G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?

by ponydog127

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Original Character, Mystery, Comedy, Misty, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Adventure, Mane 5, Crossover
Length: 32691

After deducing some intense information about Sunny's mother and the alicorn realm of Skyros, the Mane 6 reunites with Mystery Inc and some new friends in order to solve the mystery of a curse surrounding Cleopatra’s tomb in the deserts of Egypt.

About two weeks after the Mane 6 returned from their latest Unity Quest in Piqua, the ponies take the opportunity to study the tapestry they retrieved from Opaline's lair, and they compare it to old drawings and maps that Sunny's mother had hidden within the walls of the Brighthouse, making Sunny realize that all that time ago, her mother was searching for the legendary alicorn realm of Skyros, where Opaline and her sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, were originally from…

...and the place that Alterro plans to conquer if he can find it. But before they can dive into this newfound info further, they are called away on another Unity Quest mission, this time reuniting with Mystery Incorporated for a brand-new mystery.

Archaeologist and super sleuth Velma has been in Egypt for the past five months to help with the unveiling ceremony of the newly restored sphinx, a mysterious mythical creature with the head of a man and the body of a lion, only to discover a hidden tomb belonging to Cleopatra herself! But when the Mane 6 and the rest of the gang arrive, they discover that the tomb is protected by an ancient curse: “The Nile will fall, the desert shall rise and all who dare enter will be turned to stone”.

Of course that won’t stop the Mane 6, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc team from going inside and finding something even more mummifying… a cursed army of the undead!

With treasure hunters prowling around and secrets to be uncovered, can the Mane 6 and all their friends, new and old, figure out the secrets of Cleopatra's curse? And will they be able to find the most remarkable treasure known to man, the crown of Cleopatra himself?

Sit down in the comfort of your own tomb and witness the most spectacular G5 Adventures story yet!

(S4E2 of G5 Adventures)

Published 2024-12-31 21:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-12-31 21:20:00 UTC

The Discovery of the Tomb, Arrivals and Reunions in Egypt and More

The story of Cleopatra had just been told to us, and immediately after the discovery of several important items in the Crystal Brighthouse that were tied to the alicorns of Skyros and Sunny’s long-lost mother, Velvet Starscout, Sunny and her friends were once again called by the Unity Crystals to go on another Unity Quest mission...

...and hopefully, this mission wasn’t going to have any mention of Alterro in them.

But what they didn’t realize was that this mission was going to go very deeply into their side quest to find the realm of Skyros and defeat Alterro, in more ways than one.

XXXXXXXX

We fast forward to 2000 years after the time of Cleopatra to modern day Egypt, where a restoration of the sphinx was nearly finished after a long span of five grueling months.

And it is here that we run into a dear, dear friend of the Mane 6-- Velma Dinkley of the famous Mystery Inc, who had been in Egypt for the past few moths as a crucial part of the sphinx restoration process.

On one specific day, Velma was dusting a part of the sphinx's face to make it look better than when it was carved 4000 years earlier when she stumbled upon a glittering artifact-- a golden necklace in the shape of an ankh with a ruby embedded inside. “Jinkies...” she gasped, pulling it from the rock and inspecting it closer. “It’s so beautiful!”

But as she looked around the part of the sphinx where she had found the necklace, Velma felt a sense of confusion wash over her. “But what's it doing up here?” she wondered to herself before brushing the confusion off and replacing it with excitement. “Omar and the others have to see this!”

And with the swift pull of her rope, Velma lowered herself back toward the ground to show off her amazing find.

XXXXXXXX

As it turns out, Prince Omar Karam (who was a very handsome young man who had tan skin, dark brown hair and wore a green shirt with a white collar and sleeve cuffs under a beige shirt with a red scarf with Egyptian symbols on it) was in charge of the sphinx restoration project, and he and Velma had grown quite close over the past few months they had spent working together.

And as for who these 'others' were, well... the group that Velma spoke of were a small group of African animals who hailed from a faraway kingdom.

Trail Grazer was a bright blue gazelle who was the fastest animal where he came from, and his cutie mark looked like a gazelle footprint with a bright blue explosion behind it.

Anga was a young giraffe calf with green eyes and a cutie mark of a crescent underneath a sun shape.

Ulaghai is a mischevious young sphinx with purple fur, a darker purple mane, brown and red wings and red eyes, similar to the color of Alterro's eyes.

Tofauti is a young okapi with light green eyes and a white collar with the symbol of the kingdom where they were from on it.

Kushinda was a wildebeast with gray fur with darker gray stripes, black on his face, and a red scarf around his neck to go with his golden eyes.

And lastly was Hazima, a golden zebra with blue eyes, blue earrings, a blue necklace, blue bracelets around her hooves and a cutie mark representing leadership who was closest to Prince Omar.

At the same time that Velma was coming down from the sphinx, Omar was on the phone with his uncle while the other animals were hard at work. “Not to worry, uncle,” Omar said reassuringly. “The Sphinx will be finished in time for the unveiling ceremony. The restoration is in very good hands. Oh, and hooves and paws.”

“Glad to hear you say that, your highness,” Hazina said to the prince with a teasing smile. “I was beginning to think you had forgotten us.”

However, the second Hazima had got done teasing the prince, the blueprint of the newly restored sphinx blew away from Omar’s reach. “Whoa!”

“I got this!” Trail Grazer said before running and jumping for the blueprint… only to miss and land on Kushinda and Tofauti. “Hey, Trail!” Tofauti groaned. “Watch where you’re leaping next time!”

“Sorry, Kushinda. My bad, Tofauti,” Trail Grazer apologized as he got up. “I guess I got a little too enthusiastic.”

Ulaghai giggled as she descended down to them with the blueprint in her paw. “You guys are just jealous you can’t fly like me.”

“Oh, yeah, Ulaghai,” Anga said with a teasing smile as she dropped her load onto the ground. “Cause everyone wants to fly like you… except me. I can’t stand heights!”

“Omar! Hazina, guys! I found something!” Velma said as she approached from the ground level. “It looks like an ancient necklace!”

“Ancient necklace?!” Ulaghai said in excitement, her eyes lighting up in temptation. “If it shines, it’s mine!”

However, Kushinda used his massive body strength to hold her back, at least until Omar and Hazina were able to reach the ground again. “What an incredible find,” Omar said, gently taking the necklace from her. “Oh,” Velma said with a nervous smile, “it was nothing.”

“Velma, you’re not giving yourself enough credit,” said Tofauti. “You’re as much of a part of the sphinx’s restoration as anyone else!”

“Now…” said Kushinda with a smile, “let’s see what rare artifact you’ve found.”

Omar then held the necklace up to the light, which was caught on the ruby in the necklace, and when it was hit at just the right angle, a red beam of light blasted from the necklace towards a wall on the lower part of the sphinx, and a blast of wind came back at the group, nearly blowing them away.

But when the wind had passed and the sand had cleared, the most incredible sight had been revealed-- a staircase that descended downward. “Impossible!” Omar exclaimed in shock as many gathered around to see the staircase in question. However, Anga gulped nervously upon seeing the darkness that covered the staircase. “It looks… pretty dark down there.”

“It’s all right, Anga. You don’t have to go inside if you don’t want to,” Hazina said softly. “Yeah,” Kushinda nodded gently. “I’ll stay here with you.”

“...thanks, Kushinda,” Anga smiled, nuzzling him gently. “That means a lot.”

“The rest of you, come with me,” Hazina said as she began to follow Omar and Velma down the stairs and into the darkness that awaited them. But upon reaching the bottom of the staircase and activating their lights, Velma was the first to spot a gigantic picture on the wall of a woman wearing a golden crown and wearing a similar necklace to the one she had found. “Look!”

“Velma, I think you’ve found it!” Trail Grazer exclaimed. “The lost tomb of Cleopatra! It’s been hidden for thousands of years!”

Ulaghai let out a stunned gasp to this. “Cleopatra?! The last of the pharaohs?!”

But when Velma held the necklace up to the one that matched in the picture, she let out a stunned gasp, realizing Trail Grazer was right. “Double jinkies!”

Who knows what kind of amazing secrets laid in this tomb that were just waiting to be uncovered?

Or… who knows what terrible things were just waiting to be set loose?

XXXXXXXXX

Little did Velma know it, but there were some other familiar faces in Egypt as well-- Scooby-Doo and the rest of the Mystery Incorporated crew, who were on their way to visit Velma after almost five months of being apart.

Shaggy and Scooby sat underneath the umbrella on top of the Mystery Machine, finally able to relax as Scooby let out a howl to the sky above. “Scooby-Dooby-Doooooo!!”

“Man, Scoob, Egypt's a real hot spot,” Shaggy said with a chuckle as he eyed the lemonade in the cooler next to him. “Guess while the lemonade is chilling, we'll just have to chill.”

“Yeah,” Scooby said with an enthusiastic giggle as the Mystery Machine drove through the desert with Fred at the wheel. “Wow!” said the leader of Mystery Inc. “How cool is it that Velma has spent the last five months here in Egypt?”

“Well, restoring the Great Sphinx may be a thrill,” said Daphne, “but I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees us!”

“Yeah,” Fred chuckled. “Surprise, Velma!”

“Velma? Surprise?!” Scooby looked around excitedly, having missed Velma during the months they had been apart. “Where, where?!”

“Sorry, Scooby,” Daphne said gently. “False alarm.”

“Ohhh…” Scooby whimpered, a bit disappointed it wasn’t actually Velma. “Hang in there, big guy,” Fred reassured. “We miss her too. But the good old Mystery Machine will have us there in a jiffy.”

But as soon as Fred said this, the Mystery Machine began to slowly break down and come to a stop, causing Daphne to glare over at Fred. “You were saying?”

And as the engine rattled and died, Shaggy finally took off his sunglasses and looked around as Fred and Daphne got out of the van. “Huh? Like, why are we stopping?”

Fred opened the hood of the Mystery Machine as Shaggy and Scooby got down from the roof, only to find that the engine was completely smoking. “Big trouble, gang. It looks like our radiator's out of water!”

“Ha ha ha! Don't sweat it, Fred,” Shaggy reassured. “Scoob and I will go looking for snacks. I mean, help.”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “And snacks too.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at the duo’s craving for snacks. “And exactly where are we going to find help in the middle of nowhere?”

“Like… maybe behind you!” Shaggy exclaimed, pointing behind Fred and Daphne. “Look!”

Fred and Daphne turned and looked just in time to see a rather familiar portal open up behind them, and out from it stepped the Mane 6 in outfits that would really suit the theme of traveling to Egypt.

Sunny wore a short-sleeved shirt that was light pink, brown boots and her signature saddlebag.

Izzy wore a a dark blue shirt with a white hat and brown boots as well.

Hitch wore a teal long-sleeved shirt with a hat like Izzy's.

Zipp wore a white and gray plaid shirt with a watch on her front left hoof.

Pipp wore a light blue shirt with white polka dots and brown boots.

Lastly, Misty wore brown boots as well, but her short-sleeved shirt was a color mix of dark purple and pink.

“Phew!” Hitch panted, wiping his hoof across his sweat-covered face. “I don’t know where we are, but this is WAY hotter than it was in Maretime Bay, Bridlewood or Zephyr Heights at this time of year.”

“Sunny, ponies!” Fred exclaimed, catching the Mane 6’s attention. “You guys are a sight for sore eyes!”

“Fred! Daphne!” Sunny gasped. “Shaggy, Scooby!”

The two groups ran toward one another before hugging each other tight, grateful to see each other again after many months of being apart.

Pipp even laughed when Scooby started to lick her face nonstop. “Okay, okay, down, boy!” said the pink pegasus. “We’re happy to see you too!”

“It’s been way too long!” Zipp said just before she noticed the absence of one of the most valuable gang members. “Hey… where’s Velma?”

“She’s actually been here in Egypt helping with the restoration of the sphinx after you guys left Louisiana a few months ago,” Daphne explained. “We were on our way to surprise her when the Mystery Machine’s radiator overheated.”

“Shaggy and Scooby volunteered to go find help,” said Fred quietly, “but we’d appreciate it if some of you ponies went with them just to make sure they don’t get into trouble.”

“Oh, no problem,” Hitch said with a smirk. “We can do that no problem.”

“Izzy and I will keep an eye on them,” Misty said with a smile. “We’ll be back with help as fast as we can, and then we can fill you all in on what’s happened the past few months.”

XXXXXXXX

But after a few minutes, Shaggy and Scooby were already panting as if they had been traveling hundreds of miles...

...when really, they had only traveled about 40 feet from the Mystery Machine.

Shaggy was the first to speak after heavily panting for a few moments. “Water, water! Oh-ho-ho! We're doomed, Scoob-- we're doomed!!”

“Dooooomed!!!” Scooby howled mournfully as Shaggy flopped his face into the sand, completely giving up on moving. And from where the others were watching, Daphne shook her head with a heavy sigh. “Our heroes...”

“Come on, fellas, get up!” Izzy said, nudging Scooby with her nose. “We can’t go look for water when you have your faces in the sand!”

“No offense, Izzy,” said Misty with a soft frown, “but I think it's gonna take a lot more than a few simple words to get Shaggy and Scooby to keep going.”

“But we don’t have any food to motivate them,” said Pipp, “so what else could do it?”

Shaggy then lifted his head from the sand when he began to hallucinate a relieving sight-- an oasis not too far away... and where there was an oasis, there had to be water! “Hey, Scooby... look at that!”

“Huh?” Scooby looked where Shaggy was looking and began to hallucinate the same oasis. “Like... we're saved!” Shaggy laughed in happiness. “SAVE!!!”

And without a second thought, Shaggy and Scooby ran toward the mirage, with Scooby howling along the way. “Scooby-Dooby-Doooooo!!!”

“Shaggy, Scooby, wait!” Misty exclaimed as she and Izzy watched them run off. “Oh, brother... what could have made them run off like that?”

As for Shaggy and Scooby themselves, they began to swim around in what they thought was an oasis, but it was really just a really flat part of the desert, and honestly... the Mane 6 had to really try not to laugh.

They had really missed Shaggy and Scooby's usual antics.

After a moment of the group trying not to laugh, Sunny glanced at her friends with a bit of wariness. “Do you think we should tell them that it's only a mirage?”

However, as Shaggy and Scooby tried to drink the water in the oasis, they only tasted sand, causing them to react with disgust and did their best to spit it out. “Ooh...” Zipp cringed as she watched the sight. “I think we might be a little too late to warn them, Sunny.”

Shaggy and Scooby flopped back into the sand a few seconds later, weary and still exhausted from the blistering heat, and the Mane 6 couldn't blame them entirely.

This heat was a lot to handle, and Zipp thought she experienced a hot day in Maretime Bay last summer that was a lot hotter than this.

Now... she wasn't so sure.

That was when Scooby spotted an bird-like figure flying above them, weakly pointing his paw to it. “Uh... Shaggy? Oh... vultures...”

“Vultures?!” Shaggy exclaimed, exhausted by the heat. “Oh-ho-ho-ho... who would've thought it could end like this? Scooby and Shaggy, oh-ho-ho, a baked buffet for a buzzard's breakfast.”

“Hey you old bird-brain!” Pipp raised her hooves as if trying to pick a fight with the bird above. “Why don't you pick on some-creature your own size?!”

However, as Hitch looked up at the bird in question, he started to realize that the bird in question looked different than other birds he had seen before. “Wait a second... I think we may have it wrong, you guys.”

“Hitch is right!” Zipp quickly agreed as she put her visor on to get a closer look. “That's not a vulture at all-- it's a hawk!”

Misty looked at the hawk in confusion. “But... why in the world would a hawk be out in the middle of nowhere?”

“I think it has something to do with those people heading toward us,” Izzy said as she innocently pointed her hoof toward the sight. “Maybe the hawk is with them.”

And as it turns out, there was a dark-skinned man, who appeared to be in his forties with black hair and a beard, along with a black Egyptian robe with a turban, heading their way with a bunch of camels, along with another stunning sight-- it looked to be a kirin, with a light gray coat with lighter colored scales, a dark opal mane with a moderate crimson-colored horn along with moderate purple eyes.

And once they got close, the kirin and the caravan of camels stopped in order to speak to the group, with the man greeting them in some foreign language. “In Egypt,” he then spoke in English, “that means hello.”

“What up?” Fred greeted. “That means hello in America.”

“Are we ever glad to see some friendly faces out here,” Sunny said with a smile. “I’m Sunny, and these are my friends.”

“I am Amahl Ali Akbar, at your service,” the man greeted courteously, getting off of his camel before gesturing to the kirin walking alongside him. “And this is Desert Rose.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Desert Rose said as she bowed to the ponies, causing them to bow back. “Amahl Ali Akbar? Wow, that's some name,” Shaggy commented. “Do you mind if we just call you Triple A?”

Desert Rose giggled to this. “We do not mind at all. Now tell me… what are you all doing out this direction when you do not seem to know these lands?”

“We were on our way to the sphinx,” said Zipp, “when our van overheated. Do you know where we might find some water?”

“I am sorry, my friend,” Triple A said sincerely, “but there is no water here.”

“Jeepers…” Daphne frowned in worry. “What are we gonna do?”

“We’re just gonna have to leave the Mystery Machine behind, I guess,” Hitch frowned. “Not much else we can do... unless any of us wanna walk however many miles are left to get to the sphinx.”

“Come on… join our caravan,” Desert Rose said kindly, gesturing to the camels behind them. “We’re traveling east, toward the flowing waters of the Nile River. I’m sure you’ll find the water you seek there.”

“Sounds good to me!” Pipp said with a grateful grin. “Anything to get my hooves out of this hot sand.”

“And maybe on our way there,” said Daphne to the ponies, “you can tell us what you’ve been up to the past few months. Like… if you’ve defeated Allura or not?”

“Trust me, Daphne, we’ll tell you guys everything,” Misty said as she group got closer to the camels and prepared to join the caravan. “But… you guys need to be warned… you won’t like everything you hear.”

XXXXXXXX

And so, while two camels pulled the Mystery Machine and the other camels carried Triple A and the rest of the gang, the Mane 6 (with Sparky riding on Hitch's back) and Desert Rose chose to walk, with the Mane 6 telling their friends, both new and old, about all the things that had gone on in the past several months, including Allura’s reformation…

…and Alterro’s rise as their newest threat.

After the ponies had got done telling about their most recent adventure, Fred finally spoke up. “So… what will you guys do now that Alterro’s on the rise?”

“If he’s looking for the realm of Skyros,” Zipp said, “we’re just gonna have to figure out how to find it before he does. Maybe when we find Velma, she can give us a few ideas on where to start.”

“What about you, Desert Rose?” Sunny asked curiously. “Have you always lived in Egypt?”

“Oh, yes. My herd and I have traveled these lands since I was a filly,” Desert Rose explained with a proud smile. “When I got old enough to be out on my own, I started traveling with Triple A and we’ve been together ever since. I practically know this desert like the back of my hoof.”

“That does explain how you’re so accustomed to this heat,” Hitch panted. “I think even my sweat has sweat!”

“I got you covered, Hitch!” Izzy said as she pulled out some paper fans and started fanning the group with her magic. “I made these yesterday-- I figured they might come in handy.”

“Thanks, Iz,” Pipp sighed in relief. “My mane was totally starting to frizz out!”

“This should last us until we get to where we’re going,” Misty added before the group came to a stop at the edge of a large ditch. “So… uh… how far off is the Nile River from here?”

Triple A pulled down his face covering, shock written all over his face. “This… is the Nile River.”

“Okay…” Daphne nodded slowly, looking at the dry riverbed. “So, what happened to the river part?”

“Okay, I know Egypt doesn’t get a whole lot of rain,” Zipp said as she took pictures of the sight, “but… for the river to be completely dry? …something doesn’t feel right about this.”

Scooby whimpered worriedly, and Pipp flew up to try and rub his head with her hoof while Triple A dismounted from his camel to unhook the other camels from the Mystery Machine. “Our journey together has come to an end.”

“Triple A’s right,” Desert Rose said gravely as the ponies helped Mystery Inc from the camels’ backs. “We have to find water for our camels.”

“But, without you, we don’t have any idea where we’re going!” Hitch argued. “How are we supposed to find the sphinx?”

