It had started out as such a nice day. Had it not been for a certain draconequus, it would still be one. Instead, Rarity couldn’t enjoy the sun overhead or the soft grass underneath her. She couldn’t even muster up the will to worry about grass stains on her coat.

There was a sound like lotion emptying into a half-clogged sink from beside her. “How you feelin’, Rares?” said Applejack.

Rarity groaned. She had almost been able to put some of the minor troubles out of mind. Now they all came flooding back. “I ache everywhere, I have zero energy, and I’m so congested that it feels like my horn’s going to pop.” She considered a fetlock. “Oh, and I’m an atrocious shade of blue. Aside from that, I’m just dandy. Yourself?”

“‘Bout the same, save for the part with the horn.” Applejack sneezed. “Least we ain’t launchin’ ourselves every time that happens anymore.”

“True.” Rarity sniffled as daintily as she could, which she had to admit wasn’t very. “We are going to get Discord for this. Somehow.”

“Yeah.” Applejack sighed. “You know, the blue works for you. You were already a little blue to begin with.”

“That’s sweet of you to say, but trust me, blue works best for me as an ah… ah… ACCENT!” Rarity groaned. This wasn’t fashionably dishabille. This was just a wreck.

“If you say so,” said Applejack. “But look at me. Whoever heard of a blue Apple? Zap apples excepted.”

What could Rarity say to that? “True.”

“Heya girls!”

Rarity looked up into a smiling face behind a hermetic seal. “Pinkie, weren’t we supposed to return those biohazard suits to the florist sisters when we were through with them?”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “And then I got my own for disease emergencies.” She leaned down and looked from one sick pony to the other. “Now, my Plan A won’t work, because I probably shouldn’t take my Element out of the Tree, and I’m not really sure if I can. Even if I could, it probably won’t work without the others, though Twilight says Sunset Shimmer got one to in that weird monkey world. Plan B is out, ‘cause I don’t have anything that has that funky rainbow effect like that spool of rainbow thread you have, Rarity.”

Applejack gave a tired sigh. “Pinkie Pie, what the hay are you talking about?”

“Pinkie,” said Rarity, “I think I understand what you were thinking, Celestia help me—“

“Ooh, do you think she will? She’d probably appreciate one last letter.”

Rarity did her best to ignore the railway workers that were pounding spikes into her skull. “My point, Pinkie, is that it’s just a proverb. Laughter isn’t actually going to help us get any better. Not even elemental Laughter.”

“Oh.” Pinkie frowned for a moment, then shrugged it off. “Oh well. Plan D it is, then!” She zipped off.

“Is it just me,” said Applejack, “or did she skip Plan C?”

“We probably don’t want to know what it was, then.”

“Probably.”

The pair of mares just sat there for a while, the silence broken only by the occasional sneeze or cough. Rarity felt herself slip back into that tranquil state where everything wasn’t quite so bad, and her eyes drifted shut.

“I’m back!”

Rarity sighed. It had been nice while it had lasted. “Hello, Pinkie.”

“What am I?” said a scratchy voice. “Chopped alfalfa?”

Rarity opened her eyes. Sure enough, Pinkie wasn’t alone. “Rainbow Dash?” Rarity glared as best she could. “So nice of you to join us again.”

Dash grimaced. "Yeah. It was lame of me to bail on you guys. But that was when it was Discord. You're my friends, and I'm gonna stick by you."

Applejack either coughed or cleared her throat. “Shouldn’t you be suited up, Rainbow?”

“Nope!” said Pinkie, “Dashie’s the best possible nurse for you two!”

Rarity and Applejack looked at one another, then at Dash. As one, they said, “How?”

“You sillies! She’s immune to the blue flu!”

Rarity took a deep breath, through her mouth, as that was the only real option. “Pinkie, that’s very sweet, but none of us had even heard of the blue flu an hour ago. How could Rainbow Dash possibly be immune?”

Pinkie gave her an incredulous look, then sighed. “Poor thing. You’re so sick, it isn’t obvious to you. She’s immune because she’s already blue!”