//------------------------------//
// Curse You, Mornings! 
// Story: Canterlot High Days 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

"Ugh...mornings! Stupid...evil...terrible mornings!"

As was perfectly apparent to anyone, Rainbow Dash was not a creature that was quick to rise when the dawn's first light crept through her curtains. And creep it did, slowly trailing along her bedroom floor and up her bed until it landed just perfectly across the one eye that was poking out from under her pillow. Of course, as someone who did not appreciate being woken in this way, she opened her eye with a deep and hateful frown. As she slowly pulled the pillow from off her messed-up hair, she threw it at her curtain, as if hoping that would knock out the sun or something. Instead, it had the undesired effect of actually knocking back her curtains further, opening them wide and allowing the sun's rays in fully. With a full blast of sunlight straight into her face, Rainbow clasped her hands over her eyes.

"ARGH!!!"

She writhed back and forth over her bed, like some sun-hating vampire, complete with a hissing sound. But alas, she calmed down soon after, splaying her arms across her bed and just mumbling incoherently to herself.

"Why...why is 'waking up' even a thing?"

Several minutes passed, but eventually, she turned her still-groggy head, looking straight at the clock on the table beside her bed. There, she squinted her eyes at the numbers on display.

"Huh...eight-thirty."

She closed her eyes again, allowing several moments by. But then, her eyes shot open again, and she grabbed hold of her clock and held it to her face as she sat bolt upright.

"SCHOOL STARTS AT NINE!!!"

With that, she threw her clock across her room, though it safely landed in a pile of unsorted clothes she'd dumped on the floor at an earlier point. Throwing off her covers, she leapt out of bed, swiftly grabbing hold of her school bag before yanking on the door of her room. Now out in the hallway, she ran as though she were participating in some sort of life-or-death movie chase scene, complete with her leaping onto the rail of the staircase, sliding down to the ground floor. She darted around corner after corner, until she eventually reached the kitchen. There, she saw her parents, Windy and Bow, who had just sat down to the table for breakfast. Bow was in the middle of reading the local newspaper, while Rainbow's Mother was just about ready to take a first bite out of a slice of toast. When the latter saw her clearly-distressed daughter, she spoke in her usual upbeat way.

"So...bad night?"

Rainbow didn't answer, instead scouring the immediate vicinity. Soon, she caught sight of what she'd been looking for, a box of cereal that had already been placed out for her. Without saying a word, she rushed over to it, taking hold of it and, after opening her mouth wide, dumped an entire bowl's worth straight in. Of course, her parents were rather taken aback by this behaviour, but became even more so when they next saw her cast the box aside, grabbing onto a close-by carton of milk and just downing that thing too.

"Rainbow?!" Bow asked.

With her cheeks as puffed up as a hamster, Rainbow mumbled her answer.

"They can mix in my stomach!"

Again, she rushed past, heading straight for the front door. With great speed, she kicked off her slippers, grabbed hold of her sneakers and promptly rammed her feet right into them, and it was at this point that Window poked her head out of the kitchen door to see her do it.

"Sweetie?"

But Rainbow waved her off.

"Not time! Late for school!"

She again picked up her bag, opening the front door with her free hand, before soon charging outside, slamming said door behind her. Now she was out, the cool and crisp morning giving her a brief moment of shivering, which she was able to push herself past with impressive speed. After a quick glance, she realised  that the bus had already probably come and gone, and so groaned aloud at this.

"Okay...running will do me good anyway."

And run she did, barrelling past her family's front yard and out onto the street, turning the corner and heading down the often-trod path in the direction of Canterlot High. Rainbow was confident she'd get there in time. After all, she'd think, she was the school's top athlete. And besides, it wasn't that big of a distance between her home and school. Unfortunately, fate had a different idea in mind for her, for as soon as she'd travelled far enough, she came to a grinding halt, realising that there was some maintenance work going on in the road ahead, and that it was so widespread that even the sidewalks were blocked off. Reasonably, she slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Ugh! Fine! I'll go this way then!"

