G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf

Chapters

Misty's Spell Training
Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 1: Spider Webs and Tar Pit Trails)
A Funny Car Race Reunion
Dracula's Monstrous Plans/Meet Indigo and her Clan
The First of the Three Nights
The Second and Third Nights/Shaggy's Transformation Occurs
Capture of the Reluctant Werewolf
Back to Transylvania/The Leopard I Wanna Be
A Monstrous Welcome
Trying to Escape/The Pre-Race Party
Indigo's First Sleepover/A Howling Good Breakfast
The Test-Drive
The Fairy Moon Celebration
Late Night Shenanigans/Before the Race Begins
The Race Begins!/Cliff Chaos
Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 2: Trains and Lightning Bolts Galore)
Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 3: Spells, Bogus Schemes and a Kidnapping)
Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 4: A Roadway Rescue)
Dracula's Final Attempts
The Defeat of Dracula/Shaggy is Returned to Normal
Returning Home/A Happy Ending for All

Misty's Spell Training

It had been about two weeks since the Mane 6 and Sparky's last Unity Quest adventure, and in this last mission, they reunited with their Cartoon World friends and some brand-new comic book superhero friends in order to ensure that an evil villain didn't enslave the universe with a dangerous cosmic weapon.

In the end, everything worked out as it should be, and Jasmine Wildbloom, Diamond Heart, Lily Moontwirl and Cobalt Skies were dubbed the official new Royal Force, destined to protect all of Cartoon World from evil… a real dream come true for the four young ponies.

Ever since they returned from leaving their friends, Sunny had the strangest feeling on her neck that they would be on their next Unity Quest sooner than anyone would think... especially since the threat of Allura was still high.

So, she told her friends, whatever they did while they waited for the next mission, just to be careful.

They never knew what in the world was going to come up next.

So, Misty decided to practice her spell-casting in her special room within the Brighthouse that only she could access.

While it was fun most of the time, Misty knew that in order to protect the friends she loved, she would have to train harder than ever before.

But, if she was being quite honest with herself, it wasn't as fun training by herself as it was training with her best friends.

But how could they train together when she was the only one who could access the secret room?

XXXXXXXX

Misty sat on one of the picnic tables in town, trying to think as she snacked on a donut she had gotten from the Brighthouse a few minutes earlier.

Sunny had noticed that the former servant to Opaline seemed pretty deep in thought lately, and as she watched Misty from her smoothie stand, she couldn’t help but feel concerned.

She knew she just had to do something.

So, Sunny prepped two Triple Berry smoothies, temporarily closed her smoothie cart down before trotting over, the smoothes within hoof's reach. “Hey, Misty. Do you need a smoothie break?” she asked, nudging a cup toward the unicorn. “You've really been on a serious thought process lately.”

“Huh? Oh... thanks, Sunny,” Misty said as she took the smoothie. “Sorry if I've seemed distracted lately. It's just... all this spell training has been worth it, and I really enjoy doing it. But... the thing is... I'm doing it... all alone.”

“Ohh... I see,” Sunny nodded in understanding. “You like spell training but think it might be more worthwhile if we did it with you.”

“But the thing is... no one other than me can enter the secret room I told you about,” Misty presented her problem. “And I don't want to put anypony under a lot of pressure, especially since Izzy is the only other unicorn in the group. What do you think I should do?”

“Hmm… that is a pretty serious issue,” Sunny hummed in thought. “But… I think I have an idea. You can take your spellbook out of the Brighthouse whenever you need to, right?”

Misty nodded slowly at this. “Yeah?”

“So, what if you devise some sort of training exercises for everypony outside the Brighthouse? More specifically, in the community garden? That way we all have the space we need in order to be our best.”

Misty hadn’t thought about that before, and it was a totally genius plan! “Sunny, that’s a great idea! But I’ll need time to set everything up-- can you ask the others to meet me at the community garden after their shifts?”

“Sure,” Sunny nodded. “Do you need any help?”

“That’s okay. I got it all under control!” Misty denied the help politely before galloping off to the Brighthouse with her smoothie to get her spellbook.

She had a training program to put up in the garden, after all, and if they were going to train against Allura and other future villains, they needed it soon.

XXXXXXXXX

“So,” said Pipp as she closed up Mane Melody for the day, turning to her sister as she did so, “what do you think Misty has to show us in the garden? Sunny sure seemed excited about whatever she’s planning.”

“I’m not really sure myself,” Zipp shook her head. “All Sunny said was to meet Misty in the community garden after we all finished our shifts.”

“And now that we have,” Hitch stated as he, Sparky and Izzy approached, “we can get going!”

“Right,” Sunny said, smiling as she approached, completing the small group for now. “Come on, guys-- to the community garden we go!”

XXXXXXXX

The majority of the Mane 6 trotted over to the community garden immediately after meeting up, and when they got there, they gasped at what they saw.

Misty had been hard at work assembling a huge pegasus obstacle course for Pipp and Zipp to work on their flying skills. On the other side of the garden was a cauldron and different kinds of fruits and other ingredients, like it was some sort of potion-making station. And then in another corner of the garden, there was a corner where Izzy and Misty would be able to work on unicorn charms that Misty had been wanting to teach her fellow unicorn for quite some time.

After humming to herself for quite a long time, Misty saw her friends approach and trotted over with a smile. “Guys, you’re here! I just finished setting everything up, and I can’t wait for everypony to get started on their training! Firstly, I built all these hoops, rings, hurdles and other obstacles for Pipp and Zipp, so they could practice their evasive flying maneuvers.”

Pipp and Zipp smiled at each other, admiring Misty for her sweet gesture. “Next,” Misty gestured to the cauldron, “I figured Sunny and Hitch could be a pair for this next one-- I gathered all sorts of ingredients from the forest and from the garden that you guys might be able to brew into different potions. And if you guys run out of an ingredient here, you can use your earth pony magic to regrow it!”

“Wow… that actually makes us able to work at two pony powers at once!” Hitch said with a smile. “But what about…?”

“Sparky? Oh, I have an idea for him, too,” Misty said before gesturing to a nearby playpen. “I did need some help setting it up, but I figured Sparky could play in here while we’re training.”

Sparky cheered and ran over to the playpen before jumping into it, causing the ponies to laugh, amused. “And last, but certainly not least,” said Misty, gesturing to another corner of the garden, “there’s a spell-casting corner for you and me, Izzy! Now I can teach you all the spells I’ve been working on, cause two unicorn horns, or three, in Sunny’s case, are better than one!”

“Aw, Misty… this is all so thoughtful!” Sunny smiled at all she had done. “But, after all this building and setting up, you must be pretty tired.”

“Well, maybe a little,” Misty said with a dose of tiredness. “But, if it helps us defeat Allura and other future villains in the future, I’m all for it.”

“Misty, I get your heroism here,” Hitch said gently, “but if you get too tired, you won’t be able to--”

“I’ll be fine, Hitch, trust me,” Misty brushed it off. “Let’s get onto our training exercises.”

This caused the Mane 6 to look worried, but nonetheless, they did what Misty suggested and began their new training excercises.

XXXXXXXX

The training parts themselves went well-- Izzy was a fast learner when it came to unicorn spells, Zipp totally mastered the obstacle course on her first try and helped her sister with her flying, and Sunny and Hitch loved crafting potions together-- especially the floating potion and the fast-growing potion; something that could help their earth pony powers grow plants that much quicker in case of an emergency.

However, Misty seemed pretty tired after setting everything up, but whenever anypony would try and point this out, she would brush it off as if it were nothing.

This got them all very worried... what was going on in Misty's head and how could they help her through it?

XXXXXXXX

Pipp sighed to herself as she and Zipp finally sat beside their friends. “Who knew flying through an obstacle course was such hard work?”

“Speaking of hard work,” said Sunny, looking over at Misty, who was still working on her spell-casting, “I think it’s time we all took a break.”

“Nope! I’m fine, remember?” Misty said, although clearly drained. “The more time we waste, the more time a villain has to strike. And nothing's gonna keep me from my training schedule!”

“Uh… Misty?” Izzy blinked. “Check your flank.”

That’s when Misty looked down to see her glowing cutie mark. “Oh, perfect! A Unity Quest is just what we need to test our new skills! Let’s get up to the Brighthouse!”

And just like that, she had galloped off, much to the surprise of the other ponies. “Isn’t that what you always say, Sunny?” Pipp asked. “Yeah, but I guess Misty was so excited, she beat me to it,” Sunny said in surprise before standing up. “But, we can worry about all that later. Let’s get to the Brighthouse and get our stuff-- that Unity Quest won’t wait for us long!”

Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 1: Spider Webs and Tar Pit Trails)

Unaware that Googie’s team had rescued the team riding in the Werewolf Wagon from the cliff, Dracula proceeded to commentate on the race once again. “Well, monster motor fans,” he said, “'all the cars are back in the race once again.”

“Yay,” the peasants droned on. “All except for the Werewolf Wagon,” Dracula added with a smirk, “which has regrettably… heh heh heh heh… dropped out.”

But at that moment, the Werewolf Wagon zoomed past Vanna Pira and Dracula in the tent, causing them to cough at the dirt that had been stirred up. “Oh no! Shaggy?!” Dracula cried out. “Where did he come from?!”

“Oh, Dracky, don't you remember?” Vanna Pira asked with a smile. “See, you needed a werewolf to drive in the race so you sent the Hunch Bunch over…”

“Never mind,” Dracula interrupted with a look of annoyance. “Sheesh!”

XXXXXXXX

“Oh, man…” Misty groaned as she flipped through her spellbook. “If only this spellbook had a speed spell-- maybe we wouldn’t be so far back!”

“We don’t always need magic, Misty, old pal,” Shaggy smiled. “What we need is a good tailwind, right, Scoob?”

“Tailwind! Yeah!” Scooby nodded and giggled enthusiastically to this remark. “Oh!” Indigo immediately brightened at this. “I know which lever to use for this!”

Indigo pushed down a lever that was in front of her with her paw, and immediately, a fox tail hung on a pole appeared out the back and began to spin rapidly, almost like a propellor of a helicopter, taking the group up into the air before setting them down in front of everyone else in the race.

XXXXXXXX

“Oh no!” Dracula cried out in horror. “Oh my!” Vanna Pira cried, amazed. “I've seen cars with tail fins, but tail spins? How cute!”

“Cute, schmoot!” Dracula scoffed. “Shaggy's out in the lead again!”

XXXXXXXX

“Uh-oh…” Crunch whimpered as he and Brunch saw everything from the Bat-Copter, causing Brunch to become equally as nervous. “Um, I'm afraid the master is going to be testy about this.”

At that moment, Dracula appeared in the Bat-Copter with them, looking surprisingly calm. “Testy? Who’s testy?” he asked before his anger boiled over. “I’M FURIOUS!!!! If you two don't keep Shaggy and those little pony pests of his from winning this race, it'll be both your necks!”

Crunch whimpered nervously, eyes squeezing shut, even after Dracula had disappeared. “Don’t worry, old top,” Brunch reassured. “We'll get the spider monster to assist us.”

“Oh yeah!” Crunch realized where Brunch was going with this and cackled as the two monsters flew off once again.

XXXXXXXX

Around the same time, Dracula was continuing his broadcast of the race’s events. “What a race!' These drivers are going all-out to get that "Monster of the Year" trophy. There goes the Dragon Dragster shooting out in front.”

However, not even a second after that, the Mummy shot out a wrap from his Mummy-Mobile and pulled the Dragon Dragster back so the Mummy could take the lead. “But wait!” Dracula commentated. “The Mummy pulls a dirty trick and retakes the lead! I like that. Now here comes the Cauldron Coup.”

As the Cauldron Coup got closer to the Mummy-Mobile, one of the witch sisters whacked the Mummy-Mobile off to the side with their broom. “The witches break out in front with another dirty trick! Oh-ho, I like that!” Dracula said with a smile as he continued to watch the events. “Now the Slime Speedster's challenging the Cauldron Coup!”

The Slime Speedster then shot out a ball of slime toward the Cauldron Coup, causing it to slide off the road, and allowing the Slime Speedster to take the lead. “Ho ho ho! I really like that!” Dracula commented. “The Swamp Thing now takes the lead!”

“But, Dracky, that's not true,” Vanna Pira said. “Swamp Thing’s not in the lead. That hairy hunk Shaggy's way out in front. See?”

Truth be told, she was right-- Shaggy was way out in front, much to Dracula’s annoyance. “Hairy hunk?” Dracula shot his wife a look. “You know, you're beginning to bug me.”

“...yay…” the peasants droned on, causing Dracula to poof down to them. “You nerds bug me, too!” he cried before suddenly thinking of something. “Speaking of creepy-crawly things, where is that buggy Hunch Bunch?”

XXXXXXXX

Around the same time, Crunch and Brunch managed to recruit the Spider Monster like they had hoped, and he built a huge spider web right in the middle of the track. “Okay… that’s a thousand feet of your best top-quality A-1 spider web there,” the Spider Monster told the duo. “You got a guarantee on this item-- thirty days or 30,000 monster flies, whichever comes first.”

“Thank you, old boy,” Brunch said with a smile. “But we're going to catch more than flies. Right, Crunch?”

“Yeah,” Crunch chuckled sinisterly before the duo walked off… unaware that Alder and Heather had been watching the entire thing from the bushes. “Oh no… the Hunch Bunch really is out to make sure Shaggy doesn’t win!” Alder said. “We have to warn them! Heather, you said you’ve been working on telepathic communication spells, right?”

“Yeah,” Heather nodded, “but it’s still a little sketchy.”

“Well, we have to try something to warn Indigo!” Alder pointed out. “You work on the spell, and I’ll try to warn Googie and the others.”

XXXXXXXX

As the Werewolf Wagon continued to sail along the track, Indigo suddenly felt a sharp headache, causing her to groan. “What in the…?!”

Before she could finish, her eyes lit up with a blinding white light, freaking the others out. “Indy?” Pipp waved a hoof in front of her face. “Earth to Indigo!”

Indigo gasped a second or two later, snapping out of her trance, disoriented and bewildered. “Indigo, what happened?” Sunny asked in concern. “What was that?”

“It… it was Heather!” Indigo said, confusing the group. “She’s been working on telepathic communication spells, and she used one to get in contact with me!”

“What did she say?” Shaggy asked. “It was hard to make out. Something about tarantulas and nets?” Indigo shrugged. “I'm not too sure. But whatever she was saying, it sounded a lot like trouble.”

Suddenly, the radio went off with Googie on the other line. “Looky Lady calling Wolf Wagon-- come on back, guys.”

“Wolf Wagon to Looky Lady,” Shaggy answered back. “Like, what's happening, Googie?”

“Alder found us and told us there’s a tennis set for tarantulas just down the pike,” Hitch answered. “Heather was supposed to send you a message, but we’re not sure if it went through.”

“So that’s what the message meant! There’s a huge spider web across the track!” Misty realized. “Put on the brakes, Shag!”

Shaggy immediately did as told, letting the Werewolf Wagon stop in the middle of the track and letting all the other racers pass by them.

XXXXXXXX

And seeing the Werewolf Wagon stop in the middle of the track brought joy to Dracula as he watched the footage on the screen. “What's this? The werewolf car has stalled! The entire field has passed him! What a pity.”

XXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, all the other racers hit the spider web across the track and went flying backwards due to hitting it, causing Shaggy, Scooby and the rest of their team to look on.

XXXXXXXX

“Oh no!!” Dracula cried out in terror as he saw this, sheltering Vanna Pira as all the other racers crashed into the tent, leaving a pile of debris and wrecked cars in its wake. Eventually, Vanna Pira and her husband popped out of the rubble, the former in despair about something truly horrific. “Oh, this is terrible! This is awful! Look, Dracky-- I broke a nail.”

However, Dracula’s intense anger was directed more toward the two hunchbacks not too far away. “Brunchy and Crunchy…!!!”

“Uh-oh…” Crunch gulped nervously as the Werewolf Wagon sped past. “Oh, I say. We'd better stop that young werewolf fellow and his team fast,” Brunch spoke, just as fearful as his comrade, “or the master will have us for tea, old boy. To the copter!”

XXXXXXXX

No matter what the Hunch Bunch tried to do, their plans to stop the Werewolf Wagon fell through every time, and the Werewolf Wagon moved further and further into the lead.

This fumed Dracula's anger so much that he had to let Vanna Pira take over commentating on the race so he could calm down a bit. “Hi there, fast-car fans. Vanna Pira here pinch-hitting for Dracula. Everybody's really giving it all they've got to win that "Monster of the Year" trophy, and can they drive! I mean, talk about skill. Just look at those clever moves. Why, it's just poetry in motion!” she said. “But I don't think it's going to make any difference how good the monsters drive, because that cutey-pie Shaggy is still way out in front. The only thing that could keep him from winning now would be if he got lost or something. Ha ha ha ha!”

Unfortunately for her, this statement gave Dracula an idea. “Lost… yes! Why not?”

And just like that, he poofed away to initiate his new plan.

XXXXXXXX

Dracula poofed out to an intersection that separated the race track from another road, and removed the sign pointing to the left just as the Werewolf Wagon drove past, letting them go the wrong way. And after they had left, Dracula put the sign back the way it was, letting the other racers go the right way.

After this was done, Dracula cackled triumphantly. “Shaggy's road is the pits-- tar pits, that is!” he cheered before poofing back to the tent.

XXXXXXXX

“Pippsqueaks, Shaggy is way out in front in this year’s Monster Road Rally!” Pipp announced to her fans over the livestream. “The wind’s blowing in our manes, adrenaline is pumping in our veins, and… the road is… dripping?”

“Wait, what?” Misty looked confused before she saw the road in front of them looking wet and slippery… the exact opposite of what the race track road looked like before. “Hey!” Scooby looked around in confusion. “What’s this stuff?”

“I don’t know, Scooby!” Sunny shook her head, confused. “It looks like they’ve just repaved the road!”

“Wait a second… I’ve heard about this road!” Indigo realized in terror. “This is the Tar Pit Trail!”

“WHOAAAA!!!” the team screamed as the Werewolf Wagon began to spin on the tar, unable to stop.

XXXXXXXX

“This is Dracula again, racing fans!” Dracula commentated as soon as he returned to the tent and took the microphone from his wife. “All the monster cars have gone ahead of Shaggy who took the wrong turn down the Tar Pit Trail.”

“The Tar Pit Trail?!” Vanna Pira cried out. “Oh, no! That's the road to where the Schlockness Monster lives!”

“The Schlockness Monster? I didn’t know that,” Dracula openly lied before cackling madly... unaware that Maya and Draven heard everything and flew off to alert the others to Dracula's scheme.

XXXXXXXX

Scrappy immediately frowned at not seeing his uncle, Shaggy or the rest of their friends with the other racers. “Hey. What happened to Shaggy?”

“I don’t know… Googie, you better call them,” Zipp told Googie as Hitch cradled Sparky nervously. Googie nodded and picked up the radio before contacting her boyfriend again. “Looky Lady calling Wheelie Wolf. Calling Wheelie Wolf. Hey, where are you guys?”

What she heard next appeared to be screaming (due to the Werewolf Wagon team sliding into the mouth of a tar-made monster) before she heard Shaggy’s voice. “You wouldn't believe it!”

“ZIPP!!!” Pipp cried out on the radio. “GET US OUT OF HERE!!!”

“Just stay tight!” Zipp told her sister and her friends. “We’ll find you and get you back in the race!”

“But how?” Izzy asked worriedly. “We don’t know where they are!”

“We do!”

The group looked up to see Maya and Draven approaching them, looking clearly worried. “Maya, Draven!” Googie cried. “Did you find something?”

“We heard something, that’s for sure,” Draven said. “Dracula sent the Werewolf Wagon team down the wrong trail, and we’re sure they’re gonna be hoof-deep in trouble!”

“SUNNY!!!!” Hitch cried before galloping off with Sparky on his back. “Hitch, get back here!” Scrappy called. “They haven’t even told us which trail they went down yet!”

Hitch immediately stopped at this. “Heh-heh... sorry… dragon dad instinct kicking in.”

“They went down the Tar Pit Trail-- one of the slimiest and yuckiest trails in Transylvania!” Draven said. “Luckily,” Maya added, “we’ve been hunting near that trail before. We can show you the way!”

“We’re behind ya!” Zipp promised before she, Googie, Scrappy, Izzy, Hitch and Sparky got in Shaggy’s car and followed the flying leopards away.

XXXXXXXX

Misty and Sunny continued to try and fire magic blasts at the inside of the Schlockness Monster's house, but it seemed to do no affect, as it absorbed their magic whenever they did blast it. “Oh, it’s no use!” Misty groaned. “It’s like our magic gets sucked into the monster’s body whenever we try to use our powers against it!”

“Don’t worry, Misty,” Indigo said reassuringly. “I’m sure our friends are gonna come and find us soon.”

“And… if they don’t?” Shaggy whimpered nervously. “We can’t think like that,” Sunny said. “We have to maintain hope… remember?”

“Right…” Shaggy and Scooby sighed in unison, trying to keep calm while trying to get out of the monster’s mouth.

XXXXXXXX

“Well, fans,” Dracula continued to broadcast, “now that Shaggy seems to have gotten lost… heh heh heh… the race is really getting exciting.”

“...yay,” the peasant said quietly. “I can’t hear you,” Dracula said, trying to get them to speak a bit louder, but it did no good-- they seemed to be even quieter than before. “...yay…”

“The next time I want to be alone,” Dracula sneered, “I’ll call you guys!”

But it was at that moment that the group in Shaggy’s car, being led away by Draven and Maya, zoomed through the other racers, much to Dracula's shock. “What a minute! What was that car doing?!”

“Oh,” Vanna Pira shrugged casually, “I think it was doing at least 80.”

“No,” Dracula sighed in exasperation, “no…!!”

“85?”

Dracula hummed in thought at his wife’s dumber than life answers. “Her brain is running on empty.”

But suddenly, he got to thinking about the two leopards that were with that car when they zoomed through the competitors... those were two of Indigo's clanmates!

What were they doing with that car in the first place?

That got Dracula to wonder if Indigo had some sort of paw in this travesty.

XXXXXXXX

“Here we are,” Draven said after a few minutes of flying/driving. “The Tar Pit Trail!”

“Yuck!” Zipp groaned. “I can see why this place is quite literally the pits.”

“Besides, the road’s getting pretty slick,” Scrappy observed. “Better switch to swamp mode.”

“Right,” Googie said before pressing a button, turning the car into a sort-of makeshift hovercraft so they could continue on without worry.

Suddenly, Googie gasped upon seeing the Schlockness Monster ahead of them. “Oh, look! What a horrible monster!”

“Oops…” Maya gulped. “I had a feeling we were forgetting something…”

However, the group’s worry ignited even further when they saw the Werewolf Wagon, with their friends inside (screaming, I might add), try and drive out of the monster’s mouth, but to no avail. “There’s the girls, Shag and Uncle Scooby!” Scrappy pointed out. “But they’re trapped in the monster’s mouth!” Draven cried. “How are we gonna save them?!”

Sparky decided to take the initiative and blew a stream of fire at the Schlockness Monster, only for the monster to absorb the fire blast, much to the baby dragon's worry and concern. “Uh-oh…”

“Sorry little buddy, but magic doesn’t really work on the Schlockness Monster,” Draven said, patting the baby dragon’s head. “We’re gonna have to try something else.”

“I got an idea!” Scrappy suddenly spoke before turning to Izzy. “Iz, do you have some packets of pepper in that sash of yours?”

“Sure!” Izzy said. “And I think I know where you’re going!”

“Great! You can help me with my idea then,” Scrappy said before getting on Izzy’s back. “Googie, hit the ejector seat button for Izzy’s seat!”

“But, Scrappy,” said Maya out of confusion, “what are you and Izzy gonna do with that pepper?”

“No time to explain, Maya!” Zipp cried out. “Googie, come on!”

“Okay…” Googie shrugged before pressing the button, launching Scrappy and Izzy out of the seat and onto the Schlockness Monster’s nose, with Izzy barely being able to fit. “Okay, big guy,” Scrappy said, opening the packets of pepper Izzy gave him. “Time to clear up that traffic jam in your big mouth.”

Scrappy proceeded to sprinkle the pepper all over the monster’s nose, and immediately afterwards, the monster sent out a gigantic sneeze that shot the Werewolf Wagon out of its mouth…

…and sending Izzy and Scrappy off its nose, only for Googie, Maya and Draven to catch them. “Way to go!!”

“Thanks, guys!” Sunny waved to her friends. “You really saved us!”

“No worries! Now get back in the race!” Draven called back with a smile. “You guys have a sneaky vampire to outwit!”

“Right!” Misty nodded before the Werewolf Wagon sped off to rejoin the race once again.

A Funny Car Race Reunion

Misty had just put herself through a lot that day, building all the training equipment for her friends and then wearily taking part in the training.

This made her friends a bit worried, especially since they had a new Unity Quest mission.

What if Misty exhausted herself so much, she could get hurt? Or worse?

Putting these thoughts aside for now, the ponies knew that they would probably get the chance to talk to her later on.

Right now, they had to get started on their mission.

XXXXXXXX

Soon as the ponies and their baby dragon companion stepped through the other side of the portal, they looked around their surroundings, which appeared to be in the middle of a busy city, which was home to a huge stadium that was not too far away. “I wonder where we’ve been sent and who we need to help this time,” Sunny said in thought. “Well, I’d say since we’re so close to that stadium,” said Zipp, pointing to it, “we should go there first.”

“Then let’s go!” Hitch said encouragingly with Sparky up on his back. “It sounds like there’s a lot of commotion going on in there, and it could mean bad news!”

That's when the six ran across the street and toward the stadium, finding a way to sneak in through the back where they couldn't be seen. When the Mane 6 eventually did make it inside the stadium, they were stunned to see cars of different varieties and sizes racing around and around a circular track, as if they were trying to pull ahead of the other ones using various gadgets and switches. “Oh man!” Zipp cried. “What is all this?”

“I think I heard Shaggy and Scooby tell me about this-- this must be a funny car race!” Pipp said with a smile. “These cars have loads of gadgets and equipment built inside, and they use all those gadgets to try and get in the lead and win the race.”

“Hey, let’s see if we can recognize anypony in the race,” Sunny said. “Maybe they’re the ones who need our help.”

“Maybe someone like… Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy?” Misty pointed to one specific car in the race… with Shaggy, Scooby and his nephew Scrappy inside. Coincidentally, that’s exactly who the announcer was talking about from the speakers. “Tyler County, USA. A funny-car race is in progress. A young driver named Shaggy maneuvers for the lead in his double-dyno turbo-blaster. Assisted by his faithful companions, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy, and cheered on by his adoring but liberated girlfriend Googie.”

“Shaggy’s got a girlfriend?” Pipp looked around. “Where?”

“Uh… I’d say the one with the pom-poms,” Izzy said, pointing out the short, blonde-haired teenage girl with the pom-poms, cheering Shaggy and his team on. “Go, Shaggy, go! Don't be a bust! Leave all the other guys in the dust! Yay, Shaggy!”

“Huh, for a girl we just now met,” Pipp commented, “I gotta admit… her rhyming is impressive!”

“Come on–- let’s find a better place to sit and watch the race,” Zipp told her friends with a grin. “After all, Shaggy and the boys are gonna need as much encouragement as anypony if they're gonna win this race!”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Shaggy was trying to get past two of the other racers, but the gap between them was too small for the car to get through. Luckily, Shaggy had just the solution for that. “Okay, Scoob! Hit the skinny switch!”

Scooby barked and did as asked, lifting the car up and pushing the wheels closer together. “Coming through!” Scooby howled as Shaggy’s car zoomed out in front, prompting the crowd, including the Mane 6, to cheer wildly and Googie began another cheer herself. “Go, Shaggy, go! Keep up the pace! Go all the way and win the race! Yay!”

After another minute or so, another racer refused to let Shaggy out in front of him, and Scrappy, being the pup he was, wasn’t happy about such a thing. “Come on!” Scrappy shouted. “Get that bucket of scrap out of the way!”

“Scrap, huh?” the other racer challenged. “Well, chew on these scraps little big mouth!”

With one pull of a lever, the other driver sent trash pouring onto the team, which Shaggy quickly swerved to avoid. “Yikes! Like, it's time to split, guys. And I mean split!”

“Gotcha!” Scrappy barked with a smile and pulled a lever, splitting the car into two halves that went around the rude driver before coming back together once they were in front of him. The other driver was shocked, and as the crowd cheered once again, Googie let in one final chant. “Way to go, Shaggy! Give it the gun! You're gonna finish number one! Yay, Shaggy!”

“Only one car between Shaggy's car and victory,” the announcer told the fans as Shaggy got behind the final car ahead of him. “But wait, what's this? Oh, no! It's the steam-powered grease-grinder! It looks hopeless for our heroes, but wait!”

