Our heroes had finally arrived at Vampire-Palooza, a vampire-themed festival right in the heart of Petit Chauve Sourie Ville, Louisiana, and had met their host, Vincent Van Helsing, who was an author and an expert on all things vampiric.

Now, our heroes were currently following Mr. Van Helsing to his family’s vampire museum, which sat not too far away from the festival grounds, and Mystery Incorporated, the Mane 6, Ruby Jubilee and the Dreamlands got a look at all the amazing exhibits the museum had to offer. “My collection of vampire artifacts go back to the very dawn of the vampire.”

“This stuff is fang-tastic!” Fred spoke before turning to Daphne, hoping that she had got what he thought was a funny pun. “Get it? I used the word ‘fang’ instead of ‘fan’.”

“We get it,” Daphne dismissed. “According to all the stuff I’ve found online,” Sunny said, looking through her phone, “the history of vampire history goes back almost 1000 moons ago, in an old Russian text where the term ‘upir’ was used.”

Scooby looked confused at this. “Upir?”

“According to this,” said Zipp, looking at the same page as Sunny, “the term’s origins remain unclear, but it may have something to do with a euphemism for… ‘the thing at the feast or sacrifice’.”

Hitch shuddered at this. “Creepy…”

“But kinda cool,” Blue Belle said with a smile. “I can’t wait to figure out what the rest of these artifacts mean!”

“Wow!” Velma commented as she, Misty and Izzy looked at a large book on a nearby pedestal. “The ancient book of vampire! I thought only one copy of this existed in the world.”

“You’re looking at it,” Mr. Van Helsing told her. “It’s like a huge spellbook… but it's a lot bigger than the one I have at home,” Misty said as she looked at the vampire book. “And a lot creepier, too.”

“Whoa!” Zipp said as she looked at some large wooden stakes on display. “Check out these awesome stakes!”

“Stakes?!” Shaggy blurt out as he and Scooby rushed forward. “Where?!”

“Yummy!” Scooby licked his chops… but Zipp cleared her throat and showed them the stakes she was talking about-- the wooden kind. “Oh…” Shaggy’s face fell. “Those kind of stakes.”

At the same time, Ruby and Daphne were looking at some vampire jewels in another display case, and the sight of them caused Daphne to gasp. “Look at these vampire jewels! Gorgeous!”

“Oooh-hoo-hoo!” Pipp giggled before snapping a selfie with the jewels. “I would TOTALLY wear those if they weren’t part of the exhibit.”

“Those,” Mr. Van Helsing explained as he walked over, “belonged to an actual vampire's bride in ancient Walachia.”

“Looks like she scored a wealthy vampire husband,” Ruby commented, liking the looks of those jewels. “They're quite priceless. But those stones don't compare to the real jewel of my collection,” Mr. Van Helsing said, approaching a curtain at the back of the room. “A face to launch 100 million fears, I bring you the dreaded vampire… Lord Valdronya! Entombed in glass for nigh a thousand years!”

He pulled the rope, parting the curtains to reveal a glass coffin with something... almost humanoid inside. Lord Valdronya looked very bat-like with glowing, green eyes, pointed ears, long fangs, claws and a bat-like snout. He appeared to have what looks like black makeup underneath his glowing eyes and wore purple garments with a vampire talisman holding his cape. Valdronya's hair is dark gray in places while other places are light grey.

This sight caused Misty to gasp, her eyes growing wide. “Oh my gosh!”

“Wow!” Fred cried out. “Awesome!” Zipp, Velma and Sunny exclaimed, unsure of what to make of it… and unsure of how to feel. After a moment of staring, the Dreamlands, Shaggy and Scooby approached the coffin, trying to get a closer look at the vampire in question.

That's when Shaggy finally spoke up, looking quite unimpressed. “Looks fake to me.”

“Me too,” Scooby nodded. “To be honest… I’m not sure what to believe,” Minty admitted, shaking her head. “It looks real, but… whether he IS real is a different story all together.”

That's when the earth pony music trio, Shaggy and Scooby got a bit closer to inspect the vampire further, when all of a sudden... Lord Valdronya's eyes lit up bright green!

