G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright

by ponydog127

Midnight Confessions/The Second Phantom Attack

Right after leaving the pizza parlor, Eden and Misty and Sunny darted after Shaggy and Scooby to the Hotel Canard, since the pair was so traumatized by what Lotte did to them, not just physically, but mentally.

Luckily, Daphne had sent Shaggy the room information in a text a few hours earlier, so they were able to go up the elevator and right to the room, where the others were gathered on or around the bed while Velma was making a suspect list on the computer. “Hey, guys,” Shaggy said after panting tiredly. “Where have you guys been?” Breena asked her friends out of concern. “The library closed hours ago!”

However, Eden blinked in confusion, completely forgetting about their original assignment. “The… what?”

“...never mind…” Breena deadpanned, annoyed with her little sister. “We found plenty of information online. “There was definitely a phantom back in the '70s, but I don't think the one we saw was the same person,” Velma said, pulling up a photo of the phantom on her computer. “This is from earlier tonight.”

“Pipp, did you post that on your social media feed?” Zipp asked. “No, I-I didn’t!” Pipp quickly denied. “But, if Pipp didn’t post it,” said Daphne, “where did you get that picture?”

“It’s all over the internet. Talent Star is really milking this for publicity,” Velma said before pulling up a picture of the original phantom side-by-side with the picture from earlier. “See? The outfit is different. I think what we saw today was someone taking advantage of the old stories for their own purposes.”

“But hold on-- you guys saw him disappear, right?” Hitch asked. “If he disappeared, he had to have been a real ghost!”

“We saw it on a monitor, Hitch,” Sunny reminded. “It could have been faked somehow.”

“Hold on a sec, guys…” Misty spoke, suddenly having a thought. “You guys don’t think Allura had something to do with this… do you?”

“Allura? But she’s been banished from this realm,” said Pavari. “Why would she have something to do with this?”

The others looked worried, unsure of what they should tell the sisters about the former leader of the winged leopards… and what she may have been planning.

They couldn't keep their friends in the dark, though... especially when Allura could pop up just about anywhere. “Well… here’s the thing,” Izzy began with a worried look. “Allura may or may not have slipped through the barrier keeping her in Starlight Ridge and now we’re racing against her to find pieces to a star that can help her travel to and take over different realms, so… yeah.”

“...okay, this officially just got a lot worse than a phantom!” Breena exclaimed with wide eyes. “Allura could be anywhere at any time!”

“And that’s why we have to be vigilant,” Sunny reminded her friends. “Who knows where she might pop up next.”

“But if Allura isn’t behind this particular plan,” Fred spoke, “then who are the likely suspects?”

“Definitely Chrissy’s parents,” Daphne pointed out. “You’re right!” Fred realized. “The phantom seems interested in making sure Chrissy wins the competition.”

“And Brick Pimiento,” Zipp agreed as Velma put his picture on the suspect list. “He was a little too quick to capitalize on the phantom for publicity.”

“Yeah,” Velma agreed. “Could he be doing this to boost the show’s ratings?”

“What about Mel Richmond? The guy who owns the opera house?” Fred pointed out, and Velma added his picture to the list. “Maybe what he said about insurance money wasn't a joke.”

“What about Dewey Ottoman?” Daphne spoke up. “He’s creepy.”

“Does he have a motive?” Zipp asked. “Uh, isn’t being creepy a motive?” Pipp countered with an eyebrow raised, prompting Velma to add Dewey to the suspect list anyway. Suddenly, Shaggy thought of someone else to add to the list. “Ooh! Ooh! You gotta be Lotte down!”

“You think Lotte is the phantom?” Pavari asked her friends in surprise. “Honestly, I think she’s scarier than the phantom!” Misty said with a nervous shudder. “Just put her down.”

Velma did so out of compliance, and once all the pictures were on the screen, she hummed in thought. “Everyone on this list but Mel Richmond and Lotte have been seen at the same time as the phantom,” she said. “And that could make them even more likely suspects,” Zipp agreed. “We’re gonna have to keep an eye on them tomorrow.”

Fred yawned and stretched tiredly after this was said. “Guys, it's getting late. We have the dress rehearsal in the morning,” he told the others, “and the big show tomorrow night. I say we get some sleep.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Jones!” Misty said with a wink before she, Shaggy and Scooby prepared to leave the room. But, as they opened the door, they were stunned to see Lotte on the other side of it, causing them to scream. “I will break you--” Lotte began to say before Shaggy slammed the door shut, causing Velma to sigh. “We have adjoining rooms, Shaggy,” she said, opening a door on the other side of the room. “You guys can go this way.”

Misty, Shaggy and Scooby bolted into the other room immediately after this. “See you in the morning,” Fred waved to Daphne before he, Hitch and Sunny followed Misty and the boys into the next room. And as she watched Fred walk off, Daphne sighed romantically. “He said he’ll see me…”

Velma and Zipp each sighed in exasperation before Breena giggled. “Come on, sisters… let’s head to our room for the night too.”

“...okay. See you guys later!” Pavari waved to those remaining before she and her sisters flew out of the room and toward their quarters for the night.

