G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob

Chapters

A Skyward Mystery Ends, A New Adventure Begins
Norville o'er Morgania/Morgan le Fay Appears
Welcome to Camelot/A Villainous Team-Up
Meeting the Camelot Pony Power Squad
Opaline's Return and the Knightly Challenges Begin
Dark Magic Attacks and Kidnappings Occur
Paradise's Reform/Misty's Worst Nightmare Come True
Rescue Mission at Morgan's Keep
Chasing After the Deed
The Final Confrontation with Opaline Arcana
A Castle Celebration and an Equestrian Reunion
The Biggest Unity Quest Yet
The Coming of a Kingly Challenge/Seeking Knowledge

A Skyward Mystery Ends, A New Adventure Begins

Now that the Mane 6 were on their way for a new Unity Quest, and Opaline sensed they were coming, it would only be a matter of time before things set into motion.

But the ponies wouldn’t be arriving at their Unity Quest location just yet… for before they could arrive, a mystery in the sky would need to be wrapped up first.

A monster had been attacking airlines for the past several days, and if it didn’t stop soon, no one would fly to their destinations, and the airlines would lose millions.

Luckily, Mystery Incorporated was gladly ready to accept the case, and they were just about ready to crack the mystery wide open… when the creature started to use its razor-sharp claws to scratch up the wing. At the same time, however, the plane door flew open, and a certain Great Dane wearing a blue collar and a brown parachute backpack came flying out of the plane. “SHAGGY!!!!!”

Before he could fly out much further, Shaggy grabbed onto the Great Dane’s long tail and wedged himself in the doorway to prevent himself from falling out of the plane as well. “I got you, Scoob!”

Scooby honestly hoped this was the case, and he wasn’t the only one panicking-- the passengers were panicking too, especially the plane was coming down for an emergency landing.

Lightning and thunder crashed above them in suspense as Shaggy saw the creature getting closer to Scooby, ready to tear him to shreds. “Like, whatever you do,” he cried out through the wind, “don't look behind you!”

“Behind mee?!!” Scooby cried through the wind, trying to hear what Shaggy had told him. “No!” Shaggy shouted back. “DON’T look behind you!”

This time, Scooby heard him, and turned his head with his paws to the left, only to be met with the height of the plane, making him panic that much worse. “Well, don’t look down, either! That’s Cowardice 101, Scoob!”

As the plane continued to head downward toward the city below, the creature slowly got to Scooby, roaring into the wind and raising it’s paw with sharp claws. Scooby screamed loudly and moved slightly to avoid his body getting hit, and in the end, it ripped the cover of the backpack to his parachute.

Seeing this as their chance to capture the beast, Shaggy smiled at the opportunity. “Now, Scoob!”

Scooby let through a smirk and pulled the cord, trapping the creature in the parachute as it flew into the wind. At the other end of the plane, Velma and Daphne opened the door and peeked out, seeing the monster trying to break out of his parachute prison. “It worked!” Daphne said before grabbing the rope. “Come on, Velma! Let’s… reel them in!”

Together, she and Velma strained and pulled as hard as they could, pulling not only the creature in the plane, but Shaggy and Scooby in with it. Inside the plane, the entire gang rejoiced…

...but it didn’t last long once they saw the passengers’ terrified expressions at seeing the monster in the plane with them, captured or not. “Oh, sorry about that, everybody. Just doing what we do best!” Fred assured. “And from this moment on,” said Daphne, “there won’t be anymore scary incidents on your flight!”

“Zoinks!” Shaggy cried upon seeing something at the other end of the plane. “Like, I wouldn't be so sure about that, guys!”

A portal was beginning to open at the other end of the plan, causing the passengers to further panic. But to Velma, this portal seemed very familiar. “Wait a second… is that…?”

Before she could continue speaking, however, six familiar pony figures and a baby dragon tumbled out from the portal, landing in a heap before them, groaning. “Is it just me, guys,” said Pipp as they slowly began to stand, “or did that landing seem a little more wobbly than usual?”

“Probably wobbly because we’re in a plane,” Fred chuckled. “About 30,000 feet above your regular landing grounds.”

“Mystery Incorporated! Boy, are we ever glad to see you!” Sunny said as they ran and hugged their friends. “Were you guys just wrapping up another case?”

Scooby sighed at this. “Unfortunately.”

“But, as soon as we land, we can catch you guys up on everything,” Daphne said, “and you can catch us up on everything!”

Zipp chuckled. “You probably won’t believe everything that happened to us since Halloween, but… we’ll take you up on your offer.”

XXXXXXXX

After the plane landed and the shaking passengers got off the plane and to their destinations, the police officers arrived with Mr. HB, the owner of the airline the gang had saved. “Wow… a real-life monster here in my hanger! I can’t believe you kids caught it!”

“Not an it, Mr. HB,” Velma smiled before she grabbed the monster mask in her teeth and yanked it off, revealing a blonde man with a furious look on his face underneath it. “Herman Ellinger?”

“That’s the rude passenger from B-17! But why?” Daphne asked him. “Why?” Ellinger snapped back. “Because airline tickets cost an arm and a leg. I knew if I could scare your passengers away you'd have to lower your prices, and I could fly almost anywhere for practically nothing.”

“Yeah! Airline prices are the real monster!” Daphne huffed, putting her hands on her hips. But, this was a strange reason to haunt an airline in Shaggy’s opinion. “I don't think you get discounts for--”

But Ellinger cut him off before he could finish, surprising the group for a moment. “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids and that mangy mutt of yours.”

“Hey!” Scooby huffed, hating to be called a mutt. Suddenly, a hair on his head popped up, and Misty licked her hoof to smooth it down for him. “There you go, cutie pie,” she said. “Nice and straight.”

“Thanks, Misty,” Scooby said before giggling… only for another hair to pop out of place, to which Misty thankfully smoothed down again. As he watched the criminal being taken away by the police officers, Mr. HB turned to the group gratefully. “I can't thank you kids enough. But I still don't know how you figured it out.”

“Easy-- with science,” Velma stated. “After the first sighting of the monster, I had an idea. I collected scraps from leftover food served on the airplane and cross referenced the DNA samples against the piece of hair we found on the plane's wing.”

“Incredible detective work, Velma!” Zipp smiled. “I think that may be the easiest way to catch a bad guy in the act!”

But, although Zipp and Mr. HB were impressed, Fred’s grew kind of concerned. “DNA? Gee, that doesn’t sound like mystery solving at all.”

“The only mystery is why anyone would try to solve anything without good old science to back them up,” Velma replied. As he looked at the DNA report, Mr. HB stumbled upon two other papers that were with it. “Say, uh… there’s two other papers here.”

“Oh, that's because there were two extra people that ate the food on the plane,” Velma told him with a slight smirk, “despite us asking them not to.”

“But we just got here like 30 minutes ago!” Izzy argued. “How could we have gotten our DNA tested that fast?”

“Uh, Iz? I don't think Velma meant us,” said Hitch, and all of them glanced over at Shaggy and Scooby, who were eating packaged peanuts from the plane when they realized they were being watched. “Uh-oh… what’d we do?” asked Shaggy, before Velma took the other two DNA reports and handed them to the boys. “It looks like the lab ran your DNA test along with Ellinger's. Aren’t you guys curious where your ancestors came from?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Scooby nodded, scanning his eyes over the DNA report. But, as soon as he read the paper, his excitement turned to a little confusion. “Huh? Denmark?”

“Well, you are a Great Dane, after all,” Sunny told her friend with a smile. “Emphasis on… the great,” Scooby tapped Sunny on the nose with a giggle. “What about you, Shaggy?” asked Fred, noticing that Shaggy was still looking at his paper, and Shaggy happily smiled. “It says my ancestors come from a small village in the north of England called Norville o'er Morgania.”

“Huh… what a weird name,” Zipp said in thought. “Probably to match Shaggy’s aloof personality,” Pipp said, flying over to Shaggy with a smile. “I mean, anyone with the name as unique as Shaggy has an aloof personality in my book.”

“Uh… thanks, Pipp!” Shaggy smiled, although he grew confused after a moment. “Wait… was that an insult or a compliment? It was kinda hard to tell.”

While Shaggy was trying to determine such, Velma scrolled to find some info about where Shaggy's ancestors came from on her phone. “It says here that Norville o'er Morgania is known to be one of the suspected locations of the ancient city of Camelot,” she explained. “Also, it says that it has the best fish and chips in all of the United Kingdom.”

Those words immediately stopped Shaggy and Scooby in their tracks. “Fish…?” Shaggy started. “...and chips?” Scooby asked, both of them imagining fish and fries in their minds. “What I imagined was fries,” Shaggy said, “but I’m still onboard!”

“Hey, England might be where the last cutie mark crystal is!” Sunny realized. “We have to go and check it out!”

But, at the idea of going, Fred frowned and looked unsure. “I wish we could go, gang, but we didn’t go into mystery solving for the money,” he spoke. “Daphne was right on one account. Airline prices are the real monster.”

“It’s too bad we don’t have the Marestream with us,” Hitch pointed out. “We would be able to fly anywhere in just an hour or so!”

“Well, it’s lucky I have an airline, then,” said Mr. HB with a smile. “What do you mean, Mr. HB?” Misty asked. “What do I mean?” Mr. HB chuckled. “Your friends here just saved my whole airline from bankruptcy. I'll fly you all anywhere you wanna go, free of charge. It's the least I can do.”

At this, the others looked hopeful at Fred, hoping for him to change his mind. And to their happiness, he did! “Well, gang,” he declared, “I guess we’re heading to jolly old England.”

The groups cheered in excitement, while Misty felt happiest of all. Maybe there was a chance that she could save her mother from this darkness that consumed her…

…if they found her in time.

Norville o'er Morgania/Morgan le Fay Appears

Once the groups figured out where they wanted to go, the Mane 6 and Mystery Incorporated decided to head to the nearby park, wait for their flight and discuss what they had been into over the past couple of months...

...and boy, there was A LOT to share. “Whoa whoa whoa, hang on!” Fred spoke after a stunning piece of information was just shared. “You guys saved Christmas with a red-nosed reindeer and an arctic fox AND you got to pull Santa’s sleigh?!”

“And,” said Shaggy, “like, you saved an entire village of auroricorns from an evil snow leopard with hypnotizing powers?!”

“Of course we did!” Izzy said with a playful scoff. “That’s what we just said!”

“Wow… the only really interesting thing that’s been happening to us is solving mysteries for Fred’s famous uncle, Bobby Flay, and celebrating Christmas with our families,” Daphne said. “But I’m glad we’re all together again.”

“We are too… especially after such a long time of waiting for a Unity Quest,” Sunny spoke. “And the best news is, we only have to find one more crystal to activate the power in the Together Trees of Equestria!”

“And save my mom!” Misty said. “And while having the Together Trees get their power would be top-notch, me having my mom in my life would be… wow… I don’t even have the words!”

“Misty… we’re really excited for all the things you guys are gonna accomplish,” said Velma gently, “but… we don’t want you to get disappointed if Paradise is too far in that we can’t save her.”

“Velma’s right,” Fred spoke. “The way she hurt you back in Nowhere… I don’t think you would have survived that fight if Courage hadn’t stepped in.”

“She just… had too much power, and she couldn’t control her anger,” Misty said, trying to convince herself otherwise. “I know there’s good in her… I know it. You’ll see.”

The others looked at each other with a mix of hope and worry, not wanting to disappoint Misty further and hoping that she was right. Suddenly, Velma and Zipp’s phones buzzed, and they got them out at the same time to read the text. “Oh, guys! We gotta go!” said the white pegasus. “We need to be at the airport for our flight in half an hour!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pipp asked. “Norville o’er Morgania, heeeeeeeere we coooooooooooome, yeah!!”

XXXXXXXX

The twelve friends spent the entire flight to England happily chatting, and once they finally arrived, they took all sorts of pictures to remember the trip by-- going to a football (soccer) game, walking with the Queen’s corgis, seeing Tower Bridge, riding a double decker bus, and many others.

But now, it was time to travel to that England town Shaggy’s ancestors were from to learn more about them. So, upon boarding the Mystery Machine, they set off. Fred smiled as they drove down the England backroad in quiet and tranquility. “That sure was nice of Mr. HB to ship over the Mystery Machine.”

“It sure was!” Hitch nodded as Sparky cuddled with his crab plush. “And wow… this English countryside is beautiful!” spoke Sunny, looking out the window. “We’re so lucky to be on this trip with you guys instead of somewhere dangerous.”

“Like, Sunny,” Shaggy said, “welcome to the club!”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “We never wanna go somewhere dangerous.”

“Say, Fred,” Daphne spoke up after looking at the map, “the map says you were supposed to take a left back there.”

“Map? Oh, Daphne,” Fred chuckled, “Jones men don't need maps. We were born with an innate sense of direction. We were made for the open road.”

But, that was soon reflected off of Fred when they were nearly hit by an 18 wheeler on the road, making Fred veer to the other side just in time. “Is everypony okay back there?” Daphne asked, turning to those in the back, and not a second or two later, Izzy groaned, a little dizzy and nauseous from the sharp curves they were taking. “I’m all good… other than my stomach going all wishy-washy…”

“Fred, you do know that they drive on the left side of the road in England… right?” Velma asked. “Boy,” Fred huffed. “They built the roads wrong... is this the one where the toilet water goes the wrong way, too?”

“Ewww ewww ewww, Freddy!” Pipp immediately gagged. “That is SO not how toilets operate!”

“Cut him some slack, Pipp,” Zipp told her sister. “This country is a lot different than what they’re used to, just like we have to get used to new places.”

“But the toilet water going the wrong way…? Eww…”

Soon, they approached a roundabout with several signs and roads leading in different directions-- one of them being the way to Norville o'er Morgania. “See?” Fred smiled. “I told you I knew where we were going.”

But, not even a moment later, they started veering to the right side of the road again. “FRED!!!” the ponies practically shrieked for him to get on the left side again. “I got it!” Fred said quickly, trying to remember the new way of driving. “Just testing you.”

“Better go along with it, ponies,” Sunny whispered. “I have a feeling he’ll be doing it again.”

As they drove into town, they found the townsfolk decorating for some kind of celebration, hanging banners and balloons up on the buildings and streetlamps. “Wow,” Fred commented. “It looks like they’re about to have a party. Heh… good timing.”

“Party?” Scooby suddenly looked excited, as did Shaggy. “Oh, man… that means…”

“Party food!” Shaggy, Scooby and the unicorns cried in delight, rushing to look out the window, and Shaggy named off several food names they were serving. “Fish and chips… bangers and mash… toad in the hole! Welsh rarebit… spotted dick… jam roly-poly!”

“Are these real?” Izzy asked in awe. “I guess,” Shaggy shrugged before reading on. “Bubble and squeak… jellied eels… angels on horseback-- it’s like a whole new world of food!”

The Mystery Machine soon parked and everyone got out of it and approached a building nearby. But Shaggy and Scooby both had a different idea in mind. “Like, Scoob and I are gonna go grab a snack,” Shaggy said with a chuckle. “Hey, Sunny, do you and your friends wanna come?”

“Zipp and I can-- I wanna see if there are any new recipes I can try back home!” Sunny said. “We'll be right back, guys.”

And so, the four headed off, and the others looked over the old-looking building before them. “This place is kind of a dump, gang. Like, run-down,” Fred expressed an opinion. “Some of the architecture is left over from medieval times,” Velma explained as Daphne and Pipp approached a nearby stone sign. And what was on it blew Daphne’s mind. “Duuuudes!! The place we're staying is all that remains standing of the Kingdom of Camelot!”

This got Fred smiling, hearing this news. “Camelot?” he asked excitedly. “Like King Arthur? Merlin? Knights of the Round Table? We're standing on history!”

“Weren’t you just calling this place a dump?” Pipp asked. “Yeah, but now it’s a dump where knights lived!”

“Wow... that sounds really amazing! Like a real life fairytale!” Misty spoke with wide eyes. Velma only smiled and rolled her eyes. “There's very little evidence that Camelot or King Arthur even existed, Misty.”

“Oh, but he did.”

Upon hearing a voice behind them, they all turned around to see an older British man with glasses, and a young woman moving toward them. “That’s what we’re celebrating,” said the man before shaking Daphne’s hand. “Hi. I'm Mr. Saunders, the mayor of this fine city, and this here is my assistant, Sandi.”

“Hello,” Sandi greeted. “Nice to meet you. I’m Daphne, and this is Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Misty, Velma and Fred,” Daphne introduced. “Nice to meet you!” Mr. Saunders beamed in delight. “Yeah, you too,” Hirch replied back, impressed with how friendly the people here was before Velma decided to ask something. “You seemed awfully sure that King Arthur really existed,” she observed. “How can you be certain?”

“Because of our name, of course,” the mayor replied with most certainty. “Norville o'er Morgania.”

“Uh... sorry, but... should that name mean something important?” Pipp asked. “Yeah. We're from another universe,” said Izzy, “so things from this world may be a little harder for us to understand sometimes.”

“You don’t know the story? Well, not many do. But never fear. Soon, everyone will. It all began a long time ago, right here, on the site of Camelot,” the mayor began. “That’s right,” said Sandi with a certain nod. “The good King Arthur came under attack by the villainous Morgan Le Fey. Everything seemed bleak until a brave knight appeared. Sir Norville. Known for his fearlessness, this knight fought the evil witch and saved Camelot.”

“Wow... I guess there is other magic in this world besides North Pole magic and Equestrian magic after all!” Hitch said. “This town proves it!”

Byt Velma was still in disbelief after hearing everything. “Witches? Wizards?” she shook her head. “Come on-- those stories came out of the Dark Ages, where nothing could be accounted for.”

“Oh, and we can be accounted for?” Pipp crossed her hooves. “Come on, Pipp-- you're living proof!” Velma argued. “The age of Camelot was hundreds of years before now, and there was really no evidence.”

Even though a disbeliever was in their midst, Mr. Saunders still was smiling. “That’s okay,” he assured, adjusting his coat. “Stay in this town a little while and you'll experience the magic yourselves.”

Sandi nodded and explained to the gang further, a wide grin on her face. “The mayor has worked really hard to make this the greatest celebration ever. We have horse races, archery demonstrations, an unbelievable light show and even a pie-eating contest!”

“Did someone say pie-eating?”

Everyone turned to see Shaggy, Scooby, Zipp and Sunny coming toward them, and Shaggy and Scooby each had a turkey leg on them. “And who is this?” Mr. Saunders asked, shaking Shaggy’s hand. “My name’s Shaggy,” he explained, “and this is Sunny Starscout, Zipp Storm and Scooby-Doo.”

“Hey there,” Zipp saluted. “Hello!” Sunny greeted. “It's so nice to meet both of you!”

“Nice to meet you all as well,” the mayor said politely in response. “Shaggy’s actually the reason we’re here,” Velma explained. “It turns out Shaggy’s ancestors are from Norville o’er Morgania.”

“Norville is a Shaggy name,” said Scooby with the turkey leg in his mouth, and Shaggy nodded. “Yeah, my name’s Norville-- surname Rogers,” he explained. “But, uh, nobody calls me sir. That’s my dad’s name.”

At this news, the mayor was really surprised. “Oh really?” he asked with some astonishment in his voice. “You’re… sure?”

“He's been a Norville his whole life, and the DNA test proves it,” Zipp nodded. “Norville's a name that's been handed down in our family, like… like, forever,” Shaggy said with a chuckle. “Just like this medallion.”

With that, Shaggy pulled out a shiny gold medallion from under his shirt, and it glinted in the sunlight. “My mom gave it to me for luck.”

“Shaggy, it's gorgeous!” Pipp said in excitement. “If something that glamorous passed from generation to generation brings you good luck, maybe the Unity Crystals are our good luck charm! I mean... they did get us all to meet.”

The mayor looked at Shaggy’s medallion, wide eyed for a moment, then at a building who had the same symbol, then at Sandi. “Luck indeed…”

“We thought we’d look around,” explained Daphne, not noticing their expressions right off. “Who knows? Maybe Shaggy's ancestors left him something.”

“I’m hoping for some kind of medieval pizza,” said Shaggy as Scooby gulped down his turkey leg. “Or jellied eels!” Scooby added with the lick of his chops, causing the mayor to slowly nod. “Yes… well, we have to be going.”

With that, Sandi and the mayor rushed off, whispering and murmuring to several other townsfolk along the way, who whispered and murmured to other people that they passed. “Huh... is it just me,” said Zipp, “or did anypony else find their behavior a little out of the ordinary? Like what happened with the auroricorns!”

“You do make a good point. It did look like they were worried,” Misty nodded. “Or... like they were trying to keep something hidden.”

“Small towns are weird,” Fred said with a shrug, turning to Daphne. “Remember that time you dyed your hair blonde and everyone in that little northeastern town was talking about it?”

“Oh, yeah. Being blonde was… definitely not more fun that day,” Daphne agreed. “That’s less of a small town thing than it is a Scooby gang thing,” Velma said as she led them down the street. “Come on, the library’s this way.”

“How do you know?” Izzy asked, bewildered. “The same way Scooby and Shaggy always know where the food is,” Velma told her with a wink. And so they followed her just a block or two away to the library. But, as they walked, Sunny noticed that a lot of people were staring at Shaggy wide-eyed, like he was some kind of a freak or something.

That immediately got her concerned... why were they staring at him in such a peculiar manner?

Thinking it was nothing, Sunny was about to rejoin her friends before a sort laughter (a familiar laughter at that, echoed in her ears, and as she looked toward the library, she saw a shadow and an Opaline-like image flash in her mind, causing her to shake her head and back up a bit. “What was that?!”

“You okay, Sunny?” Pipp asked as she, Zipp and Scooby rushed back to her aid. “I-I don’t know,” Sunny shook her head. “All these different images of this shadowy figure appeared in my mind, and there was this laughing… it almost sounded like Opaline’s laughter, but… that’s impossible… right?”

“Sure it’s impossible. Opaline blew up back in the Himalayas, remember?” Zipp asked. “Maybe it was just a trick of the light.”

“Hmmm… maybe…”

“Come on, Sunny! I wanna do some more reading on this Camelot place!” Izzy called, and Sunny eventually got over her nerves and followed her friends away.

XXXXXXXX

Soon enough, they walked into the library to find it quiet and cold, making Shaggy shudder in a frightened way. “I don't know, Scooby-Doo. Are you getting that same sort of haunted vibe as I am?”

“Uh-huh…” Scooby nodded fearfully. “Doesn’t everything give you the haunted vibe?” Zipp asked them with a raised eyebrow. “It’s called ‘managing expectations’, dear sister. They can be scared one minute and not scared the next!” Pipp defended her friends. “I, however, LOVE to be scared!”

Scooby shuddered at this, leaning in to whisper to Sunny, Shaggy and Misty. “I don’t know why she would…”

“Don’t worry, guys,” Velma reassured them. “The only thing scary about this library is it still uses the Dewey Decimal System.”

As they approached the librarian’s desk, she had just gotten off the phone when Velma scoffed. “Unbelievable…” she said. “Next thing you're gonna tell me, they put the horror and romance section side by side.”

