//------------------------------//
// S1E24: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Drowsily 
// Story: The Adventures of Peaches and Mandy 
// by marmalado 
//------------------------------//

Deep in the basement of the Villain League's main building, the Dream Weaver was hard at work.

She wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed since that stupid ingrate of a hybrid had beaten her. She thought she had the beast pinned down. She knew all of her weaknesses, had her on the losing end...

And yet the Dream Weaver was the one who ended up losing.

Since then, she had studied Mandy extensively. Anecdotes from other villains' past battles were piled up everywhere in her house. Although her stock-in-trade was sleep and dreams, she decided to focus on Mandy's actions while awake, as well -- every little bit helped, after all.

But one day, the Shapeshifter had approached her. Told her that she had "an odd plan to end all odd plans". The Dream Weaver knew she was exaggerating, but had told her to proceed.

The plan involved feeding into Mandy's fears, impersonating her and fooling her friends and family into thinking she was the real deal. That pony named "Pinkie Pie" had done the same thing with something called the "Mirror Pool", and it created a lot of strife for her, or so the Dream Weaver was told. Since Pinkie and Mandy were vastly similar to each other in terms of personality, the Shapeshifter was confident that such a similar plan could be enacted with Mandy and go off without a hitch.

The Dream Weaver was, of course, hesitant. She knew Mandy well, and knew that she was also scatterbrained at times but quite intelligent. How, exactly, would one impersonate her to a T without tipping everyone else off?

The Shapeshifter had a workaround, she had said. She held up a prismatic pendant, maroon in color, diamond-shaped, and filled with black wispy magic that she claimed came from the Evil Queen, who was known for sending people to other kingdoms with her magic wand. By placing it in close proximity to Mandy, it would feast on her dreams and twist them to become nightmares, helpful forewarnings for what was to come. Having consistent nightmares would leave the hybrid in such a tired state that she would be too exhausted to even put up a fight.

It had all made sense to the Dream Weaver in that moment. Sure, she had tried to poison Mandy by unearthing nightmares about her past, but it didn't affect her on the outside. By odd, she hadn't even thought about her on the outside. Sleep affected a person primarily on the outside.

Gosh, how foolish of a villainess she was.

Upon realizing this, she had immediately agreed to the plan. And, as an added bonus, the Shapeshifter recommended to her an accomplice, a villain who would lay the foundation for the plan's enactment and make sure it went off without a hitch. The Dream Weaver agreed to having them onboard too, once she heard their very name.

It was all coming together. Her revenge stew was nearly finished cooking. She'd make sure that rotten hybrid would pay for what she did, using all the resources she had at her disposal.





A combo of thunder and lightning crashed through the nighttime streets of Toronto, with no rain to be found. Of course, Odd Squad was well-protected from most weather -- aside from earthquakes, they were pretty well-off.

This weather, however, didn't deter villains any. And in fact, two of them were about to carry out a rather odd and evil plan indeed.

Just outside Mandy's room, where the hybrid was in a deep sleep, the Dream Weaver was hard at work with her accomplice, a bearded man dressed in a cloak with silvers, grays and whites. In his hand was a tall wooden staff, embedded with gears and pipes of all shapes and sizes, twisting and turning in a rather unique shape with the top holding a mysterious blue crystal in place. Encapsulating his hood, as well as his shoulders and his chest, were metal loops that jangled lightly as he walked.

"There she is." The Dream Weaver pointed. "You know what to do?"

The accomplice smirked. "Of course."

Taking only a single step into the room, the accomplice jostled his staff, moving it from one hand to the other. "Tick-tock!" He raised it. "Time tolls for thee!"

As the staff was lowered, the blue crystal shot out a beam that swept through the entire room. Mandy's snoring and sleep-talking was put to an immediate halt, and she, as well as everything else in the room, was frozen solid.

"It worked!"

"Yes! Good job, Father Time!" The Dream Weaver giggled. "Part A of the plan down!" She reached behind her back and pulled out a small diamond-shaped pendant -- sky-blue, of course, to match the color of the top sheet of Mandy's mattress. "Now, where to put this pendant..."

"Perhaps her hair would be the wisest choice?"

The Dream Weaver shook her head. "No no no. She looks like the type who showers every day...and never takes the things out of her hair." Her nose wrinkled, remembering all of the stuff that Mandy had pulled out of her hair that couldn't possibly and reasonably fit in there.

Father Time blinked. "Then her tail, perhaps?"

"I don't know if putting it in her tail would affect her brain..." The Dream Weaver tapped her foot impatiently, knowing that her accomplice's powers only worked for ten minutes exactly -- a small improvement over the one-minute time limit he used to have. It wasn't a whole lot of time to come up with a plan on the spot, and she was beginning to regret not having planned for what she was going to do earlier. Still, she was able to come up with a place to put the pendant seconds after pondering the option of putting it in Mandy's tail. "Aha! Under the pillow!"

Father Time nodded. "Yes! Genius!"

"Shhh." The Dream Weaver pushed past him. "Now be quiet. I'll handle this."

It didn't take her very long to slip on over to Mandy, lift the pillow, place the pendant under it, and walk back out. That was the easy part. The hard part had already been taken care of.

She grinned, watching the pendant begin pulsating with a pitch-black light. "I've done it!"

"Yes!" Father Time did a fist-pump.

"All we have to do now is sit back..."

"And let the nightmares begin!"

The villainous duo shared an evil laugh as they closed the door to Mandy's room, the spell wearing off just as they began to walk away. Neither one of them noticed Mandy's snoring and sleep-talk ceasing, nor her expression contorting into one of discomfort, nor the moan she gave as she grit her teeth together.





"Sensory hell" was a rather new experience for Mandy. Usually, it only happened with music, especially those bass-thumping beats that made bass thump against each other in bodies of water and also made her hair and tail stick straight up. But she could hardly call that "sensory hell" -- although it wasn't "sensory heaven" either. She didn't know what to call it, in all honesty.

But today? Today, the world decided to lay out an all-arms assault on all four senses. (Excluding taste, of course. Her taste buds were still intact, but she didn't feel much like consuming half of what a well-off farm with good farmers could make in the span of a day.)

The lights of the bullpen were blinding. The chattering of the agents felt like they were running around screaming their lungs dry. She was hallucinating all kinds of smells that she thought only came from people who were "altered in such a way as to become degrading and inhuman", according to Olive. And she could swear that, every so often, a fly was landing on every piece of skin that was exposed on her body -- which, really, was only her face, hair, tail, and hands.

As she scribbled on an O-135 form, her eyes began to droop, causing the pencil to steer off to the right and create an ugly line under the "Odd Problem" section.

She bolted up with a start, a "Wah!", a couple blinks, and then a sleepy moan as she rubbed her head.

A meow rattled in her eardrums as she noticed a black cat approaching her. "Hey, cuz!"

Mandy barely registered the cat turning back into her normal humanoid form. "Hi..." she said, her voice drowsy.

Peaches' eyes widened. "Whoa, what's with the messy look?" she said, noticing Mandy's lack of a jacket, messy hair and tail, and dull blue eyes. "You know, we catgirls take pride in our appearances. We certainly don't go around looking like...that."

"No sleep..."

"Ah, one of those nights, huh?" Peaches gave a nonchalant shrug. "Fair enough. It happens. I guess that means you're not up to looking for the Vallea culprit with me later?"

Mandy waved her hand slowly. "No, no, I'll..." Her jaws parted to let a yawn out. "I'll go..."

"You sure? You really don't have to!"

"I'll...be fine..."

Peaches watched as her cousin's eyes began to close, just as her body also began to droop. Unsure of what to do, she eventually resorted on unsheathing a set of claws and sinking them into Mandy's arm, which caused her to bolt awake.

"Wah! I'm awake!"

Claws went back inside as Peaches asked, "Didn't you have any of your Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise drink when you woke up?"

"I did..." Mandy yawned again. "But it hasn't helped."

Peaches blinked. "Huh. Usually it perks you right up. You can't function without it." She smiled sympathetically. "Well, it was a bad night of sleep. Maybe you'll have better sleep tonight!"

"Yeah...maybe..."

"Anyway, we leave at dusk. I've gotta clean myself first. I feel like the fur in my cat form is matted six ways from Sunday! Maybe seven!" Peaches sighed and turned to leave down the left-side hallway that flanked the double-doors she had walked through. "Chin up, okay? I'll see you later!"

Mandy didn't even have the energy for a verbal goodbye, settling on just watching Peaches leave instead. Not that it mattered whether she received a goodbye or not, but Mandy didn't want to be rude -- except when she was forced to be rude, that is.

Just as she turned her head back to the desk, her badge phone rang, and she slowly began the process of picking it up.

"Precinct 14357..." Mandy slowly blinked. "I mean Precinct 13579...Mandy speaking..." A yawn slipped out of her again. "How can I help you?"

"Hey, Mandy! It's Olive. Um, I have a little favor to ask of you. Could you stop by my precinct...say...right now?"

Can you drag me there? was what Mandy wanted to say. But, as she knew Olive would grow suspect and ask a whole bunch of questions, she resorted to a simple "Will do..."

"Thank you! See you in a bit."

Mandy hung up and put her badge phone back on her chest, a moan seeping out of her as she attempted to gather what willpower she had to either go and walk to the Tube Lobby, or teleport.

Today is the worst. First I have an awful nightmare and now I'm being slammed with work... She slowly shook her head. I just gotta keep my head up...it's just one bad night of sleep...just one...

Eventually, she managed to gather up enough of her magic to teleport, and disappeared in a bright rainbow-colored flash of light.





Upon arrival, Mandy stumbled, in a way that was only seen with unicorns and alicorns who hadn't quite mastered teleportation. Although she had mastered it, her drowsiness caused her to lose her balance and nearly topple over. It was almost a miracle how she remained standing.

"Mandy! I..." Olive's smile slowly morphed into a frown. "Oh."

Otto choked on his soda, but still managed to swallow the sip he had. "Someone's been in Oprah's secret juice box stash!"

His quip earned an incoherent grumble from Mandy, which was quickly followed up with him exchanging a surprised glance with Olive.

"Anyway, what's this favor?"

Olive put on a worried expression. "Well, I was going to have you deliver something important to one of the Big O’s offices, but looking at you, I don’t know if you’re going to make the journey."

Otto tilted his head slightly. "Did you not get enough sleep or something?"

Mandy began to sway. "It's just one bad night...one bad night..."

That was enough for the next exchange of glances to have a hearty dose of worry and concern.

"Not even your Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise helped you?"

Mandy shook her head slowly in response to Olive's question.

The Director decided to offer up the most reasonable solution. "Why don't you go and take a nap back at Headquarters? Maybe it'll help."

"Love to, but...I'm slammed...with work..."

Otto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we can vouch for that."

"Well, if you can’t take a nap, at least try to go to bed early, okay? In the meantime..." Olive gathered up a stack of papers that sat on her side of the shared desk. "I’ll take this to the Big O’s office and-" A prismatic corona yanked the papers from her grasp. "Huh?"

"I'll do it." Mandy yawned. "You asked me, and...I'll..."

Like a toy dying in real time, the hybrid's body drooped. She fell deathly still, not making a single sound, and her magic held onto the papers for a few seconds before it fizzled out, causing them to flutter to the floor.

Olive inhaled. "Are-"

"Hold on, partner." Otto smirked. "I've got this."

Reaching behind his back, the co-Director pulled out an air horn, branded with the Odd Squad seal on it. A silly grin split his face as he slowly raised his hand over the top part, then slapped it against the button repeatedly, causing the air horn to give little honks.

"Otto..."

The honks stopped. "Sorry, sorry. Just doing a test run. Plus, it's kinda funny."

Extending his arm as far as it would reach, he slowly laid an index finger down onto the button, causing the air horn to give a loud screeching honk that startled Mandy awake.

"I'm awake! Where's the villain?! I'll smash 'em to bits!" she yelled, blinking sleepily a few times as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Olive smiled. "Welcome to Earth. Would you like a free brochure?"

Mandy, looking far more alert than she was before, gave a low growl. "Can it." She gathered up the papers into one pile again, not caring about the order, and turned. "I'll deliver this for you. Thank me when you drop the sass."

