Unnoticed Threats

by smirker

Scarecrows

Doctor Whooves walked around town again and saw Homesick in his new home, he was still longing for his childhood, he looked and saw him with somepony, he saw it was Rarity,

"Oh, I thought I recognized you, I remember seeing you sweeping the roads in Manehattan." Rarity said,

"Yeah, I remember seeing you, too, I'm retired now." Homesick replied,

"Welcome to Ponyville, darling." Rarity said,

"Thanks." Homesick replied, Pinkie Pie trotted to him,

"Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie, I'm here to plan your welcoming party." Pinkie Pie said,

"Well, thank you, but I'd like to unwind first, I'm not as energetic as I used to be." Homesick replied,

"Sure, I'm ready anytime." Pinkie Pie said, and she and Rarity left. Doctor Whooves kept walking and saw everypony getting on with their days, he saw Sweet Apple Acres putting up scarecrows,

"Is this good?" Apple Bloom asked,

"Yeah, that should work, Apple Bloom, let's now put up some scarecrows by the corns, the crows will get 'em if we don't." Applejack replied, and they keep working. Doctor Whooves looks at the sun and noticed it was almost time for him to see his next patient, so he went to his home and office. The patient came in, it was a mare, and a Pegasus, she had a white coat, pink eyes, a long sky blue mane and tail, and she wore the royal guard armor, but did not have on the helmet, it was in her front left hoof, she sat,

"Are you Doctor Whooves?" the Pegasus asked,

"Yes." Doctor Whooves replied,

"Good, I got the right pony, I'm your patient." the Pegasus said,

"State your name and occupation." Doctor Whooves replied,

"Searchlight, royal guard, I'm looking for Jones." the Pegasus said, Doctor Whooves' attention was caught,

"Any luck so far?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"No, but I did stumble across something I believe is related." Searchlight replied,

"Well, go on and share it." Doctor Whooves said, and Searchlight begins her tale.

---

Searchlight was flying around Equestria and looking for Jones,

"Jones, where are you?" Searchlight called out loudly, she got no response, so she keeps flying around.

Searchlight arrives where he reported the cult was at, she sees the wooden structures of the Four Horseponies of the Apocalypse, and the unicorn horns on the trees, she flies around and sees nothing there, so she flies away and looks for Jones elsewhere, she was making no progress. Searchlight keeps flying around until she stumbles upon a town, it was abandoned, but something caught her mind, there were scarecrows everywhere, which startled her, she flew down to investigate the town,

"What happened here?" Searchlight asked herself, she looks at the scarecrows and was uncomfortable with how ponylike they looked, almost like some kind of spell changed the ponies to scarecrows. Searchlight stops flying and looks at them with fear, she kept getting the feeling that the scarecrows move and face her when she was not looking at them, she gets over her fear and investigates the town. Searchlight looks around the place and finds nothing but more scarecrows, but she shrieked with shock with she saw there were scarecrows of animals in the town as well, Searchlight flies around while uncomfortable to look for clues.

Searchlight checks every house in her sight and sees more and more scarecrows, it was scaring her, she comes across one house and saw a letter on the table, she did not want to read it, but she had to because it was her job,

"A black unicorn with red eyes came to the town today, he was wearing a black cloak and hood that concealed his facial features, he said he's a traveler from another town, and he was just coming here to rest, but I'm getting a bad feeling from him. My dad has taken a liking to him, I am very nervous about who he is, it is making me uneasy everyday, I am thinking about doing my own investigation, for the record if anyone happens to stumble upon this letter, my name is Polonius, and my father's name is Fortinbras."

Searchlight kept the letter with her and looked around the town, she saw more and more scarecrows,

"What the?" Searchlight asked herself as she flew up, she saw scarecrows on the roof of one of the houses, which shocked her, she immediately knew something was wrong, a scarecrow on the roof did not seem right to her, so she checked it, the scarecrow looked like a Pegasus mare, she had a face of horror, which scared Searchlight, she looks around and she saw a letter in the mud of another house, she flew to it,

"What is this doing here?" Searchlight asked, she opened it and saw it was another letter by Polonius, it was covered in mud, but still readable,

"That black unicorn with the red eyes would not take his cloak and hood off, he said it has sentimental value to him, and wanted to keep it on, he went to go see the two local town idiots, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, those two were always highly disliked by the town, and I don't blame the town, the two are always doing stupid things and causing trouble, and now, those two have taken an obsessive liking to the visitor just like my father, I need to find out what's going on."

