Jedi: Sins Of The Mother

by Logic Flip

New Faces, New Problems

Six years ago...
Planet: Combay

"All right, remember your hoof placement." Ditzy said, blond mane spilling down her shoulders. Her swings were slow, methodical, testing, and Dinky was thankful for that. The impromptu weights her mother had her strap to her wrists, arms, and ankles were slowing her down significantly. Yet the movements of the wooden stick in her mother's grasp were still quick and precise enough to keep her from fully relaxing. They traded simple blows at the beginning and her mother warded off each of Dinky’s strikes with ease but the extra weight combined with her mother's steady increase in speed started to wear on her. Now the swings her mother required of her were becoming more and more advanced and she was trying hard to ignore the sweat running down her face.

"Now," Ditzy stated, taking an aggressive step forward. "Counterattack."

The older mare charged at her with stick upheld, going to a foreswing and following it with a quick backswing. Dinky dodged the first and met the second with her stick and immediately used the rebound as they clashed to arc it back around to catch her mother's midsection.

With a short twitch of her wings, her mother slid out of her reach and left Dinky overextending her swing before another pump of her wings brought her right back into the range of both sticks and she brought it down in a swift overhand swing.

In a hasty move, Dinky clumsily tried to knock away her mother’s wooden sword, enough that she could get past his defenses. The blonde mare, however parried with enough force to push the small unicorn’s blade up and to the side.

At once, Dinky made the motion to block the attack that would immediately come next.

Only it didn’t come the direction she expected it. As if she hadn't even moved, her mother's stick slipped right between her arms, stopping right at her left shoulder.

"Don't lose your patience. You must be sure not to let your own defenses down when you attack your opponent. Though you tried to recover quickly, all four of your zones were exposed in that last moment." As if to punctuate the meaning of her words, she tapped her stick to Dinky's shoulder.

"Yes, mom." Dinky mumbled, looking at the wooden pole more than a little upset she messed up again. Had she not been focusing on the stick so hard she would have noticed the tattoos on her mother’s face twist as she smiled, her mismatched eyes almost glowing with pride.

Sparkler's voice then drifted in from the kitchen. "Hey Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I think I might be burning dinner. I mean, it smells like it but... It just looks a bit thin. Can you come in and look at this?"

"Sure, dear." Dinky watched as her mother made her way towards the kitchen, noticing a tool on the floor right in her way. Before she could say anything, her mother's hoof came down on it and promptly caused her to slip in a most dramatic fashion. Her leg went out from under her as if it had been yanked and in her attempt to stop her fall, her arm came down on the table and promptly flipped right onto her as she hit the floor with a loud CRASH.

A moment of silence.

"I'm okay."

---

Applejack wondered if her run of bad lack was ever going to end. She swirled her drink around the glass before taking another sip, face wrinkling at the acrid taste that was mostly pure alcohol mixed with a little of something that tasted a little of swamp water. Lovely. Such high-class establishments she found herself drinking at these days. She would have thought that a trip to the cantina right across from the med center would have been a perfect place to get a good drink. The city looked nice enough, considering. But she had been proven wrong.

Now with a cup of the watered down swill that passed as alcohol in this bar, she ran through the experience she just had.

It had been a 50 credit charge to get scanned by a droid with a blood and hair sample taken for extra measure. The result: A clean bill of health. Except for one thing the droid mentioned...

Patient Applejack, you seem to have an unusually high concentration of Adrenalin in your body. May this unit ask, if you have been using battle stimulants?

Are you aware of the dangers and addictive qualities of battle stimulants? Especially in cases of constant use by non-combatants or in non-combative situations, Patient Applejack? This unit's programing of the Hippogriffic Oath requires this unit to list side effects and medical conditions recreational battlestim use can cause. More than one hundred and nineteen of one hundred and twenty five have an eighty four percent possibility of terminal illness and...

Applejack shook her head to push the droid's annoying voice out of her mind. Yeah, she was using stims and there was no problem with them. She wasn't using them enough for any of what that medical droid was blathering on about. Battlestims were a good pick-me-up whenever she was tired or needed that extra push when she was working. She wasn't using them for a high and could quit whenever she wanted.

Beyond mentioning something that she already knew, the droid's scans showed nothing was out of the ordinary.

It was both relieving and frustrating at the same time. She was confirmed to have nothing wrong with her but at the same time pain like that doesn't come out of nowhere. She visualized the small packet of pain suppressants on her ship almost wistfully as she took another sip of her drink. If episodes like that were going to be a common thing then they were going to be her saving grace.

If it wasn't physical, could it have been mental, like them chronic pains-

"Excuse me, Miss?" Applejack was cut off from her thoughts by a baritone voice from the seat next to her. She turned to see a brown earth pony stallion in a suit looking right at her.

"Yeah?" She responded, an eyebrow rising on her forehead. Two questions jumped to mind. Who was he and what did he want? No one came dressed like that to a place like this without a reason.

"I was wondering if you were a merchant of sorts?"

