G5 Adventures in Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie

by ponydog127

Rating: everyone
Tags: Allura, Alternate Universe, Misty, Original Character, Comedy, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Adventure, Mane 5, Crossover
Length: 31762

In their latest Unity Quest, the Mane 6 meet Barney the purple dinosaur and some brand-new friends, and they must use the power of their imagination to save a rare, magical egg from getting into Allura’s greedy paws.

The Mane 6, Grandma Figgy and Queen Haven visit Alphabittle and Paradise Moonray in Bridlewood for the annual Bridlewood Summer Festival, but as they begin to have a good time, the Mane 6 are called on what could be their most... imaginative Unity Quest yet.

Mom and Dad dump their son Cody, (all sunglasses and high-tops who has no use for childish folly), their younger daughter Abby, her best friend Marcella Walker and baby Fig on the farm with Grandpa and Grandma for an entire week during summer vacation in upstate New York when the ponies arrive and try to make friends with the children as well as try to figure out their mission. When Cody thinks his summer is ruined, a dinosaur doll by the name of Barney comes to life and leads the kids, the ponies, three baby Night Light dragons named Noir, Bat and Ripper and their temporary kirin caretaker, Gentle Rain, on the adventure of a lifetime.

When a shooting star deposits a magical egg carrying a dream maker at the farm, the evil snow leopard Allura is desperate to have her paws on it, believing she can siphon the egg of its powers. But when the egg is accidentally carted off to different places, it's up to the Mane 6 to lead Barney, Cody, Abby, Marcella, the dragons and Gentle Rain to chase after the egg and get it back to the barn before Allura can claim it for herself.

Featuring an all-star cast of characters, an exciting adventure and new and familiar tunes, this family-friendly adventure is sure to be a favorite on everyone's list, reminding them that the power of imagination is infinite!

(S3E7 of G5 Adventures)

(The cover for the story was made by the INCREDIBLE Indywriter Productions, please send them your love!)

Published 2024-04-07 20:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-04-07 20:10:01 UTC

To the Circus!/We're Gonna Find a Way

Once finding out that the dream-maker egg was on its way to the circus, the Mane 6 and their new friends (kid, dragon, kirin and dinosaur alike) made a dash for the circus with Bat and her nose leading the way.

As they continued to run as fast as they could, Hitch looked at the female Night Light leading them. “Bat, how in the world can you tell where the circus is even though you’ve never been to one?”

“My mom… told me that I once smelled like cotton candy, and then she and Dad got us some as a snack one day,” Bat said as she kept flapping her wings. “So, I think the best place to find cotton candy would be at a circus!”

“Well, however you’re doing it, keep it up!” Gentle Rain told her. “At this rate, we’ll be at the circus in no time--”

“LOOK OUT!!”

At Izzy’s shriek, everyone dove and ducked for cover as Allura swooped down and barely missed them, Twitch cackling madly as Allura sent a hypnotic purr their way. Fortunately, Sunny was able to deflect it with an alicorn-made shield. “Man,” Ripper muttered as they got on their feet again, “does this cat ever give up?”

“Well, from the looks of it,” Cody said, “I’d say that’s a no.”

“Allura, please! The dream maker doesn’t belong to you,” Sunny said, standing her ground, “and it could bring happiness to so many! Do you really want to take this rare gift away?”

“I don’t CARE what others want! Only about what I want!” Allura snarled, her wings outstretched and her eyes blazing with fury. “And once I get that egg at the circus, NO ONE is going to stop me! AHAHAHAHAHA!!”

The baby dragons, Abby and Marcella screamed as Allura dove for them again, but as the ponies stood ready to attack, something unexpected happened-- Gentle Rain leapt up into the air and knocked Allura onto her back!

The kirin, who normally had a calm and peaceful outlook on life, for the first time since the Mane 6 and their friends had met her, looked livid, trying to stomp on Allura’s face. “LEAVE… MY… FRIENDS… ALONE… BEAST!!!”

“...okay, I am officially scared of her when she’s mad,” Pipp spoke up as the group watched the fight with wide eyes, causing Zipp to shudder in agreement. “You and me both, sister.”

Gentle Rain shrieked in pain as Twitch pulled on her mane to get her off of Allura, but when she did get off of Allura, she used all her strength to fling Twitch into Allura, causing both of them to collapse.

Then, she turned to her completely still friends. “Everyone, go! Get to the circus, find the egg and get it back to the farm! I’ll take care of her for as long as I can! GO!!”

“You heard her, guys! Let’s move!” Abby shouted, and the others ran off as fast as they could toward the circus grounds, leaving Gentle Rain to fight Allura and Twitch on her own. “So…” Gentle Rain said as she and the snow leopard and rabbit began to circle her. “...you’re the snow leopard that’s caused peril between realms, yes?”

“So what is it to you?” Allura sneered. “You’ll be my next meal, and then after you, so will your friends.”

Gentle Rain merely fired up her horn. “We’ll see about that.”

That's when she screamed and charged toward Allura, ready to end this once and for all.

XXXXXXXX

Shortly after the waiter from the restaurant dropped all the food off, Barney and the ponies led the rest of their friends to the circus entrance, panting tiredly. “Man… we really… gotta start finding more methods of transportation!” Pipp said in exhaustion. “Nopony told me that running after an egg will get you this tired!”

“Focus, Pipp!” Misty told the pink pegasus, snapping Pipp out of her tired fit. “The egg’s got to be in one of those bags, and we need to find it before Allura comes after us!”

“Let’s split up,” Abby suggested. “I’ll go with Hitch, the boy dragons, Izzy, Pipp and Marcella…”

“Yeah,” Hitch nodded, “and then the rest of you can go together! Meet back here in 10 minutes, even if you haven’t found the egg!”

And so, the two groups went off in different directions to start their search.

XXXXXXXX

The first person that Marcella and Pipp approached was a young woman. “Did you see an egg about this big?” Marcella asked, showing how big the egg was. “Yeah,” Pipp nodded. “And it has stripes on it.”

However, the woman said no, causing Pipp to sigh, but Marcella comforted her by patting her back before they continued.

XXXXXXXX

“Yeah, it’s an egg, which is about this big,” Zipp said, showing the measurements of the egg to a pole bender. “Very colorful stripes around it,” Cody added. However… the pole bender hadn’t seen the egg either, causing the two to sigh in discouragement.

XXXXXXXX

Pipp, Izzy, Marcella and Abby tilted their heads in order to talk to a contortionist. “Have you seen our egg?” Izzy asked… only to get a no in response.

And unfortunately, all the other responses seemed to be a no too, leaving the group without anything to go off of.

XXXXXXXX

“Guys, did you find anything?” Sunny asked as the groups reunited only a few minutes afterwards. “No, and we asked just about everybody!” Abby said in worry. “Oh, what do we do now?”

“We can’t give up, that’s for sure,” Zipp reassured. “It has to be around here someplace.”

Suddenly, Marcella caught sight of the egg on one side of a seesaw not too far away. “There it is!”

“Oh, quick! Get it! Get it!” Barney cried as they all charged toward the seesaw to grab the egg before anything else could happen to it. Unfortunately, someone leapt onto the other side of the seesaw, causing the egg to be launched into the air once again. “This way, guys!” Sunny spoke as she led them forward. “We can’t lose it again!”

Everyone followed after the apricot-colored earth pony in the direction that the egg was flying in. The egg kept flying and bouncing around on different balls and people, prompting the group to chase it all around the circus and try to catch it, only to ultimately fail (Pipp believed that this egg had a mind of its own, but the others were too busy chasing the egg to pay attention).

Eventually, the egg fell into the hand of a juggler concentrating on juggling a few small items, causing the others to approach him out of relief that the egg was safe... at least, for right now. “Excuse me,” Barney said politely, causing the juggler to glance in that direction. “Whoa! You caught me by surprise, my large purple friend. I like surprises,” he said before reaching over, grabbing a small birthday cake and adding it to the juggling. “Surprises are for birthdays. And birthdays go with cakes.”

“If he wasn’t juggling our egg there,” Noir whispered, eyes still on the egg, “I would have to admit, that is very impressive.”

“And I would get this for my Ponygram feed back home,” Pipp agreed, “but this is TOTALLY not a good time.”

“Um… mister?” Misty spoke up, but the juggler was startled just enough so he dropped the cake, letting it splatter on the ground and letting Hitch yelp and cover his eyes due to fright. “What is it, young lady?” the juggler then asked Misty. “I don’t mean to be rude or anything,” Misty said before clearing her throat, “but that’s our egg you’re juggling precariously right there.”

“That's good. I like eggs,” said the juggler, adding a nearby frying pan to the mix of objects. “Eggs are for breakfast and that means frying pans.”

“Well, that egg isn’t for breakfast,” Zipp said as she kept her worried eyes on the egg. “It has a dream-maker inside, something that only comes around once every 1000 years!”

“Please, I'm worried about it,” Abby pleaded. “Especially since there’s an evil leopard and her bunny sidekick after it too!”

“Well, young lady,” said the juggler, “if there is a sudden gust of gravity, will the dream-maker bounce?”

“Um…” Ripper shook his head. “No?”

“Then we’re all worried about it.”

That didn’t seem to help the group’s worry, however… it actually made them feel a lot MORE nervous… at least until the juggler spoke again. “There is a way to stop… called the Peking duck trick.”

“How does that go?” Barney asked curiously, willing to do anything to get the egg. “The Peking duck trick goes like this,” the juggler said. “First, you all close your eyes.”

Though they were confused as to this would work, everyone around the juggler closed their eyes, not sure what exactly they were supposed to do next.... until the juggler spoke up again.

“Are you peeking?”

“No.”

“Then duck!”

Suddenly, the juggler tossed everything he was holding up toward the sky, and everyone screamed and ducked, bracing themselves for objects to fall out of the sky.

However… nothing landed on them.

Sunny and Barney were the first to open their eyes and stand up, trying to piece together what just happened as thunder boomed in the sky above. “Wha… where’d it go?” Sunny wondered, looking around. “Guys, where’s the egg?!”

“It’s not here?!” Bat gasped as they all looked around. “And hey… where’s the juggler?” Hitch asked. “He wouldn’t just leave, would he?”

“He would… if he took the egg right out from under our noses!” Zipp said with a growl of frustration. “I knew jugglers weren’t meant to be trusted…”

“Sunny! Barney!” called a familiar voice. “Everypony!”

That’s when everyone gasped to see who was coming toward them… a limping Gentle Rain, who had several brushes and scrapes from her earlier battle with Allura.

Bat, Ripper and Noir gasped and ran toward her, hugging up against her. “Gentle Rain, what happened?” Noir asked. “Is the bad kitty gone?”

“I don’t know yet,” Gentle Rain panted. “Allura put more of a fight up than I thought she would. I'm actually glad I was only able to escape her claws with just a banged up leg so I could come find you.”

That’s when Gentle Rain looked around, but there was no egg in sight. “I… take it the egg is still missing?”

“It just disappeared, and so has the juggler who was juggling it!” Izzy said before pouting. “And I thought his juggling was pretty good…”

Suddenly, large raindrops began to fall on them from above. “Oh no!” Ripper cried. “You gotta be kidding me!” Pipp cried in frustration. “Now an unexpected storm?! HOW CAN THIS GET ANY WORSE?!”

“Uh… uh… quick! Head for the tent!” Sunny told her friends. “We can take shelter there until the rain clears up!”

Everyone went toward the tent after the earth pony mare, with Izzy and Misty helping Gentle Rain along until they got to the tent, and the ponies and dragons tried to shake the water off of them… but they couldn’t shake the heavy feeling in their hearts. “It’s just… gone,” Marcella spoke depressed. “We've lost the egg again,” Abby sighed, “and this time we are never going to find it.”

“Well… we can’t just give up,” Gentle Rain tried to advise the downtrodden kids and Night Lights. “Right, everyone?”

“Right,” Barney said before making all the lights in the tent come on. “When the rain stops, we can look around some more, and then maybe we can find it.”

“We already looked around!” Cody snapped, causing Ripper and Bat to whimper. “We’re not gonna find it-- we lost it.”

Suddenly, the attitude that Cody had been giving them throughout these last few days had brought Zipp to her breaking point, causing her to finally snap. “You know what, Cody? We’re tired of your high and mighty attitude!” she said fiercely. “All Abby and Marcella wanted, all WE wanted, was to be your friend and let you have fun with us while we were here. But, because of YOUR carelessness and LACK of imagination, we may never see that egg again cause Allura could have it in her grimy paws by now!”

“Zipp,” Gentle Rain tried to approach her, “I know you’re a bit upset, but there’s no reason to blow this out of proportion--”

“I know you’re trying to help, Gentle Rain, but I’m just pointing out the facts of this whole mess!” Zipp said, not noticing that the baby Night Lights had begun crying silently. “If me and my friends don’t complete this mission, we may never get back to our loved ones in Equestria! They need us!”

“And besides,” Abby turned to glare at her brother, “you don’t even wanna find it. You never did!”

Cody tried to protest against his little sister to calm her down. “No, I…”

“It was crazy kid stuff!” Abby continued to rant. “What's wrong with just being a kid, Cody?! What's wrong with that?”

“...I…”

Finally, Ripper let forth a sniffle, causing the kids’ attention to turn to the baby dragons again. “Guys?” Marcella put a hand on Noir’s head. “Why are you crying?”

“I mean… I guess it’s nothing now,” Ripper sniffled, “but…”

“We had been thinking,” Bat spoke first, “that if we found the dream-maker egg and it hatched… it might be able to help us find Mom and Dad, and we could be a family again. But now… we’re never gonna see our family again!!”

Barney, Gentle Rain and the rest of the ponies immediately stared in sadness over how broken the kids and the dragons looked.

It was like… all hope had left their bodies altogether.

And this was something that Barney and Sunny just couldn’t stand. “Oh… cheer up, Abby,” Barney tried to comfort. “We’ll find that egg.”

“Of course we will… we promise you that,” Sunny agreed sincerely. “Hoof to heart.”

However, the only response they got from that moment was a sniffle from Abby, who was trying to comfort a crying Ripper in her arms. That's when Sunny knew that something had to be done before they could continue their search. “Ponies, Barney? Gentle Rain? Huddle up.”

That’s when the eight of them gathered in another corner of the tent, out of the others’ earshot. “...I should have kept my big mouth shut,” Zipp sighed. “I guess I was mad at myself for letting the egg slip through my hooves.”

“We were trying, Sunny,” Izzy said quietly, “but… I guess we weren’t doing good enough…”

“No… we were doing enough, but not as a team, like we usually do,” Sunny said. “These kids and dragons are depending on US to keep their hopes alive… and that’s what we’re gonna do. Together”

The other ponies nodded at this, acknowledging that Sunny was in charge, and they needed to follow her lead. “I love that idea,” Gentle Rain said, “but… how? Even I’ve never seen the Night Lights so sad before.”

“Well… I’ve always learned the best treatment for this sadness is music,” Pipp said in thought. “Barney… maybe we could sing them a little something?”

Barney chuckled a bit. “Good idea, Pipp! Ho-ho!”

With a snap, Barney was able to illuminate more lights in that small tent before the group approached their friends again.

Barney: When it looks like all is lost
And you're feeling really sad

Sunny: It doesn't do a bit of good
To keep on feeling bad

Pipp: Just make up your minds
That we're gonna see it through

Barney: And soon I know you'll find that
You can make your dreams come true

As the song picked up tempo, and the group began to do a little dance, the kids and Night Lights looked over at them, then each other, before changing position a few times.

Barney: We're gonna find a way
We're a super-dee-duper team

Izzy, Misty and Gentle Rain: And when we stick together
There's no storm we can't weather
No matter how dark it may seem

Barney: We're gonna find a way
We're gonna save the day

Zipp: We'll solve this situation with our imagination
We're gonna find a way

That's when one by one, Barney and the Mane 6 began to gently guide their downtrodden friends onto the stage with them to further encourage them... even reluctant Cody managed to flash a smile.

Misty: When things are going wrong
We can make our own good luck

Hitch: The only time we even fail
Is when we just give up

Gentle Rain: Don't be a quitter now
There's some tricks left up our sleeve

Barney: We'll get through this somehow
If we can only just believe

Then, in unison, everyone began to dance and fly around, their hopes rising like never before-- even Cody was getting into it about halfway through.

All (except Cody): We're gonna find a way ♪
We're a super-dee-duper team

Barney: (spoken) That's it

All (except Cody): And when we stick together
There's no storm we can't weather
No matter how dark it may seem

We're gonna find a way
We're gonna save the day

All: We'll solve this situation with our imagination

Then, there came a brief dancing moment that finally got the Night Lights to giggle.

All: We're gonna find a waaaaaaaaay!!!!!

Finally, the song was over, allowing the group to catch their breath, finally smiling. “You know, Sunny?” Marcella smiled. “You guys were right.”

“Yeah,” Noir nodded. “I don't know where that egg is, but I'm not gonna be a quitter.”

“Me neither,” Abby nodded before looking in Cody’s direction. “Cody?”

The ponies eyed Cody with a little suspicion, but Cody merely smiled and placed his arm around his sister, making Abby smile. “Sure, Ab. We'll find that egg. We won't quit lookin' till we do.”

Barney couldn't help but chuckle when he heard this. “That's the spirit!”

Bat giggled as Barney booped her nose, just as Cody stepped up to Zipp. “Hey, uh... Zipp? Sorry if I caused you to become so... agitated. I guess I was too cool for my own good.”

Zipp chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Finally you admit it, but... no hard feelings.”

Cody bumped her hoof, both of them exchanging smiles just before Sunny spoke up. “All right, guys. Before we head out there, we need to prepare ourselves for what might be next-- Allura is villainous, ruthless and persuasive, and she's gonna do anything in her power to steal that egg for herself. It's time we hunker down and save that dream-maker egg once and for all!”

The Bridlewood Summer Festival

It had been at least two weeks since the Mane 6 and Sparky got back from their last Unity Quest with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Borealis, who was revealed to be the princess of the Northern Lights foxes, and together, they stopped Allura and the evil ice king Winterbolt in their wicked schemes.

And in doing so, the Mane 6 actually got the second star shard that they had been searching for!

But since they were finally home for a while, the ponies decided to take every opportunity they could to have some peace and quiet before the Unity Crystals summoned them for another mission again.

Luckily... Izzy knew just the thing that could help them have some serious fun-- the Bridlewood Summer Festival!

According to local beliefs, held by Bridlewood unicorns for many generations having fun during the hot summers in Bridlewood warded off the jinkies, and ever since magic returned and ponies were reunited in friendship, it's been even more amazing.

But the more our pony friends thought about it, they wanted to share this amazing celebration of fun and frienship with their families, so Hitch decided to invite Grandma Figgy to come along, and Pipp and Zipp invited their mother so she could spend time with Alphabittle while she was there (of course, since she had wings and Bridlewood was not that far away, she just decided to fly there with the guards).

Finally... the big day finally arrived, and once the Marestream had picked up Grandma Figgy, they set off toward Bridlewood for the festival.

XXXXXXXX

“Oooh, you’re gonna love it in Bridlewood, Figgy!” Izzy giggled excitedly to Hitch's grandmother as the Marestream soared through the clouds with Zipp at the wheel. “There are crystals EVERYWHERE, and they have the most amazing crystal-berry treats that I think you could recreate for your own special occasions!”

“Oh, that sounds lovely, dear!” Figgy chuckled as she cradled Sparky in her arms. “I’m so happy that you children invited me along to see the festival-- I do love trying new things and exploring new places, don’t I, Hitchie?”

“You sure do, Granny!” Hitch smiled with a little laugh. “And I think you’re gonna love officially meeting Misty’s mom. She’s really turned her life around since she got back to Equestria, right, Misty?”

“I definitely think so,” Misty smiled, turning back to her friends after looking out the window. “She gets to enjoy doing all the things she used to do-- did you know my mom was an avid painter while Opaline wasn’t looking? She hid some of her paintings in Dad’s attic, and when she showed them to me, I could hardly believe it!”

“Wow! That is pretty cool, Misty!” Sunny smiled. “Speaking of Bridlewood,” said Zipp from the driver’s seat, “did your parents say if they’ve found anything about flying snow leopards in the Bridlewood archives?”

“No, my mom says that she looked at least 10 times, and nothing,” Misty sighed. “She really did try.”

“We know,” Hitch said, trying to provide some comfort. “But the more we can learn about Allura’s species, the better chance we have of trying to figure out how we can stop her.”

