Donut Joe lazily wiped a cloth across the front counter of his establishment.
One may be tempted to call what he was doing cleaning, but in reality all he was doing was finding an excuse to lean while still looking busy. It was, however, an act he put on for no one, as his donut shop was currently empty.
But Joe prefered it that way. To him, his favorite days were the slow days where customers rarely visited. Ones where he could just stare through the window from across the counter and watch the ponies of Canterlot flitting by and living their lives.
But that wasn’t to say that he disliked when he had customers, of course. In fact, even on a day as slow as this, he still had a lovely grouplet of customers that visited. First was Petunia, an excitable little filly who was quick to finish her Yakvarian Cream donut and head off, eager to return home and play with her new puppy. Then came an old married couple who arrived within a few minutes of each other, Mr. and Mrs. Clover, who regaled Joe with stories of their lives together over a shared trio of coffees.
It was customers like those that still brought a smile to Joe’s face as he heard the door open, denoted by the cheerful sound of a bell.
Star Tracker flowed into the donut shop suddenly, bringing the dark of night and a torrent of rain in with him. For a long moment he was mostly occupied with himself, shaking his head as he looked over his drenched and smoking guard regalia with an annoyed mutter.
It was only when the door thunderously slammed behind him that he was frightened out of his wet stupor. After nearly jumping out of his armor, he finally made a point to look around at the building he found refuge in.
Immediately it was much cozier than the out of control downpour he’d just escaped from. A warm interior, both in quaint style and actual temperature, immediately helped Star Tracker feel welcome and invited deeper within.
Even warmer a greeting still was the one provided by the older stallion standing behind the counter.
“Come in, come in! Looks like absolute hell out there.” Donut Joe said with a small, coy smile as Star Tracker approached the counter. “What can I get you tonight?”
Star Tracker sat down at the stool in front of Joe, removing his helmet and setting it onto the counter. He still wasn’t used to talking to ponies with it on, it feeling overly claustrophobic whenever he tried. This let his blond mane breathe, even as it stood on end and was as frizzy as could be.
He was hoping that the moment it took to situate himself would be enough to find an answer to the question posed, but all he could do was nervously try and right his mane with a hoof.
“Oh, well, um…” Star Tracker stammered, finding more trouble than he expected. “I dunno, what do you have?”
Joe’s face only showed a minor amount of annoyance as he placed his cleaning cloth beneath Star Tracker’s still-wet helmet. However, it quickly faded to a soft snicker in response to his question.
“Guess that’s a good question.” Joe said with a shrug. “Well, this time of night it’s mostly just coffee and donuts. If you were here in the morning, I’d probably have been able to whip up one heck of a breakfast sandwich.”
Star Tracker sighed.
He really wanted a breakfast sandwich.
And yet he persisted, nodding slightly and trying to not look horribly disappointed as he ordered. “Just a donut and a coffee, I guess.”
“Sounds good.” Donut Joe smiled. “Any donut preference? You know, you can tell a lot about a stallion by his favorite donut.”
“And if I tell you to surprise me?”
“Usually means you’re used to not picking for yourself. Careful, ‘cause that’s how you end up with regrets.” Joe said simply, then turned around to fetch Star Tracker’s surprise of a donut.
Star Tracker winced. It wasn’t a statement made out of malice, more of a well-meaning warning than anything, but it still hit all the same. A direct hit through whatever armor he was wearing.
The pain hadn’t even remotely faded by the time Joe turned back around to place a plated donut and mug in front of him.
“Here ya go, boss.” Joe said, though his cheerful food delivery was quickly marred as he noted the sour look still on Star Tracker’s face. “Ah, what’s wrong? Did I stick my hoof in my mouth again?”
“No, nothing like that.” Star Tracker shook his head as he poured an almost unnecessary amount of creamer into his coffee. “I just wasn’t expecting to get called out so hard today.”
“I don’t mean too much by it.” Joe shrugged, settling down across from Star Tracker in a stool he kept behind the counter for just these occasions. He even poured himself his own cup of coffee before he continued. “I just see a lot of ponies in that armor, and they’ve all got the same story. A regretul bunch, you lot.”
Star Tracker stared into his coffee, watching as the dark black liquid slowly swirled lighter. “So you get a lot of guards in then?”
“My fair share.” Joe said, taking a sip of his coffee. “More than I’m comfortable with, if I’m honest.”
What followed was a bit of a low chuckle from Joe, though not one that Star Tracker understood himself.
Brushing past it, Star Tracker shrugged with his eyes still locked on his coffee cup. “And I guess we all fail your little personality quiz?”