That’s when she noticed the librarian peeking out at them, and cleared her throat to ask her something. “Hi, I was wondering--”

“Shh! This is a place of study. Use your library voice please,” the librarian said, lightly stern. “Of course. I'm sorry,” Velma answered, a little embarrassed. But, when they looked around they saw that there was no one else in the library, which made them confused. “Is it just me… or is this place dead?” Fred asked, no pun intended before Zipp shushed him with the slap of her wing. “We were visiting,” Velma explained to the librarian in a whisper, “and wondered if you can point us to the books on the history of your town.”

“We’re trying to help a friend of ours find out about his family history,” said Sunny, “since a DNA report showed his ancestors were from here.”

The librarian sighed-- she would have to tell them so that way they would leave. “Near the back,” she said. “Past the horror and romance section.”

“Next to the horror and romance section?” Velma asked, an eyebrow raised-- exactly what she was afraid of in a library like this. “Sure…” Pipp said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “Because those genres are so similar. Even I wouldn't put my Spooky Stables books right next to the romance stories Mom reads!”

“Exactly. But you’ll need to hurry-- we’re closing in 20 minutes for the big… party,” the librarian let through a snarl at the last word. “Why we should be celebrating such a preposterous story, I'll never know, but one must do what one must do.”

“Ooookay. We’ll be quick, thank you,” Fred said politely as they hurried away. They were very much confused on what was happening in this town-- first the meeting with the mayor, then the staring townsfolk, and then the librarian who wanted to get away from the history of this place? Now things were getting interesting.

On another note, every member of the gang was busy searching the shelves for the book they needed. “Geez… there has to be over a million books in here!” Hitch groaned, trying to keep Sparky from eating one of the books. “How are we gonna find the one we need in this place?”

“I guess we’re just gonna have to go through every one of them in this section,” Zipp said. “And my visor can help me determine the subject for each.”

She lowered the visor over her face and began her scans, looking over several books. “Hand luggage… hobknockers… hypermarkets… ham hocks…”

“Oooh!” Shaggy grinned and immediately took the ham hocks book off of the shelf. “You can never know enough about a subject you love.”

As the White pegasus only rolled her eyes and walked past him, Velma then found the book they were looking for. “Here it is-- History of Sir Norville and Morgan le Fay.”

The group gathered around Velma at one of the tables nearby, but as soon as she opened the book, an eerie cold wind blew through the open window and right by them, causing Sparky to shudder. “That can’t be good…” Hitch looked around cautiously. “C-C-Cause it… it never is,” Scooby stammered in reply. “It... almost feels like a few minutes ago,” Sunny said, “when I heard that laughter and saw that shadow!”

“Really?” Daphne asked. “I didn't hear anything.”

“Come to think of it, neither did I,” Fred hummed in thought. This caused Sunny to sigh to herself. “Maybe I really did imagine it...” she said to herself. “Velma, what have you got on that book?”

“Well, from what I can tell, this seems to be some kind of storybook,” Velma noticed, and the ponies immediately brightened.

In most cases, there was nothing they loved more than a good story. “Once upon a time,” Velma began, “there was a great ruler named King Arthur. But this king was under attack from the evil Morgan Le Fey. She demanded the throne from King Arthur, but he would not give it up to one as evil as her-- everything was hopeless until Sir Norville appeared. Brandishing the mighty sword Excalibur, Norville, through a mighty tournament, became the rightful ruler of Camelot.”

“Oooh! Hee hee hee hee!” Sparky clapped his paws together in delight, but Misty looked worried for some reason. “I think there's a 'but' in there somewhere, right, Velma?”

“Right,” Velma nodded before continuing forward. “But no sooner did he gain the throne than Morgan Le Fey attacked again. Norville was whisked away to Morgan's castle where the two were never heard from again. King Arthur decreed that if Sir Norville or his children ever returned, he would be crowned the rightful ruler over all the land.”

At this, the gang sat in silence until Velma scoffed in disbelief. “No wonder it was called the Dark Ages. Can you imagine anyone believing such a story?” she asked. “Ha! Right, gang?”

“Well... I don't know about that. Anything is plausible,” Zipp said. “But it does stir some theories... and it night help answer questions on Shaggy’s lineage. Hey... speaking of Shaggy, where is he?”

“Scooby?” Shaggy?” Misty called out, wondering where their friends could have gone. “I-Is the story over?”

As the group looked around, it turned out that Shaggy’s voice was coming from a bookshelf nearby. Izzy trotted over and took the book labeled ‘A Great Hiding Place’ off the shelf, revealing the scaredy cat duo behind the shelf. “What do you know-- the book was right. This is a great hiding place,” Shaggy grinned, causing Sunny to chuckle. “Come on, gang. We’ll dig up more info later-- we don’t wanna miss that party outside, do we?”

“No, but I think we should take the book with us,” Zipp said, “just in case we find something else in here. Who knows?”

XXXXXXXX

After checking out the book to study later, they walked outside into the dimly lit street, but where the party was supposed to be was dark and abandoned, no one in sight. “Hey… where’s the party?” Fred wondered. “Did we miss it?” Izzy asked before she sadly whined. “But I wanted to try some of that bubble and squeak stuff!”

“Don’t worry, Izzy,” Daphne reassured. “It's like I always say; if you ever you see a party not happening, that means you're the party.”

“Oooooh-whee! Daphne girl, I am loving what you’re thinking!” Pipp said, bringing out her phone and beginning to fly up. “Come on, everypony! Let’s heat this place back up!”

Once selecting a song, Pipp confidently flew up and began to sing her heart out, encouraging most of the others to come and dance with her.

I'm feelin' fresh
Like my mane is on fleek
Happiness is all I need
Spreadin' love from you to me
Unh!

Somethin' about the way I'm feelin' (feelin')
Like everypony got a glow (oh-oh-oh-oh, ohhh)
Shinin' brightly with a power (power)
To spread the colors of the rainbow (rainbow)...

“Come on,” Daphne tried to encourage Velma and Zipp to join in. “If you dance it, they will come!”

“I don't think singing and dancing is gonna help us solve this issue,” Zipp spoke. “Something seems off, but I can't figure out what!”

“Oh, don't worry so much, Zipperooni!” Izzy said as she pranced around. “Try and get Velma onto the dance floor with us! Shake things up a bit!”

But, Velma was on the same page as Zipp, merely answering with one word only. “No.”

All of a sudden, lightning and thunder crashed above, and they all looked up in horror to see someone come down from the storm clouds-- a young sorceress with pale skin and long black hair, wearing a purple and black dress, with a long skirt, long sleeves and an open neckline. Something that would give someone chills just by looking at her. “It’s working!” Daphne said, unfazed as she continued dancing. “Come on, party people!”

“Hey, uh… don’t party people usually arrive by land?” asked Misty as Sparky backsx up behind Hitch's leg, not wanting to have any part in seeing this scary lady for the rest of the party. “Not if it’s a sky-diving party!” Daphne answered, just before Fred spoke up to her, just to test Daphne’s theory. “Excuse me. Are you the skydiving instructor?”

“I am Morgan le Fay, rightful ruler of Camelot!” the woman shouted, causing the twelve to look at her in fright. “And if it wasn't for meddling Sir Norville, I would be ruler still!”

At this, she pointed at Shaggy, making him whimper worriedly. “Why is she pointing at me…?!”

“I don't know, and I honestly don't want to find out!” Sunny said, unfurling her alicorn form to take on this enchantress. “I suggest you leave now, or things won't be pretty!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! You think a meddling alicorn can stand up to my great might?!” Morgan asked before summoning lightning bolts from the swirling clouds above, causing the ponies to be thrown back and unable to react right away. “So...” Hitch groaned, “...I take it that she isn't a skydiving instructor.”

“Ugh... nope,” Misty spoke, trying to stand. “Just another villain that we have to stop!”

“I am no mere villain! And now that Sir Norville has finally returned to his homeland…” Morgan said, raising her fists above her head, “I shall FINALLY have my revenge!”

“You’ll have to catch us first!” Zipp said before they all darted to the Mystery Machine. With that, they tried to get away, but Morgan leapt on the windshield to attack them, causing them to drive that much faster, shaking Morgan off in the process.

Even if they got away, she would find them...

...no matter where they decided to hide.

XXXXXXXX

Pretty soon after they ditched Morgan, the two groups in the Mystery Machine left town and skidded to a stop near some kind of stone structure, and they all got out slowly, still shaken from what had happened. “That was SO not a party person!” Daphne exclaimed. “What was that thing?!” Pipp blurted out from the shock. “She said she was the ghost of Morgan le Fay,” Velma said. “But that’s just… preposterous!”

“On a scale from one to…” Shaggy let out a high-pitched, girl-like scream, catching the group a tad off guard. “...how preposterous do you think it was?”

“Look... whoever she was, she seems pretty upset with Shaggy for some reason,” Sunny said. “And we need to figure out why before she finds us again and somepony gets hurt!”

“Yeah, but is there anything in the book that can tell us something?” Hitch asked as Misty vigorously flipped through it, unfortunately not finding anything. Zipp was just about to comment, but she saw something unique about the stone formation-- like she had seen it in a book she had once read. “Check it out, gang-- it’s an old henge,” she said. “A circle of stones that once held some sort of mystical significance.”

“Hey, guys! Look at that!”

Everyone looked where Daphne pointed to see a statue of a bold looking knight in the middle of the henge. “Wow… who do you think that is?” Shaggy wondered. They approached the statue and Daphne knelt down to see what the plaque at the bottom read. “It says this is the statue of the legendary Sir Norville!”

“The same knight in the legend!” Sunny cried. “If Sir Norville's statue is in the middle of the henge, this has to be a significant place!”

“Okay, I can see that...” Hitch nodded. “But how is the statue of Sir Norville going to help us here?”

Before this question could be answered, however, Morgan le Fay flew overhead, causing the twelve friends to gasp in terror. “Did someone say Sir Norville?! I despise Sir Norville!”

Shaggy smiled nervously, thinking he could clear this whole thing up without a spot of doubt. “Well, good news, man. I’m not him. I’m Shaggy. And, like, everyone loves me!”

“No joke!” Scooby agreed with a nervous nod. “There is no time for love,” Morgan sneered. “Only retribution!”

She pointed her hands down at the ground, and suddenly, the ground began to glow with a bright light, causing the gang to shield their eyes from the glow. “I invoke sorcery’s paradigm,” Morgan began to chant, the ground still glowing. “With this eldritch and mystical rhyme, I'll leave them bipedal, but teach them to meddle and send their butts backward in time! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”

As she said this spell, an eerie mist began to surround the gang and ponies, but even as Pipp and Zipp flapped their wings as hard as they could to try and push the mist back, it still kept coming toward them. “I’m scared, Shaggy…” Scooby whimpered fearfully. “Me… too, buddy,” Shaggy said with a sudden yawn. To make matters even worse, the others began to get sleepy too-- and the sleepiness seemed to be coming from that mist. “Is anyone else getting a bit… tired…?” Hitch asked sleepily. “Tired?” Daphne clarified. “Oh… yeah…”

Morgan cackled evilly as her plan began to fall into place, and with the shake of her tired head, Sunny tried to move. “Come on, guys… we gotta get back to the van…!!”

But, try as they might, the sleepiness was trying to get to them quicker than they could handle-- so quick that the sisters could barely lift off the ground, and the others just staggered toward the van.

The last thing they remembered was collapsing to the ground in tiredness, and then… all went black.

Welcome to Camelot/A Villainous Team-Up

During the few moments that the Scooby gang, the Mane 6 were knocked unconscious by the mysterious mist that Morgan le Fay unleashed, it felt like time was rewinding.

Farther back when the two groups first met... farther back than when magic returned... farther back than all the members were kids... way way WAAAAAAY farther back, at least several hundred years.

A clap of thunder woke them, and they found themselves spinning in mid-air, right in the center of a swirling storm. “Shaggy… where are we?” Scooby asked. “Like… I don’t know, man…” Shaggy replied back, still dizzy. “Shaggy, Scooby!” Fred called out to them. “Grab my hand!”

All of a sudden, they stopped spinning, and everyone grabbed onto each other as they began to plummet while Pipp and Zipp tried to slow their fall, Sparky cheered happily as if nothing was wrong and Daphne made childish airplane sounds at a totally inappropriate time. “We appear to be falling at a standard 9.8 meters per second as dictated by the Earth’s gravity,” Velma theorized, “but where’s the ground?!”

“Skydiving’s not a party, man!” Shaggy whimpered. Before anyone else could say anything, Sunny’s eyes widened as she saw them falling closer and closer to the ground, fear all over. “I found the ground!”

Seeing the ground quickly getting closer caused everyone to panic-- if Pipp and Zipp couldn't slow their fall in time, they were probably going to get themselves killed from the fall! “Everypony, brace for impact!!” Zipp screamed to her friends, squeezing their eyes tight. Luckily, when they all landed, they were sore, but appeared to be just fine. “Did we make it in one piece?” Shaggy asked before he and Scooby began to feel themselves for any sign of broken bones, when Scooby suddenly froze. “I can’t feel my legs!!”

Shaggy suddenly became fearful when he checked his legs too. “Like, I can feel my legs, but… I can’t feel my fingers feeling them!”

Turns out, Shaggy was feeling Daphne’s legs instead of his own, and Scooby was feeling Shaggy’s legs instead of his own-- this made Daphne giggle lightly. “Well, I sure am glad that nopony’s hurt!” Sunny said as she and Zipp helped them up. “But… my memory feels a little foggy. What just happened?”

“And where are we?” Fred wondered, just as Pipp let out a horrified shriek. “Pipp, what’s wrong?!” Misty wondered. “I-I-I-It’s too horrible!” Pipp cried, pushing her phone away. “Keep that thing away from me!!”

Velma picked up the phone, and after looking over it for a moment, she sighed. “It’s okay, guys-- we just don’t have bars out here,” she said, causing everyone to sigh in relief. “Pipp, I told you that you should have gotten the international plan.”

“And Pipp shouldn’t have scared us half to death!” Zipp snapped. “Uh… can we settle this debate later?” Izzy asked. “I mean… some freaky-deaky stuff has happened in the last little bit, and well… look!”

Looking around, the gang saw that the area they were in now was unlike the landscape that they were in before-- the henge was better built, and more rocks were in the gaps. It was also morning, too, a big difference in what was around them. “Did I leave my curling iron on in 1600 years?” Daphne asked. At that moment, it occurred to Misty that there was only one simple explanation as to what Morgan did. “Morgan le Fay cast a spell on us!”

“A spell to send us back in time?!” Hitch cried. “Even though we don’t know how far back that sorceress sent us… I gotta admit, that’s kind of impressive.”

“Oh, come on,” Velma dejected the thought. “I’m sure that was… some kids playing some kind of prank.”

“Velma, look around,” Shaggy insisted. “You’re telling me that there’s no way time travel could happen?”

“Well, I mean, wormholes, black holes, Tipler cylinders. But these are cosmic-level events we're talking about.”

“So, not like fantasy, but science-fiction; like Thundarr,” said Daphne, making a reference to a TV show they all watched. “No, Thundarr is more dumb fantasy than sci-fi,” Velma disagreed. “But, you like Thundarr,” Fred protested. “I like Thundarr’s abs, okay?” Velma replied sassily. “I watch it for the abs.”

“Me too…” Daphne sighed dreamily. “Wait… what’s an ab, exactly?” Izzy asked curiously, and Hitch only chuckled. “Izzy, that’s sort of a… ‘talk to you about later’ subject.”

However, the first half of the conversation got Shaggy confused immediately. “So wait-- we time-traveled?”

“I guess so, but… I thought that was impossible,” Sunny spoke. “The Time Scroll created by Starswirl the Bearded was destroyed hundreds of moons ago, so nopony would ever be able to use it again. Although… the subject of how Morgan was able to time travel intrigues me.”

Fred let through a grin, despite the confusing circumstances. “Welp, gang,” he started, “it looks like we have another--”

But, Velma quickly stopped him before he could finish. “No, not a mystery. It’s a hoax.”

“Then, how did we time-travel?” asked Scooby in confusion. “We did NOT time-travel,” Velma spoke again. “This is a prank, or a Japanese game show. We all just need to chill and take a deep breath…”

At this, everyone took a deep breath and began to hold them. “...and hold our horses,” Velma finished. At this, a horse behind her whinnied, causing her to exclaim, startled, and the rest of the gang burst out in laughter while Velma looked at them a bit crossly. “You gotta admit,” Sunny said as Scooby and Shaggy tried to hold in their laughter, “Velma’s usually right about this stuff. If she thinks we need to wait here and see what happens, then that's what we should do.”

“But… what about the cutie mark crystal? And Mom?” Misty asked. “We’ll never be able to find the crystal or help Mom if we’re stuck in the past!”

“I know you wanna help her, Misty, but first, we have to help ourselves,” Fred spoke. “And that means resting after whatever just happened. Let’s all wait here a bit and see what…”

As he turned around, he saw something that no one from their time would ever be able to see. His eyes widened out of shock, and he immediately tried to get the others’ attention. “Gang… gang, gang,” he exclaimed. “Gang, gang, gaaang!!”

At this, Shaggy, Daphne and a majority of the Mane 6 turned around and saw whatever Fred saw, and their eyes widened and their jaws dropped in shock as Fred pointed in the distance. “It’s real!”

Sunny, Misty and Scooby let out a gasp of amazement and shock all rolled up into one. There on the hill, to their eyes’ bewilderment, was the city of Camelot! And even one look at the mythological city caused Shaggy and Scooby to pass out, falling right to the ground. “Okay, forget staying here and waiting for nothing!” exclaimed Pipp. “We gotta go and check that place out!”

“I agree,” Daphne said. “We may not ever get the chance to do this again, so we gotta take a leap while we still can!”

“What do you think, Sunny?” Hitch asked, just as many of the others gave her pleading looks. “Well… my dad would have wanted me to experience this, and… even I wanna experience this, so… why not?” Sunny said. “Just as long as we can figure out how to get home afterwards.”

“Yes!” Pipp pumped a hoof. “Camelot, and the mysteries within, here we come!”

XXXXXXXX

Immediately after coming to a anonymous group decision, the gang began to traverse into the kingdom of Camelot, with Misty and Izzy dragging an unconscious Scooby and Shaggy all the way to the city gates. And once they were to that point, Shag and Scoob were bright eyed and bushy tailed, and they went into the city, looking around in amazement. “This can’t be real…” Velma murmured to herself. “It doesn’t make sense. This shouldn’t be possible!”

“If I had known I was gonna time travel, I’d have brought my good sheriff badge,” Hitch said, trying to shine his badge to look impressive to the locals. “I keep tellin’ y’all-- reality is just a simulation,” Daphne said with a shake of her head. “Now’s not the time to worry about what’s real,” Shaggy said to the others frantically. “That time is in, like, hundreds and hundreds of years-- where we should be!”

“And we will figure out how to get back,” Zipp promised. “We just… have to figure out how first.”

Now, Fred decided this was the right time to say the line, so he grinned again. “Well, gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our--”

But, once again, Velma stopped him before he could finish. “Ahh, just you wait,” she told her friends. “Any second now, someone’s going to pop out and yell ‘surprise’ or blow a horn…”

As soon as she got done, a herald came out on the balcony and blew a long trumpet. Before Velma could celebrate her victory, the gang darted behind some hay bales to listen in on what they could. “Hear ye! Hear ye!” the herald cried out to the people. “I, Herald of the court, doth ask you to bow before the King of Camelot. The lord of the land. The knight of the--”

“Oh, get on with it!” said a voice from nearby, making the herald clear his throat. “Ah, yes, uh… peasants and surfs, I give you… King Arthur and Queen Guinevere!”

The two combined groups gasped as the king and queen made their arrival to the sound of heralding trumpets. But, what caught the pups’ attention was that there were not one, but two pegasi with them, one significantly younger than the other.

The first was a light bubblegum pink pegasus with a dark blue and dark purple mane and tail, those same colors in the feathers on her wings, brown eyes, anklets around her hooves and a cutie mark of a dark, swirling vortex.

Lastly, the second pegasus was a colt with a fern green color with a forest green and light green mane and tail, blue eyes and a cutie mark of a growing tree. “Ooh…” Daphne couldn't help but find King Arthur attractive, eyes sparkling with interest. “He's kinda hunky.”

“I guess, if you're into authoritarian dictators,” Zipp rolled her eyes at the thought. “He kinda reminds me of my dad,” Fred smiled while looking up at the king. Just then, the queen literally PUSHED the king forward, causing the pegasi to leap back in surprise. “Sorry… sorry,” the king apologized to the crowd as he stood up. “New cape. Haven’t broken it in yet.”

From below as the villagers gathered, Shaggy couldn’t help but think that King Arthur looked familiar to him.

VERY familiar, in fact.

But he couldn't place where he had seen him. “Unwashed common people,” said King Arthur. “I, your king, and my brave Knights of the Round Table have, with great effort and sacrifice, finally defeated the villainous Saxons and brought peace to the Isles.”

“I love your hair!” a female peasant said from nearby. “So…” the older pegasus said as she flew up a little ways into the air. “We’re throwing a party!”

Everyone cheered at this, and even the gang became excited-- maybe being stuck in the Dark Ages wasn't going to be as bad as they originally thought.

But, unfortunately the king shook his head as the cheering began to die down. “No, no… Royal Enchantment misunderstood me before. It’s not a party for you lot-- it’s for me!” he said, making the peasants rather upset. “The rightful king of the Britons, who made you the proud people you are today. Now, I'm going to have my Knights of the Round Table come around and collect some taxes.”

The peasants began to boo and jeer in disliking, and the two pegasi looked rather disappointed, but the king was too wrapped up in his own fame to notice. “He is like your dad-- a big meanie!” Daphne told Fred with a huff. “The unwashed common people don’t seem to like him very much,” Fred agreed before realizing with a gasp. “Oh my gosh! You’re right, Daph!”

“Enough about your dad, Fred!” Hitch said to his friend. “Did you see how King Arthur totally disregarded Royal’s attempt to cheer up their subjects?”

“I sure did,” Zipp nodded. “That was totally unfair.”

“And rude!” Pipp added. “Why doesn’t she or her little friend there stand up for themselves?”

“Well… standing up to a ruler back in these times could result in harsh punishments,” Sunny stated. “So… I can kinda see why they WOULDN’T want to stand up to him. Let’s keep listening in to see what else we can learn.”

“All right… good talk,” Royal stated nervously. But before anyone else could make a move, a clap of thunder echoed above, and everyone began to panic, for they knew that if a clap of thunder struck out of nowhere, Morgan le Fay was definitely coming.

Scooby ducked behind the others as the swirling storm clouds began to form above where the king and queen were. “Oh, not again…” King Arthur shuddered before Morgan lowered herself closer. “Greetings, Arthur! It is I, Morgan le Fay,” the enchantress said, black hair flowing in the wind. “Come to take my rightful place as ruler of Camelot.”

The peasants screamed and began to dart in different directions as the gang remained hidden. “Like, it’s her!” Shaggy screamed before he, Scooby and Izzy leapt into another hay pile nearby to hide, while the rest of the group remained frozen in fear. “Stay behind me, Aspen,” Royal whispered, sheltering the younger pegasus with her wing as Morgan floated closer. “I’ll get you someplace safe if the situation gets too dangerous.”

“Wend home to Avalon, vile enchantress,” King Arthur threatened, ready to unfurl his sword. “You call your folk fair, yet I judge you anything but!”

