Sighting of the First Three Witches

The next day, Mystery Inc and their new friends headed to Oakhaven, Massachusetts, with Ben and Velma riding in Ben’s car and everyone else in the Mystery Machine.

Fred had upscaled the Mystery Machine to fit the ponies when they were with them, and currently, Autumn Rain was having a pleasant conversation with her new friends in the back of the van.

Currently, they had been telling Autumn about the first time they met Scooby and his friends, and Autumn seemed incredibly interested in the tale. “Wow... so you're saying the Unity Crystals that hold all magic sent you to the gang in hopes of helping them with the Moonscar Island mystery?”

“Yeparooni!” Izzy chirped. “And ever since then, we've run into them every once in a while,” Zipp explained, “helping them solve all sorts of mysteries. Plus, we couldn’t have it any other way.”

“But what about you, Autumn?” Sunny asked. “How did you end up with a famous horror writer?”

“My grandmother raised me in the forest outside of Oakhaven, where she taught me how to be in tune with the forests around me,” Autumn explained. “After my grandmother passed, I walked into town one day and stumbled into Ben. After I helped him with a writers block scenario, he decided to take me on his book tour and provide him ideas.”

“Wow... you must be really creative!” Pipp said with a smile. “Maybe I should put you up to writing some new song lyrics for me.”

Autumn chuckled in amusement. “I would love that, Pipp.”

“So, Autumn? How did you and Ben find out about us Equestrians?” Zipp asked. “Honestly, Ben found out about you all before I did,” Autumn shrugged, unsure about the situation herself. “He found a picture of all of you in the mailbox of the hotel we were staying in at the time, but every time we found you, you disappeared on us again. I was about to give up when we saw you in the museum last night. I'm very happy that ponies have seemed to have made up from their dispute.”

“You knew about the fights between pony kinds?” Misty asked out of curiosity. “My grandmother got the story from her grandmother, but everypony else in our family denied it,” Autumn said. “I always knew that something had to cause it... but I was never sure what.”

“We might know,” Sunny said, “but let's wait till later, after we're settled into Oakhaven.”

XXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Velma had been going on and on about how amazing Ben's book was… like she had been since they started driving. “And that scene at the end where the caretaker's flesh dissolved was so brilliant,” she continued, “I--”

“Oh, look. We're here,” Ben made a left turn at the 'Welcome to Oakhaven' sign. “Welcome to Oakhaven,” Ben said, but then his smile turned to complete surprise-- the quiet Massachusetts town was now full of honking cars! “I thought you said this was a quiet little town,” Velma said to Ben. “It was.”

Hitch sighed as they got out of the Mystery Machine. “If this is quiet, I would hate to see stone silent.”

“Wow, this is a pretty popular spot,” Fred spoke. “Do many people come here often?” Sunny asked. “Sure we always get a few leaf peepers but never like this,” Ben said, bewildered about so much bustling activity. “This is a circus! Oh, there's the mayor. He'll know what's going on.”

“Like, maybe he'll know a place to eat,” Shaggy told Scooby, and they followed their friends over to where the mayor was greeting some tourists. “Welcome to old Oakhaven. Have a wonderful time. So glad you can come.”

“Mayor! Mayor Corey!” Ben called out, and the mayor turned to him in delight. “Ben, my boy!” he shook Ben's hand eagerly. “I'm glad you and Darby could come home to see this. And I see you brought some friends and their dog.”

“Dog? Where?” Scooby looked around. “Welcome!” the mayor said to the gang. “The more the merrier!”

“But… what is all this?” Autumn asked, gesturing to the large scene around them. “It's great, isn't it? Business is booming, not like a few months ago when it was slower than maple syrup on a cold day,” Mayor Corey explained, just as another man came forward. “Hey, Ben.”

“Hi, Mr. McKnight,” Ben greeted the man, coming over with a box full of t-shirts. “Welcome home, you two,” Mr. McKnight told Ben, handing him one of the shirts. “Here, have a T-shirt before my store sells out. You can wear it to the concert tomorrow.”

