If there was one thing a certain pegasus named Strawberry Sundae loved, it was baking. Ever since she was a filly, she loved all things sweet and made with flour. Strawberry Sundae came from a long line of bakers. Her mother Caramel Sundae was a great baker too, and so was her mate Baguette Crisp. Aside from being great bakers, their lives were wrapped around their only child Strawberry Sundae. They used to call her their little berry bunch. Sadly, their family was not to last, as one day, construction with a new oven in their old shop went horribly wrong, and a fire broke out.
Little Strawberry Sundae was able to jump out of an open window to get out, but the entire building collapsed while her parents were still inside! The poor filly was devastated and traumatized that day.
After her parents' funeral, Caramel's family took Strawberry in. Strawberry's aunts Lemon Sorbet, Tutti Frutti, and Gingerbread and their mother Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Sundae's grandmother, took the little filly in and raised her in their lines of sweet shops. Tutti Frutti and Lemon Sorbet ran a successful ice cream and sorbet shop, while Gingerbread worked with her mother in the family bakery, where Strawberry Sundae spent her time after school learning to bake. What made the Pastry family's shops so special was that their baked goods didn't have any harsh chemicals like some other shops put in their goods. All the ingredients they used were farm fresh, every single fruit treat made with fresh fruits grown in their gardens and greenhouses. Plus, how many sweet shops do you know run by horses who smell naturally of sweet stuff?
But, even in a place as sweet as a bakery, it was possible to feel depressed. For a while, Strawberry felt unable to even look at pastries knowing an oven caused the loss of her parents. But her aunt Gingerbread, the oldest child before Caramel Sundae, reminded Strawberry she wasn't the only one experiencing loss. Strawberry lost her mom and dad, while Gingerbread, Lemon Sorbet, and Tutti Frutti lost a sister, and Strawberry Pie lost a daughter and her son-in-law. The two youngest sisters eventually found stallions of their own and had foals of their own, which left Gingerbread to be the primary helper to their mother in caring for their niece and helping keep Strawberry Sweets Shoppe afloat.
For a while, Gingerbread and her mother helped Strawberry Sundae process her grief by mainly having her help out in the greenhouses. There, Granny Strawberry showed her granddaughter how when one leaf fell, another grew. And that just because one berry was sour didn't mean the next one would be. Bottom line, she told Strawberry,
"Not every cake is made to enjoy, Berry Bunch. Sometimes the cake is burnt, sometimes it's raw or falls before its time. It takes more than a recipe to make something new. The unexpected is an important ingredient in a lot of things. Sometimes, they start out as something bad, but with time and patience, you can find yourself meeting a sweeter something, a baked blessing in disguise."
"How is losing my family a blessing in disguise?" Strawberry Sundae asked, baffled by that.
"I don't know, Dear. I question it too. I lost one of my babies. The only blessing I've seen, so far, is that you survived and you are one thing I have left of your mother."
Throughout the time young Strawberry grieved for her parents, her guardians did their best to take care of her and teach her everything they could about baking. Strawberry Sundae loved strawberries, but she also loved making things with caramel and vanilla; they smelled like her mom. And whenever she baked bread, it smelled like her father. Strawberry had grown up being told she had her father's eyes, and that the white streak in her mane came from her mother. The rest of her pink and red coloring, she'd apparently inherited from her late grandfather.
As Strawberry Sundae grew up, she learned all kinds of tricks to baking and making all kinds of desserts. And when she was old enough, Aunt Gingerbread gave her niece a very special gift.
When Strawberry turned thirteen, she was presented with a special book. It was a big book. It was a beautiful book. It was brown like a baguette with jewels that looked like berries on the cover, and it had the words, From Pastries With Love in big pink letters that looked like they were made of frosting.
"This book was passed down to me when I was your age," said Aunt Gingerbread. "It's a very special family heirloom passed down to the eldest child when he or she masters their skills as a confectionery cook. It was your mom who helped me to earn it, and I just know she would want you to have this."
