That was it then. He was dead. And all this was… well, he wasn’t really sure. The afterlife, he supposed. Everything certainly made a lot more sense to him now.

A sort of peace came over him even more profound than his eternity spent without a care in the world. Once he realized he was dead he just didn’t have anything to worry about. There was no more mystery. Everything made sense.

But then he remembered there was still one thing he didn’t understand. Where was he going? What had the pegasus pointed him towards? He couldn’t be going home. His home was long gone to him and he would never return. So what was it then? What was his goal?

He took a look at the map and realized with a smile that it was no longer the same picture it once was. It showed a path that lead across a river, a forest, another river, a desert, one last river, and ended in a meadow straight ahead of him. He looked up and saw that beyond the grove of apple trees stretched a sea of grass and flowers calling out to him. He looked back at the river and thought of all the time he had wasted upon its shores. He certainly had no desire to spend any more time there and he had no need for the water or the apples. A wide grin broke out on his face as he galloped through the apple trees, leaving the final river forever behind him. He gripped the map tightly in his teeth as it flapped with the wind.

With an unforgettable sense of accomplishment the stallion emerged from the orchard, greeting the field before him with a smile and a laugh. This was his world now. Unchained from the bonds of a mortal life, he could do anything he wanted. The pegasus, his guardian, had been right when he said he’d know when to stop. Something about this place just felt right to him and he knew this was where he was meant to spend the rest of eternity. He raised his head high to bask in the warmth and the beauty of his new world, then suddenly a voice, full of hope and wonder, greeted him.

“Little Mac, is that you?” the stallion’s ma cried, her eyes welling up with tears of joy.

“Could it really be you? Are you our Little Mac?” his pa beamed with pride.

“Oh, it is!” his ma exclaimed rushing forward to wrap the stallion in a long missed hug. “Look how big he’s gotten!” Liquid pride trailed down both his ma’s and pa’s face as they huddled around him, welcoming him back after such a long time.

One tear ran down the overwhelmed stallion’s cheek. He had so much to say, so many lost years to make up for. But it didn’t matter. It could wait. They had all the time in the world.

He simply opened his mouth to let go of the map. A gentle breeze lifted it and carried it away far over the meadow. As it twirled and spun through the open air the stallion lost sight of it lowering his head to nuzzle his parents in kind. He didn’t need it, after all. It had done what it was meant to do. It had finally guided him home.

Author's Note

I wrote this for the Equestria Daily Writer's Training Ground #011 and the prompt was "Big Macintosh wishes chimeras were the only things he had to contend with on his delivery route. What he goes up against is far, far worse..."

Once again, I think I sort of did that. I mean, he died and Applejack didn't, so I guess Big Mac's route was worse.

I'm pretty proud of myself for getting something this long done. It's by far the longest story I've written all at one time. I kinda wanted to do more with it, but part of the prompt is I'm limited to 7000 words. Also, I'm pretty much out of time, so I couldn't add anything if I wanted to.

Fun fact! All of the rivers in the story have names. See if you can figure them out! Here's a hint: The desert might be considered a river of fire (which also has its own name). Also the six eyes (as a group), the pegasus, and the white pony all have names. If you figure them out the rivers shouldn't be too tough.

Alright, thank you very much if you made it this far! I really appreciate you reading my story. I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think!