling her about the situation.
“Is Dr. O in?”
“Not right now, he isn’t. He’s out collecting medical supplies.”
Mandy buried her hands in her face, her lungs rattling with a groan that edged into a whine.
“Where’s Oprah now?”
“She’s at home, sleeping.” Mandy blinked. “Twilight took her there. She started hallucinating.”
Olive’s eyes widened. “Hallucinating?”
“I’d go and handle it myself but I have to give presents to the gro-” Mandy stammered as she attempted to backtrack. “Er, I-I mean, I have something important to do tonight.”
Luckily for her, Olive didn’t seem to pick up on anything suspicious. “Well, whatever it is you have to do, try and conserve your voice. At this rate you’ll be voiceless by tomorrow morning.”
“I’m trying, but it’s so haaaaard!”
Olive went half-lidded. “Gee, can’t imagine why.”
It was then that Mandy perked up with a gasp. “Oh, I know! I can study Oprah and see how she sleeps. Whatever disease she has must be tied to her sleep. And I did solve that sleep-transfer-itis outbreak a little while back.”
“Worth a shot.” Olive smiled. “Why don’t you use the Dream-inator helmet?”
“Oh yeah, that helmet you used to peer into my dreams when you couldn’t wake me up!” Mandy nodded. “Ha, good idea! I’ll go get it.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks! I’m gonna need it.”
As Mandy disappeared in a bright multicolored flash of magic, Olive slumped over as she realized what, exactly, Mandy losing her voice entailed.
“Guess I’ll have to prepare for yet another round of Mandy Charades...”
Mandy hadn’t really been inside of Oprah’s house. Ever. Only once or twice, and the second time had gotten her forehead stamped and her entire body shoved straight through a mailbox just in time for the mailman to ask if this was a legitimate package or not.
So it surprised her when her teleportation took her to the living room couch, right where Oprah was sleeping, destroying forests with her trusty two mini-chainsaws she had in her throat.
“Ooh, perfect. Just gotta do this and I can deliver the presents!” Mandy said, making sure to keep her voice quiet. She took out the Dream-inator helmet and looked it over. “Hopefully this one won’t break like when Otto used it on me...”
Heaving a sigh, she gently placed it on Oprah’s head and grabbed the remote that came with it, pressing the ON button and watching as a flurry of still images from her dream came up. Each one of them had juice in some capacity or the other -- Oprah drinking juice, Oprah working in a juice factory, Oprah yelling at the grocery store manager about why they didn’t have a specific brand of juice.
“Wow. This is...weird.” Mandy gave a halfhearted shrug. “But kinda expected that she’d dream about juice.”
The snores stopped, replaced by a soft moan. The pictures went away, and snow was the only thing Mandy could see. That was soon replaced by video of Oprah that kept glitching every moment or two.
“Stop! Get away from me!” were the words the hybrid could eventually make out.
“Ooh, that’s not good. Taking notes...” A few bursts of magic brought forth a notepad and pen, where Mandy furiously began scribbling as she watched the dream commence.
A dark shadow loomed over Oprah, bearing yellow teeth and limbs made of straws. Its body was sort of cylindrical, with a top as a hat and a wide bottom for its hips, in addition to its slimmed-down sides. Mandy deduced that it was in the shape of a juice bottle, a pure 96 fluid-ounce one that was as durable as a human child bombing a master hill.
“What do you want?!” Oprah cried out, no longer glitchy but her voice still crispy as a result of the video quality. “Back off! Go away!”
“Nightmares...” Mandy squinted. “Maybe they’re a common symptom?”
Her ears caught the sound of rustling, and by the time she looked up, the slumbering Director was already on her feet and moving at quite a brisk speed.
“Sleepwalking?! That can’t be good...”
Oprah began heading for the door.
“Oprah, don’t go and fight the juice monster, it’s not re- ah, why am I even bothering.”
A hand grabbed the doorknob, and the door flung open. Mandy was quick to follow right behind her.
“If only I could walk in her dreams!”
“I’ll fight you with my own bare fists, juice monster!” Oprah shouted into the dead of night, raising her fist and shaking it angrily like Mandy had seen old people do when she came onto their lawns sometimes.
The hybrid read over her notes. “As long as the threat of that juice monster is there, she’ll keep on-” A nasty cough made her ball up her hand into a fist and begin pounding her chest. “-fighting it.” She rubbed her head. “Twilight, I could really use some help from your ‘Princess Luna’ right about now...maybe she could at least help stop Oprah from wandering o-”
It had only taken a second of looking away for Oprah to go wandering off.
“Oprah!!” The cry came as more of a screech as she glanced around for any sign of the Director. “Oh pickleferries pickleferries pickleferries...where did she go?! C’mon, she’s gotta be somewhere...”
Even an aerial search turned up nothing.
