>It's been 3 days since your X rated night with Pinky, making it 10 days since you first got trapped in Ponyville
>You and Pinky decided to keep bug bro, and he currently resides in a jar on your nightstand
>Still haven't been able to train him to kill griffons, but that's ok, these things take time
>As for the biggest matter at hand, your plan to push Carrot Top and Auckland together has seemed to work quite well. In fact, you haven't seen Aussie bird at all since your boss went out with him
>Of course at work she talks about him non stop, but it doesn't bother you. As long as he isn't planting a kukri into your forehead, you're happy
It's currently 7 AM, you've got an hour before work starts
>Rolling out of bed, you quietly sneak out of the room as Pinky sleeps
"Time for a shower, gotta look good for customers"
>You head down the hall way towards the bathroom
 
 
>You open up the bathroom door and switch on the light
>Since you've been here, you just love taking showers, you never had anything like this back at the hive
>Cleanliness is next to godliness nigga
>As you set out some towels, you notice something over on the counter
"Bug bro? How the hell did you get here?"
>Must have left the jar unscrewed. Sneaky little bastard
"You hold tight there, I'll put you back when I'm done"
>He just continues crawling along the counter. Dumb ass.
>You hop into the shower, and close the curtain, turning on the water as warm as it will go
>Water that would burn ponies feels just fine to you, that exoskeleton is pretty heat resistant
>Lathering up with strawberry shampoo, you close you eyes and savor the feeling of the water hitting you, the way that the soap slides down your body, the way that your crotch tingle
>Wait wut
>You look down
"Oh god damn it, not again"
 
 
>You look down at your boner, rather annoyed
>This been doing this every freaking morning since that night with Pinky. Biggs Jr. is an anxious little guy
"Not now boner, I don't have time for this"
>You continue lathering up, and feel your member begin to recede
>Thank god
"Hey bug bro, you stay put for a few more minutes like a good arthropod"
>You really need to think of a name for him latter. Maybe Carl? You'll get around to it
>You're glad he’s such a bro, and not some huge faggot
"Let’s see if I can connect to hive mind, maybe they've got something good playing"
>You focus your brain waves, picking up on garbled words coming from the nest among static. Fucking reception
>Static.....static........ "I COME FROM A LAND DOWN UNDE-"
"Fuck that, I'm about out of patience with Aussies!"
>You suddenly home in on a faint broadcast from the hive
 
 
>Focusing with all you strength, you attempt to boost the broadcast's signal
"Come on, just a little more"
>You begin to her the static gradually phase out, replaced by actual words
>"-ith great regret, we inform the hive that the search for Changeling 1776 has been called off this morning. Authorities have agreed that at this point, the best that could be done is locate the body, as it has been a full 10 days since he was seen last exiting the hive looking for energy. A tragedy indeed. Now onto Sports! Th-"
>You drop the signal
"My hive has been looking for me this whole time?...."
>Searching for a missing changeling, let alone 10 days’ worth is rather unheard of. You were bred to be disposable after all
>You slump against the wall, unsure of what to do
"Well, I guess there goes hope of rescue, not that I knew I had any to begin with"
 
 
>You stand up again, feeling a little reassured that your hive would actually spend precious resources trying to find you
>You're guessing it's repayment for all those confirmed kills back at Canterlot
>As you step out of the shower and dry off, you spot Carl still crawling around the counter, like a good bro
"Maybe I could train you to send messages back to the hive?"
>First he's gonna need time to turn into a butterfly, but whatever, time's the one thing you've got
"Let’s get out of here man" you state, picking him up and heading back to your bedroom
>Opening the door, you quietly move past your sleeping roommate again, depositing Carl in his jar
"You know what, you're coming to work with me, little guy"
>You walk over and put on your harness, then deposit the jar inside it
>As you turn to walk out the door, you walk up to Pinky and give her a goodbye kiss as she sleeps
>She's too just too adorable, mang
as you finally exit the room and head downstairs, you think to yourself, maybe you don't want to leave her when this is all over? She's rather grown on you
 
 
>Heading down the street towards the market, you begin to consider your options with your Pinky
>She' fine. Damn fine. But can you really leave your hive for her?
>But on the other hand, it's going to be nearly impossible to keep this ruse up forever
"I wonder what she would have done the other night if she had noticed what I truly was when she crawled in bed...."
>There's no way that she wouldn't piss herself if she knew that she was cuddling with a changeling
>Maybe you could get back to the hive and visit her every once in a while?
>You'll think about it, but know it's time to focus on getting to work
"Time for some tunes"
>You begin to once again focus in on hive mind
>"CRAWWWWLING INNNN MYYY SKIIIIIIIIIN!"
".............You know what, forget about the music"
>Trotting ever faster, you see the market, with plenty of time to spare
>But the carrot stall looks deserted, where's Carrot Top?
 
