Chapter 4: Celebrity

The effect of the queen's review was immediate. Every fairy in Pixie Hollow lined up to taste Ambrosia's cake. Each person who sampled it gave it the same rave reviews that both Tinker Bell and Queen Clarion had given it. Everyone said it was the very best they had ever tasted. Many went back for seconds and a few for thirds. Ambrosia felt positively giddy. Her entire guild marveled at the accomplishment. It was just the right sweetness, just the right moistness, just the right texture, just the right… everything. Whenever she was asked how she did it, Ambrosia always replied, "patience and perseverance."

This answer raised a lot of eyebrows. She explained to them that she had to be patient and not rush things or get discouraged by failures. Ambrosia was very forthcoming about her willingness to experiment to the nth degree with everything she could get her hands on. She hid nothing, except her inspiration: the human cookbooks. Surprisingly, Dill was very supportive.

"Congratulations," she said. "I never believed you could do it."

"I had trouble believing in myself sometimes," Ambrosia noted. "I'm glad I had a friend like Tinker Bell who never stopped believing in me."

"Well, you've earned your time in the firefly light, Ambrosia. Enjoy it."

"Thank you, Dill. That means quite a lot coming from you," Ambrosia said, a sweet smile on her face.

At each meal, Ambrosia's cake crowded out the other desserts at the serving line. A new dish that was highly favored by the queen usually got the lion's share of attention so this was to be expected. As Ambrosia watched her new delight be requested over and over again, day after day, week after week that it filled her with such a pleasing combination of pride, joy, relief and satisfaction. She went back to making recipes that others had originated. This time there were no tears, no hesitation, and no stress. Ambrosia was at peace with herself now. She had nothing left to prove.

~O~

Tinker Bell was very happy with her baking talent friend. The Hollow was abuzz about the dessert. Everyone she talked to couldn't get enough of it. Not a single unkind word was uttered by fairy lips. Ambrosia, it seemed, had finally overcome her own greatest challenge. Tinker Bell, however, had not.

Tinker Bell had been in a deep funk for a good long while because her human friend was off at Cambridge University. Lizzy was away for such long stretches that whenever Tink went to the mainland she felt oddly alone even while surrounded by friends. Visiting Dr. Griffiths and hearing letters from the girl couldn't make the feeling go away. Not entirely. Ambrosia's success, however, gave Tinker Bell the kick she needed to pick up something she had left unfinished for a long time. The Pixie Dust Express.

The fairy boat she had designed had been her single biggest headache. One that had vexed and mocked her ever since that first day it went off the water and right up a tree. It was the same day she found out that she was to make a new fall scepter for the Autumn Revelry. Oh that was such a long time ago, Tink thought. My how time flies. She laughed because now Tink was beginning to sound just like Dr. Griffiths. With her malaise now fully banished by her new found enthusiasm, Tinker Bell sought out her best friends Clank and Bobble and her guild master and mentor Fairy Mary. She asked for ways to solve the problem which was poor control in Hydro Mode, the high speed configuration that was to make the boat useful to Terence and his dust keeping guild.

After several late night brainstorming sessions, a new design was worked out and Tinker Bell started work from the blueprints. When the new prototype was complete she sought out her closest friend, staunchest advocate and the most handsome partner in crime: Terence. As always he followed in his canoe while she raced ahead in her speed boat. When Hydro Mode was engaged Tink found that the new design was keeping the vessel under control quite well. Until it didn't. When Terence finally caught up to her he could only laugh.

The Pixie Dust Express had somehow managed to impale itself into the hollow of a tree. The stretchy thingy employed as a power source was still under tension and the paddles spun wildly, non-stop until the tension was fully released.

"Tink?" he called to her. "Tink, where are you?"

"I'm over here," she called back, dispirited. Terence followed the sound of her voice until he found her, lying across a tree branch where she had been unceremoniously deposited, thrown clear by the force of The Express being launched into the air. For a while, he just hovered.

"Now what?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing," he said with a goofy smile. "I'm just admiring the view." He was looking at her back side. Tink's dress had been flipped over so he got an eyeful of her bum and green undies.

Tink glared at her boyfriend. "Just help me up, okay?"

