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"This is Detective Hoof Print of the Fillydelphia P.D. The time is seven oh two, the date is October nineteenth. Case file number 12-96281. Location is the River Side Hospital on 14th and Hoofington.
"I'm currently pre-recording this as an introduction to the interview that I'm about to take. This will be the only interview we'll be doing for this case since there’s only one witness to the triple murder of three college students: Carrot Bit, Cloud Buster, and Book Binder. All three victims went missing after they told their friends and family that they would be doing some ghost hunting at Sanctuary's Mental Hospital, a place that was shut down thirty years ago, give-or-take, and has been known by the city as a local haunt spot for stupid teenagers to trespass and explore for any signs of ghosts.
"The police really got involved when we received a call to investigate some disturbing screams that were coming from the asylum. A small team was called in and found the three students dead within its crumbling walls. Cloud Buster was found in a cell that had a straitjacket tied on so tightly that his ribs were crushed and died of suffocation. The mare, Book Binder, was hooked up to an old Electrotherapy machine and was basically fried to death. And Carrot Bit was found drowned in a bathtub with freezing cold water.
"However, they also found the Changeling, who was the one who was doing all the screaming. He was found strapped to a mattress by leather straps, apparently was crying his eyes out and begging not to be harmed. Apart from the straps on all four of his legs, wings, and forehead, the bug was also wearing one of those anti-magic rings on its head.
"The thing looked like it not only had been starved for some time, but it had signed on its body signifying that it had been repeatedly stuck with needles. It also had some small burn marks on its temples and had a long scar on its abdomen. In other words, the changeling had been tortured for some time, but nopony has any idea as to who might have done it.
"Once it was removed from the scene of the crime and put into this current hospital, the changeling had been reported to show absolute fear towards anyone wearing a white coat or any doctor’s paraphernalia. The staff had to resort to drugging it so they could tend to its injuries. However, since the changeling is under arrest, it has had its forehooves strapped to its bed and put under constant surveillance.
"This is where I come in. I'm about to go interview the bug and see what its side of the story is."
(A door is heard opening.)
"Excuse me," a new voice is heard. "He's now ready for the interview."
"Thanks for tell-"
Click.
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"-do you want?" the changeling asked.
"I'm just here to talk with you." Scraps of metal scratched along the floor. "I'm with the local police. I'm here to hear what your side of the story is since, well, you're the only witness in this case."
"L-Look, I'm not entirely sure what happened to those ponies! I was trying to escape when I ran into them, and even told them to get out and-"
"Hey, hey, calm down. You're under arrest for suspicion, so while it’s likely that you’re the suspect, we still want to hear what happened from your side."
"Do you really think that I'm the one you want to talk to?"
"Well, you are the only witness."
"But that's the thing! With all that's happened to me, I can't tell that if it’s been a few hours, days, or even centuries since I've stepped inside that Queen-forsaken place. They've been drugging me up so many times that I eventually stopped counting."
"What? Do you mean here?"
"No, that pit of insanity. That place even Discord and Tirek would want to forget."
"Okay, so before you tell me about that place, do you have a name?"
For a moment, the changeling hesitated before responding. "R... Resto."
"Okay, Resto." The seat in which the detective sat in creaked. "Tell me, what were you doing in an abandoned hospital?"
"I... I'm a scout for my hive on behalf of the Queen. She had sent us all over Equestria to lay low since that disaster in Canterlot. Look, I'm telling you that I'm not a spy! Heck, we're not even allowed to go near ponies, only observe them at a distance. She sent me here to see what this city was like and I needed a place to hide out in."
"The asylum?"
"Yeah. I noticed that you ponies tend to stay away from really old places that are falling apart. Naturally, the place fit the bill since there was a ton of 'Do Not Enter' and 'No Trespassing' signs along the metal fencing, so I thought it was a perfect place to lay low in. Besides, the way it looked kinda reminded me of home in a way, except without all the goo. But looking back, I should have looked for someplace else."
"How come?"
"Did anyone tell you that we changelings feed on positive emotions?"
"Yeah? So?"
"When I went in, everything in there that I could sense was... wrong. Every little square inch of that place was just wrong. In other places in Equestria, you can usually sense where the love is coming from and even where the nearest changeling is. But when I went in there... it was completely devoid of love. In fact, it was like stepping into a void where I sensed..."
