//------------------------------// // A Museum Reunion/Ben Ravencroft and Autumn Rain // Story: G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// “We're going on a Unity Quest again? That's the third one this month!” Hitch panted as he and Pipp rushed into the Brighthouse. “I know, Hitch, but we can't waste any time,” Sunny pointed out with a firm look. “Anytime that Opaline could potentially be involved, we have to take action into our own hooves. Where's Sparky?” “Kenneth and the other animals are keeping an eye on him while he takes a nap. Hopefully with the time change, he'll be asleep until we get back,” Pipp said. “And even if she were to come on a total dragon hunt, Opaline shouldn't be able to find him, since he sleeps in a highly complexly guarded cabinet.” “Okay then,” Zipp said. “Sparky will be taken care of until we get back. Izzy, grab my detective gear on the way up. And Sunny? Make sure to grab your dad's journal.” “Good thinking,” Sunny said before taking a rather deep breath. “Okay then, everypony... let's go potentially kick some alicorn butt.” They galloped up the stairs, grabbing their necessary materials in the bedroom before heading up to the Crystal Room, standing around the Unity Crystals in a hexagon formation as the Unity Crystals grew brighter... and brighter... and brighter, until... ...our heroes vanished from the Brighthouse once again. XXXXXXXXX By the time they came out the portal, Sunny and her friends gained control of things and stepped out of the portal rather easily. But what they didn't know was where they were at first. The floors were cold, and wherever they came out was dark. “Izzy? Misty? Light your horns,” Sunny instructed in a whisper. “Zipp, use your goggles. The rest of you, get out your phones.” Misty and Izzy's horns dimly lit in the darkness, Zipp put her goggles on her face and Pipp, Hitch and Sunny brought out their phones and turned on the flashlights. They seemed to be in some sort of museum, with dinosaur skeletons and tapestries and many other artifacts around. Sunny hummed in thought as she trotted around the space. “The museum looks like it's closed or getting ready to close. We need to keep our eyes peeled and make sure nothing suspicious goes-- DOOOOOWN!!!” Sunny had been grabbed in a tight net, which had been triggered by standing on some sort of floor tile. Suddenly, a group of lights and voices came closer, and one of the voices spoke to the others. “All right, gang-- let's see who the ghosts of the vikings really-- Sunny?!” The group of lights dimmed immediately to reveal the Mystery Incorporated gang in different themed costumes, looking with wide eyes at seeing one if their pony friends in the trap they had set. “Oh! Scooby! Freddy! Guys!” Sunny chuckled nervously. “Um... feel like hanging out with us?” Daphne and Fred immediately undid the ropes that held up the net, and they helped Sunny back down onto her hooves. “Are you guys here for another Unity Quest?” Daphne asked. “Not many people other than us lurk around museums looking for ghosts.” “Well, we are on a Unity Quest, but it seems like you guys are already wrapping up another mystery,” Zipp said. “We are getting ready to wrap up,” Velma stated, “but we could always use some extra hooves.” “Great! We'll help you guys wrap up this case, and then we can work on finding our mission,” Sunny smiled. “Pipp, can we work on some disguises?” Pipp shot her a playful look. “Sunny, you know me far too well!” XXXXXXXXX A few minutes later, the dean was set to leave his office for the night, walking through the museum as Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies were around the museum, dressed as different exhibits in hopes of catching the ghosts. But as he was leaving, a pair of tombs opened, causing him to quickly turn at the sound of the noise. “Is anyone there?” As expected, no one answered. The dean backed away and accidentally pressed a button, causing one of the exhibits to speak out and causing the dean to jump and drop his paperwork. “I really must switch to decaf…” the dean muttered as he began to pick up his papers off the ground. But since he was distracted, he didn’t see the two warrior mummies coming at him with their axes… all except Shaggy, Scooby, Pipp and Misty, who were in the exhibit behind him. “Professor…” Shaggy whispered. “Behind you…” And just like that, the monsters attacked, but as the dean was able to slip to safety, they set their sights on Shaggy, Scooby and their friends, with Shaggy holding his caveman club out in defense. “Like… stay right there!” Seeing that the monsters would not back down, Shaggy threw the club at them while Scooby threw his saber-tooth tiger costume, but both proved ineffective against the monsters’ weapons. “My turn!” Misty shouted, firing lasers at the monsters with her horn. But, they dodged and ducked, coming closer and closer. “Shaggy!!” Scooby cried, but luckily, Pipp knew what to do next. “Now, Scoob!” Scooby grabbed the rope next to him and allowed the net to fall on the monsters, who roared as they tried to escape. “Yes!” the four of them cheered. “The trap worked, Scoob!