Rarity is sick

	Rarity waited outside the Ponyville Spa. Her friend Fluttershy was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, for their weekly appointment. Fluttershy was rarely tardy, so Rarity had begun to grow impatient. The owners of the spa would honor appointments as long as they weren't more than thirty minutes late, but at this point, it looked as if Fluttershy might be.
	Impatience turned into irritation, then worry. Rarity tapped her hoof against the ground. Had she offended Fluttershy last time they had met? She didn't think so. Fluttershy wasn't the type to just go and make other plans, either. So that meant that something came up at the last minute. Rarity could only think of two things which would make Fluttershy cancel. The first was if one of Fluttershy's animal friends was somehow in trouble. The second was if something had happened to Fluttershy herself.
	Although Rarity knew that she wouldn't be much help in the first case, she headed to Fluttershy's cottage all the same. Rarity was free for the rest of the afternoon, since she wasn't going to the spa, and besides, it was worth a little bit of her time just to see if her friend was alright.
	Rarity walked up to Fluttershy's door and knocked three times. No response came from inside. Not one to give up where her friends were concerned, Rarity knocked a second time, more loudly and rapidly.
	"...just a m-minute..." Came the reply. The door swung open to reveal Fluttershy. Her mane was disheveled, and her nose was red, her nostrils coated in dried mucous. Fluttershy clearly had no idea what she looked like, or she would never have come to the door. Rarity knew her friend well enough to know that Fluttershy was just like her, in that regard.
	"Rarity...?" Fluttershy asked, groggily. Then, the realization came. "Oh my gosh...! What time is it? Our appointment...?"
	"Our appointment was thirty-five minutes ago." Rarity said, calmly. "But never mind that, you look terrible. Are you sick?"
	"N-no, I just overslept," Fluttershy said. Her nose began running again, a slight drip. She sniffled sharply. "I laid down on the couch... four hours ago..."
	Fluttershy brought a hoof to her nose and rubbed. Rarity knew there was no way she didn't notice the mucous at this point. And besides, it wasn't normal for ponies to take four hour naps in the middle of the day.
	"Maybe I am sick..." Fluttershy said. She sniffled again. "You should go. It wouldn't do for you to get si..hih..sick too... huh.. hih.."
	Fluttershy's eyelids flickered shut. She rubbed her nose with a hoof. "F-f... False alarm." She said.
	"Nonsense, dear!" Rarity said, cheerfully. "You just relax, and Rarity will take good care of you."
	Fluttershy didn't look convinced. She simply stared at Rarity, expressionless.
	"Now just move out of the way, and let me in so that I can begin. I'll make a nice pot of soup. You do have vegetables, don't you dear? Of course you do, with all of the animals you take care of and..." Rarity trailed off. Fluttershy's lips had begun to quiver. Was she about to cry? Fluttershy seemed to be staring straight into Rarity's soul.
	Then, everything happened in an instant. Fluttershy's eyes squeezed shut, and the hoof that was dutifully rubbing her nose began to fan the air in front of her face. Her mouth swung open. "Huhh... Huhh-Cheww!"
	Fluttershy sneezed, her head snapping forward. Droplets sprayed out of her open mouth. Her hoof lazily moved to cover her sneeze, but it was too little, too late. Rarity had been misted quite thoroughly. "S-sorry..."
	"It's OK, dear." Rarity said, even though it was definitely not OK. Rarity hated germs almost as much as she hated dirt. She was going to have to set aside some time to teach Fluttershy how to sneeze like a lady. But right now, her friend needed her, and she would suffer through a few germs for Fluttershy's sake. "Now move aside so I can come in and take care of you."
	Fluttershy did as she was told.
----
	Rarity was boiling soup in Fluttershy's kitchen. She had made Fluttershy lie down on the couch, covered her with a blanket, and told her that if she needed anything, to call. Last time Rarity had checked, Fluttershy was sleeping soundly.
	"Huh-Chu!"
	Rarity walked back into the living room. "Oh, you're awake. Are you feeling any better?"
	"Uhh... A li-hih-ttle... Huh.. Huhh... Huh-Cheww!" Fluttershy replied, breathily.
	"Bless you," Rarity said.
	"Th-th-th-thanks." Fluttershy's teeth chattered slightly. Rarity suspected that Fluttershy was only claiming that she felt better. She brought a hoof to Fluttershy's forehead. It felt warm.
	"You seem to have come down with a fever," Rarity stated.