"What?"
For a long minute, Resto didn't say anything. Before the detective could press him on, he finally spoke up. "Nothing. There was absolutely nothing when I busted through the front window and into the lobby. Even when I finally settled into the decaying room with its loose tiles and rotting desk, I sensed nothing. Not only was it completely devoid of love, but it lacked any other emotion. It would be like walking into a dark room before the door suddenly shut behind you, trapping you in this dark abyss where you can’t see anything."
"So even if that's true, why didn't you leave?"
"Ha! Don't you think I've tried? When I turned around, I found the very window I busted through was solid, as if it was never smashed, to begin with!"
"Now hold on, why did you go through a window instead of a door?"
"It was padlocked," the changeling deadpanned, "and before you ask, the reason why I had to bust through a window was that they were either barred or nailed shut. So when I turned around, the window was whole. I even touched it to see if it was really solid, which it was. From then on, things only got weirder, and I’m still not sure if they actually happened or if I just dreamed it all up."
"Why's that?"
"When I turned back around, I saw the nurse."
"...what?"
"That was my exact reaction, only there was a little more shock in it." Resto shifted in his bed. "Or was it surprise? Yes, I think it was the kind of surprise that would make one's heart stop. But at this point, I wouldn't blame you for not taking anything I say too seriously since I'm still not sure if what happened afterward."
"Care to explain?"
"For starters, you know how you ponies take one look at us and suddenly we're the boogiemare? That didn't happen with this nurse. As soon as I saw her, she got up from behind the rotting desk and asked me if I was alright."
"She asked you if you were alright?"
"When I asked her why she thought I wasn’t, she just said ‘you have way too many holes in your legs and ears’. After that, she told me to wait there while she got some help. But even then, I could tell that something was off about her. All that time, I couldn’t sense a single emotion from her. Not one! There was no concern, no worries, or anything. It was if she wasn't even there. Yet, I could see and hear her like how I see and hear you right now."
"Hold on, hold on," the detective said, "are you saying that you just met a ghost?"
Resto paused. "I'm not sure if it was."
"Okay, why do you keep saying that?"
"Just hear me out okay, I think you'll know why."
Hoof Print sighed. "Continue."
"Anyway, I tried to tell her that she was being speciest -- all changelings have holes, after all -- and that I was completely fine. But this mare looked concerned and wanted me to follow her to see a doctor, which was really odd since that would mean that the place was still going. Besides, the windows and doors were locked, so what could I do? I followed her.
"We went past the lobby and through a pair of doors. To my surprise, the hallway we entered looked brand new. The lights were still working, the tiles weren't dirty or broken up, and even the paint looked fresh. Looking back now, it seemed a little too clean. Even the light looked a little too sterile for anything to live in. The smell was what stuck out the most, though. Something wasn’t just rotting, but molding away, but I couldn’t put my hoof on what exactly it was.
"As I followed the nurse down the hallway, I walked around some of the other ponies that were there. Every one of them had on white uniforms or a simple pale blue sheet that was tied in the back. Each of the ponies in blue was... strange to say the least. Some of them were in wheelchairs that wouldn't stop twitching, others were trying to talk to me but I couldn't understand a word what they were saying, and a few looked weird like having an oddly-shaped head or something like that.
"This nurse led me to an office where I was introduced to someone named Doctor Red Cross." Here, the changeling shuttered. "It was there that I finally sensed an emotion, despite how small it was at the time."
"And what was that?"
"Dread," Resto said. "When that... monster looked at me, I immediately sensed dread. He looked and even sounded like a very kind pony, but I could tell that he was anything but."
"Okay, before I run out of tape, could you describe to me what this nurse and this Doctor Red Cross looked like before you go any further?"
"How could I forget? The mare had a pale coat like eggshells, with her pink mane tied back underneath her white cap, and the creature looked like it could be someone's grandfather. Orange fur, turquoise blue mane, and I never saw him without his white doctor’s coat. There was a number of times that I got a good look at his cutie mark, a blood red cross with two serpents circled around it. And those eyes..."
"Yes?"
"His eyes were yellow, but they looked... dead."
"Okay, just give me a moment to stop the tape and switch it out for another. Now give me a-"
Click.