At the same time that Fred’s group had been tangling with the Fishman and Velma’s group were following tire tracks from the stolen RV, Sunny and Misty’s group, consisting of themselves, Deacon, Shaggy, Scooby and Peach Fizz, stayed at Camp Big Moose, waiting for any word from their friends.
And the best place to go while waiting? The dining hall, which had the biggest buffet that the ponies had ever seen.
Shaggy, Scooby and Deacon chose to right some of the personal transporters that they had on site to get around, and Misty, Peach Fizz and Sunny chose to walk.
However, food and fun were the last things on Peach Fizz's mind.
She was still trying to figure out how she could convince her mother to not move her back to Bridlewood.
When she had a thought, she tapped Misty on the shoulder. “Misty? Would it be totally weird if I asked my mom if I could stay at the Brighthouse with all of you?”
Misty and Sunny turned to her in surprise at this. “Peach Fizz, you know we love hanging out with you,” Misty told the filly, kneeling at the filly's level, “but I think your mom might miss you if you chose to separate yourself from her.”
Peach Fizz seemed reluctant to believe this. “I don’t know about that… she thinks I’m too posh to be hanging out with pegasi and earth ponies, but… I don’t like being posh-- I just wanna be me.”
“I understand that. Maybe if you talk to her and let her know how you feel, maybe you two can work something out,” Sunny said gently. “Never hurts to have a little hope.”
Peach Fizz nodded, and decided to consider this with Glory and Seashell when they got back.
But right now, they had to keep their eyes and ears open for anything suspicious. “Now this,” Shaggy said, looking at the buffet in front of them, “is my idea of roughing it.”
“You said it!” Scooby agreed with a grin. “Aren't you guys the least bit worried about the Woodsman coming back?” Deacon asked the two cowards. “I hate to say it, guys, but Deacon DOES have a point,” Misty tried to tell her friends. “We do need to keep our eyes open.”
“Man, all I'm worried about is whether to have chocolate on my cheesecake,” Shaggy said, “or cheese on my chocolate cake.”
“How about both?” Scooby asked, causing Peach Fizz to gag in disgust at the sound of cheese on chocolate cake. “Scooby-Doo, you are a genius!” Shaggy praised the Great Dane, who lifted a graduation cap to his head. “Yeah, a genius. Hee hee hee hee hee hee!”
“I really think we ought to stay here at Camp Big Moose,” Deacon told the others before taking a breath from his inhaler. “If we go back to Little Moose, something bad's gonna happen.”
“Put that down!” yelled a voice, and the group turned to see that one of the Camp Big Moose counselors had spotted them. “What do you guys think you're doing here? You don't go to Camp Big Moose!”
Many of the campers heard this with horrified gasps, but then, they grabbed whatever food item was nearby with angry expressions, making Scooby and Misty gulp nervously. “Busted…”
That's when all the Big Moose campers began to pelt the six friends with all sorts of food items, causing Peach Fizz to shriek and try not to get hit. At that moment, Sunny realized that maybe Camp Big Moose wasn’t the safest place to be right then, and they should probably head somewhere else. “Come on, guys-- we better get out of here!”
So, off the segways and ponies went, with Shaggy and Scooby snatching a few food items for the road. Eventually, they got out of the dining hall, down some stairs (which were very bumpy for the boys riding the segways) and down a flat road that led away from Camp Big Moose.
Eventually, they went away from the main road and onto a dirt road, and while the ponies leapt over and slide under a tree branch, the boys nearly crashed into it, finding that the segways were a lot harder to control than they had previously thought.
That's when Shaggy immediately noticed that they were heading for a cliff that was right above Shadow Canyon, and immediately panicked. “Where are the brakes on this thing?! AH!!”
“Hang on, Shaggy!” Sunny shouted, and she, Misty and Peach Fizz pulled back with all their might, eventually stopping Shaggy before he could roll over the edge. “Phew…” Misty then sighed. “That was too close!”
“Hey, wait a second,” Peach Fizz spoke up, looking around and realizing something. “Wasn’t Scooby and Deacon right behind us?”
The second she said that, Scooby slammed into Shaggy, knocking him off his segway and onto Scooby’s, and sending Shaggy’s segway plummeting to the canyon floor, smashing into a million pieces. “Guys, whatever you do,” Misty said as she and Peach Fizz gently tried to take the segway into their magic auras, “do NOT move until we tell you to.”
Scooby nodded stiffly when Misty said this. “Got it…”
“LOOK OUT!!” Deacon’s voice rang out as the ponies finally got the segway stabilized, and the next thing that the group knew, Deacon crashed into them, making them lose their footing and stumble into the canyon below!
