Step Into the Light

The morning strings of light hit against the crudely rebuilt tree-house, however, as in sight as Maul was from the sun, its rays did not hit him. A shadow loomed over the Zabrak, a shadow that had her eyes fixed on the former sith assassin.

Luna had came at noon to Ponyville to check on Maul, but had stopped her attempt at waking him up. Something about him captivated her, maybe his aura which Luna wasn´t sure if it was similar to her or to something she had felt before, regardless, it felt hugely familiar.

Her train of thoughts was soon cut short by the grunts coming from the Zabrak, who set himself face up in an attempt at waking up. As his eyes adjusted to morning light, Maul could spot Lune over him and released an almost inaudible grunt.

Luna saw his reaction, the one she had after a bad sleep. "You had quite a night, didn´t you?"

"Luna..." Maul finally acknowledged her, while rubbing his eyes. "Kind of early for a morning visit, don´t you think?"

"Early?" Luna asked. "It´s almost mid day, Maul."

Sitting on the floor, Maul set his eyes on the window to notice the position of the sun, then rubbed his eyes in frustration.
"Of course it is."

A few awkward moments passed as Luna waited for Maul to fully wake up. She had imagined the Zabrak would be the kind of being that hated wasting precious morning hours, but then again, he could also enjoy the night, which in her book, it gave him more points. "So, how was your first night in Ponyville?"

"Quite the experience." Maul answered, finally being able to fully open his ayes so he could look at Luna. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Just came to give you the good morning and... ´good morning´." The moon princess said, giving the Zabrak a warm smile, that wasn´t returned by the former sith. Luna noticed something, as Maul kept his gaze on the tower of books in front of him, deep in thought. It wasn´t the rough attempt at waking up, but rather something that seemed more personal. "Is something wrong, Maul?"

"Don´t worry about it, its just things getting in order." He answered, keeping his gaze at the books. Suddenly he turned to look at the moon princess as his gaze softened, then stood up from the floor, his cool demeanor coming back. "So, what are the plans for today, princess?"

"Actually, if you were looking for action, you are going to be disappointed." Luna replied with a smile, then walked towards the closest endow and looked at the life outside, a mix of disdain and interest in her face. "You see, Ponyville must be one of the most peaceful places I know and life here is as simple as it gets."

Turning back, she noticed Maul getting on his feet, placing one hand behind his back while making a low bow with the other. "Then a simple breakfast it is?"

Luna noded in return. "A simple breakfast it is."

Maul turned his back, accommodating the rest of the books spread through the floor, before locking eyes with the night princess. "Although, I doubt today will be quite peaceful." He said, annoyance clear on his expression. "I have a presentation in a few hours."

"That should be interesting..." Luna replied, giving the Zabrak a smirk. "If anypony comes."

The former with grunted in return, walking towards the door past Luna. "I have the feeling many will come." With that, he placed a hand on the knob and opened the entrance, motioning with his arm to the outside as he looked back at Luna. "Shall we be out then?"

Luna smiled warmly at him before nodding with her head, as she walked out of the half destroyed home. Behind her, Maul closed the door before placing herself alongside Luna.

Both of them walked in silence for a few minutes, as the night princess gave quick glances towards the Zabrak. Regardless of his less than civil first meeting and his brutish look, Maul so far seemed to be a being with class, clevere and calculative, something that Luna didn't know whether to feel afraid of or find interesting. She did both. "You know?" She finally said, breaking the silence. "I would have never guessed that the first extraterrestrial being to come here would not try to kill us right away."

Maul let out a chuckle. "It´s too early to say that, don´t you think?" He said, giving her a look that could only be described as him being half-serious, half-joking. Luna, though, found it amusing. "Twilight has told me you have the usual overlord twice a week." Setting his gaze back on the road, Maul's expression turned serious. "It surprises me you haven´t used more... harsh methods."

Luna wrinkled her nose in disdain, something the Zabrak had been expecting and something Maul and found interest since he saw had. She was simply too easy to read for an all powerful princess, regardless, he did like what he saw.

The anger, the hidden hatred covered by the high tolerance she must've had all these years for her sister.

