Autumn was starting to make itself known in Ponyville, many of the students preferred to stay inside. Ocellus was closing a window to help warm the room up. “Brr,” she shivered.
Yona and Silverstream walked up to her. “Changeling not like cold?” the yak asked.
“Not really. I can understand you been fine in this weather, but Silver, how do you deal with it?”
“I think it’s because I have feathers,” the hippogriff replied. She then took a sip of her drink.
“No, I mean as a seapony. I know salt water doesn’t freeze as easy as regular water but...”
“Our homes helped.”
“What friends do instead of go outside?” Yona asked.
“I heard that Headmare Starlight has been hiring new ponies. Also, I saw some students signed up for cheerleading.”
“Realy?” Ocellus asked. The hippogriff took her friends over to the sign-up sheets. “Wow. I didn’t know that Grace would be signing up for this.”
“I know. It’s so nice to know not all griffons are selfish jerks.” Silverstream took another sip but then noticed her cup was empty. She flew off and tossed her cup into a trash can.
“Doesn’t Silver feel full?” Yona asked following behind.
“I can’t help it.” They made their way to the lounge where some candy bars were sitting on a table. Silverstream helped herself and unwrapped one of them. “I mean, you saw me at the pony pal dance.” She started bar before she saw Lighthoof running up to them.
“There you are,” the mare said. “Shimmy and I are trying to show our new moves.”
“Already?” Yona asked.
“Yeah. Follow me.” The yak and hippogriff did so. In the gym Ocellus, Smolder, Shimmy Shake, Grace, Peridot, a yak, and an orange changeling.
Lighthoof, Yona, and Silverstream raced in. “There you are,” Smolder said. “Where were you?”
“Friends didn’t know practice happened now,” Yona admitted.
“Probably should’ve made that lettering a bit more clear,” Shimmy sighed.
“What do we do?” Peridot asked.
“We’ll just show you our normal performance,” Lighthoof explained. “Show them, girls.”
Yona promptly started stomping on the ground and the two mares hopped to the side. Ocellus hovered in front of them and took a deep. “Give me S, give me P, give me I, R, I, T! Spirit is inside of you and me.” Smolder flew up and started making a smokey spiral which Silverstream flew right through the center.
Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof backflipped to each side of Yona. Smolder and Silverstream landed with one of their feet on the yak’s back on the other one on each pony. Lastly, Ocellus flew backward as and Smolder and Silverstream held their claws up to be platforms for the changeling to finish off their pyramid.
“Awesome,” Peridot commented. The amazement was short-lived as Silverstream felt a cramp from her stomach. Once she reached to hold it, which caused the pyramid to collapse.
“Silver, what the heck?” Smolder asked.
“I don’t know,” the hippogriff groaned. She winced as she felt more pain from her stomach.
“Are you okay?” Ocellus asked.
“I don’t know.” The cheerleaders then noticed some rashes on the hippogriff’s talons.
“The school has a nurse now, right?” Ocellus asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think we should go to her. Now!” Ocellus helped her friend up and took her away. She would have to carry Silverstream, as after she started itching and feeling dizzy.
“What’s going on?” Grace asked.
“I wish I knew,” Smolder said.
Silverstream was lying on a bed in the hospital with Ocellus by her side. Rainbow Dash was also there, talking with Nurse Redheart. “So, what’s going on?” the hippogriff asked.
“You had an allergic reaction,” Redheart explained.
“I don’t remember sneezing.”
“It’s not that kind of allergy. Allergies like this are very serious. You’re lucky you only got a stomach ache.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’d recommend contacting her parents. They need to know about her condition.”
“But I remember eating peanuts before,” Silverstream admitted. “I’ve been fine.”
“That’s the thing. Allergies can develop throughout your life or even the other way around.” The mare got some brochures and gave them to the hippogriff. “These should help give you information about your allergy.”
“Thanks, nurse,” Dash said. The pegasus and students left the hospital and headed back. The hippogriff handed the brochures to her changeling friend.
“I don’t see what the big deal about this is,” Silverstream said.
“Silver, this looks pretty serious,” Ocellus affirmed. “It says here that if you eat peanuts you could go into anaphylaxis shock.”
“What’s that?”
“It says you could have trouble breathing or even swelling up. Plus, it’s not just, you could also have some digestive problems.”