 
>You decide to wait at the stall. After all, you are a little early, maybe she’s just simply on her way now?
>Setting down your harness and saddlebag, you take a seat and wait for the boss
>After a while, the market begins to open. The other vendors go about their business, and customers begin to look at various stalls and wares
>Glancing over to the market clock, it's 10 minutes past 8
"This isn't right. She's always so strict on being here on time.....and she would have told me ahead of time if we weren't going to open up for whatever reason
>A few more minutes go by. Still no Carrot Top.
>You begin to fidget, and decide it's time to see what's going on
>Walking up to the candy stall, your get the mare's attention
"Hey BonBon, have you seen Carrot Top anywhere? She should have been here a while ago?"
>"No, I haven't seen your boss. Just consider it a day off and get out of here"
>What a fucking cunt
>You walk away and head back to the still closed carrot stand
>It's now 8:30
"This really isn't good. I need to see if she's alright"
>You take off down the back trail that leads to the wooded path heading up to her farm
>At nearly full gallop, you feel your legs get taken out from under you
>Falling, your breath gets knocked at as you spy the log to tipped on
>F.....fuck..ing...log.
>You stagger up and press on; you need to figure out what's going on
 
 
>You begin to get back to full speed after your blunder, and are speeding down the trail within no time
>You desperately search the path for passerbies, but see none. You should have figured, the only thing out this way is her farm
>You can now see the farm through the clearing as you gallop
"Don't worry Carrot Top, I'm coming for you"
>So slow down and stop about thirty yards from the house
>Nothing looks out of place. The fields look ok, some laundry fluttering out on a rope to dry
>You cautiously walk up to door and knock
"Carrot Top! Carrot you here!......Hello?"
>Waiting a few seconds, no response comes
>You try to open the door, but to no avail, it's firmly locked
"Damn it! Now what?"
>Thinking quickly, you look to your saddlebag and get an idea
>Digging out Carl's jar, you unscrew it and place him at the door step
"Go on Carl, crawl under the door and unlock it. You can do this bro."
>He just looks up at you....then proceeds to crawl under the door, disappearing behind it
"I really hope he can understand me"
>After about a minute, you consider smashing a window to get in, but you hear the lock begin to turn
>You now twist the door knob, and are granted access
>Looking at the knob, bug bro is just sitting on it
"Good work brother" you say as you place him back in the jar and into the saddle bag
>Now it's time to get some answers
 
 
>Alright Biggs, it's game time. You've done enough room clearings in Canterlot, you know how this works
"Carrot Top! Just hang tight, I'm coming for you!"
>With that you dive into the living room, quickly scanning it
>Fireplace is unli,; nothing out of the ordinary, couch doesn't have any indents on it
>You get up and head to the kitchen
"Hm....nothing here either. Fridge is full, no broken dishes...."
>You decide to try her bedroom just to confirm that no one is here
>Kicking open the door, you bolt in
"Nobody move!!"
>And yet again, nothing
>"No signs of a struggle, no valuables taken, clothes are neatly folded...."
>You glance over to the bed and see something sticking out from under the pillow
>Hoping to find a possible clue, you walk over, and gently pull whatever it is out from under the pillow
>Oh god, what if it's a murder note? Or someone wants ransom? You can't bear the thought of-
>..........
>Just some pictures of Auckland. Should have figured
>You decide that enough is enough, this mare isn’t home, and wasn't even in recently, the bed has no indentations on it
>You take a step out of the bedroom, and head out the exit with bug bro
 
>You shut the door behind you, planning out your next move
"Should I involve the guards? Is it that critical yet?"
>Although you hate to draw attention to yourself, especially from the very people who want you captured and dead, you might not have another option
"Come along Carl. We're heading back to town"
>As you run down the path once again, you make sure to jump over the log
>Not this time, faggot
>Within a few minutes, you're back in town
>You flag down a passerby, a rather small looking unicorn mare
"Excuse me, but have you seen Carrot Top anywhere?"
>"Carrot Top? I don't believe so, but she was at the market just the other day"
>You already know that lady, you work for her for god's sake
"Well thanks anyway. By the way, where's the nearest police checkpoint?"
>She point a hoof down the street
>"Should be a few blocks down there. Good luck with finding her though!"
>You quickly thank her and gallop away
>On the route, you ask several ponies if they've seen your boss, but they all know nothing of her whereabouts
>Not good
>You finally approach the checkpoint
>It's a small one, only four guards keeping a watch out at a booth
 
