Step Into the Light

Finally, it was time to properly know the guest named Maul. It was a terrifying noon for Twilight, as she was the one who had direct contact with him, and that didn´t turn out pretty well. Her neck still had the sensation, not a pleasant thing.

Contrary to how Twilight was feeling, the rest of the group were somewhat furious, nopony would ever dare to attack any of their friends. Some say there´s only one first impression, and Maul´s wasn´t a good one.

Everypony was waiting inside the dining room until Luna came back from the cell blocks.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The clock gave the perfect plus to an already silent and awkward moment, none of the ponies present were talking, each one thinking about the new guest, and how it would all play out.

Rarity was furious, as well as Applejack, and especially Rainbow; Pinkie and Fluttershy were too, although less. Twilight was terrified, she was scared of Maul, and the mysteries he carried; Celestia was only nervous, clearly visible by the sweat running down her face.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

"Agh! How long is it going to take to bring that freak here?!" Rainbow screamed in desperation, her head bumping against the table. "It´s been like five hours already!"

"It has only been half an hour." Twilight said with a deadpan expression.

"But it feels like five!" Rainbow replied, followed by a small roar.

"Stop it Rainbow! You ain´t making it better." Applejack exclaimed, giving her friend a hard look, Rainbow roared once again.

"I mean, come on! That guy attacked Twilight AND the princess, shouldn´t we be kicking that freak´s buck?"

"I agree with her," Rarity entered the conversation, "that brute clearly isn´t one to be trusted."

"What if he only wants a hug and a party!" Pinkie´s words made Rainbow facehoof.

"You can´t be serious Pinkie..."

"Why not, didn´t you hear he lost his mommy?" Pinkie replied, hugging herself with her hooves in an exaggerated manner.

As the small discussion continued, Celestia was simply watching the whole thing unfold. A small smirk appeared on her face once it was all resolved, they had come to the conclusion to let Maul explain his actions, and give him a second chance, the same way everypony deserves one. It was in times like this that Celestia remembered why they were chosen to be the elements, pure heart amongst the rest of the ponies. Finally Celestia´s thought were cut short.

"What do you think princess?" Twilight asked.

"I believe we should be patient and wait, we should also avoid antagonizing Maul before knowing him." Celestia answered, later noticing how much time had passed. "Although my sister has taken a little too long, I wonder what might have happened."

Luna had eagerly accepted being the one to bring Maul to the dining room, she had taken a lot of interest in him. Something about the former sith lord felt familiar.

Luna´s smiling face came down into the cell blocks, until she noticed the dead corpse and the hysteric guards surrounding Maul´s cell, which contained a smiling Zabrak sitting at the edge of his bed, and with his hands under his chin. His smile was certainly an evil one.

"Would you care to tell me why you killed this prisoner?"

"He lost his life because of a mistake he made." Maul answered, his voice calmed as ever.

"I presume that ´mistake´ involves you." Luna said, her face holding a slight frown.

"That scum had insulted you, a princess, which in my book should be enough for acquiring a dead sentence." Maul answered, his small grin disappearing from his face.

Luna sighed before talking. "I don´t know how things worked where you come from, but know that here we try to be as pacific as possible, even with our enemies, I suggest you follow that rule if you wish to be treated with justice."

Maul didn´t like being treated like that, being told what to do like a mere child, but he was alone in this world, with no form of escaping, and with a powerful sith lord waiting for his return. Maul wouldn´t risk himself as foolishly as he did last time.

There was a lot of opportunity in this planet, that much was true, but he would have to play his cards carefully if he was to discover what this place had to offer, from there, he would craft a plan. There really wasn´t much point in starting a battle in this new place, he had to discover everything it had and how it could serve him, then maybe get his revenge against SIdious or simply let himself be carried by the will of the force. Right now one thing was for sure, he would never forget Luna´s words...

Maul clenched his fist before speaking, and doing his best to hide his anger. "Very well princess, I apologize for this."

"Even though your apology won´t bring this pony back, you should know that he was to be encased in stone, his fate would have been sealed regardless of your actions, AND contrary to my sister, I do agree that we should use more severe punishments with scum like him." Luna pointed with her hoof towards the corpse of the pony. She didn´t notice it, but Maul had released a small smirk after hearing her words. "We should head out now Maul, the rest are waiting for you." Finally, the frown on Luna´s face had disappeared from her face, being replaced with a smile.

