Rhubarb stood in a shocked silence as he stared at the party. Pinkie eventually waved her hoof in front of his face. "Hello? You there, Rhubarb? See, I knew you were new to town, so that meant you probably didn't have any friends, so I invited a bunch of friends over so you can meet them and then have them be your friends!"
The changeling blinked "Wow. Sorry, I've never really had such a big party...for me...thrown ever." He said and then added as a thought, "Or a party at all, for that matter."
Pinkie gasped dramatically and threw a hoof around his neck. "Well, today's the day that that changes! Everypony, this is Rhubarb, newest baker of Sugarcube Corner and newest resident of Ponyville!" The two were met by hoof-stomping and cheering. Rhubarb was again struck into awed silence, and Pinkie led him forward. "Come with me, Rhubarb! I'll introduce you to five of my best friends and then I'll turn you loose to go socialize." As they walked through the room, he examined all the decor. It was amazing how fast Pinkie Pie had set up the party. Games like Pin The Tail On The Pony were out and punch and all sorts of treats lined the tables atop colorful, floral tablecloths. Balloons and confetti danced around the place and melted into the scenery.
Five ponies were waiting in the back, waiting for the two. Rhubarb recognized both of the pegasi as he approached. Pinkie stopped. "Rhubarb, meet my very best friends!" All the mares gave a 'hello.' Rainbow Dash came up to him.
"Told ya we'd see ya later. Ya know me already." she said. Rhubarb nodded.
"I guess you weren't lying."
"Nope. Congrats on landing the gig here."
"Thanks."
Fluttershy peeked over at him, her hair falling over one of her eyes. "Hi. Nice to see you again..."
"Pleasure to see you too, Fluttershy. Thanks for helping me out earlier."
"You're welcome."
An orange earth pony took his hoof and shook it firmly. "Howdy! I'm Applejack. I run Sweet Apple Acres on the outskirts a' town, 'long with my family. Real nice to be meetin' ya!" she said. Rhubarb smiled.
"Oh, a place to get fresh fruit for my desserts! How nice! This Ponyville is becoming the place of my dreams real fast." he remarked. Applejack grinned.
"Sugarcube Corner frequently buys ingredients from us. We have anything you could need fer bakin', from eggs to apples. I'm lookin' forward to seein' you around."
Rarity approached and shook his hoof as well, gently and ladylike. "I am Rarity. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rhubarb." she said. Rhubarb wasn't quite sure what was up with ponies and shaking hooves so much, but he shook it back nevertheless.
"Thank you."
The last one, a purple unicorn, came up. "Hi. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Welcome to Ponyville. I'm glad you're warming up so fast; it took me longer to get used to everything. See, I'm from Canterlot. Ponyville is quite different from Canterlot, but every bit as great. So, where are you from?"
Rhubarb shrugged. "I'm, um, from Fillydelphia. Nice place, really. Not nearly as grand as Ponyville."
"What makes you say that? I've always heard good things about Fillydelphia." Rarity said. The other unicorn shrugged.
"Well...it wasn't so much the place; it was just that my family never approved of me wanting to be a baker. I've always liked to cook ever since I was a little colt, but I actually kept it a secret from them for a long time. They caught me red hoofed one day and I never heard the end of it. So, I finally decided I couldn't live like the way they wanted me to, so I took off for Ponyville."
"I see. Well, we're mighty glad to have you." Applejack replied cordially.
"Thanks. It was nice to meet all of you. I'm gonna try to go meet some others, and thanks again."
"See ya, Rhubarb." Twilight said. Rhubarb turned and walked through the room. Guests were dancing and talking and eating. His hunger for love was so far non-existent; it was impossible to feel unloved in this town.
He introduced himself to other ponies. First he met Golden Harvest (yet another vender for ingredients for treats,) and then Dizzy Twister and Junebug, Amethyst Star and Doctor Whooves and Caramel. Big Macintosh and three little fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders greeted him as well. Finally when he was talking to a benevolent couple by the names of Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon, a glance behind them made his heart leap. Merry May was behind them. Rhubarb ceased to speak for a moment, and the couple looked behind themselves to see what he was staring at. They spied Merry May and giggled. "We're, uh, going to get some more punch...see you later." Lyra said as she and her girlfriend walked off.
Merry May met his eyes and they approached each other. Merry smiled. "Hi. Nice to see you again, Rhubarb."
"Nice to see you, too..." He trailed off. "Why am I being so nervous? Speak up!" The unicorn cleared his throat. "So, your name is Merry May, right?"
"Right. I'm assuming yours is Rhubarb from one, I remember from earlier, and two, Pinkie Pie set up a whole bunch of banners that say Rhubarb on them. Either you have a really strange obsession with rhubarbs or your name is Rhubarb."
