They're not your real friends, you should just completely excommunicate them and find new friends.I think that people should just retaliate by secretly destroying the bully's rep or even going further if you can get away with it.
I'm a closet brony here coz it's punishable by death in my country but I won't just keep being stepped on, I'll start a coup, lobby foreign powers to invade/place sanctions or use propaganda to encourage mass immigration to change the culture when I get the opportunity.(of course it's more than just ponies.religious apartheid, encouraged pedophilia, terrorism, genocide of jews, etc)
There are always ways to fight back whether it's an individual bully, an organization or government.The worse thing you can do is letting them get away with it, it is your duty to completely destroy them whether it be literal or just their reputation and spirit.