“Okay, gang,” Shaggy said confidently. “Like, let’s do the drill bit!”

Scrappy pressed another button, prompting a drill bit to pop out of the car, which began to tunnel under the track to get ahead of the other car. “Hey, isn’t that cheating in some way?” Hitch asked in confusion. “I mean… no one else would allow this to happen… would they?”

“Well, in funny car races, anything can happen,” said Pipp with a shrug. “And usually anything is okay… especially when it gets you the win! Look!”

The ponies looked back and saw that Shaggy’s car had burst out of the ground in front of the other racer, and now was crossing the finish line!

The ponies cheered wildly for their friends as they took their victory lap around the track-- and once they were done, they HAD to go and congratulate them on such a thrilling, exciting win.

XXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, after Shaggy finished his victory lap, he, Scooby and Scrappy got out of the car and approached Googie, who Shaggy took the trophy from before Googie gave Scooby a huge kiss on the cheek, causing the cowardly Great Dane to giggle amusingly.

This gave the ponies the perfect opportunity to approach. “Wow, Shaggy, you were terrific!” Misty smiled as the Mane 6 and Sparky came over. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a race like that one before!”

“Hey, it’s you guys! Ha ha! Like, we’d be wondering when we would be able to see you again!” Shaggy said as he, Scooby and Scrappy hugged their friends with smiles on their faces. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh, a little bit of everything,” Zipp casually admitted with a smile. “Fighting supervillains, getting rocketed off into space… that sorta thing.”

“But there’s one thing YOU haven’t told us about yet,” Pipp said, eyeing Googie with a mischievous grin. “Who is this lovely lady you’ve yet to introduce us to?”

“Oh, right! I forgot you guys haven't met. Googie, these are the ponies Scoob and me told you about a few weeks ago,” Shaggy introduced. “Gang, this is my girlfriend Googie. We hooked up a couple of weeks after you guys left at the college.”

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Googie said, shaking Sunny’s hoof. “Shaggy-kins talks about you all the time.”

“Shaggy-kins? Oh man, dude…” Zipp tried not to laugh. “She’s got you hooked, hasn’t she?”

“Please pay no attention to my sister. She doesn’t understand anything about romance yet,” Pipp said, glaring at Zipp before eventually turning to Googie. “It’s really nice to meet you too. Hey, why don’t we all go out to lunch to celebrate Shaggy’s totally pony-tastic win! I can get an interview with you for my live feed!”

“That sounds mega-fun, Pippster!” Scrappy said, eagerly hopping on her back. “Let’s go!”

Laughing, the group set off out of the stadium and to their dinner destination, unaware of what was to come in the next few days...

...a monstrous adventure that no one would be sure to forget... for better and for worse.

Dracula's Monstrous Plans/Meet Indigo and her Clan

At this exact moment, as the Mane 6 were reuniting with some of their old friends and making new friends with Shaggy's new girlfriend Googie as they all went to dinner to celebrate Shaggy's victory, the scene shifts from a bright, happy day in Tyler County, USA to darkest, deepest Transylvania.

Horrific home of the world's most evil menace... Count Dracula.

Where a meeting of all the monsters of his realm is being held.

What has this creepy, crawly conclave and its sinister ruler got to do with a young American race car driver and all his friends, both human, Equestrian and canine?

This is what gives meaning to our story.

XXXXXXXX

There were many different kinds of monsters at this meeting in Dracula's castle (such as Frankenstein and his wife Repulsa, the Witch Sisters, the Swamp Thing, Bonejangles the skeleton, the Dragonfly, the Mummy, and Dr. Jackyll/Mr. Snide), as well as Dracula himself and his wife, Vanna Pira.

But, no one knew about the shy, innocent little bundle of fur who was being forced to attend the meeting as well... a young flying leopard by the name of Indigo.

Indigo had dark purple fur with green square swirls, cream fur on her muzzle, going down her neck and onto her stomach, and cream on her paws as well, blue eyes and a brownish-black nose. Her cutie mark consists of three yellow lightning bolts.

Indigo had been separated from her clanmates for almost a year and a half now and was now serving as one of Dracula's servants. And needless to say, she hated this life that she had been placed into and wished to break free and get back with her many friends, who were more than friends to her.

They were more like... her family.

But we'll get more onto her clanmates later. Right now, there are more important issues at this meeting to discuss.

XXXXXXXX

Indigo had been reluctantly sitting at Dracula’s side, listening to the entire meeting when there was one topic that caught their attention-- the werewolf that usually participated had in the annual Monster Road Rally was not going to be in the race this year! “What?” Frankenstein questioned, shocked. “No werewolf?”

“What happened to him?” Bonejangles asked. “Where is he?” Swamp Thing demanded to know, just as Dracula looked over at his other servant, a canine-like being called Wolfgong. “Yes, Wolfgong, where is the werewolf?”

“A thousand pardons, master,” Wolfgong said respectfully before kissing Dracula’s hand, to which Dracula quickly pulled away. “Stop that, you sniveling little cape kisser, and tell me where the werewolf went!”

“He’s in Florida, your menace-ness,” Wolfgang answered, pulling something from his pocket. “He sent this postcard.”

“Hmm…” Dracula looked at the postcard that Wolfgang had given him, with Indigo sparing a glance at it off to the side. “Dear Drac, having a wonderful time in retirement. Glad you're not here. Wolfie.”

“Glad you’re not here…?” Indigo muttered in confusion. “That’s kind of confusing…”

However, Dracula threw the postcard down and paid no mind to her confusion. “BAH!! How dare he retire, just before the Monster Road Rally?!” he boomed, scaring Indigo out of her wits. “He knows all the monsters in my realm have to be in the race!”

“That’s right!” Frankenstein agreed. “How can we pick a monster of the year without a werewolf?” the Mummy asked in agreement, causing Dracula to nod. “And how can I afford all those wonderful prizes?”

“Wonderful prizes?!” the other monsters shouted in glee, prompting Dracula’s beloved/somewhat taken-for-granted wife, Vanna Pira, to step toward a curtain nearby. “Wonderful prizes is right. Just for entering the race, all of our monster contestants will receive their very own slimy spa!” she said, opening the curtain and revealing the prize, much to the monsters’ delight and Indigo’s disgust. “That's right!' It's custom made of real wormwood, and it comes with a year's supply of real worms! From Slimy Products. Remember, if it makes your flesh crawl, it's a Slimy! And that's only the beginning!”

“Never mind showing any more of the prizes, Vanna Pira. We can't have the race without a werewolf and that's that!” Dracula hissed, causing the other monsters to groan and sigh in disappointment. Indigo was disappointed too, since she actually got to be out of the castle to see the race, but no one was more disappointed than Dracula himself. “There’s nothing I can do.”

“Master, wait!” Wolfgong quickly interrupted, with a book in his grasp. “There is something you can do!”

He laid the book on the table, and Dracula coughed from the dust it stirred up, while Indigo only looked at it in confusion. “What’s that?”

“The Grimness Book of Records, young one,” Wolfgong told the young flying leopard. “It tells how we can get a new werewolf.”

The other monsters, and even Indigo, seemed surprised at this. “A new werewolf?”

“Hmm. Let's see. It says…” Dracula began before Wolfgong started panting on him. “Stop that! Your breath is wilting my collar!”

“Uh, sorry, master,” Wolfgong apologized obediently before Dracula began reading from the book. “It says that every 500 years the moon comes into perfect position on three consecutive nights to create a new werewolf… and it starts tomorrow night!”

“But wait… you’d be ripping a human being from his humanity for your own gain,” Indigo protested with a frown. “Doesn’t that sound… wrong?”

“It does not matter whether what I do is wrong or right, you insignificant cat!” Dracula barked. “What matters is that we have a way to get a new werewolf for the Monster Road Rally after all!”

“And look, Drac honey,” Vanna Pira pointed to a picture in the book. “It even shows the one who is to become the werewolf.”

“Shaggy? Shaggy?” Dracula repeated in surprise. “What kind of a name is Shaggy?”

“It says here, he’s an American,” Indigo said, looking at the book at the same time as Vanna Pira, who smiled fondly. “Mm, and he's cute!”

“A cute werewolf?” Dracula scoffed. “Bah! The Hunch Bunch will take care of that.”

“Oh no!” Vanna Pira cried out in horror while Indigo froze in fear at the mere mention of these characters. “Not the Hunch Bunch!”

And turns out, some of the monsters shared the same feelings that Vanna Pira had about the Hunch Bunch in question.

“Not the Hunch Bunch!”

“Oh, yuck!”

“They’re so awful!”

“So horrible!”

“Yes!” Dracula cackled, lifting a small bell and ringing it. “The Hunch Bunch!”

After ringing the bell, two hunchbacked figures came into the room. The first one wore an orange and blue stripped t-shirt with a monocle, while the other one had a bald head, a green and blue striped t-shirt and often spoke a bunch of garbled stuff that didn't make sense.

The other monsters trembled at the sight of them, and as the one with the green and blue striped t-shirt, called Crunch, spoke garbled nonsense, the other one, called Brunch, decided to speak for him. “Ah, yes. Allow me to translate. Crunch says, ‘Top ho, everyone’!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Crunch nodded as they walked past the monsters, who trembled and hid in fear, and over to Count Dracula. “Greetings, Count,” Brunch greeted. “What’s the caper?”

“It’s all here,” Dracula said, ripping a page from the book with Shaggy’s picture on it and giving it to Brunch. “You will take Indigo here on a mission, and you have three nights to turn this Shaggy person into a werewolf and bring him back here for the big race. If you fail, it means unspeakable torture.”

“Great…” Indigo muttered under her breath. “No pressure or anything.”

“Ah, fear not, Your Evilness,” Brunch smiled confidently. “You can count on us. Come, Crunch!”

Crunch then babbled nonsense again, causing Dracula to become increasingly confused. “What?”

“He said, ‘Ta ta for now’,” Brunch translated before the Hunch Bunch began to leave. “Um… hang on one second, Mr. Brunch!” Indigo said politely before turning to her master. “Uh… sir? You said that if I was really good this week and if I did my chores and everything like you asked me to, I could… go see my clan for a little while. Do you think I could fly out to the Moon Cliffs and see them before we left? I won’t be too long-- it'll take just a few minutes.”

Dracula growled under his breath at this. Sure, he made her that promise so she would stop whining about missing her clanmates, but he never thought she would actually hold him to this.

However, the way she was looking at him caused him to reluctantly sigh. “All right, but you better be back here in no less than half an hour! You know how long it takes you to fly back.”

“Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you! I’ll be back soon, I promise!” Indigo said before she unfolded her wings and flew off to see her clan.

XXXXXXXX

You see, the Moon Cliffs were an area of Transylvania that only the best flyers in the land could reach, including Indigo’s flying leopard clan. The clan itself composed of six leopards, excluding Indigo, each having different fur colors and different powers.

The first was named Maya, who had dark blue fur, light blue feathers on her wings and square-shaped swirls like Indigo did, blue eyes and white fur on her muzzle, chest and paws. Her cutie mark is a water droplet. She has water magic, plus she is one of the more rational of the group, and likes to go with the flow whenever she can.

After Maya came Cyrus, who was bright yellow with orange moons as his spots, blue eyes, orange feathers on his wings and white fur on his muzzle, chest and paws. His cutie mark was an orange sun. Cyrus has sun magic that he uses to warm up his friends whenever they are too cold, or he can use sun magic as a defense mechanism.

Next up, we have Somnia, who has light blue fur with light purple zigzags for her spots, light purple feathers, blue eyes like her friends and white fur on her muzzle, chest and paws. Somnia has dream magic, which means she can jump into others' dreams to help them/warn them, and as a result, doesn't have any nightmares herself.

Next is Draven, who has black fur, yellow triangles for his spots, yellow feathers on his wings, blue eyes and white fur on his muzzle, chest and paws. Draven has dark magic, and he does have the tendency to be a bit-overconfident and immature, cause of how fast he is, but he has a generally good heart.

After Draven we have Alder, who is bright green with light blue spots, darker blue eyes, white fur on his muzzle, chest and paws and light blue feathers. He has plant magic, and a strong connection with the plants and animals of Transylvania.

And last, but certainly not least, we have Heather, who has bright pink for with lavender spots, feathers on her wings, blue eyes, and white fur on her muzzle, chest and paws. Her cutie mark is a pink hypnotic swirl. Heather is very unique, because she actually has vision magic. At times, she will gain visions of the future, good and bad, but she never really knows what they mean until they happen.

These guys have been Indigo's best friends for as long as she could remember, but she only got to go out and see them a few times every week. They were all waiting for the day that Dracula would set Indigo free, and they would all get to live together again, just like they used to.

However, they feared that this would never happen.

Now, let's get back to the current events of the story.

XXXXXXXX

On this particular night, the group was lounging around, practicing their magic, sleeping or playing with one another when Cyrus looked up at the sky and saw someone they knew and loved coming toward them, causing him to gasp. “It’s Indigo! She’s back!”

Somnia woke up immediately from this, yawning. “She’s back…? What time is it…?”

“It’s pretty late, and it's strange for her to visit in the middle of the night,” Alder said with a frown. “She must be here for some reason… come on!”

That's when all the leopards gathered around to meet their friend as she landed on the ground. “Indigo, we’re so happy to see you!” Heather said, wrapping her paws around her friend in a huge hug. “We were wondering when Count Creepy would let you out to come see us again.”

“Well… I wanted to come and see you guys before I left for America,” Indigo admitted with a frown. “Dracula wants me to accompany the Hunch Bunch to turn a mortal into a werewolf.”

“Say what now?!” Draken cried out. “That’s wrong on SO many levels!”

“That’s what I tried to tell him,” Indigo said quietly, “but like always, he refuses to listen to a lowly servant.”

“We’re so sorry, Indy,” Cyrus said comfortingly as he nuzzled her. “We know how much you hate it there.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Maya asked gently. “Not if you wanna get captured by Dracula yourselves,” Indigo shook her head. “Just stay up here at the Moon Cliffs, and I’ll send you a lightning spark when I’m back in Transylvania, okay?”

“...are you sure you really have to do this?” Heather asked. “Cause all the visions I’ve gotten show that you’ve been really having a hard time.”

“Look… it was either one of us or all of us last time, and I took the hit,” Indigo insisted. “If I can do anything to keep you guys from suffering through this, I will. You have to trust me… I’ll be okay.”

“...okay, Indy, we trust you,” Somnia smiled. “Just… please, be careful.”

“Aren’t I always?” Indigo giggled before realizing the time. “I gotta get going… the Hunch Bunch are waiting back at the castle.”

And so, exchanging their final goodbyes with their dear best friend, the other leopards watched as their friend flew out of sight. “Guys… be honest with me,” Maya said softly. “Do you really think she’s okay?”

“Knowing that she’s suffering under the rule of a tyrant… I’d say no,” Cyrus admitted. “But… we have to trust her word. There’ll be a time when we’ll all be together again… I know it.”

Heather sighed and looked to the moon above. “I sure hope you’re right about this…”

“Trust me, Heather,” Alder said with the same worried tone. “We’re all hoping that he’s right.”

XXXXXXXX

Indigo spent a lot of her flight back to the castle thinking about ways she could escape Dracula's hold on her and escape Transylvania with the rest of her friends, but no thoughts were coming to mind.

And as much as she hated to admit it... she had a job to do, and she wasn't going to let her already stern master down.

Once she had gotten back to the castle and gotten inside the Bat Copter (a helicopter that used wings to fly instead of a usual rotor), the two horrible monsters and the reluctant leopard took off on their sinister mission.

Will our unsuspecting heroes be able to ward off this treacherous plot?

We shall soon see.

XXXXXXXX

After dropping Googie off at her house after their dinner, the Mane 6, Sparky, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy returned to Shaggy's house for the Mane 6 to sleep over and for the group to watch a scary movie at Scrappy's suggestion.

Zipp, Pipp and Misty were in the living room with Shaggy and Scooby having some popcorn while Sunny, Hitch and Izzy, along with Sparky and Scrappy, set up their sleeping places in the next room over. “Hello? Hello?” the woman on the TV cried out into the phone. “Someone is trying to get into my house! Hello? Somebody help me!”

Scooby hungrily chomped on popcorn, worried about what would happen next, and as he did this, his eyes glued to the screen, he accidentally chomped down on Shaggy’s hand, which was in the bowl at the time. “OW!!”

“Whoops!” Scooby yelped, realizing what he just did. “Uh, sorry.”

Suddenly, the movie monster appeared on the screen, and as Pipp, Zipp and Misty shuddered nervously at this, Scooby (believing that the monster was real) screamed and leapt into Shaggy’s arms, knocking over the popcorn in the process. “Is everything okay down here?” Sunny asked the remaining ponies trotted downstairs. “I thought we heard Scooby scream.”

“He was just scared of the monster from the movie,” Zipp explained, shaking the popcorn off his wings. “And I honestly feel him–- those monsters can be terrifying!”

Outside, Crunch, Brunch and Indigo watched as the ponies began to pick up the popcorn that had spilled while Shaggy was scolding Scooby on his earlier actions. “Doggone it, Scoob! Like, what's with you, anyway?” he asked. “ How many times do I have to tell you, movie monsters are not real? Now go out to the kitchen' 'and make some more popcorn, will you? While we clean up this mess?”

“Okay…” Scooby sighed reluctantly and began to talk to himself while heading into the kitchen. “Monsters aren’t real, monsters aren’t real, monsters aren’t…”

But thinking he saw something outside the window, he froze and turned back to look again. Indigo had ducked out of sight to avoid being seen, but unfortunately, Scooby was able to see Crunch and Brunch, so he screamed and ran and hid under the couch cushions, startling the ponies but annoying Shaggy. “Scooby-Doo, what’s wrong with you?”

“M-Monsters!” Scooby trembled, pointing to the window. “A-At the window!”

“It must’ve been a trick of the light, Scooby,” Misty said as she and Hitch looked out the window. “I sure don’t see any monsters outside.”

But as they walked away from the window, Brunch felt a smirk come onto his face. “Ah, but soon there'll be a new monster inside. The moon is moving into position,” he said as he and his fellow monster tiptoed away. Come, Crunch. It's time to create… a new werewolf!”

“Oh, no…” whimpered Indigo from where she hid. She knew that her own personal problems were going to have to be put aside for now…

…Shaggy needed to be saved one way or another, and she had to figure out how to save his hide from becoming a furry hide… and she needed to figure something out fast!

The First of the Three Nights

It was the first of the three nights that Indigo, Crunch and Brunch had to turn Shaggy into a werewolf and bring him back to Dracula in time for the Monster Road Rally, and of course, the Mane 6, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy were oblivious to the danger that they were in.

Indigo knew that she would have to play some part in this horrible plan, so she hid herself in some bushes while Crunch and Brunch snuck away to begin their schemes.

A few minutes after this, Crunch and Brunch returned with a ladder, with Crunch babbling nonsense to his colleague about what they were going to do with the ladder they found. “Shh! Quiet, Crunch!” Brunch whispered in reply. “We must ascend to the roof and make a hole to let the moon shine through on Shaggy.”

“Then I,” said Indigo from her hiding place, “need to stay here and keep an eye on the situation at paw. If Brunch asks, I’ll say I was doing some… on the ground surveillance. They’ll believe that… won’t they?”

XXXXXXXX

“Are you sure you don’t wanna come to bed yet, Misty?” Sunny asked the blue unicorn as many of the others were heading off to bed. “It’s getting pretty late.”

“I’ll be in bed soon, Sunny,” Misty answered, pulling out her spellbook from Equestria. “I wanted to catch up on some last minute spell practice before then.”

“Suit yourself, Mist,” Shaggy yawned tiredly. “Well, good night, guys.”

“Good night, Shag!” Scrappy smiled optimistically. “Good night,” Scooby bid Shaggy and the ponies (except Misty) farewell as they went into their rooms for the night. “Gee,” said Scrappy to his tired uncle, “wasn't that an exciting horror movie, Uncle Scoob?”

“Uh-huh,” Scooby nodded, although not interested in the conversation as Misty looked through her spellbook a bit. “Gosh,” said Scrappy. “Remember how that monster crashed through the window? And then remember how he came after everybody and ripped up the whole place?”

Misty looked away from her book at this, and even Scooby lifted his tired head to look at his nephew as he continued his narration of the movie. “And then, remember how he caught the hero and opened his big, ugly jaws and showed his big, ugly fangs? And then, how he bit right into…”

Scooby screamed, not being able to take the description of events anymore, running toward the stairs as fast as his paws could take him. “Where are you going, Uncle Scoob?” Scrappy asked, just as Scooby tripped and fell to the bottom of the stairs before answering. “...to get a snack…”

“Wait for me, Scooby!” Misty called out as she went to the bottom of the stairs to join him in the kitchen. “I was actually getting hungry myself.”

Scooby reached into the fridge and got a turkey leg for himself and a carrot for Misty, but as they began to chow down, they saw a ladder going up right outside the kitchen window, causing the two to become confused.

Who in the world could be putting up a ladder at this time of night?

That's when Misty and Scooby looked down from the window to see Crunch and Brunch getting ready to ascend to the rooftop. “'Very good, Crunch,” Brunch praised. “Now to the rooftop, and turn Shaggy into a werewolf.”

These words instantly caused Scooby’s fear to spark. “Shaggy?! A werewolf?!”

“Oh no!” both Scooby and Misty shrieked before racing upstairs to alert the others… more specifically, Shaggy, about the upcoming events.

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy was sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard the door to his bedroom open, and Scooby leapt up on the bed and began shaking him until he was fully awake. “Wake up, Shaggy!”

“Ugh… huh? Wha…?” Shaggy groaned, unsure of what was happening.

XXXXXXXX

“This is the exact spot for the moonbeam,” Brunch said, marking the spot on the roof they were going to cut through. “Cut the hole here, Crunch.”

“Okay,” Crunch giggled sinisterly as he got out a saw to begin cutting.

XXXXXXXX

“What are you and Misty doing, Scooby?” Shaggy asked his dog as he continued to shake Shaggy a bit. “Get up!” Scooby urged. “The monsters are gonna get you!”

Shaggy blinked in surprise at this. “What?”

“Come on!” Misty urged quickly as Shaggy turned over in bed again. “Come on!”

However, Shaggy was not in the mood. “Misty, Scooby, let go!”

As Scooby was still trying to get Shaggy up, he looked up in shock to see a saw blade cutting a hole right through the rooftop. “Ohhhh!!!” he yelped, earning Misty's attention as he did this. “They're coming through the roof!”

“Grab Shaggy and let’s go!” Misty shouted over to the Great Dane. “Hurry!”

So, Scooby scooped Shaggy up out of bed just as a beam of moonlight came through the open hole in the ceiling. However, as Misty and Scooby were getting Shaggy out of danger, they didn't expect to trip over Scrappy and go tumbling down the stairs.

And needless to say… Shaggy was not happy being at the bottom of the pile. “Misty! Scooby-Doo!”

“Monsters!” Scooby yelped. “Coming to get you!”

Shaggy laughed nervously, unsure if he should believe this or not. “Coming to get me?”

“Honest!” Misty pleaded. That’s when Sunny and the others peeked their heads out of their bedroom, concerned about what was going on. “Is everything all right, you guys?” Sunny asked in confusion. “We heard a bunch of yelling.”

“Maybe it’ll be better if Scooby and I just show you,” Misty frowned as she got up onto her feet, a worried expression on her face.

XXXXXXXX

“Oh bother! That unicorn and infernal dog ruined our plan!” Brunch growled in frustration as Brunch let out a few mutters himself, still holding a piece of the roof. “Put that back in place, old boy. We'll try again tomorrow night.”

“Okay...” Brunch muttered in compliance and put the piece of the roof he had sawed through back in place. That's when Indigo knew that they hadn't turned Shaggy into a werewolf just yet and flew up to the roof to check on them. “Uh… hey, you guys. I was just surveying the area… what did I miss?”

“Well, no thanks to you, our plan to turn Shaggy into a werewolf failed!” Brunch huffed, causing Indigo to lower her head. “...sorry…” she whispered. “I guess we have to try again tomorrow night?”

“I’m afraid we must, otherwise the master will have all of our hides,” Brunch sighed. “Crunch and I will alert the master of our progress-- you stay here and monitor them… all of them.”

“Yes, sir,” Indigo sighed, wondering deep in her mind when this torture was gonna end.

XXXXXXXX

“Monsters through the roof, huh?” Zipp asked Misty and Scooby as they all walked into Shaggy’s room to see what the panic was about. Scooby nodded in confirmation to this. “That’s right!”

“Okay,” said Shaggy, looking around, “like, where’s the hole?”

Scooby pointed his paw up to the roof. “Up there!”

Shaggy looked where Scooby was pointing but didn’t see anything. “Where?”

“Right up… huh?!” Misty looked surprised as she saw that the hole had been patched in. “Wha… where did it go?!”

“Don’t worry, Misty and Uncle Scooby!” Scrappy said to the duo. “We still love you even if you are a bunch of wackos.”

“Sunny, you HAVE to believe us!” Misty said desperately. “We saw the monsters with our own eyes!”

“Misty, we’re not saying we don’t believe you,” Sunny said gently, taking Misty by the hoof. “But how do you explain the hole in the roof disappearing?”

“I… I wish I could explain…” Misty muttered quietly. “Maybe we were imagining things.”

Scooby whimpered and nudged Misty’s face with his snout, trying to cheer her up. “Come on, Scooby… let’s go downstairs and let Shaggy get back to sleep. Maybe a less scary movie will take our minds off this whole ‘monsters coming to get Shaggy’ stuff.”

XXXXXXXX

Izzy managed to find the ponies, Sparky and Scooby a nice fairytale movie to watch on TV, but during the silence, Misty couldn’t help but feel like such a foal.

How could the hole have just disappeared?

Did she and Scooby really just imagine the whole thing?

Or was something else going on that they didn't know about?

Little did she and her friends know, Indigo was watching them out of the window, and Indigo couldn’t help but sympathize with poor Misty.

She could learn a lot about a pony just by looking and listening, and right now… she was feeling pretty darn bad about what she and the Hunch Bunch were doing.

But… she also admired the fact that the ponies believed Misty and Scooby when nopony else did.

All she could hope for was that transforming Shaggy into a werewolf one of the three nights would not affect his friendship with the ponies too much.

XXXXXXXX

“Dracula calling the Hunch Bunch, Dracula calling the Hunch Bunch! Where are you? Where's my new werewolf?” Dracula said to the Hunch Bunch over the intercom in the BatCopter. “Come in, Hunch Bunch!”

“Master…” Crunch said before babbling a bunch of nonsense, getting spit all over the place and annoying Dracula further. “Get off, Crunch, you monster mush-mouth! I want to speak to Brunch!”

“Uh… yes, Your Evilness,” Brunch took the mic from his acquaintance and gave Dracula the update on their mission. “We've had a spot of bad luck this evening, but never fear, we'll bag your werewolf tomorrow night or our name isn't the Hunch Bunch!”

“You better or your names and that little cat’s name will be mud!” Dracula threatened the duo and Indigo, although she was not present. “Or maybe even… blood.”

“Blood?!” Crunch began to babble in panic, causing Brunch to sigh.

They had to bag that werewolf one of these nights… otherwise, things would not work out for them in the end.

The Second and Third Nights/Shaggy's Transformation Occurs

The first night of the Hunch Bunch and Indigo's mission had been a complete failure-- Misty and Scooby had managed to get Shaggy out of bed before the moonlight could turn him into a werewolf, and now they had only two more nights to turn Shaggy into a werewolf and bring him back to Transylvania for the race.

Indigo continued to watch the Mane 6, Shaggy, Scooby, Sparky and Scrappy for the rest of the next day, watching how they interacted with each other with kindness and compassion… something that she wished that Dracula treated her with.

But, she knew that this was just a silly wish... a wish that would never come true, no matter how much she wanted it to.

Indigo knew that all she could do, as much as she hated to admit it, was to help the Hunch Bunch in their plans, and hope they didn't run into another round of failure in doing such.

XXXXXXXX

As the moon began to rise into the sky on that second night, Shaggy realized that they needed to make an emergency trip to the nearby supermarket for some snacks, so the entire group hopped in the car and headed that way...

...unaware that the Hunch Bunch and Indigo were flying right on their tails in the BatCopter.

Zipp could have sworn that they were being followed at some point, but when she turned and saw that the BatCopter had hidden from view, she shrugged it off and resumed her conversations with her friends.

Finally, they arrived at the parking lot of the supermarket. “There!” Crunch cried from the BatCopter as the gang pulled into the supermarket. “There they are!”

“Ha ha, yes!” Brunch smiled victoriously. “And with the moon, we shan't fail tonight, Crunch!”

“Uh, yeah… we can’t fail tonight,” Indigo said quietly as Brunch maneuvered the copter to land in the back parking lot and out of sight.