Letting out a knowing smirk, Maul gave her a side glance as he waited for her response. "Equestria has little tolerance for murder, even though some actually deserve it."

Maul chuckled. "You are not very fond of Equestria´s way, are you?"

Luna released a long deep sigh, closing her eyes for a few seconds before looking at the ground. "I understand the reason, but sometimes I feel what we do is not enough." She locked sight with the Zabrak against . "Most of the evil we face are known ones, dating from thousands of years back."

"And I´m sure you look as young now than how you did a thousand years old." Luna was taken a back by Maul's words.

For the Zabrak though, he was simply experimenting, pushing different buttons to we Luna's various reactions and the one he had expected in that time was the one he got.

A red coloration appeared on Luna's cheeks, as she gave Maul a sheepish green. "Kinda off the topic." Maul smirked for a few moments before setting his gaze back on the road. The night princess remained silent, her smile being replaced with a confused expression, as she cocked her head to the side. She felt... Something, not in the aspect of a love feeling, but rather something she couldn't describe, almost like a connection between them, deeper than what a normal pony think of the matter and due to this, she could almost literally see something bothering him.

Behind those short lived smiles, flirts and jokes, the Zabrak was in pain and as much as she tried to understand how she knew,the answer alluded her greatly

Silently she wondered if it was this 'Force'. "It is weird..." She said, catching the attention of Maul who gave her a quick glance.

"What is weird?"

She remained silent for a few seconds, debating whether to inform him or not, in the end, she averted his gaze. "Nothing..."

He simply noded in return. Not wanting to reveal what she felt, the night princess decided to take the normal approach. "Maul, are you sure you are alright?"

A few moments of silence passed before Maul let out a sigh. "It has been a change of pace, many things have been happening too quickly." He answered, with Luna somehow knowing he was telling the truth. "And I´ve just realized that things may have not been as I thought they were." She cocked her head to the side, to which Maul grunted. "This shouldn´t ruin this day."

Luna smiled. "It will not."

Suddenly, the Zabrak came to a full stop, catching the attention of Luna who was wondering what may have happened. "Maul?"

"How certain are you that entering this place will end good?" Luna felt confused for a few seconds, then looked past Maul to we what he was referring. Her eyes widened in surprise as she spotted the Sugarcube corner just in front of them.

Luna figured she had been so caught up with Maul that the night princess never noticed they had arrived at their destination and what's more, she was surprised about how Maul was in the end the one that guided her to the place.

Coming to the quick and rather accurate conclusion that it was the force,Luna though about his words. She figured he was referring to a certain pink pony. Letting out a chuckle, the night princess walked towards the door of the bakery and placed her hoof on the knob. "Come on, Pinkie´s not that dangerous, she´s just weird."

Maul jokingly grimaced. "Weird can be dangerous."

"Wouldn´t you know that?" She replied, rolling her eyes as a smirk appeared on her features, something that Maul answered back with a deadpan. With a sigh, she opened the door. "Let us get inside."

It wasn't long before Maul took notice of the several ponies sitting around a table, some rolling their eyes and others granting under their breaths with the exception of Twilight who instantly shot a toothy grin towards him and Pinkie, who wasn't even with them. The Zabrak sensed her nearby and mentally shuddered. "Good morning, Maul!"

"Twilight." He acknowledged the princess, before looking at the rest. He could sense their annoyance and fear and he could care less... About their annoyance. "Good morning to all."

Out of them, he felt Rainbow being the most conflicted and pretended to hide it with a mocking smirk as she lifted her face from the cupcake she took on her hoof. "Morning freak face." Just as soon as the words left her mouth, the pastry in front of her suddenly decided to collide against her face and spray its contents all over her. A look of sadness for the los other cupcake accompanied a slight snarl as her eyes narrowed at Maul. "Hey! I was going to eat that!"

"Now you can lick it out of your face." He retorted, waving his hand to dismiss her. This action caused Luna and Twilight to give him a look, to which Maul simply acted innocent. "She started it."

Instantly, with a grunt, Applejack stood up, placing both of her hooves over the table. "Yeah, but that was rude!"

