Once Shaggy had mentioned where they might be able to find the Goblin King's castle, everyone in the bar practically bolted, causing mass confusion in the group visiting from Equestria and the human world. As Shaggy began to wonder if it was something he had said, Zipp developed a theory of her own. “Hmmm… it seems like everyone in this world is scared of the Goblin King, and for good reason. Who wouldn't be afraid of someone with a name like that?” the white pegasus said. “Looks like we’ll have to find directions to the castle elsewhere.”
“Goblin patrol!”
“Hold it right there!”
Suddenly, ut of nowhere came two goblin guards, prompting Scooby to leap into Shaggy’s arms, and some of the mares let out a shriek of surprise. “Ooh, you’ve done it now, boys,” the taller goblin, called Glum sneered. “No one dares speak of the Goblin King.”
But just then, the smaller, chubbier goblin, Glob hit his partner smack-dab on the head with his weapon, resulting in Glum to cry out in pain. “Ow! What’d you do that for?”
“You said ‘Goblin King’,” Glob explained, which caused Glum to purposefully step on his foot, which caused a brutal fight between the two to go down. “Come on, guys,” Shaggy whispered. “Like, now’s our chance to vamoose!”
“Good idea,” Misty whispered. “But we gotta be careful, and keep Sparky close so his dragon fire doesn’t give us away.”
Quietly, the group crept close to the ground and tried to crawl away while Glob and Glum were arguing, but the goblins noticed them and stood in their way. “Hang on there!” Glob said, pointing his weapon right at them. “Just where do you think you’re going?”
“Uh, nowhere, sir!” Izzy fibbed. “We were just… uh… all going to the bathroom!”
But unfortunately, the goblins weren't fooled by this statement. “It’s off to the goblin dungeons for you,” Glum threatened, making the group become increasingly nervous. What if they were sent to the dungeons and never got out? Then their friends would in greater danger than they originally feared they would be. But just then, they heard an unfamiliar voice call out to them. “Come on, the party’s just getting started!”
Everyone looked up to see a living jack o’lantern at the top of a tall staircase, and by his side was a black earth pony filly with a green mane and tail with dark blue highlights, violet eyes, silver hooves like Zipp's and a cutie mark of a glowing candle, both looking rather confident. “So tell me, goblin boy,” the jack o’lantern said. “Is it a private fight, or can anybody join in?”
“Like, why not?” Shaggy said as he, Scooby and the ponies stayed back. “The more the scarier.”
The jack o'lantern laughed before he and the filly leapt down to face the goblins. “Step aside, you,” Glum ordered to the seemingly fearless duo. “Nobody messes with the Shadow Goblins.”
“Oooh… what are you gonna do? Breathe on us? Ha ha!” the filly laughed as if it was some sort of joke. “If you wanna go a few rounds with old Jack O' Lantern and legendary Mystique Blaze,” said the pumpkin challengingly, “right here, right now, let's rumble!”
But as soon as the goblins heard the pumpkin and filly’s names, they dropped their weapons and immediately backed up. “Oh, oh, oh. Hey-- Hey, come on, take it easy there, Jack,” Glob said in an almost pleading voice. “Come on, we're only doing our jobs. Please.”
“Wait till we tell the Goblin King about this,” Glum said as his partner smiled nervously. “You’re gonna be in so much trouble!”
This caused the two of them to get into another argument about saying ‘Goblin King’ again, and Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies weren't sure whether to run or stay right where they were. Suddenly, they heard the filly, now known as Mystique Blaze, speak to them. “Psst. Hey, come on,” she said, and the group turned to see Jack and Mystique at the top of the staircase. “This place is dead-- ha ha!” Jack joked. “Should we… trust them?” Hitch looked at Sunny for advice. “Well… they did save us,” Sunny hesitated with a shrug. “Come on.”
