//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42: First Morning of School Jitters 
// Story: Marshmallow Dreams 
// by Halira 
//------------------------------//

I let out a groan as my alarm went off with a loud and obnoxious tone. Normally I set it to music, but I didn't know how my roommates would take my selection. I also set it earlier than I usually would because I didn't want to be late for my first day of classes. I could have just hit snooze, but I managed enough self-control not to do that. My next big test of willpower was getting out of bed, even with no music there to motivate me. Was I a strong enough willed pony to do it?

CRASH

An additional roll in my bed had ended with my willpower not being an issue. Note to self, sleep closer to the wall next time and farther away from the edge of the bed.

The room was still dark, and the sun wasn't up yet. I noticed quickly that not only was Nightscape still gone from the evening before, Julie was already up and out of the room—that or she had been abducted by aliens overnight, but I didn't think it that likely. I gave it a ten percent chance aliens had abducted her. Was my math and figuring accurate? I doubted even Jess could dispute me. 

Bathroom, that was the next destination I needed to get to. I needed to move from the floor to the bathroom. The floor didn't seem that bad to lay on, now that I was here. My left wing was at an odd angle, which might start to hurt if I didn't get up. The shower would help wake me up too. I pulled myself to my hooves and promised myself no more late-night excursions. I couldn't wake up this tired every morning. 

I slowly made my way to the bathroom and flipped its light on. Across it, I could see that Sunflower, Meadow, and Ashley's room was still dark, which meant they were probably all sleeping still. I was the first one up, except for Julie. I wondered where Julie was. Maybe she was one of those pegasi that started the morning with a flight. She was an athlete, after all.

I quickly did my business with the potty to avoid any intrusions and then went for the shower. Climbing into it and pulled the curtain closed, and gasped as I turned the water on and got blasted by freezing cold water. It didn't remain freezing long, and I had a small cloud of steam going in no time at all. I grabbed my shampoo and got to work, humming Piano Man to myself as I scrubbed and giving my mane an extra through scrub after I remembered that I had icky duck pond stuff stuck in it just yesterday. 

I jumped in fear as the curtain opened, and Ashley climbed in. "Move over, Marshy. The shower is built for two. Don't stand dead center in the middle and hog it all to yourself."

I stepped aside, and Ashley lit her horn and started lathering herself up with soap. It was going to take me a while to get used to sharing the shower. I was mostly clean now and just needed to make sure all the shampoo was rinsed off. Fur felt awful if you failed to rinse all the shampoo out of it. 

The curtain opened again, and Ashley said some words in rapid succession that my mother would have washed my mouth out with soap for saying. Sunflower was standing there looking abashed.

"Close the curtain, feather brain!" Ashley shouted. "Just two ponies at a time! Wait for one of us to get out."

"I'm done!" I yelled and started trying to exit the shower, which is more challenging when there is another pony in it and at least one other pony standing just outside it. I got twisted up in the shower curtain, though, and the next thing I knew, me and the curtain were coming down on the floor. 

"Ack! Water is getting all over the floor!" Ashley yelled. The next thing I knew, I was being picked up and unrolled from the shower curtain. Ashley set me down on the counter using her magic and quickly put the curtain back up before exiting the shower. She then looked around the bathroom and grumbled. "I don't suppose one of you can gather this all up in a cloud and dump it outside, can you?"

"It would take several pegasi to do that quickly, and we would need more room," Sunflower explained as she hurried into the shower. 

Ashley shook her head. "Well, there is a drain in the middle of the floor. Hopefully, that will get most of it. Just watch your step, and don't slip."

Meadow came wandering in, blinking sleep out of her eyes. She paused and stared at her hooves in confusion for about thirty seconds after stepping in. "Why is there so much water on the floor?"

"Because we were trying to build a lake in the middle of the bathroom," Ashley sarcastically snapped. "You must have heard everything. Rebecca took a tumble and pulled the shower curtain down."

Meadow blinked a few more times, then flew up to me. "Are you hurt? The floor isn't padded or anything in here."

