Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were side by side, looking over the Mystery Machine's front seats and out the windshield as Freddy drove the van through the tight narrow streets of an ancient-looking industrial park. No matter where the fillies looked, they saw only high fences topped with razor wire, stone chimneys belching thick black soot, and sheer metal walls coated in filth. It was the dirtiest, dingiest, ugliest, most dismal and depressing scenery any of the three had ever seen. And considering they had driven through 'Jersey on the way here, that was saying something.

"Seriously you guys," Sweetie Belle said, "What is with humans and places that look like they've just barely survived the appalocalypse?"

Velma replied "If you girls think this is bad, you should see some pictures of England during the industrial revolution."

"Like yeah, at least we've gotten a little better." Shaggy nodded, before returning his attention to the octuple-layer salami-lindburger-saurkraut triple cheeseburger he was assembling. Laying on the top bun, Shaggy declared the sandwich perfection, then turned back to the fillies to add "Like, stay close when we get there huh? These neighborhoods can be a little dicey."

"We will." Scootaloo assured him, then looked over his shoulder and added "Say Shaggy? You might not wanna eat that sandwich."

"Huh? Why!?" Shaggy turned and saw why: In the few seconds he had looked away, the whole thing had turned black with pollutants settling on it.

Scooby leaned in and smelled the blackened former sandwich carefully. "Yum yum yum yum yum!" He mumbled, and swallowed in whole.

"Eeyup. Who woulda thought one'a us woulda won the contest thingy right?" Apple Bloom asked.

Daphne nodded. "Right. One golden ticket entitling the bearer and a small group of their choosing to a full tour of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!"

"Shaggy and Scooby in a chocolate factory..." Velma muttered under her breath, "We'll be kicked out inside of ten minutes..."

"Like you're probably right Velma." Shaggy answered, "But what a ten minutes it'll be."

Scootaloo looked out the front of the van again. Before them rose an imposing edifice of steel and shiny crystalline windows, clean and appealing in stark contrast to all the other factories and warehouses in the area. A man, recognizable from the cartoon version of him on the wrappers of all his products, stood waiting before the front doors. "Is that the Wonka guy?" she asked.

Daphne said "I had heard he was leading the tour personally but I didn't believe it."

Freddy pulled the van to a stop and everyone piled out to be met by Wonka. "Welcome welcome welcome! How do you do? I do chocolates!"

"Ahh! What is this!?" Wonka bent down, examining Scootaloo carefully. "Well well my dear filly! Such a bright orange! The Oompa Loompas will love you!"

As she spoke, the filly began to hear music, getting louder as it's source drew nearer. "Ahh nevermind, here they come now." Wonka said.

Half a moment later the front doors of the factory slammed open and from out of them appeared the oddest creatures anyone present had ever seen: Short, humanoid, but with orange skin, green hair, and strange clothing. Scooby let out a loud fearful 'YOWL!!!" and jumped into Shaggy's arms.

Apple Bloom looked up at Velma. "Ah didn't think humans came in bright orange and green."

The creatures marched single file in a circle around the group, then stood facing them and began to sing:

"Oompa-Loompa, woompedy-doo,
I've got a little query for you;
Oompa-Loompa, Scoobedy-doo,
What will you do,
When it comes after you?

Soon you will come to your gruesome fate;
I don't like the sound of that
(I don't like the sound of that)

Oompa-Loompa, woompedy-lie,
You'll run like hell
If you don't want to die;
Don't stick your nose where it does not belong,
Oompa-Loompa, woompedy-gong!"

As they sang the last verse, the creatures had turned and marched single file back to the doors, which closed behind them as they spoke the last words.

"The Oompa-Loompas everyone!" Wonka laughed and clapped his hands. "We'll see and hear more from them all through the factory! But now let's get started shall we?"

Scootaloo said "None of us do." She narrowed her eyes. "What's goin' on here anyway!?"

Wonka laughed again, though with a nervous edge this time. "Nothing! That's just the Oompa-Loompas for you! Such kidders! Let's go!" Without waiting he walked quickly to the doors. Everyone shrugged and followed...

