"It really was nice of you to arrange this," Fluttershy said, taking a drink of her apple cider. She smiled and looked around the orchard, relaxing in the shade of a gazebo.
Discord leaned back in his chair an took a large bite of his apple. "Well, it's pretty hot for an autumn day. I had to think of some way to convince you to take a break and cool off." He pulled a jug of cider out of the picnic basket between them and topped off Fluttershy's glass.
"Thank you," she said, looking around the orchard and taking another sip. "There are still a lot of apples around this area. I hope Applejack and Big Mac aren't having any trouble with the harvest."
Discord shrugged. "Well, it is just the beginning of Applebuck Season. They probably just haven't gotten this far back yet."
"Hmm. That's true." As she took another sip of cider, a rainbow streak flew overhead. A sudden gust of wind followed, knocking her drink and his snack out of their grips. Both of their heads whipped in the direction of the rainbow streak, seeing that it was still headed straight forward, and going even faster.
"Was that Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked, getting to her hooves. "She was going awfully fast. Do you think something's wrong?"
"No doubt," he said. "We should check on her." He raised his fingers into a snapping position, but before he could snap, a sound in the distance made him pause, his ears perked up. A sound of somepony quickly galloping, followed by said somepony bucking something with great force.
"That must be Applejack," he said. A detective's hat appeared on his head, a bubble pipe popping into his mouth. He closed his eyes and blew a large bubble before saying, "From the fact that Rainbow left here in a hurry, and AJ is working at a greater pace then normal, as though she is angry...I deduce that the two of them have gotten into some kind of fight. Again."
A hoof flew to Fluttershy's mouth. "Oh dear...should we talk to them?"
He shrugged, sitting back down in his chair. "We could. Or we could just let them deal with it, and they'll stop fighting in a few weeks." He blew a stream of heart-shaped bubbles. "Honestly, if I wasn't there for their wedding, I'd find it hard to believe they're married."
"They've always been very independent ponies," she said, "And I sometimes think that competing and bickering is their way of...showing affection for each other. But sometimes, their arguments can go too far." She sighed. "I really think we should check on them, to make sure they're okay."
He nibbled at the end of his pipe. "You're right. We can at least ask if they need help." He tapped at his chin. "We should probably split up. That way, we can get both sides of the story and help both of them at once."
She nodded in agreement. "But who should talk to who?"
He pulled a coin out of his ear. One one side was an apple, or the other was a cloud. "I'll flip this, and whichever side it lands on is the pony I'll talk to. You can take the other." He flicked it into the air, and their eyes followed as it spun and spun, higher and higher into the air.
Rainbow flew through several clouds, bursting all of them into tiny white fluff. Realizing she had cleared the sky, she turned at a ninety-degree angle with an angry snort, flying for more clouds to destroy.
A sudden flash of light several feet in front of her made her brake in midair. She blinked the spots out of her eyes, squinting at the wiseguy who thought it was a good idea to teleport in front of her. She blinked.
"...Fluttershy?" she said questioningly with a small tilt of her head. "What are you doing here?"
Fluttershy smiled and flew closer to her. "Discord and I were at Sweet Apple Acres. You flew off in a hurry, so I was worried...are you upset about something, Rainbow?"
Rainbow snorted. "Upset? Of course not! What reason would I have to be upset? Everything's going just fine in my dream career with the Wonderbolts!" she snapped. "So why don't you fly back and act all sickeningly sweet with your husband on whatever date you were on?"
Fluttershy's eyes didn't narrow, but they did gain a hardness to them, a kind of inner fire. "Rainbow Dash," she said calmly. "All I want is to help you. If you don't want to talk, that's fine. But there's no need to take your anger out on me."
"Anger? Who's angry? I'm not angry! I'm...I'm..." Rainbow sighed, her shoulders drooping. "Okay, fine. I can tell you what's up." She flew over to a nearby cloud and plopped down. Fluttershy sat by her side.
Rainbow sighed. "See, I've been offered a chance to go on an extended trip with the Wonderbolts. Only the best flyers we have were chosen to go, and we're going to be visiting places outside of Equestria! Yakyakistan, the Dragon Lands, Griffonstone..." She shook her head, blinking the stars out of her eyes.
"But it's a long trip. Several months, in fact," she said, "But what does that matter when it's one of the greatest performing opportunities of my life? Of course I took the offer! Why wouldn't I?"
She crossed her forehooves. "So I went to tell AJ about the big news. I thought she'd be happy for me, but no! She got mad! She kept going on about the farm and the harvest, and how could I leave at a time like this!" She huffed. "So right now, I refuse to see her! I'll leave on my trip and not even set a hoof on that farm, I can promise you that!"
She opened her eyes as Fluttershy gently touched her shoulder. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "Are you sure you don't want to talk with Applejack again? This time, more calmly?"
Applejack grunted, striking another tree with her legs. She'd lost count on which one this was. Fortunately, buckets had been set under most of the trees already, since the next rain wasn't scheduled anytime soon. Without worrying about grabbing more buckets, she could put all of her energy into bucking as many trees as she could.
"Going for a record, AJ? You seem to be really pushing yourself today!" a voice to her left chimed. She turned and glared at the voice's owner: Discord. He was casually picking apples off of their branches and lobbing them into buckets.
"What do you want, Discord?" she sighed. "Ah'm not going to be working near the gazebo, if that's what you've come to ask."
He sighed, dropping the apple he was holding. "No, actually. Fluttershy and I thought...well, that you seemed upset. Something the matter? Problems on your mind?" A small, rumbling black cloud appeared above her head. "Having a bad day?"
