Celestia trotted silently to Pony Joe’s, very early Saturday morning, as she always did. As she opened the back door, she was greeted with the smell of Joe frying donuts for the day. She slipped down the short path between crates and bags of baking ingredients. The low lights and narrow passage gave way to bright open space. Next to the tins of coffee, Joe stood over the fryer, watching and flipping his pastries.
Celesta sat patiently as he carefully pulled out the donuts, lay them on a tray, and finally turned to face her. He smiled through his fangs as she nodded politely from the edge of the shadowy hall.
“Come in already, I was about to frost the donuts.” He turned to a long table stacked with donuts and picked up a bucket of icing. Celestia stood up, but paused. She looked at her holey reflection in his leg.
“I know it’s been a few years, but,” she started. He turned to listen, completely at ease in his changeling form. “Are you sure you should work without your disguise? What if someone comes in?”
He shook his head as he put down the spatula he was about to use. “Celestia, most ponies think all the changelings are gone for good. Aside from that, no one comes in this early because my store is closed. And, on top of that-” he shifted into his pony form in less than an instant. “I think I would be fine. You should stop worrying.” With another flare of blue, he dropped his disguise.
Celestia sighed in defeat and stepped up to the table. “Can I frost the strawberry ones?”
“Sure.” He nudged her spatula towards her, and the early morning passed quietly, the two equines quickly finishing their work. Celestia picked out a few donuts, and ate them as Joe brewed coffee and opened his shop. She dropped some bits in his cash register as he flashed blue again, tying on an apron as he went.
“Thank you for the wonderful company, Joe. The donuts were excellent, as usual. I hope your day goes well.” Celestia prepared to teleport back to her chambers, ruffling her large wings and gently shaking her mane.
“I always enjoy working with you. Hope you have a good one. I’ll be watching the sun rise, as usual.”
With a nod, Celestia disappeared in a golden flash.
Joe dried a cup as the door jingled shut for the last time that night. He sighed, set the cup in it’s place, and walked to the door with his keys. A faint thud came from storage as he locked the door and shut the curtains.
The store was quiet. The chairs were not quite in their places, the tables had crumbs and coffee on them, and the floor needed to be cleaned. Joe sighed again. The door to the kitchen of his shop opened.
“Uhh, I may have gotten flour everywhere. I will clean it though,” Luna ducked back through the door, leaving it swinging behind her. She returned with a bucket of cleaning supplies. “Here’s the supplies for the tables. I’ll- yes. Be right back.”
Joe watched as her thin frame disappeared again. Tired, he levitated the bucket towards him, pulling out cloths and chemicals. Starting with the counter, he wiped up crumbs, coffee rings, and general dust. As he reached his second table, Luna bust in with a bucket on her head.
“HUZZAH! I HAVE COME TO CONQUER YOUR FLOOR!” She grinned, swinging her mane out of her face. Joe looked up, and smiled. With a flourish, she removed the bucket and filled it with water from the tap under the counter. Her showy flares stuttered a bit as she turned around, looking for the soap she forgot in a cabinet. “I WILL RETURN!”
He hummed softly as she went through the door again. He ignored the various banging noises as he neared the halfway mark of the tables. A muffled “aha” drifted into the front, and soap for the floor levitated into view.
“Ooooohhhhhh, I am the spooky floating soap!”
“Luna, I can see your mane. And your aura.” He snuck towards the door.
“But not me.” She giggled. Joe jumped into the kitchen, yelling.
Luna squealed and hit the ceiling, her wings rattling tools hanging on the wall. She overcompensated for the collision, and folding her wings, fell on Joe. With a thud, they hit the floor in a flash of blue.
“Ughh… You okay?” He was glad he was protected by a shell, but it meant a hard landing for Luna. She leaned forward and bopped him with her nose in response.
“Boop. I am now going to mop the floors.” She stood and walked calmly to the storefront, her aura carrying the mop and bucket after her. Joe shook his head and began to set up for the next morning.
He wondered for a moment if it would be faster to just clean up himself but decided it was worth it to have Luna’s company. He set out his ingredients, taking a mental note of how much he had left in stock. He made sure the mixer was put together, the fryer was ready to pour oil into, all the tools he would need were laid out, and the remaining donuts from the day were stacked high in a to-go box. Finally, Luna trotted in with all the cleaning supplies.
“It is donut time, correct?” Luna looked expectantly towards the box.
“As usual. Go for it.” Joe sat in the smaller of the two chairs he kept in the back as Luna dragged the larger towards the donuts.
“So,” She took a large bite, then continued with donut in her mouth, “Wha happened today?”
Joe grinned, fangs shining in the overhead light. “You would never guess…”
Late that night, Luna flew towards the castle as Joe walked contentedly home. He was glad he was a hard sleeper, because tomorrow would start early.
