There were a lot of words that could describe Fluttershy, like sweet, kind, soft-spoken, and timid. However, she was feeling just a smidge less sweet and dandy at the moment and a lot more absolutely pissed off. Her lungs filled with oxygen from the clean forest air as she took deep breaths to calm the rage inside her.

"Oh come on baby, you can't seriously still be mad." Fluttershy could practically hear the eye-roll dripping in Discord's voice.

"You're right I'm not mad," she said in a low, even tone.

Fluttershy felt the breeze of Discord's relieving sigh on her back. "Thank goodness," he began to lay his claw/paw on the mare's shoulders, "I really thought you were gonna lose your cool-"

Fluttershy slapped his hands away from her. "I'm so livid right now I'd walk twenty miles back to Ponyville, spend three hours having Twilight teach me a spell to go back in time, find the creature who mangled your butt like this and HELP THEM! What in the H-E double hockey sticks were you thinking?!"

Discord tried hard to suppress the smile on his muzzle but it was a losing battle. "Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you're mad?"

"WELL I'M ABOUT TO BE HELLO FLIPPING KITTY RIGHT NOW!" she seethed. "Do you have any idea how worried I was!?" she shook so much her hair fell into her eyes.

"Darling, it's just a minor accident, these things happen," Discord gently moved the fallen locks behind her ear.

Fluttershy snatched herself from his grasp. "No! A 'minor accident' is putting your grandmother's iced tea in the fridge when she specifically said to put it in the freezer. A 'minor accident' is saying see ya later to a pony who's visually impaired, a 'minor accident' is when two draconequus conceive a churro body, delusional idiot, and call it DISCORD!"

"You're getting better at your insults babe I'm proud."

"Shut up! You writing an ill grammared note on a flimsy piece of paper saying 'gun two get fire would' and coming back three hours later with serious cuts and bruises on your arms and then have the audacity to lie to me about what happened is a SMIDGE MORE THAN JUST A MINOR ACCIDENT!"

"...So I take it that tripping over a horizontally tall gnome wasn't believable enough for you."

"Ring-a-ding-ding," Fluttershy hissed. "Neither you nor I will leave this tent until you tell me what happened."

"...Will kissing be in the ballpark during that time period?"

"Kissing doesn't even have tickets to the game," she uttered with as much calmness as she could muster. "And it won't for a long while unless you spill the beans within the next ten minutes."

"One hundred and thirty minutes."

"FIVE MINUTES!"

"...I think I'll take my chances with the blue balls," Discord crossed his arms.

"What! Happened! To! Your! Arms!"

"Mosquitos! Got! To! Them!'

"It's the middle of January, nimrod!"

"Hive of angry bees."

"Bee stings don't cause large gashes!"

"Allergic reaction."

"We're in the middle of a nature preserve, you're allergic to gasoline!"

"I got into a ruffle with a bear."

"They're hibernating!"

"Fell into a thorny rose bush."

"Try again!"

"Tried to climb a tree and failed."

"Not even close!"

"Was attacked by six female vampires."

"Three minutes!"

"Ya know what, this isn't even real blood!" Discord chuckled. "It's so embarrassing that I've been hiding this from you, not for the past thirty minutes but since the beginning of our relationship. I was so taken by the beauty of the evening sky that I decided...to paint it...and in the midst of my masterpiece, I got scarlet paint everywhere on my arms. Are you satisfied now Fluttershy!? Watching me reveal my deepest darkest guilty pleasure of realistic scenery art!?"

Discord took a sharp intake of air after the yellow mare lightly flicked the deep scratch near his wrist with her wing.

"Wanna go back to the drawing board?" she growled.

"WaNna gO bAcK To tHE dRaWinG bOaRd," Discord mocked with crossed arms

"DISCORD!" she roared.

"FLUTTERSHY!" he giggled.

"You are such a silly fool! The only thing you take seriously is your stupid chaotic pranks! We can't even have sex without you pretending my body is a race track and you running mini cars all over me, it's like I'm dating a CHILD!"

"Watch who you're calling a child, my dear, because if I'm a child you know what that makes you? A pedophile, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and be lectured by a pervert."

"WELL, THIS CHILD SEX PREDATOR IS BREAKING UP WITH YOU UNLESS YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH WITHIN THE NEXT SIXTY SECONDS!" Fluttershy screamed in rage.

"Will you please stop worrying about me!" the clown-like facade finally fell as Discord gave an annoyed growl. "So what I got a few scratches on my arms-"

"Six gashes."

"I'm fine! Why the hell do you even care?! You're my mare friend, not my mom!"

