//------------------------------// // Rescue Mission at Morgan's Keep // Story: G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// The journey to Morgan’s Keep lasted a little longer than the group anticipated, but soon, they finally arrived. Morgan’s Keep actually looked like a castle all its own, but in a darker, more spooky atmosphere… sort of like its own haunted forest. “So, this is it?” Velma asked. “Huh. That’s strange?” Zipp glanced at her with confusion. “What, Velma?” “Oh, nothing. I just… could’ve sworn we’ve been here before.” “Oh, you’ve remember if you had,” Royal said ominously. “Welcome to Morgan’s Keep!” “This cave leads down into the bowels of the earth,” King Arthur then explained, “where Morgan le Fay practices her dark magic.” To this, Scooby let out a nervous whimper, but Pipp was there to rub his side in comfort. “Don’t be scared, Scooby,” she said. “Remember-- we’re here to save Misty and Shaggy.” “Say, Arthur, how are we gonna get across that moat?” Daphne wondered. But just after she said that, the drawbridge lowered all on its own. “Well… that’s not creepy,” Velma commented. “I guess we better get going then,” Hitch gulped, putting Sparky into the saddlebag he was carrying. “No matter… h-how scary it looks.” “If you want, sheriff,” said Paradise, “I could look after him.” “...I don’t know about that.” But, Sparky hopped off his father’s back and toward the unicorn, hugging up against her leg. “Oh!” Paradise blinked in surprise. “Uh… h-hello to you too, little one.” “...then again, maybe you SHOULD keep Sparky safe,” Hitch said. “At least until we know Opaline isn’t around.” Paradise smiled at this. “I would be honored.” “All right, guys,” Sunny said, taking a deep breath. “Follow me.” The earth pony mare and all her friends led the group into the lair of the wicked sorceress, with Izzy and Scooby, both nervous about the whole thing, trailing behind the group, and once they were inside a good bit, King Arthur pointed down a long hallway. “There. Down that corridor.” “What are we waiting for?” Daphne prepared to advance, but quickly stepped on a floor tile, triggering a trap of arrows to fly at her, and they would of hit her if Fred hadn’t pulled her away in time. “Oh… it’s the gauntlet of deadly traps!” King Arthur realized. “Oh… right,” Daphne said. “I forgot.” “We could try and lift everypony across with our wings,” Zipp said, “but… that would probably take a lot longer, and time is one thing we don’t have.” “Velma, can you get us across with your powers as a student wizard?” Izzy asked. “I can try. Ugh… so silly,” Velma flipped to another page in the spellbook she was given. “I call on the powers of fable to make passage for knights of the table. For this evil hallway will attempt to fillet, cook or smash us as long as it's able!” Fred looked around, but ultimately didn't see any sort of change. “Did it work?” Hitch shrugged at this-- even he and the other ponies weren’t sure what all other types of magic so there were, so there was only one way to find out. Sunny decided to walk across, and triggered the same floor tile Daphne did, and would have gotten hit by the arrows in front of her if Zipp hadn't pushed her back. “Huh…” the white pegasus landed and shrugged. “I guess that spell didn't really do anything.” “Well, we gave it a good go,” King Arthur turned around to walk out. “If we leave now, we’ll be just in time for tea and jellied eels.” Unfortunately, Scooby got into his path to prevent him from leaving. “We can’t leave!” “He’s right!” Sunny agreed. “We still have to save Misty and Shaggy before something worse happens!” “But if we can’t get past these traps,” said Fred, “then what are we gonna do?” That’s when Daphne turned to the gang’s blonde-haired leader with a smile. “You’re the master of traps, Fred, and Izzy is the master of unicycling big ideas-- you guys can totally figure this out.” Izzy took one look at their armor and instantly got an idea, whispering it to Fred, who looked at her. “You really think that might work?” “Hey, we gotta try something to save Shaggy-Waggy and Misty-Twisty!” Izzy reasoned. “So everypony, just follow our lead!” Instantly, most of the group take off their armor and constructed a large sled with it, using a bow, ropes and a giant rock along with it. Fred smiled at the now completed trap. “Am I wizard? No. Am I an artist? I, uh… hadn’t really thought about it.” Royal blinked in confusion. “Sorry… what does this do again?” “Well, Izzy gave me the idea to use the bow we brought with us to make a