Strawberry Sundae nuzzled that book the moment she learned how special it really was. She felt closer to her parents when she opened it. And she made it her life's work to master every recipe inside it, while also adding a few pages as she wrote down her own delicious discoveries.
The pink pegasus loved working in the bakery, but she wanted more. She tapped into a lot of new jobs in the time she spent baking too. Over the years, she started a little something she liked to call Diversi-Cakes, cakes that were like a mix and match type of cake made to symbolize different features of the people and occasions the cakes were made for.
For example, Strawberry Sundae was the baker on duty when Peppermint Twist came in to place an order for a birthday cake for her sister Firework. Peppermint wasn't sure what kind of cake to get her sister, so Strawberry offered to make a special surprise cake that really showed who Firework was. She made a two tier cake that was covered with midnight purple frosting, edible glitter, and decorated with little firework and star shaped cookies with sparkler candles as a representation of how that young mare was simply on fire with a big sparkle inside her soul just waiting to burst out and light up the dark. Firework's eyes really lit up when she saw that cake presented at her party, and she didn't hesitate to take a big bite out of it once she blew out her candles
Eventually, she upgraded from just birthday cakes to doing wedding cakes too, and she received a big break when Strawberry Sweets Shoppe was asked to cater the desserts for Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padme Amidala's royal wedding. Every bakery in the galaxy was after that gig. Baking a cake for such a historical wedding was a big deal, and Strawberry Sundae herself took on the responsibility of making the wedding cake. And she was super successful at it. Not only did she get a great payday, but soon everyone wanted a taste of Strawberry Sundae's diversi-cakes.
Strawberry Sundae saved up everything she could from each job she got for a dream she had to open her own sweet shop. There was just one problem: her family's bakeries mainly sold to the enchanted community, and opening a shop in a non-magic territory, where everyone was unfamiliar with their ways…. That was far from easy. Still, Strawberry believed she could do it. Her great-great-great-great grandparents started their first bakery from nothing. So, why couldn't she start a bakery somewhere in the Republic to add a little magic touch?
Eventually, that dream did come true after she got matched with Jedi Master Mace Windu. And together, they opened a very successful shop called Force of Flavor, but I'm getting too far ahead of myself.
Some of you may be wondering how exactly Strawberry and her Jedi rider came to open this shop, right? Well, here's the story of how they came to create a sweet business that had a sour beginning.
Strawberry Sundae didn't exactly have an easy-going bonding experience with Mace Windu at first, probably because they had varying perspectives on how to run things.
Mace Windu was a real stickler for rules, precision, and following expectations. However, for someone who was such a stickler for those things, he wasn't exactly a gourmet chef. Any time he babysat Skywalker's daughter Gabby, he would always get food from the Commissary or order takeout to spare her from getting food poisoning. Mace wasn't sure why, but even when he followed the recipe, somehow he ended up making everything taste bland, burnt, or just plain disgusting.
Strawberry, on the other hand, knew a saying her father used to say: "The proven way isn't always the better way." In other words, the majority of her desserts were often the results of tasty experimentation with various ingredients, and mixing things she might not have thought would be so good together like oranges and strawberries. So, when she got matched with the stickler for rules, she showed him how to rip up the recipe and improvise. And together, they mixed up all kinds of tasty eats, and made a beautiful cake covered with white chocolate icing, berries, candied lemon slices, and little frosting covered cookies in the shapes of horses.
"Okay, time for the test." Strawberry said as her rider cut a slice for them to sample.
Mace took a teeny bit onto a fork while Strawberry just wolfed the rest in her mouth, being a horse and having a bigger mouth, and all. And when they tasted that cake, it was even better than they imagined.
"That's amazing!" Mace said. "I never made anything that tasted this good before."
"Maybe because you spent too much time worrying about the recipe than actually taking in the scents and the quality of your ingredients. It takes more than one kind to make a recipe."
The cake was wonderful, except it was simply too big for the Jedi and pegasus to finish themselves.
"You know, there's only one way to treat such a big treat." Strawberry smiled.
Mace smiled back and said, "Sharing it with more friends?"
"You just read my mind."
