Once Lyra and I left the house and began to head towards the market, she could tell that I was nervous. She saw how much slower I was going than her and eventually called out, "Come on sis, everything will be fine."
"Alright Lyra, I'm coming."
I finally started walking at a pace that was the same as hers and once we got to the market, I could already feel myself beginning to sweat I was so nervous. I then realized that the only way I would ever make a friend was to face my fear of simple social anxiety outside of the work place. As we approached the center of the marketplace I began to look around, wondering who I should at least try to mingle with. Apparently though Lyra had already decided that for me as we headed towards the flower stand.
"Come on sis, I know who might be a good friend for you!"
"Coming Lyra."
I couldn't help but wonder why Lyra would be leading me there because it seemed like the three mares who ran it seemed so extroverted and positive while I am a reserved introvert who would not exactly be able to mesh with somepony like that. Once we arrived Lily greeted my sister in her normal manner.
"Hi Lyra, it is so wonderful to see you today!"
"It is going wonderful." She then motioned for me to come up and continued, "You've met my sister haven't you?"
"Yes, I see her every six months!"
Daisy added, "Of course I've met her, she takes care of my teeth!"
That is the way I expected them to greet my sister and naturally I did know the two but I couldn't help but notice something, the third mare who runs the stand, Roseluck, wasn't up in the front with the other two. She was in the back, hiding behind the other two and going through flowers, or pretending to anyway. That would change when my sister got her attention,
"Roseluck, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Uhm, yeah. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"You know my sister, right?"
I could tell that Roseluck, unlike the other two, seemed a bit more nervous. I wasn't really sure why though given that out of the three florists, she had by far the best oral health. I could sense a lot of anxiety in her voice as she approached my sister, "Um, yeah. I-I know her, she is my dentist."
I would become quite nervous when she asked her if she could take some time away and talk to me but would be relieved when she brought up that she couldn't take any time away from the stand. I would again become more nervous when I heard, "Go on Rose, go out and mingle!"
"Yeah, you need to mingle outside of the workplace!"
I wasn't the only one who was nervous, I could tell that Roseluck was nervous as well, especially so when Lyra actually grabbed her aura, picked her up and set her down right in front of me. I was shocked when she suggested, "Why don't you two go and get a bite to eat."
"Well, well, I really do have to get back to work soon." I heard her say.
"Lyra, she said she had to get back to work before too long."
Lyra would have none of it given what Lily and Daisy had said to her. Rose gave me a nervous look, which was immediately returned by myself. Lyra then actually grabbed both of us in her aura and carried us to a table and suggested we set down. I'll be honest, I never knew that Lyra's magic was strong enough that she could pick up two ponies and carry them. In most instances, I would have applauded her but in this situation, no. I simply gave her a glare before she continued, "Come on sis, it will be ok. I just think you and Rose could maybe be friends!"
Lyra began to walk off and I would have none of it. I grabbed her in my aura, pulled her close and whispered, "Was this your plan, to FORCE two ponies to simply talk to one another? Are you trying to force friendship?"
"No, I just know Roseluck is an introvert like you and maybe both of you could come out of your shells." Lyra replied. While we were whispering back and forth, I could see Roseluck giving us both a nervous look, looks which would be returned by myself. Lyra then took off and finished, "Look, I'll be nearby if you need me, alright?"
I simply nodded and she took off to a nearby table. Both Roseluck and I were just sitting there in an awkward silence, with nervous looks on our faces. I knew that I would never make any friends without speaking and wasn't sure if Roseluck would be the one to break the silence so I did, "So.....how are things going?"
The amount of time it took for her to respond seemed to take forever but I would be relieved when I heard, "Uh, they're going ok." Then another minute of awkward silence would return until she continued, "How about you?"
"I'm doing alright, just taking care of patients. What about you?"
"Just running the floral stand like always." She went silent for a minute before continuing, "What is up with Lyra? Why does it seem like she's trying to force us to talk?"
I knew exactly why but I was kind of, no make that really nervous, to tell her what my thoughts were so I lied, "I really don't know. Maybe she thinks both of us need to talk to more ponies."
"Maybe it is."
I could tell that this conversation was likely going to go nowhere if I didn't try to get her to interact more, anyway I could. "I think Lyra is doing this because I'm so introverted and I made the mistake of telling her that I wish I had a friend, a closer friend like how she has Bon Bon."
Roseluck looked down and I couldn't help but wonder if what I said was the wrong thing. I could tell that perhaps she is just as much of as introvert as I am and like myself, she is really good at hiding it in the workplace. That would be confirmed when she replied, "Well....well I don't know if I could ever be a friend like that. We, we barely know one another." she stuttered.
"I can understand that entirely."
I would become more nervous when she got up and panicked, "I can't do this! I just can't get to know somepony like this, I just can't."
She then took off back towards the flower stand, leaving me all alone. I couldn't help but think that even among introverts I can't interact all that well nor can I even get somepony somewhat like me to want to get to know me. I saw my sister heading my way and I was in no mood to talk to her at that moment so I took off. I galloped off towards one place I often went to when I needed time to think, the castle of the two sisters.