They found it. Strawberry Shortcake and Custard made it to the purple house. It wasn't that hard, they just followed Orange Blossom's instructions, but it was starting to get dark, and they needed to find their house as quickly as they could. For Custard, seeing the house certainly calmed her nerves a little. Strawberry and Custard looked up at the house. It was various shades of purple and had two stories. Unlike all the other houses they'd seen so far, this one actually looked like a house. No wonder Orange Blossom described it as strange: this definitely wasn't normal by Strawberry Stream standards.

Strawberry Shortcake walked up to the house, pulling the wagon behind, and rang a doorbell. A girl with short purple hair and a pair of round blue glasses opened it. She looked shy and a little bit awkward.

"Oh, hello," she said, "I don't believe I've met you before."

"I'm Strawberry Shortcake," Strawberry said, "and this is Custard!"

The girl leaned and saw Custard grooming herself in the wagon. When Custard noticed she was being watched, she stopped grooming herself and looked up at the girl. For some reason, Custard felt less stoic around her. Blueberry Muffin, Orange Blossom, and Raspberry Torte were all very open and friendly with Strawberry, and even though Blueberry had a freak-out, she didn't seem as nervous as this girl seemed right now.

"Well," the girl said, "my name is Plum Pudding. It's nice to make your acquaintance!"

"What?" Strawberry tilted her head.

"Oh, sorry," Plum said, "it's, um, nice to meet you, Strawberry."

"It's OK, it's berry nice to meet you too!"

Strawberry Shortcake and Plum Pudding shook hands and giggled.

"So," Plum said with a smile, "what brings you to my residence?"

"We're looking for a map," Custard said.

"A talking cat?" Plum said, "fascinating."

Custard rolled her eyes as Strawberry Shortcake giggled. Custard was starting to get tired of everyone making remarks about her ability to talk.

"Well, please come in!" Plum exclaimed, "I should have a map in my house somewhere."

Strawberry Shortcake took Custard out of the wagon as they walked into Plum Pudding's house.

"Hey, Plum," Strawberry said, "how come your house isn't shaped like a dessert? Like a... a plum pudding or something?"

"Did you know that plum puddings don't have any plums in them?" Plum explained.

"No!" Strawberry exclaimed.

"That's why my house doesn't look like one."

As Strawberry slowly nodded her head, she looked around Plum's house. She saw several bookshelves, but there weren't any books lying around like there were at Blueberry Muffin's house. She saw a lab coat hanging on a coat rack and a desk with a computer on it. Above Plum's house was a poster of a boy with golden blond hair, glasses, and a massive necktie covered in flowers. Underneath his picture, Strawberry saw some fancy handwriting that said "my beloved." Strawberry couldn't help but smile at it.

"Aww!" Strawberry put her hands on her cheek. "Who's your crush, Plum Pudding?"

"Who's my crush?" Plum asked, "Strawberry, he's not just my crush! He's a shining beacon of scientific genius!"

"Well," Strawberry said, "what's his name?"

"Since you don't know, his name is T.N. Honey. He's from Bundon, and he's so brilliant and handsome and charming, he's too good to be real!"

Plum Pudding started to giggle. Strawberry Shortcake laughed with her, while Custard rolled her eyes. Plum was absolutely obsessed with this T.N. Honey fellow. Strawberry decided to leave Plum by herself for a bit and explore the house a little more, Custard still in her arms. Strawberry saw a weird gray box on the floor and decided to approach it. She sat on the ground next to the box and let Custard go.

"Plum," she said, "what's this?"

Plum Pudding snapped out of her Honey-induced trance and rushed over to Strawberry and her invention.

"Oh, this?" Plum said, "this is the Balloon Blower-Upper 1000! I invented it myself."

"Let me guess," Custard said, "it blows up balloons?"

"See for yourself!" Plum exclaimed.

Plum Pudding rushed off and got a red balloon that hadn't been blown up yet. She attached the balloon to a pointed holder and flipped a switch on the side of the machine. Strawberry Shortcake pulled Custard close to her as the machine started to make noise. The three of them watched as the balloon was slowly inflated by the machine. When the balloon reached its full size, the machine made a ding noise. Plum took the balloon off the machine. Strawberry started to clap.

"Plum, that's amazing!" she exclaimed.

"Why, thank you!" Plum said, "I'm very proud of my little contraption."

Plum Pudding giggled as she patted the top of the machine. Suddenly, the machine began making loud, strange noises. Strawberry Shortcake and Custard both plugged their ears, while Plum started to panic.

"No no," she said, "no no no no no! This isn't happening!"

"What isn't happening?" Strawberry asked.

"I think my contraption collapsed on itself!" Plum said with her hands on her face.

"Can't you blow up the balloons by hand?" Custard asked.

"Hypothetically speaking I could," Plum stated, "but... but..."

"But what?"

"I can't blow up balloons..."

"That's OK Plum!" Strawberry exclaimed, "it's fine if you don't know how or you can't!"

"But it's not fine," Plum replied, "I need to get these balloons blown up in time for the party!"

"Well," Strawberry said, "maybe I can help!"

"You can?"

"Of course! How many balloons do you need me to blow?"

"Let me see..."

Plum Pudding rushed off again. Strawberry Shortcake and Custard exchanged confused glances.

"Everyone seems very obsessed with this party," Custard said.

"I know," Strawberry replied, "it's so nice that everyone here cares so much!"

"You really think so?" Custard asked.

"Of course! It's so nice that they're doing everything they can to make this person feel welcome here!"

Plum Pudding came back with a purple calculator in one hand and three bags of uninflated balloons in the other. The balloons came in three different colors: red, pink, and green. Strawberry tilted her head a little bit. Those were her favorite colors, and she was starting to get suspicious of the party. Meanwhile, Custard had been suspicious from the start after Blueberry Muffin's nervous fit over the presents, but seeing Strawberry Shortcake of all people, her owner, the most trusting person she'd ever met, get her doubts, that made her even more skeptical.

"Each of these bags had 15 balloons in them," Plum explained, "but my machine has taken care of 8 red ones, 7 pink ones, and 7 green ones. That means you'll have to blow up twenty-two balloons in total!"

Strawberry Shortcake and Custard both tilted their heads at Plum Pudding.

"Oh, right," Plum said, "I keep forgetting that I'm the only math person in Strawberry Stream. You'll just need to blow up the balloons I have left in these bags. Does that make more sense?"

"It really does," Strawberry replied.

"Good!" Plum smiled at Strawberry. "I'll be fixing up my machine, see what went wrong. If you need anything, please let me know!"

"I will!"

Plum Pudding picked up the Balloon Blower-Upper 1000 and rushed off with it, going up a spiral staircase. Strawberry Shortcake took a pink balloon out of its bag and put it to her mouth. She blew it up as big as she could, and once the balloon became large, she let it go. She'd continue to do this until her face muscles started to hurt. By the time she stopped, she'd blown up twenty-one of the balloons. As she let her face muscles rest for a bit, Plum came back down the stairs with the machine.

"Hi Strawberry!" she exclaimed.

"Plum, you're back!" Strawberry said.

"I found what was wrong with the machine," Plum began, "it turns out that the inside of it wasn't very stable. When I banged the side of it, its internal structure collapsed. Fortunately, I've found a way to stabilize that interior structure! It shouldn't fall apart if it gets hit again."

"Or maybe you should just... not hit it," Custard replied.

"That's true as well," Plum admitted.

Strawberry Shortcake laughed. Plum Pudding looked and saw that Strawberry had blown up almost all of the balloons while she was fixing her contraption.

"Impressive!" Plum exclaimed.

"Thank you berry much," Strawberry said, "but I still need to blow up one more balloon."

"Not to worry!" Plum replied, "for the Balloon Blower-Upper 1000 can take care of that!"

Plum Pudding took the last green balloon and put it on the machine's holder. She flipped the switch, and the Balloon Blower-Upper blew up the balloon.

"Now all of them have been inflated!" Plum exclaimed.

Strawberry Shortcake cheered and clapped. She stood up and high-fived Plum Pudding. Custard was normally stoic, but she couldn't help but smile at the two. Strawberry saw Custard looking at them and decided that she needed to ask Plum a question.

"Plum Pudding?" Strawberry asked.

"What is it, Strawberry?" Plum replied.

"Custard and I have just moved to Strawberry Stream," Strawberry began, "and we don't know how to get to our house. Is there any chance that you have a map we could use?"

"I should have one somewhere around here!"

Plum Pudding went over to the desk her computer was on and looked inside of it.

"Eureka!" she shouted.

Strawberry Shortcake and Custard were confused at first, but then, they saw Plum Pudding triumphantly raise a map of Strawberry Stream in one of her hands. Strawberry beamed at Plum, while Custard's entire face lit up at the site of it. Plum ran to Strawberry and handed her the map.

"Here you go!" Plum said.

"Oh, thank you Plum Pudding, thank you!" Strawberry exclaimed.

"Thank you, Plum," Custard said, "thank you!"

"Aww, it was nothing at all!" Plum replied.

Strawberry Shortcake took a look at the map. She looked at Plum's house on the map, where she and Custard were at now, and then saw the house that looked like a shortcake, where they were going to live. It was a straight line from Plum's house to Strawberry's, with three other houses separating them.

"Well," Strawberry said, "we should probably get going. It was berry nice to meet you, Plum!"

"Berry nice to meet you as well!" Plum replied.

"I'll see you later!" Strawberry exclaimed.

Strawberry Shortcake picked up Custard and began walking out the door. Plum Pudding waved goodbye as Strawberry closed the door behind her. Strawberry put Custard back in the wagon and went on her way, holding the map in her free hand. Home was in sight; now, all she had to do was get there.