“Nah, there was one.” Joe said slowly, tapping his hoof gently against his coffee cup. “A tiny blue griffon, adorable little thing if you don’t mind scars, always knew exactly what he wanted. A little spitfire, that one. Talked my ear off for a few hours last time I saw him.”
Star Tracker’s eyes widened a bit, snapping up to look at Joe. “Do you mean Captain Gallus? He ate here too?”
Joe smirked. “Hah, only a few times. Always came in to show off a few new scars and chat. Why, you knew him?”
“Oh… not too well. I only officially joined the guard a few weeks before he…” Star Tracker trailed off, shaking his head as he tapped his hooves along the counter. “I never got to talk with him, but I’ve heard stories from the other guards. I don’t think I ever heard a bad word about him yet.”
“Well, you know what they say about speaking ill. Fortunately, I’ve got no problem with that!” Donut Joe laughed loudly, Star Tracker eyeing him warily as he did so, but trailed off into a sigh. “You must be a pretty new guard then. Gallus’ last visit wasn’t too long ago, after all.”
“I’m only a few months in.” Star Tracker sighed, a bit distraught at the thought. “Which basically means I’m stuck patrolling the city, even during an out of control thunderstorm.”
“Sounds like you’re not too happy with the lot you got in life.” Joe shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it aside. “But it’s not like they’d kill you if you quit. So there must have been something keeping you enlisted, eh?”
A deeply red blush quickly crossed Star Tracker’s face, one that made Joe laugh uproariously at his expense.
“Hah, that’s always how it goes, ain’t it?” Joe said, still chuckling softly as he leaned in. “So, who are they? Some lucky creature waiting to be charmed by a guard, no doubt?”
Star Tracker brought up his coffee cup, trying to hide behind it as his blush grew ever stronger. “...Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
There was a short pause.
“Oh.”
A longer pause.
Donut Joe laughed, perhaps even more uproariously than before. “Jeez, you sure set your sights high don’t you, Star?”
Star Tracker groaned loudly, setting his coffee down to instead hide his face with his hooves. “I get it! It’s not like I ever expected it to actually happen, but I just…” He trailed off with a sigh again, then shrugged. “She’s always been my favorite princess, so I was mostly hoping I could just work my way up to being her personal guard.”
“But instead you got stuck slumming the city ‘til the end.” Joe shook his head, taking a somber sip of his drink. “But that’s life, I guess. How’s that for a regret?”
Now it was Star Tracker’s turn to laugh, if only to try and lighten the suddenly down mood. “Well, hey, I’ve still got time! They say if I work hard enough, I’ll be in the castle this time next year.” A soft, though uncertain, smile pulled across his face as he turned around to look out the window behind him. “Speaking of, I should probably get back to my patrol. I don’t get too long of a lunch break, after all.”
Even as Star Tracker said that, he made no real attempts to move from his seat. Instead, he shuffled uncomfortably as he stared down at the donut still sitting on his plate, completely untouched.
Another laugh from Star Tracker, though this one rang a bit more hollow. “It’s funny. Usually I can just jump up and rush back to my shift, but right now I…”
“Tell me Star,” Joe breathed, pursing his lips, “What do you remember from before you came in tonight?”
Star Tracker blinked, tilting his head as he screwed his face. “Well obviously I was doing my rounds as usual. Then the storm started to get out of the Weather Team’s control, so I tried to help whoever I could to safety. Then there was a blinding flash and then…”
His eyes shot up to Donut Joe for some form of assistance, but all he got in return was a soft, reassuring nod.
“...and then I was here.”
Joe sighed. “Believe me, there’s worse ways to go out. Quick, painless, and you saved some ponies while you were at it.”
Star Tracker swallowed, his throat very suddenly dry and his body shaking. “So that’s it? One wrong move and it’s over?” A dry, numb laugh forced itself from his throat. “It just doesn’t seem fair. And now, what, the rest of eternity is just a donut shop?”
“Hey, it’s a pretty damn good donut shop!” Joe said, sounding deeply offended and personally hurt by Star Tracker’s comment. “But there’s more to it than this. I’m basically just the waiting room.”
“Then what am I waiting for?”
Donut Joe shrugged, leaning back in his stool. “That’s up to you, kid. You could leave right now if you want.”
Star Tracker turned to eye the door warily, then spun back to look at Joe. “And if I decide to stay?”
A gleam formed in Joe’s eye as he chuckled. “Then you’ll just have to deal with me busting your balls over Princess Twilight! Trust me, I can go for hours.”
A somber smile overtook Star Tracker’s face, paired with a light blush. Slowly he pushed his coffee cup towards Joe. “Then can I get a refill? I might as well be caffeinated for it all.”
Taking Star Tracker’s cup, Joe couldn’t resist another laugh.
“You got it, boss.”