XXXXXXXX
At the same time, Velma’s group had just arrived in Shadow Canyon, following the tire tracks that they had found before.
Eventually, they got out of the jeep and followed the tire tracks on foot… er, hoof. “Shadow Canyon…” Burt couldn’t help but shudder. “This place creeps me out.”
“Come on,” Velma urged. “That RV's gotta be around here.”
“Velma’s totally right!” Izzy chirped as she pranced along, following the tracks. “It’s not like it could just vanish into--”
But suddenly, right as she was about to keep speaking, she slammed right into the canyon wall, causing her to fall over and shake her head. “...a rock wall?”
“That's weird. The tracks just come to a stop,” Trudy said as she helped Izzy back onto her feet. “An entire RV doesn’t just disappear,” Velma said. “Velma is totally right,” Pipp nodded. “Something had to have happened to it!”
Suddenly, the sounds of screams caught their attention, and they all turned to see Scooby, Shaggy and Deacon rocketing toward them at top speed before slamming right into the rock wall, the segway breaking into pieces upon impact. “Oh, man…” Shaggy groaned dizzily, “I feel like I got hit by a truck.”
That’s when Pipp looked more closely at the rock wall, finding something odd about it before pounding on the spot where the boys had impacted, immediately realizing what happened. “More like you hit an RV-- you guys found it!”
“Shaggy, Scooby and Deacon found the RV?” Misty panted as she, Peach Fizz and Sunny trotted over to them. “Wow, that was lucky.”
“How did you guys even get here?” Velma asked them. “Two words, Velma,” Peach Fizz sighed tiredly. “Don’t ask.”
“You know, it’s kind of ingenious,” Velma said, turning back toward the RV. “Someone painted the RV to look exactly like the canyon wall.”
“Hang on, I know a professional makeup trick that can help,” Pipp said, pulling out a makeup brush and rubbing it over the RV, making the paint rub off and making the door handle appear. “Way to go, Pipp! That really worked!” Sunny said before she opened the door. “Come on, let’s check it out.”
“Like, I would go with you,” Shaggy responded, still dizzy, “but I don't know which one to follow.”
“Peach Fizz and I will stay with them, Sunny,” Glory volunteered with a passionate smile. “We won’t let them out of our sight.”
“Thanks, girls,” Sunny smiled back before everyone else entered the RV, marveling at the high-tech equipment that was inside. “Wow… either someone really likes video games,” Misty said, “or somepony’s been staked out in here for days.”
Izzy sniffed the air and gagged at the wretched smell the RV had inside. “It smells like it too…”
That’s when Velma’s eyes settled on a specific piece of equipment. “This must be the sonar equipment that went missing from Camp Big Moose. What are they using it for?”
Velma climbed behind the computer and tried to access the files it had, only to find it was password-protected. “Well, that tears it,” Sunny sighed in frustration. “Sunny’s right,” Burt sighed. “Nothing we can do now.”
“Guess we better get out of here,” Deacon suggested, only for Izzy to block his way optimistically. “Come on, Deacon-Beacon! We can’t give up THAT easily.”
“Let me take a shot at it,” Trudy said, sitting down at the computer. “I'll use admin privileges to bypass the authentication requirement.”
“Then you can modify the registry to a temp password! Good thinking!” Pipp smiled, causing the others to look at her strangely. “What? I have to know my tech if I need to keep my Pippsqueaks updated!”
Only a few seconds later, access was granted, allowing the group to access the files that was being printed off. “This appears to be a sonar image of the bottom of the lake,” Velma spoke in thought, looking at the paper she was holding. “What on Earth are they looking for?”
“Do you think it could have something to do with the building that Seashell and Scooby saw earlier?” Misty asked. “Maybe,” Sunny said in thought. “We just have to keep pressing forward with more clues.”
XXXXXXXX
At the same time, Fred's group were still trying to navigate through the caves, having felt like an eternity since they hid out from the Fishman's clutches. “It feels like we've been walking forever,” Jessica said, rubbing her feet as she held the torch. “But there’s gotta be someway outta here,” Zipp told her. “We just have to keep moving until we find it.”
“Yeah,” Seashell nodded in agreement. “Cause there’s no way I’m going swimming in that lake again.”
“Hey, guys?” Luke said from where he found a series of crates. “I think I found something!”
That’s when the others approached and studied the equipment more closely as Luke opened a crate. “There's a whole crate of candles here.”