trebuchet,” Fred explained, “that will throw a stone through the hallway, pulling the sled, which will slide us past the traps before they're able to do anything. It's an anti-trap trap.” “Brilliant. We’re all gonna die,” King Arthur said in a negative tone. “It’s the most luck we’ve had since we got here, so it’s worth a try,” Zipp shrugged. That’s when Fred decided this was the perfect moment to try the trap. “Ready, gang?” “READY!!” Fred pulled his ascot from the pin, holding the trebuchet in place, and launching the boulder forward. “Uh, wait wait wait. I-I just had a second thought about THIIIIIIIISSS!!!!!” Paradise wailed as the sled lurched forward, and as Fred barely hung onto the sled, the group screamed loudly as traps in different varieties and tried to kill them in different ways-- fire, arrows, axes, and even the walls tried to kill them. Eventually, they reached a giant pit, and the stone slammed into the wall, halting the sled before it reached the pit. And once they were on safer ground, the traps disappeared. “Phew… and Bob’s your uncle,” Royal Enchantment sighed in relief. “We made it!” “Sir Fred, you are a regular anorak,” King Arthur said as everyone else climbed out of the sled. “Actually, I think I'm half-Dutch or Norway-ese or something,” Fred said in thought. “Uh, can we stop talking about family origins for now?” Pipp interrupted them. “We still have friends to save!” Suddenly, the stone that hit the wall, stopping their ride, fell down into the pit, causing the rope to pull the sled over to the edge… with King Arthur still inside it! “King Arthur!” Sunny exclaimed in fear. “Scooby, we have to help him!” The two of them immediately rushed toward the edge of the pit, where Scooby latched his teeth onto King Arthur’s cape, and Sunny grabbed onto Scooby by the waist, but it was clear they would need more help. So, Royal closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them, stomping her hooves to use her dark magic to levitate all three of them to safety. Sunny, Scooby and King Arthur panted tiredly while everyone else sighed in relief. “Royal, that was incredible!” Pipp cried. “I’ve never seen anypony use dark magic for good!” “That… that was what I was so scared to tell you before. And that’s why my anklets cover these scars on my legs-- I used my dark magic in anger once, and they've been on my legs ever since,” Royal admitted, removing her anklets to show her scars. “Please don’t shun me…” “Shun you? Why would we?” Zipp asked. “You just helped save our friends’ lives!” “Yeah,” Fred agreed. “You may have a unique power that you may have used in anger, but… that does mean we like you any less.” “I think your dark magic is really cool,” said Izzy, “as long as you use it the right way.” “They’re more than right. They encouraged my daughter to always be herself,” said Paradise, “and that’s exactly what you should do too.” “Wow… to think I’ve been scared to show my true self all this time, when I really have friends and family who accept me for my true self,” Royal said in thought. “Maybe all of you are right. As long as I use my magic for good, I don't think I have anything to worry about. Thanks, everypony.” “Hey, don’t mention it,” Pipp said. “But we gotta go! We have to rescue Misty and Shaggy!”  “Good idea,” Paradise said. “Let’s go before that witch really does kill us.” XXXXXXXX After their little moment at the side of the pit, the entire group went across the bridge across the pit, where Zipp and Hitch pushed open the large doors on the other side, revealing a room filled with treasures-- gold, jewels, and many other trinkets. As they walked in further, a noise caught their attention from afar, and it seemed to get even noiser as they got closer to a nearby table, stacked high with food. “I’m sorry,” King Arthur said with a frown. “What’s that horrible noise?” “More deadly traps?” Sunny piped up, but Scooby knew exactly what that sound was. “It’s Shaggy!” “And Misty must be with him!” Izzy cried in excitement. “Come on!” She and Scooby immediately ran toward the table, clearing some of the food away. And low and behold, Shaggy was there, eating his heart out… but Misty was not with him. Scooby began to lick Shaggy’s face repeatedly, causing Shaggy to laugh as Izzy climbed down from the table. “Scooby-Doo!” Shaggy took a break from laughing. “It’s great to see you, pal!” “Shaggy!” Sunny cried as they ran closer. “Are you alright?” “I am now that you’re here,” said Shaggy, eventually standing up and putting Scooby on the ground. “Wait... where's Misty?” Zipp