Chapter 1: First Birthday (Alternate Ending)
Warning:
This ending is not of the week of heart or anyone not comfortable with death. This ending contains: Heartbreak, a child crying and suicide. Continue reading at your own volition.
…She took a step back. Then another, before she turned and ran as fast as she could away from him. She ran and ran until her little legs couldn’t take her any further.
She panted heavily. She took a look around and saw that she had ran all the way to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. She recognized this place. It was familiar to her. She grabbed one of the beanbag chairs, brought it to one of the corners and curled up into it as she let the tears fall from her face.
She didn’t know how long she laid there as she cried but it felt like an eternity before she felt something warm fall on top of her. When she looked she recognized the blue feathers of her mother as she comforted her.
“Mommy…”
“Shh. It’s okay, Squirt. It’s okay.” Rainbow’s voice was soft and nurturing, a little trick she picked up from a few tips her friends gave her a couple years ago. She waited until Scootaloo’s crying died down a little. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Scootaloo’s voice was a bit choppy, but it was calm enough to get her point across. “I-I don’t w-want you to leave a-again.”
“Why would I leave?” Rainbow asked trying to look her daughter in her eyes. Scootaloo looked down and away from her.
“Be-Because he m-made you leave l-last time.”
“Scootaloo… I’m not gonna leave just because he showed up again.”
“But you left last time!” Scootaloo reached out for her mother’s hoof and pulled it closer to her. She held it to her chest. “I don’t want you to leave again.”
“Oh Scootaloo.” Rainbow scooted closer to her daughter and proceeded to nuzzle the little filly. “I’ll never leave you ever again.”
They stayed nuzzled together in silence for a while before Rainbow spoke up again. “Do you wanna go back to the party?”
Scootaloo shook her head.
“You wanna go home?”
She nodded.
And home they went, leaving everyone at the party confused and disappointed and left Picture Perfect heartbroken and depressed as he made his way back home.
The very next day, Joy went to Picture Perfect’s suite to check up on her distraught friend only to find a note on the door which was slightly ajar. The note read:
If you aren’t my friend MJ please leave this note on the door and walk away. If you are MJ, please flip the note over.
She flipped it over and found the note to be severely tear-stained. It read:
I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for dragging you through that with me. I’m glad to let you know that you won’t have to do anything with me ever again. By the time you read this note I should be long dead. Please, don’t cry for me. I lived a better life in my short life then most ponies do in a long life. Please, live a happy life and keep living your dream. I left you everything I owned just please don’t go inside.
~Picture Perfect
Joy cried as she read the note but she couldn’t help but disrespect her friend’s final wish. She pushed open the door and went inside. Once inside she looked around and found another note sitting on his coffee table. She picked it up the second note and read it.
Joy, please. Leave. Move on without me. I don’t want you seeing something you’re gonna regret. You can’t help me Joy! Just leave!
She dropped the note as more tears fell from her eyes… but she refused to leave. She searched around and found another note on the door to his bathroom.
Joy, I’m serious! Leave now! If you keep going, I promise you, you will regret it!
She pressed onward. Through the door. She saw him. His silhouette shown through the shower curtain… but she didn’t move. She stayed there staring. She wasn’t staring at him but instead she stared at the note. The note that had two words on it. Two big, bold words.
Gleaming Star!
It was her name. He knew her name. Somehow, he knew her real name. He knew that Musical Joy was her stage name. She had never told anypony her real name, not even Picture. She grabbed the note with her magic and flipped it over. She saw every tear-stain as she did with every other note. The note was riddled with them. The note read:
Gleaming, we met at the Baltimare museum about 20 years ago. You came with your school for an over-night school trip and I snuck in to take some night pictures of the dinosaurs. You couldn’t sleep and so you were wandering around. Eventually we ran into each other. We wandered around together for a while until you felt sleepy.
I knew Gleaming, not just your name. I knew how you felt. And I felt the same way. I was gonna tell you but I slipped into a coma. I’m so sorry Gleaming but please, move on without me. Take everything I have, live an amazing life and please... be happy without me. I'm sorry.
~Picture Perfect
The note fell to the floor as did the mare, as last of her demeanor shattered. She wept on the tiled floor. She wept and wept until she could weep no more. Then she just laid there. By the time she got up and left, it was already dark out.
She never looked behind the curtain. Had she done so, she would have found Picture Perfect, as he sat at the end of the tub, motionless… with an empty bottle beside him. The label read: Eternal Slumber.