“You have already arrived, my friend,” Triple A reassured before pointing to a nearby hill of sand. “It is just over that hill. Big statue, pyramids in back. You can't miss it.”

“Well… thanks, Triple A and Desert Rose,” Daphne said gratefully. “Hope we see you again.”

“If the fates allow it,” Desert Rose bowed her head, “so shall it be.”

That was when the kirin reached into her mane to pull out a batch of strange amulets with a mysterious symbol on them, looking like a stylized eye with distinctive markings. “I’ve been making these amulets for friends we’ve passed during our travels,” the kirin explained, putting them around the Mane 6’s necks, “and these are for you.”

“Whoa… this is an amazing symbol!” Sunny said, inspecting it. “What is it?”

“It’s the Eye of Horus, which is where I got the name for my hawk friend,” Triple A explained as the hawk landed on his shoulder. “In our culture, it is believed to have magical protection properties.”

“Magical protection jewelry?! Oooh, you’re speaking my language!” Pipp said as she took a quick selfie. “Thank you… both of you,” Misty said gratefully. “Let’s hope the fates bring us together again soon.”

“Believe me, Misty,” said Desert Rose with a smile, “we hope for the same thing.”

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6 and those that remained of Mystery Inc waved to Triple A, Desert Rose and their caravan as they walked out into the desert, and once they had disappeared from sight, Fred turned to the others as they began to walk toward the hill that the sphinx was supposed to be closest. “Okay, everybody, remember where we parked.”

“Trust me, Freddy,” Zipp said with a smile, also trying not to giggle. “I’m sure we won’t forget where we parked a brightly-colored van in this bare landscape.”

But as the group headed for the hill and the sphinx, none of them had any idea of the adventure that would be waiting for them.

The bad things… and the good.

Alterro's Moment to Rise

The Unity Quest itself may be close to over, but the danger that the Mane 6 had unwittingly put themselves in was no joking matter.

While the Mane 6 seemed to be having a great time with their friends in Egypt now that the mystery was over, they had no idea they were being watched by Alterro through his mythical fireball, growling in irritation.

They took his sister from him… and his chance at being free, so he had to end up freeing himself.

This angered him more than anyone would dare admit.

But... it would soon be a thing of the past. Because the Mane 6 didn't realize it yet, but Alterro had made friends before he and Allura were banished to separate realms... and they would surely eliminate the Mane 6 if he couldn't.

All he had to do was give them a call.

Once making sure that the forest he was in was clear of any bystanders, Alterro waved his front paws before pressing them together, and this event seemed to create a series of fireballs, and smirked as he glanced into them, a murderous look in his cold and uncaring eyes. “Good to see you again, my loyal friends. I know it’s been quite some time since we’ve chatted, but I have a new mission for you, so I need you to listen up. There are a band of ponies out there who desire to defeat me and stop my plans of universal domination… and I need you to help me stop them whenever they come into your neck of the woods.”

Evil laughter echoed from within the fireballs in question, and Alterro soon joined their laughter, a sickening sight for anyone who might’ve been watching.

But the real question that needed to be answered was... who were these figures in the fireballs that Alterro talked to so fondly? And what kinds of threats would they bring to the Mane 6 and all the friends they were soon to encounter in their future Unity Quest adventures?

Well... that's for you to find out in the upcoming season.

For now, dear followers of these Unity Quests... kick back and relax until the next story releases. And trust me... if you thought the last three sagas of the Mane 6's Unity Quest adventures were something else...

...you probably haven't seen anything yet.

New Mysteries to Be Uncovered

When the Mane 6 returned from their latest Unity Quest in Piqua, Ohio, they knew it was probably the best thing to tell Allura that her brother, Alterro, was free from his binds and wanted his revenge on her, the ponies and Equestria… as well as him wanting to find the alicorn realm of Skyros, for a reason that the Mane 6 weren’t sure of yet.

And needless to say... Allura was heartbroken. She had told the ponies previously that she and her brother had been so close when they were cubs, and to hear that he wanted revenge on her, the ponies and all of Equestria?

It was truly devastating.

But Allura also understood that if Equestria was in danger, the ponies needed to do whatever it took to protect it.

After the Mane 6 told Allura and Twitch about what had occurred, Hitch scheduled a meeting in Maretime Bay that Pipp was able to broadcast to all Equestrian communities, telling all ponies that Alterro was now a very dangerous threat, and they needed to remember their training just in case he were to attack.

But lately, Sunny’s had something other than the threat of Alterro on her mind.

Her mother.

She had disappeared when Sunny was just a filly, and Sunny missed her mother terribly. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder...

...could all this talk about the realm of Skyros and the disappearance of her mother be connected?

That's exactly what Sunny was determined to find out.

XXXXXXXX

“Thanks for agreeing to help me with this, guys,” Sunny said to her friends early one spring morning. “My mom and dad left all of their old research and collectibles in the lighthouse basement, so if we're gonna start anywhere, we need to start here.”

“We're happy to help you search the basement, Sunny,” Zipp said slowly, “but... you should know, we knew this wasn't going to be a simple job, so... we asked a few more ponies and... non-ponies... to come and help us search the basement for clues.”

Sunny blinked in surprise at this. “Really? Who did you invite exactly?”

It was then that the other ponies moved aside to reveal some familiar faces-- Allura and Twitch, along with Grandma Figgy, Alphabittle and Paradise, Queen Haven… and some faces that Sunny hadn’t talked to in quite some time.

The first was a red-coated earth stallion with a slick blonde mane, white fetlocks, maroon hooves, a wavy blonde tail, green eyes, thick, dark red eyebrows and his cutie mark was a purple beetroot.

And the second had a light peach pink coat, slightly lighter fetlocks, reddish hooves, and pale blue eyes. Her eyebrows, tail, and mane are all golden blonde, the latter of which consists of large curls bundled atop her head. She wears hot pink glasses with eyelash silhouettes attached via silver screws, as well as a pearl necklace and earrings. She has subtle lavender eyeshadow. She also wears a brown lanyard with her ID tag on it. Her cutie mark was a graph of three purple bars with a hot pink arrow going over it, depicting rising stocks.

Sunny blinked in surprise. “Phyllis and Sprout Cloverleaf?”

“Hello, Sunny,” Phyllis said with a sincere smile. “I know it’s been quite some time since we spoke, but… Sprout and I overheard Hitch and Grandma Figgy talking the other day, and…”

“We all figured,” Paradise added, “since you’ve done so much for us…”

“...the least we could do is help you sort through your mom’s stuff,” Sprout added with a bit of reluctance. “After all… a mom is one of the most important ponies you can have in your life.”

“And we all want to help,” Alphabittle added. “Just tell us where you need us.”

“...thank you… thank you all so much!” Sunny said, trying not to cry as she wiped her eyes with her hoof. “This means more than you’ll ever know. Okay, so… let’s divide into groups. Hitch, Grandma Figgy, Phyllis and me will start in the west part of the basement. Alphabittle, why don’t you, Izzy, Misty and Paradise search in the east section? Allura and Twitch, you take the north and Queen Haven? You, Pipp and Zipp can take the south end. We can all work our way up to the middle and regroup there.”

“Sounds like a plan to us,” Allura smiled warmly. “Let’s get in there and start searching for answers.”

XXXXXXXX

And so, the search began, with each group taking a different part of the basement. The search seemed to last for ages when only, they had been searching in the deep dark for an hour, with only just the light from Sunny’s hope lantern and the glow of the unicorns’ horns to illuminate the underground space.

A lot of the stuff they found was very old but had sentimental value to Sunny, like her baby crib, her Guardians of Harmony toys that her father made for her, and a lot of old maps and paintings that Sunny's mother had collected throughout her life.

Unfortunately... it didn't seem like they were going to find anything useful right away, and Sunny was getting a bit discouraged.

Grandma Figgy placed a hoof on Sunny’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sunny dear. We’re going to find something sooner or later… perhaps maybe when you least expect it.”

“I know, Grandma Figgy,” Sunny nodded. “It’s just… hard to think about what you might find when there are so many pressing matters at hoof.”

Pipp suddenly thought of something in that moment. “Sunny... I can't believe I never asked before, but... what was your mom's name?”

“...Velvet,” Sunny smiled fondly. “Velvet Starscout. Dad said that I got my last name from her, and it always stuck.”

“She sounds lovely, dear,” Queen Haven said gently. “And she sounds like she’s been a firm believer in unity as long as your father has.”

“She’s always believed that all pony kinds were meant to be united,” Sunny smiled. “I remember that she left to go and find something that might bring magic to Equestria, but… that was so long ago. I don't even remember what she was looking for.”

“Uh… ponies?” Zipp spoke up after a moment, holding something in her hooves. “I think I might’ve found something!”

“So did Twitch and Sparky!” Allura said as she watched the two young critters holding something in their paws, which Misty inspected. “This is the tapestry we brought back from Opaline’s lair… we put it down here for safe-keeping.”

“And these…” Sunny looked at the books Zipp brought over. “These look like some of my mom’s journals! Some that I’ve barely seen before!”

“Journals can be a way to see what a person was thinking,” Paradise spoke up. “Opaline often kept some when I was growing up in her care, and a lot of the things she wrote were related to her fury. Maybe there are some clues in there that can tell us where your mother went, Sunny.”

“Could be,” Misty agreed with her mother. “Let’s take these upstairs and study them closer-- maybe then we can get to the bottom of this cold caper.”

XXXXXXXX

The group looked at the tapestry and the journals Zipp had found with curiosity, wondering how these two different items could be so closely connected to the disappearance of Velvet Starscout.

After a few minutes, Izzy hummed in curiosity. “This is weird... this journal is describing a place that's similar to the picture in the tapestry! Weird, right?”

“Huh... she's not wrong. Listen to this,” Sprout said he took the journal and read from it. “I dreamt of that place again... a land in the clouds where alicorns lived freely and were happy all the time. The stars showed up every single night, a blessing from Princess Luna. If I can find this place, I know it would have the answers I need to bring magic back to our world.”

“Alicorns...? She must've been talking about Skyros!” Hitch realized. “Isn't that where Opaline and her two sisters were from?”

“Yeah-- Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Misty nodded. “Velvet must've been seeing Skyros in her dreams, and she must've thought going there might give her some clues on how to bring magic back.”

“But... if she went to find Skyros,” Phyllis muttered, “why didn't Velvet come back once she had?”

Sunny let out a heavy sigh. “Something must've happened to her... but I don’t know what.”

Grandma Figgy looked over at Allura with a worried look. “Do you think your father might have had something to do with it?”

“I'm not sure, Figgy. I wouldn't put it past him, though... he was ruthless,” Allura shuddered. “But... if my brother is trying to find Skyros, he would need a map, wouldn’t he?”

“Maybe... we'll just need to keep looking for signs,” Zipp said. “And we need those signs to show up soon, so we can try and find Skyros and warn the alicorns that live there before it's too late.”

Suddenly, Pipp looked down at her cutie mark to discover it was glowing, and then looked at her friends’ cutie marks to discover they were doing the same. “Well, that’s a good sign if I ever saw one!”

“We’ll be back as soon as we can, Granny,” Hitch said as he put Sparky onto his back. “Keep watch over the Brighthouse for us?”

“You can count on us, Hitchie,” Grandma Figgy said warmly, just before the Mane 6 galloped upstairs toward the Crystal Room to start their next adventure off right.

XXXXXXXX

But, before we get to the main part of our story, there's another story that you need to hear... one that happened many, many years ago.

In the year 41 B.C.E., as the Roman army invaded Egypt, Cleopatra (otherwise known as the last of the pharoahs) escaped upon the River Nile. Her kingdom had fallen, yet she was still Egypt's queen. And then, vowing to defend the ancient treasure of her people, Cleopatra and what troops she had left set forth for the Egyptian pyramids.

There, beneath the Great Sphinx (which was a statue that looked like it had the head of a man and the body of a lion), lay a hidden tomb. And inside that tomb was an impenetrable maze of deadly traps and secret dangers, forever guarded by an ancient horror...

...the army of the undead, which consisted of a thousand mummified warriors awaiting the call to rise from the grave and defend Egypt's last great treasure... including Cleopatra's crown.

The ancient traps were set, and the tomb was sealed.

But before she could leave the sphinx, Cleopatra had to pray to the goddess, Isis, and make sure her tomb would forever be protected, even with the army of the undead guarding it. “Under the golden crown of Isis, I cast my curse. The curse of Cleopatra! Let it be written!”

But what was this curse, you may be wondering? And how would this effect our heroes going forward?

Well... you'll just have to read the rest of the story in order to find out.

Arriving at the Sphinx/Meeting New Friends and a New Mission

The Mane 6 had just been reunited with some of their Mystery Incorporated pals, who were on their way to the sphinx in Egypt in order to go visit Velma, who had been working on the restoration of the sphinx itself for the past five months.

Along the way, they met Triple A (whose real name was Amahl Ali Akbar) and a kirin named Desert Rose, who helped them navigate through the desert until they got to the dried-up Nile River, and Desert Rose gifted the Mane 6 special necklaces with a symbol called the Eye of Horus on them before leaving.

Now, let's go back to our heroes, where they will meet new friends, reunite with an old one and meet a new adversary that may prove to be more dangerous than she appears.

XXXXXXXX

“Just a little farther, guys,” Sunny said as she led the group up the tall sand hill. “We’re almost at the top, and we should be able to see the entire sphinx from up here!”

“And hopefully,” Misty said, looking at Scooby, “we’ll be able to find Velma too. I know how much you guys must miss her.”

Scooby nodded to this just as the group reached the top of the hill, and once Zipp checked some information on her FlyPad, she smiled and pointed her hoof toward a great sight in the distance. “We made it, gang. The pyramids and the sphinx of Giza!”

As the others laid their eyes on the sphinx and pyramids in question, they each let out stunned gasps and murmurs, each one having eyes wide with complete wonder.

The sphinx itself was much taller than anything they had ever imagined, and the pyramids were just as tall, if not taller.

It was after a moment that Daphne finally decided to speak up. “What a strange statue.”

“I'll say,” Hitch nodded as Pipp and Zipp each took pictures of the sight. “It has the head of a man, but the body of a lion!”

Shaggy let out a chuckle when Hitch commented about the sphinx's lion body. “Good thing we're in the desert, eh, Scoob? It must take a lot of sand to fill that kitty's litter box.”

Scooby let out a small giggle to this, bumping his paw against Izzy’s hoof after doing so. “Litter box...”

But suddenly, and right out of the blue, a camera appeared right near Misty's face, causing her to yelp and run behind Shaggy and Scooby, clearly startled by the event.

The camera seemed to be coming from an electronically controlled backpack worn by a well-built man with short, dark brown hair, an orange t-shirt, brown pants with knee-pads, brown gloves, and brown boots. “Okay, tape is rolling. In five, four, three...”

And within seconds, the man lifted the microphone to his mouth and began to speak. “Welcome to Fear Facers-- the show that looks in the face of fear and faces it. I'm your host, Rock Rivers. Behind me, the Nile River. No relation.”

“Uh... is it just me,” said Hitch with suspicion in his voice, “or does that guy seem a little bit... self-absorbed?”

“A social media influencer might take offense to that,” Pipp quipped, “but... then again, you have a valid point.”

But before anything else could be said, Fred got into the camera's view, clearly very excited. “Wow, Fear Facers is the coolest!” he said before turning to Rock Rivers. “I'm your biggest fan!”

“Ugh... cut!” Rock Rivers groaned before cutting off the feed. But that didn't seem to stop Fred from overextending himself. “No, really. I've seen every episode!”

“Come on, bro,” Rock Rivers said, clearly annoyed. “I'm losing the light.”

“Guys, this is Rock Rivers!” Fred introduced his friends to the TV host. “Every week he travels to the world's scariest places, looking for video proof of the supernatural!”

Shaggy spared a glance at Scooby, Sunny and Izzy, looking a bit worried. “Uh, like, by 'supernatural', I sure hope he means extra-organic granola.”

Suddenly, a bell in Daphne's head began to ring after trying to figure out where she had heard of Rock Rivers and his show before. “Did you say Fear Facers?”

“It’s okay,” Rock Rivers said reassuringly. “You can tell me. You love my show, and you watch it every week. Am I right?”

“Uh... no,” Daphne said before reaching behind her back and pulling out a magazine from out of nowhere. “But I do read TV Gab. Look.”

Fred looked at the front page of the newspaper with wide eyes of shock. “Fear Facers canceled?!”

“Okay,” Rock Rivers quickly grabbed the magazine with a frown on his face. “So I faked some footage. Big deal. The ratings were huge!”

“Okay... putting that aside temporarily...” Sunny said with a roll of her eyes, “...what exactly are you doing in Egypt, Mr. Rivers?”

“Yeah,” Pipp said with a little teasing smirk. “There’s no fear for you to fake here.”

However, the host of Fear Facers turned to the group, looking visibly confused and worried. “You mean, you don't know about... the curse?”

“The curse?!” the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby exclaimed, the ponies being in shock while Shaggy and Scooby trembled out of terror. “It’s all over the internet,” Rock Rivers explained to the confused/stunned group. “They've discovered a secret chamber under the sphinx and unleashed some majorly sick mojo.”

However, Shaggy's face turned as green as an avocado in that moment. “Like, I think my mojo is going to be majorly sick.”

“Yeah...” Scooby groaned, feeling just as sick. “Mine too.”

“If the curse is real,” Rock Rivers continued, pointing his movie camera toward the sphinx and pyramids in question, “I'll get proof of it on tape, and then they'll have to put me back on TV.”

“Yeah... based on what they're saying in this TV Gab magazine,” Zipp raised an eyebrow to this claim, reading the magazine over Pipp's shoulder, “I don’t think you'll be back on the air anytime soon, pal.”

“But, you have to admit,” Misty said, “a curse involving a newly discovered tomb does sound pretty mysterious. Maybe Velma knows more about it.”

“True,” Sunny nodded. “All we have to do is find her.”

Suddenly, Scooby began sniffing like crazy, and once he had picked up a scent, he leapt from Shaggy’s arms and raced off down the path, much to Daphne’s confusion. “What’s gotten into Scooby?”

“Call it a hunch,” said Izzy innocently, “but I think he’s picked up something on the old nose radar!”

“We gotta follow him!” Zipp cried. “Come on!”

And with that, the others rushed off to follow the Great Dane, leaving Rock Rivers alone. “Hey, at least run screaming!” he cried. “For the camera!”

XXXXXXXX

No one was sure why Scooby had run off in such a rush-- could it be food? Or was it something else?

Whatever it was, Scooby sure seemed excited about it-- in fact, he was racing through the camp much faster than the Mane 6 and the rest of Mystery Inc ever could in a not-scary circumstance.

At the same time, Velma was doing research in her tent when she heard a large commotion outside. But when she went to go investigate, she wasnt expecting to be toppled over and licked on by a large and VERY excitable Great Dane. “Scooby! How did you get here?”

Scooby licked her face again in response, and Velma only laughed and hugged him around his neck with a smile. “Okay, okay... I'm glad to see you too.”

It was then that Velma noticed Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, the Mane 6 and Sparky peeking through the tent, smiles on their faces. “Guys? Wow!” Velma grinned. “What a surprise!”

“I told you she’d be surprised!” Fred told the others as Sunny helped Velma to her feet. “Boy, am I,” Velma said with a slightly confused tone. “But, uh, what are you doing here?”

“We kinda just landed in Egypt for our next mission,” said Sunny, “but, heh… you know Scooby. Shaggy told us he wouldn't stop howling until the gang agreed to come and visit you.”

Scooby then took the chance to howl mournfully, and Velma smirked a little bit as she pulled out a familiar box of dog treats. “Scooby, are you sure it was me you missed?”

“Oh, boy! Scooby Snacks!” Scooby barked before Velma tossed him a few treats. “Scooby-Dooby-Doo!!!”

“I missed you too, Velma!” Shaggy said, sitting beside Scooby before Velma tossed a few Scooby Snacks into Shaggy’s mouth. “And Shaggy too!”

“We’re glad to see you too, Velma, but… Shaggy and Scooby can have the rest of the treats,” Misty said politely. “Scooby Snacks and ponies don’t really mix.”

“Isn't it great? The gang's back together again!” Daphne hugged Velma around her neck. But after a second, Daphne noticed that Velma was wearing the ankh necklace she had found. “Ooh, and Velma, what a cute necklace.”

