At Home on the Range: Alternate ending.
"Even after all that, he still wasn't sure you were into him?" the young mare asked.
Rainbow smiled gently from across the dinner table. Her daughter and son had brought the kids over for a visit with their grandma. She hated that title. It never suited her, even though she had slowed down considerably since her youth. The quiet in the den suggested the little ones had worn themselves out, though it was well into Luna's realm.
"Yeah, your father was never good a taking hints."
A handsome pegasus stallion sipped from his mug across from his sister. Ordinarily, a visit from her children was a joyous occasion. Especially since they lived so far away from her in New Neighas. This one however, was to mark an occasion they'd all like to forget.
Three years ago today, their father, the honorable and honest Big Macintosh was felled by his heart. He was a big stallion, bigger than most. A big body requires a strong, big heart. A fact which eventually caught up with him. She had only recalled the story of their first real kiss at the request of her children. Not so much to hear a sappy romance story about their parents, but to know the strange circumstances behind their folks meeting. They had always heard about it, but nopony seemed to have time to sit down and tell the whole thing.
"You know," her son began. "Sometimes I try to imagine what dad would say about some of the stuff going on in the world."
"Probably nothing," Rainbow chuckled, "Just a nod."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I wish he could have held on to meet his grandfoals..."
A comforting hoof reached from his side, "Me too. He'd have loved them," his sister reassured.
Rainbow nodded, adding to her sentiment.
A brief silence entered the dimly lit kitchen before Rainbow decided it was past her bedtime. Sometimes she wondered what the young, cocky pegasus she had been would think of her now, if she knew she had to suffer the indignity of a 'bedtime'. A self imposed indignity, though it may have been. Without a solid eight hours, she was slow to wake up, and her wings always ached in the morning unless she stretched them thoroughly. A job she was increasingly reluctant to do each day.
"Thanks for bringing the foals by, I'm always happy to see them," she said, getting up from her chair. "But I think it's time I turned in," she yawned.
"You're right, the foals should have been in bed hours ago," her daughter added, catching her mother's yawn.
Rainbow put their coffee cups in the sink and began rinsing them out one by one. Again, she found herself wondering how her younger self would react if she could know she would fall into the same cleaning habits as her egghead friend, Twilight.
"Bye mom! Love you!" her children said as they quietly loaded themselves into the waiting taxi, Rainbow watching as it disappeared down the dark dirt road on which she and Mac raised their filly and colt.
Rainbow turned back to her house. It was dark, save for a candle still burning in the living room and in the kitchen, it's light casting dancing shadows around the room as she closed the door. Her house had been so full of life once. So many parties thrown, so many birthdays and anniversaries celebrated. Even though three years had passed, it still seemed as though any moment now, Mac would poke his head out from behind the hallway to their bedroom and ask if the kids had been put to bed yet. After the foals were asleep, he would always make time for her.
Whatever she wanted to do for the hour or so a day they could get alone, she could do with him, be it a corny movie, a dumb game, or just time for him to hold her after an exhausting day. If there was anything she missed, it was his touch. So strong and commanding, but soft and yielding when it came to her. She walked out of the kitchen and into the doorway between there and the living room.
She cast a glance back at the dinner table, seeing the adult ponies she had just talked with as foals again, celebrating their first birthday, cake smeared on their faces. All of her old friends came, and even a few Wonderbolts! The scene before her was perfect, even if it only existed within the confines of her memory. The kids were born a year apart, almost to the day, so to save time they had both parties on the same day.
Mac held the youngest in his lap while the oldest sat in the high chair in front of a special cake, curtesy of the Cakes.
"Take a big breath, and blow out the candles!" she could hear Mac's happy voice echo through the room as though he were there.
As soon as her son blew out the candles, the entire memory curled into thin air, like so much smoke from extinguished flames.
She turned to the living room, recalling even more from her tired mind. First steps, first flutter, first buck, she remembered it all, as though the memories were painted on the walls themselves. She sighed as she wiped a tear away from her eye. It sure was hard outliving the one pony you made a commitment to spend the rest of your life with. She wasn't even that old! She had always felt Mac had been taken from her before his time.
Still, a heart condition was nothing that could have been prevented, something he was quick to remind her of when they first found out. He made her promise she wouldn't treat him any differently than she had before, and to enjoy every second they had together. It was only after he was gone did she truly realize how precious the time she spent with him had been to her.
Dash took the candle in her mouth and guided herself down her hallway to the bedroom that was meant for two. The hallway leading to her room was lined with the pictures of her friends and family, as well as Mac's. Their faces had once brought her such joy, but now...they seemed to ignite a longing in her heart for days gone by. Days when she could still take to the sky on a whim and smash the sound barrier like it was made to be broken.
She pushed the door to her bedroom open softly, the creaking door letting the light from the candle cast long shadows on the room.
More photos, revealing a happier time hung near her bed, but one particular image, she always kept closest to her. Resting on her nightstand, was a picture of Macintosh, looking dapper in his fathers ill fitting suit and top hat, while she hung her forelegs over his shoulders, giving him a kiss on the cheek from behind, rice still in her mane, her veil still partly on. The day she settled down with him had been one of the happiest days of her life. That photo, along with one other item brought her more comfort than anything else she owned.
She closed the door and laid gently on her bed, slowly pulling the covers over herself. This had become a semi nightly ritual for her, and as embarrassing as it would be for others to know, she honestly didn't care. Dash pulled open the drawer to her nightstand, and pulled out an old, raggedy looking doll with blue and white polka dotted overalls and button eyes. She should have given it back to Twilight. Heck, Mac should have given it back to Twilight, but for whatever reason, they held onto it. There was a good reason for it, however. Somehow, even after three years, it still carried Mac's scent. Rainbow didn't dare wash it, but it wasn't like it ever got dirty. The next part of her ritual was by far the most unflattering, and the part most certain to upset young and confident Rainbow, if she could have ever known.
Dash grabbed the extra pillow from beside her, and gently hugged it close, while keeping the doll against her cheek. She was a grown mare, an adult! This kind of behavior was embarrassing, but comforting. She and Mac used to always sleep this way, but on some nights, when she missed him more than she thought she could stand, she began taking shelter in her imagination. If she could just pretend Mac was right beside her, where he belonged, maybe, for a brief few seconds, she would believe Mac would roll over to greet her. His blond mane shaggily hanging into his eyes as he smiled at her, knowing Rainbow would practically beg him for five more minutes of sleep.
But every morning for the past three years, she was proven wrong, time and again.
She rubbed her head into the soft down of the pillow, warming it with her motion, and feeling the tears begin to well in her eye. A quick inhale, and she was surrounded by him again. His strong back shifting gently under her embrace as she wished for nothing more than to have him back, just for a night.
She knew this stupid pillow and dumb old doll were a poor substitute for the stallion she loved. Tears were streaming down her face as she buried it into her pillow. Crying yourself to sleep. What would Mac think? she thought in disgust.
Dash knew he was gone, she knew no amount of wanting, or wishing, or praying could bring him back to her. He lay peacefully on his family farm, near his sister and her family. In the darkness, she looked through her blurry eyes at their wedding picture. She couldn't take comfort in much, and knew even less about the theories of life after death. Something she knew brought her comfort was the hope that one day, she would be able to see him again. Perhaps one day soon this restless flyer would find her way back into the strong, red forelegs of the stallion she loved.
One day.
Honestly, not as sad as I thought. Oh well, this was how I was going to end it, have the whole story be a recap of events being narrated by Rainbow in reflection on the 3 year anniversary of Mac's passing. This obviously contradicts Breaking Barriers, because Mac gives Smarty Pants back to Twilight. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it.