Twilight woke up and stretched herself out with a yawn. She groggily walked over to her mirror and began brushing her frizzled mane until it looked presentable.

She was really looking forward to today; heck she was looking forward to the week, as events had transpired so that she had no work to do for a while. The only thing that would keep her from relaxing for a while week was an emergency from Princess Celestia herself. Aside from that, it was somepony else's problem.

She sleepily walked downstairs to her kitchen to get some breakfast ready. Something simple today to reflect the lazy mood she was in. Just a plain bowl of cereal should be fine.

She used her magic to move a bowl onto her table before walking over to the pantry to get her cereal. Ah, there was only one box of Daffodil Flakes left. It wouldn't be too long before she had to buy more though. Still, as long as there was cereal in the box, she could eat for today and not have to worry about that for a while.

She sat down at the table and tilted the box over and poured her cereal. To her utter dismay, only a dozen or so flakes came out of the box. She groaned and peered inside. Sure enough, the box was completely empty. It seemed that it was time to buy more cereal. She gave a groan of irritation that echoed the irritated feeling that her empty stomach had right now and she tilted the meager contents of the bowl into her mouth to tide her over until she could come back with more food.

She put the bowl in the sink and levitated her saddlebags onto her back. Before she left she called out to her sleeping assistant. "Spike! I'm going out to get more cereal. I'll be back soon!" she said.

"Mphfrhgml," came the sleepy reply from her scaly assistant. Twilight smiled to herself and walked out the door.

It was a sunny day in Ponyville and it seemed all of Ponyville was out enjoying the sunshine. The feeling of the warm rays of sunlight washing over her coat completely woke up Twilight and she found herself in a good mood despite the hunger that she felt as she walked over to the Ponyville market.

The street was bustling with ponies who were shopping at individual stands as well as ponies that were going into buildings to do their shopping.

Twilight turned in the direction of Applejack's apple cart and saw to her dismay that the cart was not in its usual spot. That apple that she had wanted to tide herself over while she shopped was not available. She groaned once more. Why was this day of relaxation turning out like this!?

She walked into a general store and went to the breakfast foods section. She was about to turn into the cereal aisle when she heard a string a familiar voices coming from the isle behind her.

"I reckon that oatmeal raisin hay bars should suit our needs just fine, don't ya think?" asked a certain farmer pony.

"Sounds good to me," said the voice of a rainbow Pegasus. "But can we get two oatmeal raisin and make the other three Apple-Cinnamon?"

"Ooh! Can we do one chocolate chip one!?" asked the unmistakable voice of Pinkie Pie.

Curious, Twilight parked her cart and looked down the aisle. She saw Fluttershy examining the contents of a large cart while Rarity scanned a large list of items that she had with her. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie were debating the pros and cons of chocolate chip hay bars while an amused Applejack looked on. Twilight walked down the aisle to greet her friends.

"Hello everypony!" she said with a smile. "What's going on here?" The five friends returned her smile when they saw her walk up the aisle.

"Well howdy doo Twilight, me and the others here were just gettin' ready for our annual campin' trip!" said Applejack excitedly.

"Camping? You're all going camping!?" said a shocked Twilight.

"Heck yeah we are!" said Rainbow Dash excitedly. "We've gone every year together for the past eight years now."

"Even you Rarity?" asked Twilight who couldn't see the immaculate unicorn tolerating the woods. Rarity seemed rather offended by the statement.

"I beg your pardon Twilight, but this camping trip is one of the highlights of my year! I love going camping with these four!" Rainbow smirked at her.

"Yeah, only because you stay in the cabins as opposed to the tents like the rest of us," said Rainbow.

"Well, can a girl help it if she wants the bathroom and showers close to her at all times?" she asked crossly.

"Yeah, she can do without six showers a day for a week. You need to toughen up!" said Rainbow.

"Yeah about that sugar cube," said Applejack, addressing Rarity. "You can only take ONE shower a day this time otherwise they're gonna charge us extra for bein' in the campgrounds." Rarity seemed irked by this but kept her mouth shut.

"I didn't know that you five went camping together every year," said Twilight.

"Each and every! We all make super-duper sure to have our schedules free for this one week out of the year! Nopony here would miss it!" said Pinkie Pie as she happily bounced up and down. The other four ponies nodded and gave grunts of agreement. The isle was silent for a moment as Twilight looked at her five smiling friends, not quite sure of what to say next. Rainbow broke the silence.

"So."

"So what?" said Twilight.

"So do you want to come or not sugar cube?" finished Applejack. Twilight's eyes widened. Indeed the prospect of camping did sound exciting to Twilight, especially with her friends.

"It’s a whole week?" said Twilight? "As in seven days?"

"And six nights, I know!" said Rarity happily, using her magic to levitate two boxes of oatmeal raisin hay bars and three boxes of Apple-Cinnamon into the cart.

"Well...if I wouldn't be imposing then I'd love to come!" said Twilight with a grin.

"Oh you wouldn't be imposing at all!" said Fluttershy. "In fact, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are coming this year too so you certainly wouldn't be unwelcome." Twilight broke out into a wide grin at hearing this.

"You really mean it?" she asked excitedly.

