Once the groups figured out where they wanted to go, the Mane 6 and Mystery Incorporated decided to head to the nearby park, wait for their flight and discuss what they had been into over the past couple of months...
...and boy, there was A LOT to share. “Whoa whoa whoa, hang on!” Fred spoke after a stunning piece of information was just shared. “You guys saved Christmas with a red-nosed reindeer and an arctic fox AND you got to pull Santa’s sleigh?!”
“And,” said Shaggy, “like, you saved an entire village of auroricorns from an evil snow leopard with hypnotizing powers?!”
“Of course we did!” Izzy said with a playful scoff. “That’s what we just said!”
“Wow… the only really interesting thing that’s been happening to us is solving mysteries for Fred’s famous uncle, Bobby Flay, and celebrating Christmas with our families,” Daphne said. “But I’m glad we’re all together again.”
“We are too… especially after such a long time of waiting for a Unity Quest,” Sunny spoke. “And the best news is, we only have to find one more crystal to activate the power in the Together Trees of Equestria!”
“And save my mom!” Misty said. “And while having the Together Trees get their power would be top-notch, me having my mom in my life would be… wow… I don’t even have the words!”
“Misty… we’re really excited for all the things you guys are gonna accomplish,” said Velma gently, “but… we don’t want you to get disappointed if Paradise is too far in that we can’t save her.”
“Velma’s right,” Fred spoke. “The way she hurt you back in Nowhere… I don’t think you would have survived that fight if Courage hadn’t stepped in.”
“She just… had too much power, and she couldn’t control her anger,” Misty said, trying to convince herself otherwise. “I know there’s good in her… I know it. You’ll see.”
The others looked at each other with a mix of hope and worry, not wanting to disappoint Misty further and hoping that she was right. Suddenly, Velma and Zipp’s phones buzzed, and they got them out at the same time to read the text. “Oh, guys! We gotta go!” said the white pegasus. “We need to be at the airport for our flight in half an hour!”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pipp asked. “Norville o’er Morgania, heeeeeeeere we coooooooooooome, yeah!!”
XXXXXXXX
The twelve friends spent the entire flight to England happily chatting, and once they finally arrived, they took all sorts of pictures to remember the trip by-- going to a football (soccer) game, walking with the Queen’s corgis, seeing Tower Bridge, riding a double decker bus, and many others.
But now, it was time to travel to that England town Shaggy’s ancestors were from to learn more about them. So, upon boarding the Mystery Machine, they set off. Fred smiled as they drove down the England backroad in quiet and tranquility. “That sure was nice of Mr. HB to ship over the Mystery Machine.”
“It sure was!” Hitch nodded as Sparky cuddled with his crab plush. “And wow… this English countryside is beautiful!” spoke Sunny, looking out the window. “We’re so lucky to be on this trip with you guys instead of somewhere dangerous.”
“Like, Sunny,” Shaggy said, “welcome to the club!”
“Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “We never wanna go somewhere dangerous.”
“Say, Fred,” Daphne spoke up after looking at the map, “the map says you were supposed to take a left back there.”
“Map? Oh, Daphne,” Fred chuckled, “Jones men don't need maps. We were born with an innate sense of direction. We were made for the open road.”
But, that was soon reflected off of Fred when they were nearly hit by an 18 wheeler on the road, making Fred veer to the other side just in time. “Is everypony okay back there?” Daphne asked, turning to those in the back, and not a second or two later, Izzy groaned, a little dizzy and nauseous from the sharp curves they were taking. “I’m all good… other than my stomach going all wishy-washy…”
“Fred, you do know that they drive on the left side of the road in England… right?” Velma asked. “Boy,” Fred huffed. “They built the roads wrong... is this the one where the toilet water goes the wrong way, too?”
“Ewww ewww ewww, Freddy!” Pipp immediately gagged. “That is SO not how toilets operate!”
“Cut him some slack, Pipp,” Zipp told her sister. “This country is a lot different than what they’re used to, just like we have to get used to new places.”
“But the toilet water going the wrong way…? Eww…”
Soon, they approached a roundabout with several signs and roads leading in different directions-- one of them being the way to Norville o'er Morgania. “See?” Fred smiled. “I told you I knew where we were going.”
