Donut Joe -- Open Twenty-Four--Seven!
Written by: MasterZero
Rated Everyone
Everypony knew Donut Joe lived and breathed his namesake - quite literally, considering he lived at his shop - but what not a lot of ponies knew were who his his first customers were.
Open all day, 24/7!
That’s what the sign outside said, and that’s what got their attention. The quiet environment and lack of ponies were also a bonus, and, of course, there were the delicious, most amazing treats this side of Equestria.
Twelve thirty AM, right on time, which was good. On the rare occasions they weren’t on time, there was usually something bad going on. At best, an apology, at worst, yelling and tears, even some magical collateral damage to his shop.
They found their doughnuts in a bag on their usual table which sat outside of the store - the same amount of the same pastries they got everytime: three sugar-coated, jelly-filled doughnuts and two chocolate-glazed, cream-filled eclairs. Many times in the past they had offered to pay, however, Donut Joe had always politely refused.
It was his honor and privilege to be serving them; their presence was pay enough. Their guards, on the other hand, did not get the same benefits.
When four guards walked over to the counter, Joe greeted them and asked them what they would be having.
“The usual,” they replied.
It took Joe less than a minute to magically bring out five bags each filled with recently made doughnuts, giving one to each of them.
“That’s Joe, he always knows,” one chuckled.
“Hey, mine’s got sprinkles on it! What gives, Joe?”
“Specially made, try ‘em.”
“Alright, if you say so...Mmmm....Mmm! MMM! This is great! How do you do that, Joe?”
“Hey, some colts know how to swing a sword, I know how to make good pastries. It’s what I do,” Joe smiled.
“Hey, Joe, who’s the fifth bag for?”
“Your wife’s been comin’ by for the last few days, orderin’ the same thing. I thought she’d like these free donuts, compliments of the chef.”
“Wow, seriously? Thanks!”
“No probs.”
“Uhh...Sirs? Should we really leave the princesses alone?” The door opened to reveal a younger guard, looking timid and confused.
“Kid, they’ll be fine. Rest and eat something!”
“Airheart, right? New recruit, am I right?” Joe asked,rubbing a hoof against the bottom of his chin.
“Um...Yes, sir.”
“Hmm...You look like a green tea donut kind of mare.”
“Um...Pardon?”
Donut Joe’s eyes traveled down, scanning her body. “No, you’re right. Pink frosted, light on the sprinkles. Am I right?”
“I’ve actually never tried donuts before...If it’s all the same, can I just have some water?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure...But while I get you some water, why don’t you have one? On the house?” Joe grinned, bringing a pink, sugary doughnut out from the shelf behind him with his magic. The pegasus looked at the pastry, before leaning forward and taking a small bite. “How is it?”
The girl chewed the bite for a few moments, before moaning in joy, rubbing her cheeks with her hooves. “It’s delicious!” She smiled, happily taking another bite.
“Heh, thought so.”
“Joe, how do you do that?!” one guard asked in amazement, as Airheart happily ate her doughnut.
“It’s a gift. I can just see what a pony likes in their doughnut.”
“Well, you are called Donut Joe.”
The group shared a brief chuckle before returning to their food.
Things eventually got quiet. The five guards were focused on enjoying their meals, and Joe had fulfilled his job description: the customers were happy. Joe looked to the window, and he saw them talking outside.
Equestria’s rulers: Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna. They chatted outside about matters far above the simple store owner - country-threatening evils, political rebellions, or maybe, just maybe, they were just talking.
They were a lot like their doughnuts, or maybe their donuts were a lot like them. Not that Joe didn’t know that already - he could see the similarities when he saw the princesses. Powdered sugar with a surprising filling. More to the regal, pure-white princess than just her coat. Dark outer coating, but a sweet, wonderful filling. More to the dark, intimidating princess than you’d think. It was uncanny.
Then again, lots of ponies were different from the first glance. Unlike Joe. What you saw was what you got. A stallion with a love of making and selling doughnuts.
Nonetheless, Joe couldn’t help but laugh at his own strange habit. Strange, yes, but that’s how he related to ponies. What kind of donut they ate said a lot about who they were. One of the guards noticed and asked him what he was laughing about. Joe just shrugged the question off as he quietly went about making more doughnuts.
After Celestia and Luna came the early morning joggers and ponies on the rush to work. Healthy, nutritious bagels for the former, with cold bottles of water at the ready, and sugary, waker-uppers for the latter, with some hot cups of coffee made to enjoy it with.
“Hey, did you hear? Twilight Sparkle and her gang are coming up here for the Summer Sun Festival.”
“No kidding?”
Twilight? Let’s see, Summer Sun Festival....
Joe used his magic to lift up a pen and brought it to a dozen or so sticky notes. He wrote on one, before taking that sticky note and sticking it on the wall.