This caused the Dreamlands, Shaggy and Scooby to scream and run back to their friends, utterly terrified. “The vampire lives!!” Shaggy wailed. “Shaggy, I know this seems like a bad time to say this,” Zipp said, “but don’t be ridiculous.”

“But Zipp, it was true!” Snuzzle exclaimed. “His eyes were glowing!”

“Glowing?” Hitch asked in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“Wouldn’t be telling you that if it wasn’t!” Blue Belle said, causing Scooby to quickly nod in agreement. “You’ll have to excuse Shaggy and Scooby,” Fred told Mr. Van Hesling politely. “They tend to be slightly excitable… especially with Sunny and the other ponies around.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Mr. Van Helsing said in understanding. “Lord Valdronya was quite the fearsome fellow in his day. We're lucky he's sealed under glass now.”

“Sheesh-a-roo!” Izzy said as she put her hoof on the glass. “This glass needs a good clean-up, if you know what I mean.”

“You’re right, Izzy,” Velma nodded as she inspected the glass as well. “This glass is so murky.”

“Ah, Velma,” Mr. Van Helsing spoke. “Always the skeptic.”

“Eh,” Velma shrugged. “It’s my thing.”

“But, even if the vampire were alive, he wouldn't get anywhere,” Ruby said as she tapped her hoof on the glass. “This glass is 6 inches thick!”

“So… we’re safe?” Hitch asked nervously. “Yes, Hitch,” Zipp nodded. “As far as we know, we’re safe for now.”

“If only Valdronya would wake…” Mr. Van Helsing then sighed. “I'd have tourists filling this place like back in the day. And I wouldn't have to rent my property to Lita Rutland's traveling vampire festival just to get by.”

Misty frowned sympathetically at this, turning to Mr. Van Helsing with a frown on her face. “That sounds really hard.”

“Lita's threatened to pull out next year if things don't pick up,” Mr. Van Helsing continued, causing the others to face him as well. “I'm afraid I may not be able to save my family's legacy. Then again, you never know what will happen. Maybe my latest book will become a best-seller.”

“You write books? That's fu… ow!” Shaggy yelped as Pipp elbowed him roughly with her wing to silence him. “Don’t we have a show to go see?” Velma then asked, causing Pipp to gasp. “Show?”

“Ah, yes,” Mr. Van Helsing realized she was right, pulling out his pocket watch. “We'd better get going. The vampires await!”

“Come on, guys!” Ruby encouraged Shaggy, Misty and Scooby, who were falling behind. “We gotta go!”

But, it only took one look back at the vampire, along with the glowing eyes that Snuzzle mentioned before, to send the three of them running after the rest of the group.

XXXXXXXX

After a brief 10-minute walk through town, Mr. Van Helsing and the rest of our heroes arrived at a grand theater on the side of the street. “Our tickets are being held in the box office,” said Mr. Van Helsing as he walked closer to the theater's box office. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

As soon as Mr. Van Helsing walked away, Velma noticed the name of the act they were going to see in bright neon lights. “Fangenschanz.”

“Fangenschanz?” Zipp looked at the sign, confused. “What kind of name is that?”

“I've heard of them,” Daphne said, approaching a nearby poster of the act in question. “They're supposed to be the most amazing vampire-themed theater troupe ever!”

“Sounds about right for a vampire-worthy festival act,” Ruby said, taking out a pad of paper and a pencil. “Maybe I can get some inspiration for a new Nightmare Night song, since it is coming up in a few weeks.”

At the same time, Shaggy was putting strings of garlic around Scooby and the Mane 6's necks. “Here, you guys,” Shaggy insisted. “Wear this garlic for protection. Vampires hate it.”

“Uh... thanks, but no thanks, Shaggy,” Zipp said, taking the garlic necklace off and giving it back to Shaggy. “I really don't wanna go in there smelling like a loaf of garlic bread.”

The others had to agree with this and went inside, leaving Shaggy to shrug and give himself and Scooby the garlic necklaces instead.

But as soon as they stepped inside the theater, the kid they almost hit that morning stopped them in their tracks. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't bring garlic in here.”

That's when Shaggy saw a nearby sign. “No wooden stakes, garlic or flash photography. Oh, well,” Shaggy said, taking the garlic off his neck. “I hate to let perfectly good food go to waste.”