“Oh. Well, it’s not really mine,” Velma admitted, showing it to the others. “It's an ancient Egyptian symbol called an ankh. Someday, it will go to a museum, where it belongs. Besides, I don't really think it goes with my outfit.”

“Psh, are you kidding?” Pipp scoffed. “Everything goes with khaki!”

“Velma!”

Everyone turned to see Prince Omar, Hazina and all of Hazina’s friends rush toward them, after they heard the disturbance that Scooby had created a few moments before. “What is going on here?” Omar asked. “You know this site is closed. We must have no more intruders.”

“It’s okay, Omar,” Velma reassured. “These are my friends from Equestria and from America.”

“Really?” Anga said with a grin on her face. “Can they really be the ponies teenage sleuths with whom you've enjoyed so many adventures?”

“Gang, this is prince Omar Karam. He's the one in charge of the restoration of the sphinx,” Velma introduced. “And this is Hazina, Anga, Trail Grazer, Kushinda, Tofauti and Ulaghai, some new friends I made during my time here.”

“Wow… a golden zebra?” Zipp looked at Hazina in surprise. “I know golden zebras are rare, but I never thought I would see one for myself.”

“It’s so nice to meet all of you,” Tofauti said, hoof-bumping Izzy. “Velma talks about you guys all the time.”

“Nice to meet all of you, too,” Sunny smiled gratefully. “Velma, when you have time, we need to get you up to speed about our latest adventures and problems we’ve encountered… one of which I think could really use your expertise.”

Velma nodded to this. “Sure, Sunny. Anything for you guys.”

“Come on,” Hazina offered. “We’ll show you guys around before we have to get back to our shifts.”

XXXXXXXX

But as the group followed Prince Omar and the others animals through the work site, Omar felt the need to apologize for his earlier behavior. “Please, forgive my rudeness. We've been a bit wary around strangers lately.”

“It’s true,” Kushinda nodded stiffly. “Ever since our discovery, we've been besieged by treasure hunters.”

“Treasure?” Fred repeated, impressed. “Wow.”

“Can we see what else you found?” Daphne asked. “Oh, of course. But first, let me introduce you to a close friend of ours,” Ulaghai said before she gestured to the sphinx with her paw. “Khafre Ra-Atum-- or if you prefer, the Great Sphinx of Giza. Carved out of the living rock over 4000 years ago.”

“Wow... that might have been around the time that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna started to rule Equestria!” Sunny said as she took a few sketches of the sphinx for her journal. “Maybe even before then!”

“This gigantic statue may have the head of a man and the body of a lion,” Trail Grazer explained, “but to all modern-day sphinxes in Egypt, like Ulaghai, it's a treasure that can't be replaced.”

“Hey, Daph! Get a shot of this!” Fred wrapped an arm around Prince Omar, causing Velma to roll her eyes playfully. “Freddy...”

However, Daphne took the picture before lowering her camera to speak to the prince and their new friends again. “So, Your Highness, is there really a secret chamber beneath the sphinx?”

Tofauti seemed to tense at this. “H-How did you guys hear about that?”

“Just a little rumor we've heard,” Zipp said as she took down information on her FlyPad. “And speaking of rumors, what's all this information we've been hearing about a curse?”

It was then that Shaggy and Scooby plugged their ears before shouting 'La-la-la' over and over, clearly not wanting to hear what the prince and their new friends had to say in response. “We’re not listening!” Shaggy shouted with his ears still plugged. “We’re not listening!!”

“Uh-uh,” Scooby shook his head. “No way. Not listening.”

“Guys! What are you doing?” Velma asked in confusion. “Like, we know where this is going. You've discovered some ancient tomb and unleashed a horrible curse!” Shaggy said with a nervous chuckle before turning to Omar again. “Like, no offense, Your High-Heightliness, but we don't wanna hear it!”

“La-la-la-la-la-la...” Shaggy and Scooby began to cover their ears again, but after listening for a few moments, Misty raised a hoof to sto them. “Wait, hold on, guys!” she said after realizing there was a sound getting closer to them. “What’s that sound?”

Turns out, the sound Misty had heard was a helicopter, followed by two motorcyclists and a jeep, with the motorcyclists and the jeep beginning to surround the group, cutting them off from any escape. Luckily, the Mane 6 had their magic charged, so in case they needed to jump in, they could.

And as the helicopter began to fly around the sphinx and get closer to the ground, letting two unknown humans (a darker skinned man and a short-haired woman, both wearing sunglasses), Daphne found her voice again. “Jeepers! Did somebody order a SWAT team?”

“This seems worse than a SWAT team… whatever that is,” Tofauti said with a steely gaze. “It’s just like you thought, Hazina. Come on… we have to act fast before it’s too late!”

“What’s like Hazina thought?” Zipp asked their new friends in confusion. “What’s going on?”

But before our heroes could get the answers they wanted, the helicopter was directed down to the ground, and the doors opened, revealing a a middle-aged, but physically fit woman, with long, blonde hair tied into a ponytail with a black hair band, wearing a hat, sunglasses and a cloak to protect herself from the hot sun.

Once the woman was off the helicopter, it took off again as the woman stared up at the giant statue before her. “Ah, the Great Sphinx. Nice kitty,” she said in a sickening tone, pushing her sunglasses down slightly. “Purr for mama.”

Velma gasped upon realizing who this woman was while Hazina and her friends' eyes narrowed slightly. “Dr. Amelia von Butch.”

“Amelia von who?” Izzy questioned in confusion. “Butch,” Anga answered, a bit wary. “She's a notorious archaeologist and world-class treasure hunter.”

Ulaghai let out a scoff at this. “You mean treasure thief. No doubt she and her minions are here to rob the chamber and all the treasures inside.”

“Omar, you better call your uncle and let him know what’s going on,” Hazina told her friend. “We’ll keep an eye on her.”

Omar nodded and pulled out his phone, dialing a number before speaking into it. “This is Prince Omar. I must speak with my uncle,” he said, but Amelia von Butch used her grappling hook to grab Omar’s phone and pulled it away from him. “Hey!”

“I’m sorry,” Amelia said sarcastically, “but your call has been disconnected. Permanently.”

She then threw the phone over to one of her minions, Campbell, who crushed the phone into a million pieces before she gave another set of orders. “Secure the perimeter. We work alone.”

“Dr. von Butch,” Omar said as he ran over to her, “you must leave here at once.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. “And you are…?”

“Prince Omar Karam,” Trail Grazer said with his head held high. “He’s in charge of this excavation, and we’re his bodyguards and loyal companions.”

Amelia von Butch let out a cackle to this. “A prince. Charming. Now, out of the sandbox, kids. Playtime is over.”

“Wait!” Velma called as Amelia headed for the chamber. “You can’t go in there!”

“Watch me,” Amelia responded back with a sneer before she began to descend the stairs. “Ooooh… I’ve met a lot of people in my life,” Ulaghai snarled, “but she really ruffles my feathers more than others!”

“What’re we gonna do?” Kushinda asked in worry. “We can’t let her rob the chamber of Cleopatra for her own gain!”

“You won’t be doing this alone,” Sunny said with a proud smile. “Me and my friends have done some pretty amazing things over our missions, including stopping a multitude of villains. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure the treasure inside that chamber is safely secured.”

“But just in case,” said Misty, “some of you should go find Omar’s uncle and warn him about what’s happening.”

“I’ll go,” Trail Grazer offered. “I’m the fastest gazelle in all of Egypt.”

“And I’ll go with him,” Kushinda offered. “I’m not as fast, but I can run a long way if I need to.”

“Perfect. You two go,” Hazina instructed, “and we’ll keep an eye on Dr. von Butch to make sure nothing is damaged.”

And once Trail Grazer and Kushinda had sped off, the others (with Anga being a bit reluctant) headed down into the chamber after Amelia, just to make sure nothing was being destroyed or messed with.

XXXXXXXX

Amelia von Butch (now donning black gear) and her crew entered the chamber of Cleopatra with two fuses within each hand. Once she lit those fuses, she tossed them into two torches on the stone walls, which lit up and caused other torches to light as well, revealing the giant picture of Cleopatra on the wall…

…and seeing this picture caused Amelia to smile triumphantly. “Hello, gorgeous.”

The Mane 6, Mystery Inc and some of their new friends entered the chamber right after the treasure hunters did, and they couldn’t help but be impressed at the display of history right in front of their eyes… especially Sunny.

She knew her parents would be so proud of her for perusing ancient civilizations and artifacts… and she wished they were here in order to see it.

It was then that Daphne finally spotted the picture of Cleopatra on the wall where the entrance to the tomb was. “Jeepers, who is that?”

“The greatest woman who ever ruled!” Amelia answered as if it were obvious. “Cleopatra, last of the Pharaohs. Atop her head, she wears the golden crown, and around her neck, the ruby ankh necklace.”

“Oh, what a coincidence!” Izzy chirped, “Velma, didn’t you have a…?”

However, Pipp blocked Izzy’s mouth with her hoof when she saw Campbell staring at them suspiciously. “What Izzy means is… wow, heh. And I thought I knew how to accessorize.”

Amelia then put her hand on the tomb door, secretly placing another, smaller fuse on it without anyone else noticing. “The tomb itself is sealed. Imagine… the crown of Cleopatra waits beyond this door.”

“Please, wait! We have translated the hieroglyphics,” Omar said before approaching. “Thus spoke Cleopatra; a curse on those who would defile the secret tomb of the Pharaohs.”

“The Nile will fall and the desert will rise,” Amelia continued the translation. “The army of the undead will awaken, and all who enter will be turned into stone.”

However, while everyone else seemed mildly concerned, Amelia and her two cronies merely laughed in response. It was then that Sunny began to piece things together, remembering how the Nile River looked earlier. “The Nile will fall…” she muttered. “Freddy, we saw the river ourselves. It was completely dry!”

“That part makes total sense,” Tofauti said as Hitch cradled Sparky in his hooves, “but what does ‘the desert will rise’ mean?”

Shaggy gulped nervously as he thought of the next part of the translation. “And, like, ‘awaken the army of the undead’. Let’s hope they have a snooze button.”

“Yeah…” Scooby whimpered worriedly. “And the part about turning those who enter the tomb into stone?” Misty looked worried herself. “It takes some powerful magic in order to do that… even stronger than the level of magic Opaline had.”

“Okay… that’s scary to think about,” Pipp said with a shudder. But at the same time, Amelia didn’t seem too concerned. “Nice try, Cleo, but we didn't come all this way to leave empty-handed.”

One of Amelia’s cronies, Natasha, pulled out her high-tech radar device, letting it scan the tomb from the inside out. “If there is an undead army down there, our equipment will detect them.”

“And,” said Campbell, pulling out his sword, “they won’t be undead for long.”

“Please, Dr. von Butch, in the name of archaeology, let us treat this tomb with respect,” Omar pleaded. “It’s secrets will be revealed in time.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Amelia with a smirk, walking a safe distance away from the door before pulling out a remote. “And there’s no time like the present!”

And with the swift click of a button, the door to the tomb exploded, causing many to scream and duck for cover. But when it was over, Omar’s fury still fumed. “She has just destroyed 2000 years of history!”

“Don’t worry, Omar,” Velma reassured, putting a hand on Omar's shoulder. “If the curse can’t stop her… we will.”

Suddenly, a faint, eerie, very raspy scream came from the tomb itself, causing Izzy and Misty to cling to each other while Scooby ran into Shaggy’s arms for comfort. “Like, that,” said Shaggy, “is the spookiest stay-fresh seal I've ever heard.”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “Me too.”

It was then that two very strong gusts of wind began to blow from the entrance of the tomb, whirling around each and every one of them before heading back outside. And once they were gone, Pipp whimpered worriedly. “I know this is probably a bad time, but just to be clear, my mane is probably a mess right now…”

Campbell rushed to the top of the stairs to take a look, but as he did, a large amount of sand began to blow over the entrance. “Hey, doc! I think you better come and check this out!”

Once the others had climbed out of the tomb again, they were stunned to see the wind had picked up tremendously over the past few minutes, and in the distance, a large cloud of sand was beginning to head in their direction, blowing equipment, vehicles and trees in all sorts of directions. “Jeepers!” Daphne cried over the howling winds. “What is that?!”

“Somebody tell me,” said Shaggy worriedly, “that’s just another mirage!”

“It looks like a giant sandstorm!” Tofauti exclaimed. “They happen a lot out here in Egypt, but I’ve never seen one that size before!”

“The desert will rise…” Ulaghai muttered to herself before suddenly realizing what was going on. “It’s the curse!”

“Okay, like, somebody else tell me it's a mirage!” Shaggy shouted out of fear. “Unload, now!” Amelia barked toward her cronies. “We need the geothermal sensors!”

“Are you crazy?!” Hitch exclaimed out of shock. “We need to take cover!”

“Everyone!” Hazina cried. “Back inside the tomb!”

But it was too late-- as soon as they started to head back for the tomb, the sandstorm had reached them, covering their sight as Omar let out a scream. “Shaggy! Scooby!” Misty cried out. “Where are you?!”

“We don’t know!” Shaggy responded back as he and Scooby began to run in place. “But when we figure it out, we'll send you a postcard!”

“Everyone, follow the sound of my voice!” Anga exclaimed through the whirling sands. “Giraffes have special eyelashes that can let us see through the sand, so I can guide us back toward the entrance!”

And so, using the sound of Anga's voice to guide them closer toward the entrance, the ponies, Shaggy, Scooby and a few of their new friends managed to find their way to the safe reaches of the tomb, where Scooby began to pound sand out of his ears while the Mane 6, Anga, Tofauti, Ulaghai and Hazina shook sand from their fur. “Hoo-hoo. I never thought I'd hear myself say this,” Shaggy said, “but man, am I glad to be back inside this creepy tomb.”

“Me too,” Izzy nodded. “Being stuck in a sandstorm is not as much fun as I thought it would be.”

It was then that Shaggy, Misty and Scooby noticed Omar standing not too far away, and Shaggy took the lead as they approached him. “Hey, Omar. Boy, are we glad to see you.”

But as Shaggy laid his hand on Omar’s shoulder, he was stunned to discover that Omar was stone cold, greatly confusing him. “Wow, like, talk about giving a guy the cold shoulder.”

“Uh… Shaggy? I don’t think that’s the only reason he’s not speaking to you,” Zipp said as she turned on her FlyPad’s flashlight. “Look!”

Then, upon further inspection, the group was stunned to see Omar's body had become stone itself, causing Shaggy to jump straight into Scooby's paws. “Zoinks! He's been t-t-turned… turned to stone!”

“S-S-Stone?!” Scooby barked in worry. “No… no, not Omar!” Hazina rushed forward to inspect the statue of her friend. “This can’t be true!”

However, as the Mane 6 and their new friends gathered around Omar’s body, Shaggy and Scooby decided to bolt, only to crash into Fred and the girls as they did so. “Guys?” Daphne looked confused. “What are you doing?”

“We’re heading out into the nice, safe sandstorm,” Shaggy said innocently. “But why?” Fred asked as he, Velma and Daphne got up. “Just look!” Misty pointed her hoof to Omar’s statue, which Hazina was sobbing against. “Prince Omar and the Rock of Gibraltar could be second cousins!”

“Oh, no!” Velma cried, looking just as disheartened as Hazina was. “Omar!”

“Jeepers!” Daphne cried. “He's been turned into a royal statue!”

Amelia von Butch gasped as she and her crew headed back into the tomb to continue their search, with their equipment. “Impossible. How can this be?”

“It’s all in the curse, you dingbat! Don’t you remember?” Ulaghai snarled as Amelia came closer to Omar's statue. “And all who enter will be turned into stone!”

“We tried to warn you,” Hazina sniffled. “Now look what you’ve done!”

“We’ve got to do something,” Daphne said desperately before turning to the ponies. “Do any of you know how to remove the curse from Omar?”

“I’m sorry, Daphne, but we don’t,” Zipp shook her head. “None of us are equipped with magic that strong.”

“Stick with the plan,” Campbell said before turning on his night vision goggles. “I'm switching to night vision.”

“Copy that. We are live. Awaiting your signal, Dr. von Butch,” Natasha said with a smile and looked to her employer, but for a moment, Amelia said nothing. “Dr. von Butch?”

“Doc, it's now or never,” Campbell said to her, and after another few seconds, Amelia nodded in compliance. “All right. On my signal.”

“No!” Velma rebutted against the treasure hunter for what seemed like the 100th time. “What's it gonna take to stop you?”

“Nothing short of an army,” Amelia smirked. “And to ensure that you meddling brats don’t get in the way…”

Then, out of the blue, Toufati, Ulaghai and Anga had ropes swung around their necks, causing them to scream and try to pull free. “Dr. von Butch, what’re you doing?!” Hazina cried out. “They’re my friends!”

“And they’ll be my pack mules as long as we’re on the hunt, Golden Stripe,” Amelia snarked at the golden zebra before turning to her team. “Move out!”

“HAZINA!!!” Anga shrieked in terror as the team moved further into the tomb, taking Hazina’s remaining friends with them. And once they had gone, Hazina let out a stifled sob.

She had lost Omar and three of her friends in no less than 10 minutes.

It made her wonder… how could this situation get any worse?

The Mystery Begins Further into the Tomb

Things had taken a dire turn for the worst.

After the arrival of Amelia von Butch and her cronies, who blew open the entrance to the tomb of Cleopatra and unleashed an ancient curse, the tomb seemingly released a horrible sandstorm which apparently turned Prince Omar Karam into a stone statue, breaking poor Hazina’s heart.

But what was even worse was that Dr. von Butch decided to enter the tomb anyway, taking Hazina’s three remaining friends-- Anga, Tofauti and Ulaghai-- hostage.

Now the question remains… what were our heroes going to do now?

XXXXXXXX

Anga, Tofauti and Ulaghai grunted under the weight of supplies they were given by Dr. von Butch’s minions, clearly miserable with the fact that they were helping with this plan.

They were worried sick about Hazima, since they had barely left each other’s side except for a few seldom occasions.

If they didn't try to figure a way out of this fast... who knows how many others might get struck by the curse?

Of course, Amelia would never let them go for just the reason of the curse-- they had to be clever about how they did this... otherwise they could all end up in hot water.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the top of the tomb, the Mane 6 tried to comfort their remaining friends and Sparky about what had just occured when Daphne brought up an imposing question. “Why would the curse strike Omar? He only wanted to protect the tomb.”

“I don’t know, Daphne,” Sunny sighed. “Something just doesn’t feel right about this, but I can’t lay my hoof on it.”

“But,” Hitch argued, “we also know that more people could fall under the curse, including us, if we don’t stop this!”

Fred nodded in agreement to this. “Well, gang, it looks we've got another mystery on our hands.”

But, it was at that moment that Velma gave an answer that blew them all away. “No, Freddy-- we don’t.”

“WHAT?!” the others cried in surprise. “Velma, are you feeling okay? Running a fever from this heat?” Pipp asked desperately. “How many hooves am I holding up?!”

“I’m sorry, gang,” Velma said firmly, “but it's just too dangerous this time. If something were to happen to you guys, I'd never forgive myself.”

“Hold on! Did Velma just say that we're not going to try to solve a mystery?” Shaggy asked in disbelief. “Ha-ha-ha. Like, I still must have sand in my ears.”

“Velma, I understand your concern for us, but things could get a lot worse if we don’t at least try to do something,” Zipp said. “Besides,” said Hazima, looking at the petrified body of the fallen prince, “what about Omar? We can’t just leave him like this!”

“Come on, Velma-- we have to follow them down into the tomb,” Misty said encouragingly. “Maybe, while we’re trying to rescue Anga, Tofauti and Ulaghai, we can find some way to reverse the curse!”

“Hmm…” Velma thought about this for a few moments before she spotted Omar’s journal laying at his feet, which she picked up. “At least we've got Omar's journal. It could help guide us safely through the chambers.”

“I’m going with you,” Hazina said firmly. “Omar swore to protect the secrets of Egypt, and I’m not going to let him or my friends down.”

“Okay, Hazina, if you’re sure,” Sunny said before taking a deep breath and pointing toward the entrance to the tomb. “Come on, guys… we’re going in.”

