> G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King
>  by ponydog127
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Nightmare Night Bash in Zephyr Heights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four weeks... it had been four... grueling... weeks since the Mane 6 and Sparky had gotten back from their previous Unity Quest in London.

And while it was great to finally have a break from the adventuring and get over the terror they had to endure during their encounters with Professor Ratigan, many of them couldn't help but wonder what Paradise Moonray might be planning next if they stayed away from the quests too long.

Misty wasn’t as worried, though… she knew that with the stories that Alphabittle told her about Paradise when they first met and with the necklace Alphabittle once gave Paradise, she was convinced that she would be able to convince her mother to stop this evil plan, and they would once again be a happy family.

And as long as the others knew that Misty was sure about her plan, they were sure that they would succeed too.

But something was coming up that Pipp knew would temporarily distract her friends from their troubles... the first ever Nightmare Night party in Zephyr Heights that would involve all three different pony kinds! 

Queen Haven had been working with Alphabittle and Sunny for weeks to include all the traditions of each pony kind, including to make your own crystal lights, finding the Golden Pumpkin and a night full of dancing and fun.

Finally, the big night arrived, and Pipp gathered all her friends, including Rocky and Jazz (who were gonna get a ride to Zephyr Heights from them) met up at Mane Melody to get changed into their costumes.

Misty adjusted her magician hat on her head, looking at herself in the magic mirror. “Does my magician costume look okay?” 

“It looks amazing, Misty!” Izzy said, wearing a costume that seemed to include all kinds of gourds. “This Nightmare Night party is gonna be so much fun!”

“It sure will!” Zipp said, wearing her superhero outfit. “Mom always goes all out for the ones she did before, and now that all three pony kinds will be there, it’s gonna be the best one yet!”

“Yarr!!” Hitch exclaimed in a pirate tone of voice, causing Misty and Izzy to shriek and then giggle. Hitch, realizing he scared them, frowned. “Oh… sorry, guys,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No need for apologizing, Hitchie-poo!” Izzy brushed it off. “Getting scared on Nightmare Night is fun!”

Pipp then came out of the changing room, wearing a white robe, with white paint on her wings and a hoofmade halo above her head. “Ta-da!” she exclaimed. “What do you guys think?”

“Pipp! You look absolutely stunning!” Jazz said in her witch costume. “What made you get the idea for an angel costume?”

“I just thought about how I dressed spooky last year, and I wanted to dress ‘sweet and friendly’ this year, so an angel seemed really fitting.”

“And look at Sparky’s parrot costume me and Hitch made for Sparky!” Rocky said, holding up the baby dragon in the parrot costume as he was dressed in his skeleton costume. “He’s gonna be one of the hit attractions tonight, let me tell you.” 

“Hey, where’s Sunny?” Zipp asked. “We have to leave for Zephyr Heights in 10 minutes and we haven’t seen her costume yet!” 

“Coming!” Sunny’s voice echoed from the second changing room. “Just… just give me a second!” 

A few seconds later, Sunny emerged from the changing room with a fake mermaid tail that is blue with aquamarine swirls on it, along with a starfish barrette in her mane, and her signature saddlebag, and upon seeing her, her friends gasped and murmured in awe. “Sunny… that is an AMAZING costume!” Jazz smiled. “How come you didn’t tell us what you wanted to be before now?”

“Honestly, I wasn’t all that sure,” said Sunny with a shrug. “But when I remembered a story my dad told me where my mom wore a seapony costume a lot like this, I wanted to do it in her honor.”

“Well, we’re glad you’re finally changed,” said Zipp. “Come on, everypony, to the Marestream! We have a Nightmare Night party waiting for us in Zephyr Heights!” 

XXXXXXXX

The party in Zephyr Heights was really going into full gear by the time the Marestream finally got to the palace, and Queen Haven was watching the scene from her throne, dressed in a royal mask and royal gown. All that she needed for the party to be perfect was her darling daughters. 

“Mom! We’re here!”

Queen Haven’s head snapped up when she heard Zipp’s voice, and saw them entering the throne room with Zoom and Thunder. “Oh, my angels! You’ve arrived!” she said, flying over to hug them. “Happy Nightmare Night, one and all!”

“Happy Nightmare Night, Queen Haven!” smiled Misty. “Wow, you look spook-tacular!”

“Oh, thank you, dear!” Queen Haven smiled. “Everything is set up and ready to go, and I was hoping that Pipp, Jazz and Rocky might perform that little song they wrote 2 moons ago! How did that song go again…?”

“Monster Party! That’s my favorite song that the three of us sing together!” Jazz said before bowing. “We would be honored to perform it at the party, your highness.” 

“Wonderful!”

With this in mind, Queen Haven flew to a nearby microphone and got the attention of the ponies in the room. “Attention, everypony! I want to thank you all for coming to what will be the most spectacular Nightmare Night party Zephyr Heights ever hosted! And now, please put your hooves together for my darling daughter, Pipp Petals and her friends, performing a classic Nightmare Night song!”

Pipp, Jazz, Rocky and the other ponies were met with thunderous applause from the crowd, and when it died down, Zoom turned on the song from the speakers, and the group began to sing.  

Pipp: There's something kinda creepy 
Happening tonight

Jazz: So call your favorite ghoulies

Sunny: And get your costume right

Rocky and Hitch: They may look freaky
But I promise, they won't bite

Pipp: As they say the place is haunted
But the dancing's a delight

All: It may look scary
But don't be afraid
Cause nothing's what it seems
At a monster partay

It may look spooky
But don't have a fright
Cause at this monster party
We will rock all night

Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Cause nothing's what it seems
At a monster partay

Sunny: Frankenstallion's spinnin'
Makin' everypony move

Hitch: And the mummy pony's
Really bustin' loose

Pipp: The wizards and the witches
Got nothin' to prove

Zipp: They just keep on rocking

Misty: To the monster groove!

All: It may look scary
But don't be afraid
Cause nothing's what it seems
At a monster partay

It may look spooky
But don't have a fright
Cause at this monster party
We will rock all night

Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Cause nothing's what it seems
At a monster partay

Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Cause at this monster party
We will rock all night

Yeah, at this monster party
We will rock all night!

Once the song was over, all the participants at the party cheered wildly as the ponies took a bow for their performance. “Wonderful, just a wonderful show, my darlings!” Queen Haven told the group. “Now, everypony, continue to have yourselves a good time! The party will last as long as you can!” 

The attendees cheered and resumed the activities they started, and as the ponies got to talking again, Jazz gasped when she was suddenly caught offguard. “Guys! Your cutie marks are glowing!”

Zipp sighed, realizing she was right. “I guess we better head back to Maretime Bay.”

“It’ll take you a while,” Rocky frowned. “Should we come with you?”

“No, you guys stay and enjoy the party,” Sunny said. “By the time our mission is over, we’ll be back to pick you guys up.”

“All right, my darlings,” Queen Haven said, hugging Pipp and Zipp. “Please be careful. Paradise may be Misty’s mother… but it certainly seems like she’s under the wrong influence.”

“We will, Mom,” Pipp said with great sincerity. “Count on it.”
> The Coolsville Halloween Carnival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ponies were on their way out to the Marestream to complete their next Unity Quest, but on their way outside, something strange happened. Their cutie marks began to glow brightly, sending streaks of magic to a nearby wall, causing a portal to quickly ignite. “That’s strange,” Zipp hummed. “Our cutie marks have never made a portal to our Unity Quest destination outside the Brighthouse before.” 

“I’m definitely not complaining-- at least we don’t have to go ALL the way to Maretime Bay and then ALL the way back when we’re done,” Hitch said. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Misty asked them. “Let’s head into the portal and wherever this Unity Quest will take us!” 

“Right behind you, Misty-Twisty!” Izzy said, and they followed the blue unicorn into the portal before it disappeared in a flash of light. 

XXXXXXXX

Coolsville’s annual Halloween carnival was one of the events that Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Incorporated crew had to come home for and take a break from mystery solving-- there hadn’t been one time that they hadn’t missed one. 

But this year would be entirely different than Halloweens in years past. This one would be a bit more… monstrous than ever. 

Now, back to the story.

The one ride that the gang couldn’t miss was the Ghost Coaster, one of the best roller coasters they’ve ever been on-- it was so terrifying, it was incredible! And that’s what the gang was riding now, a coaster filled with ghouls, goblins, witches and even a werewolf or too. And instead of being scared out of their minds, Scooby and Shaggy just laughed and had fun. 

Once the ride was over, the gang was out of breath, but smiling in delight as they got off. “Jeepers, that was seriously scary,” Daphne said. “Come on! Let's go again!” 

But the way Velma groaned told the red-headed girl otherwise. “Let’s not and say we didn’t.”

“I’m with Daphne,” Fred interrupted them with a smile. “The Ghost Coaster is by far the scariest ride at the Halloween Carnival.” 

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby were bouncing on the haunted castle bounce house, and Shaggy laughed. “Are you kidding?” he asked. “Like, that ride put the easy in cheesy!” 

“Yeah… cheesy!” Scooby giggled as they hopped off, with Daphne and Fred and Velma going behind a photo scene, with Fred as a vampire, Velma as a werewolf and Daphne as a witch. Daphne smirked at their best friends with a knowing smirk. “Are you sure you weren’t just a little bit scared?” 

“By all the blood sucking vampires?” Fred asked in a Transylvania-styled voice. “Howling werewolves?” Velma added with a smirk. “And wicked witches!” Daphne cackled, but Shaggy only chuckled, not frightened one bit. “Nice try, gang, but Scoob and I aren't scared of any of those phony old frights.” 

“Yeah, phony frights,” Scooby agreed with a giggle. “Come on,” Fred said with the same knowing smirk Daphne was wearing. “Not even on Halloween night?” Daphne asked, and Shaggy’s face grew into a smirk as well. “Ha! Are you kidding? Halloween is the one night when you know everything is fake!” he said before he gestured to all the nearby people in costumes. “Just take a look around! It's nothing but wannabe witches and goofball ghosts as far as the eye can see.” 

As for Scooby, the Great Dane  took one look at the cotton candy machine nearby and dove in, his head lathered with the sweet pink fluff, which he happily licked off his face. “Yum yum,” he said with a giggle, prompting Shaggy to laugh as he came over with a gigantic lollypop. “But I got to admit, a holiday invented just to eat candy can't be all bad.”

As Shaggy downed the lollipop in one gulp, a portal suddenly opened near the two of them, and the ponies stepped out of it, still dressed in their costumes. “Wow!” Izzy said in awe. “This town sure goes out for Nightmare Night! Or… Halloween. Heh heh, it’s so fun to say!” 

“Sunny, Misty, ponies!” Shaggy exclaimed happily. “You’re back!”

“Yippee!” Scooby howled, licking Misty on the face as the other gang members came closer. “Okay, okay, Scoobers!” Misty said, hugging him. “It’s great to see all of you too! Happy Halloween!”

“It’s an even better Halloween now that you guys are here,” said Daphne. “How many crystals do you guys still need to find?”

“Three more, and we should be able to snap my mom out of her evil plan,” Misty said with relief. “And the sooner we find them, the better.”

“Well, like, I hope you guys can stay and celebrate Halloween with us,” Shaggy said. “Especially with those kooky costumes!”

“Aww, thanks!” Pipp smiled, looking at her costume. “Designed by yours truly. Just wait till I see what I’m imagining for all of you!”

While Pipp, Misty and Sunny continued to talk to each other, Zipp had found a sign not too far away and pointed over at it.  “Hey, check it out,” she said, prompting Izzy, Hitch, Fred and the girls to come closer.  “Halloween Spectacular,” Velma read. “The Amazing Krudsky, master of magic!” 

 “This oughta be good,” Daphne said. “I’ll grab tickets before they sell out!” Fred offered before going in that direction. “And with our costumes, nopony will suspect a thing!” said Hitch. “It’s the perfect disguise-filled night to be looking for the crystal.” 

Meanwhile, the remaining mares watched patiently as Shaggy dunked his head into the apple-bobbing bucket, pulling out three apples before he downed the three of them in one bite. Sunny giggled and turned toward the Great Dane beside her with a smile. “Try and beat that, Scoob.” 

“Scooby-Dooby-Doooo!!” Scooby howled and cannonballed right into the bucket, causing a huge splash which came down on most of the group, leaving them wet beyond belief. “Scooby!” Velma and Daphne fussed, but when Scooby came up with all the apples in his mouth, they couldn’t help but smile and try and stifle a laugh. But nearby, a man in a top hat and coat couldn’t help but grumble in anger. “Confounded mutt!” he exclaimed. “Look what you’ve done! I’m soaked! Argh… wet dog smell…” 

Seeing that this man might not be really in a talking mood, the ponies and Sparky decided to take cover and make sure he would be safe to be around before revealing themselves. “Oh, wow! We know you! You’re the Amazing Krudsky!” Fred exclaimed as he approached with the tickets. “We were just on our way to catch your act,” Daphne told him. “Act?” Krudsky smirked. “The Halloween Spectacular is no mere act. Now, out of the way. I must go blow-dry my cummerbund.” 

“So, like, I guess we'll be seeing you inside,” Shaggy smiled, but before he left, he walked toward Scooby. “Three magic words,” he said. “No… dogs… allowed.” 

“Huh?” Scooby blinked in surprise, and they all watched as Krudsky stormed off. The ponies and Sparky came out of hiding, and they themselves couldn't believe what just happened. Scooby had made one tiny mistake, and Krudsky just banned him from seeing the show? “Can you believe the nerve of this guy?” Shaggy crossed his arms, displeased. “Master of magic… puh-lease! Like, what a bunch of Halloween hooey! All of us know that ponies can harness magic way better than he supposedly could.”

“Yeah-- hooey!” Scooby huffed, nose stuck up in the air. “He did seem pretty upset,” Sunny frowned. “Maybe we could try and talk to him, see if he can undo the banishment so Scooby can still see the performance.”

“I don’t think he’s in much of a talking mood, especially when it will come to Shaggy and Scooby,” Zipp interrupted. “We have to figure out another plan.”

But, suddenly, Shaggy thought of a little something to get Krudsky back for this unfair judgement. “Hey. That gives me an idea. Like, what do you say we get in on the act?” 

He whispered his plan to Scooby and Pipp, and by their excited and mischievous smiles, they were in. “Misty, wanna help?” Pipp whispered. “I don’t know,” said Misty. “Whatever you’re planning doesn’t sound good.” 

“Oh, come on, it’s fine! Nopony’s gonna get hurt. Trust me.”

Misty was still rather unsure of the idea, but she didn’t want to disappoint Pipp and cause tension. So, against her better judgment… she nodded. “Great! Meet us at the back of the tent when the show starts to get Scooby inside,” Pipp whispered. “And leave the rest to us.”

XXXXXXXX

While Fred, Daphne and Velma went inside the tent to watch the show, Sunny, Hitch, Izzy and Zipp watched from outside, just to keep an eye on things... and keep an eye out for their friends, who mysteriously disappeared as the show was about to begin. Soon, the show began, the red curtains pulling apart. “Once a year, on Halloween night, the powers of the dark meet the powers of the light!” 

Krudsky then appeared in a flash of light and a puff of some, causing the crowd to applaud in delight. “People of Coolsville, fix your slack-jaw gaze upon my dazzling powers!”  