XXXXXXXX

Velma, Zipp, Izzy and Pipp were fast asleep in their beds and cots during the middle of the night when something caused Velma to wake up and look over at Daphne’s bed as she put on her glasses. “Daph...?”

Unfortunately, she gave no answer, because when Velma looked again, she noticed that Daphne wasn't in her bed. “Velma...?” Pipp yawned as she and Izzy slowly stirred. “Where’s Daphne gone to?”

“Oh, that's an easy question!” Izzy said, pointing her hoof to the balcony. The three of them got out of bed, careful not to wake Zipp, in order to go outside and check on her. “Trouble sleeping?” Velma asked, leading Daphne to sniffle and wipe her eyes. “Yeah…”

“Are you okay?” Pipp asked in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine…”

“You’re obviously not fine, Daphne,” Velma could tell that Daphne wasn’t being honest right away. “Why don’t you tell us about it?”

That’s when Daphne finally revealed a… well, not-so-secret secret. “I’m in love with Fred!! There-- I said it!”

Izzy gasped dramatically at this. “WHAAAAAAAT?!

“Oh my pony, I would have NEVER guessed!” Pipp agreed. “Really?” Velma said sarcastically at this. “Wow, I never would have… gosh, that's a shocker.”

“I’ve kept it a secret for so long,” Daphne said, looking up at the sky. “I just had to tell someone… er, somepony.”

“Uh, this is just my own thoughts,” Pipp said, “but shouldn’t you be telling somepony BESIDES us? Like… Freddy for instance?”

However, Daphne immediately disliked such an idea. “No! Oh my gosh, no! I was hoping this competition would bring us closer… but even after all the time rehearsing and performing together… I just can't say anything.”

That's when Daphne pulled out a small piece of paper. “I even wrote a song, to that tune Fred composed? It explains how I feel about him. But if I think about singing it, I feel like I'm going to throw up… or pass out… or both!”

“Pipp’s right-- you have to tell him, Daph,” Velma pointed out. “You'll never know how he feels unless you talk to him.”

“I can't. Maybe if I win Talent Star, that would give me the confidence. Maybe then I could talk to him,” Daphne realized before violently shaking Velma. “Girls, we just have to win! We just have to!!”

Izzy helped to steady Velma after that violent shaking fit, and that’s when Pipp approached Daphne. “If confidence is what you need, then I’m your pony. But you should know… you have more confidence than you think.”

Daphne looked at Pipp in surprise. “You really think so?”

“I really do,” Pipp smiled before nudging Daphne back into the hotel room, with Izzy and Velma in pursuit. “Come on… you can’t win Talent Star if you’re sleepy, can you?”

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in another room, Lotte was sleeping peacefully when a shadowy figure came into her room and swapped out her voice spray for some other material.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the other adjoining room, Shaggy and Scooby were having a quiet conversation, so they wouldn’t disturb their sleeping friends. “Scooby-Doo, are you awake?” Shaggy asked. “I can’t sleep.”

“Me neither,” Scooby sat up before turning to his best friend on the floor. “You want the bed?”

“No,” Shaggy declined politely. “It's been almost two hours since we had that pizza and I'm starving, heh. Maybe the hotel has a vending machine or something.”

“Ugh…” Sunny yawned as she sat up. “What’s this talk about a vending machine…?”

“Like, sorry, Sunny,” Shaggy apologized. “Scoob and I were gonna go grab something to eat.”

“Eh, I might as well come with you,” Sunny said as she got off the bed quietly to avoid waking Misty. “With this phantom on the loose, you can’t be too careful… and my stomach has been kinda grumbling.”

XXXXXXXX

Sunny, Shaggy and Scooby crept out of their hotel room as quietly as they could in order to get to the vending machines without waking anyone.

However, they were unaware that the phantom was coming out of Lotte's room at the exact same time.

They bumped into each other in the hallway, causing Sunny and the boys to scream as soon as they saw the phantom, who cackled and tried to grab them. Unfortunately, when Sunny and her friends tried to get back into their hotel room, the door had locked behind them, causing them to flee down the hall in their own attempt to escape.

But, as they rounded one of the corners, they were stunned to discover that they had hit a dead end, allowing the phantom to corner them! Luckily, Sunny was able to leap right on him and knocked him down to the ground, allowing her friends and herself another chance at escape.

Shaggy and Scooby ran through several different racks of clothes, the clothes getting stuck to them in the process, but then the two of them, along with Sunny, crashed into a laundry cart and went rolling down the hall until they crashed into several other carts.

As they made it out from the laundry and began running again, Scooby collided with Dewey Ottoman, causing both of them to land on the floor. “Dog!”

Scooby looked back and saw that the phantom was getting closer, so he leapt right off of Dewey and after his friends, leaving Dewey to sit up with a groan of disgust. “I touched a dog! I have dog bacteria!!”