“Concert?” Autumn questioned... there was never a concert this time of year. “The Hex Girls!” Fred exclaimed. “You’ve heard of them, Fred?” Daphne asked. “Just now,” Fred answered with a shrug, pointing to a nearby banner. “Oakhaven Autumn-Fest,” Zipp read. “Featuring the Hex Girls.”

“Do you know about them, Pipp?” Misty asked. “No... not really. I don't know about many of this world's bands,” Pipp murmured. “A local group. You’ll like ‘em, kinda spooky,” the mayor told the group, just as Ben lifted up one of the t-shirts Mr. McKnight was selling. “I met the ghost of Oakhaven… and lived?” he questioned, and hearing that very word made Shaggy and Scooby tremble in fear. “Ghost?!”

“Jinkies! Looks like you got a ghost in your own backyard, Ben,” Velma said. “Not only that,” Mayor Corey told her, “but it's his own ancestor, the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft.”

“That's ridiculous. I thought we'd got past over this witch nonsense,” Ben told the mayor with a frown. “What can I say, Ben?” the mayor asked. “Ever since, we built our puritan villiage, her ghost has appeared many times.”

“Don't tell me, you disturbed her spirit with the construction?” Fred guessed. “And now, she's haunting the town,” Zipp concluded. “H-How do you know?” the mayor asked them in a confused manner. “Ghost hunting’s our specialty,” Velma explained. “I see.”

But there was one thing Ben didn’t understand. “Did you say… puritan village?”

XXXXXXXXX

Mayor Corey then led the group to an older-looking part of town, where folks were dressed like they were from the Middle Ages-- maybe even farther back. “What you're seeing is a perfect recreation of life was like back in the 1600's, as renunacted by our locals.”

“Oh my pony... this is so hooftag vintage!” Pipp said, flying ahead with Zipp and taking picture after picture. “Yeah, I gotta admit,” Zipp shrugged with a smile, “this is pretty impressive.”

“When did all of this go on?” Autumn asked, astounded by what she saw around her. “About 6 months ago,” the mayor answered. “This is amazing, mayor!” Velma exclaimed. Daphne then saw a stand nearby, and small dolls were on top of it, dressed like the Pilgrims we read about in Thanksgiving stories. “Oh! Corn husk dolls!” she said, picking one up. “Aren't they cute, Fred?”

“Yeah… charming,” Fred replied with a smile. Shaggy, Scooby, Sunny and Izzy were walking around amongst themselves for a little bit, and Scooby and the girls discovered Shaggy in one of the wooden headlocks they kept for prisoners back in those days. “Look, Scoob-- I’ve been a baaad boy!”

Scooby, Izzy and Sunny let out a giggle at this-- Shaggy and his goofy antics got them every time. Even some other tourists were laughing and taking pictures. Soon once Shaggy got out of the pillory, they approached a young woman, showing the tourists how to churn handmade butter when she turned to Scooby with a smile. “Wouldst thou like to churn?”

“Huh?” Scooby looked confused. “Like it's your turn to churn the butter, old buddy,” Shaggy explained, and Sunny came over to demonstrate for her friend, seeing videos of how the colonizers did it in the olden days. “See, Scooby? It’s easy-- just grab the wooden part with your paws and move up and down with it,” she explained, doing so with her own front hooves. “Wanna give it a try?”

“Uh huh!” Scooby nodded, and did as she told him to, gathering the attention of many people. Once he knew he was the center of attention, Scooby started using the container and mixer as a guitar almost, making many laugh at the stunt. But a little bit of butter slipped onto the ground, causing Scooby to trip and fall on his back. “Oops!”

“Now all we need is the popcorn,” Shaggy joked as Izzy and Sunny helped Scooby onto his paws.

XXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Velma, Hitch and Zipp were talking to Mayor Corey, Ben and Autumn not too far away from Scooby’s little publicity stunt. “So you say a ghost has been appearing here?” Velma asked. “Ah-yup. That's right, young lady,” the mayor answered with a nod. “Apparently, we disturbed the spirit of Ben's ancestor, who was persecuted as a witch. Way back in 1657.”

“Wow... she came back after over 300 years...” Hitch trailed off. “Unjustifiably persecuted. Sarah Ravencroft was a medicine woman who practiced natural healing, and was unfairly accused because of her asencted ways!” Ben said in defense. “Just like the Salem witch trials,” Autumn recalled what her mother once told her. “Many men and women who were a bit different or didn't conform to the codes of the colony suffer the same fate.”

“Sarah was a healer,” Ben went on passionately. “It was said she even kept a journal of all the patients she cured with her herbal remedies.”

Meanwhile, Scooby, Misty and Sunny approached the corn husk dolls and looked at one curiously. “Look, Shaggy,” he said, grabbing a tiny hat in his teeth and flinging it onto his head. “It's a perfect fit, Scoob,” Shaggy told the Great Dane. Suddenly, the hat blew off Scooby’s head, and right into the paws of a small gopher. “Hey there, little guy,” Sunny said sweetly. “Could you give my friend that hat back? He was just messing around with it.”

The gopher simply answered by diving back into the hole. Scooby sniffed the hole before reaching his paw in before he yelped and brought it out a few moments later, yelping in pain. Okay, that was the last straw.

He began to dig at the hole furiously for a few seconds before reaching his head inside. When his head emerged from the hole, a square metal item was in his teeth. “Like what you got there old buddy?” Shaggy asked him. “I don’t know,” Scooby spit the metal thing out as he answered, and Shaggy inspected it a little more closely. “Wonder what this is.”

“Looks like you found a old shoe buckle, my boy. Probably over 400 years old,” the mayor answered. “Cool!” Misty said excitedly as Shaggy put the buckle on his shoe. “Let’s find another one, Scoob-- so he can have a matching pair!”

“Okay,” Scooby nodded. “A-yeah, we found all sorts of items from the old colony when we cleared this area for construction,” the mayor explained. “Handmade nails, horseshoes, farm equipment.”

“How about a book?” Ben asked. “Book?” the mayor questioned in a confused manner. “You know how long he’s been searching for Sarah's journal,” Autumn explained the mayor. “To offically clear Ben's family name.”

“Sorry, Ben. Nothing like that,” the mayor apologized. “So, what makes you think it’s Sarah’s ghost haunting the place?” Fred asked. “Because the ghost says so. Maybe you'll see her tonight.”

“Oh boy…” Fred muttered under his breath. “You never know, Fred,” Daphne told him with a smirk. “Sunny and her friends turned out to be real, didn't they?”

“Well, yes, but that's an entirely different circumstance!”

Suddenly, Shaggy's stomach began to growl loudly. “Hey, we’d like to see a puritan pizza joint. We're starved,” he spoke up. “Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “Don't worry, boys, we got the best restaurant in all New England,” the mayor assured them. “It's back in town, I'll walk you there.”

“Misty and I will go with you. I wanna check out that restaurant and see what trending foods I can post!” Pipp giggled. “Do you kids wanna go, or do you want to see my studio?” Ben asked the others. “Wow, would we ever! Shaggy, we'll meet up with you later!” Velma bid them farewell as she and the others followed Ben away. “Mayor! Tell Jack that anything they order is on me!” Ben called. “Zoinks! Like what a great guy,” Shaggy told his group, just as Daphne chuckled. “You're gonna regret that offer, Ben.”

Autumn and Ben looked confused at that statement-- what could that mean?

XXXXXXXXX

At the Oakhaven Restaurant, Shaggy and Scooby began to melt on the inside at the sweet smell of all the wonderful food around them. “Jack's gonna take care of you, boys,” Mayor Corey told them. “You're gonna love his cooking.”

