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.
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.