	"Ruh-Rarity... I uhhh... I'm gonnuhhh... Chiiooo!" Fluttershy sneezed. She tried to roll over at the last second, so as to sneeze into the couch, but the motion only managed to make an even bigger area of effect. Rarity once again found herself covered in Fluttershy's saliva, especially on the hoof.
	"Suh... Suhh... Suhhhuhh.." Fluttershy tried to apologize, but she was in the throes of another sneeze. "SuuuhhhHHHCheeewww! Huh! HUHH! HUHHH! HutccchhhHHIIEEEWW! Oh, my..."
	Luckily, Rarity managed to dodge the other, larger sneezes. She grabbed Fluttershy's tissue box and used her magic to draw out a tissue.
	"Huh-huh..." Fluttershy began, but Rarity wiped at Fluttershy's nose with the tissue, halting the sneeze. Rarity was quite skilled at manipulating fabric with her magic, and tissues were really just a paper version of fabric.
	"Blow." Rarity said, and Fluttershy did as she was told. Rarity balled up the tissue and floated it into the garbage can. She set the box of tissues by Fluttershy's resting place.
	Just then, Rarity heard a drip, and something fell from the ceiling into her mane. She instinctively reached up and touched it, but then...
	"EEEEWWW!!!" Rarity screeched, despite herself. There was fresh mucous in her mane, and on her hoof. Rarity rushed to the kitchen sink to clean herself.
	"..s-sorry.." Came the words from the living room.
---
	Rarity's nostrils quivered beneath the purple handkerchief, held in place by her magic. Her eyes blinked rapidly, and her ears pressed back against her head, which began tilting back. Rarity's jaw dropped open as her breathing became ragged.
	"Hahh... Haah-ahh!... HAHH! Heh... HEyehhh... hhh.... Uhhggghh..." Rarity moaned. Rarity normally despised sneezing, but she and Opal were the only ones home, and her nose was so stuffed up that she really wanted to release. Unfortunately, this sneeze had been evading her for the last half hour. She sniffled sharply, trying to coax the tickle back. No such luck.
	Rarity didn't try and delude herself after she had cared for Fluttershy. She knew that she was going to get sick eventually, what she didn't know was when it would strike. For the umpteenth time, she cursed the fact that her body had chosen today, of all days. Today was the day that she and her friends were going to Cloudsdale to watch Rainbow Dash perform.
	Briefly considering canceling on Rainbow Dash, Rarity trudged off to the bathroom to begin applying her makeup. She cringed as she looked at herself in the mirror. Sniffling lightly, she began her work.
	She started by applying eyeshadow, to draw attention away from her bloodshot eyes. She also applied a light blush, as she noticed she was looking paler than normal. As she was applying make-up to her nose, to make it appear less reddened, she felt the slightest hint of a tickle. Rarity sniffed, then sniffed again, still moving the makeup brush across her nose, making sure to  pay close attention to her flaring nostrils.
	"Huh-HUHH..." She began. She put the makeup brush down, and used her magic to bring over her handkerchief. Although some ponies could manipulate as many as twenty objects with telekinesis, it was a big pain for Rarity to move even three, and that was when she didn't have to sneeze.
	By the time the handkerchief had made its way over, Rarity's sneeze had dissipated. She picked up the brush again, taking short strokes all over her nose, and sniffling.
	"Huh.. HUHH..." This time, she tickled her nose with the brush a little longer, only bringing the handkerchief up at the last second. "Haaaah!! EHHH! HEYHHHH! Hehhh-hih... hh... Oh for Celestia's sake!"
	Rarity sniffed, and felt a sharp poke on the inside of her left nostril. How irritating. She rubbed at her nose. She continued to apply her make-up, ignoring the occasional tiny tickle of her nose. At this point, it simply wasn't worth trying to sneeze; sneezing would only serve to make a mess of her dresser, and screw up her make-up and hair.
	Rarity slid a few extra handkerchiefs in her saddlebag. She hoped she wouldn't have need of them, but it never hurt to be cautious. She picked up a tissue and brought it to her nose, and blew deeply. As she blew, her left nostril suddenly became extremely tickly. Her head tilted back.
	"Huh-huh.. HUHH-huh... EHHHH!-heh..." Rarity began, but she rubbed at her nose with the tissue. "Whew..."
	Rarity knew that she probably could have sneezed there. The irony was not lost on her; as soon as she didn't want to sneeze, her body did. She resumed blowing her nose, this time a little less quickly, and although her left nostril still tickled tremendously, the right did not, and she was able to refrain from beginning another sneeze.