asked, realizing that Misty wasn't with her fellow captive. “We gotta find her!” “I-I'm right here...” Misty came out from behind a pile of gold, looking like she had been crying for quite a while. To say that the others were relieved would be a major understatement. “Misty!” Izzy cried as she hugged her friend tight. “You're okay!” “...physically yeah, but...” Misty turned and showed them her blank flank. Paradise gasped, ears pinning. “Oh, Misty…” Misty gasped upon hearing her mother's voice, but then remembered what Paradise did before scoffing and turning away. “What's she doing here?” “Don’t worry, she’s not here to hurt us,” Daphne said. “At least… not this time.” “Didn't she harm us enough by bringing Opaline back?!” Misty snarled, causing everyone to flinch, knowing that Misty never took that kind of tone in unless she was VERY angry. “She's already helped Opaline take four cutie marks!” “Misty, honey, I know you're upset,” Paradise said, giving Sparky back to Hitch and slowly approaching. “And this day is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, but... I wanna try and make things right.” Misty didn’t turn to face her mother, fearing that this would be another heartless trick. “...I don’t believe you…” “...at least let's get you and your friend out of here,” Paradise said gently, “before Moth-- I mean... Opaline and Morgan get back.” “It’s too late…” Velma showed them the phone, but instead of a picture, all they saw was a black screen. “The picture! It’s gone!” Zipp exclaimed in horror. “Whatever we did, we just made the timeline worse,” Velma frowned. “Now the phone isn't even working, as if the technology itself was disappearing. We've failed.” “Right you are!” cried an all-too-familiar voice, and everyone turned to see Morgan and Opaline appear in a puff of smoke. “Oh crumbs…” Izzy gulped, just as Opaline noticed Paradise with the gang, King Arthur and Royal. “...Paradise,” Opaline said in a bitter tone. “Get back over here, and you may fall back into my good graces!” “...no.” “What did you just say?!” “What you’re doing is wrong, Opaline! My daughter and her friends made me see that,” Paradise said, sparing a glance at her daughter and her friends, “and you’re not going to hurt them, this dragon or any of their new friends anymore as long as I’m around!” Opaline growled and tried to blast at them, and the group backed away and split up, with Opaline continuing to blast until Zipp and Pipp got caught in Opaline’s binds again. “Pipp! Zipp!” Royal tried to fly to them, but also ended up in binds of her own with a shriek of terror.  Opaline chuckled and let her horn glow, letting her magic rip the cutie marks from their flanks. Pipp and Zipp's cutie marks floated into the necklace beside Hitch's cutie mark slot and above Misty's slot, while Royal's cutie mark merely floated and attached itself to a leaf on a nearby tree. “Not so confident now, are we pegasi?”  As the binds on the pegasi became undone, allowing them to stand again, Fred and Shaggy rushed to help them up while King Arthur drew his sword, but Morgan used her magic to command the sword to float into her waiting hand. “Ha! Finally!” she exclaimed in victory before looking down at the group. “Now with Excalibur in my hand, more cutie marks in Opaline’s possession and Sir Norville having granted me the deed to the throne…” “Deed to the throne?” Daphne interrupted. “Yes-- to save the ponies and their friends across the realms from being destroyed!” Morgan boasted, showing them the document. “It’s all here, legal and everything.” “Shaggy… you did that to save us?” Hitch asked. “I had to,” Shaggy said. “Like, if I didn’t, this huge mass of guilt would be bulging in my stomach.” “Now, with this deed,” Opaline declared, “Morgan wielding the sword and more and more cutie marks in my possession, we shall be the rightful rulers of our realms, and all magic will be ours! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!” Fred, deciding he has had enough of this, ducked under the table before running up the steps to try and retrieve the sword from the enchantress, all while the others watched in shock. “Only if you can hold onto it!” “You think you can defeat us?” Morgan laughed as she began to float into the air. “I am the greatest sorceress of all time, but this battle is going to drag on. Drag on. Get it? This is my dumb joke, since you all seem to like making dumb little jokes so much.” Morgan then let herself be surrounded in glowing smoke, blocking her from the group’s line-of-sight. “Uh oh,” Zipp frowned as Hitch put Sparky onto his back. “I don’t like this pun!” That's when the apricot earth pony mare suddenly began to think of something. “Drag on. Wait, she doesn’t mean…” Sunny’s thought died in her mouth when, out from the smoke, a demonic, giant winged lizard stood in her place. “DRAGON!!” Scooby cried after Velma and Daphne gasped. “Uh oh!” King Arthur gulped. “Oh… that’s not good.” “M-Maybe he's the friendly kind like Sparky?” Pipp wondered with a nervous smile. “If what I think happened just happened,” Hitch cried, “I don't think so!” The dragon then let out a fearsome roar, prompting the group to scream, and allowed Fred to run back toward the others. “Get them!” Opaline ordered, flying beside the large dragon. “Burn them alive if you have to!” Morgan breathed in, then spewed out a wave of blue, magic-induced fire, to which Fred leapt to safety from and rejoined his friends. “I am Morgan le Fay, ruler of Camelot!” the dragon roared in a half-feminine, half-groveling voice. “And I am hungry!” “HIT THE DECK!!” Zipp shrieked, and everyone got down low, flipping the table over before the dragon blasted hot blue fire straight at it. “Guys, this table’s built really well,” Fred examined the table, “but I don’t think it can take another blast!” Morgan stomped down the stairs while Opaline followed close behind. “We’re gonna need some real magic to get out of this one.” Daphne said. “But with most of our cutie marks gone,” said Misty, “I don't know if our magic is strong enough! Have you gotten good yet, Velma?” “No, but I know one word that always works with this gang.” “Enjoy being grilled alive!” Opaline laughed as Morgan blew out another blast of fire against the table, getting ready to torch it to smithereens. “What’s that?!” Daphne asked over the sound of blasting fire. “Run!” Velma began to make a break for it. “Follow me!” This caused a majority of the others (namely Daphne, and the ponies) to follow after her. “Like, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the dragon’s lair!” Shaggy cried out with a nervous chuckle. “Less shouting,” said Hitch in a desperate tone, “and more escaping!” The table now lay in a pile of fiery kindling, just Morgan and Opaline noticed the gang making a run for the trap gauntlet. “After them!” Opaline snarled. “We can't let them escape!” As the two villains gave chase, the treasure room doors began to slowly close and the ponies, King Arthur and the gang all ran as fast as they could get through just in time. “You cannot escape us!” Morgan declared, crashing through the wooden doors. “GO GO GO GO GO!!!” Sunny screamed as the dragon and alicorn followed them across the bridge. But as he made his way across, King Arthur accidentally triggered the trap that made the ground begin to fall beneath them, and Fred grabbed onto King Arthur’s cape so he wouldn’t fall. This prompted Velma and Daphne to grab King Arthur, and Shaggy held onto Velma and Daphne’s hands. Hitch and Misty held onto Shaggy to keep him from tipping over, just as the others watched as Morgan dropped down the hole made from the collapsed hole. Opaline snarled from the other side of the hole as Fred managed to climb back onto the ground, just as the gang began to cheer and celebrate. Pipp sighed in relief when she heard the cheering begin to die down. “For a second, I thought we were goners.” “Oh, really? Did you really think it would be that easy?” The gang turned to see Morgan had managed to fly back up to the top, and Opaline was now beside her. “Like, I kinda did,” Shaggy trembled nervously. “Time to start running again!” The gang once again made a run for the exit, and the chase was on yet again. This time, Fred accidentally activated a trap, causing a giant wooden pillar to slam down on top of Morgan. Opaline merely used her magic to flick the pillar off of her, audibly growling. “Get back up. They’re escaping!” As the chase went on, the gang activated more traps, such as a set of walls slamming shut with Morgan in-between. As she pushed them away and continued the chase after them, more and more of the traps activated; spears, fire, axes, and hammers all barraging her. Opaline stayed behind her, avoiding the traps, and trying to encourage Morgan to keep moving. As the gang reached the exit, Opaline activated her magic and forced the door to begin closing. “We have to hurry!” Sunny exclaimed. “Go go go go go!!” One by one, the gang climbed up the rising door and dropped into the moat, eventually swimming to shore. King Arthur and Paradise stayed behind