The Ugly Duckling arrived at the house where he knew Pixie and Dixie lived, but no one was around.
"Gosh," he said. "It doesn't look like anyone's here. I'll just sit here and wait until someone comes."
The Ugly Duckling flew up to the window sill and sat there. Moments later, a coach appeared in the distance, and it looked like it was heading for the house. The minute it arrived, there was a flash of sparkles, and the coach turned into a pumpkin. Sitting on the pumpkin was a girl dressed in rags, wearing one glass slipper. There was also a horse, a dog, and two mice nearby as well. It was Cinderella, Pixie, and Dixie.
"Hey, I know you!" the Ugly Duckling shouted, once he saw the coach change. "You're the girl that danced with my friend, Prince Charming!"
"Hey, it's the Ugly Duckling!" Pixie shouted. "What are you doing here, Ug?"
"I was at the palace when the prince came outside," the Ugly Duckling explained. "Suddenly, this mean old lady threw a bag over him and ran off with two really ugly girls!"
"Two really ugly girls?" Dixie repeated. "Was one tall and skinny with enormous feet?"
"And the other short and fat?" Pixie asked.
"Yeah, that's right," the Ugly Duckling said.
"Those were my stepmother and my stepsisters!" Cinderella shouted. "My stepmother really wants one of my stepsisters to marry the prince!"
"We'd better go after them!" Pixie shouted.
"In the middle of the night?" Cinderella asked.
"Unless you want Prince Charming to marry one of your ugly stepsisters," Dixie pointed out.
"Let me get a flashlight," Cinderella said, as she ran inside the house.
Meanwhile, the Stepmother and the stepsisters had arrived at their destination. It was a large manor that once belonged to the Stepmother's first husband, the Lord of Briand. They had it named "Chateau Briand." It had been abandoned for quite some time, since the Lord of Briand's death, and the Stepmother married Cinderella's father.
Once inside, the Stepmother dropped the sack on the floor, and opened it. Prince Charming took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.
"Man, it's about time!" he shouted. "It was getting hard to breathe in there!"
"Sorry, Princey," the Stepmother said. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Yeah, I kinda figured," Prince Charming said, eyeing Fatima and Leena, nervously. "Eeesh . . . . ."
"Listen, Princey," the Stepmother said, "I'll make a deal with you. You marry one of my lovely daughters . . . . ."
Prince Charming once more looked over at Fatima and Leena. The girls were both giggling, and batting their eyelashes at him. The prince made a face at the thought of marrying one of them!
". . . . or I'll lock you up in the tower," the Stepmother continued. "What's it gonna be?"
"Well . . . . ." Prince Charming said. "Given the choice . . . . . which way to the tower?"
"What?!" the Stepmother shouted. "You mean to tell me you'd rather be locked in a tower than marry one of my lovely daughters?!"
"That's about the size of it, lady," Prince Charming said, folding his arms across his chest. "I've seen a lot of homely chicks in my life, but these two take the cake! Eee-eeeesh!"
"But your highness," Fatima said, as she batted her eyelashes, "don't you think we're pretty?"
"Yeah, sure," Prince Charming said. "Pretty ugly! I don't know which of you is uglier! You or your sister! And your mother wouldn't win any beauty contests, herself!"
"That does it!" the Stepmother shouted. She grabbed Prince Charming's arm, and practically dragged him down the hall, and up several flights of stairs. Then she threw him into a room at the top of the staircase, slammed the door, and locked it.
"There," she said. "I'll give you some time to think it over, Princey! I'm not gonna let you out unless you agree to marry one of my daughters!"
"Yeeeccchhhh!" Prince Charming shouted.
The Stepmother ignored him, and stormed back down the stairs, fuming.
"What now, Mama?" Leena asked.
"I don't think he's gonna marry either of us," Fatima said.
"That's obvious," the Stepmother said. "But I'm not licked yet. I'll get my hands on the King's money one way or another. We're now moving to Plan B!"
"What's Plan B?" Leena asked.
The Stepmother didn't say a word. She picked up the phone, and dialed.
"Hello?" she asked. "Is this the Twenty-Four Hour Yankee Doodle Carrier Pigeon Service? I need a message delivered right away!"
No sooner had the Stepmother had said that, Yankee Doodle Pigeon flew into the house via window, and blew on his trumpet to announce his arrival.
"What took you so long?" the Stepmother asked, hanging up the phone. "Never mind! I need you to deliver an important message to the King."
The Stepmother pulled a pen and a piece of paper out of a desk, and began scribbling a note on it. When she was finished, she folded it, sealed it in an envelope, and handed it to Yankee Doodle Pigeon.
"Now go deliver this to the King," the Stepmother said.
Yankee Doodle Pigeon put the envelope in his mailbag, and flew off. The Stepmother rubbed her hands together greedily. Fatima and Leena just stared at her and shrugged.
At the King's castle, the King was giving his guards a good chewing out over what happened.
"You three are the worse guards I have!" he shouted. "First you let the one girl that my son showed any interest in get away, and then you practically let him get kidnapped! What do you have to say about that?!"
"We're sorry, your majesty," the Goofy Guards said in unison.
"Not like you're going to be!" the King shouted.
Suddenly, a trumpet blast was heard, and Yankee Doodle Pigeon flew through an open window, and landed on the armrest of the King's throne. He bowed to the King, and took an envelope out of his mail bag.
"Oh thanks," the King said, opening the envelope. "Dear King, if you want your stubborn, tasteless, charmless, wouldn't-know-a-beautiful-girl-if-he-fell-over-one , royal pain, spoiled brat of a son back, then give me half of the royal treasury. Love and kisses, signed a friend."
"How shocking!" Yippee shouted.
"Yeah," Yappee said. "I didn't even know the King had any friends!"
"Well, guards, this is your chance to redeem yourselves!" the King shouted. "You go and do something about this!"
"Right away, your majesty!" Yahooey shouted, and he started to leave the throne room.
"Where are you goin'?" the Duke asked.
"To the royal treasury to divide the King's fortune in half," Yahooey said.
"He didn't mean for you guys to pay the ransom, you knucklehead!" the Duke shouted, frustratedly, and he bopped Yahooey on the head with his fist.
"Of course not!" the King shouted. "I want you to go out there, find the prince, and bring him back! That's what you guards are supposed to do! It's in your job description!"
"The job description says we're supposed to rescue princesses and fair damsels in distress," Yippee pointed out. "It doesn't say anything in there about rescuing princes in distress."
"Yeah, what kind of reward would be included in that?" Yahooey said.
"Okay, you guys want a reward, I'll give you a reward," the King said. "If you succeed, I won't throw you into the Royal Dungeon for the rest of your lives!"
"Love to stay and chat, your majesty, sir!" Yippee shouted. "But we've got a prince in distress to rescue! Yippee!"
"Yappee!" Yappee shouted.
"Yahoo-ee-ee-ey!" Yahooey shouted, and the three of them took off, crashing right through the wall on their way out.
"Why do you keep those guys hangin' around?" the Duke asked.
"I'm beginning to wonder that myself," the King answered.