Author's Notes:

Part six of ten. It's not Lupus.
There may or may not be spoilers located within any of these textwalls for Ausbrony's story A Brave New World.
Legend says that the visage of a spoiler is so ugly, it turns all who look at it to stone!

“A thought occurs,” Seth said as they walked. “You used Hypnosis on Lucy, yes?”

“A rather powerful one at that, yes,” Vincent said. “Why?”

“It’s just, isn’t Steel resistant to Psychic?”

“She’s half Fighting too,” Ignis replied. “I wouldn’t worry about it wearing off early.”

Lucarios are affected normally by Psychic-type moves, Seth, Luke replied to his worries. Plus, the amount of straps on her are enough to restrain a teenaged drake, if need be.

“So I noticed,” Seth replied idly. “Well, so what’s this place we’re headed to Vince?”

“It’s in the Gryphon ‘section’ of the city,” Vincent said as they hit the second floor, where the sounds of merriment from behind the door to 203 were present. “So naturally it serves meat, but they’ve co-opted quite a few recipes from across the globe and put their own twist on them. Whereas Fredrick deals in pasta and pizzas mostly, this place has a little bit of everything.”

“That sounds good,” Seth drooled a little. Ignis just chuckled and shook his head.

“Mmhmm. Apparently it started as a butcher’s shop for all the other gyphons, and over time, morphed into a restaurant. Which is why it’s called The Chop Shop to this day. And don’t worry, you two,” Vincent said, eyeing Luke and James with a small laugh of his own, “they have a salad section as well, since occasionally a pony is brave enough to come in.”

Ah, I was about to ask, Luke said with a soft smile.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that this body doesn’t seem to handle it very well,” James said with a sigh. “But thank you Vincent.”

“Too bad,” Ignis replied. “You two could use a little more meat on your bones...” He looked at Luke and tilted his head. “I don’t want to come across as insulting... but is there a reason you're sticking to telepathy?”

“Multiple reasons relating to his past,” Vincent said dryly. “And seeing as how Abby rescued him, I’ll let you connect the dots on that one.”

“Past issues, I’ll drop it. Sorry Luke.”

No harm, Ignis. I am...getting better about dealing with it. By then, the party had nearly reached the lobby.

“And he is dealing with it this time, rather than just walling it up,” Vincent said with a bit of bite to his voice. Luke sighed and rolled his eyes.

Sometimes I wonder which one of is is the father and which one of us is the son.

“Yeah, well, let’s see who can act more mature about their pasts and how much it actually affects us,” Vincent said with more snark than normal. “One would think that when you get advice about dealing with your past from several sources, you’d listen, but it takes Mage checking up on you and asking before you do.”

“Everyone has their own pace and means Vincent,” Seth replied. “And take your time, you don’t want those walls burying you.”

“As for who’s the son, Vinny is sporting that impressive moustache,” Ignis said with a light chuckle.

“I’d trim it, but then I’d look like a girl Kadabra, and that would get annoying very quickly,” Vincent groused. “So I groom it regularly.”

And as for your advice, Seth...that is true, but some walls need to stay down this time. Pretending that the past didn’t happen to me...isn’t going to help anymore. Or so everyone keeps saying. Luke sighed as they finally made their way out onto the city at large.

James stretched a bit and smiled. “I don’t go ‘out’ nearly often enough,” the Roserade commented before returning to following Vincent’s lead. “There’s the garden, true, but that hardly counts.”

“Huh, I would’ve thought you and your girlfriend Jessie went out all the time,” Seth replied. James blushed and stammered a few times before gathering himself up for a rebuttal.

“That hardly counts, she was my work-partner first and foremost. Those missions were professional before they were personal. Plus she can barely stand me sometimes. Honestly, your allegation is absurd. If she wanted anything to do with me in such a fashion, she would have asked long before now.”

“Okay,” Sethbegan pointing out some things, “If business was first, did she ever request a new partner, even after your past... blunders? Two, would she still stick with you, even now? If there was more to it than that. Three, from what I saw back on Earth... it was pretty damned obvious man.”

