The Point of No Return

One evening, Ana-Mae was walking down the busy streets of Manehattan. She didn’t know where she was going and all she knew was she wanted to get away from it all. All of the lies, the loneliness, and the deceit from everypony she knew. She was done with all of them and this city in general.

While walking, a pony stepped in front of the mare and smiled. “Life seems to have dragged you through the mud.” They bluntly spoke and looked to her with a concerned grin. “Yeah and I’d appreciate if a stranger like you wouldn’t meddle in my business.” The unicorn glared at the other before continuing down the street. “I can help you. Your face. You’ve been crying and I can stop all of that.” The stranger followed the mare and when she stopped, they smiled.

“How can you help me?! Why would you want to?!” Ana-Mae looked back at the other pony with a perplexed look on her face. “I’ve been in your situation before. Wanting to run away from it all and the friends you thought you had were all two-faced, filling you with a gnawing feeling of loneliness.” Tears instantly filled the mare’s eyes and nodded. “You’ve been there too?” The pony didn’t say anything and just gave her a slight nod. “My friends can help you. They’ve always helped me.”

The two spoke for a while and then the stranger introduced the mare to their friends. Ana-Mae was confused and nervous, but she quickly welcomed them with open arms. These new friends knew exactly how she felt and they made all of her pain go away in an instant. “Your friends are the best!” The mare smiled and laughed as she shook hooves with the mysterious pony. “Can they stay with me forever?” She happily asked the pony as she hugged them. “They’re very demanding and require bits when you want to spend time with them.” The stranger sighed as they watched the mare slump over and tears fill her eyes. “I can get them their bits! Please don’t let them go anywhere…”

Quickly the mare raced to the nearest bank and withdrew all of bit that she had in her account. The loneliness and pain quickly rushed back to her and she wanted it gone once again. She wasn’t thinking straight and didn’t really care. All she wanted was to spend more time with her new friends. The friends that understood her and made everything fade away. She needed them and would do anything for them to come back to her.

Months passed and the mare was desperate to see her new friends. She’d do anything for more time with them. So, she began to sell her time to other ponies for bits. She hated it, but it was the only way to see her friends. To make the loneliness fade away for a few short minutes. Each pony seemed to want different things from her and the idea of giving them her time made her sick, but it wouldn’t matter once she was able to see her friends again.

Slowly, her friends became all that she could think about and all that she wanted.