	Unbeknownst to the pretty white unicorn, her previous inducing efforts had lodged a hair from her make-up brush inside of her left nostril. It was firmly in place, and blowing did nothing to it, besides shift it into an even worse position, right up against the inner side of her nose.
	Rarity sniffled, and stray mucous flowed over the hair, twisting and turning it. The affect was instant. Rarity's nose tickled massively, and there was nothing she could do. She did not even have time to grab another tissue. A single tear ran down her cheek. Her nostrils quaked, and she instantly exploded.
	"GGGAAAAAAHHHTISSHHHHHHEEEEEEEEWWW!"
	Her head shot forwards with the force of the sneeze, coming to rest on her haunches as her front knees buckled. Her back arched inwards, putting her shapely flank on display. The sneeze was musical. It would have been quite ladylike, were it not so tremendously loud. Without standing back up, Rarity's head lifted, and her breath began to hitch.
	"HUhh.. HUHH! HEHHHH! EHHHH-ahhhh...! aaaaAAAATCHHOOOOO!" Her hips splayed as her belly-button came close to touching the ground. She toppled over to one side, and her neck craned to look at the light coming from the window. Her nose still tickled so badly.
	"HUHH-huhh... HUhhh.. EHH!" She began again. "KKIIIIAATCHH-HHOWW!"
	There was nothing ladylike about the last sneeze. Her back knees drew up to her front knees, pinching her body together. Rarity felt more sneezes on the way. She knew she could sit here all day and coat the floor in mucous. However, she had obligations to keep. She had to support her friend.
	"Haaahhhh..." She rubbed at her nose furiously, pushed herself to her feet, and walked back into the bathroom to inspect the damages.
	Sighing, Rarity could tell that it was going to be an interesting day.
---
	Rarity got onto the balloon, the last of her friends to arrive. The others were already waiting in the basket when she got there. Fluttershy had made a full recovery by now, and looked her normal self. Pinkie Pie was excitedly bouncing, though whether it was excitement over the balloon ride or excitement over her, Rarity couldn't tell. Twilight looked relieved, and Applejack just looked impatient. Rainbow Dash, of course, was already in Cloudsdale. Even if she hadn't had errands to run before the show, there was no way anypony could get Rainbow Dash into a slow moving aerial vehicle.
	"I was beginning to worry that you weren't coming," Twilight said.
	"Sorry, I ran into sobe... er... some complications," Rarity tried to sound less sick than she was.
	"Ya mean, you were puttin' on makeup until the last second!" Applejack said, not kindly.
	"Applejack..." Twilight sighed.
	"Well it's true! She has makeup on... She could have been here on time if'n she hadn't wasted so much time on it!"
	Rarity didn't feel like arguing, and besides, she had to sneeze again. So she just said nothing. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were having a conversation, but besides that, there was only silence. It grew a bit uncomfortable.
	"Rarity?" Twilight said, "Are you feeling alright?"
	The answer was, of course, no. However, Rarity did not want Twilight to find out she was ill. As it stood, there was still plenty of time to turn the balloon around and take her home, and she couldn't risk Twilight doing so if she found out the full extent of her illness. However, obviously Twilight saw that something was up, so Rarity needed an excuse.
	"I'm still a bih.. hih.. a bit uncomfortable with balloon rides," Rarity replied. She hated sneezing in front of other ponies, but at the rate this tickle was growing, it looked like she might have to. "It's ahh... alright though, I'm just a little f-fuh.. HUHH! frightened..."
	Rarity peered over the side of the balloon, and gasped. The gasp was her building up to a sneeze, of course, but her friends didn't need to know that. Plus, it gave her an excuse to draw a hoof to her face and scrub at her itching snout.
	Rarity realized that she was going to sneeze, regardless of how she tried to stop it. Best to get it over with. She drew out a handkerchief from her saddlebag. She could tell that this sneeze was going to be massive, so she decided to try and stifle it as best as she could.
	"Huh.. huh-huh! Himmmm'CHPFF" Rarity sneezed. Stifling always gave her a slight headache, and today was no exception. She felt another sneeze coming. Surely one more couldn't hurt. "Hpppxt-Chooo..."
	"Bless you," Twilight said, absentmindedly. She had her nose in a book at this point. Applejack had joined with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Rarity was just glad that the focus was off of her.
	"Huh... Heh..." She began, but scrubbed at her nose with the handkerchief. She didn't dare risk sneezing too much, or her friends would begin to catch on. Rarity was glad that her nose hadn't started running yet.