Sunny, Shaggy and Scooby finally reached the kitchen, where the two boys hid behind a table with Sunny near them to protect them just as the phantom entered the room, laughing maliciously just as he shoved a huge pole in front of the door, trapping the three friends and himself inside. “Like, take it easy there, phantom dude!” Shaggy tried to keep his voice from quivering. “Yeah!” Scooby agreed. “Or else Sunny will have to go full alicorn on you!”

“Well, I will only if I have to!” Sunny gulped. “So… just trying to warn you!”

However, the phantom chuckled maliciously again, picking up a large knife and advancing in their direction. “Uh… I don’t think that’s taking it easy!” Sunny told her friends, panic laced in her voice. “That’s taking it WAY too hard! RUN!!”

Shaggy and Scooby screamed as the two of them, plus their earth pony friend, tried to avoid the knife and the phantom, eventually running around a table a couple of times before they pulled Sunny underneath a nearby table. Then, as the phantom began looking for them, Sunny and her friends began to pick up the table and scoot it over toward the exit, hoping the phantom wouldn't notice...

...but he noticed... big time.

He chopped the knife right through the table, causing them to scream and bolt to the outside balcony, after shoving a pedestal in front of the door. Unfortunately, the phantom was able to open the door and follow them outside, leaving them with absolutely no place left to go... they were trapped!

As Shaggy and Scooby began to quiver behind Sunny as the phantom got closer, Sunny knew what she had to do-- there was no doubt in her mind about that. So, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her alicorn form beginning to appear. “I am all three pony kinds… wrapped up into one…”

“Sunny! What are you doing?!” Shaggy whispered loudly. “This is no time for a poetry contest!”

“...my cutie mark comes to life,” Sunny continued as her alicorn form developed fully, “with hope bright at the sun!!”

As her alicorn form fully developed, she stomped her front hooves onto the ground, sending a shock wave through the entire hotel, with Sunny hoping it would wake her friends while the phantom was blown back a bit. Unfortunately, after shaking of the dizziness, the phantom began to get closer, and after Sunny spread her wings and waited for him to make a move…

…Fred tossed a net out of the window, prompting Breena, Eden and Pavari to leap out the window with it, and once the net fell on the phantom, the sisters pounced on him to keep him down “And THAT’S what you get,” Pavari snarled, “for messing with our friends!”

But, the phantom seemed unfazed by the comments, standing up and knocking the sisters off him before cackling, and a green cloud of smoke swirled around him, and once the smoke was gone… the phantom was too! “What?!” Eden looked around. “Where did he go?!”

The other members of the Mane 6, Daphne, Velma, Lotte and Brick finally managed to push the door open, and Sunny sighed in relief as her friends came up and hugged her. “Are you guys okay?” Misty asked. “We were so worried when we felt Sunny’s sonic wave!”

“We’re fine,” Scooby nodded. “Sunny used her alicorn powers to save us!”

“A sonic wave? That’s what that was” Breena asked as she and her sisters looked at Sunny with wide eyes. “I just thought it was an earthquake. Respect.”

“Heh… thanks,” Sunny smiled. “But I don’t understand-- how in the world did he just disappear?”

That’s when Fred noticed something alarming about the net he had used. “It’s been cut!”

“It's okay, everyone. He's gone,” Brick said reassuringly. “No harm done. Heh, everybody back to bed. Fantastic! This phantom's gonna get us a 40 share…”

The sisters, Shaggy and Scooby prepared to follow him inside when they saw Lotte standing beside the door, causing them to meow/yell in terror. “Enough with the screaming! Gonna skin you alive…” Lotte sneered before yawning and turning away. “Good night.”

And just like that, she walked off… but not before Eden sniffed the air. “Hey… there’s no lemon scent like the last time the phantom showed up!”

“Yeah!” Scooby nodded. “You’re right!”

“Come on,” Breena urged her friends. “We need to follow Lotte and Brick... just to see where they're going.”

Pavari and Eden sighed at this, but reluctantly followed their older sister and friends away... just before Dewey came out with a sponge and bucket within reach. “A little baking soda and water will get that out…”

“I’m sure the hotel staff will…” Izzy tried to say before Dewey interrupted her. “No, no, no, please. I should get 45 minutes of scrubbing out of this.”

“You know…” said Velma, “that smoke bomb seemed like something a magician would do.”

“...and the Great Pauldini's nowhere to be seen!” Hitch realized, looking around. “True. But, does he have a motive?” Fred asked. “Winning Talent Star would sure be a motive,” Pipp said. “And there are a whole lot of people here who have an itch to win.”

“This just keeps getting more and more mysterious,” Daphne said. “But, you know what the real mystery is?” Velma asked. “Yeah,” Zipp agreed before looking at Fred. “How did you get hold of a net so fast in the middle of the night?”

“Um, well, I…”

“Oh my gosh,” Zipp said in realization. “You sleep with a net, don’t you?”

The others stifled laughter as Fred blushed in embarrassment. “Lots of people do!”

Sunny sighed to calm herself down. “Okay, everypony, we need to get back to sleep and do more investigating tomorrow-- we have to solve this mystery before the show tomorrow night. Otherwise… Daphne and Fred’s talent careers may be over.”