Mauling Expectations

The next day had arrived and the group were heading towards Ponyville aboard a train. It had been quite a peaceful morning and even though, they still had Maul with them, the Zabrak was at least sleeping. It was kind of funny, Maul had entered the train with a lot of energy, but only a few minutes passed before he stretched his arms to welcome dreamland.

It had been a couple of hours already and town was soon on sight. As the group started to get ready. Pinkie went straight to the sleeping Zabrak and gently panted his shoulder, getting a couple of moans from the sith before he finally opened his eyes.

"Welcome ba..." Faster than the blink of an eye, Pinkie´s throat was grabbed by an invisible force, as a pair of fierce eyes looked right into her, a kill look on his face and an action that set the rest on guard.

Quickly enough, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow tried to bring Pinkie down; meanwhile Applejack and Twilight went for Maul. The Zabrak seemed to be on a strange trance.

"Um, Maul?" Called Applejack, as she tried to pull the sith´s arm, without success. "You have Pinkie´s throat in your... force thingy..."

Amongst the sounds and tries to get his attention, Maul finally reacted, wide opening his eyes as he gave one quick look around him, before setting his eyes on the pink pony, realizing what exactly was happening. "My apologies." He said as he pulled away his hand, while letting Pinkie free from his grasp, then looked at the ponies around him. "Force of habit."

"You sure had a rough past, uh?" She said, wrapping one hoof around the still coughing Pinkie.

Maul looked from the pink pony to Twilight, before letting out a sigh. "I would not change my past, Even though, most would choose to forget it."

"Hey... cough... Maul." This surprised Maul, seeing how after he nearly killed her, Pinkie was still as cheerful as ever. He did not know whether to call it stupidity or purity, however, her next question would answer the Zabrak´s interrogative. "Ready for your party?"

It was stupidity, no doubt about it. "You can´t be serious." Applejack´s sudden burst confirmed to Maul that he wasn´t alone with the thought.

Pinkie cocked her head to the side, genuinely confused by her friend´s reaction. "Why?"

Maul was on a complete loss for words and not just because of Pinkie´s reaction, but for the fact that none of the ponies seemed to give the recent occurrence any further thought. It was hard for the Zabrak to believe how innocent these beings seemed.

"Don´t you think this is going too fast for him?" Twilight´s voice stopped his train of thought, as he turned to look at the lavender alicorn. "Let him stomach everything that is happening."

Given the opportunity, Maul figured this would be the perfect time to further his tries to gain the ponies´ trust. "Besides, I almost killed you." He finally said, doing his best to show some concern, while swallowing his pride. "I´m not sure I deserve such praise."

Pinkie seemed to buy it, as her smile grew even wider, managing to surprise the Zabrak. "Aw, wipe that sad face away, it was just an accident!"

"Says you." The Zabrak wasted no time to give Rainbow a look, who simply pretended to be looking elsewhere.

"Besides," Maul said, averting his gaze from the cyan pegasus, as he let out a grunt. "I would actually like to take the time to familiarize with your town."

"Exactly my thoughts." Exclaimed Twilight. "We should probably go to the major, ask for a public meeting to ensure you don´t... um..."

It wasn´t hard for the Zabrak to figure out why the young princess had struggled with her words. He got the same reaction back at Canterlot, ponies either looking at him in awe or ran away from him. Their act only furthered the fact that these ponies had been so limited in regards to space knowledge. Even a Wookie wouldn´t have this much attention in a planet full of other species. "I understand you want to avoid panic." He finally answered, dismissing her would-be question with a wave from his hand, then something caught his attention. "Although, why the major? Aren´t you the princess?" He asked. "In fact, why do you even need a mayor?"

"I... I don´t know." The alicorn answered, truly struggling to find an answer. She may be a princess, but she also had her heart in what she believed was right, Twilight was no better than anypony and would never try to be, doing so would go against Celestia´s teachings, yet her obligations had transcended into Ponyville and she now had full control over town. Twilight guessed she simply didn´t want to subjugate anypony into a tyrannical rule, it was far fetched, but the alicorn knew she was doing right.

Twilight stepped out of her thoughts to remember Maul´s guess, coupled by the fact that some ponies were still watching the Zabrak in fear after his musing wake up call. "I´m sorry, Maul, but ponies around here can be a little jumpy, especially considering everything they have gone through."

Maul chuckled at this. "Which I assume you had a hand... Hoof, in protecting them."

"Duty always calls, uh?" The young princess answered, as she made her way to her sit, alongside the rest of the group, who were still eying Maul cautiously.

On his part, Maul took a couple of breaths. "You are sure about that one." He answered to himself, before setting his gaze on the train´s window beside him, looking at Ponyville getting closer in the distance. "No rest for the wicked, it seems."

It wasn´t long before the train arrived at its destination, with many of the ponies inside hurrying up to get out of the train and away from the Zabrak, due to this, the Elements and Maul were the last ones to get out.

The walk was silent, with most of the group looking eager to go home. It was unavoidable, they felt even more nervous after what Maul did to Pinkie, even if it was accidental. "What is it, Fluttershy?" Finally asked Twilight, as the yellow pegasus seemed to be the more shaken up.

Twilight had let her fear for Maul behind, something not shared by the other, who were walking behind.

Fluttershy nervously looked from the Zabrak to her friend, before lowering her gaze. "I should go home now, I have to... um..." with that and almost as if she had been thinking about an escape route beforehand, Fluttershy used as much strength as she could to fly away from the group and towards her home. On his part, Maul simply rolled his eyes at such pathetic escape from such a pathetic being.

Twilight let out a grunt as she answered sarcastically under her breath to herself. "I understand, don´t worry."

