After Shaggy and Scooby had been wrongly assumed to be the great pharaoh Ascoobis and his man-servant, Shagenkhamen, they had been treated like royalty, and the two of them, alongside Pipp, Izzy and Misty had made friends with a small pride of lionesses-- Taraji, her young daughter Sarona and Taraji’s younger twin sisters, Ovelia and Raheema.

However, as the banquet within the Lost City of the Ancients continued, no one knew that the Hotep had a dastardly scheme up his sleeve... one that required the help of a giant monster that he considered to be his pet, and it would be up to our heroes to put a stop to this plan before it was too late.

But would our heroes find out about it in time?

That's what we're gonna find out in the upcoming chapters. Now... let's get back to the present and catch up with our heroes, shall we?

XXXXXXXX

While the Hotep was in hiding and talking to his pet, it was then that Raheema looked up at the moon above, gasping at what she suddenly realized. “Sisters, we have to get to patrol!” she said, earning Taraji and Ovelia's attention. “It’s well past 11 and we don’t want to leave the city unattended.”

“Aww… do you guys have to go already?” Sarona pouted. “I was hoping Auntie Ovelia and Auntie Raheema could tell our new friends about Milele! You know that they tell the story better than anyone!”

Misty heard this and tilted her head in confusion. “Milele…?”

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Ovelia sighed, nuzzling against the cub. “But Raheema and I always join your mother on evening patrol… and even with Ascoobis here, we can’t abandon our duties.”

However, seeing the sad look on her daughter’s face made Taraji think for a few moments before smiling again. “Actually… I have patrol covered tonight, sisters. Why don’t you take the pharaoh and his friends around and tell them about Milele before we all retire for the night?”

“Really, sister?” Ovelia seemed surprised at this. “You're sure that you don’t mind?”

“Of course. It’s not every day we have a legendary pharaoh around,” Taraji said before nuzzling her young daughter, causing her to giggle slightly. “Now, Sarona, you be good for your aunts and behave when you’re around our guests. I’ll be back at the den later to tuck you in.”

“Yes, Mom,” Sarona said as she leaned into the nuzzle. “May the Great Kings light your path.”

“I will,” Taraji promised before she walked off, just as Shaggy and Scooby finished their meal with a giant belch. “Oh man…” Shaggy sighed in content. “These guys really know how to throw a banquet, huh?”

“We do indeed,” Ovelia smiled as she, Raheema and Sarona approached. “And with that dinner being over, why don’t we take you around our fair city and let us tell you a story?”

“A story? Oooh! What kind of story?” Izzy asked. “Rumpelstiltskin? Goldie-Hooves and the Three Bearicorns?”

Sarona giggled to this. “No… it’s a special story that my aunties tell me a lot about, and now… we wanna tell you! Come on!”

XXXXXXXX

The three lionesses led the way through the city with Shaggy, Scooby and the remaining three ponies following behind, and as they walked, Ovelia began to tell them the story of the Milele place that Sarona had mentioned before. “Beyond the horizon, beyond the last cloud in the sky,” she explained, “that’s a place we call Milele.”

Scooby tilted her head to this. “Milele?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Sarona nodded with a cheerful smile, hopping right onto Scooby's back. “In our language, it means forever.”

“Just imagine it,” Raheema said with a thoughtful smile. “A kingdom full of life, water and food, with grass and sky as far as the eye can see.”

“Oooh, it sounds dreamy!” Pipp said with a smile. “Will you guys ever go there?”

“Oh, yes, Pipp,” Ovelia nodded. “That’s where we hope to go someday. But we can also be there right now. We can close our eyes and let our dreams take us. That’s what makes Milele so special… it’s a place we can dream and see all at once.”

It was then that Ovelia and Raheema led their niece, the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby down a different path, with Ovelia being the first to sing a very special song about that very special place.

Ovelia: Beyond the horizon
Beyond the last cloud in the sky
There's a place I know

Imagine a kingdom
The water flows
The grass is high
It's not a dream

Someday, we'll go...

We call it
Milele
It's always there
Milele

Sarona: It lives in you
It lives in me
You'll see

Raheema: Life

Ovelia: The Circle of Life is not small

Raheema: Great and small

Ovelia: We know that

Raheema and Ovelia: There's enough for all
There is always more

Ovelia: Can you feel it?

Raheema: Can you feel it?
We're...

Ovelia: We'll wander no longer

Raheema: ...on your side

Sarona: We carry ancestors inside

Raheema: Like a constant tide

Ovelia: It's not a dream

Raheema: On an endless shore

Ovelia: Can you see it?
And as you grow

Raheema: Can you see it?

Ovelia: Can you find your way?

Sarona: We call it
Milele

Raheema, Sarona and Ovelia: It's always there
Milele

We call it
Milele
It's always there
Milele

It lives in you
It lives in me
We're free

Ovelia: Milele

By the time the song was over, they had arrived at the lionesses’ den, right near where the group was going to be staying for the night. “There you are,” said Taraji warmly as they arrived. “Did you enjoy hearing about Milele?”

“We sure did! It sounds like an amazing place,” Misty said with a smile before a curious question came to mind. “I’m just wondering, though… if you want to go find Milele, why don’t you leave the Lost City of the Ancients?”

“...we want to find Milele, but this city has given us so much over the past while,” Raheema said sadly, looking at the ground. “Ever since… our pride…”

“Like… sensitive topic, huh?” Shaggy asked with a concerned frown. “More or less. Our pride used to live in a giant oasis, many many miles from here,” Taraji began to explain. “Our king, Obasen… he was one of a kind. Gentle, courageous… a real leader.”

“But then… the Outsiders showed up one fateful day,” Raheema said bitterly. “A pack of ravenous, blood-thirsty jackals.”

“Daddy and a few other lionesses fought them off while we were able to escape,” Sarona said sadly, “but… we never saw them after that.”

Izzy felt her heart sink when she heard this. “Oh no…”

“We’re so sorry,” Misty said sympathetically as the others frowned out of concern. “We had no idea.”

“It was when Sarona was barely a month old, so she doesn’t remember a whole lot about the day in question,” Taraji said, nuzzling her downtrodden daughter. “But… it hasn’t been easy since then.”

“As you know, the Nile River has been pretty dry lately, and we were having a hard time finding food,” Ovelia added. “One day, we stumbled upon the Lost City of the Ancients, and as long as we help protect the city from intruders, we’ll have a place here.”

“But… what about that Hotep guy?” Shaggy asked. “He doesn’t really seem all that appreciative.”

Raheema let out a scowl at this. “We don’t exactly trust him, but… he has been the leader as long as we’ve been living here and even before that. We must do what he says, or we risk losing our place here and are forced back out into that desert again.”

“...we better go to bed now,” Taraji told her family, wanting to cut off the conversation before anyone got too upset. “We’re all tired, and we need our strength if we’re going to help our newfound friends settle into their home away from home.”

And so, the groups exchanged a goodbye before parting ways, and suddenly, the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby became worried for their new friends.

What if the lionesses never found Milele?

They had been through so much, losing their entire pride to jackals and they didn't want to think about the what ifs, but... that was a given in any scenario.

And what about their friends? Surely they had noticed the five of them were gone by now and they were probably worried sick.

They had to find a way back to their friends, one way or another, so they could solve the mystery once and for all...

...even if it meant leaving their new friends behind.

Author's Note

I absolutely love this song from "Mufasa: The Lion King", but I haven't seen it yet. Hopefully, I will someday, but I thought this song would fit perfectly.