Pocket Peaches: At the Fair by Dora Wang
Mango is making moonberry bread, to enter the baking contest at the Moonberry Fair which, shockingly, Taro has never been to! The Fair is great. There are rides, games, tasty treats, all of which Mango has mapped out. First, however, there is important work to do. Taro, Pogi and Peaches need to taste the moonberry bread. Of course they think it’s incredible.
However, Mango disagrees and thinks it doesn’t taste quite right. Mango is following her grandpa’s recipe and it needs to taste the same. Unfortunately Mango has run out of berries which must be freshly picked, so she will try again tomorrow.
The next day at the Calico Cafe, all people can talk about is the contest and how they’ll get the chance to meet Bonnie Tart who has her own baking show and who is one of the judges. The winner will be invited onto her show, so of course Mango wants to win. The conversation is interrupted when a Doe comes rushing in for muffins. Unfortunately Mango has sold out so sells her the treats she had put aside earlier. The Doe buys them and rushes back out.
The next morning, Mango is back in the kitchen making moonberry bread, but a knock on the door interrupts her. It’s a delivery for the cafe, a very very large one. It seems Pogi may have accidentally added an extra zero on the order meaning they have a lot of forks for the cafe. It takes some time to get this straightened out, time the moonberry bread should have been cooking in, however, Mango forgot to turn on the oven.
It’s too late… the contest bakes need to be submitted in the next hour and the fair is forty-five minutes away, so there is no way to cook the bread in time. Mango doesn’t want to go to the Fair anymore, she’s too embarrassed, but Pogi won’t leave her alone so Mango agrees to go.
The four friends have arrived at the Pocketon Moonberry Festival, and it looks so fun! Pogi has no plan, today is all about being SPON-TAY-NEE-US! which makes Mango so uncomfortable. Pogi whispers to Peaches and Taro not to mention the contest and that they need to cheer Mango up. Now, time for fun!
Pogi finally has someone to go on the rollercoaster with in Taro, so they head for the thrill rides while Peaches and Mango enjoy the more sedate rides. However, when Mango mentions looking in at the first round of judging, Pogi devilishly suggests Mango and Peaches try a real rollercoaster, Dragon’s Dive! The only thing that gets them on the ride is that Mango wants to hide from one of the baking contestants. When the ride finally ends, both Mango and Peaches are shaken; it’s time for something slightly less exhilarating.
The friends look at the tractors, check out the jams and craft stalls, and test their strength. (Nice try, Peaches.) They also try to watch the magic show, but can’t see anything because a tall giraffe sits right in front of them, so instead it’s time for funnel cake, corn dogs and ice cream. Unfortunately the cheese cart isn’t there, the vendor had car trouble, so it’s time for something new: cinnamon twists! They are AMAZING! They are each inspired to search the fair and try something new.
Peaches spots a carnival game with cute prizes and they need to win the cute cupcake plushie prize for Mango, but they need thirty tokens to win it. Challenge accepted. As a team, they will play the carnival games until they get the thirty tokens needed. They split into duos to conquer the games. Eventually Mango needs to pee.
Meanwhile Pogi, who is with Taro, is wondering if Mango is okay and enjoying being SPON-TAY-NEE-US, but Taro points out that maybe Mango likes plans because plans make her feel less stressed. At the restrooms, Mango is on the way out when she spots a flier for the baking contest which must be over by now… Mango heads to the contest tent.
Mango is sneaking around, hoping not to be spotted. She finds that first place has been given to Pierre’s Moonberry Cloud Pie. She’s happy for her friend, but sad she couldn’t enter. As Mango is telling Pogi that yes, she had a good day, she also explains that winning the contest would've been a chance to bring more business to Calico Cafe. They’re interrupted then by none other than Bonnie Tart WHO KNOWS WHO MANGO IS!!
Bonnie Tart was planning on stopping by Calico Cafe because her assistant, the Doe, brought her the most delicious muffins from there and she would like more. Not only that, but Bonnie Tart wants to film a video tour of the bakery for her show. This is huge!! Bonnie Tart likes Mango’s baking!! Pogi apologizes for the delivery mixup making Mango forget to turn the oven on, and Mango apologizes for snapping and not being mindful. They agree that it wasn’t any one person's fault.
Meanwhile, Peaches and Taro have just won the last of the tokens needed to buy the plushie cupcake. Turns out thirty was for a small bear, they would need sixty for the large plushie cupcake. As Taro is about to beat up and/or curse the carnival worker, Pogi and Mango appear. Looking at the prizes with a broken heart, Peaches promises to be back for the cupcake plushie. Mango tells her friends about running into Bonnie Tart and how she is going to visit the bakery the following day. They are all suitably excited.
The fireworks are about to start and Mango knows the perfect place to watch them, the Ferris Wheel, where no giraffe will block their view. As the friends ride to the top, Taro tells them she’s had a blast at her first fair. Mango is pleased Pogi dragged her along even though nothing went to plan because she tried a new treat, went on a rollercoaster and met her idol.
Pierre has brought some Moonberry pie for Mango to try which he baked with Bonnie Tart, it’s delicious; he’s even been thinking about starting his own baking channel like Bonnie Tart. Mango has also been trying something new, Moonberry twists, a little spin on the classic Moonberry bread. They’re selling really well, so well in fact that they are able to purchase a new mixer that has THREE SPEEDS. It might not be the original recipe, but Mango knows her grandpa would approve.
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