But, when he drew Excalibur from his holder, the sword slipped and clattered to the ground. “Oh my gosh. Really? Really?” a nearby knight asked, and King Arthur smiled nervously. “Oh, ah… ah, sorry. Sorry,” the king apologized. “I had butter for lunch.”

“Cede the throne to me, son of Uther Pendragon, and I shall spare your miserable life,” said Morgan as a few more of the king’s knights came forward. “Uh, my life is amazing, FYI,” King Arthur shot back. “And also, I'm hiding behind my knights. You'd have to literally tear them apart to get to me.”

At this remark, the knights looked at the king, as if he was crazy, and the king only chuckled sheepishly. “Well, if you won’t give me the throne,” said Morgan, making a blue fireball appear in her hands, “I’ll just have to take it!”

She threw the fireball at them, causing everyone on the balcony to duck for cover. “King down!” King Arthur shouted. “King down, everyone!”

“Hurry, Aspen! This way!” Royal shouted, and the two pegasi flew off and into hiding while the knights ran inside to avoid Morgan. Then, Morgan fired another blast at where the gang was observing the events, scorching the hay pile where Izzy, Shaggy and Scooby were hiding. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but definitely shaken.

Then, to the group’s horror, she went after all the citizens, ponies and humans alike for a few moments before she seemed satisfied with the evil she had spread. “Soon you will all bow before me-- your true queen!” Morgan cackled, flying back into the clouds. “Phew… that was way too close,” Hitch shuddered as the gang came out of hiding. “It’s like she’s the human version of Opaline!”

“Well… at least she has some good looks,” Pipp shrugged. “But, I don’t understand… what do you think King Arthur meant by ‘not again’? Does this mean Morgan’s terrorized them like this before?”

Suddenly, a thought within Velma's mind suddenly revealed itself. “It’s just like the book we read in the library!”

“What do you mean?” Fred asked. “Remember when Velma was like, ‘Blah blah blah, Morgan le Fay kept on annoying Norville o’er Morgania’?” Daphne tried to help the others recall, which caused Sunny to nod. “That’s right-- until Sir Norville appeared!”

Suddenly, what Sunny said made Velma develop a theory-- a good one at that. “Sir… Norville…! That’s it!”

“What’s it?” Shaggy questioned as Velma continued to gaze at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because,” said Velma, “maybe Sir Norville is actually Shaggy sent back in time!”

The others looked at Shaggy mysteriously, and Shaggy became just as confused. “Me? A knight? With this goatee?” he questioned with a chuckle. “Besides, I don’t look anything like the statue!”

“But… it does make a lot of sense,” Zipp said. “And it would explain why Morgan was glaring at Shaggy so hard earlier.”

“Wow… Shaggy secretly being a brave knight from almost 1000 moons ago?” Izzy spoke. “I’d wanna see that for sure!”

“Oh, so now you’re on the time travel train, too, Velma?” Daphne asked with a small smirk. “You said it yourself, Daphne. Science fiction,” Velma countered. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. We do seem to have traveled in time. We just need to find out how. You can say it now.”

Fred smiled-- he could finally say it without being interrupted. “Well, gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands!”

XXXXXXXX

“Mother, there she is!” Paradise pointed toward Morgan le Fay from their cover in the trees. “That’s the legendary sorceress!”

“Good… now stay here, daughter,” Opaline ordered. “I must talk to our new partner alone and without further interruption.”

The alicorn strutted from view, clearing her throat with a proud smile on her face. “I believe that you are one called Morgan le Fay, correct?”

“Who wants to know, meddlesome pony?” Morgan snapped. “Clear out of my way, or else!”

“I only want to speak with you, Morgan. And I am no pony… I am a fire alicorn of the land of Skyros,” Opaline said, “and I want to make a deal with you that could help us both get what we want.”

Morgan huffed at this remark. “What kind of a deal?”

“You give me some of that fire magic of yours,” said Opaline, “and I can help you not only get the throne of Camelot, but you can also help me become queen of my realm of Equestria!”

“Uh… Mother?” Paradise spoke. “Have you made the deal yet?”

“Silence!” Opaline snapped. “This is my business, not yours!”

“...your daughter seems to worship you,” Morgan noticed. “As all ponies should worship a true queen.”

“Finally, somepony gets it!” Opaline said out loud. “So… do we have a deal?”

The purple alicorn held out a hoof, and after considering the offer, Morgan smirked and shook it. “Deal. What must we do first?”

“Observe, first. My daughter can sneak inside the city and keep an eye on our foes,” Opaline said. “And once she returns with valuable intel… we strike.”

Meeting the Camelot Pony Power Squad

After Opaline and Morgan le Fay officially decided to team up and gain power, the first action they had to complete was gather intel.

That's where Paradise would come in. The cream unicorn would sneak into the city, find out if the Mane 6 and their friends were in there and keep the two evil queens posted on everything she found out.

But, for once in her life... Paradise began to question if what she was doing was really the right thing to do.

And, if Misty and her friends would ever forgive her for all that she had done.

No... she couldn't think like that around Opaline-- the alicorn's mind may have been twisted, but she DID offer Paradise a cozy home when she was an orphaned filly.

She had to make Opaline proud... she just had to.

XXXXXXXX

As Paradise snuck her way inside the city, she noticed that the Mystery Incorporated gang and the Mane 6 were gathered in a small corner to try and discuss their further actions. “Okay, everyone, listen up-- I think I may have figured something out about this whole mess. If we’re in the distant past,” theorized Velma, pacing herself before the group, “then we're currently living out the legend we read about in the future.”

“Oh… my brain hurts…” Scooby whimpered, unable to keep up. “What she means, Scooby,” said Sunny, “that since Velma believes that Sir Norville is Shaggy sent back in time, he is essentially part of the legend and historical timeline of this town.”

“That’s exactly my point, Sunny. And, if we’re responsible for the legend,” Velma went on, “then we have to do exactly what it said, or otherwise we'll mess up the timeline, which could cause us to cease to exist, or worse, the whole universe may implode in a quantum paradox!”

The gang had no idea what a ‘quantum paradox’ was, but being ceased to exist was bad enough for them. “I’m telling you, reality is a simulation, girl,” Daphne said. “The universe can’t implode because it isn’t even real.”

“That... I... what?!” Hitch cried. “You guys know that us and Equestria exist, so how does that theory even make sense?”

“I don't know, but whatever Daphne just said, it isn't really helping my stomach and all the knots it has,” Izzy said with a groan. “Honestly, I look at you guys and I just see zero-one, one-one-zero-one-one-one-zero…” Daphne went on, much to the others’ confusion. “Daph, Daph,” Velma stopped her. “Hand me your phone.”

Daphne did as she asked, and Velma pulled up the lock screen. “As long as the lock-screen picture stays the same, then it means we haven't changed the timeline.”

“So, all we have to do is keep to the legend, and we’ll be fine,” Fred clarified, causing Velma to nod. “So... what do we do next?” Misty wondered. “I got an idea,” Velma said after thinking for a minute, “but we’re going to need to find more appropriate attire so we don’t stick out like sore thumbs.”

“But, where do we find outfits like that?” Hitch asked. “All the shops are closed due to Morgan’s attack!”

“Don't worry about that-- we have an idea to keep you covered... figuratively and literally.”

Everyone turned to see Royal Enchantment and Aspen Wood flying down to them, and Zipp immediately recognized them. “Hey... you're the two pegasi that were up with the king and queen earlier! Are you some sort of Equestria monarchy for Camelot and its ponies?”

“Well, not really. The crowns and things are just for royal occasions,” Royal said with a smile. “I'm Royal Enchantment, advisor to King Arthur, and this is my younger cousin Aspen.”

“Hello...” Aspen said quietly. “It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I'm Sunny,” the apricot earth pony said, “and these are all my friends-- my pony friends from Equestria and Mystery Incorporated.”

Scooby happily licked Aspen's face, causing him to giggle and pat the Great Dane's head. “Good doggy!”

“Wait a second... did you guys say you know of a place where we can get some disgui-- I-I mean outfits?” Zipp asked. “Uh-huh,” Aspen nodded. “Royal's friend Solar Phoenix? She's a really great seamstress!”

“I'm sure she would have some outfits for you all-- especially since the ball in the castle is open to pretty much everypony,” Royal continued. “Come on-- we'll lead you over to her shop.”

But as they walked away from their discussion place, Zipp couldn't help but notice that Royal was fidgeting with the anklets on her legs as she walked...

...as if she had something to hide.

XXXXXXXX

“There you are, madam!” said a unicorn operating a small, makeshift booth, handing a woman a long, soft dress. “Have a great day, and tell your friends about Phoenix Fashions!”

The unicorn in question was a light yellow color with dark violet eyes, a dark magenta, lavender and violet mane and tail, a cutie mark of a phoenix and a warm smile, and she turned back to her sewing before she heard a voice behind her. “You too busy to help some friends, Firebird?”

Phoenix turned around at this nickname, and smiled upon seeing Aspen and Royal on the other side of the booth, along with some new friends. “Never, Royal. Are these some new friends of yours?”

“Uh-huh. They're looking for some outfits to wear to the party tonight,” Aspen said. “Can you help us pick something out for them?”

“Well, I think that I can pull something together,” Phoenix winked. “I actually just finished some outfits earlier this morning that I think your human friends might like.”

With the glow of her horn, she brought several outfits, which included long-sleeve dresses, shirts, pants and hoof-made shoes, handing them to Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Fred. “There you are-- I hope you like them,” Phoenix spoke. “Any friend of Royal and Aspen is a friend of mine.”

“Thank you so much,” Sunny smiled. “You have no idea how much we really appreciate this.”

“It's no trouble at all,” Phoenix smiled. “Now... let's see what my fiery intuition can lead me to for the rest of you nice visitors.”

Suddenly, something caught Zipp’s attention, causing her to look at the unicorn with confusion. “Fiery intuition?”

“Oh, didn't Royal tell you? In the village where me, Royal, Aspen and another friend of ours came from, we get special powers that are tied to our cutie marks. That's why we call ourselves the Camelot Pony Power Squad,” Phoenix said. “Since my cutie mark is a phoenix, representing rebirth and hope, my powers are light and fire related. Watch this!”

With one stomp of the hoof, she sent a blast of fire to a nearby torch, lighting it. “Oh-ho, whoa!” Hitch cried. “Sorta reminds me of Opaline’s powers, but you don't need dragon fire to charge yours... do you?”

“Oh, hotcakes, of course not!” Phoenix brushed off. “Dragons haven't been seen in Camelot in years... except for this little floof!

Sparky immediately ran to her, causing her to pick him up. “What's his name?”

“Sparky Sparkeroni,” Hitch said with a chuckle. “Pretty good name, huh?”

“The best!” Phoenix smiled. “It really suits him.”

“So... if you guys have special powers tied to what your cutie marks,” said Misty, looking at Aspen's cutie mark while Phoenix and Hitch continued to talk, “does that mean you have plant powers, Aspen?”

“Yeah! I can grow trees and stuff by stomping my hooves!” Aspen spoke. “But... my trees and stuff aren't that big yet... but Royal says I'll get better.”

“What about you, Royal? What's your power?” Izzy asked, hopping over to her. “Invisibility? Mind reading? Leadership-ness?!”

Royal seemed to get nervous when her powers were mentioned, and Phoenix saw this as her cue to step in, handing more outfits to the Mane 6. “There's an area back behind those tents to get dressed-- you have to let me see you when you get done!”

“Sure thing!” Sunny smiled. “Come on, everypony!”

As the groups went toward the changing area, Phoenix turned to look at Royal with concern. “You DO know that accident was months ago... right?”

“But I was so angry, I sent an entire pack of wolves into oblivion while protecting you, Platinum and Aspen!” Royal argued before looking down at the scars her anklets hid. “And it left me permanently scarred... just because I couldn't control my anger.”

“It's okay, Royal... we know you were just trying to make sure we were safe,” Aspen gently reassured. “And you were super brave too!”

“Thanks, cuz, but… I still feel bad about it,” Royal sighed. “We better head up to the party before the king and queen start questioning. See you up there, Phoenix?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll send the gang up there when they’re ready.”

The two pegasus ponies waved farewell before flying up toward the castle, just as the Mystery Inc crew stepped out wearing their dresses, shirts and pants that Phoenix had sewed, and the ponies then stepped out wearing their outfits:

Sunny was wearing a purple choker with a star hanging from it, star accessories in her ears and a yellow dress.

Hitch wore a blue bowtie with a white shirt front, like a pony tuxedo, while Sparky only wore a blue bowtie.

Zipp also wore a white shirt front, but with a pink bowtie (since she refused to wear a dress of any kind).

Izzy wore a golden headpiece around her head, a golden necklace and a teal-green dress.

Pipp wore her signature wheat tiara with a golden necklace, similar to Izzy's, and a purple dress.

And lastly, Misty wore a sparkly butterfly barrette and a matching necklace, along with a pink-to-orange gradient dress that matched her mane and tail color.

Phoenix couldn’t believe how wonderful they all looked, excitedly squealing. “My fiery intuition really made a great choice for all of your outfits! Royal and Aspen have already gone ahead, and they told me that you guys can join them wheneer you're ready.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Sunny asked. “I am,” Phoenix spoke, “but I have to get changed first. Be right back!”

With that, she galloped off, and Zipp turned back toward the group. “All right, does everypony remember the plan?”

“Yep. We go in, introduce Shaggy to King Arthur, and let the rest of the legend play out,” Pipp nodded. “Shaggy and I even went over formal lines for his greeting!”

“Great work, Pipp-- I know you got that part covered. All right then, gang,” Fred smiled confidently. “Operation: ‘Sir Norville’ is officially starting!”

“Sir Norville…?” Paradise hummed as the gang moved toward the castle. “The same knight that Morgan le Fay mentioned? Is he and that Shaggy boy connected somehow? Hmm… I better let Mother know about this.”

Opaline's Return and the Knightly Challenges Begin

“All right… those last pieces should go around Fred’s chest,” Phoenix said to her new friends, “but make sure they’re not so tight that he can’t breathe.”

The fiery unicorn had gone into the stables with Pipp, Sunny, Izzy, Daphne and Scooby to help Fred get ready for the tournament, and although she hadn’t done too many designs with knight armor, she knew how some knights put it on, and instructed the group in how to put it on properly.

Once this was done, Fred was fully dressed in the silver armor, turning back toward his friends. “Well… how do I look?”

Daphne smiled, putting his ascot around his neck before kissing him gently. “Like my knight in shining armor.”

“Mine too,” Scooby licked Fred’s face, causing Fred to smile. “Thanks, Scoob.”

“Well, Fred, you better get out there,” Sunny said. “Before King Arthur gets too impatient.”

Suddenly, wicked laughter filled the air again, causing Sunny to flinch, looking around. “There it is again! That’s the same laughter I heard earlier!”

“Oh, I believe you now, Sunny,” Pipp said fearfully. “Cause I heard it too!”

“But… if it’s not any of us laughing,” Phoenix spoke, “then where is that laughter coming from?”

“Oh, I know where it’s coming from…”

In a puff of smoke, a familiar, terrifying figure appeared in the stable with them, wickedly smirking. “...it came from me.”

“No…” Sunny backed up in terror. “No, it can’t be!!”

“Opaline…?!” Scooby gulped. “She’s back?!”

“But… but I thought you guys destroyed her!” Fred argued, causing Izzy to gulp. “That makes two of us!”

“I-I don’t understand,” Phoenix said, startled and confused. “Who is she? W-What’s going on?”

“Oh, there’s no need to keep secrets from her, Sunny. I was the rightful heir to Equestria until my magic was stripped from me… and I was destroyed,” Opaline sent a glare toward Sunny, Pipp, Izzy and the three remaining members of Mystery Incorporated before smirking. “But no matter… anything is possible when your family comes to back you up.”

At this, Sunny raised an eyebrow. “What are you…?”

“She means me,” Paradise said quietly, coming out of the shadows. “I freed her from the world of the dead.”

“You what?!” Pipp cried. “Paradise, how could you?!”

“Misty was so convinced that you were capable of turning to good!” Daphne agreed. “We all were! What is she gonna think of you now?!”

“SILENCE!!!” Opaline snarled. “Paradise… let me speak to them.”

“Yes, Mother,” Paradise said with a bow. “Of course.”

“Now… my plan is like this; once I gather enough cutie mark magic, including yours,” said Opaline toward the three ponies who faced her before, “I will create a portal back to Equestria and take ALL the cutie marks there. And once I do… the Unity Crystals will be MINE!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

After her laughter, she shot a strong beam of magic toward Izzy, Pipp and Sunny, causing Phoenix to gasp and leap in front of them. “NO!!!”

The fiery unicorn was immediately caught in the spell, causing the others to gasp. “PHOENIX!!”

“Take one step toward her,” said Paradise with her horn blazing with magic, “and your magic is next.”

This left the group in an unbearably hard place… risk their cutie marks to save her, or obey their orders?

XXXXXXXX

While they were waiting for the challenges to begin, Royal suddenly felt a shiver of familiarity rush over her, groaning in pain.

But her body only shivered like that when… her friends were in danger.

Phoenix… it had to be Phoenix!

“Royal?”

Royal snapped her head to look at Misty, and she was very concerned for the sake of her new friend. “A-Are you okay?”

“Oh… y-yes, I’m fine,” Royal said with a stammer. “If… if you’ll excuse me…”

With that, the pegasus immediately got up and trotted off, much to Shaggy’s concern. “Like, is she okay?”

“I don’t know… you stay here with King Arthur,” Misty told him. “I’m gonna see what’s wrong.”

XXXXXXXX

Phoenix immediately began to strain in her magic binds as Opaline got closer. “No… no! Keep away from me!!”

“Hush, little pony, don’t say a word…” Opaline smirked as her eyes began to glow violet. “And let me take what is rightfully mine…”

And with the glow of her horn, Phoenix’s cutie mark was ripped away from her flank and Opaline levitated it into a small jar before handing it to Paradise. “Hold onto this-- don’t let those ponies near it.”

“Phoenix!” Izzy cried as she, Pipp and Sunny ran to her once Opaline undid her binds. “Talk to us! Are you okay?!”

“Y-Yes… but… weakened,” Phoenix said as she tried to stand. “I felt all the magic from my body leave me once my mark was stolen… but I’m okay now.”

“Ohhh, that is it!” Fred snarled before he ran right toward her to try and take her down-- a risky move in the ponies’ opinion. “Why, I oughta…”

Opaline merely lit her horn once again at this. “FREEZE!!!”

And suddenly, at her cry, Fred froze in place, falling onto her side. “I… I can’t move!”

“Let him go!” Pipp cried in anger. “Don’t worry,” Morgan slyly assured. “It’s only temporary. “But long enough to stop him from competing. Now nothing can stop Morgan from taking the throne from Arthur and me from taking Equestria by storm! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

And as Paradise quickly trotted to her mother’s side, they both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Scooby immediately turned to the others, clearly terrified. “What are we gonna do?!”

“We have to figure out someway to stop them,” Sunny desperately said, “but with Opaline having a cutie mark and its power in her possession, she just got stronger!”

“And Fred can’t joust like this,” Daphne said worriedly as Izzy helped her pick Fred up off the ground. “He'll have to forfeit, and King Arthur will win!”

Pipp gulped at this. “Which means we might…”

“Poof,” Scooby whimpered. “Disappear.”

“No… we have to give Zipp, Hitch and Velma more time to get us out of this time period, and we have to make sure everypony stays safe if Opaline were to get stronger!” Sunny said. “Any ideas?”

“Well… we could always have the knights who aren’t participating be on high alert,” Daphne said, “so they can keep an eye out for Morgan, Opaline and Paradise.”

“Good idea,” Fred nodded. “And I have another plan… a plan so crazy, it might just work.”

XXXXXXXX

“Royal? Royal Enchantment, where are you?!”

Misty had been wandering through the halls, looking all over for their new pegasus friend, after she left so suddenly, and before the challenge began.

She looked worried... but Misty couldn't figure out why.

Suddenly, Misty heard sniffling coming from the throne room, and even though she only knew Royal for a short time, Misty could recognize sadness from a mile away...

...and Royal was devastated.

As Misty entered the throne room, Royal stopped crying on the throne and wiped her eyes as Misty came forward. “Misty... uh... what are you doing here?”

“You're kidding... you left the arena so worried, I had to come and check on you,” Misty pointed out. “What's going on, Royal? You know you can tell me... right?”

“Y-Yes, I do, but... if I tell you... it could change the friendship between us and our friends forever.”

“No... we would never let that happen, I promise you that. You can tell me... and you can bet your life that I wouldn't judge.”

Royal thought about this for a bit before she sighed. Misty was right.

She had kept this secret for so long.... she had to tell somepony.

And Misty seemed like the right pony for the job.

Royal hopped down from the throne, approaching Misty and removing an anklet of her front leg. And when Misty looked and saw it, she gasped in surprise.

In Royal's leg were black cracks, and now that Misty saw this, there were scars like these in all of her legs.

Never seeing this before in her life, Misty had a lot of questions. “What... what happened?”

Royal sighed heavily before beginning her tale. “Me and Aspen and my friends did live in a village where we got powers connected to what our cutie marks were, but... what I didn't tell you was that... my cutie mark is connected to me controlling dark magic.”

“Really?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The elders of our village saw me as a hindrance, and so a lot of other ponies.”

Misty looked at her with a soft expression. “Except your friends and Aspsn... right?”

“Yeah. My aunt, Aspen's mother, passed away a few years ago, leaving Aspen in my care,” Royal continued, “and Platinum and Phoenix were my best friends since fillyhood. But then... about two years ago... an evil wolf pack attacked our village, killing almost everypony in it... except for my cousin, my friends, and me.”

Misty put her hooves to her mouth to muffle a gasp. “Royal, I am so sorry! That's... that's horrible! Is the attack how you... got those scars?”

“...sort of,” Royal admitted. “While we were looking for a new home, one of those wolves from that pack had followed us, and when we reached a dead end, they all attacked. I was able to fly somewhere safe, but Aspen and the girls were in trouble. I was so fed up with anger and fear that I slammed all four of my hooves down-- hard-- and used my dark magic to send those wolves into oblivion. That day is when I got the scars... and that's when I realized how dangerous my anger could be.”

“But... you were only angry because those wolves were attacking somepony you cared about,” Misty said. “You didn't do it for a vengeful purpose.”

“...that's what Phoenix kept telling me. But... I don't know if I should ever trust myself again...”

Misty sighed before she decided go tell Royal a story of her own. “...my life isn't all butterflies and rainbows either. My mom was the adopted daughter of a fire alicorn named Opaline, who was awful-- my mom served her, and once I was born, she abandoned me at Opaline’s doorstep in order to make up for her mistake of going out and falling in love.”

“Oh, Misty...” Royal whispered. “I am so sorry...”

Misty nodded in acknowledgement. “Look... Opaline was more awful than you could ever know. She kept me locked in her lair for moons, and manipulated me due to her evil thinking, promising me a cutie mark if I did what she said. But... I managed to help defeat her, even though the memories of what I did still haunt me. The point is... you can turn those memories into ways to learn... to help you confront the terrors from your past. I know you can do it, Royal... all you have to do is believe in yourself.”

Royal sighed, thinking about all of what Misty said... realizing that she was right.

She had to do something to fix these wrongs that she had committed.

And that included forgiving herself.

Smiling, Royal hugged her friend, who gladly hugged back. “Thank you, Misty... for listening.”