"If'n I am?"

"I'm looking for a more unofficial way to get myself and a few friends off planet and you look like the kind of mare who would like to make some credits." He said with a disarming grin.

That raised some red flags. Immediately, Applejack began a quick run of a long list of reasons why someone would want to not to take official transports and all of them ended with bad consequences for her and her family. "Listen, mister. I don't know who ya are and I got no reason to trust ya." She was going to lay it put plain. For all she knew, she'd end up smuggling red sand to be sold on some far off planet...and be sold off with it. "Look for someone else."

"What if I told you I could pay 20,000 even?"

Applejack froze. That was double the amount they were going to loose from the search. More than plenty to take back home. However, her pappy hadn't raised no fool mare and if it sounded too good to be true, odds are it was. She put her drink down and gave the stallion a flat look. "I'd say yer lyin'."

"Well, I have just the remedy for that." He said, pulling a small metal box from his pocket and pushing towards her. "Here is the first five thousand as a down payment."

The orange mare pulled the box towards her and opened it slightly, wide enough for only her to see the contents. She blinked, stunned for a moment then quickly snapped it shut before any wandering eyes could see what was inside. That was a lot of money sitting on this counter which meant the opportunity of a lifetime but there was still a very important question she had to ask. "Can't be goin' from A to B without knowin' B."

The stallion gave her a knowing smile as he answered. "Canterlot."

The galactic center and right in the middle of Republic space. Not some planet that was off the beaten path. That cut it. "You got yerself a deal." She said as she put the box in her coat.

The stallion nodded. "Good, my friends and I will have to leave tonight." It was then that Applejack's heart dropped. Damn it all, she had no idea if the 'inspection' was going to be done by this evening. She opened her mouth to tell the stallion so when a loud noise from her other side caught her attention. She turned to see a brown furred minotaur sloppily knocking back his drink.

Applejack had only given the minotaur a cursory glance. Nothing more than a curious look to see who was making that slurping noise. Unfortunately, his behavior was just as bad as his manners made even worse by alcohol as he gave her a nasty look.

"Who you looking at?" he said.

It was said low and aggressively, but Applejack ignored it and turned back to the stallion, only to find him gone. Damn it all twice over, she hadn't even seen him walk away. Now she just agreed to a job she might not be able to finish.

"Who you looking at?" the guy said again.

Applejack's experience was, they say it once, maybe nothing's going to happen. But they say it twice, then trouble's on the way. Fundamental problem is, they take a lack of response as evidence that you're worried. Scared. Weak. That they're winning. But then, odds are just as equal that if you answer they will take it as a reason to sock you right in the face.

"You looking at me?" the minotaur said, his voice wavering oddly, sweeping high, low and back

"No," Applejack answered, glaring at the box in front of her in frustration. How was she gonna get out of this one? Wasn't like she could find the pony and simply say 'Never mind, here's yer money back'. Maybe the inspection could be done by now.

She took a sip of her drink, noting that several curious faces were turned in their direction.

"Don't you be looking at me, sow," the guy said.

The way he said sow made Applejack think he was maybe a foreman in some kind of mill or a mining operation. Whatever muscle work was done around Ponyville. Some kind of a traditional trade that required sweat. Something that she could respect if any of the residents of this city were on the up and up.

"Don't you look at me," the guy repeated louder this time.

She turned her head and looked at him. Not really to antagonize the guy. Just to size him up. It was a great big galaxy out there, one that would take you by surprise and kill you in a moment’s notice. This minotaur was not one of those moments. So she just smiled the most polite smile she could manage and looked away again.

“You know actually…you ground pounders got better curves than the others. Maybe—”
Applejack felt the intent before the minotaur even finished his sentence and her body tightened like a coiled spring. “Don’t touch me.” She warned without even looking up from her drink.

Normally at this point Big Mac would have long since stepped in to keep idiots who couldn’t take hints from testing their luck. An extra body and a large one at that usually made the less stupid drunks turn away.
“Come on, ain’t that what you useless ones are good fo—”

Applejack caught two fingers of the large hand that was reaching for her on the way in and cracked both at the first knuckle. Just folded them up like she was turning a lever. The minotaur only got one moment to scream before her hand went from his fingers to one of his horns and yanked him down right into the bar. It was a smooth move, well-delivered and it’s impact brutal with two loud cracks punctuating the minotaur’s face meeting the surface.

Applejack didn’t know where the first one came from—the bar,maybe—but she could guess from the fact the horn she had grabbed was still in her grasp even though her hand was a good distance from his head what the second one had been.

Proper earth pony strength was nothing to scoff at.

Knocking back the rest of her drink, the orange mare stood and put some extra credits on the bar along with what her drink cost.

“Sorry fer the mess.” She said to the bartender, who didn’t look the least bit surprised.

She only noticed the music had started playing again when she was almost out of the building, putting a finger to the com she kept in her ear. "Hey, Mac. I think I got us a way to make up what we lost...but there is a small problem."