“That doesn't look like a candle,” Daphne said as Luke lit the so-called ‘candle’, only for the fuse to begin to go off. Luckily, Fred was able to recognize that it was dynamite, and threw it away from them before it exploded and could hurt them.
When the dust finally settled, Luke stood up nervously. “That was dynamite, wasn't it?”
“...yes, Luke,” Hitch sighed loudly, putting a hoof on his face. “Yes, it was.”
“And there’s a lot of it,” Daphne observed. “But what would somepony need all that dynamite for?” Seashell wondered. “I don’t know,” Zipp said, taking a picture of the scene, “but this is a major clue. We need to tell the others about this when we finally get out of here.”
In the area where the dynamite exploded, Jessica saw a beam of daylight passing through a hole that had opened up, brightening her spirits. “Daylight!” she exclaimed. “That explosion just gave us a way out!”
“Way to go, Jessica!” Hitch congratulated. “Come on, guys,” Zipp encouraged. “We need to get back to Camp Little Moose right away!”
XXXXXXXX
“So, Sunny said we should just tell our parents how we feel, and hope that they change their minds?” Glory asked Peach Fizz, who told the former about her discussion with Sunny and Misty back at Camp Big Moose. “Does she KNOW my dad? Once a decision’s been made… there’s no stopping him.”
“I know,” Peach Fizz sighed with a nod. “The same way with my mom. But… I told Sunny I would at least talk to you and Seashell about it.”
“Once we get back to Camp Little Moose,” said Glory, “we can tell Seashell about what Sunny said… and hopefully, Sunny will be right about this.”
“Like, Sunny’s never been wrong in all the time we’ve met her, little dudes,” Shaggy said with his eyes closed while Scooby tried to swat a fly with his tail. “Everything’s gonna work out in the end, you’ll see.”
Glory sighed as she and Peach Fizz sat down near them. “I hope you’re right…”
Suddenly, a loud and terrifying wail filled the air, causing the hairs on the back of their necks to immediately stand, as well as causing them to shake in total terror. “Um…” Glory looked at her friends, new and old. “D-D-Did you guys just hear that…?”
“Um…” Scooby shook his head, despite hearing the sound. “Nope!”
“Good,” Shaggy agreed. “Me neither!”
Just then, the door opened, and Pipp and Velma stuck their heads out. “Hey, did you guys hear that noise?” Pipp asked them, only for the shriek to echo through the air again. “...oh… that noise?” Peach Fizz gulped. “Uh… nope!”
“Lay it off, Peach Fizz,” Glory sighed. “That isn’t gonna work twice.”
Suddenly, a horrifying specter came into view, dressed in a black hood and screeching at the top of her lungs, and causing the Pippsqueaks to scream in fright. “It’s the Specter of Shadow Canyon!” Burt yelled. “Everypony!” Sunny cried out. “Get in the jeep!”
Immediately, everyone got into the jeep, with Pipp in the back with the Pippsqueaks, Shaggy, Scooby and Deacon, and Sunny and the unicorns in front with the others, just before the jeep lurched away to prevent being caught by the specter.
The specter herself gave quite a chase, but luckily, Sunny was able to shift into alicorn form, and with a little help from Misty and Izzy, were able to blast at her to keep her from grabbing anyone and taking them away.
Not to mention, Scooby throwing different things at the specter from Deacon's backpack helped too.
But to make the situation a bit more complicated, Velma also had to dodge rocks in the path while she was driving, causing everyone to scream that much more.
Eventually, as they got closer to the pathway leading out of the canyon, the specter seemed to disappear, making Pipp sigh in relief. “I think we might’ve lost her.”
“That’s good,” Glory said, putting a hoof to her chest, “cause I thought my heart was getting ready to explode!”
But, when they turned again, the specter was right in front of them, even breaking through the windshield to try and reach them! Luckily, Velma was able to slam on the brakes and fling her off before she could cause anymore harm, just before they started heading out of the canyon.
But as they did, the jeep slammed into the side of the canyon, causing a rockslide to tumble down right where the specter was and allowing the rest of the group to make it out of the canyon safely.
After making it out of the canyon, Shaggy turned to Burt with a fearful expression. “Burt, if you have any more campfire stories…” he said, “...I'd appreciate it if you'd keep them to yourself!”
“I totally agree with that statement!” Pipp raised a hoof. “So do we!” Glory and Peach Fizz exclaimed. “But, now that we’re out of there,” Misty said, “we need to get back to Camp Little Moose to tell the others what we found… and fast!”