The banquet that was to be held in honor of General Grievous' rather unintentionally heroic actions as well as the Elements Of Harmony was to be held in a matter of hours. Apparently it seemed to fall on deaf ears when Grievous told them he no longer had any  need to eat and had insisted that he come to the dinner with his “friends.” It still made the cyborg incredibly uncomfortable to think of the six ponies as his friends and yet again he was thankful none of his superiors or subordinates were here to witness his current adventure. General Grievous...the unintentional protector of a land controlled by colorful talking ponies and had already worked his way into the hearts of the six as their friend.

But still if they thought of him as their friend he was one step closer to getting back to where he belonged and back to the war he was determined to win. With a sigh he proceeded down the red carpeted steps that would lead him to the dining hall. The castle was darkened by lack of sunlight and due to the fact the night was starting to begin, he approached two majestic wooden doors and pushed them open causing to swing away quickly as he entered the massive room. They slammed shut behind him, echoing in the room's vastness.

A beautiful, polished wooden table sat in the center of the tiled room, oval in shape with a gold rim; the chairs were spread out enough to give those in attendance room to move around without being uncomfortable. A pleasant fire crackled in the fireplace off to his left and two huge windows were located behind the chair that Princess Celestia was already sitting at, dozens of pretty stars sparkled in the night sky but to Grievous they weren't that special as he saw stars almost everyday of his life. Princess Luna sat to the right of her sister with a rather bored expression on her face.

Celestia didn't look pleased herself as the blonde maned pony to her left went on and on, he was a unicorn, blue eyes, the beginnings of a tuxedo on his chest but didn't extend any further to cover him, he had some sort of royal symbol as his Cutie Mark...and Grievous immediately disliked the pompous voice of this obviously pompous pony.

“Aunt Celestia?” He asked, following her now brightened gaze to the general...his jaw dropped.

To Blueblood, Grievous was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen his very sheltered life, towering over them, strange six fingered hands and huge black metal taloned feet. Thin but powerful limbs, that and he seemed to be entirely metal...then he laid eyes on his face. The antennas were made to resemble tusks, his face was flat and expressionless-which was something Grievous was yet again thankful for as it hid his contempt for the royal prince. The bottom of his face had small bits which were obviously supposed to resemble teeth and Blueblood half expected them to begin dripping blood and venom but perhaps what disturbed the prince most of all was Grievous' eyes. They glowed brightly with a dark rage and the power of an experienced warrior who fought in more battles and killed ore enemies than he could hardly begin to imagine.

“What is that thing?”

“Blueblood!” Luna snapped harshly at him like a mother might scold a child at a store, “that is General Grievous, the hero who saved Ponyville from a rampaging dragon and the town of Appleloosa. You would do well to respect him.”

The last part was a warning. Blueblood said nothing but continued to eye Grievous in a paranoid manner as the cyborg made his way across the light gray floor and pulled back the seat next to Luna, the legs screeching along the floor made the three royal ponies cringe before he sat down, swishing his cape to the side so as not to sit on it. A few moments of awkward silence passed before Blueblood glanced at the clock mounted on the wall between the two gigantic windows.

“When shall these Elements Of Harmony be arriving? I'm quite anxious to meet these heroes you've told me so much about,” the arrogant prince shifted in his seat, as he had regained his composure and glanced at Grievous with a look of disdain before turning his attention back to Celestia. She herself was looking at Blueblood and then to Grievous anxiously.

“Actually Blueblood you have already met them,” Luna interjected dully.

“I have? Now Princess Luna I think I would remember meeting the heroes of Equestria!” He laughed.

“You met them at the Grand Galloping Gala,” Celestia stated trying to loose her patience with her narcissistic nephew.

“You mean...those COMMONER ponies!?” His eyes widened in what actually seemed to be sheer terror.

The doors opened again to reveal the six, Celestia beamed brightly as they all approached the table. All were wearing dresses, which Grievous found somewhat strange that they wore clothing only in formal situations, except for Rarity who would occasionally wear a hat or some of piece of clothing. Just another thing about Equestria that Grievous found odd.

A distressed look came over Rarity's face as she saw Blueblood who seemed to recognize her in particular...

“Something wrong?” Grievous leaned over to his right when Rarity sat down next to him.

“Oh nothing at all darling I'm just trying to let bygones be bygones. It would be very unladylike to bring up past grievances,” she proudly adjusted her mane with a hoof. But the warlord could plainly see she was still distressed, and Rainbow Dash looked like she was going to fly over and smack the snobby look off Blueblood's face until the doors to the kitchen swung open and the various members of the kitchen staff entered, bringing with them carts that carry trays of food.