"'Sass' is included in my character description."

As punishment for that comment, Olive got the head of a hammer shoved right up against her philtrum, threatening to go up her nose if she dared to even breathe through her nostrils. She gave a bout of nervous laughter. "O-okay, c'mon now, put the hammer away, Mandy. You've made your point. Just...deliver the papers."

Mandy rolled her eyes. In another bright flash, she and her hammer were gone.

"Someone's grumpy."

"Well, that's what happens when you don't get enough sleep." Olive shrugged. "I've felt like that on some days."

"It's not like her to be completely tired, though."

"Eh, it was one bad night. Maybe tomorrow will be better."

"Yeah, I sure hope so..." Otto's sentence trailed off as he grabbed ahold of the air horn and pressed the button on top repeatedly again, a silly grin on his face.

Olive winced from the sharp sounds. "Otto!"

The co-DIrector chuckled. "I can't help it! This thing's too fun!"

"Well put it away and let's get back to work, already!"

With a sigh, Otto tucked it in hammerspace. "Fine." He swiveled back around in his chair. "Honestly, partner, you need to try your hand at an air horn competition one of these days. Then you'll understand the appreciation for them."





Upon teleporting back to the bullpen in her own Headquarters, Mandy wobbled badly. So badly that she needed to lean on the corner of her desk for stabilization and support.

She yawned. I feel like I'm gonna collapse...but I gotta stay awake...even if not sleeping brings disaster...

Her tired mind slowly but surely ran through a host of ideas as to how she could stay awake. One was caffeine, something Olive and Oprah had both prohibited her to have, citing that she would level the entire town of Toronto and build an entirely new town in its place that would surpass any fake town Odd Squad had ever built for its evil-plan-foiling schemes. They also brought up Pinkie Pie rather cautiously, for reasons neither of them would elaborate on.

So, she decided to go with something similar. Her next best equivalent.

She slammed a massive tulip dessert cup down onto the ground, filled to the absolute brim with her Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise drink. Grinning, she leaned back onto her tail, bunched it up, and propelled herself to the ceiling before diving into the tasty beverage.

"Partner!"

Mandy blinked. 

"Whatcha doin' with a biiiig chocolate drink?!"

Pinkie's voice was so tiny that any normal person at Mandy's height could either barely hear her or not hear her at all. But Mandy wasn't a normal person. And besides, Pinkie was generally a very loud pony anyway.

"Sippin' it, what else?" she fired back.

"Why do you have such a big drink?!"

"Gimme one sec!" 

Cracking her knuckles, Mandy got to work on sipping the drink with a large Odd-Squad-branded straw. She was done within two minutes, and landed on her feet fully refreshed.

Pinkie's jaw dropped. "You drank all of it?!"

"Yup!" Mandy lit up her horn and teleported the tulip cup to somewhere random. "The Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise I had didn't really help, so I made another one. Bigger, and waaaaaay more full of sugar!"

Pinkie stuck out her quivering lip. "But what happened to the one I gave you?"

Mandy gave her a head rub. "Yours are great, partner!" she assured. "But it didn't really help. I had a bad night of sleep."

"Ohhh..." Pinkie nodded in understanding. "Well, in that case, I’m glad you’re full of energy again! You looked really rough when we were fighting against Mr. Lightning. I had to cover for you!"

A nervous bout of laughter slipped from Mandy's lips. "Yeah...sorry about that. But work is work, no matter what state you’re in. I’m hoping that big drink will get me through the rest of the day."

"Didja have a nightmare or something?"

Mandy's eyes widened. She blinked once, and then twice. "H-how...how did you guess?!"

"Because if I know my partner, I know that she never has bad nights of sleep! Unless she’s called on a late-night case by Ms. O or something."

This got a chuckle out of Mandy. "Well...in that case, yes, you're right on the money!" She frowned and shook her head. "Horrible one, too..."

"What was it about?"

"The Shapeshifter, the Dream Weaver and Father Time were chasing after me. I didn’t have my wings or my magic, so all I could do was run. Father Time’s intent was to trap me in suspended animation so the Shapeshifter could impersonate me...forever."

"Did they catch you?"

"Yes." Mandy rubbed her arm. "I tripped and fell over my own two feet. All I could do was watch as the Shapeshifter turned into me and interacted with all my friends and family! And...I couldn’t do a thing about it…"

Pinkie tilted her head. "Aww, but that was just a dream! This is the real world! You could take those three down in seconds!"

Mandy knew her partner had a point, and didn't really feel like arguing anything of the contrary. "Heh...you make a good point, Pinkie. After all, I've stopped the Shapeshifter and Father Time before. And I did stop the Dream Weaver once."

"Oh yeah! When you went to rescue Peaches from her evil clutches with Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight, right?"

"Yes, exactly!"

Pinkie pawed at the ground. "I still feel a little hurt you didn't invite me...I coulda helped!"

"It was time-sensitive. Peaches sacrificed herself to save me. By the time we found her she was being tortured!" Mandy pat her partner on the head twice and smiled. "Don’t worry. Next time we kick Dream Weaver butt, I’ll cordially invite you. And Fluttershy and Applejack too."

Pinkie giggled. "It's a dealio!"

Mandy threw her hands up into the air, letting her body vertically stretch out. "Now I can get back to work and not conk out at my desk!"





Mandy did, indeed, conk out at her desk.

Drool dripped onto the floor, from a flowing river that started at her open mouth. Loud snores rumbled about in her throat as she slept, her left arm sprawled out onto the desk while her other one drooped weakly at her side. If she leaned any closer to the desk, the chair would give out from under her and go careening towards Twilight's desk that sat behind her.

The double-doors opened.

"Gadget delivery for Agent Man...dy..."

Otto gave a breathy chuckle as he followed Olive inside. "Wow, I haven't seen anyone that tired since the last time we went to see Mr. Bihooly!"

"She even has drool coming out of her mouth." Olive pointed out. "She's in deep."

The Director moved closer to the hybrid, dropping her gadget and giving Mandy a good shake. "Mandy, wake up." She shook her a little harder. "C'mon, wake up. You can't be that tired, surely?"

In response, the snores only grew louder.

Otto shook his head. "She's that tired, surely."

Olive sighed and scooped up Mandy in her arms effortlessly. "Come on, let's take her to bed. At least she's gotten all her work done."

"You two!"

Both Directors stiffened at the familiar voice, just on sheer instinct.

"Why are you holding Mandy like that?"

Olive and Otto turned around. Olive bit her lip. "She's, uh..."

"Asleep."

Oprah blinked. "How? I saw her drinking a huge glass of Chocolate Moo-Moo surprise just a couple hours ago!"

"Maybe it wasn't enough?" Olive theorized. "How big was the glass?"

"It was huge. It reached almost all the way to the ceiling!"

Olive's eyes widened. Otto, however, was largely indifferent. "I'd ask how that's possible, but...we all know Mandy."

"She's probably out of energy because of a sugar crash, then." Olive shrugged. "We were just about to put her to bed."

"Is that why she's been tired all day?"

"We're..." Olive bit her lip. "...not sure, actually. But it is 'one bad night', as she said. I'm sure she'll be better tomorrow."

The sensation of Mandy's body seizing startled Olive, and her pupils and irises shrunk as she saw what was happening. The hybrid's body was shivering, and she was giving soft whimpers.

"She's cringing!" Otto said.

Oprah took a few steps closer. "Is she having a nightmare?"

A horrifying cry split the air right then. It was cacophonic, it was startling, and it was filled with nothing but misery and pain. In response, Olive, Otto and Oprah all gave their own yells of pain as they rushed to cover their ears, as did the few agents that were around them, wondering what was going on. Olive in particular lost her grip on Mandy and dropped her to save her right eardrum from destruction.

"Make it stop, Olive!" Oprah screamed, her own voice even being hardly distinguishable within the noise.

"Don't you think I would if I could?!" Olive retorted, just before her yell escalated to a scream that, thankfully, wasn't as loud as Mandy's.

The screaming died down in less than a minute. Mandy shook her head furiously, pawing at the air in a fit of desperation. "Get away from me! Get away!"

Olive, Oprah and Otto all uncovered their ears, breathing sighs of relief. The agents surrounding them largely resumed what they were doing, as even Mandy screaming wildly didn't cause many of them to bat much of an eye.

"It's like she was using some kind of..." Otto rolled his hand around. "...sound attack or something."

"But Mandy doesn't use sound attacks." Olive reminded.

"Either way, she's being tormented by nightmares." Oprah sighed and glanced toward the Lab. "If only Oona had some sort of a Good-Dream-inator gadget."

"And we can't build one. None of us know how."

Two head-nods sadly agreed with Otto's statement. They were skilled with using gadgets, but not so much building the things. After all, it was Investigation agents trying to build gadgets and utterly failing to do so that led to the creation of the Science department, anyway.

With a sharp yelp, Mandy bolted awake, quick breaths being pushed out from her body as she shook her head.

Olive looked down. "Mandy, what happened?"

"It was terrible!" the hybrid cried out. "I- I could only sit and watch as the Shapeshifter tricked all of you!" Her voice began to crack. "She...she made you guys think she was the real Mandy, and…"

She bowed her head down. Her body began to quiver.

And then, she cried. Loud, ugly cries, filled with snot and tears and bloodshot eyes.

"Come here." Olive murmured, as she held Mandy and embraced her in a warm and loving hug. "Look, the important thing to remember is that it's all just a dream. If the Shapeshifter ever impersonated you, I think we would know."

Oprah nodded. "Definitely."

"Without a doubt!"

Olive stroked her adopted daughter's hair. "We don't know what's going on with you, but we'll get to the bottom of it, okay?"

Mandy began sniffling. She saw snot on Olive's jacket, and immediately tried to push herself away, but ended up losing the fight. "I..." More tears came, to the point where all she could see of Olive was a blurry shape. "Mommaaaaaaaa!!" she wailed, burying her face deep into Olive's chest.

Olive continued to stroke her hair. "Let it all out. Come on." she encouraged, making her voice as soft as she could -- which, to anyone who only knew her on the surface, didn't seem like an easy feat, but she had lots and lots of practice over the years.

"I never wanna sleep again!" Mandy wailed, gripping Olive's jacket harder.

"Add that to the list of things I'd never thought I'd hear." Otto cracked.

"Mandy, it was just one bad dream." Olive soothed. "Just because you had one nightmare-"

"Two! I've had two of them! They just won't stop!"

Oprah tilted her head slightly. "Olive, why don't you take her to Dr. O?"

"I would, but...don't you remember when Mandy went sleepwalking through town? Dr. O said that the transformation messed with her brain, but no one knows how. All they know is that her brain has a hub that controls her flying and her magic. He said nothing about her dreams. And before you ask...I doubt the Dr. O at our precinct would know much about her sleep, either."

Mandy's quaking turned into soft trembles as she continued to cry and hold onto Olive's jacket.

Peaches walked up right then, giving a friendly wave. "Hey guys! Have any of you seen-" She gasped. "Mandy?!"

The frightened yowl caused Mandy to tremble harder, seemingly out of fear even though Peaches' voice was recognizable and friendly.

"What happened?" Peaches stared at Mandy for a few moments before she whirled on the three Directors. "What did you three do? She looks terrified!"

Oprah and Otto both threw up their hands and unisonantly responded, "We're innocent, we swear!"

"Mandy fell asleep at her desk, and when Otto and I came across her, she began having a nightmare." Olive explained, stroking Mandy's back to stop the trembling.

"A nightmare?" Peaches shook her head. "Mandy never has nightmares. Something must've happened if she's having them all of a sudden."

Oprah blinked. "You seem really matter-of-fact about that, Peaches."

"I know my cousin well enough." Peaches polished her fist against her chest and gave a smug smile. "Don't you guys have anything that can look into someone's dreams?"

Oprah shook her head. "It's the one gadget Oona hasn't gotten around to making yet."

"And getting anything from Odie is a hassle."

Peaches glanced at Olive. "How so?"

"He talks endlessly." Otto complained, rolling his eyes. "Even I don't talk as much as he does!"

