After breakfast, the young six met in Ocellus's dorm, where Silverstream was pacing and panting. "Okay, let's try and keep calm," Ocellus suggested.
"How?" Silverstream asked. "I'm being possessed by the Storm King and I lose control when I... I fall..." The hippogriff started spacing out with Gallus quickly smacking her across the face. "OW! Thanks, Gallus."
"No problem," Gallus replied.
"How are we suppose to fix this?" Smolder questioned.
"Friends get book back," Yona suggested.
"You're not wrong Yona," Ocellus agreed, "But we can't go to Canterlot and back without anyone noticing us gone."
"Couldn't you just take our place?" Sandbar suggested.
"Only if one of you can fly to Canterlot and back in less than an hour." There wasn't an answer to this. "I think our only option is to wait until after school so we can head to Canterlot, get the book, and hopefully find something to help us."
"You will have ways to help keep me awake, will you?" Silverstream asked nervously.
"Don't worry, Silver," Sandbar said. "We're going to get you through this." The hippogriff hugged the earth pony before they heard the bell ring.
Applejack's class was planting harvesting. There were many different plants, but the one that Ocellus had was nearly ready to produce... Whatever it grew. Ocellus couldn't find any books about plants before they got a new shipment, so she was still unsure what to do with it.
"What changeling do with plant?" Yona asked.
"I don't know," Ocellus replied. "Maybe I could give whatever it produces to the market. Or I could make it into something to eat."
"I think that my tree is coming along great," Sandbar said as he watered it. "Guys, what about you?"
"I think my strawberries are going to be great," Silverstream cheered. She picked one off the plant, but it wasn't quite ripe yet. The hippogriff spat it out and quickly felt anger building up. Silverstream looked over to the other students, whose plants were doing much better than hers. "Stupid ponies."
"What was that sugar cube?" Applejack asked.
"Nothing." She gave an 'innocent' smile as the professor went to help other students. Silverstream landed next to Gallus and sighed. "I can't do this."
"Yes, you can," Gallus said. "You've got us." The griffon placed his wing around his friend to help cheer her up. Silverstream smiled as she hugged Gallus, but the griffon felt the grip of the hippogriff's claws were a bit tight. "Silver, could you take it easy?"
She let her friend go as they heard Ocellus gasp. "What is it?"
"My plant's growing something," the changeling cheered.
Applejack walked over to her students to see what she grew. "Well, I'll be," she said. "Looks like you've got you some coffee beans. I'm sure those will make good coffee."
After class, the young six walked down the hall. "What is coffee?" Yona asked.
"It's something that helps ponies and other creatures wake up," Sandbar said.
Ocellus gasped. "So, we can use my beans to match coffee and keep Silver up," she said.
"What about your project?" Silverstream questioned.
"It's okay, I can always grow another plant. Besides, I think you need it more than I do."
"But it's going to take forever to have those beans to grow," Gallus said.
"I could use some magic."
"That's cheating," Sandbar said.
"Our friend is possessed," Smolder said. "I'm pretty sure we have the right to do this." Smolder could feel some scratching her tail. She looked and saw Silverstream was doing it. "Silver, stop that."
"Stop what?" Silverstream asked before she saw she was scratch her friend's tail. And not a scratch like there was a bug bite, she was trying to actually hurt her friend. Luckily, dragons like Smolder were built tough. "Oh, my gosh, I didn't notice."
"How could you not?"
"I was j-j-just tired from last night and I think I just passed out, so the Storm King must've taken control again."
"That why feather's white?" Yona questioned. Silverstream looked down to see the feathers around her claws were turning a dark blue-gray. She started to breathe heavily and was about to scream just before Gallus covered her mouth.
"Silver, don't panic," Sandbar said.
"Yona think we should tell headpony," Yona stated.
"No!" Silverstream cried nearly attracting other students' attention.
"Do you just not have an inside voice?" Gallus asked.
"Look, I've already tried hurting Smolder, I don't want to hurt anyone else."
"Silver, we're going to help in any way we can," Ocellus said. "Let's just get our next class over with so I can make you that coffee." Silverstream followed her friends to Rarity's class.
At lunch, Silverstream looked a little bit more awake after she ate. Gallus and Smolder were making plans in case their friend lost control again. While Yona, Sandbar, and Ocellus just sat and talked. The hippogriff stirred her soup around until she saw icy blue eyes in it. She looked up to the ceiling to find nothing was there.
"So, you're sure you can make your beans grow faster?" Sandbar asked Ocellus.
"Changeling magic is a bit different from unicorn magic," Ocellus said. "Silver, do you want to coffee later today or tonight?" The hippogriff wasn't listening as she was looking around for... Something. "Silver?"