“Don't mention it... that's what friends do, right?”

Royal smiled and reached under her wing, pulling a shiny object out from it. “Here... I want you to keep this.”

Under her wing had been a silver tiara, decorated with rhinestones, pearls and small butterfly-shaped beads... something very valuable to her.

Misty gasped in surprise, taking the crown and putting it on. “Royal... it's beautiful! But... are you sure?”

“I actually don't need anymore tiaras, so... I wanna give you one, as a thank you gift.”

“...thank you. I love it.”

“No problem at all. Now come on... we have a knightly challenge to get to.”

XXXXXXXX

Only a few minutes later, a large crowd of people developed around the arena, and they were chanting Fred’s name over and over, waiting for him to come out to start the tournament. But, he never came out, and King Arthur was smirking while Shaggy, Misty and Royal looked into the arena worriedly. “Um… where’s your knight?”

“Uh… I don’t know,” Misty frowned. Where was Fred? He had to come out and win, otherwise they’d disappear!

Suddenly, a fanfare began to play, and down in the arena, the suited competitor for Shaggy's side came into the arena on a white and gray horse. Only, it wasn't Fred on that horse-- it was Daphne!

The presence of a girl wearing knight's armor caused the crowd to gasp and murmur in shock and confusion. “Is that a non-man?” King Arthur questioned in shock, and Shaggy shook his head instantly. “No, that's Daphne! Where's Fred?!”

“Felled by dark magic,” Daphne clarified. “It's a long story that I'll have to explain later, but for now, I'm standing in.”

King Arthur was skeptical about the opposing side's winning chances. “A non-man doing sporty man things? That's a laugh, isn't it? Ha! Well, Norville, after you lose, maybe I can find a job for you on my staff,” King Arthur wrapped an arm around Shaggy's shoulders. “What are your thoughts on waste removal? I've got a few ripe buckets of…”

That's when Misty decided to speak on Shaggy's behalf, having enough of the king berating what all women could do. “Actually, King Arthur, in all of our lands, non-men... uh, women can do whatever they put their minds to. And some of them are pretty scary.”

Daphne smiled from her position, and turned to face her opponent, Sir Lancelot, staring down at him like a hawk. Once their visors were lowered and their lances were given, they charged. But, instead of crashing into the opponent, the lances smashed at the impact of one another, leaving the loud noise to make Shaggy and King Arthur quiver in fear.

The squires supplied the knights with new lances before they charged again, but this time, both knights were knocked off their horses and onto the ground! Everyone in the stands gasped as Lancelot began to rise and drew his sword, while Daphne was weaponless AND powerless.

Suddenly, there came a voice. “Smite him, Daph!”

Daphne turned to see Scooby and Phoenix wheeling the still-frozen Fred in on a cart, with Sunny, Izzy and Pipp standing close by. “Smite that knight right in the snoot!” Izzy encouraged enthusiastically. Soon enough, the entire village was chanting Daphne’s name over and over. But then, Sir Lancelot charged right toward Daphne, causing Sunny to gasp in alarm. “Daphne, look out!”

Daphne was able to avoid Lancelot’s attack a few times, all while the stands stood with tension. “You fight like a girl,” Lancelot insulted, “so I’ll go easy on you!”

Once Daphne was pressed against the back of the wall, she turned to look at Lancelot with a cocky look. “Oh, I was just dodging,” she told him. “Was I supposed to be fighting?”

“Look, little girl. First off, you’re as skinny as a--” Lancelot started to say, but Daphne then started throwing punches and kicks right at him, leaving Lancelot bruised and beaten. “...stick…”

“Don’t worry,” Daphne said confidently. “Those dents will buff right out.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!!” Royal cheered, flying around in joy while Shaggy laughed joyously. “Lancelot just got beat by a girl! Ha ha ha ha!!”

“That’s a point for you,” King Arthur told Shaggy, “but it was sooo worth it!”

And apparently, the crowd was also pleased, cheering as loud as their lungs could inhale. “Sir Daphne! You’re my night in shining armor!” Fred shouted to Daphne from the sidelines, which caused Daphne to blush as she continued to face the roaring crowd.

But I won't say the remaining part of the adventure is going to be easy.

Because let me tell you... it isn't.

XXXXXXXX

“Phoenix, can you and Scooby watch over Fred for a little while?” Sunny asked the cutie markless unicorn. “We have to go tell Misty and Shaggy about what happened in the stables.”

“Of course,” Phoenix nodded. “You can count on us.”

The three mares immediately galloped up the stairs and toward their friends, but Misty immediately noticed that her friends looked slightly panicked. “Guys, what is it? You look like you've just seen a ghost.”

“Much worse than a ghost... much worse!” Pipp panted. “It's Opaline! She's back!”

Misty, upon hearing those words, felt her blood run cold, eyes widening in fear. “W-Wha... w-w-what?!”

“Hold on,” Royal interrupted. “The same Opaline that you said you all destroyed several months ago? The one who kept you locked away for all those moons?”

“Like, that's the one,” Shaggy said with a shudder. “But how is she back? I-I thought she... well... e-exploded!”

“Well... that's what I hate to tell you, Misty,” Sunny said gently. “Somehow, Paradise was able to bring Opaline back, and... they're both teaming up with Morgan le Fay, and Opaline already stole Phoenix's cutie mark.”

“What?!” Royal cried. “Oh, those villainous creatures! When I get my hooves on them, I--”

“Why...? Why did I trust that my mom still had some good in her...?” Misty sniffled, trying to keep her tears from falling. “I should have trusted you guys when you said that I shouldn’t get my hopes up...”

“Misty, I'm so sorry...” Shaggy said comfortingly. “We'll find a way to stop her... again.”

“Of course we will,” Royal stated. “What's the plan?”

“Pipp, run up to Merlin's tower and alert the others,” Sunny said. “Royal, can you get the queen to take Aspen inside where it's safe?”

“Of course.”

“Misty, stay up here with Shaggy, Royal and King Arthur,” Sunny went on. “Izzy and I will keep an eye on things from the ground level, and if they were to attack, we'll be ready.”

She looked up toward the sky, taking a deep breath. “Opaline isn't going to take over Equestria... not now, not ever. We're gonna make sure of it.”

Dark Magic Attacks and Kidnappings Occur

“Mother… do you really think it was wise to take a cutie mark right then and there?” Paradise asked as she, Morgan and Opaline watched the action through Morgan’s crystal ball. “I mean… Sunny and her friends are bound to take affirmative action to defend Camelot and their friends.”

“Exactly,” Opaline said, rubbing a gold necklace with six slots around her neck. “They’re going to take all the actions they can to defend their friends that their cutie marks will be ripe for the plucking!”

“And, with the ponies distracted,” added Morgan, “it will be easier for me to take out the king, whomever it may turn out to be.”

Paradise sighed at this. “Of course… that makes the most sense.”

Opaline looked at her adoptive daughter with a caring smile, tilting her head up. “And to think… you’re the one who made all this possible, my little Paradise! I am just SO proud of you.”

“You… you’re proud of me?”

“But of course! Thanks to you, Sunny Starscout and her friends will have their cutie marks stolen, and they won’t be able to return to Equestria to stop my plans! You should be very proud of yourself, and you will finally become the princess I told you that you would be.”

“O-Of course... a princess,” Paradise nodded. “That's... all I ever wanted, since I was a fdilly.

“Tell you what... why don't you go ahead to Camelot and watch the events before we strike?” Opaline suggested. “It seems like a fitting reward to let you do something on your own like this.”

Paradise nodded at this. “Of course... I-I'll see you soon, Mother.”

And with that, Paradise trotted out the door and down the path, until Camelot could be seen in the distance.

She had to make Opaline proud... she had to.

XXXXXXXX

After Daphne had bested Lancelot in the first knightly trial, the gang knew that she had to keep it up a little while longer in order for this part of the legend to be complete.

Daphne soon went up against other knights in different events, like archery, sword combat and seeing who could get the most rings onto their pole while on a running steed. And, to the shock of many, Daphne bested them all in the events.

The ponies also took more security measures, keeping an eye on everything in the arena... and Pipp ran around the castle, trying to find where Merlin's tower was.

Paradise snuck in through a back entrance, and watched the events from the shadows, surprised at how proud Opaline was of her.

It felt... strange.

Like... the guilt of her actions and the happiness of Opaline being proud of her being mixed into one.

She quickly shook off the feeling though... she didn't need any sort of distraction.

XXXXXXXX

Soon, the last knight came into view, and the audience was tensed up to see which side would win the title of king. “This is it,” Misty said as she glanced at Royal. “He’s the last knight on Arthur’s side.”

“It's kinda strange, though, Misty,” Shaggy half-heartedly admitted. “I want Daph to win, but… you know… I also kinda want her to lose.”

He and King Arthur had found they had a lot in common during the competition, and he didn’t want the winning to get in the way. Now they could only hope for the best outcome.

Down in the arena, Daphne was preparing to joust the final knight on King Arthur’s team when the others approached her, with Fred still frozen. “Go get ‘em, Daph!” Sunny stated. “Do us all proud.”

That is when Daphne noticed Fred holding his ascot in his fists. “Here. For luck.”

Daphne lowered her jousting pole, and let the ascot slip around the ends of it. “Go get ‘em, Daphne,” Fred wished her luck before she set off. But not even a minute after she was gone, Scooby nervously whimpered and put his paws over his eyes. “I can’t look!”

Phoenix whimpered and did the same thing. “You and me both, buddy!”

“Ooh, are we gonna make the winner reveal a surprise?!” Izzy giggled and covered her eyes as well. “Fun!”

Soon, Daphne and the final knight lowered their visors and their horses immediately bolted toward each other. Misty and Royal squeezed their eyes shut when they heard the impact, and when they opened them, King Arthur’s final knight was down, and Daphne had won!

The peasants and the rest of the gang immediately cheered, but Shaggy and King Arthur looked downtrodden. “Oh no… you won!/I won!” they shouted at once before sighing. “This is the worst thing that’s ever happened!”

“AT LAST!!”

“Oh no…” Paradise fearfully looked to the sky, immediately knowing that her mother was on her way. “Here we go…”

XXXXXXXX

“Wow, I think my vines are twice as big as they were before!” Hitch said as he made vines grow and move wherever he moved his hooves. “This training seems to really be paying off!”

“Maybe for you,” Velma said with the roll of her eyes. “This book Merlin gave me isn't making a flea's worth of sense!”

“Merlin works in mysterious ways, Velma,” Platinum stated. “Just give it time. I'm sure you'll gain some sort of insight into the wizard ways before too long.”

“...Zipp... Hitch... Velma!” panted Pipp as she flew up the stairs, completely exhausted. “Opaline... back! Everypony... in danger!”

“What?!” Zipp rushed to her sister with worry. “Pipp, are you absolutely sure?!”

“Pony... positive!”

Hitch turned toward Velma, who looked wide eyed with panic. “We need to go!”

“I'm going with you. I have no idea who this Opaline character is,” Platinum admitted, “but I wanna help!”

“You guys go and I'll meet you there,” Velma told the ponies as they rushed down the stairs. “I just have to run through a few things, but I promise, we'll figure this whole Opaline thing out!”

XXXXXXXX

Everyone looked up to the sky to see Morgan le Fay and Opaline Arcana descending from the stormy skies above, and many were not expecting the fire alicorn to be with the evil sorceress, freaking them out that much more.

Morgan, however, smirked wickedly alongside her new ally. “Now, with the king chosen, I have sent an emissary to bring him to me! But first things first... Opaline?”

Opaline merely smirked upon this recognition, flying ahead of her partner and smirking down at the ponies below. “I'll make this easy on you puny ponies! Surrender your cutie marks now, and I may just let you live! If you don't surrender... things will not end well for you!”

By the time Opaline had finished speaking, Pipp and Zipp and Hitch and Platinum arrived, standing beside their friends, old and new, and ready to fight.

Sunny decided to speak first. “You and Morgan won't get your way by fear and intimidation, Opaline! No matter what you try to do, we're all going to stand up to you!”

“Hmph... suit yourself. Morgan, it's time!”

At Opaline’s shout, an eerie mist began to fill the entire arena, and Daphne was just climbing down from her horse when she saw it happen.

Scooby immediately yelped and jumped into the frozen Fred’s arms, causing him to fall right to the ground, and Izzy and Phoenix immediately pushed him back up...

...just as Morgan le Fay began to chant another spell. “As I perform this ancient rite,” she chanted, “it will cause a big terrible fight. As swords clash and clang, you'll go out with a bang as you’re slain by my wicked Black Knight! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

The arena doors burst open, and in from it emerged a figure completely covered in black armor, staring at Daphne menacingly with glowing blue eyes of fury. “W-What is that?!” Misty and Royal asked with wide eyes. “That is your doom,” Morgan shot them a wicked smirk. “Opaline... Black Knight… ATTACK!!!”

Opaline let out a shriek as she dove toward the ponies and as Black Knight quickly sped toward Daphne, who quickly leapt out of the way to avoid their enemies. “Well, that’s a bit excessive,” King Arthur commented. Scooby quickly put his paws over his eyes with whimpers of fear, not wanting to see what happened next.

However, Phoenix wasn't about to take this sitting down. “Come on, Scooby, we have to help them!”

“You do realize,” Fred spoke, “that both of them are capable of harnessing dark magic and could kill you both in an instant if they really wanted to, right?!”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded desperately, “what he said.”

“Dark magic or not, we can’t sit here like bumps on a log and do nothing!” Phoenix argued. “Now get on!”

Scooby whimpered, but reluctantly agreed and got on Phoenix’s back. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

“Fred, stay right here and don’t move!” Phoenix advised. “We’ll be right back!”

And just like that, Phoenix galloped off with Scooby to immediately join the battle, while Fred merely sighed from his frozen state. “Not really sure if I can go anywhere…”

Opaline snarled as she tried to blast the ponies, but they were moving too precisely and way too quick for her to keep up with. “Will you brats slow down?!” she asked, panting as she lowered to the ground. “You’re giving me a migraine!”

“This ought to deal with that!”

“Huh?!”

Opaline looked stunned to see Phoenix and Scooby barrel into her and pin her down for a few moments until she leapt back onto her hooves, sending them backwards and causing her to chase them.

At the same time, the Black Knight continued to try and kill Daphne, but she leapt out of the way repeatedly until she came crashing down once the Black Knight destroyed the jousting course.

That's when Hitch knew that he had to step in. “Not today!”

Opaline immediately saw this and abandoned chasing Scooby and Phoenix, and somehow, Platinum knew that what Opaline was planning. “Hitch, no!!”

She galloped toward him and attempted to push him out of the way just as Opaline let out a blast from her horn, causing them to be magically restrained, much to Sunny’s horror. “Platinum! Hitch!”

“More cutie marks, ripe for the picking!” Opaline cackled, and as much as they tried to get free, Hitch and Platinum weren’t able to. And then, as everyone watched in terror, their cutie marks were removed and the two earth ponies were thrown to the ground beside Daphne.

“Platinum!!”

“Hitch!”

“No!”

“Let those cutie marks go!”

“SILENCE!!” Opaline barked, sending a shockwave that knocked everypony down, putting Hitch’s cutie mark into her necklace while giving Platinum’s cutie mark to Paradise, so she could put it in a jar. As the ponies tried to regain their ground, Hitch and Platinum finally looked up to see the Black Knight raising his sword directly above the two of them and Daphne, waiting for Morgan’s command. “Finish them!”

“Not so fast!”

Everyone turned to see Velma standing behind the Black Knight, wearing wizard robes, and this caused the crowd to start cheering again. “Velma! You’re back!” Shaggy said. “And you’ve learned the wizarding ways!”

“Look, she's got magic pajamas!” Izzy said innocently. “Yeah, Merlin gave me these robes,” Velma gestured, “but I didn’t learn squat up there.”

Just then, the Black Knight turned to face her, while Velma seemed confident in what abilities she did have. “Magic that isn't from Equestria is nonsense. I’m here to save you the new-fashioned way-- with science! It’s all about physics.”

At that moment, Velma then pulled out a wand and started waving it for effect. “Abraca-whatever-fantasy-nerds-say.”

She then chopped up a rope, causing a chain reaction involving a tapestry falling, a goat getting spooked and colliding with an archer, whose arrow hit a suit of armor, causing the entire row to begin to fall over. “An object in motion stays in motion,” Velma said, “with the right speed and direction…”

Everyone watched as the rest of the chain reaction continued, with the falling armor scaring a chicken, making it shoot out an egg that hit the top of a wood cutter’s head, making his ax fly out of his hands and hit a wooden pole, causing it to start to fall. “...unless the object is acted upon by an unbalanced force!”

The wooden pole then collided with the head of Black Knight, causing him to become dizzy, as if he would lose consciousness at any moment. “It’s all you, Daph,” Velma turned to her friend. “Let’s unmask our villain.”

Daphne then looked to their friends on the balcony for the next move. “Misty, Shaggy! The sword!”

“The sword?” Shaggy looked to his side and realized what the plan was. He then grabbed the sword, and he and Misty ran to the edge of the balcony, and Shaggy made ready to throw the sword to her. “Daph!” Misty cried. “Catch!”

Shaggy threw the sword to Daphne, who caught it in mid-air and used it to slice the knight’s head armor off, revealing who was underneath… a fiery blue skull head! “Gross!”

“Ohhhhh I think I just lost my lunch…” Paradise groaned to herself. Suddenly, the knight slammed his sword down onto Daphne’s, and she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to hold it. “Anyone have a spare helmet?” she asked. “Or, like, a paper bag?”

Opaline snarled and fueled more of her magic into the Black Knight to make him stronger, but Zipp seemed to get an idea, looking at a nearby tapestry on the wall and a rope on the ground. “Pipp, follow my lead!”

“On it!”

While Pipp and Zipp rushed to the rope and the tapestry, Velma, against her better judgment, she began flipping through the spellbook Merlin gave her. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…” she muttered, but found a spell that she thought would do the trick and began to recite it. “When apprentices fail at their quest, and they just didn't give it their best. When there's trouble with magic, don't let it turn tragic. Just call Merlin, he's at your behest.”

As she spoke, a harsh wind began to blow throughout the entire arena, and as everyone else stood in shock, Velma suddenly thought of something. “Is all magic limericks?”

A whirlwind that had lightning dancing around it soon formed in the middle of the arena, and once it disappeared, Merlin was left in its place. “Ooh. Looks like we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a barney, haven't we?”

However, Merlin's remark left many of the group, and many civilians, confused. “Heh. Barney,” Merlin decided to clear up any confusion by explaining. “Like Barney Rubble. It rhymes with trouble.”

“Wait… how do you know about Barney Rubble?” Shaggy asked. “He’s from the future.”

“He is a caveman.”

Zipp growled in frustration. “Enough with the cavepony talk! Let’s finish this!”

She first grabbed the tapestry from the wall and dove toward Opaline, dropping the tapestry onto her and blinding her sight. Then, she and Pipp tied a rope around the tapestry and made sure it was tight before they let go of it. “We did it!” Zipp cheered, high-hoofing her sister. “Let’s get everypony out of--”

Unfortunately, Opaline burst out of the tapestry and tied the two sisters up by their hooves, making them fall to the ground. “I must admit, you two put out a pretty good plan,” Opaline honestly said with her chin up. “Unfortunately… I was two hoofsteps ahead!”

“Ahh!! Please!!” Zipp begged as she got closer, just as the Black Knight quickly pushed Daphne aside before setting his eyes on Velma. “Merlin, help!!”

“Oh, bother…” Merlin zapped the Black Knight with his wand, causing him to be thrown back into Opaline, who was knocked back into Paradise and into a large heap, causing Morgan to become quickly infuriated. “Whoa!” Izzy exclaimed as Pipp and Zipp broke free from their binds. “How do we learn how to do that?!”

“He says it’s magic from this world,” Velma told her. “But I'm building a case that he's actually some sort of super-genius from the 27th century. Ray guns, molecular transportation… or, you know…”

Merlin chuckled as he walked closer to the group... Velma, more specifically. “Ah, young apprentices. You must study even harder if you're to become a proper wizard.”

“Study what? The stuff in this book is nonsense. I just wanna time-travel back home,” Velma said as Morgan watched impatiently and Opaline and Paradise tried to recover from being buried in the Black Knight's armor. “This is all just bad limericks and gobbledygook.”

“To a wizard, gobbledygook is the most important kind of gook,” Merlin said. “When the time is right, young lad, you'll know just how to use that book.”

And before they could protest, Merlin disappeared in a puff of smoke, causing many to cough. “Second-hand wizard,” King Arthur sighed as Royal batted the smoke away with her wings. “Ought to be illegal.”

“What a show that guy puts on!” Fred exclaimed, thinking it was all a part of the act as Zipp and Pipp batted the smoke away. “Come on!” Velma shouted. “We just want to use your time-travel machine so we can go home and watch Thundarr the Barbarian. Ugh! Timeline!”

She quickly checked her phone, quite relieved to find that the picture was still the same. “Wizard speak for ‘I promise to study harder’...?”

Phoenix sighed with a relieved smile. “I think that’s that.”

“I think not!!” Morgan screeched, diving down and picking Shaggy up, much to Misty, Royal and King Arthur's horror before Morgan carried him into the center of the brewing storm. “Like, what’s happening, man…?!” Shaggy whimpered. “Since you are the rightful king,” Morgan sneered, “then you are mine!”

Suddenly, Shaggy’s feet were gathered in a certain unicorn’s magic aura, and it was revealed that Misty was pulling with all her might to keep Shaggy from being taken. “Leave… him… ALONE!!”

Opaline growled as she finally emerged beneath the pile of armor, her wings outstretched. “It’s time for Plan B!”

“Plan B?!” Paradise shrieked as Opaline took flight toward the balcony. “Mother, what do you mean ‘Plan B’?!”

“Hit the dirt!” Zipp cried, and all the ponies and King Arthur ducked to avoid the alicorn… all except Misty, who Opaline grabbed, and she let out a shriek of terror. “LET ME GO!!! HELP!!!”

Paradise gasped in terror at this. “Now, we’ve got who we truly came for, Morgan!” Opaline snarled. “Let’s get them out of here!”

“Farewell, you miscreants,” Morgan bid everyone else farewell as they flew into the storm clouds above. “When next we meet, it will be your doom!”

And just like that, the storm clouds were gone, everyone watching in horror as they watched their friends vanish. “MISTY!!!!!!!!” Izzy screamed. “SHAAAAAAAGYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!” Scooby wailed in pure horror.

This caused the other ponies to glance at each other with fear and worry as they rushed to the balcony, leaving Paradise to wonder a lot of things.

Opaline never mentioned taking Misty as a prisoner, not until now!

She had led her daughter and her friend straight into a horrible trap...

...and only she was to blame.

Paradise had to find a way to fix this... one way or another.

Paradise's Reform/Misty's Worst Nightmare Come True

Soon after she and Morgan had left with Shaggy and Misty, the spell Opaline put over Fred wore off, and everyone gathered at the top of the balcony to see if they could spot any sign of the two wicked sorceresses with their friends.

While Izzy tried to clear her silent tears, Scooby was full on sobbing by this point, clearly worried sick that he would never see their friends again. “Don’t worry, Scoob,” Sunny assured gently. “We’ll get them back!”

“But how, Sunny?” Zipp wondered. “In case you haven’t noticed, Opaline is getting a lot stronger now that she has some cutie marks!”