“Stupid stealth teleportation ability...and stupid Odd Squad uniform for being so dark!!” she cursed, landing back on her feet and beginning to walk as she continued to look. Sure, Oprah was fast, but she hadn’t been going that fast. And sure, she had the ability to appear and disappear at random the second someone looked away, but there was no way she could have used that in her sleep.
...That was a lie, because Mandy had done the same thing once or twice before in her sleep.
As she launched into a coughing fit again, her eyes opened just a bit to spot the darkened, but still very much pink, form of her partner making her way up to her.
“Hey there, partner!” Pinkie greeted with a wave. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“I would, but Oprah’s gone MIA and she’s sleepwalking somewhere in the town!”
Pinkie tilted her head and pointed to her left. “Isn’t she right over there?”
Mandy’s head slowly swiveled, and she could see Oprah just across the street, resting her cheek against the display window of a restaurant and still snoring away. Her jaw dropped, another round of coughing being the only thing that cut through her shock and exasperation.
“I’ll take her back to Headquarters for you!”
“No, no need...I’ve got it.” Another few coughs. Mandy’s lungs felt about ready to collapse. What didn’t help was that she was starting to feel a little thirsty. “I’ve almost worn my voice entirely thin...”
“You need to rest, Mandy!” Pinkie cried out, nothing but worry in her voice. “Otherwise you’ll never get better!”
“Yeah, I know, but I’ve been trying to find out what’s wrong with Oprah.” A singular cough, this time. “Sleepwalking, weird nightmares...”
Pinkie’s ears folded down, as though she knew that she couldn’t convince Mandy no matter how hard she tried. “Just don’t push yourself, okay? Take it easy!” she advised, before beginning to walk past her partner. “I’ll see you back at HQ!”
“Got it. Have fun!”
Mandy was quick to soar past Pinkie and head right for Oprah. Whatever nightmare she had been having seemed to be rendered nonexistent now -- and perhaps that was a good thing, because Mandy was starting to feel tired. She grabbed ahold of Oprah and gave a relieved sigh. “C’mon, you, let’s go home. Pretty sure I can do this...”
Within seconds, the pair were back at Oprah’s house. And within five minutes, Mandy was able to find her bedroom and tuck her into bed safe and sound.
“Oh, thank goodness.” the hybrid said, stumbling out of the bedroom and beginning to make her way downstairs. “You didn’t sleepwalk as far as I thought, boss, but...I...”
Her eyes began to droop. However, her brain was not so keen on letting her rest tonight. Perhaps it had been affected and altered by the whole Clementine debacle too, though she wasn’t about to prove it right now.
“What am I doing?!” she yelped. “Nngh, falling asleep here...if Oprah finds out I fell asleep in her house, she’s not gonna be happy!”
Using the last bit of her magic reserves before it was locked away in the vault for the night, Mandy teleported back to her room. There, at the foot of her bed, lay a massive pile of gifts, all wrapped individually with its own special gift wrap.
“Ahhh...” She began swaying on her feet. “Maybe now I can go and...and...”
Her vision was growing blurry. All of a sudden, she wished she had taken Oprah’s reading glasses before teleporting back.
“Wow, everything’zz zzoooooo blurryyy...”
Her eardrums registered a thump, although she wasn’t sure where it came from nor what had happened.
“Can’t believe...I’m rezzizzting zzleep...” A couple weak coughs rattled about in her throat. Her eyes closed fully. Her willpower, as it pertained to staying awake, had been sapped. “But...I can’t...fight it...”
Another thump was the last thing she heard before her view went entirely black.
“It sounds like Precinct 13579’s Director has sleep-itis.”
Olive blinked. She leaned forward in her chair so much that her head was about ready to bonk the desk the same way cats headbutted their owners. “Sleep-itis?”
“Yes. It’s still in the beginning stages, but it can be curbed before it grows more severe.” Dr. O explained. “I’ll give the Dr. O of 13579 a call. He should be able to resolve this issue.”
“There’s not going to be an outbreak, is there?”
“I’m not sure. An outbreak doesn’t usually happen in the beginning stages of sleep-itis.” Dr. O exhaled. “Did Mandy say if anyone else has any similar symptoms?”
Olive shook her head. “No, it’s just Oprah.”
Dr. O gave a low hum as he closed his eyes, trying to process the situation. “Okay. Well, either way, I’ll contact the other Dr. O and inform him of what’s happening. He can treat her first thing tomorrow.” He smiled. “In the meantime, keep yourself safe and healthy, Ms. O. I know how much you hang out with Oprah.”
“Of course. Will do.”
“Good.” He turned his head. “What’s next?!” came the bellow from his mouth before he walked out the doors and went back to the Medical Bay.
Olive flopped back in her chair, grabbing her bottled water and taking a mighty swig of it.
“I can’t believe it...Oprah has sleep-itis!” She gave a ragged sigh that shook her entire chest. “And I thought Mandy sleepwalking all across the town was bad...this might be even worse!”
