Welcome to Equestria
General Grievous covered the ground between himself and the odd purple creature with only a few long strides of his clawed legs. It remained paralyzed where it was, pupils dilating and ears folding back, but it only looked like it was about to bolt when Grievous was virtually top of it. By which time, of course, it was much too late.
One of the cyborg’s four arms reached down and plucked the creature from the ground by its chest. It kicked, struggled, and beat its wings frantically as he did so, but Grievous completely ignored such feeble blows. It was making some kind of noises at him, but they sounded more like animal grunts than any civilized tongue to his ears, so he dismissed them as well.
It was the bags loaded onto the beast’s back that drew Grievous’ attention. It was immediately obvious that they were made by sapient beings, but examining them more closely might give him an idea of this planet’s technology level. Extra arms held the creature’s struggling wings in place while he gave the things an once-over. To start, they were clearly manufactured rather than woven, which spoke to at least some factory-level technology, which was a good sign. Inside, Grievous saw several primitive paper books, scrolls, and writing implements. That was not so good. Paper was a seriously outdated material in all but the lowest and most backwater planets of the Outer Rim. Neither he nor any of the computers slaved to his brain could understand any of the written symbols, so he carefully replaced the goods inside the bag after a few moments of looking.
He looked at the beast again. It had, remarkably for an animal, noticed that its struggles were futile and ceased while he was examining its items. It was making more noises at him, but again they did not sound like anything remotely resembling language. They did, however, sound less panicked than they had been before. It was on his second look at the animal he had caught that Grievous noted the odd brand on its flank. That confirmed his suspicions.
It was obvious what this thing was: a beast of burden. Most likely it had been part of some sort of baggage train, and through some means become lost in the forest until it had blundered into him. The baggage it carried suggested as much, and the flank brand confirmed it. Because it was used to the presence of likely bipedal sapient beings, it had not instinctively run away from him as had the wilder creatures. That also explained why it had ceased its attempts to wiggle away from him so quickly; wild animals typically never stopped trying to escape until they were too exhausted to make the attempt.
Grievous considered what to do with it for a moment, before opting to put it over his shoulder. It might belong to someone important, in which case its safe return could help speed his exit from this planet. In any case, returning a lost animal to its owner was always an effective means to create a good first impression.
As Grievous replaced his cape around his shoulders, he noted that the creature was simply sitting there and watching him do it, not even trying to struggle anymore. He guessed it was used to being held.
Perhaps it was a juvenile?
Twilight Sparkle was feeling an odd mix of emotions. One was, of course, fear. That, thankfully, has lessened once it had become apparent that the alien wasn’t interested in immediately killing her as it had the beast of the forest. The second, and the emotion presently most preeminent in her mind, was curiosity. The alien had looked into her saddle bags and through her books and notes, but had completely ignored everything she’d said to it. It hadn’t even said anything to her, just flung her over its shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes. She knew the aliens had to be able to talk, since the red-eyed one already had said something, but no more sounds were forthcoming.
As she decided that she wasn’t in immediate danger, the alicorn princess had opted not to simply teleport out of the alien’s grip, and instead wait to see what it would do. Her mind buzzed with exciting possibilities. To her great disappointment, all that the aliens did for several minutes was stand around and do not much of anything. She was just beginning to wonder if she had somehow dissuaded them from whatever they were about to do with her presence, when she caught a glimpse of more shapes emerging from the trees.
First came more of the black aliens with white eyes, looking as unnerving as they ever did. She observed that they advanced nimbly through the forest, making little sound even as they jumped onto and off of tree branches, keeping what looked to be a careful lookout. Though she looked, Twilight didn’t see any more of the red-eyed version of the aliens with the black ones, and she made a mental note of it.
A small amount of time later, two new types of alien showed up. One was ridiculously thin, with an off-white coloration and eyes that did not glow. It looked to Twilight as though stiff breeze might knock over these aliens, though she did note that they carried the same strange devices in their hands that the black ones did. The second type was larger, bulkier, and a silver-grey color. It seemed to have its head directly in its chest, and unlike the other aliens carried nothing in its hands. She wonder what that could mean in terms of status.