"Okay..." Peaches got to thinking. "So why don't you make one?"

"We don't have gadget-making expertise. We're not Scientists." Olive said, in a tone that was indirectly asking Peaches if she had a blip in smarts.

Peaches' expression twisted into an upset grimace.

Olive shrunk back, taking Mandy with her. "Why are you looking at us like that?"

"Don't you want to at least try?" Peaches snapped. "If Mandy’s having nightmares, then we should work together to figure out what the cause is and get rid of it. Not just sit idly by and twiddle our thumbs!"

Silence fell over the group, aside from Mandy's soft whimpers.

"She's right."

Olive and Oprah glanced at Otto. "Huh?"

"Mandy’s a friend to us. Family. We can’t let this go on. Dr. O may not know much about Mandy’s sleep, but we can learn as we go along. I say we enlist the help of other Scientists to make some gadgets that will help us." Otto pointed at the hybrid. "Look at her. She’s traumatized."

Mandy's tremors and whimpers ceased, giving way to thick, heavy breaths that, for all intents and purposes, sounded normal. Still, she clung onto Olive for protection as hard as she possibly could.

"If she has any more nightmares, she may never want to step foot outside again." Otto shook his head. "No...outside of her room. And we all know what happened the last time she holed herself up in her room. So let's use what we know already and figure this out."

"That's the spirit, Otto!" Peaches praised, looking to Olive and Oprah for their agreement.

"Well, Mandy's family to me." Olive said, waving her hand as it began to grow numb from rubbing Mandy's back. "I can't let her keep suffering like this. It's cruel."

Oprah nodded. "And she's my second-in-command. Of course I'll help."

"All right!" Otto did a fist-pump. "Let's get started!"

A pause hung in the air. No one moved. 

Olive smirked. "So, partner, what's our plan?"

"Shut up and get in the Lab!"





Armed with his flip notebook and a pencil, Otto immediately got to work, sitting in one of the Lab's many chairs along with the rest of the group. Mandy sat on the table, her tail curled defensively around her as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"Now, Mandy..." Otto tapped the pencil on the notebook. "Can you tell us when this started?"

"Um...well, it started last night..." Mandy glanced at Otto. "I was having good dreams when all of a sudden they became nightmares!"

Otto nodded. "And how would you describe the switch?"

"Well, I was running in a meadow, rolling around, having fun..." Mandy drew a finger along the table. "...and then the land crumbled at my feet and I was falling...falling forever!" She blinked. "And then I landed, prolly broke a bone or two, I mean it was a hard fall..."

Olive and Oprah exchanged glances of simultaneous bemusement and irritation.

"And I saw...me!" Mandy put her hands to her cheeks. "I thought it was me me, like the actual me, but it turns out she was an evil me! Her goal was to take over Odd Squad for her own!"

Olive raised an eyebrow. "I feel like you might be exaggerating the tru-"

"Shhh!" Otto glared at his partner. "Mandy, continue."

Mandy gripped her pant legs. "I tried calling for help, but no one would answer. And then Peach came, and she tried to stop the evil me, but the evil me..."

Silence filled the Lab. Peaches leaned forward, partly out of curiosity but also partly out of worry.

"What did the evil you do?"

Mandy couldn't answer her cousin's question right away, her mind replaying the dream over and over in her head like a record made to be broken. "She killed you. It was a one-hit knockout." Mandy murmured. "She succeeded in her mission and took over Odd Squad."

Peaches' eyes widened to be the size of saucers.

Oprah glanced at Peaches before her gaze moved back to Mandy. "What happened when she took it over?"

"I woke up before I could see it happen."

Otto finished scribbling down his notes. "Okay, so that was the first nightmare. What about the second one?"

Mandy blinked for a few moments, and then shook her head. "Wait, no...that was the second one."

Groans were elicited from everyone in response.

"So what was the first nightmare about, then?" Otto asked.

"The details are a little fuzzy..." Mandy's pony ear flicked a few times. "All I remember was that three villains were chasing me, and one wanted to freeze me forever so another one could impersonate me and trick all of you."

Otto wrote down the details, adjusting his glasses that were on his face for aesthetic purposes and nothing more. "All right!" He tucked the notebook under his arm and cracked his knuckles. "So what we know is that you dreamed of a villain who was impersonating you, and three villains who were chasing you so one could freeze you forever and another one could impersonate you and trick all of us."

"You didn't have to write that exactly..." Olive muttered under her breath.

"Now, as crazy and sadistic as this sounds...I think we should get more information by having you experience more nightmares."

Mandy's eyes widened, and she moved away from Otto. "What?! No! There's no way I'm having any more nightmares!"

"It's the only way we'll be able to see what's going on." Otto said, a sad but resigned tone in his voice. "In the meantime, we can work with other Scientists to create a gadget that will allow us to see into your dreams."

"Uh, Otto?" Olive piped up. "I just realized...we already have one of those."

"Huh?"

"The Dream-inator helmet?"

Otto blinked. He hadn't even considered the helmet, and he had a good reason not to. "Oh." he said. "Yeah, about that...after it got broken, Oona said that she'd need to spend a lot of time repairing and improving it. She's not done with it yet."

Olive sighed. "Of course." She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. "And it isn't like Mandy can repair it. Not in her tired state."

"So what can we do?" Peaches asked.

"It's like I said. Mandy will need to have more nightmares if we want to piece together what's going on." Otto explained.

Oprah gave a nod of agreement. "It's the only way, for now."

"Okay, so with all that being said." Olive stood up. "How are we going to get Mandy back to sleep?"

Otto raised a dubious eyebrow.

"What?"

He reached behind his back and held up a bottle of Shmumber's Sleep Aid -- whether it was his own or Olive's, who was to say.

"Yeah, okay, fine."

Most everyone agreed to have Mandy take the Sleep Aid in the comfort of her own room and not in the Lab, to prevent any adverse effects from cropping up. (Well, namely the sleepwalking. No one wanted the sleepwalking again.) So, everyone moved operations to her room and helped her get settled in.

Olive held a tablespoon full of the liquid up to Mandy's face. "Here, Mandy, take this."

Mandy wormed away from the substance, her expression twisting into disgust. She almost felt like dry-heaving from the supposed smell it gave off, but even she was rational enough to realize that it was completely odorless.

"Don't be shy, cuz!" Peaches urged. "I'm sure the nightmares won't be that bad."

"Yeah? You're not the one havin' 'em!" After staring at the liquid for a few more seconds, Mandy bit the bullet and thrust half of the tablespoon into her mouth, nearly gagging as the liquid sloshed around her taste buds. As it went down her throat, she could feel her esophagus trembling at the mere sensation of it on its journey to her stomach. "Blugh, it's so bitter!" she remarked, wiping her tongue with her finger in a feeble effort to get rid of the taste.

"Here." Oprah handed Mandy a pair of rather familiar earmuffs as the hybrid slid into bed. "I believe these are the earmuffs Fluttershy gave you when you went on your sleepwalking rampage. They should help with noise reduction."

Mandy eagerly took them, placing them on her four ears. A yawn escaped her body as she snuggled into bed. As much as she didn't want to go back to sleep, it was very much involuntary at this point, and all she could do was rely on her friends to fix things as her eyes slowly began to close.

"So what are we going to do in the meantime?" Oprah asked.

"I’ll stay here and see if Mandy’s sleep-talk can give us anything. You three can enlist the help of the Scientists and finish that Dream-inator helmet."

"Sounds like a plan." Olive nodded. "Even though they'll be doing a lot of the heavy lifting."

Oprah rolled her eyes. "That's their job, Olive."

"Doing the heavy lifting?"

"Olive." Oprah whirled around to face her ex-agent. "On the way there, I need to re-teach you about the symbiotic relationship between Investigation agents and Scientists..."

"Let's go!" Peaches barked, waving her hand to beckon the other two Directors.

As the trio closed the door behind them, Otto grabbed a chair from Mandy's sewing table and took a seat. He examined his notes, unaware of a faint pulsating sound that was, unbeknownst to him, from nearby.

Mandy had already descended into sleep, giving off loud snores that Otto was sure would start shaking the room's walls. Still, he gave a satisfied sigh, already well used to Mandy's snores and remaining poised with his flip notebook and pencil.

"And now, we wait."





Three villains, each in anything but silhouettes, loomed over Mandy. She recognized them fairly well.

The Shapeshifter she had done battle with before. It was a favorite trick of hers, to turn into Mandy and mock her accordingly. There was one month where she turned into Mandy four times, one for every week, just to play tricks on her, but that ended up being too boring for her so she stopped. Still, Mandy viewed her as one of the top dogs of the Villain League, since she had been a sort of beta in the League when Odd Todd led them using nothing but (figurative) string. She was cold, she was calculating, and to be honest, Mandy could swear she was actually one of those changelings that lived in Equestria. Maybe she was even that 'Queen Chrysalis' character, taking on a human persona to get closer to her and the ponies.

Father Time was another big name. For one thing, not even her zany ways could overpower his freezing powers, even if it was just for a minute or so. For another, she hated the design of that staff, with all its gears and pipes and its horrendous smell. And for another, she never received an answer as to where that crystal he had in his staff came from. He got offended whenever he was asked, and then he would try to fire at her. To most anyone else, he was a relative non-threat, but to Mandy, he was definitely a big threat.

And finally, there was her. The Dream Weaver. Mandy remembered every detail of their last confrontation, and she swore to never forgive the villainess after she had made her remember her (supposedly) real mother. Perhaps that was why she was dreaming of her now -- maybe her brain was crafting home movies from her battle with her, back when she had kidnapped Peaches. But who was to say. All Mandy knew was that she hated her, and she wanted to get revenge on her.

But she couldn't. She couldn't fight any of these villains. Not without her signature weapon.

"Stop!" she cried out from her sprawled-out position on the ground, stretching out a hand. "My hammer!"

"Your hammer, you say?" Father Time smirked. The hammer was twirling around and around on the tip of his staff, and all it took was a thrust of the staff at just the right angle to send the weapon flying.

"Give that back!"

"You poor, innocent agent. Are the wittle nightmawes getting to you?" the Shapeshifter mocked, giving a light but still very much evil chuckle. "They should be."

Mandy's eyes began to well up with tears. "Why are you doing this?"

"It's quite simple, really." The Dream Weaver blinked. "Have you ever heard of the saying 'an eye for an eye'?"

It didn't take Mandy very long to realize what she was referring to. Her heart plummeted deep down into her intestines somewhere, and her eyes began to quiver. "All this..."

"Revenge. Simple as that." The Dream Weaver leaned closer to the agent, nearly getting into her face using a level of physics only Pinkie Pie and Mandy herself could pull off. "You took something that was rightfully mine, Agent Mandy. But I know what your greatest weakness is. And I am going to exploit it to make sure you never mess with my plans again."

Mandy didn't have any sort of witty comeback, feeling too scared to do anything other than whimper. Sure, she could take the Dream Weaver on and win singlehandledly, but she wasn't sure about taking on a shapeshifting villainess and a time master as added bonuses.

"You spared my life only if I were to be taken into Odd Squad custody." The Dream Weaver snickered. "It's too bad that didn't work out. It was a mistake to let me live."

Within Mandy's fear, a burning question came forth. "How did you-"

"Escape? That's not important." The Dream Weaver held up a hand. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. But as we all know...you don't kill." She gave a soft chuckle, lifting up Mandy's neck using only a single index finger. "Wouldn't you like that to change?"

All Mandy did was bear her teeth in response, although her show of aggression did nothing to stop big, thick tears from forming in her eyes and obscuring her vision. A thought occurred to her right then, of the Dream Weaver getting killed by her so that this nightmare, and all the rest of the misery she had inflicted upon her, would end. But killing one villain didn't even put so much as a dent into the endless cycle of oddness. Chances were, a new villain with sleep and dream-related powers would come around to take the Dream Weaver's place, so killing her would do nothing besides bring Mandy utter regret.

"Hmph. Not going to say anything, are you?"

Those words snapped Mandy out of her thoughts as she shook her head. "What are you planning?!" she snapped.

