“Welcome ya’ll, Crusaders! The one hundred fifty-sixth meetin’ of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is officially in session!” Apple Bloom announced boldly from the podium inside her treehouse. She was a young yellow earth pony with a red mane, tail, and eyes. Like the rest of her family, she spoke with an adorable southern drawl. Her enormous pink bow bounced at the back of her head as she spoke. “Now, whadda ya say we do today?"
“Gee, I dunno,” sighed Scootaloo as she sat on the ground in front of the podium. She was an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane, tail, and eyes and spoke in a slightly raspy voice. “I just adjourned the most recent meeting of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club yesterday, so we won’t be having another one of those for at least a week.”
Sweetie Belle, the little unicorn, just grunted and slumped on the floor with her rump in the air. She had a white coat, a curly pink and lavender mane and tail, and green eyes. “I was going tosuggest we plan a girl’s day out with our sisters, but Rarity’s busy today. She said I could tag along and be her assistant, so I told her ‘hard pass.’ She’s going gem collecting with Spike. Again.” Sweetie gagged and made a face.
Apple Bloom frowned. “Yeah, Applejack’s pretty booked, too. It’s apple buck season, and she’s been workin’ extra hard cuz she doesn’t wanna fall behind schedule. And since we just came back from our lessons with Twilight, we won’t needin’ any of those for a while, either.” She brightened. “Ooh, Ah know! Does anypony have any ideas for–”
Scootaloo held up her hoof. “No, Apple Bloom. We don’t have any new ideas for earning our cutie marks. In fact, we haven’t had any new ideas for a while, and I should know.” She nodded towards the poster made of butcher paper pasted to the wall, covered in crossed-out drawings and chicken scratch writing of failed cutie mark-earning attempts. “Believe me, if I had any ideas, they would’ve been out of my mouth before this meeting even started.”
“So…that’s it, then?” said Apple Bloom. “We have no idea what we’re gonna do today?”
Sweetie Belle lifted her head, smacked it on the ground, lifted her head, then smacked it again. She chanted in sync to each thump. “Bored…bored…bored…bored…bored…”
“Would you cut that out!?” Apple Bloom blurted. “You’ve said that a million times. Ah’m tryin’ to focus.”
Sweetie Belle lifted her head once more, only this time she looked at Apple Bloom. “I can’t help it,” she whined. “I really am bored. And anyway, I only said it like four times.”
“Five, actually,” Scootaloo corrected.
“How do you know?” asked Sweetie Belle, sitting up.
“Uuuhh…” Scootaloo giggled and smiled nervously. “I was keeping track.” She sheepishly held up a writing slate with five tally marks written in chalk. “Cuz I’m bored, too.”
“Well, we’re not gonna let a little thing like boredom stop us!” said Apple Bloom determinedly, hopping down from the podium. “C’mon, girls, think! What do we usually do when we’re havin’ a slow day?”
“That’s just the problem: we’ve had too many slow days!” Sweetie Belle gestured emphatically with her hoof.
“What’re ya talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom was genuinely confused.
“C’mon, Apple Bloom, get real!” exclaimed Scootaloo, coming over to her friend’s side. “Do you not remember last week when we spent nearly the entire day moping around the clubhouse while waiting for our visit to Zecora’s?”
“Well, yeah, but that was just one time. Ah don’t see how–”
“Or how about three days ago when we went to town to run errands for AJ?” offered Sweetie Belle as she stood up. “After that, we were at such a loss of what to do, we accepted Fluttershy’s invitation to her tea party with Discord. With Discord!” she yelped, grabbing Apple Bloom’s face and squeezing it until her lips puckered like a fish. Sweetie brought Apple Bloom’s face up to her own until they booped noses. “Just think about that for a minute!”