The tour went smoothly at first. Wonka led the group across the lobby, on a boat ride down a river of chocolate, through a forest of jawbreaker trees, and up a ladder composed entirely of Pixie Stix. Several times, they caught sight of Oompa-Loompas at work, and while the strange little men always sang, there were no more seemingly threatening lyrics. After perhaps three hours, they came to a large, ornate door.

"Now, behind this door is the most awesome thing I'm going to show you in the whole factory: Central Command! From this one room, armies of Oompa-Loompas guide and control every aspect of candy production with pinpoint accuracy! It's like a finely choreographed ballet!" Wiping a tear from his eye, Wonka turned and opened the door.

The command chamber was indeed as impressive as Wonka had promised. Large monitor screens lined all of the walls with control stations underneath them and more workstations filling the center of the room. The stations themselves, as one would expect from Wonka, were not dismal gray but colorful, with desktops made to look like chocolate bars and support posts that resembled candy canes. An Oompa-Loompa sat or stood at each console.

"All right Loompas!" Wonka exclaimed as he strode into the room, "We have guests! Let's look alive!" None of them moved.

Scooby poked his head around from behind Shaggy and smelled deeply. "Rhey are statues!" He said. Looking closer, everyone could see it was true. All of the Oompa-Loompas were actually light-brown statues.

"Not again what?" Velma asked. "Scootaloo had it right earlier didn't she? Something weird is going on here isn't it?"

Wonka slumped down in an empty chair. "It started two weeks ago. All of my Oompa-Loompas are being turned into statues... By the Chocotrice!"

Wonka motioned to one of the statues. "A Cockatrice turns it's victims into statues made of stone. A Chocotrice turns it's victims into statues made of delicious Wonka milk-chocolate."

"Well gang," Freddy said, "It looks like we've got another mystery on our hands!"

"Wait- Are you offering to help me?" Wonka asked. "Oh that's very generous, thank you! But it's too dangerous, I couldn't possibly..."

"Clue-gathering first, like usual." Freddy said. "Two groups: Shaggy, you, Velma, Scooby, and Scootaloo will be the first group. Head back through the parts of the factory we've already seen. Meanwhile, Daphne and I will take Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom and forge on ahead."

"Like yeah Scoob! We get the places we know there's not a monster 'cause we've already been there!"

"I think it's better if you wait here sir." Velma said. "You can lock the doors behind us and monitor the factory."

"It's perfect then! You can warn us if you see anything on the cameras sneaking up on us!" Scootaloo agreed.

“And you can call out to me if you have any questions. There are microphones everywhere in the factory."

Shaggy, Velma, Scooby, and Scootaloo strolled along the bank of a wide river of slowly flowing chocolate, flanked by ‘trees’ whose fruit was gumdrops, jawbreakers, and marshmallows. They had already explored all the way back to the front doors, finding nothing of interest to their investigation, and were now on the way back to the control room. As they went, Shaggy and Scooby occasionally plucked a marshmallow from one of the trees, skewered it on a branch also taken from a tree, and dipped it in the river.

“Like, you know, I didn’t wanna say anything in front of Mister Wonka... But this place is really kind of weird.”

“Yeah, this is funky even by Equestrian standards.” Scootaloo said, then giggled, “But I bet Pinkie would love it.”

They continued along, when suddenly Scooby's ears perked up. "Rhat's that?" He asked.

The quartet followed the sounds off of the path, into the candy tree forest, to a low brick wall. Peaking over the top, they found a large collection of chocolate Oompa-Loompa statues standing in rows. Living Loompas were delivering more of them on hand trucks, presumably from the new collection of statues found in the control room. After the last of the new statues had been dropped off, after the Oompa-Loompas were gone, the gang climbed over the wall for a closer look.

"Huh... It's like a freaky chocolate version of those imperial tombs in China, with all the statues in rank and file." Velma said.

"Like it's kinda weird that they're keeping them all don't you think?" Shaggy wondered.

Velma nodded. "Yeah, that is odd... Although... From what we've seen of Mister Wonka I'm amazed he isn't wrapping and selling them."

