Strawberry was not having a ton of luck with Mace. Riding did not go so well at first, and he didn't seem too keen on having a pink horse, even if she did make his apartment smell like strawberries.

She decided to go to someone she knew had a lot of trouble with her rider. Of course, she didn't neglect to bake a sweet treat first to bring to her friends.

Meanwhile, Crosshair was doing a game of horseshoes with Maybelle. And he got five horseshoes on the stick.

"Let's see you beat that." Crosshair smirked.

Maybelle took six horseshoes onto her horn, and in one swoop without using any magic, got all of them onto the pole at the same time.

"Never underestimate the skills of a lady." Maybelle said.

"My turn!" Wrecker said, throwing a horseshoe, bit almost hitting Banjo and Echo.

"Wrecker! Be careful!" Echo said angrily.

"Am I interrupting something?" said a new voice.

"Strawberry Sundae! Howdy." Pinto said. "Long time, no see."

"Hello, Pinto." Strawberry said, coming into the corral. And she was carrying a little red tin box on her back.

"What's that?" Wrecker asked, curious about the box.

"I brought a little treat for everyone." Strawberry said. "The Cabello siblings' favorite."

Inside the tin were some oatmeal strawberry cookies.

"Help yourselves." Strawberry said.

And Wrecker didn't hesitate to dig in.

"Yum!"

"Strawberry's the best baker in Equinaro." said Maybelle, picking up herself a cookie.

"What brings you over?" Echo asked as he and Banjo helped themselves.

"I was actually hoping to talk to Maybelle and Crosshair specifically." said Strawberry. "I have a bit of a problem."

"Who do I need to shoot?" Crosshair asked.

Strawberry shook her head. "Not that kind of problem! A problem with my rider. I got matched with a Jedi named Mace Windu."

"The grumpy one with the purple lightsaber?" Maybelle said.

"That's the one." Strawberry nodded. "He and I are having a little trouble getting along. You had trouble with your rider at first, right?"

Maybelle laughed and said, "Trouble might be a bit of an understatement. Crosshair kept playin' Hide and Seek and runnin' off. It was like trying to catch a mouse in a corn maze."

"Well, how did you get Crosshair to start coming to you and bonding with you?" Strawberry asked.

"She sang a song and got me to join in." Crosshair said. "And then we had to set a few... boundaries."

"In other words, I just had to be myself." Maybelle said. "Try showin' Mace somethin' you like doin' and get him to do it with you. With me and Crosshair, it got us to get to know each other better. Surely, it'll work for you and your rider."

"You think so?" said Strawberry.

"If there's one thing I've learned in all my time with Indira..." said Hunter, watching his horse as she did some yoga. "It's that every rider's experience with a horse is different. I didn't think I needed one either, yet Indira has proved to be just the thing I needed to help me find a better balance."

"Sometimes those who seem the least compatible turn out to be the most perfect match made in the universe." Indira said, balancing herself on her front legs in an advanced yoga pose. "You just gotta find the center."

Strawberry started to think, and she had an idea. She loved baking more than any other hobby. And it was more than just a hobby to her. It was something to bring people together. When her mother and aunts were young, they used to bake with Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Sundae's grandmother all the time; it was their special thing. After Strawberry Sundae's parents died when she was very small, Strawberry Pie took her granddaughter in and raised her with love and taught her everything she knew about baking. And she called her granddaughter her little valentine.

Strawberry returned to her rider in the Temple and left him a note asking him to meet her in the kitchen.

Mace found the note and was hesitant at first to go to the kitchen. But, at this point, he wasn't sure he wanted to risk seeing what she'd do if he refused. If another horse had an emotional breakdown, Mariverde may try to turn Strawberry into Scare Berry or Hot Mess Sundae or something.

Albeit reluctantly, Mace went to the kitchen and found Strawberry getting out baking ingredients and putting on an apron.

"Oh, good. You're here." said Strawberry. "Mind lending me a hand or two here?"

"What is all this?" asked Mace.

"I thought we could bond over a little something one of us likes to do. Since I'm a baker, I figured we could start with baking."

"Hmm. An activity with precision." Mace started to think and said, "Sounds like a good activity."

Mace looked at the recipe Strawberry had open in the book and started measuring ingredients while Strawberry preheated the oven. But before Mace could start mixing, Strawberry said...

"That's just the base of the cake. Now we get creative." Strawberry said.

"But, this is a recipe for a basic cake." said Mace.

"Yes, but it takes more than following recipes to be a good baker, or any kind of cook for that matter."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you really think the greatest chefs in the galaxy became great chefs by following the same old recipe all the time? Or that scientists made discoveries by conducting experiments and only following instructions? No. They took chances, made mistakes, and got messy!"