"Oh, everyone! Who wants some cake to celebrate the newest Ride of Love matches?"
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.
Everyone took in the sight of that cake and thought it was absolutely beautiful, and its flavor matched with it just right.
"Yummy!" Citrus licked his mouth when he got a taste of the candied lemon slices. "Candied citrus slices. My favorite."
"I love all the berries and chocolate chips in here." said Gabby.
"Me too," said Anakin. Of course, as he dug into his, he quickly got frosting on his nose and a bunch of crumbs and more frosting all over his cheeks.
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, taking another bite of his slice..
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. After that, Strawberry began to realize something she was missing. Maybe she needed a partner to start her sweet shop.
The next morning, Strawberry and Mace dug into some very berry pancakes they made together.
"I can't remember the last time I had a good homemade breakfast that wasn't cereal." Mace said, taking another bite of pancakes.
Even a cook as bad as Mace was couldn't mess up something as simple as cereal with milk… unless they didn't know the difference between good milk and sour milk.
"Glad you like them. The berries in there, I brought all the way from home. My grandma uses fresh berries she grew herself, you know."
"Does she, now?"
"Yup. She and my aunties taught me everything I know about sweets. They run successful shops, so I basically grew up in the confectionery business. It's my dream to start a shop of my own."
"How's that going so far?"
"Um… well, I have been saving up for a long time, the hard part is getting connections, a location, and how to advertise." Strawberry got out a binder she had in her suitcase. "I've got a business plan, lots of great recipes, and designs for uniforms for workers and the interior even. And lots of people already know me as the pony who did the cake for Anakin and Padme's wedding, and most recently Duchess Satine's royal wedding to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Except, I don't have a shop of my own. They have to have a connection to my grandma's bakery, which is in the enchanted realm. So, I need to find a way to advertise my stuff somewhere everyone can find me, magic and non-magic alike."
That was when Mace had an idea.
"You know, I was actually in town the other day, and there was a building for sale not far from the local social district." Mace said. "Lots of people go there for shopping and hangouts, especially a lot of teenagers who post everything. You'd have great access to a large abundance of potential customers."
Strawberry thought that sounded like a good idea, but she needed to see this place first.
"Do you know who's selling it and if it's still available?" she asked.
Strawberry went with Mace to see the building up for sale. According to the real estate lady, it used to be a diner, but they went out of business years ago. There was lots of space to put in some tables, there was a kitchen with at least a couple of ovens in it, and it was definitely a great place to get lots of attention. Except, it looked like a fixer upper too.
Some of the walls had big holes in them, the wiring and plumbing needed to be looked at, and there were cobwebs in the ceiling.
"As you can see, it's a bit of a fixer upper." said the real estate lady. "But there's a lot of potential here, and it's a great deal, as you can see. I must say, though, I wasn't expecting a Jedi to want to open a shop."
"Actually, I'm the one who wants to open a shop." Strawberry said.
But the lady laughed, "You're adorable, pretty pony."
"I'm not kidding, I'm the one who made the cakes for two royal weddings. Anakin Skywalker and Duke Obi-Wan Kenobi's weddings to be precise."
"Oh! I'm so sorry."
"One more wrong move, and I would've gone to tell my good friends about this. Something tells me your sales wouldn't go very well if word got out you were rude to a friend of two royal families."
The real estate agent, not wanting to create a worse deal, suddenly knew of a great discount Strawberry could get. It wasn't the first time Strawberry got judged. She was nineteen now, so it was no surprise to her that people in big business would judge her for her age if they weren't just judging her for being a pony.
Looking at Mace, Strawberry said, "Learn the weaknesses of big business workers, you learn how to avoid a lot of scams and corrupt practices."
Mace had to admit, he was impressed how Strawberry stood up for herself like that.
"You sure you didn't go to business school?" Mace said.
"I'm sure. I just grew up with some of the best business ponies who never let the success get to their heads, and refuse to sell their humility for any price."
