"Yes?" Applejack calls; she and Doug relax their struggles against each other, though they remain in the guard position with Doug clinched between Applejack's hind legs, her forelegs spread to the sides by his forearms and one hand around her head. "That you, Fluttershy?"
"Um, yes," comes the timid reply, Fluttershy poking her frowning head through the doorway. Her red rimmed eyes trace over Applejack and Doug's bodies, a soft sigh from the pegasus. "Oh, um, I didn't think you'd be... busy." Fluttershy closes the barn door behind her, saying, "I can wait until you're done," as she slinks to the corner. Fluttershy sinks down, her mane coming up to partially cover her face as she watches the two.
Doug snaps his fingers, Applejack flinching from the sudden noise. Fluttershy perks up, tepidly getting to her hooves as she contrasts Doug's stern face with his hand patting the spot next to him and Applejack. She dawdles briefly before limping over, still hiding behind her mane as she lays on her barrel. Doug peers down his body as Applejack lightly struggles against him, a playful squeeze of his hand against her ear briefly subduing her.
"Don't think you're getting out of this that easily," Applejack softly grunts, one foreleg kneading into Doug's chest. "'Shy can watch if she wants."
"Sure thing, love," Doug says, his hand lightly stroking down Applejack's face to play on her chin. He glances over to Fluttershy, "What happened? You doing okay?"
Fluttershy shudders, barely peeking out from her mane as she whimpers. She hunches down a little as Doug's eyes narrow; she tries again, her voice even quieter than before.
Doug closes his eyes, taking a deep breath in that he holds for several seconds, his entire body tensing, before a long, forced exhale. He pushes up, one hand roughly reaching over, dragging and rolling the surprised pegasus onto her back next to Applejack. Fluttershy, no longer able to hide, gapes as five fingers press into her belly. Applejack grins as she watches, though it fades slightly at Doug's irritated tone, "Fluttershy, I'm sorry, but I'm tired and my patience is wearing thin. Please speak up." His face almost immediately scrunches up, as if he realizes how he sounds to her.
"Okay." Fluttershy 'eeps' quietly as Doug's hand stroke her belly, tensing up, trying to quell her rising anxieties. "It was..." She sniffles, a hoof coming up to wipe at the dried tears on her face.
"Shh, 'Shy," Doug says softly, his own hand coming up to probe and untangle the matted hair. "Take your time."
While Fluttershy gathers her composure Applejack pulls Doug back to her, smirking as she whispers, "You and me got something to finish, partner." Doug grins back, his hand leaving Fluttershy's mane to return to their previous position. Applejack's hind hooves try to find purchase against Doug, merely wrapping around his hips as his arms keep her forelegs pressed to the sides, their uneven start playing to her greater strength; though, if Doug can keep her back pressed to the ground long enough, she'll let him stay in his favorite position. She wriggles back and forth until her foreleg slips out from his hold, grinning in victory as she twists her legs around and flips Doug to the side, only lightly bumping into Fluttershy as she rolls on top.
"Eep!" Fluttershy shrieks, pulling away and startling the two combatants. She blurts out, "You scared me! Just like that mean Gilda scared me!" One hoof comes up to her forehead as she dramatically recalls, "It was awful! I was escorting two hens and their ducklings through Ponyville, to try to even out how many ducklings are assigned to each pond." Her face lights up, "You don't want to overcrowd them, of course, and you want those beautiful baby ducklings to find new places to have fun and grow up."
"Who's Gilda?" Applejack leans down to whisper to Doug as Fluttershy stares into space, a goofy smile on her muzzle.
"Griffon friend of Rainbow Dash," Doug whispers back, lightly struggling against Applejack's legs. "Talked to her briefly; short fuse and extremely competitive."
"Okay, but tell me about Gilda," Applejack says with a wink, not letting herself budge an inch.
"Hey, Rainbow's gotten a lot better about that," Doug replies, reaching up and flicking Applejack's ear.
"With you, perhaps," Applejack says before she snorts and rolls her eyes. She squeezes Doug's hips with her own as she smirks down at him, her mounted position giving her all the leverage she needs to end the struggle if she wished. Not that she needs to; her stallion knows when he's beaten, and she can feel him getting ready, his hands moving to her flanks and stroking up and down.
