It had been a few minutes since the group left to find some peace and quiet, and the dinner resumed as if it had been peaceful from the start. “What I’d like to find out,” Velma said, “is why these ghosts want us off the island?”
“It’s not ghosts, Velma-- it’s just guys in masks,” Fred answered, taking another bite of food. “I don’t know… all these signs and warnings have been pretty direct that there’s something going on around here, and whatever it is, it’s definitely something supernatural,” Zipp figured. “Or maybe it’s some guys going after the pirate’s treasure!” Fred exclaimed. “Or,” Velma added, “covering up a smuggling operation!”
“Or maybe there’s oil under the island!” Hitch guessed, causing Simone to gasp. “Oh my!” she exclaimed. “Really, guys!” Daphne said with a frown. “For once, can't you accept that maybe there are some mysteries that have no rational explanation?”
“Have you guys seen anything like this in Equestria?” Velma turned to the ponies. “To be honest,” Zipp admitted, “we’re just discovering what magic can do ourselves, after it was gone for the past thousand moons or so. Plus, we’re working to decode a message from Twilight Sparkle about an evil pony that tried to steal magic during her time period.”
“Steal magic?” Daphne repeated. “Yeah,” Zipp nodded. “Twilight cast all Equestrian magic into the Unity Crystals before things got out of hoof, but ponies were so divided back then, they only felt safe with their pony kind… until we reunited the crystals and brought back magic.”
Simone and Lena listened intently as they spoke, sharing glances every once in a while. “Why didn’t you ever tell us about this before?” Fred asked. “We didn’t wanna cause panic, Freddy,” Hitch frowned. “Besides, we just met and we didn’t wanna overbear you. I mean… being stuck with ponies for a year while no time passes in Equestria is kind of a big change.”
“Do you have this message from Princess Twilight on you?” Velma asked. “Sure,” Zipp handed her the FlyPad. “We’ll try and go over it after dinner. But first… can I have more of that gumbo, Lena?”
“Help yourself,” Lena offered her another bowl full, just as Izzy looked around worriedly. “Guys, I’m worried about Misty… she’s been gone a long time, and so have Sunny, Shag and Scoob.”
“I’m sure she’s fine, Iz,” Pipp reassured. “They’re probably just dining and having fun-- and if something was wrong, we’d hear their screams from a mile away.”
XXXXXXXXXXX
As for the forementioned group, they were happily on the edge of the bayou, eating the remainder of their meal that Lena prepared without being bothered by the cats. “Like, this is much better, huh, guys?” Shaggy asked as they slurped down the last of the gumbo. “And now for the heat de resistance!”
He pulled out two ripe Moonscar Island peppers, giving one of them to Scooby and keeping the other to himself. Just for fun, Sunny decided to time them and see how long they could keep the peppers in their mouths. “On your mark,” she started, “get set… ignition!”
Shaggy and Scooby set the peppers in their mouths, but Shaggy was the only one to experience the pain-- Scooby didn’t even chew his, and it was sitting on his tongue! “Hey, no fair!” Misty nudged him playfully. “What’s the matter?” Shaggy panted from the heat. “Chicken?”
“Uh uh!” Scooby ate the pepper to prove his point. But his and Shaggy’s face up as steam and fire came from them, and the two burst from the Mystery Machine to drink from the nearby bayou. “How long did they hold in the heat?” Misty asked as she and Sunny trotted their way. “About… 3 minutes,” Sunny supposed. “At least it's all over.”
But, as if she was right on cue, the green supernatural magic that brought the Captain Moonscar zombie into existence sank into the ground in the water, and this caused more zombies to rise from the bottom of the bayou. “Zoinks!!” Shaggy cried out in terror. “Z-Zombies!!”
“What do we do?!” Misty blurt out, just as Sunny thought of something to buy them enough time to get into the Mystery Machine. “I got an idea! Stand back!” she shouted, and the three backed up as much as they could as Sunny began to glow bright gold for the first time in a year, much to Shaggy and Scooby's surprise. Her golden wings and horn began to form on her, and the glow from it caused the zombies to retaliate. “Sunny… like, how did you do that?!” Shaggy asked with wide eyes. “We'll talk about it later!” Sunny used her horn's light to lift Shaggy off the ground. “We just need to get to the van and get back to the house! Misty, Scooby, follow me!”
