G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness

Aruna had been telling her wicked master Alterro about all the things that she had done to spread wickedness and manipulation on the voyage-- manipulating Velma into thinking that Daphne wants Shannon as her friend and not her, gaining Velma’s trust and learning all she could about her so-called friends.

Alterro was eager to listen to all of this, especially the parts about the ponies, but when Aruna told him about the alien that had forced them to land on the dark side of the moon, he became suspicious.

He didn’t have a minion who was an alien, so… who could this be?

After Aruna had got done speaking, Alterro stayed quiet for a few moments before noticing the wary glance on his minion’s face. “You think she could be nearby, listening to our conversation.”

“What?!” Aruna looked at her master in shock. “H-How did you…?”

“I have ways of knowing things you don’t,” Alterro responded bluntly. “You may search for her and once again put her in her place, but… do not, and I repeat, do NOT lose focus of your true mission.”

“...yes, Alterro,” Aruna nodded. “I’m ready.”

“Don’t call me back without vital information, or until you feel that it’s my time to make an appearance,” Alterro warned her. “Then… the ultimate vengeance will be mine! MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!”

Aruna laughed in the same manner as her master, honestly surprising him. “Ohh… very well done, my little Sun Jaguar pet,” he said proudly before frowning again. “But it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't be a show-off.”

And with that, his face disappeared from the mirror, and Aruna put it away before prowling off in another direction.

She had to find her, and make sure she didn’t spoil Alterro’s plans or her own.

But… it probably makes all of us wonder who this other someone is… doesn’t it?

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Shaggy and Misty rode in one moon buggy across the moon’s surface while Scooby and Sunny rode in the other one, and needless to say…

…this was just the amount of fun they were hoping to have. “Yeah!” Sunny pumped a hoof in the air. “Whoo-hoo!”

“Yeah!” Scooby howled out of excitement as the moon buggies raced forward. “Scooby-Dooby-Doo! Hee-hee!”

“Come on, Shaggy, faster!” Misty laughed in excitement as Sunny and Scooby pulled out ahead of them. “We’re not letting Sunny and Scoob win this race!”

Shaggy slammed on the gas, and the moon buggy he and Misty were riding on flew through the air, spinning a bit and causing Misty to laugh in delight just before they touched down again.

Not long after Shaggy and Misty’s moon buggy came back down, they eventually parked and climbed down from the buggies to get a better look at the landscape around them. “Wow...” Sunny muttered, gazing at the Earth several thousands of miles away. “It looks just as beautiful now as when we came here with the Pippsqueaks and Buddies a few months ago... doesn't it, Misty?”

Misty nodded slowly to this. “It really does... like you could go through life without a single care in the world.”

But as Sunny and Misty continued to admire the view, Shaggy turned to look at Scooby after seemingly realizing something. “Maybe that Colt guy was right, Scoob,” he said, gesturing to the space junk that had landed all around them over the years. “Maybe it wasn't an alien after all, maybe it was just space junk. I mean, look at this place. It's a regular junkyard!”

“Junkyard...” Shaggy's echo came right back to the group after a few moments. “Junkyard... junkyard...”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scooby nodded, as he could easily see what Shaggy meant. “Space junkyard!”

“Come on, guys!” Misty gestured for Shaggy and Scooby to follow her and Sunny across the moon’s surface. “We'll show you how to cross the moon in style!”

Scooby giggled and took a gentle leap forward, slowly bounding after Misty and Sunny. But, when Shaggy tried to do the same thing, he tripped over himself and planted right in the dirt.

But we all know that Shaggy wasn’t going to let Scooby be the only show-off in these parts.

So, Shaggy tried again, this time creating a successful leap across the moon’s surface as he tried to catch up to the others.

Sunny laughed as she took a daring leap and spiraled through the air before she touched down next to her friends again.

Man, it felt really good to actually relax after worrying about finding her mother and defeating Alterro without letting him into Equestria.

Then, once they managed to get to the same place, they danced together for a moment before Shaggy and Scooby chest-bumped one another before descending back to the moon's surface.

The four of them shared a moment of laughter before Sunny spotted the American flag planted on the moon back in the 1960s (from what she read online) and instantly got an idea. “Guys… we never planted a hoof or a paw next to that American flag the last time we were here… so why don’t we give it a try now?”

“I’m all for that,” Misty nodded. “Come on, Scooby! Let’s do it!”

