The Case Closes3,746 words
Heading Home at Last1,583 words

Heading Home at Last

It was only an hour or two later when the group returned to the airport to return back to Vincent and Kova’s castle and back to Equestria. And while Velma and Flim-Flam, alongside Hitch, Sparky and Ciela, Zipp and Pipp stood with Daphne and Fred, watching the sun set, where Fred turned toward Daphne with a smile. “See, Daph, you got this leadership thing in the bag.”

“Freddy’s totally right. All you needed was a little encouragement,” Pipp agreed before flying a bit into the air. “A cheeeeeeering seeeeeeectioooooooon, yeah!!!!”

“You guys aren’t about to whip out pom-poms, are you?” Zipp asked with a smirk, since Queen Haven told her about Fred being in cheerleading camp and all. “No, but I do mean it, though,” Fred said as he turned toward Daphne. “I'm sorry if I never saw it before, Daph, but you're the engine that makes this whole team run.”

“Awww...” Daphne smiled warmly. “I may be the engine, but you'll always be the driver.”

Fred smiled at the compliment, and Pipp and Zipp decided that it was best that they leave the two of them alone... but not before Fred turned to the elder sister with a question. “Hey, Zipp? Do you think, uh... Captain Rogers will let me fly the plane?”

Zipp stifled a laugh with her response. “As long as you stay away from the emergency brake.”

“...Velma...”

As Pipp and Zipp burst into laughter, Queen Haven took the chance to approach them with Alphabittle. “Girls? May Alphie and I... talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure,” Pipp nodded. “What is it?”

“Well... your mom and I were wanting to talk to you about the next step in our relationship,” Alphabittle explained. “We were wondering if you two would mind taking over your mom's duties in Zephyr Heights for the next week or so, because...”

Queen Haven smiled as she concluded the sentence. “...Alphie is taking me for a romantic getaway to Ponytropico.”

“Really?! Oh, that's awesome!” Zipp exclaimed. “Of course we don't mind!”

“And we can totally look after Cloudpuff for you!” Pipp smiled. “And maybe we can ask Paradise and Misty to look after the Crystal Tea Room while you're gone!”

“Oh, thank you very much,” Queen Haven smiled. “This is sure going to be a trip to remember, right, Alphie?”

“I agree.”

XXXXXXXX

“Wow... it sounds like you're doing a great job at being a pony dragon dad, Hitch,” Ciela said as she and Hitch climbed out of the Miss-tery Machine. “On that note... you have any idea on how you can find the dragons? In case you ever needed their help?”

“Not yet, but... I know we'll find them when we're meant to,” Hitch said. “We just gotta be patient.”

“Well, until then... you guys are going to do a great job on whatever Unity Quest is next. I just know it.”

“Thanks, Ciela.”

Sparky giggled and climbed onto Ciela's back, causing a laugh out of both Hitch and the pink leopard. At the same time, Flim-Flam and Velma were having their own personal discussion. “So,” said Flim-Flam, “after all of that...?”

“Indeed,” Velma nodded. “My healthy skepticism is back. Hopefully for good.”

“What about all that stuff you said about Asamad Van Ghoul?”

Velma looked over at Vincent, who was happily laughing with Shaggy, Scooby, Kova and the remaining Equestrians. “Those stories have been central to Vincent's entire life. I didn't wanna take that away from him.”

“So you made it up!” Ciela smiled as she and Hitch heard Velma’s reasoning. “Okay, fine, the 13th ghost turned out to be fake. But what about the first 12?”

“Mass hallucinations from high-altitude oxygen deprivation. I mean, it is the Himalayas.”

“Okay,” said Daphne as she and many of the others approached, “but what about your close encounter?”

“I gotta agree with Daphne. There were no other Equestrians around,” Alphabittle stated, “so what do you think grabbed us and flew us up the mountain?”

“I'm glad you asked. It was dark and I lost my glasses.”

Flim-Flam crossed his arms and waited for her to continue. “And…?”

Velma merely pointed behind them. “Ski lift.”

Everyone looked back, seeing a ski lift going to the top of the mountain, and began to complain.

“Really?!”

“Come on!”

“Gimme a break!”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Clearly,” said Velma, “we wandered into the path of a ski lift, and our clothes got caught. I could pull up a dozen articles about similar incidents on my phone right now.”

The others merely looked at her with a skeptic look… that is, until Velma sighed. “Okay, fine, I'll prove to you that ghosts are just stories.”

That’s when she reached into the trunk and pulled out a familiar-looking chest from within. “The real Chest of Demons.”