But, not even a moment later, they started veering to the right side of the road again. “FRED!!!” the ponies practically shrieked for him to get on the left side again. “I got it!” Fred said quickly, trying to remember the new way of driving. “Just testing you.”
“Better go along with it, ponies,” Sunny whispered. “I have a feeling he’ll be doing it again.”
As they drove into town, they found the townsfolk decorating for some kind of celebration, hanging banners and balloons up on the buildings and streetlamps. “Wow,” Fred commented. “It looks like they’re about to have a party. Heh… good timing.”
“Party?” Scooby suddenly looked excited, as did Shaggy. “Oh, man… that means…”
“Party food!” Shaggy, Scooby and the unicorns cried in delight, rushing to look out the window, and Shaggy named off several food names they were serving. “Fish and chips… bangers and mash… toad in the hole! Welsh rarebit… spotted dick… jam roly-poly!”
“Are these real?” Izzy asked in awe. “I guess,” Shaggy shrugged before reading on. “Bubble and squeak… jellied eels… angels on horseback-- it’s like a whole new world of food!”
The Mystery Machine soon parked and everyone got out of it and approached a building nearby. But Shaggy and Scooby both had a different idea in mind. “Like, Scoob and I are gonna go grab a snack,” Shaggy said with a chuckle. “Hey, Sunny, do you and your friends wanna come?”
“Zipp and I can-- I wanna see if there are any new recipes I can try back home!” Sunny said. “We'll be right back, guys.”
And so, the four headed off, and the others looked over the old-looking building before them. “This place is kind of a dump, gang. Like, run-down,” Fred expressed an opinion. “Some of the architecture is left over from medieval times,” Velma explained as Daphne and Pipp approached a nearby stone sign. And what was on it blew Daphne’s mind. “Duuuudes!! The place we're staying is all that remains standing of the Kingdom of Camelot!”
This got Fred smiling, hearing this news. “Camelot?” he asked excitedly. “Like King Arthur? Merlin? Knights of the Round Table? We're standing on history!”
“Weren’t you just calling this place a dump?” Pipp asked. “Yeah, but now it’s a dump where knights lived!”
“Wow... that sounds really amazing! Like a real life fairytale!” Misty spoke with wide eyes. Velma only smiled and rolled her eyes. “There's very little evidence that Camelot or King Arthur even existed, Misty.”
“Oh, but he did.”
Upon hearing a voice behind them, they all turned around to see an older British man with glasses, and a young woman moving toward them. “That’s what we’re celebrating,” said the man before shaking Daphne’s hand. “Hi. I'm Mr. Saunders, the mayor of this fine city, and this here is my assistant, Sandi.”
“Hello,” Sandi greeted. “Nice to meet you. I’m Daphne, and this is Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Misty, Velma and Fred,” Daphne introduced. “Nice to meet you!” Mr. Saunders beamed in delight. “Yeah, you too,” Hirch replied back, impressed with how friendly the people here was before Velma decided to ask something. “You seemed awfully sure that King Arthur really existed,” she observed. “How can you be certain?”
“Because of our name, of course,” the mayor replied with most certainty. “Norville o'er Morgania.”
“Uh... sorry, but... should that name mean something important?” Pipp asked. “Yeah. We're from another universe,” said Izzy, “so things from this world may be a little harder for us to understand sometimes.”
“You don’t know the story? Well, not many do. But never fear. Soon, everyone will. It all began a long time ago, right here, on the site of Camelot,” the mayor began. “That’s right,” said Sandi with a certain nod. “The good King Arthur came under attack by the villainous Morgan Le Fey. Everything seemed bleak until a brave knight appeared. Sir Norville. Known for his fearlessness, this knight fought the evil witch and saved Camelot.”
“Wow... I guess there is other magic in this world besides North Pole magic and Equestrian magic after all!” Hitch said. “This town proves it!”
Byt Velma was still in disbelief after hearing everything. “Witches? Wizards?” she shook her head. “Come on-- those stories came out of the Dark Ages, where nothing could be accounted for.”
“Oh, and we can be accounted for?” Pipp crossed her hooves. “Come on, Pipp-- you're living proof!” Velma argued. “The age of Camelot was hundreds of years before now, and there was really no evidence.”