“I just won’t eat peanuts.”
“That’s probably easier said than done,” Dash commented.
“How come.”
“You’ll see what I mean.”
After they got back to the school, Dash found a bag of chips and showed the back of it. It showed the ingredients, vegetable oil, sour cream, sugar, etc. “This doesn’t seem to have peanuts in it,” the hippogriff commented.
“Yeah, but some snack foods could. Just remember to check the back to see what’s in it.” Dash tossed the bag to Silverstream before making her way to the exit of the room. “Now, I’m going to talk to Starlight. Hopefully, we’ll get a special meal set for you.” She flew down on the hall leaving the students to themselves.
“I feel like we should get back to practice.”
“Probably,” Ocellus said.
In the gym, the junior year students were still teaching the freshmen the basics of cheerleading until Silverstream and Ocellus showed up. “Silver, your back,” Smolder said. “You feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” the hippogriff replied. “The nurse said I just had an allergic reaction to the candy bar I ate.”
“What allergic reaction?” Yona asked.
“It’s really serious,” Lighthoof answered.
“That’s what the nurse said,” Ocellus added.
“Are we still in time for practice?” Silverstream asked.
“Sorry, Silver,” Shimmy Shake sighed. “We only get to practice for half an hour. You’re free to go, girls.” The new girls left, leaving a disappointed hippogriff behind.
Yona walked over to her friend in order to help cheer her up. “Friend want to go to treehouse,” she asked.
“Sure,” the hippogriff replied, now that she had her smile back.
They made their way through the forest, the girls, as well as Sandbar and Gallus, made their way to their to Treehouse of Harmony. “So, you have what?” Gallus asked.
“Peanut allergy. It’s not so bad.”
“I’ve heard of a couple of ponies that have allergies like that,” Sandbar said.
“How serious were they?” Ocellus asked.
“Pretty serious.”
“I’ve brought a few snacks for us,” Silverstream said. Once they were in the treehouse, she emptied her bag of chips, candy, and various other snacks.
“Where did you get all these?” Smolder asked.
The hippogriff just shrugged and was about to eat one of her snacks, when Ocellus swiped it away from her. “Hey!”
“Silver, this is really bad for your health,” the changeling stated. She checked over the ingredients as her annoyed friend checked the ingredients.
“You know, since we’re here,” Sandbar said, “I brought a few board games.” He placed down two boxes, one titled ”Top Secret,” the other was named, ”Master of Monsters.”
“Yona never heard of Monster Master,” Yona said.
“Oh, it’s a card game.” He opened the box up and started sorting out the cards. “In most games about dungeons, like Ogres and Oubliettes. In this game, you control the dungeon. You lure adventurers into your dungeons...”
“This already making me uncomfortable,” Ocellus shivered.
“It’s just a game. I double-checked. I’ll explain how you play.” As the colt continued to sort and explain, Ocellus and Silverstream kept checking the ingredients on the snacks.
The hippogriff gasped as she found one her favorite candies, Cocoa Cakes. Without thinking, she unwrapped it however the changeling swiped it away. “Silver, did you even read the back?”
“No. It’s one of my favorites,” Silverstream admitted. “I haven’t tasted peanuts in it.”
“Just because you can’t make out the taste, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” The changeling checked the ingredients and sighed. “Yep, says it right here. It has peanuts.”
“What!? But it’s one of my favorites.”
“I know it is, but the nurse said you can’t have any peanuts. You could go in anaphylaxis shock.”
“I know, you told me.”
“Maybe you should take another look at the brochure.”
“I left it at school. Can’t we just play Sandbar’s game?”
“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out what card does what,” Gallus spoke. The friends each got some cards and started playing. They ate the snacks Silverstream brought, yet the ones the hippogriff could have were just limited to potato chips.
The next day at breakfast, Silverstream lined up to get her food. “Good news kid,” the new lunch mare said, “You’re getting a special meal.”
“Oh, really?” the hippogriff asked. Her excitement was promptly smashed when she saw she only got some toast, OJ, and some pancakes.
“Yeah, nothing really fancy.” The hippogriff sadly took her tray and walked towards her friends. “Hold it. Your table’s over there.” She looked to where the lunch mare was pointing.
“I can’t even sit with my friends?”