“Yeah!” Hitch looked down at his blank flank. “Mine included, and not to mention Platinum's and Phoenix's…”

“Guys, we have to be brave, and we have to have hope!” Sunny cried. “If we save Misty and Shaggy, maybe we can defeat Opaline and Morgan in the long run!”

“Well, whatever the plan is, we better hurry-- look!” Velma pointed at the picture on her phone, which was flickering in and out. “Our future is fading out of existence! If we don't find out where Misty and Shaggy went, we'll cease to be, creating a time paradox that will destroy both Equestria and this world!”

Scooby whimpered nervously at that, and Pipp nuzzled the Great Dane in comfort. That’s when Royal suddenly thought of something that could help. “Ooh! I think I know this one!” she exclaimed as raised her hoof. “Better yet... I know where they went. To Morgan's Keep-- not far from here. Really creepy.”

“And,” King Arthur added, “there’s a gauntlet of deadly traps before you can even get inside.”

“Did someone say traps?” Fred perked up while Sparky nervously clung to Hitch's leg. “D-Deadly traps…?!” Hitch gulped. “Mmm-hmm,” King Arthur nodded. “Deadly traps. Awesome. Good luck-- hope you get your mate back.”

“He’s your friend too,” Daphne said, and Royal Enchantment whole-heartedly agreed with this. “I don’t need a mate,” King Arthur scoffed. “I’m the king. I have… hoagies. Uh… hoagies!”

At the clap of his hands, his servants brought multitudes of hoagies for him to chow down on, while Scooby only looked annoyed and disgusted by the actions he displayed. “How could you eat at a time like this?”

“Yeah!” Zipp agreed with anger laced in her voice. “Even Scooby knows that when a friend’s in trouble, you drop everything for them.”

“Even snacks!”

“Especially snacks,” Sunny said. “Being a good friend means you’ll support your friends whenever they need you, and right now, Shaggy and Misty need us! You may not care about Misty, but Royal does! And think about Shaggy! How would you feel if you were in trouble and your friend wouldn’t come for you?”

“I told you,” King Arthur turned away. “Shaggy’s not my…”

But then, the king got to thinking about all the good times that he and Shaggy had while watching the tournament, slowly coming to a realization. “Shaggy is my mate… or the closest thing I’ve got to one,” he realized, dropping his sandwich on the balcony floor. “My whole life is a lie!”

The ponies couldn’t help but frown at the sight of the king crying, but then Fred decided to speak up. “So, you’ll join the Scooby Gang and Unity Squad while we rescue them?”

“No, are you mad?” King Arthur stopped sobbing immediately and crossed his arms. “I’m not leaving this castle without a bunch of knights.”

But when Pipp looked down at the knights in the arena, he realized many of them were banged up from their fights with Daphne. “Uh, slight problem with the knights, guys… I think Daph broke ‘em all!”

“Awww, dang it!” Zipp cried. “How are we gonna save our friends now?!”

“Well… I know where Morgan’s Keep is, so I could take you there,” Royal offered. “But… it’s going to be very dangerous, and I’m not exactly sure where in that place the evil beings would be keeping your friends. So… without King Arthur coming with us, we’d be walking on thin ice…”

“I got it!” King Arthur said after getting an idea. “Um… kneel.”

The rest of the ponies, Scooby and the rest of the gang kneeled before the king and his pet lioness, and King Arthur tapped the shoulders of the group with his sword. “I, Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, and the rightful wielder of Excalibur, do dub thee… Knights of the Round Table.”

The group stood up bravely and excitedly, ready to serve the king during their time rescuing Shaggy and Misty from the dreaded sorceresses. “Come on,” Royal bravely led them inside. “Let’s go save our friends. Phoenix and Platinum, watch the castle while we're gone!”

“You got it!”

“You can count on us!”

XXXXXXXX

“Uh-huh… yeah, I think this looks right…” Pipp said as she helped the gang and the king adjust their armor. “Yes, I think we got it!”

“Wowzers, Pipp!” Izzy said. “You really did pay attention to Phoenix’s armor arranging lesson!”

“Hey, what can I say? Me recording a video of her explaining really paid off! Right, Sunny?”

Sunny, however, wasn’t listening… she was instead thinking nearby and rubbing the heart locket she had gotten from the North Pole.

Scooby whimpered and approached her. “Sunny, is something wrong?”

“Maybe I’m just worrying for nothing, Scooby,” Sunny admitted, “but… I can’t believe that Paradise would bring Opaline back and let her daughter get taken.”

“Yeah, if I ever see her again,” Zipp said, “I have some words for her.”

“Believe me, Zipp… we all do,” Daphne said. “But we have to get to Morgan’s Keep and save them before Opaline and Morgan figure out we’re on a rescue mission.”

“...they’re too wrapped up in themselves to pay attention to anything else.”

Everyone gasped and turned to see Paradise enter the room, and all anger levels seemed to run through the roof. “YOU!!” Zipp snarled. “How can you be so… so cold-hearted?! Misty believed in you!”

“We all did!” Fred cried. “And you ruined that belief that Misty thought you could be good!”

“And, you let our friends be kidnapped without any consultation!” Pipp agreed. “Not cool… at all.”

Hitch handed his baby dragon to Izzy, who cradled Sparky in her hooves as he approached Misty's mother in anger. “Now… what do you have to say about THAT?!”

“I… I… I’m sorry…”

Suddenly, these simple words caught everypony offguard. “I’m sorry,” said Sunny, “but… what did you just say?”

“I’m sorry… you’re right,” Paradise said. “I am evil. And I am a monster. I didn’t know Moth-- I mean, Opaline was going to take Misty captive! Otherwise, I would have protested before that! That… that alicorn was all I had… she never showed me real love, and… I guess I listened to her twisted lessons of Equestria too much. Now, she’s on a path of world domination-- stealing the cutie marks of everypony in Camelot and all of Equestria! That’s why she’s stealing the cutie marks of you and your friends… she plans on opening a portal to Equestria once she gains enough power, and she plans on leaving you all here forever, without your cutie marks to help open a portal back!”

“Oh no…” Zipp spoke. “It’s way worse than we ever thought!”

“I just want you to know that… after today, I’m not serving that monster anymore,” Paradise said, tears pouring down her face. “And… please tell Misty that… I’m so sorry. For leaving her as a filly… for serving Opaline… for everything…”

“You can tell her yourself,” said Sunny gently, “because you’re coming with us.”

This left Sunny's friends in shock. “WHAT?!”

“Guys, she’s right,” Zipp said. “If Paradise has been hanging with Opaline and Morgan, then she might know where in Morgan’s Keep our friends are being held!”

“...I guess that’s true,” Hitch sighed before turning to the cream unicorn again. “Okay, Paradise, if you’re coming with us, you’ll be in chains until we know you can be trusted.”

“Of course.”

Once Paradise was put into chains, everybody was ready and got in a Mystery Machine colored, horse-drawn cart, setting off in the direction of Morgan’s Keep, while the group could only pray that their friends would make it until they arrived.

XXXXXXXX

Misty and Shaggy groaned as they hit the floor upon arriving in Morgan’s Keep, looking around in horror. “Where… where are we?” Misty stammered. “What is this place?”

“That is none of your concern,” Morgan sneered. “We’re too far from civilization for anyone to come and find you.”

“And now,” Opaline said, approaching Misty with a wicked sneer, “I believe you have something that is mine…”

“Like, leave her alone!” Shaggy cried out, getting in front of Misty. “She doesn’t have to give you anything!”

“Silence!” Opaline tossed him aside. “This is between me and my… blech… granddaughter.”

“No… no please!” Misty begged as she tried to escape, but Opaline binded her hooves, letting her fall to the ground. “There’s so much you hid from me all this time,” Opaline said. “Your friends… your cutie mark… and all this time, I thought we were friends-- family even!”

“No! We weren’t!” Misty snapped before her face eventually fell. “It’s so sad. You’ve got all this power and you still haven’t ever felt true friendship.”

“HA!!” Opaline scoffed. “I have friends! And I have a daughter who does whatever I say, unlike you!”

“You have to force others to pretend to be your friends!” Misty retorted, not intimated one bit as Opaline kept her glare. “Like me. That’s control!”

Opaline got in Misty's face, hoping to scare her back into submission. “You ungratful little pony!”

However... Misty wasn't scared one bit. “You were by yourself for so many moons… all alone,” she said with a frown. “I actually feel really sorry for you.”

“Wow, Misty. All grown up!” Opaline sarcastically said. “So empathetic. So kind!”

But, in the flash of an eye, Misty watched as her cutie mark was ripped from her flank, much to her and Shaggy's horror. “I always told you… if you want your cutie mark, you have to do what I say,” Opaline told Misty as Shaggy ran to Misty's side. “You used to be a good and loyal helper. You can do that again, and you and I can be with your mother, just like... a family. Hmm?”

“You didn’t give me my cutie mark, Opaline,” Misty responded. “I earned it by helping my friends. And that’s something you can’t take away from me!”

“Well… we’ll see about that,” Opaline snarled as she put the cutie mark inside the necklace and undid Misty’s binds, letting Shaggy catch Misty before she hit the ground. “Morgan… the deed.”

Morgan whipped a piece of paper from her cloak. “If you sign this and give me full access to the throne… your friends will not be harmed. But if you fail… then not only does Opaline get all the cutie mark magic… your friends will also die.”

Shaggy and Misty gasped at this wide eyed in terror, wondering what sort of action could be done about this.

Suddenly… it hit Shaggy.

He knew what he had to do... for his sake... for Misty's...

...and for everyone they knew and cared about.

Rescue Mission at Morgan's Keep

The journey to Morgan’s Keep lasted a little longer than the group anticipated, but soon, they finally arrived.

Morgan’s Keep actually looked like a castle all its own, but in a darker, spookier atmosphere… sort of like its own haunted forest. “So, this is it?” Velma asked, glancing at the castle with suspicion and surprise. “Huh. That’s strange.”

Zipp glanced at her with confusion. “What, Velma?”

Velma brushed it off, thinking it was nothing at the time. “Oh, nothing. I just… could’ve sworn we’ve been here before.”

“Oh, you’ve remember if you had,” Royal Enchantment said ominously, glancing around every now and then. “Welcome to Morgan’s Keep!”

“This cave leads down into the bowels of the earth,” King Arthur then explained, “where Morgan le Fay practices her dark magic.”

To this, Scooby let out a nervous whimper, but Pipp was there to rub his side in comfort. “Don’t be scared, Scooby,” she said to the Great Dane softly. “Remember-- we’re here to save Misty and Shaggy.”

“Say, Arthur, how are we gonna get across that moat?” Daphne wondered. But just after she said that, the drawbridge lowered all on its own. “Well… that’s not creepy,” Velma commented. “I guess we better get going then,” Hitch gulped, putting Sparky into the saddlebag he was carrying. “No matter… h-how scary it looks.”

“If you want, sheriff,” said Paradise, “I could look after him.”

However, Hitch eyed her with suspicion. “...I don’t know about that.”

But, Sparky hopped off his father’s back and toward the unicorn, hugging up against her leg. “Oh!” Paradise blinked in surprise before she smiled softly. “Uh… h-hello to you too, little one.”

Sparky cooed and cuddled up to Paradise even more, making her softly chuckle. That was how she always imagined Misty as a filly... so carefree and innocent. “...then again, maybe you SHOULD keep Sparky safe,” Hitch said, watching the interaction between the two. “At least until we know Opaline isn’t around.”

Paradise smiled at this, picking Sparky up into her hooves. “I would be honored.”

“All right, guys,” Sunny said, taking a deep breath. “Follow me.”

The earth pony mare and all her friends led the group into the lair of the wicked sorceress, with Izzy and Scooby, both nervous about the whole thing, trailing behind the group, and once they were inside a good bit, King Arthur pointed down a long hallway. “There. Down that corridor.”

“What are we waiting for?” Daphne prepared to advance, but quickly stepped on a floor tile, triggering a trap of arrows to fly at her, and they would have hit her if Fred hadn’t pulled her away in time. “Oh… it’s the gauntlet of deadly traps!” King Arthur realized. “Oh… right,” Daphne said. “I forgot.”

“We could try and lift everypony across with our wings,” Zipp said, “but… that would probably take a lot longer, and time is one thing we don’t have.”

“Velma, can you get us across with your powers as a student wizard?” Izzy asked. “I can try. Ugh… so silly,” Velma said reluctantly, and quickly flipped to another page in the spellbook she was given. “I call on the powers of fable to make passage for knights of the table. For this evil hallway will attempt to fillet, cook or smash us as long as it's able!”

Fred looked around, but ultimately didn't see any sort of change. “Did it work?”

Hitch shrugged at this-- even he and the other ponies weren’t sure what all other types of magic so there were, so there was only one way to find out.

Sunny decided to walk across, and triggered the same floor tile Daphne did, and would have gotten hit by the arrows in front of her if Zipp hadn't pulled her back. “Huh…” the white pegasus landed and shrugged. “I guess that spell didn't really do anything.”

“Well, we gave it a good go,” King Arthur turned around to walk out. “If we leave now, we’ll be just in time for tea and jellied eels.”

Unfortunately, Scooby got into his path to prevent him from leaving. “We can’t leave!”

“He’s right!” Sunny agreed. “We still have to save Misty and Shaggy before something worse happens!”

“But if we can’t get past these traps,” said Fred, “then what are we gonna do?”

That’s when Daphne turned to the gang’s blonde-haired leader with a smile. “You’re the master of traps, Fred, and Izzy is the master of unicycling big ideas-- you guys can totally figure this out.”

Izzy took one look at their armor and instantly got an idea, whispering it to Fred, who looked at her. “You really think that might work?”

“Hey, we gotta try something to save Shaggy-Waggy and Misty-Twisty!” Izzy reasoned. “So everypony, just follow our lead!”

Instantly, most of the group take off their armor and constructed a large sled with it, using a bow, ropes and a giant rock along with it.

Fred smiled at the now completed trap. “Am I wizard? No. Am I an artist? I, uh… hadn’t really thought about it.”

Royal blinked in confusion. “Sorry… what does this do again?”

“Well, Izzy gave me the idea to use the bow we brought with us to make a trebuchet,” Fred explained as the group got in the sled they had made, “that will throw a stone through the hallway, pulling the sled, which will slide us past the traps before they're able to do anything. It's an anti-trap trap.”

“Brilliant. We’re all gonna die,” King Arthur said in a negative tone. “It’s the most luck we’ve had since we got here, so it’s worth a try,” Zipp shrugged. That’s when Fred decided this was the perfect moment to try the trap. “Ready, gang?”

This caused the group to nod firmly. “READY!!”

Fred pulled his ascot from the pin, holding the trebuchet in place, and launching the boulder forward. “Uh, wait wait wait. I-I just had a second thought about THIIIIIIIISSS!!!!!” Paradise wailed as the sled lurched forward, and as Fred barely hung onto the sled, the group screamed loudly as traps in different varieties and tried to kill them in different ways-- fire, arrows, axes, and even the walls tried to kill them.

Eventually, they reached a giant pit, and the stone slammed into the wall, halting the sled before it reached the pit. And once they were on safer ground, the traps disappeared. “Phew… and Bob’s your uncle,” Royal Enchantment sighed in relief. “We made it!”

“Sir Fred, you are a regular anorak,” King Arthur said as everyone else climbed out of the sled, shaken but otherwise safe and sound. “Actually, I think I'm half-Dutch or Norway-ese or something,” Fred said in thought. “Uh, can we stop talking about family origins for now?” Pipp interrupted the duo and their conversation. “We still have friends to save!”

Suddenly, the stone that hit the wall, stopping their ride, fell down into the dark pit in front of them, causing the rope to pull the sled over to the edge… with King Arthur still inside it! “King Arthur!” Sunny exclaimed in fear. “Scooby, we have to help him!”

The two of them immediately rushed toward the edge of the pit, where Scooby latched his teeth onto King Arthur’s cape, and Sunny grabbed onto Scooby by the waist, but it was clear they would need more help.

So, Royal closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them, stomping her hooves to use her dark magic to levitate all three of them to safety.

Sunny, Scooby and King Arthur panted tiredly while everyone else sighed in relief. “Royal, that was incredible!” Pipp cried. “I’ve never seen anypony use dark magic for good!”

“That… that was what I was so scared to tell you before. And that’s why my anklets cover these scars on my legs-- I used my dark magic in anger once, and they've been on my legs ever since,” Royal admitted, removing her anklets to show her scars. “Please don’t shun me…”

“Shun you? Why would we?” Zipp asked, looking confused. “You just helped save our friends’ lives!”

“Yeah,” Fred agreed. “You may have a unique power that you may have used in anger, but… that does mean we like you any less.”

“I think your dark magic is really cool,” said Izzy, “as long as you use it the right way.”

“They’re more than right. They encouraged my daughter to always be herself,” said Paradise, “and that’s exactly what you should do too.”

“Wow… to think I’ve been scared to show my true self all this time, when I really have friends and family who accept me for my true self,” Royal said in thought. “Maybe all of you are right. As long as I use my magic for good, I don't think I have anything to worry about. Thanks, everypony.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Pipp said. “But we gotta go! We have to rescue Misty and Shaggy!”

“Good idea,” Paradise said. “Let’s go before that witch really does kill us.”

XXXXXXXX

After their little moment at the side of the pit, the entire group went across the bridge across the pit, where Zipp and Hitch pushed open the large doors on the other side, revealing a room filled with treasures-- gold, jewels, and many other trinkets.

As they walked in further, a noise caught their attention from afar, and it seemed to get even noiser as they got closer to a nearby table, stacked high with food. “I’m sorry,” King Arthur said with a frown. “What’s that horrible noise?”

“More deadly traps?” Sunny piped up, but Scooby knew exactly what that sound was. “It’s Shaggy!”

“And Misty must be with him!” Izzy cried in excitement. “Come on!”

She and Scooby immediately ran toward the table, clearing some of the food away. And low and behold, Shaggy was there, eating his heart out… but Misty was not with him. Scooby began to lick Shaggy’s face repeatedly, causing Shaggy to laugh as Izzy climbed down from the table. “Scooby-Doo!” Shaggy took a break from laughing. “It’s great to see you, pal!”

“Shaggy!” Sunny cried as they ran closer. “Are you alright?”

“I am now that you’re here,” said Shaggy, eventually standing up and putting Scooby on the ground. “Wait... where's Misty?” Zipp asked, realizing that Misty wasn't with her fellow captive. “We gotta find her!”

“I-I'm right here...”

Misty came out from behind a pile of gold, looking like she had been crying for quite a while.

To say that the others were relieved would be a major understatement. “Misty!” Izzy cried as she hugged her friend tight. “You're okay!”

“...physically yeah, but...” Misty turned and showed them her blank flank. “Opaline got my cutie mark just a few minutes after we were brought here…”

Paradise gasped, ears pinning at the mere sight of what Opaline had done to her daughter. “Oh, Misty…”

Misty gasped in relief upon hearing her mother's voice, but then remembered what Paradise did not just to her, but to ALL of them before she scoffed and turning away. “What's she doing here?”

“Don’t worry, she’s not here to hurt us,” Daphne said to the blue unicorn, eyeing Paradise for a few seconds. “At least… not this time.”

“Didn't she harm us enough by bringing Opaline back?!” Misty snarled, causing everyone to flinch, knowing that Misty never took that kind of tone in unless she was VERY angry. “She's already helped Opaline take four cutie marks!”

“Misty, honey, I know you're upset,” Paradise said, giving Sparky back to Hitch and slowly approaching. “And this day is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, but... I wanna try and make things right.”

Misty didn’t turn to face her mother, fearing that this would be another heartless trick. “...I don’t believe you…”

“...at least let's get you and your friend out of here,” Paradise said gently, “before Moth-- I mean... Opaline and Morgan get back.”

“It’s too late…” Velma showed them the phone, but instead of a picture, all they saw was a black screen. “The picture! It’s gone!” Zipp exclaimed in horror. “Whatever we did, we just made the timeline worse,” Velma frowned. “Now the phone isn't even working, as if the technology itself was disappearing. We've failed.”

“Right you are!” cried an all-too-familiar voice, and everyone turned to see Morgan and Opaline appear in a puff of smoke. “Oh crumbs…” Izzy gulped, just as Opaline noticed Paradise with the gang, King Arthur and Royal. “...Paradise,” Opaline said in a bitter tone. “Get back over here, and you may fall back into my good graces!”

However, Paradise narrowed her gaze to this demand. “...no.”

Of course, you can bet that Opaline was FURIOUS when she heard this response. “What did you just say?!”

“What you’re doing is wrong, Opaline! My daughter and her friends made me see that,” Paradise said, sparing a glance at her daughter and her friends, “and you’re not going to hurt them, this dragon or any of their new friends anymore as long as I’m around!”

Opaline growled and tried to blast at them, and the group backed away and split up, with Opaline continuing to blast until Zipp and Pipp got caught in Opaline’s binds again. “Pipp! Zipp!” Royal tried to fly to them, but also ended up in binds of her own with a shriek of terror.

Opaline chuckled and let her horn glow, letting her magic rip the cutie marks from their flanks. Pipp and Zipp's cutie marks floated into the necklace beside Hitch's cutie mark slot and above Misty's slot, while Royal's cutie mark merely floated and attached itself to a leaf on a nearby tree. “Not so confident now, are we pegasi?”

As the binds on the pegasi became undone, allowing them to stand again, Fred and Shaggy rushed to help them up while King Arthur drew his sword, but Morgan used her magic to command the sword to float into her waiting hand. “Ha! Finally!” she exclaimed in victory before looking down at the group. “Now with Excalibur in my hand, more cutie marks in Opaline’s possession and Sir Norville having granted me the deed to the throne…”

“Deed to the throne?” Daphne interrupted. “Yes-- to save the ponies and their friends across the realms from being destroyed!” Morgan boasted, showing them the document. “It’s all here, legal and everything.”

“Shaggy… you did that to save us?” Hitch asked, personally stunned. “I had to,” Shaggy said. “Like, if I didn’t, this huge mass of guilt would be bulging in my stomach.”

“Now, with this deed,” Opaline declared, “Morgan wielding the sword and more and more cutie marks in my possession, we shall be the rightful rulers of our realms, and all magic will be ours! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!”

Fred, deciding he has had enough of this, ducked under the table before running up the steps to try and retrieve the sword from the enchantress and Opaline, all while the others watched in shock. “Only if you can hold onto it!”

“You think you can defeat us?” Morgan laughed as she began to float into the air. “I am the greatest sorceress of all time, but this battle is going to drag on. Drag on. Get it? This is my dumb joke, since you all seem to like making dumb little jokes so much.”

Morgan then let herself be surrounded in glowing smoke, blocking her from the group’s line-of-sight. “Uh oh,” Zipp frowned as Hitch put Sparky onto his back. “I don’t like this pun!”

That's when the apricot earth pony mare suddenly began to think of something. “Drag on. Wait, she doesn’t mean…”

Sunny’s thought died in her mouth when, out from the smoke, a demonic, giant winged lizard stood in her place. “DRAGON!!” Scooby cried after Velma and Daphne gasped. “Uh oh!” King Arthur gulped. “Oh… that’s not good.”

“M-Maybe he's the friendly kind like Sparky?” Pipp wondered with a nervous smile. “If what I think happened just happened,” Hitch cried, “I don't think so!”