XXXXXXXX

“Like, watch Sparky and the car, will you, Scrappy?” Shaggy asked the young Great Dane pup. “The ponies, Scoob and I are just gonna go in and grab a few snacks.”

“Sure thing, Shag,” Scrappy smiled. “Be good for Scrappy, Sparkeroni!” Hitch called as they walked away. “We’ll be back in a few minutes!”

XXXXXXXX

After landing the BatCopter out of sight, Indigo and the Hunch Bunch crept out into the open, and Brunch made an X marking right in the middle of the loading dock. “Ah, yes. Here is the exact spot for the transformation. Hurry, Crunch! We must work fast!”

“Yeah!” Crunch nodded. “Yeah!”

“Um… what do I do?” Indigo asked hesitantly. “Well, for starters, you can keep those pesky ponies away from our plans this time,” Brunch said sternly. “If that one unicorn ruined our attempt last night, the others will surely do the same.”

“Y-Yeah… I think I can manage that,” Indigo nodded hesitantly with a small sigh afterwards. “Or at least… I hope I can.”

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6, Shaggy and Scooby walked into the supermarket just as a woman was walking out with her buggy full of groceries, and she frowned upon the Hunch Bunch and Indigo creeping in behind them. “Honestly,” she muttered to herself with an annoyed look, “the way these kids dress nowadays.”

XXXXXXXX

“Okay, guys-- you cover the freezer section to get what you guys need,” Sunny told Shaggy and Scooby as they prepared to split up, “and we’ll cover the produce. We'll meet at the check-out in half an hour.”

“You got it, Sunny,” Shaggy fist-bumped her hoof before they all split up… unaware that Indigo had been listening to the ponies’ conversation. “Hmmm… if they’re heading to the produce, I just need to find some way to keep them there while the Hunch Bunch takes care of the rest.”

That’s when she glanced at her wings and got an idea. She hated to use her weather powers like this, but… it didn’t seem like she had much of a choice in the matter.

Closing her eyes, she allowed her wings to fill up with power before she flapped them once, causing a huge clap of thunder to echo throughout the entire produce section, causing the ponies to stumble and try and maintain their balance.

All the produce, on the other hoof, wasn't as lucky, and fell all over the place and made a huge mess.

After Indigo finally stopped the thunder, she ducked out of sight before she was spotted, and Hitch panted at what had just occured. “What was that?!”

“I don’t know, but whatever it was, it sure made a huge mess!” Sunny frowned. “We better clean this up before anypony gets hurt.”

Indigo sighed as she watched the ponies begin to pick up the mess she made and crept off, hoping that she wouldn't have to endure the Hunch Bunch and their evil for very much longer.

XXXXXXXX

“Now let me see…” Shaggy muttered as he began to toss several freezer items into the cart Scooby was pushing. “We need about a dozen of these frozen pizzas and some frozen pies, some cakes and some ice cream bars.”

“And some doggy bon-bons!” Scooby added, approaching some. But before he could select a box, a hand rose from the freezer and handed him one. “Thank you.”

But as he put the box in the cart, Scooby realized what happened, yelped and ran off, causing Crunch to leap out and chase him in another direction.

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6 managed to clean up the spilled fruit and veggies rather quickly, but they immediately stopped once they had heard Scooby yelp, with Pipp growing the most concerned. “Did anypony hear that?”

“Sounds like Scooby’s in trouble!” Misty cried out. “We gotta help him!”

“Everypony, follow me!” Zipp said, taking off with the others right on her heels. “He sounds like he’s on the other side of the store!”

XXXXXXXX

As Scooby was running for his life from Crunch, Shaggy was scooped up into the shopping cart by Brunch and taken for a wild ride of his own. However, Shaggy thought it was Scooby pushing the cart at such a rapid pace. “AHH!!! Scooby!! STOP!!!”

However, Scooby was still running, even when Crunch wasn't chasing him anymore, and he ran all the way to the outside of the store, barreling through a display of soup cans before finally stopping to catch his breath.

That was way too close.

Suddenly, Shaggy in the shopping cart, now pushed by Brunch and Crunch, zoomed past him. “Stop, Scooby!”

Scooby did a double take at this. “Scooby?!”

“Scooby, are you okay? And where is Shaggy going?” Sunny asked as the ponies screeched to a halt beside him. “Did you see something?”

Scooby growled and tried to imitate the monsters from last night, and suddenly, Misty gasped in understanding. “He’s saying the monsters from last night pushed Shaggy out of the store and they’re heading for the back lot! We gotta go find Shaggy before he gets hurt!”

“Lead the way, Scoob!” Hitch told the Great Dane before they ran off in search of their friend.

XXXXXXXX

“Look!” Crunch said as he stopped to point at the moon above. “The moon!”

“Yes, Crunch,” Brunch nodded. “The moon is in the perfect position.”

Then, as they knew that they would be in the perfect position themselves, they let Shaggy go, pushing the shopping cart right toward the spot they had marked and letting Shaggy yell out in shock...

...right before he slammed right into a pile of watermelons that had been moved right there. “What happened?” Indigo asked quietly as she came into view. “Did it work?”

“Oh, rot and bother, no, it didn’t!” Brunch said in frustration. “Now we only have one more night to turn the lad into a werewolf! Come, you two. Let's reconnoiter.”

“Reconnoiter?” Crunch muttered in confusion before they went out of sight… just as Scooby and the Mane 6 ran forward toward their friend. “Shaggy!” Pipp cried out. “OMP, are you okay?!”

Shaggy answered by spitting watermelon seeds out of his mouth before putting a piece of a watermelon on Scooby’s head, allowing the Great Dane to lick the juice that came from it. “Mmm… yummy!”

“Okay, this is just getting weird,” Zipp muttered to Hitch as the others got Shaggy out of the watermelons. “First, Misty and Scooby see monsters trying to get in through the roof last night and now this? What’s the connection?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like where this could be going,” Hitch said with a worried frown on his face. “Come on… we better get Shaggy home before anymore monster attacks happen.”

XXXXXXXX

Indigo knew on that third and final night that if she and the Hunch Bunch wanted to keep living, they HAD to get Shaggy to turn into a werewolf tonight.

Dracula was counting on them, and Indigo's clan was counting on the fact that she was going to get back to them once this mission was finally over.

As Brunch, Crunch and Indigo were preparing to go spy on the group to see where they were going tonight, a bat flew in front of them before turning into Dracula himself, causing the three of them to reel back. “Master!” Crunch cried out. “Master!” Indigo said, bowing out of fear for her master. “W-W-Wha… what are you doing here?!”

“Aha! I am not here,” Dracula told them. “This is my image transmitted by my new bat laser. How do I look?”

But when he unfurled his cape, Brunch could clearly see his master’s underwear, causing Indigo to yelp. “I, um, think you lost something in the transmission, sire,” Brunch said politely, causing Dracula to recover himself. “Ah, well, never mind! What I want to know is, where's my werewolf?”

“Don’t worry,” Indigo reassured her master, trying to look braver than she felt. “We’ll accomplish our mission tonight.”

“You better get him this time,” Dracula told his three minions, “or you can turn in your wings and humps!”

And just like that he disappeared just before they saw Shaggy’s racing car pull out of the driveway and out onto the streets. “Quickly, you two!” Brunch cried out. “To the copter!”

And so, Indigo and the Hunch Bunch ran off to find the copter, hoping they could change Shaggy into a werewolf before the moon set and was too late.

XXXXXXXX

“Gee,” said Scrappy as the group drove down the road, “thanks for taking us on your date with Googie to the drive-in, Shag.”

“LIke, confidentially,” Shaggy whispered, “I didn’t wanna leave Misty and your Uncle Scooby home. You know, the way Scoob’s been seeing things that aren't there lately and Misty’s been playing along?”

“But…!!” Misty was about to say before she growled in frustration, leaving Izzy to try and comfort her and Scooby all at once.

No matter how many times that she and Scooby tried to explain to Shaggy about what had been happening, he just wouldn't believe them!

All they could hope was that tonight went smoothly, and no more monsters showed up to ruin things.

XXXXXXXX

Pretty soon, they picked Googie up at her house and went to the drive-in movie theater to see one of the new monster movies that was playing.

Googie didn’t seem to mind that the others came along-- in fact, she loved spending time with them.

As the movie progressed, she found herself leaning against Shaggy’s shoulder. “Golly, Shaggy, isn't it just a dreamy night?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Shaggy said, his eyes still on the movie as he slurped on his drink, causing Googie to try and make a further attempt. “Gee, Shaggy, it's so romantic here.”

“...oh, yeah,” Hitch said as he uncovered his eyes for a moment. “Nothing more romantic than watching blood-thirsty monsters trying to kill people.”

At the same time, the Hunch Bunch and Indigo were watching the movie from their hiding place, and needless to say, Crunch wasn’t at all impressed. “Movie monsters? Blech… pooey!”

“Yeah, I kinda have to agree,” Indigo frowned, hating that the words were leaving her mouth at all. “They don’t look like you guys in the slightest!”

“Ah, there’s our boy!” Brunch said as he spotted Shaggy. “Hurry, Indigo and Crunch! The moon is coming into position!”

“Ohh… I really hope this works…” Indigo muttered as she snuck ahead of the monsters. But as he saw the monsters sneak past, Scooby found himself whimpering nervously-- this exactly what he DIDN'T want to happen. “Oh, Shaggy, I…” Googie began to say before she heard a strange sound. “What’s that?”

“Uh-oh,” Zipp frowned. “Looks like Scooby’s chattering teeth!”

“Oh, no…” Shaggy groaned before handing Scrappy some money. “Here, you guys. Go get some shacks, will you?”

“Sure thing!” Izzy chirped. “We’ll be back soon!”

“Oh, and uh… take your time, guys,” Googie giggled as they left the scene, unaware the Hunch Bunch was watching everything. That’s when Googie noticed Shaggy drinking his soda at a very alarming pace. “Oh, Shaggy, don't drink so fast. You'll get the hiccups,” she said before looking up at the moon through the window. “Gee, Shaggy, look at that moon.”

However, Shaggy was still too focused on his drink to listen. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Oh, wouldn't it be heavenly to put the top down?”

“Mmm-hmm…”

“Oh… I sure hope this works…” Indigo said, closing her eyes as she used her paw to push a button on the car and lower the top of the car so the moonlight could shine down. Then, as he hiccupped, a moonbeam struck Shaggy, and just like Dracula wanted…

…Shaggy became a werewolf.

Capture of the Reluctant Werewolf

Shaggy had just been turned into a fuzz-faced werewolf by the Hunch Bunch and Indigo (the latter being forced to, of course), and while Googie had been paying no attention to the change, too enamored by the moonlight, Crunch and Brunch hopped up and down in celebration while Indigo sat in horror at what she had just allowed to happen.

Finally, Googie spoke up to her boyfriend again. “Oh, Shaggy-kins, what a dreamy night.”

Shaggy growled at her a bit before hiccupping again, and as he reverted back to normal (much to the shock of the Hunch Bunch), Googie turned to him with an annoyed look. “Shaggy, I told you you'd get the hiccups if you drank too fast.”

“Like, I’m sorry,” Shaggy apologized. “ Besides, I don't have the hiccups. That was just one.”

“It was not just one,” Googie said back, “it was two!”

“Well, like, I don't have them anymore, okay?”

“Well… okay.”

Shaggy then took another slurp of his drink, but when he hiccupped again, he returned back to his werewolf form. “Oh, give me that!” Googie tossed the drink out the window, landing on Indigo and causing her to shake her fur out to get it off.

Shaggy growled at Googie’s actions before he hiccupped again, returning to normal before Googie turned to confront him. “Oh, don't you growl at me!”

“Growl?” Shaggy questioned. “Like, I didn’t growl at you!”

“You did too!”

“Did not!”

“Yes, you did! And just don't bother me!”

Shaggy continued to hiccup and change back and forth between forms, and eventually, Crunch turned to his partner-in-crime for an answer. “What's going on?”

“Beats me, old boy,” Brunch answered honestly as they continued to watch the situation. “Oh, for goodness sakes, Shaggy… go and do something for those hiccups.”

“Like, okay, okay,” Shaggy sighed, getting out of the car, having reverted to normal. “I guess I need something to eat.”

“That boy…” Googie sighed to herself as she watched him walk off. “It's a good thing for him that I'm crazy about him.”

“Boy, like, I don't know why she gets so uptight…” Shaggy said as he continued to hiccup and change forms. “Just because… hiccup… I have… hiccup… a little case of… hiccup… hiccups.”

However, as he walked past many of the different cars with people watching the movie, he noticed a lot of them screaming their heads off just as he walked past. “Like, why do girls always scream at these drippy horror movies?”

Once he hiccupped again and returned to normal form, everything seemed fine for a minute or so… but when he hiccupped another time and returned to werewolf form, the people started screaming again, causing Shaggy to chuckle, still thinking that they were watching the movie instead of him. “Incredible. Some people get shook up by anything.”

And so, he finally made it to the snack bar, talking to the attendant while the Hunch Bunch and Indigo watched from nearby. “You know,” said Shaggy, “I don't believe how these bird-brains go so nuts at this dumb horror stuff.”

“Yeah, well, you know, your kids nowadays are really goofy. In my day, we had our heads on a lot straighter,” the attendant said before turning to Shaggy, not noticing his werewolf form right away. “What'll it be, pal?”

“A triple guacamole dip, please.”

“Coming up!”

Shaggy hiccupped again as soon as the attendant turned around, reverting to normal before speaking again. “Oh, like, hold the onions. I'm with my girlfriend.”

“Uh… no onions,” said the attendant. “Right.”

As Shaggy kept hiccuping and reverting back and forth, Indigo found herself growing confused. “Brunch? Why do you think he keeps changing?”

“Shh!” Brunch shushed her to keep her voice down. “I must confess. I'm at a loss for an explanation, Indigo.”

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6, Sparky, Scrappy and Scooby had left the snack bar just before Shaggy had gotten there, and were now arriving back at the car with their boatload of snacks. “We’re back, guys!” Sunny said as they set the snacks down. “Yeah, dig in,” Scooby said before noticing Shaggy’s absence. “Uh… where’s Shaggy?”

“Oh, he went to get something for his hiccups,” Googie explained. “But where are the napkins?”

“Oops! I knew we forgot something! You guys stay here… we’ll be right back!” Misty said, realizing their mistake before guiding Scooby back the way they came.

XXXXXXXX

Around the same time, some of the kids who had seen Shaggy had called an officer to the scene to report it, but the officer didn’t seem to believe it at first. “Ah, come on now. You're pulling my leg.”

“No, sir!” said the first girl. “We all saw him!”

“It was totally weird!” said one of the boys. “He changed right in front of our eyes!”

“That’s right!” another girl agreed. “It was horrible!”

“No lie, officer,” said the second boy as Misty and Scooby trotted past. “There’s a real werewolf in this drive-in!”

“A real werewolf?!” Misty and Scooby repeated, stopping in total terror. “Oh no!”

And so, the two leapt inside of a nearby car to hide. “And he went toward the snack bar! 'Come on!” said one of the boys, and the kids proceeded to run with the officer in the direction of the werewolf sighting.

XXXXXXXX

Indigo and the Hunch Bunch proceeded to watch Shaggy for a few moments before the trash can they were hiding behind moved, causing Indigo to shriek in surprise. “Hello? What’s this?” Brunch looked confused before Dracula popped out of the trash can. “Oh, it’s you, master.”

“Yes,” Dracula removed a banana peel from his head. “Well, where is my Shaggy werewolf?”

“Shh! Over there, your awfulness,” Brunch pointed to the now-werewolf Shaggy. “Excellent!” Dracula smiled, pleased. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go and get him!”

“Uh… just one minor problem, sire,” Indigo said politely. “It seems like Shaggy has… well… he has the hiccups!”

However, Dracula was confused about why this was a problem. “Hiccups? Hiccups? Big deal! So what if he has the hiccups?”

But, when Dracula saw Shaggy’s hiccup-induced transformations, he knew they had a real problem. “Oh, no! A convertible werewolf!” he muttered before turning to his three servants. “You'd better cure his hiccups fast, or I'll put lumps on your humps!”

“Rest assured, sire,” Brunch smiled. “We’ll have him back at the castle within the hour.”

“Um… I’m gonna meet you guys back at the copter,” Indigo said before sneaking off as the Hunch Bunch made themselves ready to grab Shaggy.

XXXXXXXX

However, as he turned to face Shaggy with his guacamole dip, the attendant at the snack bar saw Shaggy’s werewolf form. “Here’s your triple… WHAAA!!!”

As he zoomed away, Shaggy moved back, letting the Hunch Bunch crash into the snack bar and sending Shaggy on the run. “Yikes! Monsters! HELP!!!”

Crunch began to give chase after him, but Brunch pulled him out of sight as the kids from before and the officers began to give Shaggy chase instead. “That’s him!” one of the boys shouted. “That’s the monster!”

“Huh?!” Shaggy cried out. “No, not me! WAIT!! YEOW!!”

“Get him!”

“That’s him!”

As the crowd proceeded to chase after Shaggy, Crunch prepared to go after him again, only for Brunch to stop him before he could. “Wait, Crunch. We can apprehend him easier from the BatCopter.”

“Okay,” Crunch nodded and proceeded to walk off to where the BatCopter and Indigo would be waiting for them.

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy proceeded to run from the crowd, unsure of why anyone would think he was a monster (of course, he still didn't realize he was a werewolf now). “Hey, like, I know I'm not handsome but I'm no monster! Like, I give up!”

But as he hid and hiccupped again, he reverted to normal and this let the crowd run past him, causing Shaggy severe confusion. “What gives here, anyway?”

However, when he hiccupped again, his werewolf form was once again revealed. “There he is!” the officer cried. “Let’s get him!”

“Not again!” Shaggy cried as he bolted off again. “Like, this is nuts!”

“Get him!”

“Grab that werewolf!”

“After him!”

Shaggy hiccuped and reverted back to normal at a white convertible nearby… the same white convertible Misty and Scooby had been hiding in. So, without another moment of hesitation, Misty and Scooby grabbed Shaggy and pulled him into their hiding place as soon as the crowd ran by.

“There he goes!”

“After him!”

“Get him!”

And just like that, the crowd had run off. And once they were alone, Scooby shushed Shaggy in order to make sure he kept his voice down. “There’s a monster loose!”

“There’s two of them,” Shaggy said fearfully, referring to the Hunch Bunch. “And that crowd thinks one of the monsters is me!”

“You?” Misty blinked in confusion, and this prompted Scooby to laugh at such a ridiculous claim. However, when Shaggy laughed with Scooby, he hiccuped again, revealing his werewolf form. “AGH!!” Misty and Scooby shrieked, but only the latter was able to speak after this. “It is you!”

Needless to say, Shaggy was shocked. “What?!”

“Look!” Misty said as she tilted the rearview mirror in his direction, and this time, Shaggy was able to realize what had been going on. “Oh no… oh no! I-I’m a werewolf!” he cried out, completely in panic. ‘Scooby, old buddy, old pal, what'll I do?”

However, as he turned, he and Misty realized Scooby had disappeared. “Scooby?”

Scooby was currently trying to sneak away, causing Misty to sigh and grab his tail with her magic. “Come back here!”

Once Scooby was back in the safety of the car, Shaggy turned to them with a desperate plea. “You and Misty gotta help me, Scoob, old pal, old friend, old dear good buddy!”

“Uh… we’ll try, Shaggy,” Misty said with an uneasy frown, “but it may take a little time in order to figure out what to do next.”

“Misty?”

The three of them gasped and froze as soon as they heard a voice, and Misty turned to see it was just her friends. “Misty! We heard screaming coming from over here!” Sunny said as she, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp and Izzy approached. “Is everything…?”

But as soon as they saw Shaggy, the five ponies screamed in fright. “Guys guys guys guys! Calm down! It’s just Shaggy!” Misty quickly tried to reassure. “He’s just… well… a little… shaggier than usual.”

“...Shaggy?!” Zipp looked at him closer, realizing Misty was right. “What happened?!”

“Believe me, Zipper, I wish I knew!” Shaggy said. “One second, I’m fine, and then the next--”

“You’ve been turned into a werewolf!” Hitch cried out. “Ohhh… ohhh, this is bad! This is SO totally bad!”

“Not to mention there’s a whole crowd after Shaggy,” Misty added, “and there are some other monsters on the loose too!”

“What do we do?” Pipp asked. “We can’t let Shaggy get caught like this!”

“Especially when we don’t know who caused him to turn into a werewolf!” Hitch added. “And most especially,” Zipp added, panic laced in her tone, “since we don’t know how to break the spell!”

“Okay… nopony needs to panic just yet,” Sunny said. “First, we need to figure out how to get Shaggy past that crowd to where it’s safe. THEN we can search through Misty’s spellbook to see if there’s anything we can use to help us turn Shaggy back to normal.”

“Okay, but how are we supposed to disguise a full-fledged werewolf in plain sight?” Misty asked unsuredly. That’s when Izzy noticed the popcorn bucket in the seat Scooby was sitting in and got an immediate idea. “I have an idea, but Scooby, I’ll need that popcorn bucket and everypony's help!”

“We’re in,” Zipp smiled. “Just tell us what to do first.”

XXXXXXXX

“Rats!” one of the boys said in frustration, having lost Shaggy in the crowded drive-in. “We lost him!”

“He’s hiding here someplace,” said the officer, scratching his head. “But the real question is where?”

That’s when the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby, the latter two whistling, walked into view, Shaggy’s furry head coated by a popcorn bucket helmet that Izzy needed help to unicycle.

Unfortunately, Shaggy’s helmet didn’t stop the crowd from seeing him. “That’s the werewolf!” one of the boys shouted. “Come on!”

“Well, that sure didn’t work!” Pipp yelped. “In other news,” said Zipp desperately, “RUN!!”

And so, the group broke into a sprint, being chased by the crowd through the drive-in and trying to find Shaggy's car so they could get into it and make a fast getaway before anything worse happened.

However, when they did this, Googie screamed upon seeing Shaggy’s werewolf form as they drove off into the night. “Oh no!” one of the boys shouted as they drove past the mob. “The werewolf’s kidnapped those ponies and that girl!”

“Quick!” cried another boy. “Let's get to our cars!”

XXXXXXXX

“Stop this car, you yucky monster!” Googie demanded furiously to Shaggy, not realizing that Shaggy was now a werewolf. “What did you do with Shaggy?”

“Knock it off right now, Googie!” Zipp said quickly. “That is Shaggy!”

Upon realizing Zipp was right, Googie let out a startled gasp. “Oh no!”

“Uh, guys! I don’t think we have time for a heart-to-heart moment right now!” Pipp cried, looking out of the back of the car to see the mob gaining on them. “They’re catching up to us!!!”

“Step on it, Shaggy!” Hitch cried. “Before we’re all killed, and we can’t help you change back to your normal self!”

So, Shaggy drove as fast as the car would allow, through the city and into the outskirts of town where it wouldn’t be as easy to navigate.

However, the rough terrain was enough to slow them down quite a bit, and Googie was able to see a startling sight just ahead of them-- a humongous cliff that, if they didn't do something, would cause them to be be trapped against it! “LOOK OUT!!”

Luckily, Shaggy was able to activate a spring on the bottom of the car, allowing them to leap up to the top of the cliff just as the mob was gaining on them.

And once they were finally a good distance away from the edge of the cliff, Shaggy finally stopped the car, slumped in exhaustion. “Oh, Shaggy! You poor dear!” Googie said, instantly concerned for her werewolf-transformed boyfriend. “Why would such a thing happen to you?”

“Like, how should I know?” Shaggy answered back before sighing. “I guess we lost ‘em.”

“That’s a relief,” Zipp said, getting out her Flypad to take notes. “Now we just need to figure out who turned Shaggy into a werewolf, why and figure out how to turn him back before anything worse happens.”

“But how can we do that without Misty’s spellbook?” Izzy asked. “We left it back home!”

“Actually,” said Misty, “I’ve been working on a spell that can help with that!”

She lit her horn with a bright white light, and within seconds, the spellbook flew from the town and into her open hooves. “Whoa!” Sunny smiled. “You’ve really developed a connection with that book, huh?”

“I guess I have,” Misty giggled before flipping it open. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got here…”

As the others craned their necks to see inside Misty's spellbook for a solution, the BatCopter hovered over them within the clouds, and Brunch knew that this was the right time to make his move. “Drop the moondust, Crunch!”

“Okay!” Crunch nodded and dropped the dust upon the group while Indigo watched in worry. As the dust took effect on the group, Shaggy yawned tiredly, his eyes struggling to remain open. “Well, at least I lost my hiccups…”

“That’s the least… of our problems…” Pipp yawned before she, like all her friends, fell asleep, causing Indigo to gasp. “Wait wait wait! The master never said to bring back anyone other than Shaggy!” she said. “What if he gets angry at us?”

“Oh, if his friends are the only thing keeping him here,” Brunch said, “then I think the master will find this most helpful. Now, activate the cable!”

“Ugh… fine…” Indigo sighed under her breath and pushed a button, activating a cable that grabbed onto the car and carried it up into the sky with them. “At last!” Brunch declared as they flew off into the sky. “The master will have his reluctant werewolf!”

Brunch and Crunch cackled happily as Indigo could only stare out the window in sadness.

What had she just allowed to happen?

These guys’ lives were gonna be ruined forever… and it was all her fault.

Back to Transylvania/The Leopard I Wanna Be

Brunch, Crunch and Indigo had successfully captured Shaggy and were returning him (after he was turned into a werewolf) and his friends (including the Mane 6 and Sparky) to Dracula's castle in the deepest, darkest parts of Transylvania...

...and Indigo hated the fact that she was part of this evil plan to begin with.

All she wanted more than anything was to forget she was ever a part of this kidnapping/werewolf transformation plan and find a way to get back to her friends so they could escape Transylvania together.

However... if Dracula needed her here, then that was where she needed to be... at least, for now.

Now, let's get back to the story and figure out what happens next.

XXXXXXXX

After a long while of flying through the skies, Crunch finally saw that the castle was coming into view. “Look! The castle!”

“Yeah, Crunch… the castle,” Indigo sighed sadly as she gazed down at the lifeless hunk of bricks. “Home, sweet home… I guess…”

“'I see the master has installed the new bat copter dome door,” said Brunch, observing their surroundings before seeing Dracula waiting for them on the drawbridge. “Ah, there he is, awaiting our landing. Get the remote control, my good fellow, and open the dome.”

“Okay,” Crunch nodded before activating the remote. However, instead of the dome opening, the drawbridge went up instead… with Dracula on it! Luckily, Dracula was able to slide safely into the castle, but Crunch felt a sense of dread wash over him. “Uh-oh…”

“Oooh… bad aim, Crunch,” Indigo winced. “I-I think we’re in hot water now.”

“Hot water nothing!” Dracula scolded all of them on the screen before them, surprising Indigo and the two hunchbacks. “I’m going to put you ALL in boiling oil!”

“Oh no! Not boiling oil!” Crunch pleaded desperately, spitting all over the screen AND all over Dracula. “Oh, please, master!”

“Stop that, you whining wimp!” Dracula barked as Vanna Pira wiped off his face. “And bring my werewolf in here, on the double!”

“Yes, master,” Crunch said obediently, but ended up spitting on Dracula even more and causing his anger to rise. “Gah! Phooey!”

“There there, Dracky honey,” Vanna Pira said soothingly. “Your face is getting flushed!”

“How can I help it?” Dracula protested. “Every time he talks, he flushes everything!”

“Well, it’s not really his fault,” Indigo said to her master gently. “After all, he IS a monster.”

“Sure, he's a monster, but that's no excuse for being a wet schnook!”

Indigo sighed as her master cut off the feed… it seemed as if anything she said would be met by a rebuttal of her master’s rudeness.

Nevertheless, they still had a job to do.

The BatCopter began to lower through the dome and managed to get the car with their guests inside, but the copter itself got stuck since it's wings were so large. This caused Dracula to come in, still fuming about being spit on earlier. “What’s wrong now?!”

“A spot of bother, sire,” Brunch said with an apologetic frown on his face. “It seems we're hung up, as it were.”

“Well,” said Dracula with his hands in his hips, “can one of you fools release the cable on the car?”

“Sure!” Crunch said cheerfully. “I can!”

With one tug of a lever, he released the cable and sent the car falling onto Dracula, causing him to scream as the car made contact. “Uh oh...” Crunch and Indigo winced all at once, and Brunch turned to Crunch with a faint smile. “Oh, I do wish you had consulted me before you did that, old man.”

Suddenly, just before anyone could say or do anything else, the BatCopter fell out of the dome and right on top of Dracula (who just got out from under the car when it happened), causing him to wail and causing Indigo to wince. “You know,” she said to the Hunch Bunch, “I wonder which lubricant he'll boil us in. Machine oil or motor oil?”