Misty and Scooby hopped from rock to rock to avoid the zombies while Sunny threw Shaggy into the back of the Mystery Machine so he could reach the driver's seat.
They managed to get moving and shake off the zombies who hitched a ride, but sooner than the group ever expected, the van was stuck in the mud, and the zombies were fast approaching!
So… there seemed to be only one option left-- run and scream and not look back.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Hitch had never tasted such amazing pie in his life… the pecan nuts in this world seemed to have a different flavor than before. “Mmmm…” he smiled as the flavors melted in his mouth. “Hey, we should do a segment on Lena's pecan pie, Daph. It's supernatural.”
“You are so corny,” Daphne rolled her eyes at him. “You do have to admit, it is good food-- maybe Sunny can have a few of your recipes, Lena,” Izzy said, but before Lena could respond, the echoes of their friends screamed throughout the entire bayou. “Now what?” the group asked, getting up from their seats. “I told you the hauntings were just beginning,” Simone said worriedly. “Come on!” Zipp fluttered up from the floor. “We better go out and find them before things really get out of hoof.”
“Uh, if you all will excuse me,” Fred got up to grab the video camera. “Lena, get them some lanterns,” Simone said. “Right away,” Lena nodded. “But please, Fred… you must be careful.”
Fred nodded, and she went to fetch them some lanterns before they set off into the swamp.
XXXXXXXX
It was pitch black other than the single moon in the sky, so the lanterns and Izzy’s glowing horn were a good way to see where they were going. “Shaggy! Scooby! Where are you?!” Velma called. “Misty! SUNNY!!” Hitch cried out, but both cries didn’t have a response. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes, and Beau stepped out into view with a lantern on his own. “So, it’s you!” Fred cried. “Where’s Sunny, Misty, Scooby and Shaggy?”
“Your crazy friends are near the bayou screaming about zombies. Well, I didn't see any,” Beau huffed. “You never do! And you're never around when these ghosts and zombies appear,” Velma said with a narrowed gaze. “Isn’t that a coincidence?” Zipp said suspiciously. “Save your suspicions for later, Zipper,” Pipp advised in a responsible manner. “Right now, we have to find the girls, Scooby and Shaggy. I think we should split up.”
“Good idea,” Fred nodded. “I’ll go with Beau,” Daphne volunteered. “Bad idea,” Fred frowned, but then Velma and Zipp stepped up. “We’ll go with Beau,” Zipp volunteered before whispering to Izzy, “We won’t let him out of our sight.”
XXXXXXXXX
Beau, Velma, Izzy and Zipp trudged through the swampy water in search of their friends. “Misty! Sunny!” Izzy called. “Scooby! Shaggy!” Velma exclaimed, but no one answered. “Hey,” Beau spoke gruffly, causing the three to turn. “Why do you keep treating me like I’m a suspect?”
“Because you are! Shaggy! Scooby!” Velma was about to turn away, but Beau grabbed her arm to prevent her from moving, just before he grabbed a rock and threw it ahead of them, watching as it sank into the ground. “Quicksand.”
“Sweet sauce horseshoe toss! Thanks,” Izzy said breathlessly, a little relieved they didn’t step into the quicksand. “But, you’re still a suspect,” Velma said before they kept going.
XXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, Fred and Hitch and Pipp and Daphne were looking on another end of the swamp for their friends when they stumbled upon something. “Fred, over here!” Pipp called, and when Fred ran over, he saw the Mystery Machine sitting alone in the murky swamp. Daphne opened the door, she screamed when crawdad shells fell out of it and by her feet. “What is it…?”
“Crawdad shells,” Fred hummed. “That means Shaggy and Scooby were definitely around,” Hitch examined them, just before Daphne turned to look at Fred. “Well, I guess the guys liked your girlfriend’s cooking too.”
“She’s not my girlfriend, Daph. I just said I enjoy her cooking,” Fred frowned as he prepared to enter the Mystery Machine to look further. “And what about Beau?”