The dragon then let out a fearsome roar, prompting the group to scream, and allowed Fred to run back toward the others. “Get them!” Opaline ordered, flying beside the large dragon. “Burn them alive if you have to!”

Morgan breathed in, then spewed out a wave of blue, magic-induced fire, to which Fred leapt to safety from and rejoined his friends. “I am Morgan le Fay, ruler of Camelot!” the dragon roared in a half-feminine, half-groveling voice. “And I am hungry!”

“HIT THE DECK!!” Zipp shrieked, and everyone got down low, flipping the table over before the dragon blasted hot blue fire straight at it. “Guys, this table’s built really well,” Fred examined the table, “but I don’t think it can take another blast!”

Morgan stomped down the stairs while Opaline followed close behind. “We’re gonna need some real magic to get out of this one.” Daphne said. “But with most of our cutie marks gone,” said Misty, “I don't know if our magic is strong enough! Have you gotten good yet, Velma?”

Velma shook her head to this. “No, but I know one word that always works with this gang.”

“Enjoy being grilled alive!” Opaline laughed to the frightened group as Morgan blew out another blast of fire against the table, getting ready to torch it to smithereens. “What’s that?!” Daphne asked Velma over the sound of blasting fire. “Run!” Velma cried as she began to make a break for it. “Follow me!”

This caused a majority of the others (namely Daphne, and the ponies) to follow after her. “Like, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the dragon’s lair!” Shaggy cried out with a nervous chuckle. “Less shouting,” said Hitch in a desperate tone, “and more escaping!”

The table now lay in a pile of fiery kindling, just Morgan and Opaline noticed the gang making a run for the trap gauntlet. “After them!” Opaline snarled. “We can't let them escape!”

As the two villains gave chase, the treasure room doors began to slowly close and the ponies, King Arthur and the gang all ran as fast as they could get through just in time. “You cannot escape us!!” Morgan declared, crashing through the wooden doors. “GO GO GO GO GO!!!” Sunny screamed as the dragon and alicorn followed them across the bridge.

But as he made his way across, King Arthur accidentally triggered the trap that made the ground begin to fall beneath them, and Fred grabbed onto King Arthur’s cape so he wouldn’t fall. This prompted Velma and Daphne to grab King Arthur, and Shaggy held onto Velma and Daphne’s hands. Hitch and Misty held onto Shaggy to keep him from tipping over, just as the others watched as Morgan dropped down the hole made from the collapsed hole.

Opaline snarled from the other side of the hole as Fred managed to climb back onto the ground, just as the gang began to cheer and celebrate.

Pipp sighed in relief when she heard the cheering begin to die down. “For a second, I thought we were goners.”

Suddenly, that all-too familiar voice cut the celebrations short. “Oh, really? Did you really think it would be that easy?”

The gang turned to see Morgan had managed to fly back up to the top, and Opaline was now beside her. “Like, I kinda did,” Shaggy stated as he trembled nervously. “Time to start running again!”

The gang once again made a run for the exit, and the chase was on yet again. This time, Fred accidentally activated a trap, causing a giant wooden pillar to slam down on top of Morgan.

Opaline merely used her magic to flick the pillar off of her, audibly growling. “Get back up. They’re escaping!”

As the chase went on, the gang activated more traps, such as a set of walls slamming shut with Morgan in-between. As she pushed them away and continued the chase after them, more and more of the traps activated; spears, fire, axes, and hammers all barraging her. Opaline stayed behind her, avoiding the traps, and trying to encourage Morgan to keep moving.

As the gang reached the exit, Opaline activated her magic and forced the drawbridge to begin closing. “We have to hurry!” Sunny exclaimed. “Go go go go go!!”

One by one, the gang climbed up the rising door and dropped into the moat, eventually swimming to shore. King Arthur and Paradise stayed behind and pressed themselves against the castle door to keep it from closing... something Shaggy immediately noticed. “Come on, you two. Like, the dragon and the alicorn are right behind us!”

“Go, Shaggy!” King Arthur strained heavilly. “Paradise and I can’t… hold this door forever!”

“Paradise! King Arthur! What are you doing?” Royal called out, causing Paradise to strain and look down at her. “Keeping these monsters from hurting my daughter and her friends!”

“Jump, Shaggy!” cried Pipp. But, Shaggy couldn’t leave King Arthur and Paradise alone… he just couldn’t! But as King Arthur struggled to keep the door open, his shirt began to rip, revealing some strong abs. “Demon dogs, Shaggy…” he strained. “Go!”

So, against his better judgement, Shaggy leapt from the drawbridge into the moat, where Izzy and Misty pulled him out. King Arthur and Paradise struggled against the door as Opaline and Morgan got closer.

And with Shaggy and their friends safe they both dropped and landed onto Morgan’s head, letting the drawbridge close behind them. “King Arthur!” Velma said in despair. “Mom...” Misty said quietly, causing Fred to quickly reassure them. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

Just then, Morgan crashed through the door with both the king and Paradise on her mouth. They both struggled to keep her mouth open, but, Morgan the battle and she snapped her mouth shut, causing the group to gasp in horror.

Morgan then flew out from the castle and surrounded the gang in a blazing blue ring of fire, trying to keep themselves from getting severely burned. “You thought you could escape us, you fools!” the dragon growled menacingly. “If you have any last words, the time has come to use them.”

The gang could only watch in steadfast horror and sorrow, turning to one anotner to say their final goodbyes. “...I can't believe that this is the end,” Sunny said, holding Izzy's hoof. “I love you guys so much...”

“It was greatest thing of all my days being with you all,” Royal lowered her head while Shaggy could only say the only thing on his mind. “I could really go for a sandwich right now!”

Morgan let out a blast of fire, but before it could incinerate the gang, Opaline took out the dragonstone and activated it, allowing it to suck up all the fire and the transformation magic, letting the spell begin to deform Morgan. “YOU FOOL!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Opaline didn’t answer and smirked as she let the dragonstone do its work. “NOOOOOO!” Morgan screeched as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke while the gang and ponjes stood completely gobsmacked at Opaline’s actions. “Finally. With this dragon magic, I’ll be unstoppable,” Opaline said before she turned to the gang. “I will return, you miserable welps. And when I do, there won’t be anything that you can throw at me that can stop me!”

That's when the evil alicorn laughed and merely flew into the castle and out of sight. “Did… did she just…” Sunny stammered. “What?!”

“She betrayed Morgan… which ended up saving our lives,” Fred spoke as they all got up. “...I'm so confused and so impressed all at once.”

As the smoke and dust settled, the gang could see three figures laying within it. Morgan, King Arthur, and Paradise lay there with soot marks all over them. And no one was happier about this than Royal Enchantment herself. “Your highness!”

She ran right over to the king and began hugging him, causing him to rub her mane as the gang looked on.

Morgan then started to slowly rise to her feet, but was stopped when Zipp and Hitch stood next to her. “Stand down, Morgan,” Zipp demanded. “You’re coming back to Camelot with us.”

As Izzy tied Morgan up with some extra strong rope, Misty slowly walked over to her mom. “You… you willingly sacrificed yourselves to save us. Why?”

Paradise smiled weakly. “Because I regret doing those horrible things. I was fool to follow in Opaline and Morgan. What I did was unforgivable, but you are still my daughter no matter what and I will always love you as one. I will never let anyone or anything hurt you or your friends ever again.”

Misty began to tear up from her mom’s words. For the first time in a longtime, she wrapped her hooves around Paradise, hugging her and crying against her side. “I forgive you, mom.”

Paradise sighed and hugged her daughter back, and the others looked on with happiness in their eyes. “Come on, everyone. Let’s head back to Camelot to put this sorceress behind bars,” Zipp smiled. “Then we can get our plan to stop Opaline once and for all.”

“All right!” Izzy cheered. “Camelot, here we come!”

Author's Note

IndyWriter Productions really helped me with half of this scene, so a big shout out to them and their amazing work!

Chasing After the Deed

Once Morgan was secured in the back of the Mystery Machine colored, horse-drawn wagon, the group set off through the forests back to Camelot, and upon their return, the peasants of the kingdom cheered wildly in excitement. “Thank you,” King Arthur said to the group with a happy smile. “And even though this Opaline is still a threat, because of you, we can wake up to a brighter tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Velma! The picture!” Zipp suddenly turned to her, suddenly remembering that their future could still be intact. “Has it come back?”

Velma took out the phone, but to the group’s dismay, it still displayed a black screen. “Nope…”

This could possibly be the worst kind of news in Pipp's opinion... other than her phone needing an incredibly long update. “Oh no… you mean we’ve destroyed the future?”

“No more video games?” Shaggy questioned. “No more double cheeseburgers?”

“No more Scooby Snacks…?!” Scooby blubbered before he and Shaggy burst into tears, and Izzy and Misty tried to comfort their downtrodden friends. “And no way for us to return home,” Fred realized sadly, causing the others to become downtrodden as well.

Now what would they do?

Luckily, King Arthur had somewhat of a good idea. “Don’t worry, Sir Fred. You can join me and my Knights of the Round Table. All of you can. Together, we can make the world a better place. Create a kingdom where everyone is welcome as long as they fight on the side of right. Together, we can make Camelot a beacon on the hill, shining a light into the darkest of places.”

“And together,” said Royal, “we will reclaim all of the stolen cutie marks and stop this Opaline Arcana character once and for all, making sure she will not harm a single pony again!”

As the townspeople then cheered, Velma clapped slowly and approached the king and Royal, smirking. “Bravo… bravo.”

“Velma? What are you doing?” Daphne asked. “Oh, just applauding these fine performers,” Velma answered, looking at the king. “I guess that’s the end of your little show then, isn’t it?”

Royal looked a little confused at this, and the cheering fell silent as people looked at each other in confusion, the gang included. “Royal?” Phoenix said as she, Aspen and Platinum approached. “Do you know why Velma said that?”

“No… I don’t,” Royal spoke. “Probably because you’ve been staying in this castle for the last year and have never really been in the outside world,” Velma said as she approached the wagon. “Observe.”

Velma climbed into the back of the cart and pulled off Morgan le Fay’s mask, revealing her to be someone the gang recognized back in Norville o’er Morgania. “Mrs. Wentworth?!” the gang and the Mane 6 cried out. “Was she trapped back in time too?” Shaggy asked. “No, Shaggy,” Velma answered. “She’s not back in time, and neither are we.”

“What?” Aspen couldn’t believe it. “But… the photo on the phone!”

“Forgot to charge it,” Velma shrugged. “It just went dead.”

“But all of Morgan's magic! The flying, the lights!” Hitch agreed, baffled. “Heck, when Opaline did that spell to freeze me!” Fred agreed. “It’s like I thought-- the so called 'Morgan le Fay' no magic,” Velma explained. “It was all just wires, sleep gas, and the light show that the mayor said the town was going to show us later on. As for the freezing, we all know you're kind of impressionable when someone yells in your direction.”

“What? That’s not--”

“JUMP!!” Velma cried, and like she figured he would, Fred jumped a good six feet above the group. “Okay…” Misty nodded slowly. “That’s good to know... I think.”

“Royal? You guys had no idea about this?” Hitch asked. “Honestly, we didn’t!” Platinum shook her head. “We’ve stayed in the castle without going out for over a year! We just… thought it was just… a medieval village of sorts that we could call our home…”

That's when Pipp developed a question of her own as the others comforted their new friends. “So… the people-- they were what? Actors?”

“Not just any actors,” Velma climbed down from the wagon and approached King Arthur. “This in none other than that wonderful British thespian, Winston Pilkingstonshire.”

“Winston Pilkingstonshire?!”

Upon recognizing the name, Daphne gasped. “He’s the actor who plays Thundarr the Barbarian on TV, right?”

“Right,” Velma nodded. “I got even more suspicious when Arthur said ‘demon dogs’-- one of Thundarr's catchphrases.”

“You know, you say the same lines for 30 years, they’re hard to shake,” Winston admitted. “But,” Velma said, “what really gave it away were the abs.”

“I’d know those abs anywhere!” Daphne sighed dreamily. “Whoa!” Fred exclaimed. “Will you sign my tunic?”

“Yes, it’s me, and my abs,” Winston took off his disguise and opened a bottle of water with his abs. “But we couldn't have done it without this marvelous medieval Renaissance troupe. Everyone, please, take a bow.”

The villagers then did so with happy expressions, happy their work was noticed. “Velma, amazing deduction. It’s true,” Winston admitted. “I was hired to be the inaugural actor to play King Arthur in Norville o'er Morgania's newest tourist attraction, Camelot Reimagined.”

“Camelot Reimagined?” Misty asked. “What is that?”

“It should be obvious, Misty,” Velma told her. “Do you remember when we first arrived at Norville o'er Morgania? We reached that roundabout with the one road blocked off for construction. This must be some sort of immersive attraction built right next to the town to attract tourists. In fact, with the way that Camelot is centered in this small valley to obscure what's on the other side of that stand of trees and how the castle only has windows facing one side, I'm willing to bet that Norville o'er Morgania is actually only a couple of miles away.”

“She’s right,” Mrs. Wentworth stood up and put on her glasses. “And you twelve are our first guests to take part in what we hope will be a very lucrative entertainment experience.”

“Lucrative entertainment?!” Zipp said furiously, catching everyone offguard. “For the past year, you've tricked Royal, her cousin and her friends into thinking they were in some fantasy realm, and our cutie marks, except for Sunny and Izzy's, were stolen! Plus, teaming up with an evil alicorn kinda makes things worse!”

“Yeah! Using the terror that Opaline spread to your own advantage?” Daphne asked. “That’s almost TOO cruel.”

“At first, we just assumed she was just part of some new sideshow,” Mrs. Wentworth explained. “But then, when her attacks became more extreme, we had to step up our game and make it look even more real.”

“Yeah, but did they have to knock us out to pretend it was real?” Shaggy asked. “Actually, they did, Shaggy,” Velma answered. “All because of you.”

“Me?!”

“Whoa whoa, wait a second, Velma,” Misty said. “What does Shaggy have to do with this scheme?”

“Do you any of you remember the legend of Sir Norville?” Velma asked. “It said that if Norville or any of his line returned, they would lay claim to the land of Camelot. When the mayor found out about Shaggy’s lineage and saw his ancient medallion with the inscription of Camelot, he was convinced that Shaggy was here to lay claim to the town.”

“Precisely,” Mrs. Wentworth nodded. “After he met Shaggy, he organized a town meeting and told everyone they would have to do whatever it takes to get you to sign over the deed for the land to the town.”

“...now the townfolk’s reactions made sense!” Pipp realized. “And I bet that dragon Mrs. Wentworth turned into wasn’t a dragon at all!”

“No, it was more robotic than anything,” Mrs. Wentworth explained. “I had no idea that Opaline could seize the fire from it, whether it was a real dragon or not.”

“Well, now we know what really went on,” Zipp said, “and now, Shaggy could have the entire town in his name with the flap of a pegasus wing!”

“But that’s just it, Zipp,” Shaggy admitted. “Like, I don’t wanna own real estate.”

This surprised the ponies greatly. “You don’t?!”

“Man, no way! Do you know how many creepy, evil people we've met that do weird things just for a piece of land?” Shaggy asked them before turning to Mrs. Wentworth. “No offense, but I'd gladly sign over the deed. Just give me the paperwork.”

“That’s very sweet, Shaggy,” Mrs. Wentworth smiled before pulling the deed out of her pocket. “Luckily, you’ve already signed the deed… over to me!”

Mrs. Wentworth quickly leapt from the wagon, grabbing a knight’s sword and pointing it at the group, forcing them to stay back. “Um… this was definitely not part of the script. I know,” Winston said, “because I memorized the entire thing, everyone's parts. I always do. It's just a thing.”

“These ignorant townspeople put everything into this King Arthur experience,” Mrs. Wentworth said, moving closer to the tents while using the sword she had taken to keep the group back, “wanting to split the profits between everyone. But you know what's better than splitting profits with hundreds of people? Splitting them with no one! Once I send this to the proper authorities, this town and the money it makes will be mine!”

Mrs. Wentworth then ran behind one of the tents in the arena, laughing wickedly, trying to make an escape. “She’s trying to get away!” Fred shouted. “Get her!”

But the group was forced to move aside, cause Mrs. Wentworth got behind the wheel of the Mystery Machine and charged out of there at top speed. “And there goes my retirement,” Winston groaned under his breath. “All she has to do is mail that deed and the town is hers!” Sunny realized. “We have to stop her!”

“Where’s the nearest mailbox?” Fred asked one of the actors. “What’s a mailbox, Sir Fred?” the actor asked in return, still thinking they were doing their act. “We’re not acting anymore, you twit!” Winston said with a serious expression. “Oh, right, mate. Sorry, sorry,” the actor then apologized. “It's about two kilometers that way in the center of Norville o'er Morgania.”

“Aww, shoot!” Zipp huffed. “She’s too far away! Without our cutie mark magic, we’ll never get there in time!”

“We might be able to, princess,” Winston stated, lifting a banner and pressing a button on the wall, causing a fully mechanical dragon, like the one they faced back in Morgan’s Keep, to rise from a trapdoor. “Ariel! Ookla!” Winston cried out one of his catchphrases as he got on top of the dragon’s back. “Ride!”

The gang looked at each other excitedly-- this was gonna be fun.

So, not wasting another second, they began to climb onto the dragon’s back, with Royal, Fred and Zipp getting on first. “Do you wanna?” Daphne asked Velma as she helped Hitch and Sparky on. “No,” Velma declined. “You be Ariel.”

While they debated on this, the rest of the mares got on behind them, followed by Scooby and Shaggy. “I’m Ookla, naturally,” Shaggy shrugged. That’s when Winston put a key into the dragon’s ignition, and revving it up, they soon set off after the Mystery Machine.

XXXXXXXX

Along the road, Mrs. Wentworth was smirking wickedly as she drove at a rapid speed. “Those fools,” she muttered, clutching the deed with her other hand. “With this deed, there's nothing to stop me from owning this town once and for all.”

That’s when she noticed the dragon speeding up and gaining on her, causing her to accelerate her speed. “This was your idea?” Fred asked as they tumbled along. “Don’t worry, love, it’s just a converted lorry,” Winston assured. “A baby could drive it.”

He proved this by having the dragon leap over the hill, knocking a tree out of the ground in the process. “See? What did I tell you? Easy peasy.”

All along the ride, Shaggy and Scooby and Izzy and Pipp found their excitement rising as they rode the mechanical beast, which they thought was real… until a little while ago. “Like, this is amazing!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Wheeeeeee!!!” Scooby cheered, giggling in excitement while the ponies cheered as well.

But the dragon was picking up speed rather quickly, and soon, the dragon leapt over the Mystery Machine, missing it altogether and causing Misty to suddenly yelp. “She’s getting away!”

“Wha--?” Mrs. Wentworth watched as the dragon spun round and round in circles before accidentally falling off the cliff, causing Winston to try and bring it up by flapping the wings. “We’ve gotta bring her down!” Hitch shouted. “Don’t worry!” Royal spoke reassuringly. “Winston’s got this!”

The dragon quickly began to dive, causing many of the group to scream. And as Winston got closer to the ground again, they went through the arch to the town, tearing off one of the wings and causing their descent. “Hold on, everyone!”

Everyone held on for their lives as the dragon crashed to the ground, causing them to fall of as the dragon was shredded to pieces. “Lords of light, that was fun!” Winston said, optimistically rising. “Ooh, let’s go again!”

“Ariel rules!” Daphne cheered. “We made it!” Shaggy couldn’t believe their outcome as Scooby uncovered his eyes. “We, like, survived!”

“Phew!” Scooby sighed in relief. Winston, Shaggy and Scooby then joined hands/paws, laughing and spinning in circles, happy to still be here. “But you failed in your quest!” Mrs. Wentworth prepared to stick the deed in the mailbox. “Not yet we haven’t, vile sorceress!” Winston took out Excalibur and kissed it’s blade for luck. “Fly true, my beauty!”

He then flung the sword straight at the mailbox, puncturing it as soon as Mrs. Wentworth put it inside. “And for good measure…” Zipp turned on the dragon’s fire breath feature, causing the mailbox to burn to ashes. “What?” Mrs. Wentworth was shocked. “No fair!!”

“Oh my, what’s going on here?” Mr. Saunders asked as he, Sandi and the police arrived. “Well, mayor,” Velma explained, “we know about you and the town trying to gaslight us into thinking we were trapped in the Dark Ages in order to claim this land as your own. But, then, you didn't think your town librarian would try to steal the deed for herself.”

“I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids,” Mrs. Wenworth sneered as she was stuffed into the back of the police van. “And… and…”

Misty could only smile as she responded for the gang. “A little bit of Scooby Gang magic.”

The Final Confrontation with Opaline Arcana

A little while later, after Mrs. Wentworth was taken away, the mayor took out another deed and faced Shaggy, a bit of a sad look on his face. “Well, I'm assuming that you'll want to lay claim to the land then.”

“No way!” Shaggy answered. “This land belongs to you and the rest of the town. I'm actually pretty proud to know my ancestors came from such imaginative and entrepreneurial people.”

“Well,” said the mayor, a smile beginning to form, “then there’s only one thing left to do.”

“What’s that, mayor?” Izzy asked, but just as the mayor began to speak, another voice interrupted him. “You’re going to bow to the might of Opaline Arcana-- that’s what!”

Everyone gasped as they looked up to see Opaline Arcana above them with flaming wings and a flaming horn, making a lot of ponies who had gathered around them to gasp and shriek. “Oh no…” Pipp sighed with worry. “Here we go again!”

“Ponies and humans of all the lands!” Opaline exclaimed, her horn flaring up. “It is I, Opaline Arcana, about to turn this night into a nightmare spectacular! But first... I believe you have something that belongs to me!”

With the blast from her horn, she cast a spell on the tree, causing magical vines to erupt from the tree and start to reach the ponies' cutie marks, causing Opaline to cackle. “Everypony, run!” Sunny cried. “Don’t let those vines grab you!”

This was enough to stop everypony screaming and running, trying to avoid the vines. Unfortunately, many of the ponies were grabbed, causing their cutie marks to swiftly be ripped away... including Izzy's.

Paradise, wearing dark blue saddlebags on her back, arrived shortly after the attack began, gasping at the sight of the mass chaos. “No! No no no no!!”

She had to do something... she couldn't let Opaline win!

Not now... not ever.

So, with anger and determination in her mind, she charged right toward the alicorn with no intent in stopping. “RAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

“Huh?!” Opaline turned and shrieked just in time to see Paradise slam into her, knocking her to the ground, where Paradise furiously tried to stomp on Opaline’s face, but she kept moving.

That’s when Opaline got another idea.

With the swift flick of her horn, Paradise’s eyes glowed a bright magenta, and for some reason, she let Opaline go. “Now now now, Paradise,” she said in a sickening sweet voice that everyone heard. “You don’t want to upset your mother, do you?”

Instead of answering her in a hateful tone, many were surprised to hear Paradise speak in a monotone voice... as if she was being made to say these things. “Yes… Mother.”

Misty gasped upon hearing this and ran toward her mother. “Mom, no!!”

“Uh uh uh…” Opaline said, hoisting Misty off the ground and throwing her back into her friends. “She is no mother to you… but a beloved daughter to me.”