The sound of the Bedroom door opening jerked Twilight away from her book as she looked up.
“Howdy there, Twilight!” Applejack greeted, a basket of apples perched on her back. “Brought some fresh apples from th’ Orchard Room if ya want one.”
“Oh! Yes, please.”
Applejack set the basket down gently and grabbed an apple from it. She gently tossed it to Twilight, who caught it in her corona gracefully and took a bite, relishing in its taste.
“I heard Mandy was sick, too. Runnin’ some kind of fever?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” Twilight waved her hoof. “She just wore her voice thin.”
“Wore her voice thin?” Applejack chuckled. “Well, she does talk a lot. Nothin’ too surprisin’ there, I’d reckon.”
“She’s been taking over for Ms. O all day, answering phone calls and doing paperwork.” Twilight sighed before taking another bite of her apple. “I may be the Princess of Friendship, but I couldn’t imagine being an Odd Squad Director. It must be so stressful.”
“Runnin’ an entire country’s just a tad different than runnin’ a worldwide organization, wouldn’t ya say?”
“...Yeah...”
A loud raspy uluation cut into the mares’ conversation. Applejack turned around towards the doorway, while Twilight attempted to crane her neck in order to get a good view of what was happening outside of the room.
“What’s that snoring?” the alicorn asked.
“Hold on...I recognize that snore. Sounds drier than usual, though.”
As the sound came closer and closer, Twilight hopped off of the bed and peered out the door. Sure enough, the stumbling form of Mandy was coming towards her and Applejack, snoring up a storm and carrying an entire slew of gifts.
Twilight gasped. “It’s Mandy! And she’s sleepwalking again!” She blinked. “Why does she have gifts? Who are they for?”
“I don’t know...” Applejack stood in front of her friend. “But don’t you remember what happened th’ last time Mandy went sleepwalkin’? She could destroy the town again!”
“Good point, Applejack. Let’s follow her!”
Soon, they were following Mandy through town as she carried the presents. Both of them had decided to go along with the flow of what she was doing, even in spite of their many questions. The streets of Toronto they walked on were almost dead for the most part, save for the occasional stray cat or the occasional weird shout that came from a nearby house. Eventually, they turned onto a residential street.
“Knight Avenue?” Applejack read as she passed the sign. “Why’s she goin’ here?”
It was the third house down on the left that Mandy stopped at, a small two-story house made of brick. Her head was drooped as she continued to snore, but she otherwise stayed upright.
“Applejack, look at this sign.” Twilight waved a hoof over as she hovered to read the sign that hung on the front door. “’Secret Organization for the Handling of All Loony Criminals.’”
Applejack tilted her head as she trotted over to her. “Are they...like us?”
“They might just be. Who knows.” Twilight said. “I’ve never heard of them.”
Both mares backed up suddenly as Mandy lowered her body to the ground, taking the presents with her. They landed on the ground in a rather graceful manner, almost like she was conscious and was meticulously making sure no gifts got damaged. It was a rather weird sight, even for Applejack and Twilight, and they watched with intrigue but also with concern.
“Huh. She’s droppin’ th’ gifts on the doorstep, but the lights are out.”
“Something odd is definitely going on.”
Once Mandy was satisfied with her gift placement, she stood up, a bout of gibberish sleep-talking leaving her before she began to walk again, back the way she came.
“Where is she going now?” Twilight asked.
“I dunno, but we’d better follow her before she gets lost! C’mon!”
With that, the two mares trotted after their friend, sharing concern and worry for just what and why she was doing what she was doing. None of them bothered to question the how, because with Mandy, there usually was no how.
“Well, we’re back in Headquarters.”
“That was weird.” Twilight said, never keeping her eyes off of the stumbling, the snoring and the sleep-talking Mandy. “Is Mandy going out every night to drop gifts off to this...organization in her sleep?”
“I say you and Rainbow Dash take a look at it first thing tomorrow.” Applejack suggested. “I’ll talk t’ Ms. O if she wakes up.”
“Sounds good.”
The trio eventually arrived at Mandy’s room. By this point, the hybrid had not only ceased her snoring and her sleep-talking, she looked about ready to collapse -- and that she did, as she flopped onto the covers face-first and finally fell still. Applejack and Twilight opted to hang in the doorway, though both of them kept a wary hoof in front of them in case they needed to rush in.
“Finally. ‘Bout time she gets back into bed.” Applejack heaved an exhale.
“But she isn’t snoring now.” Twilight shook her head. “She probably lost her voice.”
“Reckon she did.” Applejack concurred, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “C’mon, Twi, we should get some rest too. Tomorrow’s gonna be a heck of a busy day.”
“Absolutely.”
Applejack went ahead, but Twilight couldn’t help fixating her gaze on Mandy, which lingered for a minute before she closed the door and began making the journey back to the Bedroom.