It was only when a group of almost three dozen aliens had assembled that their leader spoke. Its voice was gruff, accented, and to Twilight’s ears, distinctly masculine. She couldn’t understand a world it said to its fellows, but when it pointed one of its four arms in the vague direction of Ponyville and the entire group began to set off, the meaning was clear enough. Perhaps they thought to return her there? That was the charitable explanation.
The less charitable was that they meant to sack the town and abduct its inhabitants.
As princess, it was incumbent on Twilight to figure out their intentions and respond accordingly. While the alien group marched through the Everfree Forest, her mind churned as she turned to a spell she had learned for diplomatic purposes.
General Grievous and all the droids he had left to him – far too few, in his opinion – had little difficulty in making their way through the dark forest. Though the canopy blocked out much of what light there was, to cybernetic vision it was not a problem. Grievous could hear animals fleeing in the distance whenever the party got close, which suited the cyborg just fine. With his bloodlust temporarily slaked, now all he wished for was to find civilization and return to the Confederacy as soon as possible. Therefore, he headed towards what scanners indicated was the large concentration of lifeforms nearest this forest. Hopefully, he would find some way off planet from there.
It was a few minutes into the trek that Grievous noticed a purple glow out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to look for the source, he was surprised to find that it was coming from the little creature he had on his shoulder. More specifically, it was coming from the dull horn atop the animal’s head. Grievous had absolutely no idea what that meant. Some creatures could produce light, yes, but normally not in the manner he was witnessing.
The light soon died away, and Grievous would have looked away and shrugged it off but for what happened next.
The creature spoke.
“Hello?” it said, in a voice that sounded distinctly feminine.
Grievous’ head jerked towards the animal and he blinked in surprise.
“Can you understand me?” it spoke up again. Its mouth was definitely moving, and the sound was coming from there, though to Grievous’ lip-reading skills they did not look as though they matched up.
Feeling slightly crazy at the thought and wondering if he had hit his head on the way down, Grievous nonetheless replied to it. “I can.”
“Phew!” it said, running a hoofed limb over its forehead. “I hadn’t cast that spell in so long, I was worried it wouldn’t work!”
“Spell?” Grievous’ eyes narrowed. He was not unfamiliar with magic, having battled against the Nightsister witches of Dathomir on more than one occasion. It had not been so long since the witch Mother Talzin had perished under his blades, and he knew enough to be wary of practitioners of sorcery.
The creature, seemingly oblivious to his change in mood, nodded its head and continued. “Yeah! I cast a translation spell on you. It allows you to understand and be understood by any thinking creature you talk to.”
Grievous’ eyes narrowed still further, and for a moment he considered tearing the creature limb from limb on the spot. He thought better of it, but still gripped it by the neck and held it directly up to his face.
“Do not,” he hissed, his voice full of menace. “Ever again attempt to work any artifice of sorcery on me without my knowledge or consent! Is that clear?” His yellow eyes bored into the creature’s purple ones, and it nodded hastily.
“Yes!” it said. “Yes, very clear!”
“Good,” he said, shifting and relaxing his grip to make the little thing more comfortable.
“So, uh…” it said, after a slight pause. “Can you put me down now?”
Grievous thought about it. In the middle of a group of his droids, what harm could it do? There was nowhere to run even if it wanted to.
“Very well,” he replied, lowering it gently to the ground.
“Thanks,” it said, regaining its footing after just a slight bit of stumbling. “Now, I suppose introductions are in order?” At Grievous’ nod, it continued. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria,” it put a hoof over its chest and bowed its head slightly in greeting.
Grievous barely refrained from bursting out into laughter. Twilight Sparkle? That was the most ridiculous name he had ever heard, and he had heard more than a few in his time. Equestria? That was almost as stupid. And royalty? This thing? Who had ever heard of a princess being allowed to wander a forest at night without at least a handful of guards on hand?
It was only the thought that he had never encountered nor even heard of the species that this thing appeared to be that stopped the cyborg general from openly mocking her. How was he to know what social expectations there were of a princess in culture of wherever this place was in the galaxy? In the event that she was lying, Grievous resolved to kill her later.
