It was a stone quiet drive as the group followed the spider-bats and the shack past the bog and into the open spooky forests that none of them were too familiar with. Everyone was worried about their friends... but one mare was feeling something other than worry.
Pain and potential anger.
Zipp knew that she was a pony who followed her instincts, but ever since the Unity Crystals have been sending them on those missions, her intuition has been thrown all out of whack. And there were so many questions that Zipp needed to have answered.
Why did Opaline need dragon fire to boost her magic?
How could somepony get a dragon's fire taken from the dragon anyway?
How long had Opaline been watching and waiting for their every move.
Then there came the bigger question... was Misty lying to them and still working for Opaline?
As Zipp struggled to comprehend this information, she felt a gentle paw on her shoulder, and looked to see Scrappy-Doo approaching her with a gentle look of comfort. “You doing okay, Zipp?”
“How can I be okay, Scrappy?” Zipp asked the small dog. “Misty worked for Opaline for months, maybe even moons without us knowing! She could know our weaknesses! Our strengths! She could use everything in her power to get the dragon fire from Sparky, and Misty helped her! I don't know whether to trust her or not!”
“But Misty wouldn't do that to us... would she?” Sparky asked, with some hesitancy in his voice. “I... I don't know,” Zipp answered with some nervousness. “Usually my detective skills are on point, but... now... I'm not sure if I'm meant to be a detective or not.”
Pipp and Sunny listened in concern at how Zipp was feeling as her cutie mark began to dim, but before they could say a word, Scrappy started to provide words of comfort. “No one is destined to know everything,” he said. “I always get the idea that the monsters that Uncle Scooby and Shaggy caught were actually REAL monsters. The point is, Zipp, you're strong, brave and independent. And I'd be totally honored to be part of your detective agency.”
“...thanks, Scrappy,” Zipp said. “You're not a bad detective yourself.”
“I know.”
Both of them giggled as Zipp's cutie mark began to glow, and Sunny sighed at this... at least Zipp's worries were something that could be easily put to rest.
Soon enough, the group reached a high perch with a castle right on the very top, with dark clouds looming directly behind it. “Looks like the bats have come back to roost,” Hitch observed with a shudder. “And that's the grusomest roost I've ever seen!”
“Yeah,” Scooby nodded at the statement. “Gruesome roost!”
“Like, we'd need wings to get up there!” Shaggy exclaimed. “And, not everyone has those... except maybe Pipp and Zipp.”
“Leave it to us, Shaggy!” Izzy chirped as she, Scrappy, Matches and Zipp lifted heavy equipment out of the van. “We'll have us to the tippy top of that mountain faster than you can say 'Sweet sauce horseshoe toss'!”
XXXXXXXXX
Soon enough, Scrappy, Zipp and Izzy had created a state of the art catapult, the Great Dane pup smiling proudly. “Ta ta ta ta ta ta!! Puppy... power!!”
But then, Matches growled in frustration, asking about him and making Scrappy recorrect himself. “Make that a Scrappy and Matches power!”
“Yeah!”
“Uh, heh...” Sunny looked rather unsure of how dangerous it looked. “Are you sure this'll work, Scrappy?”
“I'm puppy positive. Come on, guys. Hop aboard.”
“Zipper and I are gonna, um... you know... meet you up there,” Pipp said before she and her sister fluttered away, leaving everyone else to get on the catapult, resulting in Scrappy turning to the small green dragon behind him. “Fire away, Matches!”
On this cue, the green dragon lit the ropes on fire, causing them to snap and fling the group up toward the mountain. “WHOA!!!!” Shaggy, Scooby and the remaining ponies screamed. “Whee!!” Scrappy cheered. “We'll be there in nothing flat!”
That's when the ponies, Scrappy and Matches landed on the mountain top, not believing that actually worked... until they saw that Shaggy and Scooby had literally SLAMMED into the side of the rocks. “Like,” Shaggy groaned, “you were right about the flat part, Scrappy.”
“Gee... sorry about that, guys,” Scrappy pulled them onto solid ground. “Uh, okay, Scrappy,” Scooby then giggled. “Come on, everypony,” Sunny urged. “Let's get to the top of this mountain, storm that castle and get Misty and the girls back!”
XXXXXXXXX
In the throne room of Opaline's castle, the Grim Creeper and Midnight finally got the girls and Misty back to the spider witch, who smirked wickedly. “It's been too long since we had company, Creeper.”
“I knew you'd be pleased, Revolta.”
“Yes... because these six will remain here permanently.”
But as Revolta looked at the brainwashed girls and cutie-markless mare, Midnight suddenly thought of something that could prove as a hindrance to Revolta's scheme. “But what if Opaline comes here and tries to take Misty herself? Or, Revolta? What happens when your spell wears off?”
“Don't upset yourself, kirin,” Revolta spat in the poor creature's face. “I'm preparing a spell to make them evil forever. At the stroke of midnight, I'm going to revoltize them!”
“Revoltize them?! Ooh hoo hoo... how revolting,” the Grim Creeper chuckled victoriously, while Revolta did the same... and Midnight looked absolutely horrified. “Yes. Isn't it though?” Revolta cackled. “Now stop cringing and put those girls to work!”
“Yes, Revolta!” the one-eyed creature exclaimed before leading the girls away. However, Midnight wanted to stay behind and ask her mistress about one little thing. “Um... mistress Revolta? Um... about your promise you made me? The one where you'd... help me find my mom and sister?” she timidly spoke up. “You... you will keep your promise... right?”
“Hmmm... well, Midnight, you and the Creeper have successfully brought me the Grimwood girls...” Revolta pretended to think about it. “So I'm going to have to go with... no.”
Midnight Breeze felt the entire world collapse in on her, the one thing she had hoped for her entire life disappearing like fog in the summer light. “You… what…?”
“Your herd has moved on. You were merely a lost pathetic filly when I found you all those years ago... and now you are of no use to me.”
“But…you told me--”
But this only caused Revolta to burst into an evil laughing fit. “And you believed that?! You’re even dumber than I thought you were! I thought eventually you would realize the truth and never bring it up again, but clearly you did not. It’s no wonder I was able to manipulate you with that in the first place. Now... leave and get to your quarters. I no longer want to see you.”
Midnight felt tears come to her eyes, but instead of tears of joy, but of sadness. She was alone... she was going to be alone for the rest of her life. And seeing as if there would be no more need to speak to her former mistress anymore, Midnight nodded before sadly trotting out of the room...
...before collapsing in the hallway in tears. What was she to do now? She missed her mother and sister so much... and now she was NEVER gonna see them again.
Suddenly, through her tears and heartbreak... Midnight Breeze began to sing.
It's hard to remember
A summer or winter
When she hasn't been there for me
A friend and companion
I can always depend on
My mother... that's who I mean
She slowly began to trot to her quarters, looking out at the dark night as she did such.
I've taken for granted seeds that she planted
She's always behind every thing
A teacher a seeker
A both arms outreacher
My mother... that's who I mean
Suddenly, Midnight's mind snapped back to when her mother, Rain Shine, would tuck her and her sister, Orchid Dream, into bed at night. The snuggles... the comforting words... all just a memory.
Wish I could slow down
The hands of time
Keep things the way they are
If she said so, I would give her the world
If I could... I would
My love and my laughter
From here ever after
Is all that she says that she needs
A friend and companion
I can always depend on
My mother... that's who I mean
That's who I mean...
Now what was she to do? She was a monster...
...all of the girls' future suffering would be her fault.