Doug glances over as Applejack's snort breaks Fluttershy out of her reverie, the mare cowering down just a fraction. Doug sighs, one hand leaving Applejack to lightly stroke Fluttershy's side. The pegasus leans into his hand at first, quickly getting up and repositioning so her head is in easy reach, his hand finding that sweet spot between her ears. Doug smiles as Fluttershy sighs contentedly; he says, "So, that must have felt pretty awful when Gilda scared you." He grunts as Applejack pushes against him, his lead mare letting him know she is not going to be ignored. Or, at least to make sure he's splitting his attention between them instead of focusing purely on Fluttershy.
Fluttershy nods, quickly returning her head to its previous position against his hand as she says, "Oh, it was. It made me feel like I was just the worst pony ever. I didn't mean to get in her way, and my apology just wasn't good enough for her." Fluttershy sinks down a little, "I even tried backing up, and cowering, and crying; I almost tried hiding behind my mane, but she just kept yelling at me." Fluttershy sniffles, trying to clear the awful, awful memories from her mind. "And then she scattered the poor little ducklings." Fluttershy snaps up, her expressing instantly shifting from mere pity to terror, "Oh, no! I forgot all about them! All the lost little ducklings! How will they reunite with their parents? They all must be dreadfully worried!"
"I'm sure they're fine," Doug says in between grunts, Applejack beaming a reassuring smile over at Fluttershy. "The other ponies in town are sure to have helped them out."
"But, what if they didn't? Oh, dear," Fluttershy quivers, glancing to the barn door, "I should go check on them, though, just to be sure. But, what if Gilda is still there? She might yell at me again, and..." Fluttershy lets loose an agonized hum, alternating pressing her right and then left hooves into the dirt as she deliberates. Doug's hand grips her more forcefully, trying to reassure the panicking mare as all three are startled by the barn door slamming open.
Applejack pushes up, anxiously looking for something to conceal their activity as Pinkie Pie pronks into the barn. Applejack relaxes back down, returning to her rhythmic motions as she says, "Whew, Pinkie Pie, you sure frightened me there. Ah thought ya were Apple Bloom for a second." She sheepishly grins, "And Ah didn't want to have that conversation just yet."
"Ooh, me neither!" Pinkie Pie says, glancing over at Fluttershy. "Are we waiting in line? I want to wait in line! It's not going to be that long, right? Right? Get it?"
"Um, well, if you want to go next I don't mind," Fluttershy says, though when she tries to back away she finds Doug's hand clamping down on her instead. "But I suppose I don't need to move from this spot. Although..."
"What are ya doing here in the first place, Pinkie?" Applejack grunts out, a bit of exasperation at her herdmate. "Don't ya need to be working about now?"
"I do, but I was following around Rainbow Dash, and then Gilda, and then Rainbow Dash, and then Gilda, and then-"
"Pinkie!" Applejack huffs, a hoof coming up to cover her face. "Skip to the end." She glares down, her hoof grinding against the floor when it comes back down.
"And then I came in here!" Pinkie Pie responds without missing a beat. "But I can see you're almost at that part!"
"She meant skip the repetitive parts," Doug grunts out, his breath getting strained as Applejack takes her frustration out on him.
"Oooh. Hmm," Pinkie Pie says, holding a hoof to her chin. "Well, after I stopped following Rainbow Dash and Gilda I went to Twilight," Pinkie Pie waves her hooves to the side as her tone gets more and more exasperated, "and she told me that I needed an attitude adjustment, and then I went to the marketplace where I saw Gilda steal an apple and scare Granny Smith and then she scares Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie turns to Fluttershy, "Ooh, is that why you're here? That's why I'm here! Wait, that's not why I'm here." Pinkie Pie sits down, her hoof returning to her chin.
"Gilda stole an apple?" Applejack says, though she goes unacknowledged.
Doug says at almost the same time, "You saw what happened with Fluttershy?"
Pinkie Pie exclaims, "I did! She just bullied Fluttershy like a big mean bullying mean meanie! And then Fluttershy flew off, and Gilda strutted around a little bit before she flew off!"
Fluttershy looks up at Pinkie Pie, quietly asking, "Did you see what happened with the ducklings afterwards?"
Applejack asks louder, "What was this about stealing apples again?"
Pinkie Pie nods once, "Oh, don't worry, Applejack, it wasn't from your cart!"