“Headmare’s orders. Better safe than sorry.” Silverstream just sighed. She slowly walked over to the special table and was surprised to see a familiar pony there.
“Lighthoof?”
“Morning Silver,” the earth pony replied.
“Why are you eating at this table?”
“Like you, I also have allergies. Except I’m allergic to eggs.”
“Eggs? That’s gotta be worse than peanuts.”
“I know. Eggs are in almost everything.”
“How long have you had this allergy?”
“About a year. It’s still really annoying, but after you do a bit of research you’ll get used to it. And the less others will worry about you.”
“You mean my friends?”
“A little more than that.” Silver didn’t understand and just decided to have her breakfast.
Since it was the weekend, classes weren’t in session. The students were free to do whatever they wanted. While walking past the principal’s office, she heard a familiar voice to her. “Is there anything else I should know about this?” asked a male’s voice.
“I’m sure I can get you a book about allergies,” Starlight replied.
Out of curiosity, Silverstream poked her head into the room. “Dad?” she questioned.
Skybeak turned around to his daughter. “Silver, how are you feeling?” he asked.
“Just... Fine. What are you doing here?”
“One of your professors came to Hippogriffia to tell me about your condition. She said that it was faster than a letter. I then thought it would be nice to check on you until we understand your problem.”
“Really? Where are you going to stay?”
“Your principal allowed me to stay in the castle for a while.”
“I mean, I think we could handle this,” Starlight said. “Then again, you are her father.”
“What about mom and Terramar?”
“They were a little worried when they heard about your allergy. I told them what I was doing.”
“Silver?” Lighthoof called. “Are you coming?”
“Just a sec,” the hippogriff replied. “I’ve gotta go.”
“No, I get it,” Skybeak responded. He let his daughter fly off to catch up with her friends.
“What was that about?” Lighthoof asked.
“My dad’s checking how he can help with my allergy,” Silverstream groaned.
“Oh, yeah, my parents did that too. Let’s go to the library.”
“I thought we were going to Sugarcube Corner.”
“We are. I just need to find something really quick.” They headed to the library and checked out a couple of books. Once that was done, the mare and hippogriff raced towards the bakery.
At Sugarcube Corner, the other cheerleaders were having snacks while trying to figure out their new pyramid. “Maybe if we have Yona at one end and have Dotta at the other,” Ocellus pondered.
“We’re here,” Silverstream announced.
“Oh, good,” Grace sighed.
“We just had to get something from the library,” Lighthoff explained. She placed down a book that had ”All About Allergies.”
“Oh, I was looking for one of those,” Ocellus said.
“Yeah, I thought I’d lend Silver a hoof with her allergy. Let’s see, D, H, L, here we are, P. Peanuts.” As the mare and changeling looked at the book, Silverstream tried to join in the cheerleaders’ conversation.
“Any idea for the new pyramid?” the hippogriff asked.
“I thought we could get my sister to help,” Peridot said. “She’s pretty smart.”
“Good to know.” She looked to the newcomers. “I haven’t caught your names.”
“Yak named Dotta,” the yak announced.
“And... You?”
“Tarsi,” the orange changeling replied.
“What that?” Dotta asked.
“I think it’s... Part of a foot,” Smolder said. “Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s gotta be better than an abdomen,” Peridot said.
“True.”
“You know, since we’re here, I’m going to get an order set,” Silverstream said. She flew over to the counter to place an order for her and her friends.
“Hey, remember my special order,” Lighthoof cried.
“Special order?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Mrs. Cake said. “Eggless pastries. A bit of challenge, but we’ve done it before. We’ll have those cheesecake cupcakes ready in a minute.” The baker pony walked away and the hippogriff went back to the table.
“Cheesecake cupcakes?” Silverstream asked.
“Yeah, they’re pretty good,” Lighthoof replied. “I think it’ll be smart to get you an EpiPen.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s something that helps when you're having a reaction to peanuts.”
“This book is really helpful,” Ocellus commented.
After a few minutes, the girls had a good snack while planning how to do their new pyramid. “Okay, now we need to work on the cheer,” Shimmy Shake told.
“Do we do the same one or do we different ones?” Peridot questioned.
“We come up with different ones depending on the event,” Smolder explained. “How about we get some real food?”
“Sure,” Yona agreed. “Cupcakes only fill yak so much.”