Her attention was now grabbed. "Sorry," Silverstream said, "I thought I saw something. What are you talking about?"
"When do you want the coffee?"
"Tonight. I don't want to fall asleep tonight."
"Got it."
"That's why we're here," Gallus said. "Smolder and I've got your back."
"But she can't stay awake forever," Ocellus said. "She'll fall asleep soon. Look at her." The bags under Silverstream's eye were hard to miss, not to mention her yawning.
"Hey, wake up," Smolder cried slapping her friend across the face to keep her conscious.
"Thanks, Smolder," Silverstream said. The bell rang and they headed off to their next class. The hippogriff sudden felt a pain in her gut. She probably just ate something bad, which was just great. She already had enough to worry about.
"Alright, every creature," Fluttershy said. "We'll be learning about pony biology. Now, let's say we have two parents. A red pegasus with a black mane, and a yellow unicorn with a white mane. What would their child look like?"
"Orange and gray-maned alicorn?" Yona asked.
"Not really." Fluttershy showed her class a chart with a big S, C, and M on top, and a small S, C, and M to the left.
"But wait," Silverstream said, "My dad's feathers are blue and my mom's are yellow. Why are mine pink?"
"I'll get to that." Fluttershy explained to her class how genetics worked, Yona felt someone smack her in the back of her head. The yak looked to see who hit her, but the stallion behind her looked half asleep, and Silverstream was wide awake. Yona just turned back to her professor as she got smacked again.
"Who hit Yona?" she asked now annoyed grab the professor's attention. Yona spoke up. "Some creature hit Yona's head."
"Who did it?" Fluttershy flew up to get a better look at her class. No one said anything. "I don't know who did it, but when I do, you'll be staying after class."
"I thought I saw a bug," Smolder spoke up. "It got away."
"Alright." Fluttershy was a little confused, she didn't have any other leads, so she just went back to class.
Silverstream's friends looked at her. "What?" the hippogriff whispered.
"Friend hit Yona?" Yona whispered.
"But I'm awake. The Storm King can't control me if I'm not asleep."
"Maybe that's the reason your feathers are turning gray," Sandbar suggested in a whisper. "Why else would that be happening."
"I thought it was stress," Silverstream replied.
"And your claws turning black?" Smolder asked.
Silverstream gave her claws another look. "Okay, maybe Sandbar's theory holds some weight."
"So, he can control her body even when she's awake?" Gallus questioned.
"Please tell me we're wrong."
"We don't know," Ocellus said as she tried to pay attention to their professor. "Just be quiet and focus on class." The changeling managed to take a few notes as her friends listened to Fluttershy, but Silverstream just looked at her claws and her feathers that had turned gray. It wasn't spreading, which she was glad for, but she could feel her blood run cold.
Classes were soon over and Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus were flying around the track to see who was the fastest. Silverstream sat on the sidelines as nervous as she could be as Sandbar and Yona sat next to her.
"Aren't you going to race?" Sandbar asked.
"I don't think I should be trusted until this is over," Silverstream sighed.
"Hey, it's not you that's the problem. You're being brave about this."
"I'm really in a complete panic."
"It doesn't look like it. You look more like you dropped your ice cream." The hippogriff replied with a sigh as the earth pony placed his hoof on her shoulder.
"Can't friends tell headmare?" Yona questioned.
"No!" Silverstream yelled. "I don't want any other creature to get in danger."
"How about we head to the pond for a swim?" Sandbar suggested. "You like that."
"Yona stay here," Yona said. "Not like water."
Silverstream smiled. "Thanks, Sandy." The two walked away to the pond with the hippogriff started getting excited.
"I've kinda been wondering what the other would look like if they had your pearl piece. I mean, we'd become seaponies, but what about Yona, or Gallus."
"I think Smolder would become some sort of fish." When they got to the pond, Silverstream activated her pearl piece turning her and her friend into seaponies.
"Whoa. This feels... Kind of weird. It's like my legs are smushed together."
"That's kind of what your tail is like." The two swam down into the pool. Sandbar was amazed at the animals swimming around.
"Wow. If this is what the pond is like, I can't imagine what Seaquestria is like." A couple of fish swam around the new seapony. He decided to fallow them until they came across some rocks. "How did these get here?" The fish didn't seem happy with the boulders either, but both they and Sandbar were taken by surprise when Silverstream rammed into him.
"Oh, my gosh," Silverstream cried. She couldn't say anything else as she rammed into her friend again. "I'm not doing this on purpose." She was losing control of her tail and forelegs, which were both white as the snow.