“True that,” Ignis replied, “You’d have been barbequed alive if it wasn’t for her Wobbuffet.”

“And you’re the expert on seeing the obvious all of a sudden?” Vincent asked with a smirk while James fell into silent contemplation.

Seth didn't answer Vincent, instead pressing James. “If you like her, and I think you do... give it a shot. What have you got to lose?”

James idly answered out loud. “True, the Meowth-balloon isn’t here now, so I can’t be interrupted by it exploding for the umpteenth time…”

Elsewhere, a cap-wearing Pikachu sneezed...

“Well, let’s get some food, you could get some flowers that aren’t attached to your arms and we’ll give it a shot!” Seth replied. “As someone once told me, you don’t wait for the moment, you make it happen!”

“Really?” Ignis said. “You’re going with the advice, that you were told yourself only a few hours ago?”

“Shut up,” Seth replied with all the maturity he possessed.

“Food first,” Vincent said. “Romantic subplot later. And speaking of the food, the place should be coming into view around this corner.”

As the party turned down the road, their destination came into view in the distance. It was modeled in the same fashion as Fredrick's was, but it looked...drastically different. Whereas his was meant to only subtly stand out and make it plain that it was a restaurant, this place pulled no punches. Whatever bold statement it wanted to make, it had succeeded and then some. The clearest indication that it was what they were looking for was the sign out front, of a large butcher’s cleaver going through a ham, with the words THE CHOP SHOP put into an arch below them.

“Subtle,” Seth remarked.

“Like a Hyper Beam to the face,” Ignis agreed. “But it smells A-freaking-mazing!!”

“Agreed,” Seth replied, a small puddle of drool already forming at his paws. Vincent and Luke lightly chuckled at their reactions to the restaurant, while James inhaled and sighed as well.

“Yes, this place does smell of quite the feast,” the Grass-type agreed.

“Now let’s get inside before we have to put up ‘floor may be wet’ signs around these two,” Vincent urged.

“Maybe there’s some in Lucy’s room?” Seth asked with total sincerity.

Actually, I had to put down a tarp under her be-

“Aaaand that’s enough of that,” Vincent said flatly.

“True, we have all night,” Seth winked. “Now let’s get some grub!”

The party of Pokemon were greeted by a Gryphon behind a podium once the stepped in. Actually, that’s a lie, that’s what they noticed second. What they were actually greeted with was an even more intense blast of the smells of a gryphon-run restaurant, from the meats to the cheeses and starches, and somehow they even managed to make their salads smell appetizing...though probably not to Ignis. And they were left to wonder that if this was how they smelled, then the taste...

“Imma eat it!” Ignis said.

“Eat what?” Seth asked as he looked at a wall-mounted menu.

“EVERYTHING!” Ignis roared. The gryphons merely laughed at his antics.

“A fine roar, warrior,” the greeter said. “But sadly for you, you cannot eat everything we stock. We need to serve others beyond yourself. Party of five, then?”

“That’s correct,” Seth replied. “We don’t need a reservation?”

“Only if we are exceptionally overbooked do you require one. Today is a relatively normal day, so…” The gryphon checked something behind his podium and clicked his beak once in satisfaction. “You have a choice, booth or table?”

“Well take the booth please, provided they’re large enough," Seth said in reply.

“They should be,” he said, eyeing Ignis before continuing, “So long as your large, hungry friend sticks to an edge should he require room for his wings or tail.”

“Thank you,” Seth nodded. They were shown to the private booth and Set offered the inner seats to Luke and Vincent and James, with Ignis and himself taking the outer ones. They were then passed five menus, and the gryphon bowed once, explaining that their actual server would be here shortly before vanishing.

“Steeaaaakkk!” Ignis stomach rumbled as he gazed at the menu. “I want the biggest slab of meat they have!”

“The pork schnitzel with salad sounds nice,” Seth said. “Hmm, oh, they have apple cider here? I have to try that!”