	"mmm..." Rarity grumbled to herself. The tickle would just not leave her alone! She knew she was going to have to sneeze again, but she resolved to try and hold it off as long as possible.
	"Twilight dear," Rarity said, "Huh... How l-long uhhh...ntil we arrive in Cuh.. Cuh-huh-huh... Cloudsdale?"
	"About five minutes," Twilight replied, without looking up.
	Surely she could keep a sneeze back for five minutes. She continued rubbing her snout with the handkerchief, trying to quell the tickle even slightly. Twilight closed her book, and stood up next to Rarity. Rarity stealthily slipped her handkerchief back into her bag. She couldn't touch her nose so often without risking Twilight catching on.
	"I hope you weren't too offended by Applejack earlier," Twilight said in a hushed tone.
	"N-no dear," Rarity replied, "Like I said, I'm juhhust a little put off by the Hehh.. HEHH-HEHH... NYEHHH.."
	Rarity tried to think about anything other than sneezing. She began to concentrate on dressmaking. The tickle faded a bit, and she regained control of her sneeze.
	"Heh... Excuse me... the heights..." Rarity finished her sentence.
	"Are you sure you're OK?" Twilight sounded concerned.
	"F-fine, fuh-huh..frog in my throat I'm afuhfuhfraid..." Rarity said, breathily. She knew she couldn't keep this conversation up very much longer without losing control again. She tried to imagine herself sewing a dress together, a party dress. In and out, in and out... She dropped the spool of thread, and it rolled out the door. She grabbed another one and resumed sewing.
	After a few stitches, Rarity once again knocked the thread off of the table, and out of the door. She was so clumsy today! She grabbed a third spool of thread, but it fell from her grasp and rolled out the door as well. Sighing, Rarity tried to grab a fourth spool, but she knocked over the basket and those all rolled away, joining the other three. Why was her door even open?
	She got up, walked outside, and saw the spools rolling across the street, landing in a flower patch outside of a nearby shop. Rarity walked over and began collecting them. She felt a tickle growing in her nose... Oh no... She tried to concentrate on grabbing the spools, but her nose brushed against one of the flowers, and the tickle was immense. She snapped back to reality.
	"HUHH... HUHHH-HUHHH... EHHHH..." Rarity raised a hoof to her quivering snout. There was no way around touching her nose at this point; she desperately needed to sneeze. Through the fog in her head, she could hear Twilight saying something.
	".... Cloudsdale just ahead."
	"Ehh..." Rarity looked up, and saw the enormous cloud city stretching before them. Surely she could hold it back until they landed. Unfortunately, with her head tilted back to look at the city, Rarity also caught a glimpse of the midmorning sun, and her tickle amplified.
	"NYYEHHH.. EHHHH!" She could do this. Her hoof was now furiously rubbing at her nostrils, trying to keep the sneeze in check. She was certain all of her friends were staring by now, but there was nothing to be done about it. Even if she had wanted to release, she knew that this sneeze would be big enough to thoroughly shake the balloon, so she dare not.
	Her lips quivered, and her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth. Rarity dimly noticed that her head was tilting and her neck was craning. Her body was trying to get her to take another peek at the sun, whatever it took to push her over the edge. She squeezed her eyes shut, but she could still see the hint of the sun through her eyelids, causing the tickle to grow further.
	"GEHHH!" Rarity hitched, knowing she was done for. But then, the balloon touched down. She had been originally planning on sprinting to the bathroom and just sneezing until she could sneeze no more. But there wasn't any time for that. Rarity was going to sneeze, and she was going to do it now. She drew a handkerchief out of her saddlebag, and held it to her face. Her head flew forward and her back arched as she let loose a huge triple. Miraculously, she kept her footing. "KYEHHHH-TIIIIEESCHOOOO! ACHOOO! Huhh-huh... ehhh.. HEHHH.. HiiiiiiiATSHOOOO!"
----
	"Wow.. Bless you!" Twilight said, but Rarity didn't hear her.
	"Ehh... EHXCUSEME!" She exclaimed, and ran off to find a bathroom. She knew that more sneezes were on the way. Her nose was running and itching madly. Those three sneezes on the balloon had done almost nothing to reduce the monstrous tickle that had built up. A large part of Rarity wanted to just curl up into a ball and sneeze until her head popped off, but she pressed on. Rarity swung open the bathroom door and rushed into a stall.