Shaggy and Scooby then proceeded to eat all the garlic hanging on those necklaces, and Scooby turned to the boy with a smile, garlic heavy on his breath. “No garlic on us.”

“Blech! Gross!” the boy gagged before pointing inside the theater. “Just go inside already!”

Shrugging, Shaggy and Scooby proceeded after their friends inside the theater, where they found the seats at the very front row waiting for them. That's when Scooby noticed the woman next to him and decided to start up a nice and friendly conversation. “Hello.”

However, the dog’s breath was so bad, the woman coughed and had to move a few rows back. And unfortunately, all the others could smell the bad stench too. “Eww!!!” Fred gagged. “Someone’s wearing some stanky perfume.”

As the others moved down a couple seats, or moved back a row, Shaggy sniffed the air alongside Scooby, but didn’t really notice much change. “I don’t smell it. Do you, Scoob?”

Scooby shook his head innocently. “Nope.”

“Here, guys, try a Merry Mint smoothie,” Minty said as she handed them a cup filled with green liquid. “Sunny made it for me and I think it might help.”

Shrugging and not knowing what she meant, Shaggy and Scooby took the smoothie and started slurping on it. “According to the program,” Velma said to the others, “the members of Fangenschanz are so dedicated to the vampire lifestyle… they perform only at night!”

“Method actors,” Mr. Van Helsing sighed. “I kinda think it sounds cool,” Zipp admitted with a grin. “I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves.”

Suddenly, the lights of the theater dimmed, and a spotlight shone on the stage. And in that spotlight, one of the actors, a rather handsome fellow by the name of Bram, hung from the rafters and opened his cape as if they were wings. “Ladies and gentle-mortals,” he began, flying off of his perch to face the audience, “it’s feeding time!”

And that's when all the vampire actors began to appear, frightening some of the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby out of their wits in the process.

Bram: What's that you hear?
The sound of fear
Because they're here
Vampires roaming the night

What's that you say?
Can't be, no way
They're fake? Okay…
Believe whatever you might

But when the moon is full on a starlit night
You best all lock your doors up light

Because, my friend
The vampires start to dance

Fangenschanz: They’re all around you
Everybody's coming to play
Oh, yes, they found you
And now they're gonna take you away-ay-ay

Bram: So watch out, lake care
Be smart, beware
Because out there
Something's waiting for you

When midnight comes, it's time to hide
Say good night and run inside
Because that, my friend, is when
They all come out again

Oh, yes, right now is when
The vampires dance

Fangenschanz: The vampires dance
BOO!!!

And as quickly as the actors appeared, they disappeared, just as the song ended.

This caused everyone in the theater to applaud with delight... but Daphne went a little bit overboard with her wild whistling and cheering, causing strange looks from her friends. “What? I'm just showing my appreciation.”

“Okay, you need to sit down, girlfriend,” Pipp said, pulling her back down into her seat, “and let the shadow go on, as the critics say now-a-days.”

That’s when the curtains parted, revealing Bram and the other members of Fangenschanz on a weird part of the stage. “We welcome you, friends and potential blood donors,” Bram said welcomingly. “And while we are mere performers, be warned. If you fear the sight of a real living vampire, please, leave now.”

Shaggy, who had been hiding under the theater chairs with Scooby and Misty, let out a frightened whimper. “That’s our cue!”

“I’ll help you guys outta here, come on!” Sunny said as the four of them made a race for the door, but before they could get through either of them, they slammed shut, causing Bram to cackle from the stage. “Too late!” he taunted. “And now for the first time on any stage, we shall attempt the unheard of; the vampire's return from the grave! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!”

However, the only one not frightened was Daphne, who seemed more entranced with Bram than anything. “Wow, he's very good. Don't you guys think he's good? Like, good?”

“If you mean ‘good’ as in ‘creepy’, then yes,” Hitch spoke up uneasily. “He’s very good.”

Zipp hummed and decided to record the so-called ritual, but kept her phone hidden so no one else would see.

That’s when Bram pointed out a large symbol that was on the stage. “Behold the ancient talisman of the immortal blood-drinkers. Take heed, for the mortal world shall soon be invaded!”

