//------------------------------// // One Year Later // Story: G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// The next year seemed to drag on, and this bothered the ponies and got them really thinking about the future ahead. While they loved hanging out and getting to know their Mystery Incorporated friends, and they called one another every chance they could get, the ponies missed one another… unaware of how much things have really progressed in Mystery Inc’s seperate lives. During that faithful year, Velma found an empty lot in the city, where she thought it’d be a good place to open up her own business with her passion for books-- her own mystery book shop, named after Mystery Inc themselves, and she shared her profits with Izzy and Zipp as a way to thank them for sticking with her. As for Shaggy and Scooby… well, they hopped from job to job for a while, trying to find the best fit. Sunny and Misty tried their best to keep their spirits up, but it wasn’t easy, seeing how much they missed the gang after so long. Finally, for Daphne, Pipp, Hitch and Fred, Daphne was able to get herself on the big time-- a new TV show called Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake, which had Fred as the director and one crew cameraman, Pipp as Daphne’s makeup pony and Hitch standing guard to make sure nothing bad happened. In fact, Daphne’s show was becoming so popular, she was invited onto the renowned talk show Chris to talk about the upcoming season, where she recalled the case of the Moat Monster’s defeat, leaving out the ponies in case their existence would be harmed. “And that’s how we solved the case of the Moat Monster,” Daphne finished her tale. “One of our most frightening mysteries.” Chris and her studio audience clapped for the end of the tale. “Ohh… stories like that always give me the heebie-jeebies!” Chris shuddered, but smiled. “No wonder you became a reporter-- that Moat Monster almost sliced you up like a pepperoni pizza. And then, we wouldn't have Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake, your very successful syndicated series on Americana. Going on it's second season, I might add? I never miss it!" "Thanks, Chris, you know the real reason I changed jobs was because the monsters and ghosts always turned out to be bad guys in a mask," Daphne admitted. "Got a little boring, eh?" Chris asked playfully, leading Daphne to chuckle. "No kidding. In fact, that's why the gang went their separate ways. Except for Fred and me." Chris turned to look at the cameras with a smile on her face. "She means Fred Jones, who's now the producer and one-man crew of Daphne's show. How about getting a shot of Freddy, guys!" The cameras turned as a spotlight fell on Fred, making the studio audience applaud as Pipp and Hitch watched from their hiding place nearby. "Is he cute or what?" Chris shot Fred a wink before turning back to Daphne. “So, what’s coming up for the new season?” “A new series of segments called Haunted America,” Daphne said. “Sort of a… Ghost to Ghost with Daphne Blake,” Chris joked, causing Daphne to giggle. "Right. But this time, I intend to find some real haunted houses for my viewers," she said. "Gee," said Chris, "it's too bad the old gang won't be along for the ride." At this, Daphne's face fell... it had been hard not doing mysteries without them... she liked it when the entire gang was together. But they weren't. "Yeah... I really miss them." But Daphne's solemn expression seemed to give Hitch and Fred an idea through their smirks. XXXXXXXXXXXXX Meanwhile, at the airport where Shaggy and Scooby worked, the two cowardly friends and Misty and Sunny watched Daphne looking rather down on the news, and they couldn’t help but feel the same way. “Yeah…” Sunny sighed. “We really miss you too, Daphne.” "Yeah..." Scooby sniffled and wiped his tears with his tail. "Don't go away," Chris turned to her audience, "we'll be right back with Daphne Blake." Shaggy and Scooby continued to watch the tv for another moment, but all of a sudden, they heard their boss approaching. "Hey, you two!" he growled, and Misty and Sunny darted into their hiding places in order not to be seen. "Get back to work!" “Like, we’re right on it, boss man sir!” Shaggy saluted with Scooby, and led the Great Dane along the conveyor belt, and Misty and Sunny made sure no one