While Fred, Velma and the rest of the Equestrians were following the strangers that deemed them earlier as trespassers, the others were sliding and galloping down the mountain at top speed...
...and needless to say, no one was enjoying the experience. “WHOAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Misty screamed at the top of her lungs as she and Scooby slid on their rear ends. “I DON'T LIKE THIS RIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!!!!!!!”
“Keep moving, everypony, and don't stop!” Kova said to her friends as she, Pipp and Sunny ran ahead of the rest of their friends. “The temple shouldn’t be much further!”
“Like, I hope you're right about that!” Shaggy cried, panting tiredly. “Because I don't think I can run for much longer!!!”
But as they began losing momentum, climbing up a tall hill, the avalanche quickly gained on them and swept them off the ground and in the midst of the snow around them. Everyone screamed at the top of their lungs as the heaps of snow tossed them around constantly, with Vincent moving constantly to avoid getting crushed. “I’m getting too old for this!!”
Luckily, Izzy and Shaggy were able to push Vincent out of the way before they were crushed by a giant piece of ice. “RUN!!” Shaggy wailed as they tried to pick up speed. Pretty soon, they were able to escape the insides of the avalanche, but they were nowhere near safe yet.
Eventually, Sunny got an idea. “Kova, fly up ahead and tell us if there are any steep embankments! The rest of you, get on a pony’s back!”
Vincent leapt onto Izzy’s back, Scooby got onto Misty’s, Shaggy got on Pipp’s and Daphne got on Misty’s, just as Kova flew up and got a good look. “Sunny, there’s a steep hill dead ahead!”
“But we’re never gonna be able to slow down in time to hide behind it!” Daphne tried to reason. “That’s cause we’re not gonna hide behind it! We’re gonna jump it!” Sunny said with a smirk. “Ponies, Kova when I give the signal, stop running and slide after me! Ready…? NOW!!!”
The flying leopard and ponies in question did as she said and slid on their bellies toward the embankment, using it as a giant ramp to get up and away from the danger of the avalanche, eventually landing on a nearby hill.
Everyone panted tiredly, but out of relief, knowing that they were safe for now. “That… was… HORRIFYING!!!” Kova said, a paw to her chest as she tried to feel her beating heart. “Don’t ever make me do that again!”
“Trust me, I’ll try and come up with a different solution next time,” Sunny said, out of breath. “Is everyone else okay?”
“A little cold,” Misty said, shaking away some snow, “but otherwise, fine.”
“Well, the good news is,” Daphne said, pointing to a nearby structure, “that we made it to the temple!”
But suddenly, a familiar revving caused the group to gasp and look toward the mountain in terror. “Like, I think,” said Shaggy, “I already know the bad news!”
The car from before was not too far away, causing another avalanche that started further up the mountain, and Pipp shrieked in panic. “What do we do?!”
“Pipp, you and Kova fly ahead of me and guide us in the right direction!” Sunny said as she assigned jobs. “I’ll use my alicorn powers to keep obstacles out of the others’ way!”
“But we’ll never be able to outrun another avalanche, dude!” Shaggy pointed out. “That’s right… so we need a sled!” Misty cried. “Something that can get us to the temple fast!”
Izzy looked around for a moment before she spotted the sign to the temple. “Ooh, what if we use that?”
“Perfect!” Daphne said. “Looks like those winters at my uncle's cabin in Aspen are finally gonna pay off. Everybody on the sign sled!”
“We’ll fly ahead and clear a path for you!” Sunny said, shifting into her alicorn form before flying off with Pipp and Zora. At the same time, Misty and Izzy and their friends got on the sled and quickly pushed off, just before the avalanche got to them.
The sled sped down the mountain after the three flyers, down the many cliffs and making tight turns. Thankfully, Pipp and Zora and Sunny were able to keep them out of some trouble, like steering past trees and making it safely down the cliffs when they came to them.
But as they zoomed across the bridge leading toward the temple, they realized that the sled was going much too fast, and they were going to crash at any moment!
Daphne turned toward Vincent with a worried glance. “Vincent, now would be the perfect time for a door-opening spell!”
“Kids,” Vincent interrupted, “there’s something I should--”
But before he could finish, the avalanche quickly gained on them, pushing them and the flyers towards the doors that much more quickly. “Come on, somebody!” Shaggy cried. “Open the doors already!!”
“And hurry!!” Pipp cried. “Izzy and I got this!” Misty cried. “Let’s light it up!”