“The Café Hay isn’t far from here,” Shimmy said. “I’ll show you the way.” After a bit of walking, they got to the cafe and ordered their meals. Once they started eating, Silverstream wasn’t even thinking about if her meal had peanuts are not. She just ate her sandwich while having her salad.
“How much hippogriff eat?” Dotta whispered to Yona. She just simply shrugged in response.
“I could really go for some sushi right now,” Silverstream said.
“Oh, wow, you have that too?” Tarsi asked. The hippogriff nodded as she poured some salad dressing on her salad. Once she took a bite of her salad, something didn’t feel right. She started itching at her claw which now had a rash on it.
“Girls.” She showed the rash to her friends as she started wheezing.
“Oh, boy,” Ocellus cried.
“Hang on, Silver,” Smolder said. The dragoness grabbed onto her friend and flew her towards the hospital as fast as she could.
“I think we should get her dad too,” Lighthoof suggested.
Later, Silverstream was starting to feel better as the doctor walked in. “I don’t know what happened,” the hippogriff sighed. “I didn’t have any peanuts.”
“Is there anything you ate that you didn’t check?” Doctor Horse asked.
“Wait a minute. What did you put on your salad?” Smolder asked.
“Only salad dressing,” Silver replied.
“Hmm. It’s likely that dressing had peanut oil. I should also let you know that...”
“Excuse me,” asked a voice. The doctor opened the door to find Sky Beak outside. He walked in and stepped next to his daughter. “Hi, sweetie. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Silverstream replied.
“Yeah, they drained the peanuts out of her,” Smolder said.
“I knew I should’ve gone with you,” Sky Beak groaned. “I’m not leaving you until we have this under control.”
“Okay,” Silver sighed. “Doc, what were you saying?”
“I was saying,” Doctor Horse continued, “That some restaurant also use peanut oil to cook their food.”
They were in the hospital forever, which is what it felt like for Silverstream. When they did leave, she flew off as fast as she could, but her father managed to stay by her side. “I think we should limit where you eat from now on.”
“Seriously?”
“She was just fine until she put the dressing on,” Smolder stated.
“I know, but...”
“Dad, please,” the hippogriff groaned.
“I’m just making sure you’re alright.” Silverstream didn’t say anything else, she just flew towards the school with her father and friend following behind.
Once there, she found Ocellus and Lighthoof, who were relieved to see their friend was okay. However, the girl with a peanut allergy didn’t say anything and just walked inside. She walked into the lounge and flopped onto the couch. Gallus was sitting the chair beside the couch, reading a comic given to him by Sandbar. He looked at his upset friend.
“What happened?” the griffon asked.
“Another allergic reaction,” Silverstream groaned.
“Oh. Well, you’re still okay. Right?”
“Yeah, but I hate this. I can’t eat the food I want because it might have peanuts. I already miss the taste of Cocoa Cakes.”
“Ah, man, that stinks. I know how it feels. The only good pastries that I could get were made from Gilda.”
“But you’re here now. I’m going to be stuck with this allergy for my entire life.” She faceplanted into the couch’s pillow to give a muffled groan.
Gallus stepped over to her. “Listen, I can help you if you want.”
“We’ve already gotten most of the food I can’t eat taken away and Ocellus and Lighthoof have been researching allergies. Plus, my dad is staying here and just worrying about me constantly.”
“This isn’t the worst thing that’s happened to you.” Just saying that made Silverstream shiver. “Right, forget I said that. Look, you know we don’t want something bad to happen to you.”
“I know that. I’m just upset at the limited things I can eat.”
“Do you want some alone time?”
“Yeah.” The griffon picked up his comic book and flew down the hall. He tried to think of something to help cheer his friend up. When Gallus passed Pinkie Pie’s classroom. He peeked inside to see some stoves and cookbooks set up. Out of curiosity, the griffon looked through one of the books.
He checks some recipes to pastries to Silverstream had admitted she like. He saw a load of them until he saw Cocoa Cakes. Gallus could see the recipe had peanuts in it, but then he saw something. It was an alternate recipe that didn’t seem to use peanuts.
“What griffon doing?” Yona asked, startling Gallus a bit. He gave a glare at the yak. “Sorry.” Yona walked over to the griffon, who showed her the peanut-free recipe.