A discomforted moan left Mandy as she yawned and rubbed her eyes. She became dimly aware of a sensation in her legs, a dull ache of sorts that rocketed to her hips.
“Why do my legs feel like they’ve been sho-”
Her eyes widened. She gingerly touched her fingers to her throat.
She had been expecting this, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be surprised if it happened. Plus her brain was still trying to get out of bed and had only gotten so far as letting a foot weakly dangle off of it.
Oh no...I lost my voice!
Slowly, she became aware of where she was.
Not only that, but I fell asleep! Ohh, please let the gifts still be there...
She slid over to the foot of her bed and peered around the footboard. Dread began to fill her chest, and she squeezed her eyes shut, eye boogers be darned.
Well, if they’re not here...maybe I delivered them. Somehow. She shook her head and opened her eyes again. But my voice! I need to get my voice back!
...Somehow.
As she got dressed and went through her routine, she began devising all sorts of ways to get her voice back. They ranged from the simply mundane (more tea, or all of the tea?) to the crazy-extreme (get surgery to replace the vocal cords and worry about the bill later). Her mind began swirling with ideas, and only stopped when she entered the bullpen with a loose tie. Her eyes widened as she saw Olive sitting at her desk, talking with Applejack. Otto, of course, was beside her, listening all the while.
“And that’s what happened.”
“So let me get this straight...” Olive said. “Mandy went sleepwalking to the house of some organization that deals with odd criminals? And she dropped gifts off for them?”
Applejack nodded. “Twilight and I followed her all th’ way there.”
Mandy’s jaw dropped. I did...what?! her thoughts screamed. So that’s how the gifts went missing...I delivered them in my sleep!
“I can’t say I’ve heard of this organization before. Have you, Otto?”
“I haven’t, either. But if Twilight and Rainbow Dash are up for checking it out, then I’m sure Mandy will let them.”
“Hopefully.”
Reluctantly, Mandy began to approach the trio, wringing her hands together.
“Oh, howdy there, Mandy!” Applejack greeted. “Feelin’ any better?”
Mandy sadly shook her head.
“Oh no.” Olive stood up. “You didn’t actually lose your voice, did you?”
An equally-sad head nod.
“Isn’t she taking over for Oprah?” Otto asked. “How’s she gonna do it if she can’t speak?”
“That...is a good question...” Olive glanced at Oprah’s office. “Not to mention that Oprah still hasn’t woken up yet...”
A pause. Olive rubbed her forehead, trying to come up with a course of action. Naturally, it didn’t take her any longer than a minute.
“Otto, you’ll have to fly solo at our office. I’ll handle things here.”
“W-what? But we’re just as busy at our own precinct!”
“You’ve handled things solo before. I have faith in you.” Olive stood up, giving Otto a few shoulder pats. “If neither Mandy nor Oprah can do the job, then...I don’t have a choice.”
“But won’t ya wear your voice thin too?”
Olive gave an amused chuckle. “Applejack. I’m an Odd Squad Director. I’ve gone months without losing my voice. And even if it starts to, it’s nothing a little spare honey tea won’t fix.”
The relief that Mandy’s responsibility had been passed on to a willing participant temporarily shoved to the side any notion of anyone finding out about who she was giving gifts to and why she was giving them such things. She smiled and lunged for Olive, pulling her into a hug.
“Ah! W-well, you don’t have to thank me!” Olive said, before pushing Mandy off of her and gripping her shoulders. “But Mandy, in the meantime, I want you to rest up. Don’t speak, and don’t strain your voice. I’ll handle things here, I promise. Okay?”
Mandy nodded. Absolutely! You can do this!
“Good. Now, back to bed with you!” Olive spun Mandy around and began pushing her towards the hallway she came out of. “I’ll have Dr. O examine your throat and bring you some tea later.”
Mandy wasn’t sure whether she was going to go back to sleep or not -- after all, she had more gifts to make -- but she figured some more sleep would do her some good. It wouldn’t take her that long to think of, create, and wrap more gifts, anyway, especially if they were handmade.
“Mandy, wait!”
The hybrid stopped and turned.
“Before you go, grant Twilight and Rainbow Dash permission to check out the organization Applejack was telling us about. You know, the one you sleepwalked to last night to deliver gifts?”
Her heart plummeted downwards and landed somewhere in her bowels.
Oh pickleferries, she knows! I-I can’t have her becoming suspicious! Otherwise they’ll have my head! Literally!
“We’ll discuss whatever’s going on between you and them when you get better.” Olive said. “But for now, do you grant them permission to go and check the organization out?”
Knowing that a head-shake would immediately tip Olive off, Mandy gave a resigned nod instead, hoping no one would notice the sweat beads beginning to form on her head.
“All right. Applejack, go find Twilight and Rainbow Dash and give them their latest case, please.”
“You got it!”
