The Adventures of Peaches and Mandy

by marmalado

S1E27: Mandy's The Word

When it came to secret-keeping, skill levels varied among agents. Some were good at not letting things slip, while others were complete and utter blabbermouths. In terms of the latter category, however, only two remained supreme.

Pinkie Pie, whose tendency to talk a lot and get off-track caused her to let things loose.

And Mandy, who was much of the same, only she had a tendency to spill secrets not out of malice, but because something in her was literally incapable of holding in a secret. If you told her what your favorite tree was and told her it was a secret, chances were high that she was going to blab about it before end of day. All it took was that trigger, that "it's a secret" trigger.

Of course, not everyone is aware of this facet of the hybrid. And those who don't are, like many of Mandy's other antics, often in for a big surprise when they do become aware of it.

Right now, though, she had no secrets to bear. She was happily asleep in her room, taking her afternoon nap and ignoring the sound of the Odd Squad theme coming from her badge phone on the nightstand as she snored.

"Hiya, you've reached Agent 57, Mandy! I can't come to the phone right now, prolly sleeping or tied up in an odd case or doing...whatever. Yeah. Anyway, if you just wanna leave me a message with your name and phone number, that'd be great, and I'll be sure to get back to ya as soon as I can! Thankies!"

The phone beeped.

"Mandy? It's Oscar! I, uh, need you to come to the Science building! At the Odd Squad Academy! Please, it's urgent, and-" The sound of crashing could be heard. "Aw, c'mon, man, we just finished building that! M-Mandy, I gotta go, just...get here quickly!"

Mandy jerked awake with a start and a "H-huh-bluh-bbl?!", pushing herself upwards as she sleepily blinked. She didn't last all of five seconds before her face met the pillow again and she went right back to sleep, letting out powerful snores that didn't quite reach "earthquake centered on one room" levels but were certainly very close to it.

---

A couple hours later, Mandy's nap was completed. A noisy yawn left her and made her body tremble slightly. "Mm, that was a good nap..." she murmured sleepily, beginning to make her way towards her desk so she could get right to work.

"Mandy!"

"Wah!" Mandy turned and began stumbling backwards until she fell over her chair. Her head shot up just as quickly, glaring at the agent who had scared her and made her far more alert now. "Oona, what is it?!"

"Just..." Oona stammered as she grabbed ahold of Mandy's wrist and yanked her. "...come with me!"

Before the hybrid knew it, she was soaring towards the Lab and then released for what she was convinced was some kind of test of balance. As she flailed her hands about, the palms of her hands got caught on the green beaker-shaped table, causing her to give a sigh.

"Oona, what're you-" Mandy's words were cut off by a few fingers to the lips, causing a squeak sound to emerge from somewhere that definitely wasn't from her.

"Hold on." Oona narrowed her eyes and lifted her head up, moving it to and fro. When she deemed it safe, she let out a sigh. "Okay, no one's around."

A bolt of fear suddenly pierced Mandy's heart, and she could feel her own heartbeat booming in all four of her ears. That phrase, used in that context, could mean any number of things when it came to Oona. Either she was going to begin sweeping up the floor, or she was going to create her own kill count and mark her first victim on it.

"Now, I'm about to tell you a big secret. You can't tell anyone. Got it?"

Mandy swallowed a ball of saliva that had gotten stuck in her throat. All she could do was babble out an incoherent response that Oona apparently took as a solid "yes", because she went around to the hybrid's side and began whispering in her ear.

Suddenly feeling nauseous, Mandy gagged, her stomach gurgling and allowing its contents to begin making their way back up. "Oona..." she wheezed out, her ears drooping as she gazed at the Lab Director with sweat beginning to pour down her green face. "Why...why would you-"

As many signals were sent to the rest of her body that said "vomiting is bad, don't do it", Mandy knew it was inevitable. She didn't see a bucket, forcing her to go behind the counter on the other side of the Lab and do the deed there. Her body heaved as the messy contents of food and acid poured from her mouth like a waterfall.

Only a minute or two passed before Mandy was finished. When she slowly got to her feet, with her legs shaking and the counter used as an impromptu assistive mobility device, she found Oona standing there, arms crossed and treating the act of vomiting on her floor as much of a minor inconvenience as getting a paper cut.

"If you tell anyone..." Oona marched up to Mandy and poked her in the nose. "...then you can feel the wrath of my mallet."

Sick as Mandy was, Oona's threat began weaving its way into her mind.

"Got it?"

And then it clicked.

"Got it?!"

"G-g-g-g-got it! G-got it..." Mandy weakly smiled. "B-but you trust...you tr-trust me t-to..."

A sharp glare from Oona made Mandy not even bother to finish the sentence. She gave a bout of nervous laughter. "U-um, look, I...hafta go iron myyyyyeeeeeeeee..." She bit her lip. "...daaaaan-tastic dinner! 'Kayseeyoulaterbyeandsorryforthepuke!"

With that, the hybrid rushed off to the hallway, wanting to avoid Oona's wrath but also wanting to clean herself up. The nausea had gone away by the time she had reached the Bathroom, and as she undressed for a last-minute shower, the gravity of the situation had fully settled in.

She wants me to...keep a secret.

---

It was lucky that Mandy had checked her badge phone's messages as soon as she got dressed, lest she miss Oscar's request entirely. The President of the Scientists had only just become such, usurping the throne from a madman named Obbs who dabbled in mind control and even managed to get Oprah and Oscar himself under his command before Oona stopped his nefarious plan. Mandy knew Oscar well, as he had been the Lab Director of Precinct 13579 prior to that whole debacle, and the two had remained good friends even with his rank ascension.

Still, as she trudged to the Science building at the Odd Squad Academy, she couldn't help but chew the inside of her cheek in annoyance as she made a mental note to ask him to hire more Scientists. An Instructor O Mandy was not, and it had been shown time and time again with how she would fall asleep during lectures, go on long tangents about unrelated topics, and make a mess of things by spilling chemicals onto the floor and onto unwitting students. Being a teacher simply was not for her, but it was clear that Oscar had not gotten the lesson drilled into his head yet. Still, there was one thing that was weighing on her mind more than anything else.

"Oona trusts me to keep a secret?" she ranted aloud, giving a groan. "She knows I can't do that!"

"Do what?"

A piercing yowl that could only come from a cat made its way out of Mandy, the hybrid jumping a foot or so into the air with her tail and hair sticking straight up. A Scientist stood behind her, with light brown hair that was tied in two small braided space buns on each side and was connected by an equally-braided bridge across the top of her head. She donned the same Scientist attire as Oona did, same as nearly everyone else in the building who weren't Scientists-in-training with gray sweatshirts instead of a white button-up undershirt.

"I, u-um..." Mandy's eyes darted from side to side. "Hi, Odelia!" she said, deciding to settle on a greeting. "Never mind what I said, um...Oscar wanted to see me?"

Odelia didn't question Mandy's nervousness whatsoever, the smile remaining on her face. "Yeah, he's upstairs. Follow me and I'll take you to him."

It was lucky that Odelia wasn't much of a talker, leaving Mandy free to retreat into her mind and think hard about what Oona had said.

Okay, so I can’t say the secret out loud. But I can think it! Unless someone can read minds or something...hnngh, I hate living in a world of oddities sometimes! Mandy rolled her eyes. Just have to keep it in...for...forever…

...Forever...

...

Forever.

Mandy paled, ever so slightly. Her eyes went into a thousand-yard stare, like she had just seen an unfathomable horror.

Oh no. She wants me to keep it in forever?! I’m terrible at keeping secrets in forever! Mandy swallowed a bit of saliva that was stuck in her throat. I can already feel myself sweating...how does she expect me to pull this off? I mean I talk so much, it’s gonna slip out eventually and then she’s gonna kill me with that mallet of hers and when she’s done with that she’ll maybe harvest my organs or leave me to rot or feed me to some odd creature or-

"Hello-oooo? Mandy? You doing okay?"

"I'mokayperfectlynormal!"

The words had come out in a quick burst, almost in a robotic way, like they were programmed into her brain. Odelia simply stared at the hybrid with a look of confusion, though it didn't last very long -- she knew the hybrid well enough to not pay much mind to her thought processes and silly antics.

"O...kay." she said, before gesturing to the door. "Well, we're here!" With three knocks on the door, she called, "Oscar? Mandy's here to see you!"

"Send her in!"

Odelia opened the door for Mandy. "Go ahead."

"T-thank you."

Mandy took her not-so-first steps into Oscar's office. It looked about as pristine as the Big Office, though not to blinding degrees. White was still very much a prevalent color, but blues and greens were present too -- the green Science logo, the blue carpet, and the gray chairs that sat around two cube-shaped tables, to name a few things. It was clear that Oscar's and Mandy's color preferences clashed, but she wasn't worried about that.

"Oh, thank odd you came, Mandy." Oscar spun around in his chair, greeting her with a warm smile. His short light brown hair and thin-rimmed glasses had still remained well into his presidency, and the only thing that had changed about him was that he was wearing a green button-up undershirt instead of a white one. "I was worried you didn't get my message, heh!"

A bout of awkward laughter slipped from Mandy's lips. "Oh, I did! I was sleeping, and then, uh...something came up, so I didn't get it until later." She twiddled her fingers. "W-what didja need?"

"Well, to make a long story short, one of the Scientists was supposed to be teaching a class on gadget repairs today but he called out sick. The class starts in fifteen minutes and, well, I was hoping you could fill in!"

"Again?" Mandy whined. "I..."

"Please? There's no way I'm gonna be able to find anyone else in such a short span of time!"

If there was one thing Mandy absolutely despised about Oscar, it was his time blindness. If it were an actual medical condition, he would be at the severe end of that spectrum. Still, she wasn't about to disobey an agent who was technically her higher-up, even if she worked in an entirely different department than him.

"Ugh, fine, I'll do it! But you owe me lunch."

"Deal!" Oscar nodded and stood up, beginning to head for the door. "C'mon, I'll show you where the classroom is."

As the pair made their way through the hall, Mandy's eye caught a Scientist wheeling something bright and blue in a fish tank, encased in a block of ice. "Is that a blob?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah. It's frozen, though, so don't worry. I was planning on using it to have Scientists study the effects of blobs and their contents and how they affect gadgets."

Mandy wanted to inquire more, she really did, but her thoughts regarding Oona's secret kept ramming into the front of her mind. "Ahaha...w-were you? That's...greeeeeeeeeat."

Oscar stopped and turned around to face the hybrid, his brows furrowing in confusion. "You doing all right? You're, uh, sweating, heh."

"I'm fine!" Mandy spat out, pulling on her collar. "I-it's just...really hot in here. Yeah."

"Feels fine to me."

Pickleferries. Should've said I was hot. Much more believable. "Ah, y-y'know what, uh, let's go to the classroom. I, uh, need time to get ready. Hau d' contraire, as Rarity says."

Oscar turned around. "I don't think that's how it-"

"Show me the classroom, Oscar."

"Showing you the classroom!"

---

It was lucky for Mandy that the class she was supposed to teach didn't cut into her lunchtime. She found it hard to give a lecture on the best gadget to use for sticky messes when her stomach kept growling so loud that it overshadowed her voice through the microphone -- because, of course, when it came to teaching, even the tiniest sliver of skill shown was frowned upon by the educational powers-that-be.

As soon as she got back to Headquarters, she fixed herself a large salad, complete with a sandwich that reached to the bottom of the second floor with all of its assorted toppings.

"Ahh, finally, lunch." Mandy mused. "That class really took a lot outta me, but at least the secret didn't leak, and that's what matters!"

"You got a secret?"

Mandy turned, gave another piercing yowl, and promptly fell off of her chair, sending it rolling towards the agent -- or rather, Directors -- who had approached her. The impact was enough to send the top half of the stacked sandwich toppling down onto the floor, with a lot of the toppings landing in Mandy's tail while others went all over her suit and onto the cement floor. In her shock, she barely noticed that the ones who had interrupted her were none other than Olive and Otto, who had watched the events unfold with surprise.