“What about him?” Pipp crossed her hooves, unhappy that Fred was targeting her friend. While Hitch and Fred were busy looking in the van, Daphne suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and she grabbed it before flinging it over her shoulder, resulting in a zombie falling into view. “Daphne!” Fred cried. “Are you--?”
“I can take care of myself thank you,” Daphne said with a huff. One look at the zombie made Hitch yell in surprise, hiding behind Pipp, who merely rolled her eyes. “It’s probably the gardener!” Fred exclaimed, but Pipp only smirked. “We’ll just see about that.”
But then, another rustling was heard, and Daphne yanked them out of hiding too, surprised that it was a friend of theirs… actually, four friends of theirs. “Shaggy?!” Fred and Daphne cried. “Scooby?!”
“Sunny, Misty! There you are!” Hitch exclaimed as they hugged their friends tight, just as Shaggy screamed, since he was laying on the zombie, and clung to Sunny tightly. “Take it easy, Shaggy…” Sunny comforted her friend. “It’s probably just a mask.”
Daphne walked over to the zombie and tried to pull off its face, but struggled to do such. “If this is a mask, Sunny, it’s a pretty darn good one,” she said. “Good one? Heh… t-t-that’s gotta be the fakiest, cheesiest mask I’ve ever seen…” Hitch said nervously. “Really?” Sunny took a turn at pulling the zombie’s face off. “But it feels real. Ew!”
“You’re just not pulling hard enough,” Fred supposed. “Okay, Mr. Macho-- why don’t YOU give it a try?” Pipp glared, causing Fred to shrug casually. “Sure. Hold this, Shag.”
Fred handed Shaggy the camera and went to the zombie, but Shaggy was skaking so much, the camera jittered violently. “Either hold it still or give it to Daphne,” Fred told him, and Shaggy did so as Fred began to pull off the mask. “It’s the… gardener!”
“No…” Daphne shook her head. “It’s the fisherman!” Fred strained. “No…!” Misty gulped. “It’s the ferryman!”
“No!” Scooby yelped. “Then… maybe it’s…” As Fred spoke, the zombie’s head came right off its hinges, resulting in his eyes widening. “...real. Oh! YAH!!!”
The group screamed individually as they tossed the head back and forth to each other before Scooby tossed the head onto the zombie’s legs, and the zombie put it back on himself. “That… was… SO DISGUSTING!!!” Hitch tried to wipe the zombie slobber off him. “See?” Misty said. “You believe us now?”
But before anyone else could respond to the blue unicorn, a ghostly moaning filled the air as the wind began to blow at a rapid, unnatural speed. “Fred…?” Daphne gulped. “Are you getting all this?”
“I am!” Pipp took video of the event, ready to send it to her sister to see what she could make from it. Suddenly, a wisp of green magic entered the water, resulting in more zombies coming for them from the bayou’s mysterious nature. “Like, it’s deja vu all over again!” Shaggy said. “And we know what to do, right Scoob?” Misty asked. “Yeah!” Scooby blurt out. “Run!”
The three began to run in another direction, but immediately halted when they saw zombies staggering toward them from the other side of the bayou too. “It’s a regular zombie jamboree!” Shaggy cried. “Misty, get them to safety!” Sunny cried. “We’ll take care of Fred and Daphne!”
“I’m on it! Come on, this way!” Misty urged her friends in another direction. “And I suppose they’re all animatronics too?!” Daphne pointed to the other zombies. “Well… i-it is a possibility, Daph!” Fred cried. “You’re not a skeptic, Fred!” Pipp gulped as they backed up. “You’re in denial!”
Suddenly, a scream echoed through the forest, and Sunny recognized it immediately. “It’s Lena!” she gasped. “We left her and Simone unprotected without our cutie mark magic!”
“Come on!” Hitch urged, and they began to run through the swamp until Fred tripped, causing the camera to fall and sink into some quicksand nearby. “The camera!” Daphne cried. “It’s quicksand!”
“This way!” Fred grabbed her and ran in another direction while the ponies were in suit.
XXXXXXXX
Misty, Shaggy and Scooby ran through the swamp for their lives, over crocodiles and tumbling down hills while Sunny and Hitch used their plant magic to make the zombies fall over, allowing them to have a more solid escape.