Summer Sun Festival - Twilight and Gang. Extra sprinkle donuts with hot chocolate for Spike, blueberry bagels for Rarity, sesame seed bagel for Fluttershy, Honey-8-Grain bagel for Applejack, and chocolate covered donuts for Rainbow Dash, Everything donuts for Pinkie Pie.
Twilight Sparkle was excluded on the list. She used to get a simple plain bagel, he remembered. Back when she just came here to study and took a bite out of her bagel once every eight pages. Now? She had one heck of a more colorful choice. Last time she was here, she tried a wide variety of practically every donut and bagel she could, before she got sick.
Funny...He never thought of Twilight of wanting to be experimental with her snacks.
Either way, he wasn’t sure what Twilight would want, so he’d best be prepared for anything. Anything...Hmm...
“Hey, Joe? Joe?”
“Hm?”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Donut Joe brought a notepad and pen up and began to write down which pastries Twilight had a liking for. Since she wanted to experiment, so would he. “Powdered sugar and blueberry...Raspberry bits? Ooh, maybe I can ask Pinkie for help...”
“What’s with him?”
“Donut-storming, looks like.”
“Donut-storming?”
“It’s when he gets all obsessed with making a good donut.”
“Donuts are more than just food for Joe, they’re a way of life.”
Joe mumbled to himself various things, looking back and forth between the ingredients he would need to order next. Pastries and various condiments floated through the air, controlled by his magical aura. He was so focused on his work that he didn’t notice the first rays of sunshine as the moon faded over the horizon.
“Excuse me? Donut Joe?”
“One moment. I’m in the zone, know what I mean?”
“Oh, of course, our apologies.”
It took five whole minutes, but Donut Joe was finally able to put his work down. He turned to the customer and found the princesses of the night and day before him.
“Princess? Oh, I’m real sorry about that! You know how I get when I’m like that, what can I do for you?”
“We just wanted to thank you for another excellent meal,” Luna said.
Joe smiled and took off his hat, placing it against his chest as he bowed. “Hey, no problem, forget about it! I’ll see you two again at noon, right?”
“Of course. We also hope to see you during the Summer Sun Festival,” Celestia smiled.
“I’ll be there, Princess, and so will my delicious, delectable, dear donuts!” Joe grinned. He waved his goodbyes as they and the guards left, leaving the chef alone.
He watched as Celestia’s sun began to rise and let out a gentle yawn. Donuts were ready. Designs were in the making. He was right on schedule. But now, that schedule called for a short, twenty minute rest.
The baker began to slowly close his eyes. Just a short nap before the first customer came, he told himself. Hayseed Turnip Truck always knew to wake him, before paying for his apple cinnamon donut. He rested his head on the counter, allowing himself to sleep, as the fresh smell of baking donuts filled his nose and carried him to a sugar coated dreamland...
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Hmm, a very interesting and different take on a barely-used character, giving them a richer life. That is why I love this album.
Delicious.
Donutopia!
You have to be asking yourself this: Is he the only one who can read ponies so well?
Great addition. You can almost smell the donuts.
Aww, I like this one :D Really gives a good light to Donut Joe and his special talent. 8D
Sweet.
1530618
You flatter me.
As someone with ADHD myself, I know a bit about how you feel.
That was so quaint, it's like, there's rustic all over the place. The whole story just had this comfortable, easy vibe to it that just left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. I appreciate this!
I wonder what kind of donut Joe himself eats...
1534341
Holy shit, something appeard with a link to something that was from me!
The album really is awesome, great way for writers to experiment and to add more depth to the background ponies.
Oh right me freaking out.
t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTM_k0iZVNTenwfNj_w28pTIk8ECCqw8U_sThgW5EoDm_BWGa_uLg
1533751
Quantity.
1534379
Heh, be sure to check out the newly launched collab group, complete with three brand new collabs and endless more to come.
1534443
Allrighty, i actually found out about this project when one of my favorite writers; psp7master, went about talking about it on a blog.
Too bad his story didn't make it to the album, anyway i'l await for this new thing.
I also started writing a short time ago, still figuring out my own style, but i can say that i really enjoy writing.
Wait...so Joe never sleeps for an extended period of time? He only naps?
If he doesn't have an assistant and gets by on 20-min naps, maybe wakefulness should've been his cutie mark!
1536197
He's doing the Uberman Sleep Pattern. Twenty minute nap every four hours.
I like to think of it as this. Twilight's talent is magic, but she is also amazing at organizing people. Its not her only talent, just the most obvious.
Thank you to everyone who enjoyed this chapter, and thank you to everyone who is writing a chapter. You're awesome.
This is was a very good one. Always liked Donut JoE. Now I want a want a donut!
~LATEP