For the most part, Odd Squad was not a place where someone could get bored.
Scratch that, it wasn't a place where someone reasonable could get bored. Because there had been people, both agents and clients, who had gotten bored in Odd Squad before, and the only difference was that one group often had a shift in alliance that came with the boredom.
There were multitudes of rooms, oddities, and activities for agents of all kinds to enjoy, both in Headquarters and aboveground. For any agent to be bored with it all would have to at least take an incredible feat -- at the very least, something that would make them come into the very silly mentality that Odd Squad was flawed and it needed to be fixed, and then they would turn evil and begin destroying the organization before going on to destroy the world. At this point, it was a tired old cliche, but luckily, at the same time, it wasn't a frequent cliche. One could hardly call it a cliche at all -- more of a schtick.
Olive and Otto hardly ever found themselves bored. Each one of them kept themselves occupied with work, whether that was filling out paperwork, making calls, or doing simple lunch runs. Olive had been at the organization longer than Otto, but for all of her many "I work with idiots and I help idiots" moments, she had never once gotten bored. Otto had helped her to expand her world beyond sitting behind a desk, showing her all kinds of fun Odd Squad stuff she could occupy her time with. He, on the other hand, had long since drudged his way out of the "newbie gets excited at anything and everything" stage of his employment, but he was still a fun-seeker, and he would often frequent rooms that had absolutely nothing to do with work if he found himself with a free slot in his schedule.
Still, there were days when they did find themselves bored. Hence the keywords "hardly ever". And for Otto, it just so happened to be one of those "blah days" where he wanted to do nothing but sit and idly flip through the latest issue of The Shmumber Times newspaper.
"Hey, partner! Back from my break." Olive greeted as she walked into her shared office. She gave a sigh of relief. "I definitely needed it, too."
"Uh-huh."
"Agent Oluwa and Agent Ostin are on cleaning duty this week. You mind giving them a reminder later?"
"Uh-huh."
Olive held up a mirror with one hand and used a wipe to clean her face with the other. "Oh, and the Big O called. She wants a progress report on the precinct. I've gotten my half done, so do you mind doing the other half when you get a chance?"
"Uh-huh."
It was this third "uh-huh" that caused Olive to finally take notice. "All right, something's up with you. Did you fall out of bed this morning or something?"
"No." Otto replied, flipping a page. Realizing a simple "no" wouldn't suffice, especially not with his partner, he sighed. "It's just that I'm bored."
"Bored?"
"Every day it's the same thing. I wake up, I do my morning routine, I go to work, I come home, I do my evening routine and I go to bed." Otto scoffed. "I feel like this is what adults go through every day!"
"But we're kids."
"Yes, exactly!" Otto rolled over onto his stomach to look at his partner. "I just want a hobby, something I can do aside from work. But nothing I've found interests me."
"Let me see that." Olive made her way over and snatched the newspaper from his grasp, beginning to flip through the pages. "Did you get to the classifieds in here?"
"Why would I want to look there?" Otto asked, sitting up.
"The Shmumber Times recently put in a 'Hobbies and Interests' section, where people and ponies can post listings of meetups and various other events."
Otto's expression was one of intrigue as he watched his partner turn page after page until she got to the very back.
"Oh, here! A Slowest Turtle Contest!"
The expression turned sour right quick. Otto's eyes squinted. "Are you mocking me?"
"No, I'm helping you. There's a difference." Olive answered with a small smile on her face before she read off the listings. "Let's see, bathroom repair club...patio furniture sale meetup...library clubs..." She perked up. "Oh! If you don't like turtles, then how about snails? There's a listing here. 'The Hottest New Thing in Canada'."
"Really?" Otto outstretched a hand. "Let me see." As Olive handed him the newspaper, his eyes widened as he skimmed the listing below.
Canada Association of Snail Racing
Named "The Hottest New Thing in Canada" by Shmumbers Illustrated
Come Join In the Fun!
For details, please email ReesMercedes@shmumlook.com
"Wow. That actually..." Otto smiled. "...sounds like fun!"
"Personally it's not for me, but if you're interested, you should definitely do it!" Olive encouraged. "It would be a great break for you."
"Sign me up! I'm gonna do some research!"
"Ahem?"
Otto looked at his partner, wearing an unamused expression.
"As...soon as I get my work done." he backtracked, chuckling nervously as he got up from the couch and began making his way to the desk.
Olive simply rolled her eyes. "Oh, Otto...never change."
On Otto's break, he had decided to go to one of the places he had never really frequented.
The Odd Squad Library was vast and expansive. It held all kinds of books, perhaps more than any kind of bookstore would. He knew that it was the place Twilight frequented the most when she wasn't busy with work both in Odd Squad and in Equestria, but he himself was not much of a reader. Sure, he read the occasional magazine, newspaper, or paperwork form, but that was as far as it went. Reading was more Olive's thing, for however much she tried to convince him that "reading is knowledge" or whatever tidbit of wisdom she had to share whenever the topic was brought up.
As he sat down and began to type into the search engine on one of the computers, a meow broke his concentration, and he looked up.
"Huh?" His head swiveled to the right. "Oh, hey, Peaches."
The feline shapeshifted back into her more humanoid form and glanced at the computer screen. "What're you doing?"
"I'm looking up info on snail racing!"
Peaches blinked. "On...what racing?"
"Snail racing!" Otto jabbed a finger at the screen, which was showing a list of search results from the term "snail racing". He grinned. "Look at this. People from all over the world compete in these tournaments to see whose snail makes it to the finish line first! It's so thrilling!"
Peaches took her time looking through the results. "Must take an awfully long time. You'd have to have some serious patience to partake in such a slow...uh..." She pinched her mouth inwards. "Dare I call it a sport?"
"If it isn't a sport, it should be, and it should be in the Olympics!"
Peaches, not fully knowing what the Olympics were -- the best she had in terms of knowledge was a comparison to it in regards to the annual O Games -- simply gave a hesitant "Uh-huh" and decided that perhaps she should leave Otto be. "Well, good luck on your research, I suppose."
"You don't want to take part?" Otto asked, with equal parts dejection and disappointment.
"Honestly...it doesn't sound like my thing. I don't see the appeal in it."
Otto gasped dramatically. "Blasphemy!"
"But, uh, if you want to do it, then, uh...more power to you. I'm not gonna stop you." Peaches turned to leave. "Have fun."
As she left, Otto gave an indignant huff. "Who does she think she is, dissing snail racing like that?" he said aloud, to no one in particular but his own self. A second later, he gave a shrug. "Oh well, it's her loss!"
With that, and a bout of giddy laughter, the Director got right back to it, staring at the screen, at thousands of search results and articles and personal testaments to snail racing until he felt like they were going to melt clear off of his face.
Snail racing really was one hell of a drug.
"Good morning, Otto!" came the cheerful greeting, as Olive walked into the office. However, much to her surprise, Otto didn't seem to be anywhere in the room.
She set her bags down on the desk. "He's not here yet...probably still stuck on that snail racing business."
"Um, excuse me, Ms. O?"
Olive looked up to find a sandy-haired boy clad in an Investigation uniform holding a small manila folder. She smiled. "Yes? How can I help you?"
"Um, is Mr. O here yet?" The agent looked around the room. "He told me that I needed to give this file to him..."
"No, he's not." Olive shook her head. "But I'm more than happy to give it to him when he arrives."
The agent eagerly handed her the file. "Thank you, Ms. O!" were his final words before he exited the room in a speed-walk, as though he were being chased by a rogue creature.
Olive placed the file on her desk and flopped down in the chair, wincing as it creaked before she gave a sigh. Without Otto around, she had to admit that the office seemed rather boring now. The massive amount of work she had to do didn't help. Still, she forced herself to push through it, figuring that Otto would arrive in just a few minutes with some food, some drive, and lots of chatter about his new hobby.
The clock ticked and ticked. Time went by, as it did. Olive was half-sure she had fallen asleep at some point during the waiting period, but when she next looked at the clock, two hours had passed.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." She stood up. "Assistant?"
An employee with long blonde hair who was clad in the usual Director's assistant fare -- grey T-shirt and navy shorts both emblazoned with the Odd Squad seal, purple headband and wristbands, and dark purple shoes -- suddenly emerged and landed on Olive's right. "Yes, Ms. O?"
"Please go and find Mr. O. He's at least two hours late and-"
In that moment, Otto chose to hurry up the stairs and stumble into the office. His tie was almost completely loose, his jacket had come undone, and his hair and face were both dripping with sweat that Olive caught for only a second as he leaned over and panted. "Sorry...I...was late!"
"Where were you? I think we're far past being 'late!'" Olive asked, her tone inching closer to a snap.
"There was a snail racing competition in Brampton that I couldn't miss!" Otto lifted his head up. "And I couldn't sleep last night so I stayed up late catching snails! Look!"
Olive only caught a brief glimpse of the bags that sat under Otto's eyes, because her eyes were more focused on what he was holding out to her.
A small snail, with a shell that had markings on it reminiscent of cooked spaghetti that curled around into a swirl.
Olive's face contorted into one of slight disgust. She knew of kids who did...things with bugs. Some played with them. Some killed them for giggles. And others downright ate them. For however tomboyish she was, she was not a kid who played with bugs. She was the kind of kid to kill a spider out of sheer instinct if it so much as crawled across the living room floor.
Snails, while not bugs, were no different. She saw a slug on the trash can that sat on the side of her house, that sucker was getting hosed down to hell and back. And here was her partner, holding one in plain view of her, as it waved its little antennae around like-
"I call him Shirley Temple!"
That seemed to snap her out of her disgusted and fearful state. She stared at her partner for a few moments before she took a deep breath and spoke.
"Otto. Shirley Temple was a woman from the 1900s. A child actress. How did you think that was a good name for a snail?"
Otto bit his lip. "Well...how about just Shirley, then?"
A groan.
"...Shir-shir?"
"Look, that's besides the point." Olive furiously waved her hand about. "You showed up two hours late to work. I was about to send one of our assistants to find you!"
Otto glanced at the assistant, who simply gave a sheepish wave and moved off to do other things. The Director knew he had to smooth things over with Olive, and luckily, this was his first offense. "Sorry...b-but look, it'll never happen again, okay? I promise."
Olive narrowed her eyes. Kept her gaze fixated on him as though expecting him to make a sudden move. Ultimately, though, she tilted her head. "Pinkie Promise?"
Otto sighed. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." he chanted, going through the motions.
"Good. And don't even think about breaking it, because I will tell Pinkie Pie if you do."
"Fine, fine."
Otto made his way over to the desk, where he pulled out a container that he used to put Shirley Temple in. He covered it with a lid and decided to set it off to the far end of his side for now.
As he dropped his own bags, Olive placed her hand on a giant stack of papers beside her. "Now, we need these filed to the Big O by the end of the day. And you still haven't filled out your half of the precinct report, by the way."
"Right, I'll get started on all that right now!"
Olive gave a head nod, then took the first small stack of papers off of the pile and began looking through them.
"Right...now..."
Olive's gaze shifted over to Otto, staring at Shirley Temple like it was his own child. Which, if one asked her, was really unnerving to think about.
"Otto, put Shirley away or I'm going to take him and put him in the hands of Ocean."
Otto jerked the snail away with a look of horror on his face. "No, don't do that! Anything but that! I nearly dug to the Earth's core just to get that snail!"
Olive didn't bother to question whether that claim was true -- she knew it wasn't. "Then stop looking at her-" She blinked and shook her head. "Stop looking at him, and get to work!"
Flopping in his chair, Otto gave a sad sigh as he prompted for Olive to put a stack of papers into his hand for him to review. Even though she had told him to stop, he couldn't resist sneaking quick peeks at Shirley every once in a while, just to make sure he was okay. After all, Shirley was a pet, and pets had to be cared for all the time, work be darned.
Olive woke up the next morning fairly early. Or at least a half-hour earlier than her alarm, anyway. With her body feeling like lead, she made her way to the kitchen and made herself some cereal as well as a cup of iced tea -- her own equivalent to the nasty coffee adults drink. It took her a few minutes to find the remote, but she eventually turned the TV on to the news.
"A fire broke out on Westley Street this morning, injuring two people and taking the life of a bystander. Witnesses say that this fire was a case of arson, but firefighters suspect otherwise."
The muffled sound of dirt shuffling overrode the sound of both the news anchor and Olive munching on cereal, but she ignored it as she continued to watch TV.
"In other news, police say they are looking for a missing child. Kayla Robertson, 14 years of age, is described as having black hair, blue eyes-"
Olive's brows furrowed. "That's terrible!"
The shuffling sound grew louder, and that was all the incentive she needed. She stood up and began heading for the front door, her body slowly but surely losing its lead-like feeling. As she opened the door, her head swiveled to the right to find-
"Otto!"
The boy had wasted absolutely no time. Already clad in his Odd Squad Director uniform and armed with a large shovel, he had a pretty sizeable hole in front of him, overturning some of Olive's flowers that lined the skirtings of her porch in the process.
As his name was called, his eyes widened and his head whirled around to stare at Olive like he had just been caught doing something bad. A bout of nervous laughter tumbled from his lips, and he gave a small wave. "Hi?"
Olive's eyes drifted to the flowers. One of the organs twitched. "What are you doing?!" she screamed, being careful not to be too loud as to not wake up the entire neighborhood.
