Only a week later, and it was the day of the big Mystery Analysts of Gotham meeting. Mystery Incorporated and their pony pals were ecstatic for their first time, wondering what it would be like, working with some of the biggest superheroes in Gotham City.

Meanwhile, Batman and Ivory had their hands and hooves full, trying to fend off the henchman of the villainous scoundrel, the Riddler, who was trying to steal gold from under the city. But while all the henchmen were still suffering from their blows, a helicopter began to lift the gold and the Riddler away. “Sayonara, my masked muttonhead!” Riddler cackled victoriously while Batman glared up at him. “Not so fast, you malignant mind boggler!”

Using his tethered bat-a-rang, Batman flung it toward the Riddler, and it wrapped around his feet, causing him to be pulled back to the ground and landing before them hard. “We’ve danced this dance before, Riddler,” Ivory sneered, with Batman keeping his stern look on, agreeing with his young kirin sidekick. “It always ends with you licking your wounds in a padded cell at Arkham Asylum.”

“True, you beat me one-on-one, Batman. But riddle me this, when is a villain like a mathematician? Answer, when it multiplies!” the Riddler cackled as more of his henchmen leapt into action. Only a second after that, Cat Woman showed up from the dark alleys of the city. “Did someone mention a dance? Meow…”

Suddenly, the Killer Croc leapt up from the sewers with a roar, surprising Ivory a bit. “I'm gonna make a nice bat gumbo out of you,” he told Batman, who merely smirked. “I anticipated your malevolent mathematics, Riddler, and brought some additional allies of my own.”

With this cue being spoken, Aquaman and Question approached him, along with Aquaman’s super pegasus sidekick Slipstream, a green pegasus with golden eyes, a burgandy and red mane and tail, golden feathers on her wings, a dark purple mask and cape and a cutie mark of a water symbol. “Outrageous!” Aquaman shouted. “Aquaman, Question,” Batman acknowledged with a nod. “Thanks for your assistance.”

“Could I ever refuse a call from the Batman?” said the Question, but this made Aquaman frown. “Crab cakes. You brought him? He's so annoying with all those deuced questions.”

“And how are you, Aquaman?” the Question asked again, ignoring the water-superhero’s previous statement. “See?” Slipstream gestured, trying to prove the point before moving closer to Ivory in a whisper. “Besides, he really creeps me out.”

“No offense, Slipstream,” Ivory said back, “but we have bigger issues to work with at the moment.”

Realizing they were missing out on the fight, the superheroes leapt into action, evading the villains' attacks and fighting back as best as they could, each using their individual strengths. “Let’s wrap this up, Question,” Batman advised after a few minutes of fighting. “We're due at the monthly meeting of the Mystery Analysts of Gotham.”

“A party, eh? Huzzah!” Aquaman said heroically, throwing Killer Croc into the ocean. “Meeting,” Ivory said before using her magic to blast one of the henchmen back. “Not party.”

“Anywhere I go is a party,” Aquaman boasted. “A party? So there will be dancing,” said Cat Woman, using her whip to knock Question into a nearby alley before all the baddies ganged up on the remaining superheroes. “Slipstream, Aquaman, use your hydrokinesis,” Batman urged, but Aquaman just looked confused. “My what-the-what?”

“Your water controlling powers!” Ivory tried to remind him. Aquaman, now realizing what they meant, did so and, along with Slipstream, trapped the villains in a spinning ring of water, while Batman sent an electric shock device to shock them enough to get them to surrender, flocking up in a pile. “Safe to say,” said Question, recovering after being knocked down, “that’s a wrap.”

“Then to the Mystery Analyst meeting,” said Batman. “Outrageous-- let’s get going!” Aquaman said excitedly. “Yeah! The sooner we get there, the more we get to kick butt!” Slipstream agreed. “It’s secret invite only, Aquaman. You guys aren’t detectives, as much as we'd love to have you there,” Ivory frowned. “Not detectives?” Aquaman frowned at this, not taking no for an answer while Slipstream seemed to understand. He and Slipstream could solve a mystery much better than they could, if they just gave them a chance at it. “Why, I'm a wiz at sleuthing out hidden undersea currents.”

“That's oceanography, not criminal investigation,” Slipstream whispered. “Plus, I can identify 900 species of fish on sight alone,” Aquaman added. “That’s ichthyology,” Batman corrected. “Precisely! And who's better at detecting those nasty hard to reach volcanic fissures, eh? Me, that's who,” Aquaman boasted. “Again, oceanography,” Ivory singsonged. “But thanks for mopping up.”

As soon as the topic was finished, the detectives got into their vehicles and sped off, leaving Aquaman and Foster behind. “Some pals,” Aquaman muttered. “Leaving me to do all the work.”