“Good idea,” Shaggy nodded. “And while you guys do that, Scoob and I will keep Prince Omar company. Ha-ha. Hey, Scoob, how 'bout a round of Go Fish?”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded eagerly. “No way, guys,” Zipp said firmly. “There's no splitting up this time. Like Velma said, it's too dangerous.”

“Zipp’s right,” Misty nodded. “We’re better off if we all stick together.”

XXXXXXXX

And so, our heroes set forth into the tomb after Amelia von Butch and their captured friends, hoping to reach them before they got too far ahead.

They had to across long pathways suspended many meters above the ground, and Shaggy glanced down from their current height and couldn’t help but shudder. “Man, that's one steep drop, Scooby-Doo. I wonder how far down it goes.”

“I don’t know,” Scooby answered, but as he answered, his echo came back at him, bouncing off the walls of the tomb itself. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know…”

But as the echo finally seemed to disappear from the inside of the tomb, Shaggy looked around to discover that the others had disappeared from sight. “Hey, like, where’d everybody go?”

“Where’d everybody go?” Shaggy’s voice echoed back. “Where’d everybody go?”

“Wait for us!” Shaggy then shouted, ignoring his voice's echoes as he and Scooby raced after the others as fast as their feet and paws could take them.

XXXXXXXX

Hazina hummed in thought as she and her friends navigated through the tomb. “It sure is getting dark down here. Anga doesn’t like going into cold, dark places.”

“Izzy, Misty? Maybe you both can light the way with your horns,” said Sunny, “just in case our phone flashlights run out.”

“You got it, Sunny-Bunny!” Izzy chirped. “One lit horn, coming right…”

But try as she might, Izzy couldn’t get her horn to light up properly, causing her to chuckle nervously. “Uh… is this a bad time to say that my magic is gone?”

“Uh-oh!” Hitch tried to make a plant grow, but to no avail. “My magic’s gone too!”

“Me too!” Pipp said as she tried to get off the ground, but her wings just wouldn’t let her. “What the hey is going on?!”

“It must be the mysteries of the tomb!” Hazina realized. “The power held within this sacred place must be cutting off your Equestrian magic!”

“Oh, great…” Zipp sighed. “Now what’re we gonna do?”

“We’re just gonna have to do this the old fashioned way, I guess,” Misty sighed before gesturing ahead. “Come on… I think Amelia von Butch’s group is just up ahead.”

XXXXXXXX

Turns out, Misty was correct-- the group led by Amelia von Butch wasn’t too far ahead, and they had stopped right on the edge of a very detailed floor, depicting another female figure from Egyptian history. “Nobody move!” Amelia told the group as the Mane 6, Fred, Daphne and Velma reached the edge of the floor as well. “This is the first trap.”

“Jeepers,” Daphne said upon seeing the female figure depicted on the floor. “That doesn’t look like Cleopatra.”

“That’s cause it’s not,” Hazina spoke up. “That's the Egyptian goddess Isis. Her power protects Cleopatra's tomb.”

“Huh… would you look at that?” Ulaghai said under her breath. “She remembers something from our lessons with Omar while we’re on the brink of death!”

“Hang in there, guys!” Sunny called to their captured friends. “We’ll figure out a way to get to you!”

“LIKE, GANGWAY!!”

It was then that the Mane 6 and their friends turned to see Shaggy and Scooby bolting toward them without any knowledge of the trap or without any intention of stopping until they were out of this place. “Shaggy, Scooby!” Velma cried out. “Wait!”

Shaggy and Scooby tried to stop in time, but they ended up pushing everyone, including Amelia’s group and their captured friends, into the middle of the floor, which began to crack under their feet, hooves and paws. “Guys, don’t move!” Zipp shouted to the others. “The floor is a trap!”

Shaggy chuckled nervously at this, looking over at the Great Dane next to him. “Just our luck, Scoob. Out of the frying pan and into the microwave!”

“And with our magic not working,” Misty said as she strained to light her horn, “we’re basically sitting ducks!”

As the floor began to crack even more underneath them, Amelia knew that it was now or never to make a break for it. “MOVE!!”

“Everyone, head for the door!” Tofauti cried out. “GO GO GO!!!”

And so, everyone tried to reach the door as quickly as they could, with Sunny, Hitch, Zipp and Hazina helping Amelia’s group, Hazina’s captured friends, Fred, Daphne and Velma to one side of the room…

…while Shaggy, Scooby, Misty, Pipp and Izzy got separated from their friends in all the chaos, reaching the door they had just come through as the entire floor gave way, leaving a large gap where the floor used to be.

Once the dust had settled, Pipp looked back to see Shaggy, Misty and Izzy trying to get their bearings. “Guys! Are you okay?”

“We’re fine, I think,” Misty said as she brushed herself off, but then noticed that they were one canine short. “Wait… where’s Scooby?”

“Scoob?” Izzy called out. “Where are you?!”

Suddenly, there came the sound of chomping coming from a nearby sarcophagus, and when Shaggy peered inside, he found Scooby eating a sandwich that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, and Shaggy found himself laughing at the sight. “Well, how do you like that? Instead of King Tut, I found King Mutt!”

“King Mutt…” Scooby giggled at the thought of it while Misty only sighed in relief. “I’m just glad you’re okay, Scooby. Now… what happened to the others?”

“Guys!” Daphne cried out from the other door on the other side of the room. “Are you okay?!”

“I think so!” Shaggy answered back. “But we'd be better if we had more sandwiches!”

“...they’re okay,” Hitch gave a deadpanned look while Sparky only giggled at how fun this was for him. But the moment didn’t last long before Amelia pulled on the ropes that Ulaghai, Tofauti and Anga were attached to. “This way.”

“AGH!! Watch the neck, doc!” Ulaghai strained as she and her friends were forced to follow. “I just had my fur done around that area!”

But as Amelia’s group began to go down the tunnel, Zipp knew that those who were left of the heroes needed to follow them. “Girls, Scooby, Shaggy? Stay right there!” she instructed. “We’ll be back for you as fast as we can!”

“So much for not splitting up,” Shaggy told the others as their friends soon vanished from sight. “Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “Hey, look on the bright side, guys,” Pipp said as she pulled out her phone. “At least we get to listen to some music while we wait to be rescued!”

And then, with the swift tap of her hoof, Pipp’s phone began to play one of her most popular songs, Bestie Life, which she instantly began to sing to.

Pipp: Everypony needs a good friend
Every now and then, yeah
Somepony you can turn to

For a little magic
For a little strength
When we are together
Everything is great, yeah

Bright sky, fly high
This life's gettin' better every day (Whoa-oh-oh)
Day and night, you and I, side by side
Wouldn't have it any other way...

XXXXXXXX

As Pipp turned on her tunes in order to comfort her remaining friends, Amelia's group (with the remaining heroes falling behind) came to another large and spacious room, but as they came into it, Campbell spotted something on his monitor that caused them to stop. “Hold on. We got something here.”

Anga sniffed the air, feeling something wasn’t right in this circumstance. “I hate to admit it, but he’s right-- there’s movement everywhere around here!”

“But… there’s nobody down here except us,” Hitch muttered, the heroes hearing everything from where they were. “What could possibly be making all that movement?”

XXXXXXXX

After Pipp's jam session was over, Misty had the idea to look around the area she and her remaining friends ended up in to see if there was anything that could help them follow their friends, and their search led them to a dark and mysterious part of the tomb, filled with a bunch of sarcophaguses like ones they had seen before. “Whoa. Look at all these creepy coffins,” Shaggy commented as he looked around. “They’re actually called sarcophaguses, Shag,” Pipp said as she took some pictures. “But they work around the same concept of burying dead people.”

That was when Shaggy spotted another sarcophagus nearby and opened it, wanting to check it out. “Hey, Scoob, do you know who tucks a mummy into bed at night?”

Scooby shook his head, innocently not knowing the answer. “Uh-uh.”

“His mummy!”

Izzy burst into laughter at this joke. “Mummy… his mummy! That’s a good one, Shagster!”

However, Scooby didn't laugh as the other ponies joined Shaggy at the sarcophagus, with a glowing green light and an eerie moaning sound making Scooby's fur stand on end. Shaggy, on the other hand, didn't notice the glow at first, but thought it was Scooby doing the groaning. “Hey, that might not be my best joke, but you don't have to groan about it.”

“Shaggy?” Scooby trembled. “Ponies?”

“Not now, Scoob,” Pipp said as she and Izzy searched the sarcophagus with Shaggy. “Can’t you see we’re trying to earn our junior archaeology merit badges?”

However, Misty turned and squeaked in terror to see what was behind them and turned her attention back to her distracted friends. “Uh, Pipp? I don’t think those merit badges are all that important right now. It seems to me that we’ve got company!”

When the others finally turned to see the glow behind them, they were stunned to see three undead mummy warriors standing right behind them! “AGH!!” Pipp shrieked. “I see what you mean now, Misty!”

“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!” Izzy shrieked, sending the group on the run from the three undead warriors.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the other part of the tomb, Fred heard the others’ screaming and immediately stopped. “Listen-- that’s the girls, Shaggy and Scooby!”

“Oh my Ra!” Hazina gasped out of fear. “It sounds like they’re in trouble!”

Tofauti then spotted something in the higher levels of the room, his ears folding back and gulping nervously at the sight of it. “Well, guess what?” he trembled, pointing his hoof upward. “So are we!!”

The others gasped as soon as they saw a horde of undead warriors coming into the room from the upper levels, each one of them with a different weapon in hand and ready to defend the tomb. Campbell immediately pulled out his sword at the sight of them. “The army of the undead!”

“Ponies, and… non-ponies, spread out!” Sunny shouted to her friends. “Fight back as best you can, but don’t let those things get you!”

And as the army of the undead seemed to get closer, those remaining of the Mane 6 leapt to attack, along with Hazima, Amelia, Natasha and Campbell, all while members of Amelia's team got grabbed and dragged into the shadows, screaming their lungs out. But the more undead warriors they fought off, there seemed to be more warriors coming in their places. “Oh my Ra!” Ulaghai panted tiredly, looking at the chaotic scene before her and her friends. “They’re everywhere!”

“Fall back!” Amelia shouted before launching her grappling hook to the ceiling and swinging up, knocking down one of the undead warriors that seemed to be in charge. “Wow,” Fred commented as he watched her. “She’s good.”

“Freddy!” Daphne shrieked. “Look out!”

More undead warriors were heading right for them, but luckily, Anga was able to use her long neck to hit the undead warriors away. “Go, guys, go! Protect Hazima!” Anga shouted. “We’ll see if we can hold these things off!”

“You heard the giraffe!” Zipp cried to her friends. “Let’s get going! Hurry!”

XXXXXXXX

As their friends were trying to escape more and more of the undead soldiers, Shaggy, Scooby, Pipp and the two unicorns were trying to outrun the small batch of mummified soldiers that had found them just a few moments prior.

They quickly rounded a corner into another part of the tomb, but the second they lost the warriors and started through that section of the tomb, a section of boobytraps activated, including spikes rising from the floor, giant swinging metal arms and fireballs launching from the mouths of nearby statues.

Thankfully, our heroes were able to avoid all of it, but at the very last second, they splashed into the waters beside the path, and these waters were filled with some very angry and agitated crocodiles, which they were able to get away from at the last possible moment, only to try and avoid flying spears as they ran for the exit, which started to close, at top speed.

Fortunately, the girls, Shaggy and Scooby made it through and managed to stop and catch their breath, only for another undead warrior to appear and scare the living daylights out of them, and the ponies, Shaggy and Scooby thankfully lost him by disappearing and reappearing in different sarcophaguses around the room, then locking him inside one.

After a moment, more undead warriors joined the chase, and that chase seemed to last for quite a while, until Pipp saw some nearby mummy clothes and dressed Shaggy and Scooby to make them appear as girl mummies, attracting the warriors’ attention before they pushed a giant stone pillar down toward them, sending them out of the room and out of their hair.

But just to be safe, they hid behind more stone pillars until they were absolutely sure that the mummies were gone, causing Misty to sigh in relief as they soon backed away from the pillars in question. “Way to go, guys… I think we lost them.”

Scooby let out a sigh of relief, but at that moment, Shaggy seemed to notice something odd happening. “Hey, is it just me, or is this room getting taller?”

“Uh… I don’t think it’s you, Shaggers!” Pipp said desperately, trying to move her hooves. “Look!”

Turns out, our heroes had wandered into a patch of quicksand, another boobytrap, and they were starting to sink rather quickly. “Oh no!” Shaggy yelped as Scooby leapt into his arms. “Like, it's like quicksand!”

“No no no no no!” Misty cried, trying to move her hooves, but to no avail. “Why did we have to be out of magic at a time like this?!”

“HEEEEELP!!!” the group seemed to scream at the top of their lungs, over and over again, but that seemed to re-attract the undead warriors and called them toward the very same room they were in. “Zoinks!” Shaggy cried as the group tried to swim away from the undead warriors. “This quicksand isn’t quick enough!”

“Paddle, hooves! Paddle!” Izzy said as she tried to fight against the quicksand, but during their struggle, one of the undead warriors managed to grab hold of Scooby’s collar as he swam away, causing it to snap off and fall into the quicksand below. “I know this is gonna mess up my mane big-time,” Pipp whimpered but regained her composure in their time of need, “but down periscope, gang! Dive, dive, dive!!”

The group dove further into the quicksand, unaware that it was really a roof below them leaking sand, and as soon as that roof broke away, the group fell into a sarcophagus filled with sand right below it, softening their fall. “Phew…” Misty sighed. “I’m glad this sarcophagus softened our fall, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened.”

It was then that Scooby’s collar fell on his snout, causing Izzy to gasp in concern. “Oh, Scooby, your collar broke off! Don’t worry, I’ll reattach it for you.”

But before Izzy could make a move, the entire tomb began to tremble, and the sarcophagus our heroes were trapped in fell through the floor and began to slide through a series of tunnels down below!

Now, with our heroes all separated and everyone being severely frightened, it was going to take a miracle to track each other down... especially before the dreaded curse of Cleopatra claimed another innocent victim.

Cleopatra's Curse Strikes Once Again/Welcome to the Lost City of the Ancients

In the last chapter of our story, the Mane 6 and their friends, new and old, were split up during a chase by the army of the undead, with Pipp, Izzy and Misty being with Shaggy and Scooby and the others being with Hazina, Fred, Velma and Daphne.

But during the chase, the girls, Shaggy and Scooby (who lost his collar in the process) fell into a sarcophagus filled with sand, which fell through the tomb floors and slid down into a series of tunnels.

It poses the question... what was going to become of our heroes now that they were separated and vastly outnumbered by the army of the undead?

XXXXXXXX

“Come on! Down this hallway!” Sunny shouted to her remaining friends as they ran. “Maybe it can get us back to our friends somehow!”

Hitch panted tiredly as Sparky clung to his back, not sure how long they had been running. “Let’s hope so,” the earth pony stallion said, “cause I think my legs are just about to give out!”

But as she followed after her friends, Velma suddenly tripped and lost her glasses, which landed on the floor not far in front of her, causing her to crawl around and look for them. “My glasses!”

As Velma crawled around in search of her glasses, she had no idea that she was really slipping into a hidden doorway that mysteriously opened up in front of her. “Ugh… I can't see a thing without my glasses.”

But as she stopped to think for a moment, a hand reached her the glasses in question, causing her to smile as she faintly recognized the blurry image. “My glasses! Gee, thanks!”

But as Velma put her glasses on and was able to see who handed them to her, she honestly wished she hadn’t when she saw who it was.

XXXXXXXX

“JINKIES!!!”

The shrill cry of Velma caused the group to stop in their tracks, with Hazina being on high alert. “What in Egypt’s name was that?!”

“It’s Velma!” Zipp cried out. “And it sounds like she’s in trouble!”

“Come on!” Fred said, carrying the torch as he led the group down the dark hallway. Eventually, they were able to spot the doorway Velma traveled into, but the second the group began to step inside, they saw a sight that made the ponies, Sparky and Hazina gasp in horror, tears filling their eyes at the horrible sight.

Velma, now as a stone statue, stood before them, looking absolutely terrified.

Daphne was the first to speak after the stunned moment of silence. “Oh, no! Velma’s been struck by the curse!”

“This… this has to be some sort of sick prank, right?” Sunny said, her voice thick and wobbly with emotion. “She can’t… she can’t really…”

“Sunny, I… I don’t know what to say,” Zipp said, her voice just as thick with emotion as Sunny’s was. “She… she’s gone…”

Sunny finally broke down in tears, causing Zipp and Hitch and Sparky to hug her in comfort while Hazina tried to clear the tears from her eyes.

Velma was so strong, so formidable… why was she a victim of the curse and not one of them?

But as the ponies, Sparky and Hazina mourned for Velma’s loss, Fred suddenly gained a new wave of determination. “Okay, that's it. This curse is goin' down. This time it's personal.”

“First Omar gets struck with the curse, then Hazina’s friends get captured, and now Velma’s gone?” Daphne sighed shakingly as she tried to comfort their Equestrian friends. “Which one of us is next?”

That was when Fred noticed Velma still had Omar’s journal and the ankh necklace in her possession. “We’re not beat yet, guys,” he said, taking them before handing Daphne the necklace. “Here, you carry the necklace. I'll take the journal.”

“But… what about Shaggy, Scooby and the others?” Hitch asked with confusion. “We can’t just leave them in this place all alone!”

“We’re not going to, sheriff,” Zipp said, trying to be brave. “We're gonna find them and solve this mystery… and hopefully before anyone else gets hurt.”

“...do you really think we can?” Sunny vulnerably questioned. “I mean… they could already be stone statues by now, and I can’t lose anymore friends, not now! I’ve already lost my dad, and my mom’s gone, and now…”

“Hey hey hey hey, Sunny!” Hitch tried to hold his friend comfortingly. “No one else is gonna be a stone statue on our watch. We’re gonna find our friends, and hopefully, when all this is over, we’re gonna find your mom too.”

“Hitch is right,” Hazina said, trying to be encouraging. “All we have to do is maintain a little bit of hope… and that hope starts by finding the rest of our friends before it’s too late.”

“Oh, Scooby-Doo…” Daphne sighed in worry. “Where are you?”

XXXXXXXX

No one else was aware of this yet, but Shaggy, Scooby, Pipp, Izzy and Misty were still sliding through those tunnels underneath the tomb, screaming their heads off out of fright. Eventually, those tunnels showed that they were heading toward an exit within the side of a cliff, and as they passed through that small hole, our heroes (human, canine and Equestrian alike) screamed as they fell toward the treacherous waters below, holding on for dear life as they were carried down by the swirling rapids.

Izzy lurched as the waters tossed the sarcophagus back and forth through the rapids, trying not to lose her lunch, but it was very hard, given the circumstances. “I think I’m gonna be sick…”

“I’d hold your mane back, Iz,” Pipp called out to her friend, “but my hooves can’t seem to let go off the side of this thing!”

Soon, the waters seemed to get a bit calmer, but before our heroes could relax, they soon saw why the waters suddenly got calmer-- they were heading for a massive whirlpool, straight ahead!

Shaggy whimpered nervously as he and Scooby closed the sarcophagus to ensure no water seemed to get inside. “Goodbye, cruel whirlpool!”

The sarcophagus seemed to swirl around and around in the whirlpool's waters before getting pulled further and further down below, with our heroes holding their breath, just in case some of the water were to get inside.

The sarcophagus was then swept down an underwater tunnel before eventually coming back to the surface again, and once it did come back to the surface, it quickly hit some rocks on the shore of wherever they had come up, causing the group to be jolted. “Ow! What in the hey?!” Pipp groaned, putting a hoof to her head. “Where in Equestria or Egypt are we?”

“I'm not sure, but we're definitely not in the tomb anymore,” Misty said as she lit her horn again. “It seems like our magic is working again.”

“Well, that's a good thing, at least,” Izzy tried to point out a positive. “Come on, let's get this big coffin open and see where we are and who we might meet on the other side!”

The two unicorns and Pipp immediately pushed open half of the sarcophagus lid with Shaggy’s help, suddenly revealing the fact that they were definitely not in Cleopatra's tomb anymore.

Instead, they seemed to be in some sort of giant cavern with a huge crater that let in the moonlight, and underneath that crater was a huge, Egyptian-styled city, hidden off from the rest of the world.

