Later on in the nigh, Big McIntosh awoke with a start. He really wasn’t sure why he awoke like that because he didn’t remember a nightmare, it wasn’t too hot or too cold in the room, and there hadn’t been a loud noise. Whatever it was, he brushed it off in his drowsiness, got up, and went down to the kitchen for a late night glass of milk. He passed by the clock at the bottom of the stairs and glanced at it to see that it was just past midnight. Big Mac turned sharply at the bottom of the stairs and went into the kitchen and retrieved the milk and a small glass from the cabinet.

When the poured the milk and put everything back up and then sat down to drink, he couldn’t help but notice that things were too quiet. There were no crickets, no frogs, no thunderstorms, no Granny Smith snoring, and no Applejack talking in her sleep. It was a bit unnerving, sure, but at the same time it felt pretty good to sit down in silence at the farm for once. He took a sip of his milk, put the glass down, and continued to stare out blankly at the barnyard below.

As he sat there in silence though, his old curse started to return to him. Thoughts of Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and now Pinkie Pie came floating into his mind. He had realized it earlier, but didn’t want to believe, and now here he was realizing it again and believing it too. He was in hot water, really hot water. Now he couldn’t wait to decide who he would break it off with and who he wouldn’t. He would be forced to make a decision now. Only, sitting here and looking at the empty barnyard below made him feel as if that wasn’t going to be enough. His conscience burdened him to tell the truth to all of them. No matter how much it hurt them, or himself, it would only continue to do more damage if he didn’t tell the truth. He concluded that if he stood up and admitted it like a stallion, then it would be better and hurt everypony less than them finding out on their own. Big Mac’s realization and condemnation was that by all of the mares being so close, they would eventually find out. It might take five days, five months, or five years, but eventually they would all find out.

Big Mac was ready to stand though and show what kind of stallion that he was. He pulled five pieces of paper and five envelopes out of the nearby drawer and began to draft up letter that he would send out to all of the mares; Applejack, he could tell to be there himself. He wrote out the letters with the exact same content to all of the mares, asking that they be at the barn at two o’ clock sharp in two days. Those two days would ensure that he would have time to prepare and set up everything how he wanted, and then by hosting his confession there at his own farm would arm him with knowledge that at least he would have a place to run. He gulped at the thought as he sealed the final envelope and then put it in a stack with the rest, arranged from nearest location to furthest. With a shaky hoof, he took the final drink of his milk, stood, and after placing his glass in the sink and collecting the enveloped, headed for Ponyville under the cover of darkness.

Once he arrived in town, the sound of the running stream, the light of the moon, and the candlelight of the streetlamps his only friend, he first headed for the Golden Oaks Library. He snuck up to the front door, opened the mailbox quietly, and then slid the letter inside. “Ah’m so sorry Twilight,” he said in a whisper and then backed away from the home quietly, en route to Sugarcube Corner now. He deposited the letter in the mailbox there, apologized to Pinkie Pie, “Ah’m so sorry Pinkie Pie,” and then moved on to the Carousel Boutique where he again deposited the letter and quietly said, “Ah’m so sorry Rarity.” Only two letters left, one to Fluttershy and one to Rainbow Dash. There was no way that he was getting up to Rainbow Dash’s house, so he stopped by the mail office on the way to Fluttershy’s and quietly dropped the letter in a box labeled “Delivery”. After that, it was the dark and lonely walk out to Fluttershy’s cottage.

As he walked on through the night and eventually got out of Ponyville, Big Mac couldn’t help but feel especially lonely. He had always been a loner and was no stranger to the feeling of loneliness, but this was a new kind of loneliness. It left the feeling of a pit in his stomach and it made his heart feel like it was ripped into shreds. The only thing that kept him going now was the knowledge that what he was doing was the right thing.

Finally, after a long, silent, and lonely walk out to the outskirts of Ponyville, Big McIntosh arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. Her mailbox was at the very end of the road so Big Mac didn’t need to get too close, despite the fact that he wanted to. He put the letter in the mailbox and apologized to her as well, “Ah’m so, so very sorry Fluttershy.” He was silent for a moment as he merely stared up at her cottage. He went to walk away but found himself unable to as his eyes remained locked on her cottage. A line he remembered from one of his books put it best: Love is cruel. Small tears started to well in his eyes as he continued to look up towards the cottage and think of the beautiful and sweet mare inside of it. He had always wanted her to be his soul mate, but instead he botched it all and now would never have her. All the best, because he didn’t deserve her. Droplets of tears coming down his cheeks, Big McIntosh turned and headed back for the farm. He just wanted to get back home and get to sleep.

On the way back through town, he either passed or caught a glimpse of each and every home of the mares that he had slept with. He tried his best not to look at him, but found himself unable to shift his eyes away from the windows and leaves that made up the library or from the castle-like roof of the boutique. He sighed and continued his lonely walk back home.

Finally, Big Mac arrived at the farm and wasted no time in getting back up to his bed. He closed the door quietly behind him and then climbed into bed. He would have to be up early tomorrow so that he could catch Applejack after breakfast and ask for her to be at the barn at two. He tried to get to sleep, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t seem to get to sleep because of the thoughts and the images of the ponies he had slept with coming into his head. Truthfully, he had fallen in love with them. Sure, he knew that there were some that did it just for play, like Applejack and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, and though he harbored feelings for them as well, he truly did love the others. He hated to see them go, and he knew that they would probably hate them for the rest of their lives, but at the same time he knew that he was already in too deep. No matter how much he hated to do this, and no matter how hard he just wished this would all go away, he knew that he was past the point of no return.