In Odd We Trust

Chapters

The Mission
The Agents
The Reveal
The Concern/Plan
The Prerequisites
The Brave Mare
The Dual Plans
The Counteraction
The Plan Unfolds
The Captures
The Attack
The Departure
The Portal
The Princesses, Their Advice, and The Decision

The Mission

"Princess Celestia, what's the matter?"

Six ponies stood in front of the tall, ethereal-maned princess, who gazed down on them with cool magenta eyes. One pony, an alicorn with a striking purple-and-pink-streaked mane and tail and purple eyes, took initiative, stepping forward.

"Twilight. A portal has opened in Ponyville. We are not sure how it got there, but what we do know is that we cannot beat it with our magic alone."

"Oh yeah! I think I might've seen that portal!" Next to speak up was a pink pony, with a poofy pink mane and tail to match, giggling at the thought of the happenings she witnessed in the portal.

"So what do you s'pose we do?" another pony of the six asked, with a blond-yellow ponytail and tail to match, and a cowboy hat sitting atop her head.

"I want you to enter the portal, and find out what is happening on the other side. I know this may be risky, but I believe in you."

The six ponies nodded in response.

"In addition, I have seen...humans. Twilight might have told you about them when she went through the magic mirror."

"Humans?" A Pegasus pony with a rainbow mane and blue fur spoke up next, tilting her head in confusion before her expression lit up. "Oh yeah! Those two-legged creatures!"

"Be wary of them. If ever you need assistance, you should be able to travel back through the portal the same way you went in."

"But what if we can't go back?"

Twilight's question was one posed that made Celestia think, I hadn't thought that far ahead. Silence filled the room briefly before the princess spoke once again. "I will have two royal guards at the portal at all times. If you cannot enter Equestria from the other side, find a way to signal them. They will get help."

The Mane Six each exchanged worried looks, before each of them gave Twilight an affirmative nod. "We won't let you down, Princess."

"Good. Please, take your leave now. I will send two royal guards to the portal as well."

Nodding, the six ponies left the throne room, and began to make their way back to Ponyville, worry fluttering inside their bellies.

"So this is the portal...hmm?"

Twilight and her friends stood in front of the portal, gazing into the world on the other side. Humans mulled about, and words were being said, but no one could understand anything.

"It sure seems like it, Rarity. Everypony ready?"

Various murmurs of agreement came from Twilight's friends, as they faced the portal with confidence.

"Then let's go."

And with that, the ponies took their first steps into another world, a world that would be far different than any place they had encountered before.

Olive and Otto gazed at the portal questioningly, their heads tilting as they tried to make sense of what was on the other side.

"Oh! There's a pegasus. She just landed. With her daughter!"

Otto's observation didn't go unnoticed -- other agents walking by also noticed the portal, sitting smack-dab in the middle of the bullpen, while various Security agents examined the portal.

"We shouldn't be watching ponies, Otto. We should be working."

"Right! Right."

As soon as Olive picked up her pen, however, a low humming sound reached her ears. With a soft questioning "hmm?" she swiveled around in her desk chair, her eyes widening as she saw the portal glow brightly, much to the confusion and displeasure of the Security agents. One by one, six ponies flew out, each coming with a yell and a hard thump on the ground. A Security agent tore his eyes away from the odd sight to look at the portal, but nothing happened -- the portal remained as active as it was before. With a disappointed look, the Security agent turned back to the six ponies.

"Ugh...what happened?"

"We're heeeeeere!"

"Oh! R-Rainbow, you're on my tail."

"Hold on, Fluttershy, I'm getting up!"

"Ohh, my mane's all ruined!"

"My hat! Where's my hat?! Oh...phew! There it is."

The Mane Six each got to their hooves and took in the sights: everyone's stares, the silence permeating the bullpen, phones ringing distantly somewhere. Before anyone could say anything, however, Ms. O emerged from her office, descending the staircase. "Stand down!" she called, the sound of her shoes the only source of noise. She made her way towards the ponies, who wore expressions of confusion, except for Fluttershy, who let out a soft whimper as her front legs wobbled like gelatin.

"Who are you?" Ms. O remarked, her ice-cold brown gaze burning its way into the ponies, which caused Twilight to take a step back.

"U-uh, well...I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, of...of Equestria."

After a few moments of silence, Twilight nudged the pony next to her, an elegant white-furred pony with a curly purple mane and tail. "Oh! Um, I'm...Rarity. I come from Ponyville."

Keeping in turn, she nudged Applejack next. "Howdy! Uh, ah'm Applejack. From Sweet Apple Acres!"

Next to be nudged was the now-hovering Rainbow Dash, who cleared her throat before speeding her way to the front of the group. "I'm Rainbow Dash, a member of the Wonderbolts, the fastest flying team in Equestria!"

It was Pinkie Pie's turn next. The mare didn't need a nudge to start introducing herself: "My name's Pinkie Pie, and I come from Ponyville! Nice to meetcha!"

Finally, Fluttershy spoke up, having shrunken into her shell due to the massive amount of stares being directed her way. "U-um...I'm...Fluttershy...from Equestria..."

More silence filled the room. Twilight, realizing she needed to take initiative, cleared her throat and summoned up what confidence she had. "We all come from a country called Equestria, on the other side of the portal. We were sent here by Princess Celestia, one of our leaders, to find out what is happening on the other side. Maybe...you could assist us?"

Olive and Otto, who had been sweeping their gazes through the group of ponies, looked at each other, then at Ms. O.

"Oh, we can assist you quite well, heh!"

A new voice spoke up, and emerging from the laboratory where the Scientists were located was a boy dressed in a long, pristine-white lab coat with green flask-shaped lapels on the collar. He wore a big goofy smile on his face, as though these ponies were his welcome guests.

"Oscar." Ms. O spoke, her tone firm as she swiveled her head to look at the Lab Director, whose smile quickly turned into a frown as he adjusted his glasses. Her gaze moved back to the ponies. "As Oscar said, we can assist you well. Come on up to my office, and we can talk more about this. Olive! Otto! Oscar!"

As she shouted the names of her three most trusted confidantes, they jumped a little in surprise.

"You're all coming with me. Posthaste! Let's move, people! And the rest of you, back to work!" The commands given, the ponies and the summoned humans followed Ms. O as they ascended the stairs into her office. As soon as everyone entered, she closed the doors behind them, making sure no one was eavesdropping.

"Now...tell me more about where you came from." The millennia-old girl beckoned Olive, Otto and Oscar forth with a wave of her hand, and as if on cue, they took their places next to her, facing the ponies with a much less harsh look than what she was giving.

Twilight, still feeling nervous, took a few moments to compose herself, her friends glancing at her expectantly. This girl was much more authoritative than Princess Celestia, and much less benevolent to boot. As for her...friends, if you could call them that...they seemed a little more caring, and Twilight found it much easier to share eye contact with them rather than the girl.

"We come from a country called Equestria, as I stated. It's a land full of all sorts of creatures, including ponies like us. There are three kinds of ponies in existence. Pegasi." Twilight gestured to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, the latter of whom spread open her wings as though she was about to put on a show.

"Unicorns." As if on cue, Rarity's horn glowed a bright blue as she levitated a small wallet-like object a few inches above Ms. O's desk. The human girl met the feat with a scowl, as though she wanted to pull the object back down, but was resisting. Eventually, Rarity set the object down, and her magic aura faded away.

"And Earth ponies." Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie waved, the latter having a similar goofy grin on her face to the one Oscar had sported earlier.

"We all live in harmony in Equestria. Any time trouble arises, we are on it. We're...best friends, actually." Twilight exchanged a warm smile with her friends, who smiled back at her. "Together, we spread friendship across Equestria, guided by two princesses. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. I myself am a princess as well -- the Princess of Friendship."

Olive and Otto's eyes widened as they exchanged a glance. Oscar tilted his head slightly before glancing at Ms. O, who gazed at Twilight in thought.

"Hmm." she mused, the gears in her brain turning ever-so-slowly as she figured out her next course of action. "So you're a princess of Equestria." Anyone who had worked at Odd Squad long enough knew that ambassadors of high ranking were not an uncommon sight, often attending royal lunches and similar affairs. But Ms. O knew that this was no Equestrian ambassador. Still, she sought it in her best interest to treat Twilight and her friends in high standard.

"Since you told us about yourselves, let me tell you a bit about what we do here. We work at Odd Squad, which is a high-tech government organization that seeks to investigate and get rid of all things odd. Precincts are scattered all throughout the world -- and I, Ms. O, just so happen to run this one." Her gaze moved to Olive, Otto and Oscar. "These are two of my best agents. Olive, and Otto." Both agents waved to the ponies wordlessly before Ms. O gestured to Oscar. "And this is our Lab Director, Oscar. He makes the gadgets that we use to solve cases."

"Hi!" Oscar piped up with a wave of his hand, a small smile on his face.

"We have various different departments here, each sorted by their symbol. The more sides a symbol has, the higher the rank. For example, a Director's signal is an octagon, eight sides, which signifies my authority. Investigation agents -- like Olive and Otto -- have a hexagon for a symbol, which is six sides. And so on."

"Oooh, that sounds fun! Can we join?" Pinkie, ever the energetic one, posed the question with a smile on her face. It was unexpected enough to make Ms. O freeze as she became alone in her thoughts.

Having these ponies join Odd Squad...it would help boost numbers, but...they're not fillies. And they would need to attend the Odd Squad Academy. Unless... Ms. O's eyes widened as she remembered who she was training at the moment: a former humanoid duck villain, who had sought to get his duck family captured after they had attempted to go through with a plan to bring eternal warmth to the planet by means of moving the Sun closer, and nearly put it into action. She had named him "Otis", a stipulation of Odd Squad, since sending him to the Odd Squad Academy was a fool's errand. By this means of training him to be an Odd Squad agent, there was no need for Academy attendance. It was a sneaky loophole, one only Ms. O knew about -- and one that she had to get permission from the head honcho himself, the Big O, to enact. Ms. O knew that if these ponies went to the Academy, it would be a long time before they were full-fledged agents.

Her thoughts were cut into by the sound of the ponies, who were chastising Pinkie and telling her how bad of an idea becoming agents was while she defended her position by insisting it would be a good chance to explore the world they were in and try new sweets. Tuning them out, Ms. O spun her chair around and beckoned the other kids closer.

"Ms. O, do you really want to go through with this? These ponies don't have O names. They're not fillies. And in case you haven't heard, unicorns in particular are delicacies here!" Otto spoke in a hushed tone.

"I hate to say it, but my partner is right. You haven't forgotten...Odd Todd?" The very utterance of the name sent shivers down Olive's spine. Odd Todd had been her former partner, formerly named Todd, who had turned evil when he grew bored of the organization, culminating in him releasing a tornado made of contaminated pies that took many lives, and injured many more. That, and the constant bullying, left traumatic scars on Olive, who developed a form of post-traumatic stress disorder following the incident.

Oscar stayed silent, but nodded along with the two agents' remarks.

Ms. O took a few moments to consider before she spoke up. "It would only be for a little while. What harm can six full-grown ponies bring to the force? It doesn't seem like they have any intention of turning evil, unless they want to upset their princesses. Besides...we can always keep an eye on them if we need to."

Her decision was met with stone-cold silence, save for the ponies' conversation on the other side of the desk. Olive, in particular, held an expression that was a mix of worry and hurt, as though fearing one of these ponies would turn on her in the same way Odd Todd did.

"I've made my decision, agents. And I'm sticking to it. In the meantime, we can see what lies in "Equestria". Do some research."

Ms. O swiftly turned around, interrupting Pinkie's defense as the ponies looked at the Director expectantly.

"I'll allow you six to join. But, you will all train under me personally until I deem you fit to become agents."

"And how long will that take?" Rainbow Dash inquired.

"However long it takes."

The ponies exchanged worried glances with each other, knowing they were unaware of what they were getting into. But Celestia did want them to find out what was happening on this side of the portal -- and if this was what was happening, then so be it. Twilight nodded. "All right then. When do we begin?"

"First thing tomorrow."

"But we aren't sure if the portal will allow us to go back to Equestria! Where will we sleep?"

"I'll make arrangements. But give it a try first."

Twilight began to make her way to the glass double-doors. "Come on girls, let's try it! I have a little plan."

This seemed to make the worry dissipate away from the ponies, who gave various murmurs of agreement and followed their leader as she opened the double-doors and made her way downstairs.

A silence filled the small office for what seemed like forever, before Olive let loose a loud groan and held the bridge of her nose with two of her fingers -- her variant of the facepalm. "Ms. O, what in the name of odd were you thinking? You know Odd Todd was a threat, and he still is! Anyone without O names are forbidden from Odd Squad, it's a golden rule! And we've had it out for adults since the organization was first formed!" She sighed. "What's the Big O going to do if he finds out about this? He might fire you, or even worse!"

"Calm down, partner." Otto placed a hand on Olive's shoulder, gazing at her with sympathy. "Believe me, I know what you're feeling. But these ponies surely know better than to give their country a bad name in the eyes of their leaders! Besides, as Ms. O said, we can always keep an eye on them to make sure they don't turn bad like Odd Todd did."

"Yeah! This'll all work out, heh. Just believe in Ms. O." Oscar piped up with a small smile. "She knows what she's doing."

Despite her friends' words, Olive wasn't convinced. With one last look at Ms. O, she stormed out of the office in a huff, descending the stairs. Otto chased after her, uttering a quick apology to his boss before descending the stairs, calling his partner's name.

With Oscar the only one left, Ms. O ordered him to fetch her a juice box and to get back to work. He obeyed, and soon, Ms. O was the only one left in her own office to wallow in her decision.

It had taken the ponies a long while to find the portal. It wasn't located in the bullpen anymore -- rather, it had been moved to the end of the short hallway to the left, with its cubed-glass windows. After what seemed like hours upon hours of dashing around and getting lost, Twilight and her friends soon realized that this was a rather large place, with multiple rooms. It was almost like a maze, and there were plenty of times when the Mane Six were separated.

Nonetheless, they were facing the portal now, which was still active. Inside, they could see the ponies of Ponyville milling about on their daily business, which spurred a thought in Twilight's brain as to how time worked between this world and Equestria. But the thought would be put away for now.

It was time for Twilight's test.

"Okay, here's the plan. I'm going to go first through the portal. If you see me come through and wave at you, that means it's safe, and you can come on through. Got it?"

She was met with murmurs of agreement, and a "stay safe and good luck, darling" from Rarity.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight stepped into the portal and focused her mind.

A low humming sound resonated from the portal, and Twilight flew out, landing on her side with a thump. The two royal guards posted at the portal gazed at her with worry. "Princess! Are you all right?"

"I'm...fine." Twilight got to her hooves, glancing at the portal, where her friends were mouthing something with worried expressions on their faces. Probably asking if I'm okay. Their frowns turned to smiles, however, as Twilight gave them a friendly wave, and in a matter of seconds, everyone was on the other side of the portal, with rough landings but otherwise safe and sound.

"Goodness! We're back home again!"

"Yeehaw! All right!"

"Whee-hee!"

"Aw yeah, the portal's still working!"

"Oww...I think I sprained my wing..."

Everypony got to their hooves soon enough and glanced at Twilight, who had a giddy smile on her muzzle. "It worked!" She let out a relieved exhale. "Now, we can travel through Equestria and Odd Squad with ease."

Cheers rang into the air before everypony went their separate ways and headed home, ready to continue their mission the next day.

In the same park where the portal once stood was a young boy, decked in a multicolor suit and white patterned shoes, with upright black hair that had a white "skunk stripe" running through it. He sat on a bench, sipping from the bottom end of a juice box, relishing the taste of it. So...ponies have arrived, hmm? Lovely! They reek of normalcy. A small exhale came from his nose. Perhaps it's time I...change the game once more. To a game where only I can win. But, I'll need a plan first. A plan...of oddness!

A loud cackle echoed in the afternoon air.

The Agents

Over the course of the next two months, Ms. O began to train the Mane Six relentlessly. No one knew exactly how she managed to handle training seven apprentices and keep her job as Director of Odd Squad Precinct #13579, but she was aware that the ponies caught on surprisingly quickly, learning the rules of Odd Squad, how to use various gadgets, and what villains to watch out for, among many other things. Some recruits soon got wind of the news, and many went green-eyed with jealousy, envying the ponies while also admiring their skills.

Meanwhile, Otto, Olive, and Oscar continued work as normal. The Mane Six came up in most conversations in the days following their initiations as Ms. O's apprentices, but other topics of discussion soon came up, and the ponies were forgotten. Nonetheless, Olive was hesitant -- not a day went by where she ranted about the ponies in some form or another, usually bringing up the point that none of the Mane Six had names beginning with the letter O, and how they would destroy the world one day. Whenever she went off, Otto, being her most trusted friend, tried to calm her down, but to no avail. She continued to hold a grudge and rant, much to her friends' dismay.

Eventually the time came, when everypony became an Odd Squad agent of their own. Ms. O felt that they were ready to rid the world of oddness. The automatic doors opened, and the sound of hooves on the concrete made most employees look up and stare at the ponies, each of whom was wearing a spiffy new suit in the same style as Olive and Otto.

"Agents! I'd like to call a short meeting!" Ms. O bellowed, making her way to the second floor where her personal footstool sat outside of her office. One by one, kids kept trickling in, forming a small crowd of employees of various different ranks. The ponies stood at the front, as though aware this meeting was about them. Once everyone quieted down, Ms. O cleared her throat and began to speak.

"As you know, two months ago, these six ponies came to Odd Squad via a portal connecting our world in theirs. Not long after their arrival, they suggested joining Odd Squad and becoming agents, which I agreed to. I am proud to announce that after only a few months, we have six new agents joining our precinct today!"

The announcement was met with scattered applause, but Ms. O didn't seem to mind as she continued on, naming each of the new agents one by one.

"Agent Twilight Sparkle!" The alicorn stepped forward, a small smile on her face.

"Agent Applejack!" Next to step forward was the hard-working farm pony, who nodded humbly.

"Agent Rainbow Dash!" Out of the six, the rainbow-maned Pegasus pony was the most excited, performing a few small loop-de-loops before crossing her front legs together, a small but smug smile set on her maw.

"Agent Fluttershy!" It took a small push from Rarity to get the shy yellow pony moving forward to stand next to the others, her body nearly going limp from nervousness.

"Agent Rarity!" With elegance and grace, the fashionista unicorn made her way forward next, looking charmed by the applause she was receiving.

"And Agent Pinkie Pie!" Bouncing her way forward was the final pony in the bunch, as she had the biggest grin on her face.

All six introductions were met with scattered applause, but again Ms. O didn't seem to mind and continued on with the meeting. "In addition, I have also paired these six ponies up. They will be partners with each other, solving cases and battling oddness together." She cleared her throat once more.

"Agent Twilight Sparkle, and Agent Rainbow Dash!" The two ponies were quite excited about being paired up together, and shared a quick hoofbump.

"Agent Rarity and Agent Applejack!" Out of the two, Rarity was the most excited, as she moved to stand next to Applejack. The girls shared a hug before Ms. O called out the final pair.

"Agent Fluttershy and Agent Pinkie Pie!" At the mention of her name, the pink party pony widened her eyes in surprise, as though her and Fluttershy were an unlikely couple -- and truth be told, they were. The two mares were polar opposites in terms of personality, which normally spelled trouble for partner pairings, with the rare few exceptions.

Fluttershy, on the other hoof, glanced at Pinkie with a worried expression. However, it was quickly replaced by a smile, albeit an unsure one. Pinkie caught on, and shot her a similar unsure smile back, both ponies knowing better than to question Ms. O about her decisions (Pinkie learned that the hard way...more than once).

The pairings were met with scattered applause before Ms. O concluded the meeting. "I want you all to treat our new agents with kindness and respect. They are, after all, friends of an Equestrian princess." Her gaze swept the crowd as though daring someone to speak up. To start a riot. To ignite a flame war. But agents knew better than to mess with Ms. O -- a fearless leader, who was far, far stronger than any human, unicorn, pegasus, Earth pony, maybe even any alicorn in existence.

When no one spoke up, she nodded, a satisfactory expression on her face. "Meeting adjourned. Everyone go back to your regular duties." And with that, she slunk back into her office without any further words as the crowd dispersed.

The ponies each hugged their partner, sharing a laugh and some casual conversation. All except Fluttershy, who pulled Pinkie Pie aside, a worried expression on her face.

"What's up, Fluttershy?"

"Um...well, Pinkie...see, I-I don't know if this is gonna work out. You and I...we're so different! And we might have a different way of solving cases!"

This concern was met with mere belly laughter from Pinkie, who waved her hoof dismissively. "Nonsense! I'm gonna love being partners with you! We'll have the bestest time! Using gadgets, beating villains, ooh, ooh, and making sweets! There's a Breakroom over there that I gotta get familiar with! I hear there's lots of delicious food and..."

Fluttershy tuned her new partner out as she sat down and sunk deep into her thoughts. Is becoming an agent what we were meant to do? Princess Celestia did tell us to see what was happening on the other side, but...does that mean I have to become an agent? Why couldn't I become a... She glanced around at the different employees in various uniforms. A Maintenance worker? Or a Scientist, or even a Security agent? Those look like jobs for me. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she glanced up at the ceiling absentmindedly.

"Or we can bring Timberwolves, or..." Pinkie trailed off as she spotted Fluttershy, cocking her head in curiosity. "It's okay! If you need help, you can always talk to me! That's what partners are for, right?"

The Pegasus pony glanced at her new partner, worry flickering in her eyes before standing up. "Yes. Thank you, Pinkie." She moved closer to Pinkie as the two shared a long hug. After breaking off, Fluttershy looked to the automatic double-doors leading into the Trophy Room. "But I'm gonna go take a walk. If you don't mind."

"Naw, of course I don't mind! I'll be here, okay?"

With that, she trotted towards the automatic double-doors as they opened and closed for her. Pinkie watched her go, a sad smile dancing on her face before she went to join her other friends in excited conversation.

It had taken Fluttershy a long while to figure out the city of Toronto. It was so big, and she had a hard time finding her way. She felt grateful to be a Pegasus in that moment, instead of an Earth pony or a unicorn -- flying high in the sky to find where she was and where she wanted to go proved to be useful.

Eventually she landed in a small park, folding in her wings to let them rest. Her hooves took her along the sidewalk that cut through the park as she watched the humans talk and eat and play. Many took a look at her. Some scowled in disgust, while others greeted her with a smile. Some kids even wanted to pet her or ride her, as though she were an actual pony. Fluttershy tolerated it up to a point, where she just decided to hurry along and hopefully find a place with some abundance of wildlife.

And boy, did she find it.

Birds, rabbits, squirrels. Many of them ran to her as she laid down in the grass. It seemed her connection with animals was strong across different worlds, which was something that surprised her. Fluttershy took in the warm spring air, the birds perched on her back, the rabbits playing in front of her. She giggled gleefully. "Goodness, you rabbits sure do roughhouse a lot! I wonder if you-"

"Who are you talking to?"

A sudden, high-pitched voice made Fluttershy swivel her head around. A human boy faced her, with a multicolored plaid suit and pants, white sneakers, and stuck-up black hair with a bright white stripe running through it. He had a meek smile, a convincing smile.

"Oh! Hello. I'm talking to my animal friends here! They're very nice." The Pegasus pony tilted her head. "And who might you be?"

"My name's Odd Todd. A pleasure to meet you, er..."

"Fluttershy. Agent Fluttershy." she spoke, remembering to tack on the "Agent" to her name, as Ms. O taught her.

"Hmm. I figured you were such. By the uniform." The words were spat with venom, as he waggled a finger towards the pony.

"What's wrong with my uniform?"

"Oh, you know. Odd Squad agents. They're always so...pretentious. Always thinking they're the best at everything just because they rid the world of oddness." He scoffed. "If you ask me, the world could do with a little oddness. When everything's normal, nothing exciting ever happens. And what is normal, anyway? There is no normal. Normalcy can never be achieved." As the Pegasus pony sat up, the boy approached her with slow footsteps, pacing around her in a circle. "Tell me, Agent Fluttershy...don't you think this town...no, the world could do with a little bit of oddness?"

"W-well...Ms. O taught us to fight oddness, not...create it."

"Oh, forget what-" Odd Todd bit back his raging tongue just in time, as he cleared his throat and put on a calm facade, continuing to pace around Fluttershy. "Forget what Ms. O said. It's all spoon-fed hogwash." He snorted. "She's combed by the Big Office to combat oddness. All of it. It's routinely obsessive. Unhealthy." He paused in front of Fluttershy, a small, seemingly-genuine smile on his face. "Which is why I've started my own organization dedicated to putting back oddness into the world. Where there's more freedom given to the employees rather than the often-incompetent leaders. Where...you can be yourself." Got her. She'll be mine soon enough. All she has to say is-

"Well, I'd love to, Mister...Todd. But I'm already a part of Odd Squad. And I'm only staying here until I figure out what's happening on this side."

Damn it. His smile slowly turned into a frown -- not one born out of anger, but out of disappointment. For months he had been trying to ensnare new and unsuspecting Odd Squad agents into his trap, to get them to leave Odd Squad and join forces with him instead. But it seemed Odd Squad agents nowadays were smarter than he perceived them to be -- and that included the equine agents, now, as well. I'm gonna have to devise a new plan. Possibly one using force. If I can't pull in agents verbally...then I'll have to do so physically. But he could do that late. Right now, he had a mare to send off.

"Right! Right. I see. No worries." Odd Todd waved his hand dismissively. "Well, if you ever reconsider, I'm here in the park daily." His small frown turned into a small smile. "Now, perhaps you should head back to Odd Squad. I believe your break is up?"

"Oh, I'm not on break! I was just taking a walk to clear my head. But I suppose I should head back. Thanks, Mister Todd, it was lovely to meet you! Goodbye!" And with that, Fluttershy began to trot off to find a nearby tube entrance. She did look quite silly checking behind various trees and in various areas, but Odd Todd wasn't paying attention to her anymore.

No, his mind was filled with rage. Pure, unadulterated rage. He hadn't felt this upset since the last time Agent Olive rejected his 95th attempt to get her to join Todd Squad. Why can't I find anyone?! Every week I come across an Odd Squad agent looking sad and alone, and yet, every time I ask them if they want to join they reject me! It's sickening! With a cry of rage, he kicked the dirt in front of him, sending it flying upwards. For a brief moment, a thought crossed his mind: What if I caught the other five ponies Fluttershy came with? But even he knew it was fruitless -- if he couldn't get Fluttershy to join the Todd Squad, what made him think the other ponies wanted to join? They would reject him just as much as Fluttershy did: blunt, straightforward, with no sympathy.

Just like his former partner.

His fists clenched, he stormed off to plot his next move, only one thought echoing in his mind:

Odd Squad needs to be destroyed. And I'm taking those ponies down with them.

The Reveal

It had only taken Fluttershy a good half-hour to find a tube entrance that worked. She felt cramped inside the transparent red ball as it zoomed through the underground tubes, feeling an urge to scream but opting to just close her eyes instead, listening to the whooshing going on around her.

The sound of banging met her ears next, followed by a machine powering down, and a soft thump. She opened her eyes to find herself belly-down on the ground, before making eye contact with a tube operator with bright red curly hair, smiling at her warmly.

"Afternoon, Fluttershy! Rough landing?" the tube operator asked, and it wasn't until she spoke that the name became clear to the Pegasus pony: O'Donnell. Yes, this was O'Donnell. Ms. O had described her as the "cheerful but demanding" one of the bunch.

"Um, yes. I guess I haven't gotten used to the tubes yet!" The new agent got to her hooves, giving a nervous laugh before trotting towards the double-doors to her left, which opened willfully. As she made her way through the Trophy Room, she got to thinking about this "Odd Todd" person. He seemed nice enough. But...is what he said true? Is Odd Squad really just trying to make this world -- his world -- normal? Will oddness really prevail? It went against everything Ms. O taught her, but Fluttershy wondered if she should have said "yes" in that moment. What would have happened if she did? What would Ms. O think? What would the princesses think?

As she made her way into the bullpen, her thoughts were abruptly cut into as she bumped into a leg. "Oh! I-I'm so sorry!" She quickly backed up, shaking her head, and glanced upwards, the face greeting her turning from curious to suspicious in seconds flat.

"Maybe watch where you're going next time, little pony? Or are you Pegasi just blind as bats?"

"Olive." came a harsh scolding from a boy, sitting at his desk, looking up from his Shmumber Beat magazine to glare at his partner. Fluttershy recognized this agent as Otto; it was the height, mainly. The only one she knew who could match Otto in height was Princess Celestia. And wouldn't that be a sight to see. "You heard what Ms. O said."

"So what? That doesn't mean I have to follow it."

"Olive, I'm not in the mood for another one of your lengthy "ponies are bad" rants. Nobody is. Just drop it already. Everyone's gotten used to their presence by now but you!"

"And I never will get used to it, Otto! You've heard my complaints a thousand times and haven't bothered to listen once!" As Olive continued to argue with Otto, Fluttershy could only watch, hesitant as to whether she should break up the fight or be a bystander. Before, she despised conflict, and would only get involved in dangerous situations if it meant saving her friends. But from what she heard, Olive and Otto were friends -- and yet here they were, arguing over something petty.

And nowadays, she couldn't stand arguing friends.

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

Before she knew it, she was hovering in the air between Olive and Otto, separating them with her hooves. All conversation between the partner pair ceased to exist as they just stared at Fluttershy. "Arguing won't get you anywhere! Aren't you two supposed to be best friends?! Then act like it! We ponies are here to stay, and if you don't like it, you can just LEAVE!" Her last comment was directed towards Olive, as she fixed the corkscrew-ponytailed girl with a dead-on cyan stare. It took her aback, and her chocolate-brown gaze darted from Fluttershy, to Otto, and back again. She took a step back, her face flooding with a shade of red that would put a tomato to shame.

The next half-minute was filled with an awkward silence as Otto and Fluttershy continued to gaze at Olive, while the girl tried to avoid any and all eye contact with them. Finally, she uttered the two words both pony and human boy had been looking for.

"I'm sorry."

Otto opened his mouth, as though about to make Olive elaborate on her apology, but before he could speak, Fluttershy piped up. "It's okay, Olive. Nobody's perfect. We're very good ponies, we promise, and we-"

"It's just...ever since my old partner turned sour, there's been a superstition going around that any Odd Squad employee who didn't have a name beginning with O was bad news. So the Big O barred everyone who didn't have an O name from entering the Academy. And...I thought since you six didn't have O names, you were going to cause trouble for us."

"What happened with your old partner?" Fluttershy inquired, unaware of Otto's concerned look as he came to stand next to her.

"He..." Olive clenched her fists. She told the story once to Otto -- every painstaking detail of it. So why couldn't she do it now? The answer was quite simple, really -- it was her trauma. Seeing, smelling, even tasting pie brought nothing but horrible, traumatic memories to her. Many nights following the pienado debacle, she would get very little sleep, being tortured by constant nightmares that ended with the same malicious, echoing cackle of her former partner and her waking up screaming in terror. Nowadays, she didn't have many nightmares, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid of pie.

Giving a shaky exhale, Olive continued, her knuckles slowly beginning to turn white. "He was the best agent in this precinct. He won numerous awards, displayed mathematical prowess, and he was arrogant to boot. He didn't treat me well. Constantly berating me and calling me Scribbles." Grabbing her chair from her desk, she sat down and wheeled herself back to the duo -- Fluttershy, in particular, looked hurt. "Eventually, he got so bored with solving cases that...he turned to creating oddness. And that's when he released a tornado made up solely of contaminated pies. These pies..." Her voice turned into a mere murmur. "They nearly killed everyone I loved and respected."

"Oh...Olive..." Tears began to well up in Fluttershy's eyes as she watched Olive turn her head away, her body shaking slightly. Otto took a tentative step forward, his arms stretching out to hug his partner, but he didn't get a chance to. Fluttershy did so first, wrapping her front legs around Olive's neck and sobbing into her suit. It surprised the young girl at first, but soon the pair was a sobbing mess as Olive clutched the Pegasus pony, holding her close. Otto stood nearby, merely giving a sad sigh in response.

A few minutes later, the two girls broke free of each other's grasp. Olive sniffled and chuckled softly. "Your fur is soft."

Fluttershy gave a soft laugh in response. "Thank you." she murmured, before perking up with a thought.

That boy I met in the park. He had talked about how Odd Squad was bad and how he wanted to create oddness. Could...could that be...?

Oh sweet Celestia, no!

"Olive! W-what was your old partner's name?"

The 12-year-old agent sniffled as she went to grab a tissue from her desk. "Well, it was Todd, but...he changed it to Odd Todd."

Fluttershy's body ran rigid. Her wings abruptly stopped flapping, causing her to crash to the ground, but she felt no harm from the fall -- panic was the only thing ricocheting through her body. That boy I talked to...the one who wanted me in his 'Todd Squad'...that...that was...Olive's old partner!

She tuned the whole world out, ignoring Otto's cries of "Fluttershy! Are you all right? Fluttershy!!"

What if he wanted me to turn bad? What if...what if he's planning an attack on Odd Squad?! Or...or maybe even...on Equestria?! Does he know about Equestria? Does he know where we came from?

Thoughts continued to swirl in her head as she raced towards the stairwell leading up to the second floor, giving nothing but a frenzied "I have to see Ms. O!" that left Otto and Olive confused.

She quickly raced up the stairs and barged into Ms. O's office without a word, causing the Director to glance up from her abstract painting. "Agent Fluttershy. What's the matter?"

"It...I saw..." Fluttershy took a moment to gather some air into her lungs before she spoke again. "I saw Odd Todd in the park! And- and he talked to me and he tried to get me to join his Todd Squad and he...he...!"

Ms. O's reaction was one of absolute shock, her eyes widening as she stared at Fluttershy as though someone had given her brain a hard reset. It was a miracle she didn't drop the paintbrush she was holding. After a few more short moments went by, Ms. O rapidly shook her head. "Odd Todd is back at it again?!"

"Yes! And Olive told me how bad he is!"

The Director set her paintbrush down, her brown gaze turning icy in a hurry. "Odd Todd has tried to cause the fall of Odd Squad ever since the pienado incident. He's focused solely on Olive, but that doesn't mean he won't target Odd Squad as a whole. And it's very likely he might have seen the portal when it was still in the park, maybe somehow even seen you and the others emerge from the other side of it." She stood up, revealing her red-paint-splattered apron. "Which means he may be targeting ponies next."

Fluttershy audibly gulped, folding her ears down. "S-so what are we gonna do?"

"We'll find a way to protect Odd Squad. We've dealt with him before. This time will be no different."

The new agent noticed that Ms. O had a tinge of worry in her voice, which in turn made her worried. But she chose not to speak up on it. "We can always get the princesses to help!"

"No need right now, but we'll consider them as a last resort."

"All right, then. I'll keep an eye out for him!"

"Inform the others as well. Word spreads quickly around here."

Nodding, Fluttershy took her leave before Ms. O had a chance to shout her trademark catchphrase again. I have to warn Twilight and the others! A-and Olive, and Otto! And Oscar! Ohh, I just hope I'm not too late!

Luckily for Agent 154, she wasn't too late. Olive and Otto were sitting in the Breakroom, having a conversation and eating lunch. Fluttershy told them the whole ordeal with her and Odd Todd, and while Olive seemed a little shaken by the news, Otto could only shake his head in disgust as he thanked Fluttershy for informing them and vowed to keep an eye out.

Oscar, naturally, was in the lab, fixing up a rather large gadget. When she informed him of the news, he nearly dropped the gadget -- if it hadn't been for her rushing to catch it, disaster would have struck before Odd Todd even got the chance. He recited a short synopsis of the time when he faced off against Odd Todd wielding a gadget known as the "Flip-Flopper-inator" that he stole, and how scared he was. It was in that brief moment that Fluttershy found quite a few similarities between her and Oscar, and she made a silent promise to hang out with him more.

It took the Pegasus pony a while to find her other five friends, as they were in different areas in HQ. She found Rarity first of all, wandering the hallways (when asked the reason, she claimed she was trying to find a place to build a possible boutique to expand her chain). Explaining the situation to her, she asked Rarity to keep an eye out for Odd Todd, to which she "vowed on her life" to do.

She did similar to Pinkie Pie (inside the Donut Room), Rainbow Dash (toying with some robot princesses in their room), Applejack (bucking apple trees inside an Orchard Room she had discovered), and Twilight (naturally, inside the Odd Squad Library, reading books on how to be a better agent). Twilight, in particular, was the most concerned of the bunch, and even echoed Fluttershy's earlier suggestion:

"Maybe we should get Celestia and Luna!"

"No! Ms. O said they'll be used as a last resort. Besides, who knows if they'll change, and that's if they can get through the portal!"

"But-"

"Ms. O's got it covered, Twilight! I believe in her."

Twilight sighed. "All right. I'll keep a lookout for 'Odd Todd.'"

"Thank you!"

Having warned everyone she knew, Fluttershy made her way back to Olive's desk, where she had set up various small, necessary items as she waited for her own desk to be built. On the desk was a red manila folder stuffed with papers. Paperwork? I suppose I can do that. She was still a little confused on how paperwork was handled, but Ms. O taught her the basics, so she felt she could handle it. Picking up a nearby pencil with her mouth, she opened the folder and got to work.

Odd Todd arrived at his usual spot at the park, sitting on a bench that had been painted with polka dots and stripes. One that was moving and grooving.

Not that he minded. Moving and grooving helped him think, as did making a sound that was similar to growling, but was more incoherent muttering.

Which is what he did as he got to thinking.

If I'm going to attack Odd Squad, I'll need to do so soon. But those ponies might make a huge dent in any plan I concoct. He tapped his foot on the ground, his noises growing louder. Some people began to stare, but he paid them no mind.

A few more minutes went by as Odd Todd continued to think, thoughts swirling around in his mind like a whirlpool in the open sea of life.

Until suddenly, the noises stopped. He sat up, his eyes widening as he realized what had to be done for his plans to work even nearly as effectively as they had in the past.

I must get rid of the ponies first. And I may just have an idea on how...

The Concern/Plan

The next day, work resumed as normal despite the shocking announcement Ms. O gave regarding Odd Todd's return. Many agents were still shaken up from the last time the ex-agent attacked, while others spread rumors that the six ponies would save them all-- something said ponies didn't take a liking to.

Otto and Pinkie Pie were a dream team, and at times when their respective partners were away, they would listen to Soundcheck songs, crack jokes, and eat lots of sweet treats. Pinkie shared baking tips and hard-hitting jokes with Otto, and in return, he taught her the joy of music and how to be serious when the situation required. Twilight made special note of the budding friendship, making a mental note in particular to ask Celestia about friendships across dimensions.

As Pinkie was telling Otto about the time Rarity got her head stuck in a flower pot (no thanks to being a victim of Rainbow Dash's latest risky stunt), the automatic doors opened, and in staggered a tired wreck of an agent. All laughing ceased right then and there.

"Agent Olive?" Pinkie Pie asked, her head tilting to one side. "You don't look so good."

Indeed, Agent 63 didn't look well. Her navy-blue jacket was off, her chocolate-brown eyes were a bit bloodshot, and her corkscrew ponytail was undone so long brunette waves fell a little past her shoulders -- a hairstyle she hadn't donned since she was young.

"I'm perfectly fine, Pinkie Pie." she replied, her tone near snappy and impatient, her voice in and of itself sounding strained and tired.

"Are you sure you got enough sleep last night?" Otto asked, naturally concerned for his partner's well-being.

"I'm fine." Her tone took on a less snappy emotion, considering this was her partner she was responding to. She took a seat at her desk and cleared away her supplies, setting down a book she wasn't carrying when she walked in. It landed with a hard thump, making both Pinkie's and Otto's eyes grow wide.

"Well, um...if you say so!" This earned Pinkie a glare from Otto, as he made a gesture to let him handle this issue. The pink Earth pony nodded, heading back to her own desk, which had been built only a week ago and was easily a standout among the others with party decorations strewn about its surfaces.

Otto moved his chair closer to his friend, fixing her with a serious brown glare. "Olive." His tone was sympathetic, but stern. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them, no matter how stubborn she was going to be.

"I told you I'm fine."

"No you're not. What happened to your jacket? Why is your hair not in a ponytail like it usually is? Why are there wrinkles under your eyes?" He paused. "I want answers, Olive. And I'm not accepting 'no'."

Nearly half a minute passed before Olive realized that it was fruitless to argue with Otto. For all his pros, he was a persistent little bugger. She sighed and fixed him with a tired stare, one with a small tinge of worry that made the 10-year-old flinch.

"I'm scared. About Odd Todd."

I should have known. Otto know his partner well enough to know that the only time she looked as stressed out as she did right now was when she was fretting over her old partner. It was a 'well duh' moment that made him mentally laugh at himself for being so stupid.

But it was fleeting, and he fixed his partner with another serious stare. "Olive. Odd Todd won't hurt you. We've beat him once, twice, three times. And we can do it again. I know we can."

"But with the ponies we run an even greater risk!" Olive practically shouted. "What if he kidnaps them? Goes to their world to wreak havoc? Turns them on us?"

"Shh!" Otto looked up, noticing a few agents glancing at the partner pair with worried expressions. "This isn't a conversation we should be having here. Let's go somewhere more quiet."

Olive obeyed, and she and Otto stood up, making their way towards the one room they knew was one of the quietest in Headquarters.

The door creaked open, and Olive and Otto stepped inside. The former nearly tripped on something firm, but squishy, and it took her a few moments to regain her balance.

Their eyes met piles of pillows, some in different colors. The room was most definitely silent, without a doubt. Otto shut the door and led Olive inside, where they took a seat next to each other, reclining against a large pile of pillows. It felt relaxing to the two of them, though Otto silently wished there was soft music playing to fill the void of silence.

But that was a petty complaint compared to the bigger matter at hand.

"Otto..." Surprisingly it was Olive who spoke up, and as she glanced at her partner, he could see tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "I'm terrified. I...I don't want Odd Todd to hurt me again. Or you. Or anyone else." Her voice cracked, which made Otto instinctively reach out his arms and pull his partner close.

However, this only made her break out into quivering sobs, each one sending a shiver down her body, as she went on a run-on sentence about how the ponies were great creatures and she was sorry for hurting them and did you know she wanted to meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna one day to get advice for her own goal of being Ms. O's eventual successor?

Olive soon went from coherent sentences to full-on blubbering as she clutched Otto close. He could feel his suit being dampened by her tears, and he comforted her however he could, telling her that everyone was safe, they would stop Odd Todd even with the ponies' help, and who knows, maybe the ponies would be valuable assets in stopping other villains, should they choose to stay once the ordeal was over and done with.

It felt like a good portion of the day went by, but when Otto checked his watch it had only been a half-hour. He stared off into space, his mind whirling with thoughts of the future. This could be the biggest battle we've ever fought, or it could be another failed attempt on a minor scale, like with stealing the Flip-Flopper-inator. We don't know with Odd Todd, and that's one of the biggest problems -- he's so unpredictable. A sigh escaped his lips. But I have a feeling that Twilight Sparkle and her friends have more power than they let on. They'll help us no matter what happens. Fluttershy knows just how dangerous he can be -- I just hope the others know too.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by the sound of a soft snore. He sat up and glanced around, wondering if there was an unsuspecting agent who somehow overheard their conversation before falling asleep. Oh no. I hope not. I don't think Ms. O would be too pleased to see one of her best agents an emotional mess.

Then he heard a small thump. It was Olive, laying on her side, her stomach rising and falling in an almost rhythmic motion.

Otto smiled. The agent whom he considered his big sister more than anything else had succumbed to her exhaustion. Somehow, he knew it was inevitable -- he had seen what all-nighters did to her, and oftentimes, they ended with her falling asleep standing up, or even on Ms. O's desk in one particular instance (the Director did not take kindly to that...he still remembered her harsh scolding from that day).

It was lucky that behind his back, he had a blanket, one of the plush ones he had gotten at the Shmumbermart for no reason other than to feel how soft it was, not bothering to open the package until he had been freezing cold one winter night and decided to use it.

He didn't regret it.

He stood up with a small grunt, laying the blanket on top of Olive as she mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep. Grabbing a pillow from the pile he and Olive had been reclining on and placing it under her head, he kept a small smile dancing on his face as she stretched out her body like a cat before sighing happily and continuing to softly snore away, lost in the world of Dreamland.

A loud knock interrupted the mood, one that Otto knew too well. He raced to the door as quickly as his feet would carry him, but he didn't get a chance to open it, as one certain pink pony didn't have much of a patience streak.

"Hey, Otto! The big boss lady wants to see y- mmph!"

Her words were cut short by Otto, who placed a hand over the pony's maw as she still struggled to speak, her cerulean eyes darting to and fro. Eventually she stopped, which made Otto remove his hand, fixing her with a glare that could melt steel.

"Pinkie, don't you know how to enter a room quietly? Olive's fast asleep and you're gonna wake her up!" he hissed through gritted teeth, shooting a glance at his partner, who continued to lightly snore, but made no other movements. Internally, he sighed in relief.

Pinkie's gaze turned apologetic. "Sorry! But Ms. O came down and asked me to get you! She says it's important!" Her voice was a whisper now, having gotten the hint.

"I'll be there momentarily. I'm gonna take Olive to the Bedroom, so she can sleep in peace. Without being interrupted by obnoxiously loud agents." Normally, Otto would forgive Pinkie for any mistakes she made -- and believe you me, she made a lot of mistakes. But this was Olive. Otto's best friend, practically his sibling moreso than his teammate. He knew she needed sleep, and if he had to go so far as to hurt someone to do so, then that was what he would do.

Pinkie knew that behind Otto's fun-loving, loose exterior, he had a hell of a mean streak inside of him that came out whenever anyone hurt one of his loved ones. And even she knew that meant Olive -- a person the party pony had learned was one of the most important people to Otto. Muttering out a "sorry", she stepped outside and watched as Otto took careful steps towards Olive, lifting her up until he was carrying her bridal-style, the blanket still draped over her. Making sure she was quiet, Pinkie waited until Otto got outside to shut the door, using her prehensile tail to do so.

The two made their way quietly down the hallway, feeling grateful that the Bedroom was only a mere block away from the Pillow Room. As the door creaked open, they were met with two rows of beds on both sides of the room. Some agents were sleeping in beds already, their suits hanging up on coat stands next to their beds and their shoes and socks placed in front of the footboards. Otto opted to place Olive in a bed furthest from the door, similar to choosing a parking space farthest away from any cars. With the help of Pinkie, he got Olive's shoes and socks off and tucked her in, watching as a small smile crept along her face.

Sleep will take her mind off of Odd Todd, Agent 70 thought, as he and Pinkie opted to watch Olive sleep for a beat longer before making their way outside to the hallway.

Shutting the door, both human boy and pony let out a huge sigh of relief. Neither one of them enjoyed being quiet for very long.

"So. You said Ms. O wanted to see me?"

"Yeah! She said it was urgent!"

"Then I'd better get going! Bye, Pinkie!" And with that, Otto tore down the hallway faster than you could say "Dinner's ready!" Pinkie waved goodbye to him, calling after him that she would see him later before returning to her desk.

The sound of the glass door slamming open startled Ms. O, who had been fingerpainting and was about to dip her finger in some red paint. Growling, her steely brown gaze settled on Otto, who stopped to catch his breath.

"Where in the name of odd were you?!"

"Sorry, Ms. O! It was an odd emergency I had to deal with." Otto opted not to tell his boss about Olive's fears, realizing that she might want to tell Ms. O herself when the time was right.

"Well, anyway. Close the door and sit down. We need to discuss something important." The Director took a nearby washcloth and wiped her hands clean as she walked over to the light switch on the wall. Flicking it, the lights dimmed with a powering-down noise, the only sources of light being the bullpen beaming into the room and the green nightlights the office provided. Otto sat in a chair, fidgeting with his hands nervously without a word spoken.

"Odd Todd."

Jeez, she's cutting right to the chase. He didn't expect his boss to come straight out and utter a name that was practically synonymous with Satan. It took him a little bit to formulate a question in his mind. "Uh, um...w-what about Odd Todd?"

"We need to do something about him! Something to stop him for good!" Ms. O slammed a fist down on the desk, making Otto, and some of her items, jump a little.

"What about if we send one of the ponies to join his Todd Squad?"

"Too risky, it mi-"

Otto instantly regretted his words, and he clapped a hand over his mouth. Similarly, Ms. O also stopped, replaying her agent's suggestion in her head, over and over. The two stayed eerily still for a few minutes before the Director nodded. "That's not a bad idea. If they get in and find out what Odd Todd is planning, we can stop him before he has a chance to do any major damage."

She had a point, one that Otto nodded along to. Feeling a bit calmer now, he asked, "Who should we send?"

"Hmm..." Ms. O was the next to fidget with her hands as she thought long and hard. It was a tough decision -- she didn't get to know the ponies as well as her agents, and she heard it was because they felt intimidated by her. It was hard to judge who would be the right fit for the job.

"We could send Agent Pinkie Pie."

"Too fun-loving. I have a feeling she's not good at stealth."

"Fluttershy? She's met with Odd Todd before."

"Too...timid."

"Fair point. Uh...Rarity?"

"I feel like she would be better at defense than offense." Ms. O shook her head, a frown plastered onto her face as she knew that her choices were slim. She already shot down three ponies, which left three more.

"Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Twilight Sparkle?"

The three most obvious candidates. She took another moment to ponder. Rainbow Dash is strong and dependable, but she tends to rush into things head-first. Not a good fit. The girl mentally crossed the rainbow-maned Pegasus off her list. Applejack...she's strong too. Honest, leader-like. But... Why was Ms. O doubting herself? Sure, she had never had a 1-on-1 talk with the mare, but she knew that she was well on her way to becoming one of the Director's best agents. Still, the cons outweighed the risks in her mind. She may be diligent, but she can be stubborn too. I want things to go exactly as plan, an agent who won't disobey or doubt that I know what I'm doing. Someone who's done their research and acts with brains.

Someone like...Agent Twilight Sparkle.

A fist colliding with the desk sent Otto out of his own separate thoughts, making him jump again. "Twilight. Twilight is the pony I will send." Ms. O got up from her chair and wandered over to the juice bar, her stance rigid.

Otto opened his mouth as though to protest, but instead he opted for agreement. "All right. I don't doubt your decision, Ms. O."

"Good." The millennia-old ruler took a pair of tongs, placing ice cubes in a small glass before opening a juice box and pouring her favorite flavor in it: fruit punch. "Go and tell Twilight I want to see her in my office. NOW!"

Without another word, Otto stood up, turned on his heels, and obediently left the office to fetch the Princess of Friendship.

It was getting late, and many agents had already left for the evening, leaving the bullpen mostly quiet. Otto had taken the time after his meeting with Ms. O to get some paperwork done, distracting his mind of the problem that weighed on the backs of everyone who worked at Odd Squad. Throughout the day he had checked on Olive, surprised when, after the last 3 times, he found her still fast asleep. He began to grow worried that she had been afflicted with some disease, like sleep-itis -- which was known to affect insomniacs specifically. But he told himself not to worry and took his mind off things the same way he always did: with paperwork and Soundcheck.

Too bad that not even the all-popular boy band could drown out the loud muffled yelling that came from Ms. O's office every now and again. It almost seemed conveniently timed for when a song ended and there was a brief period of dead air before the next song began.

And it made Otto concerned.

He was absentmindedly staring at the glass double-doors, blocking out the noise around him -- which surprised Olive, the agent who had finally arisen from her lengthy slumber and exited the side hallway nearest her desk.

"Hey...Otto." Her greeting was interrupted by a yawn, her wavy hair tousled slightly. She did look a lot better since this morning, and seemed to be back to her normal self.

"Otto?" She repeated her partner's name again, cocking her head slightly as she glanced at him curiously before walking closer to him.

It was only when she practically yelled his name that he snapped out of his trance-like state, blinking at Olive as though he had amnesia and had no clue who she was. "S-sorry, Olive." he stammered out, shaking his head furiously. "It's been a long day. How're you feeling?"

"Great! Never better." Her voice was no longer strained and tired, Otto noticed, and that brought a small smile to his face. But the smile quickly faded away, which rung an alarm in Olive's brain. "What's wrong?"

The sound of the double-doors slamming open rung another alarm in Olive's brain, causing her to yelp in surprise and turn around. Otto stood up with a worried expression on his face.

He knew exactly what was happening, and to him, it was like a nightmare coming true before his eyes.

"No! I-I won't do it! Celestia and Luna...no, Equestria cannot risk losing a princess to someone like him!"

"This isn't a favor, Twilight Sparkle, it's a command!"

"I don't want to risk my life and die at the hands of Odd Todd!"

"If you won't do it then I'll travel to Equestria and get the princesses to do it for me!"

"They would never agree, Ms. O! You would have a war on your hands, a war across worlds. Ponies and humans would be fighting for millennia upon millennia, and there would never be peace. And you know who would be the catalyst for this war? Me, and my five friends. Your agents as well. Do you really want a war to define your leadership? Because I'm sure the princesses don't want a war defining theirs!"

All hostility seemed to linger in the air. The bullpen fell entirely quiet. Olive and Otto shared a worried glance with each other before glancing back at Twilight and their boss.

Ms. O felt like a wrecking ball hit her square in the chest. Her breath caught in her throat as she spotted Olive and Otto glancing at them. Her two best agents were scared, for vastly different reasons. Olive wants Odd Todd gone. It would be the best thing for her mental state, for her overall health. And Otto...

I promised Otto. He cherishes his partner to the moon and back.

"Follow me, Twilight. Please." The Director's voice sounded strained as she moved past Twilight towards the flight of stairs that laid behind the pony, beginning her descent, her head hung low. Twilight, still frustrated from the argument, followed her boss without a word.

"Olive?" Ms. O brought her gaze up slightly to meet her best agent's, who blinked in worry and confusion. "Are you okay..." She stopped, as though struggling to find the correct wording, but picked her request right back up again. "Are you okay telling Twilight about Odd Todd?"

Oh no. And here I thought sleep would help ease Olive's worries about Odd Todd. We wouldn't have to talk about him until the time came. But it looks like my plan is falling apart at the seams. Otto glanced at Olive, who clenched her fists tight.

Until suddenly, she unclenched them.

Her brown eyes took on a rarely-seen emotion, one that Otto knew meant that it was time to get the hell out of Dodge.

He nicknamed it the "Blaze Gaze". And if looks could kill, it would murder a man faster than any weapon ever could.

"I am. I am ready." Olive's voice was rigid, steely. She glanced from Twilight to Ms. O and back again; both employees looked surprised, but said nothing on the 12-year-old's new demeanor as she took a deep breath and began.

She recounted her story. Every detail, down to when she first met Odd Todd at the Odd Squad Academy. Her voice cracked a few times during the spill, Otto noted, but he let her do her thing and didn't dare interfere.

When all was said and done, she capped it off with one last request that told everyone she meant business.

"I want to get rid of Odd Todd. I want to do what it takes to make him pay for what he did to me, to Ms. O, to my partner, to all of Odd Squad. I want to stop him from hurting the ponies, the princesses, and all of Equestria." Her fists clenched again, but this time with a different emotion. "Even if it kills me."

Otto's slack jaw would have fallen clear off his face if there weren't tendons keeping it attached. He stifled a scoff of absolute disbelief and stared at Olive, who shot him a wink and a small smile.

"Well, agent? Do you see why I want this plan enacted?" Ms. O wasted no time in being impressed by Olive's sudden turnaround from being a trauma-stricken agent to a near-blood knight, instead choosing to focus on the matter at hand. Her icy brown gaze bore into Twilight, whose ears folded down in submission. Even though she was an Equestrian princess and stronger than most ponies, nothing was worth Ms. O's wrath.

With a sigh, she nodded. "Okay. I'll go through with the plan."

This eased the tension in the bullpen by quite a bit. "Lovely. Come back up to my office and we can discuss the details." Ms. O spun on her heel and began to make the ascent back up to her balcony-level office. However, Twilight opted to stay behind.

"I'm sorry, Olive. It's just...I barely know a thing about Odd Todd, a-and there are my duties in Equestria, and-"

"Save it." The girl held up a hand. "I understand completely, as long as you go through with it. Now go to Ms. O's office."

It surprised Twilight how quickly Olive accepted her apology, but opted not to speak on it, instead nodding her thanks and trotting towards the stairwell.

Meanwhile, Otto was still slack-jawed and still staring at Olive -- something she took notice of. She laughed, clapping the jaw shut. "All right, we get it, you're surprised. Spill the beans, partner."

"Olive! Y-you were amazing! How- how did...why did..."

"While I was sleeping, I had a dream. A sort of prophetic dream." she mused. "I was standing on the Odd Squad seal with nothing but an orange-colored floodlight shining down on me. A voice told me that I had to stand up for myself, that it was time I stopped living in fear." She took a pause to breathe, then continued. "The voice connected to a figure and I saw that the figure...was me! I was talking to myself. It was...pretty jarring, considering what my dreams are usually about." Normally Olive dreamt of oddities, which wasn't an uncommon dream for many Odd Squad agents. "But this one...it hit me. Hard. I-I'm not sure what it was, Otto, but...in that moment I knew. I knew that something had to change. About me. About this whole deal with my old partner." Her gaze turned softer as she took a seat in her chair, an entranced Otto following her. She glanced up, her eyesight growing blurry as her eyes turned misty.

"I don't want to live with this trauma for the rest of my life, Otto. It's a horrible thing. I want to...get better. So to speak." Olive knew it wasn't something that went away at the snap of a finger -- it could only be managed with the help of therapy, medication, and similar treatments. But she hadn't wanted any of those, instead believing for a while that she deserved to suffer with trauma all her life, to relive the memory of the pienado attack over and over again. "I think I can get better by helping these ponies and saving them from the very person that caused me pain a long time ago."

Now it was Otto's turn to get emotional, his eyesight turning blurry as tears welled up in his eyes. Without a word he lunged for Olive and enveloped her in a tight hug, which surprised her for a brief moment before she returned the gesture, laughing heartily for the first time in a long, long while.

The two stayed in that position for minute after minute in near-wordless silence, with only a mere few powerful words dancing on Otto's lips as he embraced his "sister" lovingly:

"I believe in you, Olive."

The Prerequisites

"Do I make myself clear, agent?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then return to Equestria with your friends and get some rest. You begin tomorrow."

The conversation replayed in Twilight's head over and over again as she and her friends made their way through the portal. As usual, two royal guards were posted at the portal on Equestria's side who glanced briefly at Twilight and her friends, giving them a nod in unison.

The Princess of Friendship had opted not to tell her friends about the plan to deal with Odd Todd, instead hoping to travel to Canterlot to speak with the princesses on the matter. It was quite a shame that Ms. O had only given her a single night to get prepared; Twilight was all about careful planning, but it seemed there would be no time for that.

Waving a quick goodbye to her friends, she took to the sky to meet with the princesses, having no time to waste.

"Oh! Twilight! Wonderful to see you." Celestia moved over from her spot by the stained-glass windows in the throne room to greet her former star student, a small smile on her maw, her magenta eyes lighting up. "How is the other side? I have received many letters from you about...what was it called? 'Odd Squad'?" Indeed, every time Twilight came back to Equestria, she had written a letter detailing her experiences of the day, and those of her friends' as well. It intrigued Celestia quite often, as she mused whether it would be fun to surprise the humans on the other side by going through the portal herself. But not only did it seem too small, Luna would often interject, telling her it would be rude to scare them like that.

"Yes, but I've hit a bit of a snag." Twilight tried to calm down as much as she could, but even she couldn't fight the nerves bubbling inside of her. "See, there's a villain who they've been trying to deal with, a particularly harmful one. His name is Odd Todd." Celestia reacted to this news with an interested blink. "They have a plan in place, but to enact it, they need an agent. Ms. O picked me."

This news made the Princess's eyes widen slightly, but it only lasted for a brief moment. "And what is this plan?"

Twilight hesitated, biting her bottom lip and chewing on it in a fit of nervousness before answering.

"They...they want me to join his Todd Squad and overwhelm him with his own oddness."

Celestia knew just how big of a threat Odd Todd was. She didn't need to see him in person to make any judgments; Twilight's letters were proof enough. So hearing that one of her most cherished ponies was being sent out on such a dangerous mission left her in a conflicted state, one that left the room in a near-dead silence.

But she knew that friendship was strong. Friendship could power through most anything. And the tiniest spark inside of her told her that it would power through this villain and his motives, too.

She smiled. "Twilight. I trust this 'Ms. O' in whatever decisions she makes. This plan sounds like a wonderful idea. And having you be the one that stops him is even better."

"What?!"

"Even though you are going about this alone, you will always have your friends to help you. And I believe that friendship may be the key to reforming Odd Todd and stopping him from becoming an even bigger threat."

Twilight opened her mouth to say something in protest, but quickly closed it again. Maybe Celestia is right. Maybe friendship can solve this issue, like it has so many times in the past. If it helped mend relationships with Odd Squad agents...

Maybe it can help defeat Odd Todd too.

"However." Celestia raised a hoof. "You are not the only one that can impact this situation. In your letters you wrote of a girl named 'Olive' and how she was treated horribly by Odd Todd." It had saddened the Princess of the Sun to hear of someone in such a troubled state, even if that "someone" was a human she hadn't met. "If ever you need guidance, turn to her. She will be able to help you."

"But...Ms. O said to do this alone! I-I can't go against her wishes!"

"Ms. O has faith in her best agent. And I'm sure she has faith in you as well."

The assuring words made Twilight think. Yes, Ms. O did have faith in Olive -- that was clear. But did she have faith in the Princess of Friendship? Celestia thought so. And Ms. O had given her a mission. She couldn't let her down.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Okay." Now she had the confirming words of both Princess and Director, and with that done, she could tell her friends as well. "Thank you."

Exchanging a hug with Celestia for what could potentially be the last time, Twilight took off towards her castle back in Ponyville, hoping it wasn't too late to tell her friends about the plan.

When the Princess of Friendship visited each of her friends, she surprisingly found all of them fast asleep, no doubt tired from work. With nothing else to do, she returned to her castle to get a good rest before her mission was set to begin.

As Luna lowered the moon and Celestia raised the sun, the six ponies met near the portal to discuss the mission that Twilight was set to go on.

"Are y' sure y' wanna do this, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"I must. If I don't, I'll be letting down not just Odd Squad, but Equestria as well. I must fulfill my duty as an agent!"

"And you're sure we can't help?"

"Positive. We can't go against Ms. O's wishes." Twilight shook her head in response to Rainbow Dash's question. "This is something I must do alone."

The Princess of Friendship stood facing the portal for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths. Once she felt confident she could handle things on her own, she stepped through, ready to begin her mission.

Twilight's hooves echoed along the monochrome floor as she walked, a chilly air sending the fur along her spine upwards. The building seemed to be that of an old hospital wing, perhaps, or home to apartments. Nonetheless, it gave the alicorn an uneasy feeling as she turned a corner and walked down the hallway, towards the metal door where a single torch lay angled next to it, its fire flickering but certainly not inviting.

This was the place Ms. O instructed me to go. I think...

Her heartbeat drummed in her ears, drowning out the deafening quiet, and it only got worse when she faced the door. Raising a quivering hoof, she gave three knocks, and waited.

And waited.

Is no one home? Twilight tilted her head, and raised her hoof to knock aga-

"Who's there?!"

The sight of Odd Todd abruptly sliding open his peephole door made Twilight yelp in surprise, her tail sticking straight up as she jumped what she was convinced was the height at which an average Wonderbolt performed during a show.

Odd Todd's eyes angled downwards to meet the pony who had knocked on his door, whose eyes were shrunken, her ears folded down, showing most signs of submission. His nose wrinkled almost in disgust as he spoke.

"Ugh, I thought for sure it'd be Fluttershy." he muttered, giving an eye roll. "But whatever. What brings you here?"

At this point, Twilight had calmed down from the scare, but nervousness still flowed in her veins, and she couldn't fight her legs shaking in fear, nor the tremble in her voice as she spoke. "U-um...I-I'm here to...j-join the T-T-Todd Squad?"

It wasn't the fear in this particular pony agent that excited Odd Todd the most right then and there. No, it was her proclamation that she wanted to join the Todd Squad. He almost wanted to take her in. But he knew better. He had almost gotten Fluttershy in his grasp, after all, and even she slipped out of it at the last minute. What made him think Twilight was any different?

"Well, first of all, stop shaking. I'm not gonna attack ya." he responded in a deadpan tone. "Second of all, if you're really interested in joining...how about you come on in and we can discuss this further?"

He closed the hatch, and a few seconds ticked by before he opened it again. "But make sure to wipe your hooves first."

Twilight, still feeling nervous, took a few tentative steps forward and did as instructed, wincing as the prickly mat's surface hit the undersides of her hooves. All the while Odd Todd watched her, until the door creaked open with echoing intensity and she stepped inside.

What met her eyes was mostly darkness. Only a single lit lightbulb hung by a string from the ceiling, and she instinctively lit up the tip of her horn to create a makeshift flashlight that would help her to see better.

"Don't get used to this. I'm planning on re-doing it soon. Some web developing company wanted to purchase it and we agreed to go halfsies." Odd Todd rolled his eyes.

As the alicorn mare made her way through the cluttered dark lair, she began to smell pie. Right. Of course he would have pie here. He's responsible for the pienado attack, after all. Secretly, she hoped that he wouldn't make her eat any. Who knew if it was somehow contaminated, or even if it wasn't contaminated, who's to say it wasn't rancid?

"Follow me."

Odd Todd slipped into a room far in the back, flicking the switch on the wall to reveal whiteboards covering all three walls. Each whiteboard had complicated drawings and notes, no doubt all pertaining to how to defeat Precinct 13579 and Odd Squad as a whole. Twilight winced as her horn stopped glowing.

"What? You didn't think this place was completely dark, now didja?" The plaid-suited villain shook his head and gave a soft chuckle, as if to say, "Wow, this mare must not have a lot of IQ points."

He sat down on a large bouncy ball and cleared his throat. "Now, before you join my wonderful organization, I have some odd tasks I'd like you to perform." Perhaps unsurprisingly, he seemed to have a list prepared, which he nabbed from a nearby table and handed to Twilight.

"'Grab a fish and turn it into a...'"

"Phone. It's a communication device. So we can stay in touch."

Communication device? A pause as the gears turned in her head. Ohh, he means like the badges we wear. She had learned about many technological wonders during her time at the Odd Squad Academy, badge phones being one of them. That didn't mean she was used to how they worked and why they were so necessary in this world, however.

"'Get ahold of Ms. O's special key in the oddest way possible.' What's this?"

"Ms. O- er, uh, Oprah..." Odd Todd corrected himself, realizing that he had no need to call Precinct 13579's Director by her formal title anymore. "She has a key that controls all of the lights in Headquarters. I'd assume it's if that honeydew melon becomes faulty...but I digress. You need to get the key from her and bring it to me."

Get the key...it sounded simple enough. After all, Twilight wasn't really joining the Todd Squad. It wasn't like Ms. O would deny her access to the key. Or at least she hoped she wouldn't. She nodded and continued reading the list.

"Last but not least...'Dye one piece of your hair white in the oddest way possible.'"

"You see the white stripe in my hair? That is proof that you have turned fully odd. You won't become a true member of the Todd Squad without it." He squinted as he eyeballed her mane in curiosity. "I will say, though...white doesn't seem like your color." His frown quickly turned into a smirk that certainly had no trace of any niceties. "Perfectly odd!"

"Really?" Twilight thought about what Rarity would say if she saw her with white in her mane. She'd probably faint! She chuckled at the prospect before an "ahem" from Odd Todd brought her back to reality. "Um...right. Anyway, I'll go and get started on these tasks. Any deadline?"

"As soon as possible. And report back to me when you're done."

She gave a single nod before turning to the door and beginning to head out.

"Oh, yes, you're Twilight, aren't you?"

The name referral made the mare stop dead in her tracks. She could feel some of the fur on her back stand up as the only thought running through her mind became "How does he know my name?" She swiveled her head back and made eye contact with him. "Uhh, yes! That's me. Agent Twilight Sparkle."

"Mm." The emotion in Odd Todd's eyes was unreadable as he stood up. "Well, there is one thing you should know about me, Agent Twilight Sparkle."

Every gut instinct in her was telling her to leave, now, this was a very bad villain, you don't want to do this at all. But her hooves remained rooted to the ground by some invisible force, and her wings were similarly locked into place.

"I have an exceptional sense of smell, and I'm certainly not like the rest of Toronto's villain lot. So don't even think about playing the game of betrayal with me. Precinct 13579 already tried that, and look where it got 'em."

The last thing Twilight heard was shrill cackling before she teleported away.

The sound of a teleportation flash was all Twilight heard as she kept her eyes shut. She could hear the soft sounds of beeping computers and muffled chatter, but she was too shaken to investigate the sources of the sounds.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, her eyes slowly opened...and she was flooded with the color blue, in every which way.

I'm...in the Tube Lobby. I'm back at Headquarters.

A heavy sigh of relief escaped her lips as she felt her body relax. She hadn't been thinking of any place in particular when she teleported -- all she knew was that she had to get away from Odd Todd. It was very clear to her why Olive and the others thought so negatively of him, and she knew that if Fluttershy had been fooled by his deceit, she would have been scarred for quite some time.

Odd Todd...he's nothing like the villains we've faced in Equestria. Discord, Tirek, Nightmare Moon...he's not like them. She wasn't quite sure what made him so much more evil than any of the Equestrian villains. Perhaps it was how Olive described his massacre in excruciating detail. Perhaps it was just the aura he gave off. Or perhaps it was the fact that he would be a definite shoo-in for an Element of Oddness, if such an Element of Harmony existed. Whatever the reason, Twilight knew that even in spite of her fear, she had to keep going with this plan. It's for Olive. Ms. O. All of Odd Squad, and Equestria. Princesses Celestia and Luna, too. They're all counting on me.

Taking a deep breath, she allowed her hooves to take her towards the Trophy Room, where she took the time to look at all the various accolades Odd Squad as an organization had been given over the years. It was quite an impressive collection, one that made her silently regret not reading up on Odd Squad's history and how they came to be. She made a mental note to return to the Odd Squad Library and scour the shelves once the Odd Todd ordeal was over and done with.

The metal doors hissed open as her violet eyes took in the sights of Precinct 13579's Headquarters once again. It was rather refreshing to be in what had become a familiar place, and for the first time since her mission began, a smile was placed on her maw.

"Twilight, darling!"

Rarity, who had been sitting at her neatly-organized desk, hopped off of her chair and trotted over to Twilight with a wave of her hoof. "Goodness, it feels like it's been a hundred moons!"

"I know. The feeling is mutual." A subtle shakiness entered the alicorn mare's voice, something that she hoped Rarity wouldn't pick up on.

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

Tempting fate is a bad thing.

"Uh, well..." The words struggled to come out, and all she could do was fix her friend with an uneasy stare.

"Has the mission not been going well?"

Time seemed to stop as Twilight moved her gaze to the ground. She wanted to tell Rarity everything -- what Odd Todd was like, what she had to do, and what he had done before she left -- but in this instance, the brain did not connect to the mouth bones.

On the opposite side of the coin, Rarity was growing increasingly worried. Something awful must have happened if Twilight looks so nervous...different from how her nervousness usually manifests, that is. She didn't want to pester her with too many questions, so she settled for waiting until the time was right.

After a minute, a loud sigh escaped Twilight's maw as she looked back up at her friend. "The mission is going fine." she began. "Odd Todd is..." A pause. "He's very odd. And very dangerous."

"Why of course! He did try and kill every agent of Precinct 13579 with contaminated pies, after all." Rarity remembered the story well from when Twilight had shared it with her and the other ponies on their way to the portal earlier in the day. It had shaken her initially -- to think of all those children, with their lives in the hands of one megalomaniac ex-agent, and how they managed to (somehow) survive. But she had the utmost confidence in Twilight, as one of her best friends, and just like the others, she wanted to see Odd Todd face swift justice.

"He gave me a list of things that I have to do before joining the Todd Squad." From behind her back, Twilight retrieved the list and levitated it to show Rarity. "It goes against everything I've ever been taught about Odd Squad, but I..." Her voice became even shakier than before. "I have confidence I'll be able to do it. If it means saving this place and everypony- everyone who works in it."

"Are you quite sure about that?" The unicorn mare's voice became soft, as did her gaze.

And it was that question and that expression that did Twilight in.

"Yes, I am. But Rarity, you- you don't understand. Before I left, he told me that he had a strong sense of smell and not to betray him. Otherwise, he'll try and kill me the same way he tried to kill everypo- everyone here!"

"Twilight-"

"This villain...he's more dangerous than any creature we've ever faced before. He's like Discord, but a thousand times worse!" She gave a ragged sigh. "Normally I wouldn't be so ridden with anxiety, but this is a new villain in a world we're not overly familiar with!"

"Twilight..."

"Who knows if the power of friendship will work for him the same way it's worked for all of the other villains we've beaten in the past?! It may not work at all! Or even worse, he'll succeed in taking over Odd Squad and the world will end!"

"TWILIGHT!"

Rarity's shout took Twilight aback, and as if Odd Todd had been the one calling her name, the purple-furred mare took a step backwards.

"Darling, I -- we -- have known you for so long. We have faced many challenges together, some great and some small. But each and every time, we have managed to push through whatever may stand in our way." She took her hoof and placed it under Twilight's chin. "And do you know why?" Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but Rarity took the helm in doing it for her.

"Because we've always had each other. The magic of friendship."

Right then and there, it was like someone had turned a lightbulb on in Twilight's head. Yes, the magic of friendship. She had bore witness to it and became a personal part of it growing up in Equestria, and the magic was just as strong in this world. Partners got along well with each other, some almost to the point of being non-blood siblings. Ms. O was always willing to help her agents whenever she needed it, because although she never showed it on the outside, she was a kind and caring person with lots of friends surrounding her. And the relationship between Investigation agents and Scientists was symbiotic at its best -- Scientists worked hard every day, building gadgets for agents to take with them onto the field, wielding them as powerful weapons against oddness.

In the midst of this revelation, she also remembered something that Celestia had told her the other day.

"However, you are not the only one that can impact this situation. In your letters you wrote of a girl named 'Olive' and how she was treated horribly by Odd Todd. If ever you need guidance, turn to her. She will be able to help you."

"Olive...yes, that's it!" Any trace of fear within her had completely gone away, instead being replaced by joy and anticipation as she smiled once again. "Have you seen Olive around?"

"Not recently. Perhaps she went out on a case?"

"Well, if I can't find her, then I'll go to Ms. O!" Twilight began to trot off towards the staircase leading to the Director's office, but suddenly rushed back, enveloping Rarity in a tight hug.

"Thank you so, so much. I'm so grateful to have you as a friend, Rarity."

The unicorn mare gave a soft, warm smile and a chuckle. "The feeling is very much mutual, Twilight. I wish you the best of luck on your mission. And never forget -- if you need me, or anypony else, we're always here for you."

Twilight could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but blinked them away. The last thing she wanted to do was enter her boss's office with two waterfalls of tears cascading down her face. Waving a goodbye to Rarity, she headed towards the staircase once more, feeling like a renewed mare.

I'll stop you, Odd Todd. Whatever it takes. For the sake of my friends. For Odd Squad. For all of Equestria.

I won't be afraid of you anymore. Just wait until you see what I have in store for you...

The Brave Mare

The sound of hoofsteps brought Ms. O out of her oddness-stuffed mindspace and back to reality.

Because the last thing I need while drinking juice is somepony barging in and-

"Ms. O? May I speak with you? It's important. And concerns the mission."

All right, never mind. Some things are more important than juice.

Oh, dear odd, I can't believe that's a thought that entered my brain.

The Director got up from one of the brown leather couches that sat adjacent to each other in her office and made her way to her desk, taking a seat in her chair and finishing up her latest juice box. "Go ahead."

"I met with Odd Todd and he gave me a list of tasks to complete before joining the Todd Squad. One of them mentioned a special key that you have that turns off all of the lights in Headquarters."

"What about it?"

"I have to take it to him."

This was met with a long, exhausted sigh from Ms. O as she mentally ran through her options. Of course he would want the special key. The melon isn't exactly the most reliable power source. I could make a fake duplicate... She closed her eyes. No, he would be able to sniff out a fake duplicate. Maybe a different key? No...

An almost-deathly silence fell over the office. All Twilight could do was watch her boss seemingly think about the next course of action while also formulating her own plans in her head. C'mon, Twilight, think of something. This is your mission. You don't know much about Odd Todd, but surely you can come up with some way to give him the key...

"I've got it!"

"How about we-"

"We can-"

"But that would-"

Twilight cleared her throat. "Sorry. You go first."

"As I was saying...I can give you the key. But first, I'm going to cut all the power."

"Cut all the power? Are you crazy?! Doesn't this Headquarters rely on electricity?"

"Calm down, agent!" Ms. O snapped. "I'm not going to leave everyone in the dark. I'll turn it back on by removing and placing the melon back. It'll be an alternate power source. And just in case Odd Todd tries anything funny, I'll send agents to get more melons."

Twilight still didn't seem convinced. All she could do was fix Ms. O with a disbelieving stare as she tried to process what the Director just said.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. This will work. After all, he's not coming to Headquarters just yet, right?"

"R-right. He hasn't said anything about attacking the precinct yet."

Ms. O got up from her chair and kneeled on the floor. "I'll go and get the key." As Twilight stood on her hind legs and peered over her boss's desk, she could see her knocking and then crawling into the wall below her television screen, where an entryway formed that seemed just her size.

This place is filled with all sorts of weird things. But then again, isn't that what this place does? Twilight shook her head. The irony...

A couple minutes passed before Ms. O emerged again, the entryway closing behind her. She had quite a bit of dust on her, which she shook off upon standing up.

"Here's the key." She handed it to Twilight, who levitated it and began to observe it. "If you can, make sure to get it from Odd Todd and bring it back to me."

"And what if I can't?"

"That's fine." Ms. O shrugged in a surprisingly nonchalant manner, as though the key was of no particular importance to her. "I can always have a new one crafted by Odenbacker."

Well, Twilight couldn't argue with that. "Thank you. I'll keep you updated."

"Please do. And be careful, Agent Twilight. The last thing I want is to receive word that you've been killed."

Killed? Please. She was much too vigilant to be killed. But while it did make her wonder, she set aside all of her thoughts about it and decided to focus on the task at hoof. With a nod, she hopped off of the chair and-

"Well, what are you waiting for? GO!"

Ah, there it was. The catchphrase that defined most every Director's career. Any agent that worked at Odd Squad was bound to be on the receiving end of it at least once, and the Mane Six were no exception. Twilight guessed that, if Ms. O hadn't suddenly forgotten, then she wasn't quite as used to shouting the phrase at ponies as she was with humans. Still, it filled the alicorn with confidence, and she strode out of the glass double-doors and down the stairs, ready to continue her mission.

"You want me to WHAT?!"

"Please, Rarity. I need to do this. It's one of Odd Todd's tasks."

"But I simply cannot imagine you with...with...white in your mane! You are a young mare, Twilight. You do not need to dye your mane white to look elderly!"

Well, one thing was for sure. Rarity may not have fainted, but giving the request to her proved to backfire spectacularly.

All Twilight could give in response to her friend's shock was an exasperated moan.

"You will dye it pink again, won't you?"

"Yes, I'll dye it pink again. I promise. It's not like this place will let me keep it in my mane, anyway. Just...please do it, Rarity. You know about dyeing manes and tails better than anypony I know."

Rarity gave a small whine, as though she knew that if she said yes, she would be committing a fashion crime. But at the same time, she knew that this was for her friend's mission, a mission whose outcome would determine the fate of this world and the world of Equestria.

"Fine! But if I do not see that mane dyed pink once more when this is over, then I will simply not hesitate to drag you into the Carousel Boutique and fix it by force."

Twilight chuckled. "It's a done deal. Just lead the way."

Five minutes later, she was at Canterlot Boutique of her own free will, sitting in a chair with a hooded dryer on her head, eyeing Rarity as she levitated a small box of white mane dye.

"There. That should take care of things." She placed the box on a nearby countertop. "I'm going to work on a few client orders. I'll come check on you in a few minutes."

As her friend trotted away, Twilight came to a sudden and rather obvious realization: If I can't find Olive on my own...then perhaps I could try this? She unclipped her badge and levitated it in front of her face, observing the silver rim placed around the headshot of a jackalope surrounded by banana bunches and her agent number, 190, engraved on the bottom. Isn't this supposed to be...what had Odd Todd called it...a "phone"?

For all of her smarts, she knew next to nothing about working a cell phone. Did they teach her what it was at the Odd Squad Academy? Yes, but as a pony native to a world that lacks such technology, it would take a while before she was used to how it worked.

She opened up the phone and stared at the keypad, realizing that she didn't have Olive's phone number. Or did she? If I remember correctly, badge numbers are calculated by adding up the letters in a name. So Olive's name would add up to...63! With as much precision as she could muster, she tapped the 6 and 3 keys, and began to hear a ringback tone.

"Go for Olive."

"Olive? It's me, Twilight."

"Is something wrong? You sound like you have an emergency on your hands. Uh, hooves."

"Yes. Where are you? I need to speak to you, right away!"

"Otto and I are on our way back from a case. We'll be at HQ in about five minutes."

"And so will I. Bullpen?"

"Bullpen. See you in a few."

Twilight snapped the phone closed and clipped it back onto her suit, heaving a sigh as she began to grow impatient. She wondered how long it took to dry a dyed mane, anyway -- or at least part of it. Either way, she didn't have time to wait.

"Rarity!"

She could hear the sound of hoofsteps, and sure enough, Rarity came barging into the room. "Yes, darling? How is your mane?"

"It should be dry by now. But putting that aside, do you think we could hurry this up? I have to meet Olive in five minutes."

"Oh, of course, darling. Just let me examine your mane first." What followed seemed like at least twelve eons of Rarity pacing around Twilight, eyeing the formerly-pink streak from various angles and making sure it was both dry and worked somewhat well for the alicorn mare.

"Magnifique! Heh...and I said white would look horrible on you." She shook her head, feeling foolish that she would forget such a simple rule of fashion: next to black, white was one of the colors that went with most everything. And ponies' manes were no exception. "Now go and meet Olive. If you see Applejack, you can tell her that I'll be at Odd Squad in a little bit."

With only a nod and nothing more, Twilight raced out of the Carousel Boutique and began flying towards the portal as fast as her wings would flap. Given how she had heard Olive's usual workday involved her spending little time at Headquarters, she came to the conclusion that if she missed meeting Olive now, there would be no telling when she would get a chance to speak with her again.

And time was the one thing that she could not afford to lose. Not with Odd Todd.

Not even bothering to acknowledge the guards, she dove into the portal and hoped that she would make it back in time.

"I'm beat." Otto let loose a yawn as he walked alongside his partner through the Trophy Room.

"Me too. Why don't you get us something to eat from the Breakroom, and maybe..." She very nearly continued her sentence with "if Ms. O doesn't call us on a case" -- a phrase that was the absolute epitome of why tempting fate was never a good thing -- but she bit her tongue back. "Maybe if we have enough time, we can grab a quick nap or something."

"Didn't some tube operators in another precinct team up with the Medical department to do studies on agents who rode the tubes? I thought I read about that in an issue of the Odd Squad Magazine. Agents who take more than four tube rides a day can start to feel really tired."

"Sounds legitimate. Being squished into a tiny ball and having your organs mixed up and turned around more than once can really do numbers on your- wah!"

Olive ducked just in time to avoid a purple blur that threatened to barrel right into her, while also yanking Otto backwards.

"What was that?!"

"If I had to guess, probably Agent Twilight. She was supposed to meet me here."

As though she had heard her name, Twilight slammed on the brakes and turned back around towards the bullpen, rushing towards Olive and Otto at a much slower speed this time.

"Oh dear Celestia, I'm so sorry! I was in such a rush to get here that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."

It was only when she slowed down that Olive noticed the white streak in her mane.

And the white streak in her tail.

As if on instinct, she became paralyzed, her face stricken with a look of pure fear.

"Olive, are you-"

"I'm fine!" The girl shook her head in a rapid motion. "Really. It's just that the white stripes in your mane and tail brought back...memories. That's all."

Twilight nodded, knowing that she didn't need to elaborate any further. But a few seconds later, the realization hit her like a two-ton brick. "Wait, my what?!"

"Your mane and tail. They both used to have a pink stripe in them. Now they're white."

Sure enough, Twilight turned her head to find that, just like her mane, her tail had also been given a splash of white. When did Rarity do my tail?! She didn't even dry it...

But I guess it's better this way. After all, Odd Todd probably wouldn't have let me join the Todd Squad if I didn't have both pink streaks dyed white. So in a way, Rarity was one step ahead. She gave a soft chuckle.

"It looks..." Otto struggled to find the right words. "Good on you?"

"Yeah, oddness looks good on her. I can think of absolutely nothing better."

"I'm gonna ignore that snark."

"Fine by me." Olive gave a smirk towards Otto before she made eye contact with Twilight once again. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about, Twilight?"

"You might want to sit down." the mare advised, gesturing towards Olive's office chair. It didn't take so much as a second for the 12-year-old agent to grab the chair, move it over to Twilight and Otto, and sit.

"The day before I began my mission, I went to Princess Celestia for advice on what to do, because I was hesitant about facing a villain I had no familiarity with. One of the things she told me was to go to you for guidance, because you're so familiar with Odd Todd." A pleading tone took over Twilight's voice. "Olive, I need help. Odd Todd threatened me. He told me not to betray him. That Odd Squad already tried to do so once and received consequences for it. I don't know if he can be beaten with the power of friendship like all of the other villains me and the girls have faced before. I-I don't know..." She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared her vocal cords for a shout.

"I don't know how to deal with such a dangerous villain in an unfamiliar world!"

Otto glanced at Olive. Olive glanced at Otto. Neither one of them said anything, only wearing expressions of sympathy on their faces as Olive in particular tried to find the right words to say.

Her concerns are valid. I would have the same issue dealing with a villain in Equestria...that is, if Equestria even has villains. She heaved a sigh. But if anyone can give her advice on dealing with Odd Todd, there's no denying it's the agent who was his first and only partner.

"I...can sympathize." Olive had to clench practically everything in her body she could possibly clench in order to not bring out the side of her that gave melodramatic speeches worthy of going memetic on the Internet. She wasn't exactly the best at pep talks -- that was more befitting of Otto and Ms. O than anyone else -- but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. The lack of awareness about Twilight's talks with Ms. O and Rarity aside, she knew she was the only one who was able to give Twilight an upper hand in dealing with Precinct 13579's most dangerous threat, so she had to give pep-talking a shot, at least.

"Odd Todd is a threat to us all. You have a right to be terrified." Otto opened his mouth to speak, but Olive's hand thrown over his mouth stopped him, and all he could do was look disappointed. "But Ms. O wouldn't have picked you for the mission if she didn't believe in you with all of her heart." A snort from Otto, which Olive ignored as she continued. "The power of friendship is, more or less, just a bit on the back burner for us. Odd Squad is all about perseverance and teamwork. That's where we shine. We're all just one big happy family here." Odd damn it, I'm getting sappy...ugh. "But who knows? Maybe Odd Todd will have a change of heart and be a useful ally to us. Perhaps not an agent again, but an ally in a similar vein to Polly Graph."

All Twilight could do was listen as Olive spoke to her in a soft voice that the alicorn didn't even know was in her. It put her at ease. Almost sounded like it was...born out of a mother's love for her child. Almost.

"I believe in you, Agent Twilight Sparkle. Please, free this precinct, this organization, this city, this country, this planet from his reign of terror. Do whatever you have to...just free us."

Olive's voice turned to one of desperation at the end, Twilight noticed. The girl had such a steely exterior that it was rather surprising to hear her begging for help. But it had perfect justification.

She nodded. "Don't worry. I'll do whatever it takes." A sigh escaped her lips as she could feel relief flowing through her body. "Thank you, Olive. But there is one concern weighing on my mind."

"Hm?"

"Ms. O said that I have to do this alone. It seems rather...contradictory. If Odd Squad relies so much on teamwork, why must I go on this mission by myself?"

Olive chuckled. "You're a smart horse, aren't you?" Otto's muffled protesting nearly spoiled the mood between his partner and her friend, but both of them opted to ignore him. "Ms. O may be our leader, but she's not without her stupid moments..." Her eyes darted to and fro, as though expecting the Director herself to pop up behind her at any moment -- an innate skill she, and many other agents, possessed. Once the coast was clear, she cleared her throat and continued. "That being said, if you need to rely on your friends for help, then by all means. Partners always help each other out." She was well aware that Agent Rainbow Dash was Twilight's partner, but she had the feeling that all six ponies were somehow connected. So in a sense, perhaps there was an unofficial six-way partnership between the Mane Six.

Twilight sat on Olive's words for a few moments. She's right. Even though Ms. O said I have to do this alone, and even though I can't go against her orders...I have friendship on my side. There's no way I'll be able to defeat Odd Todd on my own.

I need the help of my friends.

She gave a relieved exhale, and then a breathy chuckle. "I can see why you're a respected agent around here. You really do know how to cheer ponies up."

"Well, that's not really why I'm respected...but I appreciate the compliment." Olive pointed towards one of the hallways that sat to the side of the metal double-doors. "Now, I believe you have five other ponies to find?"

"I do. You wouldn't happen to have seen them around town?"

"No. Toronto is a very big city. And they wouldn't be standouts compared to all the other odd stuff out there."

A frown settled on Twilight's face that quickly turned into a grin. "No worries. I'll find them eventually."

"Good luck!" Olive watched the mare trot towards the left hallway, looking a lot more confident than she had been before. She removed her hand from Otto's mouth, allowing him a moment to breathe. "You may now speak."

And speak he did, only his dialogue was nothing more than a bellowing laugh as he clutched his stomach and keeled over. "You...you got that 'believe in you with all my heart' thing from when we had the Jinx! Aw man, you truly are a master of the English language."

"Oh, like you're any better? You couldn't spell the word "adulation" the other day when you were filling out Form O-135 for Hopkins! Don't be such a hypocrite."

This earned a scoff and an eye roll from Otto, who sauntered off to the Breakroom without another word. All Olive could do was chuckle in response before following him, feeling rather hungry after a long day of solving cases.

It had taken some time, but she had finally turned a fish into a...phone.

Somehow.

She didn't catch a real fish, of course. Fluttershy would have torn her a new one if she did that. Instead, she had gone to a store in town and asked about singing fish on the wall. Much to her surprise, they had plenty, and were more than willing to give one to her for only a few of her bits.

I'm surprised they take bits in this world. Perhaps the currency here is also bits?

So here she was, walking in the same dark corridor of doors, levitating Ms. O's special key and the singing fish she had managed to turn into a functional phone. Along with the white streaks in her mane and tail, she had completed all of Odd Todd's tasks.

All that was left to see if it was enough to earn her a spot on the Todd Squad.

She knocked thrice on the door, wincing once again as the prickly mat rustled against the undersides of her hooves. As with the first time around, she had to wait quite a long time before someone answered the door.

"Boo."

Or so she thought.

A mixed feeling of fear and deja vu ran through her as she jumped and swiveled around to face the ex-agent. "Can you stop scaring me like that?!"

He largely ignored her question, only giving a sinister-sounding laugh. "Nah. It's fun to see you startled." He walked towards the door and opened it. "Come on in. We have much to discuss."

This is it. It's now or never.

Feeling braver than ever before, she marched inside, Odd Todd following her as a resonating slam from the closing door echoed through the halls.

The Dual Plans

As Odd Todd turned the lights in the back room on, Twilight could see that the whiteboards were filled with even more drawings and notes. She was impressed that he was able to come up with so many ideas to take down Odd Squad and its agents in a day.

Still, she didn't let it distract her from the task at hand. She cleared her throat and levitated the fish phone and the key towards him.

"Surprising. You were able to get Ms. O's special key..." He reached into the levitation field and pulled it out, eyeing it with intense curiosity like a future aviator growing inspired by a toy plane in their hands. "It's authentic."

Remember what Rarity told you. Be cool-headed. Suave. Like you have the upper hoof. "Of course. I wouldn't give you some fake key, now would I?"

His gaze shifted towards the fish phone that she was also levitating. Setting the key down on the desk beside him, he pulled the phone out of the magic field next, causing her horn to stop glowing. Instead of the object being met with curiosity, however, it was met with a rather disappointed look. "I wanted you to bring a real fish."

"Fishing's not my thing."

"Well, whatever." He set the phone down next to the key. "A fake singing fish will do fine. It's my fault for not specifying."

Twilight watched as he took a few steps forward, eyeing her white-streaked mane. Relief washed over her as a pleased expression took over his face, followed by a surprised one upon noticing her white-streaked tail.

"You dyed both your mane and tail? Very impressive. I'll admit, I should have mentioned that you need to dye your tail as well. But I'm very happy you did. Good job!"

The alicorn mare gave a silent, mental thanks to Rarity for her quick thinking. Olive was right. Partners really do help each other. And so do friends. She allowed a smile to settle on her maw, a smile that only got bigger as Odd Todd spoke the words she wanted to hear the most.

"Congratulations, Twilight. You are now a part of the Todd Squad!"

Yes, I'm in!

A splashing sound, and the mood was ruined.

She was covered head to hoof in yellow liquid, dripping onto the floor and seeping into her fur. She blinked a couple times, trying to get the gears turning in her head and process what just happened.

A shrill cackle from Odd Todd brought her to reality.

"Ohh, you should see yourself! Covered in lemonade! I love it!"

As if on instinct, Twilight shook out her fur a little, feeling grateful that it wasn't urine or anything super-gross. She gave an exasperated sigh. I guess I'll have to get used to stuff like this now. I just wish oddness wasn't so messy.

"Here, here. Have a towel to dry yourself off." Odd Todd turned around and grabbed something out of the mare's view.

Which turned out to be a literal wet blanket.

This sent the ex-agent into another fit of laughter as she levitated the blanket in front of her and tried her damndest to suppress a growl of frustration. Fluttershy told me to keep my cool, no matter what Odd Todd tries to pull. I can get through this.

"Why, thank you!" She let out a relieved exhale. "It's so hot outside. I could use this to cool down."

As she rubbed the blanket on her face, Odd Todd immediately stopped laughing and eyed her with shock. He had expected her to throw a fit, quit right then and there, and go tattle on him to Odd Squad. But it seemed that wasn't the case.

A smile slowly crept onto his face, one that told everyone who saw it that he had a winner on his hands.

We are going to have so much fun, you and I.

"So as you can see, Oprah likes to take her breaks at exactly 2:00 each day. That is a good opportunity to ransack her office."

"Aren't the doors locked?"

"Nah. She never locks them. She thinks everyone's too scared to go in there and face her wrath anyway, so she doesn't bother."

It had been an hour since Twilight's induction into the Todd Squad. Although she hadn't fully cleaned herself free of the lemonade that was dumped on her, she didn't mind so much now -- she was much more intrigued by Odd Todd's vast insider knowledge of Precinct 13579. He had gradually made the switch to the side of oddness because being normal was too boring for him, but for someone who disliked how the organization ran things, he seemed to have quite a bit of information on one of its precincts.

Two stacks of papers sat on each side of the alicorn mare as she levitated a pen and another piece of paper, her eyes widening with curiosity and joy. Never mind that she was learning about something she was supposed to fight against -- it was learning. And Twilight would absolutely not miss a chance to take notes and gain new knowledge about a topic she didn't know much about, especially since she was on an important mission in a foreign world.

"I see you've taken a lot of notes." Odd Todd's eyes drifted towards the stacks as he spotted Twilight furiously scribbling. "Very good. Now, let's brainstorm your first odd deed. Together."

He walked over to his bouncy ball, where he sat and began to make a noise that could probably best be described as "weird, garbled yelling". Twilight was taken aback by the noise he made at first, but soon, her hooves made her way to the other bouncy ball that sat right beside him. She attempted to sit up, but quickly found herself rolling off, so she settled for just laying on her stomach with her back hooves planted on the ground. The noise she made didn't quite match Odd Todd's, but she supposed that whatever odd noise she could make was fine by him. Although the noise was distracting, she tried to think nonetheless.

Breaking into Odd Squad...well, we already have the key to turn off the power. So maybe we could do that. But that would wreak all sorts of havoc. Uh...okay, so what about...releasing an odd creature into the world? No, no, that would do too much damage. It has to be something minor. She had to admit it. Finding an odd crime to commit was hard.

Her brain continued to churn away as she ran through a myriad of different ideas, ranging from the mundane (a jack-in-the-box hidden inside of a pie...really?) to the extreme (was there some kind of oddity that would eat the entire planet?). It seemed like hours had gone by since she and Odd Todd had started to think up ideas, and her throat was getting dry from the noise she was making.

She stopped making noise suddenly, sliding off of the ball and making her way towards the front room while also looking back to see if Odd Todd would notice. He didn't -- he had his eyes closed and looked like he was deep in thought. So she continued to trot, lighting up her horn to navigate her way through the darkened room in an effort to get to the door.

Outside, she gave a big exhale of both relief and fatigue. Twilight was used to the hustle and bustle of both Equestria and Odd Squad, but not usually when it came to thinking about important things. While her hooves took her along the dimly-lit halls in an effort to find a water fountain or perhaps a bathroom of some kind, her mind continued to toil away as she tried desperately to think of something odd, anything odd, that she could help cause.

Anything just to prove her worth as a Todd Squad agent.

Descending a couple flights of stairs, she began to think of her friends.

What would they come up with?

Probably something better than anything I could ever think of. My mind is just turning up nothing. I'm not used to causing oddness yet, how does Odd Todd expect me to come up with a plan to stop my own-

She stopped.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Friends...yes, friends...Odd Todd is in close contact with the other villains, isn't he? He said that he rules over all of them.

So what if...

Oh my Celestia, that's it!

Forgetting all about quenching her thirst, she took flight and rushed back to Odd Todd's lair, her body filled with a large rush of excitement as she wore a big grin on her maw. Once she was sure she reached the right door, she barged inside, not bothering to light up her horn as she stumbled her way through the clutter that was on the floor.

"Odd Todd!"

His inelegant yelling was replaced by a sour growl as his blue eyes bore into her. "Oddlight, can't you see I'm busy? Take this as your first lesson: never interrupt me when I'm trying to think of ideas!"

"But I have an idea! It's a great one, too."

"Oh?" He nonchalantly cracked his knuckles, a bored look settling on his face. "Enlighten me."

"Gladly." Twilight cleared her throat. "Odd Squad is about teamwork, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

"And you said you were the leader of all the villains in this town, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Have you ever heard of the phrase "hoisted by his own petard"?"

Odd Todd was taken aback by both Twilight's smug attitude and what she just said, and he blinked twice as he tried to recollect whether he had heard the phrase or not. "Uh...yeah, I've heard of it. Why?"

"Theoretically speaking." The mare advanced towards him, keeping the same cool-headed attitude while also trying to stifle the excitement bubbling up inside of her. "What if we were to gather up all of the villains in town and have us all work together to defeat Odd Squad? We can throw their stupid ideals of teamwork right back into their faces and tell them to shove it up their ugly a-"

"Okay, I get it! I get it." Odd Todd held out a hand to stop Twilight before she could drop a no-no word. "Anyway, your idea is pretty good. That stupid "value of teamwork" that they preach always manages to stop us before we even get close to hurting them. I'm the sole exception because I worked from the inside." He stood up and began to pace around her, chuckling. "I have to say, you're one smart pony. Took you long enough to come up with an idea, though."

"Oh yeah, and one more thing." She could hear a ding sound as she looked up to find a lit-up lightbulb floating above her head -- an actual idea bulb. But she chose to ignore it, and continued on with the addendum of her plan. "We could do some manipulation in Headquarters. You can't go inside and help me out, obviously, but if you direct me somehow, I could do all of the dirty work for you."

By this point, Odd Todd had all of the excitement of a kid receiving a new Shmumbertendo ShmumberCube for Christmas. He looked about ready to rocket into the sky and explode. Whatever professionalism he was trying to maintain went clear out the window as he rapidly nodded. "Yes, yes! That's perfect! Give me more details!"

"Mmm..." Twilight shook her head. "I'll need a day to put it all together. Meet back here tomorrow? I'll have it drafted by then."

A scoff. "Fine. If you need a day, then I'll give you a day. And this ham sandwich." He reached behind his back and pulled out a sandwich piled high with ham, pickles and Dijon mustard, offering it to her. She promptly levitated it with magic, meeting the gift with a rather awkward smile before tucking it away behind her back.

"We'll need lots of rest for tomorrow." Odd Todd walked over to the light switch on the wall and flicked it, causing the lights to flicker off and Twilight's horn to glow. "Good luck with drafting the plan. You'll need it."

As the pair made their way through the front room, Twilight subtly winced at all of the clutter lining the floor. As much as she wanted to clean it up, she had to fight back the urge and leave it be, although it didn't stop her from vowing to clean it up entirely once Odd Todd was defeated.

The gray door creaked open as both ex-agent and mare stepped out.

The former left without saying goodbye.

The latter eyed him intently until he turned the corner.

And then, the excitement that she had been holding inside of her burst out like a pressurized soda can.

She went from leaping up into the air to happily trotting in place, all while squealing in excitement. I did it! I made my first plan! A plan that will help me defeat Odd Todd once and for all! She felt like an excited filly again, up to mischievous tricks. And even better, there was no one watching.

Or, well, so she thought.

Although he was a good distance away from her, Odd Todd could smell her excitement. Hear her squeals. Feel the air changing around him.

He knew that something was up. It was an instinct he felt in his bones, an instinct that came from years of making Odd Squad the prime enemy. But exactly what Twilight was planning, he had no idea.

I'll find out anyway. I always do. This whole situation reeks of suspicion and three-month-old eggs. That pony has something up her sleeve.

I've got the pieces spread out on the table. Now I just need to put them together.

Giving a small smirk, he walked towards the stairwell and through the changing air, now paying no mind to the mare around the corner having a happy moment seemingly all to herself.

She felt as excited as Pinkie Pie on any given day as she trotted into Headquarters, her airy gait and happy aura not going unnoticed by other agents.

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash rushed over to her friend, greeting her with a small wave.

"Hey, guy! Uh...wait, I mean gal. 'Hey, gal' doesn't have the same ring to it, though, heh." Oscar, carrying a rather large gadget in his hands, adjusted his glasses, although it was hard to do without a free hand and he nearly dropped the gadget.

"Rainbow Dash! Oscar! Great to see you!" The alicorn almost felt like hugging them, she was so excited. But she resisted, instead settling for a large toothy grin.

"You look pretty excited. What happened?"

"Well..." She rubbed her hooves together and looked around to see if anyone passing by would eavesdrop. Although the bullpen seemed quiet, she opted to keep her voice hushed. "I went back to Odd Todd's lair and gave him all the things he asked me to get. Once I did that, we got to thinking about what oddness I should cause first."

"Ooh! What is it? Making every giraffe in the world work in business? Releasing pair of super-large flying goldfish? Making an actual foot colored like a football?!" Now it was Dash's turn to wear the grin, her cerise eyes shimmering as her mind ran through all of the options while Oscar shot her a rather wary look.

"Shh!" Twilight spotted an agent, a girl with strawberry-blonde hair tied up in twintails, eyeing the trio in curiosity before shrugging and continuing on her way. Although the mare briefly considered moving the conversation to a more secretive area so as not to cause alarm, she was far too excited to be rational, and thus, she continued on. "We're going to use Odd Squad's own value of teamwork against them. By gathering every villain in the area and getting them to team up, Odd Todd and I can turn the tables!"

Rainbow Dash's mouth hung low in an "O" shape. Oscar, on the other hand, was rather surprised, but also wore a nervous expression, as though he thought she was beginning to turn to what was colloquially referred to as "the odd side".

You were supposed to keep it minor! her brain, struggling to grasp any sense of rationality, screamed at her. If this plan goes through, you could destroy Odd Squad instead of saving it!

Nonsense. I'll work together with Precinct 13579 and we'll figure out a plan. Odd Todd doesn't know it yet, but I'm luring him right into a trap. He's going to be sorry he ever underestimated this pony. She let out an exhale, the excitement inside of her gradually fizzing out second by second until she was back to her usual self.

"Y-you're not gonna actually turn the tables on us, right? I mean, you wouldn't do that..."

"Of course not, Oscar." Twilight waved a hoof dismissively.

"And you're not actually turning tables?" Rainbow snickered as Twilight rolled her eyes. Such sayings taken literally was not an uncommon sight in Odd Squad, and it seemed the Pegasus mare had already gotten in the spirit of being literal-minded and cracking jokes. Such an idiom as "time flies when you're having fun" could be taken as someone saying that when they have fun, clocks of all different kinds fly in the air.

"I have to go see Ms. O about this, right away. Where is she?"

"She should be up in her office. I would be careful, though. She's been a little testy for the past hour because she ran out of apple juice boxes, heh." Twilight could swear she saw all the color drain from his face as though he had witnessed her rage firsthand, and although she wasn't that terrified, she was put in a state of unease as her eyes darted towards the office on the second floor.

"What's the big deal? I could take on that kiddo any day!"

"Nonono! Don't even try it."

"But-"

"Just take my word for it, Rainbow Dash!"

As Oscar and Rainbow Dash continued to argue, Twilight ignored them and began making her way towards Ms. O's office, ascending the staircase and spotting the Director drawing something with crayons. Although she was still a little uneasy by Oscar's comment, she had her priorities in check, and knew that she had to update her boss on the mission.

A knock-knock interrupted Ms. O's coloring. Giving an irritated sigh, she called out, "Come in."

Twilight opened one of the glass doors with a small creak and trotted in. "Ms. O? Are you busy?"

"Not particularly." She put down her crayon and closed her coloring book, chucking it behind her and allowing it to nearly hit her computer. "This is about the mission, isn't it?"

"Yes." Twilight nodded. "I've been accepted into the Todd Squad. And Odd Todd and I have come up with a plan for my first act of oddness."

Ms. O's eyes widened in surprise. He let her in?

A pause as she allowed a smirk to settle on her face.

Heh. It only took him a couple hundred tries. Mostly from Olive.

Taking a sip from a grape-flavored juice box, the Director pressed on. "So what is your plan?"

"I proposed that we gather up every villain in Toronto and have us team up to take down Odd Squad using teamwork."

"Are you fucking insa-"

The feeling of something wet against the palm of her hand made Ms. O stop as her steely brown gaze slowly, ever so slowly, drifted to the source of the new feeling.

Her juice box had been just the latest victim of her anger, so crushed in her hand that juice was now dripping from her hand onto the desk.

Shit, shit, SHIT! A flurry of swear words, both from olden times and from modern, flooded her brain. It wasn't often that she swore -- she had her former partner O'Donahue to thank for introducing that concept into her life -- but kids took after adults, as it were, and although she was well over a millennia old, her physical body was still well rooted at the age of 7. All she had to do was remember to bite her tongue when she was around her agents.

Clearly her memory had a brief two-second blackout.

She tried in vain to shake the juice off of her hand before resorting to walking over to her coffee table and grabbing a tissue from the tissue box that sat elegantly on it, stifling a growl as she deeply contemplated strangling Twilight in spite of her conscience telling her to never lay a finger on her because she was a leader from another world. Going to the juice bar, she wiped her hand, then grabbed two small glasses and some small tongs, using them to start emptying the first glass full of colorful fruity ice cubes into the already-empty second glass.

"If you'll just let me explain..." Twilight chose not to comment on the rather foreign word that her boss had used, instead attempting to break the silence that hung in the air. "I'm not going to go through with it until I work with Odd Squad to formulate a plan to stop Odd Todd. You've known me for quite a long time now, Ms. O. I would never betray Odd Squad. I would never betray the...humans that I've come to call my friends."

Ms. O froze, but not before she was halfway through setting her open bottle of grape juice down on the countertop.

"You had faith in me when you chose me as the agent to carry out this mission. Don't tell me you've abandoned it because you think I'm a traitor?"

"I haven't, okay?" The Director whirled around. "I haven't."

She made her way back to the desk, a frustrated look settling on her face as she plopped down in her chair and took a sip of her newly-made drink.

"I know you said you would make a plan with us first. But if Odd Todd's plan went through, there's no doubt that it would bring this precinct and its agents serious harm. This isn't some TV show where the heroes always end up winning." She shook her head. "If you're going to make a plan, it better be a good one."

"It is. And I already have one in mind." Twilight nodded. "In Equestria, we have magical artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony. These Elements have helped us beat villains time and time again. And I believe it can work for the villains in this world." She put her hooves on the desk and leaned closer to Ms. O. "Have the villains here ever teamed up before?"

"Yes. Several times. And every time, they've managed to fail."

"Forgive me for being redundant, but why's that?"

"Because teamwork and villains creates a recipe for disaster. They bicker and fight with each other, as adults do...no offense." Ms. O cleared her throat. "And they can never work together to defeat Odd Squad because of it. They can, however, work together to cause oddness in other ways that just creates more work for us to do. But." She held up a finger just as Twilight opened her mouth to speak. "Odd Todd is a very powerful influencer. Him and the other villains destroying this precinct in particular, and then going on to destroy all of Odd Squad...it's very much a possibility."

Twilight nodded. She could understand what Ms. O was saying, and she knew her boss was absolutely right. Odd Todd was a capable leader and had his ways of digging into agents and luring them into his grasp, so it wasn't too far-fetched to assume he could control villains into carrying out his wishes -- that is, if there was something for them on the other end of the deal.

"It will be a battle of friendship and teamwork versus evil and teamwork. Maybe we can't convince your world's villains to turn to the side of good unlike Equestria's villains...but we can at least give them a lesson." Her eyes widened. "Except..."

"Except?"

"I think there's hope for Odd Todd. He's deep in the side of oddness. But we can pull him out of it and help him reform."

"You aren't serious?"

"I am serious. He has potential to do great things if he's on the side of good."

"Like what?"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak again, but no words came out. She was at a complete loss as to what Odd Todd could do if he were good instead of odd. He can't be an Odd Squad agent again, I know that much. There's no way the Academy would let him in...not with his kill count. In that moment, she regretted not getting to know Odd Todd better, not inquiring about any other hobbies or interests he may have had aside from causing oddness. She didn't even know if he had any hobbies or interests aside from causing oddness. For all she knew, his entire life's purpose was causing oddness -- which would make for a rather strange cutie mark, if one thought about it.

"You're aware that we're dealing with a murderer, Agent Twilight?" Ms. O broke the brief silence, standing up and fixing the mare with a rigid expression. "We have no sympathy for murderers."

"But we-"

"Besides, did Olive not say she wanted you to get rid of him?" The Director's tone rose more and more with each sentence. "I, personally, want to see him dead. Eradicated from the Earth."

"Dead?! But won't that make everyone hate Odd Squad?"

A sigh escaped Ms. O's lips. "Look. If you want to use your Elements of Harmony to try and reform Odd Todd and the rest of the villains, then by all means. You have my permission to do it." She took another sip of her drink. "But don't be surprised if it doesn't work."

If it doesn't work... For all of the time she had been in this world, she knew very little about if magic in Equestria worked the same way here as it did there. The innate magic of her and her friends worked fine, so that was a start. But who was to say if more powerful magic transcended across worlds or not?

"Thank you, Ms. O." Without waiting for the Director to shout her signature catchphrase, Twilight took flight and headed out to the bullpen, completely lost in thought.

Ms. O opened a bottom drawer and took out a baby wipe from a brown box before closing the drawer and cleaning up the spilled grape juice, letting her vocal cords become loose and giving a soft growl of frustration.

The Counteraction

Stepping out of the Shower Room, Twilight heaved a sigh. Her coat was now clean and free of the lemonade that Odd Todd had splashed on her earlier, although taking a shower didn't free her mind of her conversation with Ms. O.

Even if the Elements of Harmony don't work on the villains of this world...there's no harm in trying. We will prevail, and we will win, with or without the Elements.

Taking a right and heading through the hallway, she watched as the doors shifted positions, as it usually did every once in a while. Had she not been so troubled, she might have appreciated the sight more, but alas, her mind was far too cluttered.

So cluttered, in fact, that she didn't see Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy standing right in front of her.

Luckily, the two mares turned around just in time, waving their hooves and giving warm, inviting smiles.

"Hiya, Twilight!"

"Oh, hello, Twilight."

"Hm? Oh. Hi, Pinkie. Hi, Fluttershy." Twilight attempted to make her tone cheerful, but it fell flat. Not that it mattered much anyway, since Pinkie in particular could tell if a person or pony was down within seconds of meeting them, and Twilight was no exception.

"Something botherin' ya? Not enough cakes in the Breakroom, huh?" Pinkie scoffed. "Believe me, I know. I looked at the Odd Squad Cafeteria menu and found no cakes listed on there! Last time I got into a big argument with Oksana about it...she didn't take well to that..."

"No, it's not that." Twilight shook her head. "Can we round up Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash and meet at the ball pit?"

Pinkie and Fluttershy exchanged concerned looks for a brief second.

"Of course. Let's go find them. I think I remember Applejack saying she was at Sweet Apple Acres, so I'll go get her and then come back to Odd Squad." Fluttershy, ever the kind one, began trotting off in the same direction that she and Pinkie had been standing.

"And I'll call Dashie and Rarity up!" Pinkie waved a hoof at her partner as she turned the corner, just before the pink Earth pony unclipped her badge phone and punched in 1-1-4 to contact Rainbow Dash. "C'mon Twilight, let's go to the ball pit!"

All the alicorn mare could do was watch as Pinkie bounced away, her badge phone held up to her ear. They're acting normal...if only they knew. It wasn't so much Ms. O's rage and anger that disturbed her. No, it was the death wish she left hanging above Odd Todd's head. She knew Ms. O was a rather disturbing child, with her bad temper, her fits of verbal and physical violence, and her juice addiction that strangely resembled that of an alcohol addiction. But deep inside, Ms. O had a soft side, a side that came out whenever her agents needed help. She was a strong and effective leader because she was (not literally) made of iron, but also kindhearted. It was because Twilight had seen her soft side before that she was greatly unnerved by her wanting Odd Todd dead.

Some unknown force made her hooves move as she plodded towards the ball pit. She briefly considered going back to Princess Celestia for advice on how to proceed, but decided against it. She couldn't rely on her mentor for every little issue. She couldn't, wouldn't, keep running to her like a filly would run to their mommy. She was a grown mare on a mission.

And so, with that issue settled, the gears in her mind got to turning.

I can't be responsible for a death in this world. What impression would that leave on Odd Squad, to see a foreign pony kill one of their own, even if he's a villain? And what impression would that leave on the ponies of Equestria, to see one of their princesses -- their Princess of Friendship, no less -- resort to murder instead of trying alternative methods?

Odd Todd can be reformed. I just know it. I need to stick by my beliefs and follow through, with the help of my friends.

Before she knew it, she emerged from the right side hallway and into the bullpen, where the sounds of agents chattering away and phones ringing off the hook dug into her thoughts and made it too hard to dwell on her predicament further.

"Twilight!"

The sound of Pinkie's voice made her swivel her head to the left, where she saw the party-loving Earth pony staying afloat amidst the infinite amount of colorful plastic balls, laughing heartily.

"Rainbow Dash and Rarity said they'd be right over! They're in Equestria right now." Pinkie flung her legs over the front wall of the ball pit, her mane becoming frizzed due to static electricity. "Rainbow's in Wonderbolts training and Rarity needed to grab a couple things from the boutique!"

"Hello again, Twilight." Fluttershy approached the duo, a small smile resting on her face.

"Howdy there, Twilight!" Applejack trotted alongside her, giving a hoofwave to the princess. "So what's all this about?"

"I just don't know what to do."

About ten minutes later and Twilight had her face in her hooves as the rest of her friends processed the story.

"Kill Odd Todd?! She's crazy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Even if he's a villain, and even if he's killed agents, we shouldn't try and kill him in retaliation!"

"I agree." Applejack nodded. "Ms. O's jumpin' the barrel just a mite too quick there. Odd Todd ain't irredeemable, just corrupted."

"I'm not quite sure about that, darling. Odd Todd did bring great harm to this Odd Squad precinct and its agents. Ms. O is obviously going much too far with murdering him, but his crimes should not be forgiven." A sympathetic look was in Rarity's eyes as her gaze bore into Applejack.

"Well I think your plan is great, Twi! Using the Elements of Harmony on Odd Todd is an amazing-tastic idea! Once we hit 'em with generosity, magic, honesty, loyalty, kindness, and..." She giggled. "...laughter, it'll teach him a lesson for sure!"

"I...I want to use the Elements of Harmony on Odd Todd, too." The meek Fluttershy was the last to speak up. "We shouldn't murder him, no matter what he's done! It's like you said, Twilight -- he could do great things for this town if he were good."

"And exactly what is stopping Ms. O from killing him herself, anyway? Why does she need us to do it for her?"

It was like the world fell silent around them. Everypony turned to look at Rarity with widened eyes, as though neither one of them had considered the prospect. Even Twilight was thrown for a bit of a loop.

Rarity is...right. Ms. O should have gotten the impression by now that we haven't killed anyone, and we don't kill anyone. And meanwhile, death is just such a common thing here...because of all the strange things out there...

Many a letter sent to Princess Celestia described just how brutal Odd Squad as an organization really was, especially as Twilight began to see what oddness agents had to fight on a daily basis. She had to admit, it was quite tragic, seeing children bearing the weight of saving the entire world from dangerous threats on their shoulders. From her time at the Odd Squad Academy, she wondered why children were so eager to attend. Why they were so eager to put their lives on the line to save the world from threats that shouldn't exist to begin with. Was it the sense of heroism? Was it out of love for the world? Out of kindness for everyone who lived in the world?

Who knew. For a smart pony, Twilight didn't have all the secrets.

"Rarity, you make a good point." The alicorn mare nodded. "I'm not planning on killing Odd Todd. And I hope none of you are, either." Her gaze moved towards the two sets of stairs, one with a slide over it, that led to Ms. O's office. "Instead, I'm going to go through with my plan, and I need you all to help me with making sure it's a success."

Murmurs of agreement rippled among the group.

"I'll go to the Tree of Harmony and remove the Elements. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, work together and come up with a counter-plan to Odd Todd's. Rarity, you'll help me in the Odd Squad Library, finding books on every villain they've ever had across history. We need to be prepared."

"What about me?"

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight's ears folded down. "Find Olive. I need to speak to her."

As soon as the other five mares received all of their instructions, they separated, leaving Twilight alone as she watched them leave. I hope I'm doing the right thing...

Who am I kidding? Of course I'm doing the right thing. With my friends by my side, we'll be unstoppable!

For what seemed like so long since one had come forth, a smile danced on the alicorn's face as she followed Rarity and trotted off towards the Odd Squad Library. I can go back to Equestria later. For now, it's research time.

All was quiet. The library seemed almost devoid of life, but the smell of books still lingered in the air.

And on a desk that Twilight and Rarity were currently sitting at, as they scanned through history book after history book for any semblance of facts on Odd Squad's villains. Both mares had experience with a couple villains out on the field -- the Shapeshifter, Rainbow Robyn and the Noisemaker, to name a few -- but they weren't aware of the full rogues gallery that Precinct 13579 in particular seemed to have.

"Oh, here's something on a villain named 'Symmetric Al'. It says here that..." Rarity tilted her head as she tried to process what was written in the book. "He wants to be the only symmetrical thing in the entire universe. And in order to further his goal, he steals half of any symmetric object he can find." A gasp escaped her lips. "According to this book, he can also steal the halves of people who have symmetric names!"

"Well, none of our names are symmetric, so we don't have to worry about him." Twilight waved a dismissive hoof. "What else does it say?"

"Nothing. Oh, but here's something on Fladam!" Rarity pointed to a black-and-white image, a mugshot of sorts, of a human with dark skin, a sizeable afro, a dark beard, and white square-shaped sunglasses. "His name was originally Adam before he hurt his hoof- er, foot by stepping on a toy block." She remembered a time when she did the same thing back when Sweetie Belle, her younger sister, was but a foal. The pain had been unimaginable, but she couldn't imagine turning into a villain over something so trivial. "Because of that incident, he began to despise cubes, which continued into his growth until he became an adult. His powers consist of using his special sunglasses to flatten both objects and people, making them two-dimensional."

A worried look settled on Twilight's face. No doubt that Fladam is definitely a more viable threat than Symmetric Al. If we get flattened by him, then we won't be able to move...but...perhaps my magic can make us three-dimensional again? She made a mental note to run some tests later.

"...and she uses her wand to send people to other kingdoms!"

"Huh?"

"Oh." Rarity blinked. "I was talking about the Evil Queen, darling. She has a scepter that she uses to send her enemies to different kingdoms."

"I see. S-sorry about that, I was just thinking. Do you think she could send us back to Equestria?"

"Perhaps...but it is always possible."

"And if innocent civilians get involved, who knows what'll happen?" Twilight gave a shaky sigh as she continued turning pages in her book, quickly making mental notes of every villain written in there. Seeing just how dangerous they were only seemed to further the mystery of why agents, mere children, tussled with them so often, but that issue was firmly on the back burner for now.

"Archer Achilles...an archer who is able to shoot lasers from her bow?" Rarity tilted her head. "A rather strange and, dare I say, odd power." She couldn't help but giggle at her wordplay as she continued to parse through her own book.

About an hour later, the two mares were finished taking notes and reading up on Odd Squad's current reprehensible repertoire of villains. Rarity helped Twilight put the books back on the shelves they came from, and they made sure to leave the Library just as they found it before heading out.

"I must say, I didn't realize how many villains Odd Squad actually has. They're all quite powerful in their own ways."

"To some degree or another, yes." Twilight's voice seemed rather listless, as though she was drained of energy. "But we'll take them down. We can't fail."

Rarity was not convinced. She stopped trotting, watching Twilight as she continued to plod down the hallway.

"Are you coming with me to the Tree of Harmony? For the Elements?"

"Hm? Oh! W-well, unfortunately, no. I have many a Form O-135 to fill out." The white unicorn gave a sheepish chuckle. "You go on ahead, darling."

Wordlessly, Twilight continued on her way until she had turned the corner and was gone from sight.

Rarity's look was one of nothing but concern.

"I know, I know! How about we do a surprise cake?! We can plant ponies in it, and surprise Odd Todd!"

"Pinkie, ah don't feel like draggin' innocent ponies into this mess..."

"We could always get the creatures around here to help us?"

Deep in the thralls of the Dimly-Lit-Because-It's-More-Ominous-That-Way Room were Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. A single lit lightbulb hung over their heads as they sat at a round table, spitballing various plans as to how to take Odd Todd and his nasty cronies down.

Pinkie's plans, of course, had involved sweets in some way or another. After all, she was a baker by trade. And she was very hungry. That too.

Applejack was the sensible one of the group, quickly taking the role of leader as she listened to what ideas her two friends had while also giving ideas of her own. So far, she hadn't found much to work with yet, but was quickly growing exasperated with Pinkie's ridiculous suggestions and Fluttershy's insistence.

Speaking of the yellow Pegasus mare, she, on the other hoof, was confident that the animals and odd creatures of Toronto would aid them in defeating the villains. After all, it wasn't every day that an agent saw a swarm of Tadams feast on a creator of oddness, and she wanted to learn more about the creatures here, anyhow. To her, it was a win-win situation.

