“...So…how have things been, Trixie?”

Coloratura desperately tried to break the silence between herself, Spitfire, and Trixie as they stood around Trixie’s wagon, awkwardly shuffling their hooves.

“Things have been…fine,” Trixie curtly replied.

Ever since the eventful show, Trixie hadn’t seen either of her two guest performers. Mostly because she was spending the following days wallowing in pity.

Still, she was surprised that both of them bothered to come visit her after everything. “How have things been going with you two?”

“About as well as you think,” Spitfire sighed. “I can yell at them to do drills all I want, they’re never gonna let me live this down. Dash especially.”

“I’ve been trying to keep a low profile…” Coloratura said with a nervous laugh. “We’re really sorry for ruining your show, Trixie.”

“It wasn’t a total disaster, at least…” Trixie grumbled. “Trixie has had worse shows. At least I wasn’t run out of town for this performance.”

“Well, on the positive side. I…um…I found my muse again!” Coloratura announced, softly holding onto Spitfire’s hoof.

“...Really?”

“What can I say? I” Spitfire smirked. “I just light that kinda fire in ponies.”

“Well, at least something good came out of that performance,” Trixie said, finding that even with all her baggage, she could still smile at the two.

Coloratura blushed and chuckled awkwardly. “Ah, sorry Trixie. I really wish we could find a way to make things up to you.”

“Delivery!”

The trio looked above to see Derpy carrying a sack full of letters, landing right in the middle of them all. “There you go!”

Trixie blinked in confusion, pointing at the bag filled with far more mail than she’s used to. “Wait…all of this is for Trixie?”

“Yep!” Derpy nodded. “Had to wait until I could deliver all of it!”

“Why would you need to wait? It’s not like Trixie left Ponyville since the show,” Spitfire pointed out.

“Well, a lot of these letters were addressed to Trixie, Coloratura, and Spitfire,” Derpy explained, pointing to the send address on one of the letters. “Now that all three of you are together again, I can finally deliver them to you!”

Trixie opened her mouth and quickly decided it wasn’t worth making a comment on. She grabbed a random letter from the pile to open up and read, while Spitfire and Coloratura did the same.

Each letter they received shared the same sentiments. They were all from fans who absolutely loved the show from that night. Even Trixie, who wasn’t quite as involved in the opening act, was receiving plenty of love just for hosting. There were demands aplenty for an encore performance, even requests that Trixie get more involved with the show in the future.

“Wow, you three sure got a lot of fan mail!” Derpy noted as the three read letter after letter, becoming increasingly flustered with just how popular the show apparently was.

“...Well!” Trixie said, putting one of the letters down. “Trixie certainly isn’t one to deny her adoring fans what they want, so she has no objections to arranging a few encore performances next month…if that’s okay with her co-stars.”

“Well, I am starting to write a new song again. I don’t think there’d be a more fitting place for its debut!” Coloratura giggled.

Spitfire blushed heavily. Sure it was almost entirely her fault this all happened in the first place, but she was already getting enough hazing from her team. “I dunno…”

Coloratura leaned against Spitfire. “C’mon, I think we owe Trixie at least this much. Besides…” Coloratura’s voice dropped to whisper sultrily into Spitfire’s ear. “I get the chance to rip that skin-tight suit off your body again…”

Pomf!

“I-I guess that means more practice!” Spitfire stammered.

“Trixie has no doubt that you two are going to be ‘practicing’ plenty while she’s at the orgy…”

“You two look pretty happy despite being the first ones out,” Ocellus said, noting how her friends were currently snuggling and cuddling while in her company.

“Yeah, well, we’ve had about three weeks to experiment on a lot of stuff,” Sandbar said with a sheepish grin.

“I know, I’ve heard some of those nights…” Ocellus said flatly. “Ball gags don’t make you completely silent, you know.”

“Hehe, sorry…” Yona giggled.

“I mean, I’m happy for you two exploring new kinks and all, but I’d like to get some rest at night.”

Yona raised an eyebrow. “That why Ocellus go over to Smolder’s room? For ‘rest’?”

Ocellus let out a guilty squeak, trying to hide her face within her hooves.

Sandbar leaned in, immediately intrigued. “Oh? This is news to me…”

“Yeah, after Ocellus clop out, some nights she sneak out while Yona sleep. Sometimes Ocellus come back looking very happy…and full.”