“Opaline, let Paradise go! Now!” Fred cried out. “NEVER!!” Opaline shrieked in anguish. But... one look on Paradise's face made her hum in thought, a wicked idea coming into her mind. “Well... there is ONE way that you can get her back.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow at this, suspicious of this so-called offer. “And... that is?”

“You, Sunny Starscout, must beat me in an alicorn duel in Morgan’s Keep in two hours. Win, and Paradise and the cutie marks shall go free. Fail... well, the consequences will be very brutal. If you accept... I will see you in a few hours. Be ready to fight... cause I sure will be.”

And with that, Opaline stepped through a portal forming in the tree, with a brainwashed Paradise trotting behind her.

Misty tried to follow after them, but the portal closed before she could get through, leaving her to bang her hooves on the tree. “No! No! NO!!”

The poor unicorn was in tears by this point, and as the others stood in sadness and fear, Fred walked up to her and rubbed the top of her head. “Don’t worry, Misty... we'll get her back.”

“What do we do now?” Pipp wondered. “Sunny's the only one left with a cutie mark!”

“And if Sunny goes down, we all do!” Daphne said. “No... you won't,” Sunny spoke boldly. “Cause I'm going to go and fight her... and I'm gonna win.”

“Sunny... like, you can't face Opaline on your own!” Shaggy tried to argue. “She could wipe you like a paper towel on a juice spill! That's why Scoob and me...”

“...we're going with you,” Scooby finished. “No... I can't let you do that for me,” Sunny shook her head. “You have to stay here and help your friends protect everypony.”

“But you're our friend too. Scoob and I are beyond terrified of Opaline, but like, we're more afraid of you getting hurt than we are of her at the moment,” Shaggy stated. “Besides, while you fight Opaline, we can get Paradise out of that trance and make a quick getaway!”

“Please let us help, Sunny... you guys mean more to us than snacks do!” Scooby begged. Sunny was about to protest again, but the boys used their puppy eyes in an attempt to convince her... and since Scooby was a dog, they were twice as convincing.

This caused Sunny to glance around before sighing. “Okay, fine... once you free Paradise, run to safety immediately.”

“And while you all do that, I think I have a plan of my own,” Royal said. “Opaline is somehow using these trees as portals, and is using them to steal cutie marks, correct?”

“Sure, but... what does that have to do with anything?” Daphne asked. “Well... I originally thought that they were meant to leech power from ponies, but then, I realized that if filled with the magic of unity and everypony working together,” Royal stated, “we may stand a fighting chance!”

“So... we need to gather everyone in town and the people in Camelot together,” said Zipp, “around the trees and act as one force!”

“That's a great idea!” Sunny said before taking out her heart locket from the North Pole and putting it on. “We better go if we wanna get to Morgan’s Keep in time for the duel.”

With this being said, Sunny shifted into her alicorn form and let her magic levitate Shaggy and Scooby off the ground. “Be careful, guys! We know you can do it!” Velma cried, and the three of them flew out of sight just as Hitch noticed something off. “Has anypony seen Sparky?”

XXXXXXXX

The little baby dragon peeked through the saddlebag Paradise had been wearing to where they are, but he couldn't tell what this place was, making him that much more nervous. “The time has come! I have nearly all of the magic I need to return to Equestria!” Opaline cackled victoriously. “And once I take down Sunny Starscout, I'll have the last of the cutie mark magic I need, and return to Equestria to seize the Unity Crystals at once! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

“Opaline!”

The fire alicorn turned to the open door, revealing Sunny, Scooby and Shaggy flying in with angered expressions. “And here they are now!” Opaline said with a smirk. “Right on schedule.”

Shaggy and Scooby immediately gasped at seeing the brainwashed Paradise, and even more so to see Sparky hiding inside her saddlebag. Nonetheless, they kept quiet so they wouldn’t blow Sparky’s cover. Scooby decided to yet over his nerves and speak first. “You have to stop this!”

Unfortunately, Opaline used her magic to bind the group to the ground before approaching them. “Why should I? It’s already over! I have all of the magic in Equestria! Except… this little bit right here,” Opaline looked at Sunny's cutie mark... the only curie mark that remained from her collection. “You don’t have to do this!” Sunny spoke up. “And you don’t have to be alone. We can all live in unity.”

“Oh, I'm not alone... you're here. And you brought two little friends with you!” Opaline tried to pet Scooby, who merely snapped at her before she turned back to Sunny. “And you're just... like... me. You want power, too. It's what all alicorns want.”

“Ugh!” Sunny scoffed. “You don't know ANYTHING about me.”

Opaline gently trotted in a circle around the trio, not removing her gaze on Sunny. “Oh really... you don't study magic and collect powerful artifacts? You don't keep the Unity Crystals in your lair, locked away behind a magic spell?”

This caused all three of them to gasp. “H-How do you know that?” Shaggy gulped. “I’ve been watching you all,” Opaline spoke as she walked up toward them. “Sunny helped to reawaken all the magic in Equestria! And look at you, you got more of it than any of your friends!”

“That’s not what I wanted,” Sunny shook her head. “I just wanted to protect our friends and understand magic!”

This caused Opaline to smirk. “You seek knowledge. I see. And tell me, little pony-- what is knowledge? It's power!”

Sunny summoned up as much of her powers as she could to free herself and her friends from their binds. “You guys know what you have to do!”

“Right!”

Sunny quickly brought out her shield as they were pushed back, which caused both alicorns to strain as Opaline stopped her beam and started firing at them, which caused Sunny and her friends go quickly separate as they dodged the lasers.

Sunny brought out her shield again as she blocked her friends to give them some time to get to Paradise. “I'm not like you!!!”

“Get her, Sunny! Wipe that smug look off that fire pony!” Shaggy cried as the twi alicorns continued to fly and fight before he and Scooby moved to Paradise. “Paradise? Paradise, come on!”

“You gotta wake up!” Scooby shook her by the shoulder. “Misty really needs you!”

Unfortunately, all their efforts were in vain, and while they tried to wake Paradise from the spell, Opaline was able to tie Sunny's hooves together once again, leaving her unable to escape. “Fine!” Opaline yelled out as Sunny tried to break free, “If you really don’t care about power, then watch me take it all!!!”

“No!!!”

Sunny tried her best to break free, but she wasn't physically strong enough and her cutie mark quickly got ripped away from her flank. “Please!!” Sunny begged, but she quickly lost her alicorn form, causing her to fall toward the ground and for Scooby to catch her. “Sunny, dude!” Shaggy cried. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine… other than my cutie mark, I guess,” Sunny sighed, getting up onto her hooves. “Now I have the whole set!” Opaline declared as she put Sunny’s cutie mark into her necklace as her wings flared up with immense power. “I win! I am the fire alicorn! I AM POWER!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

Sparky moved onto Paradise's head, using his dragon magic on her, which got her curie mark to glow as Paradise’s eyes returned to normal, snapping her out of the mind control. "Wha... what's happening?"

“And nothing can stop me from taking your precious Unity Crystals either!” Opaline threatened. “Once I get this portal opened and you and your friends are destroyed, I'll shut down every protection spell in Equestria!”

Shaggy and Scooby stood by Sunny’s side, ready to help defend their friend if she needed it.“And,” Opaline roared, “I'll rule over you little, powerless ponies... FOR ALL ETERNITY!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

XXXXXXXX

Back in Norville o’er Morgania, the others watched in fear as lightning flashed across the sky at a rapid pace, causing the gang to gasp in fear. “Jinkies!” Velma cried. “I guess Sunny wasn't able to beat Opaline after all!”

“That can't be! We have to do something!” Pipp exclaimed. “Pipp is right!” Misty said. “We’ll find a solution... I hope...”

XXXXXXXX

At the Together Trees with the darkened skies, all of the ponies in Camelot, Royal's friends and cousin included, gathered together as Aspen came closer to the tree and touched his hoof to the base of it as his friends smiled at him right before he started singing.

Aspen: Hey ponies listen to me
You gotta hear what I’m sayin'
You’ve got that sparkle deep inside
You’ve got a talent worth displayin'

Then, many different ponies, whether in Camelot or Norville o'er Morgania began to join in and sing with the colt.

Phoenix, Platinum and Aspen: We just need a little hope...

Hitch and Izzy: We just need a little unity

Velma, Daphne, Fred, Hitch and Izzy: We just need to find the ma-agic
That’s inside of everypony

All: Sometimes it feels a little hopeless
But things aren’t always what they seem
Can you feel it, the energy
Yeah the power is growing

Then, the wings of the pegasi, the horns of the unicorns and the hooves of the earth ponies all began to glow with a great light, sending their energy into the trees and changing them into forces of great might... not the twisted plants that Opaline had intended.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the castle, Scooby and Shaggy helped Sunny rise to her hooves so they could face Opaline, with our without powers. “You can take my cutie mark,” Sunny told Opaline, “but you can't take what makes me... me.”

Opaline, however, looked skeptical about this. “Uh-huh.”

“Like, Sunny has hope,” Shaggy gained a voice to speak. “Hope for a better future-- for all ponies and creatures, no matter where they are, to make their mark on wherever they live.”

“That is why,” Sunny said, “you and I are never going to be the same, Opaline. Because I have hope...”

Then, all three of them held hands, hooves and paws, stating one thing in unison: “...and we have friendship!”

Just then, they all heard echoes of all the ponies in the village and in Camelot singing from the roots of the castle.

XXXXXXXX

All: Don’t look now, things will get better
So hold my hoof
Cause we’re growing together
We got the strength to take on whatever

Cause we got the magic
We got the magic in us

The magic continued to pour into the trees as Royal, Zipp and Pipp flapped their wings and flew to the highest point of the tree, in order to inspire all the ponies and citizens further.

All: So everypony, everywhere
Now is the time to raise your voices
You know its time to show your courage, yeah
And nopony’s gonna stop us, no

Cause there is hope when we’re together
And it grows stronger when we sing
So raise our voices in unison.
Raise our voices in harmony, yeah

Don’t look now
Things will get better...

XXXXXXXX

Back in Morgan’s Keep, everyone kept listening to the song as Sunny's locket began to glow and pulsate, making Scooby smile and turn to Opaline with a smile. “And what is friendship, Opaline?!”

Suddenly, the locket burst open and released a rainbow of light which circled Sunny and her friends in the shape of a heart before encased Opaline with its own powerful magic.

With her evil mother distracted, Paradise turned to the baby dragon on her back, internally thankful that Opaline spared her cutie mark so she could go through with this. “Now, Sparky!”

With the glow of her horn and the stomp of her hoof, Sparky was instantly transported to the Dragonstone, much to Opaline’s bewilderment. “But... but, you're under my spell!”

Sunny, however, sighed in relief. “Oh, Paradise!”

Sparky babbled and used his dragonfire on the stone and took back all of his magic from Opaline. "What?!” Opaline cried out with a gasp as the dragon fire destroyed the necklace and freeing the Mane 6's cutie marks. “NOOO!!!”

Sunny's cutie mark flew back toward her while the rest of the cutie marks belonging to her friends disappeared, and having her cutie mark back restored her alicorn powers to their full glory. “Yeah-heh!”

With Sunny having her powers back, Sparky blew his dragon fire at Opaline's tree and began to return the cutie marks to the proper owners as the song seemed to reach maximum value.

All: Don’t look now, things are getting better
So hold my hoof cause we’re growing together
We got the strength to take on whatever
Cause we got the magic, we got the magic

All across the English countryside that Shaggy’s ancestors once called home, the cutie marks returend to their respective owners, especially the rest of the Mane 6, Aspen, Roy, Phoenix and Platinum, as they were overjoyed that their cutie marks have returned to them.

All: Don’t look now, things are getting better
So hold my hoof cause we’re growing together
We got the strength to take on whatever
Cause we got the magic, we got the magic

Just take another look, things are getting better
We’re growing stronger, growing together
We’ll always have each other forever

Cause we got the magic, we got the magic in us (Pipp: Don’t look now)
Yeah we got the magic, we got the magic in us (Pipp: Don’t look now)
Yeah we got the magic, we got the magic in us (Pipp: Don’t look now)

We’ve got the magic
We’ve got the magic in us

XXXXXXXX

The tree in Morgan’s Keep soon began to grow wildly, causing the entire structure to begin to crumble, and making Paradise panic. “We should go!!”

Sunny picked up her heart locket which closed, before following her friends to the other side. Opaline was free from her rainbow prison by this point, but the gang didn't really care by this point. "And Opaline, we are not friends," Scooby added and Oplaine snarled. "Just wanted to clear that up."

Paradise stomped her hooves to the ground, teleporting everyone out of the castle and to safety, causing Opaline to shriek in anguish.

No matter... she would come back... she would ALWAYS come back with another plan.

Opaline groaned and moved but she became blocked by the growing tree roots and her cutie mark was taken by one of the roots. “Noooooo!!! My mark!” Opaline chased the root into a tree trunk opening. “My power! Come back!”

But, as soon as she entered, Opaline’s eyes widened as the entrance she came through began to close forever cause of Sparky's unleashed magic. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

And with her final scream, the tree was sealed, Morgan's Keep was destroyed, and everything seemed to be all right.

Because one thing was for certain...

...Opaline Arcana was gone for good this time.

A Castle Celebration and an Equestrian Reunion

Sunny, Shaggy, Scooby, Paradise and Sparky all panted, having escaped Morgan’s Keep just before it was destroyed by the roots of the rapidly growing Together Tree.

They had finally done it.

Opaline Arcana was gone... for good this time.

When they finally got hold of their surroundings and stood up, they looked to see a crowd of roaring people cheering for their victory, and while the four of them, Sparky included, were happy to see everyone else so happy, there was one question that needed to be answered.

Where were their friends?

“SUNNY!!!”

The apricot alicorn was immediately caught offguard when Izzy barreled into her, giving her a hug as the Mystery Incorporated crew reunited once again, Sparky was ruined with Hitch and Misty was once again hugging her mother... something she was so scared that she might never get to do again.

After a moment of reconciliation, Pipp turned toward the three. “Sunny, I can’t believe you and Shag and Scooby went to go face Opaline alone like that! Seriously brave.”

“That’s the thing… we weren’t alone,” Sunny said. “Right, guys?”

“Yeah! It was like you guys were with us the whole time,” Shaggy said, “while you were singing!”

“And your hope and courage helped us defeat Opaline!” Scooby nodded. “Thanks, guys.”

“No… we should be thanking you,” Misty said, “for getting Mom back!”

“By the way,” said Sunny to Paradise, “I thought you were under her spell! How did you break through?”

“Come on, Sunny. Did you really have doubts?” Paradise said with a chuckle. “It was Sparky here who broke the spell and saved me. Seems like he transformed her spell into one of his own.”

“Well, no matter how it was done,” Royal said, “all of Camelot and Norville o’er Morgania owes you an immense debt of gratitude. So much so that I have a royal decree to make.”

“Really?” Zipp asked. “What’s that?”

“Tonight… we are going to PARTY!!”

XXXXXXXX

That night, there was a party in the middle of the castle, and loud music played over the speakers as everyone danced, talked, played and had an amazing time.

Fred and Daphne watched the events from the balcony, happy smiles on their faces. “Not a bad way to spend our vacation,” Daphne said out loud. “Wouldn’t you say so, Sir Fred?”

“Not bad at all, Sir Daphne,” Fred bowed to her before they went down to join the party. At the same time, Sunny and Shaggy were currently with Winston and Royal, chatting about everything they had gone through. “So, was any of it real, Mr. Pilkingstonshire?” Shaggy asked. “Our budding bromance? The sandwiches? Any of it?”

“I’m an actor, Shaggy,” Winston said, putting a hand on Shaggy’s shoulder, “but there are some things you just can't fake. One of those things is a love of sandwiches.”

This caused Shaggy to frown temporarily. “Watch the sandwich scene in Citizen Kane,” Winston urged. “You'll see what I mean.”

“Huh?” Sunny said, confused. “Friendship is another one, Sunny,” Royal smiled tenderly as she wrapped a wing around her friend. “You kids aren’t so bad… for septics,” Winston said, earning more confusion. “Uh, septic tanks-- yanks. I've got a wonderful beach house in the UK. You must come sometime... and stay in a hotel nearby.”

At the same time, Paradise was talking with her daughter, Zipp, Hitch, Scooby, Izzy and Pipp, sighing. “I just hope Alphabittle can forgive me for everything I’ve done. I hurt him so badly when I took Misty away from him.”

“He misses you a lot, Mom,” said Misty. “And now that we have the last cutie mark crystal, which turns out, Aspen had in his room the entire time, we can get back to Equestria and turn this into a reunion for the ages!”

“I do hope you’re right…” Paradise nodded. “I hate to ruin his new friendship with Queen Haven. I do hope she likes me…”

“She can’t wait to meet you,” Pipp smiled. “Trust me on that.”

Meanwhile, Velma had Merlin and were talking to him about this whole experience. “I’m still not sure how you pulled it off,” Velma said, still befuddled. “The blasts of cold air, fireballs, flying... it all felt so real.”

“Magic is real, Velma. You just have to look deep within to find it,” Merlin smiled, and this caused Velma to roll her eyes. “Okay, I get it. A magician never tells how he did the trick.”

“Now, young apprentice, I gotta run,” Merlin said. “Remember the lessons I've taught you, hmm? Once you suss out magic, there's nothing you can't get up to.”

“Sure. Thank you, ‘Merlin’,” Velma bid farewell. “It’s been… surreal.”

As Merlin strolled away, the mayor then took the chance to approach. “Where is your friend going? He's going to miss the fireworks show.”

Velma turned to him, confused. “My friend? You mean Merlin? Isn't he… one of the townspeople?”

“No. Never seen them before in my life. We thought they were with you,” the mayor admitted. “They’re not with us,” Velma said. “And if they’re not with any of you, then…”

Just then, a thought hit Velma dead on as she turned around. “No… it can’t be!”

They saw a frog where Merlin was, and it winked and breathed a little bit of fire before it leapt off. That’s when Daphne took the chance to approach. “Told you reality was a simulation.”

“Scooby-Dooby-Doooooooooo!!!” Scooby howled in triumph, giggling, just as the portal to Equestria began to open. “Well, that’s our cue, everypony,” Sunny said. “Ready to head home, Paradise?”

“I sure am,” Paradise nodded and turned to everyone else. “Thank you all so much for all you’ve done.”

“See you guys soon!” Misty waved to their friends and gave them hugs before the ponies left through the portal, another Unity Quest completed.

XXXXXXXX

Even though time had paused in Equestria, Queen Haven and Alphabittle eagerly awaited the group to return, and when they did, Queen Haven flew to her daughters in relief. “My angels, you’re back!” she said, hugging them. “How was the quest?”

“It’s a long story,” Zipp said, “but we can go into details later. Right now… there’s someone we want you to meet.”

Everypony moved aside to let Paradise through, and Alphabittle gasped upon seeing her. “Paradise…?”

“Alphabittle, I…” Paradise tried to keep her tears from flowing. “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done…”

But, Alphabittle just wrapped her in a huge hug, trying to keep his own tears contained. “How can I be mad at you because you were manipulated? I’ve missed you so much…”

“I-I have too…”

“Paradise, I am Queen Haven of Zephyr Heights,” Queen Haven introduced. “I’ve been awaiting the pleasure to meet you face to face.”

“So have I, your majesty,” Paradise smiled. “It feels so good to be home again.”

“And just wait!” Zipp said, taking the final cutie mark crystal over to the tree. “Here comes the moment of truth!”

She stuck the final crystal in its slot, causing the Together Tree to glow and send a rainbow beam of light into the sky and toward the other Together Trees, forming an aurora of protection over the land, so no force of evil could get in.

Paradise smiled and hugged her daughter close. “It’s even more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

“So… what do you say, Mom?” Misty asked. “Can we take you on a tour of Equestria?”

Paradise smiled and nodded. “There’s nothing I’d like more. I'm home with my family after all... what more could I ever want?”

The Biggest Unity Quest Yet

Ever since one year ago, the Mane 5... well, now the Mane 6, had gone on the most amazing and exciting adventures to different places-- Japan, the Halloween world, the Himalayas, Gotham City, and many others.

But, did you ever hear of the time the ponies went BACK IN TIME to get through one of their biggest Unity Quests to date?

Well, I am about to tell you the tale of how this remarkable mystery happened… not now, unfortunately. This story begins in Equestria... as many of these stories do.

XXXXXXXX

Misty Brightdawn stood on the balcony of the Crystal Brighthouse, staring up at the stars above, with only one question on her mind in that moment.

Why had Opaline Arcana thrown her life into such turmoil?

First, she brainwashes her mother, Paradise Moonray, into her teachings, and then, Paradise stole Misty from her father in order to make sure that Opaline didn't disown Paradise for running off and having a child.

Then, Opaline manipulates Misty for years, almost letting her believe that she was going to give Misty a cutie mark if she did evil things.

But Misty realized the truth, and together with her best friends... they stopped her. But unfortunately, they were still tasked about bringing Paradise back to the side of good.

The question was... how?

“Misty?”

The blue unicorn jumped and turned to see had spoken to her, and finding it relieving that it was only Pipp. But then... she became confused. “Pipp? What are you doing up so late?”

“Well, I woke up having inspiration for a new ClipTrot video when I saw that you weren't in bed,” Pipp said as she approached. “I wanted to come see if you were doing okay.”

Misty sighed, not really sure what to tell Pipp in that moment. “It's a mix of emotions, honestly. I'm beyond angry at Opaline, I'm worrier about my mom, I'm so happy to have friends like you guys but I'm terrified that something is gonna happen to you on these Unity Quests if we're not careful!”

“Hey hey hey! I know those thoughts can be really scary, but everything will work out okay in the end,” Pipp said gently, approaching the railing. “Besides... there are people in other realms and timelines that really need us when we go on those quests. It's not like we can just... ignore them.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love going to new places and making new friends, but... it scares me sometimes.”

Pipp sighed, patting her shoulder. “It scares me too. But we'll get through these tough times... that's a hoof to heart promise.”

Misty took a deep breath before smiling at the pegasus. “Thanks, Pipp. We better get some rest. We have to meet your mom and my dad at Sunny's smoothie cart first thing in the morning to discuss protecting our communities if the situation were to come up.”

“You're totally right. Good night, Misty.”

“Good night, Pipp. See you in the morning!”

As soon as Pipp flew down to the bedroom again, Misty walked to the elevator, sparing one final glance at the stars before heading downstairs.

XXXXXXXX

By the next morning, everypony had gathered at the smoothie stand, and Zipp had set up an elaborate presentation about everything they had went through so far, much to Hitch's bewilderment. “How long did it take you to put that together?”

“I've been doing a little bit after every Unity Quest, and before you ask, it's only 20 slides.”

“20 slides?! Wow!” Izzy exclaimed. “But we've only been on 19 of these Unity Quests in the entire series!”

This caused the others to glance at her strangely, causing Izzy to shrug. “I just wanna keep count so we can see how many friendship bracelets I need to make for all the new friends we've made.”

“Heh... sure thing, Izzy,” Sunny chuckled before looking down the street. “Misty, I think I can see your dad coming this way!”

“Dad!” Misty cried and immediately galloped into her father's hooves. “It's so good to see you! Thank you so much for coming!”

“Of course, Tea. I would do anything for you,” said Alphabittle. “And anything to bring your mother back.”

“And if Alphie is all in,” said Queen Haven as she landed with Zoom and Thunder, “then so am I!”

