Most of the castle's royal guards would be on high alert if they saw a pony soaring through the halls in a hurry. Since it was Twilight, though, most of them watched her go, all the way to the throne room.

Her bursting in suddenly interrupted a meeting that Celestia appeared to be having. But by this point, Twilight was too much of a mess of emotions to care. Her gaze looked at the ponies that she didn't bother to recognize, a glint in her eyes that served as a silent cue for them to take their leave.

"Goodness, Twilight. I...oh." Celestia blinked. "Spike sent me a letter informing me of your arrival, but I suppose you didn't receive my response letter."

"No, a-and I'm sorry, but this is too urgent. I left as soon as Spike sent my letter. I need to speak with you on a private matter and I would appreciate it if your guests would le- uh, n-not be in the room with us."

A look of worry settled on Celestia's features. "I see." She glanced at the trio of ponies standing next to Twilight. "In that case, may we continue with the dealings of this matter at another time?"

"Certainly, princess," the teal-furred mare responded, though Twilight caught her giving a side-eye stink eye to her. "Good day."

The shared gait of the trio was uppity as expected, but Twilight didn't care. She would have been content to use her magic and shove all three of them out the door if Celestia weren't watching her. As soon as the doors closed, she focused all of her attention on her former mentor, pulling out a few binders that weren't with her before but were instead hidden in hammerspace.

"I'm sure you know of Phillip from the letter." A nod from Celestia. "After taking a trip to Earth and meeting with Odd Squad, we compiled extensive notes based on their catalog of history books." Twilight levitated the binders over to Celestia, who caught them and began flipping through them. "One of the big things we managed to find is that they've had access to a portal that leads to Equestria, and have tried to cross through unsuccessfully. Likewise, we've tossed around the theory that some Equestrian unicorns could be trotting on Earth as well, but aside from Phillip and Starlight Glimmer, we don't know of anypony else who has been, or could be, traveling to Earth."

Celestia nodded. "Odd Squad...I know of them well. One of their leaders -- their Big Os, as it were -- tried reaching out to Luna and I a few millennia into our reign. As much as they wanted to cross over, something prohibited them from doing so. Starswirl never sought to pursue the matter any further because Odd Squad was one of many dimensions he was studying, and a dimension with humans wasn't..." She tapped her chin. "Hmm, I'm forgetting the exact wording he used."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock. "You...you've known of Odd Squad for this long?"

"Yes. But once we found out of their intent to catch unicorns and their penchant for the consumption of them, Luna and I both declined any and all attempts at securing an alliance," Celestia explained. "To ally with Odd Squad would be putting Equestria in danger, even if those working for it cannot cross into this world."

A sudden weight began crushing Twilight, as though someone had put an anvil on her back. The people she had freely communicated with would have seen her as nothing more than a food source before her ascension. They probably thought Starlight and Phillip were food sources. But at the same time, it didn't make much sense. Speaking with Captain O, Ook, and Ozzie, she didn't see any sort of hunger in their eyes. Perhaps they just weren't hungry, but that didn't explain why no other Odd Squad agents came rushing to what was so obviously prey that had obliviously walked right into their territory. Either way, this spelled bad news for a potential alliance, which was another reason why Twilight had come all the way to Canterlot.

"There are some notes in there about unicorn consumption of the past and present." she pointed out. "But for what it's worth, no one tried to make a move on Starlight or Phillip. Maybe it's just some agents that eat them and others don't."

Celestia looked up with an expression of thought. It only lasted for a second before it grew dark. "Even if that's so, Odd Squad still supports it."

Biting her lip, Twilight didn't have a good rebuttal.

"Oh." Celestia blinked as she read what was on the page. "They use parts of unicorns for medicinal properties?"

"Yes!" Twilight eagerly straightened, finding something that could give her a fighting chance. "Unicorn tears in particular have been used in countless cures for weird illnesses. Mane and tail hairs, too."

A soft sigh left Celestia. "This doesn't make sense. If they are so keen on using unicorn parts for medicine and having their wishes granted by unicorns, then why do they seek to hunt and kill them?" She glanced at Twilight. "Perhaps your logic about some agents eating unicorns and others not eating them at all also applies to that."

Twilight opened her maw to answer, but a loud whooshing sound from behind her cut her short. She turned around and noticed a rather sizeable purple portal, with a slender leg and hoof reaching out of it as if to grab something.

"C'mon...c'mon..."

