A Desert Getaway

The ponies immediately raced from the Maretime Bay Summer Solstice Festival and to the Crystal Brighthouse, having left young Sparky Sparkeroni in the care of Spike and the other dragons.

And once they had grabbed their materials (like phones, Zipp's FlyPad and visor, Misty’s spellbook, etc), they raced up the elevator and stood around the Unity Crystals, letting their cutie mark magic charge the crystals just enough to make them glow brightly until they sent the Mane 6 off on their latest adventure...

...which was going to be a dinosaur of a doozy.

XXXXXXXX

The place that the Mane 6 popped out of the portal was quite surprising-- never, in all their Unity Quests, had they been teleported into a hospital on the first go-round...

...and it made Zipp hum in thought. “Do you think our new quest is with somepony who works in the hospital? Or somepony who's in the hospital right now?”

“Could be,” Sunny said in thought. “I guess we'll just have to wait and see.”

“Well, I do know one thing,” Pipp said as she hovered around, holding her phone up high in the air. “This hospital has a bit of bad service, but I think if I just keep moving it around, I might be able to--”

“...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH...!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The sound of the awful, terrified scream rang out all throughout the hospital, causing the ponies to cringe from the loud volume. “Sweet sauce horseshoe toss!” Izzy cried out. “Who turned on the screaming device?!”

“It may just be me,” Misty shouted, “but that scream sounds kind of familiar, don't you think?!”

“Let's follow the sound of the scream and see where it leads!” Sunny told her friends as they advanced. “It may be somepony who really needs our help!”

XXXXXXXX

Turns out, that screaming belonged to a completely terrified Shaggy, who had been brought to the hospital by the rest of the gang after they had finished their last mystery. The doctor was currently examining Shaggy's throat, eyes wide and full of shock. “Incredible. How long has he been screaming like this?”

“Almost three hours!” Fred said with worry. “Without taking a breath?” the doctor asked. “It's unbelievable!”

“Do you think it's a world record?” Daphne asked as the doctor took another look. “Oh, definitely. I'm just wondering if it's a violation of the laws of physics,” the doctor said before noticing Scooby sitting nearby. “Is that a dog?”

“Broadly speaking?” Velma shrugged. “Yes.”

“You can't have a dog in the ER!”

“It's okay,” Daphne pulled a card out of her purse and gave it to the doctor. “He's a certified medical rescue dog.”

The doctor looked at the card suspiciously before glancing back over at Daphne. “You just made this in Photoshop, didn't you?”

“No!” Daphne quickly shook her head before pointing at Velma. “...she did.”

“Please don't throw him out, doctor. Scooby is Shaggy's best friend!” Velma tried to reason. And seeing the gang’s desperate faces, the doctor did relent, but with a couple of conditions. “Well, s long as he doesn't make a mess, or break anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, doc,” Scooby said with a nod, shoving pieces of broken glass behind the curtain. Now that Scooby was out of the way, Fred turned back to the matter at hand. “Can you help Shaggy, doctor?”

The doctor nodded at this, and turned to Shaggy for a moment before speaking. “Hey! Stop screaming!”

And after a moment, Shaggy did stop screaming, confusing Daphne as the doctor took notes. “Why didn't that work when we tried it?”

“Eh, people listen to doctors.”

“Oh, thank Celestia that the screaming finally stopped!” said a voice from around the corner. “I thought my ears were gonna explode before we found out who was doing it!”

“Wait,” Velma said to the others. “That sounds like…”

“Scooby, guys!” Sunny cried in happiness as she and the ponies entered the emergency room. “I thought that screaming sounded familiar!” Misty said as she and Scooby hugged. “What’s going on?”

“You… know the patient and his friends?” the doctor raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, we see each other all the time,” Zipp nodded. “Is everything okay?”

“Well, it’s kind of a crazy story,” Daphne told the ponies, “but we were about to tell the doctor what happened, so you guys deserve to know too.”

“It was just a normal evening,” Velma began as the ponies sat down. “We were investigating an old mansion, haunted by phantom Naval officers.”

XXXXXXXX

By the light of their flashlights, Mystery Inc moved through the mansion, looking for anything suspicious that could point them to who was behind this so-called haunting.

Once reaching the main foyer of the house, Fred gave out the next set of instructions. “Velma, Daphne and I will look around upstairs. Shaggy, you and Scooby check out the cellar.”

However, when Shaggy and Scooby looked at the cellar, they were a bit freaked out when they saw all the warning signs around the door. “Zoinks!” Shaggy shuddered nervously. “Like, why do we have to…?”

“Great!” Fred spoke as he and the girls began moving up the stairs. “We’ll meet up back here.”