"Wow. I didn't think you were gonna yowl like that."

"She's related to Peaches, you know."

"Can it, wise guy." Olive playfully nudged her partner, causing him to chuckle.

Mandy groaned as she struggled to get to her feet, jerking her tail up into the air so the ingredients in it would land in her mouth. She didn't mind any tail hairs that attached to them, as she was too hungry to care, and ate her food with gratefulness that at least some of it could be salvaged. As soon as she finished eating those, she ate the ones off of her suit, then raced for the rest of the toppings on the floor before they could become contaminated as per her "one-minute rule". With magic, it made the process easy, and aside from some of the sauce, she was able to eat a large majority of her toppings.

"People walk on there." Olive remarked with disgust. She had seen Mandy eat things off of floors numerous times, but that didn't mean it was any less disgusting.

Mandy pulled a bottle of disinfecting cleaner and a roll of paper towels out from her hair, getting right to cleaning up the sauce spills.

"Soooo..." Olive bit her lip. "What's this I hear about you having a secret?"

Mandy stiffened. She dropped the paper towel from her magic, her eyes widening as a sense of dread began washing over her. Furiously, she scooped up the paper towel again and cleaned up the rest of her mess, then tucked the cleaner and roll back into her hair while floating the used paper towel over to the trash can in the kitchen and dropping it inside.

"Me, have a secret?" Mandy got on her feet. "C'mon, Momma, you know I'm terrible at keeping secrets! Keepin' 'em, spillin' 'em, I'm terrible at it all!"

The bout of awkward, stilted laughter she gave caused Olive and Otto to exchange confused looks, and attract even more from passerby agents and clients alike.

After a minute or so, she cleared her throat. "W-why are you two here, anyway?"

"We just had to return something to Oprah." Olive explained. "Apparently we've had it for a couple weeks and-"

"'We'?" Otto smirked. "There's no 'we', partner. There's a 'you', and only a 'you'."

"No there isn't!"

"You kept it under your bed! You told me yourself!"

"No I di-" Olive stopped and blinked for a few moments. "Oh yeah. Guess it kind of is my fault. And I deserved the yelling."

"And you say I always lose things." Otto gave a scoff, not noticing Olive's piercing glare that she gave in response.

Mandy, having thanked the powers-that-be that she had been granted reprieve from talking about her secret, took a few hefty swigs of soda. Still, she knew that neither Director was one to forget things, and hesitantly decided to loop the conversation back to the topic. "Anyway, I'm not keeping any secrets. This hybrid's got nothin' to hide!"

"Do you mind if I shake your tail?"

"Except the stuff in my tail!" Mandy held the soda in her magic and clutched her poofy tail close to her. "I keep stuff in there you don't wanna know about. 'Specially not you, Momma!"

Olive's eyes went half-lidded. "Good. Because we didn't ask."

"Good, 'cuz ya shouldn't!" Mandy slammed a hand down on the edge of the bowl that held her salad, sending all of its contents straight up into the air and then straight downwards into her mouth. She did the same with the plate that held her sandwich, with the bottom half quickly flying upwards and into her mouth. She quickly swallowed, then got up from her seat. "Now...I am off to do some-"

A screech that could only come from those in straitjackets was unleashed onto Headquarters right then, quickly followed by a loud bang that was almost as piercing as a shot from a rifle.

Silence fell among the trio as they stared at the direction of the sound. Neither one of them felt the need to question who or what was making it.

"...thingsinaplacefarfarawayfromherekaythanksseeya!"

Before Olive or Otto could even open their mouths to speak, Mandy was already booking it down the right hallway as fast as her wheel-o'-feet would carry her. It was amazing to both of them how she was even able to turn the corner without crashing into the wall.

"Good call." Otto nodded. "Oona in her 'I will destroy all useless gadgets' state of mind is...terrifying. We should go back to HQ before we end up on the chopping block."

He moved towards the double-doors. His partner, however, was staring down the hallway where Mandy had gone, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Partner? Something wrong?"

Olive snapped out of her trance, staring at Otto and blinking a few times. "Huh? Oh. Nothing. Let's go back."

She followed Otto through the doors, but couldn't help sneaking one last look at the hallway, her eyes narrowing as she began to look back on her interactions with Mandy, noting that the hybrid seemed to be hiding something...but what she was hiding, exactly, wasn't something she was going to be so keen on sharing. Regardless, it was going to bug Olive all day, and that put her in a sour mood that not even Otto could jerk her out of.

---

Mandy's room was the first place she had thought to hide, and as she closed the door and flopped onto her bed, she released a sigh she didn't realize had been locked away inside of her.

"What made Oona think I can keep a secret?" she blurted. "I can barely keep my mouth shut, and she thinks I can keep her secret safe?!" A ragged sigh caused her body to quiver slightly. "Should've asked Oscar about it, but even then...I don't think he knows!" She rose, and began to nervously pace back and forth. "What's worse...I have to keep it possibly maybe hopefully not forever. I can't tell anyone!"

Three resounding knocks at the door made her nearly jump out of her skin. Before she could even spit out anything related to "don't come in here", the door opened, revealing none other than Peaches standing in the doorway.

"Hey, cuz. You busy?"

All she got in response was a stare that was starting to make her uncomfortable.

"Cuz?" Peaches took a few tentative footsteps towards the hybrid, then snapped her fingers twice. "Hey! Earth to Agent 57! Your cousin wants to ask you something! Wake up!"

"I didn't tell her I swear!!"

Silence fell upon the room. Peaches reeled back, blinking a few times in surprise before she collected her bearings. "Uh...tell her what?"

"P-P-Peaches!" Mandy whirled on her cousin, throwing up her hands and beginning to stammer. It took her a while before she was able to form coherent words. "I, I'm so sorry, I didn't...I mean...it's a long story and-"

"Your hair looks messy. What happened to it?" Peaches interjected, pointing to the brown rat's nest that sat upon Mandy's head. "And don't say you didn't fix it this morning, because I saw you go into the Bathroom this morning with messy hair and come out with it clean."

Mentally, Mandy cursed, largely out of her complete lack of foresight in fixing up her appearance so she looked completely normal and didn't raise any suspicions. Now, because her hair was entangled, she had to worm her way out of Peaches'. "I..." Her eyes shifted back and forth for a moment or two. "...j-just wanted to try out a new style!" She nodded furiously. "Yeah yeah yeah, messy hair's all the rage nowadays, that's what Rarity told me, mhm!"

Peaches didn't buy it. "Uh-huh." she said, narrowing her eyes as her tone became laced with doubt. Ultimately, though, she chose to move on to a different subject. "Well, anyway, I came by to ask if you wanted to help me search for the Vallea culprit, maybe catch some fish...ooh, or, we can go to the supermarket and I can ogle at the fish I can’t eat while you play with the lobsters! How about it, huh?"

The offer sounded tempting to Mandy. Some fresh air would be just what she needed to relieve her stress and get her mind off of this terrible secret. The only problem was...she was going to be around Peaches, who was a very perceptive catgirl. Mandy wasn't sure if that was the norm for her species or not, but either way, it presented a problem for her. Settling on going, her mind began running through escape plans, cobbling one together as an out if she needed it. "Uh...well...sure, I don't see why not."

"Oh good. Honestly, I hate going alone. It's so...lonely!" Peaches gave a relieved exhale. "You ready to go now?"

"Sure!" Mandy chirped, her mouth curving upwards and making the sound of a creaking door as she put on a toothy smile.

"All righty then, let's go!" Peaches' own smile turned into a light frown as she waved her hand. "But, uh, put the smile away. It scares me."

A soft whine accompanied Mandy's mouth turning back to a frown, and the pair left the room, making sure to shut the door behind them.

---

Apparently Mandy hadn't been paying much attention to her cousin as of late, because somehow she had practiced flying with her tail enough to where she could go high into the air. Maybe she had been watching Mandy fly, and had gotten inspiration from that. Still, Mandy didn't really know when, exactly, she would use the ability.

Aside from now, of course. Because searching from the air is far better than searching on the ground.

"Okay, we're in Oakville. That culprit couldn't have gone far." Peaches spoke with an air of confidence as she indicated to the badge phone that was hanging on her chest. "Now that I have a badge phone, we can spread out and I'll call you if I find anything!" She pointed to her right. "You go that way and I'll go the other way, okay?"

Mandy didn't respond. She was too busy staring at the ground, her mind whirling with thoughts of the secret, of the horrible things Oona would do to her if it got out and she got wind of it...of how her funeral would be planned.

"Uh, Mandy? You alive?"

Still no response. Peaches narrowed her eyes, raised her palms, and began slapping Mandy's cheek quickly and repeatedly. "I am slapping your face, now wake up!"

"I didn't tell anyone, Oona, I promise!"

The plaintive cry echoed into the air, where a few Pegasi flying by picked up on it but otherwise said nothing as they continued on their way.

Peaches stared at her cousin with worry for a minute or two, then let out a sigh of frustration. "If you're gonna be out of it for the entire time, then maybe you should head home."

"No! I'm..." Mandy, snapping out of her brief trance, shook her head. "I was just lost in thought. I-it won't happen again! Let's go find your culprit!"

Just as she was set to take off, Peaches grabbed her by the tail, stopping her before she could even begin. "Hold on." she said, her gaze turning steely. "We'll go and find the culprit, but if we don't find them after a while, let's settle down for a nap."

"But I'm not tired!"

"And I'm not a catgirl."

"No, really, I'm telling the truth!"

"We are settling down for a nap and that's final!" Peaches snapped, punctuating her order with a scoff. "Besides, it's not like you to refuse a chance to sleep. You must've had a hard day's work so far. Some sleep will do you good."

Mandy blinked. "But- but I-" She tried to utter out that she had already taken a nap, but something told her that Peaches wouldn't be so keen on hearing something that would be an excuse to her and utter truth to Mandy. The hybrid sighed and conceded. "Fine..."

"That's my cousin!" Peaches began heading in the direction opposite of Mandy. "Now let's get to work!"

All Mandy could give in response was a very unenthusiastic "yay" followed by a few halfhearted chuckles as she watched Peaches head off. Feeling like a ball and chain was wrapped around her but was staying in midair -- as balls and chains tended to do in this world, of course -- she went the way her cousin had indicated, and began looking for the culprit.

Not five minutes into the search, she was already beginning to regret even coming outside. No matter what, her brain refused to scrub away any thoughts of the secret. It had fully infected most of it, making the secret the only thing she thought about aside from the basics like walking and talking and eating and the like.

"I can't believe I said yes to this." she said aloud, as soon as she realized that very few Pegasi were in the skies today. A bit, dare she say, odd, since there were usually a lot more, but she didn't question it too much and instead viewed it as the powers-that-be granting her luck. "I love spending time with Peach, but...if I keep hanging out with her, the secret's gonna slip! And then Oona's gonna hit me with her mallet, maybe kill me with that thing..." Her body shuddered, first out of fear and then out of frustration as a rising growl made itself known. "Why does it hafta be so complicated?! Oona, you made a really bad choice..."

"Hey! Weird monster thing high in the sky!"

Mandy stopped. Her wings kept going like a hummingbird's as usual, but the rest of her stopped. Her expression turned into one of confusion. "Weird monster...?"

"Yeah, you! C'mere!"

Swiveling her head around, Mandy tried to find the source of the voice, believing it to be a Pegasus filly going by how close and how high-pitched it was. But nothing presented itself.

"On the ground!"

Mandy's gaze moved to the ground, where, sure enough, a small shape was frantically waving. The hybrid soared down, seeing that the shape actually didn't have wings at all, being an Earth filly with a dark red mane and tail and a light red coat. Landing on her feet and tucking her wings in, Mandy gave a smile, and then opened her mouth to speak. "What seems to be the problem, young filly?"

"Never seen you around here before. Who're you?"

Mandy eyed her suit for a few moments, then her gaze met the filly's. "Do you, uh...know about Odd Squad?"

"Yeah. But I've never seen you." The filly's eyes went half-lidded. "Don't tell me you're a loose creature that somehow borrowed a suit from Odd Squad and is gonna eat me. I've dealt with enough of those."