Krudsky, after making this claim, waved his wand to ignite fireworks, much to the crowd’s delight, just before he set his wand on the table. “From the elegant parlors of Vienna to this unglamorous backwater, I, the Amazing Krudsky, have come to astound you! Abra-cam, kalabazam!” 

But, instead of a rabbit like he was expecting, Scooby’s head popped up from his hat! “Ta-da!” he exclaimed. “Scooby-Dooby-Doo! Hee hee hee hee!” 

Krudsky looked beyond surprised as the crowd laughed, thinking that this was all part of the act, while Sunny, Hitch, Izzy and Zipp's faces went as pale as ghosts, with their eyes wide. “What is Scooby doing?!” Hitch wondered in a whisper, keeping Sparky back and out of sight. “Sabotaging the show?!”

“This must be what Pipp, Shaggy and Scooby were whispering about earlier!” Zipp realized with a growl. “I am SO gonna get my sister for this.”

Shaggy then went onstage and removed the table cloth from the table while Misty and Pipp remained out of sight behind the curtains. “Like, check it out-- that's not magic. This table has a hole in it!” Shaggy showed off, causing the crowd to gasp. “Confound it…” Krudsky growled. “You’re ruining my--” 

But before he could finish, he fell right underneath the stage with a scream. “And would you look at that? Like, a trapdoor built right into the floorboards!” Shaggy said, nudging Scooby playfully. “That must be how he magically appeared on stage.” 

“Oooh… uh-huh, uh-huh,” Scooby nodded enthusiastically. “There’s no mystery here, Scoob,” Shaggy said to the dog loud enough for the crowd to hear.  “Like, the Amazing Krudsky is just a make-believe magician.”

The crowd instantly didn’t like hearing that Krudsky was a fraud, beginning to boo at him and jeer, resulting all of them leaving the show early. “No, please!” Krudsky protested, struggling and climbing out from the trapdoor. “C-Come back! I can explain!” 

But it only took one child sticking their tongue out at him that made Misty gulp nervously. “Pipp? You think we MAY have taken things a little too far?” 

“...maybe a little,” Pipp grimaced as she nodded. “But just a little.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Krudsky threatened, closing himself behind the curtains on the opposite side of the stage that the ponies were on before opening them again. “And your big dog too!” 

Once Krudsky had disappeared behind the curtains again, Misty and Pipp came out of hiding. And that's when the real fear set in-- when their friends heard about this... Misty was sure that they were in serious trouble.
> Trouble Sets In/Mr. Gibbles' Genuine Magic Shoppe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Needless to say, the carnival officials weren’t happy with their set of actions, and booted the entire gang out of the carnival and sealed the gate shut on them. “Way to go, you guys,” Fred frowned in disappointment. “You got us kicked out of the carnival.”

“Pipp, I can’t believe you guys would stoop so low!” Zipp scolded. “I get you wanted to get back at Krudsky for kicking Scooby out of the show, but you can’t go sabotaging people whenever you feel like they deserve it! There's always a better way to do this than to do it unrationally!”

“Unrationally?!” Pipp screeched. “It was Shaggy’s idea, not mine! If anything, Misty and I were just helping!”

“I don’t care who had the idea at the moment! All of you are to blame for ruining the performance, no matter who did what!”

“Zipp, Pipp. Both of you, calm down,” Sunny said gently. “Yes, what they did was wrong, but they feel generally bad about it. I’m sure they’re never gonna do it again… right, guys?”

“...yeah. Sorry, sis,” Pipp said in a soft voice. “Me too,” Scooby said with pinned ears. “So are Shaggy and me,” Misty nodded before turning away and sighing to herself. “I wish I hadn’t ignored that gut feeling… now my plan to AVOID tension has turned INTO tension…”

Hitch suspiciously eyed her when she was murmuring to herself. “Misty, you okay?”

“I-I didn’t say anything!” Misty stammered. And even though Hitch knew she was lying, he decided to let it go until she was ready to tell him. “Now what are we supposed to do?” Daphne wondered. Just then, the bell tolled nine times, meaning it was nine o’clock-- a little past Sparky's bedtime. “Don’t sweat it, gang,” Shaggy reassured the group. “There’s still one Halloween hoax we do believe in.”

Zipp raised an eyebrow at them. “And... what's that?”

XXXXXXXX 

Trick or treating was the one thing Shaggy and Scooby looked forward to more than anything else, and Zipp wondered why she never thought about it before. With that being said, the gang went back to the Mystery Machine to pick up their costumes before heading throughout the neighborhood with the ponies, with Shaggy and Scooby’s costume changing a couple times so they got the right fit.

By the most recent house they went to, Shaggy had decided on a ghost costume while Scooby was dressed as a vampire, and Daphne was a cat, Velma was a pumpkin and Fred was a mummy. Shaggy and Scooby’s sacks were filled to the brim with sweets, as were the ponies' bags, to which they stopped and feasted on the candy for a moment. “Hey, Scoob!” Shaggy laughed as he jumped into his sack. “Ha-ha… like, check it out-- the world's first candy hot tub! Ha ha!”

“Yeah,” Scooby giggled enthusiastically before eating more of his candy. “Okay. I think that's enough trick-or-treating for one night,” Daphne smiled with her hands on her hips. “It’s getting late.”

Hitch nodded tiredly as Sparky yawned. “Good idea-- this baby dragon and his daddy are beat.”

“Oh… one more, please?” Misty asked sweetly. “Me and my friends are gonna keep an eye on them the entire time.”

“Okay, you guys go ahead,” Fred chuckled in agreement. “We’ll grab the van and meet you back here.”

“Scooby-Dooby-Doo!!” Scooby howled in delight. After bidding goodbyes to their friends, Shaggy and Scooby led the ponies and Sparky down the street in search of their next house when Sunny stopped-- she could have sworn she saw something sparkly flying over them… but what was it? “Sunny!” the earth pony mate heard Izzy call. “Come on! Shag and Scoob are gonna get all the good stuff!”

“...coming!” Sunny looked up at the sky one more time in search for the flying thing before following her friends.

XXXXXXXX 

What Sunny didn’t realize was that glowing light was actually a fairy, flying through the October sky toward the carnival… into the very tent where Krudsky was packing up his magic materials. “Blast those teenage troublemakers…” Krudsky muttered as the fairy landed on the bookshelf behind him. “If word of this gets out, I'll be ruined! It's not my fault I'm a big phony-- I've spent a lifetime in search of real magic.”

He picked up a book and flipped through it. “I've studied every spell, spoken every incantation,” he tossed the book away. “There must be something I'm missing.”

The fairy accidentally lost her balance and fell over, tipping over a book onto the ground and turning itself to a specific page. When Krudsky turned to see what the commotion was, the book had flipped to a page showcasing a scepter-like object with bat/goblin like wings, and a glowing green orb, causing him to gasp. “The Goblin Scepter, fabled wand of the great Goblin King!” he picked the book up and read out loud from its pages. “Bewitched by the darkest magic, he who holds the Goblin Scepter, holds the magic of Halloween in his grasp! It must be a sign! Somehow, someway, tonight… the Goblin Scepter… will be mine!”

The fairy gasped at what she had caused as Krudsky cackled toward a mirror he had nearby. “Prepare yourself, Krudsky! You’re finally going up in the world!” 

Smirking, the fairy decided to play a few little pranks on Krudsky, using her fairy magic to levitate him into his costume trunk and causing him to become increasingly angered. “Who is responsible for this indignity?” he boomed, getting out of the chest and looking around. “Think this is funny, do you? Show yourself this instant!”

He pounded the desk, causing the fairy to flap her wings and fly around him repeatedly. “Pesky insect…” Krudsky sneered, and grabbed a fly swatter to swat the fairy down. However, she was too quick, and he ended up falling over repeatedly trying to get her. But unfortunately, the fairy didn’t see through her giggling that she was heading straight toward the wall, knocking her down and allowing Krudsky to trap her with the fly swatter. “Gotcha!”

When Krudsky lifted the swatter to see what had been annoying him, he gasped in surprise when he saw a tiny fairy regaining consciousness. Remembering something that he saw in one of his books, he flipped to the ‘F’ section and found the section about fairies, reading it out loud. “If a mortal catches a fairy on Halloween… the fairy’s magic can be stolen using the following spell!”

Krudsky’s eyes lit up in greed-- this fairy’s magic was just what he needed to get the Goblin Scepter from the Goblin King! And with that spell, he could take it right from her.

As he read this, however, a small red breezie with an orange mane and tail and violet eyes flew past the tent, hiding from Krudsky as he cackled, placing the fairy inside his hat and waved his wand around above her, ready to speak the incantation. “By the fearsome powers of Halloween night… give to me this fairy’s light!” 

A sickening green light emerged from the fairy as Krudsky cackled, that very light filling the tent while no one except that one, small breezie was around. “When he's away from Willow, I'll lead her to Mr. Gibbles' place. He'll know what to do...”

XXXXXXXX 

Shaggy and Scooby led their pony and dragon friends  around the entire neighborhood, looking for the perfect final house to go trick-or-treating at. When they were just about to give up, they saw the perfect Halloween-styled house, right behind a large metal gate. “Here we are, guys,” Shaggy said. “Last house on the block.”

The house looked to be pretty old-- at least 100 years or so, by looking on the outside. Through Scooby’s eyes, the gate and house looked rather creepy, and let out a frightened whimper. “Boy, you said it, Scooby-- talk about a kooky crib,” Zipp said. “Though... it is kind of an intriguing structure. Maybe... maybe we can go closer and check it out.”

They walked closer toward the gate, which read at the top ‘Mr. Gibbles’ Genuine Magic Shoppe’. And once he saw this, Shaggy chuckled with a smirk. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Scoob,” he said. “It’s just more Halloween hogwash that doesn’t have to do with Equestrian magic... the only magic we KNOW is real.”

“Oooh… heh heh heh heh,” Scooby giggled, glad there was nothing to really be afraid of. “Guys, I'm glad you're so loyal to us and want to help protect our magic,” Sunny smiled. “But you never know... there may be magic out in this world that isn't Equestrian magic, and you wouldn’t even know it.”

Scooby giggled and rolled his eyes playfully at her. “Uh-huh. Sure, Sunny.”

But all of a sudden, the gate creaked open without them touching it, and the door suddenly opened after that, making Shaggy gulp. “But, like… shouldn’t we have knocked first?” 

“Yeah… we should’ve… knocked,” Scooby trembled in fear. And while they were scared, Izzy knew there had to be a good score of candy at this place. “Let’s just go in,” she said, slightly nudging Scooby’s rump. “I mean… they wouldn’t have wanted us to come inside if the door wasn’t open.”

“Y-Yeah… Izzy's probably right,” Hitch nodded, and the group followed the lavender unicorn toward the doors before peeking inside. Everything inside seemed to be rather old and dusty, looking like there hadn’t been someone shopping or in here for a while. “Like, check out this creep-show convinience store,” Shaggy entered first and looked around the main foyer of the store, followed by the curious ponies, an excited Sparky and a reluctant Scooby. Despite looking pretty old, everything seemed to be in the perfect condition. “Look at all this stuff!” Sunny said, rubbing against an old mirror. “Whoever lives here must be keeping all of this in great condition.”

“Yeah... but who lives here?” Zipp wondered. “And how come they have so much antique stuff laying around?”

“Huh... maybe they shop at a lot of thrift stores,” Misty shrugged. “I'm not really too sure.”

“Hey, Scoob!” Shaggy put on an old hat nearby. “Like, just call me Merlin the Mostest Magician!”

“Ha ha! Good one, Shag,” Pipp chuckled at him with the playful roll of her eyes. Right now, Scooby made faces in front of a large mirror he found. He stopped to giggle in amusement, but when he looked at the mirror again, his reflection was still making faces at him. Scooby looked at the mirror in confusion-- what was going on? 

Suddenly, his reflection growled and scared Scooby out of his wits-- so much so that he leapt right into Shaggy’s arms. “What is it, Scooby-Doo?” Misty asked in concern. “Magic mirror!” Scooby pointed at the object. “Magic mirror!!”

But when the group looked again, the mirror was back to normal, as if Scooby’s encounter never happened. “A magic mirror? Come off it, Scoob,” Shaggy chuckled at his dog. “What are you, afraid of your own shadow?”

“I don't know, Shaggy... I've had some sort of funky feeling about this place,” Zipp said, glancing around at the walls. “Something doesn't feel right, a-and I think maybe we should leave.”

“Leave?” Misty asked curiously. “But why?”

But after he said such, a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning made them freeze in their tracks, and the door slammed shut, causing most of the group (namely Hitch, Sparky, Izzy, Misty, Shaggy and Scooby) to cling to one another, just before they heard a voice out of the silence. “Who dares speak of the shadows on Halloween night?”

A bolt of lightning revealed someone else at the top of the stairs before it went dark again, and the group gasped-- they had no idea anyone else was in here. The figure came down the stairs, revealing himself to be an older man with bushy eyebrows, white hair, pointy ears and blue eyes, wearing a purple shirt with a maroon vest. “A wizard must be careful with his words,” he said, and this caused Shaggy to gulp, still a little startled. “Our bad. Like, we’re new here.”

“Yeah… new here,” Scooby agreed while the other ponies just nodded. “We’re really sorry if we were intruding, sir,” Sunny apologized. “The doors and gate kinda came open and... we kinda let ourselves in without permission.”

With the wave of his hand, the man ignited every candle in the room, a bright smile on his face. “It's no problem, my dear. Always delighted to meet new customers-- always, always! Especially when Equestrians are in my presence,” he said enthusiastically. “Welcome to Mr. Gibbles, where the magic is real at prices that are unreal.”

The ponies seemed pretty confused at what he was saying, but they seemed to find this man comforting and made them feel good. “Sorry, but you’ve got us all wrong,” Shaggy told the man with a smile, thinking he was confused.. “Like, we’re not customers, we’re consumers! Like…”

“Trick or treat!!” the friends exclaimed, holding open their candy bags expectedly. “Trick or treat, eh…?” Mr. Gibbles said to no one in particular. “Well then… I choose ‘trick’!”

There was a particularly blinding light, causing the group to be blinded for a few moments, and when the light vanished, the elderly man had disappeared! “Huh?!”

“Hey!” Izzy cried. “Where did he go?!”

But they didn’t have to look around for him long, for Mr. Gibbles quickly appeared in between them, beginning to sing a festive Halloween song. 

Mr. Gibbles: Witches and warlocks
Ghosts and ghouls
One night a year
They break all the rules

You never know who’s at the door
On Halloween night
Spirits from the shadows
Creeping into the light

Werewolves howl and vampires take a bite

Pipp, Misty and Sunny: AHH!!!

Mr. Gibbles: That’s scary!

Don’t you know there’s still hope
Take it from me
You can have protection
For a nominal fee

Tonight, the dark and light unite
A magical mystery

Spell books, potions
They fly off the shelves
We offer a discount
To trolls and elves

When danger’s at the door
On Halloween night
If you master magic
You can put up a fight

Face your fears, the power’s here
At Gibbles’ the price is right…!!

Shaggy and Scooby were among those completely speechless... no one knew what to say at that point. 

One thing was for certain in the ponies' eyes... this was definitely going to be an unforgettable Unity Quest for certain.
> A Brand New Halloween Adventure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shaggy and Scooby could hardly believe what they were hearing... they always thought Equestrian magic was the only kind of magic in their world, but now realizing that Halloween magic was in their world too? 

