As Sunny and her friends made their way to the Unity Crystals for their quest, on the other side of the world, something else was beginning to go down and take place.
Two men, a unicorn and a pegasus were climbing one of the tallest mountains in the world, Mount Everest, in hopes of finding something the world had never seen within its lifetime.
At the front of the group was Pemba Sherpa-- a tall Asian male with a sturdy build and dressed in heavy winter gear.
Behind Pemba was Professor Jeffries-- an adult Caucasian male with dusty blond hair, glasses and a mustache, also dressed in heavy winter wear to protect himself from the cold.
Coming up from behind Professor Jeffries was Ember Mysticlight-- a very light colored orange pegasus with a strong purple mane and tail, sapphire-colored eyes, dark opal colored winter wear and a cutie mark of a crystal ball.
And lastly, coming up behind Ember was a unicorn pony named Snow Spell-- a very gorgeous pony to say the least. Probably somepony out of a fairytale.
She had a light blonde mane and tail wrapped into braids, a white blaze on her face, white socks on her hooves, dark blue and sparkly hooves, deep blue eyes with burgandy/pink colored eyeshadow, a cutie mark of a single snowflake and a bluish-green cloak around her body.
The group continued to climb up the mountain a good ways until Pemba stopped them, staring up at something in amazement as Snow Spell came to his side. “Look.”
“Egads...” Professor Jeffries said in awe, and the four of them stared up at a statue with carvings on it. “Do you see this, professor?” Snow Spell asked, pointing up at them with a calm smile. “The ancient carvings, just as Pemba and I promised you.”
“These are... truly extraordinary,” Ember said, admiring the carvings with a growing smile. “And even better,” said Professor Jeffries excitedly, “the legend is true! Ember, quickly, dear! Retrieve my books!”
Ember scoffed and rolled her eyes, something that Snow Spell did not fail to notice, but the pegasus reached him the books he needed, and after running ahead to the statue, the professor looked through them until he found the right scroll. “Yes. It's all here, just as the manuscript describes,” he said. “I've found it at last. Come, Pemba, and bring the ponies with you. The lost kingdom of Shangri-la awaits.”
But as he and Ember tried to go forward, their ropes connected to Snow Spell and Pemba stopped them, leaving the pegasus to scoff. “What is this?”
“I am sorry, professor. We dare not go further,” Pemba shook his head as he pulled on the rope. “These lands are forbidden.”
“Forbidden?” Professor Jeffries laughed at the claim. “By whom? Look around. We're the only ones here.”
“No...” Snow Spell glanced over at some large and strange footprints in the snow next to them. “We are not alone.”
“Snow Spell, that is absolutely ridiculous!” Ember scoffed. “We are ponies-- whatever it is, we can handle it, can we not?”
“Not this being, I am afraid,” Snow Spell shook her head. “Trust us when we say that we must turn around.”
Suddenly, as a roar echoed across the mountainside, a snowstorm began to blow in as they were speaking, causing Ember to shiver. Truth be told, she HATED the cold. “We should not be here,” Pemba said fearfully. “He is coming.”
“No, Pemba. We can't quit now, not when we're so close,” the professor refused. “But neither of you understand!” Snow Spell argued. “We have to hurry and get down the mountain before he arrives.”
But then, Ember grabbed her rope in her teeth, as the professor pulled out his pocket knife. “Then Ember and I shall go alone.”
They cut their ropes and proceeded with their climbing, and disappeared into the storm as Pemba and Snow Spell fell back in the snow and tried to call out and stop them. Snow Spell sighed worriedly, looking up at her best friend. “They will not make it, Pemba... I know this mountain and what lurks on it like the back of my hoof... it isn't safe.”
“Then we must go after them,” Pemba decided. “Come along.”
But before they could move up the mountain, a figure ahead of them stopped them in their tracks... a figure at least 10 feet tall. They tried to escape from the monster, but fell through the icy floor below and slid down the mountain. Snow Spell managed to use her mountain hooves to keep from slipping, and looked to see her best friend struggling. “Grab my tail! Hurry!”
Pemba quickly grabbed her tail with both hands to prevent from sliding off the mountain, causing Snow Spell to sigh in relief. And the last they saw of the creature was it disappearing into the snowy storm.
That left Snow Spell to wonder... where was it going now? As soon as Snow Spell pulled Pemba up onto the mountain side again, he sighed after panting a bit. “Snow Spell... we have seen the creature.”