“I’ll have the chef’s salad,” James said, eyeing it and licking his lips. “Oh, their dressings sound absolutely divine…”

Caesar salad for myself...and I may have to confer with you to work out the best dressings for our dishes, Luke said with a glance to James.

Vincent, meanwhile, was caught in a dilemma:

There was too much that he wanted to try. He kept looking from one thing to the next, not actually making any decision at all, before he just dropped the menu, and his head, onto the table with an explosive sigh.

“Having trouble dear Vincent?” Seth replied, poking the defeated Kadabra with a paw.

“Too many options,” the Kadabra mumbled into the table. “Not enough time.”

“Nor enough stomach capacity,” Seth muttered, looking at every delicious-looking item on the menu... aka, the whole menu. “But, you hardly live that far from it, bring Lucy here on a date or something.”

At the mention of a date with Lucy, Vincent’s mind couldn’t help but flash back to the last time he and Seth had gone out for dinner...and how that had ended up embarrassing for everyone concerned. His cheeks flushed red, visible even through his fur, and he quickly picked the menu up in an effort to hide behind it.

“Without the show I’d imagine,” Ignis snickered. “Though that was pretty damned funny.”

“Well I know what I’m not having at least,” Vincent muttered, glaring at the burgers in particular. “No need for a total repeat…”

The party of ‘mon were interrupted in their banter once a gryphoness came around. “Hello, I’m Wendi, I’ll be taking your orders, starting with what you’d like to drink!” she chirped happily.

“A cider for me and...” he looked at Ignis.

“Uh, I’ll have this one,” he said, pointing to something on the menu.

“If you’re sure, sir,” she said, only hesitating slightly before turning to the others. “And yourselves?”

Water for myself, Luke stated.

“Non-alcoholic cider for myself, please,” James asked.

“Same here,” Vincent chipped in.

“Right, those simple drinks will be out in a minute, and your spirit,” here Wendi looked over to Ignis, “Might take a bit more time to dredge up from where it’s stored.”

“Need some help?” Ignis offered.

“It’ll be fine, we keep it down there for a reason,” she emphasized. “If that’s all, I’ll be right back! You all take a moment and look over the menu if you need to, okay?”

With that, she was off to the kitchen.

“What the heck was that about?” Ignis replied. “Ah well, part of the fun I suppose.” He opened his mouth and blew a few small smoke rings into the air.

Vincent idly looked over at the menu and smirked at what he saw Ignis had ordered, but elected not to tell him. More fun that way, plus it’d be getting the pair of them back for earlier. He then looked back at the rest of the menu and sighed, before perking up at something he saw in the seafood menu. “Coconut...popcorn...shrimp? What in the world?”

“The hell is that?” Seth asked, looking at the item on his own menu. “Do... do those ingredients even work together?”

Vincent cleared his throat before reciting. “Dipped in our special batter and rolled in shaved coconut, our popcorn shrimp is then deep-fried to a crispy golden brown and served on a bed of spaghetti. A sensation that must be experienced to be believed.”

“Try it~” Seth dared him.

Vincent turned the thought over a few times before nodding. “Yeah, I think I will. Wouldn’t be on the menu if it wasn’t good.”

Wendi came out then with four glasses. She set the mug of cider with two straws in it down in front of Seth first, then the water went to Luke, and James and Vincent got their non-alcoholic ciders. “Do we need a few minutes still, or do you all know what you want to order?”

“I think we’re good,” Seth replied. “I’ll have the schnitzel with salad and Ignis wants the biggest cut of meat you provide.”

“Ah, the T-bone it is, then,” the gryphoness said with a nod. “There is a challenge on that one. Eat our largest cut of the day in three minutes or less, and your meal is free...only a dozen gryphons have managed it, though.”

“Challenge accepted!” Ignis roared with a flare of his wings. Wendi smirked as he did his little display.

“Had a feeling you’d say that,” she replied before looking at the more vegetarian-minded.

I will be having the Caesar salad with a light oil dressing, Luke said with a nod.

“And I’ll take your chef’s salad, with a nice creamy ranch dressing,” James said before folding up his menu.

“And I have been dared to try this ‘Coconut popcorn shrimp’,” Vincent finished, before snagging all the menus with a quick burst of power and floating them over to the waitress.

“Oh, thank you!" she said, grabbing the menus out of the air, before turning to Vincent. "And you’ve made an excellent choice, sir. One of my favorites. So if that’s all, then I’ll bring your food out in a little bit," here she turned to face Ignis, "along with your drink, sir. Our of curiosity, how did you want that steak cooked? Rare, medium, well-done?”

“Let the chef decide,” Ignis replied. “It won’t stay on the plate long enough to make a difference anyhow!”

“I can believe that,” Seth replied and looked at the waitress. “You sure you want to keep that free meal challenge?”

“It’s a tradition,” Wendi said. “An old one, but one we adhere to. So chef decides on the temperature, then? Very well, but I’ll let you know right now, this one plays dirty.” With that, she vanished back into the kitchen.

“Raw or charcoal, it’ll be in my belly all the same,” Ignis chuckled. “Oh, but no onion, it doesn’t agree with me.”

“So besides tracking down Christine and bringing her here, what’ve you been up to, Seth?” Vincent posed before taking a sip of his cider.

“Well, I joined the Equestrian Guard, and my Pokemon Contest is finally coming along,” Seth sipped at his cider. “I have to leave here by the 28th at the latest to get the final preparations done. Oh, and some guy named Sev of the PLA is Rika’s father...”

Vincent was not a practitioner of the spit-take. Instead of spewing his drink all over the person opposite him, which was James, he instead reacted by being startled, having his cheeks bulge, slightly choking, and then clearing his airway by gulping the cider down and coughing a few times.

All in all, a spit-take might have been easier.

“You mean to tell me mister madness incarnate is the father of that cute little Sylveon?!”

Elsewhere, Discord swore he felt his ears burning...

“Yup, I hate him, he hates me and we both love Rika... it’s a work in progress.” Seth shrugged. “But still, other smaller things happened. Selena fought a Crystal Onix, I got my inventory and Mega Stones back, oh and the strangest thing happened today.”

“You mean besides you turning up with a mutated Gabite? Do tell.” The Kadabra had learned and idly swirled his cider with a straw instead of drinking it before Seth said anything.

“Bit hugged me,” he replied.

“Considering all that you’ve given him, I’m not surprised,” Vincent said. “Seriously, one of the reasons he wants a computer or any hard drive again is so that he can perform regular self maintenance. To include mental check-ups.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” Seth replied.

“I totally want to fight Lucy once she gets the hang of Mega Evolving!” Ignis added. “That should be fun!”

Vincent blinked for a few seconds before shuddering and voicing his thoughts out loud. “Lucy...Mega-Evolving...in her current state…”

I believe there have been mountains that have suffered because of a pair of Lucarios doing such a thing, Luke commented while drinking his water. Emphasis on have been.

“Seth?” Ignis asked idly. “Can you Mega-Evolve Selena tonight? I’m curious about something.”

“Not. Gonna. Respond,” Seth muttered as he drained his cider and ordered another.

James merely blushed and said, “Oh my,” before taking a large gulp of his cider as well.

“Plus, you lot break anything in your room, you’re gonna end up paying for it,” Vincent said. “For you, the stay is free. Anything you break, I have to fix, and it isn’t cheap.”

“I won’t break anything,” Ignis huffed, “Unlike a certain fairy.”

“I cannot believe she did that,” Seth replied. “Or how the hell she and Christine became friends like that. I was about the only one she even talked to before coming here. Hell, I even got her to go outside with me when I went to visit the location for the Contest.”

“I’m gonna put it down to a combination of Luke and I doing excellent work, along with Rika finally wearing her down,” Vincent said, draining his glass.

It helps that she always was what she currently is...it was just buried beneath her anger and frustration. You got glimpses of it, Seth, but hopefully she’ll be more...amenable, more often, now. Luke drank a sip of his water during his statement as well.

“I hope so,” Seth replied. “I will miss her when we go home though, she was fun to be around when she wasn’t pissed off all the time.”

“I’d like to see her become a Garchomp,” Ignis said. “Now that will be interesting.”

“Or apocalyptic,” Seth added. And at that moment, their food arrived.

Placed in front of Vincent with a flourish was a plate of spaghetti, topped by puffed-up shrimp with what looked like whiskers jutting out of them at random angles. Luke and James got a large bowl of salad each, one topped with a creamy white sauce, the other shining thanks to the oil dressing. Ignis had a plate that seemed to take up a fifth of the table, and a T-bone steak sitting on it, barely, that seemed to be covered in herbs and traces of sauces, smelling heavenly to the dragon.

Seth’s meal was a large piece of pork, coated in breadcrumbs and roasted to be a delicious golden brown. The salad was crisp and fresh enough that Seth could think that they were just harvested. Wendi hadn’t come back alone, though. One gryphon was wearing the typical chef’s hat, and another seemed to be handling a bottle and a shotglass.

“So you are the one that thinks he can handle our challenge, eh?” the behatted gryphon asked, pointing a talon at Ignis.

“That’s right,” Ignis smiled. “You think you got the skills to beat the Great and Powerful Ignis Crescent?”

“We shall see,” the gryphon said before waving at the, frankly huge, cut before them. “This is a tradition dating back to when this was a butcher shop. The ponies were not fond of us and attempted to ‘raid’ our establishment many times. If a customer could eat their meal quickly and still get away from the incoming guard, then that customer did not need to pay that day. Over time it has morphed from that to this, as the ponies no longer hate or fear us. Let us see if you can stand up to our traditions, Ignis Crescent!” At this, the chef bowed before returning to the kitchen himself.

“Well then,” Ignis cracked his knuckles and looked at the steak.

“Just to be clear,” Wendi said, “The challenge starts once you take your first bite, whether you use silverware or not. Meat entering the mouth is when the countdown starts. Also,” and here she waved at the other gryphon, who placed a shotglass on the table.

“Your drink, sir,” he said, before pouring out a tiny portion from the bottle he carried. The smell of nearly-pure alcohol hit everyone at the table, causing three noses to wrinkle up before Luke put a small barrier around them.

What...is in that?

“Oh, there’s never anything in minotaur brews,” Wendi said. After a pause, she continued. “Then again, minotaur brews are always 150 proof at least, so...are we good here, gentlemen?”

“And so I looked into the abyss...” Ignis said solemnly, before a wide grin appeared on his face. “And then kicked it’s freaking ass!”

“That... makes no sense,” Seth replied as Ignis lifted his steak and tore a huge chunk out of it, the sound of flesh tearing and bone crunching was enough to make any herbivore in the area shiver with uncertain fear. Afterwards, the dragon paused for a good thirty seconds before he started to chew again.

“Thirty-two,” Wendi said with a smirk as she observed the proceedings. She leaned in to Seth and whispered in his ear, “Like I said, our chef fights dirty.”

Seth flinched, likely having not noticed the Gryphon sneaking up on him. “Yeah... but so does Ignis.”

The dragon continued to eat, until a little less than a minute remained and more than a third of the steak remained. “Whew, this is a pretty good feed, I’ll give you that much. I could eat this thing forever!”

“Fifty-five remaining, sir. Sure you don’t want to forfeit now?” Wendi was more than a little cheeky at this point, sure that the restaurant was going to win.

“Quit?” Ignis asked oh so innocently as Seth just groaned and applied his paw to his face. Ignis chuckled lightly as he looked at the monster steak. “This is a fine meal and I give my highest regards to your chef, he has truly managed to impress me. But still...” he lifted the steak and opened his maw and with two massive bites, the steak ceased to exist.

“I never lose!”

Wendi blinked a few times as her worldview rebooted itself. “That...may just be a record,” she said softly.

Ignis smiled and lifted the shot glass to his lips, downing the drink in a celebratory shot...

Then the world stopped...