Strawberry was able to get a great deal on the building, and ended up paying even less than what the original asking price was. Now, she needed to get the place fixed up. She knew how to get the designs ready quickly and on budget, and even where to place tables and display cases. But… she would need a little help with getting a good plumber and electricians, as well as installing safer equipment in there, because she was pretty sure the ovens in there were out of date, and the refrigerators needed to be replaced with ones that had more space.
Strawberry looked at the numbers, and found that this was a little more than she had left after buying the building. It was not going to be easy to start her business now. And then, there was the issue of advertising. But then, Mace had another idea.
"I think what you need is a partner." Mace said. "I've dealt with plenty of corrupt officials during the war, and you're going to need all the help you can get to avoid getting scammed by corrupt officials."
"You're saying you wanna run a bakery?"
Mace couldn't believe it either. He never even thought about going into business before, but seeing how important this was to his friend, he figured it would be the least he could do for her after she helped him improve his cooking skills and loosen up a bit.
"I suppose I am. It would make sense. I know the non-magic world, how to negotiate, and I know someone who runs a great accounting firm that can help with funding for your dream. What do you say? Wanna be partners?"
Strawberry thought about it; it sounded like a great adventure. So, she shook hoof to hand with Mace and said, "If we work together. We split the profits 50-50. Deal?"
"Deal."
So, Mace got in touch with a special lady friend of his. Her name was Brenda Dawson. He hadn't told anyone yet, but she was his new girlfriend. Actually, she was his girlfriend a while back, until they broke up… but now they were back together, but that's another story.
Brenda wasn't just an accountant at Monroe Money Makers, she was the owner. Monroe was her maiden name, as she'd started that firm herself before she married her first husband. Brenda was a whiz with numbers, and she wrote a great business margin and budget chart for Strawberry and Mace's soon-to-be business.
"I never would've guessed you of all people would wanna start a bakery." Brenda said.
"Neither would I, but Strawberry Sundae convinced me otherwise." Mace shrugged. "I really hope I can introduce you two sometime. And the kids, I'm sure would love her too… if Myra didn't look at me like a rat every time she sees me."
Brenda put a hand on her boyfriend's and said, "Just give her time. You know how teenagers can be. Myra had to inherit her stubbornness from somewhere, you know."
Mace rolled his eyes. He'd been told plenty of times he was pretty headstrong, and now that he'd met the daughter he didn't know he had, he began to see what people meant when she showed to have a bit of an attitude.
"Maybe I can ask Strawberry if she'll make Myra a cake sometime. She'd probably like that." Mace said.
"She might." Brenda said, and then she got a notification on her phone. "I wish you good luck with your new shop. Right now, I best go fetch my two sweeties."
Mace arrived back at the bakery-to-be and saw Strawberry wasn't alone there. She was nuzzling with an older green pegasus mare with a white mane streaked with pink, and patterns of strawberries on her flank and forelegs. And there was also a brown pegasus mare with a very bright mane of blue, red, green, and purple, and markings on her body that looked like frosting patterns like on gingerbread cookies.
"Oh! Mace! You're just in time." Strawberry Sundae said. "I'd like you to meet my grandma, Strawberry Pie, and my Aunt Gingerbread. Granny, Aunt Gingerbread, this is my new rider and business partner, Mace Windu."
"So, you're the human working with my little berry bunch." Strawberry Pie said, taking a whiff of Mace's head. "Hmm. I'm smelling hints of a history of burnt baking."
"That was an accident!" Mace said.
Strawberry Pie chuckled and said, "I'm just messing with you. Every baker has burnt at least one pastry in their lifetime."
"I trust you've been taking care of Strawberry Sundae?" Gingerbread stated.
"Auntie." Strawberry groaned. She loved her aunts, but they could be a little overprotective sometimes, especially Gingerbread. But, it wasn't that surprising. How could she not be protective especially after losing her sister?
"Not to worry, Ms. Gingerbread. Strawberry Sundae is in good hands. Believe me, if anything, I'm more likely to need rescuing than she."
"That's our Strawberry. No damsel in distress. Just like her mother." Strawberry Pie said. "My other daughters are on their way too. We all heard of our Sundae's journey to starting a bakery of her own and thought we could come help out."