Shaggy and the ponies stared at the sight with eyes wide in wonder. “Hey, Scoob!” Misty called to their Great Dane companion. “You've gotta see this!”

Shaggy laughed a little bit in relief. “I think we might finally be out of danger!”

Suddenly, the four of them were surrounded by spear tips, causing the ponies to freeze while Shaggy raised his arms in fright. “Like, zoinks!”

The spears were being held by a large crowd of people, both men and women alike, and they didn’t look that happy to see a bunch of strangers at their doorstep...

...and neither did the lionesses that were standing alongside them.

The three of them all looked rather similar, with the same golden-colored fur, but the one in the middle had teal eyes and the other two had golden-yellow eyes. In addition, the lioness on the left had a dark stripe going down her forehead and had white facial markings, and the lioness on the right had two dots on her face, one above each of her eyes.

After a few moments of Misty, Shaggy, Pipp and Izzy freezing in fear, Scooby finally popped up to see what was going on, and a few young men gasped upon seeing him.

That was when one of the men suddenly bowed in front of Scooby. “All hail the great Ascoobis.”

“He has returned!” a second man spoke before doing the same, and soon, the lionesses bowed before the rest of the city followed suit, with all of the humans saying one word as they did so. “Ascoobis. Ascoobis. Ascoobis. Ascoobis. Ascoobis.”

Shaggy, Scooby and the ponies glanced at one another strangely when this happened, unsure of what the heck was going on, when all of a sudden, another voice interrupted the chanting. “SILENCE!!!”

Everyone then turned to see the leader of the city (the hotep) as he was called, approach them, and while this man had fancy red and gold clothing on, he didn’t look all that thrilled to see the social gathering and these strangers. “What is the meaning of this outrage?”

The lioness with teal eyes, named Taraji, scoffed with the roll of her eyes. “This guy again... when will he learn to not jump to crazy conclusions?”

However, no one seemed to head Taraji's remark as one of the men who had seen Scooby first thing came forward. “Almighty Hotep, the Pharaoh Ascoobis has returned.”

“Really?” Scooby said as he looked around. “Where?”

“It may just be me,” said Pipp as she slowly put the pieces together, “but I think they're talking about you, Scooby-Doo!”

Scooby looked at her, bewildered. “Me?”

It was then that the second of the men who seen Scooby gestured toward a large painting on the wall that actually looked a lot like Scooby, if you looked at it a certain way. “It as the prophecy foretold. Our great Pharaoh Ascoobis has returned to us.”

The first young man quickly pointed to the picture of the man beside Pharaoh Ascoobis' painting, eyeing Shaggy as he did so. “Along with Shagankhamen, his lanky man-servant.”

“Then... what do you make of those strange creatures?” one of the woman said, pointing to Misty, Izzy and Pipp. “They are not in the prophecy, yet Shagankhamen and Pharoah Ascoobis seem to be friends with them.”

That was when Shaggy seemed to find an opportunity to try and clear things up, hopefully before someone got hurt. “Like, I hate to break it to you guys, but we're not really...”

“SILENCE!!!” the Hotep said to ger everyone’s attention again. “The prophecy has been fulfilled. We must prepare a great banquet.”

Both Shaggy and Scooby seemed to change their hearts' direction at the sound of this. “Banquet?”

“Uh-oh... guys, we have to be honest with ourselves here,” Misty tried to be gentle, yet scolding, all at once. “You can’t just...”

However, Shaggy was able to cut Misty off with a smile at the sound of the banquet in question. “That's right. Like, he's Ascoobis, and just call me Shagankhamen.”

The crowd then cheered before Shaggy and Scooby were drug away from their friends and put on thrones before the citizens of the city began to carry them away, causing Izzy to blink in confusion before turning to her friends. “Um... what just happened, exactly?”

“I... think Shaggy and Scooby just got mistaken for a pharoah and his man-servant,” Pipp voiced her opinion before she saw the three lionesses from before coming toward them. “And, uh... I think we might end up being a trio of lionesses' main course!!”

Taraji was the first to approach the ponies, looking a bit suspicious and wary of them. “Who are you? And how do you know the great Pharaoh Ascoobis and Shagankhamen?”

“Well, uh... the thing is, that's not really Ascoobis and Shagankhamen,” Misty said slowly. “Their real names are Shaggy and Scooby, and we're their friends. I'm Misty Brightdawn, and this is Pipp Petals and Izzy Moonbow.”

“Shaggy and Scooby, uh... they're not the people you think they are,” Pipp said slowly. “And we really, REALLY do not wanna end up being somebody's lunch so please do not eat us!!!”

The lioness beside Taraji (the one with the white facial markings) let out a soft chuckle at this. “Eat you? My dear, we only eat antelope and other small mammals. We would never eat friends of the pharaoh and his man-servant.”

Izzy sighed in relief to this. “That’s a relief... I think.”

“My name is Taraji,” Taraji then introduced. “And these are my younger twin sisters-- Raheema and Ovelia. We're sorry if we seemed threatening at first-- it was never our intention.”

“Oh, heh... no harm done,” Misty said with a sigh of relief. “We’re just happy to know we have friends here in... uh... where exactly are we?”

“Well,” said Raheema, “you’re in...”

“Mama! Aunties!”

A small voice cut through the air as a small figure rushed over to the three lionesses, and once it got closer, the ponies could see that it was a small lion cub with spotted golden-brown fur, blue eyes, a small, narrow brown nose, and small dark-rimmed ears.

Taraji glanced down at the cub scoldingly. “Sarona, I thought I told you to wait for me back at the den.”

The cub, now known as Sarona, looked down at the ground in slight shame. “I'm sorry, Mama... I just wanted to see who it was and say hi. You know we don't get a lot of visitors around here.”

“...let her stay, Taraji,” Ovelia said kindly. “She and these newcomers might become very good friends as time goes on.”

Raheema still stared at the ponies in suspicion. “We don’t even know if we can trust them, Ovelia. How are we going to be sure they...?”

“Enough! Both of you!” Taraji snarled at her younger sisters. “This isn't the right time to be fighting. We have guests to tend to, and as far as I'm concerned, they are guests just like the pharaoh and his man-servant. They are to be treated with respect. Is that clear?”

“...yes, sister,” Ovelia and Raheema said in unison. “Good,” Taraji smiled before looking down at her young daughter. “Now, Sarona, why don't we take our new friends to the banquet hall and reunite them with their friends? I'm sure they would love to see them.”

Sarona nodded excitedly to this. “Sure, Mama! I know this city like the back of my paw! I can take them there no problem!”

And so, the four lions began to lead Pipp and the two unicorns further into the city in order to find Shaggy and Scooby and hope this situation didn’t turn sour in any way.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the tomb, the other ponies, Hazina, Fred and Daphne continued their search for their friends, with Fred’s torch giving them some additional light. “Shaggy?” Daphne called out. “Scooby?”

“Sis? Izzy? Misty?!” Zipp called. “Are you out there?”

Hazina shuddered as she saw a scorpion run in front of her. “This place is awful…”

Suddenly, a bright light flooded their vision, but when it returned, they saw Rock Rivers with his camera pointed right at them. “That's it, fear. Show fear on your faces!”

“Rock Rivers?” Fred questioned. “Is that you?”

Rock Rivers sighed and pulled his camera back at this. “Don't talk to the camera,” he said. “Scream in terror!”

“I knew it!” Daphne suddenly accused, getting in the TV host's face, with fury written all over hers. “You’ve been behind this mystery all along!”

“No way, I'm on the real this time,” Rock Rivers told Daphne before gesturing for the group to follow him. “Come on, I'll show you.”

And while the others seemed suspicious of the TV host, they had no choice but to follow Rock Rivers to wherever he was leading them. That was when they finally stopped in a large chamber and this gave Rock the time to gesture around them. “See? I couldn't fake this.”

Daphne gasped as she saw the hundreds of mummified warriors laying around the tomb, not believing what she was seeing. “It's the entire undead army!”

“Oh my gosh…” Hitch said as he glanced around the large room, keeping Sparky on his back the entire time. “This must be their secret burial chamber!”

Rock Rivers nearly shuddered as he videoed the mummies with his camera. “Heh, it's almost too grody, even for me.”

“Jeepers,” Daphne muttered as Rock pointed the camera at her. “Look at all of them.”

“That’s it,” Rock Rivers said with a smile. “Now, take a close look at their dried-up skin and freak out. Come on, show me the mummy.”

However, Sunny turned off the camera from behind, sparing Rock a scolding glance before rejoining her friends. “But you know… something about this doesn’t add up for me,” said Hazina. “These mummies are still covered in cobwebs. How could they have been chasing us?”

“Hazina’s right,” Zipp said as she took pictures of the mummies. “They don't look like they've moved an inch since the day they were buried. And that was well over 2000 moons ago.”

That was when Rock Rivers spotted a scroll on the nearby pedestal, running over to it and unfurling it all while recording it. “Hey. Check out this gnarly scroll,” he said, calling the others over. “See the ancient text, no doubt written in blood.”

“Ewww!!” Sunny and Hazina reacted with disgust just before Daphne gasped, seeing something on the scroll that looked very familiar. “Freddy, look! It's the ankh necklace!”

“I’ll translate the ancient writing,” Fred spoke, taking out Omar’s journal before turning to the scroll again. “Help, the heavy tourist is pinching my kitten.”

The others gave Fred a bit of a look before Sunny swiped the journal from him and read it herself. “I think it more or less reads, ‘The necklace is the key to the curse’.”

Fred blinked at her in surprise for a few moments before smiling. “Ooh, even better.”

“This is the key to the curse?” said Daphne in confusion, pulling out the ankh necklace. “But what does that mean?”

“It means the necklace is mine.”

Everyone turned at that moment to see Amelia von Butch, Natasha and Campbell enter the room, still dragging Anga, Ulaghai and Tofauti on their ropes, and Amelia took the lead as she led her team down the steps toward them. “Hand it over and nobody gets hurt.”

“Back off!” Fred said, getting in front of his friends with a determined look. “I know judo!”

However, Natasha merely picked him up and threw him into the wall, causing Fred to groan in pain. “I didn’t say ready…”

“Dr. von Butch, please, let my friends go!” Hazina pleaded as she watched her friends’ faces get more and more frightened. “My friends don’t have anything to do with this-- they’re innocent!”

“Of course they are-- that’s why they’re the perfect pack mules,” Amelia said with a smirk. “And as soon as I get my hands on that necklace, you’ll be the perfect pack mule to carry my golden crown!”

“Hazina wouldn’t serve you in a million years!” Zipp said fiercely as she, Sunny and Hitch got in front of the golden zebra. “And if you wanna hurt our friends, you’re gonna have to get through us first!”

It was then that Campbell seemed to sense something on his radar and stopped the others from making any more movements. “Hold it. We've got company.”

Anga trembled nervously at this. “Do you think it's more undead soldiers…?”

“I don’t know,” Tofauti answered back with his head held low. “And honestly, I don’t think I wanna find out.”

“Who dares disturb my sacred tomb?!”

It was then, within a flash of light that appeared near the pedestal, emerged a figure that none of them had ever seen before. The figure was dressed in traditional yet tattered Egyptian clothing, appearing to be human and had a golden mask over her face.

And upon recognizing her, Daphne let out a stunned gasp. “Jeepers! The ghost of Cleopatra!”

“Awesome!” Ulaghai said, her eyes wide just before Hitch nudged her scoldingly, causing her to glance around, a bit nervous. “I mean, uh… so NOT awesome.”

“Behold, she who commands you!” the ghost of Cleopatra boomed, holding out a graceful hand. “Leave this place and never return!”

“Cough up the crown,” said Amelia with a frown, “and we’ll talk.”

“Uh, heh… she doesn’t mean that!” Anga said with a nervous look before turning to look at Amelia. “Tell her you don’t mean that!”

However, the ghost of Cleopatra glared right over at Amelia, apparently not pleased. “Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Cleopatra!”

However, Amelia didn’t seem at all threatened. “Bring it, sister.”

“Now,” said the ghost of Cleopatra, raising her arms to the sky, “suffer my swarming vengeance! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

It was then that a swarm of hundreds of flying insects came flying in their direction… a bug that caused Hazina to scream in disgust. “Locusts! I can’t stand locusts!”

“We have to get out of here!” Fred cried, grabbing Daphne’s hand and making a break for it. “Good idea, Freddy!” Sunny cried. “Let’s move out, team! Hurry!”

Tofauti finally headbutted Campbell, who was holding his rope, which allow Campbell to let go, prompting Anga and Ulaghai to do the same before they ran after their friends with the treasure hunters and the locusts trailing right behind. “I don’t understand!” Daphne exclaimed as they ran. “The curse didn't say anything about locusts!”

“No, but you gotta admit,” Fred pointed out. “It’s pretty Egyptian.”

Once the group finally made it outside, Daphne saw a motorcycle and hopped onto it, revving it up. “Freddy, come on!”

“Follow them, everyone!” Hazina cried as Fred hopped on the motorcycle. “Don’t lose sight of Fred and Daphne!”

And with that, the motorcycle sped off with the remaining ponies, Hazina, Ulaghai, Anga and Tofauti following them into the desert. Amelia von Butch gazed off after them, determined to get the necklace one way or another.

Not long after losing the locusts, Anga suddenly had a thought. “What about Velma and Omar? We can’t leave them in that big scary tomb by themselves!”

“It's no use running around in the tombs, Anga,” Fred pointed out. “We need to find some help.”

“Good plan, Fred,” Sunny sighed before thinking of their missing friends. “I just hope the girls, Shaggy and Scooby are okay…”

XXXXXXXX

Back in the city where the other ponies, Shaggy and Scooby washed up, Shaggy and Scooby had been placed in royal Egyptian attire before the great banquet, with Pipp, Izzy and Misty sitting beside them, and the citizens bowing to them while Sarona, Taraji, Raheema and Ovelia looked on. “Ascoobis,” the citizens repeatedly chanted as they bowed. “Ascoobis. Ascoobis.”

“All hail the prophecy,” the Hotep exclaimed, gesturing to the munching Shaggy and Scooby. “The great Pharaoh Ascoobis has returned!”

“Ascoobis,” the citizens chanted once again. “Ascoobis. Ascoobis…”

“Uh, wow,” Pipp said a bit awkwardly as Shaggy and Scooby continued to pig out... well, so to speak. “These people must really love Ascoobis, huh?”

“Tell me about it,” Misty whispered back. “It’s almost creepy. But... we don't wanna be disrespectful, so... I guess we just need to play along with it.”

It was then that Shaggy stopped eating, a sudden thought coming to mind. “Just one question. Like, where have you guys been all our lives?”

“And on a second related note,” Pipp spoke up, “where in Equestria/Egypt are we?”

“Welcome to the Lost City of the Ancients,” the Hotep told the group. “We have come here from many lands, choosing to live according to the ways of the pharaohs of old.”

“That means no TV,” said the first man who saw them an hour prior to the feast, “no computers…”

“And,” said the second man, “no fast food.”

Shaggy and Scooby seemed to pause when they heard that, glancing at each other before turning back to the citizens and the lionesses. “Wow,” Shaggy commented. “So you guys are, like, seriously old school.”

“The citizens, and… well, us, in a way,” said Ovelia politely, “prefer the magic and the mystery of ancient Egypt to the ways of the modern world. It… completes them in some way.”

“You know what would be really magical?” Shaggy asked, throwing a corn cob away before pointing to several items on the table. “Some extra scoops of this and another dozen of that.”

Scooby then chose to whisper in Izzy’s ear, causing her to nod before turning to the Hotep. “With some chocolate sauce if you have it.”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

“As Ascoobis wishes,” Taraji said as she and her sisters and daughter bowed to the newly found pharoah. It was then that the Hotep snapped his fingers, bringing more food to the table and causing Shaggy and Scooby to dive right in.

However, no one saw this yet, but the Hotep pushed a panel on the nearby wall of hieroglyphics, activating a secret doorway that he walked into. The tunnel was cold and dark, and at the end was a rather large cage door, which the Hotep stood in front of with a cold, murderous smirk. “If only Pharaoh Ascoobis knew the rest of the prophecy. Isn't that right, my pet?”

It was then that several large red eyes appeared from the darkness, and the Hotep cackled victoriously at the sight, knowing that the prophecy would be fulfilled…

…starting with the pharaoh’s certain death, along with the deaths of his friends.

The Story of the Lionesses and Milele

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.

Reunions and Truths Revealed and a Rescue Mission Ahead

Shaggy, Scooby, Pipp, Izzy and Misty had just been told of a heavenly paradise called Milele, by their new lioness friends, but then they learned a sad truth-- their entire pride had been wiped out by a pack of blood-thirsty jackals, and they were the only lions able to escape.

Luckily, they had been welcomed into the Lost City of the Ancients, but Taraji, Sarona's mother, and Taraji's younger twin sisters, Ovelia and Raheema, were distrustful of the Hotep and his ways, but they knew they couldn't say anything unless they wanted to be kicked out of the city and into the blistering hot desert.

This made our heroes wonder... was this place as amazing as it was said to be?

Little did they know it, but their friends had been searching for them all across the sands of Egypt without much luck, although they hadn't seen Amelia von Butch or her crew of treasure hunters for quite some time, so that was somewhat of a positive outcome.

Now, let's get back to the story and see how this tale works out for everyone involved.

XXXXXXXX

That same night that their friends were learning about Milele from the small band of lionesses, Fred and Daphne were trying to lead the remaining ponies, Hazina and her friends through the desert to find help, since it was cooler in the desert at night than it was during the daylight period.

And by morning, they still haven’t had much luck, sitting and resting near a broken stone monument. “This desert is huge,” Zipp said as she and Ulaghai landed, putting her visor back under her wing. “We can’t see any sign of them from up in the sky.”

“But if you guys can’t find clues from in the air,” Daphne said hopelessly, “how are we gonna find the girls, Shaggy and Scooby?”

“Well, maybe to find them, we have to think like 'em,” Fred spoke, getting an idea before turning to the others again. “Okay, ask me questions, and I'll answer as Shaggy and Scooby.”

Tofauti raised an eyebrow to this. “You really think that’ll work?”

“Hey, if it helps find our friends,” said Sunny, “we have to try anything and everything.”

“Um… okay, Shaggy,” Daphne said slowly, looking at Fred. “If you made it out of the Sphinx, where would you go?”

“Like man,” said Fred in a Shaggy-styled voice, “anywhere there's food.”

Anga giggled, amused by Fred’s impression. “That was actually pretty good.”

“Okay, okay. Try it again, but do Scooby this time,” Hitch told Fred, getting ready to take down notes. “Where is the best place to grab a bite to eat?”

Fred sniffed the air before speaking in a Scooby-styled voice (coming to him very easily, actually), pointing in the direction of an Egyptian bazaar. “That way. Heh heh heh heh…”

“A bazaar! That’s just the place Shaggy, Scooby and the rest of our pony pals would go!” Sunny said with a hopeful smile growing on her face. “Good thinking, Scoob-- I mean, Freddy. Come on!”

“Last one there is a rotten scarab!” Ulaghai challenged Zipp, who flared her wings up in response. “You’re on!”

And so, Zipp and Ulaghai zoomed off with the others in pursuit, finally having a moment of peace and hopefulness since this whole mystery started.

And after a while of walking, flying and running, they finally made it to the bazaar, which was filled with people, animals and Equestrian creatures alike, who were selling and buying the things they needed to survive in this human desert landscape. It was a place that made Zipp think about Pipp a bit... and how she might like a little something from the bazaar if she hadn't gotten something already.

So, Zipp got her younger sister an authentic Egyptian shawl, tucking it under her wing to give to Pipp once she and the others had been found. “Wow. This bazaar is really… bizarre,” Daphne said before clutching the new bag she had just purchased. “But I got a great deal on a new bag.”

“Me too!” Zipp nodded. “Pipp is gonna love this shawl I got her.”

“Daphne, Zipp!” Hazina scolded lightly. “We're supposed to be solving a mystery, not shopping.”

“It kinda works both ways, Hazina,” Tofauti said with a shrug. “While Zipp got the shawl for Pipp, Daphne got the bag to keep the necklace safe.”

“Besides,” Daphne added, “it goes great with these shoes.”