Otto jabbed a finger behind him. "Your neighbor told me your yard has the best snails!"
Ohhhh, and of course it was Carrie! Sweet, innocent Carrie, trying to tell a young boy to go find snails in my yard... Olive began to grind her teeth together. I'm gonna have to go around and have a nice talk with that one.
Still, she pushed the thoughts aside for now. "And what happened to Shirley?" she asked of Otto.
"I, uh..." Otto avoided eye contact. "...may or may not have lost him..."
The exhale that was pushed through Olive's nostrils threatened to take some blood and perhaps a brain cell or two with it on the way out. It eased into a low growl. "You're lucky you didn't wake me up or you'd have a couple knocked-out teeth right about now." she said, through gritted teeth that threatened to crack if she applied any more pressure to them.
A simple "S-sorry!" was all Otto could offer in return.
"Besides that, you can't just go and dig up my yard without asking!"
"Why not? We're partners!"
"Because it is my yard at my house! And I say you can't dig here!" yelled Olive, not caring anymore whether she woke up the neighbors or not. "Why can't you go and dig up your own yard for snails?!"
"I did that already. It doesn't have any snails."
Olive tried to form coherent words. She really did. But ultimately, nothing came. Her face was as red as a tomato, and stray hairs began popping out of place. Eventually, all she could muster up was another toothy growl.
"Okay, okay, I get the hint, I'll leave!" Otto said, grabbing his shovel and booking it clear across the lawn and down the rest of Cypress Way.
"AND THE NEXT TIME YOU COME AROUND MY HOUSE THIS EARLY, I'M GETTING A RESTRAINING ORDER!!" Olive's hair stuck out on the last five words of her threat, much like Mandy's did when she was scared. It flopped back down as she took heavy breaths and sulked her way back inside, slamming the door with enough force that threatened to shake the house down to its very foundation.
A roll of the dice in an intense game of Swamps N' Gators brought the total to 11.
"Yes! I win!" Oprah threw her arms up and cheered, her assistant sulking in defeat as she moved her boss's game piece to the shared start and finish line.
The sound of a bang, and then whirring that was winding down, caused the mood in the air to sour, especially when Oprah was able to see who it was that had just arrived to her office.
"Whoa. Hi to you too." she said, in response to an Olive who wore an ugly grimace on her face and bags under her eyes. She turned back to her assistant. "Assistant, if you could..."
"Oh! Of course, Ms. O." The assistant gathered up the board game and all the pieces that went with it, quickly stuffing it into its box and taking the whole thing with her.
Oprah turned her attention back to Olive as she wore a sly smile. "Someone's a little cranky today!"
"Save it or I'll shove it into your skull, Oprah."
Oprah blinked a few times in surprise. She wasn't sure how to react -- either "I don't believe I've ever been spoken to that way before by my own ex-agent", or "oh, now, come on, teasing you is so much fun". She ultimately chose the latter.
"Oooh, getting bold, are we?" She put a hand to her cheek. "What is this, your hidden hatred of me from when you were an Investigation agent? Honestly, Olive."
Her old boss's tutting managed to calm Olive down a little. "Look. I'm just looking for advice."
"Mm. A little Director-to-Director advice, huh?" Oprah wheeled her chair back to its proper spot behind her desk, grabbing her apple-flavored juice box on the way and giving it a few sips. "Okay, I'm listening. What's troubling you?"
"A couple days ago, Otto came to my house in the early morning. He decided to dig up my yard to look for snails."
"Snails? Why snails?"
"He's participating in..." Olive grit her teeth. It took every ounce of strength for her to utter out the words she had come to despise in less than a week. "...snail racing."
"Oh. That 'hot new sport' everyone's talking about?" Oprah shrugged and put her feet up onto the desk. "Honestly, I don't understand the appeal." She took another sip of juice. "It's so boring and slow. That's why I took up kart racing."
"You do kart racing? Since when?"
Oprah's eyes widened. They moved side to side, almost as if she was hiding something. "That's...not important." she dismissed. "Continue."
Olive ignored her old boss's shiftiness. "I tried to tell him that digging up my yard without permission isn't okay, but he refused to listen!" Olive began to massage her forehead. "And you know what he did last night?"
"What?"
The memory hit Olive like a battering ram, and hurt like one too. "Just as I was about to go to sleep, he knocked on my door and let himself in. And then I spent a good portion of the night hanging out with him and listening to him yammer on and on and on about snail racing! All because he lost his second snail! His second!"
Oprah nodded. "So you barely got any sleep."
"Worse." Olive's eyes closed. "I didn't get any."
"Ouch."
"He just won't shut up about snail racing! He's been neglecting his work too, it's driving me insane!"
Oprah adopted a worried expression. "Olive, if you two keep at it like this, then your partnership will be severed. Which won't mean good things for your precinct." she explained. "Have you tried just...talking things out with him? Peacefully?"
"And how is that going to help?"
"Otto may not be...the sharpest tool in the shed." Oprah rolled her eyes. "But he's more than smart enough to know when his actions are hurting his friends. If you just take the time to have an open and honest heart-to-heart talk with him-"
"Like he'll listen?" Olive interrupted, her voice nearly morphing into manic laughter. "He hasn't listened to me at all these past few days, so what makes you think he's gonna start now?"
Oprah threw up both of her hands. "Look. My advice is on the table and up for grabs. Take it or leave it. It's your choice." A few seconds later, she gasped as she got hit with a bolt of realization. "Oh, or even better: why not talk to Twilight? She's the Princess of Friendship, after all. Maybe she can help out with your little...friendship dispute."
"Being partners with someone and being friends are two different things. They're mutually exclusive."
"But they don't have to be." Oprah said. "I'd say you and Otto are both partners and friends."
"Well, he's getting dangerously close to dropping our friendship."
Oprah shrugged. "As I said, my advice is on the table and up for grabs. I don't know what else to say."
"You can say 'yes' to my question of 'can I have a juice box'."
It was a rather stupid question for someone to ask, in Oprah's eyes. She wasn't so keen on giving juice boxes away to just any agent, especially when they held the potential to become akin to alcohol worming about in agents' bodies, leading to a potential lifetime of addiction and all the misery (or in her case, glory) that came with it. But Olive was an exception -- she knew the Director could withstand juice. For odd's sake, the girl withstood white grape juice, and Oprah had been confused over why that was a thing for years.
"Fine. Yes." she responded, moving to take a juice box down from her rotating wall full of them and handing it to Olive. The girl eagerly took it, jabbed the straw in it, and began chugging the thing, stopping when the box was halfway gone.
Oprah looked at the clock. "Is it your break time yet? Why don't you go and take a nap? If it can cure mostly everything that ails Mandy, surely it can help you."
Olive, too, looked at the clock. "Actually it is my break time. And as much as I'd love to go for a nap..." She sighed. "With Otto's negligence, it's not like I can be on break for long."
"Well, if all else fails, don't forget that you have the Big O to use as a last resort."
Olive's eyes widened. She hadn't even considered going to the Big O for assistance on the matter. "True..."
"Now go and get some sleep." Oprah waved her off. "You look like you're about to keel over and faceplant onto the floor."
"Yeah, that's accurate." Olive sighed and began making her way towards the glass double-doors, sipping the rest of her juice. "Bye, Oprah. And thanks."
"Bye! Good luck! You'll need it."
Olive weakly laughed. "Thanks. I will."
With that, she exited the room, her body once again getting that heavy lead feeling that meant it was giving out and she needed to slow her roll.
Rounding the corner and heading for the bullpen, Twilight and Rarity chatted.
Twilight gave a chuckle. "Aw, Rarity, you didn't need to do that."
"I didn't?"
"No! I could have handled Jamie Jam myself. But I do appreciate your quick thinking."
A dainty laugh came out of Rarity. "Oh, why thank you! It was the least I could do for a dear friend."
Twilight's warm smile threatened to extend far past her face.
"Now, what do you say we go and get some lunch?" Rarity inquired. "I hear there's a new fancy restaurant in town that is simply magnifique!"
"Sure, why not?"
Just as the pair were about to head for the doors, however, Olive slowly began to approach them. Her body was slumped over, her hair looked messy and knotted, and her eyes looked just a tad glassy.
"Oh, hi, Olive."
While Twilight was concerned about her friend's overall appearance, Rarity managed to one-up her in that field. "Darling, what happened to you? You look simply awful!"
Olive heaved a sigh. "It's Otto. He took up snail racing recently and he's been getting on my nerves about it."
Rarity, having hardly an idea of what snail racing was, tilted her head before glancing at Twilight, who responded aptly. "That new sport everyone's talking about?"
"I did hear someone talking about it the other day..." Rarity said. "But why would Otto be interested in something as boring as that? I've always thought of him as an agent who would love adventure, something high-stakes and full of energy!"
Olive had to admit, the unicorn was...not exactly right on the money. In all the years she had known Otto, he went on adventures, but more often than not, he preferred the relaxing way of doing activities. If Olive had decided to play volleyball on the beach, Otto was relaxing in a beach chair listening to some Soundcheck tunes. If she had decided to run a 4k, he was in the stands cheering her on.
So perhaps it was this relaxing way of doing things that got him into snail racing. Aside from her introducing the thing to him in the first place, of course.
"Look, have you guys seen Mandy?" she asked, diverting the subject. "I wanted to ask if I could borrow her room for a bit. To nap in."
"You just missed her." Twilight said. "She went out on a case with Pinkie Pie a couple minutes ago."
"Of course she did."
"Er, why not sleep in the Bedroom?" Rarity asked.
"I'd like at least a little peace and quiet. The Bedroom's not exactly the quietest space in the precinct. And I don't know if Fluttershy, Applejack or Rainbow Dash are sleeping in there or not."
Truth be told, Rarity didn't know where her friends were, either. "Mm. Fair point."
"Well, Rarity and I are going out to lunch." Twilight smiled. "Try and get some good rest, at least."
"Uh-huh. I'll try."
Olive watched them go, feeling her eyes begin to slightly droop. She rubbed her head as she continued on the path to Mandy's room.
"The last thing I want is to see any more people toda- wah!"
A startled meow filled her eardrums, and she took a couple steps back as a black cat did the same.
"S-sorry, Olive!" the feline spoke. "I wasn't looking where I was going and-"
"No, no...you're fine, Peaches."
"You doing okay?" Peaches tilted her head. "You look like you haven't gotten any sleep in a week!"
"You're almost right on the money with that." Olive sighed. "Otto, snail racing, blah-dee-blah."
"Ohhh...the snail racing thing. He's still on that, isn't he?" Peaches rolled her eyes. "I always thought he'd be near food, myself. Maybe as a judge in a cooking competition or something. But as they say around here, 'different strokes for different folks'".
Olive adopted a bored but irritated expression. "Yeah okay." she briskly said, going around Peaches and heading down the hallway once again.
"Make sure to get some sleep!" she heard the catgirl's voice call. "It's a great cure-all!"
"I know, shut up!" came the angry response, before she muttered a slew of curse words under her breath that would have probably earned her some bitter-tasting juice in the mouth. Or a bar of soap. She wasn't sure which one, and she didn't care which one.
Luckily for her, Mandy's door was left just slightly ajar. As she pushed her way in, she examined the room, finding it to be spick and span with not a trace of Mandy in sight. The second her eyes laid on the hybrid's cloud bed, her body began to feel relaxed, and she stumbled on over to it. Her brain had given her enough leniency to remove her jacket and shoes before she collapsed with a happy sigh, giving snores that could rival Mandy's in terms of sheer volume.
As the automatic doors opened, Mandy and Pinkie stumbled into the bullpen. Both of them were covered in splotches of sand and dirt from head to toe, their clothes beyond a state of "this has a stain on it" and going right into "I ran this through the floor of an inner-city subway and picked up at least 40 different diseases".
Mandy's ears flapped, and she let out a sneeze, blowing out some sand from her nose. "Ugh...I've still got sand everywhere!" she whined. "Why's it hafta be coarse and rough and irritating?!"
"You think you have it bad?" Pinkie wiggled her back leg about. "I've got so much sand in my mane and tail they're gonna become sandbags!"
"The Sandman may be an idiot, but he can sure pack a punch!"
"Agreed!"
Both mare and child attempted to shake their bodies out in an effort to free some of the sand. Key word being "some", because that's about all they were able to get off of themselves, and even then, it wasn't much.
"You want the shower first?" Mandy asked.
"Nah, you can have it." Pinkie wagged her tail a little. "I gotta head back to Sugarcube Corner, so I'll just take a really quick shower there!"
"Ohthankodd." Mandy expelled in one breath.
"But, uh, when you get a chance..." Pinkie sat down and began maneuvering her way out of her suit, which was a rather easy feat for a pony like her who was able to give a big "buck you" to reality and its many rules. "...do you mind washing my suit?"
Mandy took the suit in her corona. "Yeah, I was about to do the same thing with mine..." she remarked, taking her own jacket and tie off. "Sure, I'll get these washed up!"
"Thanks! See you later, partner!" called Pinkie, as she made her way back through the doors at a brisk trot.
Heaving a sigh, Mandy began making her way to the Laundromat Room with the suits in tow. However, before she could get there, an obstacle stood in her way -- a large obstacle by the name of Peaches.
"Cuz!" Peaches greeted, before her smile turned into a frown. "Wow, you look...messy. Although when are you not?"
