Strawberry kept walking. Today was quite eventful for her. She moved to a new place, met a ton of new people and became friends with all of them, and lent a helping hand to almost all of them. At this point, she was ready to go to bed. The midnight blue sky finally became black. The wheels of her wagon rolled along the dirt path. Custard softly purred as she slept. Every once in a while, the wind would howl and try to sweep Strawberry's hat off her head, so she'd have to grab onto it. She had the map, but she wasn't following it. Although it was a little hard to see at night, the dirt path was only going one way, so Strawberry felt confident that this was the right way.
Everything seemed peaceful, when suddenly, Strawberry saw a mysterious figure. It looked like another person. She couldn't make out much of the figure's appearance in the black of the night, but she noticed that the figure was shivering. She started to walk faster, approaching the mysterious person. She heard the person whimpering. The whimpers sounded masculine, which caught Strawberry by surprise. She also noticed that the person had short hair. But mostly, she noticed how cold the figure appeared. Strawberry Shortcake realized that she had her jacket in her wagon. She stopped walking, went to her wagon, and took her jacket out. She dusted it off with her hand and whistled.
Strawberry Shortcake watched as the figure turned his head towards her. Strawberry slowly approached him and handed him her jacket.
"Here," she said, "take this."
The figure took the jacket and put it on. He stopped shivering. Although it was dark, Strawberry was able to make out a smile on his face.
"Thank you," he said.
"Of course!" Strawberry replied.
Then, the two looked at each other for a bit. Strawberry couldn't help but feel a bit confused. What was he doing out by himself this late at night? Was he moving here too? Was the party that everyone was talking about for him? She couldn't leave him alone like this, especially not after seeing him so cold and helpless earlier.
"Hey," Strawberry said.
The boy tilted his head a little.
"What are you doing out here so late at night?" Strawberry asked.
"I could ask you the same question," the boy replied.
"I just moved here and I'm trying to get to my house," Strawberry explained, "did you just move here too?"
"Nope! Lived here for as long as I can remember!"
"Oh, then what are you doing out so late?"
"Oh, you know, I was just taking a walk. The nights here in Strawberry Stream are beautiful, wouldn't you say?"
"Oh, berry much so!"
The boy's face lit up as soon as the word "berry" came out of Strawberry Shortcake's mouth. Strawberry took notice of his massive grin.
"You say 'berry' instead of 'very' too?" he asked.
Strawberry Shortcake nodded and smiled. The boy got even more excited when he noticed her nodding.
"No way!" he exclaimed, "I love when people do that! Berry neat if you ask me."
Strawberry Shortcake started to giggle. The way he put emphasis on the word "berry" made her laugh. The boy smiled at her.
"Oh, you," Strawberry said, "you're something else!"
"I could say the same about you!" the boy replied.
"Well," Strawberry began with a giggle, "since we're out here so late at night, how about we walk home together?"
"Oh, I'd love that!"
"Great!"
The two laughed as Strawberry Shortcake went back to fetch her wagon, Custard still asleep inside. Pulling the wagon behind her, she started walking with her new friend. As she walked alongside him, she realized that they hadn't properly introduced themselves.
"Oh, how rude of me!" Strawberry exclaimed.
"What's up?" the boy asked.
"I forgot to introduce myself!" Strawberry said, "my name's Strawberry Shortcake. What's yours?"
"Oh, right! I'm Huckleberry Pie, but most people call me Huck."
"Well, it's berry nice to meet you, Huck!"
"Berry nice to meet you too, Strawberry!"
The two shook hands as they walked. Huckleberry Pie sighed and looked up at the night sky. For some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on, this alarmed Strawberry Shortcake.
"What's up, Huck?" Strawberry asked.
"The sky," he replied.
Strawberry Shortcake cracked a smile, and then she started to giggle.
"No, silly," she said, holding back her laughter, "is something wrong?"
"Nah," Huckleberry replied, "I just like looking up at the sky sometimes."
Strawberry then looked up at the black sky. The stars sparkled and danced in the night. The moon was full and shining down upon her and Huckleberry Pie. She hadn't seen such a beautiful night sky in all of her life. After years of not seeing a single star in the sky in Big Apple City, Strawberry Shortcake had no idea that nights could be this beautiful. She had never appreciated nighttime as much as she did at this very moment. Huckleberry Pie smiled at her and chuckled a little bit.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked.
"So beautiful," Strawberry replied, "so berry beautiful."
"It's such a perfect night," Huckleberry said.
"I agree. Are the nights in Strawberry Stream always this beautiful?"
"Most of the time. Sometimes it's stormy, but thunderstorms don't happen too often here."
