//------------------------------// // To Mrs. Goldfinch's House/The Egg Escapes! // Story: G5 Adventures in Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// 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.”