Step Into the Light

Luna and Maul found themselves walking across the gardens, the princess of the night had chosen that place to start, as it was one of the things which was admired the most in Canterlot. The walk wasn´t silent nor awkward, on the contrary, it was full of talk, mainly Luna explaining its history, and Maul was surely listening to every words she said.

There were small times where the duo stopped, thanks to a question coming from Maul, or a citizen greeting Luna... and later running away from fear of the Zabrak. All in all it was a pleasant walk.

"You told me about those Cutie Marks, but what does yours and Celestia´s represent?" Maul asked, as they both passed in front of a mountain. The sith lord traveled the whole way with both hands on his back, rarely making any move with them.

Luna stopped in front of the fountain, and faced Maul. "Me and my sister are in charge in bringing forth both the sun and the moon, the fact of who does what, is pretty obvious."

"Obvious it is, Luna, although I can´t quite catch the meaning of ´bringing forth both the moon and the sun´." Maul replied, placing himself alongside the princess of the night, who was staring at her reflection on the water of the fountain.

"We control those celestial bodies, Maul, we are in charge of raising them." Now that was interesting. Maul found himself once again on a loss for words, if these princesses could control celestial bodies, that meant their magical prowess was a high level one, he had to be careful around them.

Before Maul could ask another question, Luna took the silence to release one of her own. "You talked about those two factions, Jedi and Sith." Maul turned to face her. "Which one are you?"

That question... Maul could no longer feel the right to call himself a sith, not after his pathetic performance against Sidious, but he was still one, and that would never change.

"I´m a sith."

Luna turned to face him. "You know? Jedi sounds rather peaceful, whereas sith... it surely sends chills down my spine." Maul had expected this, after all, sith caused fear in the hearts of others, however he would never expect what came next. Luna smirked before talking. "I like it."

Maul was for the third time on a loss for words, and soon enough it would not surprise him, this place was stranger than he could have thought.

Maul could spot the princess staring directly at him, her eyes penetrating the Zabrak, at least until he broke the contact, this time it was him who was watching his reflection.

Luna decided to break the awkward moment. "I believe we should continue with the tour."

Maul simply nodded before following her.

As the duo went out of the gardens, the silence was surely incommoding them. Maul was doing his best to look around him, Luna on the other hand was pursuing her lips, thinking on what to say next. They passed through the tables, just a few meters away from the entrance door.

Maul began to think about how Canterlot reminded him of Naboo: The clear blues skies, the monumental buildings, the enormous castle, the green grass fields; it was a sense of Déjà vu.

Upon making this connection with the planet, Maul felt a tingling sensation on the midsection of his body, making him place a hand in his torso, the place were the start of his organic legs were.

Luna took notice of this, but decided to let it pass.

They continued walking in silence, until they reached the entrance to the castle, that´s when Maul decided to ask.

"Where are we going now?"

Luna took a deep breath, trying to relax herself, then turned to face the Zabrak, who was just opening the door and waiting for her to get inside first. "I´m thinking we should visit the royal library, then head to the throne room, so I can tell you a bit more about the history of the kingdom." She smiled. "Sound good?"

"Should be interesting." Maul answered, making a little nod with his head, then motioned for the princess to get inside. "After you."

Luna smiled as she entered the castle, Maul followed behind.

Some of the subjects inside ran away upon taking sight of the sith, he however did not care, as Celestia had said she would take care of that, and keep up to date the kingdom about Maul´s presence, this did not stop them from running away after seeing a big red demon walking around.

After a few moments of walking in silence, the Zabrak asked something he wanted to know earlier.

"I must ask Luna, why did you trust me with granting me freedom from my cell, especially after you only met me for such a short time?"

Luna smiled, and answered without turning to face him.

"I must admit you don´t look like a charm at the first sight, however we shouldn´t antagonize anypony without knowing him, but why do you ask?" She turned slightly to face him, and grinned playfully. "Are you a danger to us, Maul?"

The Zabrak released a smirk, and ´mocked´"Indeed I am, Luna."

"Then I suppose I should have my eye on you at all times." Luna joked back, Maul chuckled.

"I thought it was supposed to be a punishment." Luna blushed upon hearing his words and released a small nervous laugh.

As they kept walking, Luna explained some of Equestria´s history, such as celebrations and traditions. Maul had been listening the whole time, trying to take hold of any important information he could use in the future, and indeed there was. The sith´s ears perked as soon as he heard the story involving the Elements of Harmony; everything from their discovery to the latest battle against Tirek, and so far, Maul was amazed by such power. He certainly considered taking hold of these weapons, but the fact that they only responded to the ponies´ personalities, made their possible usage in the future out of the question.

Regardless of his inability to wear these Elements, the sith found the conversation very valuable, as it gave him an idea of what he would have to face if it really came to that, which most certainly would.

Maul couldn´t hide the fact that these creatures´ powers were out of even Sidious´ league, because of this, he felt vulnerable, and the Zabrak didn´t like that; he still had a big chance back in the galaxy, not here; however, there was one thing he is certain of...power is always obtainable.

The Zabrak began to wonder what effect the Elements of Harmony would have on him, aside from the whole ´being turned into stone´. If these weapons reacted against an evil soul, then he would most surely be the Elements´ favorite snack, he didn´t want that.

Another thing Maul found interesting, was the way Luna seemed to avoid talking about the Element´s first foe, he figured it was part of the princesses´ past she wouldn´t talk about, regardless, the Zabrak had an idea of this event.