Leaving the squabbling goblins behind, the pegasus sisters flew up toward the top of the stairs to guide the others up there, and once they were at the top, Shaggy pushed open the doors leading outside, right into the graveyard they had walked through earlier. “You better watch it,” Mystique told the group as Jack bounced onto a headstone. “The last thing you want tonight are those good-for-nothing goblins coming after you.”
“But I gotta give you props. The Goblin King’s castle? Ha… what a riot-- you guys are whacked! I love it!” Jack burst out laughing, and Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies quickly became hopeful. “So, like, does that mean, you’ll… help us?”
“Look, you guys crack me up, but we can’t hang with you. I got my own deadline tonight,” Jack told the newcomers as they frowned, now hopeless and disappointed. “See my candle?”
Jack opened his mouth up to reveal a glowing on the inside of him, glowing brilliantly. “That's how long I got to get my Halloween on. Once it burns out, I'm burned out. You know what I'm saying?”
“I gotta say he’s right,” Mystique agreed. “You guys seem really nice, honestly. But… it’s just too risky for Jack, and I can’t let anything happen to him.”
“But, we do need someone to help us get to the castle,” Mindy spoke up. “Otherwise, our friends in the mortal world and in Equestria could be in mortal danger!”
That seemed to get Mystique's attention more than anything, but before anything else could be said, a horse’s whinny caused them to turn and look the other way. On the hill nearby was a black horse with red eyes, carrying a rider with tattered Civil War-era military garments. But the only thing about him was… he didn’t have a head!
This caused Shaggy, Scooby and the girls to shriek in terror. “Like, who’s the creep with the missing cranium?” Shaggy asked, leaving Mystique’s ears to pin nervously. “The Headless Horseman!”
As if on some sort of cue, the horseman cackled and charged right in their direction. “I am so tired of working with this guy,” Jack said nervously. “Quick, y-y-you gotta help me.”
“If we help you, will you guys help us?” Misty asked. “It seems like a fair trade!”
“I hate to admit it, but she’s right!” Hitch nodded. “Deal or no deal, right? And you better make up your minds quick!”
The sounds of the horseman cackling was getting closer and more intimidating, and after looking at a nearby pumpkin patch, then at Jack, Mystique made up her mind. “All right, you guys got a deal!” she said. “I know a place where we can hide! Follow me!”
Everyone quickly followed her lead (with Shaggy grabbing Jack) and ran into the pumpkin patch and hid amongst the pumpkins so the horseman couldn’t see which one was Jack or not. But to their horror, the horseman used his ax to slash pumpkins left and right, and when he got increasingly close, they decided to make a break for it.
Now, remember, ponies can run for quite a long distance, but if they didn't stop and rest for a few moments, they would get too tired to keep going, so they had to find a way to lose the horseman, and fast.
As they ran, Sunny took one look at Pipp, gasping as an idea entered her mind. “Pipp, the cards! We can use them to get the horseman off our tails!”
“Good idea!” Pipp took out the cards before tossing them to Scooby, who pulled out one of the magic cards, and Shaggy read it aloud while carrying Jack in his arms. “Shield of safety!”
Scooby, Pipp, Misty, Sparky and Hitch immediately halted and Scooby shook the card, prompting a giant guard to appear and blocked the path. But the mere sight of the horsemen sent the ‘fearless’ guard running for the hills, leaving the three of them unprotected. “RUN!!!” Misty screamed, and Scooby quickly led the group in an attempt to escape. Luckily for them, the horseman passed them by, but he was still pursuing Jack, Shaggy and the others down the path. “What do we do?” Hitch panted. “Our friends are in huge trouble!”
Pipp looked around before she noticed a side path next to the main one, and immediately got an idea. “Come on! I have a plan!”
Hitch sighed as the others followed Pipp down the path. “The four words society fears most…”
XXXXXXXX
During their time with Mystery Incorporated, Sunny and her friends had been chased by a lot of things, but never anything without a head. So while those remaining in that group were being chased by the horseman, Shaggy pulled out another magic card. “Wall of gnome!”