Noticing the rest of her friends looking the same was as Fluttershy, Twilight tried to get one of them to stick around and gave Applejack a hopeful look, to which the farmer pony replied in urgency. "Actually, Ah´ better go back, that farm ain´t gonna maintain itself." With that, she began to run towards her home. "Uh, see ya Maul." She said, before disappearing into the distance. Maul didn´t even turned to look at her.

Twilight turned around again and looked at Pinkie, who still had her usual smile. "So, what about you, Pin..." Before she finished her sentence, the walking pony began to dissipate in thin air, almost as if she had left a clone made of air. Twilight figured the party pony was long gone by then.

With a frown on her face and already knowing the answer, Twilight looked at Rarity and made a gesture with her head, almost silently telling her ´what are you waiting for´. Rarity gave her a sheepish smile and trotted her way towards her own home.

This left Twilight with the last of her friends left. "I guess you are going too?" She said, no longer trying to bother.

"Geez, yes, I´m sorry Twi, but I have lots of important things to do!" Rainbow answered, her tone exaggerated. With enough speed, she flew up to the sky, then returned once more to whisper into Twilight´s ear. "Don´t worry Twi, I will not leave you alone with red and ugly."

As she finished her sentence, Rainbow sailed into the sky and hid over a cloud. Maul resisted the urge to facepalm; Rainbow may have thought he was an idiot, as she didn´t even try to hide the fact that she was following them. It was both obvious by her exaggerated manner and by the fact that the Zabrak was still sensing her. Someone didn´t even bother to listen about the Force.

"Doesn´t seem like your friends like me much." He finally said not even bothering to look up as he continued his walked with both of his hands behind his back, while doing his best to avoid strangling the pegasus. He did not care what they could think of him, but it angered the Zabrak the fact that they acted like if he was an idiot.

"Trust tends to be destroyed when almost everything outside of Ponyville tries to kill you." Twilight answered, giving one side glance to the pegasus hiding in a cloud.

"And that is why I have not made an argument about their reactions." Maul exclaimed, facing Twilight, before setting his eyes on the road again. "I know what it is to live like that."

"Which reminds me." The young princess interjected. "You said earlier that you would not change your past." She said. "I´m sorry if the question upsets you, but..."

"That past has made me the Zabrak I am now." Maul answered as he placed a hand on his chest, cutting the alicorn´s sentence´s off "Through your history, you learn, you grow, experience marks your life and sets you on the path we walk right now." He explained, then turned his head to stare at Twilight. "Would you rather change who you are?"

Twilight placed one hoof under her chin, thinking about the answer for a few seconds before looking back at Maul. "Aren´t our personalities defined? We may change our attitudes, but deep down, we have a way of being."

"A tortured child does not tend to grow up the same as a loved one." The Zabrak answered.

"Still, they have the opportunity, the will to become who they want to be."

"And yet," stopping on his tracks, Maul turned to look at the young alicorn, pointing at her with one hand, "you take that choice because your surroundings changed you." Twilight lowered her head, her moth unknowingly half open as she thought about the Zabrak´s words. "The will is not always as strong as you think it is, It can be blend, you just have to pull the right strings, and the living being will never be the same."

Looking back at Maul, Twilight gave him a concerned and suspicious look. "I really don´t know how to take that."

The Zabrak simply chuckled in response, before motioning with his hand at Twilight. "How would you?" Noticing the almost quiet grunt, as Twilight averted the gaze of Maul with a sigh, the Zabrak instantly knew she didn´t want to answer. Rolling his eyes, Maul released a sigh of his own. "I am not a sensible Zabrak, I´m open to anyone´s thoughts."

A couple of seconds passed, as Twilight looked back at Maul, a concerned look still locked on her features. "It forces me to be careful around you."

Maul didn´t care if this sounded suspicious, he knew that if there was a good enough point to his thoughts, Twilight would simply concede. There was no reason of hiding his point of view, these where such trivial things to worry about and hiding his way of thinking and personality (some of it), would only bring problems in the future. "Do you see now?" He asked, as he resumed his walk. "You think of me what life has given you." Twilight answered by placing one hoof under her chin. "Would you think the same of me, before life changed you?"

Silence endured once again, with Maul returning his attention at ever getting closer town hall, when he heard a chuckle beside him. "I have to admit." Said Twilight, her smile returning to her features, followed by a smirk. "It is kind of nice to have somepony I can actually talk to, somepony that can actually keep up the pace with me."

Maul let out a genuine chuckle at this. What would normally be a showcase of ego and narcissism wen´t amiss by Twilight´s playful nature. In that time, the Zabrak allowed himself a smirk of his own. "How do we know you are not the one keeping up the pace with me?"

Letting out a chuckle, Twilight shook her head. "Nothing is certain, uh?"

"Nothing is certain."

The big doors of the town hall where finally before them. Maul wasn´t impressed by it, he had seen far larger monumental structures. His life may have changed on that cursed planet, but he had to admit that Naboo truly had such a beautiful architecture. "Okay, we´re here." Twilight said, cutting Maul´s chain of thoughts to focus on the young alicorn in front of him, who had just knocked on the door a few times. "Try not to make any sudden moves, alright?"

Maul snorted at this. He simply found ridiculous how ponies kept reacting to it, especially when they literally lived relatively close to some sort of an enchanted forest. He had made an effort all the way to avoid the looks of everypony they passed by, as it would only end up annoying him more. "I haven´t throughout our journey," he finally answered, before quickly snarling at a passing grey mare with funny crossed eyes, who simply decided to change her course, then gave Twilight a very annoyed look, "and the looks of your neighbors have been assaulting me ever since we arrived."

"Okay..." Was all Twilight could warily answer as she heard the door in front of them opening.

What Maul assumed to be an older mare, he couldn´t exactly tell, considering how these ponies seemed to eat up wrinkles, unless they were very old, which made Maul guess she was in her forties, that is if this race aged the same as his. His hypothesis was backed by the mare´s mane color, but then again, maybe that was just her mane´s color. These ponies looked more and more like a Jedi´s dream land. "Twilight, what brings you-" The mare asked, before cutting up abruptly at the sight of an enormous demon like entity in front of her.