 
>You run up to the checkpoint, in a panicked state
>The guards, noticing a rather large pony coming at them, draw their weapons
>"You! Halt! Stop where you are!"
>You do so immediately, as a couple of them walk out to you
>"What's your business here?" They ask, glaring at you
"My friend is missing! Well my boss, but either way, I can't find her and she should have showed up to work but she didn't and I'm worried that sh-"
">Woah, woah, slow down there buddy. Who exactly is your friend?"
>You look at him pleadingly
"Carrot Top. Please, I'm worried about her, she didn't show up to work, and she's never done that before without warning. And with all these recent murders I'm concerned for her safety"
>One guard is writing down your story, and the other one tells one of his comrades at the checkpoint to locate her file
>"Now is there any other details that you can give us?"
"Well.....she has been hanging around with Rupert Auckland a lot the past few days
>"Rupert Auckland? Son, trust me, if she's been around him, she's probably the safest mare in this whole town"
>Yeah fucking right
>"But anyway, we'll get to work on a missing person report"
"Thank you so much officers! How long until the report is completed?"
>"Oh, we've got to check her file, get some back tracing, witnesses. Should be out in the next day or so"
>A whole day? No wonder these guys couldn't capture you, they're incompetent as fuck
>You nod, and head back down the street, upset at their painstaking response time to this emergency
 
 
>As you slink away, you feel nothing but despair that your boss, and only other friend in town besides Pinky is gone without a trace
"I need a plan, and I need one fast"
>Racking your brain, you attempt to come up with your next move
>Maybe Auckland could help you? He's attached to Carrot Top. He would certainty help, especially because he might think it's another lead to find his prey
>But on the other hand, if you slip up at any time near him, he'll slash your throat without a second thought.....
>Staking your life, you decide that finding Carrot Top is more important
>But where to find Auckland? Maybe the bar? No, he might not have uncovered you as his target yet, but he's certainty no slacker. He's probably out searching the streets
"I'll just head back to the market, she if she might have showed up late, and then go from there."
>You take off at top speed to the market place
 
 
>Entering the market place, you run back to the carrot stall
"Still freaking empty"
>Frantically searching around, you can't find any traces of her, no notes, no anything
>Heading over to a crowd of market goers, you flag over a stallion
"Hey buddy, come here real quick"
>He looks around, then shrugs and walks over
"You wouldn't happen to know where Rupert Auckland is, would you?"
>He puts his hoof to his chin and begins to think
>"You know, actually I heard that he was out by the Carousel Boutique, but that was about half an hour ago"
"Oh that's fine, thanks!"
>You run off, leaving him there
>Soon, you're near the Boutique, and slow down to a walking pace, keeping your eyes open
>You see a white unicorn wave at you from the main entrance
>Fucking Element of Genocide, you know what you did
>Walking a little further, you hear some noises down a back alley. Sounds like something's rustling around
 
>You're not sure what's back in there, you're gonna need some backup, or at least a witness
"Hey Miss, could you come her for a moment?"
>The unicorn points a hoof to herself, and you nod, causing her to walk over to you
>"Why, whatever do you need darling?"
>That fucking accent makes you want to punch her
"I heard some noises back in the alley, just uh, just stand here with me while I figure out what's in there. You know, you just can't tell what might be lurking around"
>She eyes you questioningly
>"Well, alright dear, I'll be right here
>You nod and take a step forward
"Anyone in there?"
>You hear the rustling stop for a moment
"Hey is somepony back there?"
>You hear a gruff, foreign accent in response'
>Ya, someone's back here, but it aint no pony"
>And with that, a griffon strolls around the corner, out of the alleyway
>"Well, I'll just leave you two gentlemen alone"
>Yeah scurry off, bitch
>"Well g'day there Jean........what brings you here?"
 