He tossed the card to the ground, prompting three gnomes to appear in the place of it. But, the horseman just plowed right through them and kept on chasing them. “Give me the cards, Shaggy!” Zipp exclaimed, and Shaggy tossed the pack to her, where she pulled out several more cards, entitled ‘Force of Flowers’, ‘Clown Calamity’ and ‘Baby on a Frog’, but none of those seemed to stop the horseman either. But, as Zipp slowed down to get another card, Shaggy tripped and tumbled into her, the cards, as well as Zipp, Shaggy, Sunny and Izzy (the latter two trying to catch their friends) went tumbling over the edge.
Unfortunately, this left Mystique and Jack on their own, running and hopping as fast as they could to make a desperate escape. But unfortunately, the horseman was able to get hold of Jack and use him as his new head, leaving Mystique to run for her life as the horseman set his eyes on the remaining ponies and Shaggy.
As they all were climbing out of the pond they fell in, they saw the horseman running in their direction, prompting them to run for a while. But, while they were trying to back away from the horseman, Shaggy tripped and fell to the ground, prompting the ponies to run to his aid and the horseman to chuckle murderously as he got closer to them. No doubt about it… they were trapped.
Sunny was just about to activate her alicorn form and try and protect the group, when a blast of purple fire hit the horseman, causing it’s horse to rear in panic. But Sunny didn’t send this blast out, nor did Izzy…
…it was Mystique! The filly’s eyes were glowing bright purple as a purple fireball appeared on her hoof. “LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!!!” she snarled, continuing to fire more as the others watched in shock. “Whoa,” Zipp said in an impressed tone. “That’s… probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen outside Equestria.”
“You said it!” Izzy cheered. “GO, MYSTIQUE, GO!!”
The black earth pony filly continued to blast fire left and right for a good minute or two… until she began to pant, the glow in her eyes fading. “Great… I gotta wait for my magic to recharge!”
Seeing that the group was no longer being defended, the horseman made an attempt to move forward when a familiar voice howled from out of nowhere. “Scooby-Doooby-Doooooo!!!!”
In on vines came Scooby, Hitch, his baby dragon, Pipp and Misty, swinging to their friends' rescue. Hitch, Sparky, Misty and Pipp were able to get their other friends away while Scooby grabbed Jack from the horseman's head. Unfortunately, the flames from Jack burned Scooby’s paws, causing the Great Dane to drop Jack, but Shaggy and the others were right below. “I got him!” Shaggy said, catching the pumpkin as Scooby dropped down into the horseman’s headless body before darting out of it in order to catch up with his friends as the horseman continued to give chase.
As they rounded a corner, Jack saw something that could help them escape. “Head for the covered bridge! It’s our only chance! AHHH!!!”
They raced across the bridge as fast as they could, and when they got across, they panted and looked behind them… only to see the Headless Horseman on the other side, angrily roaring with his horse rearing. “Hey! Wha… why did he stop?” Sunny wondered, trying to catch her breath. “Well, duh-- that’s the horseman’s one fatal flaw,” Jack answered. “He can’t cross covered bridges! Ha ha!”
“Like, I guess it’s true what they say,” Shaggy supposed with a smile. “It’s tough to get a-head in this town!”
This made the group burst into laughter as they watched the horseman ride away. After the laughter had died down, Mystique looked over at her new pony friends with a grateful smile. “Hey, thanks for helping us back there,” she said. “We really appreciate it. But now that I think about it, I seem to recall you saying your friends could be in danger? What do you mean by that?”
“Well… it’s a long story,” Nita admitted, “so I think it’s best we start at the beginning.”
“Well, then we’ve got all the time in the world,” Mystique said. “Come on. For whatever reason you need to get to the castle, we know some friends who can get you there.”
The ponies, Shaggy and Scooby smiled in relief before following their friends away. Maybe, just maybe…
…this would all work out for the best.