Maul followed behind, placing his hands behind him. Luna instructed one of the guards to get rid of the body before heading out of the cell blocks.

Luna nor Maul noticed, that once they left, everypony inside released the breaths they were holding, peace at last.

Princess and sith were walking across the several hallways of the castle, heading towards the dining room. Maul was looking the whole time at his surroundings, but not because of the beautiful architecture, but because it would serve him to know the layout of the place. Very few things surprised him anymore.

Moments later, Maul found himself lost in thought. The magic in this place was strange, and the ponies (especially Celestia, Twilight and Luna) were powerful wielders. He himself knew his fare share of magic, although not on the same level as his mother´s, that´s when he remembered something.

"Excuse me princess Luna, if I could ask you something?"

"What is it Maul?" Luna asked, never taking her sight off the path.

"I feel the energy emanating from every pony in Equestria, and although each one´s power levels are different, they are all of the same kind, but yours..." Luna was taken aback by this, it wasn´t the fact that he could sense magic users, but that he was able to sense her small quantity of dark magic, her other side. Luna was sweating, her heart was racing, as it wasn´t a pleasant memory to remember.

Luna gulped before asking. "What´s wrong with mine?" She asked as softly as she could, trying to hide the fact that she was suffering, unknown to her, Maul sensed it, he released a thin smile as a result.

"Why does yours feel... evil?"

Suddenly Luna stopped on her tracks, then turned to face Maul, her head hanging lightly. "I´m sorry Maul, it is not a thing I like to talk about." Maul looked at her with a face of confusion, doing his best to hide his satisfaction, he had finally found remnants of the dark side inside the princess of the night, remnants that could serve him in the future if the chance was presented. Luna noticed the ´confused´look Maul had on his face, and decided to let things clear. "I was a terrible beast in my past, a side of me I try to forget, as it brought so much pain."

Maul was a master in faking feelings, this time it was no different. Placing his hand on Luna´s shoulder, he spoke. "I understand princess Luna, if you ever need to talk with someone, I would gladly hear you."

Luna released a small smile, and lifted her face to face Maul. "Thank you. Now we should hurry, the rest should be getting impatient by now."

With that, Luna turned around and continued walking, followed by a smirking Maul, so far, everything was going fine.

Along the way, Luna got curious and slightly turned to face Maul. "I´ve been wanting to ask you, what is that thing you carry on one side of your torso?"

Maul blinked for a few seconds, trying to figure out what she meant by that, when he suddenly remembered. The former sith lord proceeded to grab the small object, his trophy, his darksaber. He suddenly felt satisfaction in knowing he still had his weapon, but how would Luna react, in all honesty, lying would only make things worse, it was better to come clean about that subject.

"This is my darksaber, an elegant weapon for a civilized age."

That definitely got Luna´s attention, who turned around to face him once more. "A weapon? May you give a demonstration?"

Maul complied, and proceeded to turn the saber on. From the handle a beam of black energy came out, surrounded by a white light. Maul went to grab a jar on his right, before facing Luna. "May I?"

With a nod from her head, Maul went to levitate the jar before striking it with his saber, cutting the object in half. Luna had her eyes wide open.

"What kind of energy is that?"

"It´s plasma." Maul answered, the princess of the night nodded slightly as a response before continuing their walk. She began to wonder whether if it would be a good idea to relinquish this weapon or not, but she figured it wasn´t necessary, Maul would have already done something by now.

After a few minutes, the pair had finally arrived at the dinning room. Inside were the Elements, alongside Celestia. All of them felt their hearts racing once they heard the door opening.

From the entrance came Luna, followed by Maul, who got a good look at the ponies present. On the right a blue pegasus, an orange earth pony and a slightly scared Twilight were sitting. To his left he could spot a white unicorn, a yellow pegasus, and strangely happy pink pony. Finally at the head of the table, laid Celestia.

All eyes were staring directly at him, some held angry looks, others curiosity, and only two... fear. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Celestia broke the ice.

"I see the cat finally decided to give your tongue back." She smiled.

Maul chuckled. "It appears to be the case princess Celestia, I apologize for my rude behavior."

"As long as it doesn´t happen again, there is no problem." Celestia replied. "Now, I believe is time for a proper introduction." The alicorn stood up. "I am princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria alongside my sister Luna." She pointed at the rest present. "These six are the Elements of harmony." Elements of harmony? Now it was getting interesting. "this is Pinkie pie, Element of laughter; Fluttershy, kindness; Rarirty, generosity; Rainbow Dash, loyalty; Applejack, honesty, and my precious student, Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic, and most recent princess."