It was clear to Mandy now that either this filly was either one of oddness's dedicated victims, or she was really that bratty agent Orchid reincarnated as a pony. Or her sibling. Or, well...related to her, somehow. She certainly reminded Mandy of Orchid, at the very least.

"No, I'm the real deal!" The hybrid smiled. "Agent Mandy, from Precinct 13579? In Toronto? That ringin' a bell?"

The filly blinked. Her expression contorted into one that held both disappointment and a complete lack of impression. "You're Mandy?"

"The one and only!"

"The one that eats blobs?"

"Yeah!" A few moments passed before Mandy realized what the filly just said. She blinked twice. "Wait, no. Where did you-"

"A couple friends of mine were talking about how you like to eat blobs. Now that you're here, maybe I can finally find out the truth."

Mandy's mouth ran dry as fast as a large wet/dry vacuum taken to a river. The last part bounced around in her brain, causing beads of sweat to begin forming on her forehead as she recalled the secret, and all that was riding on it, once again. Her mouth opened, and all she could utter out were unintelligible stammers.

The filly sat and crossed her front legs, glaring at Mandy. "Yes or no, c'mon, I don't have all day."

Like reciting a single letter in a grade school class's lesson, Mandy simply spit out the pronunciation of the letter "E" over and over again. She clasped her hands to her head, rubbing it fiercely as though that would make her regain a sense of coherency.

The filly rolled her eyes. "System overload."

Whether it was that comment or it was just perfect timing, Mandy was finally able to form a sentence. "I don't eat blobs!" she screamed to the sky. "Gah, I can't take it, stop tryna make me spill the beans!"

She took off in a run, not quite reaching wheel-o'-feet status but coming pretty close. She only barely heard the filly calling her "disappointing", coming to a realization as her feet took her past people and ponies who glanced at her wondering why she was looking so distressed.

"That's it! I can't be around anyone. Ponies, humans, catgirls, anything that's alive!" Mandy applied the brakes, causing her to kick up two small mounds of dirt under her shoes. "It's the only way..." She stared at her hands. "...the only way I'm gonna be able to keep this secret."

The realization was horrid. Someone might as well have told her that all her friends were killed in a freak accident. Mandy was a sociable hybrid, someone who preferred to be with others rather than enjoy some self-company. As such, she loved to talk, as was evidenced by the way she would go on crazy tangents long enough to where she could be a poster child for public speaking. This didn't bode well for anything classified as confidential or secret, and most everyone knew it.

Mandy's body rolled with a sigh. "As much as I wanna help my cousin find who she's looking for...I can't be around her." She straightened up. "But I'm not just gonna leave her hanging!"

Unclipping her badge phone and opening it, she quickly pressed the 5 button twice and held it up to her ear as the ringback tone began playing.

"Hello?"

"Peach? It's Mandy."

Peaches gasped. "You?! Don't tell me you've found the culprit!"

"No, no, I didn't find them. It's just..." Mandy bit her lip. "I have to go back to HQ."

"What? Why? We haven't even been searching for that long! We were gonna hang out together too, you know!"

Regret began worming its way into Mandy. "I know, it's just...I remembered I..." Her eyes darted about as she tried to scrabble together the excuse she had thought of before. "...have work to do! Yeah, I, uh, forgot to tell Oprah where I was going too, she’s gonna be so so mad! So I’d better head back."

"Aww..." Peaches' voice sounded disheartened, and it was like she had stabbed Mandy with a knife. "Well, all right. I guess we'll make sturdier plans another day, huh?"

Still, in spite of how sad she sounded, Mandy was thrilled that she had been let off the hook with her cousin, doing a fist pump. "Yes yes yes! Oh, thank you sooooo much, cuz! You don't know how happy I am!" She gave a chuckle. "Bye!"

She snapped her phone shut, clipped it onto her chest, and began bouncing towards the nearest tube entrance.

Unbeknownst to her, however, Peaches had a rather different reaction to the conversation.

"Thank you? She's...not even sorry?" Peaches blinked, closing her phone and putting it back on her chest. As realization began to sink in as to what had happened, a growl came forth. "Did she just blow me off?! For work?! Why would she do such a horrible...awful..."

Her anger was short-lived, beginning to dissipate before it was replaced by sadness and heartbreak. Tears began pooling in her eyes, and her voice cracked on the final two words of her sentence.

"...terrible thing?"

---

As Mandy walked through the double-doors, her mouth had surprisingly taken the hint and relegated her words to her brain, to exist as thoughts and not as dialogue.

Aw, I feel so bad...what I did was wrong, but...it was also the right thing to do. After all, if I get mashed to mushy-mush by Oona’s mallet then I can’t be there to help Peach look for the culprit!

"Agent Mandy! Where have you been?"

The harsh voice jerked Mandy out of her thoughts, and she lifted her head up to spot Oprah coming towards her.

"Ah, Oprah!" Mandy's brain quickly shoved the thoughts aside. "I was...helping Peaches find the Vallea culprit. B-but I'll get to work right now, I promise!"

"Good. See to it that you do. You have a huge stack of paperwork to complete."

It was then that Mandy noticed the stack in question, which looked about half as high as her burger from earlier but was certainly not enough to constitute "huge". Still, it wasn't the stack that intimidated her -- no, it was doing it around agents. Agents who could easily get wind of the secret, gab about it to Oona, and then feel regret over crafting the perfect circumstances for a completely unjustified murder.

A nervous gulp made its way down her esophagus, followed by a strangled and high-pitched "Yup!"

Oprah, seemingly sensing her nervousness, patted her shoulder. "And don't forget, you can always ask Pinkie Pie for help if you need it. She should be free right now."

"Got it!"

Mandy's ears swiveled backwards to catch the sound of Oprah ascending the stairs. When she heard the glass door leading to her office creak slightly, she gave a weary sigh, placing a hand on her heart. Surely, there wouldn't be any more problems with any other agents toda-

"Mandy."

The hybrid had lost track of how many yowls she had given today. She was starting to become convinced she would turn into a cat somewhere down the line. "Oona?!"

The Scientist narrowed her eyes. "You haven't spilled the beans, have you?"

"N-no! I swear, I haven't, but Oona, I...it's just..." Mandy threw herself down onto her knees. "How long do I hafta keep it?!"

Oona's expression turned from anger to bemusement. "What do you mean, 'how long do you have to keep it'?" she said. "Keep it until I decide I'm ready to tell everyone."

In a voice that could only come from a rubber duck with speech capability, "Which is when?"

"When it's time!"

Standing up again, Mandy gave a disappointed groan.

Oona began to walk away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have a little..." Her mallet came into full view of a now-paling Mandy. "...fun. And if you don't wanna be part of the fun, then make sure you keep the secret."

Mandy's legs began to wobble, her teeth began to chatter, and her tummy was quivering with something she wasn't sure what it chalked up to. Either digestive troubles or anxiety, and she was sure it was the latter because she rarely had any digestive troubles.

Slowly but surely, she ambled over to her desk and sat down, throwing her head onto the desk and causing the stack of papers to shake for a few moments before falling still. Her mind became plagued with thoughts of the secret again, but within that sea of bad thoughts came a wave of more thoughts as to where she was going to go with all of those papers that was as far away from people as she could get.

What didn't really help was the fact that she had gotten a paper cut on her forehead...which was bleeding pretty profusely for its size.

---

After applying a bandage to her forehead, Mandy swooped up the stack of papers in her magic and went down the hallways.

"I said I wasn't gonna be around people, but...I'm a people magnet! People get stuck to me!" A pause. "Literally, at least once, people have gotten stuck to me!"

That was true, of course. Mandy just seemed to attract being of both the human and equine variety wherever she went. And more than once, she's had the side of her body glued to someone else's. She remembered being attached to the hip of Applejack once, who was lifted into the air every time Mandy stood because of how much taller she was than the farmpony. It looked awkward, and it felt awkward. She had tried to scrub the incident from her mind, to no avail.

She heaved a sigh. "Now I can go to my room, where no one can bother me, I can get some work done, and be away from people!" She gave a few blinks. "And ponies! Them too!"

In her confident strides, she nearly ran over a passing Rarity, who quickly hoofed it out of the way. "Oh, Mandy, darling, if I could just have-"

"Absolutely no minutes of my time will be given, thank youuuu!" came the dismissive response, as Mandy's pace began to quicken so that it looked like she was speedwalking. She barely caught a "pity" from Rarity as she quickly darted into her room and closed the door, making a mental note to go out and try to find a good lock.

A relieved sigh was pushed out from her lungs, and she let the tension holding her down melt away. Moving the sewing machine on her table to the side, she placed the stack of papers on it and smiled. "Maybe I should make this my new desk!" she said, her tail swishing in thought and then stopping after a few moments as she shook her head. "Nah, that might be too drastic."

Her horn lit up in an array of colors as she pulled out her chair and took a seat. She cracked her knuckles and let her magic encase a small stack of papers out of the bigger stack, electing to nick away at each small stack until it was all done. With a conjured pencil in her prismatic aura, she got to work, the relief she felt winning the war of attrition against the intrusive thoughts of the secret this time around.

---

Weaving through Precinct 13579's agents, Olive and Otto butted heads over a topic that had been long withstanding since they were both in the Investigation department.

"Otto, we've been through this a hundred times. I'm not zapping you with the Parrot Ray!"

"Why not? I'd love to be a parrot! I'd be able to fly and speak bird speak!"

"I said no, and don't you even think...about..."

Olive's rebuttal trailed off, and her feet came to a stop as her eyes laid upon a rather downcast Peaches who appeared to be on the verge of tears. Noting that the catgirl wasn't usually one for crying, the Director was quick to drop the argument and rush to comfort her.

"Peaches? Why are you sitting on Mandy's desk? What's wrong?"

Peaches glanced at Olive and Otto for only a moment, anger flashing in her eyes. "Because that...that...inbred vermin blew me off!"

Olive blinked. "Who blew you off?"

Peaches gave an ugly, snot-filled sniffle. "Me and her, we were going to look for the Vallea culprit and spend some time together, but then she said that she had to come back to Odd Squad because Oprah would be mad at her. But that’s not even the worst part!" She buried her face in her hands. "She...she had no remorse! She was happy about forgoing our plans!"

Olive didn't need to look past the first few words to know who Peaches was referring to. Still, she had to wonder if Mandy being so out-of-character with her cousin tied in to earlier in the day when she had acted stiff and awkward around her and Otto. It was food for thought that began cooking in her brain. "That's odd. Mandy usually loves spending time with you." she mused, sitting on the explanation for a minute before she perked up. "Unless she lied to you!"

A hiccup came from Peaches, causing her to bounce slightly. "Lied?"

"It’s possible that Mandy could be hiding something. She was acting pretty suspicious when we went to see her a couple hours ago." Olive theorized, Otto nodding in agreement with his partner.

"B-but why? Mandy's the one who doesn't like secrets being kept from her, and now she's hiding something from me?" Another hiccup. "Talk about hypocrisy!"

Otto nodded in agreement with that, too, remembering when Pinkie Pie had been made Odd Squad's Party Planner Agent and how disastrous that had turned out, especially when Mandy had gotten wind of the news. "Maybe we should confront her about it." he suggested.

"If our last interaction was any indication..." Olive began, only stopping when she forced herself to admit the truth. "Ah, who am I kidding. Mandy's a terrible liar and we all know it."

Peaches and Otto both gave murmurs of agreement.

"Anyway, I agree, Otto. But I want to do this solo."

Peaches tilted her head. "Why?"

"I'm Mandy's mother. She might be more apt to opening up to me than to you or Otto."

"Wait!" Peaches wiped her tears away and hopped off of the desk. "Please, let me come too! We're cousins. Family's..." She stopped to take a big inhale through her nose in a vain attempt to clear some of the snot from it. "Family's gotta stick together, right?"

Olive nodded. "Good point." She reached behind her back and pulled out a few tissues, placing them in Peaches' hand. "Okay, first thing tomorrow, you and I are going to find out what's going on with Mandy."