Scootaloo knocked a hoof against one of the statues. It sounded hollow. "Hay, if these are supposed to be real live Oompa-Loompas turned into chocolate, why's there nothing inside?"

Velma shook her head. This conversation was getting weird. "Maybe. But what I'm wondering... Hey Scooby! Try a bite will you?"

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy!" Scooby plucked a button off one of the statue's overalls and gobbled it down.

"Okay... So, we know for sure that the chocolate used to make the statues is coming from right here in the factory. That's a start. But it still leaves a lot of questions..."

"Yeah, like why it's happening. And why Mister Wonka hasn't been turned into a statue. And why-" Scootaloo was interrupted as a nearby door opened. An Oompa-Loompa started through, pushing an empty hand truck. When he spotted the gang he jumped in place, then ran back out the door. Voiced could be heard, and then a line of a dozen Loompas marched in, accompanied by a familiar tune.

"Oompa-Loompa, woompety-doo,
I've got another query for you;
Oompa-Loompa, doobedy-rome,
Why don't you know,
When it's time to go home?

Oompa-Loompa, diggety-bint,
If you are wise you will take a hint;
Oompa-Loompa, bibbety-sheave,
Hurry along, it's time
For you to leave..."

As they filed out the door, one of the Loompas loaded a statue onto his cart and wheeled it out with him.

Chuckling at Scooby's answer, Scootaloo suggested "Maybe we should follow them."

A roar echoed through the air. "Like, I don't think we're gonna get the chance!" Shaggy exclaimed, pointing, "Look!"

Above the tops of the candy trees, a giant chicken head appeared. It rose higher and higher, supported by a massive serpentine body. The Chocotrice had arrived. It roared again, then jerked its head forward spitting out a gob of molten chocolate that splattered against the door the Oompa-Loompas had used, hardening instantly, sealing the door closed.

"Don't look it in the eyes!" Scootaloo shouted, "That's how these things get you!"

Heeding Shaggy's advice, everyone turned tail and ran, along the low brick wall and back into the candy tree forest, though in the opposite direction from the monster. With a roar the Chocotrice gave chase, smashing through the trees. As it came, it continued to spit masses of chocolate which Velma and Scootaloo dodged while Shaggy and Scooby caught them in their mouths.

Passing through the trees, the gang soon returned to the shores of the chocolate river. "Look! A boat!" Shaggy cheered. "Let's get outta here!"

"Like done!" Shaggy pulled Scooby's mouth open, dumped in the box of Scooby Snacks, and shoved the mouth closed like it was a cash register til. Just then, the monster arrived, reared back, and spat the largest mass of chocolate yet.

"Scooby-Doo!!" The Great Dane exclaimed, as he jumped straight up, swallowed the whole glob, then landed in the back of the boat, wound up his tail, and stuck it in the chocolate river as a outboard motor. The boat and its passengers sped away.

"Don't be so sure!" Scootaloo said, "Look!" She pointed with a hoof to where the Chocotrice was rearing up as high as it could over the river. Then it slammed down bodily into the molten chocolate, setting off a massive wave of chocolate surging down the river towards the boat.

"Actually Shaggy, 'tsunami refers specifically to-" Velma face palmed mid sentence. "Oh what am I saying!? Faster Scooby!"

Scooby saluted and poured it on, gradually gaining on the approaching wave. After several seconds, they came to a place where the river flowed between a pair of high concrete wall. A set of stairs led up, and everyone jumped ship, clambering up the stairs above the top of the wave, getting clear just as it hit and smashed the boat to bits.

Velma looked back down the course of the river and out over the trees. There was no sign of movement. "I think we lost him." She said.

"Like it must've thought we were done for after the wave." Shaggy agreed. "Now let's get back to that control room pronto!"

Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were exploring a very different part of the factory. Unlike the unfettered whimsy of the actual production areas, the warehouse was nearly normal, distinguishable from other facilities of it's kind only by the riotous color scheme of the massive steel shelving. Nothing seemed amiss at first. There were twenty rows of twenty-foot high shelves, each several hundred feet long, and a set of ten semi-truck loading docks. Oompa-Loompas were at work, loading and unloading, but attempts to question them yielded only more bizarre songs.