Even though a disbeliever was in their midst, Mr. Saunders still was smiling. “That’s okay,” he assured, adjusting his coat. “Stay in this town a little while and you'll experience the magic yourselves.”
Sandi nodded and explained to the gang further, a wide grin on her face. “The mayor has worked really hard to make this the greatest celebration ever. We have horse races, archery demonstrations, an unbelievable light show and even a pie-eating contest!”
“Did someone say pie-eating?”
Everyone turned to see Shaggy, Scooby, Zipp and Sunny coming toward them, and Shaggy and Scooby each had a turkey leg on them. “And who is this?” Mr. Saunders asked, shaking Shaggy’s hand. “My name’s Shaggy,” he explained, “and this is Sunny Starscout, Zipp Storm and Scooby-Doo.”
“Hey there,” Zipp saluted. “Hello!” Sunny greeted. “It's so nice to meet both of you!”
“Nice to meet you all as well,” the mayor said politely in response. “Shaggy’s actually the reason we’re here,” Velma explained. “It turns out Shaggy’s ancestors are from Norville o’er Morgania.”
“Norville is a Shaggy name,” said Scooby with the turkey leg in his mouth, and Shaggy nodded. “Yeah, my name’s Norville-- surname Rogers,” he explained. “But, uh, nobody calls me sir. That’s my dad’s name.”
At this news, the mayor was really surprised. “Oh really?” he asked with some astonishment in his voice. “You’re… sure?”
“He's been a Norville his whole life, and the DNA test proves it,” Zipp nodded. “Norville's a name that's been handed down in our family, like… like, forever,” Shaggy said with a chuckle. “Just like this medallion.”
With that, Shaggy pulled out a shiny gold medallion from under his shirt, and it glinted in the sunlight. “My mom gave it to me for luck.”
“Shaggy, it's gorgeous!” Pipp said in excitement. “If something that glamorous passed from generation to generation brings you good luck, maybe the Unity Crystals are our good luck charm! I mean... they did get us all to meet.”
The mayor looked at Shaggy’s medallion, wide eyed for a moment, then at a building who had the same symbol, then at Sandi. “Luck indeed…”
“We thought we’d look around,” explained Daphne, not noticing their expressions right off. “Who knows? Maybe Shaggy's ancestors left him something.”
“I’m hoping for some kind of medieval pizza,” said Shaggy as Scooby gulped down his turkey leg. “Or jellied eels!” Scooby added with the lick of his chops, causing the mayor to slowly nod. “Yes… well, we have to be going.”
With that, Sandi and the mayor rushed off, whispering and murmuring to several other townsfolk along the way, who whispered and murmured to other people that they passed. “Huh... is it just me,” said Zipp, “or did anypony else find their behavior a little out of the ordinary? Like what happened with the auroricorns!”
“You do make a good point. It did look like they were worried,” Misty nodded. “Or... like they were trying to keep something hidden.”
“Small towns are weird,” Fred said with a shrug, turning to Daphne. “Remember that time you dyed your hair blonde and everyone in that little northeastern town was talking about it?”
“Oh, yeah. Being blonde was… definitely not more fun that day,” Daphne agreed. “That’s less of a small town thing than it is a Scooby gang thing,” Velma said as she led them down the street. “Come on, the library’s this way.”
“How do you know?” Izzy asked, bewildered. “The same way Scooby and Shaggy always know where the food is,” Velma told her with a wink. And so they followed her just a block or two away to the library. But, as they walked, Sunny noticed that a lot of people were staring at Shaggy wide-eyed, like he was some kind of a freak or something.
That immediately got her concerned... why were they staring at him in such a peculiar manner?
Thinking it was nothing, Sunny was about to rejoin her friends before a sort laughter (a familiar laughter at that, echoed in her ears, and as she looked toward the library, she saw a shadow and an Opaline-like image flash in her mind, causing her to shake her head and back up a bit. “What was that?!”
“You okay, Sunny?” Pipp asked as she, Zipp and Scooby rushed back to her aid. “I-I don’t know,” Sunny shook her head. “All these different images of this shadowy figure appeared in my mind, and there was this laughing… it almost sounded like Opaline’s laughter, but… that’s impossible… right?”
“Sure it’s impossible. Opaline blew up back in the Himalayas, remember?” Zipp asked. “Maybe it was just a trick of the light.”