"Sounds great!" Peaches remarked, taking a tissue and blowing her nose with it.

Otto began looking around the bullpen with intent, his brow furrowing in confusion as he asked the question that no one had an answer to. "Hey, where is Mandy right now, anyway?"

---

"Mandy...you told the secret?!"

Mandy tried to back away from Oona's crazed glare, her face being thrust into the hybrid's own face. But for every move she made, it felt like the threaded confines holding her hands together behind her back and her ankles together on the floor got tighter and tighter. So, all she could do was twist her head away and avert her gaze, and even that proved to be near fruitless, like a celebutante spotting something golden and valuable in a store window. Her blue eyes found their way back to Oona's brown ones in due time, as they always did.

"Oona, you don't understand!" she pleaded. "I can't keep secrets!"

"Anyone can keep a secret!" A low chuckle that could only come from someone who had made a psychiatric hospital their permanent abode slipped from a pair of lips. "Anyone who can't is a filthy liar. Including you."

"I'm not lying! I'm telling the truth!" Mandy screamed. "Pinkie's...well, she's..." Her eyes darted back and forth for a moment before she groaned, realizing that her partner was just as unreliable with secrets as Mandy herself was. "Bad example."

"Agent Pinkie Pie..." Oona's mouth turned into an ugly grimace. "...knows how to keep a secret." She tapped a finger to her chin. "What was it she said once? 'Losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend...forever'?"

Mandy began to visibly pale. "O-Oona, you're not gonna sever our friendship over a silly secret!" Nervous laughter erupted forth, sprinkled with just a pinch of insanity and desperation. "I repair gadgets for you when you're busy! I invent new gadgets with you! I've even been your guinea pig! Literally and figuratively!"

"Consider those days over."

The words were spat out so quickly that it put an abrupt end to Mandy's latest plea. The hybrid opened her mouth to speak again, but the sight of Oona's mallet being dragged behind her -- and looking about as big as Mandy's own hammer -- made her throat begin to close up.

Oona's smile was as wide as a mile, but it definitely wasn't the good kind of smile. Mandy didn't need Pinkie Pie to tell her that. "I think it's time you joined in on the fun." she purred, lifting up the mallet and polishing its head with the sleeve of her lab coat.

"Fun?" came the squeak.

"Yes. The fun I have destroying these worthless hunks of junk and stripping them of parts!"

Mandy began to grow confused by Oona's wielding of plurals. Still, whether it was simply a slip-up or not, she knew exactly what the Scientist had in store for her. Her heart began to race faster and faster. "Y-y-you're...n-not gonna-"

"I may not be as strong as you, or as strong as Ms. O, or Olive, or Otto, or…" Oona stopped, gave a low growl, and furiously shook her head, smacking the base of her palm against it a few times. "The point is, you will be stripped of parts as well. I’m sure two lungs and a kidney would really help me with some experiments. And Dr. O could use them to study odd diseases."

Mandy's body began to visibly shake like it was caught in a 6.5 magnitude earthquake. She began to feel lightheaded, no doubt as a result of her heart racing at magnificent speeds. "Don't take my kidney! I need my kidney!" she cried out, tears launching from her eyes and splattering onto the floor in front of her.

Oona met this latest plea with apathy. "No you don't."

"Yes I do! I'm not old enough to have my organs taken and donated! Please, don't-"

An ominous-sounding musical sting, similar to one that was cued often in reality TV shows, played somewhere. It was just the right accompaniment for Mandy to begin struggling, even in spite of her binds. She kicked and thrashed about, the chair she was sitting on miraculously staying upright throughout it all, as though it were enchanted with a magic spell. No matter what she did, however, she couldn't get free. Her magic and wings, as well, refused to come forth, but she refused to give up.

A moving target, however, only served to make Oona more enraged. "You're not getting away, you untrustworthy secret-spiller!" she yelled. A psychotic scream preluded the raising of her mallet and the striking of it, directly down upon Mandy with a resounding bang.

---

As Mandy shot up in bed, a high-pitched scream left her as her eyes quickly darted around the room. Everything was as it should be -- the stack of papers was gone from when she had taken them down to the File Room after its completion, her chair was pushed in and the sewing machine was moved back to its original position, and everything else in her room was in its usual spick-and-span state.

The hybrid flopped backwards onto her bed, a series of rapid breaths arriving and leaving her lungs. "I...I have to keep this secret, at all costs!" she declared. "If I don't...then my life's gonna be forfeit!"

Her keen ears picked up on the sound of muffled voices approaching her room. Almost immediately, she sat up, eyeing her door with concern. "I hope that's someone walking by..."

Three knocks came a-knockin' on her door.

"It's not!" she yelped, quickly leaping out of bed and making a beeline for its underside, her feet shuffling along the floor as she attempted to get her lower half in. It did so with a pop, and she breathed a sigh of relief before beginning to hold her breath as she heard the door open.

"This is the only room we haven't checked."

Mandy knew that voice. It was a voice she had feared a few times before, and it was a voice she was absolutely fearing now. The only question was, who was with her?

"Mandy? Are you in here?" the voice called. "It's Olive and Peaches. We need to talk."

Mandy had to bite her lip until it bled in order to prevent the squeal she had building up inside of her to eke out. Olive looking for her was one thing, but when Peaches came into the picture, the search could hardly be classified as a search. Pickleferries, I forgot about Peach and her sense of smell! Ohh, she's gonna catch wind of my scent, it's all over, it's all over!

The sound of a couple sniffs. And then, "Hold on. I smell her."

Mandy tried to curl herself up into a tight ball, wrapping her tail around her. It, perhaps, would have worked, if not for Peaches peering under the bed and spotting her only a second later.

"Aha!"

A frightened "eep!" came from Mandy as she tried tucking her head closer to her body.

"Cuz, get out from under there." Peaches said, reaching a hand under her bed in a futile effort to try and grab onto some part of Mandy that she could pull. In response, the hybrid backed up until she felt her rump meet the wall.

"Allow me."

Olive stepped forward and effortlessly lifted the bed, revealing a scruffy-looking, pajama-clad Mandy whose eyebags showed a lack of Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise (not that she needed it -- the fear was what was keeping her going more than anything else). She set the bed aside, gazing at Mandy with a look of sympathy.

"Why are you hiding under the bed?" Peaches asked.

"The more important question is, what are you hiding from us?"

Mandy began to shiver, burying her face in her arms. Pickleferries, they're gonna know! And if I speak...if I speak...they're gonna know everything.

"Mandy. You dumped Peaches in favor of doing work when you had time off, and you had no regret for it." Olive raised a finger. "That was a very rude thing to do. Apologize to her and tell us what's going on."

Mandy shook her head furiously. She was well aware that what she did was rude, and she wouldn't have done it at any other time, especially not to her cousin -- but, at the risk of sounding selfish, her life was at stake. And she didn't want to bet her life over something as small as a secret.

"We're here to listen, you know." Peaches urged. "We're family!"

A realization settled in Mandy's brain right then. They're not gonna let up. I hafta get outta here, or else I'm gonna spill the beans!

Peaches and Olive patiently waited for an answer. One that Mandy was more than happy to provide as her mouth scrunched up and she banished the secret to the farthest corners of her mind. "I can't be around you right now! I'm sorry!"

"Why not? Do you have an odd disease?" Olive asked.

"I just can't, okay?!" Mandy screamed, her voice audibly cracking as she fired up her horn. "Leave me alone!"

And in a bright rainbow-colored flash, the hybrid was gone, leaving only a few sparkles in her wake.

"Well that plan was a bust." Peaches dryly remarked.

"It's okay. We still have tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. We'll ask her, and she'll relent eventually." Olive said matter-of-factly. "Clearly she's hiding something important if she can't be around us and wants us to leave her alone."

"What will asking her continuously accomplish?"

"She might be in a better mood." Olive's mouth curved up into a small smile as she got an idea. "Maybe we could get Oprah involved too..."

"Why her?"

"Mandy will have to listen to her boss. It's that drive of undying loyalty." Olive smirked. "And friendship."

Peaches pinched her mouth inwards. "I don't know...Mandy is acting weird, and we should do something about it, but...I don’t think this is the way to do it."

"Well, do you have any better ideas?"

"...No."

"Figured you didn't." Olive gave a mighty exhale. "So, we’ll rope Oprah in on what’s going on and we'll all get Mandy to spill the beans."

Peaches simply gave a nod.

"I'm gonna head back to my Headquarters. Still have some work to do." Olive turned Mandy's bed right side up again before leaving the room. "See you later."

Peaches watched her go, her ears folding downwards as she eyed Mandy's unmade bed and untouched Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise. Her heart panged every few seconds, struck with bolts of heartbreak and pain, and she bit her lip as her next words tumbled out in a murmur.

"Cuz...what're you hiding? Why won't you tell us?"

---

A bright flash marked Mandy's arrival at her desk, as she took in and pushed out a few more rapid breaths. Her heart was thrumming in her eardrums like ponies at the Running of the Leaves, and sweat was pouring down her face as her body began to heat up.

"That was close...too close!" she squeaked, furiously shaking her head to try and calm herself down. "I have to go to a place where there's no people or ponies! Where I can..." Her eyes widened as an idea took root in her head. "...be alone..."

There was a place where she could be alone. Where she had toughed it out for months, living on barely anything and yet still managing to survive long enough to take down a creature at least thrice her size using nothing but adrenaline and a drive of protection.

Yes. It was perfect. No one knew where it was, which meant that no one could come get her. All she would have were the animals and odd creatures surrounding her, many of whom were unable to speak English. Or at least she hoped, anyway. At least for the odd creatures, because regular animals couldn't speak and there was a stark difference. But she was getting off-track.

"The woods! Where I was a runaway! That's it!" Her expression lit up. " If I can just live in those woods until Oona’s ready to reveal the secret, then I won’t have to worry! It sounds drastic, but..." She rubbed her arm and frowned. "...it’s the only place I can be away from everyone."

Her mood soured as she began to wonder if this really was a good idea. In her mind, thoughts of her being ostracized by the town and running away from it with Clementine in tow began to surface, followed by the memory of her leaving Clementine in the hands of the adults who had terrorized them. Even though she had long since moved past the pain and had befriended Clementine, the thoughts plagued her now, as though her brain was warning her that her idea was a bad one that would only lead to misery.

"I don't wanna run away from Odd Squad again, but..."

Mandy bit her lip. Slowly and hesitantly, her right hand reached for a blank piece of paper, while her left hand reached for an Odd Squad-branded pen. She stared at the objects for a few minutes, wondering if the blank slate of the paper and the retracted state of the pen would mock her if they were afflicted by some kind of oddness that granted them communication powers.

She really didn't want to do this. She really didn't. But what other choice did she have, when she kept on bumping into people and ponies alike everywhere she went? The only other thing she could really think of was to declare a personal vacation, and she knew all too well how that had ended up.

"I don't have a choice." came the resigned murmur, as she clicked the top of the pen and began writing her letter like it was being sent to Twilight's own Princess Celestia.

When she was done, she turned towards the doors, took a few tentative steps...

"I'm so sorry."

...and made her way through the double-doors, to the tubes that would lead her to the aboveground world, where she would finally be able to avoid her premature death at the hands of a Scientist that made Oscar's eccentricity seem tame by comparison.

---

"So. You're clear on the plan?"

Oprah took a sip from her apple-flavored juice box. "Yep. But honestly, I don't see why I need to be dragged into this."

"You're Mandy's boss." Olive explained. "If anyone can make her see reason, it's you."

As much as Oprah wanted to claim that family trumps work, she couldn't deny that Olive made a good point. A groan left her as she put her feet down onto the floor and rose from her chair. "Fine. Let's go find her."

The trio left Oprah's office and began making their way downstairs. They headed for Mandy's desk, a place they knew she frequented based on mathematical probability about where the hybrid was most likely to be.

Peaches reached the desk first, immediately eyeing a white paper with familiar handwriting that had been placed on it. "What's this paper? Did she forget to file this?" she asked, holding it up for Olive and Oprah to see.