“Awww, that’s adorable!” Sandbar gushed. “You missed playing with Smolder that much?”

Ocellus nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “The game just wasn’t as fun without her…”

“Well, both of you managed to clop out when the other wasn’t playing, so I guess you’re still even on that front,” Sandbar shrugged.

“Too bad competition between professors ended differently…” Yona said, looking downward.

Ocellus winced, sucking in air through her teeth. “Yeeeaaahhh, considering Gallus is still in on Professor Applejack’s side, I think we maaaay have let Professor Dash down a bit.”

“Hey, Professor Dash still won!” Sandbar pointed out. “...No thanks to us,” he cringed.

“Not that we can enjoy the benefit of winning anyway,” Ocellus lamented.

Yona tried to rouse her friends’ spirits back up again. “It fine! There be other years! And we make it next time!”

Sandbar snorted. “Yona, I love you, but you were the first one out for the past two years.”

“Nuh-uh!” Yona stuck her tongue out. “Yona know Sandbar came first this year!”

Applejack and Big Mac trotted alongside Little Strongheart through the forest path, the sound of leaves crunching underneath their hooves with each step they took.

“Whaddya think?” Applejack asked, “Is the view better than the last time you were here?”

“It’s still so incredible…!” Little Strongheart said in awe. Though she was walking the same path she did last time, the view was different. Nearly all the trees had lost their vibrant leaves, leaving the sky to peek through all the naked branches, revealing much more of the bright blue to shine above, and with the leaves no longer on the trees, the ground was now covered in those warm colors.

“Yeah, pretty soon it’ll be winter and it’ll just be snow everywhere. But all the fallen leaves sure are a pretty sight, right?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded.

“Wow, I definitely wanna come pay a visit to see Ponyville in winter!” Strongheart’s bright smile got a bit sadder in her eyes. “I just wish I had a bigger reason for staying here in town…”

Applejack wrapped a sympathetic hoof around the buffalo. “Heh, me too. Ah gotta get back to the barn pretty soon to prepare, even if Ah won’t be participating.”

“Aw, I’m really sorry, Applejack. If I hadn’t lost it so early, you probably would’ve at least tied with Rainbow Dash…”

“You got nothin’ to apologize for,” Applejack said, shaking her head with a warm smile. “Besides, it’s my fault for my own clopout.”

Applejack turned her head towards her brother. “Just like how it’s Mac’s own fault for jerking ‘stead of working.”

Big Mac let out a low, defeated whine as he lowered his head.

“Oh right! I heard about that!” Little Strongheart grinned. “You made a big mess, right?”

“Made a big mess all over Princess Celestia!” Applejack chuckled as Big Mac looked even more ashamed. “She had to spend at least an hour in our shower trying to get all his seed off her!”

Strongheart giggled alongside her. “Well, at least you went out in a pretty memorable way. Mine might be a little more…embarrassing than that.”

“Yeah, you looked real tired when you came,” Applejack said, remembering the scoreboard update when she woke up. “What was goin’ on?”

“Oh, I was having a really hot dream, but…” Strongheart sheepishly looked off to the side. “I woke up in the middle of it, and I just…couldn’t help myself.”

“Well that’s a shame. What were ya dreaming about? Musta been something real spicy!”

“I remember it was Rainbow Dash eating me out. Ohhhh, she was going so fast!” Strongheart gushed, her hooves quivering just a little bit. “But then she started shaking me and that’s when I woke up. But her tongue! I don’t know how, but it just felt so…real!”

“Real, huh?” Applejack furrowed her brow. She couldn’t make any conclusions, but Strongheart’s story started itching in her brain.

Now that Cozy Glow could think clearly again, she went right back to being a general nuisance.

“Ha ha, you have feelings for Applejack!” Cozy laughed as she pointed at the seething changeling.

“Fuck off, you little twerp.”

Obviously, that only spurred Cozy on further. “I thought it was bad simping for Shining Armor, but wow, your standards REALLY changed!”

Chrysalis’s hoof trembled, desperately resisting the urge to punch her face in. “Are you done yet?”

“Oh, I’ll never be done, this is HILARIOUS,” Cozy said with the biggest grin on her face. “Aww, are you gonna be there for her family reunions, too?”

“If the opportunity to slam your face into the nearest apple tree is there, then I might actually consider it…” Chrysalis said through her gritted fangs.