“Hmmm… maybe…”
“Come on, Sunny! I wanna do some more reading on this Camelot place!” Izzy called, and Sunny eventually got over her nerves and followed her friends away.
XXXXXXXX
Soon enough, they walked into the library to find it quiet and cold, making Shaggy shudder in a frightened way. “I don't know, Scooby-Doo. Are you getting that same sort of haunted vibe as I am?”
“Uh-huh…” Scooby nodded fearfully. “Doesn’t everything give you the haunted vibe?” Zipp asked them with a raised eyebrow. “It’s called ‘managing expectations’, dear sister. They can be scared one minute and not scared the next!” Pipp defended her friends. “I, however, LOVE to be scared!”
Scooby shuddered at this, leaning in to whisper to Sunny, Shaggy and Misty. “I don’t know why she would…”
“Don’t worry, guys,” Velma reassured them. “The only thing scary about this library is it still uses the Dewey Decimal System.”
As they approached the librarian’s desk, she had just gotten off the phone when Velma scoffed. “Unbelievable…” she said. “Next thing you're gonna tell me, they put the horror and romance section side by side.”
That’s when she noticed the librarian peeking out at them, and cleared her throat to ask her something. “Hi, I was wondering--”
“Shh! This is a place of study. Use your library voice please,” the librarian said, lightly stern. “Of course. I'm sorry,” Velma answered, a little embarrassed. But, when they looked around they saw that there was no one else in the library, which made them confused. “Is it just me… or is this place dead?” Fred asked, no pun intended before Zipp shushed him with the slap of her wing. “We were visiting,” Velma explained to the librarian in a whisper, “and wondered if you can point us to the books on the history of your town.”
“We’re trying to help a friend of ours find out about his family history,” said Sunny, “since a DNA report showed his ancestors were from here.”
The librarian sighed-- she would have to tell them so that way they would leave. “Near the back,” she said. “Past the horror and romance section.”
“Next to the horror and romance section?” Velma asked, an eyebrow raised-- exactly what she was afraid of in a library like this. “Sure…” Pipp said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “Because those genres are so similar. Even I wouldn't put my Spooky Stables books right next to the romance stories Mom reads!”
“Exactly. But you’ll need to hurry-- we’re closing in 20 minutes for the big… party,” the librarian let through a snarl at the last word. “Why we should be celebrating such a preposterous story, I'll never know, but one must do what one must do.”
“Ooookay. We’ll be quick, thank you,” Fred said politely as they hurried away. They were very much confused on what was happening in this town-- first the meeting with the mayor, then the staring townsfolk, and then the librarian who wanted to get away from the history of this place? Now things were getting interesting.
On another note, every member of the gang was busy searching the shelves for the book they needed. “Geez… there has to be over a million books in here!” Hitch groaned, trying to keep Sparky from eating one of the books. “How are we gonna find the one we need in this place?”
“I guess we’re just gonna have to go through every one of them in this section,” Zipp said. “And my visor can help me determine the subject for each.”
She lowered the visor over her face and began her scans, looking over several books. “Hand luggage… hobknockers… hypermarkets… ham hocks…”
“Oooh!” Shaggy grinned and immediately took the ham hocks book off of the shelf. “You can never know enough about a subject you love.”
As the White pegasus only rolled her eyes and walked past him, Velma then found the book they were looking for. “Here it is-- History of Sir Norville and Morgan le Fay.”
The group gathered around Velma at one of the tables nearby, but as soon as she opened the book, an eerie cold wind blew through the open window and right by them, causing Sparky to shudder. “That can’t be good…” Hitch looked around cautiously. “C-C-Cause it… it never is,” Scooby stammered in reply. “It... almost feels like a few minutes ago,” Sunny said, “when I heard that laughter and saw that shadow!”
“Really?” Daphne asked. “I didn't hear anything.”
“Come to think of it, neither did I,” Fred hummed in thought. This caused Sunny to sigh to herself. “Maybe I really did imagine it...” she said to herself. “Velma, what have you got on that book?”
“Well, from what I can tell, this seems to be some kind of storybook,” Velma noticed, and the ponies immediately brightened.