Twilight, trying her best to maintain a straight face, motioned with her hoof towards Maul. "Mayor? I would like to introduce you to Maul." The mayor didn´t answer, her jaw hanging as she looked from the alicorn princess to this "Maul". Noticing this, Twilight silently pondered whether she would further on the matter or not, but ended up going with it. "He actually comes from outside the planet."

"You mean, an alien?" She finally asked, managing to regain composure.

"Yes, but he is not here to hurt anypony." Far from the sigh of relief Twilight had expected, the Mayor was still on edge. "Which brings me to the reason of this visit, would you mind helping us introduce Maul here to the rest of Ponyville? I don´t want them thinking he´s here to eat our brains, or anything like that."

This time, the Mayor cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Why me? With all due respect, but aren´t you the princess?"

"I told you so." Maul mockingly whispered, causing Twilight to roll her eyes, before giving the Mayor a deadpan.

"Right." Answered the mare, conceding at Twilight´s request, then looked around the Zabrak and the princess. "Nopony else came? It´s just the two of you?"

"The three of us..." Maul answered, lifting his right hand as he half closed his fist. At first the Mayor looked confused at this, until she heard grunting coming from above her. Looking into the sky, she noticed Rainbow Dash being dragged to the ground by an invisible force. She assumed this invisible force was called Maul.

"Hey, let me go!" A struggling pegasus launched kicks and punches, trying to get free from her grasp. Nothing too hard for Maul, who maintained a firm grasp on her.

Not even minding the angry pegasus, Maul looked at the Mayor. "We came with a bodyguard." At this, Rainbow plucked out her tongue, causing the Zabrak to snort in annoyance. "And a rather annoying one, I might add."

A rather quick meeting was formed inside an office, with the mayor behind a rather generic table, and sitting on an equally generic brown armchair. Maul, Twilight and Rainbow sat in three more "completely original" brown armchair, in fact, almost the entire room was brown. It puzzled Maul how much of the town´s color scheme could serve as a Jedi´s flag, while this town hall has as much color variety as a Wookie and even more puzzling was the fact that he was actually concerned about this. Thankfully for the Zabrak, the voice of the Mayor would put an end to his silent misery.

"So, Maul, what are the intentions of your visit."

"None that I originally planned." He answered, noticing and sensing Rainbow´s discomfort and awareness, but decided to ignore her completely. He figured that since killing her would only make matter worse, Maul silently promised himself that he would simply hit her with anything he could find. Letting this thought slip by, the Zabrak went to answer the question. "I came to this planet rather unexpectedly, and as Twilight might have told you, I´m a war refugee." The Mayor silently hummed at this, placing a hoof under her chin. "I have no way to leave the planet, nor I have the intentions to do so, so I have decided to settle in here."

"If you don´t mind me asking about his war of yours?"

"It was great in scale and has taken many lives as every war has." Maul answered sarcastically, although, his sarcasm seemed to go unnoticed by the Mayor. He did hear Rainbow mutter ´Pff! Jerk...", so maybe his sarcasm didn´t go completely unnoticed by the rest present.

"Great scale?" The Mayor asked, actually dreading what this ´great scale´could mean.

"It was a galactic war." He answered plainly, getting a shook look from the Mayor, who looked at Twilight, almost as if she looked for some guidance, while silently telling her ´but you´re the princess´.

"How can we be certain that you wont endanger anypony in here or that your friends wont come to reclaim this planet?" The Mayor asked, talking more towards the young alicorn than the Zabrak, who had rolled his eyes at the mare´s reaction.

"Both the Trade Federation and the Republic are the most powerful forces in the galaxy, If I wanted and had the means, your planet wouldn´t stand a chance." A slight smirk appeared on his features as he saw the mare panicking, but decided to ease any thought that could cause problems to him. "I say that with the utmost respect, of course, I don´t mean to start a power contest."

"So, this whole story about you loosing contact with anything related to those factions..."

"Is the truth." Maul snorted, he felt like he was simply going in circles with this conversation and was getting nowhere. The Zabrak really hated that, things made harder when they could be easier and more simple. Also, WHY THE HELL GO TO THE MAYOR WHEN TWILIGHT WAS A PRINCESS!? Surely that could have gone smoother. "As I said before, I appeared in your planet by other means that could be considered magic, and I have no idea how far I am from my galaxy." Looking away from the mare, Maul tried too feel any familiar presence outside the planet, but simply came up with nothing, almost as if everything had vanished from existence. A grimace quickly appeared and disappeared from the Zabrak´s futures, catching the attention of the Mayor. "But I know I am too far away..."

"How would you..."

Maul finally got up from his chair, letting out a grunt of annoyance. "You wanted me to clarify my intentions and put you at ease on what my presence on this planet means for Equestria´s citizens." Both the Mayor and Twilight were taken aback by his reaction, while Rainbow was on guard. "I mean no harm, but the details of my life and my past are to remain my own." His words calmed the three mares a little, although Rainbow´s gaze remained fixated on the Zabrak. "I am not fond of going in circles in a conversation, if we can speed the process up, I would be most grateful." He finally said, doing his best to be as polite as possible, while trying to avoid calling the Mayor ´worthless Bantha´s crap´.

The mare looked from Maul to Twilight, before giving the princess a wary look. "Are you okay with this?" Letting out a sigh, Twilight nodded with her head. "Guess we can start introducing you to town, mister..."

"Just Maul." The Zabrak interjected, not willing to hear his name in company of a mister.

"Maul." The Mayor conceded. Getting up from her chair, the mare directed the the three to the door, which was opened by Maul, who let Rainbow and Twilight pass. "I will start to spread the word so that tomorrow on midday you let Ponyville know you."