However, Crunch's response to this was a mere sob.

XXXXXXXX

Only a few minutes after Dracula got out from under the copter, Indigo used her weather powers to create clouds and carry Shaggy and all his friends to the throne room for them to be woken up and for them to meet the other monsters.

Well... she WAS doing that... until she heard a tapping at the window, which caused her to turn and gasp at what she saw.

Cyrus was waving to her outside the window, beckoning her to come outside.

Indigo gulped nervously before sending the clouds with the sleeping group toward the throne room. “Uh... I'll be back soon, master. I gotta... use the little leopard's room, if you know what I'm saying.”

And just like that, Indigo flew off down another hallway, leaving Dracula and the Hunch Bunch a bit confused.

The bathroom was a completely different direction, so where in the world could she be going?

XXXXXXXX

Indigo met Cyrus up on the roof of the castle, her eyes wide and full of panic. “Cyrus, what in leopard's name are you doing here?! If Dracula or anyone else were to see you here, he could take you captive too!”

“I know, but when I was out hunting, I saw you guys coming back in the BatCopter and I wanted to come and check on you,” Cyrus said to his friend. “So... how did it go?”

“Well... things took a bit more of a drastic turn. Instead of just capturing Shaggy and turning him into a werewolf,” Indigo explained, “Brunch had the genius idea to bring Shaggy's friends with him in order to make sure he didn’t try to leave!”

“What?! Forget what we said earlier-- that's wrong on a totally different level!” Cyrus growled before turning back to her. “Other than Shaggy, how many were there?”

“Ten more, as far as I could see-- knocked out cold using the moondust that Brunch and Crunch had on hand,” Indigo said, clearly worried. “There were, uh... two dogs, one girl, obviously Shaggy's girlfriend, a baby dragon and... six Equestrians.”

Cyrus did a double take at this. “Equestrians?! Six of them?! Are you sure?”

“I've never been so sure about anything in my life,” Indigo responded seriously. “And there's no way that Dracula is gonna let them go and make Shaggy stay... he'll hold all of them here until he gets what he wants, and I know he's gonna try and make them all miserable.”

“...just like he's doing to you,” Cyrus said gently, and Indigo's silence was enough to make him come to an internal decision. “That's it-- I'll get the rest of the clan and we're gonna make sure Dracula pays for all of this!”

“No! If you do that, Dracula won't hesitate to destroy you!” Indigo said seriously. “I... I just have to keep them safe until after the race. Once the race is over, we can get them all out of here together.”

“But... are you still gonna be in time for the big Fairy Moon celebration tomorrow night?” Cyrus asked. “You know we haven’t missed a single one since... well... since your mom...”

“Since she passed away. I know,” Indigo hung her head. “Just... wait for me tomorrow night at the top of the cliffs. We'll figure out what to do once were all together... I promise.”

Cyrus sighed heavily at this. “Okay. I guess we'll see you tomorrow night. Keep those guys safe until then, okay?”

“...I'll protect them with all the magic I have in me.”

Cyrus purred against her as a sign of comfort before unfurling his wings and flying off toward the cliffs to reunite with the other leopards.

Not long after she had watched him disappear from sight, Indigo found a sadness stirring within her heart and decided to express it in a way her mother taught her before she passed...

...by singing her feelings out.

Indigo: If I'm a diamond
Then why do I feel so rough?
I'm as strong as a stone
Even that's not enough

There's something jagged in me
And I've made such mistakes
I thought that diamonds were hard
Though I feel I could break

Would you believe
That I've always wished I could be somepony else?
Yet I can't see
What I need to do to be the leopard I want to be

Indigo sniffled and tried to wipe her tears away with her paw, but more appeared before she could stop them, deciding to sing another verse of how she had been treated by Dracula... the Hunch Bunch...

...even her own father.

Indigo: I've been told my whole life
What to do, what to say
Nopony showed me that
There might be some better way

And now I feel like I'm lost
I don't know what to do
The ground is sinking away
I'm about to fall through

Would you believe
That I've always wished I could be somepony else?
Yet I can't see
What I need to do to be the leopard I want to be

And be the leopard I wanna be...

And with one last sorrowful glance, Indigo left the rooftop to head into the castle to greet their guests.

After all, with the race in a few days, there was still quite a bit to prepare for.

A Monstrous Welcome

Indigo trudged back into the castle after her heartbreaking ballad and walked to the throne room, where Shaggy and his friends laid upon the stone tables in front of the crowd.

Just seeing them trapped under the moondust's magic just made her heart sink.

She knew she had to help them, but... even she was unsure how.

Dracula, on the other paw, seemed pleased that they finally had a werewolf to be in the Monster Road Rally in just a few days. “Ah! At last, I have my werewolf!” he said before turning to two of his loyal minions. “Crunch? Brunch? Bring the revival spray and awaken our guests.”

“Yes, master!” Crunch said obediently, holding the container of revival spray in his reach. “Turn it on, turn it on!”

“Roger, old boy!” Brunch smiled before turning the container on full blast. “Roger?” Crunch looked back at him, unknowingly let the revival spray go in Dracula’s face. “I'm not Roger. I'm Crunch.”

“You’re going to be history,” Dracula promised Crunch with a mad expression, “if you don't take that thing out of my face!”

“...oops…” Crunch realized his mistake before doing as told. Once Dracula was no longer being sprayed, Crunch sprayed the revival spray on the group, causing them to slowly stir until Dracula stopped them. “That’s enough already!”

“Yes, master,” Indigo said and quickly shut off the container, stopping the flow of revival spray. At that moment, members of the group began to wake up slowly, with Pipp being the first to speak. “Oh, man, what a nap!” she said with a smile. “I feel like a whole new… pony…?!”

That’s when the group saw the monsters and ghouls surrounding their stone tables, causing them to immediately react with fright. “W-W-Where are we?!” Scooby asked with wide eyes. “I d-d-d-don’t know, Scooby,” Misty stammered. “Yeah!” Izzy nodded fearfully. “This is almost too horrible to be real!”

Suddenly, what Izzy just said rang a bell inside Shaggy’s head, giving him his own personal theories about what was going on. “Hey. Hey, wait a minute. That's it!”

“That’s what?” the others seemed to chorus. “It’s not real! It’s a dream!” Shaggy said with a laugh. “Like, we're having a nightmare.”

However, even Scooby seemed skeptic. “Really?”

“Sure!”

“A nightmare?” Googie repeated. “All of us?”

“Well, it is possible,” Sunny said. “Throughout Equestrian times, some ponies had shared dreams, so maybe it’s possible here too.”

“I mean, come on, Sunny-- it has to be a nightmare! Get a load of the rag-and-bone crew over there,” Shaggy pointed to the mummy and Mr. Bonejangles nearby. “If they're not out of a nightmare, I don't know what is. Which one do you think is creepier?”

“He is!” the mummy and Mr. Bonejangles pointed at each other. “And, like, nothing as gruesome as those two clowns could possibly be real,” Shaggy said with a chuckle before pointing toward Frankenstein and Repulsa. “Hey, Scoob, dig the puss on that chick. It's so awful, it's funny! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Yeah!” Scooby agreed with a light smile before laughing himself. Even Frankenstein was humored enough to laugh... much to Repulsa's dismay. “What are you laughing at, bolt breath?!”

Frankenstein yelped as his bride tugged on his bolts, but no one paid any attention to this. “And look over there!” Shaggy pointed at the Dragonfly and the Swamp Thing nearby. “Yuck!”

“Ewwww!!” Izzy said as she groaned in disgust. “Yuck is right!”

“If you ask me,” said Hitch, “that’s a whole WEEK of nightmares right there!”

The Swamp Thing laughed and pointed at the Dragonfly, making the Dragonfly buzz in irritation. “He’s talking about you!”

“He means you, gnat nose!” the Swamp Thing continued to tease, much to the Dragonfly’s annoyance. “Who you calling names?!”

The Dragonfly tried to swat the Swamp Thing with his large tail, and the Swamp Thing tried to hit the Dragonfly with one of his slime balls. However, the slime ball hit one of the witch sisters in the face, causing the second of the witch sisters to laugh out of personal enjoyment, only for the first witch sister to hit her on top of the head with her broom.

This action caused Frankenstein to laugh as the second witch sister approached him. “You think that was funny, eh? Well, you'll laugh your head off at this!”

She zapped Frankenstein's bolts with her magic wane, causing him to screech out in pain just before his head pretty much vanished, causing Indigo to shriek in surprise.

The mummy and Mr. Bonejangles laughed in amusement at this, but soon after, Frankenstein's head reappeared before he threw the mummy right into Dracula and some other monsters, causing the Mane 6 to wince as they saw everyone wrapped in the mummy's wraps.

The witch sisters cackled in amusement just before the mummy angrily threw a spear right at them. “Wait a minute!” Dracula cried, dodging the spear as it hit the two witches, knocking all of their clothes off.

This seemed to be the final blow, and the witches pulled out their wands and fired... much to Dracula's dismay. “WAIT A MINUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!”

But it was too late... the magic blasts had burned a hole right through Dracula's cape, causing the witches to smile sheepishly and hide their wands behind their backs, as if trying to hide what they had done.

At the same time, Sunny felt a mix of emotions rushing through her as she and her friends watched the events unfold. “Yikes! If this is a dream,” she said, “let's all wake up!”

“Good idea, Sunny,” Zipp nodded firmly. “All together, gang. On the count of three!”

And so, everyone closed their eyes and counted in unison, hoping to wake up by the time it was finally over. “One... two... three!”

However, when they opened their eyes, they found themselves still in that castle, gazing over at Dracula, who grinned at them with his fangs still showing. “I bid you... welcome.”

Shaggy gulped nervously upon realizing that it didn't work the way he had hoped. “Like, we're still asleep, gang. One more time, and give it all you got!” he said before they all closed their eyes. “A-one, a-two...”

“Never mind! This is not a dream!” Dracula snapped at the group, frightening them before smiling at them again. “Permit me to introduce myself. I am Count Dracula, and I have brought you, Shaggy, to Transylvania to drive the werewolf car in the monster road race.”

“Monster road race?” Scooby repeated while Hitch looked shocked. “T-Transylvania?!”

“Werewolf car?!” Pipp shrieked, and suddenly, for Shaggy, a lot of things finally started to make sense. “Don’t tell me that's why I got turned into a werewolf!”

“Precisely,” Dracula flashed a fangy grin. “Ohhhh...” Izzy groaned with worry. “He told you not to tell him that!”

“And besides, you can't do that to Shaggy!” Zipp declared with anger in her tone. “We know him too well to know that he doesn't wanna be any old werewolf!”

“And he's not gonna drive in your old road race, either! Not for a million dollars!” Googie agreed before glancing at her boyfriend. “Are you, Shaggy?”

Shaggy crossed his arms with a serious look on his face. “Like, nooooo way!”

“Um... forgive me for interrupting,” Indigo said as she hesitantly approached, “but you would be racing for something a lot better than a million dollars... however much that is. Uh... r-right, Vanna Pira?”

“That’s right, Indigo honey!” Vanna Pira said to get the attention off the young leopard. “Our second-place driver in the monster road rally will receive, as a consolation prize, a two-week vacation in... Hawaii!”

“Oooh!” Izzy and Pipp chorused in unison, completely entranced with the idea of going to Hawaii for two weeks. However... the other monsters seemed to be less than thrilled about the development.

“Aww, boo!”

“Blech! Pooey!”

“Who wants that?”

“Uh... I kind of would,” Indigo raised her paw timidly, only lowering it with pinned ears when the Hunch Bunch were found glaring at her.

However, Vanna Pira moved over to another set of curtains not too far away. “But our road race winner will receive, all expenses paid, an entire month in...”

She opened the curtains, causing a scream to echo through the castle and scare the Mane 6 half to death. “...the black hole of Calcutta!”

Now this was a trip that the other monsters seemed to really be into.

“Oh, wow!”

“That's mine!”

As the other monsters cheered at this, Shaggy turned to Zipp with a whisper. “Like, these guys have totally gone to Weirdsville!”

“And of course, the biggest honor of all...” Vanna Pira said before pulling open a final set of curtains, revealing a trophy designed to look like a skull. “...the Monster of the Year trophy!”

This caused all the other monsters to cheer excitedly, hoping to be the new Monster of the Year and get that trophy for themselves.

Of course, this made the Mane 6 worry about what Dracula would do to get Shaggy to participate in the race.

One thing was for sure, they weren't about to let this fanged bully hurt their friends.

Speaking of Dracula, he turned to Shaggy with a sinister grin. “So, Shaggy, you still refuse to remain and drive in our big race?”

Shaggy nodded without hesitation. “Like, you got it, sir.”

“...very well,” Dracula responded with a smile. “Then, you may all leave.”

“Hold on a second, sire,” Indigo said as she came over, while the others looked at one another, shocked themselves. “You're gonna let them go free? I mean... just like that?”

“Oh, Indigo, of course!” Dracula wrapped an arm around the cub, much to her surprise. “I mean, would I lie?”

“Ohhhh yeah, sure,” the other monsters said with a sinister wink. “Silence!” barked Dracula before turning back to the group, feigning kindness. “Believe me, you are all free to go.”

And believe me, the others didn't hesitate to give a response.

“Well... okay then!”

“Goodbye!”

“Thanks for everything!”

“See you around!”

“Have a nice day!”

“See ya!”

“Well, it's a shame you're not staying,” Indigo said softly as they began to leave. “We have a pre-race party coming up later that I think you guys would really like. I mean... if you liked that sort of thing.”

“Yep,” Shaggy said without looking back. “Too bad.”

“And the dancing,” Dracula added on with a smirk. “Uh, yeah...” Pipp said, trying her best to not change her mind. “Too bad.”

“And all the delicious food!”

“Too bad--” Shaggy began to say before he and Scooby stopped in their tracks. “Food...?!”

“Guys, this is no time to mess around!” Zipp said, trying to pull Shaggy away. “We gotta get out of here!”

However, Shaggy brushed her off and turned back to Dracula with a bit of interest. “Uh, what kind of food?”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “What kind?”

“All kinds of delightful treats,” Dracula told them before turning to the Hunch Bunch. “Hunch Bunch-- bring our guests one of our delicacies.”

“Yes, master,” Crunch said obediently before he and Brunch zipped off. After a few minutes, they returned with a tray with two simple burgers on it, and Shaggy had to admit-- his new wolf-like senses were making that burger seem heavenly. “Hey, looks good, Scoob!”

“Yeah!” Scooby said as he and Shaggy got a burger each, but before they could bite into the burgers, they each sprouted a pair of bat wings and flew away! “Hey!” Izzy shouted. “You burgers get back here!”

“Uh... Dracula? If you don't mind me asking,” Sunny said politely, “what was that stuff?”

“Bat burgers,” Dracula responded with a smile, and suddenly, Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies felt like they were about to hurl. “Bad burgers?!” they cried in unison. “YUCK!!!”

“Oh, uh... that's my bad,” Indigo said as she watched the bat burgers fly off. “I think the bats were a little undercooked.”

“You actually eat this stuff?” Hitch asked with a shudder. “How do you survive?”

“Well, uh... I just survive however I can, I guess,” Indigo muttered, not looking the ponies or their friends in the eye.

Deciding that this was the perfect time to leave this place in the dust, Shaggy spoke to Dracula while he and the others tried to make a slow break for it. “Uh, listen, like, thanks a lot anyway, but we don't want to hang around for your little party, so we'll just like, uh, see ya around, okay?”

However, Dracula turned back to them with a glass. “Just a moment!” he shouted. “Stop!”

“I knew it!” Zipp shouted with anger before pushing Shaggy in the direction of the exit. “Come on, gang!”

Luckily, Dracula was already one step ahead of them. “Wolfgang, drop the cage!”

However, when Wolfgang hit the lever and activated the cage, the cage accidentally fell on Wolfgang himself, much to Dracula's irritation. “Not on you, stupid! On them!”

“Oh...” Wolfgang nodded and activated another lever, dropping a cage onto the gang as they were trying to escape. “Ha ha!” Dracula boasted. “Gotcha!”

“Hey!” Hitch shouted as he and Sunny tried to kick the door down, but to no avail. “What’s the big idea?!”

“Yeah! If I remember correctly,” Pipp said sassily, “you said we were free to leave!”

“Ah, yes, but I had my fangs crossed when I said it. Besides, I can't let you go!” Dracula snapped as he marched right over to their cage to confront them. “You must drive in the race, Shaggy.”

However, Shaggy stood firm to his original answer, shaking his head negatively. “Uh-uh!”

“No way, Jagged Jaws!” Zipp said fiercely. “You're gonna regret trapping the Unity Squad in here, trust me! We've got magic and we're not afraid to use it!”

Indigo gasped lightly at the sound of them standing up to her master with such confidence, but Dracula didn't seem as happy about such a development. “You will drive! You will! You will! You will! That is an order! You must!”

With each snap, the Mane 6 could see Indigo hunker down and whimper more than before, obviously frightened by the shouting...

...but Zipp sensed there was more to this leopard than even they knew.

After a moment, Dracula calmed down and sighed. “But you are tired from your journey,” he said before snapping his fingers. “Indigo? Hunch Bunch?”

“Yes, sire,” Brunch said obediently as they came forward. “My guests wish to freshen up,” Dracula told them simply. “Take them to the... ghastly room.”

Crunch cackled menacingly at this, and our heroes looked at each other in concern.

It seemed that getting out of this place was going to be a lot harder than it seemed.

But they had to find a way to escape...

...they had to.

Trying to Escape/The Pre-Race Party

Shortly after being woken up in the castle of Lord Dracula, the Mane 6, Sparky, Shaggy (now a fuzz-faced werewolf), Scooby, Scrappy and Googie were faced with a serious problem.

Dracula wanted Shaggy to race in the werewolf car for the road race in a few days, but Shaggy was firm in his decision to not race.

And unfortunately, when the group tried to escape, Dracula trapped them in a cage and instructed the Hunch Bunch and poor Indigo to take them up to one of the guest rooms (also known as a ghastly room) in order for the group to freshen up.

Now the Mane 6 and Sparky just needed to find some way out of this creepy castle, find a way to turn Shaggy back to normal and get Shaggy, Scooby, Googie and Scrappy back home before anything worse happened.

Little did they know that the events of this one night would change a lot of different things... starting with their reason to leave... and it would also provide them with a reason to stay.

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6 screamed as they fell to the floor right after being pushed into the guest room by the Hunch Bunch, and once the door slammed, they had a good chance to look around.

The room was a fairly big room, as big as a guest suite in Zephyr Heights' palace, with a large bed, a bathroom on the side and a great view of the countryside from the balcony.

Eventually, Shaggy let out a sigh, clearly worried. “Oh, boy. Like, what a pickle. Here I am a werewolf and stuck in a castle full of moron monsters.”

“The moron monsters part is one I can definitely agree with,” Pipp said as she looked around, “but this room is actually not that bad. I mean... it's better than a torture chamber.”

“I don't care if it's a torture chamber or not!” Hitch said, holding Sparky desperately. “This place is too creepy for me and my little Sparkeroni to take!”

However, Sparky didn't seem at all bothered that they were in a creepy castle, and was merely trying to comfort Hitch. “We've just gotta get out of here,” Googie said in concern. “But how?”

“Well, we won't be able to use a teleportation charm,” Misty sighed in frustration. “Dracula said that he knows unicorn teleportation charms by heart, and he'll know if we use one to break out of the tower. Plus... the Hunch Bunch will probably be waiting outside the door for us!”

That's when Scrappy laid his eyes on some of the bed sheets and blankets on the bed, and a smile began to form on his muzzle. “Hey... I got an idea! But Izzy, Misty? I'm gonna need your help!”

XXXXXXXX

Together, Scrappy and the two unicorns managed to tie all the blankets and sheets together into one big long rope before securing it to the bed and throwing the rest of it out of the window. Zipp looked down at Shaggy and Scooby, who were scaling the rope to get down the tower. “Can you see anything, boys?”

“No,” Shaggy said, trying to prevent anyone else from hearing them as they scaled the tower. “But, we must be near the ground, right, Scoob?”

Scooby nodded. “I think so.”

However, as Scooby continued scaling for a moment, he climbed right into a crocodile’s mouth that was waiting for him, and upon realizing where he was, Scooby burst from its mouth, jumped up onto Shaggy’s back and then jumped right back through the tower window.

Shaggy sighed in irritation at this. “What's the matter with you, Scooby?” he asked before he looked down and saw the crocodile from before glaring at him. “WHOA!!!”

And just like that, Shaggy quickly climbed up the rope again, following Scooby back through the window. “Phew!” Sunny sighed. “That was a close one!”

“But there's the bad news… we can’t get out of here this way,” Hitch sighed, looking down at the croc from the tower as it circled the moat. “If we do, we’ll be pony-kabobs for that hungry croc!”

“There's just gotta be a way out of this crazy house,” Scrappy said, pacing around before he kicked up a rug, revealing a trapdoor underneath. “Wow! A trapdoor!”

“Let’s see where it goes,” Googie suggested as Izzy used her horn to pry the door open. “Come on, gang!”

The others followed Izzy and Scrappy down into the trapdoor, unsure if where in the world it might lead.

Suddenly, as they were heading down, the stairs suddenly turned into a slide, prompting the group to scream as they slid down the slide all the way to the bottom of the staircase...

...and right into the elevator that the Hunch Bunch was operating. “Oh, bad show, old things,” Brunch said to them with an almost mocking smile. “I did request that you not try to escape, you know. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.”

“If we weren't being held here against our will,” Zipp growled as Googie and Shaggy tried to hold her back, “I would totally beat the two of you to the grindstone!”

“Zipp, as much as I hate to agree with you,” Pipp sighed sadly, “there would be no point. Theybjave the upper hoof... remember?”

Zipp sighed upon realizing her younger sister had a point. Within just a few more minutes, the Hunch Bunch gently shoved the Mane 6, Sparky and their friends back into the tower room. “Now,” said Brunch, “do stay put, old dears. Cheerio.”

“Bleah! Cheerio!” Crunch bid them farewell before they slammed the door shut and locked it, trapping the group inside the room once more.

XXXXXXXX

After a few more failed attempts to escape Dracula’s castle tower, the Mane 6, Sparky, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy and Googie were sitting around, hopelessly trying to think of another plan to escape.

Unfortunately… no plan was coming to them.

Zipp eventually groaned in irritation, breaking the silence. “This is torture! Why couldn’t that Dracula creep pick somepony else to be the werewolf instead of Shagster?!”

“Yeah! Dracula’s gonna regret making that choice,” Scrappy agreed, “or my name isn’t Scrappy-Doo!”

“Guys, I understand where you're coming from, but we all know that this isn't the way to handle this,” Sunny said gently. “All we would be doing by going out and confronting Dracula is landing ourselves in even deeper danger.”

“Sunny's right. Besides,” said Hitch, “even if we do escape, who’s to say Dracula won’t come hunting us down to get Shaggy to be in that race?”

Shaggy sighed and rubbed a furry paw over his face. “Like, I’m sorry, guys-- I never meant for my racing career to land us in this spooky dump.”

“Oh, Shaggykins, don’t blame yourself,” Googie said, patting Shaggy sincerely. “We’ll find a way out of this, right?”

“Sure we will!” Izzy chirped with a grin. “But how and when?” Misty sighed. “We have no clue.”

Scooby whimpered softly, laying his head on the stone floor before a light knocking was heard on the door, causing them to turn as it slowly opened.

Coming through the door was Indigo, carrying a load of blankets in her paws. Sunny recognized her as one of Dracula's three servants from earlier, but never knew who she was… at least until now.

Indigo cleared her throat with a soft voice. “Excuse me, I hope I didn't scare any of you. Count Dracula sent me to make sure you hadn't tried to escape anymore, but… I wanted to come and make sure you were at least comfortable.”

“You know, with a couple of adjustments, I think this could be a great honeymoon suite,” Pipp said before shuddering. “At least a honeymoon suite for the undead.”

“Heh… if you think so,” the leopardess said with a light chuckle. “I also brought you some more blankets. It gets pretty cold in the castle at night, and I don't want anybody to get sick.”

“That’s very sweet of you, little leopard,” Googie said with a smile. “I believe Count Dracula called you... Indigo, right?”

“Yeah... that's me,” Indigo said with a chuckle. “I'll just... get out of your manes now. Have a nice night.”

But before she could leave, Misty stopped her. “Wait a second. Maybe... you could stay and talk to us. At least we would be able to have a new friend to get through this.”

Indigo looked surprised, but didn't refuse as she rejoined the group, sitting in a circle. “So... I take it that you're not serving Dracula because he's a warm and humble master, huh?” Scrappy asked, causing Indigo to look surprised. “Uh... yeah. How did you...?”

“I know how it feels to be imprisoned by somepony that doesn't give a hay fly about you,” Misty said with a sad expression. “Trust me. Do you... wanna talk about it?”

Indigo opened her mouth to say no, but then again... no one had ever asked to talk to her about her problems before... not like her clan did. So, she let out a wistful sigh and began to tell them her story. “I once lived with the rest of our leopard colony on a small island, off the coast of Africa, cloaked by a special spell so we could remain out of sight,” she said. “I lived with my mom, Queen Aleta, and my dad, King Viento, in the royal palace, and I have a big group of friends. However… when I was six… my mom got really sick and passed away, and my dad took it really hard. The whole kingdom did.”

“Yikes…” Hitch winced. “That sounds awful.”

“After my mom died, my dad tried to raise me to become a proper princess,” Indigo went on. “More lessons, less time for playing with my friends… trying to…”

“Turn you into something you weren’t?” Zipp finished. “Yeah… I know how that can be sometimes.”

“Eventually, I had enough and left with my friends during the middle of the night, not bothering to look back,” Indigo said. “For the longest time, me and my friends-- Maya, Heather, Somnia, Alder, Cyrus and Draven-- traveled around seeing the world together. However… it was about a year ago when we first arrived in Transylvania. Dracula’s forces found us and they were about to take us ALL to be slaves, but… I volunteered myself to be the one and only slave, so long as the rest of my friends go free.”

“And… he actually agreed with that?” Pipp asked, a bit surprised. “Believe it or not, yeah,” Indigo said. “But since then, I’ve been flying back and forth, seeing my friends for only a little bit at a time and doing the most despicable things, like using my weather powers to cause sadness and misery around the kingdom. But the thing I despise most of all? …the fact I was forced to help the Hunch Bunch turn Shaggy into a werewolf.”

“So… when all the produce spilled out into the grocery store that night,” Zipp realized, “that was you?”

“Yeah,” Indigo nodded shamefully, regretful tears beginning to fill her eyes. “I’m so sorry… I know what I helped them do was totally wrong, but I had no choice! If I didn’t, Dracula was probably never gonna let me see my friends again! And… and I…”

Scooby whined softly, nuzzling her face to try and comfort her. “Indigo… I know just what you’re going through,” Misty said softly. “Nopony likes being forced to do horrible things, and I spent half my life serving somepony who wanted to control all magic in Equestria. Once my friends found out, I thought for sure they would hate me cause I betrayed their trust.”

“...and did they…?” Indigo asked softly. “For a while… they were upset,” Misty put the situation lightly. “But I helped prove myself, and that earned their forgiveness and respect for me. And now, I’m free of that evil pony and I’m going on the most amazing adventures with my friends. You can free yourself from Dracula, too... and we'll do whatever we can to help you do that.”

“...you would help me?” Indigo asked in a soft tone. “Really?”

“Like, sure-- I know you didn’t wanna turn me into a werewolf and I believe that,” Shaggy said. “And if you help us, we can help you.”

Indigo thought this over, and despite all the things that could go wrong with this plan, she smiled and nodded. “I’d love that very much… thank you.”

“Well, now that our group has gotten a little bigger,” said Izzy, standing up, “anypony else got any bright ideas?”

Suddenly, a soft sound, almost like a 'psst' sound, got their attention, causing Googie to look around. “What’s that?”

“Over here,” said a voice coming from the corner, causing them to look around and try and find the source of the voice. “Try the fireplace. It's got a hidden door at the back.”

Zipp pulled out her visor and turned it to invisibility mode, suddenly revealing a hidden passageway behind the fireplace. “Hey, guys, he’s right! There is a door here!”

“I knew that the castle had hidden passageways, but I had no idea where they were or how to access them!” Indigo said in amazement. “This might be our only way out!”

Shaggy felt his paws on the back of the fireplace and eventually found the button to activate the door, and with Indigo leading the way, they set forth through the dark passageway, Izzy and Misty's horns being the only source of light they had. Googie looked along the darkened hallways in thought. “I wonder where this leads to.”

“I’ll tell you one thing,” said Pipp with a slight shudder. “Anywhere would be better than this creepy old castle.”

