Camping, Brony style

Dusk Shine's eyes darted between the checklist and the pile of backpacks, stopping every so often to check off numerous boxes. Twilight had handed the two dragons a list of instructions on how to care for the library. Owliwicious & Gwenivere watched from the window as several ponies trotted onto the yard, dropping several more bags onto the pile. Owliwicious hadn't been with Twilight long, but even he knew all the commotion met something was going to happen. Gwenivere turned to him.

"What's going on?" she hooted

"I haven't the slightest idea. But we should tell the others, anyway..."

The two flew down to the first floor. The animals all chatted amongst themselves as Owliwicious and Gwenivere landed on their stands, hardly noticing them.

"Everyone? May I have your attention," he hooted.

"Can someone please explain what we're all doing here," Winona barked in a southern drawl. William barked in agreement.

"Who can say?" Tank shrugged slowly.

"They sure are making a ruckus out there, though..." Gwenivere said thoughtfully.

"It's clear SOME of us haven't trained our owners properly." Alexanderite mewed, rolling his eyes to Angel & Lilitha. The two bunnies glared at the prissy pussycat.

"Listen , you Garfield reject. My pony is as trained as they come," Angel spoke, with a heavy Manehatten accent.

"Oh come now, Angel. Butterscotch and Fluttershy are practically LEADING them into rebellion ," Opalescence meowed. "Alexander and I would gladly take them off your paws, if they've become too much for you." The two cats shared a hearty chuckle, looking rather posh.

"You're ones to talk," Lilitha interjected. "If anything, it's you two who can't keep ya ponies in check."

"Yeah, just last week, when we brought our owners over by your house, we left the room for five minutes to get a snack from our owners, we come back, they was practically mating on our floor, they was humpin' so hard," Angel recalled.

"Ya shoulda gotten them neutered." Lilitha squeaked. Opalescence let out an irritated

meow. "Whether we decide to get them neutered or not is none of you business, Thumper!"

The two bunnies gasped in horror. Angel, beginning to get teary eyed, turned away.

"You take. That. Back." Lilitha warned, voice cracking. The cats let out a satisfied purr as the rabbits began to weep. The rest of the pets tried to console them with the exception of Gummy and Gummette, who continued to gnaw on the legs of Owliwicious' stand. Owliwicious had seen enough and let out a horrible screech.

"ENOUGH!" The animals had all froze, whether it was crying, comforting, purring, or gnawing.

"There is something going on with our owners, and all you pets can do is bicker and argue." He eyed them all as they looked down in shame. After taking a moment to recompose himself, he continued.

"We need to find out what's wrong. First, we-"

He was interrupted by the sound of a squeaking open, followed by the trotting of four dozen hooves.

"Owliwicious," Twilight came over to stand beside him. She nuzzled his tummy feathers, which he fluffed out graciously. Dusk Shine rubbed Gwenivere's chest with a  hoof, inching up to her neck. Gwenivere let out a drawn out hoot in pleasure. The others received a simple pat on the head or shell.

"we're going to be gone for a couple of days. Barbara and Spike will be here to watch over you," she continued. She turned to the rest of the animals in the room.

They'll be here for all of you."

The pets stared blankly at Twilight, who only smiled, then at their owners, who shared Twilight's enthusiasm, then at each other. Dusk Shine trotted quickly to the door, cautious of the surplus of tails on the floor. He left for only a moment, and when he returned he carried  multiple bags to the back room, a companied by two baby dragons. The bags carried the scent of doggie treats and birdseed. It made Owliwicious' mouth water. Dusk Shine returned alone.

"We're all set to go Twilight," he stated. "We should get going before it gets dark."

Twilight nodded in agreement. The dragons returned from the back room, each carrying a scroll.

"Like I said, they are going to be watching you all, so please don't give them too much trouble. Did I forget anything?" she asked, turning back to Dusk Shine. He shook his head.

"Good. Alright everypony, let's go!"

"Who put her in charge?" Rainbow Blitz whispered to A.J. who simply shrugged.

The lavender librarians were the first out the door. The others lagged behind, shouting their good-byes and farewells as they went out the door.

Owliwicious held his usual poker face as the ponies left the library, but the rest, including Gwenivere, headed straight for the window as soon as the door shut. Even from his stand, he could hear cheers of delight coming from outside, followed by the rustling of bags and the stomping of hooves fading away in the distance. What started out as an argument turned into a full-blown rant between the cats and bunnies.

"See what you've done!" Opalescence hissed at the rabbits as the ponies all disappear in the forest.

"All you bunnies ever do is run your mouths, caring not of the consequences that follow. Now look, all that talk about Neutering has scared them away! Who knows how long they'll be gone." Her tail flicked irritably side to side but her gaze softened as watch them head into the forest.

"Oh, my poor poor Rarity. She'll starve out there without my ability to tell what time it is to eat!" she wept . Alexanderite held her paw in one of his own, patting sympathetically with his other.

"Yeah, well we weren't the only ones talkin' out loud," Lilitha said with clear regret in her voice. Angel hung his head in shame. Will 'n Winona started to whimper at the thought of their owners being gone forever. The alligators snapped their jaws at one another, looking for an outlet for their anger. The tortoises made... sad...tortoise noises.

Barbara poked her head out of the back room. The room was soon filled with the smells of mouth-watering goodness. "Dinner!" Owliwicious was beginning to feel a bit peckish. He opened his wings and pushed off his stand, gliding to Barbara. He landed smoothly, perching on her tail. And in the past, she would find this annoying, his claws digging under her scales. But this time, she paid that no attention. Instead, she turned to him.

"Are they alright?"

Despite her calls, the animals continued to stare out the window with mixed looks of confusion, anger, and regret.

Next time...

*Snap

The girls all rushed to each other's side, trembling with fear. A multitude of eyes appeared out of the pitch-black forest, all watching them. Their eyes grew wide as a growl arose from the forest.

"I-I-I think it's time we'd go." Twilight stammered. The girls all nodded in agreement.

Another growl came from the forest.

It was closer.

The girls backed away quickly but before they could run, a horrifying roar shook the forest, and the ponies, to the core.

"ELUSIVE!/BUTTERSCOTCH!"

The white unicorn and the yellow pegasus shot off into the dark forest, where the boys had disappeared. There was a quick exchange of glances between the remaining ponies before they all took off after Rarity and Fluttershy.