	"HEHH... HEHH-HEHH... HEHHHEHHHEHHH..." Rarity's eyes were squeezed shut. Her head was tilted back. Were it not for the contorted pre-sneeze expression of her mouth, and the fact that her nostrils were red and inflamed, it would look like she was simply being haughty. "HEHHH! GISSHHHHEEEeeeewww!"
	Rarity sneezed desperately, and her head snapped forwards. She tried not to think about the dirty floor of the bathroom as her cheek pressed against it. It was quite easy, in fact, to push the thought of dirt from her mind. The thought of a huge sneeze quickly replaced it. "HAHH.. HAHH! HEHHEHH! KerCHOW!"
	The sneeze was short, but tremendous all the same. Her belly slid onto her back hooves, causing her back legs to angle and her hips to slam into the wall behind her. She knew that the next sneeze would topple her, but there was no will left in her to resist, or even to move into a less compromising position. Rarity wished that she could have a sneezing fit without ending up on the ground. She wished she wasn't sneezing at all. However, there wasn't much time to think about such things.
	"Huhh... HAHH-HAH... HEHH! HUHHHHHH!" With an enormous breath, Rarity fell over onto her side. Just then, the sneeze escaped, causing her limbs to flail in suprise. "GAAATISHHHHAAAEEE!"
	Defeated, she held her knees with her front hooves and laid as still as she could while she submitted to sneeze after massive sneeze. There was no other alternative at this point, she needed to sneeze with every fiber of her being. "AHHAHHCHOOO! KiiiettttCHOOOOIE! Hehh.. hehhh... HEHH! HAAAAHHHTISHHOOOoooooo!"
	Rarity sat in silence for a moment, then she collected herself and got to her feet. The hellish tickle had subsided, for now. Perhaps she had sneezed away the last of her sickness. She knew that wasn't true. First of all, it wasn't logical, and secondly, she felt the tickle building again. She raised a hoof to her nose and rubbed up and down, hoping to contain it. However, despite her best efforts, a gasp escaped her, quickly followed by another.
	"Ahhh! Haah-ahh... No..." Rarity said, rubbing even faster. "I won't! I ahhhahh.. absolutely refuse!"
	"You ruh-huh-huh-huffian!" Rarity hitched. She knew that she had to sound ridiculous right now. Not only was her breathing erratic, she also was arguing with a sneeze. Her nostrils screamed for release from their tickly torment. She could feel them flaring rapidly against her hoof, and she started to realize that she might be fighting a losing battle. "I.. will.. not.. suh.. SUHHUHHH!! suhhuhubmit!!"
	Despite Rarity's best efforts, her eyelashes fluttered for a bit, and then squeezed shut. She felt her jaw fall slack. She began rubbing at lightning speed, trying to regain ground. She could feel the outside of her nose becoming slightly raw. The inside, however, tickled so, so badly. It felt almost pleasant. Like a million feathers brushing were simultaneously caressing the walls of her nasal cavity. She was almost tempted to give in, and just let herself be consumed by it. Rarity was fighting an internal battle, and losing. Her head started getting foggy, and her hoof was slowing down, ever so slightly.
	"Aaah! Aaah! Aaah!" Her hitching breaths were extremely shrill and girly, much more than usual. With each one, her hoof slowed down even more, and her head tilted back ever so slightly. Her mouth hung open, and her ears pressed against her head. "Aaah! Aaah! Aaaaah!"
	Rarity's hoof was barely moving at all. It slipped off of her face, bringing with it a trail of slimy green mucous. The trail broke as her hoof began to fan in front of her open mouth. "Aaah.. Haaaahhh... HUHHH! HUHHHHHH!"
	What was taking so long? Rarity knew she was fooling herself; that she had been on the brink of a sneeze the whole time. And she had finally given in, but still, she hadn't gone over the edge yet. "HUHHHHHHH! HUHHHHHUHHUHH! HUHHHUHHHHUHHUHUH!!"
	The tickle was absolutely massive, at this point. It was even worse than when she was on the balloon. It felt like she just couldn't draw a big enough breath to get it out. "HUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUUHUUHH!!!"
	"guh... gotta..." She whimpered, and her nose decided it had finally had enough. A pain shot through her chest as her lungs filled to bursting. "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH!!! HUHHHHHUURRRRUUSHHOOOO!"
	Rarity released the monster sneeze. Her head flew forwards, spraying mucous and spittle all over the bathroom wall. All four of her legs shot out from under her, and she hit the floor with a resounding "whump." She lay there for a moment in silence. Another tickle began to build in the depths of her nose. Rarity started to cry.
---