Eventually, Daphne and Fred and their group of ponies found Izzy, Beau, Zipp and Velma, while Misty, Shaggy and Scooby stumbled into a small cave while trying to escape from the zombies. Luckily, they were not hurt, but nearby, they found dolls that were made of wax-- two females and one male. “Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Like, someone’s been playing with dolls, guys.”
“Yeah! Dolls!” Scooby nodded. While the group studied them, their friends wandered through the swamp looking for them. “Did you find the others?” Zipp asked. “Yeah,” Pipp nodded, still a tad shaken. “But we lost them when we found… zombies! Real zombies!”
“Real? Really real, Fred?” Velma asked. “I hate to admit it… but they were,” Fred nodded. “Yeah…” Daphne nodded. “I finally got my story, and all the proof sank in quicksand. Oh, this is all my fault…”
“Don’t blame yourself, Daphne,” Izzy patted her friend’s side reassuringly. “We’ll find our friends and get off this creep-zone.”
“Pipp, did you get any footage?” Zipp asked. “Sure did,” Pipp sent the files to Zipp, and she went over everything that Pipp recorded, shivering at some parts. “I gotta admit, this is definitely no form of Equestrian magic we’ve seen. I’m not sure how to deal with it-- one thing I do know is that it’s better to get everyone off the island before anything gets out of control.”
But before anything else could be said, Daphne and Velma and Fred lifted off the ground, causing them to scream. “Not again!” Velma cried.
XXXXXXXX
Turns out, this was being done by Shaggy, Scooby and Misty picking up the wax dolls they found. “Hey, this one looks like Daphne!” Shaggy moved the doll’s arm, causing Daphne to suddenly slap Fred in the face. “Ooh! Hey!”
Misty nudged the doll’s leg forward, causing Daphne to kick Fred in the rear. “Ow! Hey!” he exclaimed. “It’s not my fault!” Daphne cried. “Something’s controlling me! Sunny, Pipp, Zipp, Beau! Get us down!”
Sunny grabbed Fred’s pants leg in her teeth, attempting to yank him down while Pipp and Beau grabbed Daphne. “I… ugh… can’t!” Beau groaned, just before Velma punched him in the face. “Jinkies! Sorry,” she apologized, wincing and crying out as Daphne kicked her. Misty didn’t know what was going on, and was currently giggling to herself. “This is fun!” she smiled. Suddenly, Scooby saw eyes peering out at them from the dark, causing him to quiver. “I wonder who made these dolls,” Shaggy hummed. “Misty, Shaggy!” Scooby pecked Shaggy’s shoulder. “Look! Eyes!”
Misty and Shaggy quickly saw the eyes too, and they screamed and ran out of the cave, dropping the dolls in the process, and allowing the gang to fall to the ground. “Well…” Hitch said slowly. “That was strange.”
Suddenly, they could hear Lena screaming again. “Come on!” Zipp urged. “We better get to the house!”
XXXXXXXXX
As for Shaggy, Scooby and Misty, they ran and screamed from the eerie lights before they ducked, allowing a group of bats to fly over them. “Phew… it was just a bunch of bats, Scoob,” Misty sighed in relief. She had seen them around Opaline’s castle before, but the scary things happening around the island had her on edge. Soon enough, some female zombies started creeping toward them, causing them to back up. “W-We're not looking for ghoulfriends, right, Scoob?” Shaggy asked. “Uh uh!” Scooby shook his head, just before they backed into some male zombies (persumably the husbands/boyfriends of the two female zombies), causing them to scream. “Let’s get out of here!!” Misty cried, leading them away. Now where were they to go?
XXXXXXXX
The house was completely dark when the group arrived, and they split up to cover more ground. “Lena!” Fred called. “Simone?!” Daphne exclaimed. Velma tried the light switch, but it failed to respond. “Misty? Scooby? Shaggy?” she called. “The generator’s gone out. I’ll go check it,” Beau offered, but Zipp raised a wing to stop him. “No way! We’re not letting you out of our sights.”
Fred and Hitch and Sunny searched around the stairs, but Fred accidentally triggered something, which caused the staircase to fall down into a lower level of the house. “Fred!” Daphne exclaimed as she and Pipp came closer. “Are you--?”