Mandy gasped dramatically and recoiled her body. "How dare you!"
"No, no, I didn't mean it as an insult!" Peaches said, throwing her hands up defensively. "You work hard, and, well, it's typical you'd get messy."
Mandy snickered. "Nah, I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'! I'm a child, we're always messy."
"Oh." Peaches blinked. "Well, anyway, if you don't have another case, you feel like taking a look in the next town over? For the culprit?"
"Sure! I just need to take a shower first."
Peaches scanned Mandy up and down, noticing the many sand splatters that littered her body. A disinterested look crossed her face. "You humans and your showers and baths." She waved a hand. "Why don't you just lick yourself clean like I do? It'd save a lot of time! And water!"
Mandy opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, grabbing ahold of it and yanking it towards Peaches to show her. "Hath you theen thith tongue? We got tathte budth, not lil' barbth!" And then, back in the tongue went. "Besides, water's amazing! I love water!" She began to bounce up and down. "Oh, I could write an entire essay on how much I love water!"
"Uh-huh." Peaches raised an amused eyebrow. "Well, I'll be waiting. Take your time."
"'Kay!"
Mandy began to head for the Laundromat Room again as fast as her feet would take her, because she wanted to get the dirty clothes she had in the washer and then feel the nice warmth of the shower as it seeped into her muscles and bones. As she was walking, her badge phone began to ring, and she unclipped it from her suit before opening it and shaking the sand out of it.
"Mandy speaking, how can I help ya?!"
"Hey, Mandy? It's Otto."
"Heya! What's going on?"
"Have you seen Olive, by any chance? Her break is almost up and I haven't heard from her." Otto said. "And I really have to go on break!"
"Unfortunately no! I just got back from a case with Pinkie. I've been outta the office for a majority of the day!"
Otto gave a sigh, choosing to ignore the bragging tone in Mandy's last sentence. "I figured." he muttered. "Well, do you think you can look for her? Like, right now?"
Mandy opened the door to the Laundromat Room. "Why? What's the emergency?" She gasped. "Blobs invasion? Villain attack? The hundred-degree weather going on in Cali?! Oh, no, wait, that's not so odd..."
A pause. "Uh, no. Bigger than that. There's a snail racing competition that I have to get to, or else I'll be disqualified! It's one of several that will get me into the province tournament listings!"
Mandy's brow furrowed. She had no idea what Otto was talking about, but she supposed that if he was happy, then that was okay. "Uh, okay, well...I'll try, but I'm not makin' any guarantees!" she said, throwing the clothes into one of the washers and using her magic to fill up the detergent drawer with fabric softener and...well, detergent. "I don't even know if she's in Headquarters right now!"
"Please, find her! I'm begging you!"
For a moment, Mandy honestly contemplated charging Otto a fee for finding his missing partner -- something small, like $5. But it was more of a joke idea than anything else, and so she scrapped it. "Okay, okay, calm down! I'll see what I can do!"
"Thank you so much, Mandy, you're a lifesaver!" Otto said. A quick "Oop, gotta go, bye!" made him hang up the phone.
Which, in turn, left Mandy listening to a dial tone, confused as to what just went down.
She hung up her own phone, clipping it back onto her undershirt. "Well that was sudden." she said, turning on the washer. "Maybe it's a sign that I'll be able to take my shower in peace!"
With that glimmer of hope in mind, she made her way out of the room, humming a little ditty to herself and ignoring the stares of other agents who were also washing and drying their clothes.
An hour later, and Mandy emerged from the bathroom fully dressed in a new suit. "That's more like it!" she purred, making her way down the hallways to her room. "Now I just have to find Peaches and-"
A muffled but very blaring scream reached her eardrums.
The hybrid screamed back, her hair and tail bushing up.
Silence. Mandy could feel saliva building up inside her mouth, and she swallowed it.
"Wh-wh-what was that?!" came the nervous cry, as she reached behind her and pulled out her hammer. "It came from my room!"
"Mandy, what's going on? Why did you scream?"
The way the hybrid whirled around to face her cousin looked all too much like she had done something bad and was going to get reprimanded for it. The hammer that got stretched out towards Peaches the second she uttered a breath spoke the contrary.
Mandy's body, including her hair and tail, relaxed when she saw Peaches approach her, but not by much. "S-s-something's in there!" she whispered loudly, gripping her cousin's arm as she pointed to her room with her hand.
Peaches tilted her head. "In that room?"
"Yeah! I heard a muffled scream!"
Peaches began to feel pain in her arm from Mandy gripping it so tightly. A further look at the hybrid made her realize that her knees were knocking together, her hair and tail were frazzled, and her entire body was shivering. A soft groan left the catgirl's lungs. "Well don't be so chicken. Open the door!"
"I-I don't wanna! I'm too sca-a-aaaaaared!"
"Just use your magic and open it!"
Mandy swallowed another lump. Summoning up what very little courage she had left, she lit up her horn, let her magic grasp the doorknob, and allowed the door to slowly open.
The first thing she saw was a dark figure sitting in her bed.
"Who's there?"
With a yelp, Mandy scrambled backwards on all fours until her rump made contact with the wall. Her hammer fell from her grasp, clattering to the floor as she shivered harder, her eyes shrunk to pinpricks.
Peaches rubbed her aching head. "You scaredy-cat, just go in!"
"It's a shadow person!"
"...A shadow what?"
"A shadow person!" Mandy put her hands on her head. "They're gonna get me!"
Peaches rolled her eyes. "Cuz, you're being irrational!" she snapped. "Calm down!"
"How can I calm down when there's a shadow person right the-"
By the time Mandy broke eye contact from Peaches to look at the room again, the dark figure was gone. An uneasy feeling settled in her chest as more stray hairs came out of place.
She suddenly became aware of a presence beside her. Something so horrifying that it extended beyond any comprehension, something so dark and twisted that it extended beyond any meaning of oddness. It was not oddness. It was something...supernatural.
The presence opened its mouth, baring tooth after tooth, and spoke only a single word on a single puff of air.
"Boo."
Mandy jerked her upper body upwards and screamed with such intensity that Peaches could see her tongue sticking out in a wavy shape like in cartoons. The gale-force sound broke glass item after every glass item -- computer screens, doors, flasks and beakers, fish tanks, and of course, Oprah's own two-week-old coffee table that she had just replaced, much to her chagrin. The scream seemed to scare the presence, who quickly made itself get lost, and also startled Peaches, who pinned her cat ears to her skull to protect her eardrums.
Finally, the scream stopped, and Mandy began hovering in midair as she flailed all four limbs about. "SHADOW PERSO-O-OOOOOOON!" came the screech, before she zoomed off at a speed that could only rival that of Rainbow Dash.
Peaches blinked, raising her ears once more. "Wow. That's probably the most scared I've seen her...ever." She glanced at the presence, whom she could see was just Olive. "She can really pack a scream, huh?"
Olive got to her feet. "Last time she did that, she broke the windows of two interrogation rooms."
"Huh. Why am I not surprised." Peaches responded in deadpan. "Well, I guess I should ask you what you were doing in Mandy's room. You look a little more well-rested."
"Yeah, I decided to borrow it to take a nap in before my break ended." Olive sighed. "Gotta say, now I know why she loves naps so much. They're really refreshing!" Her expression soured. "Too bad I have to go back to Otto and his stupid snail racing..."
"Hey, keep your chin up! I'm sure you can work things out with him." Peaches said, placing a hand on Olive's shoulder. "You two have been partners for a long time, right?"
"Yup."
Peaches' eyes widened slightly as an idea began worming its way into her mind. "Why don't you go talk to Twilight? Isn't she the Princess of Friendship?"
"That's what Oprah told me." Olive said, her eyes half-lidded to show her lack of amusement. "And I just might, considering he won't bother to listen if I sit down and talk to him directly."
"Did you try?"
Olive blinked and grit her teeth, rocking back and forth for a few moments. "Well...I- n- no, but-"
"Doesn't hurt to try and talk to him first. If that doesn't work, then go to Twilight."
"You sound just like Oprah!" Olive lamented, giving a sigh that morphed into a half-groan somewhere along the line. "Although...I guess you're right. Otherwise I'll continue to have nightmares of giant snails eating me..." Her body gave a shudder as she remembered the last one she had. She refused to even look at a blob after experiencing the insides of a snail...if they were actually gelatinous in real life. It was scary to think about, because giant snails were very much a possibility in the real world, and for all she knew, Otto was keeping one somewhere out there and she didn't know it.
"Well, either way, good luck. I'm off to go find Mandy." Peaches said. "She promised me we'd look for the Vallea culprit. Take it easy, okay?"
"I'll try. Good luck."
"Thanks!"
As Peaches rounded a corner, Olive unclipped her badge phone and opened it.
Maybe I should call him.
She stared at the dark void that was the phone's screen. The dark void that was the phone's screen -- somehow, it didn't get broken within the din of Mandy's piercing scream -- stared back.
I should tell him I'm on my way back. And maybe...talk with him.
Minute after minute passed as she weighed the decision in her mind.
Finally, she closed the phone and clipped it back onto her suit.
No. I want to talk to him face-to-face. Not over the phone.
With a huff, she began the journey back to her own Headquarters, Plan A being set in stone as she prepared to get the ball rolling down the hill -- hopefully to a single degree of pure success.
A bang and a whoosh marked Olive's return to Headquarters. Although she had been feeling okay when she woke up, her mood began to take a downwards spiral when she saw Otto, eyeing his newest snail in its little container. His...his...honestly, she had lost count.
"There you are!" Otto set the container down and got up. "Where've you been? You're pulling overtime on break time!"
The comedic quip he made was completely lost on Olive, who simply rubbed her forehead. "It's...none of your concern."
"Finally, I can take my break!" Otto cheered, completely ignoring how tired his partner's voice sounded and glancing at the watch on his wrist instead. "There's a snail racing competition I have to get to, and I'm already five minutes late! I'm lucky if I can even get Ringo entered at all!"
Oh. Ringo. Like the Soundcheck member. Of course he'd name a snail that. Olive rolled her eyes, the hope that had been building up inside of her shot to hell and back. "Well, go and have fun."
"Thanks!"
Within just a few seconds, Otto was sent up the tube that Olive had just exited out of, and just like that, she had lost one of her chances to talk with her partner about his new hobby.
Still, that didn't mean Plan A was out of the running -- she could just as easily coordinate more chances to meet up with Otto throughout the day, and the day still had a long way to go before it came to a close. With an exhale, she sat in her chair, picked up a pencil, and got to work on filling out a form to be sent to the Creature Care department at the Big Office.
"Ms. O? Do you have a minute?"
"Hm?" Olive picked her head up and stared at Dr. O, who had poked his own head in. "Oh, Dr. O. Yes, I do. What's going on?"
Dr. O pulled a small stack of about twenty or so papers from his back, walking up to Olive's desk to hand them to her. "These are the weekly progress reports you wanted from the Medical department. Could you look over them and get back to me with any improvements we can make?"
Olive nodded and eagerly took the papers, laying them on the desk. "Sure."
"Thank you." And then, in a big bellow, "What's next?"
Olive watched him leave before eyeing the papers and thumbing through them absentmindedly. Oprah said to have a heart-to-heart talk with Otto. But how can I do that when he's rushing off to snail racing competitions every second of the day? She glanced at her partner's side of the desk and scoffed. He didn't even do that much work here!
A flare of anger lit up inside her heart. Not having a chance to talk with Otto was one thing, but when he was failing to do entire chunks of work, that was an immediate cause for alarm -- or in Olive's case, it was an immediate call to get mad. She remembered Oprah's advice, of how she should go to Twilight for help, and she grit her teeth.
Well, I still have time to talk with him...but in the event that doesn't work out, I'm going to need a backup plan. The extra advice from one of the top experts in friendship would help, too.
Taking the phone off of its receiver, she quickly dialed the numbers 1-9-0, then waited.
"Hello?"
"Twilight? It's Olive."
"Oh, Olive! How are you doing?"
For the Director, that was an incredibly loaded question. However, she picked her words carefully. "Much better now that I've had some rest, but...I need to ask you a favor."
"What is it?"
"I have a...um..." Olive fiddled with the wallet on her desk. "...sort of friendship problem that maybe you can help solve?"
"Of course I can!" Twilight responded cheerily. "Is it with Otto?"
Olive blinked. "How did you..." she started, before realizing that she had met up with Twilight and Rarity earlier. "Oh yeah, we were talking about it."
"I figured." Twilight said. "Why don't you meet with me around 10AM tomorrow? I can come to your office if that's more convenient for you."
"Sure, that works fine."
"Great, see you then!"
Both mare and child exchanged goodbyes. Olive put the phone back onto the receiver, slumping back in her chair and idly staring at the ceiling. Only a single thought passed through her mind, and it was one that made her smile, retaining another small shred of hope.
Now everything will be all worked out. All that's left...is to see the outcome of Plan A.
...Plan A.5? Ah, who's keeping track. The Restaurant Plan...now that's a better name for it.
The Restaurant Plan was a relatively simple plan. An annoying plan, sure, because dumb adults were quick to assume that Olive and Otto were dating when they most certainly were not, but a simple plan that Olive was sure would work out.