“We sure will, your honor,” Misty said respectfully. “Enjoy your stay at Oakhaven,” the mayor bid them farewell as he left. “Thanks your dudeness!” Shaggy waved. Scooby’s eyes laid upon a lucious steak at another table, and immediately darted over to it, drooling all over the man’s shoulder before another man by the name of Jack came over with a hearty laugh. “Well, boys, are you hungry?”

“Man, are we ever!” Shaggy beamed. “Come over here to the back, I've always have a table for V.I.P's.”

“Iconic...” Pipp sang. “Come on, Scooby!”

Scooby snapped out of his food induced trance and followed his friends to the back table. “You're Mr. Ravencroft's guests so order up anything on the menu, fellas. I've got a nice juicy ham bone for your dog. What do ya think?”

“Bone? Yuck!” Scooby huffed. “Heh… Scooby’s allergic to bones,” Pipp explained, taking a sniff of the air around them. “We’ll have whatever that great smell is.”

Jack smiled proudly at the unicorn mare's answer. “Well, that's our Yankee pot roast, New England clam chowder, maple baked ham and beans, Roast turkey with chestnut stuffing, and apple cinnamon pie.”

Shaggy and Scooby’s tongues hung out of their mouths at the sound of how amazing that sounded. “Sounds great!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Give us four orders of everything!”

To this answer, Jack laughed happily. “Oh, I love people who love to eat!”

XXXXXXXXX

At the same time, Ben and Autumn had led the rest of the Mystery Inc gang to Ben's home not far away from the puritan village. “Wow… so this is where it all started,” Velma said in awe as she gazed around Ben’s studio. “Yes, I wrote all my early novels here,” Ben nodded. “Now I spend must of my time in Europe, but I come back once a year to recharge my batteries. Go ahead, Velma, sit down.”

“Jinkies, this is a dream come true!” Velma excitedly sat down in Ben’s chair. “You have some cool things here, Ben,” Hitch said as he, Daphne and Fred looked at the things Ben had on the walls. “I’ll say,” Fred nodded in agreement before they noticed a portrait hanging above the fireplace. “So who’s portrait is this?”

“This is Sarah Ravencroft,” Autumn explained. “I think it was painted by a grateful patient.”

“Wow... she's beautiful!” Izzy's eyes sparkled in awe. “Of course, she wasn't very popular with the town's doctors,” Ben continued. “Sarah was untraditional in her approach to medicine. She was a wiccan.”

Autumn shifted nervously, but no one else seemed to notice it as they became confused at the term of which Sarah was defined. “A what?” Hitch blinked. “I’ve read about them,” Velma explained. “Wiccans were people who were in tune with the forces of nature and use them for healing purposes.”

“Exactly,” Ben nodded. “She believed in using herbs and other natural elements to draw from the Earth's power to heal the sick. Sarah helped many people who cannot afford medical treatment. She treated her patients under a large oak tree, which she believed to have healing powers.”

“Hey, I saw a huge oak tree like that in the town square!” Sunny realized. “B-Ben and I’ve already searched the area around that tree, but never found anything,” Autumn shrugged, stuttering a little after clearing his throat. “That book can finally prove that Sarah’s innocence,” Ben went on, “and that she was a wiccan-- not an evil witch.”

“Wiccans have been misunderstood, accused of sorcery,” Velma added. “In fact, the word witch comes from wicca.”

“I'm impressed, Velma,” Ben commented. “You know, doing research on Sarah and the wiccans led me to read almost everything about the world of supersation. That's how I started writing stories to frighten people.”

XXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby were on an eating rampage back at the restaurant, devouring most everything in sight while Pipp and Misty tried to keep themselves from getting hit by flying food.

Jack soon returned with some more to please Shaggy and Scooby, chuckling nervously. “I never seen anything like this,” he said. “Are you at least tasting my food?”