The last one, who Celestia introduced as Twilight, was shaking heavily. Maul instantly recognized her, she was the first pony he met, the one he used his force choke with.

If he was to carry on with his plan, he would have to be accepted inside the circle. The princesses were incredibly powerful, even more than him, and there was no chance for him to win in a fight against the two... for now at least. With this in mind, Maul cleared his throat to speak.

"I remember you." The sith got Twilight´s attention, who was trying to keep eye contact with him. "I am sorry for having treated you like that, I know you were only trying to help, please accept my apologies."

Twilight was about to answer when Rainbow interrupted.

"And why should Twi accept your apology?" In Maul´s face the beginning of a frown was appearing. "You attacked her, and Princess Celestia as well, not mentioning that you´re red and ugly!"

If he didn´t had the experience to deal with these kind of scumbags, Maul would have probably already used his dark saber to gut her, but she was tenting him, and her luck was going to run out sooner or later. Luckily for the pegasus, and to the surprise of everypony, Twilight interrupted before she or Maul could speak.

"Rainbow please, Princess Celestia said we shouldn´t antagonize Maul before knowing him, and he already apologized, there is no need to be rude with him."

"But he did that thing and... and he hurt you, and..." Rainbow tried to continue, until she saw Twilight staring at her with a hard expression, making the pegasus roar in desperation, Maul however, was smiling in victory, these ponies were really easy to fool...

"I don´t know Twi, his apology looks kind of genuine, but something about him doesn´t add up." Maul never expected Applejack to look under his mask, thankfully the suspicion wouldn´t last.

"If you are done gossiping unjustly about me, I would like to proceed with this meeting reunion." Maul interrupted, a frown visible on his face. "I know I hurt your friend, I already apologize, and I would like to have the respect I deserve."

"He is right girls, we should let Maul talk." Celestia added.

Applejack nor Rainbow trusted in him, they could certainly feel something VERY bad about him, as such, they wouldn´t let their guard down around him... Maul would do the same.

The former sith lord had found the ones he would have to be careful with. Applejack really lived up to her title, she would be hard to fool, Rainbow as well, but not for the same reasons. The pegasus wasn´t the brightest bulb around, but she wasn´t a complete idiot either, Maul would have to up his game and use his brain. Aside from those two, the rest should be easy.

"Maul, please have a seat." Luna instructed, and proceeded to take her sit next to him. The two of them being at the other end of the large table, once all settled, the talk began.

"So, Maul, what exactly happened before yesterday?" Celestia asked.

"As you are all aware of, I..." Maul lowered his gaze. "I went through a terrible loss."

"We know it was your mother, if I may ask, what was her name?" Luna asked.

Maul took a few seconds to answer "...Talzin."

Celestia felt something strange, the name was familiar to her, although she couldn´t remember where she heard it before. Maul continued speaking.

"Mother and I were defending our lives against those who betrayed us, those who used us as puppets, my mother fell in the battle. I believe she was the one who send me here, but I don´t know the reason for that."

"Battle? Sent you here? Does she know magic?" Twilight asked, her curiosity for Maul growing.

"My mother was a powerful witch, she helped me and my brother many times."

"And this brother of yours?" Celestia asked, noticing the sad look on both Maul and Luna.

The princess of the night was the one who answered. "He died."

Everypony at the table suddenly had a change of heart towards Maul, they saw him as a mere victim of evil, and suddenly they felt empathy for the former sith lord, causing them to lower their guards, especially Applejack and Rainbow... fools.

Rainbow would be the next one to ask a question. "What was your brother´s name?"

Maul looked at her, he hadn´t forgotten about her little episode, but at least they weren´t antagonizing him. "His name was Savage Opress."

Without Maul expecting it, a Pink flash came rushing towards him, instantly wrapping itself around the sith´s torso, later revealing herself as a crying Pinkie.

"So sad... so, so... SAD!" Maul didn´t know what to make out of this, he wasn´t used to affection, his whole life had been full of torture, this was the first time someone hugged him. The sith looked from Pinkie to the rest sitting at the table.

Everypony couldn´t help but to smile when they noticed the look he had on his face, it was a face of desperation mixed with confusion.