Oprah blinked. "Looks like a note."

Peaches turned the paper over and began to read aloud from it.

To everyone:

I'm sorry, but I can't stay at Odd Squad anymore. I can’t be around people and I don’t wish to interact with anyone.

I’m not diseased, but I do have a personal matter that I need to take care of. I will be gone for as long as I need to. It could be weeks, months or even years before I come back. I’m sorry that I couldn’t give a more ‘grandeur’ goodbye, as Rarity so calls it, but I needed to leave immediately so I don’t spill the beans. Beans that would be really super hard to clean up.

Peaches' nose wrinkled. "So she's doing this because she doesn't want to spill a can of beans?"

"Keep reading!" Olive urged, giving an eye roll in response to Peaches deciding to take the metaphor literally.

I hope to see you all soon. I wish I could stay, I really do, but if I spill the beans then I will be killed. Please try to understand.

With love and lots of superflytacklehugs, Mandy

Silence fell over everyone. Eyes widened in shock as the group tried to process the last part of Mandy's letter.

"She left?!" Oprah yelled, breaking the silence. "But...she...I-I didn't permit her to take a vacation!"

"Hold on." Olive held up a hand. "First of all, Oprah, this isn't a vacation declaration. It's...a note from a runaway." Her heart sank as she read the note over and over again, making sure Peaches wasn't just making stuff up out of her own head or anything of the like. When she discovered that Peaches had read the letter word for word, she gave a resigned sigh. "I knew that's what was going on."

"What? What is it?" Peaches asked, leaning closer to the Director.

"'Spilling the beans'? That's an easy indicator that Mandy is hiding a secret. That's why she's trying to avoid us."

Peaches blinked. "Huh. That would make sense. She's never good at keeping secrets."

"Wait, there's a more pressing matter at hand." Oprah interrupted, her tone carrying a sense of urgency. "If Mandy spills the secret then she's going to die. Who told her the secret to begin with? Did they threaten Mandy with death if she told anyone?"

"That last question seems rhetorical...but..." Olive's eyes widened. "Crumpets, you're right! That's the real reason why she refuses to tell the secret. Why she doesn't want to see us!" A ragged sigh left her. "Poor Mandy, she must be so terrified..."

"We need to find out who told Mandy a secret."

"And we need to find Mandy herself." Olive added to Peaches' declaration, reading the paper over again. "The note doesn't say where she went."

"Okay. Mandy can handle her own out there, I'm sure." Oprah nodded. "So first things first, let's find out who's got a secret."

As Peaches and Olive nodded in agreement, Oprah quickly darted to where the seal adorned the bullpen floor and clapped her hands together three times. "Attention!" she bellowed, attracting the attention of a few passing agents who stopped to gather around her.

Oprah steeled herself, and took a deep breath. "It has come to my attention that Mandy has run away from home."

The still-gathering crowd gasped. Murmurs began rippling through, each expressing their shock about their beloved second-in-command doing such a thing.

"And if the note that she’s left behind is any indication, she did it to avoid revealing a secret. So I’m going to ask you, agents of Precinct 13579!" Oprah pointed at the crowd. "Does anyone have a secret? Anyone? You don't have to reveal it, just let me know! Please!"

All she got in response were confused murmurs. Unbeknownst to her, Oona had joined the crowd, watching what was going down with concern and a tinge of remorse written all over her face as the realization began to settle in. Still, she didn't speak up, choosing to remain quiet out of a decision to find Mandy before anyone else did.

Twilight's ears picked up on the sound of drumming hoofsteps, and she turned around to find Pinkie Pie racing up to her with Rainbow Dash at her side.

"Twilight, what's going on?" Pinkie asked, slamming the brakes before she could collide with her lavender-coated friend.

"Mandy's run away!"

Pinkie leaped into the air. "SHE WHAT?!" came the eruptive scream, which, surprisingly, wasn't piercing enough so as to attract the attention of many other agents. "Why?!"

"Ms. O says it's because she can't reveal a secret."

Rainbow blinked a few times in confusion. Pinkie, on the other hoof, gasped dramatically and slammed a hoof into the ground. "Aww, I know I should've taught her how to keep a secret!"

"We have to find her!" Rainbow said, thrusting her muzzle into Twilight's. "Who knows what oddness is out there?"

Twilight gently pushed her friend away to grant herself some personal space. "I agree. But this world is massive. Who knows where she is?"

Up at the seal, Oprah's brows furrowed with worry. "No one's got a secret?"

Still, the murmurs persisted. The Director clenched a fist, and then her teeth, in frustration. Part of her began to realize just how dumb the reasoning behind this impromptu meeting was -- no one sane was going to reveal what their secrets were, let alone reveal that they were holding in secrets to begin with. It was silly, and she shamed herself for not realizing that sooner.

"Please, if any of you have a secret...come up to my office and we can talk in private. My doors will be open." Oprah bit her lip, and tried to release her stress out in one big sigh. It worked, but not as well as she had hoped. "Thank you."

The crowd began to disperse, agents carrying the worry and tension with them. The air had shifted considerably, and if the worried vibes hadn't gotten to any agent yet, they certainly would now. Oprah, watching everyone leave, decided to head up to her office to get another juice box and weigh up the situation some more.

"This isn't good." Olive remarked.

"I know." Peaches exhaled softly. "Whoever has a secret, they don't seem to apt to reveal that they have one."

"Olive! Peaches!"

The two girls perked up, their eyes falling on a familiar alicorn rushing up to her with a familiar pink baker and a familiar speedy Pegasus in tow.

"Twilight? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie?" Olive inhaled in order to say something else, but was cut off before she could get even a puff of air out.

"We didn't tell any secrets, we can assure you. Pinkie Promise." Twilight raised a hoof. "But we want to help you find her. Mandy is strong, but there's no telling what oddities lurk out there. Some might be more than even she can handle."

Peaches nodded. "She's right. We need to find her immediately!"

Olive gave a growl of frustration, grinding her teeth together as she rubbed her temple in thought. "Where could she be? Where does Mandy like to go to be alone?"

Pinkie voiced the thought that was on everyone's mind. "Tough question. Mandy doesn't usually go solo."

"I doubt she could've gone far." Rainbow piped up. "Maybe she's on the outskirts of town! Or maybe she's still in town somewhere!"

With those two leads, the frustration was washed away, and everyone became renewed with purpose. "I'll take the girls and start looking in town." Twilight offered. "Olive, Peaches, you two should look on the outskirts."

"Got it. You ready to go, O-" As Peaches spun her head around, she was surprised to find that Olive had somehow vanished. However, it wasn't a case of a sudden disappearance so much as it was the Director deciding to book it before anyone else was ready. Peaches tilted her head. "Olive, where-"

"I'm going to start looking, and I'm taking Otto with me. And I'd suggest all of you get going before the sun sets!"

"But it's..." Peaches looked around for a clock, and eventually just resorted to getting one from hammerspace that, funny enough, told the correct time. "...noon!"

"My point exactly, let's roll out!"

All Peaches could do was stare as she watched her search party partner leave without another word. Within her shock, however, she realized that she couldn't be too surprised -- Mandy was Olive's adopted daughter, after all, and any mother would be worried about their child running away from home. It had happened in Vallea more times than Peaches was willing to admit.

She went to follow the Director. "Well, I'll see you guys around. Call us if you manage to find her."

"Of course." Twilight turned to Pinkie and Rainbow. "Come on, let's gather the others!"

With that, everyone split, with Peaches rushing to catch up with Olive before she got to the tubes while Twilight left with her two friends to gather up Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity to assist with the search.

---

Mandy's journey within the same woods she had once lived in on a temporary basis took her to the mouth of a large cave that appeared to be unoccupied. With her flight and magic abilities now fully honed, getting around had been a breeze, from being chased by a very angry bear to falling into a rushing river and nearly drowning. And she had managed to find a new hideaway quicker than she had thought it was going to take, too.

Taking a deep breath, a smile danced on her face. "The tranhibilty of nature is fascinating!" she chirped. "This is much better than when I was a runaway. Nice cozy cave to sleep in, the ability to use my horn and my wings so I can survive..." Her smile turned into a grin. "And best of all, no one around to spill the secret to!"

She began making her way into the cave, putting a ball of light on the tip of her horn for visual assistance as her view grew darker and darker. "Although...I'm sure people are looking for me, what with the note I left behind. They'll find me eventually."

Her badge phone rang right then, as though it was waiting for its cue. She stopped in her tracks. "Aaaaand speak of the devil."

She let the perky ditty ricochet through her ears as she decided to let it serve as musical accompaniment for her expedition to her new living quarters.

Only a half-minute in, though, she relented. She loved her ringtone, but there was only so much of it she could take before she got annoyed. "Fine, I'll answer it!" she cried, unclipping her phone and opening it. "Agent 57 here, how can I help ya?"

"Mandy? It's Twilight!" The alicorn on the other end of the line gave a relieved exhale. "Oh, thank Celestia you're safe! Where are you? Everyone's out looking for you!"

Well, fluffernutter. That confirms my suspicions. Of course when something happens to me, everyone's gotta get involved. "I'm not telling you. I'm sorry, Twi, but I have to keep this secret. If I don't then I'm gonna be killed!"

"Ooh, a deadly secret!" came the high-pitched voice of Pinkie. Mandy grit her teeth, a coil of pain wrapping around her heart as she thought of her partner.

However, her reflection was cut off by Rarity's voice, making Mandy wonder if Twilight was passing her own phone around to everyone so they could try and persuade the hybrid to come back. "Mandy, darling, we're not going to judge you."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash's turn, now. "And whoever gave you a death threat can meet my hooves!"

"You don't understand! None of you understand!" Mandy snapped. "There’s no way you guys can face off against her! She’s insane! Unhinged! She’s got a mallet! She’s got gadgets! She tied me to a chair and threatened to smash me to pieces! She’ll do it, you know, she’s that crazy!"

"Who is she? A villain?" Twilight asked.

"If it is a villain then she shouldn't be walkin' 'round on the streets." Applejack added.

Catching the phone in her magic, Mandy held it tightly against her chest and made sure to drop her voice to a near-whisper as she voiced her thoughts. "Nngh...I can't tell them who told me the secret! If I do then she's gonna kill me even though I kept the secret!"

With her face buried in her hands, she barely noticed a poof sound marking the arrival of a smaller version of Mandy sitting on her shoulder. This Mandy was angelic-looking in nature, wearing a long white toga and a bright yellow halo over her head. Her white wings looked even fluffier, although much like the rest of her, they were very small.

"You should tell them! They can't fight against one single Oona!"

Another poof marked the arrival of another smaller version of Mandy, who looked to be more on the devil's side than the angel's side. Wearing what looked to be, oddly enough, a black one-piece bathing suit, she wielded a sharp trident. Her pony tail was replaced by a devil's tail and small horns protruded from the top of her head.

The Devil Mandy laughed in a wicked manner. "No they can't! Don't tell them. Run away and never come back! Surely you can survive on your own out here. But it's better than getting your face bashed in!"

Mandy closed her eyes as she began ruminating on what to do. Not a few seconds into her decision-making, however, and the sound of whooshing made her perk up, her shoulder angel and shoulder devil disappearing in two small puffs of smoke.

"Wait, what's that noise?" the hybrid murmured, turning around to face the entrance. She didn't need to go back the way she came and see the source, however, as dread began settling into her gut. "There's only one agent I know who has rocket shoes that make that kind of a noise..." She gulped. "Oona!"

Completely forgetting about her phone call, Mandy began to hyperventilate. "Ohhh what do I do, what do I do?! Knowing her, she probably has a location tracker or something! And if not her...then someone else does..."

Her head whipped from side to side, as though expecting a miracle to come from the cave walls, but she soon stopped as she came to a realization. "Wait. I'm deep inside a cave. It's not like I'm right outside." A sigh of relief was pushed out from her lungs. "It'd take them ages to find me!" Her stomach began to growl, but one swift burst of magic brought a cake into existence, which she happily ate in one bite. "And I've got necessities!"

"Mandy, are you there?"

The sound of Twilight's voice snapped Mandy out of it with a sharp "eep!", and fear began to settle in again. "Oh pickleferries...I hope they didn't hear what I said..." she murmured, before shaking her head and lifting the phone back up to her ear. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Who told you the secret?"

"I can't tell you!" Mandy responded, her voice almost reaching a whine. She gave a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Twi. But I'm not gonna be killed by her!"

"Mandy, we're here to he-"

The hybrid abruptly ended the call, placing the phone back on her chest and giving an irritated groan. Twilight could be a stubborn pony when she wanted to be, but Mandy had thought she had made it clear that she didn't want to be found. Apparently, everyone had ignored her warnings, which didn't bode well for her.

"I have to stay in this cave. And I'm putting you on silent." She tapped the front of her badge phone, which gave a beep to indicate that its volume settings had been changed. Once that was done, she continued her descent into the dark cave, hoping to find a good stopping point soon so she could rest -- after all, she figured it was almost time for her afternoon nap.

---

As the sun began to set, Olive and Peaches began walking in the more rural areas of the city. While Olive was full of pep and drive, Peaches was dragging her feet along the ground, feeling exhausted and wanting nothing more than to curl up and take a nap back at HQ.

She groaned. "It's no use. We've been looking for her all day with no other leads."

"Stop complaining. We're not giving up."

"But I'm hungry!" Peaches whined.

Olive swiveled her head around and let her fiery eyes gaze into the catgirl's own. "Then go hunt for some mice or something."

Peaches would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't so tired. "Look, Olive, I know Mandy's your daughter, but surely she has a good reason for running awa-"

"It doesn't matter!" Olive snarled. Her expression then relaxed, and she gave a shaky sigh. "We need to get Mandy back. It doesn’t matter what her reason for running away is, whether she has a secret or not." She turned around and crossed her arms. "If only we had some sort of tool, like a location tracker…"

Something clicked in Peaches' brain right then, causing her posture to straighten. "That's it!" Her tail-tip began flicking with excitement. "I remember Oprah telling me something a while ago, when we were trying to look for Agent Fluttershy. She was talking about agents having these location trackers hidden in their jackets or something. And also...homing beacons. I think." She blinked, and then shook her head furiously. "But anyway, I think we can use the location tracker in Mandy's suit to find her!"

Olive nodded. "Yes, why didn't I think of that? We have to get back to Oprah's HQ, quickly!"

---

Mandy had gone far enough into the cave to where she needed to brighten up the light on her horn because it was pitch-black. She regretted not having Peaches' ability to see in the dark, especially since she figured she had to have some catgirl blood in her and thus should have the ability. But alas, where she lacked night vision, she had magic, which didn't really work so well given how she couldn't keep her horn lit up forever.

With her wings growing tired, she came to rest along a circular structure that sat in the middle of what had become a roundabout. She had lost track of the time, and didn't know how many minutes she was from the cave entrance.

On that note, she was pretty sure she was lost, too. But that was merely to her benefit.

"I wonder if Oona's still out there looking for me..." she mused, mindlessly playing with a small pebble on the ground. "Or maybe she gave up."

The sound of a stomach growling nearly gave her a heart attack, as it was so loud that she had reason to believe it was coming from some large creature that roamed in the cave. It took her a few moments to realize, however, that it was her own stomach.

"Oh! Didn't realize how hungry I was!" With a burst of magic came an entire multi-course feast that materialized into existence. A whole roasted chicken, some soup, some mashed potatoes and some steamed veggies were laid on a silver tray for her to enjoy, and she immediately went for the chicken firsthand, scooping it up into her mouth with her as-long-as-the-gag-needs-it-to-be tongue and swallowing it in one go. Her cheeks bulged a moment later before she spat the bones back out.

As she began going for the potatoes, the sound of beeping reached her ears. Her eyes widened and her pony ears swiveled, trying to figure out where the beeping was coming from. "W-what's that noise? Sounds like it's coming from...from..."

Her eyes slowly drifted to her suit, where she caught a few flashes of red peeking out from under her right lapel.

A gasp left her. "The homing beacons! Oh pickleferries, I should've destroyed the homing beacons! O-or taken off the jacket!" She buried her face in her hands. "Now they're active...and they're probably gonna come after me!"

Deep in the cave as she was, Odd Squad agents were absolutely no slackers in the tracking department. When you lived in a world where you had kids that were essentially human bloodhounds, villains that were exceptionally good at hide-and-seek, and creatures that treated camouflage like an art form, you had to be prepared. It was for that reason that Mandy couldn't stop her train of thought, wondering what would happen if everyone managed to find her. They would never understand, no matter how many times she told them. After all, they had never had their lives threatened by a mad scientist with a mallet who entrusted them with a life-or-death secret.

She began hyperventilating. "If I destroy them then I'm gonna hafta get a new jacket...and white against gray doesn't mix!" Her ears folded downwards, and with that, she hunkered down as much as she could. "It's prolly nighttime. If anything, they'll come find me and take me back when I'm asleep!" Her head swiveled to the left, where three tunnels sat side-by-side. "Maybe I should go deeper into the cave...but if I do, then I'll get loster!"

"Mandy?"

The familiar velvety voice made her gasp. "Haruko? What...where are you...?"

A near-blinding light shimmered in the distance, like a lone star in a dark night sky. Mandy's eyes took a moment or two to adjust to the new source of light.

"I am here." Haruko took a few steps forward. "Why are you here and not back in Odd Squad, Mandy?"

"Oh Haruko, it's awful! See, Oona wanted me to keep a secret of hers, and she told me that if I spilled it then she would hit me with her mallet! And so I’ve been trying really really hard to keep the secret, but…"

"Sometimes, it is best to tell secrets if they threaten the life of you or someone you care about." Haruko gently advised.

Still, Mandy wasn't having it. "But she'll kill me! I don't wanna be killed!"

"Mandy." Haruko's tone became disappointed. "Do you not have incredible fighting skill? Are you not renowned within Odd Squad for how well you do in combat? And yet you are afraid of one of your own?"

Mandy didn't have the heart to correct her and say that Oona was a Scientist and not necessarily an agent. Still, she couldn't deny that maybe, just maybe, Haruko might have had a point. She could certainly take on Oona and win, but hammer-to-hammer combat wasn't necessarily her forte. Hammer-to-gadget combat, on the other hand...now that was something she could get a good grip on. She gave a pitiful whine in response to her spirit guardian.

"I understand you are scared." Haruko continued. "But I am sure that Oona did not mean what she said."

Bolting straight up onto her feet, Mandy threw her hands into the air. "She did! She pounds gadgets with that mallet! She’s insane, Haruko, absolutely insane! And I’m not gonna be her next victim!"

Haruko gave a soft exhale. "I can tell you this." A pause. "Oona is looking for you right now."

"Tell me somethin' I don't know!"

"But it is not out of anger. It is out of...worry."

Mandy blinked. Surprised as she was, though, there was no reason to suspect that this was some gambit of Oona's to try and lure her out. That was always a possibility. And Haruko didn't seem like she would be willing to elaborate, if previous interactions served.

Case in point: the way the light began to fade as Mandy could hear her pawsteps becoming fainter and fainter.

"Haruko, stop being so cryptic!" Mandy screamed. "Whaddya mean?!"

"You will find out, in due time."

Darn it. I should've seen that one comin'.

The light eventually became no more, disappearing like a candle going out with a gust of wind. A growl rolled in Mandy's throat that slowly turned into a rising cry of pure frustration that made a few stalagmites wiggle somewhere in the cave. She stumbled back and fell on her rump, pounding the ground with her fist before her anger began to subside.

"I really wish she'd stop being so mysterious...and how did she know...?" She had to bite her tongue to stop her from asking the second, very much rhetorical question. She shook her head. "Ugh, never mind."

She ate the rest of her food so as not to let it go to waste, let her body digest for a few minutes, then laid down on her back, staring at the dark ceiling. The sound of dripping water that echoed throughout the space provided a nice constant to her growing fatigue -- a side effect of the food coma beginning to settle in and a side effect of it being nighttime.

"I guess now that I've eaten I should get some sleep..." Mandy yawned. "I can finally catch...up..."

Within seconds, she was out like a light and snoring away, the magic on the tip of her horn dying down.

---

"The location tracker, you said?"

"Yes. Peaches recalled a conversation you and her had about finding Fluttershy. We think that Mandy's homing beacons may help us find her."

"All right, I've got Mandy's files right here." Reaching behind her back, Oprah pulled out a rather thick manila folder, one that required two hands to hold with just how many papers were in it. Because of its height, she found her view looking straight ahead completely blocked, which didn't help in walking through a bullpen that was nearly pitch-black. "But honestly, can't we pick this up tomorrow? It's late."

"Olive and I are willing to pull an all-nighter if we have to." Peaches responded, her voice carrying exhaustion but also a hint of determination. "Mandy’s your second-in-command. Who knows if she’s been eaten by some crazy odd creature out there or not?"

Oprah set the large folder onto one of the swivel chairs, which creaked under its weight in protest. "Fair point." She began thumbing through the papers as quickly as Rainbow Dash speed-read through books, until she found the one paper she was looking for. She slipped it into the slot under one of the computers, went back to the control panel, and began tapping on the small navigation screen.

The bigger computer screen on the left displayed a map of the entire world. Slowly, it focused on Canada, and then on the province of Ontario. A red dot, only a few feet above where Toronto was located on the map, popped up, and from it extended a line that linked to a headshot of Mandy -- no doubt her agent profile picture from when she graduated the Academy.

"Aha! She's..." Oprah's face fell. "...she's..."

Olive's jaw dropped. "That isn't..."

Peaches nodded. "It is."

The three girls stared at the screen for a moment, as the dot began to pulsate a bright red.

"That's the wooded area where Mandy ran away to when she got fired from Odd Squad." Oprah said.

"Why is she there?" Peaches asked. "Doesn't that place bring bad memories for her?"

"Yes, but it's also secluded." Olive explained. "She said in her note that she doesn't want to be around people. There's no one in those woods!"

"Except hunters."

Olive shot Oprah a glare. "My daughter is not going to get shot by some idiot with a gun looking for big game, Oprah."

Oprah ignored her former agent's burst of anger and tapped on the smaller screen again. "It says that..." She watched as the map began to zoom in, showing a picture of a large gaping cave. "She's located in a cave."

"Well, it's better than the stick tent she built the last time she ran away."

Both Directors concurred with unisonant nods. "Come on, let's go find her!" Olive declared, beginning to head for the doors.

"I'll send the information to your tablet, Olive." Oprah moved to take the file out, pressing the Eject button. "And get Twilight and the others. They can spread out and help you."

"Got it!"

Peaches followed Olive. "I'll get the ponies, you get a head-start."

Olive nodded and sped off as fast as her feet would take her, with Peaches following suit.

Inside the Lab, Oona peeked out from the back room, eyeing Oprah carrying the large stack back upstairs and into her office. She had heard everything, and she couldn't deny that she was beginning to feel even more anxiety and regret now. Clearly, the situation had gotten well out of hand, and as she decided to go through the double-doors, only one thought hung in her mind.

What have I done?

---

As the woods where Mandy was didn't have a tube entrance, Olive and Peaches were forced to find the nearest one and then hike on foot. It was only a few miles, which Peaches in particular attributed to a stroke of luck more than anything else, but it was worth it if they managed to find Mandy.

"It's lucky I'm a catgirl. I've got special eyes!"

"Well, start looking. Start looking with your 'special eyes'." Olive sneered, as if almost mocking Peaches for her comment as she glanced at her tablet. Aside from the flashlights she and the catgirl were holding, the device was one of the only sources of light they had.

Behind the two girls followed Twilight and the rest of the ponies, who all looked rather exhausted as they walked along. Twilight, at the head of the group, yawned. "Guys, I know finding Mandy is important, but are you sure we can't start doing this tomorrow?"

"We're not resting until we find Mandy!"

In response to the unisonant declaration, the alicorn heaved a mighty sigh.

"We should be almost there." Olive stared at her tablet, which showed a cluster of eight dots that represented the search party on a sonar screen. "That cave has to be close by."

---

A bright flash marked the arrival of Oona, with Teleport-inator gadget in hand and a side of dizziness. She stumbled around for a bit, giving a shocked "whoa" before she managed to regain her balance and let out a sigh as she realized she was in complete darkness. The sound of dripping reached her ears, but aside from that, no noise was present.

"Flashlight-inator!" she called, reaching behind her back and exchanging her Teleport-inator for a Flashlight-inator, which, in reality, was nothing out of the ordinary. "Yeah, this is just a regular flashlight."

As she walked, she moved the flashlight around, keeping an eye out for any human bodies. She didn't need to walk more than five minutes to come across one, which was lying eerily still. As she shone the light on it, the body's owner looked all too familiar to her.

She gasped. "Mandy? Mandy!" she cried out, running to the hybrid's side and furiously shaking her. "Mandy, speak to me! Are you okay?"

When she got no response, she jumped to her feet and moved the flashlight around, an ugly grimace on her face. "All right, you dirty odd creatures of this cave! Come at me! I can take ya! C'mon!" she threatened, a growl rumbling about in her throat as she moved the flashlight around, daring for some creature to jump her.

Nothing presented itself, however. She lowered the flashlight with a huff, using her free hand to shake Mandy again. "Mandy, please wake up! It's not safe here!"

A snort eked out of the hybrid as her free pony ear flicked. "Whuh...no, I'll take the pink zzhirt over there..."

Oona gave a relieved exhale. "Oh thank odd, you're alive." She continued shaking the hybrid. "Wake up. I need to talk to you."

"Zztop zzhakin' me, 'm tryna zzleep..."

Oona could swear that, by some freaky anatomical...whatever, a few brown hairs popped free from her head. She reached behind her back, yanked out a cowbell, and began shaking it furiously. "Wake up!" she screamed, making sure to angle the cowbell right near Mandy's ear but not enough to hit her with it.

Luckily for her, that got Mandy awake with a snort and a "Whuh-huh?!" The ringing in all four of the hybrid's ears was atrocious, and she could have sworn lost at least half of her hearing from what had woken her up. "Honezztly, who'zz buggin' me in th' middle 'f..."

Her vision was restored, and the blurry figure wearing a white labcoat suddenly made itself clear.

"O-Oona!" came the panicked yelp, as Mandy hunkered down and tried to make herself as small as she could. Her heartbeat began to quicken, and her anxiety levels began to rise. She had predicted that Oona would find her eventually, and it was merely a matter of time -- but to do it when she was sleeping? If she had known that, she wouldn't have gone to sleep at all.

Now, however, all she could do was beg for mercy. "Oona, please don't hurt me, I didn't spill the secret, I swe-"

Her pleas were cut off by Oona placing a finger on her lips, a disappointed look settling on her face. "Mandy..." She sighed. "I heard you tried to run away from Odd Squad."

As Mandy took ahold of Oona's lips and pried her lips free, she gave a squeaky "Y-y-yes?"

"And you did it because...you were trying to keep my secret."

Mandy took a deep inhale, a sign that her mouth was going to run and not stop until something that wasn't her stopped it. "I didn’t wanna tell anyone so I came here because no one was gonna find me here and I figured that one day you were gonna be ready to reveal it to everyone but that wasn’t gonna be for years and years and years and so I decided to stay here but now that you’re here I’M GONNA BE DEAD!!"

The hybrid collapsed in a fit of sobs, burying her face in her arms as she laid on the floor. Oona simply stared at her in confusion. "What...?"

"Don't kill me, please!!" came the plea, from a snot-nosed and bloodshot-eyed Mandy. "I don't wanna be killed, I'm too young to diiiiie!!"

"I didn't mean it!"

The words were blurted out, and they dialed back the volume of Mandy's sobbing. Her body quaked with each sob as her lungs desperately grasped for air that didn't seem to be there. Her eyes fixated on Oona, waiting for her to explain herself.

"When I said I was gonna smash you with the mallet...I didn’t mean that!" Oona avoided eye contact. "It’s just, that secret was really important to me, and I thought you could be trusted with it!" She gave a sigh and closed her eyes. "But some people...they just can’t keep a secret."

Mandy gave a noisy sniffle, followed by a hiccup.

Oona smiled. "And that's okay."

Mandy's eyes began to dry, and shimmered with renewed hope. Part of her was screaming at her that this act of niceness was just that, but otherwise, the rest of her seemed to take the Scientist's words at face value. She understood. She understood Mandy's inability to keep a secret, and that was all the hybrid needed. If Mandy spilled the secret here and now, she wouldn't be killed for it, and realizing that brought her massive relief. "S-so...I don't hafta keep it anymore?"

"No. You can shout it right here, right now. There's no one here."

A hiccup forced its way out of Mandy, and then she nodded. She slowly raised herself, planted her feet firmly on the ground, took a deep breath, and went for the pitch.

"Oona eats blobs!! And they taste good!!"

The words bounced all around the cave, through every tunnel that surrounded the duo and perhaps even beyond it.

"She eats blobs blobs blobs, all day long!" Mandy chirped, bouncing around Oona before giving a relieved sigh and flopping back down onto the ground. "That felt so great to get off my chest!"

Oona gave a smile at her friend's antics, but it just as quickly turned into a frown. "Mandy...I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I shouldn’t have threatened you by saying I was gonna hurt you with my mallet. It was wrong of me. You’re a great agent, and I really appreciate you helping me repair and build gadgets. And in the future...I won’t entrust you with any secrets."

Mandy blinked. "You mean it?"

"As sure as I know how to lasso."

Mandy's eyes began filling with tears again, but the happy kind this time and not the ugly sad kind. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she cried, lunging for Oona and embracing her in a tight hug.

"Too tight...rib's getting bruised..." Oona coughed. "Can you put me dooooowwwwn..."

Realizing that her last word had turned into a wheeze, Mandy quickly obeyed her wishes. "Oh, you don’t wanna know the nightmares I’ve had of you squishing me with that mallet! And I thought it hurt when I hit myself with my own hammer…"

"I'm sure. So, now that this whole thingamajiggy is over..." Oona placed a hand on Mandy's shoulder. "Can you come back to Odd Squad? Oprah and the others...they're missing you."

"Yeah, I figured. They're prolly tracking me right now, huh?"

"Via the location tracker in your suit? Without a doubt."

"Yeah, via the location tracker in my-" Mandy's eyes widened. "The huh in my suit?"

"You didn't know?" Oona tilted her head. "Every agent has a location tracker hidden in their suit." She rolled her hand about, trying to find the best words to describe the tool but not coming up with much. "It's been an Odd Squad staple for years."

So...all this time...even if I had taken the suit off in here...they still would've found me?! Mandy stared off into space for a few moments before a realization hit her. Wait. Odd Squad's the most high-tech organization around. Of course they'd have something like that. Doiii.

Still, one thing bugged her. "But I thought we had the homing beacons!"

"That's for if you want someone to actually find you."

Mandy opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, remembering a time when Olive used the homing beacons in her Investigation suit to have Otto track her. She had done that willingly, because the homing beacons were under the lapels...and they didn't just lift on their own. No, it could only be lifted by an outside force. "Oh. Good point."

Oona gave an exhale and stood up. "Let's go home. And hopefully we don't get lost in here..."

Mandy's pony ears, sharp as they were, were the first to hear voices. They swiveled around, trying to find which tunnel they were coming from, but the echo made it hard to pinpoint. Still, the sources of the voices were unmistakable. "I recognize those voices..." she murmured, before gathering up her lung power to give another scream. "I'M OVER HERE, GUYS!!"

The voice echoed, and overshadowed all the other echoes for a brief moment.

"Ooh, this echo thingy is pretty cool! Echo!!"

Now the word "echo" bounced off of the walls.

Mandy gave a laugh, but it quickly turned into a yawn as she began swaying on her feet. A soft hum rattled in her throat.

"Oh yeah. I forgot I woke you up." Oona sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Can you use your alicorn magic and make a flashlight?"

Mandy shook her head. "You should use your flashlight. I'm gonna fall asleep in ten seconds flat if I use my magic."

"Flashlight-inator, thank you." Oona corrected, before heading towards the tunnel that laid straight ahead of the duo, which just so happened to be the one where faint lights were shining off of the walls and growing by the second. "Let's get out of here." She only got a few footsteps before turning around. "Wait. Can't you teleport us all home?"

"I just toldja. Magic."

"Mandy?" The form of Olive emerged first, and as soon as her flashlight shone on Mandy, she gasped and rushed up to hug her daughter. "Guys, I found her!"

Within seconds, the hybrid became swamped by seven more bodies and promptly collapsed to the ground.

"Partner, you're alive!"

"Oh goodness, we finally found you!"

"Thank Celestia you're all right!"

"Cuz!" Peaches got off of Mandy and gave a sigh. "My location tracker idea worked!"

"Nice job, Peaches." Olive praised, giving a wink and a thumbs-up to the catgirl.

Mandy, however, noticed the glare the Director gave her, and as she began pushing her friends and family away, she threw her hands up. "L-look, I-I can explain!" she protested. "Y-you didn't hear anything I said, did you?"

"So, Oona, you eat blobs?"

Mandy winced as she glanced at Oona, whose eyes widened in surprise. "Y-yeah. And so what? They taste good and I like a varied diet." The Scientist's eyes narrowed. "But don't you dare tell anyone else."

Olive chuckled. "Don't worry. Unlike Mandy, I can keep a secret. It's safe with us."

"Good. Because if you spill it then I will personally see to it that-"

"Can it. Let's just get you and Mandy home."

Mandy heaved a sigh. "I'm really sorry for running away and worrying you guys. It's just that..." She glanced at the ground. "W-well, I-"

"So Oona told you a secret and threatened to kill you if you told anyone?" Peaches interjected, placing a hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"Yeah. And Haruko was right. I shouldn't have been afraid of Oona." Mandy's ears folded downwards. "I'm such a weakling..."

"No you're not, cuz."

"You kept Oona's secret for as long as you could." Rarity assured. "Even if she did threaten to harm you, it still means that you're a great friend."

"Yeah!" Rainbow nodded. "I'll admit, I'm kinda impressed. You are a bit of-"

"A blabbermouth?!"

Pinkie's shrill cry interrupted the multicolored-maned Pegasus, and she heaved a sigh. "Yeah." She narrowed her eyes at Pinkie. "Like someone else I know."

Pinkie simply gave a grin.

Applejack made her way up to the hybrid next. "But in the future, sugarcube, if'n ya got somethin' t' hide that can hurt ya or hurt other folks, tell us. We're here t' listen."

Mandy was far too tired to fight back against her friends' reasonable advice. A soft breathy laugh eked out of her fatigue-addled body, and she blinked a few times in order to stay awake. "Thanks, guys." She glanced at Twilight. "But I'm really sleepy...Twi, can you teleport us all back to Headquarters?"

"Sure." Twilight's horn lit up in a fantastical purple color, and everyone disappeared in a bright flash, with Mandy leaving hardly any trace of her short residence in the cave behind.

Upon returning, everyone parted ways, with Oona leading Olive to the Lab so she could try a blob for herself, having gotten curious as to what one tasted like. Mandy, in particular, was quick to head off to bed as fast as her feet would carry her, wanting nothing more than to sleep on fluffy warm sheets instead of a hard cave floor.

---

The good news for Mandy was that she went out like a light the second her body hit the bed.

The bad news was that she wasn't able to resume her dream of strolling around the city, and so her brain was forced to make an entirely new movie to play.

Which was how she found herself stuck with Mr. Lightning in a dimly-lit room with no magic to speak of and no way to access gadgets.

Snoring away, she turned over onto her right side, half of her body hanging off of the bed and the other half hanging on by some sheer force of willpower. Her snoring was, of course, loud enough that she didn't hear her phone ringing, nor did she hear the voicemail message that was left.