Shaggy and Scooby shuddered to themselves after their friends had disappeared up the stairs, but seeing no other option, they began to descend down into the basement. “Ghosts are lighter than air, right, Scoob?” Shaggy asked his best friend. “So they wouldn't be down here. They'd, like, rise up to the attic, right?”

“Right,” Scooby nodded before having a sudden thought. “ Like balloons? Shaggy, are balloons filled with ghosts?”

“Oh, man, I have no idea! Oh ho ho ho ho...”

Finally, after reaching the bottom of the stairs, Shaggy and Scooby advanced further and further into the darkness of the basement… that is, until they reached a whole swarm of phantom Naval officers, who uttered one word… kill.

Shaggy and Scooby screamed and bolted out of the basement, running down the hall a good ways before a phantom appeared in their path, causing Shaggy to leap into Scooby’s paws before Scooby ran the other way. However, once reaching the end of THAT hallway, Shaggy opened the door, only to reveal another phantom. Scooby yelped and ran, dropping Shaggy into the arms of the phantom and sending Shaggy on the run... on his own.

Shaggy continued to run throughout the house, but wherever he went, there seemed to be a phantom waiting for him. Eventually, he had no choice but to duck into a nearby cupboard to avoid the phantoms entirely. But, when he finally got settled into the cupboard, he felt as if there was someone in there with him. “Scoob?”

Shaggy turned on his flashlight and looked around... only to find that phantoms were the ones that were in there with him, causing him to scream and jolt around in the cupboard to try and get away.

At the same time, Fred, Daphne, Scooby and Velma were running from two of the phantoms when they suddenly stopped at the doorway, making the gang confused before Fred saw something. “Wait a second…”

Fred grabbed strings holding up the phantoms, which seemed invisible to someone not paying attention, and yanked down on them, pulling two men down from the ceiling and onto the floor… two men that Velma recognized. “It’s Blair and Culhane!”

But before anything else could be said, rattling and screaming caught Daphne’s attention… and it sounded close. “Hey… do you guys hear something?”

That’s when their attention turned to Shaggy freaking out in the cupboard, making the gang realize that they needed to get Shaggy out of there to a safe place… fast!

XXXXXXXX

After the police had arrived, Culhane explained why they had haunted the house while paramedics were taking care of Shaggy and his… little breakdown. “Once we'd scared everyone off, we could've bought this place for next to nothing. Anyway, that was the plan. And we would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for…”

However, Shaggy’s screaming as he was carried into the ambulance cut Culhane off, causing him to growl in frustration. “Could you get him to hold it down? I'm trying to confess here!”

And just like that, Shaggy was placed in the ambulance, Blair and Culhane were put into custody, and the rest of the gang followed the ambulance to the hospital to await word on Shaggy’s condition.

XXXXXXXXX

The doctor seemed utterly surprised that Velma had explained the situaton so calmly... and the fact that the ponies seemed so calm around the explanation too, although they were worried about Shaggy, nonetheless. “So, that’s a… normal evening for you, is it?”

Then, the doctor heard a variety of responses.

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

“It is sometimes for us.”

“Pretty much.”

“I see…” the doctor nodded slowly before looking at Shaggy. “Well, let’s take you back and get some x-rays.”

“Mind if I go with you, doc?” Sunny asked, putting her hoof on Shaggy’s hand. “My friends can stay with the rest of the gang, and I wanna be there for Shaggy while he’s still… fragile.”

“Sure thing,” the doctor nodded, helping Shaggy off the bed. “Follow me.”

“Guys, tell the gang what’s been going on since we last saw them, and we’ll be back from the x-rays soon,” Sunny told her friends, and then, she and Shaggy left the room with the doctor, leaving the others alone.

XXXXXXXX

“...and then, our cutie marks glowed, and we were sent to this hospital and followed the sound of Shaggy’s screaming until we found you guys,” Izzy said, finishing up the events from the last little while and from their last Unity Quest. “So, yeah! You’re pretty much caught up!”

“Well, now that you know what's been going on with us, we have to know... what’s been going on with you guys before this all happened?” Hitch asked. “You’re never gonna believe this,” said Velma with a bit of excitement in her voice, “but we went to Ireland to Daphne’s family castle, where we solved the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster!”

“No way!” Zipp exclaimed. “Was it the real deal? Or just a guy in a mask?”

“Guy in a mask,” Scooby bluntly answered. “A really big 50 foot mask, but yeah,” Fred nodded. “But it was a really big adventure that none of us will forget,” Daphne said with a chuckle. “I’m just really glad to see you guys.”