Terence flew over and dutifully picked her up and gently set her down on the branch above the water. He gave her a hug to console her after another failed attempt. "Don't worry, Tink," he said, "you'll figure it out one of these days. And when you do it will be a big help to all of us."

"There isn't going to be 'one of these days,' anymore, Terence," she answered.

"What? Aw, c'mon. You'll get it. You just have to keep trying," he insisted.

"No. I'm done trying. I quit." Tinker Bell hung her head low. Her wings drooped and she looked more disappointed than before she started work on the blasted thing.

"Okay," Terence said quietly. He had never seen her so disappointed in herself or one of her projects. Tinker Bell was always known for her wild mood swings when something went wrong, but this was different. He could feel her despair and resignation in her voice and body language. "But I guess you'll have to explain to Ambrosia that she should do as you say and not as you do."

That hit Tinker Bell hard. She had told Ambrosia never to give up no matter what manner of setbacks were incurred. But this was different, Tinker Bell told herself. There was no point in continuing a project that would never work. Wasn't that the definition of insanity?

Unfortunately, Ambrosia looked up to Tinker Bell as a role model. A hero who brought her from the brink of the abyss to a grand triumph. All of that would collapse in the blink of an eye. She might become disillusioned with both Tinker Bell and the advice the tinker fairy gave her. Tink couldn't do that. Even with Ambrosia's amazing victory at the tasting, it might cause too much damage.

"Tink, it's okay," Terence said. "It's okay for you to fail as long as you don't give up."

Now it was his turn to rescue her from the abyss. "Thanks, Terence," she said with a slight smile. It was like a tiny beam of light piercing the darkness. That one single ray a beacon of hope. It gave Terence hope that she wasn't going to wallow in self-pity. Instead she would keep at it until the boat worked flawlessly.

"But I don't know what I'm going to do next," she said. "I'm out of ideas."

"Then do what you told Ambrosia," he replied. "Step back for a while. Let your mind clear out so you can think with a broad perspective rather than a narrow one."

Tinker Bell felt the love and devotion in his words. He really did look out for her. It was nice having someone like him as a guardian angel. Terence took her hand and guided her to a bend in the branch. He sat down in it and then pulled his girl into his lap. He laid her out across his chest where she curled up.

"You look tired, why don't you rest for a while," he told her as he pulled a leaf from the branch and wrapped her in it like a blanket. "Afterwards, we'll get some dinner and have some of that great dessert Ambrosia made."

She smiled at him, kissed him lovingly. Terence wrapped his arms around her to hold her and keep her safe high above the waters. She put her head on his chest where she heard the rhythm of the beating of his heart. It was like a lullaby that warmly brought her to sleep. Terence just watched her breathing. It fascinated him that even as she slept she still smiled. He wondered what wonderful dreams she was having. Eventually, he too drifted off and had his own dreams. Dreams of a great future where The Pixie Dust Express worked perfectly and he and Tinker Bell could live happily together.

~O~

Months passed and the next scheduled tasting occurred. Ambrosia, with nothing to prove to herself or anyone sat in the gallery and watched as the queen moved from one entrant to the next giving her approval to each and every dessert presented to her. Carmel, a very talented baking fairy won the day with the third highest compliment the queen could give. Carmel had made a flan like dessert that was so creamy and luscious that Queen Clarion instantly declared it "Heavenly," using a word the humans often employed. The assemble crowd instantly descended on the baker and congratulated her on such a wonderful showing. She couldn't have been happier.

Ambrosia knew that her moment in the spotlight had come to an end. After each new tasting, whichever dessert won the day would become the new "it" food to sample. Ambrosia was so happy for Carmel and was ready and willing to pass the torch to the newest celebrity of the baking guild.

Unfortunately, the throngs who came to eat weren't quite so ready to surrender Ambrosia's confection for the new winner. Carmel's dessert had its fans and it was regularly requested, but the cake Ambrosia had created still dominated the menu. Never in the history of Pixie Hollow had the fairies overlooked the winner of the next tasting. Carmel was initially hurt by this, but eventually took it in stride. "It is a testament to the greatness of Ambrosia's rare dessert that the fairies of Pixie Hollow have deemed her creation superior to the one which earned the highest honor of the subsequent tasting. I doff my toque to her and her inventiveness. Next time, I'll just have to try harder."

