Released in October 2013, the 26th movie in the Barbie series, and the first to actually give subplots to the Roberts sisters. Also, while this movie does feature Barbie's sisters like in A Perfect Christmas, A Pony Tale follows an entirely different continuity.
Barbie and her sisters (Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea) are spending part of the summer visiting their Aunt Marlene and her two kids, Max (Marlene's son) and Marie (Marlene's daughter), who live in the Swiss Alps (not too far from the Matterhorn)—Marlene runs a horsebreeding ranch/equestrian school called "Alpine Academy," and her nieces (minus Skipper, who's more interested in her iPad) are excited for their month-long horseback riding vacation. Barbie, the most experienced rider of the Roberts-sisters (to the point of being considered "the best rider on the West Coast" back in America), is allowed to pick her own horse while Stacie and Chelsea, both of whom are beginners, have to let the horses choose them—Stacie's chosen by a horse named Pepper while Chelsea's chosen by a pony named Dash.
Unfortunately, Skipper eventually learns from Marlene that Alpine Academy is in a lot of financial trouble, and if things don't improve, she'll have to sell the place to Bridget Cheynet, the owner of Alpine Academy's biggest rival, École Montagne. Skipper comes up with the idea of her and her sisters competing in the upcoming Inter-Academy Equestrian Tournament (which is going to be hosted at Alpine Academy) in an attempt to win it and keep Alpine Academy.
Matters are complicated when Barbie finds a member of the legendary herd of Majestique-horses and unwittingly leads the bad guys right to them.
This movie contains examples of:
- All Girls Like Ponies: Subverted by Chelsea, who actually wants a full-size horse like her three older sisters. She eventually does form a bond with her pony.
- Anime Hair: Skipper's usual hairstyle is here, but this entry is for the Majestiques, who get a natural pink streak in their manes.
- But Now I Must Go: Barbie realizes that the best thing she can do for Majesty is to let her go.
- Disappeared Dad: It's never explained who Max and Marie's father is (he's never seen or mentioned once throughout the entire movie). We only ever see their mother, Marlene.
- A Dog Named "Dog": A variation; Barbie names the Majestique horse she forms a bond with "Majesty."
- Fangirl: Marlene's daughter, Marie, seems really into Japanese culture, particularly when it comes to samurais. She even refers to the Japanese language as "samurai language".
- Graceful Loser: Bridgette Cheynet, the mother of Etienne and Philippe Cheynet, doesn't seem all that upset about ultimately losing the equestrian tournament to Alpine Academy—in fact, she actually seems happy for them, to the point of where she's happy that Marlene doesn't have to sell the school.
- Hidden Depths: For as focused as she was on her iPad (and technology in general), Skipper proves to be really good at horseback riding—she's the one who comes up with the idea of her and her sisters competing in the Inter-Academy Equestrian Tournament (Chelsea for the "Pretty Pony Competition," Stacie for the Cross Country Trials, Barbe for the Steeplechase and Skipper herself for the dressage portion) and when it's time for Skipper and her horse, Jennifer, to perform in dressage, they prove to great enough at it to get 1st-place for Alpine Academy in that portion of the competition.
- Horsing Around: During the inter-academy dance party, Chelsea sneaks out to the corral to ride a full-size horse—but it quickly proves to be too much for her to handle and she soon starts screaming for help. Her sisters, her aunt, her cousins and Etienne rush out to save her, and she eventually gets bucked off the horse and falls behind a bale of hay. While she ultimately turns out okay (in that she's not hurt or anything, just shook up by what happened), everyone's obviously really scared that she could've been seriously hurt.
- Inspired by…: The Majestiques are based on the horses Hannibal used to cross the Alps.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Majesty the horse for Barbie.
- Non-Indicative Name: The only pony to have any actual significance in the movie's plot is Chelsea's pony, Dash, who doesn't serve as the MacGuffin in any way.
- Oddball in the Series: Out of all the movies in the Barbie-film series, this one (arguably) has the least amount of fantastic content.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Max and Marie, Marlene's kids, couldn't be more different from each other—combined with Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl and (possibly) Polar Opposite Twins, Max and Marie don't appear to have much in common outside of anything related to equestrianism. Their dogs, Sebastian (Max's dog) and Popcorn (Marie's dog), pretty much identical to their owners, personality-wise.
- Squee: If you are even remotely an equine romantic at heart, this movie hits every mark, to ludicrous extents. Chosen by a glorious, beautiful horse? Check. Rescued by said horse? Check. Bonding in a near mystical level with said horse? Check. Said horse is faster, stronger, and better than everyone else's? Check. The list goes on.