They had to admit it... this was quite a lot to take in, and had a lot of questions about the matter. “See?” Sunny quietly broke the silence with a knowing nudge. “I told you there would be more magic than just ours out there!”

“Yeah... really cool magic!” Hitch smiled. “And it could be dangerous if Paradise gets hold of this magic,” Zipp reminded. “We have to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hooves, whether Paradise is going to be reformed or not.”

Just then, there was a knocking noise coming from the nearby window, and then there came a tiny voice. “Mr. Gibbles!” it frantically spoke. “Mr. Gibbles, please! Please open up! We need your help!”

Mr. Gibbles turned to see a tiny fairy, the same fairy that Krudsky had sucked the magic out of earlier, banging on the window with the red breezie from earlier, and his worries immediately sparked. “Galloping ghosts!” he exclaimed, and went over to the window. “Brushfire and Fairy Princess Willow!”

But while Mr. Gibbles went to open the window, the others stood in complete shock, gulping before staring at each other. “F-Fairy Princess?!”

“And a breezie!” Misty exclaimed. “That proves that our magic and this new Halloween magic really intertwine with one another!”

Mr. Gibbles finally got the window open, letting the tiny fairy fly inside the shop. “Your Highness, what are you both doing here?”

“Please, listen-- there isn’t much time!” Willow said. “An evil magician has stolen my fairy powers!”

“The only way she was able to escape is because I helped her slip away while his back was turned,” Brushfire said worriedly. “He could come after Willow and potentially me at anytime! You have to close the shop before he finds us and those ponies here! He could easily try to steal their magic too!”

The red breezie and her fairy best friend proceeded to fly into the shop, allowing Mr. Gibbles to close the window, but the shopkeeper was still confused. “Close my magic shop? On Halloween night?” he questioned before chuckling. “Oh, another one of your pixie pranks.”

“I gotta say... that doesn't sound like a very funny prank,” Sunny said. “Someone stealing magic is a huge deal-- we should know for obvious reasons!”

“That’s because the reason this isn't funny is cause this isn't a prank!” Brushfire said, landing on her hoof. “You all could be in total trouble if you stay here! If I were you, I would hide like I told Willow to do!”

“You should get these ponies and their friends someplace safe, Brush, before he gets here,” Willow told her before flying into the open grandfather clock. “Please, you must hurry, before it’s too late!” 

And without another word, Willow closed the clock door, and Sunny turned toward her friends. “Guys, this sounds pretty serious. Maybe we should help the princess and Brushfire try to find a place to hide out for a while.”

“Trust us... we know when there's a scam involved here,” Shaggy said as he and Scooby began to slowly back away toward the door. “Speaking of late, like, don’t bother showing us the door,” Shaggy then told Mr. Gibbles. “If there’s one thing we know, it’s how to make an exit.”

But before they could dash out, there was a rumbling sound that caught them off guard... coming from right outside. “Well... that doesn’t sound too good,” Hitch said, hugging Sparky. “What do we do?”

“That’s an obvious question!” answered Brushfire with exasperation in her voice. “Hide! And no matter what, don't let that magician see you!”

The ponies immediately shrieked, taking the breezies advice and darted into hiding, ducking into several tight nooks, crannies and dark corners, while Misty noticed that Shaggy and Scooby were still standing in front of the door, not sure what to do next. “Shag, Scoob, get out of there!” she whispered loudly from where she and Brushfire were hiding. “If you don't, it isn't gonna end well!”

Before the boys could respond, the doors then burst open, trapping Shaggy and Scooby behind the doors as evil laughter and a cold wind came through, putting all the candles out, much to Mr. Gibbles' shock. “Mr. Gibbles Genuine Magic Shoppe. My, what an impressive emporium,” said a voice that sounded all too familiar. “Mind if I have a quick look around?”

Shaggy and Scooby managed to push the doors off of them and the ponies peeked out of their hiding places just enough to see who had barged in there in such a manner-- it was Krudsky! And automatically, the four feared the worst… that Krudsky was the one who stole the magic from Willow, and he came here looking for her. 

Zipp sighed from where she was hiding, rolling her eyes. “Why did I have a feeling this was gonna happen...?”

“Zipp, quiet!” Sunny shushed quietly, pulling out her phone. “I wanna record all of this to look back on later if we needed it.”

“I'm sorry, we were just closing for the night,” Mr. Gibbles said to Krudsky nervously. “Uh, perhaps you can come back next year?”

“I’ve waited long enough,” Krudsky sneered, advancing toward the same mirror that Scooby had proclaimed to be a magic mirror, and he chanted an incantation. “Mirror mirror, tall and sleek, show me the fairy that I seek.”

His reflection quickly altered into the shape of the grandfather clock Willow was hiding in, and Krudsky instantly turned to it with an evil smirk. “Ah… there you are…” 

Then, a fiery red magic enveloped his hands before he blasted the face of the clock, revealing Willow inside. From their hiding places, the ponies gasped but tried to restrain themselves in order to not give themselves away. “Fickle fairy…” Krudsky growled. “Thought you could escape me while my back was turned?”

“Ugh! Typical mortal!” Willow scoffed. “Stealing my fairy magic wasn’t enough? Once you have a little power, all you want is more, more, more!”

“I know… isn’t it marvelous?” Krudsky asked in delight. “Now… obey your master! Dominatum triumphous!”

His hands shot out an electric green light that formed around Princess Willow, painfully trapping her in a glowing green orb. Brushfire tried to get out to her, only for Misty to gently grab her wings to not give away her location. “No!” Mr. Gibbles tried to stop Krudsky from leaving, but Krudsky remained pretty much unaffected. “Old fool. Ears of fuzz, tail of cotten,” Krudsky chanted, “powers of good meet the powers of rotten!”

His blast of red magic immediately hit Mr. Gibbles, turning him into a white rabbit, much to the horror of Shaggy, Scooby and the Equestrians, still being as silent as they could be. “Now hop along,” Krudsky mocked, and Mr. Gibbles hopped away as soon as Krudsky fired up his magic again. “I’ll just pick up a few things while I’m here.”

Krudsky’s magic stretched out to just about everything in the shock, and once he got hold of everything he wanted, the evil magician flew out of the top of the house and into the night, leaving the friends that remained completely horrified. “Zoinks…” Shaggy muttered. “Don’t look now, Scoob, but I think the ‘Not-So-Amazing Krudsky’ just got his act together.”

“Gee… ya think?” Zipp asked sarcastically as the group came out of hiding. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid!” Brushfire said worriedly. “And now that he has Willow, who knows what else he's planning!”

But before anything else could be said, the rabbit-turned Mr. Gibbles hopped forward. “Don’t worry, lads and lasses,” he reassured. “We may yet save the fairy princess and Halloween! I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve…”

Then, he reached his arm up into his ear and began feeling around for something, causing the girls to slightly grimace. “Ugh, I hate to break it to you... that’s not his sleeve,” Pipp said quietly with a gulp. “Uh-uh…” Scooby agreed, with the same slightly-disgusted look on his face. After a few moments. Mr. Gibbles finally managed to pull a crystal ball out from his ear and set it on the floor, prompting Shaggy to laugh nervously. “Like, we’d love to stick around,” he said, “but I just remembered-- Scoob and I are deathly allergic to magical talking rabbits.”

“Uh-huh,” Scooby nodded simply. “Seriously?” Sunny raised an eyebrow skeptically at them. “Since when did you develop this supposed allergy?”

“Uh... since now?”

Before anything else could be said, Scooby and Shaggy pretended to sneeze in a very violent manner, and the ponies smiled nervously, as this was pretty embarrassing when such a disaster was upon them. After Shaggy and Scooby stopped their sneezing fit (thanks to Zipp and Pipp lightly smacking them), Mr. Gibbles put his paws on the crystal ball as it began to glow with a bright pink light. “Crystal burning bright with fire,” he chanted, “future secrets I desire.” 

Suddenly, as the others watched the crystal’s glow, a voice came from inside it-- Daphne’s voice. “Oh, Scooby-Doo!” she exclaimed. “Where are you?!”

“Huh?!” Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies exclaimed with shock, and got closer to the crystal to investigate. “This seems just like Opaline’s mirror pool!” Misty realized. “I think I see a picture coming inside it!”

Turns out, inside was an image of Fred, Velma and Daphne on the Ferris wheel, and the three were clinging to teach other for dear life as Krudsky cackled, holding a scepter in reach. “This shall teach you to meddle in the affairs… of MAGICIANS!!”

Krudsky blasted Fred, Daphne and Velma with a strong blast of magic, and the bright flash caused the girls to look away from the image. And when they turned back to it, they and their friends witnessed the most horrible thing they had ever seen-- Velma was being turned into a werewolf, Fred into a vampire and Daphne into a witch. And once the transformation was complete, Velma howled mindlessly to the full moon above. 

After this, the image faded from the crystal, but that didn’t stop the fear from creeping up onto the frightened friends. “Oh no!” Scooby howled in fright, hugging onto Misty tightly. “Zoinks!” Shaggy cried. “Like that magical maniac just gave the gang an extreme monster makeover!”

“A-And us ponies have no idea how to reverse the spell that was put on them!” Hitch said as Sparky whimpered nervously. “What do we do?!”

“No, my friends,” Mr. Gibbles was quick to reassure. “It is the future you have seen.”

For a brief moment, the fear slipped off of the friends’ faces, only to be replaced with utter confusion, turning to look at one another. “The future?” Brushfire questioned. “As in, the cryptic stuff that hasn’t happened yet? And therefore might be changed if we embark on a perilous quest to alter the hands of destiny? You mean that kind of future?”

“Something like that, yes!” Mr. Gibbles answered, and this made Shaggy and Scooby gulp. “Like, I was afraid of that,” Shaggy responded. “Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “Me too.”

“We must act quickly!” Mr. Gibbles said urgently, running toward the direction of a bookshelf. Then, he plucked a book off the shelf and flipped through it before reaching a page that had the same scepter they saw in the crystal. “See for yourselves,” he said. “The magic scepter of the great Goblin King himself.”

Hearing this instantly made the group’s blood run cold, and they found themselves shaking quicker than ever thought possible… now with learning other kinds of magic, specifically Halloween magic, was real and all. “G-G-Great Goblin King?!”

“Don’t you see?” Mr. Gibbles gestured back to the book he was holding. “Krudsky has stolen the light magic from Princess Willow-- now he only needs the dark magic of the Goblin Scepter to complete his power!”

Hearing this made some of the ponies gasp and gulp nervously, not liking the sound of that. “Okay… like, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Shaggy shrugged. “Not so bad?!” Brushfire repeated. “Shaggy, listen to what you're saying! This cosmic tragedy would practically destroy the very balance of the supernatural order!”

But this response only led to more confusion, and Mr. Gibbles decided to put it into terms they could understand more clearly. “This world would fall into chaos,” he explained. “And the powers of Halloween night would rule here forever, turning everyone into horrible Halloween monsters, just like your friends!!”

Now, Shaggy and Scooby understood how dire the circumstances had now become. “Well… when you put it that way…” Shaggy started, and Scooby ended the sentence with a nervous whimper. “Wait-- everyone would be turned into monsters?” Pipp clarified, causing Mr. Gibbles to nod. “Our friends from Bikini Bottom... the Smurfs… our friends from everywhere we visited! Monsters for life!” Misty cried out, putting her hooves on Scooby’s shoulders. “Shag, Scoob, we gotta stop him!”

“Mr. Gibbles, is there any hope of getting the Goblin Scepter before Krudsky does?” Sunny asked in a firm voice. “There is,” Mr. Gibbles answered, and the group made sure to listen carefully. “You must travel to the land of the Halloween spirits. There you will seek the hidden castle of the great Goblin King. Sneak into the castle undetected, grab the Goblin Scepter, and make your escape before the stroke of midnight!”

The way Mr. Gibbles explained the plan made it sound really easy, but Shaggy knew far better-- that’s why his first response was a nervous laugh. “Like, is that all?” he asked before turning to his Great Dane companion. “Scoob, old buddy. Like, next year, what do you say we just skip Halloween and go right on to Thanksgiving?”

Scooby’s only response? Leaping into Shaggy’s arms with fearful sobs to follow. “Come on, buck up, guys!” Izzy said encouragingly. “It has to be us-- we saw first-hoof what Krudsky could do with just fairy magic, and if he gets his hands on the Goblin Scepter, our world is doomed for eternity! So… are you guys coming or not?”

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other in surprise for a few moments-- they had never heard Izzy speak so passionately about anything before. But they supposed that since it was their friends in danger, they had to give it their best shot.

For their friends and everyone that their pony friends had ever met too.

So, against their better judgement, they agreed. “Excellent!” Mr. Gibbles exclaimed. “Meet me outside on the back porch once you’ve changed out of those costumes-- we gotta get you into the spirit world before the gateway closes.”

He then hopped out the door, prompting Pipp to finally take a deep breath. “So… we’re actually doing this?” 

“You bet we are,” Sunny said. “Come on-- we have work to do if we wanna prevent this horrible future from happening.”
> Into the Halloween World/Bump in the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quickly enough, the ponies, Scooby and Shaggy got changed out of their costumes and met Mr. Gibbles outside. It was chilly this time of year, but their hearts held the fire of determination, for it was up to them to find the scepter and save their friends from doom. “I wish there was more I could do for you, but take these,” Mr. Gibbles handed Shaggy some cards. “They should serve you well on the other side.”

“A deck of cards?” Shaggy asked skeptically. “These are magic cards,” Mr. Gibbles explained to him. “Hold one out like so, and read the inscription.”

The group looked a little skeptical-- how could a deck of cards be magical? “Eh... we might as well try it anyway,” Zipp shrugged. “Besides, they really might help.”

Shaggy took a card from the deck and held it out before reading the text on the front. “Like… demented disguises.”

Suddenly, a puff of purple smoke enveloped them for a few moments, and when it vanished, Shaggy and Scooby were now in their unique monster forms, and the ponies' bodies seemed see-through, almost ghostly. “Hey! Check it out, Scoob!” Shaggy commented. “Like, our very own monster mash-up!” 

“Cool!” Scooby giggled while they admired their new appearances. Mr. Gibbles laughed-- the card worked like a charm! “Marvelous. You’ll have no trouble blending in now, eh?”

“Hey, these cards are really something else with special effects!” Pipp said, grabbing the cards from Shaggy. “And I can still hold objects! That gives me an idea-- try another one, Scoob!” 

“Okay,” Scooby shrugged, and would have reached up to pick another card, if Mr. Gibbles hadn’t stopped him first. “No no no! You have to save them for emergencies,” he said. “Each card can be used only once. And be careful-- each magic lasts but a short time.” 

“Mr. Gibbles is right,” said Zipp as Pipp tucked the cards under her wing. “We need to think things through really well. Otherwise, Krudsky will win, and who knows what permanent damage he might do!” 

Then, before anything else was said, a train whistle echoed through the air, confusing the ponies and their friends-- there wasn’t any train close to them! Suddenly, as a crack in the ground formed, Mr. Gibbles pulled out a pocket watch. “Speaking of time,” he said, “you’ve got a train to catch.” 

“Train?” Zipp questioned. “But that’s ridiculous! There isn’t a train station around here for miles!”

“I think the ground would like to disagree, Zipp!” Misty pointed over the railing. “Look!”

