G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness

Umbra, the Moon Jaguar and the abused twin sister of the Sun Jaguar, Aruna, had boldly sacrificed herself to fight the alien head on while Misty, Shaggy, Scooby and Sunny made their escape and went to find their friends so they could go back and rescue her.

Of course, Elvin and Steelcase were a bit reluctant to believe that there was an actual alien inside the base, but upon hearing how dedicated the friends were to saving Umbra, they decided to go along with it and followed them in the direction of the restaurant, with Sunny instructing Pipp to tell everyone except Aruna to meet them there.

Pipp was naturally confused by the request, but she did so any way, unaware that Aruna was listening from nearby... at least, she was before she went to go tell Alterro about a slight change in plans.

Now, we're all probably wondering what's going to happen to our Equestrian heroes next, so let's get back to the story and not keep anyone waiting long, shall we?

XXXXXXXX

Umbra groaned weakly to herself as she had finished fighting with the alien, but had been left wounded after the alien had escaped.

She didn't regret trying to save her friends, however. If given the chance, she would do it all over again.

That was the first time in a long time that she actually felt the power she needed to change her circumstances.

As long as her friends were safe... that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, Hitch and Sunny kicked the restaurant doors open, and Misty, Shaggy and Scooby gasped upon seeing Umbra laying weak and wounded in the middle of the damaged restaurant. “UMBRA!!!”

“You… you all came back?” Umbra asked weakly, her eyes wide as the others rushed to her side. “But… but I…”

“Hey, don’t say anything,” Sunny said to the injured jaguar. “You need to save your strength until Misty can find a healing spell and heal those injuries.”

“Look at this,” Shannon said as she walked around the restaurant, her eyes completely wide at how much damage there was. “I’m just glad no one else got hurt.”

“Tell that to the poor spring rolls,” Shaggy said as he tried to pick up a spring roll, only for it to crumble in his hand. “Or to anybody replaced by an alien impostor,” Morpho added. “Because aliens can do that.”

“Morpho, this is SO not the time,” Zipp shot the changeling a look. “Umbra is really hurt, and we need to make sure she’s okay before doing anything else.”

“Well, there is one bright side,” Clark said with a shrug. “Better the food than the ship.”

Shaggy shot Clark a very nasty look as Scooby growled in anger, both of them clearly offended by this remark. “Watch your mouth, Hollywood.”

Shutter Snap squeaked and took a slightly frigheened step behind Clark at this, and Velma only smiled, not as phased as Clark and Shutter were. “Shaggy is very sensitive when it comes to food.”

“And, we’re all sensitive when it comes to new friends being hurt,” Pipp said as she massaged Umbra’s side to get rid of some of the pain. “This should help until your injuries are fully healed.”

“Wow… thank you, all of you,” Umbra said with a grateful smile. “You’re just as kind as Sunny and Misty made you to be.”

“Well, I’m not denying that Umbra getting hurt is bad,” Daphne said, “but it could’ve been a lot worse.”

“Exactly,” Shannon smiled at her fellow red-head. “Good point, Daphne.”

“Yes, Daphne, well done,” Velma said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Daphne before walking off with Clark, leaving Zipp and Shutter Snap to watch them leave. “It's lucky we have a space expert like you here.”

Once they were gone, Shannon looked over at Daphne in confusion. “What's that about?”

“...I have an idea,” Daphne said with a small sigh, glancing over at Zipp and Shutter, who were watching as Misty slowly began to heal Umbra’s injuries.

But that's when things began to take a dire turn for the worst.

The door to the restaurant flew open, and in came Aruna, pretending to look concerned over what had just happened. “Oh my sunspots! This looks absolutely horrid!” she gasped before spotting her sister. “And poor Umbra, you’re all banged up! Here, let me take a look at--”

Suddenly, Scooby jumped in front of Aruna and barked angrily at her, and Aruna shrieked and jumped back much to everyone’s confusion. “Scooby, heel, boy!” Hitch said, trying to keep Scooby back. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Yes, Scooby, calm down,” Aruna said gently. “I just want to check on my sister, and…”

But however, Aruna didn’t get very far when Scooby kept barking at her, causing her to shriek and back up again. “Don’t you even think about it, Aruna,” Sunny warned dangerously as she, Misty and Shaggy stood in front of Umbra. “You’re not here to check up on her, you just want to hit her again!”

“Wait, what?” Tidal looked at Aruna in shock. “Is that true, Aruna?”

“What? No!” Aruna tried to deny the truth. “I would never hit my only sister! I… I love…”

“Oh, give me a break, fish breath,” Shaggy curled his hands up into fists. “We saw you do it with our own, like, eight eyes!”

“What?” Aruna looked at him, a bit skeptical, shocked and scared all rolled into one. “What do you mean you saw me?”