"And brutish!" Added Rarity, frowning at the Zabrak.

On her part, Luna could we Maul's expression growing colder as the ambiance began to feel a little bit colder, causing her to intervene. "Girls, we should not let this moment turn sour!" She started, getting the attention of everyone present. "Rainbow here did start it, but maybe Maul should have used other methods."

"Princess Luna´s right." Twilight added. "Come on! Its the morning, do we really have to ruin this day starting now?" There were grunts of disagreement, even from Fluttershy who had opted to remain silent. "And besides, we´ve kinda been antagonizing Maul the whole time."

Rainbow reacted to that and considered how much she distrusted Maul, it seemed like Twilight was unjustifiably defending him, however, before she could say anything, Maul turned to look at the closest door and moments later, Pinky stood out.

"Come on! What´s with the long faces? Isn't eating with an alien fun?" She asked, getting looks from everypony except Twilight and Luna.

"Is that a question for me or for them?" Maul suddenly asked, deciding to make the ambiance lighter. He figured the more they distrusted him, the less he would be able to be at peace to resolve his circumstance.

Pinkie, on her part,let out a chuckle as she extended her hooves to her sides. "Both silly!"

His action did its job amongst most of the antagonising crew, whose expressions began to get soft. "Yeah, sorry ´bout that, Maul." Applejack was the first to speak.

On his part, regardless of how much he was actually gritting his teeth, Maul did his best to Gabe her the most sincire smile he could make. "Don´t worry about it."

With that put of the way and noticing the rest loosening up, Maul and Luna took their sits as everypony continued eating their pastries. Rainbow casted quick glances towards Maul occasionally.

On her part, Twilight had been dealing with a subject she had trouble knowing how she would approach and figured that was the perfect time to do it, now that things were a little calmer.. "So, Maul." She called the Zabrak out, who turned to look at her. "I haven´t gotten the time these past few days, but since you are the first extraterrestrial being to visit Equestria, I was thinking that maybe..." Maul silently sighed, knowing where the conversation was going. Suddenly, Twilight's expression became blank, as a demented expression formed on her face while her upper body go over the table, incoming itself towards Maul and causing the rest of the group to share worried expressions. "I need to study you!"

"What do you mean by study me?" He asked, already wary of the answer.

"I mean, your biology, anything I can get out of your species!" Twilight explained, her expression going back to normal as she sat back in place. "I knew about a similar species called humans, so, considering the similarities between them and the... um..."

"Zabrak." Maul stated.

"Yeah, the Zabrak, maybe it should be easier for me to catalogue yours."

As soon as Maul realized this planet didn't really have knowledge of the outer space political structures, he had feared some of the planet's beings would like to have a scientific peek on him. This conflicted him, as 1: Maul lacked the patience for that and 2: He did not want his... Half problem to be widely known. With this in mind, Maul began to craft the best way to approach the situation without rising suspicion.

He knew they would know eventually, but he needed to cement himself as trustworthy before letting out such things. As such, he faked a jokingly amused look. "Should I be worried about a mad scientist, Twilight?"

Applejack chuckled at this. "You should, partner."

No more words were needed to cause the rest of the group to share a laugh, something Maul didn't. On her part, Twilight frowned at the cowpony. "Come on, I´m not that obsessive!"

"You disturb the force." Maul answered with a joke-afraid expression to which the young princess answered with a grunt.

Suddenly, pit of nowhere a pink blur appeared, something not even someone like Maul sensed, he remained calm nonetheless. "Here´s more!" Pinkie said, letting another plate of various pastries on the table.

Pinkie disappeared under the table and reappeared alongside Twilight from the ceiling. Maul had to be honest, he was amused as she motioned with his head towards Pinkie. "No, she disturbs it more."

"So..." Twilight called, wanting to bring back the topic Maul had changed. "Can I study you?" She asked, getting a frown from the Zabrak and causing Twilight to give him a smile. Normally, one would find it too hard to avoid saying no to such an adorable expression,Maul though, he found it annoying. "Please? I´ve never gotten the chance to examine a being of another world."

"How about humans?" He asked back in a low growl.