In most cases, there was nothing they loved more than a good story. “Once upon a time,” Velma began, “there was a great ruler named King Arthur. But this king was under attack from the evil Morgan Le Fey. She demanded the throne from King Arthur, but he would not give it up to one as evil as her-- everything was hopeless until Sir Norville appeared. Brandishing the mighty sword Excalibur, Norville, through a mighty tournament, became the rightful ruler of Camelot.”
“Oooh! Hee hee hee hee!” Sparky clapped his paws together in delight, but Misty looked worried for some reason. “I think there's a 'but' in there somewhere, right, Velma?”
“Right,” Velma nodded before continuing forward. “But no sooner did he gain the throne than Morgan Le Fey attacked again. Norville was whisked away to Morgan's castle where the two were never heard from again. King Arthur decreed that if Sir Norville or his children ever returned, he would be crowned the rightful ruler over all the land.”
At this, the gang sat in silence until Velma scoffed in disbelief. “No wonder it was called the Dark Ages. Can you imagine anyone believing such a story?” she asked. “Ha! Right, gang?”
“Well... I don't know about that. Anything is plausible,” Zipp said. “But it does stir some theories... and it night help answer questions on Shaggy’s lineage. Hey... speaking of Shaggy, where is he?”
“Scooby?” Shaggy?” Misty called out, wondering where their friends could have gone. “I-Is the story over?”
As the group looked around, it turned out that Shaggy’s voice was coming from a bookshelf nearby. Izzy trotted over and took the book labeled ‘A Great Hiding Place’ off the shelf, revealing the scaredy cat duo behind the shelf. “What do you know-- the book was right. This is a great hiding place,” Shaggy grinned, causing Sunny to chuckle. “Come on, gang. We’ll dig up more info later-- we don’t wanna miss that party outside, do we?”
“No, but I think we should take the book with us,” Zipp said, “just in case we find something else in here. Who knows?”
XXXXXXXX
After checking out the book to study later, they walked outside into the dimly lit street, but where the party was supposed to be was dark and abandoned, no one in sight. “Hey… where’s the party?” Fred wondered. “Did we miss it?” Izzy asked before she sadly whined. “But I wanted to try some of that bubble and squeak stuff!”
“Don’t worry, Izzy,” Daphne reassured. “It's like I always say; if you ever you see a party not happening, that means you're the party.”
“Oooooh-whee! Daphne girl, I am loving what you’re thinking!” Pipp said, bringing out her phone and beginning to fly up. “Come on, everypony! Let’s heat this place back up!”
Once selecting a song, Pipp confidently flew up and began to sing her heart out, encouraging most of the others to come and dance with her.
I'm feelin' fresh
Like my mane is on fleek
Happiness is all I need
Spreadin' love from you to me
Unh!
Somethin' about the way I'm feelin' (feelin')
Like everypony got a glow (oh-oh-oh-oh, ohhh)
Shinin' brightly with a power (power)
To spread the colors of the rainbow (rainbow)...
“Come on,” Daphne tried to encourage Velma and Zipp to join in. “If you dance it, they will come!”
“I don't think singing and dancing is gonna help us solve this issue,” Zipp spoke. “Something seems off, but I can't figure out what!”
“Oh, don't worry so much, Zipperooni!” Izzy said as she pranced around. “Try and get Velma onto the dance floor with us! Shake things up a bit!”
But, Velma was on the same page as Zipp, merely answering with one word only. “No.”
All of a sudden, lightning and thunder crashed above, and they all looked up in horror to see someone come down from the storm clouds-- a young sorceress with pale skin and long black hair, wearing a purple and black dress, with a long skirt, long sleeves and an open neckline. Something that would give someone chills just by looking at her. “It’s working!” Daphne said, unfazed as she continued dancing. “Come on, party people!”
“Hey, uh… don’t party people usually arrive by land?” asked Misty as Sparky backsx up behind Hitch's leg, not wanting to have any part in seeing this scary lady for the rest of the party. “Not if it’s a sky-diving party!” Daphne answered, just before Fred spoke up to her, just to test Daphne’s theory. “Excuse me. Are you the skydiving instructor?”
“I am Morgan le Fay, rightful ruler of Camelot!” the woman shouted, causing the twelve to look at her in fright. “And if it wasn't for meddling Sir Norville, I would be ruler still!”
At this, she pointed at Shaggy, making him whimper worriedly. “Why is she pointing at me…?!”