“We were following Umbra’s singing when we saw you leap down and scare her. Then we saw you bully and intimidate her before you hit her across the face,” Misty recounted the entire thing to the stunned crowd. “You put on a pretty face and claim you have it all, but in the end, you have all this power and you don’t know a single thing about humility, sisterhood or true friendship.”

“HA! What makes you say that?” Aruna asked with a scoff, looking as if she were going to crack any minute as the rest of the Mane 6 slowly began to realize the true nature of Aruna's behavior. “I have friends!”

“You have to force others to pretend to be your friends!” Misty snapped bravely, causing Aruna to bare her fangs at Misty in response. “Just like Umbra! That’s control… the same thing Opaline put me through!”

Aruna snarled at this, getting right in Misty’s face. “You ungrateful little pony! I gave you all the trip of a lifetime, and this is the thanks I get?!”

“...you don’t get any thanks.”

Aruna suddenly gasped as the rest of the Mane 6, Mystery Incorporated, Cassiopeia, Tidal, Starshine and Morpho suddenly stood beside their friends, not letting Aruna past them in any shape or form. “You… you’re all teaming up with the misfit? The unwanted one?! I'm the popular one! I AM THE ONE YOU SHOULD LOVE!!!!”

“Oh, no. Don’t try and play the popular card on us,” Hitch warned, his eyes narrowing as the ponies, the hippogriffs, Cassiopeia and Morpho charged their magic threateningly. “Now… I suggest you leave us all alone while we try and conduct a thorough investigation… otherwise things aren’t gonna end well.”

Aruna snarled angrily at this, but upon seeing that everyone else was ganging up on her, she roared in their faces before running out of the restaurant, leaving everyone to collectively sigh in relief.

That was definitely too close for comfort.

Umbra took a few moments to control her breathing again before looking up at the others with a gaze that shown nothing but gratitude and happiness. “I… I’ve don't think I've ever been so confident to stand up to anyone before, especially not my sister, but… you guys just did what I could never do. T-Thank you.”

“Hey… that’s what friends do for each other, remember?” Izzy said as she nuzzled Umbra softly. “We look out for each other, always.”

However, while the groups started to comfort Umbra about her sister again, Elvin looked over at Steelcase to regain focus about the whole alien situation. “So right now, we have a total of five witnesses.”

“Right… who aren’t gonna be ready to talk anytime soon,” Steelcase rolled his eyes. “Come on, Zip, this is a joke. There's no alien and we've got work to do.”

Suddenly, there was a large bang on the door, which caused Shaggy, Scooby, Izzy, Pipp and Misty to scream and cling to each other as the door slowly opened, revealing a shadowy figure. “Uh, guys?” Izzy gulped. “I think it’s back!”

But as it turns out, the figure was just Sly Baron, wearing some sort of strange boots and floating high above everyone else. “Looks like I missed one heck of a party.”

“Well… look who shows up,” Velma said suspiciously. “Yeah,” Zipp nodded, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “And right after all the excitement.”

“Perfect timing, I'd say,” Sly spoke up before he started the conversation that brought him down there to begin with. “I was to give a satellite interview, about me, of course but it appears someone or something put it out of commission.”

“Hold on,” Cassiopeia lifted a hoof. “The satellite is out?”

“We’re cut off from Earth,” Sly Baron continued. “No way of communicating to anyone.”

Most everyone looked stunned at this, while a few of them gasped and Shaggy and Scooby whimpered in terror just before Hudson arrived. “It must have happened right before…”

“The alien attack!” Ridley assumed. “Don't worry, folks. I'll be fine. Besides, Hudson is on it,” Sly said, causing his brother to nod as he floated further into the room. “And the Slybots are preparing more food as we speak.”

“Wow! Awesome boots!” Fred pointed out Sly’s new footwear. “Yes, they are awesome. Because they are on me. They're my brother's latest magnaboot prototype,” Sly explained. “It creates a pressure-sensitive electromagnetic field for attraction.”

Clark spared a flirting glance over at Velma. “I think you might know a thing or two about electromagnetic attraction. Am I right?”

“You can't be serious,” Velma muttered. “I might throw up.”

“Really, Clark?” Shutter Snap looked at her partner with a questioning gaze. “Are you serious right now?”

“Sorry,” Clark apologized. “And repulsion,” Sly continued, demonstrating how the boots worked just as Zipp turned to her sister and friends. “That’s more accurate, I’d say.”

“Very handy in space,” Sly continued to float around. “Handy for creating a spectacle too,” Velma said with a suspicious look. “No one creates a spectacle quite like you.”

“Heh. Spectacle? Right you are, Velma Dinkley,” Sly said as he floated closer to the ground in order to face Velma fully. “And an alien attack,” Velma continued, “is the greatest spectacle of all, no?”

Sly landed in front of Velma, clearly not liking where she was going with this. “Are you suggesting I had something to do with this alien situation?”