Twilight rolled her eyes as her expression became exalted. "They were from another reality, you come from actual space!"

Maul couldn't help but to narrow his eyes at this. "Another reality?" He shouldn't be so surprised considering what he heard about Discord, but considering even Equestrian's citizens could seemingly warp reality was something that got him weary. Trying to leave that for another moment, Maul returned to the topic. "My apologies, but I don´t want to be analyzed."

Twilight gave frustrated sigh as she tried once more. "Please?"

"I said no!" Suddenly, chairs around Maul were violently sent flying in all directions, effectively shutting Twilight up and managing to scare everypony present, with the exception of Luna who looked at him with concerned eyes.

On his part, Maul was breathing heavier, closing his eyes as he tried to get in control his emotions. After seconds of silence, Maul let out a sigh and looked back at the wary ponies. "I... Apologize."
With that, he got up from his chair, grabbing a cupcake before leaving the place.

As the group watched him go, Luna turned to look at Twilight. "I'm sorry if he started you, Maul hasn't been feeling well this morning."

Twilight did her best to calm herself as she locked eyes with the night princess. "Did he tell you something?"

She shook her head, lowering it as she released a sigh. "I haven't managed to get anything out of whatever is troubling him." Twilight cocked her head to the side at this.

She could say anything about the subject, Luna stood up. "As I hear he has a presentation in a few hours." She stated, getting a no from Twilight. "I will talk to him before the event, we do not want anything to get out of hoof." Another silent no from Twilight. "Come now, let us go."

"Yes princess." Replied Twilight as she turned to look at the still wary ponies. "Better get prepared, so I guess I'll be seeing you girls at the ceremony." With that, she left, before any of her friends could say something.

Once both princesses were gone, Rainbow turned to look at the rest of the group, a crown on her face. "Did you see how he reacted when Twilight asked to study him?"

"Everypony noticed, Dash." Stated Applejack, placing a hoof under her chin . "It was pretty suspicious."

"He´s obviously hiding something." Added Rarity.

"Maybe something painful like a scar." Said Fluttershy, looking at the door with a worried expression, until she was surprised by Pinkie, who placed herself atop the pink haired pegasus.

"Or maybe he was cut in half and is using a pair of robotic legs!"

Rainbow snorted at this and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Pinkie, that´s nuts!" She exclaimed. "How can anypony survive being cut in half?" Her expression turned serious, as her frow burrowed once more, then she hit the table with the left hoof. "No, I say he has something up his sleeve, something evil!"

Outside the bakery shop, Maul found himself walking across the street, his mood a bit more under control and with both Luna and Twilight walking at his sides. He was more than sure his little outburst caught the attention of everypony present with him and only hoped to the Force they would not question him on the subject.

In the end, he figured being worried about this matter would only bring even more attention, so he decided to let it go for the time being.

Giving Twilight a quick side glance, he asked. "Nervous, princess?"

The young alicorn found herself surprised at Maul's seemingly quick chance of mood, but swallowed it in order to address him. She couldn't, though, as her mind still raced about what had happened back at sugarcube corner. Luna took notice of this and decided to answer for her. "Indeed, if anything, Maul should be."

Twilight looked back at Luna's warm smile, which caused the young alicorn to feel more at ease. "I just don´t know how Ponyville is going to react."

"Heven´t they reacted these two days?" Asked Maul, looking at the numerous ponies they passed by who gave him scared looks while some didn't even bother to stare at him. The Zabrak grunted. "They are even reacting now."

"Well, you haven´t been fully presented yet." Twilight stated, locking sight with Maul.

"Something that will get fixed in a moment."

The continued to walk in silence as they approached the meeting place outside the town hall and much to Twilight's surprise and Maul's dismay, way too many ponies were gathered, waiting to know the alien that was amongst them. "Alright, looks like almost everypony came." She said, hearing the Zabrak grunt. Looking back at him, she said. "I´ll speak to the mayor." With that, she gave him a smile as she waved with her hoof. "See you on stage."

Maul simply noded at her as he placed his hands behind his back and stood behind a nearby house. Luna had followed him, looking at him intently, something the Zabrak had felt but decided to remain silent.