Running across the road, she found a different route to take, this one far longer. But she was still sure she'd make it in time. She ignored many of the funny looks she got from the people she'd pass, focusing only on her goal. Eventually, she came upon a not-ripped-up road, and managed to again get a good pace in. But then, as was so often the case, she was halted a second time, this time by the simple fact that there was a crossing ahead, and the green light to let her cross hadn't shown up yet.

"Seriously?!" she grumbled.

At this point, she recognised that there was an old woman by the crossing. One of Applejack's relatives from the looks of it. Standing beside her, Rainbow, in spite of her clear stress, managed to at least get some small-talk out.

"So...nice day, right?"

The old woman, whom Rainbow now recognised as Golden Delicious, smiled back to her.

"Oh, yes indeed! Why, it reminds me of the time that my sister and I..."

Rainbow grimaced, realising that she'd accidentally triggered the woman's "tell life story to any passing stranger" instinct, and so again groaned. Thankfully though, it was at that moment when the green light showed up, causing a smile on Rainbow's face as she once more sped off to the other side. However, no sooner had she reached the mid-point of the road when Golden's voice spoke up to her again.

"Oh, don't mind me, girl. I'll get there eventually."

Rainbow stopped, turning to see that Golden, in a clear sign of her age, was struggling to move all that quickly. In fact, in the span of a full ten seconds, she'd only managed to get a single step forward. Rainbow, turning to the other side, which almost beckoned to her at this point, winced at the thought of just leaving Golden there, a thought which was all the more prevalent when the roar of angry engines alerted her to just how many cars and trucks were just raring to charge across the line as soon as they no longer had a red light to deal with. With morality winning over her more selfish impulses, Rainbow frowned angrily at the sky.

"Oh come on!"

She ran right back to Golden and, in a move that clearly surprised the older lady, picked her up, using an almost Applejack-level of strength to lift her over her head, where she kept her as she again ran for the other side. And not a moment too soon, for as soon as she reached that other sidewalk, the lights changed, and the collected traffic immediately bolted across. Panting, Rainbow set Golden down, and the latter gave her a thankful pinch on the cheek.

"Such a sweet girl!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, gotta go!"

With her usual speed, she continued on her rushed run to school, and finally, the building in question was in sight. But as thankful as Rainbow was for this, she knew she lad little time to spare. Raising her wrist, she saw that the seconds were ticking away, and she had only a couple of minutes. All she had to do was get to the steps of the school's front entrance, and she'd be okay. So she ran, faster than she had so far, and the sweat began to pour down her brow ferociously with her greater efforts. She drew closer and closer and closer, and finally, after leaping forward in the manner of an Olympic jumper, she practically flew past the great horse statue of the school, landing and stretching out her hand to touch the bottom rung of the steps. Now there, she grinned wildly, cheering to herself with glee.

"Yes! Ha! Who has two thumbs and isn't gonna be late for school?"

She pointed her thumbs at herself.

"This girl!"

She cackled happily, allowing herself a moment or two to just lay there on the steps and catch her breath. However, in the peace of this moment, it soon became apparent to her that the expected bell of the start of the school day wasn't actually ringing right now, and she looked to the doors of the school with confusion.

"Huh...maybe it's busted?"

"Rainbow?"

Turning, Rainbow smiled again as she saw that it was none other than Fluttershy, who now walked towards her speedy friend with a look of surprise.

"Hey there, Fluttershy! I tell ya, I really dodged a bullet this morning!"

Fluttershy, being a fairly intelligent girl, looked from Rainbow, to the school and then to her friend's rather dishevelled state, and was able to put two and two together. Clearing her throat, Fluttershy took a step closer, looking her friend right in the eye.

"Rainbow? You...you do know it's a Saturday...right?"

Rainbow blinked, her expression utterly blank as her brain began to slowly process this new information. And as that revelation and the effort she'd put in to get here all piled up in her mind, she slowly collapsed down onto the steps, looking completely distraught.

"I hate mornings. I really...really hate mornings."

She sighed deeply, trying to look at least somewhat okay.

"Well...at least it can't get worse."

"Um...Rainbow?"

"Yeah, Fluttershy?"

"...Why are you in your pyjamas?"

"...It got worse."