So, Sunny, Misty and Scooby bounded over to the American flag, where Scooby first planted his paw beside the first human footprint on the moon, and Sunny and Misty placed their hooves right beside his pawprint. “One small step for pony and dog…” Shaggy said before doing a giant leap and flipping in mid-air before landing on the ground. “...and one giant leap for me!”

Shaggy and Scooby let out another laugh alongside their two friends, and Misty let out a sigh of happiness. “That was fun. It’s not every day we get to do this, especially with a dangerous threat like Alterro out there.”

“Like… is he really more dangerous than Allura was?” Shaggy asked. “More dangerous than almost EVERY villain we’ve ever faced… except Opaline,” Sunny said before letting out a sigh of worry. “If we don’t find the other pieces of the map to Skyros, and Alterro finds it before we do… the alicorns… my mom…”

Scooby let out a whimper before nuzzling against Sunny gently. “Don’t worry, Sunny… if we’re here, then another piece of the map must be somewhere around here-- maybe Sly built it into the base without knowing it,” Misty said, trying to be comforting. “We just have to keep believing.”

“...you guys are right,” Sunny said with a smile. “Come on, we better get back to the base and return those moon buggies before…”

Suddenly, a dark, ominous shadow passed over them, cutting Sunny off and causing a bit of confusion with the group. “That’s weird,” Shaggy observed. “I thought we left the dark side of the moon.”

“We did,” Misty nodded. “It must be something else making that shadow… but what?”

That was when they all turned in the direction of the shadow and begrudgingly found the source… the alien from the camera footage was now growling and looming over them! And as it leapt toward them with a dangerous snarl, the group only knew of one thing to do. “RUN!!!”

Their running was a bit slowed down due to less gravity, but eventually, the girls, Shaggy and Scooby were able to get their footing and split up to prevent the alien from chasing all of them at once.

However, as the alien was chasing Shaggy, he stumbled and tripped over a small hole, giving the alien an advantage… at least, it would have if Misty didn’t fire a magic blast at it to disorient it. “Hey! Alien! Leave him alone!”

The alien let out a snarl at her, which caused Misty to scream and immediately leap away, and from where he was hiding, Scooby knew he had to do something to get the alien off of Misty's tail. And then, upon seeing a small rocket, Scooby pushed the button on it, and it flew straight into the alien, sending it flying through the air. “Good work, Scooby!” Misty praised the Great Dane. “Come on! We gotta catch up with Sunny and Shaggy!”

“Right,” Scooby nodded, and the two leapt away in order to catch up to their friends. But as they grouped up, the alien and the rocket came flying towards them, making them run as they crashed into the moon’s surface. “AHHH!!!!!”

“Everyone, get into the moon buggy!” Sunny said as she prepared to shift into her alicorn form. “I’ll scout ahead and clear away any debris in our path!”

Suddenly, as they reached the moon buggy, Sunny shifted into her alicorn form and flew ahead to clear the way. However, as Shaggy tried to leap toward the moon buggy, but he missed the steering wheel, causing him to float away! “Zoinks! I missed!”

“We’ll get you!” Scooby reassured Shaggy as he and Misty got into the moon buggy. Then, as the alien began to pursue, Scooby put the moon buggy in reverse, and sped off after Shaggy backwards with the alien following them. “Shaggy!” Scooby called up to his best friend. “I’ll save you!”

“AHHH!!” Shaggy cried as he slowly began to descend. “Sunny, grab Shaggy!” Misty cried out to the earth pony/alicorn mare, who finished clearing some space debris from their path. “We need to get him into the moon buggy!”

“I’m on it!” Sunny saluted. “Hang on, Shaggy!”

Sunny flew up higher into the air before pushing against Shaggy’s chest with her hooves, causing him to descend faster before they both landed in the moon buggy, just before Scooby made several sharp turns to try and avoid the alien and the rocks around them. “Scoob, I'm getting seasick!” Shaggy yelped. “Pull yourself together, Shaggy!” Sunny shouted. “We’re almost there, I can feel it!”

Suddenly, as the alien leapt toward the group, the moon buggy rolled right into a gigantic crater, causing the four of them to scream while the alien grabbed onto the side of the moon buggy, just before they rolled down a chasm and up a rock formation, flipping through the air and landed back on the ground again.

Sunny growled in anger and used her back legs to try and kick the alien off, but it was putting up a really good struggle, causing her eyes to narrow. “Not… on… my… WATCH!!!”