“Oh, I know you children are trying your best,” Grandma Figgy said, “but this Allura sounds like she’s more powerful than Opaline… and if she gets the remaining pieces of that star…”

“It’s game over. We know,” Pipp sighed. “I’ve been so worried, I haven’t been able to come up with any new Ponygram ideas!”

“Okay, when Pipp says stuff like THAT,” Zipp said sarcastically with the roll of her eyes, “that’s when you know you SHOULD be worried.”

“Ha ha, very funny!” Pipp told her sister, rolling her eyes right back at her. “Well, all we can do is keep trying to find the rest of the shards,” Sunny told her friends just before gasping and looking out the window. “We’re here!”

Everypony joined her at the window as the Marestream slowly descended onto the ground, and everypony was in awe at what they were seeing-- the forest was brightly decorated in balloons, streamers, bounce houses and many different kinds of food and craft vendors.

The doors opened and the group exited the Marestream, but not long after, Misty gasped and ran toward two figures she knew and loved. “Mom! Dad!”

“Misty, you made it!” Paradise said as she and Alphabittle hugged their daughter. “We’re so happy you and your friends decided to come!”

“We’re happy, too,” Misty smiled. “In fact, we brought another guest!”

“Paradise, this is my grandma, Figgy,” Hitch introduced. “Granny, we’d like you to meet Paradise Moonray, Misty’s mom.”

“Oh, it’s so good to meet you at last, dear,” Grandma Figgy smiled as they shook hooves. “Hitchie and his friends told me all about you.”

“Oh, they told me all about you too-- it’s so nice to finally meet,” Paradise smiled. “Welcome to the Bridlewood Summer Festival.”

“Ooh, these decorations are super gorgeous!” Pipp said as she took a picture. “Did you do all this, Paradise?”

“Not all of it-- I did have the help of the decorations committee,” Paradise said, turning to look at Izzy. “And Izzy, of course.”

“Paradise and I have been talking over the phone for weeks,” Izzy explained, “trying to find just the right decorations for the festival that suited all three pony kinds.”

Suddenly, a royal fanfare blew, and Queen Haven and Cloudpuff, followed by Zoom and Thunder, flew in from the skies. “Did somepony say festival?” Queen Haven asked with a chuckle. “I’ve been looking forward to this!”

“Mom!” Zipp and Pipp immediately hugged their mother. “Haven, I’m so glad you could make it!” Alphabittle smiled, approaching his mare-friend. “What do you think?”

“Oh, it’s lovely!” Queen Haven told him. “Cloudpuff has been particularly excited for the Critter Play Area that you keep telling me about.”

“Another reason why I brought Sparky!” Hitch lifted the baby dragon onto his back. “I love being a dragon dad, but sometimes I need a little me time.”

“Well, what if we all go and drop these little floofs off,” said Grandma Figgy, tickling Sparky's tummy and causing him to laugh, “and Alphabittle and Paradise can show us all the best things to do at the festival?”

“Great idea, Granny!” Hitch smiled. “See? My granny is a genius.”

“Well, let’s get hoofing it!” Alphabittle told the group, making them laugh and trot away to drop Sparky and Cloudpuff off before starting their day of fun.

XXXXXXXX

After Sparky and Cloudpuff were dropped off at the Critter Play Area, where they could make friends with all the little critters of Bridlewood, the Mane 6 and their loved ones went off on their own to enjoy the food, crafts, rides and games the festival had to offer.

And needless to say... everyone was having a fantastic time.

The food was amazing, the rides were thrilling, there were so many crafts to see and experiment with, and Alphabittle even won Queen Haven a stuffed bunnycorn at the bean bag toss game.

Finally, it was time for a break, so everyone decided to get a funnel cake from the nearby funnel cake booth, each one of them topped with their favorite toppings, and they all sat down at the picnic table to share the story of the Mane 6's last Unity Quest. “And then, Borealis threw the guns right at Winterbolt’s scepter,” Zipp explained, wiping the powdered sugar off her face, “shattering it and causing Winterbolt to turn into a tree! It was kind of scary, the way he just withered away, but at least he won’t be back to cause the North Pole anymore problems.”

“Phew… I’m just glad you girls and your friends made it out of there okay,” Queen Haven sighed. “I could never do the things you all are tasked to deal with.”

“Thanks, your highness,” Hitch bowed his head respectfully. “I mean… we have to do what we have to do in order to protect our home from Allura. We’re just… not sure where she went after we defeated her last time.”

“We’ll find her… wherever she is,” Sunny promised, putting her hoof on Hitch's. “But for right now, I think it’s best if we just try and relax before--”

“Oh my goodness, look!” Grandma Figgy gasped, pointing at the Mane 6’s cutie marks with her hoof. “The Unity Crystals are summoning you all again!”

The Mane 6 turned to see their cutie marks glowing, and the glow from their cutie marks caused a portal to another world to slowly open. “Well, I guess the Unity Crystals know the best time to send us on a mission,” Misty sighed. “Could you guys keep an eye on things around here until we get back? We’re not sure if we’re gonna run into Allura again, so it would be best to have backup on this end just in case.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Alphabittle nodded. “We’ll be here, ready to protect everypony if need be.”

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Hitch promised as he hugged his grandmother. “Promise.”

“Okay, everypony…” Sunny said as they prepared to run into the portal. “Next stop… I-I’m not really sure where, but we’re going!”

And just like that, all six ponies leapt through the portal, leaving their loved ones behind before it swiftly closed.

XXXXXXXX

But, while the Mane 6 were traveling through the portal to their next destination, they had no idea that Allura and Twitch were resting in a forest close to a small down in New York called Merrivale. “Soon, Twitch,” Allura said sinisterly, “those little ponies will be back for another quest… and then, once they come around… I will get my revenge on them.”

Then, she looked up at the clouded sky with a smirk. “And with the time of the old legend coming to pass, this will be the perfect chance to destroy those fools AND claim power that ISN’T a shard of the star. But… we must be patient. After all… hunting is all about patience. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

Arriving at the Greenfield Farm

At the same time as Allura was plotting her revenge against the Mane 6, a green minivan was driving through the New York countryside on the way to Merrivale.

This was the Newton family, composed of the dad, Colton, the mom, Kate, their oldest son Cody, their only daughter Abby, and the youngest member of the family, a baby boy named Fig. In the van with them was Abby's best friend from school, Marcella Walker, and both girls were happily sitting beside one another on their way to their destination.

Colton and Kate were going to drop the kids off at Kate's parents' farm for the week during summer break, believing it would be good to get the kids outside and playing... even if it was raining on their way there.

After a little while of silence and listening to the car radio, Marcella spoke up from the backseat, where she was riding with Abby. “Are we there yet?”

“Your turn,” Kate smiled at her husband. “No,” Colton shook his head, “not yet, Marcella.”

“Oh, it's taking too long!” Abby said impatiently, barely able to stand the wait anymore. “What’s your hurry?” Cody groaned with crossed arms. “They're dumping us for a whole week.”

“Oh, come on, Cody, you're gonna have a great time,” Colton tried to encourage their eldest son. “You can help Grandpa with the farm chores, like, uh… milking the chickens!”

Everyone laughed in amusement at the joke... well, all except Cody.

Don't get anyone wrong-- Cody isn't a BAD kid. He's actually great once you get to know him. But, he hated the thoughts of his parents leaving him with his younger siblings and Marcella at his grandparents' farm with nothing to do.

Cody continued to be annoyed when Marcella put a purple dinosaur doll (who had yellow toes, a cheery smile and a green stomach with green spots) up near his face, causing him to try and regain his composure and not snap. “Get the doll out of my face.”

Marcella complied and took the doll out of Cody's face, but then she and Abby started talking in unison. “Talk to the hand cause the face ain't home, leave a message at the tone-- beep.”

The girls giggled at their own antic while Cody only groaned to themselves. Now, while Cody was older and refusing to believe in such frivolities, Abby and Marcella were around the same age, and loved to play games with one another using their imaginations... something Cody didn't seem to have.

After a little while of driving, Marcella decided to ask Cody a question. “Do you like dinosaurs?”

“What about them?” Cody asked with a deadpan expression, not even bothering to turn and face them. “That’s Barney,” Abby introduced the purple dinosaur doll Marcella was holding. “I know that's Barney,” Cody growled, turning to the girls in the backseat. “The whole world knows it's Barney and he's a stuffed doll!”

“You’re wrong,” Marcella sassed. “Barney can walk and talk.”

“And sing and dance,” Abby added. “Batteries not included,” Colton said in a deep voice, causing a chuckle from most everyone… except Cody, who looked more annoyed than ever. “Sing and dance?”

“We use our imaginations,” Abby shrugged. “Your imaginations?!” Cody scoffed. “That’s kid stuff!”

“That’s all right,” Abby said, not bothered by her brother’s attitude. “We are kids!”

As the girls giggled, the green minivan approached the town of Merrivale as many people were starting to put up decorations now that the rain was finally ending. “Hey, look! Merrivale Apple Day Festival!” Colton said as he looked at one of the banners hanging above the streets. “Parade, circus, hot air balloons, fireworks… wow.”

“It’s tomorrow!” Abby realized. “Can Grandma and Grandpa bring us?”

“Um…”

“Well, maybe,” Kate told Abby, “but don’t count on it, okay?”

“Oh, great,” Cody said sarcastically as he adjusted his sunglasses. “The one good thing to do in town, and we'll probably miss it.”

But, what Cody didn't realize when he said this was that an adventure full of things to do and new friends to meet was just around the corner.

XXXXXXXX

The Mane 6 panted as they walked through a muddy field near a forest, having walked for a long time since they arrived back in the mortal world. “Ponies… I’m beginning to think this Unity Quest was a wild goose chase,” Pipp said as she shook some mud off her hooves. “We’ve been walking for 30 minutes and we haven’t seen any kind of town anywhere!”

“I know we’re all cold and wet and tired,” Sunny told her friends, “but we can’t give up so easily! There has to be a reason as to why the Unity Crystals sent us out here.”

“Hey… guys? What if whoever needs our help lives in that farmhouse over there?” Misty said, pointing a hoof at the farmhouse a good distance away. “It is one of the only houses around here for a good while.”

“I say we go and check it out,” Hitch spoke up. “You with me, Zipp?”

“Always, sheriff,” Zipp smiled, unfurling her wings as she and Hitch took the lead. “Everypony else, follow us!”

The ponies proceeded to gallop across the field toward the farmhouse, and managed to get in front of the barn when a green minivan began pulling up the driveway, causing Sunny to gasp in surprise. “Everypony, hide!”

The ponies darted over to the other side of the barn to avoid being seen, in case these strangers weren’t sure about the Equestrians and panicked.

And trust me... none of them wanted to be the reason for a heart attack.

But from what the ponies could see an older man coming out of the farmhouse to greet the car, and then turned back to the house... as if he was trying to call someone who was inside the house outside. “Ida! The kids are here! Shake a leg now!”

“Kids?” Izzy peeked her head around the corner, but the other shushed her in order for her to keep quiet. “They're here? Oh my goodness!” said an older woman with curly hair as she came out onto the front porch. “George, do I look alright?”

“Beautiful as always,” Grandpa George told his wife. “But there’s, uh, touch of flour on your nose.”

That's when Grandma Ida rubbed the flour off her nose. “Is that better?”

“Much.”

Grandma Ida and Grandpa George kissed each other just before Abby burst out of the car and ran toward her grandparents excitedly. “Grandma, Grandpa!”

Grandpa George hoisted Abby up into his arms into a huge bear hug, and as Colton introduced Marcella to the grandparents, and Kate gave little Fig to Grandma Ida, the ponies watched this in happiness. “Awww… looks like those kids are gonna spend the summer with their grandparents!” Sunny smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“But… why doesn’t that kid look happy to be here?” Zipp pointed at Cody, who seemed happy to see his grandparents, but… a little annoyed all at once. “Do you think he’s the one that we need to help?”

“I’m not sure,” said Sunny, “but… I think we need to keep watching for a little while, just to be sure.”

“How are you, Dad?” Kate greeted George with a smile. “Are you sure you can handle the kids for a couple of days?”

“Yes, yes,” George reassured his daughter. “Everything'll be okay.”

Everyone walked into the house except Cody, who looked back at the barn, causing the ponies to hide. But before he could look closer, Grandpa George got Cody’s attention. “Cody! Tiger.”

Cody walked up the steps and joined his grandpa as they walked into the house, letting the ponies sigh in relief and come out of hiding. “That was close,” Zipp sighed before looking over at the farmhouse. “So, I think this Cody kid isn’t exactly fond of being at his grandparents’ for the summer, so maybe the Unity Crystals wanted us to help him and his little sister and their friend there have a good summer anyway.”

“Yeah!” Izzy smiled. “We’re gonna help them have the best week of their lives!”

“Easy, Iz... we don't know how they'll react around us yet,” Hitch tried to calm the purple unicorn down. “I think we should take things slowly, to give them time to absorb everything.”

“Colton, we better get going,” Kate’s voice could be heard from inside the house. “You kids be good for Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Quick, get back behind the barn!” Pipp said urgently. “They’re coming back!”

The ponies quickly dashed behind the barn as Colton and Kate came onto the porch, hugging and kissing their kids... even if Cody was a bit reluctant. Then, the parents got back in the minivan and began to drive away. “Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!” Abby called cheerfully. “We love you!”

“Have a great time!” Marcella called in agreement, and the girls stood with their grandparents on the porch, watching their parents drive away while Cody just sighed and went inside the house. “Well now,” said Grandma Ida. “Why don’t you girls get settled and we’ll call you when it’s time for dinner.”

“Okay, Grandma,” Abby nodded as Grandma Ida and Grandpa George went inside the house, and then, she turned to Marcella. “So, what do you wanna do first?”

Marcella was just about to respond when she saw Pipp looking over at the group from behind the barn, causing Pipp to gasp and duck back into hiding. “Uh… do your grandparents have any pink horses around here?”

“...no, I don’t think so,” Abby shook her head in confusion. “Why?”

“Cause I think one just disappeared beside the barn.”

“What…?” Abby looked over at the barn, and gestured Marcella to follow behind her.

One way or another, they had to figure out what was going on.

XXXXXXXX

Back behind the barn, the ponies were hoping that they weren't seen right away. “Way to go, Pipp!” Zipp whispered to her sister harshly, unaware that the girls were coming closer. “So much for ‘waiting for them to take it all in’.”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Pipp protested. “I was just looking, but I didn’t think that girl would see me!”

“Well, we have to try and lay low,” Misty said, “until we find out if these kids have seen ponies like us or not.”

“You’re ponies?”

The Mane 6 gasped in surprise and turned to see Abby and Marcella standing behind them, eyes wide in wonder. “Uh… yes, we are ponies,” Sunny nodded. “Have you… ever seen any like us before?”

“A few times back in our neighborhood,” Marcella responded. “We don’t really know any ponies ourselves, though.”

“Well… now you do!” Sunny smiled. “I’m Sunny, and this is Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Misty and Izzy.”

“I’m Abby,” Abby introduced as she shook Sunny’s hoof, “and this is my best friend, Marcella.”

“Sorry if I gave you girls a startle before,” Pipp apologized. “We were trying to find our mission without being seen, in case you guys have never seen anypony like us before, but I guess I kinda messed that up.”

“Maybe your mission could be to finally get my brother out of his bad attitude,” Abby rolled his eyes. “We saw him acting kinda weird earlier,” Misty recalled. “Does he not like spending time with your grandparents?”

“Oh, no, he loves Grandma and Grandpa,” Abby explained, “but… I think he thinks he’s too cool for all this.”

“...definitely sounds like a pre-teen,” Zipp rolled her eyes. “Mom had to deal with the two of us acting like that growing up.”

“Hey, if you’re gonna be here for a while,” Marcella said, “maybe Abby’s grandparents will let you stay here.”

“Do you think so?” Hitch asked. “I mean… we are kinda tired... and I could definitely use something to eat right about now.”

“Well, I think Grandpa and Grandma have seen ponies like you in Merrivale before,” Abby recalled, “so… you could try and talk to them and see what they say.”

“Well… you never know what will happen until you try, guys,” Sunny told her friends before turning to Abby and Marcella. “We’re in. Take us to your grandparents, and we’ll explain everything from there.”

Abby and Marcella led the ponies toward the house, and Abby opened the door to reveal her grandparents in the kitchen. “Grandma? Grandpa? Marcella and I made some new friends,” she said as the ponies peeked through the window, “and... they kind of need some help.”

Upon seeing the ponies, Grandma Ida and Grandpa George looked at one another, wondering what this could be about.

XXXXXXXX

“So, you see? That’s why we need a place to stay for a few days,” Sunny had nearly finished her explanation to Abby and Cody’s grandparents, who sat there intently listening. “We can’t go back to Equestria unless we find our mission and then complete it, so… we’re kinda stuck. And your granddaughter and her friend really seem to like us, plus we might be able to help you with some of the farm chores, right, guys?”

There were a few positive responses that came from the rest of the Mane 6.

“Yeah!”

“Definitely!”

“Of course!”

“You know it.”

“We’ll sure try.”

“So… what do you think, Grandpa?” Abby asked. “Can they stay?”

“Well, it isn’t every day that a bunch of colorful ponies come around here-- the ponies in Merrivale usually keep to themselves a lot of the time,” Grandpa George explained. “But, we do have a room in the attic open…”

“And there is usually a lot of my cooking to go around,” Grandma Ida added in thought. “Plus, it would be good for you children to have some playmates while you’re out exploring. So…”

“Why not?” Grandpa George finished with a smile. “You all are welcome to stay!”

The ponies, Abby and Marcella cheered just as Cody came down the stairs, and when he saw the ponies, he stumbled back in surprise. “Whoa! How’d these horses get in here?”

“Uh… we’re ponies-- more specifically, earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi,” Izzy said innocently. “Just so you know.”

“They’re gonna be staying in the attic for a few days!” Abby said excitedly. “Isn’t that awesome?!”

“...yeah, just great,” Cody rolled his eyes sarcastically. “Just tell them they can’t come into my room, okay?”

“Well… sure thing, Cody,” Misty nodded in compliance. “We’ll respect your wishes.”

Cody chose to not say anything in return, but went back upstairs to keep unpacking. “Sorry about him,” Marcella told the ponies. “He’s been like that ever since Mom and Dad left.”

“It’s okay,” Misty spoke with a shrug. “We’ve met people like him before… just a little reluctant to get to know us.”

“Well, why don’t you all get settled in upstairs, and then you can play with the kids until dinner is ready?” Grandma Ida suggested. “I hope you like butter pecan pie for dessert.”

“Mmmm, one of my favorites!” Hitch smiled. “Thank you so much.”

“Come on! We’ll show you up to the attic!” Marcella offered. “Then, do you think we can hear the stories of your other Unity Quests?”

“Sure thing,” Sunny smiled, sparing one glance out of the window before following… as if they were being watched by someone… or some-creatures out in the barn.

But were these creatures friends? Or were they foes?

Well... we'll have to find out soon, won't we?

Barney Comes to Life/Songs and New Friendships Start

Just a few short minutes ago, the Mane 6 and made some new friends in Abby Newton and Marcella Walker, who gladly asked Abby’s grandparents if they could stay for a few days... at least until their Unity Quest could be complete.

And to be honest... the attic wasn't as bad as Pipp originally thought it would be.

The beds (which were really mattresses) were actually very comfortable, there was a huge circular window that you could see out of no matter where in the room you were, and it was close to the kids' bedrooms, so they could go to their new friends if they needed them.

However, there was still one thing that concerned the ponies... Cody, who the ponies were sure was going to be the main focus of this adventure.

He seemed cold when it came to them... something that Allura could easily manipulate in order to get him on her side.

Maybe if they just hung out with him a little more, maybe they could get him to... open up a little bit too.

And luckily... they knew just the two ponies to try and get Cody on their side as well.

XXXXXXXX

Cody sat boredly in his room, trying to get his mind off of the situation he was now in.

Trapped in his grandparents' farm for a whole week with no TV and no video games to let him pass the time.

Now what was he going to do?

Suddenly, there came a knock at his bedroom door, and Sunny and Zipp peeked their heads through the door. “Hey, Cody. Sorry we didn’t have the chance to introduce ourselves earlier,” Sunny said politely. “I'm Sunny Starscout, and this is Zipp Storm.”

“Hey,” Zipp waved with a smile. “And I told you guys to stay out of my room!” Cody huffed angrily before rolling his eyes. “Man, you guys are just like Abby... you never listen...”

“Well, we just wanted to come by and see if we can turn that summer blues around,” Zipp said as she and Sunny advanced into the room, despite hearing what Cody said. “I mean... I would give anything to be at my grandparents' farm right now... if I had grandparents, I mean.”