Mandy watched as the farmpony darted down the same hallway she had been heading towards. A sort of relief began to fill her chest as she realized that at least she wouldn’t have to hear what was going on -- at least, if Olive or Otto didn’t make her (metaphorically) spill the beans here.
“Hey, I have an idea!” Otto perked up. “You don’t have to wait ‘til Mandy gets better if you want to know what’s going on between her and that organization.”
Olive raised an eyebrow. “I don’t?”
“Just have her write it on paper if you want the information so badly. She may have lost her voice, but her writing skills are intact!”
Mandy physically began to deflate. She ground her teeth together as her way of communicating a growl but without the assistance of her voice to actually provide one. Otto, you idiot, how dare you! Treachery! Mutiny! Uh...traitorism!
...No, wait, that’s not right...
“Not too bad of an idea, partner.” Olive said, grabbing a scrap piece of paper and a pencil that sat off to the side of the desk. For a moment, Mandy asked herself why she even had that scrap paper, but then realized Olive would have just conjured one up anyway. “I want you to explain exactly what your relationship is with this ‘Secret Organization for the Handling of All Loony Criminals’, Mandy. Why do you keep bringing them gifts, and why are you so adamant about doing so? Never mind the fact that you’ve been sleepwalking again!”
Mandy shook her head.
“C’mon, tell us!”
Another head-shake.
“Mandy, please! We need to know what’s going on, on both sides!”
No head-shake, but the Director did get a pivot and then a rather flippant tail-twitching.
“She really doesn’t want to give the information up.”
“Guess I can’t force her. Not even my strongest interrogation tactics will work on her.” Which was true -- Olive had tried everything in that stupid thick rulebook and absolutely nothing worked on the girl. Many a 20-minute timespan was wasted over the years, and she regretted every single one of them. “Fine. You’ll be let off the hook this time, Mandy. But when you’re better, then we’ll talk. And don’t fake your laryngitis either -- because I’ll know.”
Mandy narrowed her eyes. I’ll never give you what you want, Momma. She almost wanted to mouth that part, but decided to keep it glued shut and began making her way towards the Bedroom.
I can’t let anyone know what’s going on. Otherwise, the organization is going to kill me. If I can just appease them with gifts for a little while longer...just a little while longer...then things’ll be okay.
She took off her jacket and shoes, and got into bed once more, her eyes slowly closing as one final thought stuck in her mind.
But for now, there’s nothing I can do but sleep...and think of new gifts to give to them tonight.
Squinting, Rainbow knocked on the door thrice with her hoof.
“Looks like an average house.” she noted. “Why is there an organization here?”
Twilight shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
The door opened, and the two mares backed up to get a good look at who they were facing. Standing in front of them was a girl, about somewhere in her mid-teens, wearing a black hooded robe. Two blonde waves of hair cascaded down her face, and her green eyes held nothing but malice. There were also two small bumps on the top of her head that Twilight noted, but didn’t think too much about -- perhaps she had some kind of disease or disorder. It wasn’t her place to comment on it.
“Hello.” the alicorn greeted. “My name is Agent Twilight Sparkle, and this is Agent Rainbow Dash, my partner.” Rainbow gave a short wave of her hoof. “We’re with Odd Squad. Can we come in?”
The girl put on a smile. “Of course. Right this way.”
Slowly, both of them made their way inside. It looked to be a fully-furnished residential place, with pictures hung up on the walls, a couch and chair or two sprawled about, and dishes placed in the drying rack in the kitchen.
“Now, allow us to introduce ourselves.” the girl stated, making her way over to three other individuals that wore the same robes and ruining the mares’ chances at a further investigation for now. “My name is Aozora, and I am the head of the Secret Organization for the Handling of All Loony Criminals. SOHALC, for short. These are my confidantes.”
She pointed to a short girl with long black hair that nearly went down to her rump, giving a friendly cat smile. “Yuki.”
Then, she pointed to a taller girl who appeared to have short hair, as neither mare could see any hair through the hood she wore. The frown she wore was much like Mandy’s own, in the shape of an upside-down V. “Zifia.”
Finally, Aozora pointed to a short boy who was shooting daggers at the new visitors. “And Kenji.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged a look of nervousness, not expecting the unisonant voices of the four individuals to sound so creepy. “Er...likewise.”
“So what do you do, exactly?” Rainbow asked.
“It’s quite self-explanatory. We arrest and capture loony criminals. Right now, we have our eye on one in particular.”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Aozora. “And just who would that be?”
Aozora turned around. “Kenji? Show them.”
Kenji nodded and made his way over to the coffee table, grabbing two tattered and worn papers that were sitting on it. He approached the two mares and held the first paper out without a word, allowing them to see exactly what it was.
“This is Peaches. She is a catgirl hailing from a town known as Vallea and is wanted by King Ashero, the town’s ruler, for failing to find who razed it.” Kenji then held the second paper out. “And that’s Agent Mandy. She is an agent of an organization known as ‘Odd Squad’ who is a close friend of Peaches. Wanted as well for being an accomplice.”