"Silver..." Sandbar groaned as he got rammed multiple times. "You can't..." He couldn't finish as got bruised more and more. He felt woozy as he slowly sank to the floor. Just as his friend swam towards him at top speed, Sandbar moved out of the way as Silverstream smashed into one of the boulders, knocking her out.
She and Sandbar turned back into a hippogriff and earth pony respectively. Since he could no longer breathe underwater, Sandbar grabbed his friend and swam back to the surface. Once there, he gasped for air, swam back to land, and ran back to the school with Silverstream on his back. All while blue-gray feathers slowly crawling up the hippogriff's legs.
"So, you're really giving up your project?" Smolder asked Ocellus at the school.
"It's upsetting," the changeling sighed. "But it's for a good cause."
"Guys!" Sandbar shouted running up to them. "Silver's out cold. I can't wake her up." He placed their friend on the ground as they tried to wake her. They tried shouting, shaking and even smacking, this was mostly from Smolder. "Silver, you need to wake up or..." The earth pony couldn't finish as the hippogriff gripped her claw around his neck. She flew a few feet into the air as Sandbar struggled to breathe.
"You don't get in my way," Silverstream ordered with a growl in her voice. Her eyes were icy blue with a glow to them as Yona got a running start at them.
"Yona don't want to do it," the yak said, "But Yona smash!" She rammed into her friend, making her release the suffocating pony as they all dropped to the ground.
Silverstream rubbed her eyes as she regained control. She looked to her friends, who were looking a bit afraid. "What happened?" she asked, "Weren't Sandbar and I at the pond?" She then saw the pony breathing heavily while also stepping back. "It happened again, didn't it?"
"Unforinettly," Ocellus sighed. They all noticed that Silverstream's fore and back legs were completely gray. "If it makes you feel better, I've got my coffee beans ready."
The hippogriff got close to her friend and grabbed her arms. "Please get it ready."
"I will. Just, don't come near me." Silverstream got upset at this. "Silver, I didn't mean it like that."
"Sandy, I..."
"Didn't mean to do it," Sandbar said finishing his friend's sentence. "Where's Gallus?"
"He's on his way to Canterlot," Smolder explained. "Meanwhile, I'm not letting you out of my sight this time."
That night, Silverstream flew back into her dorm with her friends following her behind. "I can't go to sleep," the hippogriff said.
"You don't have to," Ocellus said. "I've managed to make this." She held out a cup of liquid that Silverstream took. "I found out how to make coffee. It might not be the best, but it should work."
Just then, Gallus slowly walked into the room, panting. "You have... No idea... What I had to do... To get this," he wheezed as he showed his friends the deep orange book. "Please tell me... This is it."
"That's the one," Silverstream confirmed.
"Let's get you some water," Sandbar said walking out of the room with Gallus after the griffon gave the book to Ocellus.
"It's getting late," Ocellus sighed. "I'll have to look at this in the morning. You think we should keep watch on Silver?"
"No, I've got coffee," Silverstream stated. "I think I'll be fine." Smolder was a little suspicious but she and her friends left the hippogriff alone. "I hope I'll be fine."
"No, you won't."
"Who said that?" She went to drink her coffee but her arm wasn't moving. In fact, it tossed the cup across the room, making the liquid inside spill all over the floor. "No, I need that."
"And I need you."
"Show yourself." Silverstream only got stomach pain, much worse than before. "Guys, something's..." She couldn't finish her sentence as her claw grabbed her beak, preventing her from talking.
"It's cute on how much you try." The hippogriff used her pearl to turn herself into a seapony so her claws were now fins. This ended up backfiring as her white limbs started dragging her towards the door.
"Gallus. Sandy. Girls!"
"Shut it!" Silver's foreleg smacked her head into the floor which was as bad as her stomach pain. She suddenly turned back into a hippogriff. One claw held her beak shut as her other one threw her pearl piece onto her bed. "You don't disobey your king.
Smolder was pacing in Ocellus's dorm. "We need to keep an eye on her," the dragon stated.
"We should take back up measures," Ocellus said placing the book beside her bed. "We'll have to sleep in shifts..." There were some thumping and banging coming from their friend's dorm. They went to check to see Silverstream was gone and her window wide open.
They, as well as Gallus, Sandbar, and Yona ran out of the school to go find their friend. "I told you."
"Not now, Smolder. We'll need to split up."
"But if Silver's possessed by the storm king how are we suppose to know where she is?" Sandbar asked.
"We'll just fly and you and Yona search on the ground."
"Hold it," Yona cried as she and the group stopped. She pointed towards Sweet Apple Acers, where the barn was ablaze.