“Uh, Ignis?” Seth waved a paw. “You okay buddy?”

Ignis’s cheeks bulged and he suddenly belched very loudly! A large gout of azure flames erupted from his mouth, singing a few feathers off of Wendi’s head in the process.

“WHOO! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Ignis cheered. Wendi reached up and felt the singed feathers before sighing.

“Note to self, include warning before serving alcohol to any dragon, and stand at least ten feet away when they take some,” she muttered.

“Ah, sorry about that Miss,” Ignis apologized. “My compliment though, that steak was quite delicious and this drink pack a little bit of a kick.”

“I... I don’t even...” Seth just shook his head. “I’m done.”

“Aw, don’t be done,” Vincent said, before chomping on one of his shrimp. “These are quite good, you should finish your meal before saying you’re done!”

Seth leant down and picked up a leaf of lettuce and begun to nibble on it, it was quite possibly the saddest, yet most adorable thing ever.

“Dude,” Ignis said, picking at his teeth with a claw. “You shouldn’t look so cute. It ain’t manly.”

Vincent swallowed his shrimp before looking over to Luke, who shook his head. Vincent then looked over at Ignis and smiled before shaking his head as well. “There are so many ways to make you eat those words. Be glad we’re being nice.”

Wendi quickly excused herself so that the others wouldn’t hear her highly unprofessional squeal at Seth’s display.

“I dunno Vinny, I’m still a little hungry.” Ignis smirked as Seth started on another leaf. “So entertain me, how exactly would I eat said words? With some seasoning? Or perhaps lightly toasted with a little butter?”

“Just because something looks cute, doesn’t mean said ‘mon can’t act manly,” Vincent said as he chomped on a shrimp. “For example, Snubbull eventually becomes Granbull. Cute to much more manly.”

“While Gardevoir and Florges can still be male,” Ignis replied.

Vincent swallowed his shrimp and fired up a comeback. “Get a sufficiently angry Clefairy or Clefable using Metronome, and a cute little puffball can suddenly be the thing that kicks your ass.”

“Well, I can do this,” Seth said, just as Wendi was coming back with an order of drinks. His eyes went wide as they sparkled and the most adorable little meow escaped his lips. Wendi nearly dropped their refills before she hastily composed herself and dished them out before taking a few minutes off to really recompose herself. Stupid sexy lion…

Vincent picked up the last shrimp on his plate and popped it into his mouth. “Fine. One word, then, just one. Rika. Tell me that girl is not as adorable and manly as all get-out.”

“First, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about,” Seth replied. “But yes... you are also correct.”

“Cheater,” Ignis pouted.

“Told you,” Vincent said with a smirk as he chewed.

“Says the guy that uses restraints made for dragons on his,” Ignis said.

The training she has undergone would likely render anything less useless, Luke stated. Plus, in her current state of mind, she would only think twice about riding Vincent when he started passing out due to dehydration.

“And now we go right back into TMI Town,” Seth replied. “You are definitely one of Abby’s partners, no doubt about that.”

“Then you’ll learn not to ask one of these days,” Ignis replied as he downed another shot and blew a few rings of blue flames.

James eventually came back down from being red all over and complained out loud. “I’m not sure I want a girlfriend anymore, much less Jessie, if it’ll make me anything like you guys. I just know she’d slap me, repeatedly, if I talked like that around her.”

“She’s a Fire-type, so she’d prolly just Flamethrower you,” Ignis replied offhandedly.

“And this is also why we don’t talk like this around the girls,” Seth added.

“I’ll be sure to make a note of that for when Lucy’s out of her Heat,” Vincent commented, spearing some spaghetti with his fork.

“That would be wise,” Seth said as he finished off the rest of his food and downed his third cider. “Ooh, that’s nice~”

“...Ignis, something tells me letting Seth get as drunk as that was a bad call on our parts,” Vincent commented before munching his forkful of noodles.

“Those are alcoholic ciders?” Ignis replied as Seth poured another, his body sparking on occasion.

“Not that they would do anything for you,” James commented as he looked the scene over, “But yes, they are. Oh dear.”