It wasn't long before Luna decided to address him. "So, uh... back at the Sugarcube Corner..."

"There is nothing to talk, Luna." He replied, his voice holding no anger but... Something else. Fear? Pain? Luna tried to deduce which one of not both.

"I did not want to disturb you." She finally said, getting a look from Maul, which caused her to lower her head with a sigh. "Sorry."

Maul gave one deep breath, before addressing the night princess. "No reason to be." He said, locking eyes with Luna once more.

And there it was again, a sensation, a change in Maul's mood. Luna had been trying all day to decide what to do with what she was feeling, what she could perceive about Maul, but something... More prevented her from doing so.

It was faint, but Luna felt familiarity with Maul, as if it was but a memory lost on her subconscious. She tried to pinpoint what exactly it was and as soon as an answer came, her eyes narrowed. For some strange reason, she wanted to go to her and her sister's old castle back at the Everfree forest and she had to do it with Maul.

"Do... you have time after your introduction?" She finally managed to ask, causing Maul to raise an eyebrow. "I want to show you a place, it is... It is kind of an especial place, in the Everfree and since the Force in you appears to be..."

"Appears to be what?" He asked, suspicion on his face.

Luna gulped. "Dark?" Now she got the Zabrak's full attention, causing Luna to act quickly. "Look, I do not want to force you, but normally I would not want to visit this place."

Maul smirked. "And yet you told me it was especial."

"It is, but..." Luna sigh, looking away from the amused Zabrak. "Nevermind."

Things had started to get a little bit more interesting. Maul had been having suspicions all day, noticing how Luna reacted to his mood change. Could it be that she was sending him with the force? He wanted to discard it, as it wouldn't be that easy for a non practisioner to feel emotions with no training. He figured there was more than he realized.

Looking away from her as well, Maul sensed the presence of Twilight and mentally decided to approach Luna about the matter after the ceremony.

"Everything´s ready, you should probably get on the the stage."

With no other word and a simple no, Maul walked towards the back podium, mentally preparing himself for the incoming torture.

The ceremony went just as Maul was expecting, a cringe fest full of awkwardness, mainly directed at the ponies' reaction to him and where he came from, not mentioning the dumb struck faces of the equines upon mentioning anything with the word galactic to them.

Maul really wanted nothing more than to force choke every single one of them and used all the patience he could muster to keep in control the entire time. How most of the ponies in ponyville were so imbecile while Twilight and Luna weren't was so thing he tried to warp his head around. Maybe that was the reason they held higher hirearchy and the rest didn't.

The topics also went through the expected, mainly how he got there and what was happening on the outside, even some of them were worried about a potential attack, to which Maul calmed them by stating how far their planet seemed to be from the clone wars.

The ceremony lasted at least an hour an a half and much to the Zabrak's relief, it came to an end. Ponies parted ways, some with calmer expressions while others still held some signs of paranoia, especially considering Maul's devil like features.

As soon as everyone was gone, Maul made his way towards Luna and Twilight, giving the later a smug.

"That went better than I thought." Twilight stated.

"Where you worried?" Cockily asked Maul. In reality he had half expected something to go horribly wrong and thanked the Force it didn't.

"Of panic taking the streets? Yes, I was." The young alicorn answered truthfully.

Maul couldn't help but to roll his eyes at this. True, he had noticed since the beginning, but it was entering the realm of the ridiculous. "Citizens of Ponyville tend to be that sensitive?"

"Maybe I´m just exaggerating, I mean, usually some kind of crazy overlord comes to conquer us twice a week." Twilight answered, getting a deadpan look from Maul as soon as she said the word 'exaggerating'. She rolled her eyes on response before changing the subject. "So, I guess you´ll be returning home, Maul?"

Another time he would have said yes, but there was something bugging him. Earlier the moon princess had shown signs of a force sensitive and now she seemed to wanting him go to a certain place. Giving Luna a quick glance, Mau? Locked sight with Twilight. "Maybe that´s something Luna should answer."

"Where are you two going?" Asked the young alicorn to the surprised moon princess, who struggle with her words for a moment.

