Chapter 2
Daphne's Dilemma
EDIT: I need to right what was wrong in the previous chapter. I was reading South California as South Carolina for Coolsville. But after looking up Coolsville from the live-action films. It's actually in Erie County, Ohio. So, if anyone's confused by the inconsistency of Coolsville's state, that's why. We good? Good.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Scooby-Doo! or My Little Pony. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro and Scooby-Doo! belongs to Hanna-Barbera/Warner Bros. The only thing I own is the story. Anyways, on with the adventure!
The gang and their friends, collectively known as the Rainbooms, were finally on the road towards New Orleans. Their first stop was at an old antebellum manor. There, they encountered what appeared to be an evil spirit summoned by the fortune teller. Naturally, both Scooby and Shaggy were terrified of it and decided to run and hide. Even Fluttershy decided to turn tail and run. The three of them ran inside a revolving door, which Velma was extremely curious about. Twilight ran after her friend and they both slipped through the door as it was rotating rapidly. That's when they came across a projector that was using an old stage technique known as Pepper's ghost. It gave the illusion that the ghost was actually in the room with them. Soon, Fluttershy, Shaggy and Scooby stopped spinning and knocked over the projector. Scooby then noticed that the ghost they encountered was another fake, much to Daphne's chagrin.
Next, they visited a cemetery in hopes of getting footage of a real live ghost. Inside the mausoleum, Scooby, Shaggy and Fluttershy were investigating when out of nowhere, a giant vampire bat popped out of the coffin directly in front of them. This, of course, caused Fluttershy to scream in horror. Shaggy held up a mirror in front of the bat, hoping that it would defeat it, since vampires usually dislike mirrors. The vampire bat, however, swatted the mirror away, causing the three of them to run for their lives while being chased. As it chased them, Daphne hoped it was real by letting Fred capture the monster on film via a camcorder. Eventually, they knocked over a flower pot containing flowers as they ran, tripping the vampire bat. Rarity unmasked the bat, which was revealed to be an old man. Twilight then felt something inside the supposed wing. It was revealed to be a diamond necklace. Daphne made a slashing motion over her throat, telling Fred to cut the footage, since they were done there.
The friends then visited a deserted riverboat, where they came up against a zombie captain. As Shaggy, Scooby, Fluttershy, and Pinkie slowly backed away from the zombie, they were eventually launched towards a mixer. This was thanks to the others opening the door to get footage of the zombie captain. "WHEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie exclaimed. Eventually, they all landed on top of the zombie, which was revealed to be another fake.
Their last stop on their way to New Orleans was Bubba Joe's, an old abandoned restaurant. "I'm scared, you guys," shivered Fluttershy. "I know, Fluttershy, but we have to see if this place really is haunted," said Sunset, shining her flashlight. Just then, she felt a tap from a giant claw on her shoulder. Slowly turning her head, she saw a giant crawdad monster. She then tapped Sunset's shoulder, who then tapped Scooby's shoulder, who then tapped Shaggy's shoulder. Knowing that they had just seen a monster, the four of them decided to make a run for it. The monster almost got a grip on Scooby's tail, had the Great Dane not jumped in time onto a chain. As Sunset tried to free Shaggy from the crawdad monster's grasp, Scooby kicked it into a stack of cans. Fred continuing rolling as Sunset unmasked the monster, revealing it to be none other than the proprietor himself, Bubba Joe. Rolling her eyes in disbelief, Daphne made a slash motion over her throat and Fred stopped the footage.
After all that, both the gang and the Rainbooms finally made to New Orleans. Daphne was less than pleased with the footage they had captured so far. In fact, it was the main reason the gang disbanded in the first place. They had gotten so used to unmasking fake monsters that it felt like their time together was getting stale. "Bad guys in masks, mechanical claws, magnets, hologram projectors," she sighed. "Just like the good old days!" chimed Velma. "Too much like the good old days. I've got a show to do," said Daphne. "Daphne, darling, please. I know you want to give your audience a real ghost or monster, but at least be considerate about that for once," said Rarity as she was fixing her mascara. "Geez, you guys sure faced a lot of scary stuff when the eleven of us were in high school three years ago," said Rainbow. "It was a lot scarier back then, Rainbow. Now it feels like it's become the norm," said Daphne. "Doesn't anyone want to beignet?" asked Fred, trying to change the subject. "What I want is house that's REALLY haunted," said Daphne, flipping through her guide book. "I mean, there must be one SOMEWHERE in Louisiana, aside from that supposed school."
