A Fairy Star Is Born!

One sunny afternoon not too long ago in Fairy Valley, three fairies named Pipple, Pablo and Pop were making rather a lot of noise. They had started a band
called The Pepperpots, and every day after Fairy School, they would head to the Whispering Woods on the outskirts of the Valley to practice. 

As the name suggests, the Whispering Woods can be quite noisy! If you were to walk through the Woods, you would hear all sorts of whispers and giggles
from fairies and other magical creatures nearby, so Pipple, Pablo and Pop thought it was a good place to practice. It was already quite noisy, so a
bit of extra noise probably wouldn’t bother anyone!

Although they had only been together a short time, The Pepperpots loved playing music together and were getting better and better every time they practiced.
Pop played the guitar, Pipple played the bass and Pablo was on drums. They all wrote songs together too, and they were planning on staging their first
ever concert on Mushroom Mound in Fairy Valley very soon, but there was just one problem…

“We still don’t have a singer!” said Pop, peeking out from under his floppy fringe.

Pipple nodded her head and sighed. “Yep, how can we be an awesome band without an awesome lead singer?” she said forlornly.

Pablo twirled his tiny drumsticks in his hands and said “I could try again? Maybe I can sing all of a sudden now even though I haven’t been able
to sing my whole life!?”

He started to sing but stopped after a few words. “Nope, guess I still can’t sing!”, he said with a chuckle. Then he asked, “Hey Pipple and Pop, how come
one of you can’t be our singer?”

Pipple said “Well, I get a bit mixed up when I’m singing and playing the bass at the same time! I’m still learning it, so I want to concentrate on doing
that the best I can!”

Pop nodded. “And I’m just kinda shy I guess. I can do backing vocals, but I wouldn’t want all the attention to be on me… no way!”

Pablo stroked his chin with a drumstick. “I guess The Pepperpots are in a pickle then! Will we just rehearse ‘Fly Fly Fly (In The Sky)’ with no lead singer
again?”

Pipple and Pop both shrugged. “Guess so”, said Pipple, as she pulled her bass guitar strap over her shoulder. Pablo tapped his drumsticks together and
started counting them in, “A one, a two, a one two three…”

“Wait!!” said Pop. “Do you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” asked Pablo. “Sshhh”, said Pipple, as they all listened to the whispers wafting through the woods.

Pipple gasped when she heard it. Very faint but getting clearer, a fairy or some other kind of creature was singing their heart out nearby.

“Wow!” said Pablo. “Whoever that is, they’re really good!”

“That’s for sure”, said Pop. “We have to find them! Let’s split up and see if we can track them down!”

The three fairies took off and started flying through the Whispering Woods.

Before long, Pablo came across a troll named Dave.

“Was that you singing a minute ago, Dave?” asked Pablo.

Dave the troll grinned and started to speak with a low growl. “Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but it could have been. Cross my palm with silver and the
truth will be seen.”

“Nice try, Dave, but I’m not falling for that one!” said Pablo with a chuckle, as he started to fly away. “The voice I heard was much higher than yours.
But come to our concert next week on Mushroom Mound, it’s gonna be awesome! Tell your friends, we’re The Pepperpots. Seeya there!”

Over on the west side of the woods, Pop was chatting to a group of elves. None of them had been the voice the fairies had heard, but they were all very
impressed that Pop was in a band and were surrounding him, asking for autographs. “Me next!” said one. “No me, I’m your biggest fan!!” yelped another.

Pop suddenly felt even more shy than usual.

“I’d b-b-better go, guys, sorry!”, he said, as he backed away. “But come to our concert next week on Mushroom Mound! We’re The Pepperpots!!”

On the east side of the woods, Pipple was approaching the Babbling Brook, when she heard the voice they were all looking for, louder than ever. She looked
around and saw a small fairy with bright pink hair sitting next to the brook, singing with her eyes closed. Pipple waited until she was finished before
she spoke.

“Sorry to bother you…” she said. “You’re an amazing singer! I’m Pipple.”

“Wow, thank you!”, blushed the fairy. “Hi Pipple, I’m Pixie.”

*

One week later, a small crowd waited on Mushroom Mound. Among the gathering was a group of very excited elves, a few curious fairies who had just come
from Fairy School – and a troll named Dave.

Pipple, Pop and Pablo walked out, as the small crowd clapped politely. Pablo sat behind his drumkit and Pipple picked up her bass guitar, nodding at Pop.

Pop took a deep breath to steady his nerves, Pop said “Hey everyone… thanks for coming!” he said, and waved at the elves, who were shrieking and
giggling. “We’re The Pepperpots…” Then, winking at Pablo and Pipple, he added “Oh wait, no we’re not. From this moment on, we are Pixie &
The Pepperpots!! So without further ado, please welcome to the stage… our lead singer, Pixie!”

Pixie joined her bandmates and picked up her microphone. As soon as she started to sing ‘Fly Fly Fly (In The Sky)’, crowds came from all over Fairy Valley
to hear the band. Before long, there were hundreds of magical creatures dancing and cheering.

As the audience chanted the band’s name at the end of the concert, Pipple, Pop, Pablo and Pixie all smiled at each other. Each of them knew that, thanks
to all their practicing – and a stroke of fairy luck – something very special had begun…

The End