And with one final kick, the alien landed on the ground as the moon buggy continued to drive toward the base. Misty pressed a button that prompted the doors to start closing, and the moon buggy spun out of control as it managed to get through the doors, throwing Misty, Scooby, Shaggy and Sunny off of the buggy in the process.

Thankfully, our heroes were a bit dizzy, but other than that, they seemed fine.

Misty took a glance outside, and upon further inspection, she realized that the alien was nowhere to be found... much to her relief. “I think we lost it, you guys.”

“Phew… that was close,” Sunny said as they pushed the buttons to turn off their space helmets. “Come on… we better go warn the others that the alien is getting closer to the base.”

“Good idea,” Scooby nodded, but as they all turned around, they bumped right into U-Boat and Cloudy Dash, who had just arrived on the scene, glancing at the four in concern. “Like, we're totally sorry, Cloudy and Mr. U-Boat,” Shaggy apologized before looking outside again, “but that alien was chasing us!”

“Really?” Cloudy asked, despite not seeing anything outside. “You guys must’ve been pretty scared.”

“Yeah… it definitely gave us a run for our bits,” Sunny said between breaths. “Right, guys?”

“Me and Scoob? Scared?” Shaggy laughed nervously, trying to look confident. “Um, like, why would you think that?”

Misty and Sunny looked over at Shaggy and Scooby scoldingly, causing Shaggy and Scooby to smile nervously. “That’s okay,” U-Boat told them as he began to walk off. “I get scared too.”

Upon hearing this, Shaggy’s nervousness turned into surprise. “Like, you get scared?” he asked, stunned that his and Scooby’s football hero was scared sometimes. “Of what?”

“Of what?” U-Boat repeated, turning around and walking toward them. “Sharks, dentists, public speaking, aliens, mimes, the IRS, being in space, lots of things!”

Misty squeaked nervously at seeing U-Boat being intimidating and being so close to them, but Cloudy was able to get U-Boat to back off a bit before she explained her own fears. “And I’m… actually afraid of the dark, snakes and crawly things. But the thing is… sometimes, your fears are all in your head. The trick is finding something that helps you deal with it.”

Scooby seemed to smile at this. “Like food.”

“Or music,” U-Boat flashed a small smile. “Or food,” Scooby and Shaggy repeated, just before Cloudy thought of another way to deal with fear. “Or exercise!”

“Or food,” Shaggy and Scooby said once again. “Hey, or maybe even… singing,” U-Boat nodded. “Or food,” Shaggy and Scooby repeated one final time before U-Boat gave them a look and started to walk away.

That was when Shaggy finally seemed to register what U-Boat had said. “Singing? Ha, ha. Like, you sing?” he asked before he and Scooby let out a giggle. “That's funny.”

“Oh-ho… you guys haven’t seen nothing yet,” Cloudy said with a wink. “Just watch.”

U-Boat quickly turned around, and much to Shaggy, Scooby, Sunny and Misty's surprise, he started to sing as the lights dimmed, except for a single spotlight that shown on him from above.

U-Boat: "Fear" is just a word, a four-letter word
Like "love" and "meat" and "made"
Only just a word, a silly little word
So it doesn't make me afraid...

“...wow,” Sunny finally spoke up, a bit surprised. “That was…”

However, U-Boat wasn’t done with his song just yet.

U-Boat: F, la-la la la
E, la-la la la
A, la-la la la
R, spells nothing you need to fear

Fear is just a word, a silly little word
So it doesn't make me afraid...

That was when the song finally ended, and the lights turned back on before U-Boat looked down at the stunned Shaggy, Scooby, Misty and Sunny before walking off with a huff.

Cloudy chuckled nervously. “I told you that you hadn’t seen anything yet. Now… I better go after him,” she said before turning to Misty and Sunny. “You two good with taking care of these guys?”

“Oh, yeah. We’ll be fine,” Sunny said with a smile. “You go do what you need to do, Cloudy.”

“Thanks, girls. See ya!” Cloudy waved before she galloped off after U-Boat. “So… what do you guys wanna do now?” Misty asked. “There’s still a lot more of the base to see, and I personally wanna see if they have an observatory, so we can…”

Suddenly, the most beautiful humming that they had ever heard began to fill the air, and shortly afterward.

Come, little children, I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children, the time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows…

“Ooh…” Scooby had to admit it-- he was intrigued by the beautiful voice. “Who’s that singing?”