"Hiya, you've reached Agent 57, Mandy! I can't come to the phone right now, prolly sleeping or tied up in an odd case or doing...whatever. Yeah. Anyway, if you just wanna leave me a message with your name and phone number, that'd be great, and I'll be sure to get back to ya as soon as I can! Thankies!"

The phone beeped.

"Mandy? It's Oscar! Uh, could you come to the Science building? At the Academy? Right now? That same Scientist you filled in for...he’s still sick, a-and I need you to teach a class in a half-hour on combining gadgets. Please, come quickly, I-I can’t find any substitute Scientist! Uh...t-thank you!"

"Be ready 'n five..." Mandy murmured, pawing weakly at her head.

It wasn't until a minute later that she finally woke up, her blue, eye-booger-encrusted eyes slowly creaking open to greet the day. With a loud yawn, she stretched out her body, her breath becoming caught in her throat when a pop resounded in her body. "Aah...that's my spiiiiine!" she whined, right before her right side failed her and she collapsed on the floor in a tangle of sheets. "Oww."

As soon as she gulped down her Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise, she checked her voicemail messages.

Right then and there, her mood soured. Oh, it's gonna be that kind of a shrummy-crummy day. Great.

When she finished her wake-up routine, she went to the Breakroom for lunch, deciding to settle on a ham sandwich and a family-size bag of potato chips. In one fell swoop she ate the sandwich, though it didn't feel any filling when it went down her esophagus and dipped into her stomach acids.

"Oscar...he really can't employ any other Scientists, honestly..." she muttered, toying with a potato chip. "That class was a living nightmare! I don't wanna go back there! All that rambunctious energy from a class full of promising students, looking up to me like I know my stuff..." Her body shuddered as her mind began replaying previous classes she had taught, stopping just before she got to the memory of one eager student trying to woo her with a loose Centigurp. She wanted to be wooed by no one but Bradley Beli, and he was in Hong Kong on another tour.

"Rambunctious energy of what?"

Mandy yowled, her chair toppling to the floor and sending its occupant along with it. Her chips nearly followed suit, but luckily, they stayed intact.

"Wow, you're really on par with the yowls, cuz!" Peaches gave a wink. "Keep it up and someday you may get to be like me."

"Don't scare me like that!"

Peaches held her hand up and took a step back. "Jeez, sorry. Didn't know you were a little crabby." She cracked a smile. "What, you wanna go back to bed but you were forced to get up?"

"No. Oscar wants me to teach one of his classes again." Mandy got up, straightened her chair, planted her butt in it again, and ate a chip with a bored expression on her face.

"Ooh, you get to be a teacher? Like an Odd Squad Professor? That's so cool!" Peaches' eyes gained shimmers in them for only a moment, before a frown formed. "But why are you so upset?"

"Because this is the tenth time he's asked me this month!" Mandy snapped, angrily taking a handful of potato chips and shoving them into her mouth. Within that big bite, she could already feel the heartburn settling in, but she didn't care.

"Is that a problem?"

"Yesh!" Mandy swallowed. "He needs to hire more Scientists! I haven’t heard a single thing about a Scientist shortage and you know that I have work to do here too!"

"Oooookaaaaay..." Peaches attempted to reach for a potato chip, but a glare from Mandy stopped her hand cold. "So, uh, how long is this class?"

"An hour."

Peaches recoiled her hand and scoffed. "An hour? That's not so bad. What are you teaching?"

"Gadget repairs."

"But I thought you liked gadget repairs?"

"Yes! With my butt in that chair! Not at the Academy!" Mandy pointed to her desk with one hand and placed the fingers on her other hand on her puffed-out chest. "I pride myself on having a familiar workspace surrounded by the people I love where no one bothers me."

Knowing that Mandy's desk wasn't the most ideal place where one who didn't want to be bothered couldn't be bothered -- and knowing that Mandy was, at the very least, smart enough to realize that -- Peaches raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh." she said dubiously. "Well, if you're gonna go visit Oscar, maybe you should ask him about Oona."

Mandy blinked twice. "Oona?"

"Tell him what happened with her secret."

It took a minute for the dots to connect in Mandy's brain. "Ohhh." She nodded. "Y'know, that's not a bad idea. I'll captrize on that."

"You mean 'capitalize'?"

"Tomayto, tomahto." Mandy responded, waving a dismissive hand and stuffing her mouth with another handful of potato chips.

Peaches watched her go at it before she suddenly realized something. "Oh, uh, wait, before you go...I should apologize."

"Apologithe for what?"

Peaches couldn't help but wince at Mandy spraying chip crumbs all over the table. "First of all, chew with your mouth closed." she suggested. "Second of all, I should apologize for getting all hot and bothered about you leaving when we were trying to find the culprit a couple days ago. And for getting on your case about not paying attention."

Mandy swallowed her chewy chip lump. "Nonono, I should apologize! I should've been more considerate of your feelings and at least told you the truth. But I really didn’t wanna spill that secret. You know how Pinkie takes pride in keeping secrets, and...I guess I took after her."

"Fair point. Though Pinkie's not the best role model for keeping secrets." Peaches threw her hands outwards. "Huggies?"

Mandy smiled. "Huggies!"

The speed at which Mandy tackled Peaches was so quick that it knocked both of them to the floor. After getting over her initial shock, Peaches laughed, and Mandy soon joined in before sharing some of her chips with the catgirl.

---

"Oscar, please. I'm begging you. Hire more Scientists. Do it for yourself. Do it for me."

"I-I'm trying, heh! It's just hard because, well..." Oscar scratched the back of his neck. "We have a lot of Scientists-in-training here. And not a lot of Lab Directors are free to teach a class or two, or even become full-time teachers."

Mandy glanced at some of the Scientists that passed her by in the halls. She had to admit, with absolutely no offense to them whatsoever, that seeing them was becoming a tiring sight, as was going to the Science building of the Academy when Lab-Con wasn't being hosted. Why? Because she didn't belong there. She was no Scientist. She was an Investigation agent who repaired gadgets as a side gig. There was practically nothing for her here aside from Oscar, and those like Odelia and Oona if they happened to come visit.

"You do know I have work at my own precinct?"

"Yeah! B-but it's just..."

"Oscar, I can't keep doing this forever." Mandy stared at him with half-lidded blue eyes. "I know, my suggestion is easier said than done. But being a teacher isn't my career choice. I do best in combat!"

"Yeah, but..." Oscar hesitated for a moment, as though wanting to convince Mandy to at least give teaching one more shot, but ultimately relented and sighed. "All right. You don't have to teach classes here anymore if you don't want to."

"Yay!" Mandy clapped her hands together. "Now, maybe we can talk about more...important things."

"Uh...s-sure, I've got some free time, heh!" Oscar grinned. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Oona."

"Oh, Oona! How's she doing? Hopefully she hasn't burned down the Lab and reduced it to ash." Oscar nudged Mandy in the elbow and gave a chuckle that quickly went from amused to terrified.

Mandy, noticing this tonal switch, patted her friend on the shoulder and smiled. "No, silly! The Lab's fine. But, uh..." She bit her lip. "See, she told me this secret..."

"What secret?" Oscar asked, as he pushed open a door that led to a large stairwell and began heading downstairs.

Mandy stopped for a moment, the door nearly whacking her in the face before she was able to snap out of her stupor long enough to slip through and dash after Oscar. "Ah, uh..." She nervously laughed. "Um, I-I'd rather not say. It's um...rather personal." A small blush crept into her cheeks. "But she told me this secret, see, and she threatened to smash me with her mallet if I told anyone! So I kept the secret because I didn’t wanna be killed...and I ended up running away from Odd Squad."

Oscar's eyes widened. "You ran away?"

"Yeah. I stayed in a dark, gross cave." Mandy shuddered. "It was awful, but it worked. For a time."

Oscar gazed at Mandy empathetically. "Well, if I'm being honest with you, Mandy...it wouldn't be the first time."

"Huh?"

"Oona's done this before with a couple other Scientists." Oscar explained, as the pair went to the first floor and he opened the door, holding it open to allow Mandy to go first before he went in after her. "Some have taken it in stride. Others...haven't. I've gotten a ton of complaints about it from the ones who haven't."

Mandy stopped again, but for much longer this time. "Wait. So I'm not the only one?!"

"Yeah." Oscar stopped, turned, and held up a hand. "And don't worry, heh. You don't have to tell me what the secret was."

"Ohthankodd." Mandy clutched her chest in relief, her brain granting her legs the ability to move again as she ran after Oscar.

"I'll have to have another talk with her about it." Oscar mused. "When you return to Precinct 13579, find her and tell her I want to speak to her as soon as possible."

"Will do!"

Within a few minutes, the pair had emerged at the front lobby of the building, where a loud explosion was heard, followed by a cry of "Aw, not again!" from what had to be a mishap-making Scientist. The explosion made the surprised Mandy's hair and tail stick outwards and bush up tremendously, but only the Scientists-in-training and a sparse few Scientists actually diverted their attention from whatever they were doing to inquire about what had just happened.

"Y-y'know..." Mandy's tail twitched as she tried to get it to go back to its normal poofy state, while she did the same with her hair by running her hands through it in an effort to smooth it out. "If those happen every day, it's a miracle how this building hasn't been destroyed by now."

"That's what I keep telling myself, heh!" Oscar shrugged. "Me, and the former Big O...many, many times over."

Mandy dashed towards the entrance. "Anyway, I'll give Oona your message. See ya later!"

"Bye!" Oscar waved her off, watching her as she went out the doors and into the fresh air of the outdoors.

As Mandy began walking on the front grounds, she stopped and turned around, facing the large building that loomed before her. She gazed at the inside, watching as Scientists mingled and chatted and walked around. She had nothing but the utmost respect for them, of course. Investigation agents and Scientists were a truly symbiotic relationship, one she accepted and embraced by helping out Oona and obeying her rules when it came to checking out and checking in gadgets. No one department could take all the credit for helping to solve oddness -- after all, barring Mandy, Investigation agents and making gadgets went together about as well as peanut butter and rat poison.

But Mandy had her limits. And those limits just so happened to be passing on her gadget skills to Scientists. If Oscar wanted a teacher, he could surely pull a few strings and hire some. It was hard, but it wasn't impossible. Unfortunately for him, Mandy wanted no part of it.

"Yeah, no."

---

Emerging in the bullpen, Mandy took a deep breath. "Finally, I'm back where I belong!" she chirped, before making a beeline for the Lab.

As seemed to be more common over the course of the week, Oona was back at it with smashing another gadget using her mallet. Her focus was unbroken as she shot the gadget a look that could slice it cleanly in two if looks could wound, raising her hammer high above her head.

"Oona! Hey, Oona!"

Oona gave a scream and began bringing the head of the mallet down onto the gadget.

With a swift hand, Mandy caught the head, letting it rest in her palm. She fixed Oona with a small smile. "Before ya smash that, five seconds of your time?"

Oona blinked. "Oh, howdy-do, Mandy." She met the hybrid's smile with one of her own. "What's up?"

"Oscar wants to see you about..." Mandy faltered. "Uh...w-well, he didn't say. But he wants to see you as soon as you're available."

Oona's half-lidded brown gaze became fixed on the hybrid. "You told him about the whole secret thing, didn't you?"

The wheeze that came out of Mandy shriveled her lungs up and then made them reform like a grape that had become wrinkly and then been reshaped so it looked fresh again. They then quivered with every nervous laugh she barked out. "Moi?!" she practically screamed. "Haha, nooooo, I would never!"

The two girls stared at each other for a solid minute.

And then, Mandy took off in a run, her wheel-o'-feet kicking up a long cloud of dust that marked her trail.

"Called it." Oona shook her head and sighed, a smirk settling on her face. "Oh, Mandy. You really can't keep secrets, can you?"

She turned back around and resumed her focus on the gadget, taking a deep breath as she raised the mallet high above her head once again. Once she adjusted it for a perfect aim, a psychotic-sounding scream left her lungs that preceded a loud bang as gadget pieces flew all over the Lab.