Of Tricks And Treats

by Starlight Shadow

Apple Spice Cookies

Twist hummed happily as she flipped through the pages of Pinkie's cookbook for the perfect treat to make for Apple Bloom. She had flagged Pinkie down that morning as she was leaving and asked her if she could use it. Pinkie had said she could, but only if she didn't damage it, maim it, spill apple butter on the pages, or in any way deface it.

She paused and examined page 23. Apple Spice Cookies...those sounded good. And she could make some Pumpkin Spice Cookies as well. Those were a bit more seasonal, but they both corresponded to the fall season. She climbed up onto the teal counter and opened the cupboard. Sugar and flour, and the salt shaker. She heaved one bag out of the wooden cupboard, then the other.

The eggs were in the fridge, and so were the apples. Twist gently nudged the eggs onto her back, and placed three apples on top. Walking slowly to make sure nothing fell, she carefully placed her cargo on the counter. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Getting the eggs from the fridge to the counter was always the most stressful part.

Twist also needed a bit of spice. She got some ginger out of the pantry, and after some consideration, apple butter. That always tasted good, no matter what you put it on.

Nightmare Night was coming up, and like always everypony at Sugarcube Corner would be working overtime making candies and other assorted sweets. Twist had only recently started helping there after school, but she had gladly volunteered to make some cookies. Three different kinds.

She planned to set aside two from her best batch. One for her, and one for her former friend. They hadn't fought. They hadn't screamed or thrown things. In a way, that might have been better than...whatever this was. They had unanimously agreed to avoid each other after Diamond Tiara's cuteceanera, when Apple Bloom had met her new friends. Twist was left friendless, but quickly met and befriended a filly named Dinky Doo. And all appeared to be right with the world.

But Twist missed Apple Bloom. She missed her a lot. They had known each other since before they had started school, due to their mothers being good friends. Twist had been there for Apple Bloom when her mother got sick and the atmosphere in the normally-welcoming farmhouse stretched taut. Twist had let Apple Bloom cry on her shoulder when her mother had died, and her father soon after. And now that suddenly didn't matter because of two peppermint sticks on her cream-colored flank when they hadn't been there before?

Twist simply was not going to stand for this. She was going to bring Apple Bloom a cookie, and hopefully go trick-or-treating with her. They were going to make up. Twist swore it. As she thought all this, she got out the other ingredients needed, fetched the bowls and measuring cups, and began to actually make the cookies.

Twist loved this part most of all. Baking was like magic, her own special kind of magic that didn't require a horn. Putting a bunch of raw ingredients into some bowls, mixing it together, putting it in the oven and making something delicious. Pinkie always said that there was no problem that couldn't be solved with a little ingenuity and baked goods. Twist had always humored Pinkie on that point, as there were usually quite a few other things you needed to solve problems, but she believe in that saying now. She had to.

She spooned dollops of batter onto a tray and popped it in the oven, turning it on. It whirred to life, and she leaned against the row of cupboards beneath the counter with satisfaction.

Twist would have to repeat the process twice more with different ingredients; once more with the Pumpkin Spice cookies, and then Pinkie would be back by the time she was ready to start a batch of bat-shaped sugar cookies. But before any of that happened, she had to set aside those two Apple Spices.

While she waited for the Apple Spices to be done, she got out the ingredients for the Pumpkin Spices. Then got the various colors of frosting needed for the sugar cookies so they could warm up for easier spreading. There were still ten minutes on the timer.

Well, best to clean up the mess from the Apple Spices. She'd forgotten that crucial final step.

Five minutes.

Maybe she could work on the Nightmare Night crossword puzzle in the newspaper.

One more minute.

Oh, come on already!

The oven dinged. Twist jumped, then pulled it open with no shortage of effort. She took a plastic cover in her mouth, then reached in the oven and got out the tray. Spitting out the cover and fanning her face, she gazed at the fruits of her admittedly-not-so-hard-anymore labor.

She quickly plucked two from the silver tray and dropped them in a royal purple paper bag, decorated lovingly with fabric stickers from Rarity. Two black cats, wearing witch hats, enjoying a piece of candy together.

Never had she so desperately wished to be a cat.

Comments

[Zexoguy]

This is so cute. I wish Apple Bloom and Twist would start talking again.