//------------------------------//
// Twist -- Searching for Perfection 
// Story: The Album 
// by Peregrine Caged 
//------------------------------//

Written by: DarkPhoenix
Rated Everyone (harmless foalshipping)



Twist was annoyed.  Even though her special talent and cutie mark were in making confectionaries, it was still a long process.  With a swipe of her hoof she sent the latest failed batch into a bowl.  There she could lay it back out on a sheet tray and reheat it, making it soft and pliable again.
Her annoyance came from the fact that she had now failed for the third time.  She knew that she was aiming high with her latest creation, but it had to be perfect for him.
Hearts and Hooves Day was tomorrow and she wanted to give a gift to Truffle Shuffle. Since they had exchanged gifts the previous year and become a couple, she knew that this year needed to be really special.
The problem with making peppermint candies into shapes is that the material needed to be hot enough to bend and twist, but cool enough to handle with her hooves.  The window was small and if it was missed, she could burn her hooves, or the candy could break, which is what happened with the last batch.
With a sigh she poured the broken candies onto a tray and placed it back into the oven, checking the batch that was in there to see if it was ready.  Even though she started this project for Truffle, she had decided to make another batch to hand out to her friends.
The batch in the oven was soft to the touch but not overly hot.  She carefully removed the tray from the oven and set it on the counter.  Twist knew that now the clock was ticking.  She had only a brief amount of time before the candies cooled.
Quickly she got to work.  She picked up a strand of peppermint candy and began to mold it.  Candy canes, straight rods, several rods twisted together, all these shapes were easy and known to her.  She wanted to do something different, something new for her coltfriend.
Using her hooves, she rolled the strand, making a twist pattern in the candy.  Setting that one to the side she grabbed another piece and started flattening it.  With sure and swift strikes of her hoof she attempted to get the candy into the proper shape.
As she worked her thoughts kept turning back to the last year.  She had made a coltfriend, one that she really liked and who she knew liked her back.  When she had gotten the courage to give her Hearts and Hooves Day card to him last year, she had no idea what to expect.  It was much to her amazement that he had given her a hug and whispered in her ear a sweet thanks.
She looked at her progress and realized that the piece was flat enough for what she had in mind.  She used a small knife to cut a square out of the piece and then set the square next to the twist.
Now came the real test, and where she had failed before.  She needed to shape the twist and get it to adhere to the square.  Hoping the twist was still warm, she grabbed it and bent it, forming half of a heart.  So far so good, the candy was still malleable.  Picking up the twist she placed it on the square and pressed gently.  The twist sunk a tiny amount into the square.
Twist allowed herself a small smile as she knew her work was at least partway complete and she didn’t have to start over from scratch.  She set the inlaid work to the side and tested the rest of the candy on the tray.  She had spent too much time on the one piece because as soon as she tried to shape another portion of candy, it broke in half.  The peppermint had cooled too much to work with now.  Still though, she had made progress, which was better than the last three times she had tried.  Opening the oven and sliding the tray in, next to the one that was already in there.  With a quick poke, she tested the second tray and found that it wasn’t quite ready yet.
Feeling ready for a break anyway, she poured herself a glass of the Apple family’s apple juice and sat at the kitchen table.  It would be another few minutes before she could get to work again.  Making candies was hot and hard work, constantly standing over hot stoves and in front of ovens, tempering the sugars and mixing all the ingredients together.  But she loved it and was passionate about bringing good candy to everyone.  If she didn’t then her flank would bare another picture.
Earning her cutie mark was one of the most special days of her life, and while she didn’t regret finding her place in life, she did regret how she acted after that.  She had abandoned one of her friends, Apple Bloom.
It had taken her a long time, but she had made up with Apple Bloom and even made friends with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.  Even though she had her cutie mark already, she was happy to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders on some of their adventures.  Although she made sure to keep away from anything which smelt of disaster.  Over the past few months she had been on multiple adventures with her friends.
Lost in her thoughts, she almost forgot about the candy in the oven.  Fortunately, her nose alerted her to the fact that her candy was ready.  Leaving her cup on the table and heading back to the oven, she passed through “the wall,” the barrier of hot air surrounding her workstation.
Opening the oven and retrieving the second tray, she cautiously tested the candy.  It was hot and she wouldn’t be able to handle it for long, but it was still workable.
She removed one strand and started rolling it, just like the other one.  The peppermint was hot enough that she could only touch it for a brief amount of time before needing to let her hooves cool down.  Yet it was warm and pliable enough to easily create shapes with it.
No sooner was the candy in the proper twist shape did she bend it into the other half of a heart.  Moving over to the base, she applied the twist to the base and knew that the residual heat would make it stick.
Looking down she saw exactly what she was looking for: a square base with a twist-edged heart set into it.  The base was made of standard red and white peppermint, but the heart was only red in color.  Twist had tried hard and gone through several batches before she got the right shade.  She wanted the candy to be as close to her mane and tail color as possible.  Now all that was needed was the accessories.
She spent the next hour making candies, from little rounds individually wrapped in wax paper, to the traditional peppermint canes, to several straight rods.  She also made several ribbon shaped pieces which were applied to the corners of the square.
When everything was done, the kitchen was cleaned, and the candy was set and ready for tomorrow. Twist sat at the table once more, another glass of juice in front of her.  The work was hard, but the payoff was immense.  The looks of gratitude, the joy on people’s faces when they ate her candies, that was why she did what she did.  If even one pony thanked her for the gift, if Truffle hugged her, then everything she had been through today was worth it.
With her saddlebags packed and ready for tomorrow, Twist shut off the lights in the kitchen and closed the door, ready to face the next day.