The Sunshine Chronicles

by TwilightUCrazy

A Stupid, No-good, Dumb, Cruddy, Awful Morning...

Rainbow awoke in a foul mood. The first stirrings of consciousness, and already she knew she was going to have a rundown, drag-out brawl with the day -- it happened most Mondays. To her, Celestia could have saved everypony a lot of grief and just left the sun-forsaken day off the calendar in the first place. Nopony, she was convinced, liked Mondays, except for the crazy ones out there.

Rolling over onto her side, the pegasus escaped from beneath her hot, morning breath-stanked pillow and was blinded by an eye-searing burst of mid-morning light. It may as well have been noon as far as she was concerned. She let out a startled yelp and quickly covered her eyes with her hooves again. The drapes were open, and no smell of breakfast saturated the house's air like on a typical Apple morning.

"Oww... my awesome eyes..." she groaned painfully. She felt to her left with her hoof.

No Applejack.

"Sure... didn't know what I was expecting..." she mumbled to herself.

Rolling onto her stomach, Rainbow peeked through her eyelashes at the bedside clock.

9:21.

"Aw, crabapples... I'm LATE!" she snarled.

Where had the alarm gone? Where had been her wake-up kiss from Applejack? Where was the cover-pulling that would spill her out on the floor?

Struggling to free herself from the sheets and still with a dazzling number of spots in her vision, Rainbow stumbled hastily out into the hallway, dragging half the bedclothes with her around her fetlocks. Despite bucking and kicking, she was only freed when the blanket got snagged on a nail sticking out of the floorboard.

Forward Rainbow tripped and tumbled down the stairs, squeaking painfully over each step and with every bounce. She landed with the wind knocked out of her, and her impact caused one of the fire pokers to shake loose of its holster by the hearth.

The iron instrument landed heavily against the top of her skull with a loud CLANG.

Rainbow sat up sharply, grasping her head. "OWWWWIIIIIIIIEEEEE--" She froze. "I mean... that almost hurt..."

The pegasus rubbed her throbbing head and looked at the empty dining table, clean of dishes, vittles and utensils alike. Granny Smith peered in out of the kitchen with curious eyes, and chuckled dryly as she observed her daughter-in-law fumbling to put the poker back into place.

"Sorry, sugarcube, but yer too late. Breakfast ended over an hour ago. What's left over is all cold 'n soggy now," Granny said, ducking back into the kitchen.

"WHAT?!" Rainbow squeaked.

She started after the elder pony, but was held back at the landing. She blinked down at her left hind leg and saw the bedsheets still stubbornly clinging to her, the other end wrapped around the bannister post. With a frustrated growl and a sharp buck, Rainbow at last kicked herself free and darted into the kitchen, where her mother-in-law was just finishing the dishes.

"Why didn't anypony wake me up?!" she squeaked with a pout.

Granny smiled at the pegasus. "Well, Applebloom was gonna 'fore she headed off to school, but Applejack said ya were tired somethin' fierce last night..." the elderly earth pony explained. "Said we should let ya sleep in."

The sting Rainbow felt in her throat was a familiar one. Her ears folded at her recollection of the night before as the memories of the previous evening came back into focus. Or... at least her relative definition of the term. Something about AJ's parents or being her parents...

She'd been groggy at the time.

"Kinda strange, that," Granny continued, drying a dish. "She's normally draggin' ya outta bed whether ya wanna or not... or at least gives Applebloom the go-ahead to do it." The Apple matriarch shrugged. "Big Mac said ya've been workin' awful hard at the table this mornin'. Guess Applejack figured ya could really use the rest."

All of a sudden, the events of the previous evening rushed back in like an arrow to the gut.

"Oh." Rainbow fidgeted, her face becoming heated. "Umm... wh-where is AJ now?" she asked softly.

Granny pondered a moment, pausing in her dish-washing.

"Well, if I reckon back, I think she said somethin' about headin' into town for a few hours. Had some things to take care of." The elder pony shrugged. "Didn't say what it was, though. Figure she probably went shoppin' or to see one of 'er other friends."

The elder Apple paused.

"But if that was the case, I always figured she'd take ya along fer that..."

"Oh..." The pegasus's ears wilted and she looked towards the door. "Th-Thanks..."

Granny Smith set the sink to drain and turned to the pegasus. There was a wisdom that hung over her... experience that was almost tangible.

"Did somethin' happen last night?" the elder pony asked. "Applejack didn't seem herself at breakfast. Awful quiet all mornin'..."

Granny looked at her inquisitively.

Rainbow sighed and trudged defeatedly towards the front door. "I have a feeling it was my fault..."

Comments

[MarvelandPonder]

Dash, you got some 'splaining to do.

This story is always such an entertaining read! Your style flows very well, and I look forward to every update! Keep up the awesome, TwilgithUCrazy!

[Lord Dragon]

Meep.

5493309 I agree.

[NobleValor]

Well, here's where things get real for a while.

[SHL]

Uuuuuuups, this is going to be difficult...

Dash needs a really good apology.

[TwilightUCrazy]

5509413

I... I'm sorry.

[kiersten12]

I love it as always good job

[Electronic Flair]

Dayummit, Dash.. you made the pregnant one feel sad.. I will kill your soul for making best pony unhappy..