She and Misty quickly lit their horns, spreading their magic aura toward the doors and opening them just enough for them to duck inside, but didn't have enough time to close it before the avalanche closed in on them, covering the only way out with snow and ice.
XXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, the others had no idea of what was happening to their friends as they followed the boy in the hoodie and the pink flying leopard, now known as Ciela, through the village. “You want your Chest of Demons?” the boy asked as he led them to a nearby shop entitled ‘The Realm of Darkness’. “All right. Prepare to enter the realm of darkness.”
Alphabittle shivered after this. “Nice play on words, kid, but can we go in already? My hooves are freezing!”
“Oh, of course! You guys aren’t used to this kind of weather,” Ciela realized before opening the door. “Come on in.”
The others walked into the shop, glad to get out of the cold for a few moments, before their eyes settled on a medium-sized chest with a demon carved in the lid at the end of the room. “Do you think that’s the Chest of Demons?” Hitch asked as Zipp looked at the photo that Kova gave her for reference. “It looks that way.”
“Phew!” Alphabittle sighed in relief. “Thank goodness its still closed.”
“Alphabittle, please,” Velma rolled her eyes before she turned toward the chest. “You’re not starting to believe that nonsense, are you?”
“Velma!” Fred cried, as if he knew what she was planning. “What are you doing?!”
“Fred, it’s just a box.”
Everyone watched nervously as Velma laid her hand on the chest lid, and then, to Fred’s horror, she opened it, just a crack. “NO!!!”
Fred leapt into hiding as the ponies shielded themselves for something to happen, just as Velma opened the lid all the way. “See? It’s just an empty old…”
Suddenly, Velma was cut off when a beam of light came from within the box. “Jinkies!!”
“See?!” Zipp cried as Velma dove into the hiding place near Fred’s. “Shaggy and Daphne told you those were real ghosts, and now they’re loose!”
“Stay behind me, Haven!” Alphabittle said boldly, stepping in front of his girlfriend. “I’ll protect you and the kids from those things!”
But to their surprise, the teenager in the yellow hoodie just smiled and walked past them toward the chest. “Are you insane?!” Velma shrieked. “It’s…”
“Double-lined with a vacuum seal,” the teenager interrupted, taking a drink out of the box, “to keep your cold stuff cold and your hot stuff hot.”
Fred blinked in confusion as he and Velma came from hiding. “It’s a… cooler?”
“Ahem… of course it is!” Velma said, trying to pretend she knew what it was the entire time. “Just a plain old cooler.”
“Oh, well, if you're looking for something fancier,” the teenager said, pulling back a curtain, “we got it all!”
The ponies and Sparky gasped with wide eyes when they saw a large selection of Chest of Demons themed items in the back, not expecting this in the slightest. “Chest of Demons coolers, Chest of Demons lunchboxes,” the teen listed, “phone chargers, you name it, we got it. And it's all celebrating the relic that made this village the tourism capital of the Himalayas. At prices so low, it's demonic!”
“...come on, guys,” Velma groaned. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ciela squeaked before the teen got in their path in an attempt to stop them. “Uh, I can probably cut you a deal if you buy four. Or three? Two.”
“Let me just ask one thing, business-pony to businessman,” Alphabittle spoke. “Have you ever sold one of those things?”
“Once,” the boy smiled, as if thinking back to a distant memory. “A long time ago.”
“Sorry,” Fred interrupted, “but we’re looking for the real Chest of Demons.”
“The… the real one?” Ciela asked in surprise. “You mean, the one that was up at the temple? Well… it USED to be there, but no one’s been up there in a long time.”
“May I ask why?” Queen Haven asked. “Maybe it can help us in our search for the real chest.”
“Uh, you're not ghost hunters, are you?” the boy in the hoodie asked, causing Fred to smirk. “In fact, we are.”
Ciela gulped as the boy in the hoodie smirked. “Oh no… I know that look…”
Without another moment of hesitation, the boy in the hoodie led the group, Ciela included, into a barricaded room full of monster equipment before quickly speaking. “Now say you've got trouble with a capital T like the one in tormented and terrified and truly trick-or-treatify!”
Fred and Sparky blinked in confusion. “Huh?”
“I'm talking about ghosts. I'm talking about goblins, ghouls, and beasts galore. To fight off fiends, and freaks, and more, you need a monster weapons store!” the boy in the hoodie said. “A laser-guided harpoon gun will take down that leviathan. This silver-bullet cannon, yes, for stopping werewolves with success. A garlic bomb applied with speed will vex a vampire guaranteed! So, monster hunters, come on down, you'll soon be saying that you found the lowest rental rates around! Here at Benny’s Monster Towwwn!!!”