She grunted and waved away the cloud. "Look, Discord, Ah'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." She bucked another tree. "Ah've just...got to buck as many of these apples as Ah can. No time to talk."
"Ah, but you're talking right now," he said, picking another apple and admiring his reflection in his skin. "You can work and talk at the same time. Besides, while I'm here, I'll even give you a hand!" Disembodied paws and claws popped into existence and began floating around, plucking off apples and dropping them into baskets. "So c'mon. What's on your mind? You're worrying...Fluttershy." He glanced away and said quietly, "And me."
She stared at him. "Alright. Ah can tell you what happened." She bucked another tree. "Rainbow and Ah had a little bit of a row just now. She accepted an offer to go off traveling with the Wonderbolts. Well, good for her!"
She bucked the next tree a little harder. "Except she'll be leaving for six months! Six! And she acts like that...that doesn't matter, compared to the opportunity!"
The next tree's trunk shook from the force of her blow. "Leaving for six months, when we need her here! There's harvest, and cider-making, and planting in the spring...and she's just leaving us in the lurch!"
She sighed and slumped down, dropping her hat over her face. Discord stepped a little closer. "...Is that the real reason you're upset?"
Rainbow glared. "What do you mean, 'more calmly'? I wasn't mad until AJ started spouting crazy stuff about me leaving the farm too long! Winter isn't even that busy a time!"
Fluttershy sighed. "What I mean is that instead of getting angry, you should stay calm and listen to Applejack. I don't mean just listening to what she's saying, but...understanding what she's trying to say."
Rainbow rose an eyebrow, her eyes narrowed. Fluttershy continued, "It's hard to explain, but it's something I learned when I first befriended Discord. Sometimes, creatures don't want to open up with you. They'll tell you half-truths, or direct the conversation to something else..."
"They don't want to show how much you mean to them," she whispered, her gaze becoming unfocused. "Because they're worried, or scared."
She shook her head. "But if you listen closely, you can figure put what they're trying to say—what they really want to say. Think about it: if the farm doesn't need you during the winter, why is she upset you'll be gone?"
Rainbow's eyes slowly widened. "I...I have to talk to AJ!" she exclaimed before taking off, leaving a rainbow streak behind her. Fluttershy sighed and slowly followed behind her.
Applejack glared at Discord. "What other reason would Ah have for being upset that my wife is leaving for six months?"
He leaned down, bearing his teeth and jabbing her muzzle with a finger. "You said it yourself," he growled. "Your wife is leaving for six months, and you're upset that she'll be away. Why can't you just mare up and admit that to her?"
She snorted and pulled away. "In case you haven't noticed, we're not sappy-sweet like you and Fluttershy. And we certainly don't keep acting like newlyweds after several years of marriage."
He sighed. "I'm not saying you have to be sappy about it. I'm just saying it wouldn't kill you two to act like you're married and you love each other." He crossed his arms and turned away, but glanced back a second later. "Are Fluttershy and I really that...'sappy'?"
"Sometimes. Not that often," she said with a sigh. "Ah'm sorry, Discord. Ah'm just frustrated is all. Ah didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Oh, I've faced worse," he said, waving her off. He leaned against the tree, looking her in the eyes. "But you should probably talk to Rainbow Dash. Tell her why you're really upset."
Seeing her doubting expression, he continued, "Look. As a draconequus who has both faced troubles with admitting my true feelings, and doubts about whether a pony you care about really, truly cares about you...saying that you care means the world."
"It doesn't banish doubts right away. It won't fix your problems. But if you tell them often enough, with enough conviction...they might just start to believe you." His eyes became glazed with a thin, milky film. Her could see images dancing in his pupils—most of them involving Fluttershy.
He blinked, and the film and images vanished. "Anyway. You don't have to be 'sappy-syrup-sweet' about it." A bottle of syrup appeared in his paw, which he took a sip out of before continuing. "Just tell her the real problem, and you can at least start working on a real solution."
A thud from nearby caught their attention. Rainbow Dash had landed a few feet away, an anxious look on her face. "AJ!" she exclaimed. "I...can we talk about my trip, again? I can help you with the harvest while we talk."
Applejack was quiet for a moment, but then shook her head. "Forget the harvest for one second. Let's talk in the barn. I...I have some things to say." She trotted towards the old wooden building. Rainbow quickly followed her.
Discord dropped the syrup bottle and snapped up a pair of binoculars, scanning the sky. He quickly spotted Fluttershy, slowly flying closer. With a snap of his fingers, she appeared at his side.
"Thank you," she said, looking around. She saw the couple headed towards the barn. "Are they..."
"Making up now, I'd say," he said. Applejack laid her head on Rainbow's shoulder for a second. Rainbow laid her muzzle on top of her head, spreading a wing over her back. The gesture lasted just a second before they pulled away, continuing on their path.
"Probably the fastest they've ever made up," he said. With a wave of his paw, the disembodied hands around them vanished in puffs of yellow smoke, and every apple in the row they stood in fell into the buckets below.
She grabbed his paw. "Well, they do still need to talk about Rainbow's trip, but I think this conservation will go much more smoothly."
His grip tightened around her hoof. "How long do you think it'll take for them to remember they have a friend that can either teleport them back and forth or set up instantaneous communications?" he mused.
"You can bring it up yourself later," she said, "But we should probably let them figure this situation out on their own first." She nuzzled his arm, lightly tugging him back towards the gazebo. He kicked off the ground and followed her back into the shade.