Suddenly, a ghost materialized behind Shaggy, Sunny and Scooby as they walked side by side. “You said it! This joint is the pits! Why, it's even got ghosts!”

Scooby looked back and saw the ghost before running off with a yelp, and as soon as the others saw the ghost behind them, they too screamed and bolted down the passage.

Eventually, they reached another trapdoor at the end of the hallway, Indigo taking a deep breath before her expression grew determined. “I guess this is the only way out, gang! Come on!”

The young leopard leapt up and pushed against the trapdoor, opening it and allowing the group to peek out and look at their surroundings. However, instead of the outside like they were expecting, they were back in the throne room, where the pre-race party was in full swing.

But, despite this not being the way out of the castle entirely, Scrappy honestly didn’t seem to mind. “Looks like we joined the party, after all.”

“Well, I guess if we’re gonna be here for a while,” Pipp sighed as they crawled out from the trapdoor, “we might as well make the best of it. So… I guess we should get partying.”

“Uh, yeah,” Hitch nodded a bit nervously. “Good idea… I think.”

So, the group found themselves trying to mingle amongst the guests and try and have some sort of fun. Pipp, Izzy, Indigo, Shaggy and Scooby found themselves at the buffet table, where Shaggy and Scooby began eating a dessert that honestly, in Shaggy’s opinion, wasn’t that bad. “I don't know what this stuff is, Scoob, but it looks pretty good, huh?”

Scooby nodded in response. “Yeah.”

“Want some, Pipp?” Izzy asked as she chowed down. “It’s pretty decent!”

“Thanks, but no thanks, Iz,” Pipp declined politely. “Something tells me that this stuff is gonna do more harm than good to my digestive system.”

“I’m with you, Pipp,” Indigo nodded. “Which is actually why…”

Before she could finish, however, Dracula flew over to them in his bat form before he changed back to normal, causing the five to freeze and cling to each other. “Ah, good! I'm glad you changed your mind and joined us. I see you tried the frog fudge. Delicious, isn't it?”

“FROG FUDGE?!! BLECH!!” Izzy, Shaggy and Scooby screeched before gagging. “Frog fudge?!”

“Tried to tell ya there was something off about that gunk,” Pipp told the others… just before Dracula offered them another platter. “Yes, and do have some spider web spaghetti.”

“S-S-Spider web?” Scooby gulped, pushing the plate away as Dracula continued naming several different foods they had for the choosing. “And you must try the plasma pizza. And the wart pudding?”

With each food named, Scooby got more and more nauseous, eventually deciding to pass out and causing Scrappy and Sunny to come to the Great Dane’s aid. “Come on, guys!” Sunny urged quickly. “Let’s get outta here!”

“Wait!” Dracula called as they tried to leave. “You haven't tried a finger sandwich! Made with real fingers!”

“Ugh… gross!” Zipp groaned. “Indigo, do you actually eat this stuff?!”

“Uh, actually, no. I actually eat things that AREN’T this,” Indigo said with a shudder. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Just as long as nothing else distracts us.”

Ironically, as she said that, a tune began to play over the record player, and this got every monster in the room to dancing.

Party time for ghosts and spooks
Vampires, witches, ghostly kooks
That whole gang all go gadzooks
Doin' the Werewolf Rock

Hey!

Mr. Jangles rocks all night
Falls apart about daylight
Frankenstein, he's dynamite
Doin' the Werewolf Rock

Rock! If a boo can do it
Rock! Scooby-Doo can do it
Come on Scoob, let's rock
Rock, rock, rock, rock! Woo!

Everybody's rowdy rockin's
Wearin' out their Sunday stockin's
Doin' the Werewolf Rock
Doin' the Werewolf Rock

As the second chorus continued, Shaggy discreetly led the group toward a nearby door, hoping they could use this door to successfully escape. However, as Shaggy grasped the doorknob, the doorknob suddenly came to life and growled at him. “Watch it, buster!”

Needless to say, this did not settle well with Scrappy. “You shouldn't talk to Shaggy like that!”

That's when one of the witch sisters suddenly scooped Scrappy up into her arms. “Hey, you're cute! Let's dance!”

Scooby giggled at his nephew's misfortune, but he soon regretted it when he was swept off his paws with the other witch sister wanting to dance with him.

Indigo sighed quietly at this. “Why doesn't any of this surprise me...?”

That's when the song seemed to resume itself as the dancing progressed.

Everybody's rowdy rockin's
Wearin' out their Sunday stockin's
Doin' the Werewolf Rock
Doin' the Werewolf Rock
Hey, yeah!

It was during this verse of the chorus when Shaggy stumbled upon another secret passageway in the wall, and as the others saw this, they dashed toward the secret door before it closed.

However, when the door did close, a wall made of nothing but sharp spikes began to move in their direction!

“Yikes!!”

“Sweet sauce horseshoe toss!”

“Oh, no!”

“Criminey!”

“Like, another trap!” Shaggy cried out. “How do we get out of this one?!”

Suddenly, Dracula opened up another door above them to watch their demise. “You don't, Shaggy, unless you drive the werewolf car in the monster race.”

Indigo and Misty looked terrified at this-- threatening to kill all of them as a form of blackmail? This was something no one could bare to withstand... Shaggy being one of those few. “No, I don't wanna race!” Shaggy said in frustration. “And I don't wanna be a werewolf! No! No! No!”

“But you're going to get squished!” Dracula tried to reason, but when he realized that Shaggy was firm in the decision, he suddenly thought of something that just might work. “...very well. If you drive in the race and win, I'll change you back to your simpering, normal, nerdy self!”

“Hold it!” Hitch raised an eyebrow. “You will?”

“And,” Dracula added, “I will send you, your pony friends, your dogs and your tootsie-wootsie back where you came from!”

The others looked skeptical and hopeful at this, wanting to make sure that Dracula was not going to go back on his word.

“Really?”

“No lie?”

“You promise?”

Dracula nodded once more, a sinister grin on his face. “Trust me...”

And as soon as he said this, the spikes began moving backwards, away from the group and putting them out of danger. “Look!” Misty cried. “The wall is going back!”

“Yeah!” Scooby nodded joyously. “Back!”

“Oh, thank hoofness!” Sunny sighed. “Come on... let's get everypony out of here!”

The pegasus sisters and Indigo nodded before helping Sunny carry the others out of the secret room, letting them face Dracula once again. “I'm glad you finally agreed to participate in the festivities,” Dracula smirked. “Now all of you, please... enjoy the party.”

“Wait a second, Fang Face,” Zipp said in a stern, almost queen-like voice. “There's one part of the deal that we get to make. I think we can all agree that if Shaggy wins the Monster Road Rally, not only do we go free, but you have to let Indigo free too-- so she can go back to her clan.”

“What?!” Indigo yelped. “Zipp, you can't do that!”

“But we have to,” Sunny told the leopard. “You're our friend... and friends look after each other.”

“Hmm...” Dracula seemed to consider this before smiling. “Why not? It would give this race a bit more intensity, as you call it. You have a deal!”

As Zipp and Sunny shook Dracula’s hand, Indigo felt a sense of sudden dread wash over her.

Not only was her friends' freedom at stake... but hers was on the line as well.

She had to help her new friends anyway she could... otherwise, things were never gonna be the same again.

Indigo's First Sleepover/A Howling Good Breakfast

The stakes had never been higher.

Dracula finally convinced Shaggy to finally be in the Monster Road Rally, but at a very risky price.

If Shaggy won the race, Dracula would change Shaggy back to normal and send him, Googie, Scooby, Scrappy and their Equestrian friends home, as well as give Indigo the chance to return to her clan.

But if Shaggy lost the race... there was going to be a very good chance that they were going to be trapped in Transylvania forever.

Indigo felt to blame for what had been going on, but now that she was involved in the deal, she felt even worse than before.

She didn't want to bother her new friends with this, so there was only one other option...

...sneak out in the middle of the night, without anyone seeing, of course, and tell her clan about the latest developments unfolding at the castle.

XXXXXXXX

“Seriously?!” Heather blurt out as soon as Indigo finished explaining the situation. “There's a chance that you could go free?!”

“Indy, that's amazing!” Draven exclaimed with a smile. “Why are you so down and out about that?”

“Because I never asked them to, and now that they have? The stakes are even higher than they were before!” Indigo said with concern. “If they don't win the race, we could all be stuck in Transylvania forever! And... I can't have you guys wait for me for the rest of our lives. It wouldn't be fair to you.”

“Indigo... let me ask you something,” Cyrus said, putting his paws on her shoulders. “Do you have faith in these guys?”

“Well, we just met,” Indigo hesitated a bit, “but... yeah. I do have faith in them.”

“Then keep that faith alive-- if you do that, there's no way you can go wrong!”

Indigo sighed and turned to her friends, who were smiling at her encouragingly. “I sure hope you guys are right. Come on... we might as well play one game of SkyBall before I have to get back to the castle.”

XXXXXXXX

After a game of SkyBall with her best friends, Indigo returned to the palace to prepare herself for the day ahead... no matter how much she dreaded thinking about it.

When she entered one of the bedroom windows, the others were getting ready to have a good night of rest, and Izzy turned to face her. “Hi, Indy-Windy! Where have you been?”

“Oh, I just went to go see my clan before everyone shut down for the night,” Indigo said with a soft smile. “They have faith that you guys will win the race and set us all free, and don’t get me wrong-- I do too, but… the race is always pretty complicated, and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“Hey, don’t you worry about us,” Hitch said, wrapping a hoof around her. “We’ll be just fine… as long as we have each other.”

“Hey, that actually gives me another idea!” Pipp said, flapping her wings and fluttering over. “Why don’t you sleep over with us tonight?”

“A sleepover? Wow… I’ve never been invited to a sleepover before! Especially with new friends I just met,” Indigo smiled faintly. “But… I wouldn’t wanna impose…”

“Nah, you wouldn't be imposing at all!” Scrappy brushed it off. “We’d love to have ya!”

“Well… if you guys really want me to, then… I’d love to sleep over!” Indigo smiled. “But… I have no idea what goes on at one of these things, and I don’t really know how to act.”

“Trust me-- I had that problem before too,” Misty said. “But don’t worry-- we can show you how!”

And so, the ponies and all their friends began to lead Indigo in a song to show her the best way to have a sleepover, with all kinds of different activities.

Pipp: Call my ponies up 'cause we're 'bout to get down, like

Ponies: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Izzy: Got our manes up in our favorite gowns like

Ponies: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Pipp: Glittered up in glammy, it's a party in our jammies

Misty: Got the vibes, right, lookin' tight

Ponies: It's a bestie kind of night

Zipp: All my besties gather 'round

Ponies: Come on out, sing it loud (Let's go)

Pipp: It's a bestie, bestie kinda night
We got everypony here and we'rе feelin' alright

Ponies and Indigo: We're feeling alright (Oh yeah), oh yеah
Cause we're havin' the best night

Pipp: It's a bestie, bestie kinda night

Indigo and Pipp: And we're not gonna stop 'til we see the sunlight

Ponies and Indigo: See the sunlight (oh yeah), oh yeah
Cause we're havin' the best night

Izzy: We're so fabulous
Feathers floatin' around like

Ponies: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Zipp: Yeah, we're glowin' up to our favorite song, like

Ponies: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Pipp: Glittered up in glammy, it's a party in our jammies

Izzy: Got the vibes, right, lookin' tight

Ponies and Indigo: It's a bestie kind of night

Indigo: All my besties gather 'round
Come on now and sing it lo-o-oud (Let's go!)

Pipp: It's a bestie, bestie kinda night
We got everypony here and we'rе feelin' alright

Ponies and Indigo: We're feeling alright (Oh yeah), oh yеah
Cause we're havin' the best night

Pipp: It's a bestie, bestie kinda night

Indigo and Pipp: And we're not gonna stop 'til we see the sunlight

Ponies and Indigo: See the sunlight (oh yeah), oh yeah
Cause we're havin' the best night

Oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa-oh
Oh, oh, it's a bestie kinda night
Oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa-oh
Oh yeah, we're havin' the best night

Finally, the song was over, and everyone was on their backs, laughing from all the fun they were having...

...especially Indigo herself. “Thanks, guys… I never knew having a sleepover could be so much fun!”

“And just you wait!” Zipp said. “As long as we’re here for the race, we can show you all the other cool stuff we do!”

Indigo’s eyes widened. “You do more fun stuff? Really?!”

“Sure! We can show you tomorrow, but first… let’s get to the sleeping part of the sleepover,” Sunny giggled. “No doubt Dracula will be waking us early tomorrow.”

XXXXXXXX

Indigo had never slept so soundly since she had been taken in as a slave... and the sleepover was some of the most fun she's had in...

...well, even Indigo wasn't sure how long it was since she had something so enjoyable happen to her.

All she hoped was that Dracula never found out how much fun she had, otherwise she and her friends might get in even bigger trouble.

By the time that next morning arrived, a monster bird perched on the roof of the castle and let out a rooster-like crow, causing the group to immediately sit up, surprised.

“Yikes!!”

“Huh?!”

“What was that?!”

All of a sudden, Dracula poofed into the room, causing Misty and Scooby to scream, and Shaggy to leap into Scooby’s paws. “The sun is up!” Dracula summoned with a grin. “Rise and shine-y!”

“Hey, wait a second,” Zipp said, noticing something off. “I always thought that you had to stay out of the daylight!

“That's right, I did. But no more. Now I wear sunblock,” Dracula said before getting out a bottle of sunscreen. “This is number 5022!”

That’s when he noticed Indigo hiding behind Izzy and Sunny. “What is she doing in here?”

“Well… sir…” Indigo gulped. “The thing is… uh…”

“She was in here watching us all night, making sure she didn’t try anything,” Sunny spoke up. “Right, Indigo?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! That’s what I was doing!” Indigo nodded at this statement with a smile. “Just… doing my normal duty, sir!”

Dracula seemed satisfied with such a response, smiling at this. “Well, now that that’s out of the way,” he said, “how about some breakfast?”

Sparky let out a gag at this. “No thanks,” Hitch said politely. “Uh-uh,” Googie shook her head. “We don't want any more of that yucky stuff like you had last night.”

“Oh, no! You will have anything you want. Anything except, ugh… angel food cake, that is,” Dracula said, getting out a phone from nearby. “All you have to do is call tomb service. When you are finished, I will show you the course you are going to race, Shaggy. Ciao!”

“Like, ciao is right!” Shaggy said before Dracula disappeared. “Tomb service? Huh…” Indigo muttered. “I never knew we had that before.”

“Well, let’s not take it for granted,” Zipp said. “Go ahead, Shagster.”

Shaggy nodded and lifted the phone up to talk into it. “Hello? Yeah.
Like, will you send up about three dozen flapjacks, please? And, uh, six side orders of peanut butter. A little bit of toast and jam and a couple of dozen of pickles.”

“Uh, don’t forget the fruit, please!” Sunny said. “I wanna make us a couple smoothies to go.”

“And some waffles,” Misty requested. “And maple syrup!” Scrappy added. “And,” Scooby spoke, “a double garden pizza!”

“Yeah? Did you get all that?” Shaggy asked the operator with a smile, who said that they did. “Ha ha! Great!”

“I just hope they get here soon,” said Hitch, holding Sparky. “It’s been a while since Sparky and I have eaten anything.”

Within just a few seconds of Hitch saying that, the Hunch Bunch rolled in a huge tray filled with all the food ordered, and it didn’t take long for Sparky, Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy to start digging in.

Shaggy took a bite of bacon, immediately impressed with how well it was cooked. “Mm-mm! This stuff is terrific!”

“Ah, yes,” Brunch nodded. “And to think it's all fashioned from a special kind of beans.”

“Beans, huh?” Sunny looked a bit impressed herself when suddenly, Shaggy let forth a genuine werewolf howl, even surprising himself.

But then, with all the food they were eating, Shaggy, the dogs and Sparky began to howl non-stop, making Googie a bit concerned. “Hey, just what kind of beans are in this stuff?”

“Scream beans,” Brunch answered. “They grow wild in our torture chamber.”

“Scream beams?! Ugh, that’s awful!” Pipp said as she covered her ears with her hooves. “Yes, I quite agree, my dear,” Brunch said, covering his own ears before turning to Crunch. “I say, Crunch, remind me to tell chef his cooking is out of tune again!”

“Let’s just get the boys to stop howling first!” Indigo said to her friends over the howling. “Then I can take you down to where Dracula is waiting for us-- you guys have gotta get ready for the race, after all!”

The Test-Drive

After the ponies managed to stop Scrappy, Shaggy, Scooby and Sparky from howling (after they ate the breakfast made of scream beans), the Hunch Bunch and Indigo led the group downstairs to meet up with Dracula, so they could inform Shaggy of the racetrack he would be driving on for the Monster Road Rally tomorrow.

The ponies noticed that Indigo seemed to be in a more chipper mood after spending so much time with them, and who could blame her?

Anyone who spent time with those ponies were going to have to smile one way or another.

After reaching the lowest part of the castle, Dracula gestured to the large board in front of them, with the course all laid out. “Now, here is the race course you will be driving,” he said to the group. “It starts here at the castle, then goes to Monster Morass then to Dragon Breath Tunnel, through Sand Slime Straight-away, up Horrible Hill, then down Sneaky Strip and back here.”

“Whoa,” Zipp said with wide eyes. “That sure is a tricky track!”

“Yes, but I have confidence you'll be able to handle it, Shaggy,” Dracula said before snickering to himself, causing the Hunch Bunch to do the same… much to Indigo’s worry. Of course, Shaggy had no idea of their malicious intentions as he got an idea. “Uh, like, how's about letting me take the werewolf car out for a test run?”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” said Dracula. “The car is being modified for you and it won't be ready until the race tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s no problem,” Misty said. “We still have the car that you brought us here in!”

“Yeah!” Scooby nodded. “That’s right!” Googie agreed. “How about letting us have a trial run in that?”

Dracula seemed to consider this for a few moments before smiling. “Well… yes, go ahead.”

“Great! Come on, guys!” Zipp encouraged her friends before turning to Indigo. “Hey, Indy-- you wanna come with us?”

“Oh, uh… I don’t know,” Indigo said, feeling a bit worried in front of her master. “T-The master might need me here.”

“Actually, Indigo, I shall be quite busy for the next little bit,” Dracula told the leopard with a smile, “so… you may… interact with our guests a bit more freely.”

“Seriously? Oh, uh… I mean… yes, sir!” Indigo nodded before following her new friends away, still a bit stunned that Dracula let her go so willingly. After they had left, Brunch turned to his master with confusion. “I say, sire, was that wise? What if they should try to escape again?”

“They won’t,” Dracula said. “Not if Shaggy wants me to turn him back to… ugh, normal. Besides, this is a wonderful chance for some good, rotten fun. Ha ha ha ha ha!”

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy chuckled excitedly as he fired up his car with everyone inside. “Like, here we go, gang!”

“Whoo-hoo!!” Indigo cheered excitedly as the car sped away from the castle and onto the racetrack. And as soon as they left, Dracula lifted his radio. “Calling the Hunch Bunch!”

“Yes, master,” Crunch’s voice echoed through the radio, spit coming from it and causing Dracula to gag. “Not you, the other one!”

XXXXXXXX

Brunch quickly took the walkie-talkie from Crunch and spoke into it. “Ah, yes, sire?”

“They’re coming your way,” Dracula responded on the other end. “When they get to Monster Morass… you know what to do.”

“Ah, you can put your confidence in us, sire. Stand by, old boy,” Brunch told Crunch, who merely cackled in response.

Around the same time, the gang was beginning to drive through Monster Morass, which was a large swampy area filled to the brim with hungry crocodiles. “Like, wow,” Shaggy gulped nervously as he looked down at the crocodiles. “I'd sure hate to mess with those babies.”

“Wouldn’t anypony in their right mind just leave them alone?” Indigo asked. “Well, yeah, usually,” Zipp responded with a hesitant nod. “But there are some people and ponies who… well… make extremely bad decisions.”

As they began to reach the bridge, Brunch knew it was time to make their move. “NOW!!”

Crunch pushed the lever, raising the bridge as the group passed over it, causing them to scream and fall into the crocodile infested swamps.

XXXXXXXX

Dracula saw the whole thing from the castle, laughing in pleasure. “I’m such a dirty guy…”

XXXXXXXX

“HEEELP!!!” Scooby and Indigo shrieked in terror as the crocodiles got closer. “Let me at ‘em!” Scrappy challenged, raising his paws into fists. “I'll knock those crocs' socks off!”

“Uh, bad idea, Scraps!” Sunny said, holding the pup back. “We better figure out another way out of here!”

“And we gotta hurry!” Misty strained as she and Izzy fired magic blasts repeatedly in order to keep the crocodiles at bay. “We can’t hold the crocs off for much longer!”

“Hang on, gang,” Shaggy reassured the group, paws gripped firmly on the wheel. “I’m gonna try something new!”

With the simple flick of a switch, Shaggy was able to make his car quickly walk across the crocodiles in their path before landing on solid ground and continuing onward.

Needless to say, the Hunch Bunch were quite surprised to see this. “Say, that's no fair!” Crunch pouted before Brunch hummed in thought. “I'm afraid the master is going to be highly displeased.”

And at that moment, Dracula appeared behind them, a serious frown on his face. “You said a mouthful! And it's very rude to talk with your mouth full!”

“Calm yourself, sire,” Brunch quickly reassured his master with a smile. “We'll make things exceedingly hot for them in Dragon Breath Tunnel!”

XXXXXXXX

“Uh-oh…” Sunny gulped as she pointed to the incoming tunnel. “There it is!”

“You ponies better brace yourselves,” Googie told the Mane 6. “Looks like this place is gonna get hot fast!”

Izzy sighed in relief as she quickly applied some sunscreen to herself. “Well, it’s a good thing we brought sunscreen just in case of an emergency!”

The group then proceeded to drive inside the tunnel. “They're in the tunnel,” Dracula said through the radio. “Set off the hot flashes now!”

This cue immediately gave Crunch the opportunity to activate the hot-flash system that he and Brunch set up. However, as he tried to move the lever, he found it jammed in place. “Hey! It’s stuck!”

He struggled with it for another moment before pushing the lever down, allowing fire to envelope the sides of the tunnel as the group drove through. “Like, don't anybody panic,” Shaggy said reassuringly. “You okay, Scoob?”

“You bet!” Scooby said as he roasted marshmallows in the backseat with Izzy, Misty, Indigo and Scrappy. “Mmm… delicious!”

The group successfully made it through the tunnel without a scratch, and once they left the other side of the tunnel, Dracula appeared, completely flustered. “Hey! What gives? Hunch Bunch? What happened to the hot flashes?”

At that moment, a ball of fire ignited right on his rear, causing Dracula to yell out in pain as Brunch winced slightly. “Um, the timing was a tad off, sire.”

XXXXXXXX

Brunch’s punishment for saying this? Being taken back to the castle and placed in a vat of boiling oil. “But, sire…!”

“Pipe down!” Dracula shouted as he watched the group through the telescope. “They're approaching the Quicksand Straight-Away. Even you two bimbos can't mess up my fun this time!”

XXXXXXXX

“Shaggy, there’s no way we can go around that gunk!” cried Hitch as he clung to Sparky. “We’re gonna sink right down into the straight-away!

“That’s exactly the plan!” Zipp smiled, having already discussed this with Shaggy. “Hang on, gang,” Shaggy advised. “We're gonna plow right straight through this dump!”

The Mane 6 and Indigo screamed alongside their friends as Shaggy sped toward the quicksand at top speed, eventually diving right into it. Not even a second later, Dracula appeared beside the quicksand, satisfied with what had occurred. “Well, now that's funny.”

However, Dracula screamed a second later as the car with the gang in it emerged from the quicksand, nearly flattening him before Shaggy slammed on the gas, causing the group to proceed along the track again.

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy laughed as they drove along the last section of the racetrack. “Here we go, gang! The last leg of the course!”

“Whoo-hoo!” Indigo cheered. “I had no idea racing could be this much fun!”

However, as the group navigated along the track, Dracula turned to the Hunch Bunch beside him. “All right… split the road!”

The Hunch Bunch pulled some levers at the exact same time, causing the road before the group to split right down the middle. Dracula merely laughed and turned into a bat to get a better view. “I go batty over stuff like this.”

Fortunately, our heroes were well prepared for such an event.

The wheels went down one half of the track while all the flyers hoisted the rest of the car down the other half, and once it was safe, the car was put back together and they proceeded to head toward the finish line.

Dracula screamed and tried to get out of the way of the car, but he was pinned up against the car's grill as it sped toward him. Not noticing Dracula right away, Googie turned to her boyfriend with a loving smile. “Gee, Shaggy honey, it's too bad you can't drive this car in the race. I really love it.”

“So do we!” Zipp smiled, while Dracula only scoffed from where he was pinned on the car's front grill. “I’m kind of stuck on it myself.”

The Fairy Moon Celebration

Not long after the test drive was concluded, the Mane 6 walked with their friends, old and new, back to the castle, where Indigo suddenly had an idea to show her friends something unbelievable…

…even if she wouldn’t be with her friends to see it in person.

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, guys, hurry up!” Indigo called as she raced up the stairs to the observatory. “We’re gonna miss the surprise rising if we don’t hurry!”

The Mane 6, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy and Googie panted as they climbed up the stairs behind her. “Man… how many stairs does this observatory have again?” Shaggy sighed. “My legs are, like, killing me!”

“Just a little farther-- I didn’t wanna go too fast, since some of you don’t have wings,” Indigo said as they got to the top of the observatory. “And… we’re here!”

“Oh, thank hoofness…” Hitch sighed, flopping on the floor with Sparky on his back. “That... was... exhausting!”

“Man… this observatory looks like it hasn’t been used for years,” Zipp grimaced as she wiped some dust away with her hoof. “Well, technically, no one but me uses it now,” Indigo admitted with a shrug. “It’s where I like to come sometimes when I’m done with all my chores.”

“So, what exactly is the surprise you couldn’t stop talking about?” Scrappy asked. “It better be good-- or we’ll have hiked up at least 600 stairs for nothing.”

“Don’t worry, it will be!” Indigo chirped. “I should be rising right… about… now!”

Slowly, a full moon began to break over the horizon of the mountain, but this was unlike any moon the Mane 6 or their friends had ever seen before-- glowing with the most luminous of rainbow colors.

Pipp was the first to break the stunned silence with a gasp. “Oh… my… glitter! I have never seen a full moon like that before!”

“It’s called the Fairy Moon-- every year, back in the kingdom where I’m from, the moon was a time where special beings, called Fate Fairies, were celebrated for all the magical things they did. My mom told me that Fate Fairies can be found all over the world, not just in our home kingdom,” Indigo explained. “So, me and my friends usually have a big party to celebrate the work they've done, the work they will do and their special magic.”

However, her face fell at this. “But… since I’m Dracula’s servant now… I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to celebrate with them tonight… especially with the big race tomorrow.”

“Aww… we’re sorry, Indy,” Googie said comfortingly, rubbing the winged leopard on top of her head. “I can’t imagine how painful that must be for you.”

“...the Fairy Moon was my mom’s favorite time of year. It’s where she met my dad for the first time,” Indigo muttered. “But… since I can’t celebrate it with her or my friends… what’s the point…?”

Suddenly, Misty made a firm decision, her eyes narrowing. “Well… we’re not gonna quit now. We’re gonna find a way to get you to your friends so you can have your party!”

“Seriously, Misty?” Shaggy blinked. “Like, what about the race?”

“Shaggy, the race IS important, and we’re gonna do whatever we can to help tomorrow,” Sunny said, “but… we have to help Indigo too. She’s our friend.”

“But how do we get out of here without Dracula knowing?” Pipp asked. “That guy has eyes everywhere.”

“...actually…” Indigo muttered as an idea filled her mind, “...there might be one way out of here that Dracula doesn’t know about. But we’ll have to be quick-- if Dracula or the Hunch Bunch were to find us and catch us… we would TOTALLY be in trouble.”

XXXXXXXX

Indigo was able to lead her friends through a series of tunnels deep within the walls of the castle, unable to be easily detected by any sort of detection device, and finally, those tunnels were able to lead the group outside the castle and into the forest.

Since Dracula did have eyes everywhere, like Pipp recently said, Indigo didn't think it was a good idea to fly to the cliffs where her friends were, so that way none of them were put in danger as well.

Finally, after about a half an hour walk, they managed to reach the base of the cliffs, causing Scooby to gulp as he looked up. “T-That’s a long way up!”

“Hey, don’t worry, Scoobers!” Izzy reassured the Great Dane. “We’re gonna be just fine!”

“Yeah! I have an idea that will help all of us get to the top fast!” Indigo said before focusing her magic on the clouds, allowing a powerful lightning bolt to strike them, transporting them from the bottom of the cliff to the very top…

…much to the shock of the others. “Whoa, Indy!” Sunny gasped. “How did you do that?”