Pinkie Pie raised her head higher to take in great wafts of the delicious scents.

“Mm everything smells great!” She excitedly exclaimed.

“Commoner, please quiet down,” Blueblood snapped haughtily while pouring himself a glass of wine. Grievous glared darkly, the prince's behavior reminded him distinctly of Viceroy Nute Guneray.

'This is going be a long dinner...'

- - - -

The banquet was going by...somewhat smoothly. Blueblood would usually shut up after receiving a hard stare from Celestia or Luna and he always silenced himself when Grievous did so much as to twitch a finger. That amused the Kaleesh warlord.

But tensions were running high between Rarity and Blueblood with the prince being the antagonistic one, dropping rude comments about Rarity's “commoner” dress style and continuously reminding her of how she “humiliated” him at the Gala. But by the time dessert was due to be served at any minute they were in a full argument.

“I humiliated you? I humiliated you!?” Rarity yelled angrily at the prince from across the table causing even Grievous to wince at her increased voice volume.

“Don't you dare take that tone with me commoner! To think I actually wasted my time on you at that Gala!”

Rainbow Dash glared angrily.

“Don't talk to my friend like that you...you...”

“Finish that sentence and I'll have you arrested!”

Celestia and Luna were trying to calm them all down until Rarity stood up.

“You are the most arrogant, rude, and perhaps the foulest pony I have ever encountered! You treat others the exact opposite of what Princess Celestia has taught you...you don't even DESERVE to be royalty you pompous ass!”

Everyone, save for Grievous and the princesses gasped, Blueblood looked as though he'd been struck across the face...the ticking clock was the only sound in the room until the prince made his next move. His half empty wine glass levitated magically and its red contents quickly found itself on the front of Rarity's dress.

“Blueblood!” Celestia hollered in barely suppressed rage as the narcissistic prince stormed out of the banquet hall.

“Leave me alone! I have had enough of you all!”

None of them noticed Grievous was gone.

- - - -

Blueblood was now in his room's bathroom, readying what he believed was a well deserved bath at a difficult dinner. He tub was porcelain with perfectly polished silver knobs to adjust the water, the tile was dark blue and a towel rack hung on the wall to his right. A soft red towel was carefully draped over his shoulders as the warm water continued filling the tub.

'The never of those disgusting commoners,' he thought with a contemptuous rage, 'how dare they embarrass me in front of my relatives in such a manner!?' On a table beside the tub a glass and another bottle of red wine awaited him, levitating them towards himself he prepared to serve himself until a strange sound caught his attention.

BANG!

The doors swung open, slamming hard into the walls while Blueblood cried out frightfully, falling back into the tub causing water to splash everywhere; the wine glass shattering on the floor. The wine bottle fell into the tub with the now soaking wet prince and he screamed girlishly at the sight of the reddened water at first believing it was his own blood, a rough, unmerciful metal hand seized him by the throat effectively cutting off his screams. Blueblood peered up into the furious golden eyes of General Grievous. He easily hauled the cowering pompous pony out of the bathroom and into the bedroom and went out onto the balcony to hold Blueblood over the railing.

“Ackk! You filthy brute I'll have you arrested!” He wheezed out lividly.

“YOUwon't be doing anything,” Grievous hissed completely undaunted by Blueblood's threat, his voice didn't raise but even the deep whisper still made Blueblood tuck his legs close to his body for self defense.

“D-don't kill me please!” The blue eyed prince glanced down at the darkness below him, scrunching his eyes shut fearfully.

“A fall would be to good for you,” it was then Blueblood noticed Grievous had one of his weapons in his right hand. It wasn't activated but Blueblood was aware of what the famous newcomer used as his weapons...swords of hot light that could slice through dragon scales like paper.

“No no," he held up his forehooves pleadingly, “I'll do anything! I can pay you!”

“Anything?” Grievous repeated and his captive nodded vigorously, his wet mane plastered to his head and neck.

“Tomorrow morning you are going to apologize-no...you are going to BEG them for their forgiveness.”

“The commen-ACK! I mean the Elements Of Harmony?”

“Precisely,” his antennas whirred and shifted as he picked up the sound of the guards approaching.

“I'll do it just please-,” he was thrown roughly to the ground in a wet, crying, and terrified heap.

And when Blueblood looked up...General Grievous was gone.     Next Chapter: A day in Canterlot Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes