Doughnut Joe glared down at the Spike. He was covered in assorted jellies, creams, and sprinkles, along with a few animals. His entire cart for the day, ruined. No doubt his boss would be angry with him and send him home, though it was definitely an appealing idea at the moment.

Joe noticed the two gems in the dragon's hand and held out his hoof. Spike was a good friend to him, but he needed some kind of compensation for the damages. "Take it, just take it!" The dragon cried as he held out the (smaller, he noticed) blue gem. Joe swiped it away and then noticed the tears in the dragon's eyes. He withheld a sigh, feeling a bit bad for his demand, but not bad enough to give the gem back.

Joe and Spike removed the animals and stuffed them back into the room, closing the door to make sure they couldn't get out. The doughnut covered stallion then returned to his cart with a groan. The cart was toppled over and every doughnut had managed to be trampled in some way, ruining the snacks and the train's carpet. Joe righted the cart with magic and picked up whatever snacks had not been permanently ground into the carpet. After cleaning as best he could at the moment, he pushed his cart to the back of the train. All Aboard's jaw dropped when he saw Doughnut Joe and his ruined cart enter the caboose.

"Joe! What in Celestia's name happened?"

"Some animals came outta nowhere and jumped the cart." Joe muttered, taking a towel from one of the shelves and cleaning himself off. The blue stallion stomped his hoof in anger.

"Horsefeathers! I knew I shouldn't have let the dragon and his zoo on board!" He sighed and then gasped. "Wait a minute, please tell me none of this got on the carpet." Joe looked away, giving All Aboard the only answer he needed. "Oh, Joe! We just had that carpet put in! Didn't I tell you to be extra careful with your cart?!"

"Hey! It's not my fault you let a bunch of animals on board without proper chaperones!" The stallion turned, pointing his hoof in All Aboard's direction.

"They were just a few small animals," he shot back, pointing his own hoof at Doughnut Joe. "I assumed a unicorn would be able to protect his cart a little better. Don't you have some sort of magic shield spell you can put on the thing?"

Joe's glare became intense and icy. "No." All Aboard took a step back, realizing he hit a nerve, and Joe turned away again to finish cleaning the jelly out of his hair. All Aboard sighed and rubbed his forehead. He then reached under the sink and got out some cleaning supplies.

"Alright, Joe, go clean up the mess in the hall, as thoroughly as you possibly can. When we get back to Ponyville, just take the rest of the day off. You can't sell anything more today anyway."

Home was a place he was never fully happy to go. It reminded him of his failure to save his shop in Canterlot. Apparently you need to serve more than doughnuts to keep being successful. Doughnuts were his specialty, his favorites. He loved how two doughnuts could look exactly alike, but taste entirely different, he loved the combinations that could be made, and how they were a big enough snack that only one or two could fill you up, but they were small enough to take around as a casual treat, unlike a cake. And just like a cake, you could still make amazing masterpieces with them, such as his DoghnuTopia. Another sigh escaped the stallion.

The National Dessert Competition was his last chance to save his shop. He'd put his heart and soul into DoughnuTopia and wanted to show that just because he only made doughnuts, it didn't mean he didn't have variety or that his food was uninteresting. Unfortunately, the whole mystery ordeal led to a four way tie, resulting in less money and less fame for him. In the end, it wasn't enough and he was forced to close down his shop, take his savings, and move to Ponyville. At first he thought he could work his way up, start in Ponyville and make his way back up to Canterlot. But he only realized just how popular SugarCube Corner was after he had moved there. Immediately discouraged, he decided the competition would be far too fierce and would likely be a waste of the last of his bits. He was able to get a job as a dessert cart pony on the Friendship Express and he could at least make what he sold there, but he was encouraged to keep things as simple as possible. "These are just traveling ponies, not fancy food connoisseurs," All Aboard had told him.

The stallion snorted and kicked the ground. "What does he know about what ponies want to eat? I bet he couldn't even figure out how to make a doughnut hole." Joe pushed his door open and took off his shirt and hat, carelessly tossing them on the ground. He prepared a bath and was able to soak peacefully for a good twenty minutes before more thoughts of his failures crept into his mind. Joe let out a sigh and decided to finish his bath and go downstairs to make some doughnuts. When he got out of the bath, he dried off and made his way downstairs, a bit more pep in his trot as he got closer and closer to the kitchen.