“Good to see you, your majesty,” Misty smiled, just before she grew nervous. “Um... what's gonna happen to you two when Mom comes back? I mean... you both seem so perfect for onr another, and I--”

“Haven and I already discussed that,” Alphabittle interrupted. “And while your mother and I were in love at one point, Haven and I... I think we're meant to be together. So would you be okay with your mother and I just being friends?”

“Of course. I would just be happy to have both my parents in my life, just like it was when I was a tiny filly.”

Alphabittle and Queen Haven smiled in relief before nuzzling one another and joining their friends at the picnic table. “All right... now that everypony is here,” said Zipp, “we can get started.”

With the tap of her phone, the slideshow began. “Ever since last year, before we found out about Opaline Arcana, we've been sent on different missions to other worlds to help through different problems-- some friendship related, and some to help defeat a powerful enemy,” Zipp began the presentation. “And over the past few months, we've been finding crystals shaped like Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark--”

“--so you can activate the Together Trees' protection spell,” Queen Haven finished. “Have you found them all yet?”

“We still have one more to go,” Hitch stated. “But the thing is... this last crystal could be anywhere, and who knows what might be waiting for us on the other side of the Unity Crystals' portal.”

“That's where you both come in,” Sunny said. “As we've said before, time pauses here while we're in the other worlds beyond Equestria, but if we can't reform Paradise and she gets back through the portal--”

“We need you guys to help protect the Together Trees in Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood,” Misty said. “Just in case.”

“Of course you can count on us to do that, darlings!” Queen Haven spoke up. “I can have all the guards protect the tree with a stomp of a hoof!”

“And I'll assemble the unicorns to do the same thing,” Alphabittle added. “No evil foe, whether unicorn or alicorn, is going to hurt my daughter, her friends or our home. Not on our watch.”

Misty sighed in relief at this. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Then... there's Sparky we have to think about too,” Hitch frowned. “If he gets into danger, I would never be able to forgive myself. That's why I've had to leave him behind so much recently.”

“So we've decided to alternate. We take him on one quest, but then we don't take him on the next one and leave him with Grandma Figgy,” Zipp said. “A Unity Quest can take a lot out of somepony, and we don't wanna stress the little guy out to much.”

“That sounds like a grand idea!” Queen Haven said, tickling Sparky on the tummy. “Does this mean that you're taking him on the next Unity Quest?”

“Yeah, but we're gonna keep an eye on him the entire time with no slip-ups and no death-defying battles with him in our reach,” Zipp said. “I promise you that.”

“At least you ponies are making safety your top priority,” Alphabittle said. “Hey, Tea-- did I ever tell your friends about the time that I went barrel riding over Unicorn Falls when I was just a little older than you?”

“And you barely made it out of that situation alive?” Misty recalled with a shudder. “I would rather not hear that story and risk throwing up my smoothie... no offense.”

This caused everypony to burst into laughter... even Alphabittle himself. Maybe things would actually work alright in the end.

Suddenly, Queen Haven gasped. “Darlings, your cutie marks are glowing again!”

Hitch looked down and saw this, sighing. “I guess that's our cue.”

“Please be careful,” Queen Haven kissed her daughters on the foreheads. “And if you were to return sooner than expected, good or bad, please let Alphie and I know.”

“Of course, Mom,” Zipp said, hugging her mother for quite a long time before turning to Sunny, who was locking up the smoothie cart. “Are we all ready?”

“I think so, but let's head back to the Brighthouse and gather some supplies first,” Sunny said. “Then... we head out.”

XXXXXXXX

“Ugh!! Mother, this hike is atrocious!” Paradise groaned as she and Opaline walked through the thick forests of... wherever they were. “Can't we stop for a small rest?”

“Not until we figure out for sure when those pesky ponies are going to be coming back,” Opaline said before she suddenly stopped, closing her eyes for a moment and letting the wind blow through her mane. After a moment, her eyes snapped open with a murderous grin. “They're leaving Equestria as we speak. Come my daughter... my ultimate plan begins today.”

“O-Of course, Mother!” Paradise said as she followed the alicorn through the woods, hoping and praying that Misty and her friends would make it through to this world without many problems...

...problems that weren't caused by her or Opaline for a change.

The Coming of a Kingly Challenge/Seeking Knowledge

By the time that Royal and Aspen arrived in the throne room, the party that King Arthur had set up for himself seemed to be in full swing-- music playing, a jester juggling, a person blowing fire, and plenty of food for everyone to eat.

Luckily, no one noticed the pegasus cousins enter later than everypony else, a real relief on their part. If the king had seen, he would have pressured the two for answers.

Soon, the gang and ponies, now with Phoenix, who was wearing a satin blue gown, entered on the second level balcony, gazing down at the party for a few moments with excited smiles. Knowing that the gang wouldn’t know many things about royal events, Phoenix decided to give them a few… tips she learned from Royal and Aspen. “Okay, guys, when meeting royalty, you always wanna do the standard bowing and speaking with respect,” she advised. “But, the entrance is EVERYTHING-- shows what your made of. So, please… try not to do anything--”

“WHOOO-HOO!!!” Izzy squealed as she slid down the railing of the stairs flipping and landing at the bottom. “--brash…” Phoenix muttered under her breath as they followed Izzy down the stairs... the normal way, I might add. Luckily, nopony seemed to notice what Izzy had done, so now was time to make a royal entrance the right way.

Zipp and Pipp whispered to the herald what she wanted to say, and the herald cleared his throat. “Hear ye, hear ye!” he called out. “Presenting Sir Norville of Crystal Covia, his entourage and the Unity Squad from the realm of Equestria.”

The royal fanfare blew for all to hear, and once they got closer, the twelve bowed toward King Arthur before Shaggy decided to speak. “Like, I, Sir Norville of Crystal Cove…”

“...ia!” Misty whispered to correct him, but then blinked cutely at the king so he wouldn’t suspect. “Uh, Crystal Covia, do present myself before thy king,” Shaggy finished. Royal and Aspen looked relieved that this first part seemed to go well... now they just needed King Arthur’s approval. “Crystal Covia? Hmm… the realm of Equestria sounds very familiar, but this new realm of Crystal Covia sounds very new-agey. Very witchy,” King Arthur said with a serious look. “Where is it? What do they wear? Is it clothes?”

When the others had no idea what to say, Sunny decided to step forward and speak on Shaggy’s behalf. “Um… I’m Sunny Starscout, sire,” said the earth pony mare, “and me and my friends have been to Crystal Covia many times for… several different reasons. It’s a country that lies far across the sea. It’s where they have great treasures, like malt shops, and Taco Tuesdays, and…”

“Taco Wednesdays,” Scooby interrupted. “Taco Wednesdays,” Sunny finished, only for Shaggy to take over. “And yes, we mostly wear clothes, but sometimes also food.”

“They’re slobs,” Velma deadpanned, and this made Aspen giggle slightly. “These guys are funny!”

However, King Arthur looked very unsure about everything that had just been said. “Miss Starscout, how did you meet this… Sir Norville and his entourage?”

“On one of our adventures, sire,” Sunny said, a bit nervous. “The magic in Equestria is very powerful, and it sometimes sends us to wherever Sir Norville and his friends are in order to help them with… various tasks.”

“It does sound very plausible, sire,” Royal admitted. “I mean… where do you think all of the ponies in Camelot came from at one point?”

However, King Arthur chose to ignore her statements. “This sounds like witchcraft to me,” said King Arthur. “Right? Eh? Am I right?”

Two knights from nearby muttered, unsure of what to say, and the gang suddenly became nervous. What if the king assumed they were witches and they were banished to the dungeons?!

Of course, Sunny and her friends would never let this happen, but even they were growing nervous. “Yeah, yeah… all right then. Show it to me,” said the king. “Let’s see it. Bring it on-- show me the witchcraft.”

“Your highness,” Velma began, “Sunny and her friends always use their magic for good, as do many other ponies and Equestrian creatures. But in this world, there is no such thing as any other forms of--”

“I know witchcraft!” Shaggy interrupted, making Velma cross her arms rudely at him. There goes her chance to change history. “Where I’m from,” Shaggy told the king, much to the confusion of the others, “I was taught by 1000 sand-witches.”

He winked to Scooby and Izzy, causing them to giggle in amusement. “And I’d like to put you under the spell of a beast from 1500 years in your future,” Shaggy added mysteriously. “The hoagie!”

“Oh-ho, I am so in!” Izzy cried. “Scooby, let’s make history!”

And just like that, Shaggy, Scooby and Izzy rushed to the buffet tables to show the king what they were made of. Darani and the citizens of Camelot watched in wonder as they collected bread, meats and veggies to make a huge and long sandwich. “Now,” said Shaggy, laying it on the table, “all we need is a knife to cut it with.”

“Shaggy!”

At the Great Dane’s call, Izzy and Shaggy looked over to see Scooby over near a stone with a sword in it, with a plaque on the front of the stone. “Scooby, nice work! That’ll do the job perfectly!” Izzy said as they approached, and Shaggy took hold of the sword’s handle. “I love your knife holder,” he called to King Arthur. “Very rustic!”

Royal and King Arthur studied the scene for a moment, confusion written on their faces-- what was Shaggy doing with the legendary sword?

But before they could say anything, everyone watched in shock as Shaggy pulled the sword from the stone, causing the townsfolk to gasp and kneel before Shaggy as he cut the sandwich in half. “Now that’s what I call a Super-Shaggy Sandwich,” he said with a chuckle. But, it was then that the others noticed that the townsfolk were bowing at Shaggy. “Whoa, hey! I know it’s an amazing sandwich but, come on!”

“It’s just like the legend! You just pulled Excalibur from the stone,” Velma said as she and Sunny came forward. “That makes you the rightful heir to Camelot!”

But, King Arthur didn’t look happy about this at all. “Whoa… whoa whoa whoa there, buster-- pump the horse brakes, all right?” he said, getting off his throne. “Pulling an old hunk of metal from a rock doesn't make one a leader.”

“But, sire… isn’t that what you did to become king?” Misty asked, causing King Arthur to glare at her. “You know… just curious.”

“Well, yes,” said the king, “but that is beside the point!”

“She does have a point, your highness,” Royal said as she flew toward the plaque with Aspen in tow. “And it very clearly says ‘Whosoever pulls the sword from the stone shall become the rightful king of Camelot’. So it shouldn’t matter WHO pulls it out, just so long as they have a good heart… and I sense a good heart within Sir Norville.”

“Phew… thanks, Royal dude,” Shaggy said in relief, but King Arthur wasn’t having this. “You come in here with your… sand-witchcraft, steal my sword, and try to take my throne as well?” he asked Shaggy, crossing his arms. “That good sir… or madam… is just plain rude. I ought to give you a taste of Camelot's just desserts.”

“Hold on, boys,” said Daphne as King Arthur picked up a pie from the table. “There has to be a way we can settle this.”

But Scooby, for once, wasn't too scared by King Arthur's threat. “I’m cool with pie.”

“Oh, we will,” said King Arthur with narrowed eyes. “We will settle this. Like men!”

He threw the pie at Shaggy, but instead of hitting them head on, the pie actually froze in mid-air. “Phew, heh… good call, Izzy,” Sunny sighed in relief. “That was close.”

“Uh… hate to break it to you, Sunny-Bunny,” Izzy said slowly, “but… I didn’t do that.”

“Neither did I,” Phoenix admitted. “Me neither!” Misty said. “And… it couldn’t have been you, Sunny. You’re not in alicorn form!”

“So, if it’s not you unicorns doing this,” said Sunny, “then… who did?!”

At this question, all the candles around the room suddenly went out, and in a puff of smoke, an elderly man with a white beard and a blue robe was standing before everyone.

With him was a silver earth pony with dark gray hooves, dazzling green eyes, a curly blue mane and tail with light pink highlights, a red cloak and a cutie mark of a snow cloud with three snowflakes beneath it.

Upon the sight of these two, Zipp was filled with a mix of confusion and curiosity. “Who’s that?”

“I-It’s me,” said the man, stroking his beard. “I’m Merlin.”

Some of the people and ponies in the ground glanced at each other in confusion. “Merlin?”

“Merlin? Where?” the wizard looked around. His wand then released a magic blast that struck a nearby knight’s sword, melting it, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. “Ah, yes…” Merlin tucked his wand back into it’s holder. “I'm Merlin the Magician, master of knowledge and mystical secrets. And this is my loyal assistant, Platinum Snow.”

The earth pony bowed to the newcomers out of respect. “The pleasure is mine. Hello, Royal. Hello, Phoenix.”

“Platinum! Of course!” Phoenix chuckled. “How did we not realize it was our best friend with snow powers AND the assistant to a legendary wizard?”

However, as Phoenix and Royal hugged their friend and while Scooby and Shaggy were with Izzy and Misty, licking pie from their plates, King Arthur looked exasperated at their appearance. “Merlin, you're always spoiling my fun. Just like my mum. Beard and all.”

This earned a glare from Merlin and Platinum before they turned around to face the crowd again. “If there’s one thing we can’t stand,” Platinum said to the Mane 6 and their friends, “it’s adulty people acting like children.”

Behind their backs, King Arthur stuck his tongue at them, but Merlin raised his wand and the magic made King Arthur’s tongue yank forward, causing the king pain. Honestly, Darani thought it was rather funny, but she would never say that in front of the king himself. “All this noisy arguing is what brought me down here,” Merlin explained. “I’m a busy wizard, and I need to focus, right?”

“Sorry, Mr. Merlin,” Velma apologized, “our friend Shaggy here pulled the sword from the stone, so technically…”

As King Arthur kept groaning in pain, Hitch soon caught on to what Velma was saying. ”Yeah,” the earth pony sheriff agreed. “How can there be two kings at one time?”

Merlin tucked his wand back into his sleeve, finally relieving Arthur of the pain. “Uh, well, there can't be, can there?” he answered with a smile. “Hmm? You bunch of numpties. You gotta solve this like the adulty people you are.”

Once his fingers were snapped, they all disappeared from the throne room, and while Fred, Daphne, Phoenix and every one of King Arthur’s knights were in the courtyard, the citizens were on the sidelines and the Mane 6, Royal, Aspen, the king and queen, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma were on the balcony, joined by Merlin and Platinum themselves. “With a winner take-all melee for the crown!”

“Whoa… does-- does he do that often?” Sunny asked, a little dizzy from such a teleportation feat. “It’s like how unicorns did it in years’ past, just… without a horn.”

“Heh, I guess you could call it that,” Platinum smiled. “I’ve learned so many things from him, but we can get into further details later. Right now, I think a royal decree is about to be made.”

But before the ponies could mention this, a royal fanfare began to play, and the herald of the court stepped forward. “Hear ye, hear ye!” he shouted. “To determine the true king, the prospects must test their skill upon one another. The champion becoming the king of Camelot!”

The townsfolk cheered, but Misty became nervous-- everyone knew that Shaggy was not very athletic. “He’s gonna have to compete?”

“Because,” Shaggy said to the king, “to be honest, I’m pretty sure you could take me.”

To this, King Arthur chuckled heartily. “We’re nobility,” he said. “Nobility doesn't fight one another. We get the unwashed commoners to fight on our behalf.”

Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies honestly sighed of relief. “Us, sweating? Waving our arms around? Can you imagine?” King Arthur asked before handing Shaggy a drumstick. “Drumstick?”

Shaggy happily giggled and took the drumstick without hesitation. “Looks like you all have this thing sorted,” Platinum smiled, patting Nita’s paw. “There's a whole arsenal down there to choose from.”

The crowd began to shout ‘Arsenal’ from the sidelines, and as they looked on, Merlin and Platinum disappeared in a burst of smoke. “All right, let’s get down to it,” Arthur said, throwing the bone from his drumstick aside. “I choose… uh… Sir Galahad.”

Everyone cheered for King Arthur’s decision, and now, it was Shaggy’s turn. “Um… I choose…”

But before Shaggy could make a choice, the king stopped him. “Hold on, mate-- I’m not finished yet.”

Soon, King Arthur went on to be choosing every single knight in the arena… but he hesitated when it came to Sir Lancelot. Even though it drove him crazy when he saw his queen waving to Lancelot, Arthur desperately wanted to win, so he chose Lancelot anyway. When it FINALLY came time for Shaggy to choose, there wasn’t anyone TO choose. “Like, I’d like a knight to fight for right… but there isn’t one in sight.”

“Okay… that’s so not fair!” Zipp tried to be reasonable. “Can’t you at least give Shaggy one of your knights?”

“It’s either my knights fight for me,” King Arthur crossed his arms, “or be exiled/executed.”

“I hate to say it, Zipp, but he’s right,” Royal sighed. “Unless Shaggy can find somepony to fight for him, King Arthur automatically wins.”

Now Shaggy was worried that he and his friends would cease to be for sure… until Fred stepped forward. “I, Fred of… Ascot, do volunteer to fight on Sir Norville's behalf.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Fred?” Daphne asked. “You're a big tough guy, but those are crazy-ripped man-men.”

But, Fred only replied with a confident smile, even after watching the knights swinging their weapons threateningly. “For sure, Daph. As long as you're there to cheer me on, we'll be fine. Besides, the way I figure it, according to legend, we've already won. What's there to be afraid of?”

Daphne sighed as she began to list off a few things that she knew of. “The black plague… deranged highwaymen… giant brown bears… dysentery… armies of angry orcs…”

“Don’t worry, Daphne-- he’ll be fine,” Phoenix assured, sparing a glance at Aspen and Royal nodding from the balcony. “My friends and I won’t let anything hurt him… we promise.”

Deciding to trust their new friends, Daphne nodded, and the crowd began to cheer as Fred was now in the competition, while King Arthur looked amused. “Just the one, eh?” he asked Shaggy with a smirk and chuckle. “At least your mum thinks you’re cool.”

Misty couldn’t stand Shaggy being put down like that and confidently stepped forward. “I think he’s cool too,” she said, “and if one knight is all it takes for Sir Norville to win, then I’m sure Sir Fred will do a great job!”

Shaggy sighed in relief at that, causing King Arthur to hum. “Brave, aren’t you, young unicorn maiden? You have impressed me. Why don’t you stay here with Sir Norville, Royal and I, to make sure everything for the challenges go as planned?”

“Uh… I guess I can do that?” Misty gulped nervously and sat beside Shaggy, but not before Pipp turned to Velma with worry. “Come on, Velma… for the sake of the technological era, find a way to get us out of this place!”

“I’m on it,” Velma nodded. “If anyone knows what’s up here, it’s Merlin.”

“Ooh! Can we go with you?!” Sunny asked as she and Izzy bolted over, accidentally knocking Scooby over in the process. “We’d love to meet Merlin face to face!”

“Maybe Zipp and I better go with her, just in case,” Hitch said. “You guys can stay and help Fred get ready for the tournament.”

“Good idea,” Zipp said. “I’d love to get some photos of what his work might lead to.”

“Okay… but be careful,” Sunny said as they walked off. “And send me those photos!”

XXXXXXXX

The group split up immediately after these events, with Velma, Zipp and Hitch going up into the dark sectors of the castle, a lantern within grasp.

Something about this part of the castle made Zipp feel even more on edge and Hitch more worried about what dangers lurked. Only Velma’s lantern provided light to which they could see, and soon enough, they reached what looked like Merlin’s study.

As they looked around, it sounded like there was a growling sound right around the corner. Nevertheless, they moved closer until fire blew them backwards onto the ground, and the fiery glow came closer and closer toward them, causing them to back up in fear, Zipp having her wings outstretched as a form of saying 'back off'.

Turns out, a small frog was the one making the fire when it ribbited, and it turned out to be Merlin in another form.

Needless to say, Velma was surprised beyond measure. “M-Merlin?”

“Oh, hello,” Merlin said with a kind expression as Platinum Snow came down the stairs after Merlin. “Sorry. We didn't hear you come in over my burping fire and all.”

“Here, let me help you to your hooves,” Platinum offered a hoof to Hitch, who got up slowly with Zipp helping, and Merlin helped Velma onto her feet. Then, with the stomp of Merlin’s hands, the room illuminated with orbs of light slowly wafering to the torches.

As Zipp and Hitch looked around the room in wonder, Velma decided to speak up and ask him her questions. “Um… my friends and I have come seeking knowledge?”

Luckily, Merlin smiled at her. “Oh. You must be my sister Karen's friend. I can teach you.”

“Uh…”

At this remark, Velma, Zipp and Hitch looked completely confused before Merlin continued speaking again. “Oh, that's fantastic. You know, Karen's the one that gave me the idea. She's like ‘Can you breathe fire?’ And I'm like ‘Yes’. And then she's like, ‘But can you belch the alphabet?’ And I'm like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Yes, I can’. Why has no one ever combined these two things before, hmm?”

With that, he proceeded to burp, making the letters out of fire, but when he got to G, the blast was too big, and the group yelped and ducked to avoid being struck by the flames, and Merlin sighed at this. “I get stuck on the G.”

“Uh, yeah…” Hitch spoke slowly as they rose up, brushing himself off. “I could definitely tell.”

“Hey, Merlin, or whoever you want to call yourself, I'm having a day,” Velma sighed, and Platinum merely chuckled. “That’s what tea’s for. And don't worry, my helpers just made a fresh batch.”

With the stomp of her hoof, a pair of snowy owls flew in with a tray in their talons, and and Zipp couldn’t help but be impressed. “Your helpers are snowy owls?!”

“Northwind and Frost have been old friends of mine for quite a long time,” stated Platinum. “They offered to help me with my duties around here, and I gladly agreed.”

After a moment, Velma proceeded to speak while Merlin stirred his tea and the ponies drank a little bit of their tea. “I think you might have a time machine or something. A device…”

But when Hitch saw that Velma’s wording was confusing Merlin and Platinum, he decided to step in. “Okay, it's your own form of magic. Whatever it is, we need to learn how to use it to send our friends and ourselves back home.”

“Oh… so you want to be sorcerer’s assistants like Platinum, huh?” Merlin asked them, causing Zipp and Hitch to nod. “To learn the arcane secrets what make the world turn like a platter. Then this is where your quest for knowledge begins.”

A large, heavy book floated over to Velma, and she flipped through it to see it was full of spells. “Uh… what am I supposed to do with this?”

“I used it to learn spells, obviously,” Platinum responded with a chuckle. “And although I’m not a unicorn, I have become quite the spell-caster. But when the time comes, you will know just when you will use it.”

“Huh… sounds pretty cryptic, but… I guess that makes sense,” Zipp spoke. “We’re ready. Just tell us what we need to do.”

“Wait wait wait, hang on, Zipp,” Velma said immediately before turning back to Merlin. “Can’t we just have access to your time machine?”

“Oh-- is that all you wanted?” Merlin turned to grab something, but it turned out to be a common sundial, causing Velma to sigh. “We’re gonna need magic just to get through this day.”

“Hey, Platinum? Maybe you can answer a question for us,” Zipp said. “Why does Royal wear those anklets around her hooves when the rest of you, claiming to be from the same village, don’t?”

Platinum sighed reluctantly. “Well… that’s a bit of a hard story to tell. But, all that I can tell you is… well… Royal has something to hide. Nothing dangerous, but… something that she can’t forgive herself for.”

That’s when Hitch and Zipp looked at each other with concern. Whatever Royal was keeping from them… they were going to help her through it.

No matter what.