"Exactly! I'm your mare friend, it's my job to care a LOT about you, you selfish spaghetti noodle, and you'll never be able to change that!"

"Well, can you at least try, please?"

"Ugh! You have got to be the biggest hypocrite I have ever witnessed in all my twenty-eight years of living! Now if the roles were reversed, you'd immediately snap us home, bandage and pamper me, and interrogate the living CRAP out of me upon the hint of a bruise! Why won't you let me help you!?"

"BECAUSE I'M A THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD DRACONEQUUS WITH MORE POWER WITHIN MY PINKY THAN CELESTIA AND LUNA COMBINED! I SHOULD BE TAKING CARE OF YOU, NOT SOME MEEK MORTAL MARE WHO CAN BARELY FLY TAKING CARE OF ME!" As soon as the words left his mouth he immediately wanted to take them back.

He gently reached out to her. "Fluttershy...I didn't..."

The waterworks were already turned on full force. "'I'm...g-gonna...go, don't...f-follow...me," she quietly sobbed.

"Fluttershy, please, I-"

"I SAID STAY PUT!" she flew away as fast as her wings could carry her.

She landed a good ten meters away from the tent, near the campfire. She held her chest, her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to explode. Hot tar spilled from her eyes and she couldn't stop it no matter how hard she tried.

She was so stupid for suggesting they go out camping for the weekend. What was supposed to be a relaxing and fun trip has been anything but since they got there. With her being busy grading exams and taking double shifts at the sanctuary, and Discord becoming more popular in Canterlot for his magical abilities, she feared they were growing more and more distant for the past month. All she wanted was to have her boyfriend back, but now he felt overwhelmed by her dumb need for closeness.

But no matter how needy she was she just couldn't stand to see Discord being harmed in any kind of way. The pounding in her head doubled when she thought about the scars on his arms. What if he left because she was being too overbearing and needed a break? If it wasn't for her he wouldn't be hurt like he is now, and Discord knew it too. She knew she shouldn't be this concerned, but if anything horrid were to happen to him she honestly didn't know what she would do. She couldn't lose her world. Maybe she was silly for worrying, that's why Discord yelled at her.

Or it was because Discord was getting tired of their relationship; of her. He didn't look too disturbed when she threatened to break up with him. Maybe that was his plan from the very beginning. They were far away enough from prying eyes making it the best place to bestow devastating news to some pony, the isolative and defensive behavior, the laughing at her face for being worried. It all made sense; he was going to dump her at a nature preserve! Fluttershy felt the air in her lungs grow short. He was probably packing his belongings at that very moment, waiting for her to come back so he could get it over and done with. She was nothing more than a responsibility and he was ready to give the burden off to some pony else. Because that's what she was. A mind-numbing, time-draining, LIABILITY! Fluttershy wanted to scream but she couldn't. In fact, she thought she was dying.

Crap, it's another panic attack!

She felt a soft pressure on her shoulders and looked up into a pair of calm red and yellow eyes glistening from the fire's glow. The rest of the face was nothing but a grey blob, the sticky tears making it hard to see. What she assumed was a mouth was working, but the pounding in her head was too loud for her to hear anything. Two gentle thumbs reached up to her eyes and wiped the hot mess from her face.

It was Discord.

She tried to speak through the never-ending tears."I-I...can't...I can't...I'm s-s-shaking," Discord put a finger to his mouth indicating to her to stop talking.

His hand was on his chest as it rhythmically rose and fell. His nostrils flared then his mouth made an "O" shape. Soon she started to breathe in a similar rhythm, the much-needed air filling her lungs.

"Breathe in and breathe out," he instructed.

"D-d-don't p-patron...patronize me," she gurgled.

"Breathe in and breathe out." Fluttershy was no match to the gentle claw that messaged her head. After a good five minutes of breathing, Discord pulled a water bottle from out a bag Fluttershy didn't notice was there until then. "Drink, dear heart."

With shaky hooves, she, along with Discord's help, brought the water to her mouth.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yes," she whispered.

Discord gave a gentle smile. "Good, the water forces you to breathe."

The silence laid in the air for what felt like hours, but really it was just five minutes. A moving red glow caught Fluttershy's eye. Her pupils dilated when she saw flames form into letters and letters into words.

I love you and I'm sorry.

Discord buried his snout in her mane and danced soft kisses on her temple. "I should have never caused you a panic attack. You're too amazing to be treated that way. I've been a horrible mate. I was inconsiderate of your feelings, made you feel less than, and yelled at you. All I can do now is beg for your forgiveness, even though I have done nothing to deserve it."