XXXXXXXXX
A portal opened up on a cobblestone road in Paris, and out of it fell Pipp, Zipp, Sparky, Izzy and Hitch, groaning in pain from the hard impact. “Ow... what a ride, huh guys?” Izzy groaned, and while she heard most of the others answer with groans and 'Yes', she didn't hear two of them, and called their names. “Misty? Sunny?”
“Hey... where are they?” Pipp wondered, glancing around. “I thought they were right behind us in the portal!”
“Ponies?”
Everyone turned to see Fred, Daphne and Velma waving to them from a nearby table, and Izzy gasped in delight. “Yay! Mystery Inc is here!”
The ponies ran over and hugged their friends, and Sparky babbled in greeting. “It's good to see you in good condition, Sparky,” Fred smiled. “You guys here for a Unity Quest?”
“We are,” Hitch nodded worriedly, “but Misty and Sunny aren't with us. What if they landed in a place completely different than us?”
“I'm sure they're okay, Hitch. They're strong ponies,” Velma tried to assure him. “But in the meantime, you can sit here with us until they come looking for you.”
Pipp sighed with a smile. “Thanks. We definitely need a break.”
“And Sparky definitely needs a snack,” Hitch began feeding Sparky a piece of bread. And during a moment of silence, Daphne sighed. “Don't you just love Paris? The city, the sights, the shopping. Isn't it romantic, Freddy?”
“Oh, man, I think I'm in love,” Fred said, but he was too focused on his phone to really pay attention to Daphne's words. “This new cell phone rocks. It's got hi-def video, an MP3 player, even satellite GPS. I'm, like, totally geeking.”
“Really?” Zipp rolled her eyes playfully. “How can you tell?”
This caused Hitch and the others to giggle in amusement as Velma went back to looking at her French newspaper. “I gotta admit, since these Unity Quests started, ” Pipp said, “Paris has been a place I wanted to visit.”
“Me too, but I don't know what's worse,” Daphne said, looking at her distracted friends. “Fred and his phone, or Velma and her newspapers. I thought we were supposed to be on vacation.”
“We are!” Velma looked up. “You know how I like reading in a foreign language. Listen to this, gang.”
She then set down the newspaper to show everyone a headline on the front page. “Climbers on Mount Everest claim to have seen the abominable snowman, a mysterious creature believed to exist in the high Himalayas.”
“Yeeesh... he doesn't sound like a pony friendly creature, and I know all kinds of critters,” Hitch said, and Sparky nodded, and Daphne grabbed Velma by her cheeks. “Oh no. Not this time, Velma. I don’t care if this is in French or Swahili. There will be no mysteries on this trip. Do you hear me?!”
“Yes, I hear you,” Velma said. “Can I have my cheeks back now?”
Daphne then let go as Fred checked his watch. “Speaking of mysteries, Shaggy and Scooby were supposed to meet us here over an hour ago. Where can they be?”
Daphne chuckled as she applied another coat of lipstick. “Knowing those two, they've probably been sidetracked by their stomachs.”
“I sure hope Misty and Sunny are with them, and safe,” Zipp shuddered. “After our last quest, I want us all to stay together from now on.”
XXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, on a private plane, Shaggy and Scooby were dining for all they were worth, since it was just them and a multitude of food. Scooby burped after eating a huge sandwich, and Shaggy chuckled in amusement. “What a great idea, Scoob. Like, I've always wanted to fly an all-you-can-eat airline.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“But I am kinda wondering about our pony friends back in Equestria,” Shaggy pondered. “I mean... we haven't heard from them in weeks. You think they're okay?”
Suddenly, a portal opened in front of them, and two familiar ponies tumbled out into the stack of pizza boxes. Luckily, Shaggy and Scooby recognized the ponies immediately, so there was no need to panic. “Misty!” they cried out. “Sunny!”
“Ugh... huh?” Misty looked around and saw her friends before running and hugging them. “Boy, are we glad to see you! But... where are the others? Didn't you see them?”
Scooby shook his head in response, and Sunny hummed in thought. “That's strange... we always did our quests together. Maybe they're with the others in... where are we going?”
“France-- home of the best European restaurants...” Shaggy said before clearing his throat. “Speaking of which, shouldn't we be in Paris by now?”
Everyone looked outside through the small window, but instead of seeing bright, sun-filled Paris weather, they were stunned to see heavy snow coming down from the skies above. “Snow? That doesn't make sense!” said Misty with a frown. “Why would it be snowing this much in Paris?”
“It can only mean one thing,” Sunny frowned. “And that is... this isn't Paris. Guys... I think we might be on the wrong plane, and who knows how far away from our friends!”