"Indeed, I wanted to show Maul me and my sister's old castle." She answered. In reality, Luna had not expected the Zabrak to even remember the whole conversation after the meeting, but the fact that he did, caused her to give a very small pleased grin.

On her part, though, Twilight cocked her head to the side as she found it weird that the moon princess would take someone like Maul to that place no less. In the end, she shrugged it off.

"Then I guess this is where we part." She said, before looking at the Zabrak. "I'll bee seeing you tomorrow Maul."

The Zabrak faked a smile and bowed lightly with his head.

Before going, Twilight gave the Zabrak one last look. "And be careful... with the forest I mean." She chuckled. "I wouldn´t be surprised if the forest itself was afraid of you."

Maul chuckled back. "Amusing." With that, the young alicorn left, leaving Maul as he looked back at Luna and held out his hand. "Shall we be off?"

"Yes." Answered the still surprised moon princess.

And so they began their journey to a place Luna was half dreading while Maul was savoring. He was imagining how in touch with the dark side of the force the old castle may be.

He had felt it before when he searched the entrance to Hell and before he felt... Him. He mentally shuddered. The Zabrak had felt first hand the almost omnipotence of Sidious, his darkness and the void around him that shadowed any light, but what... Who he felt... It was a bigger beast. Not evil, not good, a perfect standing between the two, but still...

"Brutal..." Muttered Maul, getting the attention of the moon princess who turned to look at him with a curious expression.

She was about to ask, but ultimately let it go.

The rest of the journey went rather quietly and even though they remained silent, the more never truly felt awkward, which was something Luna tried to deduce if it was related to what was happening to her.

It had been at least two hours before they made it to their destination and Maul couldn't be more pleased. A monumental architecture laid there in ruins, dust left and right and pillars to the brink of falling. There was also the expected welcoming warmness of the dark side. He was smiling.

"So, here we are." Said Luna, putting Maul's thoughts to a rest, as he looked back the the moon princess with an amused look on his features.

"Quite impressive." He said.

Regardless of his truthful reaction, Luna couldn't help but to release a chuckle. "You mean, the pair of walls that remain."

"It´s more than that." Luna remained silent, curiously looking at Maul as he raised his hand and placed it on the castle's wall. Closing his eyes, the Zabrak remained silent for a few seconds, before looking back at Luna. "The Force is strong with this place." He finally said, aparting his hand from the wall. "Should I assume many things happened in here and its abandonment wasn´t just out of tiresome?" Regardless of his friendly grin, Luna lowered her head and the Zabrak didn't need the force to tell him he had touched a nerve. "I´m sorry."

"Do not be." Answered Luna, giving Maul a warm smile before aparting her gaze from his and looking at the castle. "It has been so long since I came here." With a long deep breath, she walked towards the doors and pushed them with her hoof. "Let me give you a tour."

And so it begins, history of the castle while leaving many details out, mainly about her immediate family, was given to the Zabrak, who paid attention to everything Luna said.

He was surprised, as regardless of her reaction to it and the dark sensation it gave, Maul listened to happy stories. "There´s still something I don´t understand, Luna." He said, gently interrupting Luna as they entered a wide opened hall with many half destroyed paintings with several ponies. "All these stories and not a single reason to abandon the castle."

Suddenly, Luna's walk came to a stop, her head hanged as she closed her eyes. "As I told you before, I was a monster..." She said, her voice low. Her eyes met Maul, who simply stood there, looking at her. "Let us leave like that."

Maul simply noded in return, thinking about her own words. Looking to change the subject, he spotted a painting of a stallion with a crown atop his head. He had a black word and equally black man.

Placing both hands behind his back, Maul stood in front of said painting causing Luna to look back at him. "So, there was a fair prince in Equestria´s history!" He said, a smirk on his face as he locked sight with the moon princess. "Tell me, did he belong to your sister? Or should should I start feeling jealous?"

Luna's cheeks brined red in an instant t as a sheepish smile appeared on her features. "It seems you are in luck, Maul." She answered. "This was king Sombra, he... used to date my sister."

Maul was hit with recognition, sensing the conflict within her and turned to look at the painting once more with a curious look. "Did he..."