The voice was childish, but it wasn't one that Twilight recognized. Instinctively, she backed up and placed a protective shield around her, keeping a wary eye on the portal as another hoof reached out. If she hadn't known any better, she'd have probably pinned the intruder as some kind of paranormal abomination. The head that poked out, though, cemented the equine as looking like Celestia and Luna, complete with the long horn.

"An alicorn...?" she murmured, her mouth hanging open as she saw more and more of the body slide out of the portal.

The lower half of the intruder's body popped out, and the tall alicorn stumbled about before rising on her hind legs. Twilight could see that her fur and wings were a dark purple with lighter spots, while her brown and sparkling mane and tail were tied up tightly in buns. Her cutie mark appeared to be a pair of green juice boxes with the straws in them, crossed together to make an X. And she was wearing the top half of a white suit with gray epaulets, a gray badge, and some sort of gray decagonal shape. But the most striking thing about her was that she was as tall as Celestia.

The intruder flopped onto her back with a groan. "Right. Horse. Can't walk on two legs anymore." With great effort, she flipped onto her belly and attempted to get up. "Wouldn't be the first time..."

Twilight sneaked a glance at Celestia, who had put the binders off to the side and looked just as surprised as she was.

"Okay, I think I got it." The intruder turned around.

And before she could get a word in, Twilight interrupted. "Who are you?"

The intruder regarded Twilight with a look of confusion. "I would think the suit and the badge would be tip-offs for you, Twilight Sparkle." She quickly bowed in a rather awkward manner. "Sorry. Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Uh, th-there's no need for that. Just tell me your name."

"I am the currently-serving Big O of Odd Squad. Also known as Oprah." The other alicorn straightened. "A pleasure to meet you." She glanced at Celestia with a contemplative expression. "You...look familiar. But the name..."

"Princess Celestia. It's a pleasure to meet you, Oprah."

"Ah, yes. Princess Celestia. Likewise." Oprah tapped her head. "And sorry. It's been a while since I've had a crash course in Equestrian history from Agent Olympia. She would know a lot about this world." She glanced behind her, at the portal that was no longer there, and paused. "Should've brought her along with me."

Twilight was so focused on Oprah that she too hadn't noticed the missing portal. The matter of getting Oprah back to her world, though, was water under the bridge for the time being, and so she moved on. "Why did you come here?"

"Captain O from Cambridge informed me that you had come to her Headquarters and spoken with her about a unicorn she has. Phillip, who is an Equestrian resident. Olympia has told me about past attempts to ally with Equestria that have not gone well. According to you, Princess -- " Oprah looked at Celestia -- "it's because we slaughter and eat unicorns, correct?"

Celestia's eyes slightly narrowed. "Yes. Have you come to reconsider your stance?"

Oprah sat down with a sigh. "The truth is, Odd Squad, as a whole organization, considers unicorns to be a threat. They've been known to engage in acts of villainy, and so we came up with tactics to interrogate them that have since been incorporated into Odd Squad Academy classes. How agents think of them can vary between leaning the way of the organization or leaning the opposite way. I can't control that, obviously. But if it's any assurance, while I will always disapprove of unicorns who have become villains, I am in good contact with the king of Cloud Town, where many unicorns reside." She gave a small smile. "I would certainly like to pose an alliance with you and your world, if you'll let me."

"Country," Twilight corrected. "Equestria is a country."

"Right. Sorry. An alliance with you and your country." Oprah looked around. "Is your world leader here?"

"Different parts of Equus have different rulers. Unlike in your world, there is no one supreme ruler."

A disappointed look settled on Oprah's face. "I see. In that case, I guess I can start here."

By all accounts, it looked like Oprah was telling the truth, but it seemed like Celestia thought in black and white. Either Odd Squad despised unicorns or tolerated them, and there was no gray area. Twilight knew that wasn't the case, though, because much like Equestrians, Oprah's agents had the right to free will. Celestia most likely wanted Oprah to declare that her agents could no longer hurt unicorns, but that would lead to a chain of events that Twilight didn't see ending positively. Still, she didn't have much say in the matter of what Celestia wanted, and so all she could do was help guide things forward.

"If I may." She stepped forward and turned her head around. "Celestia, what would make you agree to this alliance?"