But, what he meant by him doing all the work was summoning a giant squid named Edgar to clean up. While he had the clean-up figured out, he got an idea how he and Slipstream could get into the Mystery Analyst meeting for sure.

XXXXXXXXX

Later into the night, the gang had arrived in Gotham for their first meeting of the Mystery Analysts of Gotham, and they couldn’t be more excited. “Wow... Gotham City is huge!” Sunny excitedly spoke. “I can't believe we're going to be trained by actual superheroes!”

“I know!” Misty nodded. “We could advance our superpowers to a whole new level! Just imagine how my butterfly speaking powers could evolve!”

But not everyone was focused on the things they could learn at this meeting. “So, dude,” Shaggy spoke as they drove, “there will be dinner served at the meeting, correct?”

“You just cleaned out a truck stop mini-mart on the way here,” Zipp said, shocked that Shaggy was still hungry. “No, I saved one box of cookies for later. Ahem… which is now.”

As Shaggy took out the box, Scooby managed to pull a quick manuver to steal almost all the cookies from Shaggy and ate them all in one gulp. “Like, dude, no fair!” Shaggy pouted as Scooby giggled. “You know what's the real mystery here?” Daphne asked. “Batman himself. I mean, who is he, really?”

“Under that mask, he could be anyone,” Fred argued. “Technically, not anyone,” Velma said. “Given Batman's observed height and proportions, combined with the necessary financial means, I've narrowed Gotham's ten million citizens down to a mere 6,052.”

“Maybe you can ask him yourself-- cause we’re here!” Fred announced to the gang. They soon approached a whole row of similar looking doors, gray and none of them sticking out specifically. “But which door is it? There are dozens,” Velma said. “No sign of a keyhole… or a door knob,” Fred noticed. But, as they looked at each door, Daphne saw something. “Wait, Fred-- stop the van!”

The van immediately halted, and they looked at the door that they stopped in front of. “Say my name, a myth forgotten,” Velma read, and immediately, the gang drew blanks. “Man, that is really bad haiku,” Misty blinked. “Or… good haiku? I can never tell, even though Opaline castle-schooled me for as long as I could remember.”

“Not a poem, an anagram!” Daphne said, writing something on the notepad she was holding. And what the others saw on the pad shocked them. “Mystery Analysts of Gotham!” Sunny exclaimed before they all turned to Daphne, confused and bewildered. “Word jumbles,” Daphne answered with a shrug. “Makes those long between-mystery miles just fly by.”

“And look, there's a gap in the bricks,” Hitch pointed to the wall. Fred got out his Mystery Analyst business card and slid it into the gap, and the door opened up before the Mystery Machine drove inside. It was then that they went through at least 10 more doors before they reached the location, and Batman and Ivory were waiting for them. “Welcome, Mystery Incorporated and Equestrians, to the Mystery Analysts of Gotham.”

“In a word… jinkies!” Velma said, and they all got out to greet the superheroes. “Some of our members you've already met,” Ivory spoke with a smile, just as Martian Manhunter and Detective Chimp came to meet up with them. “Are those Chocos?” asked Martian Manhunter, pointing to the box of cookies Shaggy was holding. “Um… yes?” Shaggy responded, only for Martian Manhunter to phase through the box and grab every single remaining cookie… and one that Scooby stole too. Izzy snickered and bumped Scooby playfully. “Nice one.”

Batman and Ivory then walked over to the computer, where Question was currently. “This is the Question-- our resident conspiracy theorist.”

When Question turned to look at the gang, the ponies yelped at the faceless man. “Jinkies…! What happened to his face?” Velma asked in shock. “Now that would be telling,” Question started to explain, but Daphne stopped him. “Never mind, we’re good.”

And at that moment, a pretty blonde-haired woman in a black jumper came forward with a dark blue earth pony stallion, light blue mane and tail, orange eyes, a pair of headphones, a dark red mask and cape and a cutie mark of a pair of headphones. “And this is Hoof Beatz, and our expert in Meta-Human Criminology, Black--”

“Canary!” Fred finished, zipping up to Black Canary and shaking her hand. “Wow! I’m a huge fan-- huge fan!”

“No autographs, Ascot,” Black Canary told Fred as she and Hawk walked off, and Fred romantically followed. Ivory pressed her hoof on a button, and a table for all of them flipped up and into their line of sight. “Everyone, please take a seat.”

“I call dibs on best seat!” Zipp and Pipp cried, flying toward the table and sitting beside one another. The others then followed to find their seats, but when Daphne sat down in one, it suddenly spoke! “Sorry,” it said, and Daphne jumped up to find it was a superhero molded into the shape of a chair.