"It ain't my cart Ah'm worried about!" Applejack groans as her body quivers, "If this here Gilda is a thief and no good varmint then Ah don't want her near any of us! Ah can't believe Rainbow Dash would be friends with somepony like that!"
Fluttershy gets up slightly, Doug's hand having moved to Applejack's flanks to keep her in place. Fluttershy whispers, slightly louder than before, "But what about the ducklings, Pinkie? Did they all make it out okay?"
"I know, Applejack!" Pinkie Pie says, her grin widening. "That's why-"
Fluttershy pounces Pinkie Pie, tackling the pink pony to the ground. Fluttershy rages, her face screwing up in anger as she shouts, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE DUCKLINGS?!"
"Oh, them?" Pinkie Pie laughs from underneath Fluttershy, either oblivious or impervious to her herdmate's infuriated glare. "They're all fine! A couple ponies helped gather them up and get them on their way."
"Okay!" Fluttershy says, her smile instantly returning as she sits back. "That makes me feel a lot better."
"Now, as I was saying," Pinkie Pie sits up, her grin becoming mischievous again, her hooves rubbing together sinisterly, "I'm going to teach this Gilda griffon a lesson, Pinkie Pie style!"
Applejack glances over as she recovers, "Bake cupcakes with her?"
Doug chips in, "Electrocution?"
Fluttershy meekly adds, "A horrible torture where everypony is watching you and waiting for your every little mistake so they can laugh at you and make you feel just awful?" Her face twists, her hooves pushing her mouth open in a horrified grimace as her eyes go wide.
Pinkie Pie looks aghast at the three of them, "What in the wide wonderful world of Equestria have you been reading?" She starts counting on a hoof before pointing to each pony in turn, "I mean, okay, there will be cupcakes, and only the mildest of electrocutions, and how did you know about my nightmares?"
"I thought I was the only one!" exclaims Fluttershy, her horrified gaze dropping, though she has difficulty deciding whether she wants to beam at Pinkie Pie for sharing a deep, dark secret or hide in terror for sharing a deep, dark secret that everypony probably already knew she had. Pinkie Pie notices, taking the opportunity to pounce Fluttershy, just like she had done to her.
Applejack and Doug smile as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy embrace, Fluttershy adopting a relieved, happy face. Applejack says, "Well, Ah'm glad to hear the duckling are all better, but why'd you come all the way out here? It couldn't have just been to find Fluttershy and tell her that."
"Oh, right!" Pinkie Pie says, "I was looking to invite you all to a party I'm having at Sugarcube Corner! It's going to be to help Gilda improve her attitude, so I need all of you to show up with your best faces and really show her how welcome she is in Ponyville, even if she can be a meany grumpy grouchy bully!"
"Well, we're pretty busy 'round here," Applejack starts, looking to the baskets they have yet to finish, though she hunches down slightly as Pinkie Pie pointedly looks from her to Doug. "Okay, okay, fine. We'll be there. When is it?"
"About an hour, after school lets out, so I can't wait around here for my turn in line." Pinkie Pie sighs, "Even though I love waiting in lines. Oh well! By the way, Doug, you have an extra bottle of Fire Sauce around somewhere, right?"
"Open ones are in the top shelf at the Carrot House, hidden inside a box that says trail mix." Doug rubs Applejack's mussed mane as she slips off of him, "The hottest mix is in the purple bottles, the mildest in the red. The packets are actual trail mix."
"Thanks, Dougie!" Pinkie Pie pronks over, nuzzling Doug before she exits the barn door. "See you all in an hour!"
"Later, Pinkie!" Applejack calls before glancing over at Doug and Fluttershy. "Well, there goes any chance Ah had of eating something at the party."
"Nah, all you have to do is not be the first pony to eat something," Doug says, his cheeky grin getting an eye roll in return. "Besides, even if it hurts for a little, you'll get used to it, and maybe someday even enjoy it."
"Ah don't think anypony's been fooled by that line," Applejack says, winking as she returns to building more baskets.
"Well, it was true for me," Fluttershy quietly says as she gets up, nuzzling Doug. "And just look at me now." Her mouth slowly travels from Doug's mouth to his chest, her wing brushing off a little of the dirt that has gathered on him. "I suppose you didn't try to fool me with that line, though."
"Exactly." Applejack smiles, her gaze occasionally drifting from her work to her stallion. He sure makes the work go by quick when he's helping, less so when he's in one of these moods, but she ain't gonna rush him.