“It doesn’t sound like Pipp, or Aruna,” Sunny said in thought. “Let’s follow it and see who it is.”

The others seemed to nod to this, and they walked down the hall, following the sound of the singing as it continued.

Follow, sweet children, I'll show thee the way
Through all the pain and the sorrows
Weep not, poor children, for life is this way
Murdering beauty and passions…

“It’s so beautiful,” Misty muttered to herself, “but… it’s also so sad…”

“Like, yeah,” Shaggy nodded. “Do you think the one singing it is in trouble?”

“I think we’re about to find out,” Sunny pointed to a door on the right side of the hallway. “In here.”

Sunny pushed the door open as another verse of the song began, luring the four friends further into the room.

Hush now, dear children, it must be this way
Too weary of life and deceptions
Rest now, my children, for soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet

As the verse was soon replaced by the most beautiful vocalizing they had ever heard, Shaggy, Scooby and the two ponies peeked their heads into the room to see another jaguar singing while tidying up some books scattered across the floor, along with a few other small things.

But the crazy thing was... this jaguar actually looked kind of similar to Aruna.

Much like a black jaguar that lived in South America, this jaguar had dark grayish-black fur with black spots with dark grayish-black inside the rosettes, and very unique eyes-- pink on the top and sky blue on the bottom.

The jaguar didn't notice them at first, since she seemed to be so in her head, so she continued to sing out loud, a calm and serene smile on her face.

Come, little children, I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children, the time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows...

Suddenly, Aruna leapt down from a higher perch in the room with a dangerous-sounding snarl, causing the black jaguar to scream and stumble back, causing Shaggy, Scooby, Sunny and Misty to become stunned.

This couldn't be what they thought they were seeing. Aruna had always seemed so friendly when she was around them... why was she acting this way now?

Aruna cackled sadistically at seeing the black jaguar’s reaction of seeing her. “What’s the matter, Umbra? Did I scare you?”

“Um, maybe a little…” the other jaguar, now known as Umbra, said meekly. “A little?” Aruna snarled, causing Umbra to tremble quite a bit. “O-Okay… okay, a lot. You scared me a lot.”

“That’s what I thought,” Aruna huffed. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I banished you to the dark side of the moon as punishment for taking attention away from me.”

“O-Oh, oh, you did,” Umbra said nervously. “But… I-I’ve made myself comfortable for the past 10 years.”

“10 years?” Sunny whispered to herself. “That’s how long Sly’s been building Sly Moon Prime!”

“Didn't I make myself clear before?” Aruna said dangerously. “Was I speaking a language you don't understand? You are supposed to be suffering!”

“I-I am suffering… I can’t leave the dark side of the moon, remember?” Umbra trembled in her place. “I-I can’t even watch the sunrise. The pictures in these books are all I have.”

“A Moon Jaguar who loves to watch the sunrise… give me a break,” Aruna rolled her eyes. “You know… we may be classified as twin sisters, Umbra, but you will NEVER be my family. The spotlight is supposed to be on ME and ME only.”

“Wait wait wait…” Shaggy whispered, eyes wide in shock. “Like did she just say…?”

“Aruna has a sister…?” Scooby asked in surprise. “That’s what I heard, but… I don’t understand,” Sunny shook her head. “Why can’t Umbra stand up for herself?”

“...because she’s like me… she’s scared of those who have more power than her,” Misty realized softly, her eyes wide in shock. “For me, it was Opaline, but for Umbra… it’s her own sister!”

“...I know you love the spotlight, Aruna… but… I’m sure there’s enough room for both of us on Earth,” Umbra trembled. “With you and your many talents, and me and my studies… maybe we could be a team.”

“...a team? With… you? NEVER!!!” Aruna swiped a paw across Umbra’s face, knocking her backwards. “The spotlight is mine and mine ALONE! Sun Jaguars relish in the light and power of the day… while Moon Jaguars…”

“...stay alone in the darkness of the night, I know,” Umbra spoke up after a moment of trying to get back on her feet. “But… just cause the legends say that we’re enemies doesn’t mean we have to be. Maybe we can… write our own story?”

“...not… a chance,” Aruna snarled before running her claws through one of the open books, causing Umbra to gasp. “Stop that! Please!”

“Oh, I’ll stop… once everything falls into my paws, and I get the praise and title I deserve from my master. And I don’t need you getting in the way,” Aruna snapped at her twin sister again. “Now stay out of my life. Better yet… just fade OUT of existence. It would do everyone a lot of good.”

