A Chance Meat-ing by DES
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"We could always go to the racetrack!" Rainbow Dash suggested, not for the first time, and she glided alongside her herdmates.
"For the last time, Dash, they'll be sold out this late in the day." countered the purple unicorn walking beside her. "And no," she continued as the pegasus opened her mouth to respond, "I'm not pulling any strings as the Princess' personal student to get us last-minute VIP box seats."
Lero, the dimensionally displaced human, along with his herd of three, walked down a cobblestoned Canterlot street. Twilight had finished her business at the palace, the main reason for the trip. Lyra had tagged along, needing to meet with another Grand Master the following morning. Lero had suggested he and Dash might as well come along too, turning the trip into a spur-of-the-moment day-long vacation for the herd of four.
The group was currently out to find somewhere to have dinner as the sun crawled ever closer to the horizon. The presence of a restaurant within the Wonderbolt Derby on the edge of the mountainside city meant that at least one member of the group knew with certainty where they wanted to dine.
"Aww." The pegasus hung her head, trying to look her saddest in the hope of getting Twilight to change her mind.
Lyra, the other unicorn in the group, opened her mouth, likely to deliver some profound piece of grand master wisdom concerning the situation, but then suddenly stopped and looked back, along with her herdsisters.
Lero had stopped walking, and was now swiveling his head to and fro, pointedly sniffing the air.
"Lero?" Rainbow Dash asked as she landed next to him. "What's the matter?"
"Bacon."
At this, the three mares raised their eyebrows.
"Bacon?" the pegasus inquired.
"Bacon." the human simply repeated.
"What do you mean..." Rainbow started, but was interrupted as the distracted human continued.
"I definitely smell bacon." At that, the human turned to walk down a side street, his mares moving to follow.
"Lero, what do you mean, 'bacon'?" Rainbow repeated.
Twilight answered before Lero could. "Do you mean bacon, as in 'Cooked meat'?"
The other two mares looked at her, then back to Lero, who nodded.
"Yeah," he replied. "It's been almost a year, but I still remember that smell. That is definitely the smell of bacon. And..." he took another deep whiff of air. "Steak. Bacon and steak. It's almost like someone's running a..."
The group rounded a corner.
"...barbecue." he finished.
A few houses down the street, across the road, was a small establishment, the entrance and patio partially shaded by an awning. Mounted on the building's facade was a sign proudly declaring the establishment as "Güstâve LéGrandé's Le Rôti à le Broché" Despite the pretentious and decorated sign (the grammar of which made Twilights eye twitch) the establishment seemed, for all intents and purposes, to be an honest to goodness steakhouse.
Notably, most of the customers visible, sitting by the few tables on the patio, were griffons. There was a pony or two there as well, sitting with griffon compatriots, dining on salads. Carried from the restaurant by the mild afternoon breeze was the unmistakable smell of grease, charcoal, and cooked meat.
"Girls," Lero stated, a dreamy twinkle in his eye. "I think I know where I want to have dinner."