Maul nodded in return, his cold stare in place as always. "Sounds like a plan." With that, the Zabrak and his two companions went out of the town hall. "If there is nothing more for me to do, then I would like to know this place of yours." Maul said, looking at Twilight. "The sooner I can settle, the better."

Rainbow let out a grunt at this. "Jerk... ouch!" Out of nowhere, a loose piece of wood from one of the pillars of the town hall, "magically" found its way to Rainbow´s head. The mare rubbed her temple before looking at the obvious perpetrator, who held a rather amused smirk.

"Guess the building doesn´t like you." Maul mocked the irate pegasus, whose anger was actually savoring the Zabrak and not because of any darkside related plan, but because she amused him.

Maul had to love these kind of sky-high ego beings and their easy to penetrate walls. ´The bigger they are, the harder they fall´he thought. Sadly before Rainbow could do anything, Twilight used her magic to move her away from a smirking Maul.

The young princess knew a conflict between the two could end up badly and decided to avoid it. Different from Rainbow, Maul seemed collected in decision making, but she did not want to tempt her luck.

As the walk continued, Rainbow was subsequently released from Twilight´s grasp and decided to fly over the princess and the Zabrak, making sure to keep an eye on the later. She had calmed down by then, but she was sure as Heck that she would have her come back against Maul.

The silence endured until a rather bizarre sight caught the Zabrak´s attention. At first he thought Twilight would go around it, but the straight direction she was taking, indicated that they were indeed going towards it... a burned tree. Maul cocked his head to the side, not really knowing the reason behind it, but soon enough the half ´reconstructed´ parts that looked like a half made house, answered the Zabrak´s questions.

Maul didn´t know whether to feel humiliated, angered, or amused. True, he wasn´t expecting Twilight to give him a crystal castle as residence, but he wasn´t expecting something as mundane as a burned out tree.

He would have spoken up if not for what he felt the closer he got to it. The doubtful expression of Maul soon changed into that of interest and amusement, as there he felt numerous sensations: Anger, sadness, rage, power, hatred...

Interestingly enough, some of this came from a rather peculiar place. Princess Twilight herself. The materials at the side of the residence, indicated that the young princess had attempted to reconstruct the place, which could only meant she had a deep bond with it. It became as clear as a crystal that the place in front of them had been Twilight´s old home.

Then he pondered if whether she lost it due to an accident or a battle. The presence he felt answered his question.

Maul allowed himself a smirk, as he felt these emotions flowing from Twilight with so much strength. Suddenly, the place became ideal for him, a nexus of the dark side and a welcoming home for the Zabrak.

"I´m sorry for the state of it, I tried to build it up again but..."

"It is good." Maul interrupted the princess with a wave of his hand, as he eagerly approached the place with a smile.

Contrary to what the princess was expecting, Maul seemed rather content, something that peeked Twilight´s interest. The princess approached Maul with an arched eyebrow. "Really? But it is half..."

Before she could finish, pieces of materials like wood, nails and a few other contraptions, flew into the air. Pieces started to attach themselves at the burned down place, finishing the door frame and part of the right wall. Twilight was taken aback, not because of the partially constructed home, but because of the Zabrak.

Maul laid there, his eyes closed and his arms behind his back. Any other pony would simply take this as a simple act of advanced telekinesis, but the princess noticed the Zabrak´s expression. He wasn´t only partially reconstructing the place, he was clearly sensing it, fact that made Twilight wonder about this ´Force´.

How right was the young princess, as indeed, Maul was literally looking at the history of the home. Two powerful forces colliding against each other, and one of them was Twilight.

It wasn´t long before Maul opened his eyes, letting the rest of the materials fall to the floor. In reality, the tree home was beyond full repair, but between the state Maul had found it and the moment he finished applying the Force to it, it became actually recognizable.

"Wow!" Was all Rainbow managed to utter, as she descended nest to a satisfied Maul.

"I´m glad I decided to let those materials there." Said Twilight, scratching her mane, as she looked at her old home.

"Okay... that was awesome." Exclaimed Rainbow, giving the Zabrak a look of awe, to which he responded with a smirk that made the pegasus roll her eyes. "Don´t let it go to your head."

Ignoring her, Maul turned to look at his handy work. "Now it is habitable." he exclaimed, before turning to look at Twilight. "Where is your market?"

"Follow me."

"Wait!" Rainbow exclaimed, placing herself alongside Maul, who continued following Twilight without even bothering to look at the pegasus. How are you going to pay for anything you buy!?"

"If there is work to be done, I suppose it would be more than fair." Maul answered, speeding up his pace as a clear sign that he didn´t want Rainbow close. The pegasus simply grunted before heading to the skies, keeping an eye on the Zabrak.

Twilight, having heard Maul´s idea, decided to intervene. "Only this time its on me, I can´t simply leave you here without initial support." She said, giving one side glance at the Zabrak. "What else will you be needing, Maul."

Maul pondered for a few seconds before gazing towards the young princess. "Only the necessary and maybe a few books that let me know more about Equestria."

Twilight nodded in understatement. "Which reminds me, can you eat fruits or vegetables?" Maul affirmed with the head. "How about meat?"

Maul suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking from his feet to the eyes of Twilight. The princess was clearly noticing something off, as the Zabrak´s expression had turned grim. "I... I cannot eat anything that´s hard to digest, nothing rough only soft."

The young princess was about to further in the matter, but ultimately decided against it. If there was anything hurting Maul, it would come out eventually. With that in mind, she simply nodded before continuing the walk.

It wasn´t long before the trio found themselves at the market, where several stands were spread across the area. From simple house artifacts, to food, Maul noticed the variety of products distributed around the market. As he had expected, several ponies decided to get away from the place, while others did their best to remain calm.

Carrying a small bag with several bits handed to him by Twilight, Maul made his way towards the first fruit stand he could find, Rainbow following close behind. His fatal injury had taken away many of the normal ´necessities´of any normal living being, however, he still needed to eat and drink. Where it all went was a story for another day.

The mare at the fruit stand was about to receive a new client with a smile, until she saw what was actually coming. She would have run away, if not for the cyan pegasus flying behind the Zabrak.

The mare remained silent as Maul lowered himself to take a closer look at the fruits. Some of them he recognized, but there were several others he didn´t. "Strange fruits..." He muttered, his voice, calm as it was still unnerved the mare. "Do you have Jogan?" He suddenly asked, making eye contact with the pony, who simply managed to give a shaky negative with her head, causing Maul to sigh. "A shame."

The Zabrak extended his right arm to grab a bag, then placed several fruits, including pears, apples and oranges, inside it. The mare summoned all of her courage to spit out the price with a weak "E... eight bi... bits... please."

Maul looked at her for a few seconds, finding her fear amusing, before reaching to his money bag before grabbing the right amount of bits. He was glad the economy in the planet wasn´t that hard to understand, but then again, there were many different ways of payment in the galaxy, so that was a plus for his fast learning methods.

Placing the bits on the counter, Maul grabbed his newly acquired bag of fruits, before turning around, behind him, Rainbow approached the stand. The cyan pegasus had her mouth watering at some of the fruits and eagerly searched inside her bag, but much to her disdain, it was nowhere to be be found.

"Shut! I forgot my bits..." She exclaimed, causing Maul to look at her. In a rather unexpected action, the Zabrak reached inside his bag and placed three bits on the counter for Rainbow to grab. The cyan pegasus looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Uh... Thanks." Maul nodded in return, his cold expression never leaving his face.

Maul Continued his way amidst the numerous stands, only stopping by in front of the things he found of interest. After half an hour of looking through the market, the Zabrak finally had what he needed: Food and water.

Using the Force to carry the objects, Maul made his way towards a bench, Rainbow following behind him while munching some of the fruits the Zabrak had bought her. Sitting in front of them was Twilight, who as soon as she took notice of Maul, got up from her seat to greet him and Rainbow.

"I guess that would be all, at least I have supplies for the first few days. Now," he finally said, "about those books?"

half an hour later

Soon, a large pointed structure loomed on the horizon, confusing the Zabrak, who pondered about it. It wasn´t long before something caught him by surprise ´That´s no mountain, that´s a castle´.

Surely enough, the trio soon found themselves at the gates of an enormous purple colored, crystal structure. Truth be told, Maul was actually a bit surprised by the sight, but he managed to remain as stoic as ever. "So, here we are." The voice of Twilight finally put an end to his thoughts.

The young princess turned around to face Maul and with a wave of her hoof, she presented her home to the Zabrak. "Welcome to the castle of friendship, Maul."

Maul found himself chuckling. "Quite the amusing sight, princess."

Twilight grinned at this. "Come on, Maul, you should be calling me... Oh!" Finally, the words of Maul had sunk in, making her deadpan at the Zabrak. "You were being sarcastic, weren´t you?"

"Would have never expected so much luxury from someone as you."

Twilight chuckled at Mual´s words. "Come on, I´m kind of ambitious, at least when regarding to magic."

"A little small, don´t you think?" Maul teased, letting out a quick smirk, before Twilight directed him inside the castle.

Twilight deadpanned at this. "It´s the biggest building in Ponyville..." Looking at Maul´s smirk made her release a sigh, rolling her eyes before she went to a stop. "A Canterlot height castle would take too much land and besides, this castle came from a chest."

The Zabrak cocked his head to the side, standing in a line between following in the seemingly madness of the situation or simply let it slip. "Such a pointless action to have a castle sized chest guarding a... castle, don´t you think?" He asked, resuming the walk.

"It was the size of a filly, maybe even smaller."

"Interesting..." Maul answered, placing one hand under his chin, deep in concentration about Twilight´s words about the apparent... filly sized castle.

Without another word, the trio went inside the castle. The enormous doors opening to reveal a massive hallway and yet no guard to be found. After moments of walking amongst halls and stairs, they finally made their way towards a pair of wooden doors and it was in that moment that Twilight turned around to face the Zabrak. "Welcome to my inner sanctum, where..."

"When eggheads are born, fed and trained to make even more eggheads!" Rainbow finished for her, interrupting Twilight´s rather proud introduction to her favorite place inside the massive castle.

Upon seeing the young princess´ reaction, Maul turned to look at Rainbow with an annoyed expression on his face. "I would ask you if you are fond of books, but I guess the answer can be seen from miles away."

The Zabrak´s acid words did their work, as Rainbow quickly flew in the air and placed herself in front of Maul´s face. "Hey! I do read some books!"

"Adventure novels and imaginary heroes?" The Zabrak mocked her.

With a grunt of her own, Rainbow backed away from the smirking Maul and crossed her hooves. "Daring Do is some quality book, you know!?"

"I am sure it is." Maul answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he turned around to enter the library. This whole time Twilight had decided to simply stay away from the conflict and only intervene if something bigger happened.

Once inside, Maul actually looked quite surprised at the castle´s library archaic architecture. The numerous books stretching towards the ceiling in large shelves eating up the space. Quite the selection for Maul to devour.

A rather eager Zabrak made his advance past Twilight and assaulted the shelves with his eyes, reading the titles of each book he passed on, then turned to give Twilight a quick look. "I am sorry in advance, knowing myself I will take some time to arrange everything I need."

Twilight couldn´t help but to chuckle at this, finding the company of somepony who liked all kinds of books, quite refreshing. "Take as much time as you need, Maul, a book is a book." After a nod from the Zabrak´s head, Twilight turned around to head towards the exit. "If you don´t mind, I have to do some things."

Maul didn´t answer and Twilight didn´t bother to confirm he had heard her, so he figured the agreement was silent. Finally, Twilight left the room, leaving Rainbow with the Zabrak. She gave him a few quick looks, before deciding to sit in front of a small table behind Maul. She wouldn´t let the Zabrak out of her view and figured the position was good for this reason.

Setting herself, Rainbow locked her sight on Maul, following his every movement. Half an hour passed, in which the pegasus felt her eyes heavy.

Being a mare that became bored rather easily, the simply task of staying still made her sleepy and as much as wanted to avoid loosing sight of the Zabrak, her eyes finally gave in and forced her to sleep, her head hanging as her hooves fell to the sides and a rather adorable snoring began to take hold of the room.

Maul didn´t even bother with this, as his concentration was focused on every book that could serve him in any way. Title after title caught the attention of the Zabrak, who´s curiosity grew even more as he passed his eyes through the books.

A couple of hours passed as Maul basically ravaged the library, taking as many books as he could, while still keeping level headed to actually notice the contents of the books. He didn´t want to take any "Awesome adventures of Daring something" to his new home and after the last title he read ´The awakening of the one eyed knight´, he was considering using his darksaber to cut through every book of this Yearling pony.

Setting the thought aside, as he was about to throw the book away, Maul noticed Rainbow sleeping behind him. He knew she wanted to keep an eye to him, but as he didn´t even care, the pegasus was quickly forgotten.

Releasing a mischievous grin, Maul looked from the Daring Do book and the sleeping Rainbow, then made his approach. Making sure he used enough force, the Zabrak threw the book at the table in front of Rainbow.

"Look at what I found for you!"

In an instant, Rainbow let out a scream as her eyes instantly opened. She swung her head left to right as if expecting something to pup up... Until she saw the smug on Maul´s face, then her scared expression instantly turned into one of anger. "Hey! That´s not funny, you could have given me a heart attack!"

Maul simply dismissed her with a wave of his hand and turned around to search for more books. "A shame I didn´t."

"Jerk." The pegasus muttered loud enough for the Zabrak to hear... and received a book to the face. "Ouch! You..." Seething with her teeth, Rainbow got up from her chair, ready to charge against Maul, but numerous books around her began to float dangerously close to her head, a clear statement of what could come should she attack. "Argh!"

"Hi, Rainbow! How are..." Another voice caught the two of them by surprised, as they turned around to spot an aghast Spike. His mouth hanged for a few seconds before he turned around towards the exit in an attempt to run. "Twilight!"

It was all he managed to scream, before his tail was grabbed by the enormous devil-like figure, who soon held him to his own eye level. "What do we have here?" Asked Maul rhetorically, his amused expression sending a chill down Spike´s back.

Suddenly a blue blur made it in front of him, which revealed itself to be a raging Rainbow, gritting her teeth at the Zabrak, who seemed unfazed by her expression. "Hey, put him down, Maul!"

Maul looked at her, straight into her eyes as an unspoken challenge had been declared. Contrary to Maul, Rainbow had a hard time maintaining eye contact with the former Sith lord, an invisible mist of fear taking hold of the moment. The dangerously silent moment came to an ending, as Maul let Spike down with a smirk. "It has been quite a while since I saw a dragon." He said. "You are quite small, don´t you?"

This surely infuriated Spike, who as soon as he heard those words, his fear was replaced by anger. A treat for Maul, who was surprised to have discovered a weakness in the dragon the moment they met. "That´s because I´m a baby dragon! Just wait until I´m older so I can..."

"Spike!" Before he could finish the sentence, Twilight had entered the room, her frown disappearing as she took a few breaths. Walking past Spike, the alicorn princess made her way towards the Zabrak. "Sorry for this, Maul, this is my friend Spike."

"You know him?" Spike asked.

"I wish I didn´t." A long tiresome sigh came out from Maul, as he heard Rainbow´s words, then an invisible force pulled a nearby book against the pegasus´ head. "Ouch! Could you stop that?"

"I will think about it." The Zabrak answered, releasing a frown of his own as he subconsciously started to reach for his darksaber.

"Could the two of you get along for just a few minutes!?" Twilight yelled, stopping an incoming battle, as she placed herself in the middle of the two.

Rainbow motioned with her hoof towards Maul, giving Twilight a desperate look. "But he´s the one who has been hitting me with anything he finds!" As if directed by a cruel fate, another book suddenly found its way to the pegasus´ head, who didin´t even bother to rub her own head and instead collected her senses to focus on Twilight. "See!?"

Giving a sigh, the young princess turned to look at the smirking Zabrak. "Maul..."

"I will stop." He answered, rolling his eyes at being scolded by Twilight. If he couldn´t just use force, then he would use his brain. "I just hope she stops antagonizing me."

Twilight tapped her chin with her hoof, then turned to look at Rainbow. "That´s also true."

"Come on, Twilight , you know that..."

"Just stop!" Finished the young princess, placing one hoof over her forehead. "Just try to get along, alright?" With that, she turned to faze Maul once more, frowning at the Zabrak who remained unfazed. "Maul, Celestia knows for how much you´ll stay here, so it would be better to make friends rather than enemies."

Twilight´s castle wasn´t a particularly cold place, but after these words left her mouth, the temperature of the room decreased. Spike, Rainbow and Twilight would have noticed, if not for the strong presence that took hold of the moment.

The young princess found herself staring into Maul´s eyes, her face looked like if she had seen a ghost. Maul was not amused anymore and even though, he did not show it, the Zabrak´s expression silently warned Twilight of the danger she was now in.

In that moment, she remembered once more the reason why she was so afraid of Maul. To her sides, Rainbow and Spike remained still, silently looking at the Zabrak while their hearts began to beat faster.