And with that, Aruna caused her glowing wings to appear before flying out of the room, not noticing Shaggy, Scooby, Sunny and Misty hiding nearby.

Once she saw that Aruna was gone, Umbra pawed at the book that her sister had destroyed, tears welling up in her eyes before she collapsed, sobbing harder than she ever had in her life.

Scooby whimpered sadly, his ears lowering slightly at the sight of seeing Umbra crying. “She looks so sad…”

“She does,” Misty nodded, her ears lowering just as much as Scooby's was. “Being treated that way by your own sister? If that happened to either Pipp or Zipp…”

“Come on, we can’t sit here anymore,” Sunny gestured for the others to follow her. “We have to go make sure she’s okay.”

The four quickly crept out of hiding, and it was actually Misty who wanted to approach first. “Excuse me? Umbra?”

Umbra, upon hearing Misty’s voice, gasped in shock and used her magic to disappear into the shadows, frightened. “No no no no! It’s okay,” Sunny said as she, Shaggy and Scooby shortly followed behind. “We’re not gonna hurt you, we promise.”

“Yeah,” Shaggy nodded kindly. “Like, if there’s anyone you can trust, it’s Sunny and Misty.”

Umbra, hearing the sincereness of their voices, eventually decided to come out of hiding, her pink and blue eyes brimming with a bit of fear and hesitation. “Hello… how did you know my name?”

“We… were kinda watching how Aruna was treating you. But let’s start over,” Sunny said gently. “I’m Sunny Starscout, and this is Shaggy Rogers, Misty Brightdawn and Scooby-Doo. We’re…”

“You’re some of the ones who came in on that big ship,” Umbra interrupted. “Yes… I remember you now. I… crept out of this room when I saw the ship come in, but… I wasn’t sure if I should come out and say hello with my sister around.”

“Well, you don’t have to be afraid of us,” Shaggy told her. “Yeah,” Scooby nodded kindly with the wag of his tail. “We’re really friendly.”

Misty then spotted the book that Aruna had torn on the floor and picked it up, inspecting the damaged cover. “The History of Space Magic… this looks like it’s really old, and well-loved.”

“It’s one of my favorites,” Umbra nodded sadly, trying to hide her tears. “But… since it’s destroyed…”

“...let me see if I can fix it,” Misty offered, taking the book into her hooves before taking a breath and closing her eyes. “I might seem a little quiet, but my strength is very real. When my cutie mark comes to life, my heart helps me feel!”

Misty’s magic poured out of her horn and into the book in her hooves, slowly repairing the book, much to Umbra's sheer delight. “I… I don’t believe it! Thank you so much!” Umbra said once the book was fully repaired. “But… w-why… why would you do that for me? We just met.”

“Well… I know it feels to be mistreated like that,” Misty said gently, sitting down right beside Umbra. “I once served somepony who wanted power too… and her name was Opaline. She was an evil fire alicorn that made me feel completely worthless as long as I was serving her.”

“That’s how Aruna makes me feel… whenever she sees me, that is,” Umbra said, though she still seemed a little bit uncomfortable. “I never did anything to make her mad at me, but… she still makes me feel completely… unseen.”

“I get that. But… you have the power to write your own story,” Misty said gently. “You don’t have to be scared of her anymore. That's exactly what Aruna wants-- to make you feel useless, frightened and completely willing to submit to her reign.”

Umbra sniffled a bit at this, knowing that Misty was probably right. And knowing that she would need some sort of effort to cheer her up, Shaggy got an idea that made him smile. “Hey… Scoob and I are actually getting hungry again. Why don’t you come with us to, like, find a couple of snacks.”

“Really?” Umbra seemed surprised. “That… that’s so nice of you. But… are you sure you want to be seen with me? If my sister finds out…”

“We won’t let her hurt you again, we promise,” Sunny said, offering her a hoof to help Umbra back onto her feet. “Trust us when we say that.”

Umbra considered this for a few moments, and after wiping away her leftover tears, sniffled and nodded, taking Sunny’s hoof. “Thanks… I guess I am a bit hungry.”

And so, Umbra was led away by her new friends, believing that as long as she had them, the endless torture her sister put her through would be over.

Unfortunately... our heroes and their friends, old and new, had no idea of what Aruna was planning, or that the alien was still on the loose.

Or that Aruna, her master and the alien were all ready to exact their revenge.