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and pulling out one of the binders, flipping to a certain page in particular. "Going by your notes, Twilight, it seems that unicorns have a long and rather fabled history with Odd Squad, though their hostility with them started with one named Aurora, a villain who harmed one of their own agents in battle while on the run from an odd crime." She closed the binder and set it down. "Though it certainly explains why Odd Squad is upset with them, it doesn't explain why they have resorted to eating them."

"It's only a small majority," Oprah assured. "The measures we have in place to punish unicorn villains does not involve eating them or killing them."

"Then perhaps you would be keen on stomping out that small majority." Celestia's eyes slightly narrowed. "If you are willing to do that, then we may move forward with seeking an alliance."

"Yes, of course. I'll work with my assistants on the matter as soon as I get back. You have my word."

"And I shall hold you to it as a sign of my trust in you." Celestia's posture and expression relaxed significantly. "Outside of the unicorn problem, I don't see anything in your organization's history that would create conflict with Equestria. Unless Twilight has something to add?"

Twilight shook her head. "Nope. I'm in favor of an alliance with Odd Squad."

"As am I." Celestia got up from her throne and made her way down the stairs, but moved past Oprah towards the doors. "Please excuse me while I get my sister from her sleeping quarters."

Oprah turned and watched her go. "Is that necessary?"

"It's for verification purposes." Twilight explained. "It always helps to have another witness. And besides that, they're co-rulers, so they have to consult with each other on these matters."

"Ah." Oprah's brows furrowed in confusion. "I guess that makes sense, though I don't understand why a country needs two rulers."

Realizing she would have to bore Oprah with the history of Celestia and Luna, Twilight sighed and decided to leave her guest from another dimension with the shortest possible explanation. "Celestia and Luna are sisters. They were born alicorns, and were eventually deemed the Princesses of the Sun and the Moon as well as the rulers of a newly-founded Equestria."

Oprah didn't say anything. All she did was stand there and lean slightly forward, as though waiting for Twilight to elaborate. There was a certain look in her eyes that made Twilight wither slightly, a look of authority that neither Celestia nor Luna had. And if she looked, she could swear that somehow, the eyes had wrinkles. Too many wrinkles.

Her ears flopped downwards. "You want the whole story, don't you?"

With a satisfied look, "If you don't mind."

It had taken longer for Celestia to retrieve Luna than expected. When the younger alicorn staggered into the room behind her more pristine-looking sister, she looked disheveled, from the eyebags all the way down to her messy mane. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Oprah.

"You did not tell me there was another alicorn in Equestria, sister, let alone one who dresses in attire fit for the militia. Is this the new army leader we were discussing some time ago?"

"I'm not military," Oprah quickly said. "I'm from another dimension. I lead Odd Squad, an organization of kids who investigate-"

"Anything strange, unusual, and especially odd, yes. I have heard the same spiel from your predecessors many times over."

Oprah raised her hoof and opened her mouth, then closed it. "'No, now that I think about it, 'predecessors' seems more of a fitting word." Again she bowed about the best she could in her new form, which looked just as awkward as her first attempt. "You're Princess Luna, correct?"

"Indeed." Luna unceremoniously stretched out each of her back legs in turn, wincing when the inevitable muscle cramp threatened to make her wingbound. Twilight knew that feeling well. "And you must be Oprah, the currently-reigning monarch."

"Okay, 'monarch' is definitely not the right word. We don't run a diarchy. Or a solo-archy." Oprah stopped for a moment, then she let her head droop with a groan. "I hate words."

Luna, looking more and more energized with each passing second, showed no change in reaction. "So are we to assume that you run 'Odd Squad' on your own?"

Oprah lifted her head up. "Yes. It's just me and my assistants."

"I see." Twilight noticed the glint in Luna's eyes that spoke of how pitiful Oprah was, but if the guest happened to notice, she didn't show any signs of upset. "My sister tells me you wish to seek out an alliance with Equestria."

"Ah- please." Oprah bashfully grinned. "I don't need the details. Those two-hundred-and-fifty meetings won't progress very far if I'm not there to keep things organized."

Twilight's eyes widened to such a point that they nearly fell out of her skull. "Two hundred...I'm sorry, how many?"

"Two hundred and fifty."

Luna snorted. "Another reason why it would be wise to consider a diarchy."

"I can get it all done," Oprah snapped indignantly, like that of an oppositional child. "Now can we move on to the handshake...hoofshake...thing and find a way to get me out of here? I don't know that I like being a horse. No offense."

A chorus of voices echoed, in completely deadpan tones, "None taken."