“Well, if the boot fits…”

Velma and Sly glared at each other for a few moment until something rather peculiar happened-- Sly started laughing, much to Velma's shock and everyone's surprise. “I wish I had thought of it. And I probably would have, if I wasn't too busy doing interviews about how awesome I am. An alien encounter is a publicity gold mine. There's only one thing that would top it.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Cloudy Dash raised a hoof. “An alien space battle!”

“Well…”

“Ooh!” Daphne suddenly thought of something else. “An alien wedding!”

Sly shook his head to this. “No…”

“How about an alien cook-off?” Shaggy suggested. “No!” Sly answered before revealing his true idea. “An alien in captivity!”

Everyone seemed to stare at Sly for a few moments before Tidal spoke up with a raised eyebrow. “Too bad for you there's no alien to capture.”

“Hey,” Morpho challenged. “You can’t say for certain that…”

“Oh, yes, we can,” Elvin got in Morpho and Ridley’s faces. “Last count, I'm pretty sure Colt and I have been to space a whole lot more times…”

“Gentlemen. Ladies. Please!” Shannon pleaded, getting between the two groups to calm the situation down a bit. “It's been a long day. We're all tired, and maybe it's making us a little uneasy. Why don't we all get some sleep?”

“Excellent suggestion, Shannon,” Sly smiled. “I’m glad I thought of it.”

“Hmph!” Sparky huffed, crossing his little paws as Sly began speaking again. “A few hours' sleep will do us all good. The Sly Star should be ready by then too. Right, brother?”

“Yes,” Hudson nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Then, while Sly flew off and Hudson went to go work on the Sly Star One again, Ridley, Shannon, H.A.M, Clark, Elvin and Steelcase walked into three elevators and the doors shut in front of them, leaving Mystery Inc, the Mane 6, Sparky and their new friends alone. “Uh, guys… I didn’t wanna say it in front of the others,” Starshine said uneasily, “but I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep with that alien or… whatever threatened the ship… still out there.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Scooby agreed, and Shaggy rubbed the top of his head in comfort. “You guys really do think there’s an alien out there?” Zipp asked the others in surprise. “I didn’t think you guys believed Ridley and Morpho’s crazy talk. Oh… no offense.”

Morpho rolled his eyes at this. “None taken, I guess.”

“We’re not exactly sure if there’s a real alien or not, but… we do have faith in all of you,” Cassiopeia said boldly. “Right. And if you guys wanna do something to stop the alien,” said Cloudy, “then we’re willing to do whatever it takes to help.”

“Guys,” Velma sighed irritably, “there’s no alien!”

“But, Velma,” Daphne argued, “we all saw it.”

“Oh, I forgot,” Velma said sarcastically, making the group a little uneasy. “You’re the expert now!”

“Are you still mad at me because I scored higher than you on the test?” Daphne asked with a huff, putting her hands on her hips. “And have better hair?”

She waved her hair around for emphasis, causing Pipp to put a hoof on Daphne’s shoulder. “Daph, I get you’re trying to make a point here, but… now’s not really the time.”

“Pipp’s right for once, guys. I need you to take a break from arguing,” Fred told Daphne and Velma sternly. “We’re a team.”

“And even if I’m new to this group, I do know that there’s only one way to find out if this alien is real or not,” Umbra pointed out. “We’ve got to catch it.”

Suddenly, an elevator bell dinged and everyone else quickly turned around to see Ridley standing by the elevators, ready to help. “Did someone say… ‘catch an alien’?”

Suddenly, Ridley looked back at H.A.M, who was playing the dramatic music before going up in the elevator again.

Needless to say… the group might actually need Morpho and Ridley’s expertise on aliens in order to actually succeed in catching the alien… whether it was real or not.

XXXXXXXX

Within the next half hour, the Slybots and a majority of the group were gathering supplies for Fred's trap idea, all while Fred smiled off to the side. “This is gonna be the greatest alien trap ever.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Freddy,” Sunny said as she finished pushing some supplies over with Izzy, “but isn’t this also the FIRST alien trap ever?”

“It's also an act of war,” Ridley added coldly. “All the more reason to make it perfect,” Fred added. “Plus I wanna impress Elvin and Steelcase.”

Morpho rolled his eyes sarcastically at this. “Kind of tough to impress them if they aren't here.”

“Have you considered that they may not warm up to you, no matter what you do?” Daphne asked. “No,” Fred shook his head. “Why?”

Daphne only sighed in response. “No reason.”

“Phew… okay, guys, I think that’s all the supplies for right now,” Tidal said as she and her cousin landed right near them. “My claws and wings are exhausted!”

“Thanks, guys. Take a nice long break, and then we’ll handle the rest,” Misty told the others, who flopped down on the floor in exhaustion just as Ridley glanced over at the supplies they had gathered. “Aliens would laugh at this trap if they had a sense of humor. But they don't.”