“Silver’s bummed about her food limitation, but I found some of these snacks can be made without peanuts. Like these mini-cakes.”
“Cocoa Cakes.”
“Whatever. I think we can make these to help cheer her up.”
“Where friends get ingredients?”
“We could ask Professor Pie.” The two left the classroom to see if they could find their professor.
Sandbar walked around until he saw Smolder searching around her room. “What are you looking for?” the colt asked.
“The doctor said to take a look at the brochures that the nurse gave Silver,” the dragoness replied. “I don’t think she’s even read them.”
“I can help. What do they look like?”
“They were colored a blueish green. I think there was also a peanut with a line over it.”
“You mean something like this?” Sandbar showed some brochures that his friend just described.
“Good. Now we just need to find Silver.”
“I saw her sulking in the lounge.” The two walked off to find their friend, who was still lying on the couch. “Silver, you feeling better?”
“Not really,” the hippogriff replied quietly.
“Maybe these will help.” Sandbar handed her the brochures.
“I’m not in the mood for reading.”
“The hospital gave you these,” Smolder stated. “They’ll help you learn more.”
“I just want a moment to calm down.”
“Okay, fine. If you want to keep sulking and just forget about your problem, go ahead. Just remember, low hanging fruit from the tree.” She left the brochures in front of the hippogriff and walked off.
Sandbar was a little bit curious and decided to take a look at one of the brochures. “Wow, I thought it was more common than that,” he said.
“Huh?” Silverstream asked.
“Apparently only one in fifty ponies have peanut allergies.” He then showed it to his friend.
“Huh. Aw, man, it says I might also be allergic to treenuts.”
“At least it’s one more food you don’t have to find the hard way.” They both shard a chuckle as they kept reading.
The mess hall was filled when dinnertime came. Silverstream had gotten her tray of peanut-free food. She about to walk over to the special table when she noticed that Ocellus and Smolder were also sitting there. “You guys don’t have allergies,” the hippogriff said.
“We don’t,” Ocellus agreed.
“They said you had to eat at this table,” Smolder said. “They didn’t say anything about us.”
“And we made sure that we don’t have any food that’ll cause allergies to you are any of the other students.”
“I’m here,” Sandbar announced bringing a tray of stew towards them.
“You too?” Smolder asked.
“Yeah. I’m getting used the stew. This smells good.”
“Maybe she can cook something good,” Smolder said under her breath. She got a glare from Ocellus, making her regret what she said.
“By the way, has any creature seen Gallus or Yona?”
“Friends here,” Yona announced. She and the griffon walked up to their friends. The students noticed that their friends were a little messy.
“What did you do?” Ocellus asked.
“Griffon and yak been baking.”
“Specifically these,” Gallus added. He showed a plate of homemade Cocoa Cakes.
Silverstream’s eyes lit up with joy. “No way!” she gasped.
“Professor Pinkie helped us make these. We thought they would help cheer you up.” Gallus placed the plate in front of his friend before he and Yona went to get their dinner. The hippogriff’s mouth was watering at the sight of the pastries.
“Silverstream?” called a voice. She groaned again as her father walked in. “There you are,” he said.
“Yeah, I was wondering where you went,” Smolder admitted.
“Well, you remember what the doctor said on our second visit?”
“I honestly got bored,” Silverstream admitted.
“Okay. He said that you should have something called an EpiPen.”
“Oh, I think that Lighthoof said something about that.”
“It took longer than I thought, but here you go.” He handed his daughter a light blue EpiPen.
“Wow, thanks, dad.”
“Just looking out for you.” He then walked off as Gallus and Yona returned, along with Lighthoof.
“Wow, nice Epipen,” Lighthoof complimented. “It matches your mane.”
“It does.” The hippogriff looked at her new EpiPen and then at her tail. “I think I’m starting to get used to this.”
“Even with those cakes?”
“Cake no need eggs,” Yona informed.
“Yeah, we were surprised by that,” Gallus admitted. “But it probably safe for you to eat.”
“I’m good, thanks,” Lighthoof replied. She just started eating her stew as did the rest of the students. Silverstream, on the other hand, helped herself to the homemade Cocoa Cakes. It didn’t taste as good as the real ones, but they were a good substitute. Even though it would be hard, this allergy wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s just something she would have to get used to.