“And besides,” said Sunny, gesturing to the nearby window, “you don't need cable TV in a farm, Cody-- you'll have scenery to look at.”

But when Sunny looked out at the 'scenery' near the window, she grimaced when she saw the only scenery down below was a muddy pigpen. “Yeah...” Cody said sarcastically. “Great scenery.”

Deciding to ignore the two ponies and their 'help' all together, Cody laid down on the bed and started tossing and catching a basketball. This caused Sunny and Zipp to look at each other in concern.

How could they accomplish part of their mission when Cody wouldn't even meet them halfway when they DID try to help?

Little did they know that the situation would come in a way that was more different than they could have thought.

Suddenly, Abby stuck Marcella's toy dinosaur through the open door and began to speak in a male voice. “Cody! Oh, Cody!”

“What...?” Cody deadpanned. “It’s me-- Barney!” Abby continued speaking in a happy male tone. “Won't you come play with me?”

“No!”

Sunny tilted her head to the side to see the rest of her friends giggling behind Abby as she did her best Barney voice, and decided to play along. “Zipp and I will play with you, Barney... won't we, Zipp?”

“...we will?” Zipp asked before Sunny nudged her, and Zipp immediately realized what her friend was trying to get her to do. “Oh, uh... sure we will, Barney.”

“Oh, goody!” Abby said in her Barney voice, causing Sunny and Zipp to try and stifle their laughter. “We can play a nice game of pretend!”

“Well, great,” Cody said sarcastically. “Then you can pretend that I'm playing with you.”

Sunny and Zipp were stunned at this kind of attitude, and Abby, Marcella and the other ponies gathered at the doorway, with Abby being the first to confront her brother, her arms crossed across her chest. “Well, okay, Mr. Grouchy.”

“And for a guy who thinks he's cool,” Marcella huffed with an unsatisfied look, “you're sure no fun.”

“I hate to agree with them, Cody, but I think they're right,” Pipp agreed with a frown. “This is totally crashing your fun vibe right now and turning it into a 'no fun' vibe.”

“No fu--” Cody began to say before his basketball hit him right on the head, causing Marcella, Izzy and Abby to try to stifle their laughter, only for Zipp and Hitch to shush them, to prevent them from getting in further trouble.

However... it didn't work.

Cody got up off the bed, smiling, which surprised the group. “Fun? Okay. I'll show you fun...”

But before anyone else could say anything, he darted forward, grabbed Barney and shoved past the ponies, making most of them fall to the ground. “Hey!”

“Let’s play keep away!” Cody shouted as he ran into another room. “Come on!” Zipp shouted to her friends as they chased after him. “He went in here!”

But when they ran into the room Cody went into, they were stunned to see that Cody wasn't anywhere-- like he had disappeared into thin air!

“Huh?”

“What in Equestria?”

“He's gone!”

“How did he do that?”

“Spread out, guys,” Zipp told the group. “He has to be in here... I'm just not sure where.”

The group began to search under the bed, in the closet, even in the dresser drawers (you can probably guess which lavender unicorn searched there), but... the only place they didn’t look was behind the bedroom door, which is exactly where Cody hid before darting out. “See ya!”

“Get him!” Izzy growled in a deep voice before they all charged after Cody again, but when they got to the intersection, Cody had disappeared again. “Hey, where do you think he went now?” Misty asked, looking around. That's when Abby suddenly thought of something. “He could be heading up to the attic!”

“We’re gonna catch him this time!” Hitch said as they began to climb/fly up the stairs, but when they were nearly at the top, Cody came out from the cupboard in the staircase and ran toward the bathroom, causing Marcella to gasp. “There he goes!”

“After him!” Hitch cried, leaping up from the top of the stairs to meet up with his friends at the bottom.

XXXXXXXX

Cody placed Barney in the bathtub before he quickly closed the shower curtain, just as his younger sister, Marcella and their new pony pals caught him at the door. “Gotcha!” Abby smirked, causing Cody to turn to them sarcastically. “Were you chasing me?”

“Uh, yeah. Now can you please give Barney back to Abby and Marcella?” Zipp asked with a stern gaze. “Every foal and filly knows it isn't good to take someone's else's things without asking.”

However, Cody kept his sarcasm act in the works, refusing to back down. “Do I know... a Barney?”

“Cody, where is he?!” Abby asked desperately. “I don't know, Abigail,” Cody used his sister's full name with a smug look. “Why don't you guys try using your imaginations or those pony powers you're rumored to have?”

The ponies were really starting to get bugged by Cody’s behavior, but before they could find anything to say in response, Abby beat them to it with a smug look of her own. “Okay, I will.”

“Me too,” Marcella nodded, and as Abby closed her eyes, her best friend turned to the ponies. “Just imagine that you know where Barney is-- that'll wipe the smug look off his face.”

“Are you sure that will work?” Misty whispered. “Well, you never know what may happen,” Izzy shrugged, “so... I'm up for pretty much anything related to imagining and creativity.”

“...okay, I guess,” Pipp shrugged. “Here goes nothing.”

So, against their better judgement, the ponies closed their eyes just like Marcella and Abby were doing. Cody scoffed at this but Abby opened her eyes, glared at him for a moment and stuck out her tongue before closing her eyes again. “Gee... no Barney,” Cody smirked. “Maybe you guys just aren’t trying hard enough.”

The ponies, Marcella and Abby squeezed their eyes that much tighter, causing Cody to snicker in amusement.

Then... something strange began to happen.

The water in the shower suddenly turned on, causing Cody to slowly turn toward it... just before the tub sank lower to the ground... as if something extremely heavy was weighing it down.

Abby, Marcella and the ponies' eyes snapped open, wide eyed in shock. “Uh... g-g-guys...?!” Hitch stammered in fear. “What's happening right now...?!”

“I don't know, but everypony brace yourselves,” Sunny said quietly. “We don't know what's gonna come out of that shower, so we need to be prepared.”

The second that the ponies took on their ready positions, the shower immediately stopped running. Cody carefully started to open the curtains, but to everyone's surprise, Barney had come to life somehow and opened them himself!

And you can probably guess what everyone thought when this happened.

“What?!”

“Whoa!!”

“Oh my pony!!”

“A towel, please,” Barney said politely with a chuckle before climbing out of the shower, letting the shower legs go back to normal. While Cody, Abby and the ponies stood their with their jaws slacked in surprise, Marcella reached and got Barney a towel, which he used to dry himself off. “Thank you, Marcella.”

Pipp nudged the girl with her wing at this. “He knows your name…”

“Oh, and thank you, Cody,” Barney said, placing the towel on Cody’s outstretched arm. “It's so nice to have a shower after a long car trip.”

“Uh-huh…” the ponies nodded, not really sure what to say otherwise. “Now, what were we playing before, Abby?” Barney asked, making Abby smile. “We were playing a game of pretend. Remember?”

“Oh, right!” Barney chuckled. “I just love to pretend.”

“Uh, hey, here’s a suggestion,” Misty decided to speak up. “W-Why don’t we all go… play in the barn?”

“Oh, great! Lead the way, Misty,” Barney offered, and although she was stunned that Barney knew her name and they had LITERALLY just met, Misty led Barney, Abby and Marcella out of the room, all while the girls were whispering to themselves about Barney before they disappeared from sight.

Hitch decided to speak first out of the ponies that were left and Cody. “...did we do that?”

“I’m not sure what to think,” Sunny said, looking at her cutie mark. “Our cutie marks weren’t glowing-- I’m not exactly sure how that happened.”

“Yeah,” Zipp agreed. “I mean, toys don’t exactly grow huge and come to life on a regular basis.”

“Well… we don’t know how it happened YET, so… let’s go play before whatever magic this is wears off!” Izzy pulled her friends away, causing them to yelp as they went after Misty and their new friends.

Cody, after the others had disappeared, continued to try and piece this together. “A dinosaur. A dinosaur?” he questioned to himself before trying to follow the others. “Barney the dinosaur?!”

XXXXXXXX

Cody managed to follow his sister, Marcella, their new friends and Barney out of the house and out toward the barn, and he could hear Barney, Abby and Marcella singing a familiar children’s tune.

Barney, Abby and Marcella: Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie ‘em in a knot?
Can you tie ‘em in a bow?

Can you throw them on your soldier like a continental soldier?
Do your ears hang low?

Izzy, Sunny, Misty and Pipp were laughing happily at this while Hitch and Zipp looked on from afar, and then Cody entered the barn to face Barney head on. “Hey! What do you think you're doing?”

“Uh… who, me?” Barney asked. “Yeah! You!” Cody answered. “ What is this, some kind of a joke?”

“Well,” said Sunny, “I wouldn’t exactly call it a joke…”

“...but we are having fun!” Izzy finished. “Lots of fun!” Barney chuckled… right before Cody stopped him in his tracks. “Look, pal, real dinosaurs don't talk, and real dinosaurs don't laugh,” he said before poorly imitating Barney’s laugh. “Cause there aren't any real dinosaurs anymore.”

“Oh, well… I’m as real as your imagination,” Barney answered. “And that’s something very--”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Cody interrupted, “But that doesn’t explain--”

“Cody!” Abby stopped her brother in his tracks. “You don't have to explain.”

“I admit, this is a little strange for us too,” Zipp told him, “but… sometimes the best things in life can happen without explanation.”

Then, to make things a little easier for Cody to understand, Barney began to sing a cheerful tune.

Barney: Close your eyes and you will find
There are pictures in your mind
Things that you can see and feel
All those things are very real

Sunny: Doesn’t matter where you are
Make believe and there you are

Barney: You can be most anywhere
When your imagination takes you there

That's when the rest of the group, except for Cody and Zipp, began to join in the song as well.

Abby: Imagine you're a cuckoo clock...

Cody: (speaking) I'm not a cuckoo clock.

Marcella: All day long they go...

Abby: Tick tock, tick tock

The girls then climbed down from their perch and then climbed on a swing and let Misty and Izzy push them across the barn.

Izzy and Misty: Close your eyes and wish real hard...

Barney: A cuckoo clock is what you are
That's right!

Pipp and Sunny giggled as they followed the unicorns, Abby and Marcella to the top of the giant hay pile, the two girls holding the swing again to swing for a higher height.

Barney: Imagine you're a bird that flies...

Cody: (speaking) I'm not a bird that flies.

Pipp: Soaring high through the sky...

Marcella, Pipp and Abby: Spread your wings and feel so free... whee!!

Barney: A bird is what you're bound to be!

After Abby and Marcella swung across the barn, Pipp slowed the swing to a stop, allowing the girls to get off.

Barney, Ponies, Abby and Marcella: Imagine, imagine
And you can be anything you choose
Imagine, imagine
Just be sure you'll never lose the power to...

That's when Marcella and Abby climbed on Misty and Izzy's backs, and the two unicorns picked up brooms to use them as elephant trunks.

Misty: Imagine you're an elephant

Abby: I'm a giant elephant!

Marcella, Abby, Izzy and Misty: Carrying a big long trunk-- thunk!

Hitch and Zipp couldn't help but laugh at Izzy and Misty galloping around pretending brooms to be elephant trunks-- even they had to admit, they were having quite a bit of fun.

Marcella: It's with me everywhere I go...

Cody: (speaking) No.

Barney: Who's to say it isn't so?
Let's go!

That’s when Barney nudged Cody right onto a waiting wheelbarrow that Zipp was happy to get behind. Cody, however, wasn’t sure what was happening. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Na na na na na na…” Pipp and Abby mocked, causing Zipp and Barney to push the wheelbarrow forward, despite Cody’s protests. “Stop, stop, Barney!”

Zipp and Barney lifted the wheelbarrow, tossing Cody off of it and onto a pile of hay, and while Cody was trying to pick himself up, Abby and Marcella sat on the wheelbarrow as it went backward, waving to Cody mockingly.

But Cody wouldn’t take this sitting down.

As soon as he got up, he chased his sister, Marcella and the rest of the ponies throughout the barn, trying to catch them. “Think you can get away?! Come on!”

“Missed!” Sunny singsonged as they made a break for the hay loft. “Come on, guys!” Abby called once she got to the top, and once everyone made it to the top (with Cody sitting on the ladder) and began sliding down the hay chute, the song quickly resumed.

Abby: I’m sliding down a chimney

Cody: (speaking) I don’t see a chimney

Marcella: Whoopie-whee! Look at me!

Cody: (speaking) That’s a hay chute

Others: No it’s not!

Hitch: (chuckles) It’s what they say it is!

Abby and Marcella: That’s what!

Barney, Ponies, Abby and Marcella: Imagine, imagine
And life becomes a wonderful surprise
Imagine, imagine
And dreams appear before your eyes

Then, Barney approached Cody as the ponies made ready another hay pile for Cody to land on... with Abby and Marcella's help.

Barney: Doesn't matter where you are
Make believe and there you are
You can be most anywhere
When your imagination takes you there

Barney then playfull slung Cody onto the hay pile again, causing Marcella, Abby and the ponies, as well as Barney to laugh.

Even the ponies had to admit-- they needed a dose of fun after all the serious adventures they had been having recently. “Whoo! I don’t know why we didn’t know about Barney sooner-- this is the most fun we’ve had since our LAST Unity Quest!” Izzy said with a giggle. That seemed to push Cody over his limit, groaning in frustration before standing up and facing the others. “Okay, Barney, if you're really here, cause of my imagination, then you're about to disappear.”

“Cody!” the ponies, Marcella and Abby scolded, not believing that Cody would really do such a thing. However, Cody had already set his mind to it, closing his eyes incredibly tight. “I… do not… believe in you.”

When Cody opened his eyes again, he looked to see a bunch of frustrated ponies, Abby and Marcella glaring at him… but Barney was gone.

It had worked, just as he expected.

Sunny looked around for a moment, wondering if Barney really disappeared when Zipp tapped her on the shoulder. “Sunny-- over there.”

Sunny looked behind Cody with the others, causing them to giggle-- turns out, while Cody had his eyes closed, Barney had just moved right behind him, lightly tapping Cody's shoulder. “That’s okay, Cody. I believe in you.”

Then, he gave Cody a little squeeze hug, causing Cody to growl in frustration. “Barney the dinosaur is not in this barn!”

Suddenly, a rustling sound behind some nearby hay bales caused the group to gasp and freeze in place. “Uh… you guys don’t think it’s another pony,” Abby nervously turned to the Mane 6, “do you?”

“No, we’re the only ponies around here that we know of,” Sunny said suspiciously. “Something weird is going on.”

“You don’t think it’s Allura again, do you?” Hitch asked. “I mean… she should know when to give up sooner or later.”

“I’m not sure,” Zipp said before turning to Barney. “Keep Cody and the girls back-- in our experience, it’s usually an evil fire alicorn or an evil snow leopard making all that noise.”

“No, no, wait! Please!”

The voice belonged to the one rustling-- a bluish-green kirin with a darker green horn, blue eyes, and large splotches all over her legs. Seeing her caused the ponies to blink in surprise. “Huh?”

“Please, I’m sorry if me and my little friends scared you,” the kirin said with a frown. “They were just becoming restless after hearing you sing and play, and they wanted to get some of their energy out.”

“Friends?” Barney looked around. “Um… excuse me for saying so, but I don’t see anyone else around.”

“Oh, well… they’re hiding right now,” the kirin explained before turning to the hay pile. “Come on out, little ones. I think we’re in the presence of friends.”

That's when the cutest little creatures, dragons I might add, came out of hiding:

The only girl of the three siblings had black as her predominant body color, while the medial and posterior areas are white, faintly tinged in pink. She also had blue eyes, and her ears also are tinged with white at their tips, just like her nose.

The second baby, one of the two boys, had white as his predominant color, with smaller black patches on his body, as well as black tipping his head nubs and on most of his tail, as well as along his spine ridges, and he also had green eyes.

Finally, the second boy, had black as his predominant color with smaller white patches on his body, along with some white tipping his small head nubs and lining his tail, as well as an all-white underside and green eyes.

“Awwwww!!” Izzy, Pipp, Sunny, Abby and Marcella cooed in awe as the dragons came out and sat in front of the kirin. “Dragons?” Cody scoffed. “Gimme a break…”

“Allow me to introduce ourselves,” the kirin then spoke. “I am Gentle Rain, and these baby dragons are my friends, the Night Light triplets-- Ripper, Bat and Noir.”

“You’re the ones who were playing and having fun earlier!” Noir said with wide eyes as he approached Marcella. “We’ve never met real humans before.”

“Or… giant purple dragons like you, mister,” Bat said politely to Barney. “What kind of dragon are you?”

“Oh, uh… I believe he’s a dinosaur, Bat,” Gentle Rain whispered. “Oops!” Bat yelped in realization. “Sorry…”

“That’s okay-- happens a lot, actually,” Barney chuckled. “But, um… what are you all doing in the barn?”

“Yeah,” Zipp nodded. “I thought dragons lived in caves, and I thought kirin lived in herds.”

“Well… that situation is a little complicated. Plus, we got caught in the rough weather,” Gentle Rain explained, “so we wanted to rest in your barn for now. I hope that was alright.”

“I’m sure our grandparents wouldn’t mind if you stayed here,” Abby said. “It is a little more crowded in the house since the ponies got here earlier, and the barn is a super comfy place.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Ripper said, jumping into Abby’s arms, causing her to giggle. “You’re welcome! Heh heh.”

“Children! You and your friends come on inside now! It’s time for dinner!” Grandma Ida called. “Be right there, Grandma!” Cody called back before turning to the others. “Guys, let’s go.”

“You all go on ahead,” Barney said to the ponies as Cody, Abby and Marcella ran out of the barn. “I’m gonna stay and talk to our new friends a little more.”

“Okay, Barney,” Sunny smiled. “We’ll see you later!”

And just like that, the ponies galloped off toward the farmhouse, letting Gentle Rain turn to Barney. “We appreciate you and your friends letting us stay here for a little while, Barney,” she said kindly. “Me and the triplets really appreciate it.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Barney replied. “You know… since you’re gonna be staying here with us too, I could use your help with Cody.”

“You mean the boy who doesn’t like us?” Noir asked. “I’m sure he likes us,” Bat scolded her brother, “but… he just doesn’t wanna lose his macho.”

“Well, I think I have a way to help him open up to imagination a little bit,” Barney said with a chuckle. “But I think I might need help from you AND our pony friends.”

Gentle Rain looked at the triplets, who nodded, causing her to nod herself. “We’re in. Just tell us what to do.”

Author's Note

These are the OCs that I am going to use for most of the story:

Gentle Rain: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/44613852552010260/

Ripper: Pouncer | How to Train Your Dragon Wiki | Fandom

Bat: Dart | How to Train Your Dragon Wiki | Fandom

Noir: Ruffrunner | How to Train Your Dragon Wiki | Fandom

All credit goes to the original owners of these guys.

On the Front Porch/Wishing Stars and Stories of the Past

This current Unity Quest was probably one of the most interesting Unity Quest that the ponies had taken so far.

Meeting three kids was one thing, but also meeting a toy dinosaur who came to life and a kirin who was taking care of three baby dragons?

Nothing gets crazier than that.

After dinner was over, everyone was sitting out on the front porch, relaxing in the night air before they had to rest for the day ahead. However, it was hard to relax when Cody kept trying to tell his grandparents about Barney being in the barn. “I'm telling you, Barney's in your barn.”

“I know, Cody,” Grandma Ida spoke, deciding to play along with her grandson. “You told us at dinner.”

“Several times,” Grandpa George added, causing Izzy and Pipp to giggle. “Do you think maybe we should back Cody up?” Misty whispered to her friends, feeling sort of sorry for Cody at that moment. “I mean… we did see Barney just as much as Cody did.”

“Even if we told the grandparents,” Sunny whispered back, “I’m not exactly sure if they’d believe us.”

“Even if they don’t believe us,” said Hitch in the same quiet voice, “we can at least play along. So we can try to keep ourselves from looking suspicious.”

“Listen to me, Grandma and Grandpa,” Cody kept trying to say. “Barney the dinosaur is in your barn with a bunch of dragons and a weird-looking unicorn. Isn’t he?”

The way Cody was looking at Abby, Marcella and the ponies, they felt the urge to nod in agreement, just so they could play along. “Oh, yeah-- there are,” Pipp nodded. “Our new friends and Barney really like your barn.”

“Well, I’m glad they like it,” Grandma Ida said to her grandson with a nod. “Marcella, don't leave your little doll out there all night.”

“Barney isn’t just a little doll!” Cody exclaimed in frustration. “He’s very big!”