The ponies, after exchanging glances with Shaggy and Scooby, walked and trotted and floated over to the railing of the porch where Misty was.  Then, before their very eyes, a ghostly train (with the engine looking like a skull) rose from the crack in the ground before landing in front of them, its train whistle sounding like a banshee screech and a wolf howl all in one. “Like, check out that freaky freight train!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Yeah,” Scooby nodded with a mixture of fear and worry. “Freaky.” 

“Eh, makes sense to me,” Izzy shrugged. “I mean, with the only way to the ghost world being a ghost train and all.” 

After this was said, the conductor (actually a conductor’s skeleton) appeared in the doorway of the passenger car. “Attention!” he announced. “Afterworld Express with one-way, nonstop service to… Sleepy Hollow, Hangman's Corner, and Ghost Central Station.” 

Each one of those spooky locations ran a shiver down the friends’ spines, and Shaggy finally turned to look at them with worry. “Scoob, old buddy, I think we're in for the ride of our afterlives.” 

But before Shaggy and Scooby could turn, they were dragged onboard, causing the ponies to swiftly get on after them, Sunny hesitating before she turned to the red and orange breezie. “Brushfire, do you wanna come with us?” she asked. “Thanks, Sunny,” said Brushfire, “but I think I better stay here with Mr. Gibbles. Him being a rabbit might be something I can find an herbal remedy for.” 

“That’s a good point. Just be careful,” Sunny advised before getting on the train with her friends. “Oh! One last thing!” Mr. Gibbles warned. “Whatever happens, you must return by sunrise or be trapped in the spirit world forever!” 

“Back by sunrise, trapped forever. Got it,” Misty nodded. But then, a thought suddenly came to her mind, realizing that the train only went one way between the two worlds. “But, uh… quick question; how are we supposed to get back?”

But as he was about to answer, Mr. Gibbles suddenly stopped. “Oh dear! I hadn’t thought about that.”

This answer practically stunned the group-- how were they gonna get back when even Mr. Gibbles himself didn’t know how they were gonna get back?!  “Well, you guys better get going!” Brushfire urged quickly. “You don’t have that long to get that scepter-- only about three hours!”

“THREE HOURS?!” the ponies cried. 

But before anything else could be said, the skeleton conductor then threw the friends onboard before the whistle blew. Then, the train lifted off the ground and then, after picking up speed, lurched into the sky. 

Shaggy, Scooby and the girls weren’t expecting the train to move so fast… or fly for that matter. So their screaming was a natural reaction as they fell to the very back of the train, finally landing on the ground, naturally in pain. “Ow…” groaned Hitch, shaking his head while Sparky just cheered. “That was a rude awakening.” 

“Ugh… now you tell me...” Pipp groaned, shakingly standing on her feet before she and her friends witnessed ghosts and demons hooting on the train with them, making them watch wide-eyed. “Zoinks! Don’t look now, Scooby-Doo,” Shaggy said with a nervous chuckle, “but… ho ho… I think we’re riding on the Grim Reaper Railroad!” 

“AAH!! Okay, I totally think we’ve seen enough of this ride!” Misty said, nervously prancing. “We better get off this thing and find another way to the Goblin King’s castle!”

“Misty, do not touch that emergency break!” Zipp said firmly. “If you do, we may never get there before midnight!”

“If she doesn’t, I sure will!” 

“Huh?!”

Shaggy instantly regretted the decision to take on this mission-- he had to get the group off of this thing! So, he raced to the emergency brake and pulled it repeatedly. “Like, stop the train!” he cried. “We want off this loco locomotive!”

“It’s true!” Hitch cried. “Sparky wants off this thing as much as we do, right little guy?”

Sparky was merely giggling as he held up his arms, making Hitch chuckle. “D-Delayed fear reaction.”

The brakes on the train immediately hissed as the train began to slow down to a stop, and Izzy hugged Scooby while he covered his eyes with his paws. Eventually, the train did stop, but there was one thing that they failed to anticipate-- the train stopped, and since it was in the sky, it started to fall! 

Our intrepid pony heroes and somewhat cowardly heroes screamed like there was no tomorrow by that point, and as the train reached the ground, its descent got slower, until it finally landed softly on the ground. Not wasting anymore time, Shaggy and Scooby staggered off the train and started kissing the ground, just as the ponies leapt out and flew out of the window to stand beside their friends. “Ha ha ha ha! Like, we made it, Scoob!” Shaggy cheered in relief. “We’re on the ground! The sweet, sweet ground!” 

“Whoo! What a rush!” Pipp cheered. “Yeah! Can we do that again?!!” Izzy asked excitedly. “Ugh…” Zipp groaned, shaking her head from the dizziness. “I would take my reaction and Shag and Scoob’s reaction and say… no way, Jose!” 

Luckily, Shaggy and Scooby were too busy kissing the ground to pay attention to the ponies’ conversations. But then, a burly man approached them looking cross, prompting Shaggy and Scooby to stop what they were doing. “You there,” he said to them in a British accent, hands on hips. “What you think you're doing, eh? Trying to sneak into my boneyard while my back was turned?” 

“Well, uh… here’s the thing, sir,” said Sunny, but even she began to stammer and lose her train of thought under the unsettling gaze the man was giving them. “Uh… help me out here, ponies!”

The group was just about to help Sunny answer him when a puff of purple smoke engulfed them, and when it cleared, the four friends were back to their regular appearances. “I think our disguises have lost their charm!” Hitch said, and the group gasped as they looked themselves over-- what a time for the spell to wear off. “Ohh… couple of wise-acres, eh?” the man challenged. “Believe me, laddies, you don't want to see my bad side.”

Misty gulped and whispered over to Sunny. “What bad side do you think he’s talking about?”

Suddenly, before Sunny could answer, the man's appearance began to change drastically-- his hands and feet became paws with claws, his mouth became a muzzle, a tail stuck out from behind, and to top it all off, he let out a fearsome howl that signified only one thing-- he was a werewolf! 

The ponies screamed along with Shaggy before they managed to get hold of themselves, Sunny using her alicorn magic to create a barrier around the group while Scooby dove into the back of Shaggy’s shirt, trembling out of fear. “Like, this being your bad side?” Shaggy asked. The wolf then roared before lifting a paw up to knock them down. “Time for a late-night snack!” 

“Uh, hold on!” Izzy said, getting an out-of-the-box idea that might help them get out of this. “Y-You wouldn’t eat a fellow werewolf and his friends, would you?” 

“Huh?” the werewolf stopped his attempted attack in confusion, and even the other ponies looked at Izzy in surprise-- Shaggy was definitely no werewolf! But luckily, Shaggy saw where she was going. “Observe.” 

He then stuck his head and arms inside his shirt, and fidgeted Scooby around till his head and front legs were in place of his head and arms, making it look like turned into a werewolf. Scooby whimpered nervously for a moment as the werewolf sniffed him, but then after releasing a fearsome roar of his own, the werewolf chuckled. “Stone me-- it’s one of me own brethren!” he exclaimed, patting Scooby roughly on the back before leading him away. “Come on then. Come on.” 

The ponies stood there wide-eyed for a moment before they shook it off and followed their friends away. “Iz, how did you know that would work?” Sunny asked. “I didn’t,” Izzy shrugged. “I guess I just thought on my gut. But, let’s not worry about that now-- we have a job to do.” 

The ponies, with Sparky on Hitch's back, quickly followed after their disguised friends toward the structure nearby, and the werewolf opened up the bulky door for them. “Sorry about the rough reception, mate,” he said to Scooby with a chuckle. “Gotta keep the riff-raff out, don't we?” 

He pushed the disguised Scooby inside roughly, and he and Shaggy tumbled head-first into a stone pillar. Other than that, they weren't badly hurt. The ponies managed to slip past the werewolf and make it to their friends, thankful they were able to find a way inside. “Well, this isn’t going exactly the way I expected,” Zipp said, “but maybe we can find someone to help us get to the castle from here.”

But the question was… who would be willing to help a group of total strangers find their way?

Once the group picked Shag and Scooby onto their feet from the tumble, they heard the sound of music on the other side of the wall, and when they glanced around the corner they found that the structure was actually a bar, filled with all sorts of monsters. “Zoinks!” Shaggy cried. “Like, this is one whacked out watering hole!”

“Yeah…” Pipp said after sniffing a bit. “A very smelly watering hole. Should we even be in here? I mean… we don’t have ANYTHING like this back home.” 

“Truth be told, I don’t like this place either,” Hitch said. “But unless we wanna wander around, hopelessly lost while trying to find the castle, we have no choice.” 

The ponies, Shaggy and Scooby knew that Hitch was right-- even their guts told them  they had to be brave… especially for their friends back home. “Okay, guys,” Sunny said quietly to her friends. “Uh… just be cool, and try and blend in.” 

“Yeah… be cool,” Scooby nodded with a gulp, and the group slowly advanced inside. Moving past monsters of different varieties, the ponies found themselves the eye of pretty much every monster there. “Excuse us…” Misty said politely. “Ooh, excuse us! Coming through! Happy Halloween!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, kid,” a skeleton brushed her off. “Just watch your hooves next time!”

“Oh!” Pipp cried, surprised at how rude the skeleton was being to them. “I’ve never heard such bad--” 

“Easy, Pipp,” Zipp told her sister. “Remember… blend in.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” 

After moving past the crowd of monsters, the friends sat down to a nice young woman at the bar. “Like, great party, huh?” Shaggy laughed, and the woman turned to look at him with a sly little smirk, making Shaggy grow a little more confident. “So, uh… what's a nice ghoul like you doing in a place like this?” 

Just as the woman was about to respond, her eyes became a blood red, and her blonde hair became blonde snakes, hissing at the group menacingly, catching all of them off-guard. “ZOINKS!!” Shaggy cried out. “Uh, heh…” Nita nervously spoke. “Forget we asked.” 

“Oookay then,” Sunny said to herself. “If everyone’s going to be so negative, then this is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.” 

Suddenly, an upbeat jazzy tune began to play from the band on the other side of the room, and every monster in the bar decided to sing along. 

Skeleton: Gather round, you’re underground
So listen to our song
We can rock this joint till dawn
If you sing along (Hey!)

What goes bump in the night?

All: We go bump in the night

Skeleton: This time of year, the coast is clear
To cause a terrible fright

All: We go bump in the night!

Ghost: It’ll be out of sight

Girl Vampires: We come out for a bite

Monsters: Tonight, we toast
To ghouls and ghosts
Who haunt the pale moonlight
Whoo!

Skeleton: What goes bump in the night?

All: We go bump in the night!

Monsters: (unintelligible muttering)

All: We go bump in the night!

During the middle of the song, Shaggy, Scooby, Sparky and all six ponies had been spooked into leaping right into the dancing line. But after a minute, they weren’t scared at all… it was actually fun! 

But, dancing would have to come later-- they had a job to do. 

Monster 1: So, if you’re new

Monster 2: Here’s what you do…

Monster 3: Take your turn and sing!

Shaggy: Like, anybody know the way
To the castle of the Goblin King?

All of a sudden, the entire bar fell completely silent, and the group were being stared at with wide eyes-- one of the skeleton’s jaws even dropped… literally. “GOBLIN KING?!” the monsters shrieked before they screamed and ran in different directions-- all of the directions being an exit to the bar. Like his comrades, Shaggy was beyond confused. “Like, was it something we said?”
> Running from the Headless Horseman
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Reason We Have Magic/Witches and Brooms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been hours since Fred and the girls last saw their easily-frightened companions, and was driving to all the locations they saw them at last in order to look for them. And their last stop was the Coolsville Halloween Carnival, which recently ended. “Sunny! Ponies! Shaggy!” Fred called. “Scooby!”

But of course, there was no form of response-- just still, cold silence throughout the abandoned lot. “Huh… I guess they’re not here, either,” Fred shrugged. “This place is deserted,” Daphne shuddered uneasily, preparing to get in the van. That’s when Velma noticed a bright light at the other end of the lot and put a hand on Daphne’s shoulder in order to stop her. “Not quite… look!”

The light and wind seemed to be coming from the tent where Krudsky did his magic show, so they decided to get closer and see what was going on. 

When they peered inside, their eyes widened to see Krudsky and the items he stole from the magic shoppe flying around in enchanted wind, and Krudsky laughed evilly before facing the enchanted mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most dreadful goblin of all?”

Suddenly, the reflection in the mirror changed into another, but it was something… not human. And whatever he was, he wasn't happy to see Krudsky. “What wizard dare disturb the great Goblin King?”

Hearing this caused the gang to gasp in pure shock-- what in the world was happening? “Greetings, your royal awfulness. The Amazing Krudsky, at your service,” Krudsky bowed respectfully. “Foolish mortal,” the Goblin King sneered. “To what purpose do you summon the ruler of the goblin hordes?” 

“Say hello to my little fairy friend,” Krudsky brought out the glowing orb with Princess Willow inside, and seeing the fairy trapped caused the king to gasp. “Fairy Princess Willow!”

“Jeepers! A real-life fairy!” Daphne said in awe. “Maybe Krudsky's magic is real after all... like how the ponies' Equestrian magic is real to us.”

“But, that's impo-- impossible!” Velma stammered with wide eyes. “Rational mind… shutting down…!”

And before anyone could realize it, Velma had fainted, leaving a surprised Fred to catch her in his arms. And once Velma was secure in Fred’s arms, the remaining three looked back at the scene. “What loathsome trickery is this?” the Goblin King snarled at Krudsky. “No tricks-- only a trade,” Krudsky told the otherworldly king slyly. “Meet me at the clock tower, midnight… ish. There I shall release her to you… in return for your Goblin Scepter.” 

“Most foul and wicked wizard! You tempt powers beyond your grasp!” the king roared out. But seeing as he could not do anything to him until midnight, the king growled-- he had no choice in this, no matter how much it killed him. “You shall regret this…” 

And just like that, the Goblin King’s image vanished, leaving Krudsky on his own with a wicked laugh. “Soon, all the powers of Halloween shall be mine!” he told the imprisoned fairy. “And then I'll show that scruffy slacker, and his mangy mutt Scooby-Doo a magic trick they’ll never forget. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!” 

He tucked the princess under his hat before flying out of the tent, leaving Daphne, an unconscious Velma and Fred on their own. “Shaggy and Scooby are in big trouble!” Fred realized in fear. “And if the ponies are still with them, they could be in trouble too! We gotta find ‘em before that whacked-out warlock does!” 

“And what about that adorable little fairy?” Daphne reminded. “We can't just let that icky Goblin King take her away… right, Velma?” 

But Velma only gained consciousness for a few moments, smacking her lips together before passing out again. “Oh no! Velma’s fried!” Daphne cried out in worry. “All this must have overloaded her rational brain!”

“Then it’s up to us, Daphne,” Fred told the remaining member of the gang. “We've gotta get over to that clock tower before midnight and set a trap for that magic maniac. Come on.” 

With that, he and Daphne picked up Velma and carried her away, hoping that Sunny, Misty and their friends would be able to keep Shaggy and Scooby out of trouble for at least a little while. 

For all their sakes.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in the Halloween world, Mystique Blaze and Jack were leading the Equestrians, Shaggy and Scooby to the witches who were sure to help them find the castle, and the ponies were catching their friends up on that night's horrific events. “Okay, okay… let me see if I got this straight,” Mystique said once they were finished. “You guys came to this world to find the Goblin Scepter, so you could retrieve it before an evil magician could combine its magic with the stolen magic of Princess Willow and turn everyone into monsters for all eternity?” 