"If that's okay with you, Partner."
Mace thought maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea. Strawberry's family had years of experience running a shop, and may have some great tips for making it a success and preparing for the unexpected.
Mace got the information to Strawberry Sundae, and together, with some help from their friends, as well as Strawberry's family, the new bakery started to come together. Anakin knew a lot about fixing appliances, so he was helpful for picking out the safest ovens to install, and even offered to help with installations, knowing there were plenty of plumbers and electricians who liked to try and scam female clients. Everyone also helped out with cleaning the place up and putting together the setting.
"Where do you want this cake tower, Sundae?" said a lemon yellow pegasus mare.
"Just put it on the shelf at the window for now, Aunt Lemon." Strawberry Sundae said. "Aunt Tutti, where are we on steaming the supplies?"
In the kitchen, a pink pegasus mare with a green and purple mane was making sure all the new cooking tools were sanitized properly.
"Almost done!" Tutti Frutti answered.
Over the next few days, things began to come together. With Mace getting Brenda's team to help with accounting, and Strawberry's connection to a few friends who could help her get investors interested, the opening was sure to be amazing! But, they had to get the place up and running before they could have a grand opening.
The walls were painted a lovely pink, the tables had maroon tablecloths with white lace on the edges and pretty white chairs, and the kids even contributed by making paintings and other crafts in the images of berries, cakes, and tasty looking treats. And Padme knew where Strawberry and Mace could get a great deal on some solar panels so they could save on electricity.
It took a few weeks, but with everyone helping out, the place started to look more and more like a bakery. Throughout that time, Strawberry and Mace created lots of great pastries to sell and write down in Strawberry's family recipe book. And, they came up with a great name for their new shop.
The day of the grand opening…
"Alright, everyone." Strawberry said, grabbing a rope in her mouth. "Welcome to the grand opening of…"
Strawberry pulled the rope and pulled off the cloth to reveal a big pink, red, and white sign with the name of the new shop.
"Force of Flavor!"
There was a great turnout for the bakery too. When word got out that the royal family of Solaris, Count Crescendo, and Obi-Wan Kenobi were interested in the new bakery, lots of people came, hoping to get a glimpse of the celebrities and get a taste of the confectionery goods that were supposedly amazing enough to impress royalty.
Strawberry set out some samples of the goods so people could get a taste of what they'd like to buy. And it wasn't just pastries. Mace wasn't great at cooking before, but he did know how to work a coffee machine amazingly, so he had the idea to also add coffee and such to the menu. Lots of people were bound to want coffee, milk, or tea with their pastries.
The strawberry cupcakes were a big hit, and so were the coffees and teas. Boba was definitely a fan of the pecan cinnamon buns.
"These are the best cinnamon buns yet!" Boba said, sipping some milk.
"Looks like opening day is a big success." Anakin said, smiling as he took a sip of coffee. "Mmm. And now I know where to get great coffee."
Strawberry even got a great idea to make the bakery even more fun for the kids. Fast food places sometimes put toys into kids' meals. So, Strawberry had the idea to hand out stickers and little coloring pages for the kids. Children loved stickers and coloring, and it was bound to make coming to the bakery a more enjoyable experience both for the children and their parents.
Gabby and Lamenta definitely loved the coloring pages.
"Hey look! My connect the dots page is a gingerbread man." Gabby smiled, finishing her page.
"I colored a cupcake purple." Lamenta held up her picture.
"Those are beautiful, Girls." Padme said.
Of course, not everyone was happy that a new bakery came to town.
A few buildings down the street was a shop called Batter Up, named so because they specialized in sports themed goods. They had cookies frosted to look like sports balls, cupcakes decorated to look like sports balls and represent various teams, even cake pops that looked like little sports balls.
The owner of the shop, Gordon Mendez, quickly began to notice there were quite as many customers today.
"Mitch! Any idea why we're having a slow business day today?" asked Mendez.
"Can't say I have a clue, Sir." said Mitch, one of the workers.