was coming as they came out of hiding to join their friends. Scooby was now a customs dog-- that means that he had to sniff around to find contraband in people’s suitcases that they might sneak in from other countries. Scooby sniffed repeatedly up and down the belt, but then, his nose filled with a familiar scent, causing him to point to a particular suitcase. “Got something, Scoob?” Sunny asked. “Yeah!” Scooby sniffed the suitcase a couple more times. “Yeah, yeah!” Shaggy opened the suitcase and let Scooby sniff around, but all he found was a dirty sock, causing him to sneeze and blow the sock onto Shaggy’s face. “Eh, no offense, old buddy… but I think your nose might be losing its touch,” Shaggy took the sock off. But Scooby was sure about it, and dug through the suitcase until he found a gorgonzola hiding beneath the clothing. “Pretty sneaky,” Misty smirked, and tapped the Great Dane’s nose with her hoof. “But they can’t fool your nose.” “That’s right!” Scooby nodded. “Like, no one brings contraband food into our country with us on the job!” Shaggy said, and the four of them marched into the customs office. “Let’s go check this bad boy in,” Sunny opened the door with her hoof, revealing the entire office was stacked with food from different countries. Shaggy laughed at seeing the massive amount they had collected. “Is this the jackpot of jobs or what?” Scooby giggled at this-- they may have been away from their friends, but at least this job came with absolutely no monsters in sight. XXXXXXXXXX Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Zipp and Izzy were trying their best to hold a giant stack of books for Velma while she was on the phone with a client. Believe me, it wasn't easy when that book was at least 12 books or more. “Oh… uh-huh. Yes, we do have the Hair Raiser series," Velma nodded tiredly, and went up a step ladder to reach the top shelf. Number 23-- The Vampire Village? Got it. Number 24-- The Creepy Clowntown? Got it. Number 25-- Menace at Mummy Manor? Got it. Yes, I’ll hold them til Tuesday. Two weeks from Tuesday? Oh yeah, that’s fine. Bye.” Velma finally hung up, and Zipp and Izzy sighed as they set the giant stack of books down on the desk. Daphne’s interview with Chris was finally on TV, and Zipp sighed longingly as she stared at the TV screen. She wondered how her sister was handling not being in the spotlight… and how much she actually miss Zipp herself. “Solving mysteries is a lot more fun than selling them, am I right?” “Oh yeah,” Izzy nodded. “Despite it being full of monsters and ghosts, it was actually… kinda fun. And it’s even better when you’re solving it with your best friends.” Suddenly, the phone rang again. Velma thought it was another customer calling, so she picked it up to answer. “Mystery Inc book shop.” At the other end of the line was someone she hadn’t heard from in a long time, making her grin from ear to ear. “Freddy?” “Freddy? Where?” Izzy bolted around looking for him. “On the phone, Iz,” Zipp whispered, and listened in as Velma further listened to what Fred had to say. “Jinkies!” she laughed. “Sounds great! Count us in! We’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early!” She hung up the phone and immediately ran to the two ponies, the brightest smile on her face. "What's going on, Vel?" Zipp asked. "Pack it up, girls!" Velma urged the two of them. "Freddy’s planning a huge surprise for Daphne tomorrow!" XXXXXXXXXXX Soon, it was time for Shaggy and Scooby’s boss to check in on inventory for the contraband they collected, and headed to the contraband office for their report. What he didn’t expect was to find one overstuffed Shaggy, one overstuffed Scooby and a whole lotta food that was supposed to be there, but wasn’t. “Like, hi boss…” Shaggy groaned, but their boss was at a loss for words. “You you… you ate all the contraband!” Just then, Scooby let off a huge burp, covering his mouth with his right paw. “Excuse me,” he said with a giggle. “Like, not true, boss,” Shaggy shook his head. “There’s still a couple of gorgonzolas left. Help yourself.” “You’re a couple of gorgonzolas!! You’re fired!” the bossman angrily exclaimed before walking out of the office, letting the door slam and allowing the ponies to come out of hiding. “I told you guys eating all that food was a bad idea,” Sunny frowned. “Maybe you’re