“It’s a spell I’ve been working on,” said Indigo. “I can use it when we’re ready to head back, so it’ll be like we never left.”

“Indigo!” Maya cried as soon as she saw her friend. “Guys, Indigo made it!”

Draven, Alder, Cyrus, Heather and Somnia cheered and raced toward their friend, but stopped upon noticing the strangers with them. “Uh… Indigo? Who are they?” Draven asked suspiciously. “Did they follow you here?”

“Yes… because I invited them to the celebration,” Indigo spoke calmly. “They’re my friends.”

“Friends?” Cyrus looked confused before he gasped. “You must be the ones that Dracula had Indigo and the Hunch Bunch bring back for the big race tomorrow!”

“That’s us,” Misty nodded. “I’m Misty, and this is Sunny, Hitch and Sparky, Zipp and Pipp, Izzy, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy and Googie.”

“Guys, I’d like you to meet the rest of my clan!” Indigo began before moving closer to Maya to start the introductions. “This is Maya-- she’s one of the younger members of our clan, and she has water magic.”

Maya smiled sheepishly. “Hello.”

“And over here is Alder!” Indigo said as she moved to the green and blue leopard. “He has plant magic, but he can also communicate with different animals.”

“Hey, me too!” Hitch smiled as she approached. “I guess we’re more alike than we think.”

“Huh… maybe you’re right,” Alder managed to smile. “Good to meet ya!”

“Now over here we have Heather,” Indigo said as she gestured to the pink and lavender leopard. “She’s very spiritual, and her magic allows her to get glimpses of the future!”

“Seriously?” Scrappy asked. “Ooh, what are we gonna have for breakfast tomorrow?”

Heather giggled slightly. “I can’t exactly see that far into the future-- it’s barely just little glimpses. And I can’t call on it whenever I want-- it just happens.”

“Moving on. This is Draven,” Indigo continued the introductions with the black and yellow leopard. “He’s got dark magic, and he’s one of the fastest flyers in the clan!”

“Fastest flyer, huh?” Zipp smirked. “I’d like to see that. Wanna race later?”

“You wanna race me? Big mistake saying that,” Draven said with a competitve smile, unfolding his wings, “but you’re on!”

“This over here is Somnia,” Indigo continued the introductions, walking over to the light blue leopard. “She’s got dream magic, which means she can jump into others’ dreams to help them with decisions and other stuff! It’s really cool.”

“But it also means… I’m tired a lot,” Somnia yawned. “It’s a good thing I love sleeping.”

“And last, but certainly not least, this is Cyrus, born with sun magic,” Indigo introduced the last leopard. “He’s the closest thing I have to a twin brother.”

“It’s really nice to meet all of you,” Sunny smiled. “Indigo talks about you all fondly.”

“Now, there’s one thing I have to ask,” Izzy said. “When does the party start? Do you guys enjoy crafts? Singing? Oooh! Crafts and singing all at once?!”

“Can’t say I’ve ever done many crafts,” Heather said, “but… singing? That’s totally my thing!”

“Really?! Mine too!” Pipp brought herself forward. “We should totally collab on a song for my channel!”

“Really? I’d love that!”

Zipp and Draven sighed at the same time at this. “Why am I not surprised?” they asked each other before realizing. “Jinx! Jinx again!”

“Wow, everypony is really getting along!” Misty smiled. “I had a feeling they would,” Indigo smiled. “Now… let’s get this Fairy Moon celebration started! What do you say, guys?”

“Totally!” Maya smiled. “But um… what do we do first?”

“Hey! Why don’t we start by planting a tree with this seed I found earlier?” Alder asked, showing off the seed. “We could grow it into a tree symbolizing the fact that Indigo will be free soon and we’ll be together again!”

“Guys, I don’t wanna get anyone’s hopes up…” Indigo muttered. “I mean… the race is still tomorrow.”

“We can still celebrate the opportunity, nonetheless!” Somnia smiled. “Actually,” said Izzy, “we have a song that we can sing while we plant that tree! Right, Sunny?”

“Right,” Sunny smiled. “Let’s get this planting ceremony started!”

And so, as the planting ceremony began, the Mane 6 began to lead everyone into a song to brighten anyone’s spirits.

Sunny: Just plant this seed
To be who you wanna be

Misty: Because the magic, it lives
Within you and me

Zipp and Pipp: It takes time to grow
And to learn on your own

Sunny, Pipp, Zipp and Indigo: The transformation is beginning

Izzy: Butterflies don't get their wings
Over the night

Sunny: It all takes time

Hitch: Birds don't just wake up and fly

Pipp: It comes from deep inside

As the Mane 6 continued to sing their song, Indigo and her friends thought back to all the amazing memories they had together... and how many amazing memories they were going to make when Indigo was free from Dracula's clutches at last.

Mane 6: Find your light
Let it, let it glow
You got it, got it, go

Find your light
You got it, got it, go
Everypony can grow

As the group all sang together once again, the tree, fueled by the ponies' cutie mark magic and the leopards' magic, began to grow to a great height on the cliffs, symbolizing their freedom and their newfound friendship with one another.

All: Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh (Pipp: Gro-o-o-o-ow)
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Everypony can grow

Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh Misty: Gro-o-o-o-ow)
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Everypony can

Misty: Grow!

“Whoa!” Maya cried as she stared up at the towering tree. “Look at that!”

At that moment, small beings of light circled around the group, causing Somnia to gasp. “The Fate Fairies! They heard our song and came to play with us!”

Sparky babbled and rushed after the fairies playing with him, causing Hitch to chuckle. “Well, no time like the present, I guess!”

“Last one to catch a Fate Fairy is a rotten bird egg!” Draven challenged his friends before taking off into the sky. “Hey, no fair!” Heather pouted. “I wasn’t ready!”

And so, for the next hour or so, the group played with the Fate Fairies, laughing and having an amazing time.

But, as the Fairy Moon glistened in the evening light, Misty found a strange question tug at her heart. She wanted to ask Indigo something, but she wasn’t sure how she would react… or if she would even accept.

Misty had to try.

She saw so much of herself in Indigo, and if anypony knew what she was going through, it was her.

So, Misty approached Indigo with a soft smile. “Hey, Indy… I wanted to ask you something,” she said. “You know how after the test drive, Shaggy and Scooby recruited me, Sunny and Pipp to be on their racing team and the Zipp, Sparky, Hitch and Izzy would be backups in case we needed their help?”

“Yeah?” Indigo tilted her head, confused. “What about it?”

“Well… I talked it over with Shaggy and Scooby, and we were wondering something ourselves,” said Misty with a gentle smile as Shaggy and Scooby approached. “Do you wanna be on our racing team too?”

“What?! Me? I… Misty, I’m honored, and I would love to, but… what about Dracula?” Indigo asked nervously. “I mean… I don’t want him to take his anger out on you guys.”

“Actually, we have a solution for that, too,” Misty said as the rest of the Mane 6 approached. “We gave your friends one of Pipp’s spare phones, and all we have to do is say a specific word…”

“...and your friends will come running for backup!” Izzy chirped. “It’s fool-proof!”

“Dracula wouldn’t dare mess with a team this big,” Zipp added. “And who knows? Your weather magic might come in handy.”

“So… what do you say, Indy?” Sunny asked. “Wanna join the cause and help Shaggy become his old self again?”

“Well… racing with you guys actually would be a lot of fun,” Indigo admitted, “so… why not?”

Sparky cheered and hopped into the leopard’s paws, causing her to giggle. “I’m excited too, Sparkeroni. But we better head back before the moon sets-- if Dracula finds out we’re missing, he’s not gonna be happy.”

“We’ll be rooting for you in the race tomorrow, guys. Count on it,” Heather smiled as she high-pawed Scooby. “And we’ll be ready to help whenever you give the signal!”

“Thanks, guys,” Indigo smiled before she and her new friends went down the mountain and back toward the castle with the rest of the clan looking on.

They would be back together soon... they could feel it in their wings and their hearts.

Late Night Shenanigans/Before the Race Begins

Indigo was now a part of Shaggy’s racing team, consisting of herself, Shaggy, Scooby and Misty, and all that was left to do was sleep until the race the next day.

Not only was Shaggy’s humanity at stake, but if they lost, the group would be stuck in Transylvania forever, and the Mane 6 couldn’t allow that to happen.

XXXXXXXX

Dracula watched as Brunch tinkered with the Werewolf Wagon, the car that Shaggy would be driving in the race the next day. “Have you made the changes in the Wolf Wagon I wanted?”

“Ah, yes, master,” Brunch nodded gladly. “All the controls are switched around. Watch!”

With the simple flick of a switch, the Werewolf Wagon began to buck like a wild horse, and oil spit into Dracula’s face. But for once, he actually didn’t care about being sprayed on by his lackies. “Very well,” Dracula said with a composed look. “No way do I want that young werewolf to win the race tomorrow.”

“But, sire,” Brunch pointed out, “the lad drove the course like he knew every turn today.”

“Which is why I’ve changed the course,” Dracula gestured to the new race map on the wall. “But I'm still worried. How can I make absolutely sure he will lose?”

Dracula switched his security monitor over to the room where the Mane 6 and their friends were staying, and they had thankfully gotten back before Dracula realized they had snuck out to go to the Fairy Moon Celebration.

As he climbed onto his bed, Shaggy let out an exhausted yawn. “Oh, boy. Am I sleepy. I'm gonna need every ounce of energy to win that race tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, Shaggy,” Scrappy reassured with a smile. “We won't let anything keep you awake tonight. Right, gang?”

“Right!” the others chorused, and even Indigo smiled at this. However, Dracula wasn’t all that surprised by his servant’s willingness to help her newfound friends. In fact, he had gotten a brilliant idea by watching the interaction. Hmm… keep him awake? What a wonderful, nasty idea. Oh, Crunchy and Brunchy…? I got a job for you…”

XXXXXXXX

Only a few minutes later, Googie was tucking Shaggy into bed, and Izzy managed to unicycle him a stuffed animal to cuddle with. “Now, you get a good night's sleep, Shaggykins,” Googie told her boyfriend, kissing his furry forehead as Shaggy closed his eyes with a smile. “Hey. Like, how about a real goodnight kiss?”

“...okay, he asked for this,” Zipp shrugged before nudging Scooby forward, prompting him to lick Shaggy on the face, much to his disgust. “Yuck! Pooey!”

“We’ll be up for a little while with Indigo, but you guys go right to sleep,” Sunny said, scratching Scooby behind the ear with her hoof. “We’ll be quiet so Shaggy can get the rest he needs.”

“Like, thanks, Sunster,” yawned Shaggy before turning over and going to sleep. A minute or two later, Scooby and Scrappy laid down on the floor and turned in for the night while Googie fell asleep in the armchair.

This gave the Mane 6 and Indigo the privacy that they needed. “Okay, guys… we all know what’s at stake if Shaggy loses the race tomorrow,” Zipp said sternly, but quietly as to not wake their friends. “And if Indigo knows Dracula as much as she thinks she does, he’ll do anything in his power to make sure Shaggy doesn’t come in first, or second… or any other position except last.”

“Indigo? Is there anything we should be prepared for on the race-track tomorrow?” Hitch asked. “Well, I know Dracula is probably gonna be sending out the Hunch Bunch to do most of the dirty work,” Indigo said in thought. “So if you see the Bat-Copter, be on alert.”

“Sunny will have her alicorn powers within hoof’s reach in case anything goes wrong,” Zipp said. “And I,” Pipp said, pulling out a selfie stick, “will be live-streaming the entire event for my channel!”

This caused the others to look at her strangely. “What?” Pipp asked. “I have to give the Pippsqueaks what they want!”

“Actually, Pipp… livestreaming is a great idea!” Indigo realized with a smile. “If you can keep your livestream going through all of Dracula’s sneaky scheming, we can use it as evidence and turn the people of Transylvania against him!”

“That’s actually pretty genius!” Misty smiled. “Okay, guys, we need to get some sleep as much as the next pony-- we have a big day tomorrow, and we can’t do anything if we’re sleepy.”

XXXXXXXX

But as the ponies, Indigo and Sparky retired to sleep for the night, they had no idea that the Hunch Bunch were beginning to carry out Dracula's next orders.

Brunch plugged in a microphone he had found over near a dripping faucet in the bathroom, a wicked grin on his face. “The old dripping faucet ploy. The speakers will blow their minds… as well as their ears,” he whispered before turning to a sinisterly chuckling Crunch. “Here, old boy. Hold the microphone near the water.”

“Okay,” Crunch nodded and swiped the mic, putting it closer and closer to the faucet. However, he got it too close and accidentally ended up electrocuting himself and Brunch.

As the smoke cleared, Brunch managed to find his voice and spoke to his comrade in a stern whisper. “I say, prick up your ears, old thing. I said near the water, not in it!”

Seeing that this plan could not possibly wake up Shaggy now, Brunch knew that he and Crunch were going to need another plan.

And luckily... he knew just the thing that could work.

XXXXXXXX

The next thing Crunch knew, he and Brunch were standing outside of the castle, dressed in cat-like costumes-- the second phase of Brunch’s plan to keep Shaggy awake. “Now then, Crunch, let's wake up our werewolf with a resounding feline flourish!”

After testing his and Crunch's pitch with a pitch pipe, the two of them began to meow repeatedly, hoping that their annoying flourish would do the trick.

And it did... just not in the way the two hunchbacks expected.

For instead of Shaggy being woken up, the one they woke up instead was Frankenstein, who threw shoes at them in order to get them to stop meowing... and the sooner the better. “Doggone kitty cats!”

After making sure Crunch and Brunch would be silent, Frankenstein closed his window, leaving the Hunch Bunch to try and come up with another plan...

...especially before the next morning came along.

XXXXXXXX

Even though he didn't know it was the Hunch Bunch trying to keep him awake all night, Shaggy tossed and turned repeatedly, his worry about the race the next day agonizing him like nothing he had ever experienced before.

Before he could even realize what time it was, it was already the morning of the big race, and as Shaggy prepared himself to finally go back to sleep, a knock at the door caused Shaggy to rise up, startled. “Huh? What?”

That’s when Crunch and Brunch walked in the door with Shaggy’s racing uniform, the former speaking up with a smile. “Rise and shine!”

“It's race day, Shaggy, old top. Here are your racing colors. We expect you at the starting line forthwith,” Brunch said as the others woke up and as he and Crunch helped Shaggy get dressed. “Tally ho.”

“Yeah!” Crunch said before he and Brunch ran off. “Tally ho!”

Shaggy, however, yawned and fell back, prompting Scrappy to hoist Shaggy off the ground to get him moving. “Come on, Shag. Let's show those old monsters how to drive.”

“You ponies coming?” Indigo asked her new friends. “In just a minute,” Pipp said with a fond smile. “We gotta get changed into our own racing uniforms and we’ll be right behind you!”

And so, Indigo, Sparky and the remainder of the group helped Shaggy out the door, leaving the Mane 6 to themselves in order to change.

XXXXXXXX

Down at the starting line, Dracula was beginning his broadcast of the race, an excited smile causing his fangs to show. “It's a picture postcard day for the great annual Monster Car Rally. Plenty of lightning and fog,” he said into the camera. “In just a little while, all the creepy creatures of my realm will be racing for the coveted "Monster of the Year" trophy.”

“That’s right, Dracky. And I'll be here to do all the color,” Vanna Pira said before pointing out some of the colors around her. “Like… there's some brown and there's some gray and there's some green!”

However, Dracula covered Vanna Pira up with his cape to shut her up before turning back to the camera. “The peasants are pouring in by the thousands and are they excited! Just listen to that crowd!”

However, the peasants could not be any LESS excited. “...yay…” they said in a monotone voice, wanting this day to go ahead and be over with.

XXXXXXXX

Finally, the Mane 6 had gotten changed into their racing uniforms:

Sunny's outfit was a dark magenta, like in her mane, with black on the boots she was wearing and there was black on the chest, and white areas around the black areas as well.
Hitch's outfit was mainly dark green with white in various places (like on the chest and circle designs on the suit itself) with black on the boots.
Pipp's outfit was purple (naturally), but her pants were a darker shade of purple than her jacket. Her wings were even spray-painted the same color as her jacket, and she wore black boots on her hooves as well.
Izzy's outfit was dark purple, with black and white boots and various white designs all over the suit itself.
Zipp's outfit was white and dark pink with a dark pink jacket and lightning bolt designs on it, along with dark pink boots.
Lastly, Misty's outfit was dark blue with white boots with zigzags on them, a strip of white around the waist and on her chest.

But by the time they had gotten downstairs, things were not looking good.

Indigo, Scrappy, Scooby and Googie were trying to keep an exhausted Shaggy from falling asleep, sparking Zipp's worries. “None of this feels right… I heard Shaggy snoring really early last night-- how is he so tired?”

“I have a feeling the Hunch Bunch might’ve had something to do with that,” Indigo said irritably. “Probably one of Dracula’s orders.”

“Come on, Shaggykins! Wake up!” Googie urged her boyfriend, only to get a yawn in response. “Come on, Shaggy,” Hitch said pleadingly. “You’ve gotta win-- for yourself and all of us!”

“Like, what's the use?” Shaggy yawned with concern. “I don't know how to drive this thing and who knows what traps Drac has out there.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Hitch, Zipp, Izzy, Sparky, Scrappy and I will be in your car. Now, we'll get a head start and radio back to you, Scooby and the girls about anything that looks bad,” Googie said. “Googie’s right, Shaggy!” Sunny smiled. “We can do this! We can win!”

However, Shaggy’s mood didn’t seem to change, even with this reassurance. “Oh, but I'm so tired. If only I could wake up.”

Fortunately, that gave Googie an idea that might work, and planted a kiss on Shaggy's furry face, causing him to snap to attention immediately. “Wow!”

“There,” Misty smiled, amused with that reaction. “Did that help?”

Shaggy’s only response was a laugh. “Like, my battery's charged now!”

“We better get into our vehicles, guys,” Zipp told the ponies and Indigo. “We have a race to help Shaggy win and we can’t let him or Indigo or her clan down!”

“Oh, yeah,” Pipp chuckled nervously. “So no pressure.”

“Don’t worry. We may be in different vehicles at different times,” Sunny said to her friends with an excited smile, “but in a way, we’ll all still be together, working toward the same goal-- getting Shaggy changed back to normal and freeing Indigo from his clutches forever!”

“Oh yeah we are!” Zipp pumped a hoof. “And the only way we’re gonna do that is to stop lollygagging!”

“See you guys soon!” Indigo bid her friends farewell as she, Misty, Pipp and Sunny got into the Werewolf Wagon. Scooby tapped Googie’s shoulder and tried to get a kiss from her, only for Misty to pull him inside the wagon, letting the other ponies, Googie and Scrappy wave farewell to their friends as they set off for the race track.

They weren’t going to let Shaggy or Indigo or Indigo's clan of friends down by any means necessary…

…otherwise, the consequences would alter their lives too.

The Race Begins!/Cliff Chaos

“Attention, ladies and gentle monsters!” Dracula’s voice boomed across the loudspeakers stretching across the entire castle-grounds. “The 753rd annual Monster Rally is about to begin!”

“Yay…” the peasants droned on, enthusiastic for the event to begin.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, as Shaggy tried to navigate the Werewolf Wagon toward the starting line, the car bucked around like a wild bronco, causing the six teammates to brace themselves. “Boy, guys,” said Shaggy in concern, “like, this car is weird!”

“Tell me about it-- the only time the Marestream ever bucked this much was when there was ice on the wings,” Sunny said in thought. “I guess we’re just gonna have to improvise and do the best with what we have.”

“Ohh! I hope you’re right, Sunny,” Indigo groaned. “I don’t know if I can take much more of this!”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Dracula was announcing all of the teams and their vehicles as they made their way to the starting line. “Introducing in position number one, Frankenstein and Repulsa in the Freaky Franken-Wagon. In position number two, Swamp Thing in the Slime Speedster. Number three is the Witch Sisters in the Cauldron Coup. Next is Mr. Bonejangles in his Bone Bomber.”

“Yay…” the peasants droned on as Dracula continued with the introduction of the racers. “And here comes the Mummy in his Mummy Mobile! And here is Dr. Jackal and Mr. Snide in the Split-Personality Special. The Dragonfly in his Dragon Dragster. And last, but not least, Shaggy the werewolf in the Werewolf Wagon.”

But as he and Vanna Pira looked, Dracula saw that Shaggy was having a tough time keeping the Werewolf Wagon in check… so much so that as Shaggy’s team approached the finish line, the Werewolf Wagon slammed into the other teams’ vehicles, causing the teams to grumble, and Dracula to sob in frustration. “Oh, no-ho-ho-ho!!”

“There there, Dracula,” Vanna Pira tried to be comforting as Dracula continued to vent his frustration. “It's enough to make a grown monster cry…”

Shaggy saw that the other monsters were glaring at the group, causing Sunny to try and make the situation less tense. “Sorry about that, everyone! Shagster here doesn’t quite have the hang of this thing yet. Heh heh heh…”

“Yeah,” Scooby said before chuckling nervously. But the more Indigo thought about it, the more she thought that Dracula had more to do with the Werewolf Wagon acting suspicious than any of her other friends thought.

They would have to keep a close eye on this during the race.

XXXXXXXX

Within a few minutes, the mess with the vehicles was quickly cleaned up, and all the vehicles were ready to start the race. That's when Googie's voice began to echo through Shaggy's in-car radio system. “Breaker, breaker. This is Looky Lady calling Wheely Wolf. Come on back.”

Shaggy grabbed the radio and pressed the button upon hearing Googie’s voice. “Loud and clear.”

“What’s the story, Shaggy?” Zipp asked through the radio as well. “When’s the race gonna start?”

“It’s gonna start any minute,” Misty said out loud to her friends as she flipped through her spellbook. “In the meantime, I can look at these defense spells in case anything fishy were to go on.”

At the tent, Vanna Pira held up the starting gun to her husband with an optimistic smile. “Can I shoot off the starting gun now, Dracky? Huh? Can I?”

“Be careful-- just a minute,” Dracula said firmly before looking over at the Werewolf Wagon, unaware that Indigo was watching him closely. “I can't have Shaggy fouling up everybody's car again.”

In an instant, he poofed over to where the Hunch Bunch was hiding. “Ya-haa! Look alive! Attention!” he shouted in a military-like fashion, startling the two and making both Crunch and Brunch salute before Dracula spoke again. “I got a job for you boys. Make sure that werewolf car gets a bad start.”

“You can rest assured, sire,” Brunch reassured before Dracula poofed away, letting the Hunch Bunch get to work once again.

XXXXXXXX

Just a few minutes later, Dracula spoke to the crowds once again. “All the necessary repairs have been made. The race is once more ready to begin.”

But what anyone didn't realize was that Crunch and Brunch had tied chains around the back end of the Werewolf Wagon, connecting it to the stage so it would be stuck in place.

And seeing that this was going as he planned, Dracula continued with the rousing of the crowd. “The crowd is going wild with anticipation.”

“...yay,” the crowd deadpanned, and Dracula knew that he was going to have to try a lot harder in order to get the excitement he was hoping for. “Louder!”

“...yay…”

“LOUDER!!!”

“...yay…”

Eventually, Dracula sighed to himself-- if the crowd was going to be this enthusiastic, he may have had more problems than he would have liked to admit.

XXXXXXXX

The engines revved up as the race was just about to begin, and Indigo glanced around for any sign of the Hunch Bunch, having thought she smelled them a few minutes ago. “I was sort of expecting something really bad to happen,” she admitted, “that might put us behind schedule.”

“Uh… when you mean something really bad,” said Pipp, looking out the window, “do you mean the kind of really bad stuff that leaves our car chained to the stage?”

“What?!” Misty cried, looking back to see Pipp was right. “Oh, no… it must be Dracula and the Hunch Bunch at their old tricks again!”

“What do we do?!” Scooby yelped. “I got an idea,” Sunny said. “Shaggy, when I say 'go'… floor it!”

“Let the race begin!” Dracula shouted from the tent, and Vanna Pira shot off the starting gun, and the rest of the competitors shot out in front, giving Sunny the perfect moment to initiate her idea. “Shaggy, GO!!”

Shaggy slammed his foot on the gas pedal, causing the tires to spin for a few brief moments before Misty activated her magic, blasting at the chains near the stage and causing the stage to collapse once the chains broke free, letting the Werewolf Wagon zoom off after the others.

Dracula, who was picking himself up from the debris left behind, growled in irritation. “That Brunchy and Crunchy…”

However, as he grabbed the starting gun from the pile of debris, he noticed too late that the barrel had been twisted so it was pointing right at him, causing him to accidentally shoot himself in the process.

This caused the crowd of peasants to become enthusiastic, and the cheering escalated to ten times what it was a few moments before. “Pipe down!” Dracula shouted at them before marching off to get himself cleaned up so he could broadcast on the race.

XXXXXXXX

Once getting himself cleaned up, Dracula made it back to the repaired tent to continue his broadcast. “Well, fans,” he said, “the race is underway. The field is tightly packed as the monsters jockey for position. All except for the Werewolf Wagon which trails badly.”

XXXXXXXX

As it turns out, Dracula was right-- due to the tampering of the engine the Hunch Bunch did, the Werewolf Wagon was quickly falling behind, putting our small team of heroes in last place. “Like, this car's engine is nowhere,” Shaggy said before beginning to climb out of the window. “Stay here with the girls and take the wheel, Scoob. I'm gonna see if I can climb under the hood and fix it.”

Scooby gulped nervously, but slid into the driver’s seat and did as told. “Okay!”

“And I’m gonna start my livestream while you guys do… whatever else you need to do!” Pipp said, pulling out her phone and selfie stick before beginning the livestream. “Hello, Pippsqueaks! This is Pipp Petals coming to you live from the Monster Road Rally, where our hero Shaggy is climbing under the hood while on the road to try and fix an enormous engine problem that’s slowed us down! Can he do it and ensure we have a shot at victory? Let’s wait and find OOOOUUUUT!!!!”

As it turns out, Shaggy was able to quickly fix the Werewolf Wagon, causing it to shoot forward in a burst of speed, which caused Sunny to laugh as Shaggy took the driving position from Scooby. “I’d say he got it fixed all right!”

XXXXXXXX

“The monster cars are still closely packed in,” Dracula said before seeing something come up on the monitor. “But wait-- what’s this?”

As he saw the Werewolf Wagon zoom out in the lead, Dracula’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no. The Werewolf Wagon comes out of nowhere to take the lead! Take over, darling. I'll be right back.”

And after giving Vanna Pira the microphone, Dracula poofed away, giving Vanna Pira the chance to be in the spotlight for a moment. “This is Vanna Pira again with some more color commentary. There's some orange and some red and some more red and…”

XXXXXXXX

Dracula swiftly appeared in the Bat-Copter with the Hunch Bunch, who were keeping an eye on the race from above, and it was clear to see that Dracula was not pleased. “I thought you two fixed that werewolf car so that it couldn't win!”

“Ah, yes, master,” Brunch said, “but Shaggy un-fixed it.”

“Well, then you un-unfix it!” Dracula snapped at the duo before poofing back to the tent. “Very well,” Brunch sighed before turning to his comrade. “Crunch! Tacks away!”

Crunch chuckled sinisterly at this. “Tacks away!”

With the simple flick of a lever, Crunch was able to make at least 300,000 tacks fall into the middle of the race track, hoping this would slow Shaggy down and keep him from winning the race.

XXXXXXXX

Fortunately for Shaggy's team, Googie and her team were able to spot this road-wide disaster right away. “Looky lady calling Wheely Wolf!” Googie said into the radio. “We got a tacky track attack.”

“Turn another way, Shag!” Zipp cried out. “Detour! Detour!”

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy heard this and immediately veered off to the side of the road, leaving Indigo to cheer excitedly. “Shaggy’s got some smooth moves, huh, Scoob?!”

However, as she said this, Scooby's eyes widened as the group was heading toward a gigantic cliff... and there was no way to stop in time! “Yeah… real smooth!”

That’s when the Werewolf Wagon fell right off the cliff, and the group screamed as Misty and Sunny tried to lower their descent. Luckily for them, they were able to catch themselves on a tree branch sticking out of the cliff wall, but who knows how long that one branch will hold?

XXXXXXXX

“Calling the Hunch Bunch,” Dracula said into the radio as he got back to the tent and took over commentator duties. “Did you disable Shaggy's car yet?”

“Right-o. Indeed we did,” Brunch said sinisterly. “Our shower of tacks took him and his little pony pals right out of the race!”

Unfortunately, the sound of popping caused Dracula's attention to turn to the monitor again, and as it turns out, all the other competitors didn't see the tacks in time and had driven right onto them, popping their tires instead. “And… unfortunately, sire,” Brunch said hesitantly, “it took out all the other competitors as well.”