For Maul, he had felt his patience tempted and was in a state of controlled anger. After a few seconds of silence, the Zabrak began to advance towards Twilight, who began to walk backwards without even noticing. "Interesting choice of words." The smooth yet now dangerous tone of Maul made Twilight jump. Silence endured once more, until Maul retained his anger, making the tense sensation that had taken hold of the room to disappear. "Also rather wise, Twilight."

With that, Maul turned around and walked towards the books he had selected. The rest of the group let out a sigh of relief.

Cleaning the sweat that came down from her face, Twilight walked towards the former Sith lord, doing her best to regain composure. "So, have you found everything you where looking for?"

"I believe this will suffice." Maul answered, looking as if nothing had happened. In reality, the Zabrak knew he had told these ponies a silent warning, he also knew they most surely took it to heart.

"That´s quite a bunch." Twilight said, stopping Maul´s thoughts.

Levitating the books, Maul directed his steps towards the entrance to the library. "A bunch that shall not be wasted." He said. "I will take care of them and returned them to you once I´m finished reading them."

"You think you will read them on one life time?" Twilight joked, trying to ease her fear.

"Only one way to find out." The Zabrak answered. "Mind the head."

The warning fell on deaf ears, as one of the books found its way to Rainbow´s head. "Why!?"

"I told you to duck." The Zabrak said, before exiting the library, leaving a slightly shaking group behind.

"I Don´t think he wants another tour, so I´ll take him home."

"Here we go..." Rainbow said, as she flapped her wings, ready to follow the due, but was stopped by a purple barrier.

"Actually, stay here, alright?" At this, Rainbow´s expression showed concern, silently pleading Twilight not to go alone with him, but the young princess gave her a reassuring smile. "I´ll be fine Rainbow." With that, she left the room and followed behind Maul, leaving a concerned Rainbow to silently look at the door her friend had just stepped out.

Spike made his way alongside Rainbow, who shared the same concerned expression as the pegasus. "What´s wrong with this dude?"

"Evil, that is what´s wrong." Rainbow answered, flapping her wings as she flew towards the nearest window in time to spot Twilight and Maul head out of the castle. "We should keep an eye on him." She said, before noticing Spike standing behind her, a scared expession on his features. "What happened, Spike?"

"Its just that... he creeps me out." The dragon answered, rubbing his fore arms with his hands, as a chill went down his spine.

Rainbow knew what he was referring to, she as well as the many ponies that had come close into contact with Maul, had felt a weird sensation emanating from him. "The more reason we should be on the lookout!" She exclaimed, setting her gaze back on the window. "I have the feeling the dude´s gonna be a whole lot of problem."

Twilight walked alongside the former Sith, as they neared their destination. On the way, the young princess silently thought of a topic to speak to. In her experience, there were silent walks, awkward silence... and whatever was happening with Maul. It wasn´t just akward, it was uncomfortable and unsettling. Clearing her throat, Twilight got the attention of the Zabrak. "So... what do you think of Ponyville?"

"Quite the town." Maul answered, not taking his eyes off the road. Contrary to Twilight, he did not mind the silence, in fact, he enjoyed it, helped him think. "It is rather peaceful."

"It has been a while since you had a day like this, right?"

"Indeed," he answered, giving a low grunt as he thought about Twilight´s words. The Clone wars were really taking a toll on everyone, "quite a while."

Maul´s simple response told Twilight he didn´t want to talk, but good enough for the young princess, they had just arrived at the tree house. "So, we´re here." She said, as Maul went ahead and opened the crudely made door. "Are you ready for tomorrow, Maul?"

The Zabrak turned around, his eyes set on the frame of the door, as he began to plan how he would repair the place. "It will definitely be an interesting experience." After a few moments of seemingly admiring the frame, Maul finally fazed Twilight. "I thank you for the assistance you have provided for me, Twilight."

"It is nothing, Maul." She answered, rubbing the back of her head. "Are you sure you want to spend the rest of the day reading? Its still early."

She was right, the sun was still up and there were a few hours left before the night, but the Zabrak had other plans. "Today I learn, tomorrow I act."

"Experience talking?" Twilight smirked, getting a grunt as a response from Maul.

"Not as much as I would like."

"Well, in case I don´t see you later, have a good night, Maul."

"Likewise, princess." He answered, looking as Twilight turned around to return towards her castle, finally giving Maul so much needed time to focus.

With a final wave, Maul closed the half charred door, as he placed the books on the floor, then grabbed a blanket before placing it on the ground. Without wasting another moment, the Zabrak sat on the floor and placed his fist under his chin, thinking where he could start.

He had to admit, it was so much to take in so little time; this new world, the new set of rules, his own predicament and further exile from the universe he knew. Suddenly, his world became smaller, from a galaxy to a planet, from war to peace, from power to nothingness.

Then something rather curious happened to him, Maul noticed that even if he was outclassed in this world, it did not bother him, not in the way it would before, at least. The Zabrak had went through so much, and life had given him something that grounded him to reality once more.

First of all he faced the facts, he was not all-powerful, not by a long shot and his fight against Sidious, Grievous and Dooku had taught him that; couple by the fact that he was in the world of beings capable of moving planets. It had humbled him, set his pride in check, still, he craved for power.

Power gained control and victory, but to get there was the important part; question was, why would he? In fact, why did he continue to fight?

Letting this question on his mind, Maul reached for a book at random, without even reading the titles. His hand soon caught the grasp of one, before placing it in front of his face.

The pair of yellow eyes went from the empty space to the cover that read the title "The history of magic, a walk through Equestria´s past." Without a second thought he opened it. This was the start of several hours of gained knowledge, as Maul sped through the least important parts, then going from book to book; he had hoped he had some kind of marker and he didn´t want to tear the pages, it would just make a mess, instead, he opted to fold any page of interest to him.

