Five clothed creatures stood in front of a large stone door: an elderly humanoid duck wearing a pith helmet and a safari shirt, three younger humanoid ducks wearing the same thing with coloured ribbons on their pith helmets, and a white unicorn wearing a light brown safari shirt with a barmah hat over her head. The elderly duck had his hand on the stone door. It was moving along the engravings.
“Any idea what these say, boys?” he asked. The younger ducks flipped through a red book with a yellow diamond on it.
“Sorry Uncle Scrooge,” the duck with a red ribbon said. “The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook doesn’t seem to have this language written in it.” The unicorn looked to the center of the door. In the center was a small hole roughly the size of a unicorn’s horn. She tapped her chin.
“You know,” the blue ribbon duck said. “We probably wouldn’t have run into this problem if you just bought us the latest edition of the Guidebook.”
“And pay those bookstores $38.95? Are you daft? I’m not made of money!” the elderly duck yelled.
“Says the duck who has three cubic acres of money,” the green ribbon duck said. “Clearly that money is best saved for business affairs, or multimillion dollar treasure hunts like this one.” The unicorn squinted her eyes while looking at the door.
“Fair enough, lads. When we get back, I promise to buy you each the newest edition of the book.”
“You’re not lying about this are you?”
“Me lie? Where on earth did you get that idea?”
“This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve found loopholes in our agreements.” The unicorn coughed bringing their attention to her.
“Mr. McDuck,” she said. “Huey, Dewey, Louie, I think it’s best you stop your arguments here. We have more important things to deal with. I think I know how to get past here.”
“Care to enlighten us, Lady Rarity?” Scrooge asked. Rarity pointed to the center of the door.
“That hole,” she began. “I’ve seen it before. When I was at Canterlot Castle, the ruler of my country, Princess Celestia, had a door with a hole on it. Much like this one.”
“So if this princess has a door with something similar,” Louie said. “Then you must know how the mechanics work.” Rarity nodded.
“I do,” she continued. “She placed her horn inside the hole and put her magic into it. I believe that this door has a similar mechanism to it.”
“That’s great!” Dewey said. “We can use your unicorn magic to open the door.”
“Except there’s one problem with that,” Huey said. “You said that she placed her horn inside the hole right?” Rarity nodded. “How exactly are you going to place your horn in that door?” All five of them looked up at the hole.
“Tower?” Louie suggested. His brothers nodded at the suggestion. Huey wrapped his arms around Rarity as Louie and Dewey jumped atop Scrooge’s head.
“What are you doing?! Don’t you know how to treat a lady properly?”
“Bear with it,” Scrooge grunted. “Besides, it’s not like you’re at the bottom.” Huey climbed the tower of ducks and stood at the top of it with Rarity in tow. He held her out to the hole.
“There we go,” he said. “Now you can reach it.”
“I am not putting my horn in there,” she said. “Not until you apologize for suddenly grabbing me li…”
“Not to interrupt,” Scrooge grunted. “But I can feel my skull caving in on itself. Do you think you could hurry up?”
“Fine.” Rarity tilted her head forward and placed her horn inside the hole. She closed her eyes as blue magic moved from her horn. As she pulled away, their tower gave way and they all fell to the ground. The five of them slowly got up from the pile.
“Ow,” Scrooge said. “Everyone alright?”
“I think so, Louie?”
“I’m okay. Huey?”
“Perfectly fine. Rarity, are you alright?” Rarity closed her eyes and held her head up. “Rarity?”
“I’m not talking to you, not until you apologize.”
“Rarity, I’m sorry for…”
“Look!” Scrooge cried. The hole was giving the same blue glow as Rarity’s magic. It spread through the door in eight directions. When the magic reached the ends, a clicking echoed around them. The eight sections separated opening the door. A golden light flowed out of the room. “It’s opened!” Scrooge leapt to his feet and ran inside. Both Louie and Dewey followed their uncle. Huey stood up and offered his hand to Rarity.