The Dream Weaver blinked. "Oh. I thought you went mute because you were scared." She scoffed. "Like we would ever tell you?"

"Tell them!" Father Time raised his staff. "It's not like they can fight back anyway."

"No, no. That would ruin the fun." The Shapeshifter cracked her knuckles and grinned. "Let's tease them a little."

"Oh! A rather excellent idea!" Father Time and the Dream Weaver cried in unison.

The Shapeshifter nudged the Dream Weaver backwards, taking center stage as she gazed down upon Mandy.

Mandy's pony ears drooped. Her pupils and irises both shrunk. The pieces were slowly falling into place for her. "Don't tell me...you're-"

"Ah ah ah. Let it be a surprise."

Standing up tall and proud, with her hands on her hips, the Shapeshifter transformed into Mandy with a bright blue flash. It certainly looked like the real deal, right down to the final strand of brown hair that laid atop her head.

She leaned close to Mandy, and in the hybrid's unmistakable high-pitched voice, she uttered the addendum:

"That way, it'll be funner!"

Mandy gasped, but it was broken and straggled due to just how much shock she was experiencing. She was no stranger to the Shapeshifter transforming into her, of course, but all those times, something had given her away. Now, this time, it was like she read The Scientist's Guide to Everything Mandy and absorbed every last bit of knowledge from it.

It sickened the real deal, so much so that she began to feel nauseous. It didn't help that the Shapeshifter's hands were slowly closing around her neck.

"Now, don't tell anyone about our little exchange here...or there will be consequences." She released her grip and turned on her heel. "I'll see ya very soon!"

The sounds of three distinct evil laughs rung throughout the area as the trio of villains walked away -- or in the Shapeshifter's case, bounced away, leaving Mandy lying there on the ground, sick and scared.

All she could do in that moment, as the tears began cascading down her face, was scream. Scream in pain, anguish, fear for what was to come. Scream as a cry of yearning for the good dreams she once had.

Scream as a way to get her out of this utter fiery place, hoping her brain would help her go back to the waking world.





Otto nearly fell backwards in his chair as Mandy awoke with a piercing scream. Like her earmuffs, his flip notebook and pencil was sent flying, something he barely noticed as he watched Mandy give ragged breaths.

"A-are you okay?"

Mandy gave a soft gasp as her head whirled around to make eye contact with Otto.

"You were talking about getting away from someone. Telling them to stop." Otto got up to retrieve his notebook and pencil. "Not as much sleep-talking as I expected, but that's fine."

Mandy bit her lip. What am I supposed to do?! The Shapeshifter and Father Time are planning something and I can’t even tell anyone! It’s SOHALC all over again! She shook her head as she weighed the decision in her mind. She wanted to tell Otto everything, but at the same time, she knew that the Shapeshifter and the others would go after her if she did. And then they would go after her friends, her family...everyone she loved. 

Just like SOHALC had once threatened to do.

She gripped her bedsheets tightly. "I can't tell you."

"Can't tell us what?" Otto asked. "You can't tell us if you're doing okay?"

"No! I'm..." Mandy sighed. "I'm not okay. But I can't tell you what's going on."

As the hybrid threw the sheets off of her and proceeded to get up, she stopped before she could stand, burying her face in her hands to hide her tears.

"Hold on!"

She let her eyes peek out from between her fingers. "Huh?"

Otto pointed at her. "It's just like with SOHALC. You're hiding something!"

Pickleferries! His intuition skills must've increased... Still, Mandy knew that he wasn't exactly smart -- at least, not as smart as Olive. "W-what?! No! I-I'm not hiding anything!"

"You just said that you can't tell us something."

Aww darn...yeah, they definitely increased. Mandy rolled her shoulders and gave a resigned sigh.

"Mandy." Otto gazed at her sympathetically. "We're always here to listen. Me, Olive, Oprah, Peaches, the ponies. Whatever’s on your mind." He blinked. "I wanna help you. But I can’t help you unless I know the whole story."

A gasp forced its way out of Mandy as her mind took her to a flashback of when Olive had spilled her backstory to Otto. She had been eavesdropping at the time, but remembered every single detail.





As Olive slipped the file on her former partner into the slot below one of the Security monitors, she put on a determined expression and quickly marched back to the monitor's respective control panel. "Let's take a look at the file."

With near-blinding speed, she jerked the joystick to the left time after time, blasting through all sorts of pictures of her old partner, from when he was an agent to just minutes before when he had made his not-so-grand return.

"No...no...no...no...no-"

"Partner!" Otto exclaimed. "Slow down! Who's Todd?"

"I told you. He used to be my partner. Now, he wants to make the world more odd."

"No, I mean, how did Todd go from that..." He pointed to the image currently displayed, of Todd as an investigation agent standing tall and proud, then took the joystick and moved it to the left to show the image of Todd's grand return as he spooked Olive and Otto badly, emerging from his hiding spot within a painting at the town museum. "...to that?"

As Olive crossed her arms and glared at the photo, Otto put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I wanna help you. But I can't help you unless I know the whole story."

Backed into a corner, Olive gave a simple "Okay, fine." From there, she began launching into her long-winded tale of misery and pain, a tale of an agent who was set up by the system to fail in every conceivable way, and the tale of his partner who had to bear the brute force of it all.

Mandy heard every word of the story. She heard it clear as day. But her trials and tribulations with Todd -- no, Odd Todd, as he had preferred to be called -- were too much for her to think about right now.





The door to Mandy's room opened, revealing Peaches, Oprah and Olive, all with worried expressions on their faces.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"We heard Mandy screaming!"

"Did she have another nightmare?"

Mandy began trembling again, though whether it was due to the nightmare or the flashback was anyone's guess.

"Yes, she did, but she won't spill the beans!" Otto exclaimed, his tone exasperated.

Her own voice, that of the disguised Shapeshifter's, ran through Mandy's head again. Now, don't tell anyone about our little exchange...

"Or there will be consequences..."

The murmur was barely heard, but with Peaches' better hearing, she was able to pick up on every word. "Consequences?"

Mandy shook her head. "Stupid Shapeshifter..."

Olive blinked. "The Shapeshifter?!"

Oprah leaned in close to Mandy. "What about her?"

"Stupid Father Time..."

Olive bit her lip. "Father Time, too?!"

"And...stupid, stupid Dream Weaver..."

Silence. Mandy began trembling harder and harder, until her thoughts gathered together and were shot out into the world with one final scream.

"I HATE ALL OF THEM!!"

Olive looked down at the ground. "'I hate all of them'..."

"Could they be responsible for all the nightmares she's been having?" Otto asked, shooting up and out of his seat.

"The Shapeshifter doesn't usually dabble in anything related to sleep or dreams..." Oprah shrugged. "But then, that's what the Dream Weaver is for."

"Why is the Dream Weaver targeting Mandy, though?" Olive asked. "The last time she attacked, she went after her, but Peaches sacrificed herself to save her cousin!"

"That's true. But Mandy ended up saving Peaches in the end. The Dream Weaver is probably still bitter about that."

"I've had enough!!"

The group all looked at Mandy, with her tear-stained face, messy hair and tail, and eyebags that seemed to hold more weight than a hundred mangoes in a shopping bag.

"Sit down, all of you. I don’t care what the Dream Weaver, the Shapeshifter, and Father Time say. Bad things happened because I didn’t tell you about SOHALC."

"But we managed to beat then anywa-"

"Shut UP!!"

Everyone, bar Otto, immediately grabbed chairs from hammerspace and quickly sat down, never taking their eyes off of Mandy for even a second.

"I'm going to tell you whether you like it or not. Whether anyone likes it or not. You all have a right to know what's going on." Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Mandy gazed at her friends with tired, bloodshot blue eyes. "These nightmares I’ve been having...all of them consist of Father Time, the Shapeshifter, and the Dream Weaver, who is the spearhead. Their plan is to do exactly what happened in the first nightmare: impersonate me and trick all of you."

"But why does the Dream Weaver want to do that?" Olive asked.

"If I had to guess, it’s when I rescued Peaches from her. She wants revenge. But...I don’t know what she’s planning, exactly, with the whole tricking-you-guys thing. All I know is that it involves a fake me."

Suddenly, the hybrid perked up, her pony ears swiveling like satellite dishes behind her. Her right ear twitched. "Wait, what's that sound?"

Otto looked around too. "What's what sound?"

"Peach, do you hear that?"

"I..." Peaches' cat ears began swiveling too. "I do!"

"It sounds like..."

Mandy got off of the bed and kneeled down to the floor, sticking half of her body under the bed and looking around for the sound's source.

"Weird. It's not under here." she said, before grunting as she attempted to free herself from the bed's accidental confines. When she did, she made an "aah" sound of contentment before shaking her head.

"Under the pillow!"

Mandy's rainbow corona caught hold of her pillow's corner and lifted it up. Sure enough, she pulled out a diamond-shaped pendant, pulsating with some sort of black energy she didn't recognize. "What is this thing?" she asked, levitating it up into the air to show the rest of the group.

Oprah rightfully kept her distance. "Looks...like a weird pendant of some kind." 

Olive's eyes widened. "Don't tell me...that's the source of Mandy's nightmares?"

"You might be right!" Mandy said, dropping the pendant to the floor and quickly pulling out her hammer. "Stand back!"

Everyone moved to the farthest corners of the room and stared at the hybrid as she raised the hammer high into the air, then swiftly brought its head down onto the pendant.

It shattered into millions of tiny pieces.

And it seemed to take Mandy's mind with it.

A foreign sensation rocketed through Mandy's body, and then came the excruciating pain. She let out a scream, dropping her hammer as she stumbled around, clutching her head and moving her fingers through her hair as though attempting to dig into her head and reach her brain. It felt like someone had performed a lobotomy on her without using any anesthesia.

"Mandy!!" came the unisonant cry, watching in horror as the hybrid collapsed to the floor.

"What's going on?!" Olive cried out.

"I don't know!" was all Otto could say in response.

A minute passed. Mandy calmed down, the pain slowly ebbing away. She shook her head, a groan bubbling forth as she tried to come to her senses. All of a sudden, she felt a lot more drowsy now, similar to how she felt after a really bad sugar crash. Just as her vision began going all wobbly, so did her body, swaying side to side.

"Cuz, are you okay?" Peaches asked -- although to Mandy, she was speaking in near-complete tongues.

"I..." Mandy shook her head again, although it was slower than usual. "I'm fine..."

"Something must have happened in her brain when she smashed the pendant." Oprah deduced.

"Does this mean she's not going to have nightmares anymore?" Olive's tone was full of hope, but still held a twinge of worry for her adopted daughter.

"She looks sleepy." Otto bent down and attempted to stabilize Mandy, who had her eyes closed and was seconds away from going into a deep sleep. "Why don't you three go and finish the gadget? I'll stay here and see what happens."

"All right." Peaches nodded. "If something dangerous happens, though, shout for us."

"Will do!"

"Come on, let's go."

Olive and the others left the room, never taking their eyes off of Mandy until they were completely unable to see her anymore.

It was by that point that Mandy had entered a deep sleep, giving off raucous snores and pure gibberish. From the looks of things, she was completely back to normal, something that Otto was sure of based on one single piece of evidence that he  wrote down in his flip notebook.

"'Smile on her face.'"

The sound of his stomach growling made him realize just how hungry he was, and he clutched it as he made his way back to his chair. "I really wish I brought something to eat. I'm starving..."





Completing the gadget only took a few minutes thanks to the power of teamwork that Odd Squad was known for. Unfortunately, those few minutes felt like torture to Otto, who had grown considerably weak due to his gnawing hunger. He had the strength to at least put Mandy to bed, but that was about it.

"Olive..." he murmured, slowly reaching a hand out like a zombie aiming for its next victim.

Olive sighed. "He's starved." she explained to Oprah and Peaches, before they had the chance to ask. "Hang tight, Otto. Oprah, do you mind?"

"Not at all." Oprah responded, having picked up on what Olive was putting down, so to speak.

"I'll be back, then."

As Olive departed the room, Peaches took initiative in approaching Mandy with the completed Dream-inator helmet.