Zipp sighed wearily at this before looking up at Ridley. “Okay, for fun, let's say aliens are real. What do you think is gonna happen?”

“Oh, boy… you might’ve struck a nerve with that one,” Morpho said, sitting down. “Ridley’s theory is gonna go on for a while.”

But deciding to ignore the changeling’s comments, Ridley began her own theories while the others listened with slight interest and slight bewilderment. “This is Phase 1… contact. A single alien from a race advanced light years beyond ours stealthily boards a human ship with ease. The alien makes contact. It seems hostile. But it's not after blood. It's gathering intel. On us.”

“On us?” Hitch gulped nervously, causing Sparky to whimper. “Okay… despite suffering from my sister’s abuse,” said Umbra, “that REALLY doesn’t sound good.”

“The alien pinpoints our weaknesses and transmits his findings home,” Ridley continued, pacing around. “So begins Phase 2… invasion. An alien fleet enters our solar system. An armada of infinite size and power, it surrounds its target, Earth, and attacks. Our meager defenses are no match for its vastly superior might. The world's great cities are devastated by the siege. New York. Tokyo. Paris. Dublin. Which leads to Phase 3... rock bottom. The aliens enslave humanity, forcing us to mine Earth's natural resources until we and the planet are bled dry.”

Izzy whimpered and grabbed Misty in complete terror as Morpho let out a heavy sigh. “In short, not so good for us,” he added. “Not until…”

“Human rebels rise up against their alien oppressors!” Fred interrupted, catching everyone offguard. “Oh, yeah yeah yeah!” Cloudy Dash agreed with a confident smile on her face. “They fight from the shadows, turning alien technology against its makers!”

“Wait, what?” Ridley seemed surprised by their sudden enthusiasm. “No, no, no. As I was saying…”

“Humans stick together when facing a monumental challenge,” Daphne added, putting her hands on her hips. “They fight with instead of against each other when confronting a common threat.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that idea!” Pipp nodded. “Maybe we could even use makeup on those alien freaks! Besides, from all the sci-fi movies I’ve seen, they could DEFINITELY use it.”

Shaggy laughed as he got his own idea. “I could use my superior video-game skills!”

“Hey, this is my thing,” Ridley tried to interject. “I get to say what…”

However, Velma had already gotten into Daphne’s face by this point. “It takes more than teamwork and video games to defeat the aliens,” she said fiercely. “It takes a particularly clever human whose skills are sometimes overlooked by her fellow humans.”

“Great…” Ridley muttered, looking defeated as Morpho became a bit interested in what the others had to say. “Nothing left for me to say but…”

Suddenly, Scooby whispered an idea into Umbra and Sunny’s ears, causing them both to smile. “Or maybe,” said Sunny, “as per Scooby’s own suggestion, we should try and be friends with the aliens. They might be there for their own domination…”

“But,” Umbra added, “that doesn’t mean we can’t treat them like outsiders. We could treat them all as one of us, and make them feel welcome on Earth instead of trying to destroy it.”

“Okay… I hate to admit it,” Morpho admitted, “but that’s actually not a bad plan.”

“Yeah!” Shutter Snap added with a smile. “We could all be friends, and we could show them our traditions while they can show us theirs!”

“Ugh! This is ridiculous!” Ridley grumbled out of annoyance before storming off. “I’m leaving.”

“Ridley…” Morpho tried to go after her, but Ridley already walked into an elevator and shut the door, leaving the group alone. “Great…”

“You didn’t have to agree to our idea if you didn’t want to, Morpho,” Umbra said gently. “I know you and Ridley share a lot of the same ideas.”

“We do, but… I guess I never thought about being friends with an alien before,” Morpho said with an uneasy shrug. “I guess since changelings in my family have always been bred to defend themselves, I guess I had to be the same way.”

“Hey… I know how you feel. A long time ago, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns feared each other over their powers and spread horrible rumors about each other,” Hitch said. “But… once we all got to know each other, we realized that none of those rumors were actually true.”

“And that,” Zipp smiled, “was now magic came back and how we all became friends.”

“Wow… I guess I never thought about all the troubles that the ponies of Equestria have been through,” Cloudy said thoughtfully. “All of us had been raised on Earth, but our ancestors all lived in Equestria, so…”

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker on and off, causing Umbra to shriek in surprise. “It’s starting… they’re here!” Fred said optimistically. “Places, everyone!”

“We’ll go make sure our friends are safe,” Shutter Snap offered, taking Sparky onto her back. “And we’ll look after Sparky too. Just… be careful.”

“We will,” Sunny said gently. “We promise.”

And so, exchanging good luck hugs and farewells, everyone split up to their assigned areas of the base, ready to catch this so-called alien once and for all so they could put themselves at ease before the flight back to Earth.