Searchlight was very uneasy and keeps looking around, but she was getting the feeling the scarecrows in town were moving when she was not looking at them, she turns around and saw the scarecrows have not moved, but she was still uneasy. Searchlight keeps investigating the town and was uneasy, she felt more and more uneasy as she walked around, sweat began to drop from her head, she was very scared at the moment,

"I didn't sign up for this." Searchlight said to herself, she keeps investigating the town and soon shrieked when she bumped into a scarecrow, she looks and the scarecrow looked like an earth pony colt, he had a face of surprise, Searchlight was curious about it, she keeps walking and sees most of the ponies had facial expressions of surprise, she checks a house and sees a pony family turned into scarecrows, but one thing that caught Searchlight's attention was they had a pet cat, it was also a scarecrow, she checks the house and sees another letter by Polonius, it was open,

"Our town's firewood supplier, Fireball, was visited by the pony in the black cloak just now, he too has fallen to blind devotion and following him, I have tried to call out to him, my dad, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, they did not answer to me, they kept following that black pony with the red eyes, I lost sight of them while I wrote this letter, I'm going to look for them now."

Searchlight was very concerned and wondered what happened to Polonius since she has not found him yet, she hoped he was alright, she was going to try to find him while she investigated the town, she also hoped she would find Jones as well. Searchlight keeps walking around and looks for Jones,

"Jones? Polonius?" Searchlight asked, there was no answer, she was very worried and scared, she noticed her own breathing getting heavier, but she continued since it was her job, and she did not like it, she wanted to go home and relax, she wanted something to eat, and wanted to play board games, but she continued with her job. Searchlight decides to fly around and look for any areas in the town,

"Jones? Polonius?" Searchlight asked again, she got no response, she keeps looking and saw another letter on the ground,

"Hey, a letter." Searchlight said, she opened it,

"Our town's food preserver, Freeze, has now fallen victim to being loyal to that black pony, I don't know what is going on, but they are blindly loyal to that black pony, they do everything he commands, and he doesn't have to say anything or lift a hoof, it's almost like they're being told what to do telepathically, I have tried to warn my mom, but she has disappeared, I don't know where she went, my only hope now is to watch those six stallions, and see what they do next."

Searchlight was very uneasy, she was wondering what happened in the town, she keeps going and comes to a farm. She looks and sees more scarecrows, she was shocked to see all of the animals on the farm were also scarecrows, she keeps going and sees a letter inside the house,

"How did that get there?" Searchlight asked, and she looked for the door, she opened it and saw a male earth pony as a scarecrow, one thing that greatly startled her was there seemed to be red liquid soaked onto the straw on the left side of the scarecrow's neck, he also seemed to be in agony. Searchlight goes to the letter and opens it, it was also written by Polonius,

"I heard a strange noise at this farm just now, so I arrived to investigate, I saw the black pony in the cloak again, my dad and the other five stallions were with him again, this home is our town's farmer, he has an adopted daughter named Violet, she's a unicorn, I came here and I couldn't believe my eyes, Violet was trying to attack her adopted father with a knife, he held her back, but she managed to cut his throat, I then saw him turned into a scarecrow, Violet then walked away and began following the black pony alongside my dad, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Fireball, and Freeze."

Searchlight was horrified by the note, she realized the scarecrows were in fact the ponies and animals who lived in the town, she was very scared that the black pony was nearby, but she did not see him anywhere, she flew around in fear, she wanted to get out of the area as soon as possible. Searchlight keeps flying around and sees scarecrows everywhere, she keeps going and looks around more, she saw another letter on the ground, she flew down and opened it,

"I cannot believe it, our town's candy makers and sellers, Watermelon and Cotton Candy, have fallen victim to following that black pony, I just saw him turn their bosses into scarecrows, I don't know if he is casting a spell, but his eyes glowed red when he changed them to scarecrows, I am staying as far away as I can from him, I am watching him, he scares me to death, I hope he doesn't see me."