However, at the end of the… skit, the others just looked at the hoodie boy with confusion while Ciela chuckled nervously and helped him to his feet. “I’m… guessing you haven’t seen their commercial?”
“No, not really,” Hitch said. “But man… Pipp would be impressed with those rhymes.”
“I don’t know,” Zipp frowned. “I’d say this looks pretty suspicious.”
“Me too, Zipp. What I see is that with all the superstitious tourists coming through here,” Velma turned toward the hoodie boy with a smirk, “I'll bet you do quite a business.”
The boy shrugged with an honest smile. “What can I say? Fighting the undead, it's a living.”
“Don’t tell them that!” Ciela hushed him. “They’ll just think we’re suspects!”
“No, we don’t think of you as suspects, dear,” Queen Haven said. “We’re just trying to figure out where the chest is so we can make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hooves.”
“Really?” Ciela asked. “Wow… someone I once knew always accused her followers of doing something wrong…”
“Let me guess,” Hitch interrupted. “Allura?”
“Actually… yeah!” Ciela said in surprise. “How’d you guys know?”
Zipp only chuckled. “Lucky guess.”
Fred immediately noticed a Segway-like device nearby, eagerly walking toward it. “Whoa! Neat!”
“You’re welcome to take it for a test run,” Ciela offered. “But, one thing I gotta know,” the boy interrupted. “You can drive stick, right?”
Fred immediately paused at this after putting on the helmet. “Uh…”
“Ha ha ha! Just kidding. It practically drives itself.”
With one push, Fred was sent off… unfortunately, he had no idea how to steer that thing, leaving Alphabittle to groan. “I better go see if I can help him.”
“Wait for me!” Zipp cried, galloping after Misty’s father. “Hitch, make sure he doesn’t get out!”
“On it!”
Hitch ran toward the doors just before the hoodie boy turned to Velma, smoothing his hair out to impress her. “Now, what can I interest you in?”
“Nothing,” Velma crossed her arms. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“But Velma dear,” said Queen Haven, “if you don’t believe in ghosts, what DO you believe in?”
“Science,” Velma explained. “And you Equestrians, of course.”
“Just because science can’t explain ghosts now,” the hoodie boy said, “doesn’t make them less real.”
“Yeeeeeah, nice try,” said Velma as several crashing sounds were heard in the background. “You're a good salesman, but not that good. We believe in facts, not fantasy. Right, Fred?”
But when she looked over, Fred and Hitch and Alphabittle were trying to piece the Segway back together, chuckling nervously while Zipp watched. “We uh…” Zipp smiled nervously, “...we had a little trouble with the Segway thing.”
“Come on,” Velma grabbed Fred and pulled him away. “We’re leaving.”
“Whoa, hey hey hey!” the hoodie boy tried to get them to slow down and not leave. “Listen, it's really dangerous out there after dark. You guys might wanna stay together!”
“Thank you, young man!” Queen Haven said. “Have a good day!”
And just like that, the group left the shop, leaving Ciela to sigh. “Nice people… I hope they do okay out there…”
XXXXXXXX
“Can you believe that guy back there?” Velma asked her friends. “Trying to scare us like that?”
“He was just doing his job, Velma, like we all have to sometimes,” Hitch said. “But I gotta admit, he was pretty good at what he did.”
“Yeah, I know,” Fred nodded, sounding a little sad. “What talent. And between the souvenir shop and the monster store, he's got two jobs. I don't even have one anymore.”
“Huh…?”
This immediately caught Zipp’s attention, and she flew in front of Fred to stop him. “Fred, talk to me. What are you talking about?”
“The thing is…” Fred took a breath before he began to explain. “Daphne's the leader, Shaggy's the pilot, Scooby digs up clues and serves cold drinks, and Velma’s the resident skeptic. What do I do? You saw me on that scooter. I... I can't even do background hijinks right.”
“Fred, of course you have a job in the gang,” Alphabittle tried to reassure. “You help keep the gang together and organized, and that’s really important.”
“And at least you’re honest,” said Velma as a thick fog began to cover the area. “Unlike that salesman back there. Selling the same stories about things lurking in the dark trying to nab us. Let me tell you, if something was trying to nab us, I'm pretty sure we'd… WAAH!!!”
But when the group turned around, Velma was nowhere to be seen. “Velma?” Hitch called. “Velma?!”
Sparky picked up Velma’s glasses from off the ground, but something pulled them off the ground as well!
But who?
We're going to soon find out, and then, things in our story may take an even more drastic turn.