Dracula groaned in frustration at this, slapping a hand right on his head. “That Hunch Bunch would break my heart! …if I had one.”

XXXXXXXX

Scooby quivered and whimpered nervously as he, Shaggy, Indigo, Misty, Pipp and Sunny sat in the car on that tree branch, and this quivering caused the car to quiver as well. Shaggy knew that if they didn’t wanna plunge to their deaths, he had to calm Scooby down somehow. “Like, quit shakin’, Scoob!”

“Yeah, Scooby, it’s gonna be okay,” Indigo said calmly. “We’ll figure out a way out of this.”

“Hang in there, guys!”

The group looked out the window to see Izzy trying to lift the Werewolf Wagon off of the branch, and the others standing nearby for backup. “Yeah!” Scrappy agreed, looking down at them. “We’ll get you out of there!”

“Whoooo-hoo!” Pipp cheered before turning back to her livestream. “Hear that, everypony? Nothing bad can happen to us now!”

“Yay!” Scooby cheered, jumping in place a bit. However, as he did this, the branch broke underneath them, causing the car to immediately plummet, causing the girls to scream and hold onto each other, with Misty and Sunny trying to catch them again.

However, the alicorn/earth pony and unicorn duo were a bit too exhausted from the first try to succeed, and Indigo and Pipp couldn’t stop the falling car on their own, so Shaggy and Scooby clung to each other tightly, the former choosing to say farewell to his canine companion while they still had time. “Like, so long, ol' pal, ol' buddy ol' friend, oh-oh-oh!”

Scooby gulped nervously at this. “Goodbye…”

“Oh no you don’t!” Hitch shouted and slammed a hoof on one of the buttons in Shaggy’s car, causing a giant magnet to appear and stop the group from falling.

Shaggy was the first to open his eyes at this. “Huh?”

“What happened?” Indigo looked confused, causing Pipp to look up and smile. “It’s my sister and our friends saving us, that’s what! Hold on tight, everypony!”

The Werewolf Wagon was slowly raised to the top of the cliff again, allowing Googie to set it firmly on solid ground with the help of the magnet. “Yay!” Scooby howled a greeting as Sunny high-hoofed Zipp. “Great work, guys! Thanks!”

“No problem, Sunny,” Zipp smiled. “Just doing what we can to help.”

“Now get back and win this race,” Googie told the team (more specifically looking at Shaggy), “or you’re a werewolf forever!”

“Right!” Shaggy nodded firmly. “Like, hang on, guys!”

“Go, Team Shaggy!” Izzy cheered with Sparky giggling alongside her as they watched their friends zoom out of sight to resume the race, all of their fates hanging in the balance.

Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 2: Trains and Lightning Bolts Galore)

Googie’s team, aided by Maya and Draven, successfully rescued Shaggy’s team in the Werewolf Wagon from the Schlockness Monster along the Tar Pit Trail, and now they were back in the race…

…and of course, Dracula would have no idea until the very last minute, for he was still commentating on the race. “The race is really heating up now, fans, as the Dragonfly in the Dragon Dragster pulls into the lead. Followed by Frankenstein and Repulsa in the Freaky Franken-Wagon and Mr. Bonejangles in the Bone Bomber.”

It was at that moment that Shaggy's team zoomed past the other racers to the surprise of the other monsters, especially Dracula. “Oh no! Shaggy again!”

“Wow! He makes the others look like they're standing still!” Vanna Pira commented, causing Dracula to sneer. “I’ll fix that!”

And within seconds, Dracula teleported right on top of the Dragon Dragster’s hood. “What's the matter with all of you?!” he shouted. “How can you let that werewolf make monster monkeys out of you? Put those pedals to the metal!”

Dragonfly silently complied and stomped on the gas. The Dragon Dragster surged forward, causing Dracula to fly off the hood. “YIKE!!!” the vampire sailed past the other racers, landing on the roof of Dr. Jackal/Mr. Snide’s ride.

XXXXXXXX

“Uh-oh!” Scooby looked back at the other racers, who were quickly gaining on them. “They’re catching up!”

“"That's more like it. Ha, ha, ha, ha!” Dracula cried out. “We’re gaining on them!”

“They’re gonna get past us in no time!” Misty realized with wide eyes. “Uh, not to discard that thought, Misty,” Sunny said, pointing ahead, “but I think we’ve got bigger problems!”

To make matters worse, the team was rapidly approaching a railroad crossing. The warning bells began ringing and the sound of a train whistle shrieked in the distance. “Oh no!” Scooby cried. “The train!”

“Put the brakes on, Shaggy!” Pipp screeched. “I can’t!” Shaggy argued. “Hang on, guys! We’ve gotta beat it!”

The gang could see the train approaching the crossing, each of them fearing an imminent collision. “Master,” said Dr. Jackal, “there appears to be a train approaching. Hadn’t we better stop?”

“Who cares? Keep going!” Dracula yelled. “But, this is madness. Madness I tell you. We'll all get creamed,” the doctor said before he suddenly changed into Mr. Snide. “Including me!”

“Step on the gas, or I'll chop your necks. Both of them!” Dracula threatened. The racers closed in on the crossing, though it seemed Shaggy's team was in complete hysterics. “Transylvania Limited!” cried Indigo. “Coming in at nine o’clock!”

“But it’s midnight!” Scooby argued. “I love you, Pippsqueaks!” Pipp hugged her phone tightly. “SHAGGY!!” Misty cried. “DO SOMETHING!!”

On the opposite side of the coin, Dracula was still angrily ordering about his henchmen. “Faster, faster!”

That's when Indigo got an idea. She leaned out of the racecar and conjured up a ball of electricity. “Indigo!” Shaggy cried. “Like, what are you doing?!”

“Giving us a speed boost!” Indigo threw the ball of electricity to the ground. The resulting explosion launched the car forward. The team screamed as the car sailed through the railroad crossing, and thankfully, they made it out unharmed. “O-Oh my pony…” Misty put a hoof to her chest. “We’re alive!”

“Nice one, Indy,” Scooby panted out of fear, causing the winged leopard to giggle. “Thanks.”

“Heh. I'm not gone yet, Pippsqueaks,” Pipp said to her livestreamers thankfully before glaring at Shaggy. “Never… do that… again.”

Frankenstein, Repulsa, Dragonfly, and Mr. Bonejangles all made it through the crossing, but however, Mr. Snide and Dracula were yet to pass. “Ha, ha, ha, ha! I'd knew we make it!” the vampire said triumphantly. However… he had spoken too soon.

Just as the Split-Personality Special was about to cross over the tracks, the crossing arm lowered, and Dracula slammed right into it. The arm swung wildly, right in the path of the oncoming steam train, and the King of Monsters slammed into the front of the engine's smokebox. “Pardon me, boy…” he groaned, dazed. “Is this the Transylvania Choo-Choo…?”

XXXXXXXX

Back at the tent, Vanna Pira was still commentating on the race in Dracula's place. “Hi, monster racing fans!” she said cheerfully. “Vanna Pira pitching in for Dracula, who is… uh… whatcha call it, decomposed.”

Just then, Dracula teleported in beside her. “Not decomposed. Indisposed,” he corrected spitefully. “Sheesh.”

“Oh, yeah,” Vanna Pira nodded, correcting herself. “Anyway, the race is really heating up. Frankenstein and Repulsa are closing on Shaggy in the Werewolf Car.”

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, come on. Step on it, step on it!” Repulsa demanded. “Okay,” Frankenstein sighed, “okay!”

He stomped on the gas hard, causing his foot to break through the floor of the car. “"Not that hard, lead foot!” Repulsa reprimanded her husband as Shaggy's team were now growing a large gap between them and the other racers. “Aw, they're pulling away from us, and it's all your fault! I should've listened to my mother and married that rich rattlesnake monster from Texas.”

“Don’t worry, my dear,” Frankenstein reassured. “We’ll stop the Werewolf Car cold.”

“Oh, yeah?” Repulsa scoffed. “How are you going to do that, dull skull?”

“With the same force that gave me life,” Frankenstein flipped a switch, and the hood popped open and a large cannon rose out from it. “A lightning bolt!”

A bolt of electricity exploded from the cannon. It struck the Werewolf Car, shocking the occupants inside. “AHH!!! My mane!!” Pipp grabbed her puffed out mane. “Hey, what gives?!”

“Don’t look at me!” Indigo said defensively. “It wasn’t me that time!”

“Guys, look!” Sunny pointed back at the Freaky Franken-Wagon. “Now you're cooking, Frankie, honey!” Repulsa cackled. “Come on, come on. Zap them good!”

“I’ll turn up the power!”

Another bolt of electricity shot from the cannon and struck Shaggy's vehicle. “Quick, Shaggy!” Misty cried desperately as she tried to block the lightning blasts. “Get us out of here!”

Shaggy slammed on the gas in a desperate attempt to escape from the electrifying assault, just as the group managed to dodge another bolt of lightning. It struck a pair of trees, disintegrating them as Repulsa laughed at their misery.

The group raced up a mountainside as another bolt of lightning struck, destroying the top of the mountain, causing the group to scream as they bounced down the other side. “I guess we're pulling away from them now, Scoob, right?” Shaggy asked hopefully. Before anyone could answer, another bolt of lightning struck the car. “I don’t think so, Shag!” Pipp cried out in panic, with Repulsa laughing even harder now. “Gotcha now!”

“Not again!” Scooby cried out with dread. “Indy, can't you fight them off with your electrical magic?” Misty asked the purple and green leopard. “I would,” Indigo admitted, “but I don’t wanna hurt you guys!”

“Come on, Frankie!” cried Repulsa. “Shoot the worms!”

Frankenstein nodded at this. “I can’t miss!”

Shaggy’s team quickly made it to a wooden bridge that was part of the track. Frankenstein shot another bolt of lightning at them, but this time, it barely missed and struck the bridge. The old wood was immediately flash-fried, blackened to the color of pitch. As the Freaky-Franken Wagon drove over the bridge, the wood disintegrated, and Frankenstein and Repulsa fell into the mud below. “Can’t miss, huh?” Repulsa grumbled. “Phooey!”

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy laughed joyously as they finally escaped the lightning blasts. “We're out in front now. Right, Scoob, ol' buddy?”

Scooby nodded to this. “Yeah!”

“And it’s all because of working together as a team!” Sunny smiled at her friends. “But you might as well slow down a little bit, Shaggy. With the bridge out, they won’t catch us for a while.”

However, as Shaggy began to slow down, the other racers zoomed past them, causing them all to become quite startled. “HEY!!!”

“How’d you guys catch up with that bridge out?!” Shaggy asked Mr. Bonejangles, who was directly beside of them. “Easy, man,” the skeleton reassured. “We took a shortcut, you dig?”

“A shortcut?!” Pipp cried out with anger. “But-- but that’s cheating!”

“Yeah!” Scooby nodded firmly. “Cheating!”

“You dudes got a lot to learn,” Mr. Bonejangles told them with a smirk. “In this race, anything goes.”

“Right, okay,” Shaggy smirked upon getting another idea. “If anything goes then here we go!”

With the single press of a button, Shaggy sent the Werewolf Wagon flying over the other racers, back in first place once again. “Whoo-hoo!” Sunny cheered. “We’re back in the lead!”

However, the Mummy wasn’t about to take being in second place, and pushed a lever, sending a mummy wrap forward to wrap around the Werewolf Wagon. “Uh-oh!” Scooby yelped. “We’re getting wound up!”

“Hang on tight, you guys!” cried Sunny, firing up her alicorn form. “With my alicorn speed, we’re about to unwind!”

She flew out of the Werewolf Wagon and flapped her wings as hard as she could while pushing the Werewolf Wagon forward, causing the Mummy-Mobile to unravel and the Mummy to fall to the ground.

Unfortunately, one of the witch sisters had been watching the entire thing, clearly not pleased. “That Shaggy kid is really beginning to frost my pumpkin.”

“Me too,” the second witch sister nodded. “Come on, sis-- let's cook up a werewolf whammy.”

The first witch sister stirred the cauldron, and the sisters cackled as the Cauldron Coup sped up until it was right beside the Werewolf Wagon. “One side!” the first witch sister taunted. “The Witch Sisters are coming through!”

“Last warning!” the second sister warned. “Out of the way, small fry!”

“Ugh! Okay, rude!” Pipp crossed her hooves, clearly not pleased. “Yeah!” Shaggy frowned, looking over at them. “Who are you calling ‘small fry’?”

“Yeah!” Scooby huffed. “Who?”

“You kids!” the first witch sister said, getting out her wand. “That’s who!”

And with one swift magic blast, the Werewolf Wagon shrunk down to the size of a toy car, causing the Werewolf Wagon team to scream in fright as the other racers sped past them.

Now what were they gonna do?

Well... we'll just have to wait till the next chapter in order to find out.

Author's Note

I had some serious help from Indywriter Productions with these scenes, and I really owe them a lot-- thanks, friend!

Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 3: Spells, Bogus Schemes and a Kidnapping)

The witch sisters had just taken the lead, having shrunk the Werewolf Wagon and its passengers to a very tiny size along the race track, leaving our heroes to wander through the grass, completely unsure of how to handle this unexpected transformation.

Shaggy was the first to speak, his eyes wide with horror. “Oh, no! Look at us! We’re a pint-sized werewolf, tiny ponies, a little leopard, and a half-pint hound!”

“I know I’m probably gonna regret asking this,” Pipp groaned, “but what do you think is worse than this?”

Upon hearing revving coming up from behind them, Scooby looked back in order to see the other racers quickly gaining on them. “That could!”

“Uh-oh!” the group cried and braced for impact, just as the racers sped past them, leaving them to spin around helplessly…

…at least, until Somnia put a paw on top of the car, stopping the spinning. “Somnia!” cried Indigo. “Boy, are we glad to see you!”

“I’ll wait here until your friends can come and find you,” Somnia said, taking the car to the side of the road and curling up beside of it. “After what you’re doing for us… it’s the least I can do.”

And just like that, the young blue and purple leopard yawned and began taking a short nap while waiting for help to arrive.

XXXXXXXX

“Well, well,” Dracula smirked, having watched everything from the monitors. “It's a real race once again as the werewolf car has shrunk from the battle. Heh heh heh heh!”

But upon realizing that Vanna Pira didn’t laugh, Dracula turned back to her. “I said ‘shrunk from the battle’. Get it?”

“Get what?”

“...sheesh…” Dracula muttered before turning his attention back to the race. “Anyhow, the witch sisters are still out in front.”

And that's when the Freaky Franken-Wagon appeared back on the race track, having been pushed out by Frankenstein and Repulsa a few minutes before now. “And here comes the Freaky Franken-Wagon back into the race!” Dracula cheered. “The crowd is electrified!”

However, the crowd made no kind of response. “I said,” Dracula repeated, “the crowd is electrified!”

Frankenstein then shot the crowd of peasants with a bolt of electricity, causing them to cheer wildly. “Ohh… I like that…” Dracula smirked before his attention turned back to the group, still being protected by Somnia. “And as for the poor little teensy-weensy werewolf car…”

However, he was interrupted by Vanna Pira’s laughing, causing him to become confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Shrunk from battle!” Vanna Pira answered. “I finally got it! Ha ha ha!”

Dracula sighed to himself at this. “Her mind wanders and she just goes along for the ride…” he muttered before seeing Googie’s team approach the tiny Werewolf Wagon with Somnia waking up. “Wait a minute, wait a minute! What’s this?”

“It’s Shaggy’s pit crew!” Vanna Pira answered. “They’re the pits all right,” Dracula laughed as he pointed to Scrappy. “Just look what that little mutt is doing.”

Scrappy was using a tire pump to blow up the Werewolf Wagon back to full size, which Vanna Pira thought was really cute. “He's trying to pump up that little car! Ha ha ha!”

Dracula scoffed at this. “How pathetic.”

But when he and Vanna Pira looked again, their eyes went wide-- the car was full size now, and so were the crew inside of it.

Now they were back in the race again!

XXXXXXXX

Dracula continued to commentate on the race after a moment or two of being angry that the Werewolf Wagon was back in the race. “Well, fans, the competition for the "Monster of the Year" trophy' is getting even tougher. The Dragon Dragster is lashing out at the Mummy-Mobile. 'The Franken-Wagon and the Slime Speedster are in a real flap. And Bonejangles and Dr. Jackal' are each trying to get an oily lead.”

Upon making another joke about the cars spewing oil at each other, Dracula expected Vanna Pira to get this one. “I said oily lead. Get it?”

“Get what?”

“...stay with me,” Dracula mumbled. “I want to be alone.”

“Oh, look, Dracky!” Vanna Pira pointed to the Werewolf Wagon, still in the lead. “That precious Shaggy and his friends are way out in front! Oh, he's so cute in his fur. I wish I had a fur. Dracky, honey, will you give me a wrap?”

“Oh! You're going to get a rap, alright!” Dracula threatened. “Pow! To the moon!”

However, the witches’ cackling on the monitor caused Dracula’s attention to return to the race. “It looks like the witch sisters' in the Cauldron Coup are making another challenge for the lead.”

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, honey!” the first witch sister shouted. “Let’s give that wimpy werewolf a double freezy-frost whammy.”

“You’re on, sis,” the second witch nodded. “It’ll stop him and his little friends cold.”

“Ice cold!” the first sister agreed. “Testing.”

Both witches began to shoot out beams of icy magic, causing Misty and Sunny to try and block them with their alicorn powers.

XXXXXXXX

“Go, ghouls!” Dracula shouted with a smile. “I mean, uh, girls, go!”

XXXXXXXX

“Hey, Shaggy!”

The crew in the Werewolf Wagon noticed Cyrus flying beside of them, clearly worried. “You’ve got two haggy hot dogs coming up on your tail, and the girls look like they’re getting pretty tired!”

Shaggy wasn’t worried when he saw that Sunny and Misty were having a hard time deflecting the blasts-- he already had an idea of his own. “Don’t worry about us, Cyrus-- just get back to the others before ya get caught!”

“Okay… good luck!” Cyrus said before he flew off, and Misty and Sunny stopped deflecting the blast so Shaggy could turn to the others. “Time to cool those two cacklers right, Scoob?”

Scooby nodded and pulled out a mirror from under his seat. “Right!”

“Great idea, Scooby!” Pipp smiled. “Mirrors aren’t just for fashion-- they’re for function too!”

As soon as the blast struck the mirror, it went right back to the witches, trapping their car in a huge snowball that rolled back into the others, causing everyone to scream as they finally stopped rolling and landed in a huge snow pile.

XXXXXXXX

Dracula, on the other hand, was not happy with this development. “You wacky witches! Why don't you learn to hit what you aim at?!” he growled. To this, the witches sent a snowball right at his face, causing Dracula to sigh. “I had to ask…”

XXXXXXXX

A little bit later, Dracula had another idea for how to get Shaggy out of the race, and asked Vanna Pira to take over his duties once again. “Hi, horrible hot rod fans. 'Vanna Pira subbing for Dracky. Well, all the monster cars are back in the race again,” she said, turning to a monitor that showed Shaggy and Scooby eating pizza as the team in the Werewolf Wagon continued on, and Indigo was enjoying a nice brushing from Pipp. “But Shaggy is so far out in front, it's gonna take something really weird to catch him.”

XXXXXXXX

But around the same time, the sound of sirens caught Shaggy and Scooby's attention, causing them to look back and look at each other, surprised. “Like, weird!”

Behind them was Dracula in a police officer get up, riding a motorcycle as he pursued them. “Transylvania highway patrol. Pull that heap over for an inspection.”

Not realizing this was Dracula right away, Shaggy pulled over and did as he said. “Inspection? Yeah, like, what are you looking for?”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “What?”

“None of your lips. Open this hood,” Dracula commanded, and Shaggy did as told. “Aha! Just as I thought. This engine is stolen property.”

“Stolen property?” Pipp obliviously cried out. “Since when?!”

Dracula then ripped the engine out of the car. “Since right now!”

“But, but…” Shaggy, Indigo and Scooby began to protest as Misty and Sunny suddenly figured out what was really going on. “No arguments!” Dracula snipped. “Now get that car off the track or I'll run you in.”

“But, but…”

“I said get it off!”

Misty whispered a plan, as well as the comment that the officer was really Dracula, into Shaggy's ear, causing Shaggy to smile and shrug in response. “Like, okay.”

With the simple press of a button, the engine sparked to life in Dracula’s hands. “What the…?! YEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWW!!!” Dracula screamed as the engine flew off with him, sending him bumping into every single tree in the area.

But that left our heroes with another problem… without an engine, they were probably out of the race for good.

XXXXXXXX

Once Dracula returned to the tent, all banged up from his engine ride, Vanna Pira took over commentating as the other racers began to pass the stuck Werewolf Wagon on the side of the road. “This is Vanna Pira again, fans,” she announced. “All the monster cars have passed Shaggy. With no motor, it looks like he's out of the race.”

“Boo…” the peasants in the crowd groaned. “Yes!” Dracula said triumphantly. “And now that he can't win, Shaggy will be a werewolf forever, and all of them will be under my power! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

However, as the crowd booed again, Vanna Pira looked back toward the monitor and smiled. “But wait-- Zipp, Hitch, Izzy, Sparky, Googie and Scrappy have just arrived with a spare engine!”

Truth be told, Izzy just got done installing the new engine, and as soon as it was in, the Werewolf Wagon sped off. “Shaggy’s back in the race!” Vanna Pira cheered, and the peasants in the crowd smiled. “Yay…”

Dracula scoffed and glared at them. “Make up your minds, peasants!”

XXXXXXXX

As the Werewolf Wagon continued to sail down the road, Googie spoke into the radio to contact the others. “Looky Lady calling Wheelie Wolf. We're going to cut out for the cutoff and cut a corner so we can cut in front of the pack again. 10-4.”

“Uh… yeah!” Hitch agreed as Sparky babbled. “Whatever Googie just said!”

And just like that, the group sped off to get ahead of the other racers.

XXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, Dracula was watching everything from the monitors... especially the fact that Shaggy was now talking about their fellow teammates. “Gee, guys,” he said to Scooby, Indigo and the ponies. “I’d hate to think where we'd be if anything happened to Sparky, the other ponies Googie and Scrappy.”

Unfortunately, this gave Dracula another, dirty idea… possibly his worst one yet. “Ohh. It would be just awful. Oh, Crunchy and Brunchy…”

“Uh, yes, master?” Brunch and Crunch chorused as they met up with him, and Dracula smirked down at them. “I have a real dirty job for you.”

Crunch clapped his hands at this. “Goody!”

“Ripping!” Brunch smiled. “Top ho!”

XXXXXXXX

Once he and Crunch had gotten their assignment, Brunch flew the Bat-Copter over the track to search for Googie and the others in Shaggy’s car. “Keep a sharp eye out for our target vehicle, old boy.”

“There! There!” Crunch pointed down to the car in question below. “There it is!”

“Indeed,” Brunch nodded before pressing a button, releasing a claw from under the copter. “Prepare the Sky Claw.”

XXXXXXXX

Now that they were getting closer and closer to the other racers, Shaggy's competitve spirit began to shine through more and more. “Come on, you guys like, move it over. Let me past! Let me past!”

However, Mr. Snide had other ideas, judging by the way he was holding a flask and beaker and driving at the same time. “Let’s see you get past this!”

Zipp hummed in thought as she watched this through her visor. “What’s Mr. Snide cooking up…?”

Mr. Snide poured the liquids in the beaker and flask together, creating an eerie purple mist that formed into a growling monster, scaring Indigo, Shaggy and Scooby out of their wits. “Shaggy, don’t get freaked by that geek!” Googie told her boyfriend over the radio. “It’s not real. Repeat-- the monster is not real!”

“Yikes!” Shaggy gulped nervously. “Are you sure the monster knows that?”

“She’s right, Shaggy!” Sunny pointed out. “Just race right through it!”

“Okay…” Indigo took a deep breath. “Here we go!”

And so, Shaggy slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped off, past the other racers until they were neck and neck with their friends again. “Yay!” Izzy cheered while Hitch smiled at them. “Way to go, guys!”

“You’re in the lead again!” Scrappy agreed as Shaggy looked over at them. “Oh, boy, what a team, what a team! We could never win without you guys!”

“Precisely, old chap!”

Zipp, Hitch and Izzy gasped as they saw a huge claw coming at them from above, and Hitch grabbed Sparky and took emergency action. “Guys! Abandon funny car!”

The three ponies and Sparky leapt from the car and landed right on the side of the road, but unfortunately, Googie and Scrappy weren’t able to jump in time, getting captured by the Sky Claw and being taken away! “HEEELP!!!” Googie screamed in panic, and this caused fear to be instilled right into the others’ hearts.

All the other stuff may have been evil, but this?

This was way too far and way too dastardly for them to handle.

Monster Road Rally Madness (Part 4: A Roadway Rescue)

“HEEEEELP!!!!”

Googie’s screams for help echoed across the entire forest while the Mane 6, Indigo, Sparky, Shaggy and Scooby looked back in terror as the Hunch Bunch carried them away. “Oh, sweet sauce horseshoe toss!” Izzy yelped out of panic. “What do we do?!”

“We have to go after them, but we’re not nearly as fast as any race car!” Zipp said with wide eyes. “We have to find another way to go after them! Right, Indy? Uh… Indy?”

“...he took me from my clan… he made me do his bidding… and now he wants to take my friends from me?!” Indigo snarled, her eyes glowing a bright blue out of nothing but anger. “That… TEARS IT!!!! Dracula is so not gonna get away with this!”

Indigo let out a roar that pierced the air and hurt the others' ears at first, and the other flying leopards soon flew in, looking panicked. “Indy! We heard you roaring!” Heather cried. “What happened?”

“The Hunch Bunch took Scrappy and Googie and they’re flying away!” Misty cried out. “We have to follow them!”

“Say no more!” Cyrus cried. “Come on! If we hurry, we can catch up to them before they get too far!”

“Right! Hang on, Scoob!” Shaggy told his best friend before he turned the car around, and the Mane 6 and the Werewolf Wagon followed the flying leopards after the Hunch Bunch, hoping they could save their friends before it was too late.

XXXXXXXX

“Well now,” said Dracula as he watched the Werewolf Wagon speed off in the opposite direction that the other racers were heading, “it looks like Shaggy is setting a new course speed record. Unfortunately for him, it is in the wrong direction!”

But then, he noticed that Indigo and her entire clan were with the Werewolf Wagon, as well as the Mane 6.

And then he began to wonder... should he be worried that this plan will be botched up as well?

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, guys, pick up the pace!” Draven shouted in alarm as they continued to chase after the Bat-Copter. “They’re taking your friends into the Burnt Forest! And we flying leopards know that there’s only one thing dangerous enough to kill your friends in that direction!”

“Help!” Googie cried out from the air. “Shaggy! HEEEELP!!!”

“Like, keep cool, guys!” Shaggy shouted to reassure them. “Cool? No no no. What's called for here is an application of heat. Hot stuff-- I mean, hot,” Brunch smirked as they approached a huge pit of bubbling lava in the middle of the forest. “Such as a dip in Lava Pit Lake.”

“Lava Pit Lake?!” Hitch cried out in panic. “That’s a thing!”

“One of the hottest lakes in Transylvania!” Maya screeched. “And your friends are gonna be dropped into it!”

“What do we do, Sunny?!” Zipp asked in panic. That’s when Sunny caught sight of two large trees about the same size on different sides of the lake, and instantly formulated an idea. “I got it! If we can move those trees together, we can make a makeshift ramp that Googie and Scrappy can ride down to safety!”

“But we need to work fast!” Heather pointed out. “And the only way we can do that is to split up!”

“Shaggy, you and Scooby work on the tree on the left side of the lake,” Misty said, “and us ponies will work with Indigo and her clan to chop down the other one!”

“BREAK!!”

And just like that, the groups split up, just as the Bat-Copter came over Lava Pit Lake. “Toodle-oo, little crew. It’s bye-bye time!”

Googie screamed as she and Scrappy were released from the Bat-Copter's claw, but luckily, Sunny's plan was already in place-- Shaggy used a pair of giant teeth from the Werewolf Wagon to chop down the first tree, while all the ponies and leopards used their combined abilities to knock the other one down, and they both fell down right on each other, creating a ramp for Googie and Scrappy to ride down to safety.

Once she and Scrappy were safely back on the ground, Googie turned to the rest of the group. “Thanks, guys. Now you better get back in the race, and hurry.”

“Right-- we still have a race to win!” Pipp said as she, Sunny and Misty got back in the Werewolf Wagon, while Izzy, Hitch and Zipp, along with Sparky, got back into Shaggy’s car. “And you guys need to go into hiding,” Indigo told her teammates. “If Dracula saw you working with us, we could all be in for it.”