The duo continued their chat until they reached the royal library, at this point Luna stopped walking and turned to face Maul.

"We have arrived at the library, however you are only going to see it quickly." Luna said, noticing the small disappointed grunt the sith gave. "I am sorry Maul, but the library is gigantic and there is still so much to see."

"Then I guess it´ll be another time." The sith answered.

Luna and Maul walked through the several gigantic shelves of the royal library. The sith did his best to take a good quick look of every interesting title he could find, then his sight was assaulted by something else.

At one corner of the place, laid an enormous triangle-shaped entrance, the steel bars covering the interesting book inside; Maul got closer, followed by Lunas´ gaze.

The book read ´The secrets of the Eclipse stone´. Maul was immediately grabbed by it, as he was brimming with curiosity, then without turning around, he asked.

"What is the Eclipse stone, Luna?"

The princess of the night placed herself to his right side, and stared at the book. "It is one of Equestria´s most ancient stories." She began. "It was a powerful stone capable of granting any living being the ability to use powerful magic, regardless of them already having magic or not." Maul nodded. "But it had its consequences." The sith could instantly notice the discomfort on her face upon telling him about the stone, as if it was more than just an anonymous tale, he was almost sure it was a memory. It was surprising the fact that Luna, as well as her sister, had been alive for over a thousand years, even though, some ancient sith used to prolong their life span with their deep connection to the force, however, he was more interested in said book.

"Can we read its contents?" Maul asked, his eyes fixated on the book. He had certainly found interest in said stone, however, fate had deemed it wasn´t time for him to uncover its secrets, as Luna shook her head before speaking.

"I am sorry Maul, but we really don´t have much time." The Zabrak grunted, causing Luna to chuckle. "I promise next time we find ourselves with less work on our hooves, I will personally read any passage you want."

Maul did not answer, and soon Luna found herself in an awkward situation. The princess of the night coughed to get the sith´s attention. "Shall we be on our way towards the throne room? There is one more thing I would like to show you."

Maul took a few seconds before turning to face her, nodding as a response, to which Luna returned nervously. With that, the two went out of the library.

It wasn´t so easy for the Zabrak to simply forget about the stone, as he thought on the many opportunities available to him if said artifact was recovered. What effects would this stone have on him? Would he be able to surpass the overwhelming power of the princesses? There was a chance that the artifact would not be enough, but even the smallest opportunity was good for the sith. He suddenly had a new goal: Learn more about the Eclipse stone.

The way to the throne room was rather silent, with Maul thinking about a plan, and Luna trying to ignore the awkwardness. Even after having spent a few years on Equis, (after her banishment) she still had a few problems with any kind of interaction. Thankfully for the princess of the night, the duo had arrived to the throne room.

"Alas, we have arrived!" Luna said, a small on her face as she opened the door, however, Maul waited for her to enter first.

Whatever was inside this place, wasn´t as interesting for the Zabrak as the last information, but he still pretended to be interested.

Luna explained the ties these stained glass windows had with the events of Canterlot, without repeating the whole story a second time. Maul listened just to be polite, but his mind was racing through millions of thoughts, mainly regarding his future plans, he however still found the whole Elements of Harmony story interesting, just how powerful where this six? Especially Twilight, if her element was magic, was there a bottom to hit concerning her power?

"Maul?" Luna´s soft voice stopped Maul´s train of thought, making him snap back into reality and lift his face to stare at the princess. "Anything in your mind?

"Indeed, a galaxy of thoughts."

Luna chuckled. "I can relate to that, so... I guess the tour inside Canterlot is over, would you like to meet the city?"

"Princes Luna!" A voice in the form of a royal guard interrupted the sith´s answer. "I am sorry for the interruption, but it is of utmost importance that you hear the newly arrived news." The pony then turned to face Maul, a worried look on her face, Luna took notice of this and immediately understood the expression.

"Do not worry about our guest, tell me about these news." The princess spoke, and in response, the guard nodded nervously.

"It is concerning the Griffon king, Red Claw." Maul´s ears perked upon hearing the guard´s words. "Word has come that he is preparing to arrive here, his intentions unknown, my the guards are nervous."

"I understand your concern, soldier." Luna began. "But rest assured that we ended with the best of terms with the king, do not expect any attack." The soldier gave a worried look. Luna sighed. "I shall inform my sister about your concern, but nothing more."

"Thank you, your majesty." The guard lowered his head in respect before going out of the room.

Maul had taken notice of many interesting things in this world, this newly mentioned King Red Claw being one of them, is he the one he sensed before? The Zabrak´s thoughts were soon cut short by Luna.

"I am sorry for that, shall we be off?"

"Are you sure you don´t want to check on this Red Claw first?" Maul asked, trying to make a convincing look of concern.

"Do not worry about it, it was just a misunderstanding that we already managed to clear, there should be nothing to worry about." Luna explained, making Maul´s curiosity grow.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Ego stroke hard against the fair king, and he believed some of Equestria´s lands his, however, the griffon kingdom is one of our biggest market suppliers, as such a political inconvenience was out of the question." Luna answered, catching the sith´s attention.

Maul was rather good at politics, he found them rather... useful. It was in that moment that a plan began to form inside his head, but first he would need to know more about this stone, discover if it was this Red Claw the one he sensed, and lastly know the later´s intentions.

It seemed that he would be soon deep in work.