Otto loved food. He loved restaurants that served food. And best of all, he loved eating with his best friend at restaurants that served food. So it would stand to reason that he would drop anything and everything pertaining to snail racing to come eat with Olive at The Bronze Grill, which just so happened to be one of his favorite restaurants. Surely he could kick back just for one night and enjoy some food, talk with his partner about the goings-on of life, and just forget everything about snail racing for one freakin' night.
Right?
Well, truth be told, Olive had been waiting at the restaurant for ten minutes now. Which wasn't a whole lot of time, but it did make her worry.
"Well hi there, miss!" A short Earth pony with a light brown coat and a sandy-red mane approached the table the girl was sitting at, a smile on her maw as she took out a notepad. "My name's Parsley Sprig, I'll be your waitress tonight. Can I getcha started with somethin' to drink?"
Olive blinked. "Um..." She looked towards the front of the restaurant for Otto, but there was no sign of him. "I'll just have a water, please. And may I also have a chocolate Twist Milkshake for my...guest?"
Parsley wrote the orders down. "Sure thing, darlin', I'll bring those right out for ya."
"Thank you."
As the mare walked away, Olive unclipped and opened her badge phone, staring down at the keypad. She contemplated calling Otto, perhaps yelling at him about why he wasn't here yet and telling him to get his rump over to the restaurant before she hauled it there for him.
But she knew Otto. Oftentimes, he wasn't that punctual, but for something like this, he was almost always on time. He had even said he would come when Olive had called him initially, and she had faith that he was true to his word.
So why was it that, after twenty minutes, he hadn't shown up? Surely he hadn't gotten caught up in some crazy oddness, could he?
Or maybe, just maybe, he was too obsessed with his snail racing to even give Olive the time of day, even in spite of his promise. Maybe, just maybe, he was still at that competition he went to earlier, and was so into it that he was willing to put his friendship at stake over it.
She closed the phone and clipped it back onto her chest, heaving a sigh as she began to fiddle with the exposed silverware that sat on her table.
What's the use? He'll probably never come. He's probably still at that stupid competition. A "tch" sound left her mouth before a worried expression settled on her face as she glanced at the line near the front again. But I called him, and he promised he would come. He would never stand me up.
Her eyes began to water involuntarily.
...Would he?
"And here ya go! One chocolate Twist Milkshake, and one water."
Olive quickly blinked in an attempt to pull the tears back into her eyes before whirling her head around to watch as Parsley set the drinks on the table. When that was done, the mare put the tray on her back and pulled out her notepad again.
"Er, thank you." Olive said hastily.
"Are ya still waitin' for your guest, or wouldja like to order now?"
"No, he's..."
Olive bit her lip and dragged her fingers along the table, gripping it tightly and attempting to summon up the courage to come to an awful realization. She could deny it all she wanted, but the proof was metaphorically in the pudding, and she didn't want to run away from it anymore even if it hurt.
"He's not coming." She swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat. "I'll order now, if you're ready."
"Sure thing, darlin'! What wouldja like?"
"Um..." Olive began to realize that she hadn't read the menu at all since she got to the restaurant, and quickly scanned through it to find something she liked. "I'll have...the triple-decker deluxe grilled cheese with a side of green beans, please."
Parsley wrote the order down, and tucked the notepad into the left pocket of her apron. "Of course! I'll bring that right out."
"Thank you."
Olive watched the mare go again, the flare of anger that was still in her heart growing just a tad larger. She felt like crying in that instant, but forced herself to suppress her emotions, knowing that if an Odd Squad employee were spotted crying all alone at a restaurant, it wouldn't be a good look for her or her precinct. After all, she still had a reputation to maintain.
In spite of her lack of crying, though, she could feel her throat begin to close up, allowing her to only get a couple saddening words out as her gaze moved to the line at the front door. The tears then welled up in her eyes again almost immediately, but this time, she let them fall freely.
Getting stood up hurt. Getting stood up by your longtime best friend was some of the worst pain imaginable for an Odd Squad agent.
"Well there goes Plan A."
Olive normally liked grilled cheeses. They weren't on her Top 10 list of favorite foods, but they were very enjoyable, and she knew Otto made some of the best ones in town.
But within the aura of sadness that surrounded her, she ate her meal in silence, the tears dripping onto the plate as she nearly choked on bite after bite. She tried to stay conspicuous so that no one would notice, instead attempting to reflect on the happy times in her life she had spent even before Otto came along.
...She had to admit, she didn't really spend enough time with much of anyone else. Maybe she could change that.
If Parsley saw Olive crying, she certainly didn't ask about it. She did, however, put on a look of pity that Olive definitely saw. It made the Director sick to see, and ironically, that only made her cry harder.
As soon as she paid the check, and as soon as Parsley wished her a good night, she hightailed it out of there, attempting to hide her face as best she could from the line that still existed at the front door.
When she got outside, she grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she quickly got ready to book it back to her house so she could cry in the privacy of her own home while still retaining some dignity.
"There...there you are, I..." Otto, with Ringo in a container under his arm, sprinted up to her right then, leaning over to catch his breath. "I...I'm so sorry, it's just...they had me stay late at the Monjack Bingo Center because I was late, as penalization, and..." He lifted himself up. "I wanted to come, really, I did, but they refused to listen to me! And then I had to take care of Ringo..."
His excuse had no coherency to Olive. She wasn't sure whether that was because she didn't care or because it was actually non-coherent. Either way, she didn't want to listen to whatever excuse he had. "Yeah. Sure." she muttered, avoiding eye contact with him.
"Olive, I'm so sorry." Otto repeated. "I didn't mean to stand you up, honest! I would have come if I were able to." He eyed the takeout bag in Olive's hands. "But hey, it looks like you got some yummy food! What'd you get?"
Every bone in Olive's body was telling her to run straight home and not to stop running until she got there. But something made her feet stay rooted to the ground, and she figured that perhaps she could at least lord her meal over him even if she didn't truly enjoy it. "Deluxe grilled cheese, green beans, chocolate cake slice, some water, and a chocolate Twist Milkshake."
Otto gasped. His eyes shimmered. "Ooh, I didn't know you liked The Bronze Grill's Twist Milkshakes!" He adopted a sly expression on his face. "Being daring now, aren't you?"
Olive clenched her fists. A simple "Uh-huh" slipped out from her equally-clenched teeth as she deeply repressed the urge to punch Otto in his Odd-Todd-absolutely-does-not-compare-to-this-absolutely-punchable face.
"Hey, don't be so downtrodden." Otto said. "I promise, next time you invite me to dinner, I'll clear my calendar. Look, I'll even Pinkie Promise if you want me to!" He went through the motions smoothly. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-"
"No, no. You...don't need to." Olive held up a hand to stop him before turning her back on him. "I'm heading home. This food's going to spoil if I don't put it in the fridge."
The mysterious thing keeping her feet plastered to the sidewalk finally released its grip on them, allowing her to begin her rather brisk walk home, takeout bag in hand.
"Bye...I guess." she could hear Otto say, quickly followed by, "Oh shoot, I forgot to feed Ringo! Ugh, better head home too before he starves to death!"
I can't believe it.
He's off to tend to his stupid snail...again.
The tears flowed again. Olive allowed them to, knowing that hardly anyone sane would be on the streets at night. Her body quaked with sob after sob.
He'll never learn, will he? He can't get his stupid priorities straight. He stood me up because of snail racing. He's neglecting his work because of snail racing. He's even mistreating me, his own partner, his own best friend...because of snail racing!
At the same time as her frustrated scream, her foot made contact with a crumpled-up soda can that went flying a considerable distance. She watched it fly, and as it flew, her eyes widened with a realization.
I still have a backup plan.
I have quite a few backup plans.
Her head lifted, and her lips curled up into a small smile. Although a bit of sadness still remained within her, she managed to scrub most of it away and replace it with confidence, knowing she had many people and ponies in her corner on whom she could rely on.
Plan B it is.
The next day, Olive had decided to work overtime to make up for Otto's shortcomings. He, of course, was nowhere to be found -- and by this point, she had stopped actively looking for him. Any agents' questions about him were answered with the same well-crafted lie, that he was simply sick with a nasty cold that left him bedridden. She refused to elaborate further, and any pushiness to do so resulted in an angry glare sent the asker's way that let them know it wasn't a good idea to push her around.
A bright flash of teleportation stopped Olive's work cold as she set down her pencil.
"Olive? It's Agent Twilight." The alicorn approached the Director. "You asked me to meet with you?"
Wordlessly, Olive looked up, only for Twilight to falter as she stared into her friend's puffy bloodshot eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce what had happened, but she felt like asking anyway.
"What happened? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I'm just..." Olive shook her head. "Sit down and I'll tell you about it."
Twilight did as she was told, taking a seat in one of the golden chairs that sat behind Olive's desk. She looked around for any sign of the Director's partner. "Where's Otto? Isn't he here?"
Olive almost wanted to laugh in that instant, just for the rhetorical question that had been asked so many times over it was making her physically sick. Instead, she decided to go the deadpan route as she fired back with, "Where do you think he is?"
"Oh." Twilight mentally slapped herself for her foolish thinking. "Well, anyway, I'm here now. So what's going on with you and him? I know you said he took up snail racing, but is that impacting your friendship?"
"Yes. His workflow has slowed down substantially." Olive bit her lip. "He and I, we worked together like we had been doing it since we were babies. But he's been neglecting his work to go and participate in snail races. He's done so little because he's caring for...whatever snail he has in possession at the time." She gripped the desk and shut her eyes tight. "And last night, he...he stood me up!"
"Stood you up? How?"
"After I called you, I thought I would try and work things out with him by inviting him to dinner. Like a nice in-person conversation." Olive said. "He told me he would meet me at The Bronze Grill at 9:00. But when I got there, I waited and waited, and...he never showed up. That is, until I left the restaurant."
"Where was he?"
"He said that he had to stay late at the Monjack Bingo Center -- that's where the latest snail racing competition was being held -- because he was late to the competition. But he never called to say he was gonna be late or anything, he just...showed up and lamely tried to explain himself. And even after I told him I was going home, he rushed off to tend to Ringo."
Twilight tilted her head. "Who's Ringo?"
"His newest snail."
A brief silence hung in the room. Twilight could easily see Olive struggling to not cry, to bottle her emotions up. She was almost tempted to tell her not to do that, but didn't want to upset the girl further, so she let things be.
"Even though I had backup plans to fall back on, and friends to support me...my confidence in making things right crumbled as soon as I got home, and...I cried myself to sleep last night." Olive explained. "That's why my eyes look weird."
Twilight extended a hoof out and rested it on Olive's arm, fixing the Director with a sympathetic look. "Olive, you know Otto better than anyone. You're his partner. You need to tell him how you feel about his obsession with snail racing, and let him know that what he's doing isn't right."
"But how will that fix things?"
"If he realizes that what he’s doing is hurting not only his partnership and friendship with you, but also his job, he’ll listen. But if push comes to shove, get the Big O involved and let her know what he’s doing." Twilight raised her other hoof. "However!"
Olive straightened up in surprise as Twilight's expression grew gravely serious.
"Only use the Big O as a last resort. Tell Otto how you feel first. Go to one of his competitions and have a chat with him." She smiled. "It couldn't hurt."
Olive groaned. Going to one of his stupid competitions was what I was trying to avoid in the first place! If I go there, then I'll just get mad and go off on him, ruining the experience for everyone else...and I don't want to drag the rest of the competitors into what is already a tricky sticky friendship mess.
Ha...tricky sticky...sounds like just the sort of thing Mandy would say.
But anyway, Twilight's idea isn't necessarily a bad one. I can't get him to sit down and talk at any other time, so why not go straight to the source to talk to him?
A smile crossed her face. "That does sound like a good idea. I'll try it out!" A relieved sigh that she didn't know she was holding left her lungs. "Thank you, Twilight. Your advice on friendship is invaluable."
"No problem! Anything for a friend." Twilight returned the smile as her horn lit up. "If you need me, feel free to call, okay?"
"Will do. See you later!"
With a wave of her hoof, Twilight was gone in another bright purple flash of light.
Olive stood up from her chair. "Now, to find out where the latest competition is..."
As she began walking towards the glass doors, however, her mind came up with an idea that was even better, and virtually risk-free. Otto may have lived and breathed snail racing competitions, but he certainly didn't live at the places where the competitions were held -- he still had a place of residence. A home. And she had been to it enough times that she didn't need to research where it was.
She snapped her fingers. "Or I could just meet him at his house! Would be way better, and faster!" She chuckled to herself as she turned right around and went back to her desk. "Olive, you're a little genius."
Back at home, Otto was busy playing The Rise of Order, one of the hot new video games that had just come out last month. He had been having trouble with one particular level, and it seemed his latest attempt was another to add on to the pile of failures.
"Aw, come on! It's already been three weeks, I've read all the playthroughs I could find, how have I not-"
Knocking at the door forced his tirade, as well as his game, to be put on pause. A "who's that?" left his lips as he got up and headed for the door, opening it to find Olive.
"Hi."
"Olive!" Otto blinked in surprise. "What's going on? Is there an odd problem?"
"No, nothing like that." she said plainly. "Can I come in?"
"Sure! But, uh, watch out for the snails."
Otto's warning was legitimate -- the very first step Olive took was one of very few safe ones, as snails of all kinds were moving everywhere. And even then, she still managed to get goo on her shoe.
"You're letting snails climb in your house?" she asked, her tone not holding back with its disgust.