That was when a customer came in to pick up an order.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up an order for Angie." said the woman.
"Coming right up, Ma'am." said Mitch.
"Would you like anything else?" asked Mendez. "We've got plenty of everything left. Two for one."
"Not today, thank you." said Angie. "It does seem slow today."
"Yes, I wonder why that is."
"It might be that new bakery down the street."
"What new bakery?"
Angie told the baker that on the way to Batter Up, she'd seen another bakery that just opened that day, apparently, and everyone was really excited about it. Mendez didn't like the sound of that; bakeries that had a terrific opening day usually pulled in a lot of customers, which meant less business for him. He decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about.
Mendez took off his apron and told Mitch to keep working while he stepped out for some important business.
Lots of customers came in, and all of them left the bakery very happy when they bought so many different kinds of treats. Marmalade danishes, very berry mini pies, chocolate caramel croissants, jogan fruit cupcakes filled with vanilla buttercream, coconut cupcakes with lemon custard, chocolate cherry macchiatos, chocolate marshmallow s'mores, strawberry frappuccinos, you name it, they made it.
"Thanks for coming to Force of Flavor. Come again!" Strawberry smiled.
"Can I get some more tea, please?" Master Mundi asked.
"Coming right up! Mace, we need more Honeycrisp Oolong tea for table three."
"On it." Mace answered, helping another customer. "Don't forget some stickers for your little ones."
That was when Baker Mendez entered the shop, just as Strawberry walked over and poured another cup of tea for Master Mundi as Comedia was enjoying a gummy bear covered cupcake.
"Hi! Welcome to Force of Flavor." the pink pegasus smiled. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah. By closing your shop and getting out of town." said Mendez, which had Strawberry's smile quickly disappearing, and shocking her friends.
"Excuse me?" Strawberry said.
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I am Gordon Mendez, owner and proprietor of Batter Up. Best bakery in the social district for the last fourteen years, soon to be fifteen."
"Well, congratulations. I'm sure your bakery must make good treats."
"You're darn tootin' we do. And I don't need some perky little pony stealing my customers."
"Um… I'm not stealing anyone's customers. In case you didn't already know, we're new to this neighborhood, and we have a right to be here."
"You're right, you are new here. And someone needs to set you straight, girly."
But then, Mace stepped in and said, "Excuse me, Sir. This behavior is really uncalled for. We're not here to threaten anyone. We don't want any trouble, so how about we each just go about our business?"
"You won't have a business for long, if I have anything to say about it." Mendez said.
"Is that a threat?" Strawberry said, getting on her hind legs and spreading her wings, which intimidated Mendez a bit.
A thing about winged horses, their wings were used for more than just flying. They could use their wings to keep their young warm, to keep dry from the rain, tickling others, or to spread out while they stood up on their hind legs to make themselves look bigger to scare off predators, such as Mendez.
"Listen here, Mendez, was it? I worked really hard to save up for this place, and my family and my friends all worked very hard to help make this place possible. And I won't be intimidated by a fellow baker who seems to think the world revolves around him."
Strawberry snorted.
"So, unless you wanna buy something, I'm gonna have to kindly ask you to leave."
So, Mendez did turn to leave.
"You've been warned."
But Strawberry showed no fear.
"Can you believe the audacity of some people?" Strawberry said.
"Unfortunately, there are those who see anyone with potential as a threat." Mace said.
"He's speaking from experience." Anakin said.
"I said I was sorry a hundred times!"
"Mommy? Is that man gonna do something bad to Strawberry and Uncle Mace?" Gabby asked.
"I don't know, Baby." Padme said. "But if he does try anything, you know what happens to bullies?"
"They get in trouble."
"That's right. And if that man is smart, he'll leave our friends alone."
"He better. Clearly, he doesn't know that one of the owners had a lightsaber, and they both have friends with more of them."
"We're not gonna resort to lightsabers, Anakin." Strawberry said.
"Don't worry, Strawberry." Mace said, petting Strawberry's muzzle. "Everything will be just fine."
"I hope so."
But little did they know that that was just the beginning.