“I am called Grievous,” he replied. “General Grievous, of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.” After a moment, he added. “I hope you don’t expect me to bow.”
Twilight emphatically shook her head. “Of course not! You don’t fall under my jurisdiction, and in any case I don’t demand that of anypony!”
“Anypony”? Hot damn that sounded stupid to Grievous’ ears.
“Um, anyway,” she cleared her throat. “General, huh? You aren’t here to lead an invasion of Equestria, are you?”
“If I were, do you think I would be so stupid as to tell you?” Grievous thought disdainfully.
Aloud, he decided that the truth would be the best policy for the moment, and shook his head. “No. My presence here is but an unfortunate accident.”
Twilight wiped her forehead with a hoof again. “Thank goodness!” she smiled. “In that case, it is my honor and privilege to welcome you, General Grievous, our first extraterrestrial visitor, to Equestria!”
Grievous felt a sinking feeling in what remained of his gut. “First extraterrestrial visitor”? That wasn’t good.
Twilight, cheerfully oblivious to what was going on inside the cyborg’s head and consumed again with the joy that came from discovering something new, continued speaking.
“Would you like to come back to my palace?” she shook her head and muttered to herself, though Grievous’ enhanced hearing easily caught her words. “No, that sounds too pretentious. My house? It’s too big and ornate for that. My treehouse? It’s not even a real tree! Uh…” she looked up at Grievous again. “Would you and your…” she gestured at the rest of his group.
“Droids,” he filled her in.
“Droids like to come back with me to my home? I’m sure we have a lot to talk about, and it would be much more comfortable for you all there.”
For lack of a better option he could think of, Grievous nodded, and the group set out once more.
Tens of thousands of light-years away, on the distant planet of Serenno, in his ancestral palace, Count Dooku, also known as the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, knelt before a hologram of his Master.
“This turn of events is… unfortunate,” said the hooded, cloaked form of Darth Sidious. “General Grievous is a critical part of my plan for these Clone Wars. He must not remain missing.”
“I understand, my lord,” said Dooku without looking up.
“Much is at stake here, Lord Tyranus. Locate the general, and bring him back if at all possible.”
Dooku was far too immersed in the ways of the Sith to fail to notice the last part of his orders. After what had happened with Ventress, how could he not pick up on the subtext?
“And above all else,” Darth Sidious continued after a moment’s pause. “Do not allow him to fall into the hands of the Jedi.”
Dooku bowed his head even deeper. “It will be done, Lord Sidious.”
“Very good,” came the last reply, and the hologram was gone.
Count Dooku rose to his feet and began to make a holotransmition of his own.
There was work to be done.
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oh no. Not him.
I'll add this to my read-later list.
Nice to see that Grievous used common sense
Fact, did you know his true name is Qymaen jai Sheelal?
Have some more info about Greivous
Dude... I was just finishing up a story of my own featuring (kind of) general grievous... With the same freakin' cover art... And then I see this story in the recently updated box. I haven't read this yet, though I do hope the plots are different. And now I'm going to change my cover art.
Edit: now that I read it, I realize that the plots aren't really all that similar. Thank god I don't have to rewrite all of it... However I might because I just got an idea for it. Fuckin' ideas, man.
This looks nice, but "Friendship is Grievous" has already been used by another story.
*insert comment about the terrible prequels here*
5505353 ......wut?
Long live the Kaleesh! Now you are coming into the critical area, tread carefully.
5505534 shhh. He doesn't want that mentioned.
Just posted? I SWEAR I saw this somewhere else? Wat is my brain doing?
5504678
Manticores have four legs. He grabbed the ankles of the front two. Or are you referring to something else?
5505534
I didn't see it on fimfic.
It has?
5505786
I haven't it anywhere else.
I am considering do a fic where Darth Plagueis survives and ends up in Equestria.
5505385 Grievous is very rational and intelligent. He rarely instigates fights he isn't certain he has the upper hand in.
Welp, this is happening....