"Oh, that's wonderful!"
"I know! The weather's amazing here, trust me."
Strawberry Shortcake and Huckleberry Pie both started to giggle. Strawberry was impressed that she was able to make as many new friends as she did that day. Everything about Strawberry Stream seemed so perfect to her. She was half-expecting someone to pinch her and for her to wake up back in Big Apple City.
Strawberry and Huckleberry continued walking and talking for a bit. Custard continued to nap in the wagon. As they walked, Strawberry noticed two large structures. One looked like a slice of pie, while the other looked like a cake. A cake with tons of strawberries on top. After an entire day's worth of walking, Strawberry Shortcake finally made it to her house. She grinned.
"That's our house!" Strawberry exclaimed.
Huckleberry Pie gasped in delight. Strawberry looked at him and smiled.
"What is it, Huck?" she asked.
"I live in the house next door," Huckleberry replied, "we're next-door neighbors! We're gonna be seeing each other all the time!"
Huckleberry Pie giggled some more. He grabbed Strawberry Shortcake's hands and started bouncing up and down. Strawberry started laughing and bouncing with him. Custard made some irritated noises, but she continued sleeping. Suddenly, Huckleberry stopped jumping, and Strawberry stopped with him.
"Hey," Huckleberry said, "um, I just want to say thanks again for letting me borrow your jacket. I really appreciate it."
"Oh, of course!" Strawberry replied.
"Would you like me to help you get unpacked, help you move in?" Huckleberry asked.
"Oh, Huckleberry, that'd be wonderful! Thank you!"
"No prob!"
Strawberry Shortcake walked up to the front door of her new house; this was it. She turned the doorknob and turned on the light. Her house was filled with party decorations: balloons, streamers, and a banner that said "welcome Strawberry Shortcake." The cake that she helped decorate and the juice that she helped prepare were on the kitchen table. She took a step forward, when suddenly, Blueberry Muffin, Orange Blossom, Raspberry Torte, Plum Pudding, Angel Cake, and Lemon Meringue, all of them in elegant gowns, jumped out at her.
"Surprise!" the girls shouted.
Custard jolted awake when she heard the other girls shout. Strawberry did a double take before she started to laugh. She turned around and looked at Huckleberry Pie. He pulled out a noisemaker and blew into it before giggling.
"Surprise!" he exclaimed.
"Wait," Strawberry said, "the party... was for me?"
"Sure was!" Raspberry exclaimed.
"We had to hide it from you as best as we could," Orange said.
"I struggled, but everyone else did a pretty good job!" Blueberry added.
Strawberry then thought back to when she was at Plum Pudding's house. The balloons were in her favorite colors.
"Guess that explains the balloons!" she said.
"I heard about your favorite colors," Plum said, "so I got balloons in those colors just for the party!"
"How did you figure that out?" Strawberry asked.
Huckleberry Pie walked up to Strawberry as she said this. She was able to make out his facial features better thanks to her house light. His hair was brown and his eyes were a deep shade of blue. Underneath Strawberry's jacket, he was wearing a nice, blue suit. Huckleberry closed his eyes and crossed his arms, smirking.
"Oh, I got some help from a friend of ours," Huckleberry said.
"What do you mean, Huck?" Strawberry asked.
"Well, we have a friend," Huckleberry began, "his name is Escargot, he delivers the mail. As soon as I found out that someone new was moving into Strawberry Stream, I called him up to get the scoop on ya! Nothing personal, just basic party planning stuff."
"Huckleberry here throws parties for everyone that moves in," Orange added, "and he gets all of us to help him out!"
"I can tell," Custard said.
Strawberry and friends laughed. Custard looked at the large group and smiled. She wasn't enthusiastic about having this many people around at once, but for some reason, she had a good feeling about this group.
"It's berry late," Strawberry said.
"Nothing to worry about!" Lemon exclaimed, "we've all stayed up past our bedtimes before, haven't we?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Strawberry then turned to Custard.
"Sorry Custard," Strawberry said.
"It's alright," Custard said, "I got my nap, just don't be too loud."
Strawberry smiled at Custard when suddenly, Huckleberry Pie put his hand on Strawberry's shoulder.
"Well," he said, "what are we waiting for? Let's party!"
The group started to cheer. Strawberry Shortcake went to her wagon and picked up Custard. Then, she smiled at her new friends. Today had been long and eventful in the best way possible for Strawberry, and all of that walking had paid off. She got to explore a wonderful place, made a ton of new friends, and once she reached her house, got greeted with a surprise party. She closed her eyes and hugged Custard. "Strawberry Stream is the best," she thought, "the berry, berry best."