Darth Maul awoke on a desolate battlefield. Many sentient species lay dead around him, and those alive were severely wounded and dropped dead in front of the Sith Lord. Maul toured what seemed to be a battleground, and found many of the dead bodies to be that of Jedi. As satisfied as Maul was to find his enemies laid beaten, it does not look like they were killed by Sith. Maul turned one of the bodies over, a twi'lek female, and found puncture wounds in the chest, as well as bites around the body, and a green poison oozing from the wounds. Maul could not recognize a weapon that would be able to do this.
Suddenly, without warning, Maul felt a snake-like beast bite down on his back. Maul did not sense anything attacking, and his guard was left down. Darth Maul turned around and found the strange viper slither back into the arms of an armored warrior with near pale skin and bony black armor. The warrior gripped the serpent, as it turned into a spear in his hands. Maul reached for his lightsaber and struck at the Warrior, who parried with his spear and knocked Maul back. Maul could not believe his eyes; the weapon was lightsaber proof! And worse, a poison from the snake sickened his mind and made him weaker.
"We're coming, Maul." The warrior announced before impaling the Sith Lord with his spear! Maul screamed as he woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He checked his chest and found his hands were now hooves, remembering that he remained in the mysterious land of Equestria still. The Dark Lord realized that it was just a dream he had. And knowing the Jedi and Sith, Maul found it wise to consider dreams like this visions of the future, though he didn't know what to expect. Maul checked his bedside clock, which read as 4:37 AM, and got up from his humble bedroom and went inside his bathroom to wash his face, before hearing a voice from downstairs.
"Had another nightmare, didn't you?" Nightmare Moon asked as Maul went downstairs to speak with her.
"Well, to put it shortly, yes," Darth Maul answered as he looked outside his living room window as if checking for intruders. Maul knew nobody knew where to find him, but he also knew it would be safe to check. Maul sighed and lied down on the couch, his head throbbing from a lack of sleep. It has been almost a full year since Maul arrived in Equestria and used the mysterious Elements of the Dark Side to reclaim his title of Darth, and Maul set up a vineyard and is currently setting up a business as a Grape Juice Vendor.
"How go your grapes, Maul?" Nightmare Moon taunted as she cackled within her crystal ball.
"As a matter of fact, they are going very well. I have made plenty of bottles of grape juice, but I can't seem to find the perfect opportunity to sell them," Maul explained as he checked another room of his humble house and checked the large wooden crates within the room, each crate containing his grape juice. Maul took pride in his work, as he was the only one working on it.
"Oh well. I say you should finish your rest," Nightmare Moon advised as Maul turned off his house lights once more and headed off to bed again. That morning, Darth Maul brushed himself off and got ready for the day, only going outside and heading into town for food or mail. And Maul got some interesting mail that morning. Maul looked inside an envelope and found a large golden ticket, with a letter.
Dear Future Businesspony,
I am pleased to inform you that your product has been
accepted by the vendor. However, I am afraid we do not
have time to test it this late, what with the Grand Galloping
Galla and whatnot. So, to compensate, I am inviting you to
the Grand Galloping Galla (ticket included with this letter)
and you shall begin selling your product there before you
have your own booth. I would hurry though, as the Gala is
tonight. We shall come by to pick you up, and we hope to
see you soon.
Signed, the Royal Court
"Oh dear. I should probably get ready," Darth Maul said as he carried a couple of his grape juice boxes outside his front door and rushed to grab his black clock, attempting to obscure his face. He frantically snatched the cloak off of a hangar but stopped when he saw Obi-Wan Kenobi in front of him, though he wasn't really there.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Obi-Wan asked as Maul decided to calm down.
"Well, I just got invited to a big event, which will sell my grape juice, and start up my own business," Maul explained as he hung the cloak around his neck and draped the hood over his face.
"I don't know who you're talking to Maul, but I don't think a cloak would fit the bill," Nightmare Moon explained as Maul and Kenobi looked at each other.
"And just what do you mean by that?" Maul asked as he walked over to her crystal ball.
"I'm no fashionista, but I do think you could use a makeover," Nightmare Moon explained, invoking Maul's wrath before Kenobi stopped him.
"She's actually right, Maul. It's best if you adopt a second persona to hide your current persona," Obi-Wan explained. Darth Maul nodded and searched for anything to help disguise him, unfortunately failing to do so. Maul sighed and reluctantly readied the cloak anyway until he heard a knock on his door. Maul carefully opened the door, obscuring his face so he wouldn't be seen, and checked to see who it was.
"Package from a 'Mr. Mual'." The cross-eyes mail pony said, before dropping a crooked package and flying off in a crooked fashion. Maul opened the package and found a neatly tidy blonde wig, some red makeup, colored contact lenses, and a white necktie.
"What a neatly convenient package I got," Maul commented, raising his eyebrows at his strange luck. Either fate was being kind to Maul, or it was drunk.
"I would rather be thankful for the conveniences, rather than question them," Obi-Wan commented, as Maul headed into his bathroom and applied his new disguise. The door opened a few minutes later and revealed a handsome stallion with a ruby red coat, blonde mane, and emerald green eyes. The cloak remained the same, except Maul decided not to wear the hood and the neck was decorated with the tie. Maul looked at himself and believed he would blend in perfectly.
"Umm, excuse me? We're here to pick you up!" a voice from outside the door called out as knocking was also heard on the door, as Maul realized it was time for him to go. He hurried as he grabbed his ticket and calmly walked out the door, blending in with the gentleponies that he would soon meet.
"Yes, hello. Thank you for picking me up," Maul said as he saw his grape juice boxes being hauled onto a cart carried by two pegasus royal guards.
"Splendid! My name is Jeeves, and I am in charge of your escort," the pony explained. Jeeves was rather skinny, wore a red suit and a white tie, and half of his face was obscured by a large white mustache.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Drake Mandarin, by the way. You have no idea how much this means to me," Maul lied through his fake-white teeth.
"Oh, splendid! Don't mention it, Mr. Mandarin. All the ponies would be delighted to see what you have to offer," Jeeves explained, as all the ponies around smiled.
"Indeed," Maul commented as he hopped onto the cart with Jeeves and the four ponies flew off to Canterlot for the ever anticipated Grand Galloping Galla.