“But still no sign of the girls, Shaggy and Scooby,” Fred spoke as they began to walk again. “I thought for sure we’d find them here.”

“Don’t worry,” Ulaghai reassured. “We just need to keep our eyes peeled for--”

“Trail Grazer!” Anga suddenly gasped, looking ahead. “Kushinda!”

“Huh?” Tofauti looked around. “Where…?”

Truth be told, Trail Grazer and Kushinda were just ahead, looking around for something when they suddenly spotted their friends. “Guys! You’re here!” Trail Grazer exclaimed in relief as he and Kushinda reunited with their friends. “We’ve been trying to contact you but we never could get an answer!”

“Is everything okay?” Kushinda asked. “Why aren’t you trying to stop Amelia von Butch?”

“Things have gotten a lot worse since you left,” Hazina said gravely. “Not only have Omar and Velma been turned into statues, but Shaggy, Scooby, Misty, Pipp and Izzy are missing!”

“What?!” Trail Grazer looked shocked. “Since when?!”

“Since yesterday,” Zipp said gravely. “You haven’t seen them, have you?”

“We’re sorry, Zipp, but we haven’t,” Kushinda answered. “We’ve been trying to get to Omar’s uncle, but we’ve had to conserve our energy while we’ve been traveling, since it gets hotter during the daytime.”

“That’s okay, guys,” Sunny said gently. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, we’ll just keep looking until we…” Fred was about to say when he saw a man swinging right toward Daphne. “Daphne! Look out!”

Thankfully, he was able to push Daphne out of harm’s way while the others managed to leap and duck to safety, but the second the hooded man got to higher ground, he tried to shoot a net at them, only for Kushinda to block it with a barrel that Fred and Daphne were hiding behind. “Hey, you big maniac!” Ulaghai snarled. “What’s the big idea, trying to kill us like that?!”

“Freddy, run!” Daphne cried before she and Fred broke into a fast run, leaving the ponies, Sparky, Hazina and her friends alone. “Sunny, you and your friends go after Fred and Daphne! Protect them as best you can!” Hazina advised. “We’ll try and buy you some time!”

“Thanks, Hazina! Let’s go!” Sunny called to her remaining friends just before they ran off after Daphne and Fred, leaving Hazina and her friends alone to face this new adversary. “All right, you big meanie,” Anga said as she pawed her hoof into the ground. “You gotta take all of us on if you wanna get to our friends!”

However, this man was a lot more fit than the group expected, managing to do away with them easily-- even Kushinda, who was quite strong for his size. And once he had defeated all six animal friends in the fight, the man raced away after the ponies, Sparky, Fred and Daphne, obviously after something they had on them.

Tofauti shook his head to clear away the dizziness after being thrown. “Well… that wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to happen.”

“Come on! The others are gonna need our help!” Trail Grazer called to his friends just before they raced off to try and save their friends before they got too far ahead.

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, guys, this way!” Zipp said as she led her friends around a corner in the bazaar. “If we can get into the main part of the city, we’re safe!”

Suddenly, as she said that, another man wielding a staff blocked their way, causing Daphne to shriek as the ponies and Sparky tried to keep a tight knit circle around their friends. “I’m warning you, pal,” Fred warned one of the hooded men. “I’m a champion arm wrestler!”

“Yeah… whatever you wanna tell yourself, Frederick,” Zipp rolled her eyes. “Now, stay focused!”

At that moment, the first hooded man began to pick a fight with Fred, eventually winning as he kicked Fred into a set of clay jars. At the same time, the second man tried to fight Daphne with his staff, but Sunny immediately came to her rescue and helped fight, using her alicorn horn as a weapon itself. And as it seemed like our heroes were gaining ground...

...they really weren't.

The second man pointed his staff right at Daphne and Sunny, releasing some sort of purple mist that caused Sunny to immediately cough. “Eww!” Daphne said, trying to fan the mist away. “That is the cheapest perfume I ever…”

Unfortunately for Sunny and Daphne, this perfume was actually some strong knock-out gas, and it caused them to pass out right into Fred’s arms and Hitch’s hooves. “Daphne!” Hitch cried out in concern. “Sunny!”

“Hang on!” Zipp cried out while Sparky babbled in concern. “We’ve got your back!”

Unfortunately, Fred, Sparky, Hitch and Zipp began to slowly succumb to the knock-out gas as well, and once the six were completely unconscious, a third figure joined the other two and grabbed Daphne’s new bag, laughing as they soon ran off with it.

And only a few more minutes later, Hazina and the others raced over to them, gasping in fear over their unconscious friends being found. “Oh no!” Anga cried. “We’re too late!”

“They… they’re not dead… right?” Kushinda asked. “They can’t be…”

“No, they’re not dead,” Trail Grazer reassured the group as he checked their friends' breathing. “But they are unconscious. We need to get them out of here and to a safe place.”

“But where can we take them?” Ulaghai asked out of concern as she lifted Sparky onto her back. “No place is gonna be safe with those treasure hunters out there!”

“No need to worry.”

The six animals gasped as the kirin Desert Rose came forward, a gentle and wise smile on her face. “Please, don’t be afraid,” she told the animals gently. “I’m a friend to these unconscious ones. I’d be happy to take you all to another friend of mine, someone who can surely help them wake again.”

“...you’re sure you’re not with the treasure hunters?” Tofauti asked the kirin, a bit wary. “Cause we’ve encountered a lot of shady people today.”

“I’m sure,” Desert Rose reassured before a stern look came onto her face. “But we must move quickly-- your friends could be in more danger the longer we leave them out here.”

And so, after sparing glances at each other, Hazina nodded and began to follow Desert Rose with Daphne on her back, and the others, with the rest of the unconscious group on their backs, began to follow after her, hoping to get help before it was too late to do anything.

XXXXXXXX

Desert Rose led the group of Egyptian animal friends all the way to Triple A, who awaited their arrival at the top of a very tall pyramid in the middle of the desert, and once Desert Rose explained the situation, Triple A knew just what to do to help.

He lit a match and then took out a special herb that Desert Rose specialized in growing, burning the herb and creating a special form of smoke. And once the smoke began to build, he held it out to Daphne, Hitch and Zipp, and the three began to slowly gain consciousness, with Daphne rubbing her head, clearly disoriented. “Ohhh… my head…”

Zipp groaned before she slowly opened her eyes, seeing her friends looking down at her in concern. “Guys…?”

“Shh. Don’t say anything yet, Zipp,” Hazina said gently. “You need to regain your strength.”

Then, Triple A moved the smoke over toward Sparky, Sunny and Fred, but while Sparky and Sunny regained consciousness immediately, it seemed to take Fred a minute before he started to stir. “Come on, Mom, it's Saturday,” he grumbled before finally opening his eyes to see Triple A standing before him. “Oh. Uh, hi, Triple A.”

“Thank goodness you all are awake,” Desert Rose said in relief. “Your friends seemed rather worried about you when I found them, and we all ventured here to find Triple A so we could get the herbs to wake you.”

“Heh… I guess these amulets you gave us don’t really have protection magic, huh?” Hitch said with a small chuckle. “Oh, but they do. Just not the kind you’re thinking of,” Desert Rose said with a small smile. “The protection that comes with friendship is the one that these amulets bring. And you have plenty of that right here.”

Hitch, Sunny and Zipp weakly smiled while Sparky hugged the kirin around her leg, causing her to pat the dragon's head gently. It was then that Daphne looked around, realizing that they were on top of a very high pyramid in the middle of nowhere and causing her to gasp. “Where are we?”

“We are atop the Great Pyramid of Khufu,” Triple A explained as the group got a good look around. “We should be safe here,” Tofauti said gently. “Away from any kind of treasure hunters, ghosts or… anything else I’m missing?”

Ulaghai shot him a look. “Locusts?”

“Oh, yeah! Locusts,” Tofauti said before shuddering. “I can’t stand locusts…”

Fred, however, gulped nervously from where he was sitting. “Uh, did I forget to mention that I'm afraid of heights?”

“We've got bigger problems than heights, Freddy,” Daphne told him, causing Desert Rose to nod and look back at the group seriously. “Such as losing your friends.”

Sunny gasped in surprise, wondering how she could have known. “The girls, Shaggy and Scooby! Do you guys know where they are?!”

“I have a friend who is, shall we say, looking into it,” Triple A said, watching the moonlit sky as Horus the hawk came into view, holding something within his talons. “Ah, here he comes now.”

Horus quickly dropped what he was holding into Triple A’s hand and held it up… and it was something that Hazina recognized, causing her to gasp. “It’s Scooby’s collar!”

“So all five of them did make it out of the tomb!” Trail Grazer said in relief, just before Sunny sighed, a hopeful smile on her face once more. “Thank hoofness…”

“Excellent work, Horus,” Desert Rose praised the hawk before looking at Scooby’s collar. “Now, tell us-- where did you find this?”

Horus merely screeched and took off into the night sky, causing Triple A to turn to the group with their next movement. “We must travel north, by the stars.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ulaghai exclaimed. “Let’s go find our friends and then kick this curse in the rear!”

XXXXXXXX

Back at the entrance to the tomb, Amelia von Butch stood with Natasha and Campbell, and Amelia was wearing the ankh necklace around her neck, a victorious smirk upon her face.

She may have lost her pack mules, but who cares?

She had what she wanted now. “Nothing can stop me now. Soon Cleopatra's golden crown will be mine! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

But as the treasure hunter cackled, Campbell and Natasha shot her a look, which caused Amelia to roll her eyes. “You'll get your cut. Now, get down there and find what we came for.”

And so, the three ventured down into the tomb once more to retrieve their prize, knowing that the Mane 6 and their friends would finally be out of their hair.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, back in the Lost City of the Ancients, Shaggy and Scooby, along with Misty, Pipp and Izzy, were being carried toward a large arena by several citizens of the city, with Sarona riding with them and her mother and aunts not too far ahead of them. Sarona had been given special permission to be with her new friends during the assembly, and her mother and aunts were going to be up with the Hotep watching.

Of course, Taraji and her sisters weren't too thrilled about being so close to the Hotep, but it would give them a good vantage point to see what was going down.

But as the crowd cheered for the pharaoh and his man servant as they went past, Misty couldn't help but wonder what this sudden assembly was about. So, she turned to the little lioness cub sitting on Scooby's lap. “Hey, Sarona, did your mom and aunts ever say why the Hotep wanted this assembly so last minute?”

“Sorry, Misty, I don’t know,” Sarona admitted truthfully. “I went out to play early this morning, so I wasn’t around the Hotep much.”

“What’s up, Misty?” Izzy asked in concern. “Why do you seem so worried?”

“Maybe it’s just me, but… something about this just doesn’t feel right,” Misty said with a worried look. “The Hotep… the prophecy… it just feels like some sort of trap.”

“...we’ll be careful, just in case,” Pipp said gently, putting a hoof on Misty’s shoulder. “We’ve got each other’s backs, remember?”

Misty sighed and nodded to this. “Right. Thanks, you guys.”

Soon, they entered the arena, where Shaggy was finally able to get a good look around and hear the people cheering for them. “Wow! It's some kind of sports arena. And the place is packed.”

“Hey,” said Izzy as they were set down and able to walk into the main part of the arena. “Do you think they played baseball in ancient Egypt?”

“Oh, boy,” Scooby said in excitement as they headed for center of the arena. “I hope so.”

“Loyal subjects of the lost city!” the Hotep said from his perch at the top of the arena, with Taraji, Ovelia and Raheema sitting not too far away. “You have chosen to follow me in the ways of ancient times. But now, as foretold in prophecy, the Pharaoh Ascoobis has returned!”

The citizens of the lost city cheered wildly as Shaggy and Scooby waved to the crowd, prompting Misty, Izzy, Pipp and Sarona to wave to the crowd as well, just as Shaggy noticed a platform beginning to rise, with two people carrying spears and shields riding on it. “Hey, Scoob. Like, here come the ancient peanut vendors!”

And without warning, Shaggy and Scooby changed out of their Egyptian outfits and into baseball outfits, taking their seats in the chairs provided for them. “Great seats, huh?” Shaggy asked with a smile, just as Izzy, Sarona and Scooby began to chant. “We’re number one! We’re number one!”

The two men spared glances at each other before kneeling before the group, providing them the shields and spears they were holding, causing Pipp to hum in confusion. “I guess it’s shield and spears night or something.”

“Yeah… maybe,” Misty said with worry. “But this only makes me think there’s something else going on.”

And up where the Hotep was, Taraji couldn’t help but share Misty’s concern. “Why would the kids need shields and spears? What in the world would they be trying to protect themselves again?”

“I’m not sure…” Raheema said suspiciously, eyeing the Hotep. “But I can tell it’s something that is going to end badly if something isn’t done.”

However, before the three lioness sisters could do anything, the Hotep spoke up to the people again. “And now, it is time for the great Ascoobis to fulfill the prophecy by making a sacrifice of himself and his friends to the all-powerful… spirit of the sand!”

The crowd cheered to this, seemingly not phased by what the Hotep said, while Sarona suddenly froze, her eyes wide as she looked back at her friends. “Wait… w-what did he just say?”

“Something about a sacrifice?” Izzy said nervously just as a group of men pulled open a large pole keeping a large door shut. But when that door opened, the group could see a series of glowing red eyes staring back at them, and they belonged to something big.

REALLY big.

Shaggy tensed immediately at this, gulping nervously. “Like, why do I get the feeling that this isn't the home team's dugout?”

The creature behind the doors growled at the group before diving into the sand, heading toward them at a rapid pace. Shaggy, Scooby and Sarona immediately began to panic while Pipp, Izzy and Misty stood preparing for a fight as the creature beneath the sand got closer... and closer... and closer until...

...it stopped, right in front of them.

Our heroes spared each other a look, thinking that the creature in question had given up the ghost when all of a sudden, two giant scorpion claws rose from the sand and tried to grab the group and crush them to death!

But luckily, our ponies were one step ahead of the dastardly beast. “RUN!!!”

Sarona and the boys didn’t bother to hesitate, and they followed their friends in the opposite direction, but then, a giant scorpion tail rose from the sand as well, trying to strike them down. But luckily, they were able to run away just as the scorpion tail came down.

However, the spirit of the sand gave chase from under the ground again, eventually cornering our heroes against a giant pole before revealing itself to be a giant, scorpion-like creature with three glowing red eyes. The scorpion’s tail tried to strike them again, but Pipp was able to fly Sarona out of harm’s way while Misty and Izzy leapt aside, and Shaggy and Scooby grabbed onto the scorpion’s tail for dear life.

The scorpion did its best to try and shake the boys off, and it did, but luckily, they were able to climb to the top of a nearby obelisk for safety. Unfortunately, the scorpion slammed its tail against the obelisk, causing it to break from its support and fall over, causing Shaggy and Scooby to jump to the next one before the process repeated two more times.

The final obelisk toppled over and crashed against the arena wall, sending Shaggy and Scooby over the stone wall and causing them to land on a pile of hay. Shaking the dry straw off their faces, the cowardly duo discovered themselves in a horse stable, which seemed to give them an idea.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time and on the other side of the arena, Misty, Pipp, Izzy, and Sarona were trying to keep a safe distance from the spirit of the sand. “We have to find a way out of here,” Sarona panted. “We can’t dodge this freak forever!”

“I can't really see how we can think of an escape plan-- WHOO!” Pipp violently dipped down to avoid a tail strike from the beast. “--with this thing wanting our heads!”

Misty and Izzy were doing their best avoiding the scorpions attacks while pelting it with magic bursts, but it seemed to have little effect on the monster. “Wait a second!” Misty cried and looked around, realizing two of their friends were missing. “Where are Scooby and Shaggy?!”

Suddenly, the entry doors to the arena burst open and out came Shaggy and Scooby riding a horse-drawn chariot, both fitted into suits of armor just as the two horses let out a war-cry whinny and raced around the arena. “Like, quick!” Shaggy called to the ponies and lioness cub. “Get in!”

Shock and confusion were the first things to come to them, but that was quickly ignored when the scorpion monster dove back underground and starting after them. “Come on, ladies!” Izzy cried enthusiastically. “We ride like crazy tonight!”

And with that, the four immediately ran after their friends, and after a moment, they each clambered onto the fast-moving chariot with the help of Scooby and Shaggy. “Phew,” Sarona sighed out of relief. “Nice ride.”

“Thanks,” Scooby smiled. “I don't know,” Pipp said skeptically. “It feels weirdly satire having horses pulling this thing.”

Shaggy shot Pipp a look at this. “Like, do you want to become scorpion food?”

“Uh… no.”

“Speaking of which, there she blows!!” Izzy pointed to the towering tail protruding from the ground chasing after them. Shaggy whipped the chariot to the side in an effort to avoid the monster's path. “Like, maybe this sand spirit is on a low coward diet!”

“Something tells me that’s not the case!” Misty shouted. “And something tells me, Shaggy, that you're not watching where you're going!” Pipp gripped the side of the chariot for dear life. “Look out!”

The group turned to see they were heading right for a collapsed obelisk. Given no direct orders, the chariot horses raced up the the broken structure, which caused all the girls to scream in fright as the horses and chariot sailed into the air.

The one saving grace in this instance was that the chariot landed against the staircase, missing both sides of the spectators, who watched in disbelief as the group rattled up the stairs. “Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa!!” Izzy wailed as they headed up the stairs. “This is buuuuumpyyyyyy!!!”

And it was because of that bumpiness that the chariot's yoke broke from the shaft, freeing the horses and causing Sarona to gulp nerously, clinging to Scooby that much tighter. “Uh-oh!”

The group could watch helplessly as the two equines darted off, while the chariot continued to roll forward at a rapid pace before it sped off the colosseum and became airborne once again. Shaggy, Scooby, the ponies, and Sarona held onto each other as the chariot soared high across the air.

In fact, they were so high up that the gang could see the entire Egyptian city from their viewpoint. “Wow…” Misty muttered. “That sure is a beautiful sight.”

Pipp snapped a quick picture. "At least I can have a last minute post before we die."

Shaggy looked at her in confusion when she said this. “Like, what makes you say that?”

“Have you forgotten where we are right now?”

Somehow, the thought did escape Shaggy's mind as they were still in midair, although that might've been because of the view. “...oh.”

That was when the chariot dropped like a rock, causing the occupants to start screaming and panicking again as they raced down the newly carved statue of Ascoobis before flying off again, luring the sand spirit out of the stadium and down the stairs after them, where the chariot finally broke apart and caused our heroes to once again flee for their lives.

It was a bit of a hit-and-miss chase from that moment on, but after a few moments of temporarily losing the sand spirit, the giant scorpion came around again, heading right for them as they were standing in front of a large wall. Lucky for them, Misty got an idea to lose this thing once and for all guys. “Jump to the side on my signal, guys!” she shouted before waiting for the monster to get close. “NOW!!”

With Izzy and Misty pushing Shaggy to one side and Pipp leading Scooby and Sarona to the other, the giant scorpion monster crashed through the wall, falling through the air before it landed in the waters below…

…right before it short-circuited, electricity coming off of it like lint off of a sweater.

The ponies, Shaggy, Scooby and Sarona stood there, catching their breath for a few moments before Pipp finally sighed. “That was close… I didn’t even have time to catch our scary chase on camera!”

“SARONA!!”

The young lioness cub gasped as soon as she saw her mom and aunts running toward her, their eyes filled with desperation and worry. “Mom!” Sarona cried. “Auntie Ovelia! Auntie Raheema!”

“Oh, my baby!” Taraji sighed in relief as she and her cub nuzzled. “You had us so worried! Are you all okay? Did that monster hurt you?”

“No, we’re all fine,” Sarona said in relief before becoming confused. “But… where were you guys? I thought for sure you would have clawed that monster before it got us!”

“We tried to, sweetie, we did,” Raheema said gently. “But the Hotep’s guards blocked us off and kept us from getting down to you.”

“The Hotep?” Scooby questioned in confusion. “But why?”

“That’s what we’re gonna find out,” Misty said with a brave tone before leading her friends, new and old, toward the nearby stairs. “Come on.”

XXXXXXXX

Down near the water’s edge, the citizens of the lost city gathered around the so-called spirit of the sand and watched it continue to short-circuit, murmuring in confusion. And the Hotep, not wanting to lose their trust, tried to explain the situation as best he could. “No, citizens! Do not be alarmed by what you see!”