Apple Bloom winced and pulled her face out of Sweetie Belle’s grasp. Rubbing her cheek with a hoof, she said, “Okay, Ah admit we might be scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
“More like getting desperate,” grumbled Scootaloo, crossing her arms. “You heard Sweetie Belle, right? Since when do we willingly hang out with the lord of chaos!?”
“Yeah, ya do have a point there. But maybe we just need to look at things from a new angle. Y’know, shake things up a bit. Cloudsdale wasn’t built in a day, after all.”
“That’s it!” shouted Sweetie Belle, jumping into the air and flailing her legs around.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked confused. “What’s it?” asked Scootaloo.
“We need to get a different angle! Just not figuratively like Apple Bloom was saying. We need an actual new angle! Lit-er-ally!”
“Just what’re you insinuatin’?” said a suspicious Apple Bloom, narrowing her eyes.
“I’m saying we need to get out of Ponyville.”
“What!?” shouted Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in unison.
“C’mon, girls, think about it. Nothing remarkable ever happens around here. We always hear the stories of how our sisters and their friends have saved Equestria dozens of times. And where does all the action always happen?” Sweetie Belle marched over the window and pointed towards the Canterlot castle visible in the skyline while smiling smugly. “Duh! Not in Ponyville!”
“Um, technically speaking, the very first villain they defeated was right here. In Ponyville,” Scootaloo corrected.
“Or did ya fergit ‘bout Nightmare Moon?” questioned Apple Bloom, quirking a brow.
“Okay, so the One Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration didn’t go off as planned. Big whoop. The most we got to see was the threat of eternal night, blah blah blah. Everything else took place in the Everfree Forest, and even though that place is weird, it’s not Discord-making-a-cupcake-sprout-wings-and-sing-country-music level weird.”
“Eh, she’s got a point,” Scootaloo admitted.
“Even when villains do attack Ponyville, it’s not like we ever get to do anything.” Sweetie Belle put her hooves on the windowsill and gazed wistfully towards Canterlot. “We’re either evacuated, or in hiding, or prisoners, or victims of the villain’s mischief. What I wouldn’t give to get involved in little more action! If I have play pincushion for Rarity one more mediocre day, I’m gonna go batty!”
“Ya know what, she’s right. I wouldn’t mind a little action myself,” said Scootaloo, crouching down and striking a daring pose not unlike her hero Rainbow Dash.
“Well, now that ya mention it, things are a little mundane around here,” Apple Bloom admitted. “When we’re not tryin’ to earn our cutie marks, it’s just school, or homework, or playin’, or chores.”
“Nothing special about that,” Scootaloo remarked.
“My point exactly,” said Sweetie Belle, getting down on all fours. “And things are gonna stay mundane unless we do something about it. So who’s with me?”
“Now, hold on just a minute there, Sweetie,” said Apple Bloom cautiously. “We can’t just go prancin’ 'round Equestria like we own the place. We’re not allowed. ‘Sides, our families would be onto us in a jiffy. If they knew what we were plannin’, we’d be in heaps o’ trouble.”
“Yeah!? Well, I wish we could go a place where it wouldn’t be so darn boring all the time!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Another world, even! A place where we could have grand adventures and do something a little different for a change! Literally anywhere except Equestria!”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at Sweetie Belle, slack-jawed. Their eyes grew huge and their pupils shrank. They tried moving their mouths, but no sounds came out.
Sweetie Belle gazed at them, then sighed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m just so frustrated, y’know?”
“Uuuhh–Sweetie Belle–” Apple Bloom started.
“We could be anywhere in the world right now, and instead we have to be stuck here in this cramped little treehouse!” Sweetie continued, ignoring Apple Bloom entirely.
“B–behind you–” Scootaloo squeaked, pointing.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe I should just put it all behind me.”
“No–I mean look!” Scoot grabbed Sweetie Belle’s head and turned it in the direction she and Apple Bloom were facing. Sweetie took one look and gasped. During her rant, she had failed to notice the tiny glowing green vortex spiraling in the wall. It was very small at first, no bigger than a bit, but now it was slowly expanding.
“What the hay? Wha–what is that thing!? Sweetie Belle cried.
“You don’t know? I thought you were doing that!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“I’m not capable of that kind of magic! Do you even see my horn glowing?”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s getting bigger!”
“Wait a second…it kinda looks like a portal,” said Apple Bloom. Suddenly she looked suspicious. “Ya think Discord’s up to his ole tricks again?”
“I don’t think so. Discord’s portals are blue, remember? This one is green,” Scoot pointed out. Her eyes grew even wider, if that were even possible. “Y-you don’t think it’s Chrysalis, do you?” she shuddered.
“Nah. Accordin’ to Twilight, her portals look more like green fire. It is strange, though. We don’t know any other creatures who can just make portals like that, except maybe Tirek. But he’s locked up in Tartarus.”
“Unless…it’s a creature we don’t know! As in, someone not of this world!” Sweetie Belle gasped.
“Come again?” said Scootaloo skeptically.
“Don’t you remember what Twilight said? She traveled through a magic mirror that actually led to another world! Three times!”
“Yeah, but that was a mirror, Sweetie.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Ah don’t think it’s possible for a random portal to just spontaneously–”
“Sshhh! I hear something!” Sweetie Belle hissed, stuffing a hoof in Apple Bloom’s mouth. Sure enough, faint sounds slipped through the portal as it grew larger. It was soft and warbled at first, almost as if they were listening to an old record player. Soon enough, however, the sounds morphed into voices and then coherent words and sentences.
“Seriously, Lou, how many times do I have to tell you? That’s not how the universe works! Just wishing for something you want doesn’t magically will it to happen! It defies all the known laws and properties of physics!” It sounded like a young boy with a somewhat nasally and domineering voice. “I mean, hello! Have you even heard of the chaos theory!?”
“Hm. Says the guy who fought a mummy, climbed up Mount Neverrest, and discovered a Sasquatch,” another voice snickered. This one was also a boy, though it was markedly more sarcastic and slightly higher in pitch.
“He’s got a point, Hue,” a third voice chimed in, this one also male. It sounded more upbeat and full of energy. “Just because you’ve never seen something doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
“Aw, give him a break, you guys,” said a young female voice, bright and chipper. “Sure, we’ve all seen our fair share of odd things in the past, but that doesn’t mean–wait, what’s that?”
The third voice gasped. “Louie, what did you do!?”
“Wasn’t me! Why does everyone always blame me?” the second voice whined.
“Because e-ver-y time something like this happens, you are to blame!” the third one said, slowly and emphatically.
“What're you guys talking about?” the first voice demanded. “I don’t see anything. Are you all hallucinating?” Then he gasped. “Am I hallucinating? Are anyone of you even real? Nobody move! Where did I put my Junior Woodchuck Guidebook!?”
The portal had finally stopped growing. It now stood as tall and wide as a doorway, and it acted at such, allowing the three young fillies to stare in awe at what lay at the other side. They could hardly believe their eyes.
Before them in what appeared to be a bedroom stood four ducklings: three boys and a girl. At least they looked like ducklings, but it was kind of hard to tell. They appeared to be white Pekin ducks, though they were much taller than the ordinary duck. They stood at about three feet, which was about the same height as the average pony mare. They had very large heads and eyes, as well as tiny necks. But the strangest thing of all was that they were all wearing clothes. Not that the Crusaders had never seen other sapient creatures before, but ducks? Now this was unheard of.
One duckling dangled from his legs upside down on the middle bunk of a triple-decked bunk bed. He was dressed all in blue, from his dark blue t-shirt to the lighter blue baseball shirt he wore underneath. His feathers stood pointed and erect on his head, and his beak was hanging open in shock.
Another duckling wore a green hoodie and his feathers were styled like a rich frat boy. He slouched lazily in a beanbag chair, a can of a soft drink in one hand. He was also staring at some sort of flat green metallic rectangle in his other hand. He had had a bored expression on his face along with half-closed eyelids, but as soon as he noticed the portal, he sat up and gaped with widened eyes.
The third duckling was wearing an indigo vest, a pink shirt underneath with the sleeves rolled up, and a purple skirt. A pink bow held her swept-aside bangs into place, and she wore her feathers in a short stylish bob. She stood only a few feet from the portal, and while she looked surprised, she did not appear nearly as shocked as the two boys did.
The last duckling had a red polo shirt and cap, and his feathery bangs hung shaggily about his forehead. He was frantically flipping through a book. When he spoke, the first voice came out of his mouth.
“Checking…checking…c’mon, I know I saw it in here somewhere–a-ha!” He triumphantly stopped flipping. “Here we are! “How to Tell if You Are a Victim of a Hallucinogen.” That sounds promising. Step oooonnne…whaaat are you all looking at?”
The duckling pulled the book down from in front of his face. He had had his back facing the portal from when it began expanding up until now, so he had yet to notice the now very prominent portal directly behind him. Seeing the other ducklings’ shocked faces, however, he slowly turned. He dropped his book. His eyes widened, he opened his beak, and gasped loudly.
“Hazahazoozahaza…whaaaaa…?”
“So,” said Sweetie Belle smugly to Apple Bloom, “what were you saying about it being impossible for portals from other worlds to randomly appear?”
Apple Bloom just blinked with her mouth wide open. She was in too much shock.
“Hello,” said Scootaloo timidly, waving her hoof.
Pause. For a moment, no one said anything.
“Well that’s new,” the duck in blue said, being the owner of the third voice.
The one in red gurgled a little. Then he fainted.
The pink one slowly put her hands to her cheeks, her pupils growing huge and sparkly. She squealed in a high-pitched voice. “Hoh-oh-hoh-wweeeeeeeeeeeeeee…”
Stone-faced, the green one slowly held up the rectangle. A little light flashed near the top.
CLICK! Went the camera shutter.
Author's Note
In case it wasn’t clear from this chapter and cover art (or for those who don’t bother to, y’know, read the descriptions), the 3 boy ducks are the triplet nephews of Donald Duck: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Here’s a little trick to help tell them apart: Huey wears the brightest hue (red), Dewey wears the color of dew (blue), and Louie wears the color of leaves (green). Webby is the girl duck in pink and the Duck boys’ best friend. For those who are curious and would like a more concrete example of what the ducks’ voices and personalities are like, here are some short clips. I recommend you avert your eyes from the notorious spoiler-ridden sidebars. This series has major spoilers, especially in the first season, so just know that your YouTube feed will probably be popping up with random DuckTales videos (and spoilers) if you watch these. You have been warned. And before y’all go asking in the comments, yes, that purple pony is Andrea Libman (aka Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie) and the pink one is voiced by Tara Strong (aka Twilight Sparkle).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKo13p3SGEQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJNPI8AAttE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-LNgU4e1rE
That being said, for those who have never seen DuckTales, if you like MLP, then you’ll love this show! I've seen all 69 episodes and haven't regretted it since. If you don’t have Disney+ like yours truly, you can watch most of the episodes for free on YouTube (and, if you’re desperate like me, do some digging and find the rest on other sites). Seriously, do yourself a favor and go watch it. You don't know what you're missing.
Screenshot from MLP:FiM "Bloom & Gloom"
Sweetie Belle Bored vector by Lampknapp
Scootaloo is not a baby by CloudyGlow
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo Vector by CyanLightning
Angry Sweetie Belle by qazwsx302
Mlp Cutie Marks by Vanguard-3
Shocked Sweetie Belle Vector by Togekisspika35
Cutie Mark Crusaders Are Shocked by Alphanz
DuckTales "Timephoon!" screenshot by ducktales-refs
Webby vector by sophfandom53