"I know...I can be...tiresome, but you have...to understand you...mean so much to me. I'm sorry for being so...needy and annoying. " Fluttershy buried her face in his chest, scared of his response.

She was gently pushed from his body and forced to look into his eyes. "I could never tire of you, or feel you're truly needy or annoying. Not in a million years."

"Then why can't you understand how much I care about you?"

He held her close in a soft embrace. "I love you too."

"Let me be your knight in shining armor, please, as you are mine."

"...I know we're having a moment, but that has got to be the cheesiest line I've ever heard."

Fluttershy giggled into his chest. "I save my best only for you."

The rest of the night was a haze to Fluttershy, and all she could remember was giggling at the mini clown circus made of flames as it danced and juggled in the air thanks to the warm body holding her.

Fluttershy could have sworn she saw the very same circus on the fire combusted stove.

"FLUTTERSHY, GET OUT THE WAY!"

The amount of destruction didn't seem all that bad from the ground level. Maybe a few establishments were a little ransacked and a huge mess of fruit along with other carnival food decorated the streets, but Zecora originally just chalked it down to minor inconvenience. Now that she stood a good ten feet off the ground on top of a pineapple's remains, she could see the full picture.

Ponyville was torn up from the floor up.

Gravel from parts of the streets was turned up in potholes, parts of pony carriages were scattered on the grass, yellow sparkly goop rusted the town's fountain, teddy bears and dolls that once sat on the shelves of a toy shop now hanged on tree branches along with beaten fruit and sticky caramel apples. It was like watching the remains of a fairy apocalypse. It was time for Zecora to put her lyricism to good use.

"Ladies and gentle colts, boys and girls, who is ready to win a prize that'll change your world!?"

Nothing. Not even a shrug in her direction from any pony. That's ok, she liked a challenge.

"Those dolls and bears were common toys you've all won from the fair but this prize is something that none can compare! The greatest competitor who destroys most of the living fruit that is large and gold will be rewarded with a power that can not be controlled!

"..."

Zecora was a grown mare who paid bills, screw challenges. "Have these ponies not gotten enough of their daily vittles? Why aren't they responding to any of my riddles?" she huffed in annoyance.

Zephyr landed next to Zecora with a smug grin. "For someone who lives in Ponyville, you sure don't know how to speak its language," Zephyr lazily rested his weight on Zecora as he used her as an arm stool. Even during a chaotic fruit horde attack, he still had time to be obnoxious.

"And for a trained royal guard you'd think controlling a mob of pouty little ponies wouldn't be too hard," she shoved him off of her.

"Hey, the only reason I became a guard was out of sheer pettiness of the princess wanting to stick it to her sister and win a bet. We didn't go over war tactics in the twenty minutes it took to hire me. And yes, I would love to help you," Zephyr smiled as if he just offered a starving orphan another bowl of soup.

Zecora pulled her upper lip back in a snare. "Asked you to do the task, I have not. Your memory must be in rot."

"I know, I'm psychic!" Zephyr sashayed to the edge of pineapple. Zephyr stretched and bent his shoulders and arms as if he was about to participate in the running of the leaves. At first, Zecora didn't mind-she liked the way his golden locks shimmered in the falling sun's glow-but it became a bit much when he tried to put his hind leg behind his head and pulled a muscle. "Are you going to make an announcement or join the Olympics?" she sighed.

"The message I'm about to bestow on these ponies is so astronomical in influence, I have to prepare my body for the chaos that will ensue." He stood erect in attention and cleared his throat. "THERE'S A THOUSAND BITS IN ONE OF THOSE PINEAPPLE THINGS-whoa!"

The platform the two were on immediately came tumbling down. In the nick of time, Zephyr caught Zecora's hoof as she went falling. The two landed on the ground and watched as a river of pineapple juice flooded the road as the town folk took their money-hungry fueled excitement out on the sentient fruit.

Zecora chanced a glance at Zephyr and immediately regretted it.

His pearly white teeth took up most of his face as they formed another one of his signature grins. "No need to thank me," he resumed her position as his personal armrest.

Zecora giggled at Zephyr's theatrics despite herself. "How about we split up to make sure Ponlyville can still stand. You taking the south and I the north will be a good plan."

"Already on it doc," Zephyr saluted before prancing off into the crowd.

Zecora sighed in relief. Her suggestion to split up was more for her sake than Ponyville's, but hey killing two birds with one stone was always the way to go.

Zecora casually trotted along, unfazed by the ongoing chaos. She's seen worse.

While trotting, a small grey building perfectly intact caught her eye as it seemed untouched by the outside madness. Fascinated, Zecora took a look inside through the window.

Boy did she see a sight.

"Discord?"

