Cheap glazed donuts, an aroma of cheap black coffee, fluorescent lights buzzing...the intimate, dimly-lit room was occupied by a circle of couches with ponies huddled in the corners. None of them made any eye contact, each pony looking shifty-eyed and squirming their legs. As the clock struck 5pm, a small throat-clearing cut through the silence.
“A-Attention everyone. Please sit on the couches in the circle and we can get started.”
The blue-and-white-haired earth pony smiled at everypony from the center of the couches. One by one they looked up and looked at each other, waiting for one another to go first. After several moments it was clear that no one would budge first. The pony in the center pointed randomly to a corner at a light purple stallion.
“You. Come here and sit. We only have this room for an hour so it’s better for everyone if we just get this started quickly.”
The stallion gulped, visibly shaking as all eyes were on him now. Yet he stepped forward, making his way to a loveseat. Others would soon file into seats, each loveseat being occupied by only one pony at first, much like the star pattern a mechanic screws in nuts when changing a tire. It was only when all the loveseats were half-filled that ponies had no choice but to sit next to someone. This was at the discomfort of both parties, ponies looking at each other and blushing before leaning on each arm of the couch to be as far away from each other as possible.
The off-white mare in the center smiled and looked around at everypony.
“Good evening everyone. My name is Coco Pommel and this is Shy Ponies Anonymous. This is a safe place for ponies who have trouble getting themselves out there and socializing with others. Here we share stories and perform exercises to help build up ponies’ confidence.”
Coco kept an eye on the attendees, already noticing the rubbing of hooves and legs, lip chewing, squirming, and other displays of uneasiness.
“Whether you are a new-comer or a longtime veteran of these support groups, any one of you could be struggling day to day with your connections. For our first little exercise I would like each and every one of you to simply say ‘hello’ to your neighbor. I encourage eye contact, but just do what you can.”
The eight other ponies occupying the room all turned to their neighbors to give a meek ‘hello’, half of them avoiding eye contact and just a couple looking into each other’s eyes with a smile. Coco smiled to herself when she saw those two. The program shows progress in some faster than others. With a clap of her hooves she beams at her group.
“Okay everypony, that’s good. Everypony participated, which is something I like to see! While we would usually have a few more exercises followed by a sharing of stories, I thought it would be important to have a guest speaker come and share with us her improvement in the program first. And here she is!”
Coco gestured her hooves to the door in a pose with a smile, which faded after a few moments when she saw the door closed.
“The *ahem* guest speaker! Right through the door!” Her voice was a little louder this time, which startled a couple of the group members. Tilting her head, Coco headed to the door and opened it to see her friend Marble Pie staring right back at her with a fearful expression. She took a look at the group and back at her friend.
“Marble, that’s you. Are you going to come in?”
The gray pony’s mane was a little frazzled and her purple eyes stayed locked on Coco.
“Marble, I’m here the whole time. Come on, just like we practiced.”
She took Marble’s hoof in hers as she tugged her friend along. Marble didn’t resist, instead walking on her own to the center of the room. Without a word the rock farmer stood in the middle of the couch circle with Coco right there by her side. Her eyes darted to Coco’s for a brief moment before she let an exhale out and gave her friend a small nod. With a reassuring smile, Coco spoke up.
“Everypony, this is my friend Marble Pie. She has been in the program for about a year and I sponsor her. Today she has prepared a short speech for us, recounting what made her join the program in the first place. Everypony give her a hoof.”
Ponies around the room gave very quiet claps, not wanting the voice of their hooves to draw attention to themselves. Their eyes were locked on Marble, who hid behind her hair for a moment. She realized what she was doing and brushed it away so it now covered only one eye. With her lip quivering she took another shaky breath.
“H-Hello. I am Marble Pie.”
Coco couldn’t help but smile. This was already four more words than the first time Marble came by!
“I am a rock farmer. My family and I lived a quiet life farming rocks. There weren’t a lot of people around.”
The gray earth pony dragged her hoof across the floor, looking down at the linoleum like it held the answers to life itself. Her eyes would flick up at each of the members when she had the strength to.
“My sister Pinkie Pie lived there too. She was very social. Our family would joke...which was rare...th-that she made up all the socializing for the whole family.”
A small smile tugged at her lips at the thought of her family. It felt familiar and helped Marble ground herself when she thought of them.
“As for me, I kept to myself. I would not say anything other than a noise. I...relied on my sisters to translate for me when other ponies were around.”
Marble saw eight pairs of eyes staring right at her, as if piercing into her soul. Her breath came out a little shaky and her knees wobbled.
“I-I didn’t have a-any friends besides my sisters. Th-They were everyth-thing to me. S-So when other p-ponies came to the f-farm I felt s-safe when they were around. I-I was even able to maybe...make a friend one time.”
She turned her head and blushed at the thought of...him. Coco noticed her friend struggling to speak and stepped close, placing a hoof on the shaky mare’s shoulder. Marble could feel her friend’s reassurance, taking another shaky sigh to try and collect herself.