The changeling snorted as he laughed, and then blushed about snorting. Merry May let out a laugh at his snort and his blush. "I'm sorry, that was amusing." She giggled.
"No, it was, don't be sorry," Rhubarb replied, grinning, "I just have an awkward laugh."
"Awkward laughs are the best laughs. Because if you laugh once you keep laughing because it's awkward and then you laugh because you're laughing about it being awkward." she said. Rhubarb gave another snort and a chortle, and so did May. "I like you. Your laughs are priceless. You sound like a piggy."
"I don't do it on purpose. I can't help it. I'm not used to laughing...uh...this much, I mean."
"That's what makes it funnier, the fact that you snort naturally when laughing. It's non-intentional." There was a short pause, and then Rhubarb spoke up.
"Pinkie already told you I'm the new baker. So, uh, what do you do?"
"Weather duty," Merry May answered, "I like making sunny days, hence the cutie mark. Can't have flowers without sun."
"Flowers?" Rhubarb asked curiously. May shrugged.
"Yeah. I really like flowers. I'm terrible at growing them, so I make sunshine for the ponies that can grow them instead. Everything I try to grow dies; kind of sad. Oh well."
"Eh, I'm not a fantastic grower either. When I was a kid, I kept the fact I liked to cook a secret from my parents. I attempted to grow some ingredients for my treats, since I couldn't really ask them to get ingredients for me. Alas, I gave my best effort, but the things died on me within days. Scrounging up bits for ingredients was done by taking bottles and cans and recycling them. I wouldn't have had that problem if I didn't stink at being a gardener."
"Hooray for terrible gardeners. So why did you keep the fact you baked a secret?" she inquired. The other member of the conversation retold the same story he had told previously. Merry May listened patiently to the story and her face fell slightly. "That's sad. Well, in any case, I'm glad you're here..."
The conversation went on for a long time. Though Scales had just met her that day, he felt the most comfortable around her. The party moved along and he spoke with ponies and made friends and acquaintances, but he spoke with her the most. Soon enough, the party ended, and everypony started heading home. He said goodbye to the ponies he met and thanked Pinkie Pie for throwing the party. A sort of satisfaction with life, a feeling he had almost never felt before, settled inside him. He had friends and a job he loved in a place he was accepted. The love was enough to keep him satisfied twenty four/seven; as far as he was concerned, he had everything he needed to be happy and healthy. Just prior to taking off, Merry May met him again to talk. "This was a fun party," she said, "and I'm glad I met you."
The two had already talked for a long time, and though it had been just a day, he couldn't help himself and asked a question timidly. "Say, um, if you're not busy, do you want to hang out some time?" he inquired nervously. Rhubarb immediately wanted to slap himself for asking, but Merry just giggled.
"Sure, I would like that. I know a good restaurant in town. If you have time on Saturday, we could go get dinner."
"Of course. I'll look forward to that. You just lead me to where it is."
"Okay. Goodnight, Rhu."
"Rhu?" he asked; he wasn't expecting a nickname.
May shrugged. "Just short for your name. You don't mind, do you?" Scales shook his head.
"Oh, no, of course not. You can call me Rhu."
"Well, then, goodnight, Rhu." She flew off into the night, and he found himself watching the pegasus lift herself into the sky until the clouds had shielded her from being spotted by ground bound ponies. He then glanced around for anypony looking and hid against a wall, underneath some bushes bordering Sugarcube Corner. A flash of green surrounded him and he had become a sparrow. Lifting his wings like Merry May, he flew up and traveled the short distance of a few miles to the place he woke up in. Soon the house hallowed inside a tree came into view with all sorts of creatures sleeping inside and outside the house, whilst the night creatures were starting their day. The leaves of branches from the house swayed and waved hello to him.
One of the windows was open, and candlelight shone from inside. He flapped his wings and entered. Looking around, he saw animals settle on the floor or in birdhouses for the night. Soon a yellow pegasus came into the room and Rhubarb gave a chirp. She turned to him, her blue-green eyes alert; when she saw who it was, the shy mare beamed. "Oh, hello, little one. Do you need a place for the night?"
Rhubarb responded by chirping again and landing on a hoof she had held out for him to land on. "Alrighty then. I have just the place for you." She walked to one of the birdhouses in the ceiling and lifted her hoof up to it. "You have some neighbors in here, but they're very friendly, I assure you." Two parakeets, one blue with white feathers and one yellow, peeked their heads out of the hole and chirped at him. Scales entered the birdhouse and the two other avian creatures made room for him. He sat down and buried his head in his feathers.
"I need the sleep. For tomorrow is the day my real life begins..." he thought to himself as he fell into a blissful slumber.