 
>You begin to frantically tell him everything
"Carrot Top was supposed to show up to work today, but ended up not coming. I know she wouldn't call off work without telling me first. You've spent a lot of time with her, you know how she is. Anyway, I went back her house, and nobody was there, so I filed a police report, but it'll be probably a day before they do something. You've been with her lately, so I thought that you might know something that could help find her?"
>He just coldly eyes you the whole time, waiting for you to finish
>After he's sure that you're done explaining, he speaks up
>"Well now Jean, this is a very tragic turn of events indeed."
>He begins to pace back and forth
>"I'll admit that I have been spending plenty of time with her, but the last I saw her was last night, I walked her home after we spent some time at the park. But I went right back to hunting as soon as that was over and done with."
>He stops, and looks you dead in the eyes
>"You don't suppose that she might have had a run in with the changeling?"
>He moves his face closer to you, still looking into your very soul with those golden eyes
>"Do you?"
 
 
>This is too close for comfort
"Hey man! Just, just don't do that!"
>His head recoils back a bit in response to your outburst
"Carrot Top may be out there somewhere in real danger, somebody needs to do something"
>He's still just watching you closely
>Does this guy even understand the situation?
>"Well, I understand your concern mate. And trust me, this has me upset as well. I can assure you, that if my Carrot Top is out there, I will track her down, and I will find her"
>You may not believe his story, but at least he's agreeing to help
>"And when I find what was responsible for this, you can rest assured that it won’t be among the living for long"
"So, you'll help look for her?"
>He continues to stare down at you; you can see his pupils searching up and down your body
>Finally he blinks and speaks up
>"Of course mate, I'll start immediately. This needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible"
>The griffon begins to walks past you, out towards another road
"Well.....thanks! I'll look for her too!"
>"Yeah, alright. you.........be careful out there"
>He gives to a grin with his eyes narrowed, and runs off
>Now what?
 
>Well, you need another idea
>At least the bird is helping for the moment.....maybe
>You consider going to Pinky for help. Maybe she could round up some friends
>But then again, time is of the essence. By the time she was able to gather ponies together, it might be too late
"Hm....you know, I wonder if Carl has any bright ideas"
>You take out the jar and unscrew it, letting your caterpillar bro climb onto your hoof
"So Carl, you got any suggestions one what to do next?"
>He just continues crawling on your hoof, but soon he stops, and goes still
"What is it bro?"
>The caterpillar raises the front half of himself up, and begins to wave his body off to your left
>You look up, to see a guard hammering a sheet of paper to a wall
"You think we should see what that is?"
>He gives a couple more waves with his front half, and then goes back to mindlessly crawling. Typical.
>As you put Carl away, you see the guard walks off, whatever he just hammered into the wall is just fluttering slightly in the wind
 
 
>You walk over to the wall that the guard just nailed the paper too
>On closer inspection, it appears to be a list of some sort
>Finally coming within reading range, you can finally read it
>"Due to our extremely strained resources recently, only a fraction of crime reports will be able to be dealt with at any one time. The following list is a composition of all reported crimes for the day that were not able to be dealt with, from suspicious activity to robbery. It is your duty as a citizen to assist the police, and if you are able to, please check out the crime scenes to confirm with police if illegal activity actually occurred at these locations, so that we can focus our slim resources on confirmed locations. Thank you for your time, and good luck”
"This is odd.....but maybe one of these reported crimes has something to do with Carrot Top. Might be worth checking into"
>You quickly glance down the page, there's defiantly a lot to work with here
 
Before you get any further into this list, you need to get a search party or something going
>You trot back over to the Boutique to enlist the white unicorns help
>Poking into the building, you can see her waiting patiently at the door, brightening up when she see you come in
>Oh come in! Come in darling! What do you need?"
"Hey listen, my name is Jean Hatchet an-"
>"Jean? OH you're Pinky's friend! How are you?"
"I'm alright. Anyway, I work for Carrot Top at the market place, but she didn't show up to work today. I've been running all over the town, searching for her with no luck, and now I'm worried, with those murders occurring every couple of nights"
>She looks a bit fearful, that's good
>"Oh darling, that's terrible!
"Yes, I know. But she's one of my closest friends. Do you think that you could go back to the bakery and tell Pinky what’s''s going on? Maybe get some of your friends to help look around town while I search for her too?"
>She begins to walk by you towards the door
>"Don't worry, we'll get something together to help, I promise!
>And with that she's out the door
"Good, now that she's forming a search party, I can check out this list and try to find a crime scene that could be where she is"
>As you run back to the list, you just hope that where ever she is, she's ok
"Alright let’s see.....robbery. Nope. Domestic Violence. Nope. Arson. Nope. Sexual relations with minor? Oh god no!"
>You continue to scan the list until one catches your eye
>Potential assault and struggle at Ponyville Park late last night. Victim most likely female
>This one looks promising
 