“Oh, sure, he's big now, but you just wait,” Grandpa George teased. “These fads come and go.”

Cody slapped his face out of frustration-- his grandparents weren't believing him and the others not one bit! “Now, Cody,” said Grandma Ida, looking over at Grandpa George, “I did notice at the table that someone ate like a dinosaur tonight.”

“Handsome fellow like me have to be careful what I eat,” Grandpa George chuckled. “Got to watch my figure. I don't want to lose my girlfriend.”

“Aww… that is SO romantic!” Pipp cooed romantically. “You two must have been together for a long time.

“Oh, yes we were. I first met the love of my life when I was just around Cody’s age,” Grandpa George explained. “And I knew she was the girl for me.”

“So you were childhood sweethearts?” Sunny asked with a smile, leading Grandpa George to nod. “My mom and dad were the same way!”

Then, Grandpa George looked at Grandma Ida and began to sing the most beautiful love song that the ponies had ever heard.

Grandpa George: Let me call you sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper
That you love me too

Keep the love light glowing
In your eyes so blue
Let me call you sweetheart
I'm in love with you...

Pipp and Izzy sighed romantically at the sight... there was nothing (besides friendship) as powerful as true love.

As the song came to a close, Grandpa Ida stood up, holding Fig in her arms. “Come on, handsome, you help me with the dishes now.”

“Oh, gee, I'd like to,” Grandpa George tried to make an excuse, “but, uh, that dishwater makes my fingers all wrinkly.”

This remark caused Abby, Marcella and Izzy to giggle. “That’s fine,” Grandma Ida smirked. “It'll just match your sweet wrinkly face. Come on.”

“Okay, okay,” Grandpa George nodded and began to follow her inside when he turned to Cody again in a joking matter. “Oh, Cody, you watch that barn for anymore dinosaurs. Okay?”

“Funny…” Cody said in annoyance as his grandparents went inside. “Real funny.”

“You tell them, Cody,” Izzy said with a giggle. “I’m sure they’ll believe you about Barney, Gentle Rain and the dragons one of these days.”

Cody only growled in frustration, sitting on the banister of the porch as everyone else looked up at the night sky. “It's a pretty night, huh?” Sunny asked her friends, new and old. “Yeah,” Abby nodded. “Oh yeah.”

That's when Barney, Gentle Rain and the dragon triplets emerged from the nearby woods, the purple dinosaur being the first to speak. “It’s bea-utiful!”

“Hey! WHOA!!!” Cody screamed and fell off the banister and into some plants that Sunny and Hitch grew for Grandma Ida earlier. As a majority of the ponies tried to keep their laughter contained, everyone else rushed to the side of the banister to see Cody trying to get out of the bushes himself. “Get me out of here!!!”

Barney, the dragons and Gentle Rain rushed to Cody’s side, and Barney helped Cody out of the bushes. “Sorry...”

Cody just looked at Barney with a deadpan look. “Sure you are.”

“If anyone else won't say it, I will,” Noir said as he and his siblings sat on the swing with Abby and Marcella. “That was funny!”

“We were just coming back from a walk in the woods, and Barney decided to walk with us on the way back,” Gentle Rain explained to the ponies. “I hope we didn’t give you another startle.”

“Nah, don't worry about it,” Zipp brushed it off. “We're just glad you guys are here-- Abby and Marcella sure seem to like the triplets.”

Gentle Rain looked over at the swing and realized that Abby and Marcella were giggling and playing with the baby dragons, making the kirin smile.

It was good to see the baby dragons making some new friends, since they had been so sad to be accidentally separated from their parents.

That's when Barney saw that the kids and ponies were the only other ones with them. “Where are your grandparents?”

“You just missed them!” Abby told their new friends. “Well,” Barney brushed off with a chuckle, “I'm sure we'll see them soon.”

“Yeah,” Cody scoffed, “but will THEY see YOU?”

The baby dragons could easily tell that the situation could get tense very quickly, so Ripper decided to speak up and change the subject. “Barney, could you push us all on the swing?”

“I'd be happy to,” Barney chuckled. “But I could use a little bit of help from Izzy and Misty, if they don’t mind.”

“No need to ask us twice, Barney-Barney!” Izzy said optimistically. “Two swing pushers, coming up!”

Misty yelped as Izzy dragged her behind the swing, but nonetheless stood behind it, getting ready to push. “Ralph,” Hitch turned to the farm dog nearby, “would you serenade us with a little guitar music, please?”

Ralph whimpered and began to strum the guitar sitting nearby with his tail, surprising most everyone there (except Cody), but that surprise soon turned to smiles of happiness as Barney sang to the gentle tune.

Barney: Twinkle twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky

Gentle Rain and Barney: Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are

“Come on, everyone,” Gentle Rain encouraged. “If you know this song, sing along!”

“No need to ask me twice!” Pipp said enthusiastically before the ponies, Abby, Marcella and the dragons began to sing along with their friends.

All (except Cody): Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are

Abby: Up above the world so high

Marcella: Like a diamond in the sky

All (except Cody): Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are...

Ralph then finished the song with a grand Flamenco flourish, catching a majority of the group offguard, but in a good way. “Whoa!” Zipp chuckled. “Pretty awesome finish!”

“Uh, actually,” Hitch said in thought, “I think it was more of a flea than a finish.”

This is what caused the group to giggle. “Come on, Barney! Izzy invited us to come play in the attic,” Marcella said as she stood up, and Abby nodded in agreement. “We’re pretending it's a castle!”

“Oh boy!”

“Oh! We wanna play castle too!” Noir said as he and Ripper immediately ran inside. “I'm gonna be the princess!” Marcella volunteered. “I'm gonna be the knight!” Izzy agreed in a deep voice. But, as she, Gentle Rain, Barney and Bat were about to follow, they noticed Cody looking off into space...

...and Sunny decided that she should stay and check on him. “Gentle Rain, you go up and check on Bat's brothers and the rest of our friends. I wanna stay and talk to Cody.”

“I wanna stay with you,” Bat volunteered. “And I wanna stay with Barney.”

“We'll be waiting for you in the attic,” Gentle Rain said before walking inside the house. That's when Sunny, Barney and Bat approached Cody, the earth pony mare being the first to speak. “Aren't you going to come and play too, Cody?”

“What, some stupid pretend game?” Cody scoffed coldly. “No way. Definitely not cool.”

“Oh...” Barney stepped a little closer. “What do you think is cool?”

“Rock singers who spit fire, professional wrestling... real stuff.”

“And... we aren't real?” Bat asked quietly, feeling a little hurt. “Well... I don't think you are,” Cody told her, “but everyone else seems to think so, but... what do I know?”

“Oh, I see...” Barney said in thought, while Sunny tried to comfort Bat. “But, you know, Cody... even for grownups, the real adventures in life start with... a dream.”

“A dream?” Cody scoffed in disbelief. “Prove it.”

“Well, you can only prove it to yourself, Cody,” Sunny said, patting Cody on the shoulder. “But you could start, by um... kinda drawing a blank here...”

Suddenly, Barney seemed to come up with an idea. “Ahh, you could start by wishing on a star.”

“Really?” Bat asked, enamoured. “A star?”

“As if!” Cody scoffed in disbelief, causing Bat to look down at the ground. “Stars are only glowing balls of gas a jillion miles from here!”

“But I think there's a very special wishing star in the sky tonight,” Barney told Cody, Bat and Sunny, looking up at the sky. “And it's right about... there.”

At first, Cody, Sunny and Bat didn't see anything in the sky, but then, after a moment, they saw a brilliantly glowing sky. “Whoa...” Bat said in awe, nearly slipping off the banister until Sunny caught her and put her on her back. “Thanks, Sunny. Me and my brothers can only fly a little bit, so if we fall, we fall.”

“No problem,” Sunny sent the little dragon a playful wink. “Want me to make a wish?” Cody asked Barney after a moment of silence. “I'll make a wish.”

“Oh, yes!” Bat pumped a dragon paw as Sunny trotted after Cody down the front stairs. “I wish... I wish...” Cody began to say before looking up at the sky. “I wish I could have a real adventure this summer! Do things that no one else has done before! That would be cool.”

Sunny and Bat continued to watch the star streaking across the sky until Sunny spoke up. “How was that for a wish, Barney?”

But as they turned, the trio discovered that Barney had disappeared. “Barney?” Bat called, looking around. “Barney?!”

Cody sighed to himself. “Man, we must be losing it. Come on, guys... we better get back to the attic.”

The trio headed for the farmhouse and walked past Ralph, who barked about seeing that very same shooting star enter the barn... only it wasn't a shooting star at all.

It was a large gray egg.

Ralph barked at the egg before a large bucket fell on top of it, prompting Ralph to head back to the barn.

The egg would be more precious than anyone ever thought... but that part of the adventure would happen later on.

XXXXXXXX

“And then,” Pipp narrated the story of defeating Allura for the first time to Abby, Marcella, Gentle Rain and the dragons, “Allura and Twitch were pelted with snowballs, and after swearing she would eventually get her way, Allura totally left the scene!”

“We’ve had a few run ins with Allura since then,” Zipp added on, “but we're working on a plan to make sure she never finds her way to Equestria or hurts anypony else.”

“Wow... that's a pretty good story, Pipp,” Marcella told the pink pegasus, holding Noir in her lap. “I agree,” Gentle Rain added. “I don't think I've ever seen Noir or Ripper so still before.”

“Oh, sorry... I kinda just imagined us being there too,” Ripper shook his head to clear it. “You know... totally kicking the snow leopard's butt?”

As everyone giggled at the dragon's statement, the attic door opened, and Cody entered with Bat and Sunny, the dragon and the earth pony mare looking a little concerned. “Hey, we wondered where you all got to,” Hitch said. “Where's Barney? I thought he might have been with you.”

“He was with us,” Sunny said, letting Bat rejoin her brothers, “but right when we were about to come inside, he just... vanished!”

“Barney disappeared? That's strange,” Zipp said in thought. “Where do you think he might have gone?”

“We don't know,” Bat said before sighing worriedly. “I just hope that he doesn't get lost like we did.”

Misty could hear the sadness in her voice and frowned at the statement. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“...the thing is,” said Noir, “me and my sister and brother accidentally got separated from our parents while we were trying to migrate to a mountain range in Maine.”

“Gentle Rain found us and she offered to take care of us until we could find our parents again,” Bat explained, “but... it's been so long, I... I guess we're worried that they'll never find us.”

Cody couldn't help but feel a little sad for the dragon triplets, so he sat down next to Bat and rubbed her head gently, causing her to sigh in pleasure. “Well, until you can find your parents again,” said Marcella, “I'm sure we can take care of you.”

“Really?” Noir asked with surprise. “You would do that for us?”

“Of course we would! Even if we've only been here for a day,” Zipp said, “we already feel a special connection to you little guys, just like these kids have.”

“And as long as we're here for our mission,” Sunny spoke up, “we'll be willing to search for your parents on the side.”

“Wow... thank you all so much,” Bat smiled gratefully. “Me and my brothers appreciate this so much!”

Zipp yawned and stretched her wings a bit at this. “I hate to be a party pooper, but we better get some shuteye if we wanna have another great day tomorrow.”

“You're right about that, Zipp,” Gentle Rain smiled, and as everyone began to split up, with the kids taking one of the dragons to their rooms, the kirin turned to look at the sky. “Barney, wherever you are... I do hope that you're alright. We'll see you soon... I can feel it.”

Discoveries on the Farm

Sunny couldn’t help but think about Barney after her friends had fallen asleep that night.

I mean... who wouldn’t want to think about a dinosaur doll who had come to life in the shower?

But there seemed to be more to it than that.

Somehow, Barney seemed to be there to remind her and her friends that there was time to have fun despite the fact that there was a mission they needed to accomplish.

And meeting Barney did seem to help them make a lot of new friends and new allies.

It did make the ponies wonder, however, if there was something going on other than having fun and helping Bat, Ripper and Noir find their parents.

But there would be time for that later.

Right now... they needed sleep in order to find out what their real mission was.

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, guys!” Abby called to her friends as they raced out of the house to play outside. “Hurry up!”

“Wait for me!” Ripper said as he leapt down the front stairs after Abby, with his siblings, Marcella and the ponies right behind and Cody trailing the group, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a brand new pair of shoes.

The group reached a patch of grass before turning to Cody, still standing on the porch, and Gentle Rain couldn’t help but notice his appearance wasn't very appropriate for playing on the farm. “Forgive me for being blunt, Cody, but, um... what are you gonna do on a farm dressed like that?”

“As little as possible,” Cody responded, wiping off his shoes, “and try not to get dirt on my new shoes. Okay?”

Pipp nudged her sister with a playful smirk. “I bet you 2 dollars that he gets dirt on his shoes within 20 minutes of us being out there.”

“Oh-ho, dear sister,” Zipp smirked, “you are SO on.”

But before anything else could be said, a familiar humming was heard from the barn, and Barney emerged from it, dressed in a full-blown farmer costume.

As the ponies and Gentle Rain sighed in relief that Barney was all right, but Cody didn't seen as excited as they were. “Barney?!”

“Oh!” Barney waved cheerfully. “Cody!”

That's when Abby, Marcella and the triplets saw Barney and became increasingly excited. “Barney!”

“Hi there,” Barney chuckled and hugged them as Gentle Rain and the ponies, except for Pipp and Zipp, approached as well. Cody, on the other hand, was still stunned to see Barney in his new outfit. “You look...”

“Oh, thank you, Cody, so do you!” Barney chuckled. “We got worried about you after you disappeared last night!” Bat told her new dinosaur friend. “Where did you go?”

“Oh, I just realized I had something to do-- nothing to really worry about,” Barney chuckled. “Well, I think we better get started having fun right now!”

“Yeah, come on!” the dragons, Abby and Marcella cried at once, chasing after Barney. “Let’s go!”

“Pipp and I will stay with Cody, but you guys have fun!” Zipp called to the rest of their friends. “We’ll catch up with you later!”

“See ya later!” Izzy waved cheerfully, just before the other members of the Mane 6 galloped after their other friends, just as they all began to sing a cheerful song.

All: Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo," there a "moo," everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O

XXXXXXXX

Cody, Pipp and Zipp were currently walking along the side of the barn when a splat sound could be heard.

A very disguisting splat to be quite honest.

Zipp and Pipp looked down to see that Cody had stepped into a huge pile of cow poop, causing Pipp to giggle and hold her hoof out. “I'll take those 2 dollars, dear sister of mine.”

“Fine, fine,” Zipp handed her some dollar bills with reluctance before turning to Cody. “Come on, Cody. We'll help you clean those shoes.”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the rest of the group were crossing a large wooden board in order to get to the other side of the creek, still singing the same song.

All: Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a goat, E-I-E-I-O ♪
With a "baa-baa" here and a "baa-baa" there
Here a "baa," there a "baa," everywhere a "baa-baa"
Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a chicken, E-I-E-I-O
With a "cluck cluck" here and a "cluck cluck" there
Here a "cluck," there a "cluck," everywhere a "cluck cluck"
Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O...

XXXXXXXX

As the song continued, Zipp and Pipp had just finished cleaning Cody’s shoes when they began to hear a strange sound coming from the barn. But Pipp was not at all excited when she saw what was coming out. “Oh no no no no!!”

A whole herd of pigs was coming out of the barn, forcing Cody and the pegasus sisters to run just as the song the others were singing was coincidentally reaching the part about pigs.

All: With an "oink oink" here and an "oink oink" there
Here an "oink," there an "oink," everywhere an "oink oink"

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!!!

By the time that the song was over, everyone was laughing so hard that they could barely see straight. “Oh-ho, wow! We haven’t had this much fun in ages!” Bat giggled. “Hey, do you think Cody is having fun with Pipp and Zipp?”

“Oh, are you kidding?” Izzy scoffed with a smirk. “If I'm right, they're having the best time!”

“But either way,” said Sunny, “we should probably head out and check on them... just in case.”

XXXXXXXX

The pigs had chased Cody, Pipp and Zipp right into the barn, and once they made sure that the pigs left, Zipp sighed in relief. “That was way too close for comfort.”

“Good thinking, using the barn to hide in,” Pipp told her sister. “If you hadn't... well, we would have been caked in mud, just like those pigs out there.”

Suddenly, there came a sort of rattling sound coming from somewhere inside the barn, and when Cody saw where the rattling was coming from, he saw that a metal bucket was moving all on its own, causing all three of them to freeze up, unsure of what to think. “Whoa.”

“Come on, guys!” Misty whispered from outside the barn door. “In here!”

The rest of the friends filed in behind Cody and the pegasus sisters... just before the bucket began to rattle and move again. “Okay, uh...” Hitch hated to admit it, but this was making her incredibly nervous. “What's going on exactly?”

“We’re not sure either,” Pipp shook her head. “We just got in here and... that started happening.”

“Well... m-maybe I can help,” Ripper offered. “Night Lights do have a pretty powerful blast, even when they're babies-- maybe I can use mine to knock the bucket aside and see what's making it rattle.”

“Good idea,” Sunny nodded. “Oh, but, Ripper? Be careful,” Gentle Rain told the white dragon. “You don't want to hurt anyone or yourself.”

Ripper nodded as the group slowly advanced toward the bucket. Then, when they got close enough, Ripper growled and sent a bright blast of plasma out of his mouth and toward the bucket, knocking it aside and causing some of the group to shriek in surprise.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But, what was under the bucket surprised everyone in the group. “That's weird...” Misty said first. “It... looks like some sort of... egg.”

True to her word, a large gray egg was sitting in the bucket's place. However... no one knew what kind of egg it was or how it got there to begin with. “It's too big to come from the chickens,” Cody observed. “Maybe it was a big giant chicken,” Marcella shrugged, but this caused everyone to glance over at her out of confusion. “Or not. What?”

“Still... the size of it...” Hitch muttered. “It feels kinda familiar.”

But before Hitch could inspect it further, the egg's lower portions began to glow with a ravishing pink light, causing many amazed reactions from the group themselves.

“Oh ho ho ho!!”

“Wow!”

“Look at the colors!”

“Oh!”

“Look, it's glowing!”

“How is it doing that?”

“It's amazing!”

“Whoa! Awesome!”

“Plasma-tastic!”

Once the glowing stopped, one of the rings on the egg was now a bright pink, causing Cody to genuinely smile once he picked it up off the ground. “Whoa... wow, it's huge! Wow, look at the pink.”

“It's not a dragon egg,” Zipp said, “so what kind of egg is it?”

“I don't know,” Cody said honestly, “but it looks okay. Not any cracks or anything.”

“Can I see it?” Bat asked, and Gentle Rain lifted the egg in her aura so Bat could get a good look at the egg. And if Gentle Rain was being honest with herself... she was just as intrigued about the egg as anyone else was.

But before she could say anything, Bat had already turned to the purple dinosaur next to her. “Barney, have you ever seen an egg like this?”

Barney gently grabbed the egg from Gentle Rain's aura and inspected it, honestly unsure of what to say. “Um, well... to tell you the truth, I, uh...”

That’s when Marcella turned to Abby with a good idea in mind. “Hey, maybe your grandma would know.”

“Well, let’s go ask her!” Izzy told her friends. “Come on!”

“Oh, okay!” Barney said as the others raced past him, the Mane 6 included, but the force of them running past him was enough to make him spin around, still holding the egg, and losing his farmer’s outfit before racing after them. “Wait for me!”

But as the group raced out of the barn, Pipp suddenly stopped. “Wait! I wanna get a picture of where we found the egg! I’ll meet you over there in a second!”

“I’ll come with you, Pipperoni!” Izzy said, and the two went back into the barn to do their task. But as Pipp took pictures of the spot where the egg was, another dinosaur, younger than Barney, ran into the barn, like she was looking for something.

She was a green and pink triceratops wearing a pink tutu, a pink bow and pink ballet shoes on her feet, and when she saw Pipp and Izzy, she immediately approached them. “I just, um, oh! Hello! My name is Baby Bop,” she introduced, “and I'm looking for my blankie. It's lost. Have you seen it?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Baby Bop-- we haven’t,” Pipp apologized regretfully. “But, maybe we can help find it. I’m Pipp, and this is--”

“Izzy Moonbow, at your service!” Izzy bowed to Baby Bop before getting out a notepad to write some stuff down. “Now, what does this ‘blankie’ of yours look like?”

“Well, let me see…” Baby Bop said in thought before stretching her arms out wide. “It's this big, and it's really, really soft and it's yellow.”

Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, Izzy saw Ralph with that very blanket in his mouth, causing her to gasp. “Oooh, ooh! I think I just saw your blanket run off that way!”