“Yeah-- that pretty much sums it up,” Misty said. “But what about you?” Zipp asked. “We haven’t seen any other Equestrians down here except Brushfire the breezie and ourselves.” 

“Yeah, well… my herd was originally from a forest in Indiana, and I was happy there, despite being teased about my black coat… and being an orphan,” Mystique said quietly. “The leader of my herd expected me to do so much for the herd, but… when I couldn’t do that, he kicked me out. I found this portal, and I’ve been living here with Jack ever since.” 

“Like… don’t you miss our world?” Shaggy asked. “No-- well, I mean... maybe a little,” Mystique shrugged. “I just want a place where I can really be myself without being in such a tough spot.”

“What about those powers of yours?” Hitch asked. “Can’t you control plants like earth ponies can?”

“Actually, since I was born,” spoke Mystique, “I’ve had this strange ability to cast magic and control fire like a unicorn, but I don’t have a horn.” 

“Wow…” Scooby smiled. “So, you’re not being pressured anymore now that you’re down here?”

“Well… she still kinda is,” Jack said. “Sort of a local hero around these parts.”

“Which is why I love helping people, but hate the recognition I get for it,” sighed the black earth pony. “I mean… if helping isn’t the reason I have my magic… what is?” 

Suddenly, music began to play from out of nowhere, and Mystique began to sing her heart out about how she had been feeling all her life.  

Mystique: I wish there was a spell I could choose

Hitch: For what?

Mystique: To make all of this pressure go poof

Scooby: Exactly!

Mystique: What they expect of me, is not the plan I see
And that just makes it hard to make a move

Pipp: I comprehend and I sympathize

Mystique: You do?

Zipp: It's like we're living parallel lives

Mystique: I guess we are

Hitch: Cause they don't understand the power in our hands

Izzy: And maybe they're too old to recognize

All: Look at you and me on the same side
Loving this bewitched state of mind
It's too powerful to hide
And there's a reason we've got magic
And I know what to do with mine

Mystique: I can't believe there's someone like you

Misty: I know!

Mystique: Who's going through what I'm going through

Izzy: It's crazy!

Mystique: The fact that you relate, and witchcraft is our fate
Imagine everything that we could do

All: Look at you and me on the same side
Loving this bewitched state of mind
It's too powerful to hide
And there's a reason we've got magic

Mystique: And I know what to do with

Mane 6, Shaggy and Scooby: Know what to do with

All: Know what to do with mine!

“Wow… that sounds horrible,” Hitch frowned, “dealing with all that pressure from so many. I should know-- I’m the sheriff where I come from, and I know what you’re going through.” 

“Which is why Mystique should go home with you guys tonight-- see if you can give hera good home where she isn't pressured as much,” Jack said as they walked. “That’ll do her better good than staying here.” 

“What? But… I-I like you, Jack-- I don’t wanna leave you,” Mystique tried to protest. “Hey, don’t get all emotional on me, kid,” Jack said with a frown. “You know it’s for the best.” 

Mystique let out a quiet sigh. “Yeah… I guess you’re right. I have always dreamed of a family to accept me as I am. And if going with these ponies and their friends means that there may be a chance I get that... then I'll go with them.”

After a while, they reached a dark forest where a straw hut lay in the middle of it, providing the only light there was. Both Sunny and Scooby noticed that Mystique was a hesitant to go in, but decided to ask about it later. “End of the line, guys-- there’s the witches’ hut, just like I promised,” Jack told them. “Look, I gotta bounce, but they can help you find the Goblin Castle. You know, assuming they don't, uh, eat you first.”  

“E-Eat us?!” Misty and Izzy shrieked-- there went their temporary confidence, since Jack had never mentioned such a fact before now.  “Are you sure you can’t come with us, Jack?” Shaggy asked their friend. “Sorry, guys. But those old bags take one look at me and splat! I’m pumpkin pie, you know what I’m saying?” 

“But, like… how are we gonna get along without you?” Shaggy wondered out loud. “We haven’t got any magic left!” 

“Yeah,” Scooby whimpered. “How?”

“Well… we still have our pony magic,” Sunny said, stomping her hoof and letting a flower grow. “But… you guys don’t need your own magic to do this. Just look at how far we’ve come already, barely using magic!”

“She’s right,” Jack agreed. “You guys rescued me from the Brainless Horseman, hello? That took real courage. And everybody knows courage is the most powerful magic of all.” 

“Like, I hate to tell ya,” Shaggy said as the pumpkin began to hop away, “but that wasn’t courage-- that was panic!” 

“Hey, whatever you call it, it’s working for you,” Jack chuckled, and he continued to hop away. “Keep it unreal, and Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeen!!!” 

And just like that, he had hopped out of sight. “Bye…” Mystique called sadly as they waved, but they were able to comfort one another before they started walking in the direction of the hut. Jack wouldn’t want them to be sad for long… they still had a mission to take care of.  

XXXXXXXX

When they got to the hut, they peered inside to see an elderly witch, an owl and a cat inside, all surrounding a bubbling cauldron. “Boil and bubble, toil and trouble,” the witch chanted as she stirred the inside of the cauldron. “If it’s too weak, then make it a double!” 

The witch, owl and cat cackled in joy, making Scooby, Shaggy and all the ponies a little worried, not sure if they could trust witches like these after a... previous experience the ponies told them about. “For once in our lives, Scoob,” Shaggy gulped nervously, “like, I hope we’re too late for supper.” 

“Well… maybe they’re nice,” Misty pointed out. “You can’t judge a book by their cover, you know.” 

Slowly, the witch turned and saw them out of the corner of her eye, a smirk gracing her face. “It is very rude to linger in doorways.”

And then, out of nowhere, the door slammed shut on them, shoving the group inside the hut, all while injuring their behinds. “Eye of snake and tongue of rat,” the witch went back to stirring. “Pie of rhubarb, wing of bat! Ha ha ha ha ha!” 

Zipp and Pipp’s wings twitched as they shuddered-- whatever she was cooking did NOT sound appealing. “There now… it’s almost ready,” said the witch before getting a spoonful of liquid. “Here, taste.” 

“Uh… no thanks. I’d really rather--” Shaggy tried to decline, but the witch shoved the spoon into his mouth before he could continue. And then, before the others’ eyes, Shaggy turned into a snail! “Boy, do I feel sluggish all of a sudden,” Shaggy admitted before he looked at his reflection in a dish pan on the floor. “ZOINKS!!” 

“You said it! Green slime does not look good on you,” Pipp said with disgust in her tone. “Pipp!” Zipp scolded. “Not cool!” 

“Hmmm, I knew it-- not enough dragon’s tooth,” the witch said to herself before dropping such into the cauldron. “Yeah, we better back up before she hexes us too,” Mystique said, pulling Izzy backwards while the other ponies gave the witch some room. The witch then shoved the spoon with the new batch into Scooby’s mouse, but after he swallowed it, the poor Great Dane turned into a mouse! “Ruh roh!” 

And unfortunately, this got the cat’s attention, meowing in delight before leaping toward him. “Scooby!” Misty cried. “Look out!” 

Scooby turned just in time to see the cat in his face, causing him to yelp and dart into Shaggy’s shell for protection. And despite the pets’ efforts to protect their friends, the cat kept coming closer. “Like, hang on, Scoob!” Shaggy said to his best friend. “We gotta make a be-line from this feline!” 

But his efforts to quickly get away were in vain-- since he was a snail, he could only slowly crawl away from it. “Hey, cat!” Misty declared as the ponies blocked her path, Sunny shifting into her alicorn form. “Leave our friends alone!” 

“Meow?!” the cat said in surprise, trying to get to Shaggy and Scooby, but the ponies stomping hooves blocked her in every way possible. “Ha ha!” Mystique laughed. “Not today, furball!”

“No, no no no,” the owl then hooted. “This will never do!”

Putting on a hat and grabbing a wand with her wing, the owl suddenly turned into another witch. And once the ponies leapt out of the way, the second witch zapped Shaggy and Scooby with her wand, causing them to turn back to normal… a little unbalanced, but fine otherwise. “Quite right,” the cat then purred. “More meat on them this way.” 

With the snap of her claws, the cat instantly reverted into her own witch form, causing the ponies to gasp in surprise. “Ooookay now,” Hitch blinked. “I kinda feel bad for almost wanting to keep stomping on her.” 

The Cat Witch didn't hear the comment, thank goodness, and turned to the group with a smile on her face. “Come, my sweets,” she said sweetly. “We’d just love to… have you for dinner.” 

The witches then laughed, causing the group to look at one another-- maybe what Jack said about the witches eating you was right. “Wish we could stay,” Shaggy said as they slowly backed up away. “But you see, a friend that that we could just stop in to ask for directions.” 

“Uh huh,” Scooby nodded quickly. “Yes, we can guide you to the hidden lair of the Goblin King,” the Grand Witch told them. “But first… you must help us.”

The witches then cackled again, leading the group to tremble. But, they supposed that this was fair-- after all, they did need to get to the castle quickly. “A-All right then,” Sunny said, getting some courage to finally speak. “What do you need us to do?”

“Please say it’s not tasting potions,” Misty hoped to herself, “please say it’s not tasting potions…”

The Grand Witch didn't answer right away, but then dropped something else into the cauldron, making an eerie mist come out of it and fill the hut. “There are bad omens everywhere tonight,” the Grand Witch explained. “Some dark force has upset the supernatural balance-- catastrophe rides on the wind!” 

And just as quickly as the mist appeared, it disappeared. “I’m afraid I had to cancel my midnight ride,” the Grand Witch then said. “Naturally, my magic broomstick is devastated.” 

“M-M-M-Magic broomstick?!” the group stammered-- even the ponies (Mystique included) had never seen a magic broomstick before. Suddenly, they looked down and noticed a sad looking broom trudging over to them, and seeing it made the ponies’ hearts sink a little. “Poor thing… he was so looking forward to it,” the Grand Witch frowned before turning to Misty and Zipp in a whisper. “It's very bad to break a magic broom's spirit. Once broken, they are never the same again.” 

“...good to know,” Zipp said hesitantly, just before the Grand Witch turned to stroke the broom’s handle. “All right, Broomy. Enough moping,” she told the broom before she turned toward Shaggy and Scooby. “These nice boys are going to take you out for a spin. Aren't you, boys?”

The broom, now known as Broomy, instantly perked up, and Shaggy looked over at the Great Dane with worry. “Scoob, old buddy, like, why do I get the feeling that we're the ones about to get spun?”

“Oh no…” Scooby whimpered. “Aww, come on, guys-- this could be really Izzy!” Nita tried to encourage.  “Like… a flying roller coaster!”

Shaggy sent a glare over at her. “Izzy, dude… you’re not helping mine and Scooby’s nervousness here.”

“And we’d get to the castle a lot faster. Besides… look at the sweet thing,” Sunny said, adding onto Izzy's statement while looking at Broomy. “How would you feel if you couldn’t go on a ride that meant so much to you, and then was given one opportunity? Wouldn’t you want that opportunity to happen?” 

Shaggy and Scooby spared Broomy a glance as he waited patiently for their answer, melting their hearts a little. Sunny and Izzy both had good points... and after a moment, their decision was final. “Well… like, I guess we do need to get to the castle a lot quicker,” Shaggy admitted. “So, if you ponies are okay with it… I guess Scooby-Doo and I are too.” 

“Aww yeah!” Mystique spoke, pumping a hoof. “I call dibs on riding with Shag and Scoobers!”

“And while Pipp and I handle Izzy and Misty, Sunny can carry you, Hitch-- like we did in Tokyo,” Zipp told the others. “Plus… how hard can taking care of a magic broomstick be?”

XXXXXXXX

After the decision was made, the witches led everyone outside, and they helped Shaggy, Scooby and Mystique onto the broomstick, while Sunny carried Hitch, the pegasus sisters hovered slowly and carried Misty and Izzy. “Now, hold on tight,” the Grand Witch gave the broom riders a brief lesson. “Lean forward for faster, back to slow down. And watch out-- he's got a wild streak in him. Just loves to take off on you. But don't let him.” 

“Uh… you got all that, guys?” Mystique looked at her friends. “No…” Scooby whimpered nervously. “Aw, I’m sure you’ll be fine!” Izzy reassured. “I mean… what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“They could die,” Zipp said with a shrug before glares were sent her way. “Sorry, sorry! I was just in the zone!”

“Yeah…” Pipp rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

“I’m serious!”

As the sisters were about to argue more, the Owl Witch approached them with two vials of green liquid. “Here, you’ll need this to get inside the castle-- it’s magic potion,” she said, prompting Sunny to put them in her saddlebag pocket. “My own secret recipe, made from Scratch-- poor old Scratch.” 

At this, the witches cackled again, prompting the group to shudder nervously-- while they were impressed the witches wanted to help them, they did still feel a little nervous around them. “Take them to the old oak grove,” the Grand Witch instructed Broomy before she turned back to the group. “From there, the fairies and breezies will guide you to the Goblin Castle.”  

But that’s when she quickly grabbed the front of Shaggy’s shirt menacingly. “But beware-- it’s a hideous place filled with the most horrible monsters imaginable! And do write.” 

And after this was said, Broomy lurched off at top speed, forcing Shaggy, Scooby and Mystique to hold on for their lives and for the others to quickly catch up, passing over rivers, over trees and even through an abandoned house. Eventually, the ride became smoother, and the group found themselves getting more comfortable with being on the ride of their lives. “Hey, guys!” Shaggy said with a chuckle. “I think we’re getting the hang of this thing!”

“Scooby-Dooby-Doooo!!!” Scooby howled as the ponies let out multiple cheers and laughs from the excitement of flying in the air. But what they didn’t realize was that the two goblin guards from earlier had spotted them from down on the ground. “Hey, look!” Glob told Glum, pointing to the broomstick and ponies above them. “Let’s shoot ‘em down!”

“Bring out the Goblin Blaster!” Glum shouted to two other goblins, who pushed aside a grave and let a giant cannon come into view. That’s when they set spotlights onto their targets and fired green-tinted fiery blasts repeatedly. Shag, Scoob and the ponies feared for their safety by this point, making swift dodges and turns to avoid the flames. But unfortunately, one blast got to them, setting Broomy’s straw end on fire, which Scooby immediately noticed. “Fire!!” 

This prompted the group on the broomstick to scream in terror as they tried to keep the broom from diving, but the weight was getting to be too much for the ponies to support, and one good blast behind the ponies was enough to get them to stop flapping and drop from the sky at an alarming rate of speed. “Mayday! Mayday!” Shaggy screamed as they reached the brim of the treetops. “We’re going down!!”

After a bit more screaming, the group dove down toward a grove of trees, falling quickly before they hit the ground, Mystique and her fellow passengers sliding off of Broomy and onto the grass upon impact… and that’s what they last remembered before everything went black.
> Facing Fears Together
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an hour or so after their impact with the ground that the group finally began to wake, opening their eyes and sitting up quickly, with Shaggy and Scooby crashing into each other in the process. “Oooh…” Mystique groaned. “That’s gonna leave a mark in the morning.”

“Is everypony okay?” Sunny asked, looking around at her friends. “Ugh… other than falling from the sky after being blasted with goblin green fire,” Hitch said, cradling Sparky in his hooves, “we’re fine.”

Sparky nodded at this before his eyes widened at a spectacular sight. And once everyone got over the pain from their crash landing, they looked around their surroundings and gasped at what Sparky saw.

