“I’m sorry, but I just don’t think this is going to work.” Discord said. “Long-distance things like this never do.” Sunset frowned as she stepped out from the portal, having just visited her boyfriend.
“But I LOVE him!” Sunset said.
“Constantly opening the portal over and over again whenever you want to see each other or even send a note is just too…draining.” Discord said. One of his hands turned into a drain and he held it over his head, drinking several gulps before turning the valve off with his other hand.
“But I LOVE him!” Sunset repeated. “And come on, it can’t be all that draining. You don’t seem any worse for wear at all. You even just turned your hand into a drain!”
“Oh, that?” Discord said. “But a parlor trick.” His hand turned back to normal.
Sunset wasn’t convinced. “I know you can-“
“Nope. I’m done,” Discord said, and disappeared.
What was Sunset going to do now? Her boyfriend would think that she had just abandoned him without even a proper final goodbye. She couldn’t leave things that way, she just couldn’t! But without Discord, there was no way to see her boyfriend again. At the orders of the princesses, all dimensional portals had been shut down to prevent further contamination between universes, which had forced Sunset to decide where she wanted to stay. After much thought, she had decided to return to Equestria, but regularly visited the human world on short occasions. Discord was still allowed to open portals so long as they were promptly closed after whoever was using them went through, and he had helped her in that respect as well. What if he would stop helping her with that, too, and she couldn’t even see her friends anymore?!
But she couldn’t worry about that right now. She had to find him, but how? His own home was in a pocket dimension (which was part of the reason he had been allowed to keep opening portals) and as far as she knew, there was no way to get there without him. She searched for weeks, but Discord was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he really had stopped making new portals forever and had retreated into his own dimension for the rest of time. Her relationship was over.
THREE YEARS LATER
Sunset was still trying to move on when it happened. Discord returned!
It happened right in the middle of the Summer Sun Celebration. Celestia was about to raise the Sun when he just suddenly appeared, interrupting the festivities. “Ahhhh,” he said, stretching his arms up as he floated in the air and everypony looked at him. “What a nice nap.”
Sunset was one of the ponies looking at him. “DISCORD?!” she shouted. “WHERE WERE YOU?!”
“At home, of course,” Discord said. “You know, you could have just stopped by if you wanted to see me.”
“No, I couldn’t,” Sunset said indignantly. “Your home is in a pocket dimension.”
“Whoops, my mistake,” Discord said. “But you could have at least come to one of my tea parties with Fluttershy. Even Smolder stopped by once.”
“YOU WERE HAVING TEA PARTIES WITH FLUTTERSHY?!” Sunset said.
“Yes, didn’t you know?” A cup of tea materialized in Discord’s hand and he took a sip, making sure to hold his finger out in the proper manner. “Every Saturday at ten. I wouldn’t miss them for the world.”
Sunset couldn’t believe it. She had been unable to see her friends or her boyfriend for three years and Discord had been coming to Equestria every week all along. How did she miss that?
The rest of the ponies were gossiping amongst themselves, not sure why Sunset specifically was so indignant at Discord. Sunset glanced around, then said, “Send me back.”
“Back where?” Discord asked. “To see your friends? To see your boyfriend? I suppose I can open a portal again just once. I did have quite a good nap.”
Sunset hesitated for a moment, trying to decide who to see first, and she finally decided on her boyfriend. She had at least had a proper goodbye with her friends, but her boyfriend had thought she would be back within a few days.
“My boyfriend,” she said. The gossiping among the other ponies increased in volume and Discord opened the portal, revealing her boyfriend’s house, the same tree still beside it as always.
“Good luck, Sunset!” Celestia shouted.
“Thank you!” Sunset said, and stepped through the portal.
Once she was through, she knocked on her boyfriend’s door. No one answered. She knocked again, and rang the doorbell. A few moments later, he answered!
“Sunset?” he asked, his hat falling off in his surprise.
“Señor Huevos!” Sunset exclaimed. “I’ve missed you so much!”
Señor Huevos smiled sadly. “Where were you for all this time?” he asked.
“I was stuck in Equestria!” Sunset said. “I couldn’t get back. I’m so sorry!”
Señor Huevos wrapped his body sideways around Sunset in a small, sad hug. She had always liked how his mustache tickled her side as he did so. Then he withdrew.
“I’m sorry. I have to tell you something,” he said. Then he called, “Señorita, come down here!”
A few moments later, another being like Señor Huevos came to the door. She was turquoise. “Is this the girl you told me about?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. Then, to Sunset, he said, “Sunset, meet Señorita Huevos.”
Sunset was devastated. “I…I hope you have a good life together,” she said, and then ran away back through the portal. Discord closed it behind her.
In the meantime, Celestia had raised the Sun and the crowd had dispersed. The sounds of gossip were only in the distance now.
“So, how did it go?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sunset said. And she went back home. She had thought she could handle it, even sort of expected it, but to know for sure that he had moved on without her was just too much. She knew she would get over him eventually, but not yet. Not yet. Taking a framed portrait of Señor Huevos down from her wall, she held it to her in her bed and cried.
Author's Note
The original posting of this story didn't have a cover image; the cover image was added after the contest had ended.