With him was a white pegasus with a long, blonde mane and tail, brown mud-coated hooves, blue eyes, a pink mask and cape and a cutie mark of a snake. After Daphne caught her breath, the superhero reverted to his normal form. “This seat’s taken. See what I did there? I’m taking up the exact space of a chair!”

To this joke/remark, Batman sighed. “And how could we forget Paradise Serenity and Plastic Man?”

“A martian mindwipe should do the trick…” Martian Manhunter muttered. Plastic Man reached across the room to bring Daphne a chair before the meeting began. “As I was about to say,” Batman explained to the gang, “whenever any of us have a particularly baffling mystery, we present it to the group.”

“Speaking of mysteries, it's tradition for new members to pick our next case to solve,” Martian Manhunter clapped his hands, and a filing cabinet rose from the floor. “A filing cabinet?” Velma got up from her seat to approach. “Isn't that a little old school?”

“It’s our unsolved cases file-- a drawer for each hero,” Hoof Beatz explained, eyes trailing down the drawers on the cabinet until he grimaced at the final one. “That… would be Plastic Man’s…”

“Yeah. He likes to build up a bunch and solve ‘em all at once,” Paradise explained with a nervous grin. “But of course, I've only been a member for a few months, so, eh... what the heck?”

“By the way, I love what you did to your mane!” Pipp beamed. “An all natural mane conditioner?”

“Yeah! You're the first pony to have guessed that!” Paradise beamed. “And if you love music as much as I do, looking at your cutie mark,” Hoof Beatz stated, “we're all gonna be great friends.”

Velma then reached into Batman’s drawer, and pulled out a singular file. “Jeepers,” Daphne spoke with shock. “Batman only has one unsolved case?”

“Ruddy show-off he is,” Detective Chimp muttered. “A case even Batman couldn’t solve?” Zipp said in amazement, having watched some of Batman's victories on the news over tbe past week. “Oh, that’s--”

But suddenly, Batman took the file and hid it from them. “Not open for discussion.”

“But we wanted to--” Fred was about to protest, when a disguised Aquaman and Slipstream, the former disguised, burst through the ceiling and into the room. “I am Sir Arthur… Quirot of the Cleveland Yard,” Aquaman faked a French accent as he approached with a nervous looking pegasus, who only chuckled awkwardly as Aquaman continued. “You are all under suspicion.”

Ivory raised an eyebrow at Aquaman’s… odd behavior. She wasn't even sure how they found their way to the meeting location. “Aquaman? What are you--?”

“I shall ask the questions here!” Aquaman interrupted before poking a finger in Fred’s chest. “Where is the body?”

“Aquaman,” Batman said simply. “I know one of you is the guilty party,” Aquaman continued his ruse. “Aquaman…” Batman called again, but once again, Aquaman ignored him. “Und I never forget a face!” he said before approaching Question. “Although you seem to have forgotten yours! Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“Just so you know, I’m rolling my eyes,” Question deadpanned to the aquatic superhero. “Aquaman!” Ivory said fiercely, but a moment later, she sighed in defeat. There was no point arguing with him with this. “You can stay…”

“We can?” Slipstream blinked. “Wow... that was crazier than Aquaman’s plan, if I can be perfectly honest.”

“Outra-- ooh, uh… eureka!” Aquaman said, still posing his French accent. “So... your talent is to control water?” Sunny asked, approaching Slipstream and studying her cutie mark. “Yep!” Slipstream smiled. “Fastest pegasus in Gotham! And the only one who can dive under the water.”

“Wow...” Misty and Izzy said in awe. All of a sudden, one of the computer screens started to flash red, and an alarm began to echo throughout the building. “By the hordes of H'ronmeer, a crime alert,” Martian Manhunter flew to the computer, and Paradise merely chuckled. “Probably someone stealing televisions.”

“You'd know a thing or two about that, wouldn't you?” Black Canary asked playfully, and Plastic Man looked surprised while the white pegasus' ears folded back in embarrassment. “Look again,” Velma pointed to the screen. “That's a scientific storage facility used to hold materials that are especially dangerous or toxic in nature.”

“That sounds serious,” Zipp frowned. “Maybe we should investigate,” Daphne said, and this led Batman to nodding. “Agreed-- as new members of the Mystery Analysts of Gotham, I move that Mystery Incorporated take the lead on this case.”

When this was said, Fred smiled and went to say one of his most famous sayings: “Well, gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands.”

Author's Note

All credit goes to the creator of Slipstream and Hoof Beatz, the pony used to make Paradise Serenity.

Slipstream Ultimate Reference Guide by Centchi on DeviantArt

And by the way, if you forgot what the ponies' superhero forms look like, it's these:

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/6/6b/Mane_5_and_Misty_arrive_at_the_ball_C4E5.png/revision/latest?cb=20230626211550

Just... this picture doesn't include the capes.