Seth leaned over to James and took a deep sniff. “You smell pretty!” he giggled.

It might be wise to knock him out at this juncture, Luke mused. At that moment, Wendi returned with two slips of paper.

“The bill,” she stated, holding one out. Vincent grabbed a hold of it with his powers and gave it an idle glance, nodding at the numbers.

“And the second one?” the Kadadra asked. Wendi blushed a little before slipping the second piece of paper to in front of Seth.

“My address. Come look me up some time, big boy,” she said with a wink.

Seth swayed and chuckled as Wendi retreated. “....what?”

“Methinks our waitress has a thing for those of the feline persuasion,” Vincent said as he pulled the appropriate amount of Bits in to pay for their meal.

“I don’t believe this,” Ignis shook his head. “He doesn’t do anything and still gets the girl? Seriously!”

“The birdy was kinda cute~” Seth hiccuped. “I wonder what Fritter would be like as a Peg-pegga... um, hang on, I know it.”

James sighed. “I guess our plans for later are on hold, then, seeing as how we’ll be escorting him home before focusing on anything to do with me.”

Seth begun to spark again and Ignis’s eyes widened as he suddenly grabbed him and literally flew out of the door, before a bright flash and the tell tale crack of thunder caused the whole restaurant to shake.

“And on that note,” Vincent said as he put his fork down on his freshly-cleaned plate. “I think we’ll leave.”

“Indeed,” James agreed.

Agreed, Luke thought, and the remaining threesome walked out of The Chop Shop, walking in no particular direction, just waiting for an after-action report from a certain Charizard.

Said Charizard was sitting on the sidewalk, having taken the full brunt of the involuntary Thunder attack. While not enough to defeat him, it still seemed to wind him, what with him being part-Flying-type. Seth on the other had was sitting in the middle of the road with a confused expression on his face.

“How... did I get outside?” he asked anyone.

“That depends on what you last remember,” Vincent answered.

“I remember Ignis finishing the steak, then some banter about things best not mentioned around foals... then I’m out here.” He looked at the Thunder-fried Ignis and then back to the others. “Okay, what happened?”

“Apparently, unless you specify that you want non-alcoholic cider, then alcoholic cider is what you get,” James answered. “And you had a few mugs worth.”

Ignis saw that you were losing control of your electricity and endeavored to move you to somewhere that would not suffer for your discharge, Luke tacked on.

“And now we know that alcohol and Luxrays shouldn’t mix,” Vincent finished.

“I made a total fool of myself didn’t I?” Seth muttered, then seemed to notice something and tilted his head. “Why is our waitress staring at me from the window?”

“Unless you’re thinking of adding a third, I wouldn’t advise staring back,” Vincent said in a serious tone.

“A third?” Seth mulled over that... “Okay, seriously. What the hell did I do?”

She seems to be attracted to members of the feline persuasion. It probably didn’t help that you apparently used Baby-Doll Eyes while she was passing by, Luke mentioned.

“So I learn a new attack and it gets me another Equestrian admirer?” Seth just sighed as he got up. “Can we just go now please?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” James said, before pointing at Ignis. “Though...that’s going to slow us down…”

“Naw, I’m good,” Ignis said as he got to his feet, “My wings are numb though, so I won’t be flying anywhere tonight.”

“I will never drink again,” Seth muttered. “I can’t believe I acted so stupid, and I hurt someone because of it...”

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Vincent said, patting Seth on the back. “Once you get a bit more control over your new form, I’m sure you drinking won’t be such a bad idea.”

“You found my drunk behaviour, which no-one will still tell me what I did, to be very amusing didn’t you?” Seth replied tersely.

“That’s an understatement,” Vincent said with a snicker. “Consider it payback for not telling Lucy and me exactly what we were doing in Canterlot before it got out of hand.”

Seth frowned before responding to that. “Okay, fine....” He got to his feet, looking back for a moment before continuing on.

Author's Other Notes:

I actually have had the dish Vincent tried in this chapter, it's quite good.~