The Point of No Return

As the months turned to years, Ana-Mae became consumed by the love of her new friends. Her world circulated around only them and nothing else mattered to her. When she tried to do things without her friends, the loneliness became too unbearable and she rushed back to them.

Soon all of the acts to gain bits made the mare numb. Things that made her sick now didn’t cause any feeling. Now, her friends were always there even when she did those awful things. They told her that it would be fine and that they’d all be able to be together afterward. Their words hummed in her ears as she did those unspeakable acts.

Her new friends dictated her life and she happily let them.

The once happy mare who loved to watch anime and see other ponies smile seemed to have died. All that was left in her place was a hollow shell of a pony who needed nothing but her new friends.

Her bed went from a soft feathery mattress to nothing but a pile of newspapers in an alley. Her bright coat was now matted and dull. Her full and well-kept mane was nothing but greasy strings of hair. Her eyes sunken in and her lips dull and chapped.

The mare’s old friends and family worried about her, but wouldn’t let her in their home due to her pawning off all of their possessions for time with her new friends. They didn’t know what to do to help their sweet Ana-Mae, so they did the next best thing. An Intervention.

On the day of the intervention, the ponies invited their dear Ana-Mae to one of their houses and sat her down. They all spoke to the mare about how much they loved and cared about her, but she refused to listen. She knew they were all jealous of her new friends and how they cared about her more than these fake ponies did.

One pony in particular went up to the mare and slapped her across the face. “Why won’t you listen to us?! We want to help you! These “friends” of yours aren’t real. They don’t care. We do! We love you Ana-Mae!” The pony had tears in their eyes as the spoke to the mare. “You’re lying! You always lie to me! You don’t care about me! None of you do! My friends are there for me! They care about me! They don’t disappear when new and more interesting ponies show up! They don’t leave me out of anything… I’m always included! I’m important to them!” The mare sobbed and pushed the other one away.

“You’re wrong… I’m sorry we haven’t been around for you and I’m sorry for seeming like anypony else can replace you… You’re important to me Ana-Mae. You’re important to all of us…” The pony spoke and tried to hug the mare. “Shut up! Shut up with all of your lies! If I was important than you wouldn’t have ditched me and made me feel like I was nothing! I have feelings just like everypony else, yet mine get pushed aside or ignored… Why?! Why am I always the one who gets pushed aside for somepony else?!” The mare sobbed as she looked at all of the familiar faces. Everypony in the room stayed silent and looked to the floor. “I thought so… I know these friends aren’t real and I know what they’ve done to me, but it’s nothing close to what all of you have done. The constant mental breakdowns and thoughts as to if I should just leave and never look back aren’t things that somepony who is loved by so many ponies should feel.” The mare stood to her hooves and pushed the one pony out of her way. She quickly ran out of the house.

Days had passed and Ana-Mae was held up in a hotel room. “They lie… They always lie… They don’t care…” The mare whispered to herself as the laid on the floor. “My friends care… They’re always here for me.” She smiled happily as she held her friends close to her.

As the mare laid there, her friends told her to follow them one last time and she eagerly did. As she partook in spending time with her friends, her grip on reality began to fade and she slowly began to see her world fade into nothing. Her life flashed before her eyes and the smiling faces of her old friends made her tear up and fight to get the color back, but it was too late. Her new friends took her to a point of no return.