“Are you sure?” Baby Bop asked, since she just came from that way, but Pipp and Izzy nodded in persistence. “Okay. Well, thank you both very much, horsies. Bye bye!”

“Bye, Baby Bop!” Pipp and Izzy waved as she ran off. “Uh… Iz?” Pipp looked at the unicorn. “You think we should probably help her?”

“She’ll find her blankie again-- I’m sure of it,” Izzy said. “Come on-- we have a little eggy we have to help too!”

“Right behind ya!” Pipp said and flew after her, hoping to catch up with their friends before they got too far.

XXXXXXXX

Eventually, Pipp and Izzy caught up with the rest of their friends, trotting alongside Abby and Marcella at the front of the group. Abby then turned to the others with a wide smile. “Wait till Grandma sees this!” she said, referring to the egg, while Cody gestured to Barney walking behind him, Hitch, Misty and Sunny while Zipp flew above them. “Wait till Grandma sees this.”

Barney and Gentle Rain led the dragon babies at the very back of the group, but all of a sudden, the sounds of a fussy baby upstairs caused them to stop. “Uh-oh…” Gentle Rain said in concern. “The baby!”

“I better go up and check on him,” Barney said before turning to the kirin and three dragon babies. “Do you all wanna come along?”

“Sure-- it’ll only take a minute,” Bat said as the group of five walked inside the house. “Besides, what would really happen if we were gone for only two seconds?”

XXXXXXXX

“Grandma, Grandpa!” Abby exclaimed as the children and ponies approached their grandparents, doing laundry out in the yard. “Cody found an egg in the barn!”

“Yes,” Grandma Ida said, “of course-- we have lots of eggs.”

“But this one isn’t a chicken egg exactly,” Zipp explained while trying to not say too much that could hurt their investigation. “It isn’t?” Grandpa George asked. “Well, let’s see it.”

But when the group turned, they realized that Barney, alongside Gentle Rain and the Night Lights, had disappeared. “Well, Barney and the rest of our new friends have it,” Hitch said, but internally cringed when he realized how ridiculous that must’ve sounded. “Right,” Grandpa George said, playing along. “Where’s Barney?”

“...I’ll go find out. Make sure they don't go anywhere,” Cody told the group before running off. “You have to see this egg,” Abby told her grandparents. “Yeah,” Misty nodded, “it's really big, and it has colors and…”

“Well,” said Grandpa George, “that doesn't sound like one of our chicken eggs.”

“It isn’t!” the ponies, Abby and Marcella said at once. “Well,” said Grandma Ida, “in that case, you'd better talk to our neighbor, Mildred Goldfinch.”

“The bird lady?” Abby asked. “What bird lady?” Marcella asked in confusion. “Oh,” Grandpa George smiled at Abby, “she'd love to see you, I bet.”

“We met her last year,” Abby told Marcella and the ponies. “She’s terrific.”

“She’s a bird watcher, dears,” Grandma Ida said. “And I think she knows everything about eggs and birds. Why don't you children go on over there?”

“Yeah, come on!”

“Great, let’s go!”

And so, the ponies, Abby and Marcella ran and flew off to find their friends before heading off to meet Mrs. Goldfinch.

XXXXXXXX

Barney had discovered why Fig was crying a few moments before-- his diaper needed changing, so Gentle Rain was helping Barney do that while the dragons played with some toys laying out on the bed, all while keeping the egg safe. “We’ll get this old wet diaper off of you,” Barney said to Fig as the baby was changed, “and you'll feel much better.”

Fig then let out a soft gurgling sound, to which Gentle Rain seemed to understand. “What’s that?” she asked. “You’re tired of the same old look?”

“She can understand babies too?” Noir asked his siblings, only for him to be shushed into silence. “Well,” Barney told Fig, “I think I can help with that too.”

Barney quickly got to work making Fig a brand-new outfit, singing a little song as he did such.

Barney: If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands-- that’s it!
If you're happy and you know it
Then your face will surely show it

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

When Barney was done with the song, Fig was now dressed in a sailor-like costume made completely from unused diapers. “Whoa, Fig!” Ripper exclaimed. “You look terrific!”

“I must admit, it’s very dashing,” Gentle Rain agreed. “Do you like your hat?”

That’s when Cody came into the room to find the five friends with Fig. “So, there you are,” he said, grabbing the egg from where the dragons set it on the bed. “Where’d you go?”

“Oh, I heard Fig crying,” Barney explained, setting Fig down in the crib, “so we all went up to…”

“Never mind,” Cody dismissed. “I'm taking you to see my grandparents right now.”

“Oh, good! Uh… bye, Fig,” Barney bid the baby farewell as he, Gentle Rain, Ripper and Noir were taken out of the room, just before Cody turned to Fig, still standing in his crib. “Oh, Grandma will be in in a second, okay?”

“Hey!” Bat cried after Cody left, causing her to run after her brothers and friends. “Wait for me!”

And Fig just watched them leave, somewhat enchanted and bewildered all at the same time.

XXXXXXXX

Cody, Barney, Gentle Rain and the dragons exited the house just as Abby, Marcella and the ponies came by them, with Misty using her aura to take the egg from Cody. “We’ll be taking this, thank you!”

“Hey, where’s everybody going?” Noir asked as he hopped on Sunny’s back. “To take the egg to Miss Goldfinch!” Abby said as she, Marcella, Barney and Cody held hands. “Hurry up!”

“We’ll find out more about the egg when we get there,” Zipp told the others, “we’re sure of it!”

“Wait a second!” Cody tried to protest. “I want Grandma and Grandpa to see him right now. Grandma!!”

“Save it for later, Cody-Brody!” Izzy said as she pushed Cody along the forest path before them. “We have an egg to investigate with!”

But, what they had no idea at the time was that someone else was watching them, with her own ideas for the egg in mind.

To Mrs. Goldfinch's House/The Egg Escapes!

Unaware that they were being watched by a certain snow leopard, the group containing Barney, the Mane 6, Cody, Abby, Marcella, Gentle Rain and the dragon triplets were heading through the woods with one of the farm's horses, Agnes, on their way to Mrs. Goldfinch's house.

According to Abby and Cody, she just lived on the other side of the forest... but it was a terribly spooky forest, not really one that a cheerful old birdwatcher would live in anyway.

And much like many members of the group, Agnes wasn’t fancy on entering a place that looked spooky, and stopped a few times, only for Barney to encourage her to keep going.

Once a long while of walking (well, riding for the dragon babies and flying for Pipp and Zipp) had passed, Ripper looked at Abby from on top of Pipp's back. “Do we have much farther to go?”

“I don’t think so,” Abby shook her head, but looked unsure herself. “I don't remember it looking like this last year,” Cody shook his head. “And I don’t see any kind of house around here either,” Misty said. “Maybe we’re lost.”

“Uh… speaking of ‘lost’,” Gentle Rain said worriedly, glancing around, “I think we may have lost Barney somewhere back there!”

Turns out, the kirin was right-- Barney was nowhere to be seen, leading the group to get worried and start calling for him.

“Barney?”

“Barney?!”

“Barney, where are you?!”

“Here, dino dino dino!”

“BARNEY?!!”

Suddenly, they managed to catch sight of Barney again, causing relief to spread throughout the group. “Look what I found!” Barney said, moving some vines to reveal a swan-shaped sign pointing in another direction. “That way!”

But when the ponies looked, there was nothing except more and more trees and bushes and darkness in that direction. “Barney, I hate to break it to you,” Pipp said, “but there is no ‘that way’ to go in.”

“Oh, I think there is,” Barney gently grabbed Agnes’ reins. “Come on.”

“Uh… you heard the dino, everyone,” Gentle Rain spoke up. “Let’s go.”

The group began walking through the trees, but everyone except Barney and Gentle Rain seemed a little worried. What were they gonna do when there wasn't gonna be any house in that direction?

Suddenly, as they came to the other side of the trees, a magnificent, vine-covered gate opened up to reveal a magnificent house on the other side. “Whoa!” Zipp exclaimed in shock. “How did that get there?”

“Who cares how it got there?” Pipp brushed off. “That house is absolutely gorgeous!”

“Awesome!” the baby dragons exclaimed at once before giggling. Abby, Marcella and Cody got off of Agnes’ back, while the dragons got off their pony friends' backs just before they all walked over to a woman tending to some birds when she noticed them. “Jumping jay birds, looks like we have company calling! Hello,” she greeted with a smile before looking at Abby and Cody. “I remember you. You’re, uh… Abby. And you’re… Toady!”

The ponies tried their best not to laugh at this while Cody corrected her. “Cody.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“And these,” Abby introduced, “are our pony friends from Equestria and Marcella.”

“Pleased to meet you, everyone,” Mrs. Goldfinch said as she shook Marcella’s hand. “Ditto, Mrs. Goldfinch,” Marcella smiled back. “And this is Bat, Ripper, Gentle Rain, Noir,” Sunny introduced the dragons and kirin, “and this is our personal friend--”

“Oh, wait, don't tell me,” Mrs. Goldfinch interrupted. “A purple plumed Peruvian parrot.”

Barney giggled at this guess. “Nope.”

“Ms. Goldfinch, um,” Misty couldn’t help but giggle, “Barney's a dinosaur.”

“Hard to believe, we know,” Hitch added, “but true.”

“Well, if you all are about done,” Cody said, bringing the egg forward, “I have a question about an egg.”

“Ouch…” Mrs. Goldfinch groaned as she looked at the egg in question. “I'd hate to be the bird who laid that egg.”

“We found it at Cody’s grandparents’ farm,” Bat added, “but we’re not sure what kind of egg it is.”

“But we're sure that it definitely isn’t a dragon egg, though,” Ripper interrupted. “Dragon eggs are usually more colored than this.”

“Well, I’m not sure about it myself, young ones,” Mrs. Goldfinch said, “so we’ll just have to bring it inside my house to check it out.”

She then pulled out a whistle and blew into it, causing the dragon babies to yelp in surprise. But within a few seconds, a giant bird cage lowered down to them like an elevator, causing the group to get excited before moving toward it... just as Marcella thought of a question. “Where'd all the birds come from?”

“People from all over the world send her birds that are sick,” Abby explained as they got into the elevator (all except Pipp and Zipp, who chose to fly). “And once I help them get well, most of them want to stay,” Mrs. Goldfinch explained as the elevator slowly began to rise. “I tell you, I buy birdseed by the barrel.”

Before Misty could ask how much birdseed costed, an older red truck pulled up into the driveway, and an older man waved to Mrs. Goldfinch from the front seat. “How you doing today, Mrs. Goldfinch?”

“Hey, Mr. Millet,” Mrs. Goldfinch greeted. “He owns Birdseed by the Barrel. He's making his weekly delivery.”

Sunny was glancing down at the ground when she suddenly saw a shadow in the trees... a shadow that looked a lot like Allura.

But when she shook her head to clear it, the shadow had disappeared.

Maybe it was just a figment of her imagination, but... she had a bad feeling that something was about to go down.

XXXXXXXX

Once the elevator had finally reached the top, everyone gasped in amazement at what was on the inside of Mrs. Goldfinch's house.

All around them were shelves loaded with books on eggs and birds, cuckoo clocks on the walls, furniture all around... it was a studious paradise. “I don’t believe this!” Sunny exclaimed. “It’s like an entire museum running right through your house!”

“This is my library,” Mrs. Goldfinch explained before moving to a shelf full of eggshells nearby. “And this is my collection of empty eggshells. Everything from hummingbirds to ostriches.”

“Oh, that’s egg-cellent, Mrs. Goldfinch!” Izzy joked before Misty hummed in thought, inspecting the eggshells. “But none of these eggshells look like our egg.”

“Well, even if none of them match,” Zipp said, “we really came to the right place to find out what this egg is. Now let’s get searching!”

And to make the search for answers a little more fun, they decided to sing an upbeat tune.

Barney: Can you tell us what's inside the egg?
Tell us what it is

All: Mrs. Goldfinch, what's inside the egg?
You are such a whiz!

Mrs. Goldfinch: Please don't ask me, I can't even guess
Hey, don't drop it! There'll be such a mess!

Night Lights: When we found it, we were so impressed

All: And we wonder what's inside it
We can't see you, who's inside it?

Sunny: Look around you, tell me what you see

Others: Miles and miles of books!

Somewhere there we're sure to find the key.

Bat: We're no pile of schnooks!

Pipp: It's so gorgeous, really quite a catch

Hitch: And I wonder when it's gonna hatch

Abby and Ripper: Maybe this time, Cody's met his match

Cody: (speaking) I don't think so

All: And we wonder what's inside it
We can't see you, who's inside it?

Marcella: It's so pretty with its colored ring

Gentle Rain: I just hope it doesn't have a sting

Cody: What if it's a horrid reptile thing?

Immediately realizing what he said, he turned toward Barney and the Night Lights. “Sorry, guys.”

“Aw,” Bat brushed it off. “That’s okay.”

All: And we wonder what's inside it
We can't see you, who's inside it?

But even with all their searching, they didn't seem to be any closer to figuring out what was inside that egg.

Abby: Maybe it's a baby chimpanzee (Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!)

Barney: Maybe it's a dinosaur like me

Cody: Maybe it's a fluffy little duck

Noir: So far, we aren't having any luck...

Marcella: Maybe it's a cousin of E.T.'s

Hitch and Zipp: (speaking) Who?

Cody: A tiny hummingbird

Misty: Cody, you are such a silly tease

Mrs. Goldfinch: This is quite absurd

Abby: We are searching every single page

Cody: Maybe we should put it in a cage

Hitch: Maybe that might put it in a rage

All: And we wonder what's inside it
We can't see you, who's inside it?

Barney: Don't you think that this is lots of fun?
Dreams are fancy-free!

Night Lights, Abby and Marcella: And I feel the fun has just begun
Just you wait and see

So, the group kept browsing and reading more and more books, only to find NOTHING about their egg. And needless to say, some of them were getting a bit tired.

Cody: There's nothing here that we can find.

Ripper: One more book and I'm going blind

Abby: But it seems that we don't really mind

All: And we wonder what's inside it
We can't see you, who's inside it?

Let's make sure we don't run out of steam
We must stick together as a team!
Then we know we're sure to find our dream

And we wonder what's inside it
We can't see you, who's inside it?

By the song's end, many members of the group had given up hope and were tired, panting for a moment before they saw the egg doing something-- moving!

However, Cody seemed to think that the egg’s movement was a result of a prank. “Okay, who's playing games here?”

“Well… it wasn’t me,” Gentle Rain said, touching her non-lit horn, “or the unicorns.”

“So… did you guys see what I saw?” Misty looked toward her friends with wonder and alarm all at once. “Yeah, I think I saw what you see,” Barney nodded. “Forget the see-saw,” Zipp said, getting out her magnifying glass and studying the egg, “that egg moved!”

But before Zipp could study it more closely, an orange glow enveloped the second ring on the egg, causing a mixture of reactions.

“Whoa!”

“It’s happening again!”

“Totally cool!

“Awesome!”

And by the time the glow vanished, an orange ring remained on the egg, causing Ripper to look over at Mrs. Goldfinch. “You have anything like that in one of your books?”

“No,” Mrs. Goldfinch shook her head. “And we have looked in every single one.”

“So… if it’s not in any of your books,” Hitch said out of confusion, “how are we gonna figure out where it came from?”

“It’s still a mystery… which happens to be my specialty,” Zipp smiled. “I’m sure I can find something to help us figure it out.”

But as Zipp began to glance over the books again, Abby spotted a book-like object under one of the chair legs. “Wait a second. What's that?”

“Oh, that old thing,” Mrs. Goldfinch brushed it off as Abby and Izzy approached. “I just use that book to keep the chair from wiggling. I don't even know its title.”

“Izzy,” said Abby, “could you lift the chair up a little?”

“You got it, Abby-Cadabby!” Izzy winked before using her magic to lift the chair off the book before Abby picked up the book and glanced at it, her eyes going wide. “Maybe that's because it doesn't have a title. Barney!”

Barney giggled excitedly as Abby and Izzy brought the book over. “But there is a picture on the cover!”

“And look!” Sunny said. “It has a picture of the egg!”

“What?!” Zipp sped over and looked at the book. “Holy hayflies, Abby! That’s some great detective work!”

“Heh, thanks,” Abby smiled. “I learned from the best.”

Mrs. Goldfinch opened the book to one of the pages, whistling in surprise at what she found. “Well, what does it say?” Bat asked as she climbed on Misty’s head, causing Mrs. Goldfinch to hum in thought. “It says that there is a dream-maker inside.”

Hitch raised an eyebrow at this. “A what?”

“A dream-maker?” Gentle Rain tilted her head. “Come on,” Cody scoffed, not believing this as he walked away. “Well, now that we know what’s inside the egg, there’s still another question,” Sunny said. “What does a… a dream-maker look like exactly?”

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Goldfinch shook her head. “A lot of pages are missing.”

“So, what does it say?” Cody asked, just before Mrs. Goldfinch began to read from what pages WERE in the book. “Every thousand years or so, an egg falls from the skies. Inside the shell, the dream-maker prepares its big surprise. A visitor from days gone by, who has a gift to share, for boys and girls around the world, for children everywhere. But mark you well, the very spot where first the egg is found. For when the colors, all have changed it must hatch on this ground.”

The ponies had never heard of such a thing in their lives, so they weren’t entirely sure what to think. Instead, they turned to the one dinosaur who might be able to answer the question for them. “Barney…” Sunny began, “...what do you think she means?”

“Well,” Barney told the ponies, “the egg will hatch when all five of these rings light up. But it will only hatch in the very spot where Cody found it.”

“In the barn!” Abby realized “Hovering hummingbirds, you’re right!” Mrs. Goldfinch exclaimed before glancing at the egg’s non-lit rings. “There's three more to go. Oh, you better get that egg back to the barn right away.”

“Don’t worry, we can handle that!” Zipp smirked before turning to her friends. “Come on, guys, we need to get moving if we wanna get there before all the rings get their colors!”

“Oh, come on…” Cody muttered in exasperation. “You’re dreaming if you think that…”

But as he was speaking, Cody slapped the egg with his arm, causing the egg to roll off the table. “Cody!” Gentle Rain shrieked. “Be careful!”

“Oh my pony!” Pipp shrieked as she and Izzy leapt to grab the egg, but they crashed into each other and letting the egg roll through a hole. Everyone tried to rush to the window to see if they could get the egg back, but even when they begged the egg not to fall… it fell from its perch. “NOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Luckily, the egg didn’t break on the ground, but landed in Mr. Millet’s birdseed barrel. “There it is!” Hitch cried. “After it!”

“We’re taking the fast way!” Bat cried to her siblings and friends as she and Cody slid down the rope that hoisted the elevator upward, and everyone else either flew or darted downstairs, hoping to catch Mr. Millet before he left.

XXXXXXXX

“See ya, Mrs. Goldfinch,” Mr. Millet gave a little salute before he began driving away, prompting the others to call and chase him a bit.

“Wait, stop!”

“You have our egg!”

“Mr. Millet, wait!”

“No no no!!”

“Wait, come back!”

And just like that, Mr. Millet disappeared down the rocky path, causing Zipp to groan in exasperation. “It always has to be something, doesn’t it?”

“If we don’t get that egg back,” Noir said in panic, “it’ll never hatch! And who knows what’ll happen if that happens!”

“Oh,” said a sinister-sounding voice, “I know what’ll happen…”

Everyone gasped and stiffened at this, looking around in alarm. “Uh…” Marcella looked nervous. “Who said that?”

“Unfortunately… we know the answer to that,” Zipp sneered as the Mane 6 got in front of their new friends. “Allura! We know you’re out there, so stop hiding and show yourself!”

Allura and Twitch then sauntered out of hiding, sinister looks on their faces. “Oh, goody,” Allura said, sinisterly glancing at the Mane 6. “Just the ponies that I was hoping to see.”

Allura's Wicked Plans/The Chase Begins

The Mane 6 were angrily confronted Allura and Twitch with Barney, Mrs. Goldfinch, Gentle Rain, the Night Lights, Cody, Abby and Marcella behind them, just after the dream-maker egg slipped their fingers and hooves and onto the back of Mr. Millet's truck.

No one was sure what Allura wanted, but whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Sensing the others were getting a bit scared from Allura's arrival, the Mane 6 knew that they had to do whatever they could to take her down before anyone got hurt. “Spill the beans, cat!” Zipp snarled. “We know you’re here, but we don’t know why.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Allura asked with a snarl before a smirk came onto her face. “Whatever you want, I want… especially if it’s a dream-maker egg.”

“You know what it is?” Abby asked nervously, despite her gut telling her to just stay silent. “How?”