They seemed to be in a brightly lit forest, the trees as tall as small buildings. And a bright golden glow seemed to echo from everything in that small grove, making it seem almost… magical...

...on an Equestrian level that even the Mane 6 had never even seen before!

After staring in awe for a few moments, Shaggy gulped. “Like… are we dead?”

“Whoo…” Pipp got up, flapping her wings to get a better vantage point. “But if we are dead… I think I would actually like this side of heaven.”

“Of course you’re not dead!” giggled a male voice before a female voice giggled afterwards. “You big sillies!” 

“W-Who… who just said that?” Misty asked nervously as the group gathered around. “Stay close, everypony,” Sunny whispered. “I have a feeling we’re not alone.” 

The group looked around for a few moments, wondering where the voices were coming from before Shaggy turned and saw a fairy dressed in green in front of his face. “Name’s Sparkplug!” 

 “AHH!!” Shaggy fell back in surprise. Suddenly, a small breezie with clear wings, a dark purple body with purple eyes and a shimmering purplish-white mane and tail appeared in front of Misty with a cheerful smile. “I’m Night Glow!”

“EEK!!” Misty shrieked and jumped back into the other ponies, causing them to fall in a huge heap, just as a yellow fairy appeared on Scooby’s head. “I’m Honeybee!” she greeted, prompting Scooby to duck, he and his best friend trembling in fear. “And I’m Tiddlywink,” said a fairy in pink as they uncovered their eyes. “Welcome to the City of the Fairies and Breezies of the Spirit World.” 

With that being said, Tiddlywink flew throughout the city, causing tiny lights inside the tree to ignite. “Whoa… like, either we're really seeing this,” said Shaggy, “or we REALLY hit our heads when we fell.” 

“No… we’re seeing this,” Sunny said with a soft smile. “And it’s beautiful!”

“Sorry if we scared you,” Night Glow apologized. “I’ve just never seen other Equestrian creatures besides myself and the other breezies in the city before. We... don't really leave much.”

“It’s okay,” Izzy chirped. “We’re just as surprised as you that there are breezies here! And they can talk, like Brushfire!”

“You know Brushfire? I've been looking all throughout the city for her-- she's one of my best friends! Where is she?” Night Glow asked. “Is she okay?”

“Well…, she's fine...” Zipp hesitated, scratching the back of her neck nervously, “...but... that’s the thing.”

But as they conversed, Honeybee suddenly gasped at something she saw. “Look over here!” she said. “Your broomstick…” 

The group looked over and saw a saddening sight-- Broomy was badly damaged in the fire, and  bent out of shape from the impact when they landed. “Oh no!” Shaggy exclaimed as Mystique’s ears pinned sadly. “Poor Broomy…” 

“Brooomy!!!” Scooby wailed while everyone else hung their heads in sadness. What were they gonna tell the witches after all this? It would be pretty obvious that they would think twice before trusting them again. “Don’t worry,” Sparkplug let out a whistle. “A little fairy and breezie magic will have him fixed up in no time.”

With that, several fairies and breezies of different colors flew from the trees and lifted Broomy up and into the forest to be repaired. “Wow, ha ha! Who knew fairies and breezies could be so friendly?” Mystique wondered. “Of course!” Sparkplug answered. “We fairies use only good magic,” Tiddlywink explained, “balancing out all the bad magic used by the Shadow Goblins.”

“But tonight, the balance is shifting,” Night Glow said with a frown. “I fear something terrible is happening,” Honeybee added. “We know all about it,” Shaggy said. “If we can catch a lift to the Goblin Castle, we may be able to stop it.” 

The ponies spared Shaggy a confused look, causing him to blink. “What?”

“Sorry, sorry!” Zipp apologized. “We just… never heard you sound so confident before.”

“Yeah,” Misty nodded. “It’s a good fit for you and Scooby.”

Shaggy and Scooby smiled, realizing they were right… they had become a little more confident... and surprisingly, they loved the new feeling it brought. “We can show you the way, but you’ll never get inside!” Honeybee crossed her arms, interrupting the tender moment, and Tiddlywink nodded at this. “The castle will be crawling with guards for the Goblins’ Rave.” 

“G-G-G-Goblins’ Rave?” the group gulped nervously. “Yeah, she’s right-- you’ll never get in,” Sparkplug said. “It’s totally the biggest party of the year.” 

“You don’t say?” Shaggy then chuckled. “If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s crash a party!” 

“Yeah,” Scooby giggled. “Okay… I trust you on that. But now that the whole Goblins’ Rave thing is sorted, we can lead you there,” Night Glow said, pointing into the distance. “It’s just across the Dark Swamp and into the Goblin Graveyard.” 

“D-D-Dark Swamp? B-B-But… do we have to go across that way?” Mystique then asked. “It is the only way to get there without you getting hurt,” Sparkplug shrugged, causing the black earth pony filly to shudder nervously. “That's what I was afraid of…” 

“Mystique? What’s wrong?” Pipp asked, causing the filly to gulp with hesitancy. “Well… the thing is… I’m afraid of the dark.” 

“Oh… so that’s why you’re so nervous,” Mindy frowned. “I’ve been trying to get over it, but there’s one thing that helps,” Mystique admitted. “My mom's special song.”

Then, Mystique took a deep breath before she began to sing in a soft tone.

Hey there, filly, don't you fear
Remember that your friends are near

“Aww… that’s a nice song,” Scooby smiled. “My mom always sang it to me when I was afraid,” Mystique said. “And… I do feel some better. So… I guess I’m ready.” 

“That’s the spirit, Mystique!” Sunny smiled. “And who knows? Maybe the Dark Swamp isn’t as dark as you think.” 

XXXXXXXX

But boy, was Sunny ever wrong-- it was so dark in that swamp that no one could see a thing. The moon had been covered by the clouds, so their only light source was gone. “Okay…” the earth pony/alicorn mare said hesitantly. “The Dark Swamp? Really dark.” 

“So… how do we get across? And see our way across without falling in there?” Nita asked, looking down at the water close to them. “There should be a batch of glowing mushrooms around in the water, with a big one that, with special Halloween fire, activates them at the end,” Tiddlywink frowned. “But it’s fire is gone.” 

“And I can’t see it in the dark! What are we gonna do?” Zipp asked. “Hmm…” Izzy said as Mystique nervously handled her fire. “If only there was somepony we knew who could handle this Halloween fire to light the mush-- MYSTIQUE!!”

Mystique yelped at the loud shout, and turned to see everyone facing her. “Oh… my fire, heh… that’s what it’s called?” she asked. “Heh… who knew?”

That’s when Misty thought of something, turning to the filly with a frown. “Sorry, Mystique,” she apologized, “but as the only one with fire power, you have to go first and light the way for the rest of us.”

“But, I can’t go out there… it’s dark!” Mystique featfully argued. “My friends won’t be near! I’ll be all by myself…” 

“Even though you won’t be able to see us, you’ll be able to hear us,” Hitch countered. Looking at all her friends, the filly eventually sighed-- they were right… she had to do this. “Okay… I’ll try.” 

“You can do this, Mystique!” Scooby encouraged as the little earth pony slowly stepped onto the bridge. And then, looking at one another, they decided to help boost Mystique’s confidence by singing the filly's special song. 

All: Hey there, filly
Don’t you fear
Remember that your friends are near

Hearing her friends singing her mother’s song did help Mystique to move forward, even though she was still terrified, and the group decided to continue the song until she was across.  

Zipp: Hey there, filly
Don’t you fear

Shaggy: Like, remember that your friends are near

Pipp: Just sing along to this little song

All: And feel it make you
Brave and strong…

Pipp and Sunny: (Brave and strong…!)

Mystique: The dark can be a scary thing
But it’s not so bad
When you start to sing

All: Hey there, filly
Don’t you fear
Remember that your friends are near

(Don’t you fear…)

Mystique: (spoken) I think it’s working!

I’m feeling braver with every step (Your friends are near)
Singing this song is really 
Giving myself some pep (Don’t you fear)

Don’t you fear, don’t you fear
Don’t you--  

Suddenly, the filly looked up and saw that she had arrived at the giant mushroom, not lit up and causing the swamp to be just as dark as it was. 

Mystique: Hey, I think I’m here

Now all she had to do was turn the mushroom back on. “Lights on, Dark Swamp…” 

With her hoof blazing in purple fire, she reached out and lit the mushroom by touching it,  sending a signal to all the other mushrooms of the swamp, allowing them to glow with Halloween fire too. 

Mystique: I did it!

Izzy: She turned the lights back on!

All: Our super problem’s now super gone

Mystique: And all it took was facing my fear
Remembering my friends are always here…

As soon as the mushroom was turned back on, the others made their way across the bridge, and Mystique's new friends gathered around her with hugs and smiles. “You did it!” Shaggy cheered. “Way to go!” Zipp encouraged. “Thanks for the extra confidence boost, guys,” Mystique said. “Even when I didn’t have it in myself.” 

“We knew you could do it. So… does that mean your fear of the dark is gone?” Night Glow asked. “Well… I don’t know yet,” Mystique admitted. “But I do know you guys will always be near to help me. Come on… we still have a castle to get to, don’t we?”
> At the Goblin Castle/Captured!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group finally reached the Goblin Graveyard, which was as dark and scary as the group imagined it would be. Finally, the fairies and Night Glow led their friends to a singular grave, right smack dab in the middle of the burial site. “The Goblin Graveyard hides the secret entrance,” Honeybee explained, “but it's only a one-way trip.”

On the grave was a singular triangle button pointed downward, so once they got down there… Sunny, Pipp and Zipp would have to fly everyone back up. Scooby pushed the button with his paw, and as they expected something to happen, they felt a deep rumble beneath them, causing them to back up. Suddenly, a coffin burst up from the ground, somewhat like an elevator… just spookier. “Express elevator,” Sparkplug declared, “going down!”

The coffin then creaked open, making the group nervous… this wasn’t what they expected when they got to this point-- and it made Scooby so nervous, he grabbed Sparky and darted behind their pony friends, quivering. “Um, on second thought,” Hitch gulped, “maybe we should just take the stairs.”

“Good idea,” Pipp nodded quickly. “This is way too damp, creepy and just... eww!! So, the easy way is okay for me!”

“In you go!” the fairies and Night Glow pushed them into the coffin, much to their dismay… right before the coffin slid down into the dark tunnels leading to the castle. The group screamed as they tumbled back and forth on the inside of the coffin before the ride finally stopped, allowing them to open the coffin and look around. 

They had made it… the castle loomed over them in the dark, making them realize everything just got a lot more real. “Zoinks!” Shaggy gulped. “Like, first floor-- creepy Goblin Castle.”

Scooby whimpered nervously, but Misty found herself taking a deep breath and getting out of the coffin first. “Come on, guys. We made it this far, and we can’t give up,” she said to her friends. “Now all we have to do is find a way in there… somehow.”

XXXXXXXX 

As the ponies and their cowardly but loyal friends crept closer to the entrance, they saw a long line of monsters waiting to get inside for the Goblins’ Rave, with the two goblins from before, Glob and Glum, keeping watch at the gate. “Come on. Back up. Knock it off, knock it off,” Glob kept shouting. “You, get a shower-- you stink. You ain't on the list, you ain't getting in.” 

This caused Glum to laugh mockingly and wickedly, looking over at his partner with a smirk. “Looosers...” he singsonged. The monsters in line groaned, hissed and growled, and Shaggy knew that desperate times called for seriously desperate measures. “Okay, Scoob,” he said, and pulled out the vials of magic potion the witches gave them before he popped off the corks. “Here goes.”

“Are you sure this is safe?” Zipp asked. “Next time we went on an adventure where witches made a potion, they nearly tried to suck a little girl's life force!”

“Like, it's not like we have much choice, Zipp. We have to try,” Shaggy stated before he handed the other vial to Scooby, and handled his own vial carefully. “Over the lips and past the gums,” he muttered, “look out, stomach-- you’re not gonna like this!”

Hesitantly, he and Scooby drunk the potion, and were enveloped with a blinding light, causing the pets to look away. When the light faded, Shaggy and Scooby had changed into disguises, but… not the disguises they were expecting-- they were now dressed like Daphne and Velma! “Oooooookay,” Zipp blinked. “I didn’t expect that in the slightest.”

“But, if the witches think this will work, we have to trust that,” Sunny told her friend. “Hey… wait a second,” Mystique suddenly realized. “The witches forgot to give us potions for disguises! How are we supposed to go inside after Shaggy and Scoob?”

Mindy hadn’t thought about that, until she eyed the boys, then the entrance before getting an idea. “If Shaggy and Scooby can woo the guards long enough, we can sneak in when they’re not looking. And then, once the guards let them inside, we can meet up to look for the scepter.”

Sparky babbled, clapping his tiny dragon paws at the idea and making Scooby and Shaggy giggle. “We can do all that? Cool!” Izzy beamed. “Hey, this is a random on-the-spot idea,” Misty shrugged, “so it’s worth a shot. Okay, guys… Operation ‘Get the Goblin Scepter’ is underway!”

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy and Scooby immediately got in line to get in for the Goblins' Rave, while Pipp, Zipp and Sunny helped everypony else climb up the castle so they could stealthily sneak inside. Once they were close enough, Shaggy laughed in a high pitched voice to get their attention. “Hello, boys!”

“Huh?!” Glob and Glum became shocked when they saw Shaggy and Scooby strut their way up the stairs, the monsters letting them through. “Hello!” Scooby greeted with a high pitched voice, giggling sheepishly. And like Shaggy and Scooby expected, the two goblins went ga-ga over them, howling and hooting like a couple of wild maniacs. “Hello, gals!” Glum shoved Glob off to the side so he could get closer. “We-- we, uh… we don’t see your kind around here too often.”

“Oh…” Shaggy laughed in his high pitched voice again as the ponies managed to tiptoe quietly inside without the goblins seeing them. “I bet you say that to all your goblin girlfriends.”

Once they were off in the shadows and couldn't be seen, Mystique couldn’t help but stifle a laugh... as far as she knew, there were no female goblins, but it was sure funny to think about. “We just love goblin parties,” Shaggy went on, approaching Glob as the ponies snuck into another hiding place. “Like, tell me, gruesome… any chance you could sneak us in?”

“Ha ha, well… I don’t know…” Glob said quietly before finally relenting to the request. “All right, all right… I’m gonna get in trouble for this, but…” 

He then removed the rope blocking the entrance, giving Shaggy and Scooby, and unknowingly, the ponies full access. “In you go!”

“Like, thanks, you big horrible thing, you!” Shaggy patted him on the head before they went inside. “She had it all going on!” Glum said, entranced by Shaggy’s female appearance. “Yeah yeah yeah!” Glob nodded, just as enthusastic as his partner was. “But did you see her friend?”

Scooby blew them a kiss as they strutted down the hall to meet up with the ponies, and Glum groaned in disgust. “What a dog!” 

XXXXXXXX 

Soon, Shaggy and Scooby found the ponies hiding in a small closet, far away from the doors. “Good work out there you two,” Misty said as the ponies came out of hiding, relieved to not be squished any further. “Now all we have to do is find the party, get the Goblin Scepter and get out of there before midnight. Uh-- wait… what happens at midnight exactly? I don’t remember Mr. Gibbles ever telling us.”