"Only a couple at a time." Otto replied, closing the door and making his way over to the couch. "So what did you want to talk about?"
Olive followed him, making sure to avoid the other snails climbing about before she found herself in a position to fix him with a steely gaze and firm eye contact. "About your snail racing."
"My snail racing?" Otto adopted a confused expression before it turned into one of excitement as he gasped. "Don't tell me you're getting into it too?!"
"No!" snapped Olive, before she forced herself to regulate her emotions. A sigh wheezed out. "I mean, no. I'm not. But it is affecting your workflow and your employment at Odd Squad as a whole."
Otto looked defeated, but mostly he was just confused yet again. "How so?"
"You’ve been doing such minimal work that I’ve been forced to consider whether I should work overnights to cover your butt. You stood me up when I invited you out to dinner. All you’ve been focusing on is that stupid snail racing ever since I showed it to you. Can’t you focus on work, or at least something that’s more worthwhile than that stupid hobby of yours?"
"What?" Otto blinked. "You're the one who showed it to me in the first place! And now you want me to quit?!"
Any attempts at Olive stifling her rage were gradually flying clear out the window. "I’m fine with you getting a hobby, but not when it’s going to interfere with your work this much! If you’re not gonna quit snail racing then you might as well quit Odd Squad!"
Otto recoiled, as if Olive had spoken of sin. "I would never quit Odd Squad! It's my life!"
"No. Snail racing is your life, Otto." Olive's voice began to quiver. "If you're not gonna quit, then maybe I'll get the Big O and make her fire you."
That was enough for Otto to shoot straight up out of his seat. "You wouldn't!"
"I would."
Otto stammered, unable to get a single word out. The look on Olive's features was deathly serious in every sense of the word, and he knew it. However, he certainly didn't feel like fighting with his partner, and decided to go the diffusion route instead. "L-look, Olive, I don't wanna fight...uh..." He looked to the floor and spotted a particular snail, gently picking it up and holding it in his hand as he stuck it out for Olive to see. "Here! Look at John Doe! Pet him!"
Olive slightly leaned backwards. "Why would I want to pet something that's gross and slimy?"
The gasp Otto let loose left his jaw unhinged. His eye twitched once, than twice. He was pretty sure part of his brain had completely shut down just from hearing his partner dis what was, ironically enough, a fun sport. "Don't mock snail racing!" he nearly yelled. "It's an art!"
"It's a stupid silly little sport and that's all it'll ever be!" Olive fired back. "We've been working together for ages. But I don’t want to be partners with someone who’s going to make me do all the heavy lifting and go neglect their agents because of some craze."
"Didn’t the whole incident with Rainbow Robyn and the vortex teach you anything about loosening up?" he said, recalling that day clear as...well, day. He could swear he still had a scar somewhere from the incident, but he remembered every word of the lesson he and Olive had to recite to Oprah at the end, and kept them in mind as he went on an enraged defense. "Life’s not all about work, Olive. You have to live a little! We’re kids! We should enjoy the freedom we have before we become adults!"
Olive jabbed a finger into her chest. "I do live a little. I play sports, real sports. But I can also balance Odd Squad! If I can balance that and something I like, then why can't you?!"
"I can balance snail racing and Odd Squad, too!"
This got a hate-filled laugh out of Olive. "Oh really? Because I wouldn't call 'letting Olive handle most of the work while I gallivant across town with my pwecious snails' balancing things!"
"Maybe you're just jealous that I'm doing something fun and you're doing something boring!"
Now it was Olive's turn to get offended, as she recoiled with a scoff. "Sports are boring?!" she screamed. "Pardon me, but I happen to enjoy playing sports. It's good exercise for me."
"See?" Otto said, extending an index finger towards Olive and choosing to ignore the smugness in her previous sentence. "You can't even find a hobby that's fun! Why can't you be more like me and do more things for the fun of it instead of finding something educational about it?"
"I do things for the fun of it!"
"Oh really? Name one!"
Olive bit her lip. He got her there, but it wasn't like she would admit it. She furiously racked her memories, trying to find something she did in her life that she considered fun just for the sake of fun. Finally, she settled on something that, while it was a weak comeback, was legitimate in that she did indeed enjoy doing it for fun.
"I like video games!"
"Ha!" Otto's exclamation was high-pitched enough that it would have broken a studio's sound mixer. "I haven't seen you pick up a single video game since the Game Time case!"
A "tch" sound left Olive as she balled her hands up into fists. He was right -- for her supposed love of video games, she hadn't gone back to the Shmumbercade or bought a video game of any kind since then. In all honesty, she had meant to, but it had slipped her mind time and time again until she simply forgot about it. Which was a mistake, particularly if a video-game-themed villain happened to come along, since not even her wit and her smarts could worm her out of whatever patterns in their crimes they laid out for her to follow, nor could they worm her out of a trap if she found herself in one.
Otto continued. "Think back to when we were run out of business by Weird Tom's Weird Team. I found a hobby, and you were moping around for an entire month doing nothing. You told me yourself!"
Olive's eyes widened as she remembered that horrific month. Being laid off from Odd Squad didn't leave her with much motivation to consider getting another job, whether it was something paid or it was simply volunteer work. Odd Squad was her livelihood, something that was an essential part of her, and it had been ripped away by some stupid adults (and a young, but justifiably stupid, Big O) in the blink of an eye. So, all she did was lay around, watch some movies on Shmumflix, eat, and sleep. She had told Otto all of this, and as far as she was aware, he had been very understanding. But now...
Now he was using the experience as leverage in an argument. An utterly stupid defense that wouldn't hold up in Odd Squad court even with said young but justifiably stupid Big O as the judge.
I've had enough. If he wants to continuously fail to see the point even after I've hammered it in enough times, if he just wants to argue for the sake of arguing...then fine.
Plan B only went halfway well. Time to move on to Plan C.
I'm sorry, Twilight. But my life is being cut into pieces, and like you said, this is going to be my last resort.
"So what? We're not out of business now." she fired back, with a scowl on her face. "But you will be. And I'll make sure of it!"
Otto met the nasty expression and even nastier words with an expression of his own. "You wouldn't dare get me fired."
"As I said, I would absolutely dare to get you fired." Olive said. "If you love Odd Squad so much as you claim to, then you'll show up to Headquarters tomorrow and actually do work instead of fretting over whatever stupid, little, inefficient snail racing competition you may have."
The key word in Olive's tirade was, of course, "may", because she had no idea if there was a competition coming up. Coincidentally, though, she was right on the money, as Otto dropped his anger. "B-but I have to get into the province tournament bracket! There's a special prize!"
Olive turned to leave. "Whatever 'special prize' there is can wait, Otto."
A crunch sound seemed to fill the entire area.
Olive's eyes widened. She blinked. Lifted up her foot.
And found various bits and pieces of a broken shell filling some of the gaps in the sole.
Otto gasped and immediately rushed over as fast as he could without taking any innocent gastropods' lives. "Ringo!" He pulled out Olive's shoe to inspect it, completely ignoring her as she struggled to keep her balance. "Oh no...nononono!"
As Olive stopped her fall by leaning on the table with her arms, she saw Otto's disheartened and hurt expression.
"You cracked his shell! His lucky shell!" Otto squeezed his eyes shut. "And I...I can't even replace it!"
He let go of Olive's foot, allowing the girl to turn upright once again. The sight of him crying made her rage dispel, and she bit her lip as she struggled with what to say. "Otto, I-"
Within seconds, she was under Otto's arm and heading for the door without her even noticing.
"H-hey! Put me down!" She squirmed about in an attempt to break free, but to no avail. "Otto, if you don't put me down right now, I'll-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as the door opened. Otto's right side, the one that was holding Olive, leaned backwards, and the girl was thrown into the air, landing on the sidewalk leading to the front door chin-first. The action, of course, was coupled with a startling and confused scream.
"AND STAY OUT!!" were Otto's final words, echoing into the afternoon air along with the sharp slam of a door.
Olive slowly got up and rubbed her sore chin, snapping her jaws together a few times to make sure they still worked and nothing was broken. When she received confirmation that everything was in working order aside from some pain, she began to make her way to the tube entrance in his yard, ducking through it while reflecting on the argument she had with her friend.
Or, well, no. She supposed it was her former friend, now.
"Yes. Mhm, I'll get those to you right away. Thank you!"
As the Big O put the white handle of the phone back onto its equally-white receiver, her eyes caught one of her assistants poking his head in.
"Big O, ma'am? Olive wants to see you. From the Mississauga precinct?"
"Oh! Yes, bring her in."
As Olive approached her desk, the Big O put on her usual genuine smile. "Olive! It's wonderful to see you."
"You as well."
The Big O moved a plate of cookies towards the Director. "Would you like a cookie? I have a whole plate of them here. Freshly baked!"
Olive shook her head. "I think I'll pass, but thank you."
The Big O set the plate down. "So what brings you to my office?"
"Um...it's about my partner, Otto." Olive explained. "He's been neglecting his duties at work as of late and I want you to take action."
The Big O raised an eyebrow. "Neglecting his work, you say? How so?"
"He's been caught up in this new..." Olive rolled her hand about, trying to find a good word to describe it. "...thing called snail racing, and it's slowed down his workflow. I’ve been having to cover for him, doing his work while also doing mine. He’s out for a majority of the day now, including on his break." She sighed. "I've tried to talk things out with him on numerous attempts, but they've all failed."
"Hmm." The Big O tilted her head inquisitively. "I did notice he brought back his half of the precinct report late compared to your half...and if you tried talking things out with him..."
"I was hoping that maybe, if it’s not too much to ask...you could fire him?" Olive gave a nervous grin. "I-I mean a Director who doesn’t serve their precinct...they’re hardly a Director at all, right? They’re dead weight!"
The Big O nodded. "You do make a point. The Mississauga precinct is one of the least busiest precincts in Canada and has been for a while, but if Otto is neglecting his work, then I don't have much of a choice." Secretly, it alarmed her to hear Olive talk about Otto in such a way -- after all, they were co-legends -- but protocol had to be followed, and she couldn't let personal bias get in the way. "Are you sure you'll be fine handling the precinct on your own, Olive? I could always help you search for another qualified candidate-"
"No, I'll be fine." Olive smiled. "I might already have someone in mind who's willing to help out, anyway."
The Big O simply shrugged. "Well, it is your precinct. So if you're willing to go through with this, then so am I." She leaned to her left and glanced behind Olive. "Assistant!"
Another assistant, different from the one before, entered. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Please bring me Form #5520."
"Of course, I'll deliver it to you right away!"
"Thank you very much!"
As the assistant quickly made their exit, Olive blinked. "What, exactly, are you planning to do?"
"I’ll write up a termination of employment notice. This will notify Otto that he is hereby fired from Odd Squad and is not to return to Headquarters for employment reasons under any circumstances unless I hire him back. You can hand-deliver it to him."
Olive felt hope filling her heart. Now she knew what Twilight meant by using the Big O as a last resort. The most logical thing one can do after noticing an employee slacking off repeatedly is to go to the boss and get them fired. With Otto, there was no more covering for him, no more trying to talk him out of what he was doing -- only going to the extremes would make him learn his lesson.
And if that didn't work? Well...she didn't know what else. She had already severed ties of friendship with the argument. She was here now, getting him fired. She supposed there was nothing more she could do.
She nodded. "I appreciate this, Big O."
"Oh, don't mention it a bit." The Big O waved a dismissive hand. "It's my job to write these things, as unfortunate as it may seem sometimes."
The assistant returned right then, with nothing more but a sheet of paper in hand. "Here you are, ma'am. Form #5520."
"Thank you!"
The assistant left once more, leaving just Olive and the Big O alone. The latter quickly picked up a pencil and got to filling out the form, while Olive looked on nervously.
"Just give me a second...gotta fill out all the necessary sections here..." the Big O muttered as she got to the "Reason for Notice" part of the form.
A few minutes later, she was done. "All right. Just hand this to him and you're all set."
Olive took the paper eagerly -- perhaps a little too eagerly, but she didn't mind. "Thank you."
"Not a problem at all!" The Big O held out the plate of cookies again. "Are you sure you don't want a cookie before you go?"
Olive stared at the plate for a few moments. While she wasn't hungry at the moment, the cookies did look good...and she supposed she deserved a little reward for enduring Otto's shenanigans all this time. "Actually? I think I will."
The Big O smiled and gave a playful wink. "I knew you'd cave. Everyone always does."
Olive laughed in response, turning on her heel and walking away. "Take care."
"You as well, Olive!"
As the Director left the room and began heading for the exit, she munched on her sugar cookie, a grin splitting her face as her body began to swell with excitement. Assistants who passed by widened their eyes upon seeing her, but she paid them no mind.
A termination of employment notice...now this will show him. And I know exactly who's going to help me when he's gone.
"Hello! Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm looking for the snail racing competition being held here?"
The receptionist at the desk of the Mississauga Community Center pointed to Olive's right. "Yes, you want Room 7."
"Thank you."
The Community Center wasn't all too big -- Olive had been here many times to go swimming, as well as get some basketball practice in when the Odd Squad Gym at her Headquarters was too packed. She knew her way around, and thus was able to easily identify Room 7 along the right-side hallway. The sound of muffled chanting filled her ears as she got closer.
If I really wanted to be mean, I would shame him in front of the crowd.
