The sun rose above the city skylines as Poppy and Branch came to the cafe for a day of cooking for their customers. The other employees also arrived when Poppy opened the cafe. They started baking the pastries they prepped last night and the day is started. Rose entered the cafe with a smile on her face. She is wearing a sweater with denim shorts, a jacket with a fur collar, and brown boots.
"Hi, Rose!" Poppy greeted her.
"Hi, Poppy." Rose responded. "I can't believe that I'll be joining the fruit harvest for the first time."
"The fairy harvest day is the day when we fairies pick all the harvest in the fairy garden." Poppy said. "We would have fruits like apples, figs, grapes, limes, quinces, oranges, pomegranates, passionfruit, kiwi, and plums."
"We'll also have vegetables like beans, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and pumpkins." Branch added.
"We use the harvested fruits and vegetables to make dishes out of it for the celebration." Cooper joined in.
"When everything is prepared, we start the harvest celebration with a harvest dance." Biggie quipped.
"I love dancing." Rose said.
"Heya guys!" Smidge called out. "I entered Ms. Fairy Harvest pageant and I can't wait to win that."
"You, win that pageant? You're just too short for that kind of thing." A voice called out. It was Brandy, who was standing by the doorstep.
"Brandy!" Smidge growled. "I heard you had implants to improve your body appearance."
"Yeah, not like you who is a midget." Brandy said. This caught Poppy's attention.
"Really, you're just jealous because Poppy looks better than you, what's why!" She added.
"What did you say to my friend!?" Poppy hollered. She took out her wand and plants started growing rapidly. This startled everybody in the cafe, both employees and customers.
Guy Diamond was passing by the cafe when he saw Brandy running out of the place but she looked smug and satisfied.
"GET OUTTA HERE YOU BRUXA!" Poppy screamed as she kicked Brandy out of the cafe.
"Sure thing, Poppy." She smuggled. "I'll see ya at the festival."
Poppy took a deep breath as she was about to close the door until Guy came by.
"Poppy, what happened?" Guy asked.
"It's just Brandy meddling like what she normally does." Poppy said.
As Guy and Poppy enter the cafe, Poppy apologized to the customers. "Sorry everybody, I didn't mean to lost my composure like that."
"It's okay, Miss Poppy." A cyclops mother sighed. "I never let my kids go near her as usual."
"She's nice to look at but she's not very nice." A teenage elf added.
"So, what's wrong?" Guy asked.
"I entered Ms. Fruit Harvest for this year and that idiot, Brandy mocked me." Smidge said.
"She called Smidge the m-word in front of Poppy." Rose said.
"Ooh, that hurts." Guy Diamond sighed. "The good news is that the organizers asked me to host the pageant and the winner gets to be the star of the fairy harvest parade."
"Really? I can't wait to be one, and I'll have Milton Moss be my date." She giggled. "But Brandy has her good looks to win this thing."
"But at least you have us." Rose said. "I could help ya undergo the Cinderella challenge."
"A Cinderella challenge?" Smidge asked.
"Yeah, the pageant you're entering would have different portions, the introduction portion, the kindness portion, the gown portion, the talent portion, and the question portion." Poppy said.
"I entered two pageants once and my mom is the one who trained me for it." Rose said.
"Did you win?" Smidge asked her.
"Yeah, twice." She answered. "I can help you win if you could undergo training with me."
"Really?" The pixie asked her.
"Yeah, that's what friends are for." Rose smirked as the two fist-bumped.
As Rose and Smidge train for the pageant, Satin and Chenille designed the outfits for Smidge to wear while Brandy is planning to cheat. Rose helped Smidge practice with her talent, which is magic tricks, walking on high heels, answering questions properly and honestly, doing poses, and graceful moves. When the pageant came, Smidge notices that all of the other pageant contestants are taller than her but she passed them by confidently. When the day of the pageant came, Guy Diamond came onstage to host the event. Brandy and her posse are ready to cheat while Smidge is confident, after many days of rehearsals with Rose. The judges were Mr. Elfmore, Gristle, and Nova Swift.
"Welcome to Ms. Fairy Harvest pageant night, where we will search for this year's queen of the harvest." He said. "Let's meet our contestants!"
In a moment, the contestants enter onstage with their pretty outfits until the trapdoors open. Each of the contestants fell down, all but a few contestants, Smidge and Brandy. Tequila, Cider, Whiskey, Champagne, Vodka, and Soju tried to open the trapdoors to eliminate the remaining competitors but it got stuck so they try to make the bags of sand fall on their heads. Instead, it was Smidge, who balanced all of the fallen bags on her head and maintains her posture while walking. Guy marveled at the sight of it.
"Oooo, that's a pretty hat, Smidge!" Guy complimented her.
"What?!" Brandy growled.
"Ooh, that looks good on her." The other contestants agreed.
The next portion is the kindness portion. Guy uses his magic to cast an illusion of an ugly troll and said. "How will you show kindness to this troll?"
Smidge came up first. Everybody expected that Smidge would give him a hug but instead, Smidge comforted it with a joke and cheer it up. The crowd applauded by how the pixie showed kindness. The other contestants showed kindness in another way, which made Brandy so jealous.
"Well see who gets the standing ovation in this portion, pixie." She scoffed as she went up onstage.
Instead of showing kindness, Brandy insulted the illusion instead, cursing for her to be booed instead. She blew raspberries at the crowd in response and walked but she tripped offstage and fell into the accidentally open trapdoor, making everybody laugh at her.