Knowing what he was about to ask, the moon princess rushed to answer. "In a certain point of view, yes."

Maul was suddenly hit with recognition, gazing with interest upon the painting. "So this is the fallen king." With that, he looked back at Luna. "What happened?"

The moon princess walked towards the Zabrak and placed herself alongside him. "Thousands of years ago a dark presence fell of Equestria..."

Maul chuckled at this. "Shouldn´t this be considered cliché by now?"

She returned the expression. "This one was different..." Luna said. "That was a time of darkness and cruelty that not even the likes of Tirek could have ever brought." The moon princess sighed. "To make the story short, Sombra used an... artifact to help him overcome this threat, but it changed him... consumed him."

"This threat, what was it?" Maul asked, not taking away his eyes from the painting and silently wondering if it was the being he had felt in Hell, while wishing it wasn't.

Luna looked conflicted at this. "I... I don´t know, it was so ominous." It was here that something caught his attention. Something changed in Luna as he felt her eyes looking at him with a strange passion he couldn't decide whether it was anger or fear. "The only thing I remember as clear as day is its presence." She paused. "It actually felt similar to yours..."

Maul's eyes widened. It seemed that being wasn't the one that had befallen on Equestria thousands of years ago, but her answer didn't make him feel better. Suddenly something else popped on his mind, as he remembered the artifact that had caused his attention on her whole history to arise. "Luna." He began. "This artifact Sombra used... Should I assume it was the Eclipse stone?"

Luna found herself surprised at this, but then again he must have investigated it in book give by Twilight, to which he had many back "home", still, why the interest? "The Eclipse stone is one of the few artifacts that Equestria´s law forbids to acknowledge, the reason for it is..."

"It was found in Hell..."

"Excuse me?" Luna asked, confused about Maul's choice of words.

"Tartarus." He corrected, looking back at her.

Luna nodded at this as her expression turned serious. "Tartarus is a forbidden place as it is, a place of darkness and hatred." He could feel it, her fear when concerning Hell. "Demonic contact has been avoided for thousands of years and even the most treacherous creatures fear its malevolence."

Trying to lighten the mood, but the objective of discovering more about demonic nature, Maul gave her a smirk. "Kind of hard to believe such a powerful force would not seek conquer."

Luna did not bright up however and her face remained serious. "Something keeps them there... or rather somepony." Suddenly, her heart began to race faster. "There are legends, tales of a force that keeps Tartarus´ influence in check, a Slayer of sorts that prevents DOOM."

"A Doomslayer then?" Maul asked, half jokingly and half serious.

Luna noticed Maul's attempt and gave him a heart chuckle. "Something like that, although there is no real proof of this entity which has lead to believe many that they are a neutral force." She explained, until something came to her mind. "Why the sudden interest in the Eclipse stone, Maul?" Looking back at the Zabrak, Luna saw the sudden change. "Maul?"

Many thoughts raced his mind, actually fearing this 'Doomslayer' entity the more he learned about it and pondered whether he would come out of hell due to his own interest on the Eclipse stone. In the end, he used his will power to keep those thoughts aside and let the topic go. "Have you ever considered to rebuild this castle?"

Luna gave him a concerned look. "Maul, do not change the subject."

"Those are things I would rather not talk about, Luna." He replied, not angry but wary.

Luna figured the best thing she could do at the moment was to comply. "So... the Sith..."

"Why the sudden interest in the Sith, Luna?" He asked, a smirk appearing on his features as he tried to lock his thoughts away.

"Those are things I would rather not talk about." She answered, trying to play along. Maul's wasn't amused, though. "I just find the lore quite fascinating, for example, are there more Sith? I mean, you mentioned your former... master, but no talk of other apprentices."

"That is a classic Sith rule." He stated. "There can only be two, no more, no less."

"Why?"

"To maintain peace." Maul was careful not to reveal more of the nature of the Sith, while giving her enough truth to keep her from asking any more questions. "For how long did you live here?"

"A couple thousand of years, give or take." She answered, seemingly satisfied with the Zabrak's answer.

