G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire

The Dreamlands, Shaggy and Scooby had just met a hermit named Tulie, whose flying shoe prototypes were stolen by a vampire a few weeks prior, and now the Dreamlands had a sneaking suspicion that the vampire and the shoe prototypes being stolen were connected somehow...

...but they were unsure of what to do about it.

All they had to do was get back to their friends and report their findings...

...however long that might take.

XXXXXXXX

Hitch strained as he helped prep Fred's new stake launcher, out of breath and tired already. “Freddy, you know that I'm you're my friend and everything, but... do you mind explaining to me why you got a stake launcher at such a high price if we're not dealing with a real vampire?”

“You never know when you might need one, Hitch,” Fred told the earth pony stallion. “Besides, it looks pretty cool, doesn't it?”

Hitch sighed, shaking his head. “Whatever you say, Freddy boy.”

“Look at this,” Velma then told the others, holding the ancient book of vampire in her lap. “The stolen jewels are part of some sort of vampire wedding ceremony.”

“Yes, the vampire bonding ritual,” Mr. Van Helsing nodded, realizing what Velma was talking about. “According to legend, if the vampire takes the soul of his mortal bride... he'll gain unbridled power.”

“U-Unbridled?” Misty asked with a nervous gulp. “That really doesn't sound good.”

“And based off of what I read,” Velma added, “the ceremony must take place upon the third moon... following the vampire's release from captivity.”

Izzy muttered to herself for a few moments before gasping in realization. “Sweet sauce horseshoe toss! That's tonight!”

“And if Lord Valdronya succeeds,” Sunny said in panic, “he'll be virtually unstoppable!”

“Unstoppable? Not if I can help it,” Fred spoke, lifting his state launcher for everyone to see he was serious about this. “Maybe vampires were tough to catch back in the day, but times have changed. There's a new breed of vampire hunter-- me!”

“Vampire hunting is serious business, Fred,” Mr. Van Helsing told Fred sternly. “You must be prepared for anything.”

“Oh, I’m prepared, all right,” Fred spoke confidently before accidentally firing the launcher, causing a stake to ricochet off the walls and off various other objects before impaling the large, flat-screen TV on the wall. Fred took a deep breath to calm himself after such an experience. “Gotta watch that hair trigger.”

“Hold on, guys… I just realized something,” Velma pointed out. “The vampire has the jewels, but he still needs one thing for the wedding-- a bride.”

“But according to the book,” Sunny said, “it can’t be ANY bride. It needs to be a bride of immortal beauty, and pure of heart.”

“That could take a while to find,” Fred voiced his opinion before Pipp’s phone buzzed, causing her to answer it. “Hey, it’s a text from Daphne,” Pipp said, getting looks from the rest of her friends. “What? I got Daphne’s number when we first met. Anyway, it says… ‘Me and Ruby have been kidnapped by vampire actors. Help!’.”

“Immortal beauty,” Mr. Van Helsing muttered. “Pure of heart…”

Suddenly, the realization hit Fred like a speeding train. “Daphne!”

“Jinkies!” Velma gasped, causing Zipp to growl. “I knew those actors were involved somehow! But… why would they kidnap Daphne if it's the vampire who wants a bride to gain power?”

“According to the book,” said Mr. Van Helsing, “those who offer up the Vampire's bride will be rewarded with immortality.”

“That’s a heck of a finder’s fee,” Hitch shuddered. “But what about Ruby? What's her place in all this?”

“There's not a doubt in my mind that tells me she’ll be the first one to suffer under Lord Valdronya’s power if he steals Daphne’s soul,” Misty said with worry. “We have to help them!”

“You’re right,” Sunny nodded before turning to Velma. “Velma, do you or Mr. Van Helsing have any idea where they would take Daph and Ruby?”

“I saw a star chart in here pointing out the precise coordinates of the ceremony,” Velma answered quickly. “We could make a copy…”

But then, Mr. Van Helsing ripped the page up and put it in his jacket pocket. “Or that,” Izzy said in surprise. “Let’s move out, guys,” Zipp said, determined. “If the wedding takes place, Daphne will become the bride of the vampire, and Ruby will be first on the target list!”

But as the group began to leave the room, Velma found herself talking to no one in particular, personally miffed. “You know, I'm pure of heart. Does anyone ever think of kidnapping me? No.”

“Uh, Velma? Focus!” Pipp said. “Friends of ours are at risk here!”

This caused Velma to smile nervously before following the group out of the room.

XXXXXXXX

The actors had taken Daphne and Ruby to a secluded spot in the bayou and tied them up where they couldn’t escape. And after they were successfully tied, Bram spoke to his colleagues with malicious intent. “Tonight we give Valdronya the king his queen,” he said. “And we shall be rewarded with eternal life as real vampires!”