right,” Shaggy agreed with a shrug, “but sheesh-- what a grouch. Looks like we’re unemployed again, old pals.” “Yeah… unemployed,” Scooby frowned sadly, beginning to cry as he blew his nose into the napkin tied around his neck. Misty, hating to see Scooby so down, nuzzled his face reassuringly. “Aww, take it easy, buddy. Something’ll turn up,” she said gently. “So what if this was, like, the greatest gig ever…?” Shaggy started tearing up himself. “Like, so what if we starve-- turn to skin and bones?” “Well, I don’t think--” Sunny was about to say, but Shaggy and Scooby then went into a sobbing fit that she could only pat Shaggy’s shoulder as a form of comfort. As the two ponies were about to go see if they could find a tissue, the phone rang, and Shaggy and Scooby stopped crying immediately so Shaggy could answer it. “Like, hello?” he answered, and once he heard that same voice Velma spoke to, he brightened up. “Freddy?! Zoinks! We just caught you on the tube! Busy? Nah… the four of us were just thinking of taking some time off. Uh huh… okay! Like, see ya tomorrow!” He then hung up the phone. “So, what did he say?” Misty asked. “Fred’s got a surprise for Daphne tomorrow,” Shaggy said with a knowing smirk. “And I think I know what that’ll be.” XXXXXXXXXXX The next morning, Daphne was patiently waiting for Fred, Hitch and Pipp to pick her up in the Mystery Machine so they could get started on their tour, but they were running late for some reason when they arrived. “Ah, sorry we’re late, Daph-- traffic was murder,” Pipp said as she flew to get one of Daphne’s bags. “Is, uh… this everything?” Fred asked as he and Hitch got the remainder of the bags. “Uh-huh.” “Got the maps?” “Yeah…?” “Are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything?” Fred asked, preparing to open the door. “Fred, what is with you?” Daphne asked. “Yes, I’m sure I’m sure.” “Well then…” Fred opened the door to reveal Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and the other ponies, all wearing party hats and blowing party trumpets as loud as they could. “SURPRISE!!!” they exclaimed. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAPHNE!!” Everyone laughed joyously at being reunited, and Scooby licked Daphne’s face as she chuckled herself. “Gosh! It’s great to see you all. I guess I’ve been working so hard, I guess I forgot my own birthday!” “I hope you don’t mind, I… I asked the gang to come along,” Fred admitted with a smile. “Oh, Freddy…!” Daphne hugged him. “This is the best birthday present ever. It’ll be just like old times.” “Yeah. Old times!” Scooby barked before he licked Daphne and Fred’s faces happily. “Hey, easy, boy!” Hitch said with a laugh. “It’s great to see you too, Scoob. It's great to see all of you!” "We definitely have a lot of things we need to catch up on," Sunny nodded, hoof bumping Zipp. “Speaking of old times, look what I have for you, Scooby,” Velma pulled out a too-familiar box of dog treats. “Scooby Snacks!” Scooby’s eyes lit up hungrily, and he instantly bolted over to her. “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” “Like, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” Shaggy exclaimed, running up and sitting in a begging manner. “Go long, guys!” Velma threw a handful of snacks in front of them, and the two raced to get it, but Scooby caught all of the treats in his mouth before Shaggy could get a taste. “Hey!” Shaggy pouted, but Velma had more Scooby Snacks to offer. “I’ve been saving these Scooby Snacks for a long time.” Suddenly, Scooby spit out the snacks in disgust, and Shaggy took a test bite to see why his friend did such. Immediately, he knew the answer. “Like, too long, Velma-- they’re stale!” “Don’t worry, guys-- we’re going to New Orleans for Daph’s first segment-- Haunts of Louisiana,” Hitch said. “And New Orleans, from what I’ve read, has some of the best food in the world!” Zipp added, making Shaggy and Scooby smile. “And the best ghosts,” Velma said, making the two quiver in fear. “I hope,” Daphne spoke. “Well, let’s get going.” “Hold it… there’s just one more thing.” Fred took the banner with Daphne’s show’s logo on it, and revealed the original Mystery Machine decals, much to the gang’s delight. “Perfect! This can only mean one thing,” Sunny smiled. “Yep!” Misty nodded. “Mystery Inc is back in business! Next stop, Louisiana!”