But it was then that a remote flew out from the Hotep’s sleeve, which Ovelia immediately caught in her mouth with one daring leap and gave it to Shaggy for him to inspect. “Would you look at that?” Shaggy said to the others. “That sand spirit was really just a remote-control monster run by Hotep.”

“That man is not Hotep!”

Murmurs and gasps filled the air as Triple A, Fred and Daphne rode in on camels, and Desert Rose, Hitch (with Sparky on his back), Zipp, Sunny, Hazina and all of Hazina’s friends galloped in beside of them, with Sunny being the most relieved. “Guys! You’re okay!”

“We’ve been worried sick!” Fred added as he, Daphne and Triple A got off the camels. “Have you been here this whole time? Who are these lionesses?”

“Not now, Freddy,” Izzy whispered in response. “We’re in the middle of wrapping something up here.”

Desert Rose then lifted up a wanted poster to the Hotep’s face, and it matched him perfectly, causing her to sneer in response. “His real name is Armin Granger, a brilliant civil engineer, who has been illegally damming the Nile River!”

The citizens of the lost city turned to the so-called Hotep in anger, two of them grabbing him while Taraji and her sisters bared their teeth and snarled at him for putting their new friends, as well as their niece/daughter in danger.

That was when Pipp approached the water's edge and finally began to piece things together. “So that’s how we got here! He must have stolen the water from the Nile to bring it into the city!”

“And I would have gotten away with it too,” Armin Granger sneered, “if it weren’t you ponies, pussy-cats and you meddling phony pharaohs.”

And just like that, several citizens of the lost city led their former leader away, giving Sunny, Hitch and Zipp the chance to quickly embrace their found friends. “We were so worried about you guys!” Zipp said to her sister. “When we couldn’t find you back in the tomb, we thought the curse had gotten you!”

“No way… we wouldn’t have let that happen. Oh! And we wanted to introduce you all to our new friends,” Pipp said before fluttering over to the lionesses. “This is Sarona, her mom Taraji, and Taraji’s younger twin sisters, Ovelia and Raheema. They taught us all about the hidden paradise of Milele, and they’ve been really good to us since we got here.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Hazina said gratefully. “Thank you so much for taking care of our missing friends until we were able to reunite.”

“Of course,” Ovelia smiled gently. “We’re just glad you’re all together again.”

It was then that Shaggy looked toward the pictures of Ascoobis and Shagenkhamen, a question coming to mind. “So, like, was it just dumb luck that Scoob and I happened to fit the prophecy profile?”

“There's no such thing as dumb luck, my friend,” Triple A told Shaggy as he came forward. “I believe fate brought you here for a special purpose.”

“Really?” Scooby asked. “Sure!” Sarona said, purring up against the Great Dane. “Maybe it brought you guys here to help us find a better life for ourselves, until we can find Milele.”

“Or,” said Shaggy, “like, maybe it was to solve a mystery all by ourselves. Ha ha ha… won't Velma be proud.”

“Yeah,” Scooby giggled before suddenly noticing Velma’s absence, his happiness turning into concern. “Velma?”

“Hey…” Izzy noticed Velma wasn’t present as well, turning to her friends for an explanation. “W-Where is she?”

“Um…” Kushinda turned to look at the others nervously as Sparky sniffled and hugged Hitch’s neck. “That’s what we wanted to tell you.”

“You might wanna brace yourselves,” Ulaghai said gently. “Cause… this isn’t gonna be easy to say.”

XXXXXXXX

And so, Fred and Daphne, along with their large group, told their friends about what happened while Shaggy, Scooby, Pipp and the unicorns were in the Lost City of the Ancients…

…down to the very last detail.

Including the detail where Velma had been struck by the curse.

Needless to say, Shaggy, Scooby and the other ponies were heartbroken… but Scooby seemed to be the saddest one of the bunch, for even as they stood on the front steps of the city, he howled mournfully, the adult lionesses bowing their heads in respect while Sarona tried to sit with her friends and cheer them up.

It was when Scooby finally took a break from howling that Fred finally spoke up. “It just doesn't add up. If the Nile ran dry because of Hotep's scheme, could the curse of Cleopatra be a hoax, after all?”

“Hoax?!” Shaggy blurt out. “Like, tell that to poor Velma, turned to stone, and meanwhile, we're living the good life!”

“Well,” Pipp shrugged, “except for the giant scorpion part.”

Scooby let out another mournful howl at this, despite Sarona trying to purr against him and cheer him up, prompting Sunny and Daphne to come closer and help comfort him. “Oh, poor Scooby,” Daphne hugged the Great Dane sadly. “Listen to him.”

“I know,” Sarona said sadly. “He’s heartbroken!”

Scooby stifled back another sob just as Sunny reached into her saddlebag. “Here, boy. I’ve got something that might cheer you up,” she said before pulling out Scooby’s collar. “Recognize this?”

Scooby smiled faintly as he let his collar slip over his neck once more, a tear coming into his eye in the process. “Aw… Scooby-Doo…”

“It’ll be okay, buddy,” Sunny said gently. “We’re still here, and we’ll do whatever we can to bring them back. I promise you that.”

Daphne nodded to this before her eyes fell on Scooby’s dog tag, suddenly remembering something that made her gasp. “The ankh necklace! It was in my new bag!” she said, looking around. “Where is it?!”

“I’m afraid,” said Triple A, “the thieves who attacked you did not go away empty-handed.”

“You’re right,” Trail Grazer said in thought. “Then, they must’ve known what they were stealing.”

Suddenly, Zipp thought of the one person who could have stolen the necklace for their own gain. “Amelia von Butch! It all adds up!”

“Zipp is right! Other than us and Rock Rivers,” said Anga, “she’s the only other one who knew the necklace was the key to the curse!”

“If Amelia has the necklace, we might never be able to turn Velma and Omar back,” Shaggy argued before whimpering slightly. “They’ll be cold stone forever!”

Suddenly, Fred began to develop another idea, causing him to smile. “Hang on, Shag. I think I feel a plan coming on. But it’s gonna take all hooves, hands and paws on deck.”

“You can count on me and my pride to help,” Taraji offered, and her younger sisters and daughter nodded in agreement. “Just tell us what you want us to do.”

And so, Fred began to tell the group his newly-developed plan-- a plan that would not only stop Amelia von Butch once and for all...

...but also solve the mystery and hopefully bring their friends back from their stony fate.

Author's Note

I had FilmicTwilight's help with this scene, and I owe her so much for helping me.

The Final Battle Against the Army of the Undead/Finding the Crown and Escaping the Tomb

After our two groups of heroes reunited into one again, Fred began to tell them of a plan to get the necklace back, defeat the army of the undead, save Velma and Omar from their stony fate and solve this mystery once and for all.

But they needed all the help they could get.

Luckily, Sarona and her mother and aunts were willing to get their paws dirty and help however they could, since Taraji, Ovelia and Raheema owed Shaggy, Scooby, Pipp and the unicorns everything for saving Sarona's life during the encounter with the sand spirit.

Now that it was nighttime and it was much cooler now than during the day, it was the perfect time for their plan to be put into action.

But the question is... will it work the way Fred hoped that it would?

XXXXXXXX

It was only a half an hour long ride/gallop over from the Lost CIty of the Ancients to where the Sphinx was, so in no time, our heroes arrived and Fred turned to the others to ensure they knew the plan by heart. “Okay, gang, we're all set. Daphne, you and the others know what to do?”

“Yep,” Daphne nodded, looking over at Taraji, her sisters, Hazina and her friends waiting behind her. “We’re gonna head back to the Lost City of the Ancients to get some backup while you, the ponies, Shaggy, Scooby and Sarona do your part.”

“Right,” Fred nodded. “Ponies, Sarona, Scooby and Shaggy, you guys follow me, and stay close-- we don’t know what we’re gonna find down there, and we won’t have the ponies’ magic to protect us.”

“Scooby-Dooby-Dooooo!!” Scooby howled happily before racing down the stairs into the tomb. “Scooby, wait for me!” Sarona called after her friend and ran down the stairs after him. “Sarona, Scooby, wait!” Fred called. “I said follow me!”

“Don’t worry, Fred,” Izzy reassured fearfully. “The rest of us will be hiding right behind you the whole time.”

“Please, take good care of Sarona,” Taraji pleaded with the Mane 6. “I know she’s tough, but… she’s still just a cub.”

“Of course we’ll take care of her,” Sunny promised before taking a deep breath and turning to her friends. “All right, guys… we’re going in.”

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6, Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and Sarona slowly navigated the dark hallways of Cleopatra’s tomb, with Scooby’s nose and the ponies’ flashlights doing only so much to guide them.

Sarona spent the most time with Scooby at the front of the group, wanting to help him find a way to break the curse and bring Velma and Omar back.

But as they traversed through the tomb, side by side, Sarona and Scooby stopped when they saw a stone statue of Rock Rivers (or more or less, the real Rock Rivers) in front of them, causing them to scream out of fright and retreat back to their friends. “It’s Rock Rivers!” Fred exclaimed in realization. “The curse has claimed another victim!”

“I’ll say!” Hitch said after approaching and tapping on Rock River’s stone body with his hoof. “Rock Rivers is solid… rock!”

“The curse is spreading really fast now,” Zipp muttered to herself. “We gotta solve this mystery, and fast!”

“Hold on a sec, guys. Listen!” Misty said, lifting her ear to hear the sound of footsteps coming from the next hallway over. “It sounds like those footsteps are coming through there!”

“It must be the undead army!” Sunny realized with wide eyes of fear. “They’re close by!”

“Oooh, not again!” Shaggy shuddered. “Like, for once in my life, I don't want my mummy!”

“Just keep quiet and let’s keep moving,” Zipp said, pushing Shaggy forward with her front hooves. “We don’t wanna give ourselves away, otherwise we may never see Velma and Omar as their regular selves again!”

It was at long last they finally reached a larger, more spacious part of the tomb, where a giant boat lay in waiting in front of a large lake, with giant human shaped statues holding up the earth above them and crocodiles in the water. “This definitely is picture-worthy,” Pipp muttered, taking a picture of the large space. “I might need to do an archeology segment of my vlogs when we get back to Equestria.”

“Come on,” Sarona whispered, and began guiding her friends down the stairs as quietly as they could. However, the sound of footsteps caused Misty to pull her back before she turned to her friends. “Keep out of sight!”

Shaggy and Scooby immediately ducked down at this, just as they saw a few of the undead soldiers marching through the large space, keeping a captive Amelia, Natasha and Campbell close by.

And needless to say, Amelia was not very happy about the circumstance. “Let me go!”

“They’ve got Dr. von Butch!” Shaggy gasped quietly. “And her gruesome twosome!”

“And,” Zipp said as she pulled out her visor to get a closer look, “she’s wearing the ankh necklace!”

“Dirty thief, taking it from under your noses…” Izzy grumbled. “But now what do we do?”

“I’d say it’s time for phase 2,” Hitch said with a stern look, but this caused Shaggy to look at Scooby before turning back to the earth pony stallion. “Uh, tell us again about phase 2?”

“Izzy knows this phase by heart, and so does Pipp-- they’ll guide you, Scooby and Sarona right through it,” Sunny said. “But, Misty? Go with them, just in case something goes wrong.”

Misty nodded, ready to take on the responsibility and ensure that her friends got through this part of the plan without a scratch... if was even possible.

XXXXXXXX

Within just a few minutes, Sarona, Scooby, Shaggy and their three pony companions were wrapped in toilet paper from head to hoof and wearing fancy Egyptian armor, dressed as mummies so they could sneak past the undead army and into the big gathering happening not too far away.

Some of Izzy and Pipp's best work, if they had to say so.

After getting themselves together, they stepped out into the open, groaning like mummies as they approached two guards, who Shaggy smiled at, trying to sound casual. “Hey, man. Like, we're here for the big Cleopatra party.”

“Yeah,” Scooby nodded enthusiastically. “Cleopatra.”

The undead warriors seemed to stare suspiciously at the group for a few moments before relenting, finally standing aside to let them inside. “Thank you, Mr. Undead Warrior, sir!” Sarona said cheerfully. “We owe you one in the afterlife!”

And with that, the group began to groan like mummies again and head inside, walking over the water where the crocodiles were lurking. But as they walked over the bridge, a piece of the toilet paper Scooby was wrapped in got caught on a large stone, revealing his tail to the guards, who had glanced behind them upon realizing something didn't feel right. “Uh, guys?!” Misty looked behind the group nervously. “I think the jig might be up!”

Sarona and Scooby each let out a scream as they saw the guards bolting toward them, causing the group to immediately bolt as Shaggy chuckled nervously. “Well, so much for monster-piece theater, Pipp!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get that!” Pipp snapped. “Just move your hooves so we don’t end up undead like those creeps!”

The group proceeded to run through the dark areas of the tomb before Shaggy pointed up to a high tower where they could hide and lose the soldiers. Fortunately for them, this worked, except for the fact that Scooby tumbled right into the group, causing most of them to lose their mummy disguises after they got done tumbling.

Shaggy soon removed his mummy wraps before letting out a sigh and sitting down. “Phew. That was a close one.”

But after sitting down for a few moments, Shaggy realized that his bottom was wet, causing him to sit up and see the sticky, goopy gray stuff all over the bottom of his pants. “Like, what's up with the soggy seating arrangements?”

“Huh… these look like bags of cement!” Sarona said as she looked at one of the bags next to Shaggy before feeling where Shaggy had set down. “And this batch of cement is still wet!”

Misty hummed in thought, tilting her head to the side. “I wonder what they’re doing down here.”

“Looks like they’ve been making something with these molds,” Izzy said, pointing to some molds nearby. “But why?”

“Uh… guys?” Pipp looked down from the nearby balcony. “I think you might wanna see this.”

Curious, the group followed Pipp out onto the balcony, where they were able to get a clear view of everything about to occur down below. “Holy cow, guys!” Sarona gasped, her eyes wide. “We made it!”

“Now,” said Shaggy with a smile, “all we gotta do is sit tight and wait for Fred to give us the signal.”

“Shaggy, guys!” Scooby pointed to the undead warriors down below, still forcing Amelia, Campbell and Natasha forward. “Look!”

After a moment, the undead warriors stopped the treasure hunters in their tracks before a giant staircase, and they all began to bow as a flume of purple mist swirled around at the top, revealing the ghost of Cleopatra in her glory, which caused Sarona to gasp in fear and hug onto Scooby, not wanting to see how this ended...

...even though the treasure hunters did kinda deserve a fair punishment for all they had done.

At the same time, the ghost of Cleopatra did not seem pleased with the fact that the treasure hunters were here. “Who dares disturb the tomb of the great Cleopatra?”

“In the name of Isis, goddess of Egypt,” Amelia got down on one knee and bowed, her hands tied behind her back, “be merciful to us, oh queen of the Nile!”

Campbell nodded nervously to this, doing the same thing as Amelia. “Yeah.”

“What she said,” Natasha added and bowed as well. However, the leader of the undead warriors coaxed his fellow warriors to put Campbell and Natasha in seperate sarcophaguses before the ghost of Cleopatra used some sort of ancient magic on the sarcophaguses, turning the victims inside into solid stone statues.

Pipp gasped in fear when she saw this, covering her eyes with her hooves. “Tell me when it’s over!”

At the same time, the ghost of Cleopatra looked down at Amelia, her expression unreadable underneath the mask she was wearing. “Your greed has brought you far and through many dangers to look upon my golden beauty. Now you shall receive what you came for!”

And with that, the golden mask broke away from her face, revealing Cleopatra’s ghost as a mummified queen with glowing white eyes and decaying teeth, hissing in anger. “No!” Amelia exclaimed and quickly tried to make a break for it, but the undead warriors blocked her path and held Amelia rather tight. “It can't end like this for me. If you let me go, I-I-I promise, I'll stop treasure hunting forever. I'll open an orphanage. I'll save the rainforest! I'll recycle!!!”

However, the ghost of Cleopatra approached and held up Amelia’s chin, looking dead at her and causing Amelia's stomach to sink. “It is too late for that now.”

Two more undead warriors were bringing forward another sarcophagus, just like the ones before, and suddenly, the other ponies, Shaggy and Scooby were filled with the same dread and horror as Pipp and Sarona were feeling, with Shaggy covering his eyes as well. “Oh! It's too horrible, Scoob. I can't bear to watch it anymore!”

Scooby nodded in agreement and immediately covered his eyes with his front paws. “Me too!”

Misty was about to do the same when she caught sight of Fred and Sunny across the nearby lake, trying to get their attention, which caused her to gasp. “Sunny and Freddy!”

“Huh?” Izzy looked up and saw that Misty was right, just before Fred began to make a series of movements that looked like a slashing rope and rowing oars, making Izzy blink in confusion. “Uh… what is he trying to say?”

“Okay, okay,” Pipp said, trying to read the movements. “It’s either Fred trying to say that he and Sunny have taken up some sort of ancient aerobics… or that’s the signal! Hit it, Scoob!”

Scooby immediately removed his mummy disguise before tossing the wraps like a lasso over a nearby rock, and after making sure it was secure, the others grabbed on, and the Great Dane swung them off of the balcony over to the large gong that hung nearby, Shaggy and Scooby each giving their own unique battle cries.

“Scooby-Dooby-Doooooo!!!”

“And, like, Shaggy too!!!”

The gong sounded immediately upon impact, and luckily for our heroes, they were able to land on their feet without much of a scratch. Well... all except Izzy, Shaggy and Scooby, who landed on their faces just the same.

Amelia and the ghost of Cleopatra spared glances at one another, wondering what that was all about, but little did they know that another army was going to be on their way within a matter of moments.

On the other side of the lake, Fred cut the ropes holding the giant boat in place with a sword, and once it got to moving, Sunny helped Fred onto the boat as it slid off its ramp and into the lake, with several citizens from the Lost City of the Ancients helping to row it.

Tofauti giggled and waved to Sunny and Fred from where Ulaghai was playing the drum to keep the rhythm. “Hey, guys! Took you long enough.”

“We got nearly all the citizens to help us in the fight!” Hazina said as she and Trail Grazer helped row the large boat across the wide lake. “And Zipp, Hitch and the other lionesses are getting our version of Cleopatra ready for her performance!”

“Great work, everypony!” Sunny congratulated. “Let’s just hope the real Cleopatra thinks our act is convincing enough to surrender over.”

“She’s ready!” Ovelia shouted to the others, and she, Taraji, Raheema, Sparky, Hitch and Zipp bowed before Daphne, who was dressed as Cleopatra herself, just before Daphne cleared her throat and stood up, walking to the front of the boat. “Behold. I am the great and powerful Cleopatra. All shall bow down before me!”

The ghost of Cleopatra growled in anger, all while Amelia von Butch raised an eyebrow when she saw this. “Two Cleopatras?”

The boat then rose up onto the landing on the other side of the lake, prompting several of the undead soldiers to move aside to prevent getting crushed. Then, once they were close enough, Anga and Kushinda kicked down several planks to let their own army off the boat and onto the land.

And after striking down a soldier of her own, Zipp offered her back to Fred with a smirk. “Feel like saving the day, Fred?”

“Always,” Zipp said before climbing onto her back, just before the two let out their own battle cry. “CHAAAAARGE!!!”

“FOR MILELE!!!” Taraji, Raheem and Ovelia roared before they all rushed into battle with the undead soldiers. But before the undead warriors could even move, Sparky activated a giant magnet to pull their weapons away, making them vulnerable to the attack.

XXXXXXXX

However, while the others were busy with the fight, no one was guarding Daphne, prompting several of the undead soldiers to climb aboard the ship, grab Daphne and bring her before Cleopatra, which Fred saw as he and Zipp did their best to fight off the soldiers. “Daphne!”

“They’ve got Daphne!” Sarona cried as she looked toward her small group of friends. “Come on, guys!”

“FOR EQUESTRIA!!!” Izzy hollered at the top of her lungs just before they charged off to protect their friend.

XXXXXXXX

Daphne was brought right before Cleopatra's ghost, who roared right in her face to scare Daphne, only for Daphne to smile sympathetically. “Oh! You poor girl. Two thousand years hasn't done a thing for your complexion,” she said before pulling out some blush and covering Cleopatra’s face with it, creating a small cloud to obsure Cleopatra's vision. “Here, try a little blush.”