"Wait!" Otto shot upwards, his state of hunger temporarily forgotten. "Peaches, be as quiet as you can. Mandy doesn’t have her earmuffs on. I know the helmet is shatter-proof, but she could knock it off like last time."

"Trust me, we catpeople are masters at stealth." Peaches smirked. "Watch and learn."

She didn't need to go slow, or watch her step. All she did was stride over to her snoring cousin and put the helmet on her. At one point her leg jerked, which startled Peaches, but she brushed it off, knowing her cousin was known for these kinds of things that would make her a shoo-in for restless leg syndrome if anyone in the Medical department actually knew what it was.

"Yes!" she declared, taking a few steps back.

Oprah patted her on the shoulder. "Nice work." she praised, pulling out a small square-shaped remote from hammerspace. "Now let's test this bad boy out."

As the Director pressed the red button in the center, the sound of whirring could be heard, indicating that its antenna was connecting with the helmet. Sure enough, the indents on the helmet began to flash in an array of colors, and a holographic screen was projected into the air just above Mandy's head. Although there was snow, it didn't take long for a picture to be produced.

"-farm hand!" a unicorn finished, walking in a field of grass and staring up at whom everyone could only assume was Mandy.

"Really? Cool!" Mandy gave a hearty laugh, throwing her hands into the air and taking a deep breath. The field of grass seemed to stretch on for miles, only marked by a row of small fruit trees far off into the distance. "Everything's so fresh here! The air, the grass..."

Oprah's eyes widened. "She's having good dreams!" she said, her tone full of elation.

Olive entered the room right then, holding a plate of food that included a chicken breast, some rice, and some green beans -- because she had to make sure Otto was eating healthy, at the very least. "All right, I'm back!"

Otto's glazed-over eyes shifted from the dream to the plate of food, and almost immediately, the sparkle returned to them. "Food!" he cried out, grabbing the plate and the fork and digging in.

Olive blinked as she watched the holographic image. "Whoa, is that Mandy's dream?" she asked.

"Yes!" Peaches quickly grabbed her by the shoulders. "She's free from the nightmares!"

It took a moment for Olive to process the news, but when she did, relief filled her chest so much that she almost began to feel lightheaded. "What a relief." She put her hand to her chest. "So it was the pendant thing giving her nightmares after all."

"Ahh, much better!"

Olive swiveled her head towards Otto, who was holding a plate that looked like it had been licked clean down to the last microscopic crumb. Which, frankly, didn't surprise her in the least. "You were hungry, huh?"

"Let's leave Mandy be."

On Oprah's suggestion, the group got up and prepared to exit the room, watching as Oprah powered down the Dream-inator helmet and Peaches grabbed it. Once they were sure everything was in order and Mandy was still in a peaceful sleep, they left.

Except for Peaches, who served as the caboose of the group to give some final words to Mandy.

"Sweet dreams, cuz."

With a smile, the catgirl shut off the light and closed the door, a feeling of peace washing over her as she knew that Mandy was safe, she was happy, and she was finally getting the good rest she so deserved.





In the Dream Weaver's eyes, the plan was going well. Mandy was growing weaker by the hour, and soon, the fruits of the villainess's labor would begin to show. Still, she thought it was a good idea to see how Mandy was doing, and to see exactly how her pathetic friends of hers had meddled in her plan, if they even did so at all.

...Oh, who was she kidding. Of course they did. They always did. But she could stop them, just like she could with Mandy.

As she made her way through the dark hallways of Precinct 13579, she kept her senses alert for any signs of active movement. Even a sleepwalking agent could mess up her entire check-in, and she couldn't afford anything like that -- although she was sure no one was here but the ponies, Peaches, and of course, Mandy. Still, she was dedicated to making sure her revenge plot went off without a hitch.

She managed to reach the hybrid's room with ease and slowly let the door creak open as her eyes laid witness to her most persistent and most irritating foe. The very first thing she noticed was that Mandy's expression was...happy. Disturbingly so. It was like someone shoved a giant red flag right into the villainess's eyes.

"Why isn't she grimacing?!" She growled. "Don't tell me..."

With stomping footsteps, she thrust a hand under Mandy's pillow, feeling around for the pendant. When nothing sharp and hard presented itself, she mentally shot out a few curse words.

"Darn it, they found the pendant!" Before she could blow her top, the Dream Weaver forced herself to take a nice deep breath. "No matter. I have a backup plan. Which...also involves the actual plan being a bit rushed, but it's no sweat."

From hammerspace, she took out another pendant but in a different form. This one was a diamond embedded at the centerpiece of a black-and-blue choker. She tied it around Mandy's neck, being careful to leave it loose so it could work its magic if her rescuers struggled.

The gem pulsated, giving off ugly black tendrils of mist that reached into the air, and Mandy's expression twisted into one of discomfort as she gave a groan.

"It's working already."

The next step was feeding Mandy a sleeping pill, which would ensure that she wouldn't wake up from the nightmares she had. That part was easy -- the Dream Weaver always had sleeping pills on her, because she loved to fly and it was the only way she could handle long flights. So, she popped one in Mandy's mouth and massaged her throat to allow her to swallow it.

And then came the final part of the plan. Cracking her knuckles, the Dream Weaver took ahold of Mandy's blankets, wrapping her up in a burrito and tying them up in a neat little bow. She grabbed Mandy and quickly made a run for it, closing the door and sprinting back the way she came.

"Now, let's take you to a place where you'll never be heard from again. Shall we?"

A mental note pushed forward in her mind, to inform the Shapeshifter of the change in plans -- or the change in the timing of the plan, anyway. Kidnapping Mandy was supposed to be for when she was close to collapse, so she wouldn't struggle when she was tied up. Still, hiding her away was the Dream Weaver's first and foremost priority, and as she racked her brain for good locations in Toronto where a pony-human hybrid could be easily hidden, one came to her within minutes.

Yes. It's perfect. It's hidden. And it'll be where absolutely no one, pony or human, will ever be able to find her.





Perhaps it was a good thing that Mandy's snoring had ceased and the Dream Weaver only had the sleep-talking to deal with. It made the journey to the destination go so much faster, and it saved her from having to shove something down Mandy's throat the same way she had shoved her hammer down the villainess's throat.

The pair soon stood at the large, gaping entrance of a cave. It was dark, it was ominous, and it was absolutely perfect. From what the Dream Weaver could see, it seemed to stretch on for miles.

She stepped inside, allowing her white, glow-in-the-dark hair to light up the way. She had wanted to go deep, but the more she walked, the more she realized that going in deep would take at least a day, and if she was being honest, she couldn't afford to waste more than a minute. So, she ended up settling for about 15 minutes in, with her taking a respective right and left at two forks in the road, until she got to a large area with a small pool that was surrounded by rocks and a reasonably-sized wall.

Laying Mandy down on the ground, she pulled out four cuffs and got to work untying the hybrid. Although it took some work -- and certainly not from Mandy giving her a fight -- she eventually managed to get her tied up, closing the cuffs around her wrists and ankles and tightening the chains around rocks that jutted out from the wall.

When the work was done, leaving Mandy suspended right above the pool, the Dream Weaver took a few steps back and gave an inquisitive hum. Something's missing. She's going to wake up...so she could...

Bingo.

She reached behind her back and pulled out a smaller cuff, one that could fit snugly around her thumb. It had a padlock on it, one that would fit with the same key she used for the other four cuffs, but it also had a sort of magical property about it. Using other rocks that protruded from the wall as makeshift stairs, she put the cuff on the base of Mandy's long alicorn horn and tightened it. It hummed and pulsed once, indicating that said magical property was serving its purpose well. As for the wings, she didn't feel a need to do anything about those -- there was no way Mandy was flying free from her confines, anyhow.

All was said and done, now. Mandy was now trapped, tied up a position of crucifixion with her arms and legs outstretched accordingly. Her head was drooped, and she was still giving out various sounds of discomfort every so often.

Perfect! The Dream Weaver clapped her hands together. All I need to do is hide the key somewhere, and I'm set.

Her mind got to work concocting various places where the key could be hidden. She couldn't go deeper into the cave, so she had to hide it somewhere in her steps. But the question was where, exactly. Odd Squad was smart, and...

And...

Wait. There's a pool under her feet!

Grinning, she made her way over to the small body of water, took off the golden glove attached to her hand, and stuck her arm into the water to see if she could reach the bottom. To her surprise, she couldn't, and at the risk of messing up her glow-in-the-dark hair, she stuck her face inside to see. Luckily, her hair's illumination properties worked well even in water, and she was able to deduce that it was quite a ways down. She could very faintly see the bottom, or what she thought was the bottom -- which made it the perfect place to hide a key.

She took her head out and dropped the key into the water, then conjured up a towel from hammerspace and dried her hair, groaning as she mentally lamented about how long it took her to style it and how it was probably ruined now. She got to her feet, eyed her slumbering enemy for a few more seconds, then turned to leave. As she walked, her hand slipped into her pocket and grabbed her smartphone, where she got ahold of the Shapeshifter.

"Dream Weaver, there better be a good reason for you calling me this late."

"Oh, there is. About our little revenge plan on Agent Mandy...things have shifted juuuust a tad."





The next day, everything seemed normal at Precinct 13579's Headquarters -- or as normal as it could possibly get by Odd Squad standards, anyway. Peaches awoke late, which didn't draw too much ire from her as a crepuscular catgirl, and emerged from her room to go to the bathroom and get ready.

Along the way there, she spotted Mandy, who seemed to be in good spirits and back to normal.

"Oh! Hey there, cuz!" Peaches waved. "Feeling better?"

"Hm?" Mandy turned around. "Oh! Yeah, I'm feeling fine. Honestly, I don't know what went on with me..."

"When the pendant was smashed, your brain must have felt an adverse reaction to it. I dunno. Your brain functions weird." Peaches bit the inside of her cheek. "Er, no offense."

"None taken!"

"I know you definitely weren't up for looking for the Vallea culprit with me yesterday, so...wanna go tonight instead?"

That question earned Peaches a vacant stare that slightly unnerved her, especially since Mandy was gazing right into her eyes. "Uh...cuz?"

"Huh? Oh!" Mandy laughed. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you wanted to come with me to try and find the culprit who burned my hometown down."

Mandy looked from side to side in a shifty manner. "Um...heh...s-sure, I guess. Anything for more quality time with my faaaavorite cousin, right?"

"Right..." Peaches' tone was dubious, her eyes squinted as she scanned Mandy up and down. Something was off about her, but Peaches had a hard time with determining what that was. Her cousin looked perfectly fine and healthy, and she still held the same enthusiasm...or most of the same enthusiasm, anyway. Maybe that was it, just a lack of enthusiasm. After all, Peaches knew Mandy to be bouncing up and down, speaking in singsongs, doing wild and crazy and odd things...and now, she didn't seem capable of that. But maybe she was having an off day and was still recovering after her sleep deprivation.

Still, her gut feeling was that something was wrong, and she kept her eyes squinted at Mandy, who nervously laughed. "Cuz, what're you doing?"

"Something's off about you." Peaches answered. "Maybe you should go see Dr. O and make sure that pendant didn’t give you any other effects besides the nightmares."

"Ehehe!" Mandy bit her lip. "I-I mean...um...y-yeah! I'll go and see her."

"...Him?"

"Huh?"

"Dr. O is a boy."

Mandy blinked. "Oh! I-is that so?! Ahaha! Aaah...my my, I'm forgetful today, aren't I?" She gave another nervous laugh, and then turned on her heel, speed-walking away from the scene.

Peaches' tail twitched inquisitively. "No doubt about it. Something's definitely up with her." she mused, continuing on her way. She made a mental note to keep an eye on Mandy throughout the day, and get to the bottom of why she was acting so weird. Surely it wasn't just residue from the sleep deprivation -- Mandy was usually right as rain after a bout of that, but this time, she wasn't. It was an odd case across the board, and if there was one thing Peaches knew a lot about, even as someone who wasn't an agent, it was odd cases.





By the time Peaches reached the bullpen, Mandy was already sitting at her desk and happily conversing with Olive and Otto. A growl rolled in her throat as her claws subconsciously came out, leaving scrapes on the brick wall that she was holding in a death grip.