“I don’t see why you’re so against the idea,” Tirek shrugged. “I thought you WANTED love, and suddenly when one pony might actually reciprocate, you deny the idea entirely?”

“I want love, but I demand it from everyone! That way, it would be enough to help create a new army for total conquest!”

“So one love isn’t enough? Feh! And you call my magic appetite insatiably greedy…” Tirek scoffed.

Chrysalis turned up her nose. “I am not against seeking romance for my own personal gains…if it was just anypony but her…! I refuse to find myself so weak that I end up ‘reformed’ like Thorax!”

Tirek thought for a moment before smirking. “I see no problem with that. It’d be a big step towards your improvement.”

“And HOW, exactly, will that improve me?” Chrysalis hissed.

“Well, it’d finally improve your looks, for starters,” Tirek chuckled.

“Too bad Applejack can’t change your nasty personality just as easily,” Cozy chimed in.

“I almost pity Babs for being stuck with you…” Chrysalis growled.

Cozy immediately went on the defensive. “Hey, Babs loves me for who I am!”

“A manipulative, two-faced, lovesick twit?” Tirek said with a smirk.

“Whose side are you ON?!”

“Mine, obviously.”

Cozy dismissively waved her hoof. “Whatever, Babs pretty much won, so I’m fine with how this ended.”

“As am I,” Chrysalis mused. “Thanks to you, the orgy is already a vast improvement over last year’s simply because YOU won’t be there.”

“Indeed, it should be quite a good first impression if I don’t have to hear a single ‘golly’ the entire night.”

“Babs loves when I say it…”

“...Actually, that does remind me,” Chrysalis said, pointing her hoof at Tirek. “You’re the only one out of us three without any sort of companionship, Tirek.”

“Yes, but unlike you two, I don’t feel the compulsion to find some sort of meaningful relationship with an Apple.”

“Don’t knock it ‘till ya try it, big guy,” Cozy shrugged.

Chrysalis adopted a smirk quite reminiscent of the kind Cadence had burned into her own memory. “Indeed, which of the many Apple family members are still single…?”

Cozy paused to think. “...Pretty sure Applejack considers Pinkie Pie to be-”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

“Pinkie, shouldn’t you be pacing yourself?”

“You kidding, Fluttershy? I’m surprised it lasted this long!” Pinkie wiped her muzzle as she resumed stuffing her face with leftover Nightmare Night chocolate.

Fluttershy turned her head to her brother. “So…explain to me why you decided to clop out only a few days before the orgy?”

Zephyr puffed his chest out, talking about his loss as a moment of pride. “Well, seeing as Cozy Glow made a sacrifice for her love on the other team, I thought it only fair that I would do the same!”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Um, I’m pretty sure Cozy fully intended to stay in with Babs, I don’t think that’s exactly the same.”

“Well, then my sacrifice was worth more! Besides, Rainbows seemed pretty excited when she saw what I was doing.”

“In-between asking for bleach, I’m sure,” Fluttershy muttered to herself.

“And! You’re never gonna believe this, but once I was finished and she realized what my sacrifice meant to her, she said that she loved me!” Zephyr said excitedly.

Fluttershy and Pinkie did a double-take. “Wow, you’re right, I don’t believe it!” Pinkie nodded.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and smiled. “Are you sure you were hearing her correctly, Zephyr?”

“Well, she said a bunch of other stuff before, after, and in-between, but I distinctly heard her say the words ‘I’, ‘love’, and ‘Zeph’. So that totally counts!”

Fluttershy turned to Pinkie Pie, who was currently drawing little circles with her hoof around her temple as she pointed to Zephyr.

“Well, I’m impressed you were willing to make the sacrifice, especially knowing you’ll miss out on the orgy,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, it was a painful decision for sure!” Zephyr said, dramatically holding his hoof over his forehead. “I’m sure it’s just as painful for Rainbows, knowing what she’s going to have to miss out on…”

“Hey, Zephyr’s sacrifice also helps me out too!” Pinkie chimed in. “With the teams no longer tied, that means there’s gonna be a winner’s only round, which means that Team Rainbow Dash gets to use the plans that me and Cadence whipped up! But it’s a shame with all the work I put into it, I won’t be able to see how it turns out.”

“I’m sure Twilight would be more than happy to let you watch the recording with her once we’re done,” Fluttershy giggled.

Author's Note

Those delusions are gonna carry on for YEARS.