Fluttershy carefully trotted behind Banner as they approached what appeared to be an abandoned hospital. One that had a sign reading 'for the criminally insane' in crude Ponish. She never did like mental hospitals. While she had learned when to put her hoof down over the years and had been more sociable with her fellow ponies, she always knew her shyness wasn't normal. She used to worry about ponies noticing how shy she really was and throwing her in a place like this to try and cure her of her shyness. Not that their help would have done her any good since even a normal hospital like the one in Ponyville used a pony who thought she was a dog as a literal guard dog. As she and Banner continued trotting, Rainbow zoomed past her.

"So what do you know about this place?" Rainbow asked Banner.

"Other than it's a mental hospital for the criminally insane?" Banner replied, "Not much."

Banner pushed open the rusted gate of the hospital, its hinges creaking like a wounded animal. The sound echoed down the path, making Fluttershy’s ears flatten. While she had dealt with worse ever since being one of the element bearers, a part of her still wanted to suggest they turn back. She never entered a mental hospital in her life but, as she entered this one, she worried she wouldn't be let out. Luckily for her, Rainbow had delayed her and Banner going any deeper. At least for a short while.

"Hey, guys," Rainbow shouted as she pointed towards the back of one of the doors, "Look what I found."

Banner approached the door and used his horn to light up the shadow covering up Rainbow's discovery. It was a black cloak and a wooden mask.

"That's just somepony's Nightmare Night costume," Banner dismissively said.

"Exactly!" Rainbow exclaimed, "It's the kind of thing a bad guy would wear."

"Not in the real world, they don't," Banner rebuked, "Besides...I don't think it would fit any of these puppets anyway.

As Banner trotted forward, Fluttershy did the same with Rainbow right behind her. Much like how she and her friends had rows of puppets greeting them, there were two rows of puppets standing on each side of her, Rainbow and Banner, each of them wearing a white shirt. Banner flashed their badges to them and they moved on like a pack, barely glancing at him nor the mares accompanying him. The three ponies continued on down the corridor then up a flight of stairs, where they entered a surprisingly pristine office. Sitting behind the desk was a bald puppet with a tanned coat and a crooked muzzle drawn on its face. It was reading a copy of Twilight's Friendship Journals. Memories of random ponies judging her for relearning the same lesson over and over again flooded Fluttershy's mind. If the puppet sitting behind the desk was a doctor, what's stopping him from locking her up and throwing away the key?

"Dr. McPheasant," Banner said as he flashed his badge, "I'm DI Banner Mark and I'm sure you know the two pegasi behind me. Mind if we ask you some questions?"

"Of course," McPheasant spoke in an accent not too dissimilar from Rarity's.

Fluttershy watched as the puppet McPheasant carefully folded the journal and set it down on the desk. The puppet nodded towards a row of chairs right behind her and Rainbow Dash.

"Have a seat," McPheasant calmly suggested.

Rainbow Dash shot Banner a skeptical glance. "You sure this guy’s... uh, qualified to help? I mean, he’s literally made of cloth."

"Cloth?" McPheasant asked in a slightly alarmed tone, "I assure you, Miss Dash, that I am flesh and blood like any other pony. And as for my qualifications, I have worked at this hospital for years. My credentials are impeccable."

"Oh, really?" Rainbow asked in suspicion, "How many years?"

"Too many to count," McPheasant replied, "It all becomes a blur after a while. Any more questions?"

"Yeah," Banner spoke up, "We're investigating a series of murders. Have any of your patients escaped here by any chance?"

"Murders, you say?" McPheasant tilted his head slightly, "That is a grave accusation. But no, to my knowledge, none of our patients have left the premises recently. Security here is airtight."

"Airtight?!" Rainbow scoffed, leaning forward in her chair. "This place looks like it could collapse if I sneezed too hard."

"Looks can be deceiving, Miss Dash," McPheasant calmly retorted, "I assure you that every one of our wards are securely locked and heavily guarded."

"Then how do you explain this?!" Rainbow exclaimed as she pulled out the wooden mask.

McPheasant tilted his head, "I've never seen that mask before in my life. And even if I did, we have a strict policy against celebrating Nightmare Night. For the sake of our patients' mental health, of course."

"Likely story," Rainbow said as she sat back down.

Banner cleared his throat, "You'll have to excuse Rainbow here. She's uh..."

"Scrappy?" McPheasant sardonically replied, "Yes, I know. I've read the Friendship Journals. It's a pity the other Guardians aren't here. They would make fascinating caase studies."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Banner matter-of-factly said, "But just in case somepony did escape here or has a copycat, you mind getting the records of every patient here?"

McPheasant rose from his seat, "I think you are wasting your time here but sure."

As McPheasant left the office to get the records, Banner gestured to Rainbow to follow McPheasant. It did seem a bit odd to Fluttershy that Banner would enable Rainbow's suspicion of the puppet doctor but she wasn't going to say anything. While Banner made her nervous, he did seem like the kind of stallion that knew what he was doing. As Rainbow snuck out of the office to trail McPheasant, Banner shifted his head both ways before looking at Fluttershy.

"I'm gonna level with you," Banner spoke quietly, "It is a Celestia-send that you are here."

"Uh..." Fluttershy replied nervously, "Thank you but...how?"

"You have a way with non-pony creatures," Banner replied, "I think it might help me with a problem I've been dealing with for a few years."

Fluttershy gave Banner a puzzled look. But before she could ask, a swirl of magic surrounded the both of them as Banner's horn lit up. And when the magic dissipated, they were no longer in the office but instead in what looked like the hallway of an aquarium. In the centre of one of the walls was a big window showing the underneath of the island. There was a giant octopus with a hundred tentacles, each one jittering slightly, as two other hundred-tentacled octopi much bigger than him floated on each side. There was a look of concern in the two octopi's eyes as they watched the one in the centre, who simply had a thousand-yeard stare. She didn' know the full situation but Fluttershy can feel the pain of the two octopi.

"You see," Banner continued, "I'm not actually a detective."

Author's Note

The plot thickens.