Lost in thought, thinking Dr. O was a girl instead of a boy...and her smell is off. I know her smell. That's not her smell.

If the Shapeshifter, Father Time and the Dream Weaver are behind this too, then I am so gonna kick their butts. It's the least I could do after Mandy saved me from the Dream Weaver. 

For now, though...I have an idea. I'm gonna prove whether that's the real deal sitting in that chair or not, and lucky for me that I have two witnesses on my side.

Filled with confidence, she strode into the bullpen, where the conversation became clearer and clearer.

"Ahaha...c'mon, Otto, you're being ridiculous! Why would ya stack a marshmallow on top of the sundae?"

"Hey, if I won that contest I could have gotten free ice cream for life!"

"But he got a stomachache and couldn't come into work the next day." Olive nudged her partner and gave a chuckle. "He threw up so many times that I had to buy him a bismuth subsalicylate solution!"

"Don't tell her that!"

"Hey, Mandy!"

The trio turned to look at Peaches. "Oh! Peach, it's you!" Mandy chirped. "What's goin' on?"

Peaches largely ignored Mandy and made eye contact with the two Directors. "Do you two know if there's an interrogation room open?"

Otto blinked. "Why? You...wait...you want to interrogate Mandy?"

"Just answer the question, it's urgent!"

"U-uh..." Olive glanced at the second floor, where every interrogation room on the right side seemed to be occupied by an agent and/or an oddity. "As far as I can see, no."

Peaches sighed and shot Mandy a glare. "All right then."

Mandy squirmed in her seat a little. "W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I want to ask you a couple questions." Peaches pointed at Olive and Otto. "And I want you two here as witnesses."

The two Directors exchanged confused glances. "Witnesses?"

Leaning close to Mandy, Peaches gave her a few sniffs. To keep Mandy steady, she placed a hand on her head, preventing the hybrid from moving too much. Mandy began to look visibly uncomfortable, and as such, she attempted to push Peaches away. "C-cuz, don't! Not in front of everyone! You'll embarrass yourself!"

Peaches pulled back and gave a simple "hm" followed by a flick of her cat ear. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she cleared her throat and laid down her first question in the interrogation. "Mandy, what's your favorite food?"

"Favorite food?"

"If you could pick one, and only one."

Mandy had been asked this question before. And whenever Peaches had the glorious-but-not-so-glorious experience of witnessing someone ask her this question, she watched Mandy's brain circuits be completely and utterly fried beyond repair in a way that would make fried food enthusiasts start crying. The hybrid stammered, she tried to spit out a single answer, but nothing came forth. Sometimes she was reduced to tears, crying out about how the asker was torturing her and then going on a ramble about how she'd get her lawyer and sue for damages. (Which wasn't true. Mandy didn't have a lawyer. She had beaten the heck out of the top firm in Toronto with her antics and they had barred her from ever using their practice. A majority of the rest of them were the immoral "squeeze every last financial drop out of the victims" kind that no one allowed her to go near out of an abundance of caution.)

Now, though...Mandy was hesitating. She was hesitating in the "I genuinely can't think of an answer because I don't know what my favorite food is" way and not the "how can I pick just one?!" way.

"U-um..." She scratched her neck. "I guess...mac and cheese?"

Peaches sat on this answer for a minute, then nodded. Mac and cheese seemed normal, although Mandy liked to spice it up by adding chicken coated with paprika and Italian seasoning. Still, she let it slide. "Okay. Next question. Who's your best friend, out of the ponies?"

Mandy's eyes darted from side to side. "Out of them...you mean all six?"

"Yes."

Mandy had been asked this question before, too. And every time, the answer was clear-cut: "D'aww, you know I can't choose! They're all my bestest friends! And don't ever say 'you can only choose one' again, because I can and will find a loophole."

But Mandy was, once again, hesitating. It seemed like forever before she actually spit out a viable answer.

"Heh. Um...w-well...Rarity, I guess. She's skilled, powerful, knows a lot about fashion..."

The expression on Mandy's face was clear to Peaches. She knew she gave a wrong answer, and she knew she couldn't take it back. By this point, Peaches could have gone after her and exposed her for who she truly was -- but in order to be sure, she decided to spring for one last question. A question that she knew no clone, no impostor, no fake could ever answer honestly.

"Final question!" She grinned. "Who wants twirlies?!"

Memories surfaced in Olive's brain. She remembered giving twirlies to Mandy often, lifting her up into the air and spinning her around until she got so dizzy that it felt like that one stage in Otto's video game that was shaped like a UFO and kept doing 180s every six seconds. Mandy was far too old for them now, but sometimes she would ask for one, and Olive would oblige (except if it was in public, because she had standards and a reputation). They were fond memories that made the Director smile as she looked back on them.

"Twirlies?" Mandy repeated, staring at Peaches for a minute or two until a smile formed on her face. "That sounds fun! Go for it!"

Peaches smirked. She cracked her knuckles, reached her hands out, attempted to lift Mandy up...

And couldn't.

The hybrid had about the same weight as a boulder, and certainly not that of Pinkie's sister's pet who was named Boulder. Mandy was no lightweight, but she wasn't insanely heavy, either, and it was Peaches' sheer inability to lift her that caused Olive and Otto to gasp in unison as the truth was revealed to them.

Peaches let go of Mandy and keeled over, panting. "I...knew it!" She stuck her hand out. "Olive, hand me...your Reveal-inator!"

"No, don't do it, Olive!" Mandy stretched a hand out. "Y-you don't want to!"

It was Mandy calling Olive by just that and not by the "Momma" moniker she had grown to love that made the Director take action without even thinking, taking the gadget out from behind her back and handing it to Peaches.

The catgirl slipped her fingers into the designated holes on the top of the gadget. "Your days of impersonating my beloved cousin are over..."

She jerked her arm backwards, causing a light blue ring to shoot out and travel down Mandy's body, exposing her true identity.

"Shapeshifter!"

The Shapeshifter gave an angry growl. "How dare you!"

Before she could antagonize the group any further, Peaches gave an angry yowl and slammed into her full-force, pinning her to the ground. "What have you done with the real Mandy?!"

The Shapeshifter, while surprised, managed to keep most of her cool. "Like I'll tell you."

Peaches unsheathed her claws, holding them up against the villainess's cheek. Her tone was low and ominous as she leaned in close to her ear. "Tell us, or you're going to be in for a world of hurt."

"F-fine!" The Shapeshifter sighed. "I was about to go there anyway. If you get off of me and follow me, I'll take you to her."

On the one hand, Peaches didn't trust the villainess in the slightest. After all, who knew if she was just going to run the second she was freed or not? It was certainly a possibility. But on the other hand...she was the only one who knew where Mandy was. She was the only lead they had, and they couldn't afford to lose her. With how big Toronto was, it could take days to find Mandy -- days that would leave her in nothing but suffering and pain. Peaches couldn't, wouldn't, allow that. Mandy had to be saved now, while the going was good.

Peaches grit her teeth and looked at Olive and Otto. "Any of you have a rope?"





"A rope?" The Shapeshifter chuckled. "You really are naive."

In response, Peaches gave an angry hiss, her hair and tail both bushing up.

"And just as feisty as ever! Just like your poor cousin."

Olive and Otto walked behind Peaches and the Shapeshifter, intimidated by the former's show of aggression. If this was how Mandy acted when she went to go stop the Dream Weaver from harming Peaches, they...well, no, they wouldn't be too surprised. They kept their voices low as they spoke.

"Should we intervene?"

"Nope." Olive shook her head. "Mandy saved Peaches' life, remember? She's probably returning the favor now."

"Ah, gotcha."

"Keep your eyes on her!"

The sharp command made both Directors stiffen, giving small yelps as they nodded. "Y-yes, ma'am!" I can't believe we're taking orders from someone who isn't even an employee of Odd Squad...

"Are we almost there?" Peaches snapped impatiently.

"Yes." the Shapeshifter responded. As her hands and wrists were tied up with rope, all she could do was point to what laid ahead of them. "She's in that cave, just up ahead."

Peaches' nose wrinkled. "A cave?"

"The Dream Weaver thought it was a good place to hide her. After all, what..." She chuckled. "What Odd Squad agent has experience with caves?"

"Tons of them." Olive and Otto unisonantly deadpanned.

"Hmph." The Shapeshifter rolled her eyes. "Just go inside. There's a surprise or two waiting for you."

"What surprise?" Peaches asked.

"You'll see."

As the group got closer, the figure of the Dream Weaver was becoming more and more prominent. She gave them a wave, and then a beckoning gesture with her hand.

Peaches' expression turned from rage to nervousness, something that Olive and Otto sensed as they placed two hands on her shoulders.

"We've got your back, Peaches."

"Yeah!" Otto nodded. "No matter what comes our way, we can handle it."

Peaches took a deep breath, letting her friends' words ring in her head. Her confidence quickly restored, she gave a determined head nod and straightened her posture, glaring at the Dream Weaver with all the anger she had stored within her.

"Ah, there you are." The Dream Weaver clapped her hands together giddily upon seeing the heroes, but quickly faltered when they saw the villain whom they had tied up. "Er...and...Shapeshifter."

The Shapeshifter leaned close to her partner-in-crime's ear. "Listen. That catgirl is more dangerous than she looks. You realize I wasn't even able to break out of these things? And I can break out of handcuffs! Handcuffs!" she hissed.

"Ohoho!" The Dream Weaver patted her shoulder. "Relax, relax. I'll take over from here. You go get some rest and you'll be refreshed as the rain!"

"In this cave? No thanks." the Shapeshifter muttered, watching as the Dream Weaver stood up and approached the group.

"I understand you're looking for your anomalous hybrid friend."

"Yes. Take us to her. Now."

"Oh?" The Dream Weaver blinked in surprise. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today!" She shook her head. "All right, all right. Follow me. I'll show you the way."

Otto and Peaches went ahead. Olive, however, pulled out a Weight-Shift-inator and fired it at the Shapeshifter, binding her to the ground and leaving her unable to stand up, let alone even push herself up.

"You stay there. We'll be back shortly." she said, her tone threatening as she ran after her friends and the villainess. The Shapeshifter struggled, but the Director paid no mind to her. After all, she was confident that not even the Shapeshifter could free herself from the gravitational confines that the Weight-Shift-inator put on her.

At the first fork in the road, the group heard a faint but sharp yelp that bounced off every surface. Heads swiveled, unsure of where it was coming from.

Peaches shapeshifted and climbed up onto the Dream Weaver's back. "You'd better put a step on it!" she threatened, holding her claws close to the villainess's neck.

"A-all right, all right! We'll..." The Dream Weaver faltered, and then pointed to the right cave. "It's that way."

Using flashlights -- Olive and Otto's badge phones would have worked fine but they weren't the best illumination tools -- the trio burst ahead of her, leaving her in the dust. She, of course, quickly followed, knowing that if she turned back and abandoned them, she would be found sooner or later -- and besides, she wanted to be there for the grand reveal.

"Come on, guys, put on some speed!"

"I can only go so fast, Peaches!" Olive snapped, keeping pace with her longer-legged partner.

It didn't take long before they reached the second fork. Three whimpers, each two seconds apart, rung out, almost like signals to tell Odd Squad where to go. They were brief, but they were very close. Olive's heart plummeted.

The Dream Weaver groaned as she made her way up to them. "Left."

Again, the children were quicker than the adult, and the Dream Weaver had to put on a lot more speed than usual to even remotely catch up to them. Still, the thought of her enemies reacting with sheer horror at what they were about to see granted her more energy to keep on running.

"Stooooop!"

The cry of the Dream Weaver caused the trio to halt, Otto slamming into Olive and Peaches slamming into Otto. They looked around, shining their flashlights everywhere for any sign of Mandy.

"H-help me..."

Olive gasped. She shone her flashlight a little to the right.

And dropped the tool entirely.

"Olive? What's..." Otto shone his flashlight on Mandy next.

"Oh my cattails!"

Mandy was squirming a little, though not enough to break free of the cuffs. Her expression was contorted into one of discomfort as she feebly kicked her legs. Her eyes were, of course, closed, allowing the trio to deduce that she was acting out yet another nightmare.