I had just oriented myself completely after being magic handled and wanted to get over to the dryer ASAP, but Meadow was blocking me. "I'm fine; I take harder falls getting out of bed. I am starting off well today, two crashes before breakfast."

Ashley blinked up on the counter—blinking as in short teleport— and beat me to the dryer as Meadow finally left the counter and headed to the toilet. I only then remembered there was a dryer on either end of the counter and turned to get myself a hot air blast from that side.

"Someone needs to loan Sunflower some deodorant. She's fragrant!" Ashley announced. 

"You sniffed my butt!" Sunflower shouted in outrage from the shower. "When did you even get a chance!"

"When you were getting into the shower," Ashley answered. "We need some deodorant on you. Can't have you going all-natural first day of class."

I already had my bathroom bag up on the counter next to me and dug through it. I gave myself a sniff first and determined I didn't need anything. I put the deodorant out next to one of the sinks. "I have some next to the sink here; just don't lose it."

"Thanks, I guess," Sunflower said as she started getting out of the still running shower. 

"Go ahead and turn the shower off. I showered last night," Meadow called out from her seat on the toilet. 

"What about Julie and Nightscape?" Sunflower asked. 

"Julie normally showers in the gym, and Nightscape probably isn't even here right now, and if she were, she would have showered sometime like two in the morning," Meadow answered before flushing the toilet. "I recommend waiting till evening to preen. If you do it now, you'll probably miss breakfast."

"But we're up so early," I protested. 

"So is everyone else," Meadow explained. "There is going to be a line for breakfast. By the time you're through the line and eat, you'll barely have time to get to class."

Miss breakfast? This pudgy pony would not miss her breakfast!

As soon as I was suitably dry, I left the bathroom and gathered up my saddlebags, making sure that I double-checked my schedule and made sure I had my correct books for the class. 

Today was Wednesday, and first up was Calculus One with Professor Torres, followed by English Literature One with Professor Higgins; then Introduction to Architecture with Doctor Morris; then lunch; then Art History One with Doctor Toussaint. I also had an evening class listed for this day of the week, but it was listed as not starting till next week—it was the lab that coincided with Astronomy with Professor Moon, which was the first class on the day tomorrow. Most of my classes were Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Astronomy was Tuesday and Thursday with the rest of Tuesday and Thursday to myself. 

The schedule seemed straightforward enough on paper, but it ended up with me having to carry a lot of books around for the busier days, and today was one of those days. I had a problem; my saddlebags couldn't carry all the books and supplies I needed for all my classes lined up for today. If I left my Art History book and supplies in my room, I could fit the rest, but that would mean making an extra trip by the room during lunch, which cut into my eating time. 

There was no real choice, I'd have to reduce my lunch hour to switch out my books, and I might have to do that every time. That was depressing. Hopefully, the cafeteria wouldn't be too busy at lunch, and I could still get through and eat before class. There wasn't a lot that got me extremely frustrated, but the prospect of missing a meal was one of those things.

"Why in the year twenty-thirty-seven am I still having to lug tons of textbooks to class?!"

I set the Art History textbook and my notebook close by the door to grab them quickly later on and loaded up the rest. I briefly considered taking a flight down from the balcony to save some time, but the weight on my back told me that would be a terrible idea. I had already crashed twice today; I didn't need to add a third one before breakfast. Plus, if I crashed while carrying all my books, they might get scattered everywhere. 

The last thing to grab was my room key, which was on a convenient chain. I went out the door, locked up behind me, and hurried over to the elevator. Luckily, most students on this floor were inclined to fly down from their balconies rather than come this way, so there wasn't anyone waiting. 

"Hold the elevator, Marshmallow!" 

I was already on the elevator when I heard the yell and blocked it from closing with a leg. Ashley came hurrying on, and I let the doors shut. 

She lit her horn and pushed the button for the ground floor. "Thanks," she breathed, maybe slightly out of breath from her sprint for the elevator while carrying her bags. I looked at them, and they didn't seem nearly as full as mine. In fact, It didn't look like she had any textbooks at all, from what I could tell.