“I don't know, and I honestly don't want to find out!” Sunny said, unfurling her alicorn form to take on this enchantress. “I suggest you leave now, or things won't be pretty!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! You think a meddling alicorn can stand up to my great might?!” Morgan asked before summoning lightning bolts from the swirling clouds above, causing the ponies to be thrown back and unable to react right away. “So...” Hitch groaned, “...I take it that she isn't a skydiving instructor.”
“Ugh... nope,” Misty spoke, trying to stand. “Just another villain that we have to stop!”
“I am no mere villain! And now that Sir Norville has finally returned to his homeland…” Morgan said, raising her fists above her head, “I shall FINALLY have my revenge!”
“You’ll have to catch us first!” Zipp said before they all darted to the Mystery Machine. With that, they tried to get away, but Morgan leapt on the windshield to attack them, causing them to drive that much faster, shaking Morgan off in the process.
Even if they got away, she would find them...
...no matter where they decided to hide.
XXXXXXXX
Pretty soon after they ditched Morgan, the two groups in the Mystery Machine left town and skidded to a stop near some kind of stone structure, and they all got out slowly, still shaken from what had happened. “That was SO not a party person!” Daphne exclaimed. “What was that thing?!” Pipp blurted out from the shock. “She said she was the ghost of Morgan le Fay,” Velma said. “But that’s just… preposterous!”
“On a scale from one to…” Shaggy let out a high-pitched, girl-like scream, catching the group a tad off guard. “...how preposterous do you think it was?”
“Look... whoever she was, she seems pretty upset with Shaggy for some reason,” Sunny said. “And we need to figure out why before she finds us again and somepony gets hurt!”
“Yeah, but is there anything in the book that can tell us something?” Hitch asked as Misty vigorously flipped through it, unfortunately not finding anything. Zipp was just about to comment, but she saw something unique about the stone formation-- like she had seen it in a book she had once read. “Check it out, gang-- it’s an old henge,” she said. “A circle of stones that once held some sort of mystical significance.”
“Hey, guys! Look at that!”
Everyone looked where Daphne pointed to see a statue of a bold looking knight in the middle of the henge. “Wow… who do you think that is?” Shaggy wondered. They approached the statue and Daphne knelt down to see what the plaque at the bottom read. “It says this is the statue of the legendary Sir Norville!”
“The same knight in the legend!” Sunny cried. “If Sir Norville's statue is in the middle of the henge, this has to be a significant place!”
“Okay, I can see that...” Hitch nodded. “But how is the statue of Sir Norville going to help us here?”
Before this question could be answered, however, Morgan le Fay flew overhead, causing the twelve friends to gasp in terror. “Did someone say Sir Norville?! I despise Sir Norville!”
Shaggy smiled nervously, thinking he could clear this whole thing up without a spot of doubt. “Well, good news, man. I’m not him. I’m Shaggy. And, like, everyone loves me!”
“No joke!” Scooby agreed with a nervous nod. “There is no time for love,” Morgan sneered. “Only retribution!”
She pointed her hands down at the ground, and suddenly, the ground began to glow with a bright light, causing the gang to shield their eyes from the glow. “I invoke sorcery’s paradigm,” Morgan began to chant, the ground still glowing. “With this eldritch and mystical rhyme, I'll leave them bipedal, but teach them to meddle and send their butts backward in time! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”
As she said this spell, an eerie mist began to surround the gang and ponies, but even as Pipp and Zipp flapped their wings as hard as they could to try and push the mist back, it still kept coming toward them. “I’m scared, Shaggy…” Scooby whimpered fearfully. “Me… too, buddy,” Shaggy said with a sudden yawn. To make matters even worse, the others began to get sleepy too-- and the sleepiness seemed to be coming from that mist. “Is anyone else getting a bit… tired…?” Hitch asked sleepily. “Tired?” Daphne clarified. “Oh… yeah…”
Morgan cackled evilly as her plan began to fall into place, and with the shake of her tired head, Sunny tried to move. “Come on, guys… we gotta get back to the van…!!”
But, try as they might, the sleepiness was trying to get to them quicker than they could handle-- so quick that the sisters could barely lift off the ground, and the others just staggered toward the van.
The last thing they remembered was collapsing to the ground in tiredness, and then… all went black.