"FLUTTERSHY, GET OUT THE WAY!"

The sound of Rainshine's ear-piercing yell scared Fluttershy back to the present disaster that was raging.

"Oh, my goodness!" she screamed. Taking action, she got the nearest thing of water and threw it on the stove. But it was too late, the damage was already done, if not made worse.

The flame roared as it doubled in size. "NO!" was the last thing Fluttershy heard before the burning flower ate the counter completely and flew at her. She covered her face as a last desperate resort to protect herself from the devastating inevitable that was sure to come.

But she felt no scorching burn, not even a graze of heat. Instead strong, familiar arms held her close, protecting her. She looked up at the long mummified body before her and cocked her head to the side with a squint.

Fluttershy was sure she was the only pony to be scared shitless as she witnessed hell's gates begin to open on invitation one minute, then feel like she's snuggled in the softest blanket, with all her plushies on a peaceful rainy day the very next minute. She was positive she wouldn't survive that stove's wild combustion, at least not without a few burns and scratches. But here she was, tucked in the arms of what could be her guardian angel. He didn't even have to speak and she immediately knew it was him. His touch was identification enough.

There was the rhythm of his wild heartbeat that once lulled her into a dreamless sleep. The stone-cold paw and claw pressed into her back, their prints on her fur a revelation of what used to be and what is now. The four feet of cake batter that flooded the small kitchen, a frantic and last-minute resort to put out the flame, so ridiculous, but still effective, that only he could have thought of it. The harsh shade of red his pupils bled into, unsure whether to fight or flight, piercing right into Fluttershy's calm teal ones. He was angry, confused, worried, but most importantly traumatized.

"Hi, nice to see you again," Fluttershy cheerfully waved. She never knew how he did it, but Discord's embrace always brought calmness to her. Discord gave no response but instead continued his starry-eyed stare.

She felt bad, here he was on the brink of a panic attack with the only thing keeping him stable was his deathly grip on her arms while she chillaxed in his hold. It was like that comic strip Pinkie Pie loved to show her, the one with a room lit up in flames and a yellow dog with a fedora calmly saying the situation was "fine".

Fluttershy and Discord were never on the same page. They weren't even a part of the same book series. Sometimes it was so frustrating Fluttershy had to laugh. No better cure to frustration than laughter.

Fluttershy hadn't realized she was audibly giggling until Discord flinched. In a frantic spurt of magic, he evaporated the cake batter avalanche into thin air. As soon as every other pony was mobile and no longer buried under the wet batter, it was game over.

"Oh my gosh, it's a mummy!" Red Velvet screamed in bloody murder. Everyone else followed in hysterics, some cowering into corners, others throwing whatever was available in their defense. However, their efforts were in vain.

Fluttershy fell to the floor, once looking back into mixed match orbs, now staring up at the kitchen's ceiling fan.

He was gone.

Rainshine ran to the pegasus, traces of worry laced her features. "You good?"

Fluttershy continued to calmly watch the fan's counterclockwise spinning, while everyone else talked over each other in adrenaline-fueled confusion. "I'm fantastic, thanks for asking. You?"

Discord was freezing, particularly on his back. And it wasn't because of the cool whip cream from the pineapple upside-down cake he was sitting in. He was in Ponyville. Or at least what he thought was Ponyville. From where he sat by a secluded alley between a flower shop and a bakery, all he saw were ponies running over each other for….pineapples? And what was this pineapple upside-down cake doing in this random alley? He wanted to ponder some more about his whereabouts, but his eyelids grew heavy and his limbs numb.

Before he blacked out the last thing he saw were the worried magenta eyes of a blue mare, presenting herself as came around from behind him.

It's been an hour since Zecora and Zephyr left the disaster that was Ponyville.

For a town infamous for their power of friendship, the residents sure knew how to scavenge for money. Ponies were making bets left and right, teaming up with each other to see who could find the treasured pineapple first, the excitement of finding jewels dancing in their eyes. Zecora was more than certain those sentient fruits were laced with something.

Zecora saw the urgency in the town ponies' competitiveness and was very worried about what they would do with her and Zephyr's hides once they found out there was no treasure. Thank goodness Twilight returned to Ponyville when she did, her social skills as the princess of friendship shining through and placating Ponyville. Something about how the real treasures were the bonds that were created today or something of that nature. Brotherly affectionate song and dance were of course ensued.

As tiresome as Ponyville can be with their need for instantaneous musical numbers, it gave the witch doctor and royal guard enough time to find Discord's wounded body in the alleyway between Sugar Cube Corner and Bon-Bon's flower shop, and dip.