"Look, y'all. Twilight trusted us with comin' up with a plan to stop Odd Todd. We have to remember that he is a serious threat, as are the rest of the villains 'round here." Applejack declared, slamming a hoof onto the table to punctuate her words. "Now, Pinkie, do ya have any ideas-"

"Yes!"

"That don't involve food?"

"...No..."

"Come up with some. Ah know you can do it. What about you, Fluttershy? Care t' explain your idea?"

"Well, since I'm very friendly with the lovely animals of Equestria, I thought my skills would also be useful in this world. Odd Squad does have a lot of creatures that just need a little love and caring. If I give them some of that, then I think they will help us in return."

This idea made Applejack widen her eyes a little as she sat on it for a few moments. It really ain't such a bad idea to have 'em help us. But if one of 'em got hurt in battle... She shook her head. Poor Fluttershy would most likely be devastated -- she hated to see one of her animal friends get hurt needlessly, let alone if it was a villain's doing.

"Y' raise a good point." she said. "But...ah don't wanna see any of 'em get hurt."

"Oh." Fluttershy sounded disappointed, ruffling her mane as her gaze moved downwards. "But, um...wouldn't it be best if I fought alongside them? I-I'm not the best at physical fighting...with them around me, I would feel safer."

Applejack closed her eyes. She wanted to tell Fluttershy that she would in no way be prepared for any of her creatures to be injured, but at the same time, she bit her tongue back, knowing that she was underestimating her friend and her strength. Twilight was counting on all of them, after all -- and with Odd Todd, they needed every hoof they could get.

"All right. You can bring your lil' critters along." The orange Earth pony nodded. "But exactly how would they fit into the plan?"

"That would depend on what the plan is. But I'm sure I can figure out something." In a much better mood now, Fluttershy smiled.

"Pinkie? Y' got any new ideas?"

The pink pony had her cerulean eyes wide open and fixed on a certain spot, as though she was staring off into space. She made no movements in response to Applejack's question.

"Uh...Pinkie Pie?"

Still no response.

Applejack let a mighty groan escape her lips as her head made contact with the table. We're gettin' nowhere fast. Guess it's just up to me and Fluttershy. With that realization, she quickly got to thinking, and soon the pieces began to fall into place.

"Ah got it!" she exclaimed, causing Fluttershy to give a yelp of surprise and nearly fall off of her chair while Pinkie remained frozen.

"W-what's the plan?" Fluttershy asked, shaking her head as she righted herself once again.

"We get ourselves captured. Once we're captured, the villains'll take us to their lair and we can ambush 'em!"

"What about Twilight?"

"She can work with the villains and pretend to lend a helpin' hoof in capturin' all of us. That right there is when she'll reveal the truth."

"And what about Odd Todd's plan?"

"Twilight can work together with Odd Todd to capture us. He'll have an eye on us since we're from another world and all, so havin' us in his grasp will make him quite the delighted fella!" Applejack gave a hearty laugh.

"I got a plan, I got a plan!" Pinkie snapped out of her daydreaming state and raised a hoof in delight, waving it around as she wore a grin.

"No need, Pinkie. We got a plan all worked out."

"Aww...but I spent forever and a half just thinking of a plan that doesn't involve the good stuff!" Now it was Pinkie's turn to be disappointed, looking at Applejack with pleading eyes as though begging her to reconsider. Unfortunately, her friend wasn't biting.

"Now, here's how it'll go. Twilight'll relay a plan to Odd Todd about capturing us. Once he approves, she'll go to Headquarters and take us to him, allowin' him to do whatever he wants to us."

"That sounds te-"

"Ah'm not finished." Applejack cleared her throat. "While Twilight's away, Odd Todd'll gather up the other villains, and we should return to find them all there at their lair. When they trap us, we'll break out and then attack all the villains at once usin' everythin' we got! And for the final touch..." A sly smile formed on the orange mare's face. "The Elements of Harmony."

"That...sounds terrible." Pinkie Pie piped up, echoing what she had previously tried to say before she was cut off.

"What? How so?"

"You gotta think about it, Applejack! What if we lose the battle? We're outnumbered a tooooooon of bad guys to just six of us! Or, or, what if they trap us in something that we can't break out of? Or-"

Pinkie was interrupted once again by Applejack's laughing. The pink pony, usually full of eternal happiness, stifled a growl. "Would you stop interrupting me?!"

"Sorry, it's just..." Applejack sighed. "These guys ain't anythin' like Equestria's villains. They're dumber than pigs rollin' in water on a hot summer day. Don't you set your bar high, Pinkie Pie."

"Really?" Pinkie tilted her head. "I dunno, they seem pretty smart to me. The Noisemaker once had me going for a whole hour!"

"That's because you kept singing duets with him." Fluttershy pointed out. "And then he trapped you using music bars as a rope when he had enough of your voice."

"Well, it's not my fault his music's really good!"

Another groan escaped Applejack's mouth, along with a roll of her eyes. "Can y'all get back to the topic at hoof?!"

"Sorry." Both mares adopted guilty looks as their eyes avoided meeting the farmer pony's.

Sighing, Applejack continued on. "I can understand what you're sayin', Pinkie. This plan does carry a lot of risks...but I'm confident we can pull it off."

"What about the animals?"

"Why don't ya coordinate somethin' with 'em? Brief 'em on the plan, and then you can decide what role they can play in all this."

Fluttershy nodded and smiled. "Of course. I'll do that."

"Now c'mon, y'all. Let's go tell Twilight!"

Applejack hopped off of her chair, only to stop as her eyes darted across the room, her vision meeting nothing but darkness. "Uh...anypony know how t' get outta here?"

"Allow me!" Pinkie, hopping off of her chair, took a big inhale then closed her eyes shut, making various sounds of effort. Just as Applejack was about to ask what she was doing, her pink body began to glow, providing another source of light in addition to the lit lightbulb. She happily trotted away, waving a hoof and giving an excited "Follow me!"

"How did-"

"Sometimes, it's better not to ask questions about Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy advised, taking flight with soft wingbeats as she followed her partner through the mostly-darkened room.

All Applejack could do was adopt a bewildered look before giving a shrug and galloping after her two friends.

"Greetings. You've reached Agent Olive. Leave a message."

*beeeeep*

"Olive, where the fuck are you? Twilight wants to talk to you so you better get your flank back to Headquarters right now, you hear me?! It's important!"

Snapping her phone shut, Rainbow Dash stifled a growl as she resisted the urge to throw it on the ground and begin smashing it to bits and pieces. She had tried to reach Olive approximately 17 times, and no attempt proved successful. At this rate, she was going to have to resort to dragging Olive to Twilight by any means necessary.

She landed on the ground, folding in her wings to give them a short rest. Calling Otto had proven fruitless as well -- it only took her 9 tries to reach him before she gave up. Walking through the sleepy street known as Hazel Road, she gazed at all the houses, some small, others as big as her Cloudominium. These houses weren't made of the same material that the houses in Ponyville were, appearing more sturdy with their slate roofs and wood paneling. Furthermore, there were machines lying still in the driveway -- cars, she heard someone call them once. It was certainly a fresh sight from the fluffy white aesthetic of Cloudsdale and the medieval-style aesthetic of Ponyville.

As she continued to walk along, she could hear two distant voices. Voices that sounded rather...familiar.

"Pull it out!"

"I'm trying, but it's not budging!"

"Oh for odd's sake, get out of the way and let me try!"

It was lucky that the sources of the voices were continuing to argue, because it gave Rainbow enough time to investigate what was going on. She took to the sky once again, moving as fast as she could and getting a bird's-eye view of the area.

And what she saw was something that made her question the concept and nature of coincidences.

"So!" she exclaimed, zooming towards the two black blobs until she was hovering directly behind them. "I finally found ya!"

One of the two sources of the voices turned around, only to make eye contact with a blue-furred Pegasus mare that looked about ready to blow her stack.

"A-Agent Rainbow Dash?"

"You think it's normal to ignore my calls, huh?! And for what?! Pulling..." She took a few moments to observe the situation before continuing. "...weeds out of a garden?!"

"Rainbow, you don't understand, we had-"

"I don't want to hear excuses from you!" The sheer volume of Rainbow's voice caused Otto to take a step back, fearing that, although the mare's attention seemed to be focused on Olive, she was going to come for his throat next. "I want you to come back to Headquarters with me, damn it!"

"Come back to HQ? Why?"

"Because Twilight wants to talk with you! Now c'mon!" Before anyone could blink, she zoomed towards Olive, ripped out the red tie that was tucked into her suit, and gripped it in her mouth before preparing to take off.

"Rainbow, what are-"

Those were the last words Olive ever spoke before a choked yelp of surprise left her throat as she was yanked away, like someone had taken a shepherd's hook to her during a performance and pulled her off the stage.

All Otto could do was watch wordlessly as he stared at the pony and her unfortunate human victim until they were completely gone from view.

"Is everything okay out here?"

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah. Everything's fine, Ms. Miller. I'll have your weeds out for you in no time."

"Oh, you're such a dearie. Thank you. I'll be inside if you need me." Ms. Miller, an elderly woman in her 70s, smiled warmly before heading back inside, the door closing with a loud creaking sound.

Struggling to figure out exactly what transpired within the span of the past 60 seconds, Otto got back to weed-pulling, grunting as he struggled with one particular weed that was rooted deep into the ground.

Meanwhile, Olive coughed and sputtered as she dangled in midair. She thought her face was beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen, and her vision began to grow hazy. Rainbow Dash was a fast flyer, she noted, and for that she was grateful, but it didn't stop her from realizing one thing.

This...this is how...I'm gonna die...death...by horse.

Immortal as Odd Squad agents were, it didn't stop them from dying of unnatural causes -- something as simple as a gadget pointed the wrong way could end an agent's life in the blink of an eye. It was rather rare, though, for an agent to die via being choked by someone yanking on their tie.

Rainbow swooped in for a landing near one of the tube entrances she had come to grow familiar with, causing Olive to stumble while simultaneously grasping for whatever air was accessible to her.

"C'mon, let's-" Adrenaline still coursing through her, the pegasus mare looked back to find her co-worker's face about as blue as her own fur, taking deep inhales as she kneeled on the ground.

"Yeah...maybe taking you with me by your tie was a bad idea."

"What the hell..." Olive coughed. "...made you come to that conclusion?"

"W-well, I'm not a unicorn, so it wasn't like I could lift ya or anything!" Rainbow gave a shrug. "Anyway, sorry. But you need to speak to Twilight. She said it was really important."

Slowly, Olive got to her feet, the blue gradually draining from her face as she shot daggers at Rainbow. "Yeah, I get it. But you couldn't be decent about it?"

"Hey, this is a super-important mission! One that concerns your old partner? Helloooooo?"

"Sure. Where's Twilight?"

"Either in the Odd Squad Library, or she's in Equestria. Ask Rarity if ya can't find her."

"Great." Olive readjusted her tie. "And if you ever touch my tie again, little horse, I'll punch you straight into orbit."

With that threat made, she entered the tubes, a blue glow and a loud whooshing sound accompanying her. Rainbow watched her go before heading in the tubes after her, her mission complete.

Once Olive arrived at Headquarters and greeted tube operator-on-duty O'Donnell, she made a beeline for her desk, where a bottle of water sat. Eagerly, she unscrewed the cap and got to drinking, taking out half the bottle in the same way Ms. O would often take out a bottle of grape juice in one go. A satisfied sigh then left her lips as she put the cap back on and left to go search for Twilight.

A search that lasted all of five seconds as she spotted the pony in question leaving the Lab, a gadget held in a levitation field of magic.

"Twilight!"

"Huh? Oh, Olive!" Twilight gave a wave of her hoof before making her way over to her co-worker. "Did Rainbow Dash find you?"

"Yes. She pulled me to a tube entrance all the way by my tie and nearly killed me, the little bitch. She got mad because I wouldn't answer her calls or something."

"That's Rainbow for you. She has a pretty short temper and definitely doesn't like it when other ponies -- or people -- ignore her." Twilight gave a roll of her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now. But I told her that the next time she touches my tie, it's a trip into space." Olive said. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well...Ms. O and I talked about my plan...and she said that she wanted Odd Todd dead." Twilight's voice quavered as she spoke, and her ears folded downwards. "She gave me permission to go ahead and use the Elements of Harmony on him, but said that it might not work."

"The Elements of Harmony?"

"They're six magical artifacts that me and the others all wield. They've helped us defeat many Equestrian villains in the past." Twilight explained. "I'm the Element of Magic. Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness. Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty. Applejack is the Element of Honesty. Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter. And Rarity is the Element of Generosity."

"Huh. Sounds cool. Can't say we have anything like that in Odd Squad. Though there was a time where our badges would glow if we were feeling proud of ourselves." Olive remembered reading about it in one of Odd Squad's history books, being an Odd Squad historian whose knowledge on the organization was vast. "But I digress. Ms. O wants to kill Odd Todd?"

"Yes. I offered to help reform him, since I believe he can do good for this town and this world if he were on the side of good instead of evil...but you told me that you wanted us to get rid of him."

"I..." Olive bit back her tongue, trying to find the right words to say to a pony who was obviously at odds (pun not intended) on what to do. Did she want him dead? For all the times her snarky, "I'm surrounded by idiots and I fucking hate it" attitude came out, she drew the line at murder, but when it came to her old partner, she had no opinion.

"I do want you to get rid of him. But...no..." She shook her head. "Let me lead off with this question. Have your 'Elements of Harmony' ever killed anyone?"

"No, of course not! The worst they've done was turn Discord to stone." Twilight waved a hoof. "You don't have to worry."

"Okay..." Olive took a moment to think before she proceeded further. "Well, in answer to your question..."

The tension in the air was thick enough to be sliced with a knife. It was like time stopped for a few moments as Twilight held her breath.

"I really do want to see him dead."

"What?"

"He tried to kill us, Twilight. He's psychotic, unhinged, with no common sense. He caused me so much strife and pain." Olive could feel her own voice begin to quaver, and tears began to form in her eyes before she could stop them. "Precinct 13579...no, Odd Squad would feel much safer without him around."

"But- but he can be reformed! We've reformed villains in Equestria before-"

"But Odd Todd isn't a villain from Equestria!"

Both of them fell silent. Agents passing by stopped what they were doing to glance at them before continuing along.

"Olive...I don't want to use the Elements of Harmony as weapons of murder. That's not what they're supposed to be used for. Me and my friends, we all want to try and reform him."

"And if that doesn't work? Then what will you do?"

The two questions pierced Twilight's heart like a sword. She watched as Olive began to cry, her body quivering with each sob she took. It was a rather rare sight to see -- Olive was so steely that making her cry wasn't an easy feat. But after all, she was only a child, something that Twilight was well aware of.

"Look." she began. "I'll go back to Equestria and ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for their advice. I don't want to keep going back to them for help, but...the Elements used to be in their care. I want to hear their thoughts on using them to kill Odd Todd." A tear fell down the alicorn's face, and she wiped it off. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, Olive."

She began to head for the steel double-doors.

"I'm not the Princess of Murder."

Olive, with her brown eyes completely bloodshot, could only watch her go before she slumped to the ground and another round of sobs wracked her body.

Over in the adjacent hallway, all Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie could do was watch the aftermath of the entire conversation. As much as they all wanted to chase after their friend, they found it in their best interest to give a simultaneous nod towards each other and separate, each pony making a mental note to talk to Twilight about their counterplan later.

Author's Note

As I continue to write this story that has been sitting in my drafts for 2 years, I realize that it's not very well-written and may come as a shock to some who have read my previous two oneshots.

I do have an ending in mind for this fanfic already (which was a sort of test run for an MLP x Odd Squad crossover), but I'll most likely do an entire rewrite of it in the future. Writing can change a lot in 2 years, after all, and this definitely isn't one of my proudest works.

Anyway, I hope you all have been enjoying the story so far and thank you for bearing with me! I promise that I'm giving it my all and I hope you continue to read to see how it all ends.

The Plan Unfolds

Twilight walked through the dimly-lit hallway once again, running through the counterplan in her head. She wasn't quite sure if such a simple, thought-up-on-the-dot plan would stop an evil genius like Odd Todd, but she was sure willing to try.

That is, if Olive hadn't gotten up before her and killed him at the crack of dawn.

Once she got to the door, she knocked three times, holding her breath and praying to Celestia that Odd Todd would answer.

Sure enough, the slat opened, and two cold brown eyes looked directly at her.

"Ah, Oddlight. Come on in. Make yourself at home. Help yourself to a brocco-nana."

Choosing not to comment on the name referral nor comment on what a "brocco-nana" was, she pushed the door open and made her way inside. By now, she had gotten used to the clutter in the first room and was able to dodge it with ease to get to the second room. She used her magic to open the door, finding that it was mostly the same as when she last visited, save a few boxes lying around on the tables.

Maybe that move to a new lair is coming soon. Too bad he won't ever be able to see it. It was quite a shame -- she herself wanted to see what the new lair looked like. It had to be better than the poorly-designed lair he had called his home-away-from-home now.

"Now..." Odd Todd spoke, Twilight's attention being suddenly pulled away. "Let's go over your plan, shall we?" He went over to the two exercise balls that sat in the corner, taking a seat on one and eyeing the mare intently.

"Oh, sure! Admittedly, it is very simplistic, but I think you'll enjoy it nonetheless." Twilight stepped towards him, her heart racing ever faster as each word came spilling from her mouth. She told him about her plan in excruciating detail, hoping that he wouldn't shoot it down or make any major revisions.

"Hm. I see. That is very simplistic." He ran his thumb over his fingernails. "But...it just might work. I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Perfect." The malicious tone seemed to come almost naturally to Twilight, a thought that scared her. However, that didn't mean she was going to show it on the outside, instead remaining calm and composed. "I know exactly how to get the other ponies to the surface, too."

"Oh?"

"I was...formerly friends with them, as a matter of fact, before they decided to betray me. That means I know what makes them tick." A wicked smile spread across the alicorn's maw. "Working together with you and the other villains, I can give tips on how to capture them."

"Then tell me. What villains would be best suited for capturing each pony?" From a nearby bowl, Odd Todd nabbed a brocco-nana -- a banana made of broccoli -- and ate away, seemingly hanging on to Twilight's every word.

"Kooky the Clown can easily capture Agent Pinkie Pie. Captivating her with her love of all things kooky, she can trap her instantly." She nodded. "The Stitcher can lure Agent Rarity by using her love of fashion, and then capture her from there."

Odd Todd's jaw dropped a little as Twilight continued her explanation, a surge of confidence flowing through her.

"Jamie Jam can take care of Agent Applejack without a problem. Mr. Lightning is definitely a good fit for the high-flying Agent Rainbow Dash. And Fluttershy can deal with Evil Teddy and her army of teddy bear robots. She loves stuffed animals."

All Odd Todd could do was remain stone-silent as his jaw continued to hang open. After a couple seconds had passed, he closed his jaw and shook his head.

"That's...impressive! For a former agent of Odd Squad, I mean." He chuckled. "Evil genius I may be, but I couldn't tell you which villain was best suited to beat Olive." He stood up. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To get the villains you mentioned. Where else?"

The other villains... Twilight had read on some of the villains, but her interactions with them had been next to non-existent. Still, her interactions with Equestria's villains made her feel like she could take on any of this world's villains.

Besides, she was an Odd Squad agent. They were supposed to save the day.

A couple minutes later, the pair stepped from near-darkness into light. Twilight blinked a couple times to allow her eyes to adjust to the hustle and bustle of the city.

She turned to Odd Todd, only to find him chatting away on his fish phone. To whom, she had not a clue, but she assumed it was one of the villains she had mentioned.

"Great. Mhm. Gotcha. I'll meetcha there, then. See ya!" An evil chuckle bubbled forth as he tucked his phone away behind his back.

"Who was that?"

"Jamie Jam. She's going to gather up the other villains." Odd Todd shook his head. "The Stitcher is a pretty complicated case, though. She only comes to Toronto for one day and then leaves. No one really knows where she goes. And I don't know if she's here today."

"Pity." Twilight kicked the ground with her hoof. "She would have been perfect."

"Mm. No matter. I'm sure Rarity's not so tough." Odd Todd snorted. "Even her name makes her sound delicate."

Yikes. It took Twilight every ounce of strength within her not to come at him and explain how Rarity was the exact opposite of delicate. Hearing him trash-talk her friends ruffled her fur the wrong way, but her brain was screaming at her to keep her cool. Instead, she let out a laugh that she tried to make as genuine and as evil as she could muster. "You are so right."

"Come on. We have to go meet Jamie Jam and the others at Ends and Beginnings."

"Ends and Beginnings?"

"It's a bookstore in town."

It was like a light switch had turned on for the alicorn. Her eyes grew wide as she heard the five words that most anypony could tell her to make her happy. As if on instinct, she began to trot in place happily, wearing a grin on her face.

"Oh, so you're a bookworm, huh?"

"Yeah! I love books! I could talk about them all day! I could read them all day!" A whinny managed to escape her as she began to feel as light as a feather.

Odd Todd raised an eyebrow, as though growing suspicious of the mare, but it didn't last for long. He gave a soft chuckle. "Well, we're not going there to read books. Stay focused."

"Hm?" Twilight, who was now hovering in midair with mighty beats of her wings, gazed at Odd Todd before shaking her head. "Oh! Oh. Right, right, yeah. Um...sorry. Maybe my powers should consist of flying books or something."

Giving a shake of his head, Odd Todd walked away, the still-hovering Twilight following him closely.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Odd Todd and his little...nyeeehhh...pet."

"She happens to be my partner, Jamie. Lay the fuck off."

Outside of the Ends and Beginnings Bookstore were five villains, all clad in various outstanding outfits.

"Ha, I'm shocked you actually got her to team up with you!"

"Terrible pun, Mr. Lightning."

"Uh...would you mind introducing me?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Odd Todd cleared his throat.

"This is Jamie Jam. She loves to cover things in jam using her gloves."

"Which always jam." The woman that spoke had a fashion style that was very reminiscent of '80s cartoons. Sporting a predominantly purple bodice with a purple skirt and a small train, along with off-white-colored pants and black boots, she looked every bit like a villainess. A villainess that loved her own puns, as she gave a laugh that seemed to echo throughout the whole town.

"And this is Mr. Thunder-and-Lightning. Around here, though, we call him Mr. Lightning. Shock and awe is his specialty."

"Damn right!" Like Jamie Jam, Mr. Lightning also appeared like a character from the '80s. With the lightning bolts attached on the sleeves of his black leather jacket, his lightning bolt necklace, and his black leather pants and boots, it wasn't too hard to figure out his name nor what his powers were at first glance.

"Kooky the Clown here is a master at oddness."

"Kookiness."

"Right, sorry. Kookiness. She knows her stuff."

Twilight squinted as she examined the clown that stood in front of her. It wasn't that she was afraid of clowns -- that fear was reserved for her older brother. No, it was the fact that this clown looked...short. Too short. Almost like an Odd Squad agent masquerading as a clown.

Although, if Odd Todd trusts her enough, then she's probably a villain like the rest of them.

"And this is Evil Teddy. She's known for turning teddy bears into deadly robots." Odd Todd pointed at a woman who wore a rather comically-oversized fur coat, with teddy bears attached to the straps. It was the only piece of clothing that made her stand out as a villainess, however -- without the coat, she would look like an average Torontonian with her blue shirt, purple bowtie, and faded blue overalls.

"I have a whole army of 'em! And the best part is...all they need are double-As." Evil Teddy snickered.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is A-" Twilight caught herself just in time before she could refer to herself as Agent Twilight Sparkle. It was so ingrained into her by this point that if she wasn't referring to herself as "Twilight" or "Twilight Sparkle", then she was tacking on the "Agent" title to her name. She cleared her throat. "Oddlight. I'm Oddlight Sparkle."

A silence fell over the villains.

"Her name is a work in progress." Odd Todd explained.

"Anyway, where's The Stitcher?" Twilight inquired, hoping that the last villain of the group was planning on making a dramatic entrance, or was hiding somewhere where she couldn't see.

"She's in Montreal. Thank odd." Jamie Jam rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. "She said she'll be on her way over soon."

"In the meantime...why don't we talk about the plan?" Kooky wore a rather wicked grin that made Twilight's tail nearly stand up on end.

"Of course. But not here." Odd Todd looked around as people walked by, most not even bothering to bat an eye at the congregation of odd criminals standing in front of an innocent bookstore. "Let's head back to my lair."

"But what about The Stitcher?"

"Mr. Lightning, when she gets here, lead her to my lair. You know where it is, right?"

"'Course I do. It's not that new office you're sharin' with those web developers, is it?"

"No. I'm still in the process of moving out of my old one and moving into that new one. But the old one is fine to use." Odd Todd began to walk away from the group. "Come on, everyone."

With Twilight at the forefront, Kooky, Jamie Jam and Evil Teddy followed him as Mr. Lightning watched them leave.

"Ugh...you have waaaaay too much stuff in here. Would be better with a little more jam." Jamie snorted, nearly stumbling over an unidentified object on the floor.

"Meh. You get used to it." Odd Todd replied nonchalantly, although he still made a break for the second door and opened it to give Jamie and the others a little more light.

Evil Teddy chuckled. "I see you haven't changed this place a bit."

"Apart from all the new ideas and sketches on the whiteboards? No, I haven't." Odd Todd moved a couple boxes aside and let out a heavy exhale. "Go ahead, take a seat."

Jamie, Teddy and Kooky all expressed confusion at the lack of chairs in the space.

"On the exercise balls." Twilight pointed out. The villains then muttered some unintelligible things, going to get the exercise balls tucked away in various corners of the room and sitting down.

"Now." Odd Todd cleared his throat. "As I'm sure Jamie Jam has told you, Oddlight has a plan as to her first odd deed. Oddlight?" He gestured to the alicorn mare, who excitedly told her so-called "fellow villains" about her plan.

"That's it? Just capturing them? Do we...kill them or what?" Kooky scoffed. "Doesn't sound very kooky to me."

"It is a rather basic plan." Twilight explained. "But it will help us spread oddness in another world besides this one."

Odd Todd widened his eyes, not having gotten wind of this advantage.

"You see, I was once friends with these ponies and lived in the other world, called Equestria. We would save Equestria all the time from all sorts of villains." Twilight's expression darkened. "But one by one, they betrayed me. Left me for their own selfish desires. Left me in order to..." She looked to the sky. "...defeat oddness."

"They didn't join Odd Squad, did they?" Jamie asked, appearing to hang on to the pony's every word.

"Yes. I did, as well, if only to infiltrate it from the inside. But I soon became sickened with the life of Odd Squad, and I left to join Odd Todd instead. If you ask me..." She took a moment to stretch out her back legs. "The world could do with a little oddness. Making everything normal is just boring."

It was then that Odd Todd had an "aha" moment, completely tuning out Twilight and feeling the gears turn in his head.

A young girl of about 11, suffering from the loss of her old partner and certainly not feeling confident about her new one as she made her way out of Ms. O's office.

A young boy of about 11, having absolutely no regrets in what he did, misleading his former partner and his former boss to allow an odd criminal to keep committing crimes, and paying the price for it as he stared up at Ms. O's office.

"Todd!"

He watched as she descended the stairs, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Please...please...y-you're not really gonna take your firing in stride, are you? I-it was just an honest mistake!"

"You keep tellin' yourself that, Scribbles, and maybe one day, some miracle from the heavens or whatever will make it come true."

"Todd, please! Don't leave!" The girl had tears running down her face now, making a firm landing on the bullpen floor by jumping over a couple stairs. "We've been partners for so long. Ms. O must've made a mistake, we should go back up and explain to her the si-"

"What is there to explain?" Todd coolly responded, raising a hand to stop his ex-partner from speaking. "What I did was very much intentional in every sense of the word."

"But...why?" The girl's voice began to crack. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"You have terrible listening skills." Todd scoffed. "Dancing houses are interesting. It brings some spice to this dull and boring-bore-bore town. I wouldn't expect such a low-rate, normalcy-loving, always-scribbling-in-her-stupid-fucking-notepad-like-an idiot to understand."

The girl began to sob now, her body quivering. But "sympathy" nor "empathy" were not words that existed in Todd's vocabulary. He shook his head and turned his back to her.

"Hey, now, Scribbles...it's okay. In a couple months' time, you'll be bathed in oddness. It'll be so close, you can practically taste it. Feel it. Be consumed by it." He smiled, although it certainly held no trace of friendliness. "You'll come around. Eventually."

Making a rather odd hand gesture that was hard for the girl to describe, Todd sauntered out of Precinct 13579's Headquarters, leaving his former partner a sobbing, grieving mess. Not that he cared, of course -- he had bigger and better plans for what was to come.

That was many months ago. He could remember the entire ordeal clear as day. Looking at Twilight now, she reminded him of a sort of flipped-gender version of him. Like the oddness-loving Olive -- the Oddlive? -- he had wanted for so long, but never had.

It almost made him feel...proud, in a way. Even in spite of her being a horse.

"That...is quite a story." Evil Teddy remarked, trying to sound unimpressed, although her awe still shone through.

"Yes. Tragic as it may be, I have no regrets in joining Odd Todd. So I hope you all will join me in enacting revenge on my former friends...these Odd Squad agents...and squash 'em like bugs."

Odd Todd shook his head, snapping himself out of his own trance. His eyes met the three villains, all muttering amongst each other. Finally, they broke free and nodded.

"I'm glad to help out." Kooky said.

"Me too. Sounds fun." Evil Teddy smirked.

"Can't wait to jam things up!" Jamie Jam did a fistbump.

"G-good! Good. I'm glad you're all on board. Now we just need the input of Mr. Lightning and The Stitcher. If they agree, then we can move forward with the plan." Odd Todd smiled, although anyone who was an expert in the realm of body language could tell that it wasn't a genuine, happy smile.

"Yo!"

As if summoned, the two villains in question suddenly appeared behind Odd Todd and Twilight, causing the former to give a scream far unfitting for a villain and the latter's tail to stick straight up like a cat's.

"H-h-how did you-"

"Natural ability, that's how." Mr. Lightning gave a hearty laugh.

"Uh...anyway, Oddlight, meet The Stitcher. She's a world-famous fashion designer that makes all the villains' outfits." Odd Todd gestured to the woman that was with Mr. Lightning.

Much like Jamie Jam, Kooky, and Mr. Lightning, Stitcher's outfit was very indicative of her villainy. With her short black bob-cut, her black shirt and red overcoat, her golden bead-filled necklace, and her sparkly capris and heels, she definitely didn't look like an average Torontonian -- especially given the oversized cabinet pendant that hung around her neck. Twilight had to wonder how she didn't topple over from the weight of it.

"I could even make yours, my little pony. If you're so inclined. That Odd Squad suit looks horrid on you."

Twilight was shocked by the slight British accent the villainess had. Rarity had a similar accent, and it made the alicorn a little uneasy over just how similar the two were to each other.

But the uneasiness soon washed over her quickly as she nodded. "Yes, please."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Mm...something like Odd Todd's. Multicolored, odd, but matches my fur, mane and tail."

"Got it."

