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:
“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.”