“That’s when the Goblin King opens the gateway, letting his goblin guards go out into the mortal world to spread their mischief,” Mystique explained. “I heard one of the monsters at the bar talking about it one time.”

“Okay. So we gotta get the Goblin Scepter before that point,” Sunny frowned. “Let's go.”

But suddenly, Sparky bolted out of Hitch's hooves and ran toward a source of music down the hall. “Sparky Sparkeroni, you get back here right now!” Hitch scolded, darting after him. “So much for being discreet,” Zipp rolled her eyes. “Come on-- after that baby dragon!”

XXXXXXXX 

The ponies darted after Sparky all the way down the hall, with Shaggy and Scooby staggering in their high heels, until they reached the large room where the party was being held, with lots of goblins dancing and flying around a pit with green fire illuminating the room. “Sparky, thank goodness!” Hitch said, hugging him. “Don't run off on me like that again! This place isn't like other places that we know are safe. We have to stay together.”

“Especially when there are so many guards,” Sunny said. That got the pets worried; one wrong move and these guards would be after them within seconds. 

And there was one other question… how would they find the Goblin Scepter in such a big place?

That’s when Scooby got to looking around the room until he spotted something. “Shaggy, look!”

He pointed up at the huge goblin sitting on top of the throne, a scepter within his reach. “That must be his royal rottenness himself,” Shaggy whispered. “And look!” Pipp pointed upward with her hoof. “There’s the Goblin Scepter!”

“We have to be smart about this. Who knows what could happen within the next few minutes,” Misty told her friends. “Like Opaline once said... timing is everything.”

But as they looked up at the clock, it gave a startling warning. “Zoinks!! Only five minutes till midnight!” Shaggy exclaimed in shock. “We gotta grab the scepter and high tail it outta here!” Mystique told her friends, nervously gulping. “O-On the count of three, ready? One… two… three!”

With that, the group charged toward the throne, and would have reached it, if Glob hadn’t appeared in front of them. “Well… hello, my lovelies,” he said charmingly, causing the group to halt. “Don’t be shy now,” Glum took Shaggy down into the dancing pit next to them. “Let’s have a dance!”

“Dance? Now?” Scooby whimpered nervously as Glob flew him down into the pit, leaving the ponies to defend themselves as a song called the ‘Goblin Oogie Boogie’ began to play. “No no no! We don’t have time for this!” Sunny began to panic. “We have only two minutes to get the scepter and get out of here!”

“Let’s try and get Shaggy’s attention!” Izzy spoke. “That way he can see us and let Scooby know!”

“It’s worth a shot!” Zipp shrugged. “Misty, Pipp and Hitch? Try and get close to the king and make sure he doesn’t leave before we get Shag and Scooby’s attention!”

The three of them nodded and ran that way while Sunny, Sparky, Izzy and Zipp and Mystique waved and yelled to get the dancing Shaggy and Scooby’s attention.

“SHAGGY!!”

“UP HERE!!!”

“THE SCEPTER!!”

“NOT MUCH TIME LEFT!!”

And once Shaggy noticed them, he noticed that the clock was only one minute away from striking the hour. “ZOINKS!!” he cried, racing to the dancing dog beside him. “Like, only one minute till midnight, Scoob!”

During one point of the song, the goblins, Shaggy and Scooby flew right out of the pit, and Scooby managed to use this to get himself close to Pipp, Zipp and Hitch to try and get the scepter. They managed to get super close to the king's throne, and as Scooby reached across the king to grab the scepter, his wig and glasses fell off, blowing their cover and causing Misty and her friends to gulp. “Uh oh…”

“What’s this?” the Goblin King boomed, realizing the deception. And during this shock, Scooby grabbed the scepter, planted a kiss right on the king’s face, and he and the three ponies leapt down to the others with the scepter in hand. “Way to go, Scoob old buddy!” Shaggy cheered before they ran through the crowd. “GANGWAY!!!” the Mane 6 and Mystique cheered while Sparky only cheered excitedly. “Imposters!” the Goblin King shouted angrily. “Seize them!”

The goblins instantly gave them chase, prompting them to run up a staircase to evade them… but it stopped right before the blazing pit of fire. “Like, dead end!” Shaggy cried, and this caused Scooby to whimper with worry. “Pipp, Zipp!” Sunny cried. “Fly Shaggy and Scooby out of here!”

“We would if we could!” Pipp said, struggling to get off the ground. “It’s like the scepter's magic is interfering with our own! We're trapped!”

As some of the goblins got closer and closer, they were soon faced by the Goblin King, staring down at them menacingly. “Who dares disrupt the Goblins’ Rave?!” 

“Uh… d-don’t mind us,” Hitch stammered fearfully. “We were just leaving!”

Unfortunately, the king did not want to see to reason. So, he simply raised his hand, and the scepter floated right back over to him… and just as the clock struck midnight. “The goblin hour has arrived!”

The king lifted his scepter to the sky, making it glow sickening green and making the wall next to the giant clock opening, allowing a safe passage to the mortal world. “You are free, my minions,” the Goblin King said, letting his goblins fly out of the castle. “Go forth this night, and let goblin mischief reign! Ha ha ha… ha ha ha ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

No sooner than 99% of the goblins leave, the king had the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby chained, and Glob laughed wickedly. “Oh great one, what you want we should do with them?” he asked as the ponies trembled nervously. “Yeah! What do we do? What do we do?” Glum asked.  “Take them to the tower dungeon,” the Goblin King growled firmly, making the group instantly fear the worst. “T-T-T-Tower dungeon?!” Pipp stammered nervously, and Shaggy worriedly sobbed. “Like, any chance we could put in for an upgrade?”

“Your majesty, I get the situation looks bad,” Misty tried to step forward, only to have the chain on the metal collar yank her back. “But, if you’ll let me and my friends explain, w-w-we’ll have a big laugh. Heh heh… everyone likes a good joke... right?”

“Enough talk,” the Goblin King interrupted. “Be thankful that I have more urgent matters to deal with. Take them away.”

And that’s what Glob and Glum did, dragging Shaggy, Scooby, the two pups and their friends off to the dungeons as the king vanished. Sunny was one of many that couldn’t believe it… they had failed. And they were so close to saving the world!

Now… they wouldn’t be able to save their friends from what would come next.
> Trouble Rises Further/One Last Chance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fred and Daphne had finally finished the trap in the clock tower by the time midnight struck, and were now hiding behind the clock’s network of gears for the right moment.

Brushfire had flew to the carnival right after Velma had passed out, and after she explained to Fred and Daphne who she was (the captured fairy's best friend) and happily let her use her magic to help help them build the trap.

After they waited a few seconds, that’s when the Goblin King appeared, looking livid, and causing Brushfire to silently gasp, a little nervous. 

Something was about to go down, and the gang knew that the something wouldn’t be good. “Show yourself, wicked warlock!” the Goblin King threatened, and it was then that Krudsky dingifyingly walked toward him. “Greetings, Your Majestic Malignancy,” he greeted with a dignified bow. “Thank you for coming. I do so admire your punctuality.”

“Show me the princess,” the Goblin King commanded him, “or be destroyed!”

But Krudsky only chuckled at this threat. “You wouldn't dare use magic against me so long as I have her under my spell,” he said, waving his hand over his hat and causing the princess to rise from it. “Why, here she is now, unharmed, as promised. And now, if you please, the Goblin Scepter!”

“Beware, mortal,” the Goblin King warned. “You know not the powers you are dealing with.”

“Jeepers…!” Daphne whispered from their hiding places, but Fred shushed her before she could give them away. So, with major reluctance, the Goblin King let the scepter float toward Krudsky, and Krudsky did the same with the princess. That gave Fred the perfect signal. “Now, Daphne!”

Daphne instantly pushed down on a lever, causing the gears to speed up and causing ropes to trap the Goblin King, and this allowed Fred to catch Willow in Krudsky’s hat. “Gotcha!”

But this also gave Krudsky an advantage to grab the Goblin Scepter, transforming him into a goblin himself and allowing him to be at full power. “Ladies and gentleman,” he shouted, “the Amazing Krudsky-- version 2.0!”

Thunder and lightning cracked, making Brushfire whimper nervously and hide behind Daphne’s red hair, trembling. “Well, well… look at the big bad Goblin King,” Krudsky smirked over at the king. “Release me at once!” he commanded, thinking the ropes were Krudsky’s doing. “I’ll take over from here, junior!”

And just like that, Krudsky used the goblin scepter to transform the Goblin King into a goose… just before he turned his sights on the remaining gang members. “Now, who’s next?”

“Oooookay…” Brushfire said nervously, not thinking this is how the plan would turn out. “That was not part of the plan.”

“Run for it!!” Daphne cried out, and she and Fred ran out of the clock tower with Brushfire clinging to Daphne’s head. Once they were at the bottom, Fred and Daphne turned to the breezie as she took to the air again. “Brushfire, we need you to go find the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby,” Fred instructed. “And warn them about this wannabe warlock!”

“What?! No way!” Brushfire was immediately against this. “I’m not leaving you alone with that creep! And what about the princess-- my best friend, let me remind you?”

“We’ll try and buy you some time so you can find them,” Daphne told the small creature. “We’ll be fine, Brush-- go, before it's too late!”

Brushfire definitely didn’t like the thoughts of being on her own and with her friends in a situation like this… but nodded anyway and flew off, leaving Fred and Daphne to run in another direction. And just as they split up, Krudsky demolished the front of the clock tower, so he could look on at all the goblins running amok around Coolsville. “Shadow Goblins, have your fun!” he cried. “Halloween has just begun!”

Brushfire panted nervously as she flew, hearing the Shadow Goblins’ laughter from behind her… and all she could hope was that the gang of ponies and their friends could get back before their world was altered for the worst.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in the Halloween world, Glob and Glum finally escorted Shaggy, Scooby and all the ponies into the dungeons and into chains that prevented the ponies from using their powers before they joined their fellow Shadow Goblins in the mortal world. Thunder and lightning cracked outside, causing Izzy and Mystique flinch from each flash. “Boy, Scoob, did we screw up this time,” Shaggy said, shaking his head sadly. “Like, game over.” 

“Yeah… game over…” Scooby whimpered sadly. “Now, we’ll never make it back before sunrise,” Misty said depressingly, “and we’ll be trapped in the spirit world forever! And... and it's all my fault...”

“What?!” Pipp cried. “How can you say that? It is so not your fault!”

“But I should have stopped you guys from making a fool out of him at the carnival!” Misty sobbed, tears flowing down her face. “And ever since then, the tension is completely rising through the roof! Maybe it's because we're getting close to defeating my mom or everyone is getting mad at each other, I don't know what! I just feel like I'm supposed to be the optimistic one, and it's so hard! I'm sorry, I should have been honest with how I was feeling... I ruined everything!”

“Misty… you haven’t ruined anything at all. We are the ones who should be sorry,” Sunny said as Misty turned to her. “We were so focused on our problem of defeating Paradise that we didn't stop to check in and see how YOU were feeling. That's what good friends would’ve done.”

“We still failed, though...” Misty shook her head sadly. “It's not like we can do anything about that from in here.”

“Still, we gave it one heck of a try, didn't we, guys?” Shaggy tried to encourage. “We did?” Scooby glanced at him, still feeling down. “Shaggy, as much as I appreciate this newfound confidence,” said Hitch as he hugged a scared Sparky, “I don't think Misty or even Sparky for that matter is really up for a speech like this.”

“I know that, Hitch, but I mean, think about how far we came,” Shaggy said with a smile. “That took courage, stamina, brains. And, like, those are things we don't have.”

“Well… you’re right about that,” Mystique shrugged. “We did come pretty far on our own... hardly using any magic along the way. Plus... I got to meet you guys, and... I finally feel like I belong with the right herd.”

But after a quick moment of silence, Shaggy let out a sigh. “I just wish we had one more chance to save the day.”

“We all do, Shaggy...” Zipp said, putting a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “We all do.”

There was a moment of silence between the group, making that very same wish in their minds... the first Unity Quest the group ever failed on. “Did somebody say ‘wish’?” asked a voice, and the group looked toward the doors to see Night Glow and her fairy pals flying right into the dungeon. “Lucky for you,” said Tiddlywink, “granting wishes is what we do best!”

“Hey… our fairy friends!” Shaggy exclaimed as the fairies’ and Night Glow’s magic undid the chains, freeing them. “Yes! We’re saved!” Mystique cheered. “Yippee!!” Scooby howled, bringing the group in for a happy hug. “Hey, good for you guys!” said the skeleton between them, causing them to scream in terror. “Well, come on!” said Sparkplug with a smile. “Your ride is here!”

“Oh! But… there’s one more thing,” Night Glow said, flying to the ponies with her fairy friends at her side. “A little spell to help you during your final battle, to thank you for all you're doing.”

With that, Night Glow and the fairies flew around and around Izzy, Hitch, Misty and Mystique until the magic from their wings began to form into fairy wings on the ponies’ backs. “Wings?!” Mystique cried in amazement. “Like, actual real, flying wings for flying?!” 

“Thank you all so much!” Misty said as she let her wings flap. “They’re beautiful!” 

“And they’re a great way to get out of here and stop this evil plan!” Zipp nodded. “You’ll be able to fly as fast as me, Pipp and Sunny and then some!” 

“Remember, the spell only lasts until sunrise,” Tiddlywink told them, “so use this magic wisely.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Izzy asked. “Let’s get outta this tower and back to Coolsville!”

XXXXXXXX

Thanks to the ponies and the new wings of Izzy, Hitch, Misty and Mystique, Shaggy and Scooby were able to navigate out of the tower dungeon and to the tallest tower of the castle, where they halted once they saw what a drop it was. As Shaggy leapt into Scooby’s paws in fright, the Great Dane beamed at what was coming. “Shaggy, look!” 

What had come for them was Broomy, good as new, thanks to the fairies’ magic abilities. “Broomy! You’re back in action!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Come on, guys!” Sunny said as she shifted to her alicorn form as Izzy and Misty lifted Shaggy and Scooby onto Broomy. “We’re going for the sweep!”

And so, the group flew away from the castle and into the underground tunnels leading from it. But as they flew for another good minute, a familiar orange someone leapt in front of Scooby and landed right on Broomy’s front. “What’s up dog?” the jack o’lantern laughed. “Jack!” Hitch cried. “You came back!”

“Hey, there's still a little fire left in this old pumpkin. Ha ha! Come on, let’s carve!” Jack exclaimed before he lit the way for them, guiding them back onto the surface and off into the night. “Whooooo-hooo!!!” Scooby howled to the moon above. Next stop, Coolsville... in order to save it from Krudsky’s master plan!
> A Final Halloween Fight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the mortal world, Krudsky laughed victoriously, holding the glowing Goblin Scepter to the sky… finally-- all the Halloween magic was his to control. “Tonight,” he announced, “Halloween is under new management!” 

“All hail the Goblin King!” Glob said respectfully, recognizing Krudsky as their new leader. “What is your command, oh great one?” Glum then asked him. That’s when Krudsky wickedly set his sights on the Mystery Machine, desperately trying to flee from the scene. “How about… a little target practice?” 

Not wasting another second, Krudsky and his new henchmen flew off after the Mystery Machine. And meanwhile, inside the Mystery Machine, Velma was just beginning to wake from her passing out a couple of hours earlier. “What’s happening?” she questioned the others, adjusting her glasses. “Where am I?” 

That’s when Krudsky, Glob and Glum appeared before the Mystery Machine, causing Fred to slam on the brakes. “Not so fast…!” 