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Yeah!” Scooby giggled. “Gimme four!” The four of them bumped hands, hooves and paws against each other, not seeing that the two monsters were beginning to escape the trap on them. “You’re the man, Scoob!” Shaggy told the Great Dane. “You’re the man!” Scooby said back to Shaggy with a laugh. But then, the monsters poked their shoulders and let out another roar, causing the four to scream and run away from them. The chase took them all throughout the museum, but as the monsters were getting ready to corner them, a foot came out from behind the tapestry, tripping one of them and causing both of them to collide into a nearby catapult. When the four opened their eyes from the collision’s sound, they were surprised to see that the monsters were no longer going to be a problem. “Nice going, guys! You caught them!” Fred complimented as he, the rest of the gang, the other ponies and the dean and the police arrived. “Uh… right,” Shaggy said unsuredly. “No problem, Freddy. But, like, we did have a little help.” A tall man wearing glasses with black hair soon emerged from behind the tapestry, along with a gorgeous earth pony mare with sapphire blue eyes, a brown coat with lighter socks, dark brown hooves, a brown mane twisted into a light braid, blue feather accessories in her mane and tail, and a cutie mark of leaves blowing in the breeze. Both of them wore kind smiles, looking happy to see them. “Who are you?” Daphne asked, and Velma gasped in surprise at who the man was. “ I don't believe it! You're Ben Ravencroft, the famous horror writer!” “That's right. And let's see who they are,” Ben went over to one of the monsters, pulling off their mask to reveal an ordinary man the dean seemed to recognize. “It’s Perkins!” “And Griswald,” Velma took off the other monster’s mask. “Disgruntled archaeologists from the museum's Babylonian project. They were upset with you for cutting their funding, Dr. Dean.” “And we would've gotten away with it too. If it wasn't for this... meddling writer!” Perkins sneered before he and Griswald were led away by the police. “Like, that’s a twist,” Shaggy spoke. “Yeah… at least he didn't call us kids. I hate that,” Fred agreed. “Guess you beat us to the punch, Mr. Ravencroft,” Zipp smirked. “We're sorry,” the earth pony mare said. “We didn't mean to upstage you.” “So what are you doing here?” Fred asked curiously. “I was doing research on my latest novel when I saw these archaeologists acting suspiciously and decided to investigate,” Ben explained further. “Mr. Ravencroft, I am a huge fan of your work,” Velma shook the author’s hand. “I have read all your books in which my opinion are the best horror stories ever written.” “Thanks, Velma,” Ben thanked her, and Velma gasped in surprise. “You know my name?” she asked. “And Daphne and Fred’s,” Ben added, when he was tapped on the shoulder by Scooby’s tail. “And Shaggy and Scooby’s. And even the names of your Equestrian friends.” Scooby giggled happily knowing that he, the ponies and Shaggy had been recognized, but Zipp and Sunny wondered how he knew about them to begin with. “And what about you? What’s your name?” Daphne asked the unknown mare. “Autumn,” the mare bowed pleasantly. “Autumn Rain.” “Autumn has been my faithful Equestrian companion in my writing career for the past year and a half,” Ben explained. “We’ve admired your work on revealing the supernatural mysteries for some time now. I mean, basically we're in the same business of mystery and the acult, right?” “Oh please, what we do pales in comparation with the sheer ponderable fright of your novels,” Velma said in disagreement. “I wouldn't say that,” Ben tried to say, but Velma continued on with her praise. “I mean, take the dead mole for example; oh, that creepy jewerly store owner was an incredibly complex character.” “You’re very kind,” Autumn said politely before Ben got what seemed like a good idea. “Listen Velma, Autumn and I are going back to my hometown in Massachusetts this weekend, to the house where I worked on my early books,” he explained. “I go back every year for the fall color, and it's forests are where Autumn's family is from. It's very peaceful and relaxing. Why don't you and your friends come visit?” “Really? Oh, that would be great! Uh, wouldn't it gang?” Velma turned to her friends. “Yeah. We can use a break from all these spooky mysteries,” Daphne said in agreement. “And Oakhaven does have one of the best restaurants in New England,” Ben told Shaggy and Scooby, who lit up at the offer. “Like we're sold! Eh, Scoob?” Shaggy asked excitedly. “Yeah!” “Hey, Autumn?” Sunny called. “Do you wanna ride to Oakhaven with us in the Mystery Machine? We could get to know each other a little bit, and we could tell you about some of our favorite adventures.” Autumn looked to the group of ponies and smiled, finding herself right at home with these newfound friends. “I would be honored.” Then it was settled. The next morning, they would be heading out to Oakhaven. But all the same, Zipp and Sunny couldn't help but wonder where this Unity Quest was gonna take them. And were Ben and Autumn as friendly as they seemed?