Luna moved past Oprah and Twilight on their way to her throne, while Celestia stopped in front of Oprah and telekinetically passed along her binders to Luna for her to skim through.

"Oprah. Under the guiding light of the Sun and Moon, we hereby declare an alliance with Odd Squad. Do you accept?"

"I do."

"Then it shall be so." Celestia stuck her hoof out. "I shall have my scribes make note of this for the record. In the meantime, if you may shake my hoof."

Twilight had expected the logistics behind the alliance to be a little more complex than that. Then again, she hadn't born witness to Equestria striking up an alliance with a leader in another dimension before, so perhaps they had different procedures. She made a mental note to study up on that when she got back to Ponyville, watching as Celestia and Oprah shook hooves.

"As for your departure, I believe my sister and I can arrange that for you."

As if on cue, Luna's startled whinny echoed throughout the room. She looked up from the binder she was reading. "This...she...and her kind eat unicorns?"

"Luna, we discussed this at length. I am not sure why you are so surprised."

"Well, I...I did not believe you! No one would dare to eat a unicorn! But these...humans..." Luna devolved into incomprehensible stammering as she flipped to the next page, then suddenly stared at Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle! Please, tell me this is nothing more than your writings of blasphemy!"

Twilight slightly tilted her head. "It's not blasphemous. My friends and I did some research, and that's what we found. Everything written in those binders is true."

Gently, Luna set the binder to the side and held a hoof to her head. "Goodness...eating unicorns...who would do such an awful thing?"

"Celestia and I struck a deal," Oprah offered. "I'll give the orders for my agents to stop eating unicorns as soon as I get back. Once things are steady there, I'll move on to having the Odd Squad Doctors seek out alternative cures for odd illnesses that don't involve unicorn parts." She turned to look at Celestia, who was raising an eyebrow. "A bit of an addendum I thought up on the fly. If you don't mind."

"Certainly not." Celestia nodded. "Luna, please, calm down. There is nothing to fear. Oprah is not a threat."

A mighty snort was her response. "I shall take your word for it, sister. But mark my words, Oprah." The mare slowly rose and began her descent to the floor. "If we find that you have broken the terms and conditions of our alliance, then I shall be the one to enact swift punishment upon you."

Oprah didn't answer at first, but nodded only seconds later. "All right."

As Celestia and Luna stood across from each other, their horns lit up in a brilliant array of yellow and blue. They bowed their heads downwards and let their horns touch, which resulted in the two colors mixing together to create a small ball of magic that was slightly bigger than Twilight's own hoof. It shot towards the doors, but stopped a couple feet from it and expanded so that it showed a portal slathered in purple.

Twilight noticed Oprah watching the feat with mild awe. She supposed Odd Squad had similar powerful magic in their world, and it made her curious as to Oprah's power levels in the world of Equestria. She made a mental note to study that when she got back, too.

"It was nice meeting you all. Oh, and about Phillip." Oprah bowed her head. "Please continue to allow him to travel in between worlds. He's a wonderful asset to Odd Squad, and I have a feeling he could become just as much of an asset in Equestria if you let him."

Celestia and Luna exchanged a look, and then a nod.

Oprah reared up on her hind legs and began to walk again, but stopped short when she flopped on her stomach. "And the next time I visit...I'll be more educated on horses. This is why...ugh...I was never a horse girl."

For her part, Twilight trotted forward and offered a hoof. "Here, let me help you. Try to walk on four legs instead of two. I learned that the hard way from my adventures in another world with humans."

"Thanks." Oprah accepted the help, gripping Twilight's hoof and slowly rising to her four hooves once more. The pair remained holding hooves, with the latter guiding the former to the portal step by shaky step. When they got there, Oprah swiveled her head around and let her hoof flop around in what Twilight had to assume was a wave, wished the three other alicorns good luck, and hopped on through, the portal closing behind her.

The room was silent for the better part of a minute, until Celestia broke it. "Well, then. That was quite something."

"Indeed." Luna trudged towards the doors. "I must spend the three hours I have left wisely. Not by ruminating over what has just transpired, but by getting some more sleep."

"Thank you for the help!"

All Celestia got in response was a small grumble as Luna left.

Twilight heaved a sigh. "I'm glad things went well," she said. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Celestia. It's nice that we have an alliance with someone from another dimension."

"You are most welcome." Celestia made her way towards her throne. "I shall be keeping your notes in the Archives for future reference. Please let me know of any new developments with Odd Squad or with Oprah."