“Can you believe it was in the van with Shaggy's luggage the entire time?” Daphne asked with a soft chuckle. “If we had known that from the beginning, maybe we could have avoided this situation,” Zipp muttered, “but then again… this amazing adventure might not have happened.”

But just then, to the horror of everyone, Velma began to move toward the lid of the chest to open it!

“What are you doing?!”

“Velma, stop!”

“Are you nuts?!”

“Oh my pony!”

“Yeah, Velma,” said Fred, “I mean… what if you’re wrong…?”

Velma looked at them and the chest repeatedly for a moment, considering the alternatives for a moment before sighing. “Fine.”

That's when Velma noticed Ciela trying to keep in giggles while Flim-Flam was smirking at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Flim-Flam said just as the others approached, prompting him to hand Shaggy a case of bottles. “Oh, hey, Shaggy, here's that case you asked for.”

Shaggy lifted a bottle out of the case, and Daphne instantly recognized what was inside. “Lotsa Luck Joy Juice! Aww, Flim-Flam! I remember this stuff!” she said, kissing Flim-Flam while doing such, and prompting Flim-Flam to nudge Fred in the ribs. “Told you it could melt anything.”

“Like, are you sure,” said Shaggy, “that you don't wanna join us on our trans-haunt-tlantic flight?”

This prompted Kova and Izzy to laugh, and Vincent gave Shaggy the thumbs up signal. “Nah,” Flim-Flam responded. “Somebody's gotta stick around and tell the tourists the tale of Asmodeus. The demon king who almost ruled the world.”

“And make a tiny profit off the merchandising, I suspect,” Velma smirked, causing Ciela to giggle. “Don’t worry… the people always come first in my opinion.”

That’s when Flim-Flam turned to Vincent with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Vince,” he said. “Ciela and I will keep old Mortifer’s name out of it. And we’ll keep an eye out for more flying leopards, letting ‘em know that it’s safe to live here without Allura controlling them again.”

Vincent smiled at this. “Thank you, Flim-Flam. I'll see you when Kova and I are in town for my coven's next meeting.”

“Bye!” the ponies waved their new friends farewell before getting on the plane with their friends. But before the plane closed up, Vincent turned to Flim-Flam again. “And for ghoulness sake, Flim-Flam, please, stay out of trouble.”

“No promises, Vinnie.”

“Hmm hmm… that’s my boy.”

At that instant, the plane began to take off in the sky, leaving Ciela and Flim-Flam to wave goodbye.

“Bye, guys! See you soon!”

“So long, sports fans.”

XXXXXXXX

While the ponies and their friends were on the plane, a portal began to open up in the back of the plane, leaving Sunny to sigh. “Looks like we’re getting ready to leave, guys.”

“Well, it was great to meet you, Queen Haven and Alphabittle,” Daphne smiled. “Get back to Equestria safe.”

“Oh! One more thing!” Kova said before handing Izzy a familiar necklace. “I want you to have this.”

“But… don’t you need it to remind you of your brother?”

“He’d agree that it’s in safe hooves with you, Izzy,” Kova smiled before handing Zipp a scroll. “And this scroll has some information on flying leopards and Allura, Zipp, in case you were to ever need it.”

“Thank you, Kova,” Zipp smiled. “We’ll never forget you or Vincent, and we’ll be back to visit… promise.”

And just like that, the ponies ventured into the portal before it closed, leaving the gang alone. Not even a few minutes after, though, Daphne found Fred staring out the window at the sunset. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Fred nodded. “Just thinking about our impending retirement.”

“Well,” said Daphne, “as my last official act as leader, I'm calling it off.”

“Huh?”

“This is what we do best, Freddy,” Daphne smiled. “I'm not ready to give it up, just because we made one tiny mistake. And by the way, I'm still not convinced old Farmer Morgan was totally innocent.”

“I agree!” Velma spoke up between them. “First off, the guy's boot prints were all over the ghost's secret lair. Second…”

“Imitation yak jerky,” said Shaggy as he moved through the plane as the flight attendant. “Imitation yak jerky anyone?”

“Hang on a second,” Fred spoke. “Shaggy, if you're back here, who's flying the plane?”

That’s when he walked into the cabin and discovered that the one flying the plane was none other than…

“Scooby-Dooby-Dooooooooooo!!! Hee hee hee hee!!”

One thing was for sure… these next set of adventures would definitely be full of excitement… and danger.

For you see, Allura is still wandering the world, looking for the star she needs… and she won’t stop until she has revenge on Sunny Starscout and her friends.

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