Chapter 1

Stranded in New Mexico

DISCLAIMER: I do not own My Little Pony or Scooby-Doo. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro and Scooby-Doo belongs to Hanna-Barbera/Warner Bros. I only own the story you are about to read.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before we begin, I just need to say that the name of the town in this story is based on the name found in the description that's given for the original movie on my YouTube Premium account. This story is also dedicated to Mary Kay Bergman, the actress that voiced Daphne Blake in Zombie Island, Witch's Ghost, The Scooby-Doo Project, and Alien Invaders. This film originally came out on VHS and DVD in 2000 after her tragic 1999 death by gunshot suicide. With that out of the way, on with the third mystery!

It was a warm, September night around Scorpion Creek, New Mexico. In the vast, desert were three satellite stations. Inside the main station, sat an African American man with a blue t-shirt and baseball cap wearing a headset. His name was Max. Behind him sat a white woman with brown hair tied in a ponytail wearing a yellow polo shirt. Her name was Laura.

"YOW!" he shrieked as he heard a loud blast over the headset.

"What happened?" Laura asked, looking up from her reading material.

"I got a blast from something."

She walked over to the control panel and saw that all of the meters had their needles pointed at max value.

"Hey, you're right! It's over 120 on the meter."

Max put the headset back on to see if he could hear it again, but got nothing. Just then, a white man with brown hair wearing a white shirt walked in. The man's name was Steve.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We just got a reading!" Laura replied.

"A loud one," Max added.

"You're kidding!" gasped Steve.

He went up to the sonar display and noticed that nothing was there.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now," Max sighed.

"Look, I know you both want to work another shift here, but I need to get some rest, too."

"Well, we earned our pay from Uncle Sam today," said Max, handing Steve the headset.

"Yeah. Who knows? We might've actually reached someone out there," said Laura.

"Maybe they're already here," said Steve, who was checking the sonar.

Meanwhile, on the open desert New Mexico road, the gang was traveling in the Mystery Machine towards their next destination. In the front seats were both Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, who were rocking out to some rock and roll music. In the back, there was only one person who was wide awake and that was Rainbow Dash.

"Aw, yeah! Rock and roll, boys!" she exclaimed as she banged her head to the music.

"Do you boys mind? Some of us are trying to sleep back here!" Rarity snarled, lifting up her sleep mask.

"Like, we were going to wake you guys up, anyway," said Shaggy as Scooby turned the radio off. "There's a town coming up. And we need to stop for some chow."

"Ruh-huh," Scooby nodded.

"Norvie, we just ate dinner two hours ago. I need my sleep," yawned Sunset.

"Yeah, but all of this driving is making me hungry," said Shaggy. "Besides, that's like, fourteen hours in dog time."

"Fair enough," Twilight yawned, as she put her glasses on.

As the group continued on the road, everyone seemed to notice that the dust storm was beginning to really pick up. In fact, it got so bad that Shaggy couldn't see where he was going and ended up going off the road straight towards United States Government property.

"What is… with… this road!?" Twilight asked as they hit a few bumps.

"Ugh! What is that awful, shrieking sound!?" Rarity asked in disgust as they heard a high-pitched squeal nearby.

Suddenly, a bunch of bright lights illuminated the outside of the Mystery Machine, eventually blinding everyone. It turns out that the source of the lights was a mysterious craft that was hovering above them.

"What in tarnation is with these lights!?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know, but they sure are bright!" Pinkie replied.

Once the mysterious craft left, Shaggy, still blinded by the lights, careened the Mystery Machine left and right until he hit a saguaro cactus, bringing the van to a complete halt.

"Is everyone all right?" asked Fred.

Everyone thankfully stated that they were okay. They were a bit shaken by what had just happened, but all right, nonetheless. They all got out of the Mystery Machine wondering what they had just seen earlier.

"Was it some kind of jet?" asked Daphne.

"Not like any jet I've ever seen. Did you see how fast it was?"

Just then, they all heard a hiss coming from the Mystery Machine's engine. Velma popped the hood open and immediately had a bunch of steam blasted in her face.

"Well, looks like the radiator's finished," she sighed.

"You mean… we're stranded in the middle of the desert!? Hundreds of miles from civilization!? And with nowhere to do my hair?!" Rarity exclaimed, freaking out.

Just then, Fred noticed some lights off in the distance.

"That looks like a town," he pointed out. "It can't be more than a mile away."

"Like, you want us to walk across the desert… at night?" Shaggy whimpered.

"Yes, Shaggy. That's exactly what we're saying. And, no! I am NOT going to carry you!" Sunset snarled, folding her arms.

"But there's snakes and stuff out there."

"Reah. Rattlerakes," said Scooby before imitating a rattlesnake.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-If it's alright with you guys, I-I-I-I-I-I think I'll stay here with Shaggy and Scooby and watch over the Mystery Machine," stammered Fluttershy.

"Yeah. Right!"

"That's a very brave thing to do, Scooby. Thank you," said Velma, petting Scooby's head.

"You're relcome."

"All right. Let's go," said Fred as he and the others left for the town.

"We'll be back with some help!" Daphne called.

"And bring back some food, too!" yelled Shaggy.

As Fred and the others continued towards the town, Twilight couldn't help but notice that something was really bothering Sunset.

"Are you all right, Sunset?" she asked.

"I think so," Sunset sighed.

"Sunset, I know that tone. You're not all right. What's wrong?"

"Well, you remember that big fight Shaggy and I had a few days ago over that stupid game we were playing?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Well, I kind of said some things I maybe shouldn't have said."

"Like what?"

"Well, I think might've made him upset when I called him a garbage disposal due his eating habits. And I really wish I could take it back."

After a while of walking, the group eventually made it to the place where the light source was coming from. It was a local restaurant known as Sergio's Diner. Fred went up to the phone to call in for some help, since their cell phones didn't have the best reception in the desert. Sunset went up to the counter and sat down with her head in her hands, thinking about how she could make things up to Shaggy. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Shaggy, Scooby and Fluttershy all tumbled into the restaurant as if they were running from something.

"Shaggy, what happened?" Sunset asked.

"Well, l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-like, aliens are after us!" Shaggy whimpered.

"Reah. Raliens," shivered Scooby.

Both Twilight and Fred looked outside the restaurant, but neither of them saw anything.

"Aliens? Really, Shaggy? I get that we're in New Mexico, but come on! There is nothing out there!" Twilight chastised.

"I-I-I-I-It's true," squeaked Shaggy.

"He's not kidding, either. I saw them, too," squeaked Fluttershy. "I distinctively remember how they looked. They were green, and slimy, and had these huge bug-like eyes!"

"There were also eight feet tall, and glowing, and had long, creepy fingers!"

Before Shaggy could continue to describe the aliens, however, both he and Scooby-Doo got distracted by the donuts in the display case. Both the restaurant's proprietor and head chef, a stout balding man named Sergio, or Serge, as it was pronounced, along with the platinum blonde waitress, Dottie, glanced at each other with confused looks as the two chowed down on the donuts.

Something was definitely up in this area. What was it, exactly? The gang would soon find out in a mystery that was unlike anything they had stumbled upon before.