However, while Ponyville did their more than usual jolly production about love and fellowship, Zecora was ready to give her friend a piece of her mind.

Discord had some real Celestia-be-damned nerve. Here she and Zephyr were running like untamed bulls in a china shop looking for Discord only to find out he was out with her. Was Zecora even surprised by the huge burn mark on his back? When the love-sick fool was with that pegasus, not at all. And he was doing so well getting over her too; going to therapy, enjoying his solitude, he's even progressed to being able to say her name in casual conversation. All that work and collaboration, and you know what Discord did? Crushed it into a smoothie and served it on a silver platter for that pink-haired girl.

It may have been a year, but he knew damn well he wasn't in the right headspace to see her more than once a week. Not only did this draconequus wake up at 3 am to fix her pipes last week, when he could have easily given her the number to a 24-hour emergency plumber, but he somehow, someway figured today was a good time to see her, but ended up saving her from a stove flame, something that was most likely her own doing.

Of course, Zecora still loved Fluttershy and considered her a good friend, but that mare was an idiot. Anyone with two eyes and common sense could see that draconequus would follow Fluttershy to the ends of hell and back, but then again, sense wasn't always that common. How anypony was that naive and unaware of their friend's feelings towards them was a mystery.

And Zecora couldn't even get started on the destructive and maniacal pineapples, how he gave Zephyr a heart attack by ditching him, or how he left her to deal with the obnoxious guard. Now here she was, carrying his sorry burnt tail back to her hut through this hot and musty swamp that the town deemed as the Everfree forest.

Zephyr whipped the sweat off his brow. Spring was in blossom and the once snowy and icy soil was melting, creating a quite mushy and washed up texture to it. Originally flying a good foot off the ground to avoid walking in mother nature's mess while carrying his charge, Zephyr had to swallow his disgust for dirt as his heavy armor soon got the best of him. Zephyr was having a time walking-no, trudging- through the thick mud. Lifting his hooves in and out of the creamy soil was a workout in and of itself, not to mention Discord's extra weight. He was certain the witch doctor was fairing no better than him.

"You good back there?!" Zephyr shouted behind him.

"Swimmingly!" Zecora strained to speak.

Zephyr was not at all convinced. "Are you sure?!"

"Very!"

Zephyr sighed. He may have a few loose screws when it came to intelligence, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell Zeecora was in a mood. One minute he was caught up in Ponyville's musical production, the next minute he sees the witch doctor marching up to him, she gruffly demands to him, saying, "Let's go, Discord is outside Pinkie Pie's window," she then swiftly turns her tail to him and marched off. She hasn't said a word to him for the past hour since, and it was honestly disturbing him.

"Ya know," Zephyr began, wanting to fill the silent void, "we can take a break if you want! I just feel bad making you walk this much."

"Your pity I do not care for! I'm a more than capable mare who doesn't need a helper-AH!"

"Doc!" Zephyr dropped his side of Discord and was by her side immediately. "Did you hurt anything?" He offered his hoof in assistance.

"You tell me, sweetie," she huffed, throwing her twisted hoof in his face for him to see.

Zephyr was about to grab her hoof in assistance, "Do you need help getting up-?"

"Don't touch me," she hissed in pain, "besides, doctoring is far above your pedigree."

She dismissed his hoof and hobbled her way from the ground, brushing off her fall. As expected, (much to Zecora's annoyance) Zephyr helped her up anyway. When Zecora still felt his hooves on hers in assistance she glared at him. "What are you waiting for? Do you wish to gawk at my injury some more?"

"You can't possibly expect for me to allow you to carry Discord while walking on only three hooves" he sat on his haunches and crossed his hooves.

"Sucks for you, because that is something I fully intend to do."

Zephyr irritatedly sighed. He had about enough of her attitude. "What is with you right now? Somepony got your stripes tied in a bunch?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Ever since we found Discord in the alley and dipped from Ponyville, you've been nothing but sarcasm and snide remarks. So I'm asking you, what's up?"

Zecora sighed in exasperation. "How would you feel if you realized the reason your friend is hurt is that his ex is a naive flirt?"

Zephyr looked at Zecora with confused brows. "Fluttershy?"

"No, a pink flamingo," she rolled her eyes.

"What could my soft-spoken mosquito of a sister have done to Discord?"

"While we were running like chickens with our heads cut off looking for your charge, this idiot was saving the mare from a flame quite large, " she bumped Discord's limp body with her hoof.

"Hey, that hurt!"

Zephyr and Zecora both gasped, "Discord!"

Author's note:

WE DID IT JOE! TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY! This chapter was a doozy to edit, I'll tell you. Thanks for reading, love yall!

Shows Over!