"Why does that sound like something out of a children's show?" Mace said, thinking that line sounded familiar.

A bit of a beat started to play and Strawberry took out a few extra ingredients. Berries, sprinkles, chocolate chips, nuts, and all kinds of fun stuff to mix in.

"Don't tell me you're about to burst into a spontaneous musical number." Mace groaned.

Strawberry:

When you're cookin' somethin' up

And only tryin' the tried and true

You stick to the predictable you've known

Measure out the same amounts

Every teaspoon, every ounce

No surprises when the rules are set in stone

Strawberry picked up some sprinkles with her tail and sprinkled some into the bowl and mixed them in as she danced around and encouraged Mace to join in by grabbing him an apron that said Riskin' in the Kitchen on it.

But when the sugar hits the fan

You make a mess of your perfect plan

And you're facin' the face of somethin' strange and new

If it's not what you had prepared

In the scramble, you can't get scared

Oh, let somethin' wild and wonderful break through

And Strawberry picked up a recipe card and ripped it before pulling Mace into a dance and pulling out the fun ingredients and tossing the book aside.

Start rippin' up the recipe

Let go of how it has to be

You forget about right and wrong

When you lose yourself in the song

It's perfect unexpectedly

When you rip up the recipe

Strawberry danced around, shaking her tail, singing happily, spinning around and chopping up some more fresh berries and fruits to add to the mix, and tossing in some strawberries, her personal favorite.

Doot-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Mace looked at Strawberry as she cut loose and looked to be having so much fun. Normally, he was all about following rules and instructions, as he'd been raised to do so under the old Jedi Code and done so as a general in the Clone War. But, Strawberry had a good point that many great discoveries had been made by experimenting and happy accidents.

And he remembered how Mila mentioned some moments when an invention she thought was a disaster, while it didn't work as one thing, it worked even better as something else. Some great recipes even started out as mistakes too, like popscicles starting out as just a stick in a cup of juice that was accidentally left outside in the snow, and yet was enjoyed by people everywhere as a refreshing frozen treat.

Mace:

Livin' life inside the lines safe and simple, by the book

You keep sweepin' the uncertainty aside

Mace picked up some blueberries and chocolate chips and started to mix them into the cake batter with some powdered sugar while Strawberry smiled and gathered some raspberries too.

But an unfamiliar spice might bring somethin' extra nice

Somethin' twice as good as what you woulda tried

Both:

'Cause when the sugar hits the fan

You make a mess of your perfect plan

And you're facin' the face of somethin' strange and new

Somethin's ready to wreck your day

You can pray that it goes away

Or let somethin' wild and wonderful break through

Before they knew it, they were both singing and dancing and mixing and matching different flavors, and before they knew it, they were baking the cake and decorating it with white chocolate icing, berries, candied lemon slices, and little frosting covered cookies in the shapes of horses.

Start rippin' up the recipe

Let go of how it has to be

No, you can't plan it in advance

Gotta lose yourself in the dance

It's perfect unexpectedly

When you rip up the recipe

Doot-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Mace cut a slice of cake, and he and Strawberry took a taste together. It was the best thing they'd ever tasted. As sweet as a new friendship finally coming together.

Start rippin' up the recipe

And make a little mess with me

You forget about right and wrong

When you lose yourself in the song

It's perfect unexpectedly

When you rip up the recipe

Doot-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo

Doot-doo-doo-doo, doo

When you rip up the recipe

The two friends were finally laughing together as they'd actually done something great together. But, their cake was simply too big to finish themselves.

"You know, there's only one way to treat such a big treat." Strawberry smiled.

Mace smiled and said, "Sharing it with more friends?"

"You just read my mind."

So, they did share their cake with the others. A perfect way to celebrate new friends, and that the Council were finally getting along with their new horses. But then, Strawberry realized one Jedi Council member didn't have a horse.

"Master Yoda didn't get a horse." Strawberry said.

"Why not?" Comedia asked.

"Had to see how got along the rest of you did first, I did." Yoda said. "Get a horse later, I may. For now, enjoy the time, we should."

"He's right about that." said Anakin.

Comedia laughed. "A prince who gets more cake on his face than in his mouth. Now that's something you don't see everyday."

"Anakin always eats like that." Carmine said.

Sapphire licked her rider's face, liking the frosting and crumbs.

"Eww! Sapphire!" Anakin groaned.

"You truly are a sweet prince, Anakin." Sapphire joked.

Everyone laughed.

Featured song: Rip Up the Recipe from Lyle Lyle Crocodile