Making doughnuts was more than just a career for Joe. Doughnuts made him happier than anything else. Whether it was making them for himself, for others, for money, for free, he loved it all. He loved mixing the ingredients together to make the dough, careful to not mix it too much and keep the dough perfectly soft. He loved cutting out the doughnuts and had always been sure to use every inch of dough available to get the most out of his work, making doughnut holes from the left over bits. He even loved the smell of cooking oil that he used to deep fry the doughnuts and was careful to keep them in for the perfect amount of time. But his favorite part was the decorating. He went all out today, making each doughnut unique. Some were glazed, some were powdered, some were jelly filled. When he was done, he smiled down at his work with pride. Joe ate a few himself and considered saving the rest, but felt that it would be a waste to let so many sit out for so long. He decided he'd take some to Spike, hoping this would make up for having to take a gem from him on the train. He carefully lifted the doughnuts with magic and balanced them on his head before heading out.

Doughnut Joe trotted down the street, the doughnuts on his head bouncing slightly. Twilight's and Spike's home stood right in front of him when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He stopped and looked down to see a creamy colored mare with a blue and pink mane and a brown saddlebag.

"Hi there!" She smiled and he politely smiled back. "Those doughnuts smell delicious! Mind if I try one?"

Joe thought a moment and decided he could certainly spare one. He doubted even Spike could eat this many. "Sure, take one." He lowered his head a bit and she gladly reached up to grab one. She took a bite and her eyes sparkled a bit.

"Oh, wow! These are great!" Seeing her reaction, he smiled wider. "Glad you think so." He continued on his way to the library and once he was at the door, he realized the mare had come with him. "Uh, you headed to the library too?"

The mare looked up at him and blushed lightly, having been too distracted by the doughnut and her goal to realize he had been going the same way she was. "Oh, yeah! I gotta get a book for a friend of mine."

Joe chuckled deeply. "Small world, ain't it?" The mare nodded and finally knocked on the door. Spike answered the door with a smile not too much later.

"Hey, Bon Bon! Hey, Doughnut Joe!" The ponies greeted him back and followed him into the tree. Doughnut Joe gently set the doughnuts down on a table while Bon Bon started looking through the shelves.

"Woah, Joe! These doughnuts look delicious!" Spike licked his lips as he stared at the plate.

"Glad ya think so, kid. They're all yours." Spike's jaw dropped to the floor.

"You mean it, Joe?!"

"Yup. I wanted to apologize for taking your gem the way I did on the train. I needed it, but I didn't need to swipe it the way I did." Spike eagerly began digging into the doughnuts and waved a hand to him.

"No need to apologize. I had to learn a lesson anyway. Plus, since you're back already, I doubt you're getting a full day's pay." Joe sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, All Aboard wasn't too happy about it all. Dismissed me early, not that I'm complaining that much." The two chuckled and a silence set in.

"...Hey, I'm sorry about your shop in Canterlot, Joe."

"Don't worry about it, kid. The Gods got a weird way of working sometimes. Maybe it was meant to happen so something better can come along." He put on a smile, wanting the dragon to believe his words. Spike smiled back at him and agreed before stuffing his face yet again, cueing a withheld sigh of relief from Joe. He doubted anything better than his shop could come around, but he didn't want Spike to go around pitying him. Joe hated people feeling sorry for him. He knew how bad it was, he didn't need a bunch of sad faces reminding him.

Twilight Sparkle came trotting down from her room with a cheery smile for her guests. "Hello, Doughnut Joe, Bon Bon. How can I help you?"

"Hi, Twilight! I just need a book of myths for Lyra."

"Another one? She's almost gone though all I have!" Twilight laughed, but easily located a book for Bon Bon. "Here you go. Ancient Equestrian Mythology. I don't believe she's read that one yet." Bon Bon took the book and placed it in her saddlebag. Twilight turned her attention to Joe and her eyes fell on the nearly empty plate of doughnuts. "Oh, what's the occasion, Joe?"