Just then, the five of them heard a sweet feminine voice nearby say that there was indeed, a real haunted house. She was a beautiful-looking lady, about the same age as Daphne. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore red tie headband, a red vest over a lavender t-shirt, a red skirt, and red heels. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear," she said in a southern drawl. "I work as a chef in a house on Moonscar Island. A house that really is haunted." "Jinkies!" exclaimed Velma. "My name is Lena. Lena Dupree," the woman said politely. "Fred Jones," said Fred, shaking her hand. "This is Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, Rarity Belle, and Rainbow Dash." "Charmed," said Lena. "Moonscar Island? Where is that?" asked Daphne, feeling a bit curious. "It's in a bayou, not far from here," Lena explained. "A pirate named Morgan Moonscar died on the island. And his spirit still haunts the place." "Did I just hear someone say something 'bout a pirate?" asked Applejack, who was carrying a big bag filled with apples.
"And who might you be?" asked Lena. Applejack put the bag down and extended her hand. "Name's Applejack. Nice to meet ya," said Applejack, shaking her hand. "I was just fetching some apples to make some cider with and I heard the word pirate. I'm very interested in pirates maself." "I hate to break it to you, Applejack, but it's probably just some guy in an old pirate suit trying to scare off the local kids," said Fred. "Way to spoil ma fun again, Frederick," Applejack groaned. "I'm just being honest," said Fred. "And it's your killjoy attitude of yours that ultimately led to our break-up," Applejack said angrily. "Did you have to bring that up?" growled Daphne. "You guys, stop!" Twilight shouted from inside the Mystery Machine. "The gang just got back together; I don't want to see you guys break up again this soon." "Sorry," Fred and Daphne apologized. "So, uh, is the ghost real?" asked Applejack. "Sure is. Unless, of course, you're too scared to go?" said Lena. Before Applejack could respond, Fred jumped in.
"Scared? Me? No, I-I don't think so," said Fred. "If you want to check it out, you're welcome to come by," said Lena as she walked away to finish up her shopping. "We'll think about it," he said as she left. He then turned towards Daphne. "Well, what do you think?" he asked her. "What do we have to lose? It's the best lead we've had all day," said Daphne. "And that Lena is kind of cute," said Fred. This did NOT make Daphne happy. She had known Fred since they were kids solving mysteries around Coolsville, Ohio. "Freddy! That is most undignified!" Rarity scolded. "I just meant she'd be real photogenic for our segment," he argued. "Right. Wipe your upper lip, Romeo," said Daphne, who was clearly jealous.
"Hey, guys, listen to this!" called Twilight. "I punched Moonscar Island into the Mystery Machine's research database; There have been quite a few mysterious disappearances around that island over the past several years." "Sounds promising," said Daphne. "We better find Sunset, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Scooby, and Shaggy before Lena takes off." "Where'd they even go?" asked Fred. "Oh, that's no mystery," said Velma. "Yeah. Sunset went with Shaggy just to spend some alone time with him," said Rainbow Dash in air quotes. Applejack couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Darn-tootin', Dash. And knowing Fluttershy, she's keeping an eye on Scooby to make he don't get into too much trouble," said Applejack. "And knowing Pinkie, she went with the guys to do what they enjoy doing," said Twilight. "And that's getting a bite to eat."
Sure enough, that's exactly where they were. Ordering a tall Po-Boy sandwich from Pierre's Poor Boys sandwich vendor. The proprietor, Pierre, even commented on how it was the largest he had ever created in his life while Scooby, Shaggy and Pinkie were sitting down with their tongues hanging out. "Like, we're used to eating big meals," said Shaggy. To add a bit of a challenge, Scooby started squirting hot sauce on the sandwich for flavoring. "I see the three of you like it hot," said Pierre as he cut the sandwich into three equal pieces. "Like, more hotter, more better, eh, Scoob?" said Shaggy. "Rore rotter, rore retter!" agreed Scooby. Knowing Scooby, Pinkie immediately ate her piece of the sandwich before Scooby could snatch it up like he did with Shaggy's. Seeing this caused both Fluttershy and Sunset to giggle. Fluttershy at Scooby's goofy behavior and Sunset at Shaggy's misfortune.
Just then, everyone heard Fred's voice behind them. "Hey, come on, guys," said Fred. "We found another haunted house to investigate." Being the scaredy-cats that they were, Scooby and Shaggy immediately held each other in fear. They hated scary places, which was pretty obvious to everyone at this point. Even Sunset knew how much of a coward Shaggy was. Still, they had to go along if the location they were heading off included any kind of edible food like sandwiches. Plus, although it wasn't known to most of the gang, Shaggy actually did have feelings for Sunset as much as she did for him. Little did they know that their secret was about to get out and could possibly end up saving them when they least expected it.