“--all right?” asked a voice, and it was Lena, unharmed, coming to check on Fred. “Yeah, heh… thanks,” Fred smiled as she helped him up, just as the others came down into the dark tunnel. “What’s going on?” Sunny asked. “It was a nightmare!” Lena cried out. “Ms. Lenoir and I went outside to wait for you, when we were attacked by these… these--”
“Zombies?” Zipp asked. “Yes,” Lena nodded. “We ran back to the house and Ms. Lenoir opened this secret passageway. She said it was built during the Civil War to hide from union soldiers. But the zombies came after us! They grabbed Ms. Lenoir and dragged her away!”
She wrapped her arms around Fred, trying to comfort herself. “Ohh… thank goodness you’ve come!”
Velma, however, had doubts about Lena’s story when she saw some strange, yet familiar footprints on the ground. “You say the zombies dragged Simone away?”
“Yes! It was horrible!” Lena nodded, eyes still shut. “Don’t worry,” Fred reassured her. “We’ll find her and it’s gonna be okay.”
Izzy lit the way with her horn, and Daphne took the lead beside her. “Come on,” she urged. “We’ve got to save Simone.”
Only the lights of the lantern and Izzy’s horn lit the way through the dark tunnel, and Velma deduced that the footprints would lead them to Simone’s location… in a small room behind a closed door, far underneath the house, where many books, a moondial, and a fire was burning. “Where are we?” Sunny asked, looking around. “Looks to me like a place for voodoo rituals,” Velma answered. “But why don’t we just ask… Lena?”
“What are you talking about?” Fred asked. “Her story about Simone getting dragged by zombies wasn’t true,” Velma said with a frown, pointing accusingly. “I saw the footprints of Simone's heels. She wasn't dragged. She walked down that tunnel.”
Suddenly, there came the sound of clanking, and the cover above the moondial lifted, revealing Simone smirking in the moonlight. “Very clever, Velma,” she said sinisterly, “but it’s too late.”
The gang and the ponies looked at her with confusion, before Simone brought out two of the dolls from before, placing them against the wall, which lifted Daphne and Velma up before they slammed into the wall with their backs. “Sorry, Freddy,” Lena displayed the same wicked smirk as she brought out a doll of him too. “I really do like you.” Fred yelled as Lena slammed his doll into the wall, making him do the same. “What woul you do if you didn’t like me?”
“Hey!” Beau tried to stop them, but Lena had a doll of him too, and she too slammed him into the wall. “Lena, Simone! What are you doing?!” Sunny blurt out, but her question went unanswered as Lena and Simone tied the ponies in tight ropes before tying up the dolls. “Voodoo dolls!” Velma realized, seeing the hair and pieces of clothing from each individual person on the dolls. “These wax dolls do come in handy,” Simone smirked as she set the dolls up nearby, so the gang couldn’t move. “So that's where the cleaning cloth for my glasses went,” Velma strained before looking over at Beau. “Sorry I suspected you.”
“Apology accepted,” Beau strained, just as Simone stood victoriously before the moondial. “The harvest moon will soon reach the midnight point on this moondial, and then… the ceremony will begin.”
“W-What ceremony?!” Zipp demanded to know. “You won’t get away with this!” Daphne strained, but Simone only smiled wickedly. “I’ve been getting away with it for 200 years!”
Suddenly, Simone began to laugh before something strange happened… Simone and Lena’s figures changed to look half human and half cat, and this made the group gasp in horror. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh tell me I didn’t see that, tell me I didn’t see that!” Pipp sheltered her eyes with her hoof. “At least Scooby, Misty and Shaggy are still free… maybe…” Fred murmured. “I heard that, Fred!” Lena spat at him. “Those two simpletons. We didn't even bother making wax dolls of them. Ha! A waste of time and magic wax.”
“Hey! Leave them alone! They’re our friends you’re messing with!” Zipp barked. “Just what are you planning to do to us?” Hitch questioned. “Ah, it’s simple,” Simone sneered. “Every harvest moon I must drain the life force from victims lured to my island-- to preserve my immortality.” Hearing this made Daphne gulp in horror. “This is more haunted stuff than I really wanted…”
Now, it would seem that Misty, Shaggy and Scooby were their only chance to escape this island alive… wherever they may be.