The Dream Weaver stumbled into the cave and keeled over, glancing up at the frozen states of Peaches, Otto and Olive. A grin came across her face as happiness flowed within her. None of them moved -- all they did was stare at their beloved friend, their beloved family member, suffering in pain and agony with no way to get out of it.

Otto took a step back. "She...she looks so exhausted..."

The Dream Weaver straightened up and laughed. "Of course she is!" She waved a hand. "I put a new pendant around her neck and gave her a sleeping pill. She'll be having nightmares for days!"

Olive slowly turned her head to look at the villainess, her brown eyes flashing with rage. "You gave her a what."

"Look at the lock on her horn!"

Peaches looked at where Otto was pointing. "And all the chains and cuffs!"

"Oh, those?" The Dream Weaver examined her nails. "I refer to those as 'ability limiters'. But really, they're just so she can't use her magic or her flight."

"How dare you."

The area fell silent. The Dream Weaver looked right into the face of a snarling, very-much-peeved Peaches.

"My cousin doesn't deserve to have any nightmares. Nor does she deserve to be impersonated by your little gal pal out there!" She unsheathed her claws. "Mandy saved me when you held me hostage. So it's time I do the same!"

An angry yowl bounced off the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. The Dream Weaver barely had time to react as Peaches whizzed by her, seemingly unmoving. The sound of tearing filled her ears, and she looked down to find that her cosmic-patterned one-piece outfit had been torn at the forearms, two vertical even splits that exposed her skin.

"M-my...this outfit cost me...hundreds!" the Dream Weaver stammered. "You-"

"And I can give you more!"

It was clear to the Dream Weaver now that Mandy's catgirl cousin was looking for a fight. Sure, she had seen her talk the talk, but she couldn't deny that she was eager to see her walk the walk -- especially since she was out for revenge for her torn uniform. She took out her Bad Dream Machine from hammerspace and set it on the ground, smirking. "Bring it on, pretty kitty!"

Both combatants charged and met in the middle, kicking up dust with flurries of punches, kicks, bites, and magical attacks to the point where Olive and Otto could barely see them.

"Partner! While they're fighting, let's free Mandy!"

"Wait!" Otto put his hand on Olive's shoulder. "We should be careful. We don't know what traps the Dream Weaver or the Shapeshifter may have set up."

Olive nodded. "Good idea. Come on."

Cautiously but as quickly as they could, the pair made their way over to the now-cringing Mandy.

The Dream Weaver was sent flying past her Bad Dream Machine towards a stalagmite, hitting it dead-on and collapsing to the ground. Her outfit was developing more and more tears with every attack, and she feared that the way things were going, she would be fighting Peaches as nature intended for man to fight. "Like a couple of scratches is going to stop me?!" she taunted, slowly rising to her feet and re-activating her machine.

With dazzling speed, Peaches soared towards the villainess and gave her a good, solid punch in the gut, causing her to choke, stagger, and fall to her knees.

"I pack more than just my claws!" the catgirl said, her tail swishing back and forth as she pounded her fist into her open palm. "I can also pack a punch!"

Otto looked around the area, using the assistance of a scanner gadget to help him. "There doesn't seem to be any traps, Olive!"

Olive blinked. "Weird. You'd think that, since the Dream Weaver laid a trap for Mandy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight when they went to rescue Peaches, that she'd do the same thing here..." She sighed. "Talk about unpredictable."

The sound of whimpers caught the girl's attention, and she immediately whirled around to face Mandy. The sight of her panicked expression frightened her when seen up close.

"Mandy? It's Olive and Otto! We're gonna get you out of here, don't worry!"

"Maybe we should destroy the pendant first!" Otto suggested, as he came over to his partner and tucked the scanning gadget away.

"Good idea, but..." Olive bit her lip. "It looks like it's pretty tight around her neck."

"Don't we have...I dunno, some sort of tooth gadget?" Otto gave a halfhearted shrug, as though knowing that his idea was bad but also knowing that it was better than nothing. "Like the wind-up teeth toys, but in a gadget form?"

Olive fixed her partner with a deadpan glare. "No." she responded, before her eyes widened in realization. She pulled out a gadget that looked like a pair of scissors. "But I do have a Scissor-inator!"

It took a minute for Olive to fix her aim. She didn't want to accidentally decapitate her adopted daughter with one wrong misfire, and so she took her sweet time aiming for the choker instead. Finally, when she was satisfied, she opened the gadget, causing three horizontal tendrils of magic to appear between the blades, then closed it again, which sent the magic right towards the choker. With a burst of orange-colored magic, it broke and fell into the pool below.

Mandy gave a piercing, agonizing scream as she began to writhe more aggressively. Still, this did not free her from the cuffs, and she was left in the same position of crucifixion.

The fighting between Peaches and the Dream Weaver temporarily stopped, the former taking her foot off of the latter's chest as she stared at Mandy. "Huh?"

The Dream Weaver looked too, and horror began to seep in as she realized just what her enemies had done. "No...NOOOOOOO!!" she screamed. She grit her teeth as a growl rumbled in her throat, staring daggers at Olive and Otto. "How did you take the pendant off?"

"Easy. We used a gadget. Same as we always do." came Olive's smug reply, an equally-smug smile settling on her face to go with it. Otto polished the gadget beside her, giving the Dream Weaver a smug smile of his own.

Another growl came forth from the villainess. However, this one turned into a full-on scream of unbridled rage and frustration. "Whatever!" She jabbed a finger at Peaches. "I'm still not done with you!"

"Oh? Bring it on!"

Both Peaches and the Dream Weaver then disappeared in a giant ball of dust, hair, and surprisingly, a few torn pieces of clothing. The ball broke free only a few seconds later as the Dream Weaver looked at her torn leg, streaked with rivers of blood.

"Oh no."

"Blood, huh?" Peaches wiped her face. "Yeah, it happens. Get used to it."

Over by Mandy, Otto was eyeing the Scissor-inator. "Maybe this gadget can work on Mandy's horn lock!"

Olive shook her head. "Mm-mm. Too risky. We could slice off the lock and her horn!"

"All right, well..." Otto tapped his chin. "If it's a lock, maybe there's a key hidden somewhere! Let's look around!"

"Perfect!"

As the pair of Directors began searching along the ground for any signs of the key being buried, the Dream Weaver gave a cry of pain as she was sent tumbling along the ground by a nasty claw swipe, landing by her Bad Dream Machine.

Peaches rose to her full height. "You're lucky I'm not as enraged as Mandy was or you wouldn't be seeing the sunshine anymore!" she spat.

A convulsion of pain stopped the Dream Weaver from responding right away -- she was growing tired, and she was sure that Peaches could see it. Not only that, but the shapes of Olive and Otto were growing blurry to her, and at some points, it seemed that they were speed-walking. "Nngh..." She stared at Peaches. "P-please, stop..."

"After you tortured my dearly-beloved cousin? Not in a million years!" Peaches grabbed ahold of the villainess's neck with her claws, ignoring the choking sounds she made. "You're about to feel the full extent of my wrath!"

With Otto having resolved to checking the pool, Olive held his feet sturdy and stared at it with worry. She watched as the bubbles came up, indicating that her partner was still breathing. He hadn't put on a scuba mask or any sort of assistive underwater breathing device, and so, she was forced to wait and see when he would come back up.

A foot jerked, causing Olive to flinch before she began to pull him up. As she peered into the depths of the water, she saw a dark shape emerging, growing closer and closer. Before she knew it, Otto had emerged, taking a deep breath that led to him coughing up a storm.

"Did you find it?" she asked, letting go of him and allowing him to get his bearings together.

"I..." A cough. "Yeah. I did." He held up the key. "Take it."

Olive did as she was told, grabbing the key in her teeth and using the jutted rocks that protruded from the wall to hoist herself up. In that moment, she thanked the powers-that-be that they had blessed her with strong athleticism, as she was able to reach the top of Mandy in no time at all. She unlocked the cuffs on Mandy's right wrist and right ankle, then tossed the key to Otto, who only had to lay a single foot on another jutted rock by Mandy's ankle to unlock her left wrist and left ankle. His fast reflexes allowed him to catch her before she slipped into the depths of the pool below.

"How can we make sure all the stuff we did worked?" Otto asked, letting his feet touch ground as he carried Mandy and made his way towards Olive.

"We can't right now." Olive said. "Not until Mandy wakes up."

The hybrid began thrashing right then. "Make it stop, make it stop!" she cried out, kicking her hands and feet a lot more violently now that she was free.

"Olive, try cuddling her!"

Olive blinked in surprise, once, and then twice. Her gaze moved slowly towards Otto as her expression twisted into confusion. "Wha...cuddling her?"

"I remember that it was a surefire way to make her fall asleep as a baby. If you hold her in your arms, maybe she’ll have good dreams again!"

Olive looked at Mandy. "Otto, she's a bit too grown to be cuddled, don't you think?"

"Just try it!"

With a resigned sigh, Olive beckoned for her partner to give her the hybrid. He did so eagerly, watching as Olive held Mandy in her arms like a baby. "It's okay. You're free now." she soothed, ignoring the sounds of fighting that resounded behind her. "Hush hush. Have good dreams again. Uh..." She bit her lip, struggling with what to say. "Bippity-boppity-boo?"

Otto groaned. "C'mon, put some effort into it!"

"Okay, okay!" Olive gave another sigh and closed her eyes, lightly bouncing Mandy up and down -- which was a pretty hard feat, given that Mandy was only just an inch or two taller than her. "Peaches is fighting for your sake, Mandy. Rest easy now. She's got the situation handled from here."

Both Peaches and the Dream Weaver were at a standstill. Peaches was covered in dirt, bruises and blood that littered nearly every inch of her body, one eye closed as she took heavy breaths. The Dream Weaver looked much the same, with tears in her outfit that exposed their own streaks of blood, marks of pain, and pieces of dirt. Her Bad Dream Machine had gotten its top sliced off, although exactly how it got sliced off, given that it was made of strong metal, was anyone's guess. Both catgirl and villainess were standing, though neither of their postures were straight.

"Are you done yet?" Peaches asked, her tone hiding an air of desperation as she knew that one more severe blow could end her reign of terror.

The Dream Weaver opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by a bolt of pain that caused her to yelp and sway backwards until her back met the ground.

"Haven't you learned by now that it's best not to cross us? We beat you every time..." Peaches gave a cough that made her whole body shudder. "...and yet you still try."

"You..." The Dream Weaver spat off to the side. "Your cousin...rescued you. I...swore revenge that night."

With half-lidded eyes and a deadpan tone: "Right. Like I care." And then, Peaches approached the villainess and placed one single foot on her ribs. "Just admit defeat already."

"Never!"

A loud crunch made the Dream Weaver think otherwise as she began to choke. "Okay!" She coughed. "Okay, you win! You win!"

"Heh. Good choice." Peaches removed her foot, allowing her opponent to breathe while she reached behind her back and pulled out a roll of medium-sized rope. "And don't even think about it." she threatened, as she got to work tying the rope around the Dream Weaver's wrists. "I have an extraordinary sense of smell. I will find you...and unlike Mandy, I will kill you."

The Dream Weaver growled in a way that it would lead up to whatever retort she wanted to fire next. However, she ended up coughing before she could utter a single word out, and that was the point that she admitted defeat, not bothering to fight back anymore. It was clear that she had sorely underestimated Peaches, especially for being related to Mandy.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Peaches said, tying a knot in the rope and standing up, grabbing ahold of the Dream Weaver's wrists to make her stand up. "This cave's starting to give me the creeps."

As the pair made their way over to Olive, Otto and Mandy, they eyed the hybrid, still asleep and clutching onto Olive's jacket. A small smile graced her face and her tail lightly wagged back and forth, which were clear indicators that she had emerged free of her nightmares and was back into the world of good dreams once more.

"Seems like Mandy's calmed down." Otto noted. "But if the Dream Weaver gave her a sleeping pill, who knows how long she'll be out for?"