“Okay… but we’ll be around if you need us,” Cyrus told her, nuzzling her head before they flew off, and before Indigo rejoined her friends in the Werewolf Wagon. But at that moment, the group saw the Hunch Bunch flying overhead, causing Misty to groan slightly. “Here come those double dipsticks again.”

“No problem,” Scrappy reassured. “We’ll keep ‘em out of your hair. Er… manes.”

“Now, get back in that race and win, Shag,” Googie told her boyfriend sincerely, “or you’re a fur ball forever!”

She planted one large kiss on Shaggy’s face, causing him to howl out of pleasure before the Werewolf Wagon sped out of the Burnt Forest and back toward the track. “Come on! Let’s make like the wind and blow!” Scrappy told the rest of his team. “Get it? Let’s scram!”

“Nice use of the pun, Scrappy!” Zipp chuckled before the car sped off in a different direction as the Werewolf Wagon.

XXXXXXXX

Once Crunch and Brunch saw that the others had rescued Googie and Scrappy, they knew they needed another plan to stop Googie and Scrappy, as well as their small team of Equestrians, from helping Shaggy win the race.

So, Crunch was geared up with a huge, heavy ball with spikes on it and was lowered from the Bat-Copter by Brunch, getting ready to strike them down. “I say, old top”! Brunch called down. “Give them the old one-two!”

“Yeah!” Crunch cackled sinisterly as the group approached a tunnel. “One-two…”

However, while the group went through the tunnel no problem, Crunch slammed into the side of it, dropping his weapon in the process.

Unfortunately, Zipp looked behind the group once they got out of the tunnel, only to see that the Hunch Bunch hadn’t given up just yet. “Uh-oh! Dippy and Trippy are still after us!”

And this time, Crunch was holding out a hive full of bees. “Vampire bees,” Brunch clarified. “The most vicious beasts on Earth. I say, old top, give it the old hive-ho.”

“Hive-ho, hive-ho,” Crunch sang. “To dirty work we go.”

However, Brunch wasn’t all that impressed with Crunch’s singing. “I say, do shut up and throw it, old dear.”

Crunch threw the hive down toward the group, but instead of the bees attacking them, they simply chose to attack the Hunch Bunch instead, sending them on the run.

XXXXXXXX

After a few minutes, Sunny looked off in relief to see their friends driving up beside them, safe and sound. “Hey, guys!” she waved. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to the Hunch Bunch?”

“No problem, Sunny-Bunny!” Izzy brushed off with a playful smirk. “They’re off getting a bite.”

“Yeah! A lot of bites,” Scrappy added with a giggle. “Come on, gang,” Googie then urged. “Let’s get back on track.”

“Right,” Hitch said as the two cars sped forward. “It’s time to win this road rally once and for all!”

Dracula's Final Attempts

Not realizing that Shaggy, Scooby, the Mane 6 and Sparky had worked together with Indigo and her clan to save Googie and Scrappy from the Hunch Bunch, Dracula continued his broadcast of the race without a second thought. “Well, fans. The tension is mounting as the race for the "Monster of the Year" trophy gets more and more exciting by the minute. The Mummy has the bone bomber boxed in. The Franken-Wagon is creaming the Slime Speedster, and the witch sisters are sideswiping-- I mean, side-sweeping the Split-Personality Special.”

“Ooh!” Vanna Pira commented. “Are they ever going fast!”

“Yes,” Dracula nodded. “It’s a tortuous pace. My favorite kind.”

But the second they looked away, all of the racers collided right into each other, causing Vanna Pira to gasp. “Oh!!”

“Wonderful!” Dracula beamed. “A million dollar pile-up!”

“But Dracky,” Vanna Pira pointed out, “you’ve never seen a million dollars!”

“So what? It looks like something I've never seen before.”

That’s when the Werewolf Wagon and Shaggy’s car appeared on the racetrack again, one after the other. “And there goes Shaggy back into the lead,” Dracula said before he realized. “WHAT?! Shaggy?! And those other ones?!”

“Didn't you tell the Hunch Bunch to get rid of them?” Vanna Pira asked, causing Dracula to growl in annoyance and anger. “Just wait till I see Crunch and Brunch. Will I chew them out!”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to get in line, sire!” Brunch managed to groan as the Hunch Bunch flew past, still being attacked by the bees.

XXXXXXXX

After a few more minutes, the rest of the racers were able to prepare their cars before getting back into the race to catch up with Shaggy, much to Dracula's relief. “Well, fans, the monster cars are rolling again. And the action is getting very rough,” Dracula commented on the action. “The Franken-Wagon is in a duel with the Split-Personality special. The Mummy-Mobile is tangling with the Slime Speedster and the Bone Bomber is taking a licking from the Dragon Dragster.”

“But, Dracky,” said Vanna Pira, keeping her eyes on the Werewolf Wagon, “Shaggy is way out front!”

However, Dracula wasn’t worried for a change. “Not for long. He's about to run into some hard opposition.”

XXXXXXXX

Crunch and Brunch managed to find a cement truck and pulled it right beside the track, hoping to stop Shaggy in his tracks-- quite literally-- with this next sinister trick. “We shan't fail this time, old fellow,” Brunch told Crunch confidently. “This quick-drying cement will stop them in their tracks.”

“Ooh!” Brunch pointed at the Werewolf Wagon and Shaggy’s car coming up the road, watching them through his telescope. “Here they come!”

“Top ho!” Brunch smiled, grasping the lever that would release the cement. “Now when their car gets into position, count to three and I'll let it go.”

“One… two…” Crunch began counting before he stopped. “What’s after two?”

“Three, old fellow, three!”

“Oh, yeah! Three!”

Brunch released the cement, and it flowed right onto the racetrack... right after Shaggy's car and the Werewolf Wagon drove past them, causing Brunch to wince as the other racers got caught in their mess. “Oh, I say, old thing, your timing was just a tad off.”

XXXXXXXX

“Ohhhhhhhh that Hunch Bunch!! RAAAHH!!!” Dracula turned into bat form and flew away, leaving Vanna Pira to smirk to herself. “I knew someday they'd drive him batty.”

The peasants in the crowd groaned at this, finding the joke corny and wanting this race to be over with.

XXXXXXXX

“Good news, fans!” Vanna Pira took over Dracula’s commentating role after a few minutes. “The monster cars are back wheeling again! The Cauldron Coup is burning rubber, the Slime Speedster is running flat out-- and I mean flat. And the Franken-Wagon is tearing up the track! But they're still way behind Shaggy. Ahh… too bad. It looks like he's going to win and not be a cute werewolf anymore-- and all his friends and our little leopard servant Indigo will get to go free after all!”

XXXXXXXX

Dracula, who overheard this from where he and the Hunch Bunch were, smirked evilly at this. “Not if I can help it.”

“Is that enough man-eating plant seed, sire?” Brunch asked as he sprinkled the seeds over the road. “Yes,” Dracula said with a smile. “It is the most vicious plant in the world. It attacks the first thing it sees so don't mess up. The plan is to sprinkle the water on the seeds and run, run fast.”

“Bleah… you mean, like this?” Crunch sprinkled the water on the seeds before he and Brunch broke off into a fast run. “No! No, not yet!” Dracula tried to stop them. “Not till Shaggy comes!”

The seeds quickly grew into a large plant monster that roared at the top of its lungs, and Dracula screamed and tried to escape, but the plant quickly grabbed him and put him in his mouth before he could get too far.

Unfortunately, the plant monster spit Dracula right back up onto the racetrack just as the Werewolf Wagon barged through, knocking Dracula off to the side.

That seemed to boil Dracula over his limit. “All right… that tears it!” he spat. “No more Mr. Nice Guy! I am going to unleash… G.K.”

This caused Crunch’s body to immediately tense in fear. “Oh no!”

“Not G.K!” cried Brunch in agreement… and even the plant monster seemed fearful. “Oh no! Not G.K!”

XXXXXXXX

“Oh dear, oh dear!” Vanna Pira cried out in horror. “Not G.K!”

“Uh…” the peasants looked confused. “Who’s G.K?”

Dracula, however, poofed right next to a large gate in the castle walls. “Who’s G.K? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

As he opened the gate, a giant, menacing figure began to step out of it, growling and roaring angrily and ready to obey his master’s commands.

XXXXXXXX

Shaggy looked out the back window, only to see that the Werewolf Wagon was ahead of them by a long way, much to his excitement. “Like, oh, boy, guys, we're way out in front!”

“We’re gonna win this race and get our freedom back for sure!” chirped Pipp. “Nothing can stop us now!”

“Oh brother…” Indigo looked terrified as she saw what was ahead. “I wish you hadn’t said that, Pipp!”

The others looked where Indigo was staring, and allowed themselves to gasp at the huge, ape-like monster standing in the middle of the track. “What’s that?!” Scooby barked out. “Meet G.K!” Dracula smirked as he stood next to the beast. “Genghis Kong, take one!”

The monster, Genghis Kong by name, pounded his chest as the Werewolf Wagon got closer, and then grabbed the group, hoisting them high above the track. This caused the monster to roar, and Shaggy, Scooby, Indigo and the three ponies to scream in total terror.

Dracula, however, couldn’t be happier. “At last! Shaggy and his pesky friends are out of the race for good!”

That’s when all the other monster cars sped under Genghis Kong's feet, prompting Dracula to pull out a checkered flag. “Now, to the finish line to flag the winning monster!”

And just like that, he teleported away, leaving the monster to deal with the frightened group.

XXXXXXXX

“Everypony just stay calm!” Sunny tried to calm everyone in the Werewolf Wagon down. “We can find a way out of this! Just as long as we stay together!”

Just as she said this, however, Genghis Kong grabbed Scooby and held him out in his free hand. “Nice doggy,” he cooed to the quivering dog. “Coochie coochie coo!”

“YIKES!!!” Scooby yelped in panic, just before Genghis Kong dropped the Werewolf Wagon back onto the ground and just before the monster began to tickle Scooby on the belly, causing the Great Dane to giggle and yelp all at once.

Fortunately, the others arrived just in time to see the event, and Googie was first to gasp in horror. “What is that horrible thing?!”

“A n-n-n-nightmare called… Genghis Kong!” Shaggy stammered. “And to make matters worse,” Misty said with wide eyes, “he’s got Scooby!”

Scrappy’s eyes narrowed at this. “Hey! You let go of my uncle or I'm gonna ring your gong, Kong.”

“Easy, Scrappy,” Googie held the pup back. “I have a better plan. It's Operation Skateboard, got it?”

“Right on!” Shaggy nodded. “It’s Operation Skateboard!”

“Indigo, be ready to grab Scooby as soon as Genghis Kong gets moving!” Zipp shouted to the flying leopard. “We’ll handle the rest.”

“On it!” Indigo nodded and flew out of the Werewolf Wagon just as Googie and Shaggy pushed separate buttons, allowing huge skateboards to pop out in front. Then, they got in front of Genghis Kong and allowed the skateboards to gather underneath his feet, causing him to stumble and drop Scooby.

Luckily, Indigo was there to catch him when he started falling. “Gotcha!”

“Thanks, Indy!” Scooby thanked the leopard profoundly. “Hang on, guys!” Misty told her friends. “It’s time we settle this adventure once and for all!”

XXXXXXXX

Vanna Pira was there to commentate on the monster racers approaching the finish line, her own excitement growing. “Here they come, fans, down the homestretch. Looks like it's gonna be a photo finish!”

XXXXXXXX

“Okay, boss,” Brunch said as he took pictures of Dracula with the checkered flag. “Hold it!”

Dracula posed for another photo, blissfully unaware of what was heading.

XXXXXXXX

“It’s neck and neck-- I mean, wreck and wreck!” Vanna Pira commented before she saw Genghis Kong being pushed along by Googie and Shaggy’s vehicles, causing her to gasp in surprise. “But what's that? It's Genghis Kong coming on fast, powered by Googie and Shaggy!”

“Double yay,” the peasants droned on.

XXXXXXXX

Once they were at the right position, Shaggy knew that letting this giant monster go now was the right move. “Like, time to say so long, Kong!”

The brakes were put on by the two vehicles, sending Kong forward on the two skateboards… right toward the other monster racers, whose eyes widened in terror. “Oh no!!”

“Oh no!!” Dracula cried out as well, wincing as Kong finally made impact, crushing the other monster cars with his huge stamina.

Scooby got back into the Werewolf Wagon with Indigo, and turned to Shaggy with a cheerful smile. “Let’s go!”

“You said it, Scoob!” Shaggy put the Werewolf Wagon into full throttle. “Big finish coming up!”

And so, the Werewolf Wagon finally drove down the home stretch and finally crossed the finish line, breaking through the red ribbon at the end, meaning only one thing.

Shaggy's team had won the Monster Road Rally!

However, as everyone else cheered, Dracula jumped up and down in frustration. “No no no!”

“Sorry…” Genghis Kong apologized for smashing the others’ cars. “Sorry?” Dracula spat. “That’s not the way it was supposed to come out!”

No matter... he was still in control of this land, and in his land... he was free to change the rules.

The Defeat of Dracula/Shaggy is Returned to Normal

Nothing could make the Mane 6, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, Googie and Indigo happier than they already were.

Shaggy had finally won the Monster Road Rally, and in doing so, won back his humanity, and everyone’s freedom, meaning they were all free to leave Transylvania forever!

However… Dracula seemed to have other plans.

XXXXXXXX

Pipp, Misty, Sunny and Indigo squealed and hugged one another as they departed from the Werewolf Wagon, happier than they had ever felt in a long time.

Pipp finally broke away from the hug and turned back to the livestream she had been recording. “And there you have it, Pippsqueaks! Shaggy’s gonna be turned back to normal and we’re gonna be home free in just a few minutes’ time! Feel free to subscribe for more hoof-tastic content like this! Pipp Pipp, bye-bye!”

And for the first time that day, Pipp put her phone back under her wing, sighing in contentment. But no one could be happier in that moment than Indigo. Her freedom was finally hers again... and she couldn't wait to go be with her friends again.

In fact, the purple leopard was so happy, tears began to form in her eyes. “Indy?” Scooby looked at her in concern. “Are you okay?”

“These are tears of joy, Scooby!” Indigo admitted with a smile. “I’m finally free! I’ve been dreaming of this day for so long, but I thought it would never come! And now… I have you guys to thank for it.”

“Aww… like, we’d do anything for you and your clan, Indy,” Shaggy said as he and Scooby hugged the leopard close. “You’re one of us, remember?”

During their hug, Vanna Pira approached Shaggy with a happy smile, holding the "Monster of the Year" trophy out to him. “Congratulations, Shaggy! You are the Monster of the Year!”

“No way!” Dracula ran up and snatched the trophy from his wife, causing immense concern. “But, Dracky…” Vanna Pira began to protest. “Uh, that’s okay,” Sunny said politely. “It was really sweet of you, but I don’t think Shaggy wants to be the monster of this year or any year.”

Shaggy nodded sincerely to this. “I just want to be changed back to myself.”

“And go home!” Scooby added. “Yeah,” Shaggy then nodded. “And go home, like you promised.”

Dracula crossed his arms with a snarl at this. “Never!”

“But you promised!” Shaggy cried, grabbing Dracula’s arm. “I won the race!”

“Y-You promised!” Indigo pleaded, fear replacing the hope in her eyes. “I am so sorry,” Dracula apologized to Shaggy, his voice dripping with sympathy. “But there's just no way to change you back.”

“Oh, Dracky, that's a monster fib,” Vanna Pira scolded, holding the Grimness Book close. “It tells right here in the Grimness Book how to turn a werewolf back to…”

“Give me that!!” Dracula snapped, grabbing the book from her. “Or right to the moon! Bang! Zoom!”

“I’ve got this!” Misty closed her eyes and lit her horn, causing the book to disappear from Dracula’s arms and into Shaggy’s-- a new spell she had been practicing. “Great work, Misty!” Shaggy patted her head, just as Dracula turned to them, anger burning in his gaze. “You better give that back, you insolent pests!”

“Uh-oh…” Pipp gulped as the three ponies, Shaggy and Scooby began to back up. “I think we’re totally in trouble here…”

That seemed to fuel Indigo’s anger, and she leapt in front of her friends, wings outstretched as she snarled menacingly. “Indigo! Get out of my way!” Dracula snapped. “You’re ruining everything!”

“NO! I’m not your servant anymore!” Indigo snarled. “You may have kept my prisoner all this time, and you may have forced me to do horrible things, but you are NOT going to hurt my new friends in ANY circumstance!”

“I have given you everything, you worthless brat,” Dracula sneered, “and THIS is how you betray me?!”

“You were the one who kept her prisoner and kept her aside!” Sunny snarled. “Sunny’s right!” Misty said. “I know how Indigo must have felt-- being under the hoof of somepony that’s angry and just wants to control you.”

“But I’m not gonna take it from you anymore… or take it from anyone else in Transylvania!” Indigo said, her wings outstretched further. “So if you wanna hurt them, you’re going to have to get through me!”

“Get through all of us!”

Before Indigo could realize what happened, her clanmates descended, snarling with their wings outstretched. “Guys!” Indigo gasped. “You’re here!”

“Hey, did you seriously think that we were gonna let you deal with this fanged freak on your own?” Draven asked with a smirk. “You seriously doubt us?”

“We’re here for you all the way,” Heather said with a smile. “But right now, RUN!!!”

This caused all the leopards, Misty, Shaggy, Sunny, Pipp and Scooby to bolt away to keep the book safe, causing Dracula to growl in anger. “Hunch Bunch! Get that book!”

Shaggy laughed and tossed the book to Maya, who quickly lost the book by Crunch jumping up and getting it before she could. “Hey!”

Crunch laughed mockingly before the book was grabbed by Scooby, who giggled before Brunch laughed and took it away from him. “Ha ha ha, old bean!”

“Well,” Misty said with a confident smirk, grabbing the book from him, “ha ha ha to you!”

“Ha ha ha to you too!” Dracula knocked her aside, grabbing the book back from her before Scrappy grabbed it from within Shaggy’s car, with Googie at the wheel, and Hitch, Sparky, Izzy and Zipp in the main cab. “Ditto, Draco!” the pup taunted before pushing a button that caused a large wagon for the leopards to ride in appeared in the back. “Quick, you guys!” Zipp shouted to her friends and sister. “Get in!”

“Don’t have to tell us twice!” Alder shouted before everyone got in the car, and a second or two later, it sped off. “They’re getting away!” Dracula shouted. “Hunch-Bunch, get my Drac-Mobile. Get my Drac-Mobile!”

The Hunch Bunch then arrived with a Herse like vehicle, and Dracula quickly got into the back of it. “What took you so long?”

And just like that, the Drac-Mobile zoomed off after the group, who were going as fast as they could to escape. “YIKES!!” Cyrus meowed in panic. “Step on it, Googie! They’re gaining on us!”

“I say, master,” Brunch observed the group, “they appear to be pulling away!”

“Nonsense!” Dracula dismissed. “I’ll stop them with the Drac-Vac!”

With the push of a button, a large vacuum-like device began to pull on the car in front of them, nearly pulling Scrappy out of the car itself. “Oh no!” Shaggy cried. “He’s got us!”

“Not if we can make it to that turn in the road!” Zipp said grabbing the wheel in her hooves and turning it as much as she could. Eventually, they did make it into the turn, letting the Drac-Vac pull a nearby rock toward the Drac-Mobile, crushing it in the process.

But Dracula wasn’t ready to give up just yet. “Quick! Bring me my Bat Plane!”

“Yes master!”

The Hunch Bunch quickly zipped off and returned a moment or two later with a bat-styled plane, but to Dracula, it took them a lot longer than he wanted. “What kept you?”

“Sorry,” Brunch apologized first. “We’re sorry,” Crunch added as Dracula got in the plane and took to the skies after the group, hoping to have a comparative advantage.

XXXXXXXX

Hitch and Sparky sighed when they saw that Dracula wasn’t pursuing them anymore, the former speaking out to his friends. “I think we finally lost him.”

“I don’t wanna be like the bearer of bad news,” said Somnia with a bit of fear, “but I don’t think it’s that easy, Hitch!”

She pointed her paw up to the sky, and Scooby immediately saw what she was pointing to. “Oh no! It’s Dracula again!”

“I just wanted to fang you all for your visit,” Dracula called down to them before shooting fangs out of his fang launcher, causing Sunny to turn into an alicorn to try and deflect them. “Ugh… I can’t hold them off forever!”

“She’s right! Once that shield goes down,” Shaggy trembled, “like, we’ll be sitting ducks!”

“What we need is a roof over our heads!” Googie shouted. “Hang on, gang!”

The leopards let out a scream as Googie drove into a shed and began pushing it, protecting them from the fangs all together. “Fools!” Dracula shouted. “That won’t protect you against my Munchy Missle!”

“Munchy Missle?” Maya blinked. “Aww, that sounds so cute!”

However, when Dracula launched the missle with chomping teeth (teeth which chomped down their shed shelter), Maya shrieked in panic. “I take it back! So not cute, so not cute!”

“Luckily, he’s not the only one who can fly!” Heather said as she spread her wings. “They’re right! Quick, Googie!” Sunny shouted. “Switch the car to jet flight and let’s get out of here!”

Googie nodded at this. “Right!”

With the simple flick of a switch, the car sprouted a rocket engine and wings, causing it to fly off into the sky with alicorn Sunny, Pipp, Zipp and the flying leopards pursuing them, causing the group to cheer as they took off.

Dracula smirked at seeing the group take off. “So, they think they can escape Dracula. Ha ha ha!!” he said victoriously. “Not while I still have my tombs-day weapon-- the headstone rocket!”

The flying leopards glanced at each other at this statement. “Did he say headstone rocket?!”

Headstones that looked like rockets shot out from the nose of the plane and into some nearby clouds, turning the peaceful clouds into a raging storm full of wind and rain, and stucking the ponies and all their friends into it, causing them to scream loudly as they were tossed to and fro.

Dracula, on the other hand, cackled, completely satisfied. “What a beautiful nightmare! Shaggy and his friends will be twisting and turning all night long!” he said before getting a video camera out of the plane. “I've got to get this on tape for my horror highlights. Everybody say cheese!”

However, as he focused on the group through his camera, a lightning bolt struck the plane, desinigrating it and causing Dracula to gulp, knowing good and well what this meant. “Oh, cheese…”

And just like that, Dracula dropped down into the ocean with a huge splash, surely not going to be a problem for our heroes and their friends again.

XXXXXXXX

Zipp groaned, putting a hoof to her head after the tumbling finally died down. “Is everypony okay?”

“If you mean sick at our stomachs and getting ready to puke,” Draven groaned, “then… we’re just dandy.”

Indigo looked around at the calm scene, the storm clouds having vanished into thin air. “W-What just happened?” she asked. “Where’s the storm?”

“And where’s Dracula?” Googie asked, looking around as well. That's when Somnia noticed something that made her heart skip a beat. “And our wings aren’t flapping, and your jet’s not firing!” she exclaimed. “H-H-How are we flying?!”

“I know how we’re flying,” Scooby answered the leopard, gesturing to the first-class plane that they had landed on. “We’re flying first class!”

This caused the entire group to cheer and rejoice, having finally escaped from the evil vampire and his kingfdom forever. Now there was only one thing left to do-- get back to Shaggy's house and turn Shaggy back to normal once and for all!

XXXXXXXX

A few hours later, everyone returned back to Shaggy's house and were set down at the table for a great dinner-- the best that the flying leopards had ever had since Indigo had been taken prisoner.

Shaggy was the first to break the hunger-driven silence with a happy sigh. “Oh, boy! Like, it's great to be home again.”

“I’ll eat to that!” Scrappy nodded. “Right, Uncle Scoob?”

“You betcha!” Scooby nodded as he slurped up some spaghetti on his plate. “Man, this is some of the best food I’ve eaten in DAYS!” Pipp said as she wiped her mouth. “Who knew home cooking could taste so good?”

“Well, I’d say let's make like shovels and dig in!” Shaggy told the group with a howl, preparing to chow down on some pizza before Zipp grabbed it to stop him. “Just a minute, wolf boy!”

“Huh?” Shaggy looked confused as he faced Googie and Zipp, the former holding the Grimness Book in her arms. “First things first,” Googie answered. “We're going to change you back from being a werewolf.”

“Is there really a way to do that?” Maya asked. “There is, but it has to come from Shaggy himself,” Zipp said sternly. “Repeating this rhyme we found in the book word for word is the only way to reverse the spell.”

“Repeat after me,” Googie told her boyfriend before repeating the rhyme. “Oogly boogly wobbly wye-- no more a werewolf am I. I'm going to be a normal guy.”

“Okay… here goes,” Shaggy gulped nervously before clearing his throat and speaking the rhyme, loud and clear. “Oogly boogly wobbly wye-- no more a werewolf am I. I'm… gonna be a normal guy!”

Suddenly, there came a flash of light, and the others had to look away to preserve their vision. When they looked again, they smiled at discovering the spell had worked-- Shaggy was back to his old self again!

Googie wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, relieved beyond measure. “Oh, Shaggy!”

“Yippee!” Scooby hugged his nephew. “Pipp Pipp Hooray!” the ponies cheered, high-hoofing the flying leopards. Indigo sighed as Googie fed Shaggy a slice of pizza. “No more werewolf!”

“And no more Dracula,” Shaggy agreed. “What a mean guy. You know, something was always eating at him.”

“You know, it makes me wonder… what did happen to him?” Hitch wondered.

XXXXXXXX

In the ocean, Dracula screamed as he was being chased by a shark, with the Hunch Bunch trailing them on a sailboat. “Ahh! Oh! Yeow! HEELP!!! Hunch Bunch! HEEELP!!! Aah! Hurry up!”

Needless to say… Dracula would no longer be a threat to our heroes, and Shaggy would probably be safe forever.

Returning Home/A Happy Ending for All

As dinner began to wrap up, the group began to watch a scary movie in the living room, after Shaggy decided that Indigo and all her clanmates could stay with him, Scooby and Scrappy at their house until they found a permanent place to call their own.

And this was honestly a prayer that the leopards had prayed for a long time that had finally come true.

Googie turned to her boyfriend, who was quickly munching on one of the leftover slices of pizza. “Shaggy, don't eat so fast. You'll get the hiccups and turn into a werewolf again.”

“Are you kidding?” Shaggy agreed with his mouth full. “Like, no way.”

“She has a point, Shaggy,” Zipp advised her friend gently. “It happened before, and it could happen again.”

Shaggy only laughed in response. “No way!”

The Mane 6 shrugged and turned their attention back to the TV, but not even a second afterward, a hiccup came through the air, followed by a growl, which caused Izzy to gasp. “Oh, no! Not again!”

But when Googie and the others turned, they saw that Shaggy was fine. “Oh, Shaggy!” Googie frowned at such a thoughtless act. “You nerd!”

“But that wasn’t him, Googie,” Indigo shook her head. “It was… SCOOBY!!”

The others looked in Scooby’s direction and screamed-- Scooby was the one turned into a werewolf this time! Fortunately for them, Scooby took off the werewolf mask, revealing that he too was just fine. “Just kidding! Scooby-Dooby-Dooooooo!!! Hee hee hee hee hee!!”

Shaggy found himself laughing while the others tried to catch their breath. “That was a good one old buddy, old pal, old friend.”

“Oh, honestly!” Googie sighed. “Oh, come on, Googie, lighten up!” Cyrus reassured her. “Believe me, we're all through with those werewolves and vampires and monsters forever.”

“Well, I don’t know about forever,” Maya shrugged, “but… I’m glad that we’re all gonna be together in case anything does come our way.”

But suddenly, the portal back to Equestria swiftly appeared, causing Sunny to sigh. “Well, ponies, that’s our cue to head home.”

“Will we ever see you guys again?” Draven asked. “Zipp and I still have a race to get to!”

“We’ll see you guys again someday, I just know it!” Zipp told the leopard. “Take care of each other, okay?”

Indigo nodded firmly. “Forever and for always.”

And so, the group exchanged their final farewells before the ponies and Sparky set off through the portal to return home.

XXXXXXXX

Hitch sighed as he and his friends walked down the ramp to the main living room. “It is SO good to be back home again-- Shaggy was right about that part.”

“Definitely,” sighed Pipp. “I mean, Transylvania was exciting enough, even without the race and the monsters and the cheating and… well… everything else.”

“So… what do you guys wanna do now that we’re back?” Sunny asked. “I was thinking I could make us some smoothies, and…”

Suddenly, the soft sound of snoring caught their attention, and Misty and Izzy and Sparky had already fallen asleep on the couch, causing the others to giggle. “Looks like a nap is next on our agenda,” Zipp smiled. “We can always do our own thing later.”

The others nodded before settling down and closing their eyes to get some sleep.

This adventure was definitely wild and different… but it was one that the Mane 6 and Sparky would never forget.

But don’t worry-- there will definitely be more adventures to come from our faithful band of Equestrian heroes.