Shaggy and Scooby, although their mouths were completely stuffed, nodded in response before they swallowed. “It’s the best food we’ve ever had,” Shaggy said. “Delicious!” Scooby complimented, slurping down the tomato soup before him and causing one man to run out in disgust. Soon, the others arrived, Daphne smirking over at the four friends. “So, how's the food?”

“Of what didn't land in my mane, it's pretty darn good,” Pipp said, wiping down her mane again. “Is there anything left in the kitchen?” Zipp asked with a chuckle, just as Jack emerged from the kitchen. “I’ll be right back, boys. I gotta make a run to the market!” he said before leaving the building. “It’s getting dark, guys,” Fred told the others. “Let’s go see if that ghost is gonna make an appearance.”

This made Shaggy and Scooby quite nervous-- they didn’t wanna spend this vacation hunting ghosts like always, they wanted to actually enjoy themselves. “Like, we’d love to,” Shaggy said, “but we haven’t had our dessert yet.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scooby nodded. “Okay,” Sunny smiled. “But after you’re finished, meet us at the puritan village.”

“Ben’s already gone ahead, and Autumn is gonna meet us there after she's gone to check up in the part of the woods she used to live in,” Velma explained, and with that, Fred, the ponies and the girls took their leave. “Great!” Shaggy said. “Like if the ghost gets there, just start screaming without us!”

Scooby then tried to eat the chicken leg that Shaggy was holding, but Shaggy quickly pulled it away before he could take a chomp out of it. “Hey!”

XXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, it was already darker when the group arrived at the puritan village, but people were already becoming impatient. “Come on, we've been waiting here an hour,” said one of the tourists. “The ghost is a no-show.”

“Maybe she'll show up in the concert tomorrow,” a second tourist shrugged, and everyone took their leave except for Ben and the gang. “Too bad,” Ben said with crossed arms. “I was going to have a little chat with my ghostly ancestor. I wanted to ask here where she'd hid her journal.”

“Boy, Ben seems to be pretty obsessed with that book,” Daphne whispered to Fred and the others. “I’ll say,” Zipp nodded. “Rather suspicious if you ask me.”

“Well, we should leave, too,” Ben told the gang. “Let’s give it a chance, Ben,” Daphne urged him. “Yeah,” Fred nodded. “It’s probably a hokey bedsheet on a wire or something. This could be funny.”

“You never know what could happen, Fred,” Sunny said. “I say we stick around and investigate-- just to be sure.”

XXXXXXXXX

Back at the restaurant, Shaggy and Scooby had finally gotten themselves stuffed to the brim after a boatload of desserts. “Thanks for everything, Jack,” Shaggy said as they guided themselves outside. “It was great… especially those last 12 pies.”

“Glad you liked ‘em…” Jack sighed among all the dirty dishes, just as the group took their leave, walking out into the empty streets of Oakhaven. “Like, was that good eating or what, Scoob?” Shaggy asked the Great Dane. “Yeah!” Scooby nodded before he burped. “Excuse me.”

But that’s when, as they walked, they noticed several people leaving from the puritan village. “Gee… looks like everybody’s leaving,” Shaggy observed. “I wonder if the ghost showed up.”

But as they kept walking, a creepy feeling began to wash right over Shaggy. “Like, with no one here, this place is almost spooky, Scoob. Heh heh heh...”

“Yeah...” Scooby chuckled nervously, then his eyes darted over to a nearby alley, where some silhouettes caught his attention. “Shaggy!”

Shaggy turned immediately when he heard Scooby call for him, and they saw three female figures coming toward them from the alley. “Look-- girls!”

“Yeah! Girls!”

Shaggy and Scooby immediately made their bulged stomachs look like muscles, flexing and smoothing their hair to look impressive enough for the approaching women. Finally, they were ready, and Shaggy finally decided to speak. “Like, hi, girls.”

“Hi...”

That's when the three girls came from the alley and revealed their true appearance... they were witches!

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