"We're not here to discuss clothing, dumbasses." Odd Todd snapped. "Oddlight, relay the plan to Mr. Lightning and The Stitcher."

And relay she did. Surprisingly, both of them agreed quickly to carrying out the plan.

Yes, I've got everypo- er, everybody on board. Now, to set it in motion.

Twilight began to walk to the door. "I'm leaving for a quick bathroom break. Be right back."

"All right, hurry." Odd Todd remarked, watching her go. He couldn't help feeling that Twilight was up to something, although he wasn't sure what. A persistent twinge in his stomach seemed to agree with him as he stared in the direction of where she was going.

"Odd Todd? You okay, buddy?"

The voice of Jamie Jam snapped him out of it, and he blinked a couple times. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine."

Jamie didn't seem convinced, but didn't press further on the matter either, instead hitting up a conversation with Evil Teddy.

It wasn't hard to find where the bathroom was. Although Twilight had no need to go there, she felt it was a safer place instead of right outside the door to Odd Todd's lair where she was more likely to be heard.

Pushing the door open, she unclipped her badge phone and punched in the numbers 7 and 5, the badge number of one Agent Applejack. The phone immediately began giving ringback tones, and after about the second one, she began to sweat.

"Howdy, Agent Applejack speakin'!"

"Applejack? Oh, thank Celestia!"

"Twilight? Where are ya? You ain't in any danger, now are ya?!"

"No, I'm not. But I do need you to gather the girls and meet at..." Twilight stopped and tried to remember. "Trinity Bellwoods Park, I think it's called. There's a tube entrance that's there, if my memory serves right."

"Gotcha. You startin' the plan?"

"I sure am. All the villains are on board. Get ready."

"Oh I'm ready." Applejack chuckled. "We'll split up when we get there. Best of luck to ya!"

Twilight snapped her phone closed and clipped it back onto her suit. Taking a deep breath, she opted to teleport back to the lair instead of trotting down the same path leading back to it.

As soon as she was there, the first things she heard were shocked gasps from the villains.

"Apologies. I have teleportation abilities. Alicorn magic and all that." Twilight waved a dismissive hoof. "Anyway, if you all would follow me, I will take you to the site of my plan."

"It's finally happening?!"

"Yes, Kooky, it's happening." Twilight smirked before once again leaving the room, only this time, all six villains followed her eagerly.

Not a half-hour passed before Twilight and her group arrived at the park. Feeling confidence rush through her body, she quickly got into leader mode.

"Okay. Now, I want you all to split up and find those wretched ponies. Use your natural abilities to lure them closer to you if you have to." Twilight snickered. "When you find them, bring them to this exact spot."

She aimed a magic blast directly at a nearby tree, making a ring in the wood. Once she was done, she took out a red flag from hammerspace and tied it inside of the engraved ring.

"Wait, what about me?"

"Quality control." Her answer to Odd Todd's question was given without breaking a sweat, something that made her nervous as she briefly worried about getting too into the role of competent villainess. She shook it off quickly, however, making sure it took a back burner to her mission. "If anything goes wrong, you'll be a backup."

He said nothing, instead choosing to side-eye her with a look that had an emotion she couldn't quite place before nodding.

"Now go and get 'em!" Twilight shouted. Kooky, Mr. Lightning, Stitcher, Jamie and Evil Teddy all took off at speeds the alicorn had to assume were speeds specifically reserved for escaping Odd Squad custody.

A smirk settled on her maw as she watched them go.

It's happening. We'll be close to reforming Odd Todd soon enough. And the best part is...

He won't ever know what hit him.

Or would he...?

The Captures

Jamie Jam took off running. Her feet took her across the park, past the stares of people wondering what was happening, all while she kept her eyes open for one certain orange horse.

Certainly it wouldn't be hard, finding such a brightly-colored animal in a park that was filled with greens and browns...right?

After running for quite some time, Jamie stopped to catch her breath.

Shit...this isn't working. I need a different approach.

Twilight had tasked me with Applejack...who loves apples. So perhaps some jam would liven things up.

Smirking, she unscrewed the plaid cap on her left glove and extended it out towards a nearby tree. The spot where the cap was began to glow a bright purple before jam shot out and covered the entire tree in it.

She was delighted with her work, and let loose an evil laugh as she got to work unscrewing the cap on her other glove.

"Now y'all stop right there!"

Jamie turned, only to come face-to-face with an orange pony wearing a stetson hat, with her hair and tail tied up. She was surprised by her appearance, and raised an eyebrow. "Agent...Applejack?"

"That's m' name." The pony tipped her hat.

Who the hell names... Jamie shook her head. Ugh, shut up, I don't have time for this!

"Well. You look like you're in a bit of a jam, aren't you?" Jamie snickered. "Having to face me and all."

This pun only received an unamused snort from Applejack, which Jamie met right back with a scoff. "Mm. Anyway, if you're not in a jam...then I'm happy to put you into one." Her gloves began to warm up, each of them eliciting a purple glow before shooting jam at her opponent.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn't counted on Applejack being so agile, as the orange Earth pony quickly dodged the attack without breaking a sweat.

Jamie growled. Oh, fuck me! Now I have to use strategy?! Against one stupid horse?! She couldn't help but let out a scream of frustration as she fired up her gloves again and shot out another round of jam, which Applejack once again dodged.

This act went on for quite some time, with Jamie continuing to fire jam at Applejack while the farmer dodged effortlessly. For her, it was quite the fun game. For Jamie, it just served as more fuel for the fire that was her anger.

At some point, her brain discarded any and all sense of rationality. She lunged for the pony and pinned her down to the ground using one hand while firing up the glove on her other hand.

"Finally...I finally got you..."

"Aw, shucks. Gotta say, ya took me by surprise there." Applejack chuckled. "Ya got my respect, Jamie Jam. Hit me with everythin' ya got."

A squelching sound was heard, and everything fell silent.

The Stitcher wandered about her section of the park as she began to look for the pony she had been tasked with. Exhaling, she retrieved her notebook from her hammerspace spine and began flipping through it.

Such a shame I never used this to record Odd Squad agents... Every entry in the notebook featured a villain whom had been a client of hers, listing their measurements, personal information, and weaknesses. But since villains were her only clientele, she had no entries on any Odd Squad agents -- which included Rarity.

Tucking the notebook away, she went back to looking, hoping that luck would come her way and she could make an easy capture with no struggle.

"Oh, yes, darling, I must say, that is a lovely shade of gray!"

Huh. That was faster than I expected.

Making her way over to Rarity, she waved. "Hello there!"

"Hm?" Rarity turned from the man she had been conversing with, who suddenly began to look panicked. "Oh! Why hello! And who might you be?"

"My name is The Stitcher. I am in charge of making all of the outfits for all of the villains around here, and-" The villainess paused as a realization hit her. "Hold on, now. Why aren't you terrified?"

"Is it not obvious?" Rarity tilted her head. "Fashion designers can always spot each other. And I am always happy to befriend another fashionista, whether she is a villain or not."

This supposedly foolish behavior -- coming from an Odd Squad agent, no less -- took Stitcher aback. She blinked a couple times. Is she insane? Just casually striking up a conversation with me? Does she even know who I am?!

Wait...perhaps...I can use this to my advantage...

"Little pony..."

"It's Agent Rarity, darling. But just Rarity will do fine."

"Rarity..." The Stitcher exhaled. "Would you like to come along with me to meet some...friends of mine? I'm sure they would love to see you."

"Would I? Why, of course. Lead the way." Rarity nodded and bowed down, as though she was a servant to a queen.

Odd...she's acting so casual about this. Perhaps she's dumber than she looks.

Stitcher smirked.

That's all I need, then.

Together, both hero and villain walked back towards the group that was expecting them, chatting about fashion and trendy styles.

Three teddy bear robots marched through the park. People stopped what they were doing and stared, some beginning to panic while others simply shrugged and went about their day.

Following them was one Evil Teddy, who had quite the sinister smirk on her face.

"Now remember: when you find Fluttershy, bring her here to me!" she commanded, letting loose an evil laugh as she watched her automated ambulating minions.

Fifteen minutes passed.

Evil Teddy was growing upset, and her robots still hadn't come back with her enemy.

Having stopped to rest by a tree, she had sent them to different areas of the park to try and capture Fluttershy. Unfortunately, this idea hadn't bore fruit yet, as either Fluttershy was a tricky pony to find, or all of their batteries had run dry and they had died mid-ambulation.

She closed her eyes and sighed, reaching behind her back and pulling out a small teddy bear that was nothing more than a stuffed toy. It was rather battered and torn, giving the indication that this was the plaything of a young Evil Teddy that had grown up with her, but no one really knew the story behind her and the bear.

Hugging it tight, she began to fall into slumber.

Some time later, she was awakened by the sound of one of her teddy bear robots racing towards her with a pink-and-yellow...thing in its hand. She watched as it fell, taking the thing down with it and having a hard time getting back up.

Groaning and rubbing her eyes, she stood up and walked over to the robot, noticing that the "thing" in question was none other than Agent Fluttershy, looking rather timid and scared but surprisingly making no attempt to escape.

"Ugh..." Evil Teddy shook her head in an effort to clear away the brain fog. "You found her, huh? Here, give me a paw."

She took the paw of the robot and grunted as she helped it to get back on two feet once again. Once she was sure it was okay, she made a mad grab for Fluttershy, who yelped as she was suddenly picked up.

"You." The villainess squinted. "It took my robots long enough to find you. But, I got a good nap out of the deal, so it wasn't a total loss."

She began to walk away as the other two teddy bear robots came running forth. "Come on! We're heading back!"

Meanwhile, a small smile settled on Fluttershy's maw.

Other villains knew Kooky as just someone who enjoyed everything kooky, but truthfully, she was much more. Kookiness was an art that was at a level far exceeding simple oddness -- it was about being eccentric and lively in addition to disrupting the balance of normalcy. Kooky had dedicated herself to it for as long as she could remember, and now, she was about to meet someone else who dabbled in the art of kookiness.

Her eyes scanned the area for any sign of the pony that she had been tasked to capture. Surely, it would be a battle of kooky versus kooky, butting heads to see who would "out-kook" the other. It was almost thrilling.

The loud sound of a cannon firing made her jump a little as she looked for the source of the sound. Off in the distance, she could spot a pink pony wheeling a rather small blue cannon in front of her, and she tilted her head.

Is that...Agent Pinkie Pie? That's my opponent?

The clown took in the appearance of the one approaching her, with her curly pink mane and tail, her bright blue eyes, and the smile that was on her maw. She was almost taken aback, expecting someone more wild and insane.

She looks...competent, for someone carrying a cannon with her. She had to wonder what the weapon was used for, anyway.

"Hiya!"

A voice shook Kooky out of her thoughts, and she looked down to find the person -- or pony, in this case -- that she had been eyeing.

"Who are you? No, no, wait, lemme guess...Chuckles! Giggles! Laughs-a-Lot! Oh, I knew a clown named Laughs-a-Lot, he was so funny!"

As the pony continued to ramble on, Kooky struggled to comprehend exactly who was conversing with her. All she knew of the pink-furred equine was what Oddlight had told her, which wasn't very much.

"I, uh..." The pony stopped talking and looked up at Kooky as she spoke. "Are you...Agent Pinkie Pie? From Odd Squad?"

"The one and only!" Pinkie giggled. "What's your name?"

"It's Kooky. Kooky the Clown. But you can just call me Kooky."

Pinkie let out a gasp. "Kooky?! Oh, that's a great name for a clown! What made ya decide on that name?"

"Well, I am a master in the art of kookiness."

"Is that like oddness?"

Kooky gave a scoff of disbelief. "No, of course not! It's more advanced. See, kookiness is all about being wacky and eccentric and random, not just making strange things happen. It is my stock-in-trade, you see."

"Ohhhhh!" Pinkie nodded. "I see! Well, in that case, you should have one of my party cannons!"

"Party...cannon?"

"Yeah! It can create a party anytime, anywhere, and all I have to do is push...this!" Pinkie rested her front hooves on top of the cannon as her forelock pressed a small purple button that rested on top of the cannon. What followed was a loud bang as streamers and confetti shot out of it, followed by a squeak.

Kooky blinked a couple times. "It...looks kooky, for sure. But this seems like something far more fitting for a partygoer. Which I'm not...really."

"You don't throw parties? Haven't you ever been invited to one?"

"Of course not, I-" Kooky stopped as something clicked in her brain.

Wait...why am I conversing with her? I'm on a mission. Everyone's waiting for me.

"Uh, say, Pinkie..." The clown fiddled with her gloves. "You wouldn't object to being taken to meet a couple...friends of mine, would you?"

Pinkie scoffed. "Of course not! It's always fun making new friends! Just lead the way, maestro!"

Kooky widened her eyes. She certainly didn't expect that kind of a response. But she certainly didn't say anything about it, and smiled. "Sure thing."

And so, the two most fun-loving creatures in town, on two opposite sides of the alliance spectrum, made their way back, the hero bouncing along willy-nilly while the villain wore a satisfied smirk on her face.

The crackling sounds of lightning were the only thing flooding Mr. Lightning's ears. He had his powers all charged up and ready to go, and a plan on how to defeat his enemy to boot that was sure to go perfectly well, given the circumstances.

Instead of keeping his gaze ahead of him, he turned it towards the sky, using a pair of binoculars to help him see better. A blue equine in a blue sky was rather hard to find, but he was confident that he would find her.

The only problem he had was that his enemy had agility on her side. Agility that he did not have.

After about five minutes, he realized that finding said enemy was going to be harder than he originally thought. Sighing, he lowered the binoculars and looked around for something that could put him at a higher elevation, one where it would be easier to see the sky.

Ah, a tree. That'll do, I guess.

The tree was rather tall, tall enough that it could easily pass for a Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center if it were the right kind. Conveniently enough, it also had branches that served as good leverage for him to climb up without falling back down to the ground.

Once he was at a point high enough, he used his binoculars to look for his enemy once again, although his search was yielding no results.

"Uhh...what are you doing in a tree?"

A voice snapped Mr. Lightning out of his anger-laced internal thoughts, and he looked down to find that the source of the voice was, to his shock, his enemy. One Agent Rainbow Dash.

What the hell? You gotta be kiddin' me! Why isn't she in the sky? Bitch has wings!

He promptly tucked his binoculars away behind his back and climbed down. Whatever plan he had for catching Rainbow in the sky was now rendered moot, and he certainly wasn't happy about it. He could feel the electric power in his hands die down.

"Well, I was..." Mr. Lightning tried to think of a good excuse. "I was tryin' to meet up with you!"

"Why?"

"To..." He shook his head. "Actually, ya know what? Ya wanna have a real shocking time?"

"Uh, sure, I guess." Rainbow shrugged. "What do you wanna do? Hold a race or something?"

"No, no, nothin' like that." Mr. Lightning shook his head. "I wanna take ya to meet some friends of mine. They'll get a real kick outta you. C'mon, they're waitin' at a cafe in town, I think!"

Shockingly, the Odd Squad agent didn't object, and instead, she simply shrugged once more and followed him.

As the pair began walking (or in Rainbow's case, gliding), Mr. Lightning resisted the urge to smirk. He had gotten what he wanted, and in any other instance he would be ecstatic, but something was nagging at him.

Why is that agent so nonchalant about all this? Does she know something we don't or am I just imaginin' things?

The five villains each returned with their assigned enemies in tow. Once everyone had come back, Twilight nodded.

"Good job, everypo- uh, everyone! I see you've all captured the agents."

"Oh? Are these your friends, darling?"

"Nice to meet you all! I'm Agent Pinkie Pie and-"

"You've gotta be kidding me."

The Stitcher, Mr. Lightning and Kooky all exchanged looks with each other as if to say, Did we really all think of the same tactic?

Twilight blinked as well, taken aback by her friends all having fallen for the same trick. Exactly how dumb are these villains? They certainly got a knock in intelligence points from the last time I encountered them on the field.

"For what it's worth..." Jamie Jam piped up. "I captured Agent Applejack with brute strength."

"And I captured Agent Fluttershy with help from my teddy bear army. Not sure what silly, stupid tactic you three came up with...but it worked." Evil Teddy gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Anyway..." Twilight clapped her hooves twice in order to get everyone's attention. "Now that we have the ponies captured, we will take them to our supervillain lair." She turned to Odd Todd. "Would you happen to know where that is?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah, of course. Follow me, everyone!" Odd Todd made a waving motion with his hand before walking off. The other villains followed him accordingly, grabbing their targets and gripping them tight so they had no chance of escaping, much to their protest.

Mr. Lightning, however, paused before following the others. Holding Rainbow Dash under his arm, he turned and fixed Twilight with a suspicious gaze, one that chilled her to her very soul. She held her breath, thinking he was going to call her out and accuse her of being a mole.

Oh Celestia, please, no! We're so close, we can't fail now!

He took his eyes off of her and walked off.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. The mere few seconds that were spent with his gaze boring into her felt like centuries. She could feel her heart rate slow down, and she galloped after the others to catch up with them.

She watched as Evil Teddy and Kooky conversed amongst themselves, Pinkie and Fluttershy having ceased their protesting as they were carried. Likewise, Jamie Jam and Stitcher struck up a conversation, each of them holding Applejack and Rarity tightly by their scruffs as though they were cats. The two partners had also ceased protesting, and took the time to exchange smiles when their captors weren't looking.

All four ponies tried to smile and nod to Twilight, but she wasn't paying attention to them. Instead, she was fixated on Mr. Lightning walking alongside Odd Todd and muttering something unintelligible to him. The alicorn shifted her gaze to Rainbow Dash in the hopes that she could somehow translate what he was saying, but the Pegasus mare was unable to swivel her head to her left -- for Twilight to converse with her, she had to walk alongside her and Mr. Lightning, and after what had transpired, there was no way she was going to risk that.

Her heart rate began to quicken again, and she started to sweat. Everything that she had worked so hard to do, every piece of advice she had been given by both her friends and her fellow princesses...it was all going to amount to nothing if she was found out.

All she had to do was hope that if these villains were dumb enough to have the same exact ploy for capturing their enemies, then they would be dumb enough to not sniff her out until she and her friends exposed themselves.

But hope was a rather tricky thing, and sometimes, it doesn't work out the way one plans it to.

The Attack

The supervillain lair wasn't quite the foreboding place Twilight had imagined it to be. Instead, it looked to be more akin to a town hall building in appearance and a community center in design. With its wooden, pockmarked walls, its many rooms, and even a swimming pool (that was just installed last year, according to Odd Todd), she could hardly believe that the villains of this world would set up shop here. None of Equestria's villains would, that's for sure.

As the group descended down a flight of stairs, Twilight took the time to glance at the pictures on the walls. All of them consisted of villains from both past and present, and even some ones that looked futuristic.

Sweet Celestia...is this what Odd Squad has to fight? Is this what they've been fighting against ever since cavepony times? she thought, fiddling with her own badge. Now I understand. I know why this world has to be saved. They're just kids...they shouldn't have to face threats like this. Threats that try to destroy the very world they live in. But damn it, that doesn't mean they're not going to try. Even if they stake their lives on it.

It was, perhaps, the same reason that she and her friends had saved Equestria many times over. They loved the home they lived in, and if anyone tried to threaten it or destroy it, they had no qualms with stepping up to the task to save it. To preserve its purity, its hope, its freedom.

We both have similar motives...we both live our lives in similar ways...I was so foolish for not realizing that earlier.

The group arrived at a room that looked much like a meeting room. Folding chairs lined the walls, and there was a platform and a podium with a microphone that stood at the front. Twilight couldn't explain it, but for some reason, the wooden walls made the place feel more...homely. Perhaps because she was a mole, a hero plaguing the villains' side undercover, who was "becoming the mask", so to speak.

Twilight magically conjured up some thick rope, levitating it behind her without turning around. "Put the ponies down on their backs and use this to tie their hooves together."

The villains complied, with the ponies shooting concerned glances at Twilight. In response, the alicorn merely pulled five necklaces with gems attached to them from hammerspace. Each gem was in the shape of the ponies' cutie marks.

"What are those?" Odd Todd asked, in the midst of helping Mr. Lightning tie up Rainbow Dash.

"Power limiters." Twilight replied, levitating them towards the villains. "Look at the marks on each pony's flank. Put these necklaces on them and make sure that they correctly correspond with each mark."

Jamie, Evil Teddy, Kooky and Stitcher all complied without hesitation. Mr. Lightning, however, was a little skeptical, eyeing the red-lightning-bolt-studded necklace with intrigue.

"Hey, Oddlight. Ya sure this is a power limiter? Seems like it does the opposite to me!"

Twilight's breath nearly caught in her throat as she forced herself to remain cool. "No, no. Uh, no. Believe me, Mr. Lightning, I crafted these myself. Do you think I would make such items that would give power to our enemies?"

Her question was met with the same suspicious look.

"No...no I don't." Mr. Lightning began to head for the door on the other side of the room. "Anyway, I'm just gonna head to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Fluttershy's eyes widened as her gaze shifted to Twilight.

Is that...that's where...

A falsetto scream made her jump.

Mr. Lightning rushed back inside and slammed the door. "It-it's a setup! She's trickin' us! I knew it!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jamie asked.

"There- there are animals waiting outside!"

"Animals?" Odd Todd laughed. "Oh, you mean Odd Squad agents, right?"

"No, not them!" Mr. Lightning speed-walked over to Odd Todd and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him to the door. "Go and see for yourself!"

The pair went out the door.

"Holy FUCK!"

Twilight smirked.

Kooky, Jamie and Stitcher all raced to the door and poked their heads out. What met their gaze was a large crowd of animals, ranging from bears to moose to birds to bunnies -- and needless to say, they weren't necessarily happy to see them.

"Wh- why are there animals in our supervillain lair?!" Kooky blinked, and then smiled. "It's kind of kooky."

"What do they want?" Jamie asked, her tone completely full of panic.

"Everyone, back inside, now!" Odd Todd ordered, making a shooing motion with his hands as everyone made their way back inside the room. He slammed the door shut, heavy breaths wracking his body.

A pause hung in the air.

Mr. Lightning extended his index finger towards Twilight.

"You."

"Huh?"

"You sent those animals here, didn't you?! Admit it!"

"Mr. Lightning, stop it! I trained Oddlight plenty in the ways of oddness. There's no way she would fight back against us." Odd Todd scoffed. "Maybe you took one too many lightning bolts to the brain."

"No, I-" Mr. Lightning stammered. "Look at her. She's from another world. She's wearing an Odd Squad agent suit. Doesn't she make you even a tiny bit suspicious?!"

By this point, Twilight would most likely be panicking out of her mind about how the plan was falling apart before her very eyes. About how she and her friends were all dead to rights. About how she would be letting so many people down -- Ms. O, Olive and Otto, the princesses.

But the truth was, these villains were playing into the plan exactly.

While she hadn't anticipated Mr. Lightning's outburst, the point of the matter was that five of the six Elements of Harmony were on her friends. All she needed was one more to begin the reformation.

But before that...

"Oddlight?" Odd Todd looked at her with an expression of anguish and hurt. "Is this true? Were you really just faking turning to the side of oddness?"

Twilight remained silent, ducking her head low so that no one could see her expression. The three villainesses looked genuinely surprised, while Mr. Lightning was about ready to blow his stack and send thunderbolts raining down on the alicorn hard enough to make Zeus shed a tear.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her horn became surrounded by a purple aura.

The rope holding her five friends in capture followed suit.

She slowly untied the knots holding their hooves together, freeing them.

"Unbelievable!" Jamie's eyes widened.

Twilight let go of the rope, allowing the others to stand on their own hooves and march over to her side.

Odd Todd looked genuinely speechless.

"That is correct." The alicorn pulled out a tiara affixed with a gem matching her cutie mark from hammerspace, resting it on her head.

"I knew it! Those aren't power limiters! What are they?!" Mr. Lightning's voice was practically a shout. Twilight could feel the fire blazing in his eyes, but didn't flinch.

"These are the Elements of Harmony from our world. When used together, they will purify you and turn you to the side of good. And that is exactly what we intend to do!" She gestured to her five friends, who all gave nods of agreement.

"No! I don't wanna turn to the side of good!" Kooky exclaimed. "I've been kooky for so long, there's- there's no way..."

With her large clown shoes, she made her way over to the door on the other side, and flung it open. She was instantly met by the crowd of animals, all growling at her.

"I wouldn't try to escape if I were you. Fluttershy's animals are very well-trained, and they're very strong."

Kooky whimpered. Her eyes darted around, trying to find any means of escape. But there were none -- she quickly came to the conclusion that even if she did manage to escape, some animal in the crowd would catch her within ten seconds, given her lack of speed.

She closed the door, giving a shaky sigh.

"Would you believe that none of you" - she gestured to Jamie, Kooky, Mr. Lightning and Stitcher - "are our targets?"

"So you're not gonna reform us?!" Kooky asked, giving an exhale of relief and clutching her hand to her chest.

"No, no. We're still going to reform you." Twilight walked towards Odd Todd. "But our primary target...is you."

"M-me?"

"Yes, you. Don't think we don't know what you did to Olive." Twilight scoffed. "You killed many of her co-workers and caused her trauma. Trauma that haunted her up until very recently. It was very lucky for you that she saw us coming here and defeating you as a chance to better herself and heal. So instead of going straight out and killing you, as Ms. O wants, we're going to reform you. Because I believe that you can do good in this world. That you can use your powers for good instead of evil."

Something snapped in Odd Todd right then and there. Whatever shock he had been going through completely wore off. What festered in its place was rage. Pure, unadulterated rage.

"Let me tell you something. If that scrappy little bitch had said yes to my offer of joining the Todd Squad, we wouldn't fucking be here right now. Instead, she's stuck with people that don't fucking support her. She's stuck with people that want normalcy in the world. Well, guess what? 'Normal' is a relative term! If normalcy is achieved, there will always be at least one person that fights back against it because it doesn't fit their perceived definition of what 'normal' is!" Odd Todd clenched his fists. "Odd Squad's modus operandi is flawed, and that's not even getting into their own hypocrisy."

He scoffed. "I had my suspicions on you from the beginning. Seems I've been proven right. And it seems Mr. Lightning has been proven right too."

"Damn right! It was that one that made me suspicious!" Mr. Lightning pointed at Rainbow Dash, who held a hoof to her chest in a "who, me?" gesture. "Actin' all calm when I captured her. No Odd Squad agent acts calm, they act cocky 'cause they think they got the upper hand!"

"That's not true!"

"SILENCE!" The shout from Odd Todd caused Rarity to take a step back in shock. "I think I've made my point quite clear. I see no reason to continue with my rant. But if my words don't sway you..." He chuckled. "Then go ahead. Try and reform us with your stupid little gemstones. See how far you get."

"Gladly."

The gemstone on Twilight's tiara began to glow a bright purple. The light was blinding enough for the five villains to shield their eyes. As the ponies began to float, the pink butterfly gemstone on Fluttershy's necklace shot out two bright, thin, rainbow-colored tendrils, one on each side, which slowly connected with the gemstones in the other necklaces.

As the ponies' eyes began to glow white, the two tendrils made their way to Twilight's gemstone and connected. Before the villains knew it, a multicolored laser was speeding towards them. It hit them dead-center, much to their dismay as they began to let out horrific cries of pain and anguish.

However, the only one who wasn't showing any sort of reaction at all was the villain whom they were primarily targeting.

The laser faded away, and the ponies floated back down to the ground. Kooky, Jamie, Stitcher, Mr. Lightning and Teddy were all lying on the ground and moaning in pain as bolt-shaped remnants of the laser crackled above them.

"No way! It can't be!" Pinkie cried out.

But, to her and the others' horror, it was.

By some miracle, Odd Todd had survived the blast completely unscathed. He stood in place, a smirk slowly spreading across his face.

"It...didn't work?"

"Of course it didn't...Agent Twilight!" Odd Todd let loose his signature evil laugh, a shrill cackle that echoed throughout the room. "Your most powerful magic won't work in this world. Because you see, I don't wish to reform. There is a reason why I'm called Odd Todd. I won't rest until Odd Squad is on their knees, completely begging for mercy. Begging to be consumed by the wonder and whimsy of oddness."

"Twilight!" Applejack called out, giving a single nod to her as though reminding her what had to come next.

The alicorn gave a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. "I didn't want to have to do this, Odd Todd. None of us did."

Her Element of Magic began to glow once more.

"But we don't have a choice."

The sound of a yelp and a thump was heard.

Twilight opened her eyes, the glow of her Element dying down as she tried to take in what she saw.

"Your life is forfeit, Todd."

"It's Agent Olive- gah!" Kooky attempted to lift her head, but she was still in massive pain from the laser and didn't get very far, only being able to identify the agent that had somehow, some way, gotten so close to Odd Todd that she had knocked him on his stomach and had placed one foot on him to keep him steady.

"Olive?" Twilight was taken aback, blinking rapidly as though trying to confirm that what she was seeing wasn't some kind of dream. "What are you doing?"

"I told you I wanted to kill him, didn't I?" Olive's voice was more rigid and steely than usual, in a way that it shook Twilight to the core almost as much as Mr. Lightning's stares of suspicion. "And did you not say that you don't want to use your Elements of Harmony to kill him?"

"Well...yes. But I talked to the princesses and they said that by all means, we should kill him using the Elements if reforming him doesn't work."

"Please. The Elements couldn't reform him. It's like he said -- they don't work in this world. What makes you think they're going to effectively kill him?"

"Olive, you don't-"

"Shut up, you impudent asshole." The agent dug her heel into Odd Todd's spine, causing him to wince from the pain.

Twilight's eyes widened. She's right. The Elements are the most powerful magic known in Equestria. If they don't work here...then they don't work here. She leaned over to her left at the four villains who were still moaning and groaning in pain, some attempting to sit up but ultimately failing. At best, it seriously wounds people. But Odd Todd...he's just too powerful. He's not like the other villains.

"She has a point, darling." Rarity rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "We cannot reform him using the Elements. So our next best option would be to kill him."

"Ah know this has ya troubled." Applejack spoke. "But just think of all the bad things he's done t' Odd Squad."

"And think of what he's done to Olive!" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "If she wants to kill him, then he should be killed!"

"It would be the best option for both worlds." Fluttershy nodded. "You did mention that the princesses had told you he could go into Equestria and begin causing trouble there. If Olive killed him right here..."

"Yeah! There's no way a big ol' meanie-pants like Odd Todd should be allowed to cause Odd Squad more harm!"

Twilight listened to her friends' input. She was quite surprised that Fluttershy in particular was all for Olive killing Todd -- normally, any word relating to the act wouldn't dare be brought up by her. If she wants Odd Todd dead, then...

By this point, Odd Todd only had fear and pain written all over his face. Olive, meanwhile, smirked, seeming to sadistically enjoy the aura of distress that radiated off of her former partner.

"All right, Olive." Twilight stepped back, and the other five ponies followed suit. "If you want to kill him...then we won't stop you."