"Will do!"

As Twilight eventually boarded the first train back to Ponyville, she felt a sense of satisfaction. In a way, it was sort of like she opened up an inverse Maredora's Box -- where at first she was appalled at Phillip's origins and his connections to Rainbow Dash, now she was at peace with it, at least for the most part. Much research on Odd Squad still had to be done, and Twilight was committed to studying it as much as she possibly could. Maybe one of these days, Odd Squad could help defend Equestria against a particularly nasty foe that her and the other Elements of Harmony were struggling with. It was an interesting scenario to think about, and as she laid down on her seat, she replayed it over and over in her head.

When she got back to Equestria, she relayed the good news to Starlight, Rainbow and Phillip, who were elated. Phillip especially so, since it provided a sense of relief for him. Though she could never unsee his horse form on Earth, Twilight made a conscious effort to plan a lunch date with him in order to get to know him better, and apologized for any suspicion she had expressed towards him.

The only remaining issue was that something was bugging her, something that needed to be addressed in terms of the alliance. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was, and just chalked it up to a bout of anxiety and negativity as she went along the rest of her day.

Oprah wasn't exactly the most graceful agent, but she was certainly no klutz. Still, flying out of the portal and landing on her hands and feet, in the same position a child would make when skedaddling down a flight of stairs, was not how she wanted to re-enter her native world.

"Big O?"

She knew that voice. It was young, it was innocent, and it was that of her topmost assistant. Looking at her, on the floor, in an awkward position that was starting to make her spine hurt.

"Are you okay? Where did you go?"

Oprah's cheeks flushed a bright red, and she jerked her head away.

"You don't have to be embarrassed!" The assistant held out her hand. "Lemme help you up!"

Something in Oprah compelled her to take up the offer quickly, and she gripped the hand and rose to her feet. Her hands waved wildly behind her as she struggled to find a sense of balance, until finally, after a minute, her feet were planted on the floor, her legs shaking. "I'm..." She grunted. "I'm sorry, Orpita. I just came back from another world and the switch from walking on four legs to walking on two is not one I'm used to yet."

"Ha, been there, done that." Orpita grabbed Oprah's arm and slung it over her shoulder. "C'mon. Where do you wanna go?"

"Right now? Take me to my office. I need to make an announcement."

"An announcement? What about?"

"I'm holding a meeting to discuss Odd Squad's consumption and usage of unicorns. Per the terms of our new alliance with Equestria, it's going to be against the rules. Any agent caught eating a unicorn or using it for nefarious purposes, including any medical purposes, will be punished accordingly."

Orpita faltered, and Oprah felt it as she jerked slightly forward.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry."

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, until they got to Oprah's office. Oprah sat in her chair, while Orpita moved to make sure the automatic doors closed appropriately.

"I'll be going to a meeting with the mole people in about five minutes. In the meantime, write down key points for my speech, will you?"

"I, uh...oh. Yeah, sure, I can do that."

"Thanks." Oprah pushed her way to the back to grab a juice box. Power-flavored, of course, though she didn't need power for what she was about to do next.

"Oh, Orpita?'

The little girl turned.

"Don't think you're exempt from the rules. Either clear out your stash in Room 3, or I'm getting agents to clean it out for you."

The wail of despair wound its way through the hallways of the building and shook the heavens above, but it didn't deter Oprah any, who had seen many a tantrum and thrown many more in her very younger days. She sipped her juice box and watched Orpita go at it, pounding the floor and whining and sobbing and begging her boss not to rat her out to her parents.

It's ironic, really. You'd think a little girl her age would love unicorns.

But Oprah knew there was a fine line between wanting to ride them, and wanting to eat them.

If Orpita wanted a shot at turning Odd Squad into a duumvirate-ruled organization one of these days, that was a hard truth she would just have to face.

Author's Note

Credit for the inspiration behind Oprah's alicorn design goes to ravioliet. This isn't the same Oprah as in their AU, but the WIP design was too cool-looking to pass up. (I at least tried to make it distinct while also adding my own spin to it. It is, after all, a WIP design.)

Making this into the 10th anniversary fic wasn't at all what I had in mind, but IRL has been hectic more than usual this month and so I never got a chance to even start on the project I wanted to do. With that in mind, though: happy 10th to the show that completely defined, and continues to define, my Internet legacy. May it live on forevermore, in spite of the perils of the television industry.