“You two are from ‘Odd Squad’, you said?” Aozora asked.
“Um...yes! Yes we are.” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh but we assure you, we’re not friends with Mandy. Not at all.”
“Uh, you su-” A swift kick to the ribs with an outstretched purple hoof halted Rainbow’s speech, and she coughed for a few moments before speaking again. “I mean, yeah, Twi’s right. We’re more...enemies than friends.”
Aozora merely blinked. “I see. In that case...”
A pause. Both mares felt sweat beads begin to form on their foreheads.
“There is one way that we are testing the loyalty of Mandy in particular.” She glanced to the side. “Yuki?”
“Oh! Yes. We, ah, struck a deal with her...”
”All right then, Agent Mandy.” Aozora grinned. “How about a deal?”
Mandy narrowed her eyes. “What kind of a deal?”
“We will let you go...if you bring gifts to us on the daily in return.”
“Gifts?” Mandy blinked. “What kind of gifts?”
A soft hum rattled in Aozora’s throat as she contemplated the hybrid’s question. “Any will do. After all...they will all be for the sake of rebuilding our home.” She looked up and made eye contact. “So what do you say? Will you comply?”
“Like I would ever agree to that.” Mandy spat in response. “You may be willing to let me go, but what about Peaches?”
“Out of the question.”
“What?”
“We are an organization dedicated to capturing insane criminals. That includes Peaches, whether you like it or not.” Aozora raised a finger. “Since you are biologically a human, we are willing to make an exception for you.”
Mandy huffed. “So what happens if I don’t comply?”
Aozora ran a claw under her chin. “Then we will not hesitate to kill you. And after that, we may just go after the ones you love.” she murmured, her voice almost a quiet purr. “Including Peaches.”
“We suggest you don’t cross us.” Kenji chimed in. “Our organization is very well-renowned for its members’ fighting prowess.”
“We wouldn’t want this pretty face to get hurt, would we?” Yuki cooed, clutching Mandy’s cheeks and moving them around, much to the hybrid’s chagrin.
A few minutes passed before Mandy cried out, “Fine! I’ll do it!”
“Very good.” Aozora smiled. “Now, go and get started immediately. We expect gifts on our doorstep by sunrise.”
A look of despair crossed Mandy’s face briefly, but she ultimately complied, beginning to head out the door.
“Oh! And don’t forget.”
Mandy looked back at Aozora.
“This is between us, and us alone. You are not to tell another single soul about our deal.”
Mandy blinked, but said nothing. Instead, she headed out the door and slammed it closed.
“It was really easy to get her to comply.” Yuki smiled. “Since then, she’s been upholding her end of the deal.”
“If this keeps up, we may just ask her to join us.”
Twilight and Rainbow exchanged nervous glances. Even though they knew Mandy would refuse, they didn’t know what tricks SOHALC had up their sleeves.
“Join you?” Twilight tilted her head. “But I thought you were a pretty large organization. Or is this it?”
“This is it, for now. But we plan on expanding soon.”
“I see.” Twilight scanned Aozora’s features, trying to find any sort of crack in her facade that would reveal her true intentions. But the girl maintained a good mask, and the alicorn knew that she would have to take another course of option. “May we stop by another time, for a more casual chat?”
“Why do you wanna do that?” Rainbow asked.
“I’m interested in learning more about the members of this organization.”
Silence. Twilight didn’t expand on her words any further.
“Why of course.” Aozora grinned again. “We’re more than thankful that you wish to learn so much more about us and what we do here. Feel free to stop by anytime.”
“Thank you.” Twilight began heading for the door. “Let’s go, partner.”
“Uh...all right.” Rainbow followed. “Thanks for letting us in!”
“It’s not a problem. Enjoy your journey home.”
Outside, both girls gave deep exhales as they made their way to the nearest tube entrance.
“So what do we do now?”
“What we do best.” Twilight said. “Find out more about SOHALC and take ‘em down!”
“All right, I’m game! Let’s go!”
“Now, if we just drop the contents of the pill into the tea here, and stir...”
Mandy, eyes half-lidded and slightly dull, watched as Dr. O stirred the mixture in the cup. The clinking of the spoon gave her a slight headache, which only served to add to her misery.
“There!” Dr. O took out the spoon and handed Mandy the cup. “Drink up.”
“And you’re sure this is going to work, Dr. O?” Peaches asked, fiddling with her hands nervously.
Dr. O nodded. “This is a special pill designed to speed up the time it takes for someone to recover from laryngitis, if they take care of themselves. If Mandy doesn’t speak and drinks plenty of fluids, she should get better as soon as tomorrow or the next day.”
A moan tried to eke its way out of Mandy, but came out as more of a harsh wheeze instead.
“Ohhh, so that’s why you’re putting it into lemon honey tea.” Peaches realized.