and pressed themselves against the castle door to keep it from closing... something Shaggy immediately noticed. “Come on, you two. Like, the dragon and the alicorn are right behind us!” “Go, Shaggy!” King Arthur strained heavilly. “Paradise and I can’t… hold this door forever!” “Paradise! King Arthur! What are you doing?” Royal called out, causing Paradise to strain and look down at her. “Keeping these monsters from hurting my daughter and her friends!” “Jump, Shaggy!” cried Pipp. But, Shaggy couldn’t leave King Arthur and Paradise alone… he just couldn’t! But as King Arthur struggled to keep the door open, his shirt began to rip, revealing some strong abs. “Demon dogs, Shaggy…” he strained. “Go!” So, against his better judgement, Shaggy leapt from the drawbridge into the moat, where Izzy and Misty pulled him out. King Arthur and Paradise struggled against the door as Opaline and Morgan got closer. And with Shaggy and their friends safe they both dropped and landed onto Morgan’s head, letting the drawbridge close behind them. “King Arthur!” Velma said in despair. “Mom...” Misty said quietly, causing Fred to quickly reassure them. “I’m sure they’re fine.” Just then, Morgan crashed through the door with both the king and Paradise on her mouth. They both struggled to keep her mouth open, but, Morgan the battle and she snapped her mouth shut, causing the group to gasp in horror. Morgan then flew out from the castle and surrounded the gang in a blazing blue ring of fire, trying to keep themselves from getting severely burned. “You thought you could escape us, you fools!” the dragon growled menacingly. “If you have any last words, the time has come to use them.” The gang could only watch in steadfast horror and sorrow, turning to one anotner to say their final goodbyes. “...I can't believe that this is the end,” Sunny said, holding Izzy's hoof. “I love you guys so much...” “It was greatest thing of all my days being with you all,” Royal lowered her head while Shaggy could only say the only thing on his mind. “I could really go for a sandwich right now!” Morgan let out a blast of fire, but before it could incinerate the gang, Opaline took out the dragonstone and activated it, allowing it to suck up all the fire and the transformation magic, letting the spell begin to deform Morgan. “YOU FOOL!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Opaline didn’t answer and just let the dragonstone do its work. “NOOOOOO!” Morgan screeched as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke while the gang and ponjes stood completely gobsmacked at Opaline’s actions. “Finally. With this dragon magic, I’ll be unstoppable,” Opaline said before she turned to the gang. “I will return, you miserable welps. And when I do, there won’t be anything that you can throw at me that can stop me!” That's when the evil alicorn laughed and merely flew into the castle and out of sight. “Did… did she just…” Sunny stammered. “What?!” “She betrayed Morgan… which ended up saving our lives,” Fred spoke as they all got up. “...I'm so confused and so impressed all at once.” As the smoke and dust settled, the gang could see three figures laying within it. Morgan, King Arthur, and Paradise lay there with soot marks all over them. And no one was happier about this than Royal Enchantment herself. “Your highness!” She ran right over to the king and began hugging him, causing him to rub her mane as the gang looked on. Morgan then started to slowly rise to her feet, but was stopped when Zipp and Hitch stood next to her. “Stand down, Morgan,” Zipp demanded. “You’re coming back to Camelot with us.” As Izzy tied Morgan up with some extra strong rope, Misty slowly walked over to her mom. “You… you willingly sacrificed yourselves to save us. Why?” Paradise smiled weakly. “Because I regret doing those horrible things. I was fool to follow in Opaline and Morgan. What I did was unforgivable, but you are still my daughter no matter what and I will always love you as one. I will never let anyone or anything hurt you or your friends ever again.” Misty began to tear up from her mom’s words. For the first time in a longtime, she wrapped her hooves around Paradise, hugging her and crying against her side. “I forgive you, mom.” Paradise sighed and hugged her daughter back, and the others looked on with happiness in their eyes. “Come on, everyone. Let’s head back to Camelot to put this sorceress behind bars,” Zipp smiled. “Then we can get our plan to stop Opaline once and for all.” “All right!” Izzy cheered. “Camelot, here we come!”