“Jinkies!!” Velma shrieked in surprise, leaving the group completely unable to move forward, and they couldn't move backward cause of all the goblins back at the clock tower. No doubt about it... they were trapped! “Ladies and gentlemen, I present… the Monstrous Machine!” Krudsky announced before blasting the Mystery Machine with his new powers. “Look out!” Daphne cried in panic. “The van’s coming apart!”

In a desperate act, Fred and Daphne and Velma immediately got out of the van and ran for cover, just as it began to change from an ordinary vehicle to a vehicle with a monstrous appearance, roaring at the top of its lungs. “Wha--?! Now, that is something you just do not do to a guy's van!” Fred said, preparing to charge as the girls held him back. But the creature’s roar caused them all to scream, leaving them only one option. “RUN!!” 

Fred and the girls bolted for the carnival as the Monstrous Machine gave chase, and they could only wonder… where were their friends when they really needed them?

XXXXXXXX

“WHOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!” Misty cheered as her fairy wings flapped, being some of the first to lead the team back toward Coolsville after escaping the Goblin Castle. “I’M AS FREE AS A BIRD!!!”

“Ha ha! I told you flying with wings was way better than with the Marestream!” Zipp told her as they barrel rolled through the open, clear night sky. “Or, in Shaggy and Scooby’s case, flying with a flying broom!”

“Whee-hee-hee-hee!!” Scooby cheered, keeping one paw on the broom and high-fiving Hitch and Sparky as they flew past. Soon enough, amongst all the cheering and laughter from their magical flight, they reached the borderline of their beloved hometown. “Coolsville!” Pipp exclaimed happily. “We made it!”

“Now all we have to do is find the gang,” Izzy continued, “get back the Goblin Scepter, defeat Krudsky and save the world from total and utter destruction. But uh… where do you think we need to start?”

“Well--”

“Oh… SHAGGY!!! PONIES!! SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“Brushfire?” Zipp pulled out her visor and zoomed in on the tiny breezie calling for them. “There she is! Come on!”

“Wait for us, Zipp!” Sunny called as they flew down after her to where Brushfire was. “Guys! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for-- whooaaaaaa…” Brushfire’s eyes went wide at the fact that so many things had seemingly changed. “I feel like I've missed out on quite a bit.”

“Brush, I promise, we’ll explain everything about our trip later!” Misty spoke. “Right now, where are Fred and the girls?”

“And Krudsky?” Hitch added on. “Uh… last I saw,” Brushfire tried to rapidly think, “the Goblin King got turned into a goose by Krudsky, who’s a goblin now, and Krudsky turned the Mystery Machine into a monster, and it’s chasing the gang around the carnival!”

“The carnival…? Oh my gosh… the Ferris wheel! The prophecy!” Sunny shrieked. “We don’t have much time!”

“Follow me!” Zipp cried, pushing her visor down over her face. “My visor will show us the quickest way there!”

“Brushfire, go get Mr. Gibbles! We may need him during the fight!” Mystique told her sternly. “Right away!” the breezie saluted, and the groups split up through the alleys to try and reach their friends in time.

XXXXXXXX 

Fred and the girls ran through the carnival at top speed, trying to evade the Monstrous Machine, which was still after them as they neared the Ferris wheel. Once they climbed into the Ferris wheel’s cart, the ride suddenly stopped once it got to the very top. “Jeepers!” Daphne exclaimed. “We’re stuck!”

As the group looked down to see that the Monstrous Machine was what was keeping the Ferris wheel from moving, the laughter of Krudsky was heard, and the group turned to face the warlock, preparing to blast them with the scepter. “This shall teach you to meddle in the affairs… of MAGICIANS!!”

“Do something, Freddy!” Velma cried out. “I am doing something!” Fred responded, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m panicking!”

“Oh, Scooby-Doo!” Daphne cried out, feeling as if their friends were a million miles away. “Where are you?!”

And that’s when Krudsky cast his spell right at the gang, causing Fred to be turned into a vampire, Velma into a werewolf, and Daphne into a witch. Once Velma was heard howling at the moon, Krudsky laughed wickedly. “At last! My magic powers are complete! Who could dare stop me now?!”

“Ready, everypony?!” asked an unfamiliar voice. “ATTACK!!!”

“Scoooooby-Dooby-Dooooooo!!!” cried a familiar voice, and Krudsky looked on in surprise to see Shaggy, Scooby and Jack riding on Broomy and the ponies flying alongside, steely eyed and determined to take down this goblin, magic-obsessed bully. Krudsky, however, was confused at the sight. “Huh?”

“RAH!!” Zipp slapped her hoof on Krudsky as the group flew past him, causing him to spin and get tangled up in his own cape. “And a pretty bow to match!” Pipp said, wrapping a bow around his head as an accessory before she flew off to rejoin her friends. After Krudsky got himself untangled and got the ribbon off his head, that’s when he knew it was time to take action. “Take that!”

Each blast from the scepter was one that the unicorns and Sunny were able to deflect with their own magic blasts, having their plan in place. “Hang on!” Shaggy shouted to the others as Sunny, Izzy and Misty kept Krudsky busy. “We’re coming around!”

“Wheee-hee-hee-hee!!” Scooby howled, and as soon as they rounded one of the tents, Zipp knew it was time for the next phase of the plan to start. “Here we go, Jack!”

Mystique, who charged Jack up with more Halloween fire, tossed her pumpkin friend down toward Krudsky at full speed, letting the fire inside him build up. “YEE-HAW!!!” Jack shouted at the top of his lungs just before he collided with Krudsky, causing a massive explosion the others had to shield themselves from. 

During the midst of the explosion, Krudsky lost grip of the Goblin Scepter, and unfortunately for him, Scooby was the one to catch it in his teeth. “Ha ha ha!” Hitch laughed. “Nice catch, Scoob!”

“Yay!”

“Way to go!”

“Yahoo!”

“WHOAAAAAAAA-HO-HO-HO!!!” Krudsky cried out in panic. Then, something strange began to happen… at soon as Scooby started touching the scepter, the scepter itself began to change him into a goblin-dog creature, much to the others’ shock. “Oookay,” Sunny blinked. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Scooby!” Misty cried, flying over to him with Sunny and Izzy in tow. “Are you okay?!”

“Uh... I think I am,” Scooby said with the scepter still in his teeth, looking himself over. “And even though it's not what we expected, this is still kinda cool,” Izzy admitted. “Looking good, Scooby-Doobers!”

“Oooh… I’ve had it up to here with you… meddling meddlers! The Goblin Scepter is mine! Let me have it!” Krudsky commanded, causing Shaggy to laugh amused. “You heard the man, Scoob,” he told his goblin-turned best friend. “Like, you all just let him have it!”

“Now that,” said Sunny as all the cutie marks began to glow brightly, “is something we can do! Scooby and ponies... let's light it up!”

Scooby nodded and took the scepter into his paws, and he and the ponies sent magic from the scepter and their cutie marks toward Krudsky, causing him to lose his goblin form and fall to the ground, his cape getting hung on a flagpole. Shaggy flew over to them on Broomy as the group reunited with joyous smiles, and Misty nuzzled Scooby lovingly. “And who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” 

The group laughed happily-- now there was only one thing left to do… turn everything back to normal. The ponies put their hooves on the scepter as Scooby lifted it up to the sky, the cutie marks and the scepter combining their magic to spread all across the sky and  turn their friends and Mr. Gibbles (who hopped in during the fight with Brushfire) back to normal. “Oh, thank heavens!” 

“Fred! Girls!” Hitch, Izzy and Pipp dove down to hug their friends out of relief, knowing they were safe and sound at last. Just then, the inside of Krudsky’s hat began to glow with a bright light, and Velma gasped as she quickly picked it up. “Look, gang!” 

The orb containing Princess Willow lifted out of the hat, and dissipated, leaving Willow with her magic and freedom once again. “The spell is broken… I’m free!” Willow rejoiced. “Willow, you’re safe!” Brushfire smiled, hugging her best friend before Willow remembered something that ruined the tender moment. “Uh oh… but not for long…”

As she said this, the goose flew across the moon and turned back into the Goblin King, and once he was himself again, he summoned his scepter back to him, and this caused Scooby to quickly turn back into a regular dog. “Huh?” he blinked, trying to process what happened just before he started falling. “YIKES!!”

“We got you, Scoob!” Sunny cried, and the ponies, wherever they were in the sky, dove as fast as they could to grab their friend, and they quickly got him and lowered him to the ground, where they reunited with Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma, who were relieved that this chaos was finally over. “You ham-fisted hecklers!” Krudsky said, struggling to get down from the pole. “Just wait until I-- I…” 

He soon stopped this sentence when he saw the Goblin King ominously looming over him. “Trick or treat…” he spoke, and used his scepter to trap Krudsky in a glowing orb. “NO!!” Krudsky cried out in anguish. That’s when the Goblin King turned to the tiny fairy princess, seriously disappointed. “Princess Willow,” he began, “the trouble you have caused this night is inexcusable.” 

“I know… and I’m sorry, Daddy,” Princess Willow spoke sincerely, flying up to him. “Huh?” the gang questioned. “Daddy?” 

“Ohhhhhh right… I knew I was forgetting something,” Brushfire said out loud before turning to the gang with a nervous shrug. “Whoopsie!” 

“I should have listened to Brushfire earlier when she told me I shouldn’t have snuck out early,” Willow continued to her father, “and I’ll never do it again, I promise!” 

“As of now, you are officially grounded for one year,” the Goblin King said to her sternly. “But I’m awfully glad to have you back, my little princess.” 

“Awwww…” the ponies, Sparky and Scooby cooed at seeing the tender moment… but it didn’t last long. “So… all’s forgiven then?” Krudsky chuckled nervously. “Does he really think his actions went unnoticed?” Zipp asked with crossed hooves. “I ought to give him a piece of my own medicine--” 

“Don’t, sis,” Pipp said gently. “He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“You know, Krudsky… you really are my kind of guy,” the Goblin King told him. “Really?” Krudsky asked. “You mean, you’ll help me with my career?” 

“Let’s just say, where you’re going,” said the king, “you’ll have lots of time to practice your act.”  

With that being said, the king quickly lifted the scepter to the sky, activating a portal that began to suck all the goblins back into the Halloween world. As this was being done, Willow discovered Jack, lifeless nearby. “Poor old Jack…” she frowned. “He's all burned out for another year.” 

“Looks like our time is up,” said Mr. Gibbles, picking Jack up off the ground. “We best say our goodbyes now.” 

“Goodbyes…?” the pets, Shaggy and Scooby asked, looking a little sad. “Come along, Broomy, it’s time we got you home,” Mr. Gibbles said to the broom before turning back to the group. “Great job, my young wizards and Equestrian allies. Be sure to stop by the magic shop next year. Mystique? Can you add a touch of your Halloween fire to the mix?” 

Mystique smiled at this. “I would be honored.”

She let a ball of purple fire envelope her hoof, and spread it out to a candle Mr. Gibbles was holding for her, which instantly brought Jack back to life. “Hey, hey!” he greeted with a grin. “What do you say? Jack lives to see another day!” 

“Yippee!” Scooby licked Jack all over his face in joy. “H-Hey! Take it easy, Scoob!” Jack laughed. “You're gonna slobber my new candle out-- hey!” 

“Sunny Starscout?” the Goblin King called out. “I understand that you and your friends helped these brave mortals defeat this wicked magician, correct? That you were trying to protect my daughter and your friends?”

“Y-Yes, sire,” Sunny nodded, a little rattled. “We understand taking it was wrong, and we should have done it in a different way.”

“No harm done, my dear,” said the king. “In fact… I’d like to give you all something in thanks.”

Lowering his scepter, he caused a bright, glowing crystal to appear in the aura, making Misty gasp as Pipp grabbed it. “The cutie mark crystal! Just as we needed! Oh, thank you, sire!”

“No… thank you, for all that you have done.” 

“Come on, Jack. Time to fly,” Mr. Gibbles said, carrying Jack onto Broomy as they flew away, leaving our intrepid heroes to wave goodbye. “Gotta buzz, cuz!” Jack shouted as they flew away. “Jack O’Lantern ooooooout!!” 

“Thank you all so much. May the magic of the fairies be with you!” Willow bid farewell before she flew into the portal. “Huh-- I will never ever forget this!” Izzy smiled, causing Scooby to giggle in his agreement. “Me neither.” 

“Neither will I,” Mystique agreed. “Because of this adventure, I get to make a new home here that I didn’t have the option to have before… and I appreciate you guys so much for that.” 

 “Bravest of mortals, you shall indeed remember,” the Goblin King told them, but then he looked at Fred, Daphne and Velma. “But all others must forget! By the shining rays of dawn, all memory of this night… be gone!” 

And with that, the Goblin King flew back into the portal with Krudsky begging for his mommy just before the portal closed and as dawn breached. As the fairy wings Night Glow and the fairies gave the flightless ponies disappeared, Shaggy and Scooby took them to get the Mystery Machine as the sunshine came down on Fred and the girls, causing their memories of the last night to be erased. “Whoa,” Fred shook his head to clear it. “What just happened?” 

“Hey, gang!” Shaggy greeted from the van as the group approached. “Like, where you been? Ha ha ha! We’ve been looking all over for ya!” 

“Ponies! Shaggy! Scooby!” Daphne exclaimed in relief. “What happened to you guys last night?” Velma asked. The ponies, now including Mystique Blaze, Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other with a smirk and then giggled to themselves, just before Misty looked back at the others. “Let's just say... you wouldn’t believe us if we told ya.”
> Halloween Come and Gone/Heading Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon after dawn breached Coolsville, the maintenance workers began taking the carnival equipment down by the pier, and the gang stuck around to watch a night full of memories disappear. “Well, gang,” said Fred, “another Halloween Carnival come and gone.” 

“I hate to say it, but don't you think we're getting a little old for this stuff, Freddy?” Daphne asked. “It does seem a little bit silly to go around pretending to believe in monsters and non-Equestrian magic,” said Velma, looking at Krudsky’s old poster. “Even if it is just one night a year.”

“Real or unreal. Like, what’s the difference?” Shaggy asked as he and Mystique were in front of the mirror, causing the little earth pony mare to giggle. “The truth is, you never know where your next scare is gonna come from,” she said. “You just gotta find the courage to deal with it face-to-face!”

All of a sudden, their reflections in the mirror changed into that of the cackling headless horseman, causing them to scream and jump right into Velma’s arms. “Like, it’s the headless horror from the Halloween world!” Shaggy trembled. But, then, Scooby’s head popped up in the reflection, making the group sigh in relief.  

That was something they couldn’t explain, but Scooby had only one thing to say in response. “Scooby-Dooby-Doo!”

As they all laughed at the Great Dane's silly antics, the portal to Equestria opened up nearby, prompting Sunny to smile and toss the costumes the ponies wore earlier back to her friends. “That’s our cue. We still have a Nightmare Night party to go to back home.”

“Will you be back?” Mystique asked. “I’d sure like to see you guys again.”

Misty smiled as the gang was brought into a group hug. “You can count that we’ll always be back, whether worlds or minutes away.” 

And then, waving goodbye to their friends for now, they hopped into the portal to head back to Zephyr Heights.

Another Unity Quest was behind them... and they only needed two more crystals to go until Paradise's reforming time would come...

...unless she was able to carry out her new plan first.