The paper in her hand rustled as she held a tighter grip on it.
But I've got standards.
As she opened the door to Room 7, she was greeted with a rather unusual sight, even by her standards as an Odd Squad agent. The room was filled with about eight people and ponies, all of them staring down at the ground at a tiny racetrack that went straight across. Eight snails in eight lanes slowly moved, as their owners -- or whom Olive had to assume were their owners -- cheered them on.
One racer among the crowd was Otto, who was talking to an elderly woman. "All right, Betty! Nice going!"
"Thank you, Otto!" Betty smiled. "Oh, Sammy's really got guts!"
Olive suddenly felt awkward, like she was in a foreign environment she shouldn't be in. No one had noticed her yet, not even when the door closed rather loudly behind her.
"Hey, Otto!"
And now they did.
"Another Odd Squad agent?" a unicorn stallion asked.
Otto's eyes narrowed as he glared at Olive. "Yes. The one who cracked Ringo's shell."
Gasps rung out through the room, causing Olive to wince slightly.
"That's her?"
"She hurt Ringo?"
"The nerve of her!"
Crumpets...well, I'm already deep in muck as it is. Guess I should add more fuel to the fire.
The room went silent. Otto stood agape, his eyes bugging out of his skull.
"This...this is-"
"Your termination of employment notice." Olive attempted to draw herself up to Otto's height as best she could without resorting to tippy-toes. "I'm an agent of my word. Don't bother coming into work -- today, tomorrow, or any day in the foreseeable future."
The look on Otto's face shifted from shock to hurt. It almost made Olive feel pity for him, if her cocky, "this is gonna go so right for me every single step of the way" attitude didn't prevent that from coming forth. He stared at her for what felt like hours.
"I can't believe it...y-you..." He looked at the paper, then back to her. "How could you do this? I thought we were partners! Friends!"
Olive thought back to Oprah's words, how "partners" and "friends" didn't have to be mutually exclusive terms. To her, Otto was neither a partner nor a friend right now. Secretly, she couldn't deny that this whole roundabout way of saying "you're fired" stung a little. But at work and in life, he had been nothing more than a ball and chain wrapped around her ankle, and it was now time to get the big ol' Odd Squad scissors and snip off the cuff.
"I think last night's argument confirmed otherwise." she said. "And this comes from the Big O herself, as you can see."
Otto was rendered catatonic right then and there, slumping to his knees and simply looking up at the sky. His eyes, once a chocolate-brown color, were becoming duller by the second.
Olive, on the other hand, gazed around the room of angry and upset snail racing competitors, and gave a nervous chuckle. "I, uh...I can tell I'm not welcome here, so...I'm gonna go. Good luck!"
She turned to leave, fast-walking straight out the door and closing it before booking it towards the Community Center entrance. Her heart began to give painful pangs, but she largely ignored them, knowing exactly why the pangs were coming now. Still, she found it in her best interest to let Twilight in the loop and let her know how things went -- perhaps the Princess of Friendship had more advice at her hooves to dispense.
Olive made her way into the bullpen, immediately spotting Twilight at her desk.
"Hi, Olive!" the alicorn greeted. "Did you talk to Otto?"
Olive heaved a sigh. "I tried to, but he refused to listen. So I went to the Big O and had her sign off on a termination of employment notice. I just delivered it to him now."
Twilight nearly fell off of her chair, her wings opening and fluffing up in shock. "You got Otto fired?!" she yelled.
"Yup. You said to use the Big O as a last resort, Twilight, and I did." Olive chuckled. "He was left in quite a state of shock when I gave him that paper. But at least it was better than what I was initially going to do."
Twilight folded her wings back in and resumed her normal position in the chair. "Which was?"
"Shame him in front of his snail-racing-loving friends."
A look of disappointment crossed Twilight's face for just a moment, before she gave a resigned sigh. "Well, you did what you had to. But aren't you still friends?"
"Nope. I've broken off all ties of friendship."
Twilight's next freakout simply involved a pair of eyes widening. "What?" she asked, struggling to find the words to say in response for a minute or two. Instead, she stammered, starting on one word before backtracking and resorting to another. Ultimately, another sigh left her body. "Well...I suppose it can't really be helped, but...you and Otto have been partners and friends for a long time! To see you two break ties like this, it's almost impossible to imagine!"
"I don't want to be friends, or partners, with someone who's not going to prioritize work over their hobbies. It's like I told him: I play sports all the time, but I also am loyal to Odd Squad and do my work in an orderly and timely fashion. You can balance a hobby and employment at the same time."
Twilight nodded, knowing that she herself was a good example of someone who could balance both. She enjoyed reading and gaining knowledge about a wide variety of subjects, but still managed to do her work in both Odd Squad and Equestria. Still, she couldn't help but frown at Olive. "Sounds like you need to be a little more open to Otto's likes and dislikes."
"That's not the problem." Olive fired back. "The problem is that he keeps neglecting his work for something inconsequential. That's what adults do!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I don't know...I don't think that's how adults act." she said, gesturing to herself. "Look. Maybe it's just a passing phase. Kind of like how he changes what he wants to be when he grows up all the time. His love of snail racing might not stick around for long."
"I hope not. It's stuck around for long enough." Olive rolled her eyes. "But in the meantime, he doesn't have a job now."
"So who's going to take his place?"
"No one. Not in an official sense, anyway."
It took Twilight only a few seconds to realize exactly what the sly look on Olive's face meant. "You want Mandy to help you?"
"Why not? She does a great job here. Surely she can help me out."
"But there's no way she can balance her work here and whatever you're going to make her do at your precinct." Twilight pointed out. "Do you really think she'll say yes?"
Olive waved a dismissive hand. "Ah, of course she will. Mandy's a very open-minded person. A couple weeks ago I asked her if she could mow my lawn for me because I was too tired from a basketball game I had played in. She got right to work, got it done within a half-hour, and even planted flowers."
"Uh-huh." Twilight said, an unimpressed look on her features. "Well, she's napping right now, so I don't think you're going to be able to wake her up. She's already solved ten cases and fixed fifteen of Oona's gadgets in just the span of three hours."
Olive snorted, and then laughed. "Oh, Twilight...Twilight, please...that's nothing! For an Investigation agent, that's completely average!" She began heading for the right-side hallway, waving her hand in a beckoning motion. "Come on, let's go. I'll show you just how much I know my own adopted daughter."
Mandy was, of course, deep in the thralls of her afternoon nap. With a blanket covering her and a pillow clutched tightly against her body, she was in utter bliss.
Well...aside from the dreams of the shadow-person. Those had been resurfacing every few days. But luckily, her dreams this time around were peaceful.
Two hands grasping her arm shook her. "Hey Mandy, wake up. I've got a question to ask, and you're going to say yes!"
Twilight simply rolled her eyes at that comment. Mandy, however, continued to snore, her tail thrashing back and forth furiously.
Olive groaned. "Come on! Surely if you don't wake up, you can work in your sleep, right?" Noticing Twilight's disbelieving stare, she commented, "It happened once! I saw it happen!"
"Zztop, zzhadow-perzzon, y' not gettin' away...!"
Mandy's finger was sitting against the wall she was facing, but only sat there for a few moments before her leg and foot began to twitch as violent snores erupted forth.
Twilight shrugged. "I hate to say I told you so, but-"
"Shh! Just watch." Leaning close to Mandy's pony ear, Olive whispered, "Come on, wake up! If you do, maybe I'll make you a strawberry tart! I know how much you love my strawberry tarts."
More loud snores told both Olive and Twilight that the former's plan had failed. The twitching stopped, however, as did the tail-thrashing.
"Jeez, how wiped out are you?"
"Like I said, she's been busy."
Olive chose to ignore Twilight's quip and leaned close to Mandy once more. "Please, Mandy, wake up. All I want to do is ask you one simple question. How hard does this have to be that I-"
A flurry of snorts marked Mandy's arrival to the waking world as she shot straight up in bed. "I-I'm awake! Where'zz th' fire, where'zz th' fire?! Did I leave th' muffinzz in th' oven 'gain?!"
"Mandy, calm down!" Twilight hovered, placing her hooves on Mandy's shoulders. "You're in your room. There's no fire. Everything's fine."
"Huh?" Mandy's jaws parted in a yawn. "Oh! Hey, Twi..." The hybrid weakly waved, and then her eyes laid on Olive, her arms outstretched. "Momma...!"
"Nice to see you too. Fully awake." Olive rubbed the hybrid's head, causing her to give a happy cry of contentment. "Look, I need to ask you a question, and you'd better say yes!"
Mandy blinked twice. "A what?" Upon seeing Olive stammer, she rubbed her head. "Sorry...my brain's still defoggin'..." She smiled. "Repeat that?"
"I need. To ask you. A question. And the only answer I am accepting is a big fat yes!"
"Okay!" Mandy grinned. Blinked a few times. And then said, "What is it?"
"Can you help me out at my precinct?" Olive asked, watching as Mandy teleported a glass of water into existence and drank it. "It's just that I fired Otto and I need someone that'll be willing to help me o-"
Mandy's eyes widened as she choked on a large glob of water. Every cough she made caused her hair and tail to bush out. "You...you did whoosa-what-now?!"
"I fired Otto." Olive shrugged. "He’s too fixated on snail racing nowadays. That’s his life’s purpose. Not Odd Squad. I tried to talk him into giving snail racing up, but...he refused to listen. And then we got into an argument, he kicked me out of his house, I went to the Big O and had her fill out a termination of employment notice, I gave him the notice, and...now I’m alone."
Silence. Mandy stared at Olive with an expression that somehow combined bewilderment, panic, and a tinge of "is this some kind of cruel joke?" all in one.
"I think you broke her." Twilight commented, slowly reaching out a hoof to touch Mandy.
Thankfully, the hybrid (mostly) broke out of her stupor herself with a mighty shake of her head. "Y-y-you...you...I...who...you..." She moved her neck to one side in order to "pop popcorn" with her neck muscles, as it were. "Nonononono, hold on. I have to get this straight." she said. "So Otto’s obsessed with snail racing and not Odd Squad, and you tried to convince him to give up snail racing but that didn’t work, so you went to his house, you two got into some big kerfuffle-huffle, he kicked you out, then you went to the Big O and had her give you a “termination of employment” notice, whatever that means, and then you gave him the notice, and now you’re...running your precinct on your own." She grinned. "Do I have that right, do I have that wrong, or do I have that utterly stinkin' bananas?"
Olive exchanged a glance with Twilight. "Well, thank odd I don't have to repeat it..." the Director muttered, before she nodded. "There are some parts I left out, but that's the main gist of it."
Mandy tilted her head. "Ooooookaaaay, so why're you tellin' me this?"
"I thought since you're so efficient working at this precinct, you can help me at my precinct...in place of Otto?"
Olive's grin was nerve-wracking to Mandy, who began to sweat and gave a nervous laugh. "M-Momma, surely you understand that I already have a big workload here as it is and won’t have time for your precinct? If I ran two precincts at once, I’d experience burnout!"
Twilight sighed. "Once again, Olive, I told you so. Mandy's just too busy. You and Otto work well as a team."
"Yeah!" Mandy nodded in agreement. "I couldn't possibly fill the void Otto left behind. You two have been partners for forever! And you make the bestest team in all of Odd Squad!"
"But I don't want him back if he's just going to talk about snail racing all the time! I want him focused on work, not to...to..." Olive stammered as she tried to find the right word. "...regress to how he used to be!"
Mandy pinched her mouth inwards. "Hmm...why did he take up snail racing to begin with, anyway?"
"He was bored and wanted something to do. So I showed him a listing in The Shmumber Times about it and things went from there."
A snrrk sound bubbled forth from Mandy, seconds before she launched into full-on belly laughter.
"What? What's so funny?"
Mandy managed to roll off of her bed and onto the floor in the process, her legs flailing wildly as she continued to laugh, finding the time to squeeze words in between chortles. "You...you started this? All of this?!"
Olive blushed and sharply turned her head away. "S-so what if I did?" she retorted. "That's not an excuse to defend him or his actions!"
"Oh...oh odd...ohh, if that oracle hadn't...gotten a restraining order...against me..." Mandy coughed a few times as she slowly rose to her feet, clutching her chest and wiping her tears away. "Now that, is one of the best things I've heard all day." A sigh marked the end of her guffawing as she gazed at Olive. "Momma, honestly. Otto's his own person, he has a right to do what he wants!"
"But not if he's neglecting his own work to do it!"
"True..." Mandy's pony ear flicked a few times until she stumbled upon an idea, punctuating it with a snap of her fingers. "Ah! Why don't I go over to his house and have a little chat with him on your behalf? That way, I can try and convince him to come back to work! He can do it for the 'darling daughter' he claims he's not a father of." She gave her usual giggle-and-snort laugh.
Olive blinked. "How is that going to help?"
"Let's just say I've picked up a few..." Mandy cleared her throat. "...flair d'en'taires from Rarity."
"Is...that even a word?"
Twilight's eyes were half-lidded. "I have no idea."
"That termination of employment notice might've done something to him! Like a good ol' kick in the rump!" Mandy nodded enthusiastically. "I'll be the final nail in the coffin that'll get him to come back!"
Olive crossed her arms and scowled. "I don't care if he's back or not, as long as he gets his work done."
Mandy grinned and booped Olive on the nose. "Don't think you're off the hook either!"