“Yes, exactly.” Dr. O glanced at Mandy. “Now go on, Mandy. Drink.”
Next to “eat”, “drink” was one of Mandy’s favorite words. But she didn’t really feel like getting excited. She stared at the brown mixture in her cup. Ugh, doesn’t look like the tea I’m used to...but if I wanna get better... Steeling herself, she lifted the cup to her lips and began sipping -- small sips, to ease her taste buds into the foreign sensation.
“And what about Oprah?” Peaches asked Dr. O.
“It’s just as I feared.” Dr. O’s lips pursed together. “She has sleep-itis. She’s going to need a few days to recover.”
“Isn’t that contagious?”
“Yes. But she’s in quarantine right now, so she should be all right.”
“Thank cattails.”
With a clink, Mandy set the empty mug on her nightstand, smacking her lips as she began to feel the mixture swirl around in her gut. She didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Now, Mandy, go ahead and take a good rest.” Dr. O smiled. “Let the tea work its magic. Make sure to drink plenty of other fluids, like water.”
Mandy nodded.
“I’ll be back in a little bit to check on you. Get better soon, okay?”
With that, Peaches and Mandy watched him leave the latter’s room.
“I should go and help Olive out.” Peaches made for the door, now. “Quite a shame she took over your duties...I kind of wanted to take a crack at being an Odd Squad Director myself.” She sighed. “Oh well, another time.”
As soon as she left the room, Mandy flopped back down onto her bed in relief and buried herself under the covers.
Well, at least she’s not suspicious. If Peaches found out, she’d be all over me about it! I just have to hope that my “keeping things hidden” thingie doesn’t spread to anyone else...
Twilight and Rainbow stepped through the steel double-doors into the bullpen, making their way to a furiously-working Olive.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash, Twilight!” the girl greeted. “Welcome back. I actually have a case for you right here if you-”
“Forget about that!” Rainbow snapped. “Is Ms. O better yet?”
“No. She’s in quarantine right now recovering from sleep-itis. She won’t be back in action for another few days. As of now, I’m the functioning Director of this precinct.” Olive explained. “What’s going on?”
“Do you have a couple minutes to spare?”
Olive looked at Twilight and nodded. “Sure. Pull up a couple chairs.”
Twilight and Rainbow recounted every detail of what went down with SOHALC -- their mission, their members, what they were doing and why.
“So that’s why Mandy’s been making gifts.” Olive mused. “She’s trying to avoid being killed by this...organization.”
She bit her lip. Her expression contorted, going from understanding, to confusion, and finally to anger, which she punctuated with a slam of her fist on the desk as she shot daggers at the two mares, who yelped in surprise.
“Are you two aware that this ‘organization’ is made up of catpeople from Vallea?” she spat. “Catpeople like Orino, who want to abduct Peaches and Mandy and bring them back to their home?”
Rainbow blinked. “Now that you say that, it does make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.” Twilight said. “They had on cloaks the entire time, which were no doubt used to hide their feline features. And them going after Peaches and Mandy is an easy tip-off...ohh, why didn’t we figure that out sooner? We could have stopped them!”
“Well, we don’t have a choice in the matter. We have to drive them out of town. And if they’re anything like Orino, they aren’t gonna go down without a fight.” Olive declared matter-of-factly.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “But Ms. O and Mandy are both out of commission!”
“Heh, well...I can’t believe I’m saying this...” Olive shook her head. “But who needs ‘em? We can handle SOHALC on our own.”
“Three to four?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “I dunno, Olive, I think we’re preeeetty outnumbered.”
“All right. How about eight to four?”
“Eight?”
Olive listed off the names on her fingers as she spoke. “You, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Peaches, and me. That way, they’ll be the ones who are outnumbered.”
This brightened Rainbow’s spirits. “Aww yeah! Let’s go kick some feline butt!”
“Hold on, Rainbow!” Twilight raised a hoof. “Let’s at least gather the others up first and let them know what’s happening. Especially Peaches.”
“You mean me?”
Everyone’s heads began to whirl around, looking for the source of the familiar voice. Within seconds, it revealed itself to be Peaches, who began to shapeshift back into her human form.
“How...long have you been there?” Olive asked.
“We catpeople are very quiet. I was listening while cleaning myself under the table.” Peaches brushed some dust off of her dress. “Anyway, I heard the whole thing. Of course I’m in.” She heaved a sigh. “I can’t believe King Ashero’s sending more of Vallea’s catpeople to do his bidding...even though they hurt me so much, they don’t deserve a fate as cruel as this.”
“Twilight, Rainbow, gather up the others.” Olive ordered. “I’ll give Otto a call and let him know what’s going on.”
Twilight tilted her head. “He’s not coming?”
“Our precinct’s just as busy with work as this one is. Someone has to run it. And we don’t have a second-in-command.”