“We are too,” Misty nodded. “I have to show you some new spells I’ve been working on!”

Then, Shaggy and Sunny returned with the doctor, causing Zipp to sigh in relief. “You’re back! How did the x-rays go?”

“Shaggy pulled through like a champ,” Sunny said proudly. “Even with the x-ray machine going near his stomach.”

“Like, thanks, Sunny, but I can’t take all the credit,” Shaggy said to the earth pony mare quietly. “You were there to help keep my head straight.”

“I’m always happy to lend you a hoof, Shaggy,” Sunny said with a small frown. “You know that as well as anypony.”

“Well, now that we’re back,” said the doctor, “we can take a look at these x-rays I managed to get.”

The doctor placed them on the lit board behind them, taking a good long look at the x-rays before humming in thought. “It would seem that Shaggy is suffering from acute threat avoidance hypertrophy disorder.”

“...I’m sorry, but what did you just say?” Hitch tilted his head. “Yeah,” Fred blinked. “Was that in English or Old Ponish?”

“It's a very rare form of overreaction to fear stimuli,” the doctor explained. “It affects fewer than one in 10 million.”

“Like, wow. I’m special!” Shaggy said with a light chuckle. “Of course, this means you'Il have to give up anything even remotely frightening,” the doctor said to Shaggy before turning to the whole group, ponies included. “So no more ghost-hunting, crime-busting, or mystery-solving shenanigans.”

This led Scooby to whine in disappointment. “No more shenanigans…”

“None,” the doctor said sternly with his hands on his hips. “Shaggy, as your doctor, I forbid you to get in the Mystery Machine.”

This led the entire group to gasp, their eyes wide with horror and shock. “But that means… the end of the Scooby-Doo gang!” Shaggy realized, and as the group tried to take in this information, all sad and in shock, Shaggy immediately sat up, surprisingly smiling. “So is there a cafeteria here or what?”

“Cafeteria food is yummy, yummy, yummy!” Scooby licked his lips before he and Shaggy walked out of the emergency room. “Shaggy, Scooby! Wait a minute!” cried Misty as she and Izzy raced after them. “We can talk about this! You don’t have to drown your sorrows in food!”

But, after their friends disappeared, Hitch turned to the others in shock. “What in Equestria just happened?”

“Honestly, Hitch?” Sunny sighed. “I wish I knew. We just have to be here for the gang when they really need us, and then we'll figure out what to do from there.”

XXXXXXXX

A few days passed since Shaggy was released from the hospital, and the ponies had to hang out mostly with Scooby, since apparently, the rest of the gang had some school during the week.

Not that the Mane 6 minded-- they needed some time to help the gang, and Shaggy, figure out what they were going to do since mystery solving was officially out of the question.

Finally, everyone's favorite day of the week (Friday) finally arrived, and everyone except Fred met up at a place called Shaky Joe's Coffee Shop. But instead of discussing the mysteries they were usually on, the group just sat around, trying to think of something to do with the gang's free time. “This is so, like, boring. What are we supposed to do if we're not solving mysteries?” Shaggy wondered, tapping his glass before turning to the man in charge. “Hey, Shaky Joe, what do you do in your spare time?”

“I knit!” the elderly man said, shaking as he poured some coffee into Scooby’s water bowl and as he got out a clump of yarn. “It’s a scarf.”

“Hmm…” Scooby inspected the coffee in his bowl, not sure what to make of the substance. Pipp and Daphne had been scrolling through social media in order to find something to do, when Daphne suddenly found something online. “Hey, here’s something we could do,” she told the others. “There's a crafts fair in McKimson Park.”

“Oooh, we could go there and make scarves, or pots,” Izzy named off, “or even some papier-mache!”

“Are you crazy, Daph?” Shaggy asked quietly as Izzy rambled on. “You know I’m terrified of papier-mache! That’s more of an Izzy think than it is a Shaggy thing.”

Scooby, on the other hand, sniffed the coffee in his bowl before taking a few slurps. In an instant, the caffeine started to make him go crazy, spinning around in his stool and shaking all to pieces.

Pipp hummed in thought as all this was going on before thinking of something. “I got it! We could go team bowling! Us ponies versus you guys!”

“No way,” Shaggy disagreed with the pink pegasus mare as Scooby began to run rapidly through the coffee shop. “Do you have any idea how many people are killed by bowling pins every year?”

“I'm guessing approximately none,” Velma said with a hint of sarcasm at the beginning. “Scooby-Dooby-Doo!!! Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!!” Scooby babbled excitedly before zooming off again. That's when Shaggy turned to the others again. “Just remember, guys-- I have to avoid all things that are scary because of my cute... trophy... disorder thingy.”