That’s when many of the members of Fangenschanz began to chant in a strange language, putting all sorts of strange things into a pool of water they had onstage.

Blackest rose, wolf and bane
Bats and crows…

Unfortunately, Mr. Van Helsing knew what this ritual was-- he had seen it before, and it could be extremely dangerous! “That spell is from the ancient book of vampire. These jokers are playing with supernatural fire!”

“Wait, so you’re saying this could actually bring a vampire back from the dead?” Pipp asked before shuddering, frightened. “As much as I love spooky things, I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“We have to stop them!” Snuzzle cried out. “Hold on… maybe they’re just pretending. and have got another plan up their sleeves,” Minty tried to defuse the situation. “Let’s just… watch and see what happens next.”

XXXXXXXX

Unbeknownst to them all, something was happening in the vampire museum. Within his glass coffin, Lord Valdronya's eyes began to glow green. A security guard was patrolling the museum, was completely unaware of what was transpiring behind him. As he shined his light around the room, a bright emerald light began radiating from the vampire's coffin. The pages of the ancient book began flipping rapidly and a stand holding a bunch of wooden stakes clattered to the ground. The security officer turned around and was horrified by the sight. “What the…?”

He pulled out a taser gun and bravely headed toward the light. However, he didn't say the wooden stakes lying on the floor, and as soon as he stepped on them, he slipped and fell to the floor, his taser electrocuting him as the light grew brighter and brighter.

XXXXXXXX

Back inside the theater, things were about to take an even scarier turn. As Fangenschanz continued their chant, a giant pillar of emerald fire shot out from the pool.

This caused Bram to reel back in surprise. “It’s… working?”

That's when the platform holding the rest of the performers collapsed, and all four of them fell to the ground. Bram struggled to stay balanced before looked up and saw a spotlight dislodge and plunged straight for him. Luckily, he was able to jump out of the way just as the light fixture crashed atop the platform.

In the audience, the ponies, Mystery Inc and Mr. Van Helsing could only watch in total terror. “This is bad…” Hitch said, beginning to panic. “This is REALLY bad!”

The torch lights were suck into the green pillar, which then spiraled into a dark vortex, just as Bram approached it. “That’s not Henry…” he muttered before he noticed a hand sticking out from underneath the stage curtain. He raced to it and pulled it up, where he found, to his shock, Henry's unconscious body lying on the wood floor. “Oh no!”

Suddenly, the vortex congealed and revealed the one and only Lord Valdronya, causing the Dreamland and Ruby to shriek and dive down in terror, just as a green mist covered the stage. Each member of the Fangenschanz group grew dreary, then dropped to the floor, unconscious, causing the ponies to gasp in terror. “Pipp, are you recording this?” Zipp asked. “I might need it later for observation!”

“You know me, girl,” Pipp told her sister. “I’ve always got the record button in hoof’s reach. And right now, I've got every second of this vampire madness on video!”

Lord Valdronya's soulless, green eyes seemed to bore down on the group. Then, he let out a monstrous roar, and with a screech, he transformed into a giant, green bat, with laughed callously and flew off, seemingly vanishing into the wall of the theater. The gang all sat there, mouths agape. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd began to clap and laugh, thinking this was all a part of the act. “Uh… you guys?” Minty gulped as she, Ruby and the other Dreamlands looked at their friends, still a little shaken up. “Please tell me that was some sort of horrible dream.”

“Unless it somehow happened to all of us,” Daphne said, helping a shaking Izzy to her hooves, “I don’t think it was.”

All the while, the other visitors made their way out of the theater, having enjoyed the performance and thinking it was just that. At the same time, Scooby, Shaggy, and Misty were still clutching the drapes, shaking and shivering in fear while Sunny hid beneath the drapes. “Next year,” Shaggy said, “we’re going to Miami!”

“Yeah!” Scooby trembled in fear. “Come on, guys, let’s get you down,” Sunny said as she, Pipp, Zipp and Ruby approached to help get Misty, Shaggy and Scooby down from the drapes. “Then, we’ve gotta question those performers about what just happened… and then figure out what we need to do to stop this from happening again.”

Author's Note

I had Indywriter's help with some of this scene-- please give them your love.