“All right.” Twilight turned. “Come on, Rainbow, let’s split up. I’ll search Odd Squad, you search Toronto and Equestria.”
“Got it!”
Within minutes, the two mares had gathered up the rest of their friends, and once the plan was relayed, everyone was ready to head off to Knight Avenue to fight even more of King Ashero’s willing cronies.
“So what exactly is the plan here?”
“Just follow my lead and stay on your toes. Er, hooves.” Olive said. “We don’t know what’s coming. Peaches, stay outside until I tell you to come in.”
“Right.”
As Peaches darted around the house, changed into her cat form, and dove under a side window, Twilight took initiative of knocking on the door. The door opened, and Aozora peered out, gazing at the group with intrigue.
“Ah, more Odd Squad members.” Her voice was a soft purr. “Please, do come in.”
Most everyone spent their time looking at the interior. Some eyeballed the other three members, who were ominously standing in the corner, eyeballing them with just as much intensity. Olive, in particular, made sure to shoot glares at the other three members, making sure they knew she meant business.
“Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. I see you’ve brought friends.”
“Yes. Allow me to introduce everyone here.” Twilight pointed at everyone in turn, “This is Olive, the Director of the Odd Squad precinct in Mississauga. And these are Agents Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, our coworkers at Precinct 13579.”
“Hm. Nice to meet you all.” Aozora said, her eyes half-lidded as though not bothering to give any of the other agents so much as the time of day. But it didn’t last for long, and she straightened up again. “My name is Aozora, leader of the Secret Organization for the Handling of All Loony Criminals, or SOHALC for short. These...” She waved a hand towards the other three members. “...are my confidantes. Zifia, Yuki and Kenji.”
Everyone, bar Twilight and Rainbow, exchanged greetings.
“So what brings you all here?” Aozora inquired.
“Well, I heard that you were looking for a certain catgirl.” Olive explained. “Normally, I wouldn’t get involved in things like this, but...to tell you the truth, I hate her just as much as you do.”
“You don’t say?”
“Which is why I’ve taken the liberty of capturing her for you.” Olive turned her head towards the door. “Peaches?”
A pause.
And then, Peaches made herself known, stepping through the doorway and shapeshifting back to her human form.
Claws came out. Hisses were shared.
“It’s you.” Aozora spat.
“What are you doing?” Peaches spat in equal return. “Why has King Ashero sent you four here to get me and Mandy instead of doing it himself?”
“Because he feels that we can do the job better than that pathetic Orino ever could.” Aozora smirked. “And we’ll prove it.”
Peaches was intrigued. “Oh? And how’s that?”
“With a battle, of course.” Aozora chuckled. “I think Orino at least had some valuable wisdom to provide before his...untimely execution. We won’t be able to bring you and Mandy back alive. I’m quite sure King Ashero won’t mind if we bring some seriously-injured criminals to him.”
Aozora’s bold attitude didn’t sway Peaches any -- on the contrary, it just made her more excited. “Fine. Then it’s on.”
“Hm. Not the wisest choice. You should know as well as anyone that the people of Vallea are well-renowned for their fighting prowess. And we are no exception.”
“Of course I do, I’m from there!”
“But you are an outcast.” Aozora taunted. “What skill do you have in the realm of battle?”
“Fight me and I’ll show you.”
Olive and the others opted to hang back and let the preamble to the catfight play out, though in spite of the plan going well, they couldn’t help but worry for their friend.
Aozora’s expression contorted in such a way that it looked like she wanted to bust out laughing, before she reverted back to her collected demeanor. “All right then. Let’s take it to the street.”
“Sure. On one condition.”
Aozora tilted her head.
“If I win, me and my- them...” Peaches cleared her throat. “They...will have the honor of running you four out of town, for good. If I lose, then you can take me and Mandy back with you.”
“You got yourself a deal. Not like you’ll win, anyway.” Aozora said, ignoring the startled expressions of the other three SOHALC members. Instead, she beckoned them forth. “Zifia, Kenji, Yuki. Come. You will be spectators.”
Before Peaches could follow them outside, she was yanked backwards by Olive, who whispered something in her ear.
“Remember the plan. Stick to it, and you can’t fail.”
“Got it.”
Luckily for everyone, the street was pretty much dead. Olive knew this area in general was pretty much dead. She had never been sure of why, but regardless, it made for good circumstances for the fight that would ensue.
“Now.” Peaches began stretching. “Are we doing this in human form or in cat form? Perhaps...a little bit of both?”
“Human form.” Aozora cracked her knuckles. “It makes for a more interesting catfight.”
“All right. Bring it on.”
Both girls unsheathed their claws. Aozora licked her lips.
“With pleasure.”
They charged at each other, leaping into the air in a fantastic show of first moves. From by the door, the rest of SOHALC, along with Olive and the others, all watched nervously, waiting for their chance to partake in the plan that would hopefully foil Vallea’s latest attempt at capturing Peaches and Mandy.