“We know, Shaggy, we know... as much as we hate to admit it,” Misty said comfortingly. “We’ll just have to keep trying and find something that works for everypony.”

Suddenly, Scooby leapt on Shaggy’s head and pranced repeatedly, a crazed look in his eyes that freaked the ponies out a bit. “Shaggy, Shaggy, Shaggy, Shaggy, Shaggy!”

“Um... Joe?” blinked Sunny in surprise. “What was Scooby-Doo just drinking?”

Shaky Joe glanced in the bowl before blinking in surprise. “Looks like coffee,” he said before pouring the coffee back into the bowl, unknowingly pouring it back into the bowl as he shrugged. “Gee, I wonder how that happened.”

“Gee... I wonder how,” Zipp rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Maybe one of us better round Scooby up before he accidentally breaks something.”

“Great! Who should do it?” Hitch asked before the others looked at Zipp teasingly. “Always the one who suggests it!”

Zipp growled in frustration at this. “I really trotted into that one, didn't I...?”

But as Zipp tried to go after Scooby, Fred came in through the door of the coffee shop, having left the school a few minutes ago. “Hey, every-- OOF!!”

Scooby barreled right into Fred, prancing on him before zipping off, with Zipp panting as she struggled to keep up with the overly excited dog. “Sorry, Fred-- Scooby has had more coffee than he meant to. Excuse me-- SCOOBY, WAIT UP!!!”

Zipp darted after the Great Dane, allowing Fred the chance to approach the group at their booth. However, he didn't seem too happy about the development, making Daphne a bit concerned. “What's the matter, Fred?”

“I'm failing science,” Fred sighed. “Mr. Fleischer didn't like my project.”

XXXXXXXX

“What?” Fred asked his teacher with innocence. “It illustrates all three of Newton's laws of motion.”

However, his teacher, who was still caught in the booby trap that Fred had created, still didn't look pleased.

XXXXXXXX

“Fred, forgive me for being blunt,” Hitch said with a tad bit of worry, “but maybe not every science project needs to be a booby trap.”

“Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo!!” Scooby howled before he blasted toward the ceiling, a tired Zipp collapsing near the table, letting Izzy pick the tired pegasus up after her chase. “If I don't come up with an extra-credit project, I won't graduate,” Fred told the others with a bit of concern. “You guys got any ideas?”

That's when Shaggy pointed to Scooby, running around in circles on the ceiling above them. “Like, how about the anti-gravity effects of caffeine?”

Izzy watched as Scooby ran around and around and around and around the ceiling, groaning after a few moments. “Oooh... somepony better come up with an idea fast, because I can't watch Scooby-Doobers run in circles anymore!”

Suddenly, Daphne seemed to remember something and began to dig through her purse. “I know... my Uncle Ted invested in this new spa resort in La Serena. Here's a brochure.”

Fred inspected the brochure of the spa, smiling at all the pretty girls on the cover, as well as the peaceful setting that the spa was built on. “Nice!”

“He's right about one thing... it does look really fancy,” Sunny said, peeking over Fred’s shoulder, “but what does this have to do with Fred’s extra-credit science project?”

“Well, there's news that there's a paleontological dig going on in town. Uncle Ted could get us a room in the spa and Freddy could volunteer to help on the dig,” she said as she handed the brochure to Shaggy. “The best thing about this is Shaggy can go. It'll be totally relaxing and not scary-- look!”

Shaggy looked over the brochure, humming in thought. “La Serena... the least haunted town in America. Huh... like, wow!”

“According to my social media research,” Pipp said, “La Serena has been officially certified by the U.S. Bureau of Supernatural Forces! So, it's pretty much terror free.”

“We should go!” Fred volunteered. “Come on, Shaggy, it'll be just like old times, only without all the screaming.”

Shaggy liked the idea of getting out and enjoying time that wasn't going to be spent solving mysteries, but then again... a new mystery could pop in out of nowhere, and he wasn't sure if he could handle it. “Yeah... I don't know, Fred.”

“We'll be with you the entire time, Shaggy,” Misty promised, taking the brochure from Shaggy to try and find something that would lure Shaggy into the idea. “Besides, it says La Serena has three different all-you-can-eat restaurants...”

That seemed to draw Shaggy in almost immediately, and wrapped an arm around the blue unicorn eagerly. “Like, when do we leave?”

“Yeah!” Scooby barked in agreement, causing the others to laugh, amused.

XXXXXXXX

After spending the rest of the afternoon at the coffee shop, Daphne called her uncle to get their plans arranged, and they all decided to set out for La Serena the next day...

...unaware of the prehistoric adventure that would follow from behind.

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