Ambrosia was touched by Carmel's graciousness. "I've tried your dessert, Carmel," she said. "It is absolutely amazing. The fairies of Pixie Hollow will figure that out soon enough."

Carmel was very pleased with this reply. But the following months would not change the attitudes of the fairies who came to eat at the dining hall. Ambrosia's cake still was the first choice for most who came looking for something sweet. In fact, it would be an entire year and four tastings before her entry would finally yield to the changing tastes of the diners. Four winners of the queen's tasting watched as their superior desserts and creations were out shown by that one little cake. Ambrosia had once been the darling of the guild. Everyone wanted to be her friend. To know her and be seen with her.

Her unparalleled success turned into bitter resentment. All of her new friends abandoned her. One person even placed a loose hair onto one slice of Ambrosia's cake just to turn the crowds against her. It seemed to work. Soon another accusation arose.

"Ambrosia just got lucky," she overheard someone say. "It was all just a big mistake. Her talent is too weak for that to have been planned. She stumbled into her success. Why I'll bet that is why she has never submitted another new dessert. She knows that the queen would turn her nose up at it."

This hurt Ambrosia. She tried to tell anyone who would listen that what happened at the dessert table was just a happy accident. She never even conceived that it would have such long legs with the fairies who came for dinner.

"Dill, you have to believe me when I tell you that my dessert was not an accident," she pleaded. "The fairies wanting it more than any other dessert for a year was. I'm just happy to be thought of as competent."

Dill believed her, at least that was what she said. However, no one else within her guild would.

What she heard next, however, would infuriate Ambrosia. Accusations of self-promotion began to surface. They whispered that Ambrosia had been shamelessly promoting her own food over each new winner to soothe long held wounds. Promoting one's own creation over the new winner was considered bad form and the mark of someone who didn't want to give up the fame they had developed. Of course, nothing could have been further from the truth.

When the gossip became accepted as the truth, Ambrosia wasn't just denounced by her own guild, but looked down on by most everyone else. There was one person willing to defend her.

"You," Tinker Bell said pointing to someone in a crowd. "Did Ambrosia ever come to you and try to coerce you into eating her dessert before someone else's?"

"No," he answered.

Tink pointed to another person. "What about you?"

She shook her head "no."

Tink went through several in the crowd and not one fairy or sparrow man could say that they were pressured to take one dessert over another.

"It's all lies," Tink said confidently. "We all tasted her food. It was best thing any of us have eaten in our lives. When something is that great you don't abandon it overnight, do you?"

The crowd murmured, but the consensus was that no, you didn't.

"Exactly! Now what happened with Ambrosia was a once in a lifetime event. You shouldn't hate her for it, you should be grateful for witnessing it because it won't happen again for a very long, long time."

Tink's strong defense soothed the crowds and many within the baking guild. But there were some who refused to accept that such a poor talent could have achieved such great success. They refused to accept that patience and perseverance were she needed. These few believed that it was the strength of talent, not the strength of will, which determined how successful a fairy could be.

To that end they set out to undermine Ambrosia's confidence through harassment and other insults. These ranged from the simple angry shoulder bump to tricks like asking a question to distract her while someone else sabotaged what she was making. Often, Ambrosia would come to work and find her mixing bowls and utensils missing. Other times they were used and left hanging overnight so she would have to spend time cleaning them. This would put her behind the schedule of others. Some were so brazen as to just "accidentally" knock her down while she carried food. Bakers just didn't waste food like that.

It all finally got to Ambrosia. One night she went home, threw herself on the bed and cried until she fell asleep. The next morning she didn't even report to work. Those who had been harassing her thought that they had won. Instead, they had awoken a sleeping giant. Ambrosia concluded that the only way to prove herself the superior baker was to win a second time. Then no one could deny her success was real rather than accidental. So she gathered her baking pans, mixing bowls and utensils and scoured all of Pixie Hollow for a long list of exotic and unusual fruits, nuts and other odd assortments of ingredients she would need.

Ambrosia was back in mad scientist mode again. The second star help anyone who got in her way.

Thanks to everyone for their kind reviews and other feedback. I do hope you enjoy this next chapter. Thank you for reading.