 
>This lead looks as good as any, it's time to move Biggs!
"Hang on Carl, this is gonna be bumpy"
>You sprint off to the south, where the park sits near the outskirts of town
>As you run, all you can think of is what Auckland told you earlier
>"I walked her home after we spent some time at the park"
>That bastard, you should have known. The fact that nothing in her house was touched this morning, even her bed means that he was lying at least about the part when he took her home
"If it's birdcunts doing, we'll have him nailed Carl!" You yell as you weave between pedestrians
>Although you relish getting rid of your hunter, you still hope that no harm has fallen upon your friend even more so
>As you pause to catch your breath for a minute, you can tell that it's late afternoon. The sun will start to set in a couple hours, so you've got to get in there an investigate quickly
>After picking up the pace again for a few minutes you stop in front of the park
"Alright.....get in, get out, get evidence"
>You begin to walk down the winding park trail
 
 
>As you go along the trail, you keep your eyes out for the crime scene
"The police must not be joking when they say that resources are strained, they couldn't even put up tape to mark the possible location"
>Continuing on further, you head deeper and deeper into the park
"You want to munch on some leaves when we get to the scene Carl?" You ask as you look at your saddle bag
>No response. If only your bug bro could talk....
>As you look all around for the scene, you think about if it's possible if you could morph your appendages into tools
>Looking at your hoof you focus on it to maybe form a magnifying glass to help search
>A small green spark and....no dice. Oh well
>That's when it hits you
"Oh god, what is that stench?!"
>Something smell rotten a little ways off of the trail, concealed by some bushes
 
 
"Looks like we found the crime scene Carl"
>You begin to walk towards the bushes, looking every which way to spot potential danger
>Seeing nothing suspicious around you, you decide that whatever caused this is long
gone
>As you approach the site, the smell only intensifies
"God freaking damn! Something is defiantly dead back here....."
>As you mutter that, your heart sinks
>If this really is where Carrot Top was, that can only mean one thing putting two and two together
>Fearing the worst, you push aside some brush, and see the outline of something laying on the ground, dried blood stain surrounding it
>Looks like it's been here for a while. Possibly since last night
 
 
>This is it, time to see if all your searching has been in vain
You push through some more brush, noting that the object is around the size of your missing friend
"Oh Carrot Top, it can't end like this"
>You mentally prepare yourself as the finally get past the last of the obstructing brush
>Yup, that's defiantly a pile of rotting meat.....but it looks nothing like Carrot Top. It doesn't even look like a pony
"What the hell is this?" You state as you walk over to investigate closer
>It might be a clue, but why just a random pile of flesh in the middle of nowhere? This isn’t adding up at all
>"Watch my back Carl, I'm gonna figure out what this is"
>You open your saddle bag and pace the jar off to your side, with Carl crawling around on a twig that you stuck in there
"Alright, let’s figure this out shall we?"
>It might have been a whole animal once, but nothing that you could identify
>But it must have something to do with the crime
>That's when you spot a black, string like object attached to the conglomerate of flesh
"Well, I think we just found a clue or something Carl"
>You gentle brush aside some of the corpse, to reveal a small wire of some sort
>determined to understand what it is, you gently begin to lift it up
>Suddenly, the wire's tension increases. Maybe it's stuck on something?
>*Click*
"...What?"
>*BANG*
>A flash of blinding light is all you see as you’re thrown violently onto your back, everything starts to  grow dark....
 
 
 
>You begin to stir, the blindness beginning to recede.
>You cough a couple times, and feel a dull pain on your left arm
"Uhhh...what..happened?"
>Eventually finding the energy to sit up, you take in your surroundings
>It's noticeably a lot darker out now
>The mound of flesh that once stood in front of you is now splattered all over the bushes around you. A charred hole is in its place.
>Your vision begins to return to normal now, and you look to the pain in your arm
>Shrapnel. You've got a couple small chunks of metal lodged in your exoskeleton.
"Thank god for this chitin" you say
>If you were a pony, that shrapnel would have been deep inside your bone right now
>You slowly reach over and give the metal chunks a firm pull. Each one coming out after a little effort
>Not too much damaged, just some cuts. Looks like the mound of flesh took most of the blast
>You're fine, and that's what matters.
>Wait
>CARL!
>You sit up as fast as you can in your dazed state
"Carl? Carl where are you?"
>You look to wear the jar once was. Nothing but a couple shards of glass embedded in the dirt and half a tattered lid a few feet away
"C....Carl? No........"
>You begin to weep, your head is overtaken by a painful migraine
>You slump back onto the ground, passing out within seconds
>All is black