Suddenly a playful smug appeared on Maul's expression. "I still find it hard to believe you are thousands of years old." He said. "You are not bad looking, Luna."

The red coloration the Zabrak had expected once more, appeared on the moon princess' features, as she lowered her head slightly with a sheepish grin. "Okay, that was a direct flirt."

"It did its work."

Luna rolled her eyes at this, trying to regain composure. "How would you be so sure."

"Last time I checked you were blue, not red." The last thing she heard was the Zabrak's chuckle, before her gazesat upon an incoming pair of doors she knew all too well. The princess stopped dead on her tracks, as a sad expression appeared on her features, something Maul was quick to pick on. "Luna?"

"I still don´t feel like going in there, Maul." She said, looking at the entrance for a few seconds before looking back at Maul. "Can we go back to Ponyille?" Lu a saw the disappointed expression on his face. "I am sorry for this, I thought I may have been ready to face that room but..."

"Do it in your own time." He replied. In reality, he was a little annoyed as high concentration of the dark side laid before those doors and it didn't take a genius to come up to the conclusion that inside that room there had been a monster Luna once. Regardless, he complied,making sure not to push Luna too much if he was going to learn more. "Lets change the subject, what else do you want to know about the Sith?"

Her expression brightened too quickly as they backpedaled and began walking towards the exit. Her thoughts now focused on subject she wanted to know. "How about abilities? I have seen you use telekinesis, but are there any other abilities?"

"Sith are capable of things many would consider unnatural" he answered. "Planetary movement, immortality, premonitions, creation of life, force lightning..."

"Uh, force lightning!?" Lune chimed in, getting an amused look from the Zabrak.

He raised an eyebrow. "I mentioned immortality and creation of life and you feel more excited to hear about lightning?"

"Well, I do have immortality and I could create life if I had a stallion, so..." With an eager smile, she turned to look at the Zabrak. "Can you do that?"

He shook his head. "I could if I..."

Before he could even finish, the next words went through his mind and suddenly, there was pain on his midsection, causing Maul to slow his walk as he placed a hand on her thorax, gaining the attention of Luna, who got closer to the Zabrak. "Maul, are you alright, are you in pain?"

"Let´s change the topic." It was all he answered, thinking about his mortal injury, about the Jedi who had caused, the master who had betrayed him and the thought of the failure he seemed to always be. His fists began to clench as he gritted his teeth, all the while objects around both of them began to float.

'Obi Wan' was the name that cursed through his mind, the name he hated uttering and the name belonging to the man who had ruined his life.

"Are you sure, if you feel bad, maybe we could..." Suddenly, his anger overflowed and in sudden unnatural roar that could be described as coming from a monster rather than a being like him, the walls of the hallway they were currently in, gave out in a horrific explosion that resulted in the creation of a complete new roof . For Luna though, she was taken aback, the power Maul had just let out was something that scared her momentarily as she silently wondered how powerful he was in reality. "And I thought I was scary."

Maul grabbed both of his knees, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm himself and lock the name of the Jedi away. Several seconds passed before he looked at Luna with an apologetic look. "Forgive me, Luna." He said.

The Zabrak could feel the princess' hoof over his shoulder as he went back to his full height, noticing how Luna was at least a head shorter. Once more, he decided to change the subject about a topic that had caught his interest earlier. "The force has been acting strange, there are surges of power approaching." He began, starting to walk again towards the exit of the old place. "Back in the castle, a soldier mentioned the arrival of this... Red Claw."

"You think it could be him?" She asked, still concerned about Maul's recent outburst. "Are you implying he could be a force user?"

"It wouldn´t seem so strange." He answered.

"You think we should be worried?"

"If none of you has ever heard of the force, then I imagine he would lack the knowledge, still, nothing is certain." The whole time he had felt her hoof over his shoulder and while he didn't find it particularly annoying, Maul wanted it away from him. "I feel better now." He said.

Luna took the gentle hint and remover her hoof from his shoulder, giving the Zabrak a nod. She figured he didn't want any other kind of conversation for that day.

The incoming hours were spend in almost silence, with the occasional surging topic, but Luna had realized maybe it was for the best to leave Maul back at his 'home'.