Book after book went by the Zabrak´s eyes, as he started to connect dots and familiarize with many things. The Elements, the princesses, Equestria´s ancient history, species and nations withing the planet, factions; all this he began to learn, however, he did notice something very interesting, as the Eclipse stone he had learned from back at Canterlot, wasn´t mentioned at all, with just a few lines of references in the History of the Elements and the princesses.

There were a few mentions of some "Fallen king", but nothing more. Maul couldn´t help but to grunt, all he knew was what Luna had told him. Setting the thoughts aside, his hand reached for yet another book that talked about Celestia, Luna and their lineage.

The book made brief mention of a war thousands of years ago against an unknown faction, a war that had killed their parents. Maul skipped through the next pages, where a quick glossary of the princesses´enemies was shown, with a mention of a certain Discord and a... there it was again, the "fallen king and the Eclipse stone".

Maul would have let this one pass, if not for one new piece of information, as the passage read that the aforementioned stone came from something called "Tartarus". Maul placed his hand under his chin, deep in thought, deciding weather to let this pass or know more about the matter.

It was in this moment that his allegiance to the Sith was questioned, for one moment he did not desire problems, this land was peaceful as it was, yet... yet something was wrong. He went to the book again, reading once more about these past enemies, especially the one called Discord and payed attention to what it said.

Reality bending entities, planet controllers, weather changers, masters in magic... and then there was a fool Zabrak with nothing more than a lightsaber. Was he this pathetic? Ever since he was a child he had been a tool, a toy to play with and use without remorse, weak and stupid.

How could he not be? He was used by Sidious, he had lost both his mother and his brother, his army, his pride, his home; how could he name himself a Sith if he had nothing? No power, nor passion... but if he had?

Whatever path he would take, things would never bee completely good, so where was the risk? He had lived under the shadow of many for far too long, yet, he was unsure.

Setting the book aside, Maul thought for a moment, silently thinking about what other book to read next. His eyes passed through a title called "The Tartarus and its secrets" a few times, but he simply let it go.

Minutes passed as Maul felt his heart beating faster, as sweat ran down his forehead, trying to betray his coolness in favor of the satisfaction of knowing. So many plans made that had already failed, so many moments of hope lost and now, the Force had presented him with yet another spark of "light" in the form of what would be considered forbidden knowledge.

He hated himself, hated the literal half Zabrak sitting inside a tree house provided by an equine, he hated his weakness and those who set him below.

Be it out of sheer curiosity or fear, Maul reached for the book and searched for the Eclipse stone. What he would find would scare him greatly.

The book, while it gave nothing about the stone, it did made mention of the place, in fact, a quite detailed mention. Perishing souls under torture on a red inferno, omnipotence and power; he knew this place, it was the realm that some beings in the galaxy liked to call Hell. Maul did not think of it as real, only superstition by non force users that craved to believe in something bigger than themselves, just to have a pretext for their own actions; the next paragraph, however, would set his nerves a top.

According to the book, the entrance to Tartarus existed... inside the Everfree forest. It existed, a place with that kind of power.

Maul breathed heavily for a few seconds, thinking about this new information, trying to uncover what he would do next. Was it real? Then, in that moment, Maul did something he did not truly had the chance. Meditate, really meditate and connect with this place.

Closing his eyes, the Zabrak calmed his nerves and amplified his senses, giving himself to the force for it to carry and guide him. He sensed so much, the immense power of the citizens of Equestria, especially the unicorns and alicorns; the Force surrounding the same planet.

Focusing more, Maul eventually reached the Everfree, an unmistakable sensation of energy, the dark side of the force itself. He concentrated deeper, until he felt a spark, then a thunder, then the fire raging.

There, at the middle of the forest, was a sensation like no other, the entrance of Tartarus, the gates of Hell. Inside, the Zabrak felt a hurricane of power, bigger than anything else he had ever felt; its beings, whatever that resided in there, exploding in might, then something caught his attention. Another presence was felt, a lone, single spark of omnipotence, a wild hurricane of power, but what set his nerves a float was a single fact... the being was sensing him back.

Pulling away quickly, Maul opened his eyes to recollect his thoughts. He had seen enough, he understood he was Jar Jar in a world of Rancors. His meditation had stopped, as he struggled to breath, he could feel his heart trying to get out of his chest; then Maul noticed he had been grabbing his midsection with his hand, feeling the pain he had not felt in years.

Most would take a metal appendage as a trophy of war, he saw it as show of weakness and stupidity, all caused by his own dumbness and his inability to see how much he had been a tool. It pained him and dragged him to the dirt.

Once more, setting his breathing in check, Maul got up and walked to the nearest window, glancing at the streets of Ponyville. Several minutes of silence passed, until a roar of fury shook the entirety of the charred house, as Maul sent the books flying in all directions with one wave of his hand.

It was very ironic, he had been taught that his anger would make him stronger, yet, as angry as he was in that moment, no help would come from it; there was simply nothing that could help him... unless.

"The Eclipse stone." He said,calming his anger to focus on the object for a few moments. He could learn more from it, gained its power, then... "No." Then history would repeat itself, him gaining power, only to be taken away while sinking him in misery even further.

The last shines of the sun soon disappeared in the distance, as Maul lifted his right hand to place the books in order. This was reality, not the fake merchandise that Sidious had fed him since he was a kid.

Grabbing a pillow, Maul set it over the blanket, then laid on his back, as he stared into the stars through a hole in the ceiling. He was confused, lost; this was the moment that something hit him greatly.

The dark side was no longer with him and he sure as Hell would not give in to the light... but the Force was on his side nonetheless, as it had always been, and it would guide him.

It was in this moment that Maul stopped to search for the ways of the dark side and simply let the Force itself carry him through its will. Whatever would come, whatever would happen next, it would be for something; be it good or bad.

Setting the thoughts of the Eclipse stone apart, Maul closed his eyes and prepared to sleep.