"Good." Olive reached behind her back, moving her hand around as though digging for something in her hammerspace spine. "Now, let me decide on a good murder weapon...such a pity we have a Chaos-inator but no Murder-inator in our arsenal. Gotta ask Oscar about that."

"O-Olive, please, look, I'm sorry!" Odd Todd stammered. "All I wanted was for...for you to join me in causing oddness! To drop Odd Squad and team up with me! To experience the thrill of us being partners again! Is that something you would stake my life over?!"

Olive laughed, although it wasn't one of her typical genuine rare laughs -- it was a laugh that held absolutely no niceties within it, a laugh that was filled with poison of one of the most harmful degrees. "Is that a rhetorical question?! You motherfucking dumbass. A simple 'I'm sowwy, Owive' isn't going to make up for the shit you've done, Todd. For fuck's sake, you murdered kids. Kids! Innocent kids! And for the kids you didn't kill, you certainly fucked up their lives. You even had the audacity to try and kill someone that, in any other instance, would be immortal! All because of your selfish desire to try and make the world more odd."

Her hand grasped something long, steely, and hard.

"Well, you know what they say...living well is the best revenge. And surprise, motherfucker! I'm alive, relatively healthy, and with a new partner that certainly doesn't have a stick up his ass all the time blabbing about how normalcy sucks. He's been a great teammate. We're like brother and sister. I couldn't imagine life without him."

She pulled out a tool that Twilight, and Odd Todd, were both very familiar with.

A thick sword, with a handle made out of the same material as a jackalope's antlers.

"You are honestly the most pathetic piece of shit I have ever seen. After today, I don't ever wanna see your fucking face or hear your fucking voice ever again. And I'm quite sure the rest of Precinct 13579 feels the same way."

She gripped the handle of the sword hard enough for her knuckles to turn white and raised it as high over her head as she could muster, making sure to angle the blade directly in the middle of Odd Todd's spine.

"Any last words before you become a dead meat sack?"

Odd Todd's eyes drifted to the blade of the sword that would swiftly mark the end of his life. Instead of pleading with Olive once more, however, his expression of fear turned into one of calm, a soft smile dancing on his lips.

"It's Odd Todd now."

Twilight couldn't bear to watch as the sword was brought down. She winced, holding a wing over her eyes to shield her vision while also folding her ears downwards in a futile effort to block out the crunch of bone, the squelching of organs, and the choking sounds Odd Todd began to make.

The other villains, now free from the attack's remnants, slowly sat up. As Kooky rubbed her head, her eyes slowly opened. "Odd...Todd?"

Teddy, Jamie and Mr. Lightning all gasped as they bore witness to the villain who was dying right in front of them. The villain who effectively served as their leader.

"Get off of him, Olive."

"The damage has already been done, Jamie Jam." Olive spoke, not bothering to turn around. "Twilight, you and your friends call up Precinct 13579. Get them to send a couple agents over here to collect these guys."

"But-"

"I'll be fine. There's not much this asshole can do in his current state." Olive smiled at Pinkie. "Just do it."

Twilight turned to Rarity. "Rarity, please do the honors. I...need some fresh air."

"Of course, darling."

As Rarity unclipped her badge phone and opened it, Twilight made her way to the door nearest to the podium. Her magic aura gripped the handle and turned it, and out she went.

"You can't possibly be walking out on us after what you did! YOU SON OF A BI-"

The door slammed closed. She didn't bother to listen to Evil Teddy anymore, instead plodding down the path she had come.

The sound of the door opening and closing did nothing to draw her attention. Fluttershy glided to her side and landed before walking alongside her.

"I'd like to get some fresh air, too. I-if you don't mind." Fluttershy remarked. "Is everything okay, Twilight?"

No answer.

Fluttershy didn't seek to push further as the two mares headed outside of the lair.

The bright sunshine and cool breeze were warm and welcoming sensations that Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at. Twilight, on the other hoof, wasn't as accepting of nature's gifts, instead taking a seat on the ground and giving a heavy sigh.

"I just...I can't believe..."

"None of us can." Fluttershy sat down beside Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I didn't think the Elements of Harmony would fail in this world. And before they did, I really didn't want Odd Todd to die. I thought he could be reformed, like Discord." She looked up at the sky. "But Olive killing him...I came to realize that it was for the best. He's caused her so much pain, and he's changed Precinct 13579 in so many ways. Now that he's gone, Olive and the other agents will be free. They'll be able to fully recover, seek help from each other, and move on."

Although it didn't look like it, Twilight hung onto every word her friend said. Deep inside, she knew that she was right, and she had come to the same conclusion a while back. The shock of Olive calling her former partner out before making the killing blow, however, still clung to her core. She couldn't imagine killing anyone that had done her wrong, killing countless ponies and injuring hundreds more. She just wasn't like that. It was just like she had told Olive: she was the Princess of Friendship, not the Princess of Murder.

"Fluttershy...would Odd Todd have done good if we were able to reform him? Would he refrain from hurting Olive anymore?"

"You know I can't answer that." The Pegasus mare's voice was as soothing as it ever was, and it provided a little beacon of comfort to Twilight's conflicting thoughts and emotions.

They sat in silence for what felt like centuries upon centuries, with nothing but the breeze rustling the trees filling their ears.

And then, the sobs came.

Twilight's body racked with each heaving sob she took, collapsing on the ground and wailing as though she was on the brink of death. Fluttershy, in turn, couldn't help but start to cry as well, rubbing Twilight's back.

They laid there, crying their eyes out, for a very, very long time.

With tear-stained faces, Fluttershy and Twilight made their way back to the meeting room where everything went down. Upon arriving, they spotted a couple Security department agents leading Kooky, Jamie, Teddy and Lightning away, while a few more Security agents were securing Odd Todd's bleeding, lifeless corpse in a body bag.

Twilight's eyes drifted over to Rarity and Applejack, the former of whom was on the phone. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were conversing amongst themselves, and the alicorn couldn't help but crack a small smile when they laughed.

I'm glad to see that nopony else seems to be horribly shaken up by this. And they shouldn't be.

My mission -- our mission -- has been successfully completed.

As she made a mental note to report back to the Princesses as soon as she arrived back in Equestria, she spotted Olive, Otto and Oscar also conversing with each other on the far side of the room. Amidst the chatter of the others, she couldn't understand what they were saying.

"Fluttershy, I'm going to talk with Olive and Otto. Can you guide the animals back outside?"

"Of course." Nodding, the Pegasus mare spread her wings and glided to the other side of the room and opened the door, only to be met with the happy sounds of her fellow animal friends. "Come on, now, everyone. Let's go outside, okay?"

The door closed. Twilight spread her own wings and went over to the trio, a small smile dancing on her maw.

"Hey, you three."

A chorus of "hello's" greeted her.

"Are you feeling okay now? I know you were shaken up by my...you know."

"I'm fine, Olive. A short visit outside, and a talk with a friend" - her gaze drifted towards the door that Fluttershy had exited from - "helped a lot. Thank you."

"Guess you can call your mission complete now, huh?"

Otto gasped. "Oscar, do you realize what this means? The ponies will have to go back to Equestria!" He glanced at Pinkie Pie, still chatting with Rainbow Dash. "I'm gonna miss Pinks."

"Well, they'll still be able to visit, heh! Unless we find some way to destroy the portal...or it closes on its own." Oscar scratched his neck. "A-and even then, who's to say they can't visit us again? Or we can't visit them?"

"You want to turn into a pony?" Olive raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Equestria sounds like a great place. I'd love to visit sometime!"

Twilight laughed. "Well, you three are always welcome to visit Equestria anytime, by any means. I think Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in particular would love to meet you and congratulate you."

The trio all gave chatters of agreement.

"Twilight..." Olive stepped forward. "Thank you. For working to stop Odd Todd. I know it was a hard thing to do, given how you knew so little about him. But I'm truly grateful to you for undertaking this mission and saving the organization -- the family -- we love."

"We all are." Otto put his hand on Olive's shoulder and smiled. "Now that he's gone, the world's gonna be a far less odder place. And he won't be able to cause oddness in Equestria, either."

"You and your friends are really something else, Agent Twilight."

Twilight turned to find Ms. O walking up to her, a small smile on her face (quite a shocker to all) and a juice box in her hand.

"Ms. O? What are you doing here?" Otto blinked.

"Normally I'm content with staying in my office and assisting agents from there. But when I got word that Twilight and Olive had more or less worked together to defeat Odd Todd, I had to come and see the aftermath for myself." She sighed and turned around, watching the two Security agents grab the body bag and make their way towards the door. "He's dead. His corpse will be personally cremated by other agents. And nothing of value was lost."

"I...I'm really sorry, Ms. O."

"For what?"

"We...we tried reforming him, and we failed. You were right. We should have killed him. If not with the Elements, then with other means."

"Nonsense. The important thing is that you and your friends tried your best. I always say that trying and failing to save the world is better than never trying at all, and the same holds true for stopping villains." Ms. O said. "Olive, you were the one that killed him, right?"

"Yes. I rammed a sword through his spine after giving him some choice words. It felt...satisfying and freeing. To see the expression of pain and terror across his face in his final moments..." Olive chuckled. "It was perfect revenge."

"And do you feel better?"

"Of course. Knowing that he's dead and won't ever come back is like a huge weight off of my shoulders. I can finally go back to doing what I want, together with the best partner in the world." She nudged Otto, who gave a hearty chuckle in response.

"Um, Ms. O..." Oscar stepped forward. "You do know that-"

"Twilight and the others will have to go back to Equestria and stay there for good? I'm aware." Ms. O nodded. "We still haven't found out the entire story about the portal. But we think it'll disappear when you six have finished what you need to do in this world."

"I see. Well, in that case...thank you all. For everything."

"Hey, hey! Save it for the goodbye ceremony back at Headquarters, huh?" Ms. O took a sip of juice. "Come on. The agents will handle things here."

The group of five began heading for the door that Fluttershy had left earlier, with Twilight beckoning her other friends to come along. As they all rushed out the door and everyone began the journey back to Headquarters, Twilight held the door open and watched the cleanup process continue on.

A smile formed and a single tear fell.

We did it. We really did it.

The door closed once more.

The Departure

"Attention, agents!"

The familiar call rung throughout Headquarters as many agents from all sorts of different departments gathered in the center of the bullpen to watch their boss stride through the door and up the staircase, with more of her agents trailing behind her. She took a sip of the juice box she was holding as she came to a stop on top of her stool.

"As most of you know, a few months ago, six ponies came to our world and asked us if they could join Odd Squad. I agreed, and I trained them myself to be good, strong, and valuable agents of this precinct. Throughout their time here, each of them has proved their worth in spectacular fashion. One in particular undertook a dangerous mission with the help of the others, in order to assist in defeating one of our longest-standing enemies -- an enemy that has caused us great misery and strife." Ms. O paused to take another sip. "We should all be grateful to these six agents. They changed our lives for the better, and today, I would like all of us to thank them personally as they gear up to return to their own world for good."

The ponies all exchanged smiles, feeling their hearts swell up with happiness and excitement.

"First of all, may I present...Agent Rainbow Dash!"

The rainbow-maned Pegasus made her debut by taking to the sky and performing a couple loop-de-loops before hovering and facing the crowd of agents.

"Wow, heh. Where do I begin?" She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. "Gotta be honest with all of ya, when Princess Celestia said that we would be exploring a new world, this wasn't what I was expecting. But ya know what?" She smiled. "This place turned out to be pretty awesome. And so are all of you. It felt cool to be an agent, going out there and kicking odd butt. Wish I could do it forever."

Rainbow's last comment stung Twilight like a knife to the heart. She folded her ears down, realizing that much like Rainbow, she too wanted to stay in this world forever. It did feel...wrong, in a way, to have to go back home and never be able to travel to this world again. But Twilight was aware that her friend had her own dreams and wishes in Equestria that she needed to fulfill.

"Anyway, thanks for an awesome time. Good luck out there!"

Rainbow's speech was met with roaring applause as she flew back up and did a couple more rounds of loop-de-loops before heading back to stand with her friends.

"A little showy, don'tcha think?" Applejack whispered to Rarity, who chuckled.

"Next, I'd like to present the premier party agent...Agent Pinkie Pie!"

As the crowd erupted into applause yet again, the pink Earth pony in question bounced forward to meet them, a smile on her face that could split the planet apart if it had the capability to. But tears still formed in her eyes and cascaded down her face nonetheless.

"Well. Isn't this ironic. The happiest pony here crying." Pinkie tried to wipe her tears away, to no avail. "But just know...just know that these tears are for you guys! I've had such a super-iffic time here, baking and fighting oddness and throwing parties galore! It's just such a shame-" A choke interrupted her speech, but she forced herself to continue on. "It's just such a shame that I never got to throw you all...a goodbye party...!"

Murmurs rippled through the crowd as they watched Pinkie break down and start crying. Soon, her tears of rain became tears that could rival Niagara Falls, arching from her eyes onto the floor as she wailed and wailed like a lost foal crying for its mommy.

Without thinking, Otto walked towards her and embraced her in a tight hug. He could feel the tears splashing onto his suit, but he didn't mind.

"Pinkie...before you came along, I didn't think there was any agent like me. Fun-loving, a true lover of cuisine, and a complete newbie when it came to solving cases. But you've been a great friend to me. One of my best friends."

The fun-loving pony calmed down, her body continuing to heave as she sobbed. She tried to utter a response to Otto, something along the lines of "you're my best friend too", but she couldn't.

"Shh. Don't speak. I don't need to hear your voice to know that you feel the same way." He could feel tears dancing in his eyes. Before he was able to stop them, they began falling down his face. "I'm really gonna miss you. I hope someday, you'll be able to visit me and the others again. Or, I'll come and visit you in Equestria. Somehow."

Twilight smiled, feeling her own tears threatening to come forth.

"Thank you. For everything you've done. Please, stay safe. And keep on baking for as much and as long as you can."

Otto released his grip on Pinkie just as she evolved into sniffling. She looked like a complete mess, with a tear-stained face and snot running down her nose. But how she looked didn't matter, not even when Otto handed her a couple tissues to clean herself. All she cared about was uttering the four words that she had wanted to say to Otto all this time.

"Thank you so much."

As she walked back to her friends and used the tissues to clean her snot and the rest of her face, the crowd applauded once again. Otto used a tissue he had nabbed from his coat pocket to clean his own face.

"I'll admit, I almost cried myself." Olive said. "Almost!"

"You two have such a great bond with each other, heh!" Oscar said. "I'm gonna miss Pinkie Pie, too. She was like that bright ray of sunshine that always cheered me up whenever I was having a bad day."

Before the trio's conversation could continue, Ms. O announced the next pony.

"Next, please allow me to present the epitome of fashion and grace, Agent Rarity!"

"Oh!" Rarity glanced down at her hooves, coming to the realization that she should have dressed to impress. But as the ceremony was sprung on her last-minute, she had no time to make an outfit, nor could she run to Equestria and grab something from her wardrobe closet. So instead, she was forced to settle for walking forward and toying with her mane as the crowd cheered her on.

"Thank you, Ms. O." She cleared her throat. "My time here has been absolutely wonderful. Although fighting is not really my thing -- I'm more into fashion, as some of you may know -- I am glad to have been able to help this world by beating oddness and restoring normalcy. I hope that someday, I may come back here and show all of you some of my most wonderful creations. You have highly...oh, now what's the word I'm looking for...'tek-noe-loh-gi-cal' suits, I believe."

"Technological." Oscar pointed out.

"Technological, yes, thank you, Oscar darling." Rarity smiled and nodded. "Perhaps when I learn a bit more about..."

"Technology."

"Technology, mhm. When I learn a bit more about that, perhaps I can assist in making new suits for all of you. They will be absolutely gorgeous."

Ripples of agreement swept through the crowd as some agents nodded and expressed their excitement. It was quite surprising to Rarity, how they wanted to put their full trust into a pony they had only known for less than half a year in regards to their outfits. But she supposed they were aware of the fact that knew what she was doing.

"But for now, I suppose this is where I must say to all of you, au revoir. Thank you, for giving me such a lovely place to work."

A final flip of her hair, a turnaround, a walk back, and the crowd began to erupt into applause again. Rarity smiled at her friends as they stomped their hooves, the Equestrian version of applause.

"Next, I'd like to present a hardworking agent and a farmer with a strong devotion to her family...Agent Applejack!"

The orange Earth pony walked forward, a small smile forming on her maw as she began to blush a little.

"Aw, shucks...I wouldn't know where t' begin." She chuckled. "Y'all have been nothin' but kind t' me here, and I truly appreciate it. But I gotta say, y'all don't seem to have as much of an appreciation of apples as I'd like...so next time, I'm gonna whip y'all up a bunch of apple treats to try. Ya don't know apples until you've had Sweet Apple Acres apples!"

"Yeah, apples!" shouted one agent in the crowd that Applejack couldn't spot.

"Uh, but I digress. I had a great time bein' an agent and all. I hope that y'all can rely on me for a helpin' hoof if the portal opens back up again."

Her speech wasn't so much met with uproar, but it still had its fair amount of cheers and clapping like the rest of them. Truth be told, it was to be expected -- Applejack had a tough time balancing work on the farm with work in another world. Granny Smith, in particular, wasn't as understanding of the mission Celestia had tasked her with as she had hoped. So she wasn't around at Odd Squad as much as she would have liked to be, something that she secretly regretted.

Ms. O cleared her throat. "Next, let me introduce a pony who is very shy, but whose kindness extends farther than you would realize. Please give a warm welcome to Agent Fluttershy!"

Swallowing a knot of anxiety that had formed in her throat, the Pegasus mare took a couple tentative steps forward. The agents all boring their eyes into her was something she didn't particularly like, and it almost froze her in place. However, she pushed herself to keep going until she was at the same spot where most of her other friends had stood.

Silence fell across the bullpen as her brain attempted to connect to her mouth. Although she could hear the confused murmurs of some agents, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"U-um...hello, everypony. Um, everyone, I mean." A small smile formed on her maw. "I was very terrified of what your world had to offer at first. I-I mean, some of it...some of it is just so different than what we have in Equestria. But...I overcame my fears. I'm trying to be assertive here, just as I'm trying to be assertive back home."

The smiles of her fellow agents gave her a surge of confidence, and she stood up ever straighter as she made her voice even louder.

"Um, to those of you that have been bearing with me...thank you so much. I do appreciate it. I hope that all of the creatures and animals that have made their home here in Odd Squad, and all of the creatures and animals that have made their home out there in the world..." She had been careful to distinguish the two terms, as she had learned during her time as an agent that they meant two different things. "I hope they continue to live happy and healthy lives. Please, take care of them! And please, remember to be kind. Thank you again!"

The loud applause from the crowd startled her, and she quickly scuttled back, her body turning as rigid as steel.

"You did wonderful, darling." Rarity soothed, putting her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder to comfort her.

"And finally, it is my honor to present the leader of this fine group of ponies, the agent who spearheaded the mission to defeat Odd Todd...Agent Twilight Sparkle!"

Pride swelling within her, the alicorn mare took a step forward to meet the audience that had nothing but praise for her, clapping and hollering and cheering with all their might. It reminded her of when she and her friends had defeated Discord, and how Princess Celestia had thrown a huge ceremony for them after their success.

She waved a hoof as the crowd settled down and allowed her to speak. "When Princess Celestia asked me to enter this world and explore it, I didn't think that such a fascinating place as this would be on the other side. And by joining Odd Squad, I feel like I've gotten closer to this world's greatest saviors." she said. "Being chosen for the mission of defeating Odd Todd was something that I was apprehensive to at first. I didn't want to risk starting a war between your world and Equestria. I didn't want to risk being the harbinger of Odd Squad's downfall if I failed. But I'm glad I did accept it. For the sake of Olive..."

Olive smiled and waved.

"And for the sake of all of you. With Odd Todd gone and you all now free from his reign of terror, I hope you live happy and fulfilling lives for many years to come. And I hope that someday, me and my friends can all come and visit you in this world once again." She nodded once. "Thank you all!"

As she listened to the cheers of the crowd, Olive approached her and enveloped her in a tight hug, something that surprised her. "Olive? I didn't know you were a hugger."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a hugger..."

"Bring it in."

The two stood there for a while, a smile gracing Olive's face as she hugged Twilight ever tighter until she remarked that she was losing too much air.

When the two separated, Olive said, "Thank you, Twilight. For everything you've done. It's an honor to have worked with you."

Before Twilight could utter a response, the girl was already on her way back to the crowd, who had considerably settled down by this point so that their boss could continue on with the ceremony.

"I'd like for you all to take this time to say your final goodbyes while Security agents bring out the portal." Ms. O took another sip from her juice box and gave a satisfied sigh as she watched the crowd disperse.

Twilight and the others walked up to Olive, Otto and Oscar, and began to converse with them for what was the final time.

"You don't like fashion?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Darling, why?"

"I've just never been into girly stuff like that. All I have is a plain gray dress that I wear for special occasions, and that's it as far as overly fashionable things go." Olive shrugged.

"Goodness, do I pity you..." Rarity shook her head.

"You're gonna hafta teach me how to play the sports you have here sometime. The ones we have in Equestria now are kinda boring."

"Gladly." Olive nodded. "And maybe if the portal opens up again, you can invite your 'Wonderbolts' here for a show. I'd love to meet them personally, too."

"I'll put in a good word with Spitfire when I get back, don't worry!"

Otto and Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, were busy sharing pastry recipes and tips, and gathering every bit of information they could about each other before the latter departed.

"Oscar...you wouldn't happen to have a Brave-inator?" Fluttershy half-joked.

"Oh, no. We only have about 10,000 gadgets, and a Brave-inator is not one of them, heh!"

"I'd really like to study gadget history if I manage to return. I don't think I ever got the full story of how you became Lab Director, Oscar. President Obbs was a little silent on the subject at the Odd Squad Academy."

"Sure! I could tell you the story right now, actually." Oscar cleared his throat. "So, it started when I was a little kid. I had wanted to join Odd Squad, but I..."

"Hey, Ms. O..." Applejack trotted up to the Director. "Y' ever tried apple juice boxes?"

Ms. O scoffed. "What flavor haven't I tried? This nose can sniff out any fruit."

"Really?" Applejack smirked. "If we ever come back here, you up for an apple sniff test? You can smell different apples and identify what kind they are. It's a game I like to play with my younger sister Apple Bloom sometimes."

"Ooh!" Ms. O's face lit up. "Bring it on!"

No matter what the topics of each conversation were, one thing was made clear in everyone's minds:

It's a good thing those Security agents are taking so long. I never want to leave anyone's side!

But as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever.

A group of Security agents made their way into the bullpen, making various sounds of effort as they struggled to pull the portal along with them. It was secured by ropes the same way almost any normal object being pulled would be, something that none of the ponies even bothered to question.

Eventually, they managed to place it in front of the steel double-doors, using the doors' strength and thickness to secure the ropes so the portal didn't suddenly fly off or try to escape by any other means (as portals were meant to do, on occasion).

Owen took a couple moments to catch his breath, then straightened up. "There, I got the portal all set up for you guys. You can leave whenever you're ready."

"We got the portal all set up for you guys!" the rest of the Security agents countered in unison, shooting dirty glances at Owen just before he declared his intentions to go on break and left.

Silence fell upon the room.

"Well...I guess this is it." Rainbow's voice quavered. Tears began to prick at her eyes, something that surprised the others since she wasn't known to cry all that often.

"See ya. Stay awesome."

The tears fell down her face, but in spite of the sadness that gripped her heart, she gave a small smile before spreading her wings and soaring into the portal.

None of the other ponies wanted to go next.

But they each knew that somepony had to.

Giving a heavy sigh, Applejack turned her back to the portal and took a step forward after a minute.

"It was mighty great, gettin' t' talk with y'all one last time." Like Rainbow, her voice quavered as she spoke. "Wishin' y'all the best of luck. Y'all stay safe now, ya hear?"

Twilight could have sworn she saw tears building up in the farmer's eyes before she leaped into the portal. Looks like she doesn't just cry on the inside.

Two down, four to go. It was getting ever harder.

Rarity sighed and turned around to face the crowd of agents.

"Do not forget to stay fabulous, darlings. And please...always, be generous. Remember: 'What appears as mine...'tis thine as well.'"

A small smile before she, too, went through the portal.

Three remained, now.

"Pinkie..." Twilight shifted her gaze towards the pink party pony, who had her eyes squeezed shut. "Please. I-I'm not ready to leave yet. Neither is Fluttershy."

Indeed, Fluttershy was staring at the portal in shock. No one could tell whether she had processed three of her friends go through it, but it was made abundantly clear that she wouldn't go of her own volition unless it was by the physical or magical means of someone else.

Pinkie's expression relaxed slightly, her eyes only merely remaining closed. Her mane deflated slightly, although it didn't go fully straight, and instead, it looked like she was wearing two flat, deflated balloons. Slowly, she turned around to reveal her tear-stained face and quivering blue eyes.

"I..." She struggled to find the words, her voice at a level of quiet that Fluttershy would appreciate. "I really enjoyed being with you all. Keep partying on. And keep baking...keep baking lots and lots of delicious sweets."

Olive, Otto and Oscar, who were at the forefront of the crowd, all exchanged worried glances.

"Pinkie...your mane and tail..."

"Don't worry, Otto. It's just 'cause I'm sad." She looked up at him. "And, really...it's one of the best gifts a friend can receive, ya know. To know that your friend can be sad for your sake..."

"Pinkie, please." Otto's tone was one of urgency, a tone that Olive, as his partner, had never seen before, not even when he was on the brink of giving up on a case or in serious danger. "Don't spend time moping around here in Odd Squad. You have friends and family waiting for you back in Equestria, don't you? Won't they miss you the longer you stay here?"

Pinkie sniffled and turned around to face the portal, plodding towards it without saying a word to Otto in response. Before she stepped through it, however, she swiveled her head and let only a few words dance on her lips.

"Yes. Yes, they will. And I'm sure you'll miss me too."

And just like that, she was gone, on her way to Equestria with the others.

Now, only two ponies remained.

One was adamant about not going.

The other one was still somewhat struggling to come to terms with what had to be done.

Fluttershy snapped out of her shock and surveyed the situation. Only she and Twilight were facing the portal -- she had assumed all of the others had left. Gathering her willpower together, she slowly stood up and turned around to face the crowd of agents.

"Thank you. I-I'm so sorry if I've been a burden to you all in any way. But I appreciate everything. Please, once again...stay safe."

In contrast to her actions, she spoke rather quickly, and left through the portal in a flash.

And then there was only one.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight chuckled and turned around.

"I really don't know what more I can say to you all that hasn't been said already." She smiled. "But please know that my words hold truth. I've never regretted a single day here. And I know..."

She turned her back to the crowd and began marching towards the portal.

"...we'll see each other again."

The blue, ethereal void of the portal was beckoning her, but she wasn't quite done with her goodbyes yet.

She still had one more thing to say, one more lesson that she hoped to teach in full to not just Odd Squad, but all the inhabitants of this world someday.

"Friendship...is magic. Never forget that."

And just like that, she leapt through the portal. After a couple second had passed, it disappeared with a whirring sound and a pop, the ropes that had been holding on to it falling to the ground.

Most of the agents in the crowd, including the Security agents, dispersed after a couple minutes, heading off to continue life in Odd Squad as normal.

Ms. O, Olive, Otto and Oscar, on the other hand, only stood there and stared at where the portal used to be, in complete, stony silence.

Laughter and cheers filled the air as ponies gathered from all over Equestria to meet in Canterlot, all in order to celebrate the success and return of their six saviors.

As the large gathering room began to gradually fill up, Twilight and her friends waited down the hall to be summoned, excitedly chatting with each other.

"Goodness, I can't believe Princess Celestia is giving us a ceremony!" Rarity levitated a mirror. "I do look marvelous, don't I?"

"You look just fine." Fluttershy smiled. "A ceremony is something I expected. We did save Equestria from being consumed by oddness, after all."

"You bet we did!" Applejack said. "But do any of y'all know if there'll be a party afterwards? I'm starvin!"

"Me too!" Rainbow nodded. "I could eat sooooo much food right now."

"Well, lucky for you, I brought a timeless classic that's sure to make your tummy smile!" Pinkie reached behind her and pulled out a tray of chocolate cupcakes. "Ta-daaaaaa!"

"Awesome!" Rainbow immediately nabbed one and ate it whole, relishing its taste. "Mmm..." She swallowed and laughed. "Pinkie Pie, you've done it again."

"I know, I know. Save your applause." Pinkie waved a hoof and turned to the others. "Any of you want one?"

Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity all shook their heads.

"Don't get too dirty, now. After all, we are presenting for the Princess." Rarity said, fiddling with her mane in an attempt to make it look clean and shiny.

"Twi? Ya want one?"

Pinkie picked up a cupcake and turned to Twilight, only to find her staring listlessly out the window at the rest of the castle, and the Equestrian skies above.

"Uhh...Twilight?"

"Huh?" The alicorn turned around, seeming startled by Rainbow's call. Blinking, she shook her head. "I'm good. But thank you for offering."

"Ah, well, more for us." Pinkie shrugged, and she and Rainbow got to demolishing the tray to the point it was a miracle none of them ate the tray itself, or at least part of it.

"Princess Celestia wishes to see you." An armor-clad unicorn guard approached the six mares and nodded. "It is time for the ceremony to begin."

Excited murmurs rippled among the group as they began to follow the stallion.

Well, most of them, anyway.

"You comin', sugarcube?" Applejack turned around and addressed Twilight, having gone back to looking out of the window.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

She broke away from her spot and followed Applejack through the hallways, although she still had the same listless eyes. It was quite clear something was bothering her, but everypony was too wrapped up in the festivities to address the matter.

A fanfare sounded as the double doors opened, and in stepped the six mares who had bravely taken on their princess's mission and had come back with a victory. Each of them listened to the excited murmurs of the crowd as they marched across the red carpet to meet Princess Celestia, standing on the other side of the room.

"Today, we are gathered here to celebrate six ponies who took on a dangerous mission. A mission of exploring an unforeseen, unfamiliar world. Within that world, these friends were able to stop a villain whom had been set on destroying it, and in the process, grew closer with some of its inhabitants."

The Mane Six all shared smiles with each other.

"It is my honor to present Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie!"

The crowd stomped their hooves in applause as Celestia stepped back to reveal a small podium with a microphone sitting on a small stage Each pony stepped up onto the stage one by one, with Twilight taking her place at the podium.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia." She nodded. "We are honored to have had the chance to explore the wondrous city of Toronto, and the wondrous organization that resides below it. The agents of Odd Squad, Precinct 13579, supported us in becoming agents like them, and supported us in the defeat of Odd Todd. Although we admittedly knew little about him, his defeat has marked a new era for the Precinct. And in turn, it has saved Equestria from downfall and tragedy."

She fought to keep her voice steady as she continued to speak.

"I can only hope that someday, we will be able to return to that world once again...or the agents will arrive in this one."

She could feel tears pricking her eyes.

"But credit for stopping Odd Todd should also go to one of the world's inhabitants, Agent Olive. As somepo- someone who was personally affected by Odd Todd and his actions, she caused his direct and swift defeat by...ending his life..."