“It’s simple, dearie,” Allura purred villainously, causing Abby to whimper slightly as Allura began to pace in front of the group. “I heard the legend of the dream-maker time and time again when I was a cub, but I never believed it to be real until the stars aligned just a few nights ago. And once that sickeningly sweet little egg is in my paws, I’ll use my magic to absorb its power, so I can travel between realms with or without that putrid star! And then, your realm of Equestria and any other realm I come across will be MINE!!! AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

Suddenly, fearing that their newfound Equestrian friends would be hurt, the young Night Light dragons leapt in front of the Mane 6 and growled fiercely, even stopping Allura in her tracks. “Guys, what are you doing?!” Sunny gasped. “Allura and Twitch are dangerous! You could get hurt!”

“You guys could too!” Bat pointed out. “And we’re not gonna let her do that!”

“Yeah,” Ripper agreed sincerely. “You and the rest of our new friends mean too much to us.”

The others couldn’t help but smile at this selfless act, but while they seemed touched, Allura just chuckled wickedly. “You think a few lizards can stop me? Please… I am a superior breed!”

“Well, guess what, freaky feline?” Ripper asked. “We have imagination on our side, and our mom said besides friendship, that’s the most powerful thing there is!”

“...wow,” Hitch blinked after a few short moments of silence. “I’m a little jealous of that speech.”

“Your imagination can’t protect you while I'm around!” Allura said before sending one of her hypnotic purrs at the group, frightening them and causing them to brace themselves. Fortunately, the dragons had a plan of their own in mind.

Closing their eyes tightly, they stomped their front right paws, causing a shield of magic to spread outwards, causing the purr to deflect into a nearby tree, surprising Allura greatly. “What?!”

“Uh… did you know they could do that?” Cody asked Gentle Rain, who looked just as bewildered. “No, I-I didn’t!” Gentle Rain said, shaking her head. “Their imagination must be stronger than any of us thought.”

Allura continued to try and get through the shield, but the baby dragons kept their focus, causing each beam to reflect (one even got close to hitting Twitch, but the rabbit dodged in time). Eventually, Allura snarled in frustration and turned to look at the Mane 6. “Your so-called imagination may have saved you this time, but NOTHING will save the dream-maker egg… and then, I WILL REIGN SUPREME!!!”

And just like that, the snow leopard spread her wings with Twitch on her back and flew off in the direction of the truck, letting Bat, Ripper and Noir lower the shield. “Whoa!” Noir shook his head to clear it. “That was unusually crazy.”

“You guys… that was the most… ridiculously brave thing I’ve ever seen!” Zipp said, impressed. “You had no fear when it came to her!”

“Eh, it must be a dragon thing,” Ripper shrugged casually. “Forget what you guys just did!” Cody told the others. “Let’s get on the horse and go!”

“But we can't all ride on Agnes!” Abby pointed out. “And I don’t think us ponies will be able to carry Barney either!” Sunny exclaimed. “Not to mention,” Bat said, “I don’t think us dragons can fly very far yet-- especially at the speed that a horse goes.”

Marcella looked around the yard and suddenly, an idea filled her head. “Izzy, Gentle Rain? Misty? I need your help with an idea. Follow me.”

“Right behind you!” Misty said as she, Izzy and Gentle Rain galloped after Marcella. “Oh-ho, great!” Barney cheered before stopping, realizing he wasn’t aware of Marcella’s plan. “Uh… uh, what is it? Uh...”

Gentle Rain, Izzy, Misty and Marcella ran all around the yard, gathering pieces of scrapped wood, wheels, poles and whatever else they could find before regrouping right near Agnes. Then, with Marcella's idea in mind and Izzy's unicycling skills, they managed to turn whatever they could find into a full-blown chariot!

The perfect thing needed to catch up to the truck and to Allura. “This is amazing, guys! And us ponies can run alongside you and find Allura along the way!” Sunny said. “Exactly,” Marcella nodded. “Everybody on Agnes’ back!”

Once Abby, Cody and Marcella got on Agnes’ back with the Night Lights, Barney went up to Agnes and spoke to her sincerely. “Okay, Agnes, it's all up to you. Just use your imagination.”

Agnes nodded and whinnied sincerely as Barney left her side and went to get on the chariot. “You expect a horse to use his imagination?” Cody asked before noticing the ponies and Gentle Rain glaring at him. “Oh, no offense.”

“Oh, a horse?” Barney chuckled. “Why, of course!”

The ponies weren’t sure what lay inside Agnes’ imagination, but they were sure to find out when all of a sudden, Barney, the Night Lights and the kids were all dressed in Roman attire!

“Whoa!”

“Wow!”

“Look at that!”

“Totally Roman fashion change!”

“So cool!”

“Come on, everyone! Allura flew off in this direction!” cried Gentle Rain, beginning to gallop in that direction. “We have to catch up to her!”

“Right behind you, Gentle Rain!” Zipp said as she and her sister took flight while the others galloped behind the kirin, and Barney managed to get Agnes and the chariot going. “Hi-ho, Agnes!” Barney cried. “Away!”

Mrs. Goldfinch waved them farewell, hoping that they would be able to catch up and get the egg back before anything crazy happened.

XXXXXXXX

Allura flew high above the Birdseed by the Barrel truck, knowing that she had to wait for the perfect opportunity to swoop down and grab the egg before making a getaway.

Unfortunately, before she could make her move, Twitch began to squeak like crazy. “What is it, Twitch? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?!”

But before Twitch could try and make her turn around, Zipp and Pipp tackled her in mid-air, causing them all to tumble, just before Allura saw who had attacked her. “YOU!!”

“Allura, please! This rare event only happens every thousand years!” Zipp tried to plead. “If you take the egg’s power, the balance will be upset!”

“Not to mention, you’ll be robbing all of us social media influencers of a totally ponygram-able moment!” Pipp agreed with a huff, causing Zipp to glance at her sister sternly. “Oh, yeah, and it’ll be an event totally ruined too!”

“Do you think I care?!” Allura swiped a paw at the sisters, causing them to quickly side-fly out of the way. “Twitch, take care of them while I get the star from the truck!”

But before Twitch could leapt on Pipp’s back to bring her down, Sunny shifted into alicorn form and flew upward, blasting Allura and saving the sisters. “Phew! That was close!” Pipp sighed in relief. “Thanks, Sunny.”

“Don’t thank me yet!” Sunny said as she deflected another one of Allura’s purrs. “The others are gonna keep chasing Mr. Millet, but we have to keep Allura distracted for a while and give them some time!”

“On it!” Zipp and Pipp nodded at once before diving toward Allura.

And Sunny could only hope that their friends would be able to catch the egg in time before something worse happened.

Chase on the Town

While Pipp, Zipp and Sunny took their fight with Allura and Twitch to the air, to try and buy the rest of their friends a little more time, Mr. Millet continued to drive down the road toward town, fixing himself some lunch with the components in his truck, including a chocolate milkshake, burgers and fries.

However, as the group was still chasing the truck, they found themselves growing tired. “Man!” Hitch panted. “I’ve… never… had to run… this long… of a distance before!”

“Well, I know I needed a good run for my bits!” Gentle Rain panted before looking up at the kids and dragons riding on Agnes. “How are you kids holding up?”

“Uh, we’re fine! Ooh, I think…” Bat lurched from all the bouncing. “It’s… actually… not that bad when you try not to focus on how much your bouncing!” Ripper giggled. “But do you guys know where that truck is heading?”

“It looks like he’s headed back toward Merrivale,” Misty noticed, “but the Apple Festival activities are supposed to be starting soon! We can’t lose the egg in all that chaos!”

“And we won’t! Hyah!” Cody shouted to Agnes, causing the group to speed up toward the Apple Festival in the center of Merrivale.

XXXXXXXX

Back at the festival, the parade was underway, and Baby Bop (who failed in finding her blankie at the barn) tried to get the attention of the parade cast to see if they could help her. “Excuse me?” she called out, but when she didn’t get their attention right away, she knew she would have to get louder… MUCH louder. “EXCUSE MEEEEEEE!!!!!”

At this loud call, everyone in the parade and on the street stopped what they were doing and faced her. “Oh, heh. That’s better,” Baby Bop said before clearing her throat and speaking once again. “I'm looking for my blankie. It's this big. And it's really, really soft, and it's yellow. Do you know where my blankie is?”

“No,” the crowd called, “we don’t!”

“Oh,” Baby Bop said as she sighed in disappointment. “Well… thank you! Okay, you can go on now!”

The crowd cheered as the parade resumed its course, unaware of what was happening just a little further down the road.

XXXXXXXX

Pipp, Zipp and Sunny continued to battle Allura and Twitch in the sky for a few moments, but Allura was slowly regaining her ground, and it wouldn't be long before she would overpower them and win.

But, when Sunny saw the sisters' cutie marks glowing during the fight, alongside her own, she had another idea. “Pipp, Zipp! Fly beside of me now!”

“Right beside you, Sunny!” Zipp said as she and her sister flew beside Sunny, and once she saw that all three were an easy target, Allura chuckled to herself. “Now to play ‘Flying Ponies Come Falling Down’... one of my favorite hunting methods. Hold on, Twitch!”

Allura snarled and flew toward the sisters and Sunny, with Twitch holding on for dear life. Then, as their cutie marks glowed brightly again, Sunny turned to the sisters with her next orders. “We need to flap our wings together in three… two… one… NOW!!”

Then, with three mighty flaps of their wings, they were able to send some huge gusts of wind to send Allura and Twitch off their course and plummeting toward the ground… right into a lake.

Once Allura had resurfaced, she knew that it would take time in order for her wings to try out, causing her to growl at the smirking ponies. “I’ll get you next time, you little horse brats! Just you wait!”

“And wait we shall!” Zipp taunted back. “Come on,” Sunny urged. “We better catch up with the others-- and get a head start before Allura’s wings dry up.”

And so, the three of them flew off, leaving Allura and Twitch temporarily defeated... but they wouldn't stay defeated for long.

One way or another, they would get that egg... and those meddling ponies would be the first to pay.

XXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, with the others, they were having no luck catching up to Mr. Millet, even though they were running really fast and calling out to him at the top of their lungs.

And with Mr. Millet driving and fixing his lunch, he didn't notice he was heading straight for the parade route!

Hitch yelped as soon as he saw this. “That’s the reason why parade routes are blocked off, so no other trucks can get into the parade and crash!”

“If we don’t stop Mr. Millet, not only could the egg end up in more trouble,” Abby panicked, “but someone could get hurt!”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re all here to stop that from happening!” Zipp said as the pegasi and Sunny flew down to them and landed. “Allura’s out of the way for now,” Sunny told the rest of the group, “so let’s catch that truck while we still can!”

XXXXXXXX

Mr. Millet continued making his lunch while driving toward the parade route... and didn't realize it until he looked up and saw that he was heading toward a policeman creating the barricade!

The policeman blew his whistle to get Mr. Millet to stop, and he did... while his food went flying all over and the barrel of birdseed, with the egg on top, went flying out of the truck, sliding against the ground.

Luckily, the Mane 6 and all their new friends were just arriving when this happened. “There it is!” Misty shouted. “After it!”

But, as they ran past the police officer, suddenly, Agnes' harness became unhinged from the chariot, and while Agnes continued running with the kids and dragons on her back, Barney was rolling right toward the egg! “Pipp, Zipp! You and I are gonna stop Agnes and help the Night Lights and the kids!” Sunny told the pegasus sisters. “The rest of you help Barney get the egg!”

“On it!”

So, they all set off to do their duties. Hitch, Misty and Izzy made sure the road ahead of them was clear, and then, Gentle Rain used her magic to pick up the barrel as she ran beside the chariot. “Barney, quick! Get the egg!”

Barney got the barrel and reached inside it, but when he looked inside, the egg, not to mention the whole bottom of the barrel, was gone! “Huh?!”

“Oh no!” Gentle Rain cried as she and the ponies screeched to a halt. “Don’t worry, Barney!” Misty reassured. “We’ll get it!”

But as the two unicorns, the kirin and the earth pony stallion tried to go back and get the egg, many parade goers blocked their path and knocked them off to the side.

Cody, Abby, Marcella, the baby dragons and the rest of the ponies rushed to their side to help them, but just then, Barney looked and saw that the chariot, with him on it, was about to collide with one of the costumed parade participants!

Everyone flinched and squeezed their eyes shut when they heard the crash, but when they slowly opened their eyes, the barrel was now around the man’s waist, as if it was part of the routine… but Barney was nowhere to be seen!

Turns out, he had grabbed the balloons that the man was holding and was able to get away safely, but unfortunately, the others did not know that, so they began to call for him repeatedly.

“BARNEY!!”

“Barney, where are you?!”

“Oh, please be okay!”

“BARNEY!!”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Barney got off the chariot, putting it in an alley so no one would see it, before beginning to run back to his friends. “Oh, I gotta get some driving lessons!”

“Hey, Barney!” said someone in a giraffe costume. “Long time no see!”

“Hey, good to see you!” Barney told her before trying to nudge his way through the crowd. “Oh, my. Excuse me. Pardon me!”

XXXXXXXX

The kids, ponies, Gentle Rain and the dragons continued to call Barney’s name repeatedly, beginning to fear the worst until they saw the large purple dinosaur approaching them. “BARNEY!!”

“Oh, there you are!” Barney said as he let everyone else hug him out of relief. “Oh, I’m fine!”

Zipp inwardly sighed to herself-- she hated to admit it, but hugging that large purple dinosaur felt somewhat comforting… and the others felt the same way. “Okay…” the white pegasus then said, preparing to step out into the street, “...let’s go get that egg!”

Unfortunately, Barney stopped her, placing a hand on her back before she could step out into the street. “Oh, wait a minute…”

“What is it, Barney?” Noir asked curiously, tilting his head to the side. “What are the rules about crossing the street?” Barney then asked, and Abby looked at Marcella before answering. “Always look both ways?”

Barney smiled at this correct answer. “That’s right!”

“Oh, heh… right,” Sunny chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. “I guess since we don’t have cars in Equestria, we kinda forget that rule.”

“Okay…” Cody sighed, internally not believing that he was actually doing this before turning his head to the left. “First, we look this way.”

The rest of the parade seemed to be moving on about that point, so there wasn’t any kind of danger coming from that direction. “And what do you know?” Cody said sarcastically. “There’s nothing coming.”

“And then,” Izzy said, turning her head to look the other way, “we look that way and… WHOA!!”

Before the eyes of the entire group, a marching band was advancing right around where the egg was, with Gentle Rain becoming nervous, even going as far as covering her eyes with her hooves. “They’re gonna fancy dance right on top of the egg!”

“And,” Zipp said after getting a good look from in the air, “Pipp and I won’t be able to swoop in and get it! The band and the dancers are moving way too much!”

“We’ll just have to wait for an opening!” Abby told the group, although she herself was nervous. As the band continued to play, the dancers began to perform an intricate routine around the egg, but no matter where the ponies and their new friends glanced, they just couldn't find an opening big enough for them to swoop in and grab the egg.

And the more they danced, the more nervous the group was becoming. “Oh,” Ripper covered his eyes with his paws, “I can’t look!”

“Tell me when it’s over!” Marcella nervously spoke, doing the same thing as the dancing continued, which was… honestly very impressive, as was the egg being able to roll itself around the dancers’ moving feet. “Hey!” Cody shouted. “Please don’t scramble our egg!”

In that moment, the third ring on the egg began to glow a bright green, causing Pipp to immediately gasp. “OMP, look! It’s glowing green!”

“That’s number three!” Abby realized. “Only two more to go!” Noir realized. “We need to get that egg fast!”

The dancers kept narrowly avoiding the egg, making the ponies realize that maybe things were going to be okay… until the tuba player tripped and fell to the ground, with the egg getting stuck right in the tuba! “Hey,” Cody looked around, “where’d it go?”

“I-I don’t know!” Zipp said as she scanned around the area with her visor. “It just disappeared!”

“Look!” Bat pointed to the tuba player and the egg stuck in the tuba. “There it is!”

“If he blows the egg out of the tuba,” Misty cried out, “it might break when it hits the ground!”

“We’ll try to get in his way and get the egg! You guys stay here!” Sunny told the others while the Mane 6 galloped out into the street. “No, mister!” Marcella cried as the ponies tried to block the tuba player from going through. “Don’t do it!”

“No no no!”

“Please, don’t!”

However, despite the ponies trying to block him and his tuba seemingly clogged, the tuba player managed to blow into his tuba after a moment, sending the egg rocketing into the air... and just past Zipp and Pipp's waiting hooves! “Oh no!” Pipp cried. “I missed it!”

“After it, ponies!” Sunny shouted to her friends, and they galloped off in the direction of the egg’s flight path, with Barney, the kids, Gentle Rain and the dragons following immediately afterwards. They ran after the flying egg as fast as they could, away from the parade…

…and right into the hands of a small yellow hadrosaur wearing a white and red football jersey. “Wide open! Touchdown!” he cheered. “Yeah!”

The group screeched to a halt, with the Mane 6 sighing in relief, while Abby, the Night Lights and Marcella recognized him from their long talks with Barney. “BJ?!”

“BJ makes the play of the game!” BJ continued to shout as the group raced toward him. “The world's greatest football player, BJ! Yeah!”

“Great catch, BJ!” Abby said as they all gathered around. “Oh thank the moon,” Misty sighed, “that was too close!”

“BJ, we actually need that egg,” said Sunny, trying to calm herself down, “if you don’t mind--”

“You should see me throw!”

Suddenly, before anyone could stop him, BJ threw the egg as if it were a football, causing the ponies to shriek as it sailed through the air again. “I got it, I got it, I got it!” Izzy said, trying to catch the egg in her aura before tripping over her own hooves and landing on the ground. “...I don’t got it…”

The egg landed on a nearby rooftop and rolled down, landing on the fancy hat of a woman entering a restaurant nearby. “I see it!” Hitch pointed out. “It’s on that woman’s hat!”

“Well, she's going into that restaurant!” Barney cried. “Well, what are we waiting for?!” Zipp cried. “Let’s go go go!”

As everyone else raced toward the restaurant, Barney and Gentle Rain found themselves trying to comfort a distressed BJ. “Oh, man,” BJ was saying, “I'm really, really sorry.”

“Oh, that’s okay, BJ,” Gentle Rain said comfortingly. “You didn't mean to do anything wrong.”

“Guys, hurry up!” Bat cried. “We’re gonna lose the egg!”

“But, Barney--” BJ tried to say. “Uh… we gotta go. Bye! Wait for us!” Barney cried to the others as he and Gentle Rain tried to follow, leaving BJ alone once again.

XXXXXXXX

The ponies and their new friends were panting tiredly as they finally got inside the restaurant, which appeared to be French and full of fancy people, fancy food and fancy music.

Something Pipp would normally appreciate, if they weren’t under these circumstances.

Right now, they were more focused on finding the egg before Allura than anything else. “Okay, guys, keep an eye out for that woman,” Misty said as their eyes scanned the room. “The egg is on her hat, so we’ll have to be smart about how we get it.”

Marcella looked around with extreme caution until she spotted the egg on the woman’s hat, sitting at a table not too far away. “There it is!”

The egg was now rolling off the woman’s hat and landed on a plate, which the waiter put a cover on and was preparing to roll it away. “That’s great!” Hitch smiled. “We’ll just trot over there and get it!”

But before they could move, however, a posh-looking waiter stood in their path, causing the dragons to hide on Zipp, Sunny and Izzy's backs. “Welcome to Chez Snobbe,” he greeted with an expressionless face before he gestured off to the side. “Come right this way please.”

As the waiter moved out of the way, the others looked to see that the tray with the egg on it had disappeared, probably because another waiter wheeled it away while they were distracted. “Oh, brother…” Zipp sighed quietly as they walked behind the waiter. “Where’s the egg?!”

“We're just gonna have to look,” Marcella told the pegasus, trying to be reassuring… just as Barney got an idea of his own. “Maybe I can create a little distraction to get everyone's attention.”

At this, Pipp immediately halted, smiling. “Barney, you literally read my mind! Come on, I have an idea!”

With that, the pink pegasus led Barney off to the side while the others kept walking and looking for the egg. “Man, they are gonna throw us out of here for sure,” Cody muttered under his breath. “We just have to be as discreet as we can, and maybe they won’t notice us. At least… I hope not,” Sunny said with a nervous look. “So, what exactly are we gonna do, Barney?”

But when the others had turned, Barney and Pipp had mysteriously disappeared. “Barney?” Bat looked around. “Where’d he go?”

“Speaking of disappearing acts,” Zipp said, “has anypony seen my sister? She was just here a few seconds ago, and... now she's... well, she's not.”

“Pipp and Barney are gone?” Hitch said, clearly panicked. “Oy vey…”

Suddenly, a tapping sound came from the stage, causing Noir to gasp and immediately point. “Look!”

Everyone turned at where the little dragon was pointing, and they were surprised to see Barney and Pipp on the stage in front of the quartet, both dressed in format attire. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Barney began, causing many of the patrons to look at him in complete shock. “On behalf of Chez Snobbe, my friend Pipp Petals and I would like to invite you to sing along with one of the all-time great musical masterpieces. Ahem, Pipp?”

“Coming right up!” Pipp tossed him a long cane with a twirl before beginning to conduct the quartet into an upbeat tune, to which Barney happily sang along to.

Barney: If all the raindrops
Were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be

“What are they doing up there?” Cody asked, honestly a little impressed.

Barney: Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah-ah-ah-ah…

Suddenly, what Pipp and Barney were doing was suddenly making sense. “I get it now!” Gentle Rain spoke. “They’re making a distraction for us to search!”

“Okay, everypony, split up and spread out!” Sunny told the others, and they all divided into pairs and began to search as the song progressed.

Barney: If all the raindrops
Were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be

Do do ba do do
Do do do ba do do

If all the snowflakes
Were candy bars and milkshakes…

Bat eagerly lifted the cover on a woman’s plate, revealing the strange item that… even SHE wasn’t sure what it was. “Eww…” she gagged. “Not there…”

Luckily, Cody was able to pick her up off the table and took her away. “Enjoy your thing!” he told the woman before walking off with the baby dragon.

Barney: Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
If all the snowflakes
Were candy bars and milkshakes
Oh, what a snow that would be

The more Barney began to sing and dance in place, the more the patrons (and the waiters as well) were beginning to enjoy themselves. However, the others kept searching cover under cover, but were having no luck finding the egg.

Marcella, Izzy and Noir even found snails under one of those covers. “Eww!!” Noir gagged. “Snails?!”

“You really eat this stuff?” Marcella asked while Izzy slurped one of the snails. “Mmm… meaty!” she chirped. “I could do with a little mess slime though.”

Noir tried his best not to puke at this, and the group continued their search.

Barney: If all the raindrops
Were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be

Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

If all the raindrops
Were lemon drops and gumdrops

Oh, what a rain that would...
Oh, what a rain that would...
Oh, what a rain that would... be!

By the time the song was finally over, Pipp and Barney recieved a wild round of applause... at least, until their friends approached, clearly panicked. “We’ve looked everywhere,” Misty told the others, “and there’s no egg in sight!”

Suddenly, the platter that the egg was on wheeled into sight, causing Pipp to gasp. “Oh my glitter, there it is!”

“Out of the way please! Friends on a mission here!” Ripper told many patrons… just before the platter was rolled into the kitchen and one of the waiters began speaking to Barney in French. “Mon ami, du fond de mon coeur, tu es pourpre et magnifique!”

“Ah. Monsieur, vous êtes trop gentil,” Barney said in reply, much to the group's total bewilderment. “Le plaisir est tout à nous.”

“There it is!” Cody said as the platter with the egg on it rolled out again. “May I?” Sunny asked, and as soon as the waiter nodded, she removed the cover, only to reveal a disgusting looking fish underneath. “Salmon?!” Gentle Rain cried. “Oh, where’s the egg?!”

“Oh, that great big colorful thing?” the waiter then asked. “YES!!” everyone cried out in unison. “It’s really important that we find it!” Zipp said desperately. “Do you know where it is?”

“We put it in a to-go sack,” the waiter responded. “We sent it back to the clowns at the circus.”

“The circus?!” everyone cried out, and Zipp and Cody slapped their faces in frustration. “They have been playing tricks on us ever since they got to town,” the waiter then explained. “It's one of their take-out orders. Wait until they crack it open.”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh, I do NOT like the sound of that!” Gentle Rain shrieked before everyone began running toward the exit. “Come on, everybody!” Barney cried. “Bye bye!”

As soon as they got out of the restaurant, Sunny looked around them but didn’t see any clear sign of the circus. “Any idea as to where we’re going?”

Bat lifted her nose to the air and sniffed for a moment before a familiar scent hit her nose. “Cotton candy! I know that smell anywhere! Follow me!”

The baby female Night Light flapped her wings and took to the air with her brothers and friends following her down the street… unaware that Twitch was hiding and had heard everything, hopping back to Allura (who was behind the restaurant) to tell her the news. “Ahhh… the circus, huh?” Allura smirked. “Come, Twitch, we must follow them. Those innocent little fools will lead us straight to our destiny!”

And then, with a cackle, Allura took Twitch onto her back and flew in the direction of the circus to claim what would soon be hers.

Saving the Egg and Sending Allura Packing

After encouraging their friends into never giving up in their rescue mission, the Mane 6 re-explained everything they knew about Allura, and it was time to discuss what they were going to do next. “Okay-- we’ll be the first line of defense to stop Allura, since we have the most experience,” Zipp said, causing the other Mane 6 members to nod before she turned to the kirin sitting beside the Night Lights. “Gentle Rain?”

“I’ll be the next line of defense,” Gentle Rain spoke up, putting a hofo onto her heart, “just in case Allura proves to be too much.”

“Great,” Sunny nodded before turning to the dragons. “Bat, Ripper and Noir?”

“With our imagination shields and our plasma blasts,” Bat said with a determined grin, “we’ll be the last line of defense, giving Barney and the kids enough time to get the egg and get back to the farm before the next rings light up.”

“But… didn’t you say that Allura is REALLY powerful?” Abby asked nervously. “What if you guys get hurt?”

“Don’t worry about us, Abby-- we know how to make her tick, and we’re sure that with a little dose of cutie mark magic,” Misty reassured, “we’re sure to send her and Twitch running with their tails between their legs.”

“But promise us that you guys will be safe too,” Sunny said to the others with a serious expression. “If things go wrong, it could get dangerous.”

“Cross our hearts and hope to…” Cody began to say, but upon realizing what came next, chuckled nervously. “Well, you get the idea.”

This prompted a few laughs from the group before Barney noticed some rays of sunshine alongside the drops of rain. “Hey, look! A sun shower!”

“This way, we can still go out and look for the egg!” Zipp smiled. “It’s genius, really.”

The ponies got out their portable umbrella hats while Barney handed out umbrellas to Cody, Abby and Marcella before he got one for himself, keeping Gentle Rain and the baby Night Lights under the umbrellas as they walked out of the tent to continue the search.

Marcella looked around, unsure herself on where to start. “So, where do we go next?”

“Well… I’m not sure yet,” Hitch admitted, “but… I have a feeling that its probably closer than we think.”

“Come on,” Cody urged, “let’s find the egg!”

“Excuse me, bub,” called a man walking on extremely large stilts. “I heard about your little problem. Just what is it you're looking for?”

“Well,” said Barney, “it’s a really big egg, and…”

“About this big?” the stilt-walker displayed the size the egg was. “Yeah!” Bat nodded. “Have you seen it?”

“I think I saw something like that. Let me see.”

The stilt-walker got out a huge pair of binoculars and pointed them in a specific direction before spotting the egg from up where he was. “Yep. There it is.”

“Huh? Where?” everyone looked around, but didn’t see anything. “Clear over that way!” the stilt-walker pointed in that direction. “By the balloons!”

“Thank you so much!”

“Bye!”

“Thanks for your help!”

“Come on, guys!”

Everyone ran out of the carnival in the direction of the balloons. “Hurry!” Sunny cried out. “We still may be able to catch it!”

XXXXXXXX

It took quite a bit of running, but after leaving the circus, the group climbed up a large hill, where the balloons could be seen on the other side... and they were just taking off! “The balloons!” Abby shouted before the group began to shout as loud as they could to get the pilots’ attention.

“WAIT!!”

“Stop!”

“Come back!”

“Help, please!”

“One of you has our egg!”

“Guys, I see the egg!” Zipp said, getting her visor out and focusing on the balloon that had the egg in a cage. Suddenly, the egg’s fourth ring began to glow a bright golden yellow color, causing her to gasp. “That’s ring number four! Only one more to go!”

“Come back! Come back!”

“Please, stop!”

“Please!”

“Oh, you can't take our egg! Come back! Oh…”

However, the balloons were getting too far away for anyone in the balloons to hear them. “Oh, it’s no use!” Pipp sighed. “They’re too far away for us to fly and catch up to them!”

“But if we can’t catch up to them,” Noir said, “then we’ll never get the egg back in time! Allura could get to it before us and we’d never be able to stop her!”

Cody tried to think of a solution that could get them to the balloons at a much faster rate, and when he saw a nearby tree trunk that could fit everyone, he got an idea. “Yes we will. It's gonna take some imagination,” he said before walking off. “Right, Barney?”

“Uh…” Barney waited a moment, realizing what Cody just said before agreeing wholeheartedly. “Right! Uh… yes!”

“Wait,” Pipp said, shocked by what Cody said, “what did he just say?!”

Cody began to remove the vines and sticks from the tree trunk and sat down on it just as the others approached, still a little confused and bewildered. “Cody,” said Marcella, “it may be some of Izzy’s glitter essence getting to me, but did you really just say imagination?”

“Well, yeah,” Cody said casually, “it's been kind of an unusual day, okay? Now, I think you should all climb aboard.”

“...should we?” Ripper looked up toward the Mane 6 with nervousness and suspicion. “Well, any chance to stop Allura is one we should take,” Sunny said, “so we need to trust Cody on this. Come on, guys.”

“Okay,” Marcella shrugged, but did as asked, “all aboard the tree trunk.”

Everyone sat upon the tree trunk, just before Cody told them all his idea. “We're gonna pretend that this is the fastest, coolest airplane in the whole world.”

“You think a tree trunk can fly?” Marcella asked bluntly. “Well, it’s the best thing Cody's thought of so far,” Bat told her friends, “so we’ve gotta try!”

“Okay,” Abby shrugged, “I will.”

“Here goes nothing…” Hitch said nervously before closing his eyes. “Prepare for takeoff, captain!” Barney said with a little salute, just before everyone closed their eyes and began to make-believe the tree as an airplane.

To some, it may seem like a crazy idea, but it was their last chance to beat Allura, so they had to take it with everything they had.

Even Cody was really trying hard. “Flying should be easy,” he said to himself. “It’s kid stuff!”

As they began to imagine the trunk moving, suddenly, it felt as if the log was slowly moving forward. “Hey, guys! I think it’s working!” Ripper gasped. “We’re moving!”

“Come on!” Cody exclaimed. “Faster!” Ripper told the log as it moved forward more. “We can do this!” Marcella cried. “We can!”

“And to make sure this works,” said Zipp, “a little cutie mark magic!”

The Mane 6’s cutie marks sent out magic that wrapped around the log, turning it into the very airplane that they were imagining, and sending it rocketing off into the sky! “WHOOO-HOOOOOO!!!” Izzy cheered alongside her friends. “I’M THE QUEEN OF THE WOOOOOORLD!!!”

Cody chuckled as he manuvered the stick he was sitting in front of around, moving the plane just a bit. “Yes!”

“Wait a second,” Gentle Rain spoke from the back. “Cody, do you even know HOW to fly an airplane?”

“Uh…” Cody immediately realized the kirin was right. “No, I-I don’t!”

Everyone screamed and held on for dear life when Cody moved the controller around to avoid several balloons, even making a loop-de-loop after they got done passing the balloons ahead of them.

After Cody got the plane steady again, Misty groaned dizzily and tried to keep from puking. “Nice flying, Cody…”

“I could have done that with my eyes closed,” Cody said casually, trying to hide the fact his gut was churning on the inside. “In fact… I did!”

“Ooh…” Bat whimpered, her paws covering her eyes. “Not making me feel any better!”

“Just keep your eyes open!” Zipp shouted. “The balloon carrying the egg must be around here somewhere!”

As he scanned the skies, Ripper noticed Allura leaping from balloon to balloon with Twitch on her back, getting closer to the balloon with the egg, causing him to immediately gasp. “It's not the egg, but I do see Allura and Twitch! Twelve o’clock!”

“Really?” Noir asked his brother, confused. “It’s 5:43 in the afternoon!”

“No!” Ripper groaned in exasperation before pointing toward Allura and Twitch. “They’re right over there!”

“We have to figure out how to stall her until we can get closer to the egg!” Gentle Rain exclaimed. “This is where Sunny and her friends come in!”

“Luckily, I managed to imagine some jetpacks out of some old backpacks for us flightless ponies!” Izzy said, passing them out. “Just in case we needed to take to the skies for some reason.”

“Izzy, these are perfect!” Misty beamed. “Cody, keep this thing flying toward the balloon holding the egg and we’ll keep Twitch and Allura distracted as long as we can!”

“Please be careful, guys!” Abby begged. “We don’t want anything bad happening to you!”

“Don’t worry-- we’ll be back to you guys before you know it!” Sunny promised before the group of pony friends flew off with their jetpacks and wings.

XXXXXXXX

“Soon, Twitch, very soon, I might add,” Allura told her rabbit minion as she leapt from balloon to balloon, sights set on the egg, “that egg, and then, all worlds that I come across will be mine! AND NO PONY CAN STOP ME NOW!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!”

As she prepared to leap to the next balloon, which was two leaps away from the balloon carrying the egg, Hitch and Sunny slammed into her, causing her to tumble, but luckily, she was able to flap her wings before she and Twitch fell too far. “You know, Allura,” Zipp said, “you should really count your chickens before they hatch, otherwise you’ll be hit straight on with eggs!”

“Lucky for you, I’m not hungry for ponies today,” Allura sneered, landing on a balloon. “But I am hoping for an egg!”

But before she could leap any closer, Misty, Pipp and Izzy blocked her path, causing her and Twitch to grow more frustrated by the minute. “Move out of my way, you pests!”

“Not until you’re no longer a threat to Equestria or any other world!” Zipp said boldly, but when Allura leapt at her, she flew out of the way, causing Allura to growl and start a fight with the ponies, hopefully giving Barney and the others enough time to get the egg before she noticed.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the pilot of the balloon holding the egg was minding his own business when he thought he heard shouting coming from nearby.

It wasn't any of the other pilots... so who else could it have been?

When he looked through his telescope, he saw that Barney, the kids, Gentle Rain and the Night Lights were approaching and calling out to him. “That's a splendid ship you're flying!”

“Well, thank you for the compliment,” said Gentle Rain, “but I think you might have our egg!”

However, the pilot seemed a bit confused. “Egg? What egg? Where?”

“Hanging off your balloon!” Abby shouted back. “Ah, that's my new ballast I just picked up,” the pilot told them. “Gotta keep the old ship steady, you know.”

“Uh, yes, but somehow, our egg got mixed up with your ballast!” Ripper exclaimed before turning to Noir. “What’s a ballast?”

“I have no idea,” Noir whispered, “but we don’t have time to find out!”

“See, I traveled all over the world, collecting things,” the pilot then told the group. “This is the most beautiful egg I have ever seen. But if it's yours, you better have it back.”

“Oh, thank you for being so understanding!” Gentle Rain smiled in relief. “Anytime, madam,” the pilot tipped his hat. “Just position your aircraft beneath mine!”

“Aye aye!” Bat saluted before tilting the joystick a bit to steer the plane. And once they were under it, the pilot let the bottom of the cage that the egg was in drop, letting the egg fall and the balloon rise. “GOOD LUCK!!”

“Oh no!” Abby and Marcella cried at once. “He let it go too soon!”

“Cody, dive as fast as you can and get under it!” Gentle Rain shouted. “Go!”

Cody slammed the joystick down, prompting the plane to go down twice as fast as when they originally started flying in order to get the egg in time. “I’m gonna break the sound barrier!!”

“I’M GONNA USE MY LUUUUUNCH!!!” Bat screamed in terror. “That’s it!” Barney shouted. “Faster!”

Eventually, they were able to get into the right position, allowing Abby to catch the egg, safe and sound. “I got it!”

“Way to go, Abby!” Ripper cried. “We did it!”

“Cody!” Marcella cried to Cody, who was looking back instead of forward. “The plane!”

Cody grabbed the joystick as the others let out terrified screams, but the joystick was stuck in that position and wouldn’t move! “IT WON’T PULL UP!!!”

With the group moving down toward the ground at a terrifying amount of speed, they could only hope the ponies defeated Allura and were coming to save them as they screamed.

XXXXXXXX

Allura and Twitch continued to fight the ponies above the balloons, but the ponies had the comparative advantage, due to there being more of them... well, at least until Misty heard the terrified screams of their friends plummeting toward the ground, causing her to gasp. “Sunny! Barney and the others are in trouble!”

“We have to save them!” Hitch cried out. “We will,” Zipp spoke, “but first, Allura and Twitch deserve a wild spin of their own!”

“Ponies!” Sunny cried. “Whirlwind formation!”

The Mane 6 began to spin around and around Allura as fast as they could, causing a large whirlwind of their cutie mark magic to form, twisting Allura and Twitch around quite a bit until a few moments later, when Sunny declared, “Okay, ponies! Let ‘em fly!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Allura and Twitch shrieked together as they were shot out of the stopping whirlwind, toward the ground… right into the same pond that they fell into earlier. “Now that Allura’s out of the way, we need to hurry!” Sunny told the others as they flew after the plane. “We need to save our friends and the egg before they’re killed!”

The Dream-Maker Hatches/A Happy Ending for All

The egg was safe… Allura was finally out of their manes for a while.

But now the Mane 6 had a brand-new issue… a life-or-death situation as a matter of fact.

Barney, the kids, the dragons and Gentle Rain had lost control of their imaginary plane, and if they didn’t act fast, their friends would be in more danger than anyone else realized!

Luckily, Zipp had pinpointed that the plane was going to go down just near the farm they had left behind that morning, so the ponies flew ahead with their wings and jetpacks and managed to get there before the plane could in order to set up a soft landing. “Okay, guys, gather as much hay as you can find and put it in a pile!” Sunny told her friends. “That plane will be here any second, so GO GO GO!! Our friends' lives are at stake!”

Grandma Ida and Grandpa George were with Fig on the porch, watching the ponies flying back and forth gathering hay. At first, they didn’t think much of it… until Grandma Ida saw the plane descending over the cornfield. “George,” she said, pointing it out, “what is that?”

The screams of their friends were enough to alert Sunny of their incoming impact, and luckily, the hay pile was just perfect for their landing. “Guys, we’ve done the best we can do! We have to move out of the way, now!”

“Right!”

The Mane 6 leapt out of the way of the plane and ducked for cover as it slid against the ground before colliding with the haypile and slowing to a stop… and thankfully, everyone was fine, other than being covered in hay from head to toe.

Zipp sighed in relief. “Good thinking, Sunny-- that was WAY too close.”

As the Mane 6 approached their friends and helped remove the hay, Grandma Ida and Grandpa George, with Fig in Grandma Ida's arms, quickly approached, having seen the landing from the front porch. “My stars!” Grandma Ida cried out. “What happened?! Are you all right?”

“You kids okay?” Grandpa George asked. “We’re fine,” Abby told her grandfather. “We just had sort of a bumpy landing.”

“It seems,” Pipp said with a teasing chuckle, “that Cody forgot to put landing wheels on his make-believe airplane, so we had to create an emergency landing pad.”

“Wheels…” Cody hummed in thought. “Wheels would be good.”

“Well, what kind of game were you kids playing out here?” Grandpa George asked. “Well, we weren’t exactly playing, Grandpa George,” Sunny began first. “And we weren't even here most of the time.”

“You see,” said Cody, “we took that big old egg over to Ms. Goldfinch.”

“The bird lady,” Izzy interrupted. “And her book said that it was a dream-maker,” Misty added, “and that we needed to bring it back to the farm. Only it took a ride on the truck, and then--”

“An enemy of ours, Allura? She was after the egg too,” Hitch spoke, “and then Barney--”

“The dinosaur,” Grandma Ida assumed. “He helped us chase it,” Cody nodded, “but it rolled under a parade.”

“So we went to this really fancy French restaurant,” Pipp said, “and Barney led the whole place in a fantastic sing-along!”

“But at the circus, the egg got tied to a balloon,” Abby said. “And,” Zipp added, “not a little balloon.”

“A BIG one!” everyone said at once. “So,” Cody said, “we made this old tree trunk into an airplane…”

“Slow down, children, children,” Grandma Ida interrupted the story to turn to her eldest grandson. “Cody, I think you better start at the beginning.”

Cody smirked at this. “The very beginning?”

“Yes. The very beginning.”

Cody looked at his sister and friends with a smile on his face, while the faces of his grandparents merely showed major confusion. “Okay, Grandma and Grandpa-- we’d like you to meet some friends of ours. Gentle Rain, the Night Light triplets… and Barney… the dinosaur.”

Barney emerged from the hay pile first, with Gentle Rain following suit with the baby dragons, trying to get the hay off of them from the landing. “Hey!” Grandpa George exclaimed, startled. “Hey!”

“Yes, I know,” Barney chuckled. “A lot of hay.”

Misty only giggled and waved at the dinosaur. “Hey, everypony.”

“Oh, hey, guys!” Ripper said before spitting some hay out of his mouth. “Man, I don’t see how Agnes eats this stuff.”

However, Grandma Ida looked just as startled as her husband did. “What are they? Where did they come from?”

Zipp chuckled nervously. “That’s a story all its own, but we can explain everything later if you need time to consider everything.”

“Look out below! Yahoo!” came a voice, and everyone looked to see BJ sliding down a rope from the barn and down to the ground before running over to them. “Hi, guys! Was that cool or what?!”

“Hey, BJ!” everyone greeted while Gentle Rain, Barney and BJ high-fived one another. And after a moment of chattering, Grandpa George cut them all off. “Hold it, hold it! Let's start over again,” he said. “This is all about an egg.”

“Sure is!” Barney smiled. “Hey, where is it?” BJ wondered. “Riiiight here,” Abby moved away, revealing the egg on the log. “Got away from us for a while,” Bat said in relief, “but we finally found it and kept it safe from Allura. Speaking of which… what happened to her anyway?”

“Let’s just say she’s taking a swim, and if she has any common sense,” Sunny said, rubbing Bat on her head, “I don’t think you guys will be hearing from her ever again.”

“Us, on the other hoof,” Hitch sighed reluctantly, “is another story.”

Suddenly, during that brief moment of silence, Grandma Ida saw the final ring on the egg glow a bright pink. “Oh my… what’s it doing?”

“The very last ring is lighting up!” Barney exclaimed as the glowing finally stopped. “But that means…” Sunny gasped. “It’s time for the dream-maker to hatch!”

“Quick, Cody,” Abby gave the egg to her brother, “you gotta put the egg back exactly where you found it.”

“Come on, everyone, hurry! We can't miss the dream-maker hatching!” Noir encouraged, and they all began to race toward the barn. “No problem!” Cody said from out in front. “The egg was right here in the…”

Unfortunately, before he could even set foot in the barn, Cody tripped and fell, with the egg flying out of his reach and into the air!

Everyone screamed and tried to not look, when suddenly, they saw Baby Bop, pulling her blankie out from some hay bales. “Oh, look, I found my blankie!”

And thankfully, thanks to the heavens above, Baby Bop caught the egg in her blanket before it could hit the ground! “Yes!” Zipp pumped a hoof while she helped Cody back onto his feet. Then, everyone came over to Baby Bop while Cody took the egg, congratulating Baby Bop on her deed, while the young triceratops looked confused. “Did I do something good?”

“I’ll say you did!” Pipp said in relief, hugging Baby Bop in relief. “You saved the dream-maker just in time!”

“And besides, we told you your blankie was in here somewhere,” Izzy giggled. “You just had to find it!”

“Cody, over here!” Sunny gestured to the spot where the egg was. “This is the exact spot where the egg was!”

Cody nodded and placed the egg right where Sunny said, and stepped back in order to see if something would happen. After a brief moment, the egg began to wiggle and move, getting everyone extremely excited… just before a beam of light, possibly moonlight or starlight came through the open barn roof and shot down onto the egg, making it glow extremely bright.

“Whoa!”

“Oh my pony!”

“Check that out!”

“Amazing!”

“Look!” Gentle Rain pointed out. “The egg is cracking!”

Indeed, the kirin was right-- the egg was cracking until a star shape appeared, and from the egg came a glorious rainbow light that filled the entire barn. “Looks like a rainbow!” Cody exclaimed. “And it’s everywhere!” Izzy agreed before the rainbow light touched her, making her giggle. “And its ticklish!”

The rainbow light soon disappeared back into the egg, which began to crack all the way, revealing a soft, gray furry creature inside, which everyone couldn't stop gawking over. “Awww, so cute!”

“He’s so furry!”

“This is totally cool!”

“Oh,” Grandma Ida gasped, “it’s wonderful!”

“But… it’s a baby what?” Baby Bop asked. “A dream-maker, Baby Bop. We’re not exactly sure what it is,” Sunny said, “but honestly? That little thing is too cute, I don’t really care at the moment.”

“Here! We can put it on Baby Bop’s blankie!” Misty said, setting the blanket down so Barney could set it down. “Here you go, little fella,” Barney said, settling the dream-maker on the blanket. “Hey there, little guy…” Hitch said, patting the dream-maker with his hoof. “What’s your name?”

The dream-maker began to make a soft cooing sound, making Marcella giggle. “It’s trying to tell us its name.”

As the dream-maker cooed again, a soft jingling sound filled the air. “Sounds like… twinkle-twinkle.”

“Oh, that’s it!” Izzy said. “We should name him Twinken! It kinda sounds like what he’s trying to say, huh, guys?”

As the others agreed with the name, Cody pondered over this for a brief moment. “Twinken. Twinken, the dream-maker. Huh. Okay.”

“Oh-ho, he’s cute,” Grandpa George smiled before humming. “Doesn't seem to do a whole lot, though, does he?”

“He's a lot like you that way, George,” Grandma Ida chuckled as Zipp snapped a couple pictures. “We gotta study and see if dream-makers have been seen in Equestria-- we could redevelop the entire species!”

“There’s time for science later, Zipp,” Pipp said as she booped Twinken on the nose. “Right now, there’s only time for cuddles and snuggles!”

After a few more moments, Twinken let out a longer coo, almost sounding like it was trying to do something, attracting Abby's attention. “Hey. What are you doing?”

Twinken cooed again, and as he did this, Hitch suddenly saw an image forming above them. “Uh… I think you guys better look at this!”

When everyone looked up, the image fully developed into Abby, wearing a riding uniform and sitting on Agnes, holding a bouquet of flowers. “Look!” Abby said in awe. “It’s… it’s me!”

“Oh!” Gentle Rain gasped, her hooves over her mouth. Pipp and Zipp were so in awe, they even forgot to take pictures (if you can imagine that). “Abby…” Ripper turned toward his new friend. “Is… is this your dream?”

“Yes!” Abby responded with a nod. “And I’m seeing it!”

“We all are,” Grandpa George chuckled. “And,” Abby said, “I’ve never seen it so clearly!”

“So that must be the dream-maker’s gift,” Misty thought. “To let you see your own dreams more clearly.”

“...but why?” Bat wondered. “Well,” Barney told her, “because the dreams you see most clearly are most likely to come true.”

Grandpa George turned to Twinken with Fig in his arms, fully enamoured with the little creature. “Well, you are just full of surprises, aren't you?”

“Lookie!” Baby Bop giggled as Fig gently rubbed Twinken’s nose-- truly an adorable moment.

At the same time, the Mane 6 had moved closer to Barney as they continued to watch Abby's image. “You know… you ponies can take these memories back to Equestria with you,” Barney told the ponies. “So you can remind them that believing in themselves can take them places even they didn’t think were possible.”

“Barney… you’ve never been more right,” Sunny nodded. “This was an adventure we’re never gonna forget… not by a long shot.”

“Well… we could forget the Allura parts,” Hitch named off, “and you guys almost dying, but yeah-- never gonna forget this part.”

The ponies giggled at this, agreeing with the earth pony duo wholeheartedly… just before a voice spoke to them. “Barney? Ponies?”

All seven of them turned to see Cody, who looked a tad guilty about how he treated them before, standing next to them. “Yes, Cody?” Barney asked. “I’d just like to say,” Cody began, “that… I was a big doofus before, and… I think you’re all pretty cool.”

Sunny chuckled-- it took Cody this long, but… seeing him finally accept them as friends was totally worth it. “Thank you, Cody.”

“And I think,” Barney smiled, “that you’re pretty cool too.”

Cody smiled, but just after a moment of hesitation, he went to Barney and gave him a huge hug, making the ponies follow.

They knew Cody was good at heart… and now, they finally could accept him into their friend circle too.

After the hug ended, Marcella turned to the purple dinosaur with a question. “Hey, Barney, now can we see your dream?”

But when they turned, Twinken had disappeared from sight. “Hey… where’s Twinken?” Noir looked around. “We wanna see Barney’s dream!”

Everyone began to call for Twinken just before Cody went to the barn door and saw something that made him slightly panic. “He’s flying away!”

“Oh!” Sunny gasped. “Oh no!”

“Come on!” Zipp shouted, leading everyone outside, where they saw Twinken flying up to the top of the house and showering sparkles all over it, causing everyone to gasp in awe.

It was truly a sight to behold, but... there was still one thing that needed to be answered. “What's Twinken trying to say, Barney?” Zipp asked in awe. “He's telling us, he knows what my dream is,” Barney explained. “It's a special time, a special place and sharing it all with the people I love.”

“And that,” Misty said, “is a dream everyone should share… whether they’re near or far.”

As soon as Twinken began to descend from the sky, everyone raced closer to the house, where Barney caught the little dream-maker in his arms. “I gotcha, little fella.”

Everyone couldn’t believe the awe and wonder of the experience, but as they talked and discussed, Gentle Rain couldn’t help but notice that her little dragon friends looked a little sad. “Hey… what’s got you three frowning so deeply?”

“Well, we’re glad everything is okay now,” Bat admitted, “but…”

“We still wish we could find our mom and dad,” Ripper said. “Maybe they would let us visit here more often, and we could see Cody, Abby and Marcella again.”

Suddenly, the flapping of wings above them caught everyone's attention, and Zipp smiled at what was above them. “I don’t think you’ll have to wait too much longer-- look!”

Bat and her two brothers looked to the sky and gasped to see two figures, grown Night Lights, in fact, flying over the house, searching for something.

The female Night light had a mostly white pelt with a black patch on her neck, along with a black underbelly. Her spines were small and black, and ran all the way down to her tail. She had black tail fins at the base of her tail, and a black heart-shaped tail fin with a rounded dorsal fin connecting the two together. Her wings were broad and rounded, and she had light blue eyes.

The male Night Light, on the other hand, was mostly black with white patches adorning his feet and two white spots just above them. His wings featured a solitary claw-like spike on each, covered in scales. His back and spines were white, along with white spots along the sides of his body. At the base of his tail, where it meets his body, he possessed a pair of tail fins and boasted a single webbed sail at the tip, a scar on his left shoulder and light blue eyes.

Bat was the first to call out to the dragons, overjoyed to see them. “MOM!! DAD!!”

“We’re down here!” Ripper called. “Yeah!” Noir jumped up and down. “Here we are!”

The female dragon gasped upon seeing them, overjoyed herself. “There they are! Our babies!”

Both dragons dove down to greet the three triplets, and there laid a whole dragon family reunion right in front of the others’ eyes. “Oh, thank goodness you three are okay!” the father Night Light said, nuzzling Ripper and Noir before looking at his sons. “You are all right… aren’t you?”

“Yes, Dad, we’re fine,” Ripper said. “We got lost, but we met Gentle Rain who took care of us, and then we met a whole bunch of new friends!”

“And then,” Noir said, “we had to save a dream-maker egg from an evil snow leopard named Allura, and once we got the egg back after crashing our plane, the egg hatched and--”

“How did you guys find us?” Bat interrupted. “We saw a shower of light from this direction and thought it was you trying to signal us,” the mother Night Light said before looking at the others in curiosity. “Are these the friends you mentioned?”

“Yes… that’s us, ma’am,” Sunny nodded. “We helped Gentle Rain here take care of your kids until you could find them, and… well… they’re little heroes, honestly.”

“It’s true,” Gentle Rain nodded. “I’ve taken care of the little sweeties, and their powers over imagination are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. You’re very lucky to have them.”

“Oh… thank you. I’m Celeste, and this is my husband, Onyx,” the female Night Light introduced. “Thank you all for taking such good care of our kids, but… we really must get going.”

Suddenly… the mood dropped, and the hearts of many sank. “So… you’re leaving?” Abby asked sadly. “Right now?”

“Afraid so, young lady,” Onyx said. “We have to migrate every so often, and now is our migration time. Come on, kids.”

As Bat and Noir looked behind them, bidding their friends a silent goodbye, they prepared to flap their wings and follow their parents into the air… until Ripper uttered one word that shook everyone. “No.”

Suddenly, Celeste and Onyx stopped, and the former looked down at Ripper with a firm expression. “Ripper, we’re not joking. Say goodbye and let’s get--”

“Dad, maybe you didn’t hear me right,” Ripper said. “I don’t want to leave… and Bat and Noir don’t either, do you, guys?”

Bat and Noir looked at each other, then at their brother, before nodding and landing on the ground. “Kids… we understand it’s hard to say goodbye,” Celeste tried to soothe, “but we really must go.”

“...Mom, we hated not being with you, but we finally found people who accept us for who we are on the inside… not that we’re scaly monsters,” Noir admitted quietly, looking back at Marcella, who smiled fondly at him. “I mean… I love it when Marcella gives me tummy scratches.”

“And I love to play ball with Cody,” Bat added, making Cody smile. “And Ripper? He loves having his scales polished with Abby. We each found a kid we really connect with… and what about Gentle Rain? We can’t leave her all by herself again-- whether you accept her as family, we already have… and you can hate us for that if you want.”

“We’d rather be punished,” Ripper concluded, “then sent away from friends who really care about us.”

Everyone seemed touched by the little dragon’s speech… and even Celeste and Onyx seemed a little moved. “Kids… we had no idea you felt this way,” Celeste said as she landed. “I’m sorry if we made you move so many times. I-I guess me and your father were just… being overprotective of you.”

“We know you love us, Mom,” Noir said, “but… if you really wanna protect us, then maybe you can let us explore the world on our own terms for a little while.”

“We still wanna see you guys as much as we can,” said Bat, “but… I think I wanna spend some more time with our new friends. And Gentle Rain.”

“That’s very sweet of you three,” Gentle Rain said, “but I don’t really think--”

“We’d love to have you guys stay with us!” Abby interrupted. “We’d have to talk to Mom and Dad about it, sure, but--”

“It would be totally weird to not have you guys here,” Cody then added. “All four of you.”

Celeste smiled at this generous union and turned to her mate. “Well, Onyx, honey? What do you think of our kids leaving the nest for a bit?”

“...I can’t say I’m exactly fond of the idea,” Onyx said, making the group frown. “But… I do respect whatever my kids want to do, so if they want to make a home with these kids and kirin… it’s okay by me.”

“Super-dee-duper!” Bat flipped and hugged her father tight. “Thanks, Dad!”

Everyone else cheered at the fact that the dragons and Gentle Rain were going to be living with Cody, Abby, Marcella and Fig, but… that left Celeste and Onyx without a home to call their own.

Well… at least until Grandpa George cleared his throat. “You know, we always have room up in the hayloft for a couple of dragons to stay, don’t we, dear?”

“I think so,” Grandma Ida agreed. “We do need help keeping wolves and foxes away from our chickens and cattle, so you're welcome to stay for as long as you want.”

“Oh, that is so generous,” Celeste said warmly. “We would be happy to stay, so we can spend more time with our kids and get to know our new friends before they head off to their homes.”

The Mane 6 watched all this beside Barney, still holding Twinken, realizing that the dragons still had their biological family, but they had brand new friends and a brand new adventure ahead of them...

...and that was the best kind of adventure there was.

Then, as hugs were exchanged throughout friends old and new, Barney began to sing a soft tune.

Barney: I love you, you love me
We're a happy family
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too?

The ponies' cutie marks began to glow as the song progressed, and everyone found themselves singing along as well.

All: I love you, you love me
We're best friends, like friends should be
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too?

“Barney?” Baby Bop asked, looking at Twinken. “Can I hold him?”

“Sure,” Barney nodded, and handed the furry creature off to Baby Bop, who couldn’t help but gush at the furry creature before the song reached its final verse.

All: I love you, you love me
We're a happy family
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too?

Then, as the song ended, a portal opened up nearby, catching Onyx by surprise. “What in the wide world of dragons is that?”

“That’s our ticket home,” Sunny said with a sad smile. “Take care of each other, okay, guys? We'll miss you all so much.”

Misty waved farewell to their new friends one final time, a mix of sadness of leaving them and hope of returning to their friends and families back in Equestria filling her heart. “Bye, everybody! Thank you all for such an exciting adventure!”

Then, as the rest of their new friends exchanged pleasant goodbyes, the ponies disappeared through the portal just before it closed.

After a moment of silence, Baby Bop let through a squeaky yawn as she gave Twinken back to Barney. “But speaking of dreams, I think it's time you were getting to bed,” BJ told his younger sister. “Come on, sissy.”

“Okay...” Baby Bop sighed reluctantly, knowing that her brother was right. “Goodnight, everybody. Goodnight, Twinken.”

Twinken giggled as everyone began to exchange goodbyes with the young dinosaurs, and after a moment, Baby Bop and BJ had disappeared from sight. But just a moment later, Baby Bop's voice came from out of nowhere. “Hey, where's my blankie? Oh, there it is!”

And as soon as the blanket levitated off the ground, it disappeared as well, prompting Grandpa George to chuckle. “Barney, this is a...”

Suddenly, as everyone turner, Barney had mysteriously disappeared. “Barney?” Gentle Rain called, looking around. “Well... where is he?”

“Well, now they're both gone!” Noir said, noticing Twinken was gone as well. “But... that doesn't make any sense,” Celeste shook her head, frowning. “Barney would never leave without saying goodbye.”

“No...” Grandma Ida agreed. Then, Fig noticed the plush toy version of Barney and Twinken, sitting on the nearby swing, his attention locked and loaded. “Barney...”

Everyone turned to see that very sight, and this made them know that one way or another...

...Barney might be back sooner than they thought.

Author's Note

These are Bat, Ripper and Noir's parents:

Celeste...

Mother Night Light | How to Train Your Dragon Wiki | Fandom

...and Onyx.

Father Night Light | How to Train Your Dragon Wiki | Fandom

Returning with a Story

The portal opened once again, and the Mane 6 stepped out of the portal, returning to Bridlewood and the festival that they had left behind.

And speaking from the experience of their trip, it was good to finally be home.

And no sooner than when they got back, they saw their families waiting for them with wide and proud smiles. “My angels, you're back!” Queen Haven smiled, hugging her daughters. “You must tell us everything you can about your latest adventure.”

“Well, there is quite a bit to remember, but we'll go as slowly as we can so you can take everything in,” Misty smiled as they all sat down. “So, we ended up in New York, where we met three kids who were spending a part of their summer at this beautiful farm.”

“But, Cody? The oldest? He was a character at first,” Zipp said with a chuckle. “Especially when Barney and some more new friends came into the picture.”

“Barney?” Paradise asked in confusion. “Is he a pony friend of yours?”

“More like a T-rex friend of ours, but he was really great,” Hitch quickly reassured. “Little did we know that when we met Barney, Gentle Rain the kirin and our three Night Light friends, the real adventure would begin, starting with an amazing egg!”

“But the egg kinda got away from us,” Izzy added. “And that’s not even the craziest part!” Pipp said. “Allura and Twitch wanted the egg and its magic all for themselves, so we had to get it before they did!”

“But, the hustle and bustle of the adventure actually helped us remember something,” Sunny said with a smile. “With a little hope and a dash of pure imagination, we can do anything we set our minds to... even defeating Allura.”

“That's a good lesson for you kids to remember,” Alphabittle told them with a smile. “Now, keep going-- this is a really interesting story!”

“Well, the egg was revealed to be the egg of a dream-maker, and Allura wanted to siphon it of its power so she could use something else beside the star shard,” Pipp explained. “But the chase was on, and we went to all these different places around the town-- a French restaurant, a parade, the circus, up in the sky...”

“Finally, we got the egg back,” Sunny finished the story, “and... let's just say it turned out better than we could have ever imagined.”

XXXXXXXX

Back in the mortal world, Allura and Twitch were resting up after being tossed in the pond again by those meddlesome ponies.

Allura growled as she looked up at the stars. “Those ponies are going to continue making this difficult, Twitch… which is why we have to step up our game.”

There was no way she was going to let her brother down... not by a long shot.

There were four more star shards out there for her to find, and compared to the ponies' mere two shards... she would have quite the advantage.

And perhaps, it would be an advantage that would cause those ponies' final downfall.