“Some extended family had come to the farm. Pinkie found out she was related to her friend. Their family name was the Apples. They were farm ponies too. And there was the big red pony named Big Mac. He wished me a Happy Hearth's Warming. And that’s when I knew...he was the one.”
The gray pony stared off dreamily before reality came back to her. Ponies looked at her quizzically, wondering how a tiny exchange could possibly provoke the mare to stare off. The dream ended and the second part of the story was coming.
“I thought maybe I had a chance. Of finding love, that is. But…”
The thought still made her sniffle. The woe, the heartbreak. If Coco wasn’t there to lean on and support her, she may have broken down. Instead she gulped and looked up at her audience, much to Coco’s surprise.
“One year he kissed a mare under mistletoe. I backed away from the door. I cried in my room. I just wanted to be alone. I thought I deserved to be alone.”
From Coco’s perspective, she couldn’t believe how much Marble was opening up to these ponies. While there were some regulars here that Marble saw every week, there were a couple of new-comers as well. Ponies she had never trained to interact with before. Coco could clearly see Marble’s training wheels breaking away.
“That’s when my sisters finally convinced me to work on myself. I felt like I was at rock bottom. No friends, no leaving the farm, nothing. With the help of Pinkie’s friend Rarity, I was able to find Coco.”
Marble turned her head to smile warmly at her friend and sponsor, clasping her hoof around her friend’s on her shoulder.
“When she first met me, I could only make my noises. Now matter how hard I tried, at first it felt like I wasn’t making any progress. But...after just a year of coming to see her, I can talk. A lot. Well, not a lot, lot. But some. Attending meetings near my farm made it less and less of a big deal to talk to ponies. Practicing Coco’s exercises in the meetings and on the farm showed a lot of progress for me. It wasn’t long before I made my first friend.”
Marble looked up in thought with a wider smile. She stood back up from leaning on Coco, standing taller than Coco had ever seen her.
“His name is Anonymous, no relation. He’s a writer from this place called Marestralia and he’s shown me really cool foreign things like Vegemite and Tim-Tams. In our friendship I have learned that I can tell him his food of heritage is bad and he will still be my friend. He’s also shown me that with the love and support of people he surrounds himself with, he can achieve what he wants.”
Coco and the rest of the ponies couldn’t help but giggle at this upswing in mood. There was a silent agreement that Marestralia food was in fact terrible.
“He’s a bit of an eccentric guy and I don't trust him around bees but I had an epiphany when I was with him in a park. This whole time I thought that spending my time with Anonymous was supplementary to Coco’s lessons. It was that day I learned that Coco’s lessons were supplemental to spending time with others. And...that’s my story with Shy Ponies Anonymous.”
Coco Pommel’s hooves clapped quickly and she gave a small ‘Woo-hoo’ to her dear friend. Small claps joined in, yet to Marble it felt like thunderous applause. She grinned wide and blushed, looking around the room and back at Coco.
“Alright everypony, that was a great story! Marble is a prime example of why we’re all here. I’m sure a lot of you have similar experiences. It’s important for us to share our experiences while we help support each other to grow past our meekness. Marble? Why don’t you pull your chair next to one of the couches? Would anypony like to volunteer to share a story?”
A hoof shot up right away. The new-comer was a yellow pegasus, and her hoof was faster than a few others. Coco’s eyes lit up with the quickness to volunteer.
“Fluttershy! So nice of you to volunteer!”
The clock soon struck the hour and Coco had dismissed the group. A few ponies darted towards the door as if they had been holding their breath the whole meeting. But a few ponies stayed to attempt small talk, something Coco encouraged greatly after each session. Marble and Coco sat on a loveseat, each with a cup of coffee in their hooves.
“Marble, I am so proud of how far you’ve come. You’ve really taken my lessons to heart. You’re a great example of why I started this group in the first place.”
“Thanks Coco, I really couldn’t have done it without you. I practiced that a lot and I was getting so anxious in preparation. But I knew I came a long way from just saying ‘mm-hm’ all the time, so I knew that I could do this. ”
“Standing up to something you fear or are passive about is no easy feat. I know that when I stood up to my Suri Polomare, my ex-boss, it was very scary. She was a powerful fashion designer and making her upset would most definitely ruin my career. But my friendship with Rarity was much more important and I couldn’t lose that. While I’m not an Element Bearer, I figured I could do my part by spreading the magic of friendship in my own way.”
“Well I think I speak for the other regulars when I say we all appreciate the effort you put in these meetings in between your work schedule with running Miss Rarity’s shop in Canterlot. You’re really admirable and I love having you as a friend, Coco. I love having girl time with you.”
The two ponies sat in comfortable silence with the sun setting behind them in the window. It was a nice evening to be with a friend, and the two wouldn’t rather be anywhere else but here with each other.
“So, do you ever think about kissing Anonymous?”
The coffee-laiden linoleum could not be wiped more furiously by the blushing Marble as Coco rolled on the couch in laughter.
Author's Note
Merry Jinglemas ~~Anonymous~~ Freglz!
Watching you overcome your writer's block to participate this year was inspiring enough to write this for you.