She looked at my bags and raised a brow. "I guess you didn't hear me telling Sunflower not to bother bringing your textbooks to the first day of class."

I gaped at her. "Why?"

She smirked. "The first day, at least on three-day-a-week classes, the professors spend the entire class going over the syllabus, introducing themselves and telling you why you should be honored to have them in particular teaching you, and there isn't any lesson. Half the time, the professors end up telling you they aren't using their textbook. There will be a lot of people trying to trade their textbooks in for cash this afternoon."

Well, at least I could get lunch if I didn't need to worry about my Art History book this afternoon. I'd have to haul all this stuff around, but that was manageable.

The elevator arrived at the ground floor, and we got off. 

As we were trotting towards the exit of the dorm building, Ashley looked over at me. "Hey, just to let you know, you don't need to worry about teaching Sunflower dreamwalking skills. She ended up having another teacher, lined-up. I asked Ghadab if he was willing to help her out, and he said he'd do it. You might be good at dreamwalking, but I'm pretty sure you can't top a Dreamwarden as a teacher."

"Isn't Ghadab kinda rough around the edges?" I asked. "It seems like if you were going to ask a Dreamwarden to help, you'd ask Arbiter, Psychic Calm, or Miss Seap- Yinyu. Sunflower might get freaked out by Ghadab or Phobia Remedy."

"Ghadab and I close friends, and he knows how to tone it down. Sunflower will be fine," Ashley explained. 

Dawn was breaking as we came outside. "If you say so. I don't know him that well, but he seemed like someone you needed a thick hide to deal with the one time I met him."

"You get used to it fast, and then he's no worse than a dirty-mouthed uncle," Ashley replied. 

I still wondered if she was my competition. Her reasons for knowing all the Dreamwardens was believable, so it could only be a coincidence that she happened to be good friends with one of the two Dreamwardens that had someone else listed ahead of me. It shouldn't matter. I only needed to be worrying about what I was doing, not who my competition was. Ashley couldn't dreamwalk anyway, which anyone expecting to be a Dreamwarden should be expected to be already doing.

We chatted about nothing in particular as we walked to the cafeteria. I learned that if the professor's name didn't say doctor next to it, they only had a master's degree, and it was insulting to address a doctor as a professor instead of a doctor. I kinda already knew then that they were very proud of that title and wanted it used, from dealing with Jess and her insistence on being introduced as a doctor. Ashley said that many professors for departments we didn't offer majors in—like the sciences, English, foreign languages, math, and all that non-art stuff, only had master's degrees. The ones in major areas almost always were taught by people with doctorates. 

I also found out Ashley was in my Art History class with me later that day. It would be nice having someone I knew in class. We could study together when we had tests coming up. History had never been my best subject, pre-magic Earth seemed so bland, but this was going to history revolving around art, so maybe it would be better than expected.

We got into the cafeteria and found there was indeed a long line. Meadow and Sunflower had beat us here and were already in line far ahead of us. I checked the time and frowned. I had a little less than forty minutes to get to class, and I had planned on arriving five minutes early. 

"I'll do you a favor, Marshmallow," Ashley said as I looked despondently at the line. "You go find us a place to sit, and I'll grab food for both of us. That way, you don't have to try balancing a tray while carrying all those books. Even if you weren't clumsy, that sounds like a recipe for an accident."

I smiled. "Thanks. Not having to worry about another spill would be great. I'll go find a table right away."

The cafeteria tables were mostly filled at the moment. I did manage to find one, though. It had pieces of eggs and breadcrumbs scattered all over the surface, along with a little spilled milk, but it was open. I took my seat and began to wait for Ashley and the others.

"This seat available?" 

I turned, and my smile grew larger as I saw Maggie standing close by. I hadn't picked her smell out through all the food and people smells around me.