"Come on sugarcube, not everypony likes being hugged, and by the look on Maul´s face its obvious he isn´t used to affection." Applejack said, then turned to face Maul. "No offence partner."

"None taken." The sith replied, his face still holding confusion.

Luna chuckled before talking. "Pinkie tends to be very emotional, she can´t stand watching somepony suffer. None of we do..."

Maul didn´t answer, he was on a loss for words.

The talk continued with less personal questions, like Rarity asking what was he thinking when he decided to wear those hideous clothes, or Pinkie asking if she could paint his horns pink. All in all it was a pleasant talk... until Twilight asked something.

"What did you do before coming here?"

Maul was taken by surprise, sure he had expected them to ask him that question, but after clearing suspicions about him, he thought it wouldn´t be a topic in the conversation anymore. Luckily he had already formed an answer.

"I was the apprentice of the most powerful being in the galaxy, until I was robbed of my destiny. Long story short, my master betrayed me, whereas I fought to achieve peace, he used me as a puppet to achieve his goals, at least until I served him no more... he is the one who killed my brother, the one who attacked me and my mother."

Silence prevailed for a few seconds in the room, until Rarity spoke.

"Was he the one who ruined you?"

"From a point of view, yes. You see, the are two factions connected to a power known as the force, the Jedi and the Sith." Maul answered, once again getting everypony´s attention. It wasn´t long before Luna asked.

"What is the force?"

"It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together."Maul answered, noticing the amazed looks on everypony.

"What do you mean with ´created by all living things´" Celestia asked, her confused expressions matching the rest present at the table.

Maul decided to give a demonstration, and soon almost everything inside the dining room was floating. "The force is inside all of us, even if you don´t know it, It´s what connects us as living beings, what gives us strength if we desire so. Although that depends in the capacities of each individual. True, we are all connected to the force, but not everyone is able to use it."

"You say there are two factions, and usually one of those two tends to be evil, so which one is, Jedi or Sith?" Twilight asked.

"There is no good or evil, we simply do what we think is best from our point of view." The former sith lord´s answer left most of the ponies present at the table, scratching their heads, with the obvious exception of Luna, Celestia and Twilight.

"Very well, I think is time that we let Maul rest from all these questions." Twilight released a sad look, and proceeded to hide her pencil and notebook. Celestia continued speaking. "I have some important things to attend to, and I´m sure the Elements want to spare the day as they wish. I understand now that we thought wrong about you Maul, you are free to get a tour of Canterlot, I will send a guard to guide you." Celestia ended the meeting with those words, but before everypony could stand up, Luna interrupted.

"Don´t call any guard sister, I will gladly give Maul a tour around the kingdom."

"Very well Luna." Celestia smiled, then turned to face the rest. "Very well, the meeting is over, enjoy this day, for tomorrow you head back to ponyville."

"Excuse me princess, what about Maul?" Twilight asked.

"That should be his decision." With that, she turned to face the former sith lord. "Maul?"

"I have taken inteterest in knowing this place you call ´Ponyville´, maybe that should be my next stop, at least until I decide what to do in this planet."

"Very well Maul, you shall head to Ponyville with the rest of the Elements tomorrow." Celestia answered with a thin smile.

Once all settled, Luna approached the former sith lord. "Come on Maul, we have much to see."

"And I have much to ask, thank you for this princess Luna." Maul answered, at last he would have the opportunity to know more about the planet and it´s living beings, as well as the kind of magic they use. He wondered what use this kind of knowledge could have, soon his thoughts were cut short.

"Maul, please just call me Luna." The princess of the night smiled, before turning to face the door to head out.

"As you wish... Luna." Before Maul could head outside, he stopped in cold, as a familiar feeling stroke him.

"Anything wrong?" Luna asked the Zabrak, who looked around him trying to find the source, finally he faced the princess of the night.

"It´s nothing, just a little explosion of power, but it happens all the time."

Luna simply smiled in confirmation before heading outside the dining room. Maul had sensed the dark side, no, it certainly wasn´t Sidious or the sith pretender Dooku, but whoever it was, it was strong (Not as strong as his, though). The disturbance wasn´t near, in fact it was a few kilometers away from Canterlot, but it was approaching the kingdom. Finding the source could have some benefits for him, this place wasn´t aware of the force, that meant there could not be sith in the planet, and that could also mean he could have a new apprentice soon, if the being was seduced.