"Why of course darling, we would be honored if you would join us," said Rarity. Twilight gave a happy whoop and jumped up into the air. She regained her composure after a few seconds.

"I'm totally in! What do you want me to bring?" she asked.

"Well, we got the food here and most of the rest should be there already. A sleeping bag and a toothbrush is all I can think of," said Rainbow.

"I can do that!" said Twilight. "When do we leave?"

"Meet us at Sweet Apple Acres in an hour and we'll be on our way," said Applejack. "Is Spike comin'?"

"I'm sure he'd love to!" said Twilight.

"It's settled then," said Rarity. "You get yourself ready and we'll finish up here. See you and Spikey-Wikey in an hour or so." Twilight eagerly nodded and said goodbye to her friends. She bought a fresh box of cereal and went back to her house with a new spring in her step.

She burst through the door excitedly and placed the cereal on a nearby counter.

"Spike, Spike! I have some wonderful news!" said Twilight. She heard a tired grumble from upstairs. Was Spike still asleep!? She trotted upstairs and sure enough, Twilight saw Spike still curled up in his basket with his blanket over his head. Twilight frowned and used her magic to pull the blanket off of him. Spike gave an irritated moan and opened his eyes to stare sleepily at Twilight.

"Whatizzit?" he mumbled sleepily. "Can't it wait until morning?"

"Spike, it's already 11:30. You should have been up an hour ago," said Twilight with a frown. Spike rubbed his eyes and gave a loud yawn.

"But this is a break week for us. Can't I sleep in a little?"

"Spike, you get to sleep in three hours later than normal this week. There is a time to be awake even now," she said with a slight grin. Spike mumbled something before standing up and stretching.

"So, what is this oh so wonderful news you have?" he asked. Twilight's grin widened.

"We're going camping!" she said with a squeal of delight. All sleepiness left Spike at that moment and he gave Twilight a confused look.

"Camping? We're going camping?" he said. Twilight vigorously nodded. "When?"

"We have to be at Sweet Apple acres in 20 minutes so we had better hurry!" said Twilight. She ran down the stairs to a storage closet and used her magic to pull out a large, squishy, purple sleeping bag. Spike followed her down and continued his questioning.

"How did this come about?" he asked as he pulled his own sleeping bag out of the closet.

"Well, I saw the girls at the store today and they were buying supplies for the trip. Apparently, they do this every year! Since I ran into them they invited the two of us along and I told them that we would be delighted to come!" said Twilight happily. She used her magic to shrink the sleeping bags down a little before stuffing them into her saddlebag. She packed their toothbrushes as well and put her saddlebag on. "Alright Spike, that's enough exposition, let's get going!" she said happily.

Spike managed a smile of his own at the prospect of camping out with the girls. It meant a while week of being around Rarity and an opportunity like that was one that he could never pass up!

The two walked quickly to Sweet Apple Acres where they saw Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom all talking excitedly amongst themselves. Fluttershy was the first to notice the duo appear and she pointed them out to the others who trotted over to greet them.

"Twilight, Spike, so glad the two of you could make it," said Rarity happily.

"The pleasure is all ours," said Twilight with a grin. Spike had already gone into 'ohmygoshit'sraritywhatdoidowhatdoisayilovehersomuchican'tbelivei'mthisclosetoher' mode and as such, was lost in the sight of Rarity.

"You ready to go sugar cube?" asked Applejack, motioning to a chariot. "The campgrounds are about five hours away so it's best if we get goin' ASAP." Twilight nodded.

"Ready when you are doc!" she said excitedly. Applejack raised an eyebrow at the statement but shrugged it off all the same.

"You and Fluttershy drivin' first RD?" asked the farmer pony to her cyan companion.

"You know it!" said Rainbow eagerly. Rainbow and Fluttershy hitched themselves to the front of the chariot. As the other eight climbed aboard, Twilight took a look at how many beings were on the chariot as opposed to the power of the Pegasi pulling it.

"Say AJ, how are Fluttershy and Rainbow supposed to take off and pull this chariot? It's so large and there are so many of us!" said Twilight. Applejack gave a wry smile.

"Sometimes things work because they need to Twilight," said Applejack simply, as she adjusted her saddlebags under her seat. Twilight opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. she shrugged and laid the issue to rest.

"Ready to go?" asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack looked around and received nods from the rest of the group before calling back to Rainbow.

"Ready when you are Rainbow!" she said. Rainbow nodded and the two Pegasus drivers began moving forward and flapping their wings. Within a few seconds, the chariot was airborne and headed in the direction of the campgrounds. Twilight laughed happily. The feeling of being up in the air as well as the thought that she would spend the next week just hanging out with her friends brought out the best feelings in Twilight. The others joined in with Twilight's laughter. The whole chariot was electrified with the feelings of happiness and excitement that this trip would soon bring.

Twilight leaned back in her seat and struck up a conversation with Applejack. She just knew that this would be a good week. In the corner of her eye, she saw Pinkie's whole body shiver for a brief second. She pushed it aside. It was probably just the cool air around them or something. It didn't really matter anyway. She was going camping with her best friends!

Nothing could possibly go wrong.