“All hail Valdronya!” the other actors cheered in unison, just as Daphne and Ruby began to strain in their binds once more. “Relax, Daphne,” Bram said calmly. “It's just your souls that you and your friend there are giving up.”

“Easy for you to say,” Ruby spat. “You obviously never had one.”

“Why did you have to take Ruby prisoner too?” Daphne asked. “She has no part in all this!”

“Easy… we need someone to be your maid of honor,” Bram smirked. “And she will be the first pony of this day and age to go the transformation into a vampire herself! It will go down in history!”

“...not if our friends can get here in time,” Ruby muttered. “I just hope they got your text, Daphne.”

“They got it, I’m sure of it,” Daphne reassured quietly. “We just have to wait.”

XXXXXXXX

Mr. Van Helsing got everyone present at the museum onto a fan boat and set out into the bayou, with Velma using the star chart and the stars above them, several of them making the constellation of a bat, to guide them to the location of the ceremony. “We’re close,” Velma said to the others. “It should be just up ahead.”

“Ugh, I hope so,” Sunny said as she continued to light their path. “It’s getting dark, and using my alicorn magic this much at once is giving me a major headache.”

But as they continued to float down the bayou, Mr. Van Helsing could have swore he heard something in the trees not too far away. “Stop. Did you hear that? In the trees.”

Misty let her ears twitch, but ultimately shook her head. “Sorry, Mr. Van Helsing, I didn’t hear anything.”

Mr. Van Helsing sighed at this. “Must have been my imagination.”

But it was only two seconds later that a pair of hands grabbed Mr. Van Helsing by the ankles and drug him off the side of the boat, causing Zipp and Sunny to grab hold of him. “Hang on!” Zipp cried. “We’ve got you!”

“Save yourselves!” Mr. Van Helsing cried out before he was drug into the marsh, with Fred trying to fire stakes at whatever was dragging him away to stop it. Eventually, a shriek pierced the air, causing Fred to smile. “I got something!”

“Come on!” Hitch encouraged the others, causing Pipp to shudder before she and the others followed Hitch and Fred through the mucky water toward the shore.

But what they expected to find and what they found were two totally different things.

What they actually found was Shaggy, stuck to the tree with the stakes Fred fired, and Scooby and the Dreamlands in the branches with him. “Shaggy?” Fred blinked. “Dreamlands?”

“Ugh… nice shooting, Fred,” Blue Belle said. “And great job scaring us to death!”

“Guys, there you are!” Sunny said in relief. “What are you doing out here?”

“Yeah,” Izzy said. “It’s dangerous out here with Lord Valdronya around!”

“Clearly,” Shaggy rolled his eyes, causing Scooby to nod. “Yeah.”

“The callibration is still off…” Fred muttered before tinkering with the launcher a bit. That’s when Velma began to climb the tree to help Shaggy free from his binds. “Let's get you down from there.”

“Don’t get too close, Velma,” Shaggy warned as Zipp flew up to help. “I've been bitten by a vampire. I could turn bloodsucker any second.”

Velma got a closer look at the injury before sighing and removing the stake. “Shaggy, that’s no bite. It's a splinter.”

As soon as the stake was removed from Shaggy’s shirt, he came crashing to the ground with the Dreamlands leaping down after him. But what Velma said surprised Shaggy entirely. “So I'm not gonna turn into a bloodsucking weirdo?”

“Bloodsucker? No,” Zipp shook her head. “Weirdo? We're too late for that.”

Everyone else climbed down from the tree at that moment, and Sunny, Izzy and Misty hugged the Dreamlands, Shaggy and Scooby in relief. “Are you guys okay?” Sunny asked Minty and Scooby. “What happened out here?”

“It’s a long story,” Minty said, “but we can tell you everything later-- promise.”

At that moment, Fred stopped tinkering with his launcher and got it prepped for firing. “Fire in the hole!”

But instead of just one stake firing, many stakes shot out repeatedly, causing the group to scream and dive for cover to avoid getting impaled. Eventually, the launcher ran out of stakes, causing Fred to sigh in exasperation. “Still off…”

“Maybe it's best if you set that thing to net mode from now on,” Hitch advised gently. “So, you know… we don’t get killed!!”

That’s when Snuzzle realized several members of the group were missing. “Hey… where are Ruby and Daphne? Weren’t they with you guys yesterday?”

“They were, but they’ve been captured by Fangenshanz and taken to a ceremonial ground somewhere in the bayou,” Zipp said. “And,” Pipp said, “we gotta save them before their souls are given to Lord Valdronya! Which, in another circumstance, would be cool, but… now is NOT the time.”

“Wait… Ruby and Daphne are in trouble?!” Scooby barked. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Blue Belle asked. “Lead the way!”

“Come on, everypony!” Sunny exclaimed, shifting into her alicorn form. “Time to formulate a plan and stop Lord Valdronya once and for all!”