"Ah, just a little apology to Spike for the accident on the train."

"Accident on the train...?" Twilight gave a confused look to Spike, who chuckled nervously and seemed to suddenly lose his appetite.

"Well, Joe! It was nice seein' ya! I have a lot of cleaning to do though so you should probably leave. You too, Bon Bon!" The young dragon began to push them out of the library, smiling widely and failing to appear calm. "A dragon's work is never done, ya know?" The door was shut behind the two as they looked back in confusion. It only took a bit for Joe to crack a smile and laugh.

"That Spike," he muttered before he started to leave.

"Hey, wait!" He turned to see Bon Bon with an outstretched hoof. She pulled back a moment, a blush on her face, but continued. "What you said in there...About a shop. Was it, like, a doughnut shop? What happened?"

Joe frowned a bit at the nosy mare. "It was my doughnut shop and I just couldn't pay the bills. Can't pay the bills, can't keep my shop. Enough said." He started to trot away but he could hear her trotting after him.

"Well, why couldn't you pay them? Your doughnuts are amazing!" His ears perked at the compliment. "Was it because of something else? Did you have other de-...uhm, problems?" And down they went.

"Not many ponies in Canterlot liked my doughnuts. Enough said." He trotted faster.

"That's impossible!" She matched his pace and trotted alongside him, her brows furrowed. "Your doughnuts are so good! How can nopony like them? And why haven't you at least started up a new shop here in Ponyville? I've never even seen you bef-"

"Look," he stopped and turned to face her. "Ponies in Canterlot just didn't like my doughnuts as much as I needed them to do. So I came here to start over, but Sugarcube Corner is enough for this whole town. Now I'm just a dessert cart pony trying to make a living. There's the whole story for you, happy?" She looked up at him with wide eyes that made him immediately regret raising his voice. "Sorry, but I really don't want to talk about my shop." The stallion turned again, ready for another hot bath and possibly a second batch of doughnuts.

"So, you're just going to give up on your special talent because it's hard?"

Joe's head shot up and he narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?"

The mare stood her ground and met his eyes with determination. "I asked if you were just going to throw away your special talent just because it's a little difficult."

"I never gave up on it! I still make desserts! I'm a-"

"A dessert cart pony for a train. You're probably lucky to get more than, what, five, maybe ten 'orders' a day? You probably don't even get to make a bunch of different ones like the ones you gave Spike. You can't just be happy settling for that." Joe flinched. She'd hit the nail directly on the head. He lowered his head, unable to meet her stern gaze. Bon Bon stepped forward, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "It's hard sometimes. You have a talent that not many others truly appreciate and you can't always make the best living off of it. But it's still your special talent. You can't just let it go to waste because it's hard."

"It's just...I can't. Sugarcube Corner does too well, I can't compete with that."

"Then stop trying to work against them and work beside them." He looked up at her in confusion. "You don't have to try to beat out the Cakes. You could be just as successful in Ponyville. They have their cakes and you have your doughnuts. Neither of you is better than the other." Her words hit him like a ton of obvious bricks.

"I...didn't think of it that way..." A smile began to creep onto his face. He still had a chance. He could still do what he loved. "Do...do you really think I could do it? Do you think I could have my own shop here?"

The mare gave him the sweetest smile he'd ever seen and he already felt he had all the encouragement he could ever need. "I know you can, Joe." He smiled back and resisted the strong urge to hug her.

"Thank you, Bon Bon. Really."

"No problem." She grinned and added, "But I expect a special discount on all your doughnuts." He laughed heartily for the first time in a long while.

"Bon Bon, I'll make you a baker's dozen for free." Her jaw dropped and she almost began drooling right there.

"A whole baker's dozen?"

"Mhmm! Come on, I'll make them right now!" Doughnut Joe began galloping toward his home, a bright smile on his face, with Bon Bon laughing and doing her best to keep up with him. 'Things are looking up,' he thought to himself. 'And it's all thanks to you, Bon Bon.'

Author's Note

This is the first pony fic I've written! I really hope you guys enjoyed it and I'd love any critique that you can offer! And please don't automatically hate on it just because it's not Bon Bon x Lyra. If you hate it, give a good reason for it and help me improve.