"Why is Sweet Apple Acres on fire?!" Ocellus questioned.
"I think the bigger question is if Professor Applejack and her family are out," Gallus said.
"Let's check," Smolder said. They picked up Sandbar and Yona and flew into the burning barn. Smolder flew inside, though she had to push past multiple beams that were broken from the flames. She came across the orange farm pony trying to buck down the doors as she coughed.
"Smolder?" AJ coughed. "What are you..." The smoke was too thick for her to speak.
"We're getting you out of here."
"Wait. We?"
Ocellus, who was transformed into a dragon to help her with the fire, ran up to the farm pony. "The others are getting water," the changeling dragon said. She took her professor out of the farm as Smolder smashed down the door to help rescue Big Mac, who helped her get Applebloom, Winona, and Granny Smith.
"Are you okay?" Sandbar asked.
"We're fine," Applebloom coughed while cringing as she stepped on her hoof. "I think my hoof's broken."
"That's just perfect," Applejack groaned. "We need to get the animals out."
"We're on it," Smolder said. "Come on, Ocellus." The two dragons flew in to rescue the animals."
"Stop that flame," Granny Smith ordered.
"How?" Gallus asked.
"There's a sprinkler system for the other products," Applejack stated.
Smolder grabbed some buckets. Big Mac unhooked the main pipe so they could fill up the buckets. Yona, Gallus, and Sandbar took the buckets and splashed the blaze as Smolder and Ocellus got the last of farm animal out of the barn. Miraculously, the animals were only a little burnt, which Yona helped with by (accidentally) splashing water on them. With everyone out, Smolder and Ocellus, who turned into a bugbear for the extra arms, they helped their friends fight the fire.
This kept on fighting until Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight showed up with some storm clouds to make some rain. "AJ," Fluttershy said landing next to her friend, "How did this happen?"
"I wish I knew," Applejack sighed. "I'm glad everypony's out."
Twilight and Rainbow Dash put out the fire, which left the barn in ruin. They landed as the alicorn saw her students catching their breath. "What are they doing here?" she asked.
"Hippogriff left school," Yona stated. "Friends look her."
"Why would she leave school?" Dash asked.
"Mmmaybe she's sleepwalking," Sandbar said. "We've gotta go." The five creature ran off before anything else could be said.
"That had to be Silverstream," Smolder said.
"I didn't know she was that fast," Ocellus said. "She could be anywhere."
"The longer she stays asleep, the more the Storm King takes over," Gallus said.
"Why king burn down barn?" Yona questioned.
"Maybe it was the coffee idea," Ocellus said. "Professor Applejack said that she got the crops from her farm. He must've been trying to get rid of any other crops that could keep Silver awake."
"Where can she be?" Smolder questioned.
"Closer than you think," said a familiar voice making the students stop in their tracks.
"Silverstream?" Sandbar questioned.
"Hey, king," Gallus called. "If you have the guts to burn a farm down, why can't you go up against some teens?" The griffon got his answered as his friend came out of hiding and smashed him to the ground.
"Don't you insult me," Silverstream ordered with her eye glowing blue again.
"Gallus! Silver!" These were both words cried out from the other for. They were about attack but the possessed hippogriff had other ideas.
"Go ahead," she said. "Beat up your friend. Bite her, smash her, burn her. It'll work either way for me." The four stood back as they didn't know what to do. Silverstream headbutted Gallus and then smashed him against the wall.
"Silver, we know you're still in there," Sandbar said. "Gallus is your friend, so are we. You have to fight him."
The hippogriff just growled as one of her eyes turned back to violet. She let go of a beaten up griffon and held her head as she screamed in agony. Her wings made her give flight just before her claws grabbed them, grounding her as one then grabbed her neck, making her choke.
The dragon and yak looked at each other before racing towards their friend. "Silver, if you're still in there, we're sorry," Smolder said. She and Yona smashed the hippogriff to the ground.
After she landed on the ground, Silverstream slowly stood up with her eyes back to normal. Her torso was partly gray, and her tail had turned partly white. Her wings and everything from her neck and up was normal. She looked towards Gallus, who Sandbar was helping up, then to the girls who walked closer to her.
"Stay away," Silverstream cried as she stepped back. "He's getting too strong."
"No, we can stop him," Ocellus said. "We're going to stay up all night to make sure you stay as you."
"Let's get back to the school," Gallus said. "Ponies have probably heard us." The six took off with Silverstream flying in the middle so her friends could keep her under control. The hippogriff felt pain again as words were repeated through her head.
"You can't get rid of me. You're mine."