The other five ponies exchanged worried glances.

"And we could not be more grateful..."

Princess Celestia could see her student breaking down. Without warning, she used her magic to gently remove Twilight from the podium and stepped forth.

"Thank you, Twilight. That was a lovely speech" She nodded. "In celebration of this momentous occasion, we will be holding a party in the next room directly after this ceremony concludes. In addition, a stained-glass window will be created in these friends' honor, which will be unveiled soon along with more details on when the unveiling will take place."

Twilight began to cry. Tears began streaming down her face, and she buried her face within her hooves in order to hide it. What she couldn't hide, however, was the blush of embarrassment that also came forth.

"Thank you all for attending. Please enjoy yourselves."

The crowd began to disperse, heading out of the meeting room and taking a right. Celestia exhaled a sigh of relief, and turned to meet Twilight and the others.

"Twilight..." the princess began. "Is there something on your mind you would like to talk about?"

What she got in response was a choked sob.

Her magic latched onto the double doors once everypony was out of the room.

"Please wait outside." she told the guards, who nodded and made their way outside before the doors closed after them.

"Whatever you need, sugarcube, we're here to help." Applejack spoke, her voice soft and calming.

"I...I..."

"You miss them, don't you?" Rainbow asked.

"Don't we all?" Fluttershy folded her ears down.

"But it's like we said...we'll see them all again someday. We just gotta have hope!" Pinkie's voice cracked during her affirmation, and she could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

A pause...

And before Celestia knew it, all six ponies were gathered around each other and crying their eyes out. She merely watched, giving a soft sigh. She could, perhaps, sympathize with them -- she too knew how hard it was to leave a world you had become so attached to, and never be able to return to it again. It pained her to see the saviors of Equestria so distraught by not being able to return to Toronto, to Odd Squad, to the people they had come to know, befriend, and appreciate. In that moment, she wished that she had the capability to reopen the portal for good, but for all of her power and abilities, it was one of the few things she was unable to do -- not to mention the risks it would bring.

After some time had passed, the group split apart, each one of them wiping their tears away and giving satisfied sighs.

"Thank you...thank you for this celebration, Princess Celestia." Twilight stood up. "I -- we -- really did miss the agents of Odd Squad, more than we realized. I think a good cry was just what we needed."

"I am glad to see you all doing better." Celestia smiled. "Now go. I believe a party is calling you."

Pinkie, naturally, was the first one to begin heading out, the bounce in her step returning once more. The others soon followed, with Twilight giving her mentor one last hug before leaving.

Another soft sigh escaping her lips, Celestia followed them out of the room, glad that everything had been resolved and making a silent wish that the portal would be reopened so she and her sister, too, could someday visit Odd Squad and meet the agents themselves.

It had been a couple weeks since the portal connecting Equestria and Odd Squad had closed for good.

The agents of Odd Squad had, for the most part, resumed work. After all, Ms. O said, "oddness doesn't sleep, and it doesn't take breaks, either."

Olive continued to work hard towards her goal of succeeding Ms. O and being promoted to the Management department someday. Meeting Twilight and learning of her ascension to princesshood had inspired her to push herself, and she felt even more confident now that Odd Todd was gone. Shortly after his death, she had learned from Ms. O that Odd Squad had a therapy program for agents who had been deeply affected by oddness or just needed some help with navigating their mental health, and she had begun attending therapy once a week. Although she still feared pies, she had been slowly getting over her fear and trauma by eating things like cobblers and tarts.

Otto had kept up well with Pinkie Pie's promise, dipping his hands further into the well of baking as well as cooking. He had made most of the sweets that Olive had wanted to try, and although he still had a ways to go, he felt that if Pinkie were here, she would have been proud of his creations. He made sure to serve as Olive's emotional crutch, being there for her whenever she needed it and vice versa, but felt that he was starting to get used to Odd Squad and the oddities he had been battling, and realized that the ponies' arrival had, perhaps, helped to expand his knowledge of the equine oddities that this world had -- the ever-oppositional and stuck-up unicorns, the boastful and speedy pegasi, and the regular horses that would become victims of oddness from time to time.

Oscar was making new gadgets on the near-daily, although some of the ones he made were full of flaws and still had a way to go. After the Mane Six had departed, he had been working on a couple gadgets on the side, with handles made for hooves and wings so Earth ponies and pegasi could use them with ease, just in case the group ever returned. Although he knew the scientific data behind portals -- how they were dangerous more than helpful -- he still held a glimmer of hope that they would return to Odd Squad someday. And besides that, he had a backup plan for when he just couldn't wait any longer.

And as for Ms. O...she had her own set of problems. Namely, her juice box supply constantly running out every two weeks. But although she never showed it on the outside, she missed her equine agents dearly. It had touched her heart when she saw them go through the portal, not bothering to leave their suits or badges behind. It gave her hope that they would return someday. No matter what had transpired, though, never once had she imagined a group of six talking colorful horses would emerge in her Headquarters, even in spite of her living for over a century and having seen most every odd thing known to the organization. It would have been almost impossible to believe if she hadn't been born in a world where the concept of "physics" is completely nonexistent and anything odd goes. But they had been here. She had seen them with her own eyes. And now, they were gone. Whether they would return or not...well, the results from the time-traveling agents still had to come in on that one. But one thing she knew was that with Odd Todd gone, Precinct 13579 -- Odd Squad as a whole, as well -- would change for the better.

It was a cold and snowy December evening, the typical time for Odd Squad to break out the Christmas decorations and string them up.

Or at least they would, if any agent were here.

Tonight, however, there was only one employee.

Oscar was hard at work on a new gadget. More agents had noted that it seemed like he had been more and more busy in recent weeks, but no one knew why. He refused to tell anyone, citing that it was a secret.

The work on the gadget had gone faster than he anticipated, and once he had put the finishing touches on it, he sighed, taking off his glasses and noting how stained they were with debris. He nabbed a clean microfiber cloth from his hammerspace spine and got to cleaning them.

Now, with that out of the way, he had something much more important to do -- something that he wanted to wait until everyone was gone to do.

Putting his glasses back on, he walked over to one of the walls where gadgets of all shapes and kinds hung on hooks. Easily spotting one in particular, he grabbed it and took it back to his work table. With its rectangular screen, black dials, and gray head, it looked almost similar to a very high-tech flashlight...to any average person, that is.

He tapped the screen, which lit up with a black hexagonal background, followed by the logo of the Science department.

PLEASE CHOOSE DESTINATION DATE.
01/01/2001

This was where he was at a loss. He wasn't sure what date to choose, and he even briefly contemplated putting the gadget down to avoid any consequences that came about as a result of what he was about to do, but he eventually settled on one specific date that was more random than anything else.

YOU HAVE CHOSEN DESTINATION DATE:
12/18/2015
IS THIS CORRECT?
✅ YES ✖ NO

Taking a deep breath, he tapped YES.

THANK YOU.
PLEASE POINT HEAD OF GADGET TOWARDS MAIN USER.

Oscar bit back a groan as he followed the instructions on the screen, making another mental note to input some kind of "bypass instructions" code or instruction for the gadget for agents who weren't first-time users.

THANK YOU.
TIME TRAVEL WILL NOW COMMENCE.

He closed his eyes as a whirring sound filled his ears, and then, like the snap of fingers, he suddenly felt completely weightless.

Within seconds, he was back at Headquarters, inside his own Lab. As he opened his eyes, he let them adjust to the light and quickly looked around for any sign of his alternate self, wanting to avoid a timetastrophe and also avoid a very disastrous butterfly effect occurring as a result of his klutziness.

The sound of his own laughter caused him to perk up, and he immediately dove behind the front countertop, letting his sense of hearing guide him.

"Y'know, it seems like only yesterday that Mr. Fonts's friend had her child. Thank odd that you guys weren't called in to the maternity ward for anything, heh."

"Yeah..." An uncomfortable tone crept into the voice of what Oscar had to assume was Olive. "I remember there was one time some oddness was happening at the maternity ward of the Toronto General Hospital. Got a really nice lecture about how babies were born at the ripe old age of 12."

"Wait...what?!" Otto spoke now, his voice nearly echoing throughout the whole bullpen. "You mean you...did you..."

"No, Otto, I didn't witness a birth. That information, though...I've been trying to scrub it out of my brain since then. Adults are so fucking stupid, thinking that 12 years old is the right time to teach your kid about how babies enter the world."

"I learned about birth when I was 10."

"You're not serious, Ms. O."

"I'm more serious than anything you could ever seriously think of, Otto."

"Okay. The declining state of society."

Oscar could only hear silence. He had to admit that he, too, was a little shocked at Otto's comment. How did he get so cynical over the course of a few months?

Aw, who am I kidding? That's a rhetorical question, heh. He got it from Olive.

"Damn...he got you there." Olive chuckled.

"Fine, I'll call a touche. You've been hanging around Olive too much."

"She's my partner! What am I supposed to do, avoid her like the plague?"

The sound of sipping could be heard -- no doubt it was the unmistakable noise of Ms. O drinking out of a juice box.

But it wasn't that sound that piqued Oscar's interest. Oh, no.

It was the familiar whirring sound.

He wanted to peek, but he had to dig his fingers into the ground and summon all his willpower not to do so.

Meanwhile, outside of the lab, a portal was forming. Olive, Ms. O, Otto and Oscar all eyed it with intrigue, with Ms. O in particular getting into a fighting stance in case whatever came out of the portal was a threat.

A purple leg stepped out, and then the bright face of a familiar alicorn.

Behind her, five other ponies followed suit.

"It...it can't be." Ms. O's jaw dropped as she relaxed her stance. Likewise, the other three agents had similar surprised reactions.

Once the orange Earth pony was the last to enter, the portal didn't close. In fact, it didn't do anything. It remained as active as ever.

"Ms. O. Olive. Otto. Oscar." The words danced ever softly on the alicorn's lips. "It's so good to see you again."

As Oscar heard a chorus of cheers erupting and the sounds of footsteps and hoofsteps, he smiled.

So it's true. They really did find a way back.

That's all I needed to know, then.

But man, did I get lucky, heh!

It was quite easy to find the Day-inator from this time in the future, and Oscar was grateful that his alternate self was too excited over the ponies' arrival to notice him. He quickly followed the onscreen instructions and teleported himself back the way he came.

By the time he arrived back to the present, the earliest agents were starting to file into work for the day. He knew it would be a while before Olive, Otto and Ms. O arrived, so he had to hold onto his discovery.

Unfortunately, in this particular instance, Oscar's patience had become nonexistent.

A few hours later, Otto arrived into work to find Olive staring at a sticky note, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Mornin', partner! What's up?"

"This sticky note..." She held it up to show him. All it reads is '12/18/2015', and it's from Oscar." She glanced at his desk and spotted another sticky note plastered onto it. "You have one too!"

"Which says the same thing." Otto tilted his head. "Is this supposed to mean something? Ooh, maybe it's a secret Christmas surprise! Or maybe it's the date that he's gonna give you a belated birthday gift!"

Whatever excitement he had was soon to be squashed by the angry footsteps of one Ms. O, sipping a juice box and gripping the sticky note in her hand like it was a stress ball. "Where the hell is Oscar? What does this mean?"

"We're just as confused as you are, Ms. O." Olive shrugged.

"Hey, guys!" Oscar suddenly popped up from below, as though there was a secret hole in the floor he happened to climb out of. "You called me?"

"Yeah. You wanna explain this before I shove it down your throat?" Ms. O held up her sticky note.

"Someone's a little cranky today, heh!"

A quick growl from Ms. O made Oscar quickly get back on topic.

"A-anyway, mark that date in your calendars. A special someone will be coming to visit us."

"Special someone?" Otto blinked. "Who's that?"

All he got in response was a sly smile from his coworker as he walked off, leaving the trio to figure things out.

"Odd damn it, Oscar! Quit being so fucking cryptic!" Whatever rules Ms. O had of biting her tongue around her agents had gone completely out the window. "I'm gonna kill you if you don't get your ass back here and explain in full!"

"All right, all right, enough with the murder threats."

"Ohhh, big talking coming from the girl who actually committed a murder!"

"It was justified!"

As the two girls began arguing, Otto, realizing what the note and Oscar meant, gasped. "The ponies! Pinkie Pie, a-and everyone else! They're coming back!"

It was in this moment that he seriously regretted not having a calendar. In contrast to his partner, Otto forgot most important dates the second he was informed of them, and so he often relied on Olive as his calendar, much to her chagrin.

He opened his mouth to interrupt the girls' spat, but quickly closed it, knowing better than to get in between them -- he was liable to have his lights punched out if he even did so much as try. So instead, he simply looked ahead to the side hallway where the portal that connected across worlds once stood, and smiled.

Someday, Pinkie...we did say I'd see you again someday. You, and all of your friends.

Well...that "someday"...

It's closer than you think.

We'll all see you soon, saviors of Equestria. Just make sure to wait for us, okay?

Author's Note

And so ends a story that has been a good 2 years in the making and is completely and absolutely disjointed and awkward in so many ways. I had an idea for its course and I was going somewhere with it, but I ended up abandoning the whole thing for a time because my motivation was sapped from me. I really don't know what compelled me to finish this -- perhaps it was my need to get my writing juices flowing in a public medium, using two shows that I know and love. But it's finished now, and that's what matters!

But I digress. As I stated, I'll be doing an entire rewrite of this story sometime in the future. For now, however, I have another Odd Squad x MLP crossover project I'd like to release to the world, which, believe me, is much, much better than this.

I hope you all enjoyed this story to some degree or another, as terrible as it is. :rainbowlaugh: I think as I get into the flow of writing fanfics again after many years out of the game, my writing will improve, so for those that are bearing with me, thank you.

I'll see you all in the next story! :raritywink:

The Portal

Author's Note

So, uh, a word before I begin...

It has been a very long time since I've written a fanfic of any degree. I was a former Odd Squad fanfic writer, but that was a good 5 years ago and I've relegated to writing transcripts now for an Odd Squad x MLP fake crossover series that I may put here sometime in the future. I hope any MLP elements I've written in this story are smooth and in-character somewhat, because I'm not a diehard brony by any means, just a fan of the show.

Enjoy!

The Portal

The sun shone in the warm summer air. Children laughed and played with glee as their parents looked on. Couples were sharing ice cream cones while engaging in casual conversation. And people dressed in business attire were on their usual lunch breaks, stopping in restaurants along the street for a quick bite to eat before it was back to the daily grind.

Just another average day in Toronto, Canada.

But Odd Squad is anything but average.

Deep underground lied the headquarters of an organization, one that had become famous around the world for its numerous feats of heroism and perseverance -- and one that had branches around the world as well. Children of every age, from 1 to 12 years, mulled around, some carrying folders, others afflicted with odd happenings, such as a bright green glow or a fish for an arm. Adults usually accompanied the children, and most, if not all of them were afflicted by oddness in one way or another. Phones rang, and conversation filled the air.

A boy was sitting at his desk, reading a comic book from a series known as 'Shmumberman', an easy rip of Batman. On his ears were a pair of headphones, with the Odd Squad emblem engraved on both sides. A boy band named 'Soundcheck' and a song known as 'Probably' blared into his ears, drowning out the noise around him.

The automatic doors opened, and a girl stepped through. Her chocolate-brown eyes set sight on the boy, and she raced for his desk in a huff, slamming her hands down.

"Partner!"

No response.

"Partner!!"

Still no response.

"OTTO!"

The boy looked up from his comic, and upon spotting his partner, he pressed 'Pause' on his music player and took off his headphones. "Oh, hey, Olive! What's up?"

"Have you heard the news?!"

"What news?"

"I was on my break, walking along in Dufferin Grove Park after getting some lunch. And I saw a portal!"

Otto blinked a few times, before his brain processed what she was saying. "What?! Did you get rid of it?"

Olive shook her head. "That's the problem. I can't. I tried every portal-removal gadget I had. Nothing worked!"

"Not even the Un-Portal-inator?"

"Not even that!"

Otto got up from his chair with a determined look on his face, and angled his head up to an office on the balcony. "Then let's go see Ms. O."

Upon entering the second-floor office, Olive and Otto were met with a face that was familiar to most every employee at Odd Squad: a girl, who looked about the age of 7 but that in truth was millennia of years old, possibly immortal (not that anyone could prove that theory). Her piercing brown eyes bore into Olive and Otto, making them visibly wince while she loudly sipped from an apple-flavored juice box.

She set the juice box down. "This had better be important."

Otto nodded, while Olive did the talking. "Uh, y-yes, Ms. O. This is very important." She took a moment to take a breath and regain her usual cool composure. "I was on break and I spotted a portal down in Dufferin Grove Park. I tried to remove the portal with various portal-removal gadgets, even trying counteractive gadgets. But nothing has worked."

"Has anything come out of the portal?"

Olive shook her head. "No, not that I know of. When I gazed into the portal, all I could see was a quaint street, with rows of houses. It didn't look anything like the houses here, or even the streets here. It looked..." The girl took a moment to try and find the right word to cap off her explanation. "Cartoonish."

Ms. O gazed at Olive for a bit longer, her ice-cold stare being replaced by a stare of curiosity. Before she could speak, however, Olive piped up with another bit of info she had forgotten.

"Oh! There were also ponies there. Ponies, just...walking around. They didn't look anything like the ponies we have. These ponies were...um...smaller. Some were unicorns and others were pegasus...es."

"Pegasi." Otto corrected her, wearing a small smile on his face.

Olive nodded as a way of silent thanks, and continued with her story. "I tried calling out to them, but they didn't answer me. They just walked on by without even saying hello."

"Hmm..." Ms. O took a moment to think, breaking her gaze from Olive and Otto to look downwards in thought. "These ponies don't seem all that dangerous. For all we know, they're pretty harmless. But a portal in such an open place as a park isn't a good thing."

Olive and Otto kept their eyes on Ms. O, who fell silent, still pondering over her decision. Finally, after a few more seconds, they got their answer.

"I'll send some Security agents down to the park to secure the portal right away. Perhaps there's a way to bring the portal back down to Headquarters without disturbing it. We can't have anyone going through it -- and that includes anyone from Odd Squad. We don't know what this portal does or how it affects people who go through it." She exhaled. "I want you two to assist the Security agents with the portal if, and when, they manage to bring it down to Headquarters."

Otto nodded. "Sure thing, Ms. O."

"Now what are you waiting for? GO!" Shouting her trademark catchphrase, Ms. O sent Olive and Otto scurrying out of her office as she watched them go, grabbing her juice box and continuing to drink it, a pleased expression falling on her face as she did so.

A rather tall pony with an ethereal mane of green, pink and blue hovered in the air, flapping her giant wings. Her long horn glowed yellow for a few brief seconds before a bright yellow laser shot out, hitting the portal. However, the strong magic did nothing to it. The pony landed, a soft sigh escaping her lips before she was joined by a much shorter pony with an ethereal mane of blue, a darker shade than the other pony's.

"Any luck on removing the portal, my dear sister?" the pony with the mane of blue inquired, gazing at it worryingly.

"I'm afraid not, Luna. None of my magic is working."

Luna let a sigh escape her lips as well. "Then I suppose the best we can do is rope it off and make sure no ponies have gone in."

"Actually...I have a plan. Gather Twilight and her friends and tell them to come to Canterlot to see me right away."

"Right away, sister."

And with that, the taller, white-furred pony took to the skies with large flaps of her wings. Her sister watched until she was nothing more than a speck in the sky, before looking ahead to where a crystalline castle lay in the distance. But before she went, she decided to take a look at the happenings of the portal.

Gazing at it, Luna watched as the setting seemed to change to a roomy headquarters, as though the portal had a camera strapped to it. It was like an alternate world, like the inside of the magic mirror Twilight had used long ago -- similar creatures and everything. Mouths were moving, but the alicorn couldn't make out what anyone was saying. She watched as two creatures -- one with two legs and a corkscrew ponytail wearing a navy-blue suit, and another, more taller creature, with two legs and shorter hair, with the same suit -- looked into the portal. I wonder if they can see me. I can see them, but I cannot understand them. Can they understand me?

Luna shook her head. No. I must find Twilight and her friends and send them through this portal. Hopefully, we will find some way to close it. And maybe...find some way to figure out what is on the other side.

The Princesses, Their Advice, and The Decision

Rushing through the portal, Twilight headed into Equestria and began to take flight for Canterlot Castle, hoping that she would have the chance to talk to both princesses at once. Given that it was still daytime, she figured that Luna was most likely resting up for the night shift, but it was still worth a shot. She would need all the advice she could get.

As she burst through the doors, she was stopped by a rather handsome-looking white stallion with a black mane. "Oh, Princess Twilight! Lovely to see you. What brings you here?"

"I need to speak to Princesses Celestia and Luna. Do you know where they are?"

"Hm...last I saw Princess Celestia, she was in the throne room. Couldn't quite tell you where Princess Luna is, though, I'm afraid." The stallion angled his head towards the hallway where the throne room was located. "Perhaps Princess Celestia might know."

"Thank you." Twilight nodded.

"Is there anything I can get you in the meantime? Perhaps a drink?"

"No, thank you. I'm in a bit of a rush. But thank you for offering." And with that, Twilight sped off towards the throne room, hoping that she wouldn't run (or in her case, fly) into any other ponies.

Lucky for her, she arrived at the throne room rather quickly. Landing and folding in her wings, she took a moment to scramble for some semblance of composure that might have remained within her before using her magic to open the double doors.

"Twilight Sparkle. How wonderful to see you again." Sure enough, Celestia was proudly sitting on her throne, mane ever flowing, looking as proper as ever. Luna, on the other hoof, was nowhere to be seen.

"Greetings, Princess Celestia." Although her brain was frazzled every which way, Twilight opted to remain courteous towards her former mentor. "Is Princess Luna here?"

"Not at the moment. She's out getting a snack." At this, Celestia gave a chuckle. "She has been eating quite an awful lot lately. I fear she may eat all of the food in Equestria at this rate!"

Laughter bubbled forth from Twilight. As anxiety-ridden as she was, a good laugh was something she would always appreciate.

"But I digress. Tell me, is anything the matter?"

"Um...well, yes, actually. It concerns the villain we've been fighting over in the other world...Odd Todd." The purple alicorn's eyes quivered like Jello as all of the events of today were given.

"I see." Celestia closed her eyes in deep thought. Every second that passed by felt like forever to Twilight, and she could only watch as her former mentor's mind began working.

After what felt like a hundred moons, Celestia opened her eyes again. "Your idea is rather clever, Twilight. The Elements of Harmony were never used to kill ponies. Rather, they were used to punish ponies for their grave misdeeds committed against Equestria."

Twilight nodded. "I understand that."

"But at the same time..." Celestia folded her ears down as she broke eye contact with Twilight. "Olive raises a very good point. If the Elements somehow do not work on Odd Todd..."

"I don't want to kill him. Not unless it's as a last resort."

The situation was a rather tricky one. Celestia had to admit that she had very little idea of how to proceed. It didn't help that Luna happened to arrive in the throne room at that very moment, levitating an entire bag of apples.

"Sister! You would simply not believe what I found at the Canterlot farmer's market! They were only selling these apples for a mere few bits!" Luna exclaimed, acting as excited as a filly with a new toy as she trotted past Twilight like she was completely invisible. "Would you like one?"

"Not right now, Luna. We have a guest."

Luna turned around and gave a soft gasp. "Oh my, I am deeply sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I had no idea you had come in."

"She is seeking advice on her mission in the other world. The one given to her by the leader of "Odd Squad", Ms. O." Celestia explained. "She wishes to use the Elements of Harmony on this "Odd Todd" to reform him. But Olive and Ms. O want him dead."

"Oh. That is quite the tricky situation." Luna took a bite of one of her apples and shifted her gaze towards Twilight. "Would you, perhapth, want thome more advith?"

"Yes, absolutely. Any advice I can get." Twilight nodded. "I don't want to betray the ponies- erm, people of Odd Squad. But I also want to do what is right. I want to do whatever I can to save that world."

Luna swallowed her apple bite before speaking, realizing that she was getting spittle all over the place from talking with her mouth full. "If this "Ms. O" allows you to use the Elements of Harmony, then use them. And if that fails, then you must kill him."

Silence fell through the throne room as both Twilight and Celestia gave Luna looks of surprise.

"M-my dear sister..." Celestia stuttered. "You sound so confident in your decision."

"It is for the sake of Olive. She is but a child. So young, and yet, as her friends nearly died around her, she was the only one left to save her workplace." Luna shook her head. "Getting rid of the po- pardon, the person that caused her strife would help her to fully heal and to eventually move forward from this senseless tragedy."

Twilight listened to Luna's words with open ears. She's right. If Odd Todd were reformed successfully...would he still cause Olive harm, even on the side of good? Would he still have urges to cause oddness? Or would he be on his best behavior?

Perhaps...maybe I was wrong. Maybe it isn't ideal to spare Odd Todd after all.

Maybe it would be better to...

She shook her head violently. She had her moral values, but murder was something she just didn't do. She was a good pony, through and through.

But sometimes, being a bad pony was a necessary evil one had to adopt. Temporarily, of course.

"Twilight." Celestia spoke up as Luna took another bite of her apple. "You heard my sister's advice. There is nothing more we can do for you in this situation. It must be up to you to decide what is right." She glanced at Luna. "That being said, she raises a valid point. Perhaps killing Odd Todd using the Elements of Harmony would be better for everypony. In addition to stopping him from causing havoc on the other world, it would also stop him from entering Equestria and causing havoc."

I hadn't thought of that. He knows about us, and it's not far-fetched to assume that he knows where we come from as well. He could ruin Equestria...and the other world! For how smart she was, Twilight couldn't believe that she, nor anyone else, had considered Odd Todd entering Equestria and deciding to cause destruction -- whether he remained a human, or turned into a pony. Thinking about it, however, only caused her brain to become more scrambled. She took a moment to do some deep breathing, hoping that she wouldn't collapse from the stress in front of her former mentor and her fellow princess.

"We have confidence in you." Luna nodded. "You must kill Odd Todd by using the Elements of Harmony, if reforming him fails. It is the only way to save both worlds from complete disaster."

Why am I being so stubborn about this?! Twilight internally screamed. She knew that both Luna and Celestia were right, but at the same time, she just couldn't grasp the concept of murder because it was beyond her moral understanding. She also knew that her friends were opposed to the idea of killing Odd Todd, and like her, they held the belief that he could successfully be reformed by using the Elements.

She gave a long and heavy sigh. "Okay." She nodded. "The girls and I will try to reform Odd Todd using the Elements of Harmony. If that fails...then we will kill him."

"Do continue to keep in touth with uth." Luna said as she chewed on another apple bite.

"And always know you can come to us for advice whenever you need it, Twilight." Celestia nodded.

As the purple alicorn opened up her mouth to speak, her badge phone rang, and she clipped it off of her jacket before flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Twilight? It's Applejack."

"AJ? What's going on? Is it an emergency?"

"No, nothin' like that. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and I saw ya run off in a hurry earlier and we wanted to know if you're okay."

"If I'm okay?" Twilight paused. "Yeah...I'm okay."

"Good." Applejack sounded delighted. "We also wanted to talk t' ya about the counterplan. Ya got some free time?"

"As soon as I come back to Odd Squad, yes. Meet me in the bullpen."

"You got it. See ya then."

As Twilight closed her phone and clipped it back onto her suit, Celestia chuckled. "I see your friends are waiting for you."

"Yes, they are. Thank you so much, Princess Celestia. You too, Princess Luna. Your advice is invaluable."

"We are glad to help." Luna smiled, watching as Twilight turned and headed out of the throne room.

Twilight felt at ease now that she had a clear plan on how to move forward, and took off flying once more, heading for the exit of Canterlot Castle and onwards to her next destination.

Upon returning to Odd Squad, she found it completely darkened, with only a few places providing light sources -- the Lab and the computers, to name a few. Since it was nighttime across Equestria as well -- Luna must have raised the moon before getting a snack -- she figured that it was nighttime in Toronto as well. Everyone had gone home, more or less.

"Howdy, Twilight!" Applejack greeted, carrying a bucket of apples on her back. She came with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who both gave friendly waves.

"Hi, Applejack. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy. Oh, you don't know how relieved I am to see you."

"Why? You just talked on the phone with AJ earlier!"

"I know, Pinkie. But seeing my friends is just the thing I needed."

"Did something happen?" Fluttershy asked, her tone filled with worry.

"I was visiting the Princesses." Twilight explained. "They gave me advice on what to do with Odd Todd."

"What did they say? Tell us, tell us!"

"They said that killing Odd Todd...is the best solution."

At that moment, Pinkie stopped bouncing, hanging in midair as though she were being lifted by a string. "What?!" She landed. "Kill him?"

"I know you three, and Rainbow Dash and Rarity, all said that killing him would be too much." She spotted the two other mares in question approaching the group wordlessly as they listened to their friend. "But it's best for this world, for Odd Squad, and for Olive."

"So what're we gonna do?" Rainbow asked.

"We're going to try reforming Odd Todd using the Elements of Harmony first. If that fails, then we will kill him."

"That honor will go to me."

A voice from within the bullpen startled the six ponies, and they looked around for the source of the sound. Sure enough, Olive stepped forth, her navy-blue suit doing well to conceal herself in the darkness.

"Olive?"

"I want to kill him." Her voice was cold -- nothing new for her, but Twilight was quick to note that her tone was more icy than usual. "It will be justice and revenge for how much he's hurt me, my friends, and my co-workers."

"I understand, darling." Rarity's voice, in contrast to the human girl's, was softer. "But the Elements of Harmony will take care of things."

"Then let me wield an Element."

"That's not how it works." Rainbow piped up. "We were chosen as the Elements. You can't just use one randomly!"

"Especially if you don't represent the aspect of the Element." Fluttershy noted. "I'm sorry, Olive."

Olive looked like she wanted to say something, but bit her tongue back and resigned to clenching her fists instead.

"I know you're upset. But that's just the way things are." Twilight took a step forward. "If we can't reform him, and you want to make the killing blow after the Elements have done their job, then by all means."

"Perhaps you oughta go home and get some rest." Applejack approached Olive and reached out a tentative hoof, but only got a hand-yank away in response. "You'll feel better in the mornin'."

"No. I won't feel better until he's dead."

"Olive..."

"And if I'm being honest, you ponies are too pacifistic. For how many villains you've supposedly faced, you'd think that would change." A soft scoff. "Guess I'm wrong."

She began to head towards the steel double-doors.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. To rest." she said, without looking back. Within seconds she was gone, the double-doors hissing closed behind her.

"What're we gonna do?" Fluttershy asked.

"We're going to continue moving forward as intended, that's what." Twilight nodded. "Let's head back to Equestria and get some sleep. Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, you can tell us about your counterplan on the way."

She headed through the portal with her five friends in tow, although Olive continued to weigh heavily in her mind like a boulder. All she could do was hope that Olive wouldn't put herself in danger by confronting Odd Todd before they had a chance to do so themselves.

That would spell disaster...and I can't let Olive face him again. Never again.