"Okay, okay, that is quite hilarious." Guy giggled.
The judges gave out good scores for the rest of the contestants but Smidge gets the highest. The next portion after the kindness part is the gown portion. All the participants show off their gowns but Brandy showed off her fancy, huge gown, and super high heels. The last contestant to show a gown, Smidge is ready for her part but Brandy has a cheat up her sleeve.
"Lets see if she could impress everybody if she's covered in worms." She snickered as she released a barrel on Smidge, which trapped her but at least it has something else. The barrel rolled onstage and it broke into pieces, revealing Smidge in a shinier, glittery dress.
"I've never seen a pretty dress like that." Guy shocked. "And the train goes longer and longer.
Rose smirked, knowing that she swapped the earthworms with Satin and Chenille's golden orb weaver spiders, who are knitting silk on Smidge's dress. The judges gave their scores but as usual, Brandy had low scores. At the talent portion, the other girls showed their talents, which is composed of singing, dancing, and, making illusions. Brandy didn't show any talents, she only had her girls put on her heavy makeup onstage. The crowd just scratch their heads in confusion until they accidentally opened a trapdoor and they were flipped into the air.
"Oh my Guh!" Smidge cried as the girls were flipped. She flew onstage and was able to catch them one by one but gracefully. In a minute, she landed onstage like a butterfly. The crowd went nuts over Smidge's performance and the judges agreed that it is the best talent they ever seen. The final portion came, which is the question and answer. Guy asked each participant one question each and one is difficult over the other.
"Oh my guh! I can't answer any of the questions." She shivered.
"Smidge, you can do this." Rose said. "You showed the judges your best and you're one step to winning."
"Well, I guess I have something that Brandy doesn't." Smidge said.
"Yeah, beauty pageants aren't meant to be about appearances, it's about celebrating who we are as girls." Rose said. "Strong, brave, kind, and empowering."
"Do you think I'll win?" The pixie asked.
"Yeah, you are already beautiful, just the way you are." The elf responded. "Brandy treats her employees like dolls but Poppy treats hers like her family, the siren may have glamour for strength but you have your own strength. You just have to do your best and be yourself."
"You're right, I'll do it!" She said as she went onstage.
When Smidge's turn came, Guy asked her a familiar question.
"Smidge, what does being a woman mean to you?" Guy asked.
"What I've learned is that being a woman isn't about appearances, it's about being who I am." She responded. "I was conscious about myself when I met Milton Moss but my adventure with him made me realize that a strong mind and a kind heart is better than looks."
"Correct! Now, it's time to bring out all the contestants!" Guy said.
All the girls came out onstage. Brandy was overconfident that she'll win but Smidge smirked. All the judges calculated the scores and gave an envelope to Guy. When it was settled, Guy had another sprite bring out the crown onstage. Finally, the winner of the pageant is ready to be revealed.
"And this year's Queen of the Fairy Harvest is..." Guy said as he opened the envelope. When he pulled it out, he revealed. "Smidge!"
Smidge walked in front and a crown was placed on her hair. Brandy screamed and howled over her loss, while the other girls congratulated Smidge. Suddenly, the other contestants that Brandy had injured crowded around her and attacked her. In the process, leaks and infections appeared on the parts of Brandy' body, which caused a shock towards the crowd.
"Oh my, look at Brandy!" Poppy shouted.
"Her implants caused infections!" Rose snickered. "I knew it."
"And I am so relieved, she has done so much damage to my restaurant." An older woman said.
"Red Tavern is your restaurant?" Branch asked.
"Yes, and Brandy had caused so much mess with it." She said. "But you, Miss Poppy, you always do your best when it comes to serving your customers and you treat your employees as what bosses should be. Okay, where is the new winner of this year's pageant?"
"You mean me?" Smidge asked as she showed up with a sash, the crown, and the bouquet.
"Yeah, this is Ms. Ale." Poppy introduced her. "The real owner of the Red Tavern."
"Smidge, you showed everybody that beauty is all about." She said. "I'm so proud of you and I got another situation to take care of."
She went close to Brandy, who was crying over her defective appearance as the other girls never dared to get close to her.
"Brandy, you have been a very bad girl, you used those hefty paychecks you keep for yourself, just to make yourself beautiful with those surgeries." She said.
"You old hag, why are you talking to me like this?!" Brandy shouted back.
"That's because you are no longer the owner of my restaurant." Ms. Ale smirked. "And that means, you and your girls are fired!"
"What! NO!" They wailed.
"So, who will be the new owner of the restaurant?" Smidge asked.
"I know who will be the rightful owner of my restaurant." She said. "My granddaughter, Ginger Ale will run it instead, she is a better boss than Brandy is, and takes inspiration from Poppy for her good leadership skills. I'll tell her the good news tomorrow, see you at the parade."
The next day is the Fairy Harvest festival as all of the restaurants gave out samples to the whole city. Rose and the rest of the Snack Pack had a good time in the festivities as they went around all the booths, trying out different food, and participate in the activities. Poppy, Branch, Cooper, and their fellow employees gave out samples to everybody as a lot of customers crowd to taste their food but the heart of the event is the parade. Smidge and Milton Moss were applauded as they were carried on a giant flower float together. The Snack Pack knew that Smidge would always be herself because beauty is found in unlikely packages.