I like this story so far, but I have to ask. What version of Grievous are you using? I believe there are 3:
1. The one from the third movie: I hope that isn't the case as I hate that version. He just seems so weak compared to his animated counterparts.
2. The Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series version: Not a bad choice but I think you can do better.
Or 3. My personal favorite version, the one from the animated mini-series by Genndy Tartakovsky. I love this version because he exudes power, skill, and intimidation in every scene he's in. Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTnpqjJae-g
(I don't know how to embed videos into the comments section)
God I love this series.
5505856 Probably just trippin on pone. Also I got out an old game named Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. I never thought as a grown person I could have fun with those games. :D
It's rare for me to find a Star Wars fic that is actually worth reading and keeps my interest. Yours ranks among those rare few. Kudos.
5505856 It was used by GodzillaLecter as the title for his own crossover. I'd send you the link, except it's been deleted for some reason.
Amazing, very well written. I can't wait for more. This is getting saved!
5505856
Two of Grievous’ what?
Aah, this is going to be... swell
Can't really say that I was looking forward to this kind of story, or that I even remembered that Grievous was a thing, but now that I've refreshed my memory, I can safely say that this will be a fun ride. Not a long one mind you, though who knows, but a fun one.
I really like the concept and I cant wait to see more keep up the good work!
Great story so far. At first I though "Star Wars and MLP? This can't possibly be good." Glad to say I was wrong.
Its a really fine thing to come upon a story such as this in the hands of someone who can capably string together a sentence without relying on stock phrases or stereotypes. in other words, very capable hands. Each of the chapters thus far has been just enough to stay interesting, but not too much to completely satiate the appetite. I will be watching this story with great interest, and may just find a spot on my Favorites shelf.
I hope we can get some fighting going on in this story, but so far it has been good, keep it up!
5506593 Yo dawg I heard ya like Grievous, so we put put Grievous in Grievous so you can have Grievous with Grievous
This is actually the third story of this concept that I've found this year.
But is most definitely the best.
5505856 The three chapters aren't too bad.
Gervious is nice but mean. And an ass.
But it seems like the longer I go with this story, The more I see of how hilarious this would look.
I mean, Could you imagine how it could look like with how Gervious sounds adn everything? I would laugh at the jurisditicion of what was happening right now XD.
And now Count Dooku and Darth Sidious have been brought into the story.
........I sense a lot of pony death coming up
.
...This can't end well.
Holy crap I wasn't expecting so many chapters to pop up after I faved this. I'll hold off on a more thorough review until I've caught up.
Dear Snake Staff ( This should be my last message to you for a little while , don't want to clog up the comment section.)
This was...painful to read. By no means was it bad, but it's hard not to emphasize ( for me that is) with the utter bleakness of this poor bastards situation. Still throughly impressed.
Sincerely Yours, The Cake Devil.
Grievous barely refrained from bursting out into laughter. Twilight Sparkle? That was the most ridiculous name he had ever heard, and he had heard more than a few in his time. Equestria? That was almost as stupid.
I know how you feel man.
Scratch that, Equestria is fucked.
Two things. One, this is gon be guuuuuud 8D
Two, Snake Staff... your icon is fucking awesome.
Nice work on this chapter!
Equestria is screwed! Roger roger!
I don't know whether to see this situation as hysterical or as the total end for Equestria
5867517 Eh, I prefer to see it as a little of both.
Well, definitely a favorite now. AWWWWESSOOOOOMMMME!!!! This has gone so beautifully well! I shall read as much as I can, when I can!
liking this so far... though i worry for the ponies. all it will take is grievous getting the wrong idea and he'll kill them. though he'll likely learn then not to fuck with an alicorn, be it of the sun, moon love or friendship
Waiting for the inevitable horrendous massacre.
“Anypony”? Hot damn that sounded stupid to Grievous’ ears.
Magnificent, absolutely magnificent.
9449849
Ehhh, maybe, if he went against Celestia and Luna together, maybe not. Through in Cadence and/or Twilight and he’ll probably fall
Ooooooooooh craaaaaaaaaap.