“I’m sorry, Rarity,” he said. “Need a hand?” A white hoof was placed in the palm of his hand.
“Apology accepted,” she said getting onto her hooves. “Now, let’s see this treasure.” The two of them walked to the entrance of the door. Both of their jaws dropped as they took in the scene. Piles of gold and gems that stood as tall as houses were all around them. Bracelets of gold, silver, and platinum could be seen inside the piles. Gems the size of a foal’s skull were around the floor of the room. Swimming in the piles of gold were Scrooge and two of his nephews. Rarity’s eyes sparkled.
“Sweet Celestia!” she cried. “It’s beautiful!” She dived into the nearest pile and followed Scrooge’s example of swimming in it. A happy laugh left her mouth as she backstroked through the gold. Huey was about to do the same when he noticed what was in the center of the room. Sitting there was large cauldron full of gems, gold, and various jewellery. On top of the pile of treasure was a unicorn head made out of agate. Its eyes held turquoises in them and gave off a gentle glow.
“Rarity, Uncle Scrooge,” he said. “Is that it?” Both of them turned to the center of the room. They hopped out of the piles of gold and walked to the crystal head.
“That it is, Huey,” Scrooge said. “The Obsidian Unicorn. Legend says that an emperor harnessed magic within it to conquer neighbouring kingdoms. At one point in time, this emperor nearly ruled the planet. I believe that’s your ticket home, my Lady.”
“So it is, Mr. McDuck,” Rarity said. She turned to her feathered companions. “Huey, Dewey, Louie, thank you for helping me find this. I wouldn’t have been able to do this on my own.” The three youths smiled at her.
“And Mr. McDuck,” a grin appeared on her face. “Thank you for letting me keep this treasure. And for the adventure of a life time.”
“Thank you for helping on this expedition,” Scrooge replied. “Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to get in here.” A wide smile appeared on his face as he held his hand back. Rarity matched his expression and pulled her hoof back. Both of them threw their appendages forward and hit the other’s above them. Three flashes went off as they did so.
“Here,” Louie said holding out a plastic square. “Take this with you to remember us.” It was covered in a blue aura and flew under Rarity’s hat.
“Thank you, Louie,” she said. Her hoof touched the Obsidian Unicorn. Its eyes light intensified as she was covered in a turquoise energy. “I’ll never forget you all. Farewell.” She waved to her new found friends as a bright flash covered her vision.
*
“Come on, come on,” a purple unicorn said. Her horn was glowing and a purple aura covered a white unicorn head made out of quartz. She dropped to the floor and panted. “I’m sorry, Rarity. I can’t bring you back.” Tears began to form in her eyes as a turquoise light dimmed behind her. The light exploded and the sound of hooves dropping echoed into her ears. The purple unicorn turned around to find a white unicorn with clothing on. All of the pockets on her shirt were bulging and various pieces of jewellery could be seen flowing out of them. An amethyst necklace was over her neck and an agate unicorn head was in one of her forelegs. She had a smile on her face as she looked at the unicorn.
“Hello Twilight,” she said. “Miss me?”
“Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed. She ran towards her friend and embraced her in a hug. “I’ve been trying to bring you back for days. How did you get back?”
Rarity chuckled. “I went on a treasure hunt. Come on, grab the Moonstone Unicorn and I’ll tell you about it when we meet the girls.” The white unicorn head was covered in a purple glow and brought to Twilight’s side. She followed her friend who had a small photograph in front of her. A smile was on Rarity’s face as she looked at the picture. Twilight cocked her head in confusion when she saw the contents of the picture.
“Who or what is that?” she asked.
“Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in the world,” Rarity answered. Twilight blinked as the picture flew under Rarity’s hat. The two ponies walked towards the exit with different expressions on their faces. One was confused, while the other was smiling.
***
A/N: I’m so, so sorry. Based on artwork created by Egophiliac (follow the link).