Searchlight was getting a bad feeling, she was sweating profusely, it soaked the ground, Searchlight decides to keep flying. Searchlight flies around while panting a bit, she was very scared,

"Control yourself, Searchlight, you're sweating a lot, last thing you want to do is wet your armor again." Searchlight said to herself, she keeps flying while looking for letters, that was her only focus now, she was planning to leave the place after she found every letter. Searchlight keeps flying and was filled to the brim with fear and paranoia, she still thought the scarecrows moved when she was not paying attention to them, she also does not remember their original positions, she was too scared at the moment to remember what the scarecrows originally looked like. Searchlight keeps flying around and saw another letter, she flies down to it, she opens it and reads it quickly,

"I just saw our town's fire bringer, Supernova, attack somepony, it's almost like she's under some kind of influence, she burned him to a crisp, and he was then turned into a scarecrow, I fear something bad has plagued us all, I need to keep an eye on this black pony, I have not approached him due to me getting a bad feeling about him."

Searchlight takes the letter and puts it in her helmet, she keeps flying around and looks for more answers, she hoped she could find them, her fear was so great at the moment, she could feel herself about to wet herself out of fear, she sweated a lot, her entire armor was soaked with it on the inside. Searchlight decides to keep flying and find the last of Polonius' letters as fast as she can. Searchlight keeps flying around while extremely scared, she got the feeling that the scarecrows were moving while she was not looking at them, she sees hoof prints on the ground and sees they were very old, Searchlight saw another letter on it, she opens it,

"I cannot believe it, Ophelia, our town's flower mare, and my girlfriend, has fallen victim to the black pony's control, I am restraining my tears as I read this, I can't believe he took my girlfriend, she was the only thing I had left after he took control of my father, I could not help but call out to Ophelia, that black pony turned around and he saw me, he's coming to me, I need to leave!"

Searchlight can tell the last part was written in a hurry, it was messy and scribbled, Searchlight realizes that the black pony must have chased him and Polonius ran, she decides to fly up and see if there were anymore letters to find. Searchlight looks around and was scared, she keeps flying and was not finding one, she looks around the entire town with every scarecrow in the area scaring her. Searchlight keeps flying and eventually saw a letter on the ground, in front of a scarecrow, she opens it,

"I heard the ponies in this town say the black pony's name, it's almost like they worship him, that pony, Claudius, he is not a pony, he is not a changeling either, the best word I can use to describe him is a demon, a monster, nothing like Equestria has ever seen. My time is almost up, Claudius is too fast to outrun, and he has changed the entire town to scarecrows. I hope the news reaches Princess Celestia, I hope I can finish writing this before I am..." and the letter ended,

Searchlight looks up and saw a grayish white unicorn stallion, he had a horrified face, she was able to deduce that he was Polonius, she looked down in sorrow and took his last letter. Searchlight flies out of the town and wondered what to do next,

"Right, I have to find Doctor Whooves." Searchlight said, and she flew to Ponyville.

---

Searchlight and Doctor Whooves sat across from one another,

"How long ago was this?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Yesterday." Searchlight replied,

"I'm surprised the royal guards are looking for Jones." Doctor Whooves said,

"All of us are, all of Equestria is being investigated, Princess Celestia has been very worried." Searchlight replied,

"Are you going to take the letters to Princess Celestia?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"No, I thought they should remain with you, I think they're more valuable to you, I'll be leaving now." Searchlight replied,

"Alright, session is ten bits." Doctor Whooves said, and Searchlight paid him and she flew back to Canterlot after exiting his home. Doctor Whooves was very worried about Jones, he walks outside and sees everything looked normal, he went back into his home and rested.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Are these scary stories?

[smirker]

9256490
Depends on what's scary to you.