General Grievous was by no means a party creature. He hated pointless celebrations, true he could handle social gatherings arranged by Count Dooku to help rally more systems to the Separatist cause. But that was just because it was quiet, everyone there was on their best and most respectable behavior.

And most avoided speaking to him because of his rather icy presence. Which was just fine with him. But the party he'd been swept up in now...was basically the definition of loud and obnoxious...at least to him. The guests were having the time of their lives, dancing and eating and playing games.

And he'd learned much about the land he was in. The overall place itself was called “Equestria.” Its three primary denizens were ponies. Divided into three types, winged ponies called pegasus or pegasai , unicorns, and earth ponies. Their sun was raised by Princess Celestia and their moon was raised by Princess Luna. Both were a rare species called alicorns.

He'd also learned that the purple unicorn was Twilight Sparkle, the white unicorn was Rarity, the earth pony with the hat was Applejack, the pink one who seemed to have reality defying powers was Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle had a dragon assistant named Spike. Once again, he tore the ridiculous cone shaped hat off his head and tossed it to the ground.

He was now located in a place called Sugarcube Corner. To Grievous, just looking at it was an eyesore , the outside wasn't so bad and it seemed to be designed to resemble candy but it was the inside that annoyed him. It was mostly pink and had candy designs everyone and it reminded him of something a child might have thought of. Cupcakes and other sweet little treats adorned the tables and balloons floated wildly around.

He smacked one away when it got to close to his face. And, yet again a pony shoved a cupcake into one of his hands. The didn't realize he had no need to eat or even drink anymore because his cybernetic enhancements practically made him a self sustaining organism. Irritated he tossed the pink cupcake behind him and decided it'd be best to move before more ponies took an interest in him.

Pinkie Pie spotted the descending cupcake and sprang into the air and turned her head towards it...and ate the entire thing in one gigantic bite. Her eyes scrunched shut in happiness. Grievous was halfway at the door when Pinkie interjected with what the next game was going to be:

“LET'S PLAY PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY!” All the other ponies cheered and stamped their hooves in agreement but that only made the general increase his pace. He felt Pinkie spontaneously leap onto his back.

“The guest of honor always goes first,” she said happily. Grievous knew he had to do something to get out of playing the game! Decapitating Pinkie seemed like a good idea...but he decided to go with the idea that wouldn't make him a wanted fugitive.

“As the guest of honor I insist that...,” his glowing eyes scanned the happy crowd and then he saw his distraction. “I insist that Rarity go first.”

Pinkie Pie hopped off his back and gave Grievous the bright pink blindfold.

“Oh but I-I couldn't I just had my mane done and I-”

Grievous knelt down in front the stylish mare obscuring her from view as he fastened the blindfold firmly over her blue eyes.

“But Miss Rarity,” he gave emphasis on the word “Miss” and he fastened the knot and shifted her position so she was directly facing the image of a grinning donkey. “As the guest of honor I insist that a lady go first.” And with that he spun her around at least a dozen times.

As Rarity wobbled with the tail now stuffed into mouth she stumbled about in a dazed manner. Left...right...left-right. And Grievous, without any of them the wiser was out the door.

- - - -

Growling once he stood back up after having to almost crawl out Sugarcube Corner, the ponies had doors that were small enough to a point where he had to squat down to enter and exit. Most of the ponies were at the party so the streets were relatively vacant. The streets were wide and made of stone and the houses were mostly the same. Brown with some pink and brown rooftops. Some had balconies. Grievous figured it would be best to know the environment of the place he would probably be staying at until he discovered a way to return to his proper domain.

He continued walking onwards and was surprised to see a little market set up. Most were covered by a cloth that acted as a roof and some were out in the open. Ponies were making their purchases, and some upon Grievous' arrival increased their pace and rushed past him. Clearly many were afraid of him.

'Good.'

- - - -

Fluttershy desperately scanned the market place for the last piece of key ingredient. Angel Bunny was once again demonstrating his picky eating habits by demanding a banana split as a snack. It'd already been a hard enough day for Fluttershy what with seeing a rabid manticore be savagely butchered by a cyborg who'd terrorized her. So she just decided to give him what he wanted without a big fuss. And then she saw it...a yellow banana in perfect condition.

Her happiness soared...until she saw who owned the market stand. It was the same brown pony with the stubble covered face and blue hat who raised the price of a single cherry to a ridiculous amount. But still she didn't want her poor little bunny to be hungry. And her hopes were dashed when he grinned in recognition.

“Hey hey look who's back.” The price of the banana was clearly five bits but because it was Fluttershy he immediately spouted off with his new price.

Fifteen bits!”

“But I don't-”

“Twenty bits.”

“Now listen here mister-”

“Thirty bits!”

Fluttershy lowered her head in defeat and realized it really was no use and had begun to back away. Until she bumped into something hard and metal. Looking up to see General Grievous himself standing behind her she cowered like a dog that was about to be beaten. Grievous simply strode over her his cape brushing against her side...cautiously she peeked at what was happening.

The stand's owner gulped but kept a brave face on as Grievous approached. Both hands were behind his back and he was in his usual hunched posture, he lowered his head so that only the stand owner could hear him.

“You are aware that price gouging is illegal?”

“But uh-it was a bargain! Yeah...I run a legitimate business here!”

“The price of a simple banana is five bits correct?”

“Yeah. What're you gonna do about it?” But the stallion had not asked as a challenge, his head was now lowered and his ears were flat in anxiousness.

“Perhaps I could report this to one of your princesses...or,” he shifted so the stallion could get a brief glimpse of his lightsabers.

“Whoah hold on there, you wouldn't kill me for just trying to squeeze a little extra money outta the doormat?”

“I've killed plenty more for less.”

“Okay! Here take the banana,” the stand owner chuckled nervously and pushed the yellow fruit away. “You can have it! Free of charge!”

Fluttershy cautiously took the banana and quickly left. Still very afraid of Grievous.

The cyborg left triumphantly, not because he'd done a kind act but because he'd been able to terrify almost all of them just by being in their presence.

This world could be amusing to him after all. Next Chapter: New problems Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 60 Minutes