But as the group rounded a corner at the far end of the docks, Daphne saw something out of place. "Hey, look here! We just came from the docks right? But these stairs going down say 'To docks.'"

They moved past the stairs, to what looked like an elevator. But, the sign over the doors instead read 'Wonkavator.'

"Ah dunno about that." Apple Bloom said. "Take a gander at this here control panel..."

Everyone gathered in close. Instead of the usual controls for an elevator, consisting of floor numbers, this was far more complex and strange:

Wonkavator Controls:
Up
Down
Left
Right
Back
Forward
Past
Future
Here
There
Roulette

Wonka's voice came over the P.A. "Yes Freddy I'm here. I'd take the stairs if I were you. The Wonkavator is still experimental."

"Oh well an elevator only goes up or down. A Wonkavator goes in any direction you want, in any dimension! And not just the three dimensions we normally live in either! It can even access time, and the other seven that are usually hidden!"

"Okay..." Daphne whispered skeptically. "So, what about the docks? The stairs say they go down to the docks, but we just passed the docks on this floor!"

"You just passed the truck docks my dear." Wonka answered. "Downstairs are the boat docks, where we ship our products overseas."

"That actually makes sense." Freddy said. "Okay, thank you Mister Wonka!" He turned to the others, "Let's go check it out."

At the bottom of the stairs, the boat docks waited. There were berths for three large cargo freighters, though only one of them was occupied. Oompa-Loompas were at work here too, most of them operating electric forklifts or cranes to transfer pallets of candy onto the waiting freighter. A few, though, were engaged in a less easily explained endeavor...

"I dunno." Freddy answered. "But the statues must be pretty heavy. Look how they're struggling with them..."

Sure enough, the Loompas moving the statues were indeed having a hard time of it. Two and even three of them were needed to lift each of the statues and carefully carry it aboard the ship. As the group watched, two sets of three Oompa-Loompas each carried a pair of statues into the ship, and once they were out of sight only one statue was left waiting on the docks.

"It sure is." Freddy agreed. "Come on, before those Oompa-Loompas come back I want a closer look at that statue." They ran onto the docks and down the gangway to where the statue was waiting.

"Yeah, except for these holes drilled into it." Daphne said. She pointed out a set of twelve small holes drilled into the front of the statue.

"And this." Apple Bloom said. Centered on the upper back of the statue was a large patch of chocolate that appeared to have been melted.

"Maybe we should try to take this with us." Freddy suggested. But when he tried to move the statue it proved even heavier than he had expected. "Whew! No wonder it took two and three of them to move these!"

"Right you are." Freddy agreed, but when they turned to leave the path was blocked by a group of Oompa-Loompas who were all facing them. Naturally, they began to sing:

"Oompa-Loompa, woompety-cheer,
The docks are off-limits,
You cannot be here;
Oompa-Loompa, dibetty-lof,
If you poke your nose in,
It might get cut off.

Soon you will be wearing cho-co-late shoes;
At the bottom of the sea.
(At the bottom of the sea.)

Oompa-Loompa, woompety-jurt,
We don't want nobody
should get hurt;
Oompa-Loompa, Shoobedy-"

The song cut off mid-verse as the Oompa-Loompas let out a yell and ran screaming. Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder, eyes going wide as she saw what the Loompas were fleeing from. "It's the Chocotrice!" She screamed. Sure enough, the monster had arrived, rising up out of the water behind the gang.

As Daphne and the ponies fled, Fred stooped down and picked up a wrench someone had dropped, intending to throw it at the beast. But as he stretched his arm back for the throw, the Chocotrice lobbed a mass of chocolate that struck and froze solid around his hand. "Yikes!" He exclaimed, and ran to catch up with the others as the monster followed.

By the time Freddy reached the stairs, the others were already halfway up. He had planned to take a minute to catch his breath, but that proved impossible when, contrary to expectations, the Chocotrice actually managed to fit in the stairwell. It was tight, yes, but the monster slowly wormed its way up the stairs. "Run! It's still coming!" He shouted as he caught up to the others at a landing.

The monster spit another glob of chocolate, which flew past Freddy and instead hit Sweetie Belle, leaving only her horn exposed as it hardened. Not missing a beat, Freddy grabbed her up as he ran past. The group made it to the top of the stairs while the monster was still less than halfway up, and just as Sweetie Belle's horn glowed briefly, shattering the chocolate around her face. " *Gasp!* I couldn't breath!" She wailed. "Are we safe!?"

"This way!" Freddy took the lead as they ran across the warehouse, turning into a random aisle and running a short distance down said aisle. "Okay, the Chocotrice will be reaching the top of the stairs any second! But it can't see us here from there. So, where do we hide?"

"How 'bout this?" Apple Bloom asked. She had climbed into the second shelf of the steel, where there was a pallet with an empty cardboard dump bin. "We'll all fit!"

They barely made it out of sight before the monster appeared around the far end of the steel shelving. It slithered past the aisle they had hid in, but soon came back, slowly moving down the aisle, searching. Twice, it passed their hiding place none the wiser. But on the third pass, it noticed something on the floor; A tiny piece of the same chocolate it had spit at Freddy and Sweetie Belle. Rising slowly up, examining each pallet, it came to the gang's hiding place.

"Now!" Freddy shouted. He and Daphne flipped the empty dump bin over the monster's head, blinding it as they and the ponies ran for it further down the aisle.

Halfway down, Apple Bloom stopped. "Keep goin' Yall! I got a plan!" She turned away from the steel and bucked backwards as hard as she could. The steel support beam bend, buckled, gave way. With a rumble, an entire section of shelving came down, cutting off the monster's pursuit.

"Can you get me outta this stuff first?" Sweetie Belle asked from under Freddy's arm...

Back on the other side of the factory, Velma was questioning Scootaloo as they also headed towards the control room. "So... You've seen an actual cockatrice back on your world?"

"Hmmm... So what did it look like? What I mean is, You've seen that, you've seen the Chocotrice, do they look alike?"

"Pretty much. Except... Huh." Scootaloo mused. "Yeah, there is one difference. Size."

"Sure. You just saw how huge the Chocotrice is. The Cockatrice wasn't like that. The 'chicken' part of it was no bigger than a real chicken. Hay, when we first saw it, before it rose up and we saw the snake body, we all thought it was just a chicken."

"Like man o man you can't say that here." Shaggy said. "This chicken is, like, the size of a small car! You could pack a hundred normal chickens in it!"

They came to a set of closed wooden doors. "Like I don't remember which door is the right one." Shaggy said.

They began to do so, finding little of interest until Scooby opened a door near the end of the hall. His eyes went wide and he began to whimper, then bolted through the door. Shaggy, Velma, and Scootaloo exchanged a confused look, then followed. Beyond the door was a simple store room. And in it were chocolate statues of every member of the gang. Scooby was clinging to the Shaggy statue, crying. "Rhaggy! Roh-no! It got you it got you!"

"Good question." Scootaloo said, looking over the statue of herself. "Hay look at this! It's hollow like the others, but it's also a little bigger than me."

"Like so is mine." Shaggy said. "If there was a door I bet I could fit inside it."

"I'm still not sure on the rest of it..." Velma answered, "But it looks like someone is planning to get rid of us and make Mister Wonka think we've become statues too."

"If we figure that out we'll have all of our answers. For now let's find the right door and get back together with the others..."

The gang was finally all back together, gathered just outside the doors to Wonka's control room where they were exchanging information. "So the Oompa-Loompa statues you guys saw were all hollow and light weight?" Freddy asked.

Velma began to pace. "Okay... Hollow statues when they're first found and stored. Heavy statues filled with something that needs air holes and resealed with the same kind of high melting point chocolate spit by the Chocotrice when they're loaded on the boats..."

Velma said "Not quite sure yet Scoots... I've almost got it but I think I'm missing one last important clue. Come on, let's have a word with Mister Wonka."

They pushed through the heavy double doors and went into the control room, where Wonka was waiting for them. "I saw how things went." He said, "It's still a mystery isn't it?"

"If you don't mind me asking sir," Velma said, "Just where did the Oompa-Loompas come from anyway?"

"Not on globes, no. But, have you ever noticed how when you flatten a globe out to make a map there are big gaps left on the flat paper? You can find all sorts of places by going there."

"Then how did I get there?" Wonka countered. "Loompaland, Avalon, Brigadoon, Narnia, Valinor... It's all there if you know where to look!"

While Velma paced away with her head in her hands, Freddy said "Let's try to stay on track here sir. You went to Loompaland and...?"

"Oh! Well it's a terrible place! I mean the Loompas themselves are wonderful but everything else about it is right out of a nightmare! Those poor Loompas have to live in primitive tree house cities, constantly at risk from ravenous beasts that could snack on them by the bunch." Wonka shook his head. "Terrible. Which is why I bought them here where they'd be safe from all that!"

Velma's head snapped around to look at the others at this last. "And there it is. The last piece. It all adds up now."

Freddy nodded. "I think I see it too Velma. Now all we need is a Chocotrice trap...

An hour later. The gang was gathered in the warehouse. "Okay gang, here's the plan:" Freddy explained. "First, notice that if you enter through this particular set of doors, it's a straight shot down this shelving aisle and onto the truck docks. There's a completely empty trailer parked at one of those docks with it's door wide open. Shaggy-"

"Like let me guess. Scooby, Scoots and me will go out into the factory and lure the Chocotrice back here."

"Exactly." Daphne said. "When you get here, you'll go straight down the aisle, hang a sharp right, and make for the trailer."

Freddy said "Not if your fellow Crusaders play their part right. Sweetie, 'Bloom, the two of you will be up in that control room." He pointed to the place he meant. "We have a net connected to a crane laid out right in front of the trailer door. When our bait gets there, you just throw the switch and pull them up to safety!"

Velma nodded. "Right. As soon as Scooby, Shaggy, and Scootaloo are clear, I'll push over a drum of vegetable oil, making the floor too slick for the Chocotrice to stop. It'll slide right into the trailer, then Freddy and Daphne will pull the door shut trapping it."

Scootaloo, Shaggy, and Scooby were creeping through the factory, seeking out the Chocotrice. "So why are we creeping?" The filly asked. "Don't we want it to find us?"

Shaggy sighed. "But Scoots is right Scooby. As much as I don't like it, the others are waiting. I guess we should get this over with."

With Scootaloo in the lead, the trio marched boldly down the main factory floor, alongside the river of chocolate. Before long, they had walked all the way back to the front doors, having found nothing. Even the Oompa-Loompas seemed to have vanished. "Huh. Where is everyone?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Like no idea. But let's head back. If we're lucky, the monster won't even show itself. And if it does, at least now we'll be pointing in the right direction anyway."

Barely had Shaggy finished speaking when the glass doors and windows at the front entrance shattered inward, smashed by the Chocotrice as it slithered in roaring loudly. Man, dog, and pony fled, monster in hot pursuit. They had a bit of a lead, thanks to the Chocotrice momentarily hanging up on the door frames, but it was much faster once it was free.

"We need a diversion!" Shaggy agreed, "Like quick, in here!" He opened a door and they all ducked through. And stared. At the enormous blueberry girl hooked up to tubes draining her of juice. "Um..."

"Never mind me." The girl said. "Have to do this once a week or else I'll either explode or turn into a blueberry kaiju."

Moments later, the monster slammed in through the door. To find a quartet of fruit people: Blueberry, Apple, Orange, and Lemon. "Like just our weekly juicing!" The Orange said. The monster nodded and slithered away.

Leaving the bizarre victim of Wonka's illegal experimentation behind, they continued towards the warehouse.

"Like I really hope that's not where Wonka's blueberry flavoring comes from." Shaggy shuddered.

The good news is, they did. The bad news is, they ran through the wrong set of warehouse doors. Which in turn put them in position to run down the wrong aisle. Which, might not have been a problem, except:

"Oh no!" Freddy exclaimed. They're in the aisle Apple Bloom blocked off earlier!"