"Sure thing! It's great to see you. How was yesterday?" I asked as she wiped some crumbs away before setting her backpack on the table. From the looks of her pack, I wasn't the only one who missed the notification that our books wouldn't be needed on day one.

She blew out a long breath. "Hectic. First, my dad made everything about getting checked-in harder than it needed to be. He even got into an argument with the RA. I was so embarrassed. I love him, but I was about ready to scream at him before the morning was over."

I nodded. "That sounds stressful."

"Oh, but that was only the start," Mandy continued. "My roommate decided out of the blue that she was going to drop out—just decided yesterday, the day before classes start! So she was busy moving all her stuff out all afternoon. I have barely seen the girls in the room that shares a bathroom with me; they got back to the room late yesterday and are still asleep now. I'm avoiding the RA because she is pissed at me over my dad, and trying to figure out basic things on my own with no one to help."

I reached a wing out and touched her. "That sounds like it has been rough."

A tear leaked from her eye briefly, but she wiped it away as fast as she could. "It has been, but hopefully, it is just a bumpy start for what will end up being a great time. Hey, at least I get to have a little privacy with a room to myself."

A tray with cereal, some toast, a glass of milk floated in front of me and set itself down in front of me. I glanced to my side and noticed Ashley standing there, looking cautious.

Ashley pointed a hoof off to her right. "The rest of us are over there. Meadow and Sunflower didn't want to intrude, and I don't want to either. It seems like you two are having a personal conversation, and you don't need us butting our tails in. We'll catch up with you tonight."

"I appreciate it. See ya later," I replied with a smile. Ashley nodded and walked away.

"Is that your roommate?" Maggie asked. 

I shook my head. "No, she's a bathroommate. The three of them are in the room that shares a bathroom with me. One of my roommates is a jock, and she was probably out flying before I woke-up—takes her workouts seriously, but she's also one of those ponies that HAVE to hug everyone. The other one spent the night with her husband-to-be. That one's a night pony and doesn't take many classes during the day. The ponies that share a bathroom with us are like our extended roommates."

"So you've made a bunch of friends already," Maggie replied. She sounded disappointed for some reason. It took me a second to realize why.

"Hey, I'm not going to lose touch with you just because I've made a bunch of new friends," I assured her. "How about we get together and do something this afternoon? I'm out of class at a little before three. 

She shook her head. "I have class at three. How about five? That gives me time to get my books back to my room first."

I nodded. "That works. We can meet in the social area of the dorm. Are you going to eat? It's almost time for class."

"I'll eat in a few minutes. I don't have my first class, English Lit, until just after nine. I just headed out early because I was already up," Maggie explained. 

"English Literature with Professor Higgins, right? We'll be in class together. I have my Calculus One first thing in the morning before that, though," I replied and started digging into my toast.

She gave me an odd look and looked up at something on the wall. "What time is that class?"

"Aeupht," I mumbled around my toast. 

"You might want to hurry," she said with a smirk, pointing to a clock on the wall. "It's ten till right now."

I jerked my head around to look at the wall clock so fast I nearly took a tumble but caught myself before what would be crash number three on the morning could happen. It did say ten till eight. I had planned on showing up early. By the time I was done eating and put my tray away, I might only have a minute or so to make it on time, and that was if I rushed.

Rushing was my only option. I picked up my cereal bowl with both forehooves and both wings to help steady it and lifted it to my mouth to start gulping it down.

"Woah, Becky! I know you can be a little bit of a sloppy eater, but you're going to choke yourself," Maggie said in dismay. 

I finished gulping down my cereal. I wanted to gag but sat there for a minute— one that I couldn't spare, waiting to swallow every last bit that had been waiting in my mouth. "No time! Um… can you do me a favor and put away my tray for me? I'm going to grab my remaining toast and run."

"Sure thing, just don't choke on your food!" Maggie exclaimed. "Grab your toast and go. I'll see you in a little over an hour."

"Thanks," I said, right before grabbing my toast with my mouth. I left my seat and hurried to the door, chewing my toast as I ran.