Something so small

	“HEEECHHOoooo!” Twilight sneezed. “Heh.. Hehhuhh… HerrrREEEESSHHOooooo!”

	She raised a hoof to her nose and rubbed vigorously. It didn’t help much. The dust from the books she was studying was setting her allergies off badly.

	When a pony became as good at magic as Twilight, they didn’t screw up very often. But when they did, the effect of the mistake could be devastating. Twilight hadn’t had allergies before, to anything, until 10:38 this morning, when she had tested out a new potion she concocted. The potion was supposed to make food taste better, and sure enough, the daisy sandwich she had eaten had tasted delicious. However, the potion came with the side effect of a severe dust allergy.

	“Huhh.. Hehh.. HEEECHHOOoooiieeee!” Twilight sneezed again. She continued reading, hoping to find a solution to her current predicament, but her eyes began to water, and soon, the tickle in her nose overwhelmed her. Twilight’s head tilted back, away from the book. Her mouth opened as she drew in hitching breaths. “Hehh.. Ehhh… EHHH… HEEEESSHHHIIOoooo! Huh.. Huhh… HEECH-mphxt!”

	Twilight half stifled the second sneeze. Her nose tickled so badly. She felt her stomach rumble, and she looked at the clock. “Sihh.. Six… THIRTHEEECHOoooooo! Thirty-two.”

	Happy for any excuse to get away from the tantalizingly dusty books, Twilight walked into her pantry. Unfortunately, the week’s experiments with tasting had used up the last of her food. All that was left was a block of cheese and some mustard.

	Twilight decided that she would dine out today. Surely, after eight hours trapped inside a dusty library, some fresh air would do her good. So, she gathered her things and went to the door. There, she turned around, craned her neck inwards towards her bookshelves, and sniffled softly three times, culminating on a sharp sniff. Her nostrils flared as she felt the sneeze building. Suddenly, the tickle began increasingly exponentially. Twilight’s head reared back as she brought in one long, shaky breath. “Hehhuhuhhuhh…”

	“HeeeeIITCHHIIIOooooo!” She exploded, bending forwards as the sneeze escaped. Twilight hated sneezing in public. Thus, she had to indulge her sensitive nostrils one last time before heading out. Now that some of the dust was out of her nose, it was time to leave.

	Twilight wasn’t more than twenty yards away from the library when her nose started tickling again. Oh, for Celestia’s sake. She raised a hoof to her nostrils in an attempt to stop herself from sneezing again. However, she could feel it coming on. There was no way she would be able to make it to any restaurant in town and back without releasing. So, Twilight changed her route, and started heading towards Sugar Cube corner. Sneezing in front of Pinkie Pie wouldn’t be so bad.

	Her nostrils began to flare as the tickle increased. Twilight picked up her pace. Her left eye began to squeeze shut. Twilight rubbed her nose with her hoof, and began sprinting towards Sugar Cube corner as fast as she could on three legs. As she walked up the stairs, her tongue began to push into the side of her cheek, and her mouth opened involuntarily. Just a bit longer.

	Twilight opened the door, and to her dismay, Sugar Cube corner was full of customers. Twilight looked around frantically, through squinted eyes, but then her head reared back. Ponies were staring at her. No, no, no! This was terrible! “Huh… Hehh..”

	Lost to everything except for the incoming sneeze, Twilight feared for the worst. Ponies would laugh and call her names. If it was one of her normal sneezes, it might be fine, but this was a gigantic allergy sneeze. “Huhhh… EHH… HEEEETIISSHHHOooooo!”

	Twilight sneezed, and opened her eyes in surprise to find out that she was in the kitchen of Sugar Cube corner. Pinkie Pie was standing near her, looking away and covering her ears. Twilight had to sneeze again. “Huhh.. Hehh.. Hehh! HEEECHHoooo! HEEECHOooooo!”

	As Twilight rubbed at her nose, Pinkie Pie turned around to face her. “I know how much you hate sneezing in front of other ponies, so I brought you in here and did my best not to pay attention. I heard it a little bit though, it was so loud I couldn’t help it, I’m soooo sorry!”

	“But how… You’re a good frehh.. friend PinkHEEEEEPIE!” Twilight sneezed out her friend’s name. “Hehh.. HEHH… HEEECHOooooo! HEEEECHmmppffftt!”

	“I think I’m done.” Twilight said, and Pinkie turned back around. “No, wehAIT… Hehh.. ONEMORE… EHHH! HEEEESSHOoooiiieeeee!”

	“Bless me!” Twilight exclaimed, and Pinkie Pie giggled. This couldn’t still be the dust. There had to be something else setting her off. But for now, she had to satisfy her stomach.

	One sugary, fattening meal later, and Twilight was out the door again, and headed back to the library. She was in a good mood, especially considering the events of today. Inevitably, to ruin that mood, she could feel a sneeze beginning to build up.

	Twilight trotted along, using her magic to scrub at her nose with a handkerchief that Pinkie Pie had lent her. A breeze picked up. Suddenly, Twilight’s nose began to tickle fiercely. Before she could react, her head began to tilt back. Her eyes squeezed shut, and the handkerchief slowed down as she began to lose control of her magic. Twilight raised a hoof, caught the piece of cloth, and began to rub her nose manually, trying to slow the massive tickle that was building.

	Her head tilted farther back, and her mouth dropped open. “Huhhh… No… Hehh..”

	Allergic tears streamed down Twilight’s face as she battled with the sneeze, still trying to calm her nose with the handkerchief. She desperately needed to release, but she just couldn’t do it in the middle of Ponyville. “Hehh… EHH… EHHEHH!”

	Her nose was having none of it. Twilight’s head tilted even farther back as she gave up control, moving her hoof to hold the handkerchief in front of her face, ready to muffle the incoming explosion as much as possible. “HEHHH! HUHHH! Hehhehhh… Ohhhhhhhh!”

	Twilight moaned as the urge to sneeze burned away from her nose. Apparently, delaying the sneeze had worked. However, it was quite painful, and Twilight almost wished she would have just sneezed and been done with it. She hurried off towards the library, knowing that next time she wouldn’t be as lucky.

	She only made it a few steps before her nose began to tickle again. It was then that she came across it. A single yellow flower growing out of the dirt. A flower… Realization came to Twilight. The potion had given her an allergy to pollen as well! She looked around, and saw the gardens that lined the road. She saw tree limbs swaying in the breeze. Ponyville was in full bloom.

	Twilight’s head began to tilt back. Her nostrils flared, and her mouth fell open. Twilight did not want to sneeze in front of anypony. But, now that she was aware of the thousands upon thousands of tickly grains of pollen that were floating around in the air, she simply had no say in the matter. Twilight did not want to sneeze, but she absolutely HAD to. Twilight’s tongue pressed against the inside of her right cheek. Her eyes watered, and her breath began to hitch. “Heh… Heh… Huhh…”

	“KKEERRRRTTTIIIIIEEEECHHHOOOOOOOOOoooooo!”