"What?"
"You need to loosen up a little!" Mandy chirped. "Life's not all about work, Momma. Ya gotta live a little!"
Olive groaned. "Otto told me the exact same thing, so I'm going to reiterate what I told him." She took a deep breath. "I do live a little. I play sports all the time. But I can also balance work. If I can do it then so can he!"
Mandy simply smiled her usual cat smile and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you're skeptical, huh?" Olive scoffed. "You shouldn't be, considering you complain all the time about how I'm- hey, w-where are you-"
The next thing the Director knew, she had rope tied around her stomach and was being dragged out of the room by Mandy. It had all happened so fast that she hadn't even noticed.
"Mandy, let go of me!"
"Nope!"
"No?" Olive spluttered. "I'm your mother and I'm telling you to let me go this instant!"
In response, Mandy simply hummed a little ditty before giving a "Bye, Twilight!" to the alicorn still in the room.
"Have fun, you two." she responded, waving a friendly hoof.
Olive growled and wound up her lungs for one last mighty cry, knowing that escape attempts would be proven futile since Mandy was bound to catch her each and every time.
"I'm never giving you my strawberry tarts again!"
Inside the Odd Squad Boutique -- the name was still a work in progress -- Rarity was busy organizing her spools of thread. Just as she was about to start on the second shelf, a knock rung through the room.
"Oh! Goodness, who is that?" Her head swiveled towards the door. "Come in!"
The door opened, and in walked Mandy. "Hiya!"
"Mandy!" Rarity clapped her hooves together. "Oh, what a delight. And, er...you brought Olive, too!"
By the time she arrived to the room, the grumpy Olive had been flipped onto her side, looking very displeased as she felt both her butt and the side of her body begin to itch from being dragged along the floor. In response to Rarity, all she did was give a nasty grumble that might or might not have contained a swear word.
"That I did!" Mandy looked around. "Is Pinkie here?"
"Right here!" came the shrill cry from the back. "I'll be out in a bit!"
"She's modeling a dress for me. One from my newest line, 'Creatures and Features'!" Rarity explained.
Mandy's nose wrinkled. "Doesn't sound like an interesting name."
"The title is a bit of a work in progress, but I assure you, the dresses are simply gorgeous!"
The sound of a curtain moving along a rod caught Mandy's attention. The first thing she laid eyes on was her partner, clad in a leopard-printed dress. She could swear there were patches of (what she hoped was) faux fur on it, but she couldn't tell from such a far distance.
She gasped, her eyes shimmering. "Pinkie, you look amazing!"
"I do?" Pinkie had a mirror levitated towards her so she could check out her new appearance, and like Mandy, her eyes got shimmers in them as well. "I do!"
"Oh, I must agree with Mandy, darling, this dress looks wonderful on you!" Rarity praised as Pinkie made her way over to the group. "Would you like me to make you another? Perhaps...mm, just in case?"
"Sure!" Pinkie replied. "But why can't I keep this one?"
"That dress is one of my best works, and I want to preserve it!"
"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie, realizing she hadn't met the two newcomers to the boutique, gasped. "Hey partner, hey Olive!"
"Hi!"
"Hi, Pinkie."
Pinkie blinked in surprise. "Someone's in a grouchy mood!" she said. "What's got you so steamed?"
"It's a long story." Mandy said, sympathetically patting Olive's head much to her chagrin. "Why don't you change out of that dress and I can give ya a quick rundown?"
"Sure! Gimme oooooone second!"
"One."
Pinkie playfully rolled her eyes. "Okay...one minute?"
"That I can do."
As Pinkie skipped to the dressing room in the back to change, Rarity perked up. "Oh, Mandy, I've been meaning to ask you. Is the Color-inator fixed yet?" she asked. "I have a couple of white spools that I would love to experiment on using the gadget!"
Mandy bit her lip, her eyes moving side to side. "Ehhhh...gettin' there! Oona really gave that thing a beating!" A look of horror settled on her face. "And then she gave me a beating...ruthlessly...with her mallet. Scientist's stealin' my schtick..."
Rarity had no idea what Mandy was talking about -- she hadn't been present during Oona's supposed assault on Mandy -- but was sympathetic nonetheless. "Well, when you're done, may I borrow it, please?"
"Sure!"
The curtain was flung open again, and Pinkie approached the group with the dress tucked behind one leg. "Done! Here you are, Rarity!"
Rarity took the dress in her blue corona, levitating it beside her. "Thank you, Pinkie."
Pinkie leaned closer to Mandy. "Sooooo, what's goin' on?"
Mandy heaved a sigh, trying to recall the events that Olive told her as best she could. "Otto got into snail racing, which Olive doesn’t like ‘cause now he doesn’t do work. She tried talking things out with him and it didn’t go well, so she went to the Big O and got a termination of employment notice-"
"I got him fired!!" Olive screeched, getting to her feet in record time and whirling around to face Mandy. "A termination of employment notice is a firing, Mandy!" She crossed her arms. "That's it. Next year I'm gifting you a dictionary for your birthday."
Mandy blinked in surprise for a few moments, before a grin came across her face. "D'aww, someone's a lil' crabby!" To punctuate her point, she pulled out a crab from hammerspace, who snapped its pincers together as though knowing it was a prop for a joke.
Pinkie, of course, got a good laugh out of it. "Good one!"
"Anyway, yeah." Mandy tucked the crab back into hammerspace. "She went to the Big O, got Otto fired, and now he's out of a job. Sooooo I was wondering if maaaaaaybe you can cheer this lil' squirt up?"
Pinkie gave a dramatic gasp. "A chance to cheer up Olive? Don't mind if I do!"
"Help her live a little and see that bein' a workaholic's not a fun thing to be!" Mandy kneeled down and leaned close to Pinkie's ear, whispering, "Take her to Club 24. She loves that place."
Olive could swear she was about to crack a tooth from all the teeth-grinding she was doing. "Every day I get closer and closer to wanting to strangle you."
"Well don't." Mandy reached behind her back and pulled out her signature weapon from hammerspace. "'Cuz I got a hammer!" She pat Olive on the shoulder. "Now, let Aunty Pinkie fix things while I go talk to Otto. Partner, you're in charge!"
As Mandy removed the loop of rope from her wrist, she handed it to Pinkie, who applied it to the base of her forelock and adjusted it accordingly. "Oh, we're gonna have so much fun, you and I!"
"One more thing!"
Olive jerked backwards as the tie holding her corkscrew ponytail together came undone, allowing her hair to fall in light brown waves. Mandy hummed as she tied up Olive's hair into a messy hairstyle, secured only by a sparkly pink bow.
Rarity, deciding to go along with her friend's antics, levitated a mirror in front of Olive so she could see her reflection at the end of it all.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Olive's voice became deflated. "Really?"
"Yes."
And then, more deflated. "Really?"
"Yeeee-eeeees~!" Mandy called in singsong. "Now go with Pinkie and have some fun! I wanna see a smile on that face by end of day! Take it to bed with ya!"
Pinkie squealed as she saddled up next to Olive. "We're gonna have so so sooooo much fun!" She began to head for the boutique's exit. "First stop: the Breakroom! We're gonna bake some cake!"
Olive groaned in response as her body was dragged out the door.
"Have fun!" Mandy called, sending the duo off with a wave before following them. "Now, to repair that Color-inator gadget! I'll have it fixed by tomorrow, Rarity!"
"Thank you, darling!"
With that, the unicorn closed the door and began heading to the back room with dress and mirror in tow, a ditty getting stuck in her own head as she hummed it.
Otto was generally known among Odd Squad for being a joyful happy-go-lucky free spirit, known more for goofing off than actually doing work.
Today, however, he certainly didn't feel joyful, lying on the couch and staring at the TV with its bright flashy colors.
He sighed. "Can't believe I was fired from Odd Squad...all because of my hobby!" A pause as he rested his cheek on the pillow. "Why did I even get into snail racing to begin with? At least none of my other hobbies cost me a friendship...or a partnership."
As he clutched the pillow, a flurry of rapid knocks entered his eardrums.
"Must be the stress pizza I ordered." he said. "Come in."
To say that the door blew open and fell off on its hinges was an understatement -- which, of course, meant that Mandy had arrived.
"Helloooooo aaaaaand salutaaaaaatiooooons!" she sang, spinning around a few times before giving a flashy pose.
"Hi, Mandy." Otto said, not bothering to look up. "Look, if you're coming to invite me out or something, I'm not in the mood."
"I know. But I'm not inviting you out." Mandy raised a finger. "I'm here to remedy the situation between you and Momma."
"So she got you involved, huh?"
"Yupparoo!" Mandy bounced on over to the couch and took a seat next to Otto, which was rather hard considering his entire sprawled-out body spanned the length of the couch. "But I'm not doing this just for her. I'm doing this for me." She frowned. "It pains me so, to see you two like this, all broken up after being partners forever and ever."
Otto didn't respond.
"Look, I’ve heard the entire story. And it’s true that Momma is always stoic and serious all the time. But it also wasn’t right of you to just abandon work like that!" Mandy's tail wagged slightly. "You can find ways to balance work and hobbies. I do it all the time!" Mandy swept her arm from left to right in an arc, her mouth curving up into her usual cat smile. "It’s all about...efficiency."
Otto gave a soft groan.
"Ooooookay, so maybe you’re not much of a talker. No matter, ‘cause I’m very much of a talker!" Mandy cleared her throat. "All I want, and all your partner wants, is for you to stop putting down your work and neglecting it for snail racing competitions and...uh...whatever it is you do with snail racing!" She threw her hands into the air, then lowered them. "If you did that...maybe Momma would support you in your hobby. But if you just magically decide you’re not gonna work outta the blue 'cuz of your hobby, of course that’s gonna make her mad! And that’s why she had to go to the Big O to get her to fire you!"
Otto shifted his body, pulling his knees slightly closer to his chest as a few tears began to fall.
"Sensitive topic, I see. I might have hit a nerve there." Mandy shook her head. "If you can start doing work and treat snail racing as more of a side gig, then maybe she would let you back onto the force. Or...if you really can’t balance work and snail racing, then you’re gonna hafta quit snail racing. That is, if you really love Odd Squad so much. You can always find a new hobby that’s much less time-consuming!"
No response, not even so much as a movement or a moan.
Mandy sucked in as much air as she could, and released it with one big sigh. "Otto...you’re gonna hafta make a choice. Which one would you rather do?" She looked over at him. "The hobby you picked up only a few days ago, or the oddness-fighting organization that you’ve been with for...uh..." She bit her lip. "W-well I don’t really know how long you’ve been with Odd Squad, but it’s a long time!"
This time came a soft moan, muffled by the pillow that Otto had buried his face in.
"Sleep on it, at least? We really want you back at Odd Squad, Otto! I’m sure the agents at your precinct miss you, and...so does Momma. I bet she’d really love it if you came back!" Mandy frowned. "It would really break all our hearts, though, if you continued on with snail racing. No pressure."
The hybrid got up from her spot on the couch and began making her way to the door. "Well, I've said all I need to. Take care of yourself, 'kay?" She smiled. "If ya need me, I'm only a call away!"
"Mhm."
Mandy stopped and blinked, then gave a shrug. "Eh, one word. I'll take it." She bounced out of the doorway and called in singsong, "Have a good niiiii-iiiiight!"
Otto simply turned over onto his other side. Although it didn't look like it, he had been hanging on to every word that Mandy said, and it was made clear that he had a lot of thinking to do -- which he planned on getting started right now.
Meanwhile, on her way back to Headquarters, Mandy polished her curled-up hand against her chest. "Ah, Mandy. Your wisdom and intelligence impresses even myself sometimes."
Surprisingly, all through the night, Mandy did not dream about the scary shadow-person. She supposed she had scared them off -- or if not her, then someone. Whoever it was, she had to find them and thank them.
Her snoring and sleep-talking ceased as her eyes slowly creaked open. Sitting up in bed, a noisy yawn escaped her, then she reached her arms high into the air. "Ooooooh, big zztretch! Mmmmm, big zztretchie!"
A loud pop resounded, both across the room and through Mandy's body. She winced, her eye twitching a few times. "That...wazz too big of a zztretchie. Too big." she squeaked out, encapsulating the realization with a groan.
As she got out of bed and chugged her Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise drink, she made her way over to the door and opened it, her eyes widening when she found a rather downcast-looking Otto on the other side of it.
"Otto! Nice to see ya!" Mandy chirped. "Or, uh, are you a robot Otto? A Robotto? Ooooooh, that's a good name!"
"I'm...the real Otto." Otto rubbed his arm. "Um, anyway, I thought about what you said last night, and..."
A pause. Mandy leaned closer to him and grinned. "Aaaaaaaaand?"
Otto sighed. "I want to quit snail racing and begin working at Odd Squad again."
Mandy gasped one of the most dramatic gasps she had ever done, and began bouncing up and down. "Yay! Oh, I'm so so sooooo happy to hear that!" She stopped bouncing. "I mean, i-it was your decision in the end, but, um, still...yay!" She blinked. "Wait. But why are you coming to me?"
"The termination of employment notice said that I can’t return to Odd Squad for employment reasons. So I’m wondering if maybe...you could help me get re-hired and..." He bit his lip. "...face Olive?"