Olive nodded. "True. She could be out for hours, days, weeks...months...years...centuries." She slightly paled. "Her brain's so unpredictable..."

The sound of a growling stomach echoed within the cave. It didn't take much deducing to figure out whose it was.

"Well, she's gotta wake up soon. She's hungry."

"Yes, and she's eating my jacket." Olive groaned as everyone peered at the hybrid. Sure enough, she was nibbling away at her adoptive mother's jacket like it was food -- something she would often do when she was an infant. "I just had it washed, too!"

The group eventually began making their way out of the cave, leaving the Bad Dream Machine behind -- they figured they could gather a team of agents who would come to collect it and dispose of it appropriately.

Peaches stuck close to Mandy, even as she started snoring and sleep-talking again. A smile graced her face, even in spite of the injuries she had received.

Hang tight, cuz. You'll get better soon. You have to.

For me. For all of us.





As soon as the group got back to Headquarters -- with both the Dream Weaver and the Shapeshifter, who had been lingering by the cave's entrance, in tow -- Olive, Otto and Peaches plopped the two villainesses in Oprah's hands and put Mandy to bed, making sure to look around for anything else that might give her nightmares. Once that was done, Peaches made her way to the Medical Bay while Olive and Otto made their way to the bullpen and met up with Oprah, who didn't have the two villainesses in her possession anymore but wouldn't disclose where she had taken them.

"Good job, all of you. Thanks to you, both the Shapeshifter and the Dream Weaver are back in Odd Squad custody." Oprah glanced at the patched-up Peaches, covered in gauze and bandages. "Peaches, I can't believe you actually took on the Dream Weaver by yourself. She's a really tough villain."

Peaches shrugged. "I owed it to Mandy to save her. She saved me from the Dream Weaver once, after all."

"Fair point. You two love each other very much." Oprah smiled. "Dr. O told me that she should wake up by tonight."

Olive blinked in surprise. "So soon?"

"As I'm sure you're aware..." Oprah rolled her eyes. "She can't go without food for very long, so her hunger might trigger her brain in some way that will make her wake up." she explained. "Or so he says."

"Well then, there's no time like the present to whip her up something nice!"

"Ooh, I'll help!"

Peaches gave Otto a smile, and together, the pair drifted towards the Breakroom, taking out ingredient after ingredient.

"So what're we gonna make for her?" Otto asked, setting a bag of flour down onto the table.

Peaches set down a cereal bowl. "Anything. As much food as we can possibly make. You know she's going to scarf it all down in a matter of seconds."

"True!" Otto laughed. "Let's do this!"

Olive watched the chaos begin to unfold for a few moments, then turned to look at Oprah. "I'm going to head back to my precinct. Can you have your Dr. O call my Dr. O if something comes up?"

Oprah nodded. "Sure. Good luck."

"Thanks!"

With that, Olive raced out of the bullpen, leaving her partner and Peaches to their culinary madness as they began excitedly discussing tips and tricks for making Mandy's food the best it could possibly be.





In spite of Mandy's voracious appetite, her hunger rarely affected her dreams. All of her food-related dreams were born out of her love for food, her desire to eat anything and everything while being in the warm embrace of the Gods of Really Really Good Metabolism. But her brain, as intricate as it was, often reminded her that necessities like eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, and staying hygienic trumped sleep tenfold.

And it was one of these reminders that caused her to snap out of her dream of soaring through the skies of Equestria. Or, at the very least, what she thought Equestria looked like.

"Mmmrrr...5 more minitzz..." she mumbled, pawing at nothing but air as she turned over onto her back.

A smell hit her nose right then. A smell that could only have been crafted by The-Super-Important-Power-That-Be themselves. It was heavenly, it was taunting, and it was something that served the same purpose as an alarm clock to most, Mandy included.

"Mmm..." She sat up, her eyes blinking off-sync, first the left one and then the right one."Wh'zz that zzmell..." she asked, looking around but finding no tasty food in her room that could make such a smell. She rubbed her head. "Head'zz all fizzly-fuzzy..."

As she felt for her Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise, she struggled to use her magic to grab it, as the aura refused to come forth no matter what she tried. After a few moments, however, the prismatic aura returned, allowing her to grab the drink and sip it.

"Zzmellzz good, tazzt' good..." she hummed, taking eager sips until the plastic cup was entirely empty. Once that was done, she set it down on the nightstand.

A rumbling sound came forth. The pain in her stomach made itself known.

"Jeez, I'm zzo hungry..." She swung her legs over the bed and slowly got to her feet. "What even happened...?"

The brain fog began to clear up, slowly but surely. By the time she had left the bathroom and made her way to the bullpen fully-dressed, she was in her usual state of alertness and all the more ready to chow down.

The sight that laid in front of her when she found out where the smell was coming from was astounding beyond any and all means. Dish after dish after dish was lined on the table, covering every single inch of it. Sauces oozed, steam wafted, and something made a pop noise that she didn't care enough to identify.

She gasped, which spilled into a laugh as she began to drool. "All this food!" She grinned. "It doesn't smell too bad...aww, pshh, who'm I kiddin'? This is heaven!" She threw her hands up into the air. "I died! I died and I went to the good place! They were wrong, all wrong!"

Her head swiveled to the left, her gaze sweeping the bullpen, watching every agent walk by with a cautious eye to see if they were coming to claim this feast of food. Some agents looked, but ultimately, no one came by -- although granted, Mandy only waited about fifteen seconds.

"No one's coming to claim it! More for me!"

She grabbed the first dish she could find, a three-patty hamburger, and ate it whole. She relished the taste in every ingredient, chewing it all up and then sending it down her esophagus. Her stomach began to rumble, and as she ate more and more, it kept on rumbling until it gradually began to decrease in volume, like someone was turning back a dial very slowly.

By the time she was done, her stomach was distended. Not to insane degrees, mind, but pretty noticeable. Like "I just gained at least 50 or so pounds" noticeable. But no matter what her stomach looked like, it was satisfied, and that was all that mattered to her as she slumped in her chair.

A belch came forth. "Aah...that was soooooo filling! I feel like I haven't eaten in years!"

Her gaze shifted to the automatic doors as they opened, and she watched Peaches and Otto approach her with relieved expressions on their faces.

"Cuz!"

"Peach!" Mandy outstretched her arms as she tried to get up. Her body wouldn't budge, even when she kept on kicking her feet. Eventually, Peaches resorted to just giving her cousin a hug right when she was in the chair.

"I've been looking all over for you!" Mandy chirped. "Well, not really, I've been eating, but I wanna ask you something!"

"You wanna know what happened to you, right?"

"Yes!" Mandy nodded. "Last thing I remember was smashing some pendant under my pillow, then I fell right back asleep. Those nightmares came back…"

"Well, after the pendant was smashed, we put a Dream-inator helmet on you to study your dreams. You were having good dreams, and we left you alone, but…"

A pause. Mandy tilted her head. "But what?"

"The Dream Weaver somehow stole you and hid you away in a cave near the edge of town. And then the Shapeshifter..." Peaches bit her lip. "...impersonated you."

The horrified gasp Mandy made nearly made her topple backwards in her chair. "So the nightmares came true?!"

"You...could say that." Peaches responded, taking a step forward as Mandy struggled to stabilize herself. The hybrid's firm grip on the table, however, followed by said grip allowing her to return to an upright position, told her that she didn't need her help. "But I managed to expose her. Once we did that, we forced her to take us to where you were captured. Or, well...the Dream Weaver technically did. They- they both did, how about that?"

"Olive and I freed you!" Otto piped up.

"And I fought the Dream Weaver."

"You?" Mandy's eyes widened. "Cuz, she's dangerous! Why did you take her on all alone?"

"I had to repay the favor. You saved me from the Dream Weaver. So I thought it was my turn to save you."

Mandy's blue eyes became filled with tears. "Oh...cuz, that's so sweet! Thank you!" She blinked, letting a few tears fall down her face. "Wait. Where are those two now?"

Otto rolled his eyes. "They're in Odd Squad custody. Again."

"And Father Time?"

The question dangled in the air. Horrified looks of realization set in on both Peaches' and Otto's faces. They looked at each other, and stared deep into each other's eyes for the longest time.

The first words that were uttered after this period of silence was a strangled, high-pitched "oh no" from a Director.

Which was followed quickly by a yowl of "We forgot about him!"

Otto blinked. "Wait...what did he even do?"

"Beats me!" Mandy shrugged. "He must've done somethin', though!"

The automatic doors opened again, and Olive stepped through with a smile on her face.

"OPRAH!" came the bellow from the Director. "I GOT HIM!!"

"That's great, Olive!" Oprah called back, descending the stairs. "You sure it's Father Time?"

"Yep! He was pretty easy to find. A couple of our agents wrung out what he did." Olive said. "Apparently he froze Mandy so the Dream Weaver could put the pendant under Mandy's pillow."

"So he's an accomplice." Oprah summed up, giving a sigh of relief. "Well done. Is he in custody?"

"Yep. Right with the Shapeshifter and the Dream Weaver."

"Good to hear."

Mandy, who had been listening to the conversation from afar, flicked a pony ear. "Jeez, I didn't even hear anything!" she remarked. "Man, I must've been in a deep deep sleep..."

"Oh? Mandy, you're awake!" Olive bounded over to her adopted daughter, effortlessly scooping her up into a big hug.

Mandy coughed, beginning to feel nauseous from her stomach threatening to send the non-digested food back to sender. "Momma, please, not too tight..." Another cough. "I'm gonna...vomit up all the food I ate!"

Olive respected her wishes and set her back down in the chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Full and happy! Soooooo much better rested now." Mandy gave a happy sigh. "Otto and Peach filled me in on what happened."

"Yeah, about that...did they tell you that the Dream Weaver put a horn lock on you?"

"A hehh?"

"Like a regular lock, but placed on your horn so you couldn't use magic."

Mandy touched the base of her horn gingerly. "Ohhhhhh, so that's why it took a little bit for my magic to come back!" She blinked. "I didn't even know my magic could be limited like that..."

"Well, the point of the matter is, you're back to normal now." Olive smiled. "The Shapeshifter, the Dream Weaver, and Father Time shouldn't be bothering you anymore."

"And it's thanks to Peaches!"

Peaches tilted her head. "Me?"

Mandy beamed from ear to ear. "You fought for my sake. You wanted to repay the favor, and you fought the Dream Weaver with all the strength you had! I’m really super grateful!"

Peaches' cheeks became as red as beets as she scratched her neck nervously. "I-it was nothing!"

"It was everything!" Mandy used every inch of her willpower to stand up, and although it was a struggle, she was eventually able to land on two feet. "A true family always has each other's backs!"

She rushed forward to envelop Peaches in a tight hug.

"And I'm sure glad you're a part of mine."

Peaches' eyes began to water. She had always viewed Mandy as family, but if she was being honest, she didn't really know for sure, 100% positively sure, if Mandy felt the same way. Her words, however, were pure and genuine, and it was that genuineness that made Peaches start crying.

"Don't cry, silly!" Mandy chirped. "It's time I make up for lost...er...time! Let's go find that Vallea culprit of yours!"

Peaches pulled away from her cousin. "Now?"

"Yeah!"

"As in...'now' now?"

"As in now now now now now!"

Peaches rolled her eyes and sighed. "You really are persuasive. All right, all right. Let me climb on your back and let's go."

"Actually..." Mandy clutched her stomach. "Y' mind sittin' on my shoulder? It was a hassle just to stand. I don't think I wanna feel what happens with a whole lotta catgirl crushin' my back."

Everyone began to feel nauseous, Peaches included. She didn't need to inquire any further, and shapeshifted into her cat form to climb up on Mandy and sit on her shoulder.

"And, ah...we'll walk. Eating all that food all at once was..." Mandy lurched. "...a really bad idea."

Peaches smiled. "To the drugstore?"

Mandy slowly nodded. "Antacids..."

With that, the pair set off, slowly but surely, Mandy staggering to and fro until her body finally disappeared from the others' views. Everyone gave heavy, exasperated sighs at the hybrid's antics, staring at the co-chef who had made the food that had gotten Mandy sick to begin with.

"...Hey, she said make anything and everything."