"Roh-no!" Scooby screamed, seeing the massive pile of broken shelving blocking their way.

"Through here!" Scootaloo yelled, having noticed an empty slot. "We can get into the next aisle!"

Shaggy, Scootaloo, and Scooby all ducked through the opening. Once on the other side they were back on track and ran for the empty trailer. The monster got caught trying to follow, but only for a moment before popping loose and continuing the chase.

Apple Bloom triggered the crane that was meant to pull Scootaloo, Shaggy and Scooby to safety. Or, more accurately, she triggered the wrong button. Instead of pulling the trio up, the netting began to swing them around wildly back and forth. Velma barely managed to jump clear before she would have been hit. The drum of vegetable oil was hit, spilling all over the floor. Thanks to this lucky blow, it momentarily appeared that the plan might work in spite of Bloom's error: The Chocotrice hit the oil slick and slid right into the trailer, just as planned.

But when Freddy and Daphne jumped down from their hiding places to close the trailer doors, they too slipped and slid on the oil. With a terrible racket the Chocotrice turned itself around and surged back out of the trailer.

Right into the path of the net with Scootaloo and company. They struck the monster at full speed, the impact knocking the trio free and sending all three of them, and the monster itself, sailing through the air, and into the Wonkavator, where they vanished with a flash of light.

"Um, what just happened?" Velma asked as everyone left rushed to the front of the machine.

"I don't know." Freddy said. "This is one of Mister Wonka's experimental inventions. And from the way he talked, it could have sent them anywhere!"

Wonka himself came running as fast as he could. "I saw! Get back!" He began pushing buttons on the control panel in a coded sequence. After a few seconds, the Chocotrice flew back out, slamming up against a brick wall. It was followed by Scootaloo, Shaggy, and Scooby, who piled into the monster.

Eyes wide, Scootaloo said "While only a minute passed here, we were floating in the other dimension for three hundred thousand years!"

"Wow." Apple Bloom said, "It's lucky ah didn't reach in there with mah watch hoof."

Willy Wonka looked at the disabled Chocotrice. "I can't thank you kids enough! You've saved my factory!"

Scootaloo said "Because, when you put all the clues together, there's only one possible culprit here..."

Shaggy and Freddy lifted the head off of the mechanical Chocotrice. Three orange faces stared out. "The Oompa-Loompas." Every member of Mystery Inc. said together.

Before any of the gang could answer, the trio of Oompa-Loomas climbed out of the ruined monster, stood in a row before Wonka, and began to sing:

"Oompa-Loompa, woompety-lumb,
How can you be, so freakin' dumb?
Oompa-Loompa, Fibbery-crave,
You took us from our homes,
and made us your slaves."

"Slaves!? Wonka exclaimed. "No! No I didn't... I didn't mean... But Loompaland is so dangerous..."

"And so you bought them here." Apple Bloom said. "But did y'all think 't ask if that's what they wanted?"

"Equestria can be dangerous too Mister Wonka. But it's still our home. Just like Loompaland is theirs." Sweetie Belle said.

Velma explained "Which is the explanation for all of this. The Oompa-Loompas made chocolate statues of themselves big enough to hide inside. Then they created the Chocotrice to keep you from figuring out the truth, and loaded themselves onto boats back to Loompaland."

"But slaves? I never meant... Oh sweet gumdrops I did didn't I?" Wonka looked at the trio of Loompas. "I'm so sorry. I swear to you I never meant anything bad. And I promise I'll get you all home, no more tricks needed."

Wonka shrugged. "I guess I'll have to hire normal human workers. Though, Loompas, if any of you ever decide you'd like to work for me- legitimately- I'll have a place for you."

"Oompa-Loompa, scoobedy-way,
Some of us might stay,
For an increase in pay...
Oompa-Loompa, Scoota-loo-tay,
A good dental plan,
And a 401 (k)."

And elsewhere a forgotten Blueberry's draining tubes backed up, and began to flow backwards...

"Scoota-Loo, Where Are You!?"

by Kieva Lynn

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Cockatrice