Mandy pinched her mouth inwards. "Ohhhhh. Yeah. Might be awkward." She tilted her head. "Why don't you ask Twilight?"
"I thought of that, but..." Otto gave a small smile. "It was you who helped me realize that my passion for snail racing was getting in the way of what was really important." He clasped his hands together. "I want you to come with me."
Mandy heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine." She retrieved a small stack of papers from somewhere and looked them over. "Honestly, this chapter called for me to be outta the action, but it is partially my story." She tossed the papers away. "All righty, you got yourself a deal! Gimme 5 minutes to get changed."
"Got it."
As Mandy closed the door and began making her way to her wardrobe, she groaned. "That's the last time I get dragged into any sort of a friendship dispute..." She shook her head and slumped over. "Aw, who am I kiddin'. I can't escape friendship disputes! Why-y-yyyyyy?!"
"So let me get this straight. You realized that your hobby was overshadowing your job, and because of it, you want your job back?"
Mandy threw herself down onto her knees, put her hands together, and begged. "Please please pleeeeeeeease, Big O, if he doesn't get his job back I'll never hear the end of it! It's- I'm- he's-"
The Big O laughed. "Relax, Mandy! I was going to give it back to him anyway." Her gaze rested on Otto, standing beside Mandy with a serious expression on his face. "Otto, you are one of the best Directors of the organization. You and Olive have made your mark on Odd Squad history. Together, you two make your precinct stand out." She shook her head.
"It’s not right for you to be separated like this. But I can see Mandy’s words got through to you."
"They did. And..." Otto bowed his head. "I'm sorry. Mandy was right. I should have found a way to balance snail racing and work in equal measure. Abandoning Odd Squad -- the organization I’ve worked for for so long -- wasn’t the right thing to do. It wasn't fair to my agents, or to Olive."
The Big O smiled and took out a small circular gadget from hammerspace. "In that case..."
She fired the gadget, causing Otto's normal outfit of a Soundcheck shirt, jeans, and sneakers to change back to his usual Odd Squad Director attire.
"I hereby declare Agent #70, Otto, a full-fledged Odd Squad Director of the Mississauga precinct, 73955. He is now eligible to work at Odd Squad and resume his normal duties as a Management agent."
Gasps and laughter were shared among Mandy and Otto, who giddily hopped in place and then hugged each other.
"Big O, thank you so much!" Otto said.
The Big O laughed as she watched the display of joy, relief and excitement go down. "It's no problem!" she chirped. "Now, why don't you head back to your precinct and make up with Olive?"
Otto broke free from the hug and frowned. "Oh yeah...I still have to do that."
A hand grabbed his own and squeezed it with all of its owner's might.
"Huh?"
"We're in this together, you and I." Mandy smiled. "Let's go reunite you two!"
Otto looked from her to the Big O and back again. A pit of nervousness still hung in his stomach, but he managed to gather up his confidence with a deep breath. Olive might have been more intimidating than him, but he was sure that he would be able to mend things with her, just as they had done in the past.
"Yes. Let's go!"
The phone rang. Olive picked it up as fast as she could.
"Odd Squad Precinct 73955, Olive speaking."
"..."
"Uh-huh."
"..."
"Right, so what you're saying..."
Just outside of her office, however, Mandy and Otto ascended the staircase. Neither one of them could escape the flurry of whispers and rumors that followed them from employees, and it only served to make Otto more anxious.
"C'mon, keep your chin up!" Mandy encouraged, patting his shoulder. "You got this."
Otto, in response, took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then walked inside.
Olive sighed. "Nonono, it was crackers. Water crackers. I believe you're getting your snacks mixed up."
"..."
"Well, tell you what, I'll send a couple agents over and you can..." Trailing off, Olive looked up and stared at Otto, her expression turning sour. "Um...I'm so sorry, but can I call you back? I have...someone...in my office."
"..."
"Yeah."
"..."
"Okay, buh-bye now."
Olive put the phone back onto the receiver and smiled. "Mandy! Good to see you! And...you brought, ah..."
"Otto." Mandy answered bluntly. "Your ex-partner, your ex-friend, call him what you like." She gestured to his entire body. "You'll notice he's wearing a Director's outfit now."
Olive's eyes were half-lidded, her expression turned unamused. "Yes. Did he commit an act of theft in addition to abandoning his job?"
"No. Don't be rude." Mandy scolded, ignoring Olive's scoff in response and continuing with her words. "Otto was employed back onto Odd Squad and back into this precinct by the Big O herself. And he has some words to say to you."
"Oh?" Olive took a sip of water, a smug smile forming on her face. "Enlighten me, then. Whatever you tell me can't be worse than what you've already done."
Otto bit his lip. His hand curled up into a tight fist again, so tight that he could almost feel his knuckles turning white.
"Go on!" Mandy urged, taking a few steps back and sitting on the couch to allow Otto to take the reins.
The newly-rehired Director gave a sigh, opened his mouth, and spoke.
"Mandy came over to my house last night and gave me some words of wisdom. And...you were right."
Olive's eyes widened -- clearly, she didn't see that kind of comment coming. A simple confused "Huh?" was all she could utter.
"You can balance work and your hobbies. Just like how you can balance sports and working at Odd Squad. But..." Otto looked away. "In my case, I can’t do that. There’s no way I could do snail racing and work here. Snail racing is just too time-consuming." And back to Olive. "So I quit."
Olive stared at him. Her brain was finding it hard to form anything that could even resemble a coherent sentence. Someone might as well have up and told her that she won the mega-prize lottery. "You...you quit..."
"I quit snail racing! For good!"
Feebly, Olive tried to reach for her glass of water. She managed to grab it and not knock it over simply by a sheer stroke of luck, though anyone could see her hand shaking as she struggled to drink it.
"I’ve been working at Odd Squad for so long. But most importantly...I’ve been working with you for so long. We’re partners." Otto shook his head. "No, we’re not partners. We’re friends." He shook his head again. "No. We're not partners, and we aren't friends. We're both."
"...B-b-both?"
"We get things done thanks to how strong our bond of friendship is. The Big O said that we’ve made our mark on Odd Squad history. And she’s right." Otto smiled. "We did it together."
Olive took another swig, fixing Otto with a look of disbelief and shock.
"Olive, I’m sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I should never have abandoned my job because of some stupid hobby. And I shouldn’t have left you behind either. Not at the restaurant, and not at work." Otto straightened. "From now on, I’m going to find a hobby that isn’t time-consuming and stick with it. And I’ll stay in Odd Squad for the rest of my life!" His voice cracked on his next words. "I’ll...I’ll be your partner, your best friend, until the end of time."
He let the tears flow right then and there. Olive simply watched, trying to figure out exactly what she could say. She couldn't deny that Pinkie had planted a seed in her the other day -- a seed of "you did a lot of bad things and now it's time you apologize to Otto for them". When it came to persuasion, she and Mandy had her in a vicegrip most of the time, but it seemed Otto might have picked up on a few of those skills, because her heart began to twist in an ugly act of pity, sadness, and regret.
Finally, after what felt like hours, she stood up. "I'm sorry too." she said. "Being with Pinkie Pie the other day...it taught me that I'm still just a little too uptight with work. It's okay to have fun, to laugh...to live a little." She laid a hand on Otto's shoulder. "That's what makes you the perfect partner, Otto. It's the way you're full of laughter and so carefree. Focusing on work all the time is for adults. It's not healthy for us kids. We only live once, as they say -- the fact that we're immortal aside."
She circled her desk to face Otto, putting both of her hands on his shoulders. "We make a perfect team because of our contrasting personalities. And...I couldn’t imagine working at Odd Squad without you by my side." She broke eye contact. "I shouldn’t have tried to shame you in front of your new snail racing friends, and...I should be more accepting of your hobbies. From now on, whatever you decide to do..." She looked back at him and smiled. "You have my full support."
Otto's crying escalated to sobs that shook his body. Olive took a step back and opened her arms.
"Bring it in."
Otto didn't need to be told twice. The newly-reunited partner pair embraced each other in a long, tight hug, smiles caressing both of their faces.
Mandy, sitting on the couch, nodded. "Well, my work here is done." she murmured, lighting up her horn and teleporting away in a bright rainbow-colored flash that neither Director noticed.
Otto was the one to break free from the hug first, sniffling. "Do you..." A clean tissue from hammerspace was handed to him. "Thank you." He took it eagerly, blowing his nose in it.
Olive turned towards the couches that lined the office. "And thank you, Mandy, for-" She blinked. "Where'd she go?"
"Huh?" Otto looked at the couches, a look of confusion on his face. "But she was just here a minute ago!"
With careful movements, Mandy maneuvered the bead closer and closer to its designated spot in the gadget she had nearly finished repairing. Her blue eyes squinted to help her focus better, and she had attempted to tune out every single sound in the bullpen so she could focus even better than focusing better.
"Aha! Gotcha!" she exclaimed, as the bead sat in the spot.
"Hey, Mandy!"
The greeting startled the hybrid badly, her hand whacking the gadget and sending the bead careening to the floor. Even when spooked, her pony ears heard bead meet surface easily.
"Nonononono!" she yelped, scrambling down to the floor. "Where'd that bead go?! I need that bead!" She groaned. "Darn it all..."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you!"
Mandy continued looking for the bead without recognizing Twilight's apology. "I'm guessing Peaches or Oprah sent you?"
"Er...no. Why do you ask?"
"Aha! Found it!" Mandy emerged from under her desk, the small red bead caught in her prismatic corona. A sigh of relief escaped her body. "Thank goodness..." As she made her way back to her chair, she looked at Twilight. "Um...you were saying?"
"Why are you asking if Peaches or Ms. O sent me?" Twilight repeated.
"'Cuz they saw me crying and thought it had something to do with the whole Momma-Otto thingie so they thought a hug from good old Twi-Twi would cheer me up?"
Twilight only grew more confused.
"A-anyway..." Mandy waved her hand. "Momma and Otto finally made up. About time, too!"
"Really?"
"Yup! Momma wanted me involved, and I didn't really wanna get involved, but it all worked out in the end."
"I'm glad!" Twilight put a hoof to her chest. "It just doesn't feel right to see them broken up and fighting with each other."
"And hopefully, this won't happen again." Mandy sighed and turned back to the gadget on her desk. "Now, be quiet for just a sec..."
Slowly but surely, she put the bead into its designated spot once more. Once it was perfectly aligned, the gadget shone in an array of colors and hues.
"Yes!" Mandy closed the hatch over the notch where the bead was sitting. "The Color-inator is fixed! Now I can go and give it to Rarity!"
"What does Rarity need it for?"
"Oh, she wanted to try and color some white spools of thread she had. A little experiment with gadgetry and unicorn magic, she said." Mandy shrugged, completely oblivious to Twilight's eyes widening as she looked behind the hybrid. "I dunno why she just goes out and buys some spools. Maybe a fashion designer only has so many bits? I mean I wouldn't pin Rarity as a super-duper Miss Ol' Pennybags, if ya know what I mean..." Mandy laughed. "But using a gadget to color spools of thread almost seems like che-"
"Uh, Mandy." Twilight raised a hoof. "Behind you."
Mandy immediately stiffened. She could hear her head audibly creak as she slowly turned it. Or was that her neck? She wasn't sure.
Her pupils and irises both shrunk.
Clad in a black cloth, with only two pairs of eyes showing, the mysterious figure uttered only a single word as its lips -- perhaps one of many pairs of lips -- moved to Mandy's human ear, opened its mouth, and breathed.
"Boo."
The sonic scream came forth.
The sound of distant glass breaking rung out first, followed by an "Oh, come on!" from one very angry Director. From there, the effect spread to the plastic slide, beakers and flasks sitting in the Lab, the gadget in Oona's hand (which she, of course, dropped, causing it to begin shooting sparks), computer screens, and finally, the large circular fixture that hung high above the bullpen near the back wall.
Twilight winced as she plugged her ears with her wingtips and closed her eyes tightly. The figure, however, hardly moved this time, aside from reverting back to its usual tall position once the deed was done.
Mandy leaped into the air, flailed all four limbs in ways that would outclass a long series of contortionists, and screamed, "SHADOW PERSO-O-OOOOOON!!" This declaration coalesced with a yell, followed by Mandy taking off at breakneck speeds down the right-side hallway.
Once the noise had been greatly reduced to just agents complaining, Twilight took her wingtips out of her ears and folded her wings in, staring up at the figure.
It laughed...a rather familiar laugh. And then the bottom half spoke.
"Wow, you got her good!"
"Of course I did! It works every time!"
The cloth fell away to reveal a totem pole of exactly two Directors, one holding up the other.
Twilight glanced at the Director on top. "Olive?"
"Oh, Twilight!" Olive scrambled off of Otto. "We, uh, didn't scare you too, did we?"
"No, not really. But why are you scaring Mandy...like that?"
"That..." Olive gave a sly smile. "...is revenge for her making me hang out with Pinkie. As much of a fun time as that was, the gesture wasn't initially appreciated."
"I think that'll teach her a lesson, partner."
"Oh definitely."
As the partner pair performed their signature handshake, Twilight laughed, which caused both of them to begin laughing as well.
From somewhere within Headquarters, a high-pitched and very familiar warning echoed throughout the various rooms and hallways, reaching the bullpen where it ended up being completely and utterly ignored.
"That shadow person is still out there! Nyaaaaaaaaah!!"