“Don’t worry, Daph!” Pipp said as she and the others raced over. “We’ll take it from here!”

That was when Shaggy and Scooby, along with Pipp and Sarona, dragged Cleopatra's ghost into a full-on beauty treatment, including an avocado mask, cucumbers over her eyes, and a giant heat lamp, which Misty turned onto full power. However, this only seemed to make Cleopatra's ghost madder, causing Sarona, Shaggy and Scooby to run while Pipp, Izzy and Misty tried their best to protect Daphne.

However, on their way up the stairs, two of the undead soldiers tripped Sarona and the boys up before rolling them up into a carpet, which they rolled down toward some citizens of the Lost City. “Look out!” Shaggy shouted. “We’re on a roll!”

The carpet did crash into the citizens, but thankfully, they were all right. And as the carpet they were stuck in unrolled, Sarona and the boys were stunned to discover it was rising off the ground and into the air. “Holy smokes!” Zipp cried from the ground, her eyes wide with amazement. “Sarona, Shaggy and Scooby found a flying carpet!”

“Atta boy, Scoob!” Sarona squealed before they dove right toward the soldiers below. “CHAAAAARGE!!!”

The flying carpet slammed right into the undead soldiers, knocking them down and allowing Sarona's mother and aunts to quickly get the upper hand and pin a few of the soldiers to the ground.

Unfortunately, the flying carpet began to spin out of control after going through a crowd of soldiers, knocking straight into the ghost of Cleopatra and another warrior holding an axe, and the axe was flung up into the air... just before Amelia von Butch used the opportunity to use the axe to cut her hands free, fight off some soldiers herself and make a break for the tomb.

Sarona, Shaggy, Scooby and the ghost of Cleopatra hung on for dear life just before the flying carpet was ripped into two halves, with the leader of the undead army catching the ghost of Cleopatra before the flying carpet, stopped... well, flying. “Mayday! Mayday!” Shaggy shouted in panic. “Oh-ho-ho… we’re going down!”

Misty gasped as soon as she saw her friends begin to fall toward the ground without any sign of stopping. “Sunny, we gotta catch them!”

“Already on it!” Sunny said before she, Izzy and Misty jumped into the air, successfully catching their friends before they hit the ground. “Phew… thanks, Sunny,” Sarona said with a smile of relief. “That was too close.”

“Guys!” Hitch shouted as he and the others came forward. “Anga told us that she spotted Amelia von Butch heading into the last part of Cleopatra’s tomb! If we don’t go after her, she could get the crown and escape!”

“But what about the undead army?” Daphne asked. “We can’t just leave the citizens to fight them off themselves!”

“Don’t worry about us, guys!” Hazina shouted to her friends, kicking an undead warrior away. “Go save the crown! We’ll take care of the undead army while you’re gone!”

And ensuring their friends would be fine while they were gone, the Mane 6, Sarona and the rest of Mystery Inc bolted toward the last part of the tomb, hoping to stop Amelia and save the crown before it was too late.

XXXXXXXX

Amelia was so close to Cleopatra’s crown now, she could practically taste it.

Well… if you COULD taste a crown, anyway.

All she had to do was search for signs to confirm her theories.

At last, Amelia came to a large room with hieroglyphics all over the walls, along with a golden sarcophagus at the top of a flight of stairs.

On the floor was another set of hieroglyphics, which Amelia had to kneel down to in order to read. “Here lies Cleopatra, last of the Pharaohs, protector of the lost riches of ancient Egypt!”

Amelia quickly pulled the sarcophagus open to reveal a third Cleopatra mummy, this one with a slot where the ankh necklace should go in order to open the tomb’s most sacred chamber. “A third Cleopatra,” Amelia smirked, ripping the necklace off of her neck. “Let's hope three's a charm.”

Then, taking a deep breath, Amelia placed the ankh necklace into the slot, which prompted the mummy's eyes to open, and the mummy's eyes were filled with a soft white light. As Amelia stepped down from the stairs, a golden light began to fill the hieroglyphics on the walls, prompting Amelia to shield her eyes from the bright light. Then... after a few moments, the walls of the chamber began to rise, revealing an entire room filled with gold, jewels, coins... all sorts of Egyptian treasures for her to take and get rich off of.

Amelia cackled as soon as she began to take everything in. “Amelia von Butch, you are unstoppable!” she said victoriously, before she began to search for the one thing that she had been waiting her entire life to find.

And after a moment, she found it-- Cleopatra's golden crown, just waiting for her to take... which Amelia did, smiling victoriously. “At last, the crown of Cleopatra is MINE!!”

But after a moment of gloating about her self-imposed victory, Amelia turned when she heard a growling behind her, and came face to face with the glowing white eyes of Cleopatra's ghost. “WAAAAH!!!”

It was then that the Mane 6, Sarona and the rest of Mystery Inc entered the chamber behind the ghost, with Daphne’s eyes going wide in shock. “Jeepers!”

“Hey! Cleopatra!” Sarona snarled. “You get away from her!”

“Sarona!” Pipp admonished. “You’re defending the bad guy?!”

“Hey, she may be evil,” Sarona shrugged, “but she’s still a human being!”

The ghost of Cleopatra turned around to face them after the cub went silent again. “Leave this chamber,” she forewarned them, “or be doomed forever!”

“ZOINKS!!” Shaggy yelped as Scooby jumped right into his arms, and the Mane 6 stood up, ready for a fight. “Bring it on, the both of you!” Zipp declared. “As the guardians of Equestria, we’re not gonna let either of you get away with this!”

But as Zipp kept her eyes on the ghost of Cleopatra, no one saw that Amelia had swiped the crown off the pedestal and began to run off, much to the ghost’s horror as the entire tomb began to shake. “NO!!”

Water began to pour in from the collapsing ceiling above, causing our heroes to scream and run to the side of the tomb for temporary cover, and the ghost went after Amelia again, who used her grappling hook to grab the ceiling and be hoisted up out of the ghost’s reach.

As for our heroes, Fred found a canoe and urged the others into it, just as the water began to get closer and closer. “Hold on, gang!”

“Oh, now you tell UUUUUUUUSSSSS!!!!!” Hitch wailed as the water finally reached them, and a secret door began to open to let the water out, taking the Mane 6 and their friends out with it,

Sunny, Hitch, Izzy and Misty began to paddle as fast as they could to help Fred, Shaggy and Scooby, but when Shaggy looked behind him, he realized that the ghost of Cleopatra had gotten into their boat along with them, and his paddling speed immediately increased. “Keep paddling, guys!” he informed. “She’s right behind us!”

And with that, the swirling rapids carried our heroes further and further through the tunnels, and even the Mane 6 weren't sure about where they were going.

XXXXXXXX

Finally, after a bit of struggle, Amelia made it out of the tomb with Cleopatra's crown, causing her to laugh rather victoriously to herself. “Bear witness, mighty sphinx!” she said to the giant statue, holding the crown up. “The crown is mine!”

But the second Amelia put it on her head, Triple A’s hawk Horus immediately grabbed it in his talons and flew away with it. “NOOOOOO!!!!” Amelia shrieked with rage. “My crown!”

And upon seeing Horus flying away with the crown, Desert Rose this was time for her to make her move. “Here we go! HYAH!!”

Triple A’s camels followed her lead, and the ropes they were attached to began to activate a series of mechanisms that eventually caught Amelia von Butch in a giant tarp, causing her to scream as she was dangled in mid-air, trying to get free.

Triple A watched Amelia for a moment before speaking up, a bit impressed with the feat. “I wonder… do Fred's plans always work so well?”

“Let me go!” Amelia demanded, enraged. “I command you. The crown is rightfully mine. I am the sole survivor of Cleopatra's curse!”

“Ah, but I think you’re speaking too quickly,” Desert Rose said with a confident smirk, looking toward the river behind them. “The desert still holds many secrets.”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the side of a nearby mountain began to crack, releasing a bit of water before it finally burst open, releasing all the water, along with the contents of the tomb, the Mane 6, their friends and Cleopatra’s ghost, out with it. “WHOAAAAAA!!!”

As the boat our heroes were riding in crashed upon the riverbank, the Nile River began to flow with the riches of ancient Egypt once again, exciting the townspeople as they gathered to watch the amazing event.

Around the same time, Sunny groaned and held a hoof to her head as she finally got her bearings together. “Is everypony okay?”

“Ugh, aside from being carried through a tomb by thousands of gallons of raging water,” Pipp said, shaking herself to get rid of the excess water, “we’re fine. But uh… I feel like we’re forgetting something here.”

“Really?” Izzy asked the pink pegasus curiously. “Like what?”

It was then that Daphne saw Cleopatra’s ghost still in their boat with them, and immediately, she tensed up with fear. “It’s Cleopatra! Look out!”

Sarona gasped and hid behind Misty when she saw the ghost again, while Fred tilted his head while looking at the ghost in question. “I don't know, Daph. She looks pretty washed up to me.”

Suddenly... a familiar scent caught Scooby's nose, temporarily exciting him before confusion entered his mind. Could it really be?

Or was it just the desert heat getting to him like it did the last time?

He had to know for sure.

So carefully, he approached the ghost and began to lick her face, causing her mask to come right off and reveal who it really was underneath...

...and who it was caused the Mane 6, Fred, Daphne and Shaggy to gasp in shock. “VELMA?!!!”

Velma laughed as Scooby continued to lick her face in relief. “Okay, Scooby, okay!”

“Wait wait wait wait, WHAT?!” Zipp looked the most stunned out of any of them. “I… we… how did…?”

“Uh, Zipp… maybe you should let this sink in before trying to speak,” Misty said gently. “It might do your nerves a bit of good.”

“Velma!”

The group looked up on the nearby cliff to see the leader of the undead army remove his mask, revealing himself to be Prince Omar, in the flesh, with a smile on his face. “We did it, Velma. We did it!”

Daphne gasped in astonishment. “It’s Prince Omar! He’s okay!”

“Thank goodness!” said Sarona. “Hazina is gonna be so relieved! But… I’m still…”

But before she could finish, Horus screeched and swooped down toward Omar, releasing the crown and letting Omar catch it, causing him to gasp in wonder. “The golden crown of Cleopatra…”

Triple A bowed respectfully as he and Desert Rose approached. “It is in good hands now, my young prince.”

“That was great!” said another voice as Rock Rivers joined those on the riverbank. “But c-could we do it again? I'd like to get it from another angle.”

“It’s Rock Rivers!” Misty exclaimed. “He’s okay too!”

“Now, hold on!” Shaggy said, finally standing up. “Is there really a curse or, like, not?”

“Yeah, cause there is SO much info spinning in my head right now,” said Zipp, “and I can’t concentrate!”

“I'm sure it's very easy to explain. Let’s see…” Fred said before he tried to think for a few moments before eventually coming up with zilch, causing him to shrug. “Okay, maybe it isn't.”

“Come on,” Velma said as Scooby got her back onto her feet. “Let’s get back onto solid ground. Once we’re up there, me and Omar are gonna explain everything.”

“Good,” Sunny answered with a sigh of extreme and profound relief. “Cause after the past few days we’ve had… we definitely need some form of explanation.”

The Truth is Revealed/An Unveiling Like No Other

Okay, if you hadn’t read the last chapter, needless to say, it was a doozy.

Velma had been revealed to be the ghost of Cleopatra, while Omar was the leader of the undead army and all the others who had been turned to stone turned out to be all right.

And on a better note, Taraji, Ovelia, Raheema, Hazina and all of Hazina’s friends made it out of the tomb to see that their loved ones and friends were safe and sound, leading to a joyous reunion between all of them.

Now... there was still one major question that had to be answered.

Why did Velma and Omar put themselves through this elaborate scheme and put their friends through all that worry if it was really for nothing?

Well... that's what we're all about to find out for ourselves.

XXXXXXXX

After the reunions had finally ended, Zipp turned to Velma and Omar with her FlyPad at the ready. “Okay, I’m ready to record your explanation for all of this, all of you,” she said, looking rather stern and upset. “But, you better make this explanation good-- I’m not really in the mood for any bogusness.”

“Yeah,” Ulaghai agreed, looking just as ticked off. “None of us are in the mood.”

“Believe me, guys, we had a good reason for everything,” Velma said before starting to explain to the gathering crowd. “As soon as we discovered the hidden chamber, Omar knew that treasure hunters would come from all over.”

“I hoped,” Omar cut in, “that if we could bring the curse to life, it would scare away the looters. So Velma became Cleopatra, while my workers and I became her army of the undead.”

“Ohhhhh I think I’m starting to get it now!” Pipp said as she began putting pieces of her own together. “Then, you used the quick-drying cement to make stone statues of yourselves!”

“Convincing us all that the curse had really come true!” Daphne added, causing Velma to nod, a bit proud of what they had been able to pull off. “I did add a few extra touches of my own, like the swarm of locusts. I learned to breed them last year in science class. Who knew it would come in so handy?”

“Yeah…” Tofauti shuddered out of remembering those dreaded bugs flying at them. “Who knew?”

“You guys put on an awesome scare,” Rock Rivers said, putting his hands on Velma and Omar’s shoulders. “Maybe we could do a project together.”

“We already have, Rock,” Omar smiled. “After you offered to play along, we took your video camera and cataloged most of the tomb. Thanks to you, that footage is going to be seen around the world.”

“Yeah, baby!” Rock pumped a fist. “I'm going global.”

“The only thing we didn’t count on,” added Omar, turning to the group, “we didn't count on was your surprise visit to the work site.”

“But… we could have helped you,” Anga pointed out. “Yeah,” Daphne nodded. “Why didn't you let us in on the secret?”

“You could have given us a little forewarning, so that way we really didn’t think you had been taken by a supernatural curse cast over 2000 years ago,” Kushinda said rather bluntly, causing the group to look at him strangely. “What? Just being honest.”

“Like I said before,” said Velma with a frown on her face, “I knew it would be dangerous, and I didn't want any of you to get hurt. I never imagined that you would lead an army of your own back to the tomb, just to rescue me.”

“Well,” said Sunny with a smile, turning to the citizens of the lost city and all their new animal friends, “we had Sarona’s pride, Hazina, her friends and the citizens of the lost city to thank for that.”

The citizens of the lost city let out a cheer while Taraji, Raheema, Ovelia and Sarona bowed their heads to Velma and Omar, grateful for their return. “But,” said Ovelia, “it was Sunny, her pony friends, Shaggy and Scooby who were the bravest ones of all.”

“It’s true!” Trail Grazer agreed. “They insisted on coming back for you, no matter what.”

“Ohhh…” Velma pulled the rest of Mystery Inc and the ponies into a tight embrace. “You guys are the best friends ever.”

“And now,” said Hazina with a smile, “Cleopatra's final wish has been granted. The riches of Egypt have been returned to her people.”

“YOW!!” Amelia von Butch grunted from her binds up above the group. “I won't stand for this! Give me my crown! My crown…!!”

“Yikes…” Izzy groaned. “She’s gonna be up there for a good while.”

“Just until the proper authorities arrive, Izzy,” Desert Rose reassured. “But don’t worry-- Triple A and I won’t let her out of our sight.”

Velma then turned to the Mane 6. “I hope you guys aren’t too mad at me and Omar for what we did.”

“Are you kidding? That… was the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life!” Pipp laughed. “I loved it!”

“We’re just relieved to know you all are okay,” said Hitch with a grateful smile. “And now, I think we have an unveiling ceremony to pull together!”

“Oh, you’re right!” Hazina realized. “We still have so much to do in order to get ready, and it’s tonight!”

“Then, it’s lucky you’ve got a whole army of troops here, ready to help,” Taraji smiled, and immediately, our heroes and their new friends began the final preparations for what could be the most important unveiling ceremony they had ever attended.

XXXXXXXX

With everyone working together, the preparations for the unveiling ceremony went much faster than Omar and Hazina could have ever dreamed.

And as the sun set last night, fireworks lit up the sky as the newly restored sphinx stood against the moon and stars. But what really got people cheering was Pipp singing 'Bestie Life' one more time, to celebrate everyone's safe return, the defeat of Amelia von Butch and the restoration of one of Egypt's greatest treasures.

I'm livin' my bestie life
When I got you by my side
Nothin' that we cannot do
All I really need is you

The bestie life, the bestie life
Oh-ohhh, ohhh, ohhh-ohhhh

You, you
I know that when I've got you, you
There's nothin' that I cannot do, do

The bestie life
Whoa-ohhh, ohhh, ohhh-ohhhh

I'm livin' my bestie life
When I got you by my side
Nothin' that we cannot do
All I really need is you...

The crowd, including Pipp's friends, new and old, cheered at the top of their lungs as the young pegasus princess took her final bow before flying back to where the group had been gathered to admire the sphinx. “Well,” Fred spoke with a proud smile, “that ought to hold it for another few thousand years.”

“You should be incredibly proud, Velma,” Raheema said wisely. “You helped restore one of the great monuments of the world.”

“I just had a small part in the work,” Velma said with a slight blush. “That may be true,” Sunny said gently, putting a hoof on Velma’s shoulder, “but you play such a big part in our lives. We couldn't imagine our friendship or our Unity Quests without you in them.”

“Yeah!” Scooby nodded before licking Velma’s face once again, causing her to giggle in amusement. “Scooby…”

“Oh! Sunny, before I forgot,” said Omar, pulling something out of his pocket, “I wanted to give you this. “I know you and your friends have been mentioning the lost realm of Skyros, and after examining this map piece, I think you might find that it can help you on your search.”

Sunny studied the map piece for a few moments, her eyes narrowing as she saw a familiar landmark on the corner… the lighthouse where she had grown up!

After seeing this, Sunny gasped and hugged Omar tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Omar! You have no idea how much this means to me!” she said before turning to her friends. “Guys! This is the first piece of a map to Skyros!”

“Oh, no way!” Zipp said as she examined the map. “How many more pieces do you think are out there?”

“Who knows? But don’t worry, Sunny,” said Misty with a grin. “We’re gonna keep searching on our missions, far and wide, if we have to, until we find the rest of the pieces and your mom.”

Sunny sighed out of relief and happiness as soon as she heard those words. “Thanks, ponies.”

“So… what about you and your family, Taraji?” Daphne asked the lioness and her family, a curious look on her face. “What are you gonna do now?”

“Actually,” said Taraji, “we’ve been thinking of staying with Omar, Hazina and their little crew for a while, to see what good we can do for Egypt.”

Sarona looked at her mother and two aunts in surprise at this. “Really, Mom? But… what about finding Milele?”

“Milele is going to be waiting for us when we get there, my love,” Ovelia said, purring against the cub gently. “We have to enjoy life here while we have it. That is… if you wanna stay and try to make some friends here.”

“Are you kidding?! I’d love to! Maybe we can find some more lions and make a big pride with lots of cubs!” Sarona said happily, causing Taraji to smile and nod. “Then that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

“Like, check it out, gang!” said Shaggy, walking onto the scene with a giant firework in hands that he stuck in the ground. “A firework fit for the pharaohs.”

“Uh… are you sure that’s a good idea, Shaggy?” Anga asked with nervousness. “That firework looks a little… big for comfort.”

“Sure,” Shaggy responded as he lit a match. “What could go wrong?”

He put the match to the fuse of the firework, and the fuse lit up before the firework ignited, sending the firework rocketing into the night sky. Unfortunately, the firework didn't go directly into the sky as planned...

...and instead, slammed right into the sphinx's nose, destroying it!

The Mane 6 and all their friends immediately cringed at this, with Sparky covering his eyes with his tiny hands. “Oh, boy…” Tofauti looked terrified at this. “You guys are gonna be in for it now.”

However, the more Omar looked at it, he realized that this look actually suited the sphinx quite well. “You know, I think it looks better that way.”

The others laughed at this before Scooby let out a howl to the sky. “Scooby-Dooby-Doooooooo!!!”

Fireworks soon illuminated the sky once again, and while the ponies knew they would have to head for home soon, the thoughts of finding Skyros and finding Sunny’s mother filled their hearts with determination and purpose.

But they had to be quick about finding the other pieces of the map as well.

Because, if they waited too long... Alterro might have the upper paw, and want to eliminate the ponies before they could complete their mission.

And then... he would have Skyros and the different kinds of alicorns that lived there all to himself.