---

Dinky went straight to her room, lightsaber in hand, ignoring everything else—and did something she rarely did.

She shut the door.

Inside the small space she and her sister shared with its single window that had a glorious view of the building next door, she dropped on to the bed. Slowly, she tuned out the clanks and slams of tools and what had to be droid parts as Sparkler vented in her own way and focused on the past.

For the next hour, when she could manage it without tearing up, she began to focus on everything she knew about her mother, every detail of the message, every conversation they had, every training session, every hug she gave, and every ‘I love you’ she said… Every time she seemed happy...

Why didn't she tell them?

Dinky noticed her vision go foggy and she quickly rubbed her eyes, clearing the tears out. She took a deep breath, idly fiddling with the lightsaber in her hands.

She had been preparing them. For what? When she wasn’t around anymore.

Now she wasn’t and Dinky felt so lost now in her absence than anything else.

Her mother had been a Jedi. A Jedi. That…didn’t make much sense even with her cutie mark on the weapon as proof. Except for the training sessions her mother was accident prone, and that was putting it lightly. She had seen it.
Droid parts, tools, dishes, anything breakable that got in her hands was soon dropped and broken like glass. It was like her mother’s very touch was cursed. That was excluding the times she would trip over nothing and hit the ground in such a heap. There was even one point that she had somehow taken apart an obsolete battle droid with nothing but a pan and broken computer spike.

That had been one crazy thing to see. Yet, even the training didn’t make sense. During those moments, her constant klutzy incoordination was gone. When she swung those sticks, she never slipped or tripped up. When she taught them how to shoot, she never fumbled the blaster or dropped it.

She had been an entirely different mare during those moments. It was as if she were two different ponies. How had she missed that?

Dinky frowned, her thoughts wandering a little on the topic before it focused on one simple question.
Could it have been all an act?
It was the best explanation but at the same time it asked a lot more questions than it answered. Why would anypony sane want to act like they were something pulled out of a comedy holo? Her message said she wanted to protect them but an act like that couldn’t have been for—

She her thought was cut off by a knock on the door. She swallowed her questions deeming them outrageous and looked to the door as Sparkler stepped in, the look on her face a cross between confusion and annoyance. "Hey, did Mr. Gavorn mention he was coming over at the market today?"

"No." Dinky answered, sitting up. "Why? Is he here?"

"At the door right now." She said. "With company. I told you not to take that food."

Dinky winced at her sister's sharp tone. "I didn't think he'd come visit us over it." Pocketing the lightsaber, she got to her hooves and followed her sister. "Plus Time Turner was the one to convince him."

That didn't seem to calm Sparkler down any. "That foal of a..." She took a deep breath as they reached the workshop and Dinky didn't have to guess that she and her mother's best friend were going to be sharing words when he got back. "Just sit at the table, while I find out why he's-"

The grey unicorn had turned to the door while her sister spoke and suddenly the world listed to the side as something hit her like a punch to the gut. Dinky reached out a hand to steady herself against the table as her knees buckled slightly. Something...something was behind that door and it wasn't friendly. Whatever it was, it was thick like a heavy fog that hung in the back of her mind and churned her stomach so violently that she was sure she was about to vomit. She gasped and covered her mouth, just barely making out the sound of her sister's voice. Every nerve in her body was telling her to run. Just grab her sister and run.

Just run.

Run.

RUN!

"....iky! DINKY!?"

Then, like a rubber band being stretched and let go, everything snapped back to the here and now. She was leaning against the table and felt her sister's arms around her, she almost sounded hysterical. "Dinky! Talk to me! Are you okay?"

Dinky almost didn't recognize her own voice as she spoke the one thing on her mind. "D-D-Don't op-en the door."

"What?"

"Don't let them in! We've got to go, right n..."

She didn't get to finish as the metal door to the shop was blasted inwards with such force that it flew right across the workshop. Dinky just barely had enough time you pull her sister to the floor before the door shaped guillotine went buzzing over their heads and embedding into the wall behind her with a loud GONG!

Dinky, frozen stiff from shock, watched as Sparkler quickly jumped to her hooves and drew the blaster from her side only for it to whip right out of her hand as if somepony snatched it from her.

She watched as it flew towards the threshold and into a armored hand of a blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane, who then tossed over to the griffon-No, Mr. Gavron next to her. He caught it with a frown aimed at...the pegasus?

Whatever the reason for his stare it didn't last long as Sparkler made a lunge for the blaster still on the table. That too, went flying through the air of it's own volition and ended up in the pegasus' hands. Dinky felt a chill as the mare's pair of rose colored eyes raked over her as a cruel smile twisted on her lips.

"Hello, filly."

Author's Note:

Hey, I got a new cover!!! Sweet!

And I'm making progress with this story. Another character will be introduced in the next chapter.

Comments

[Starshield Knight]

Again, this was very enjoyable! Your pacing and characterizations are also pretty good! There are some grammer mistakes but nothing outlandishly bad. All in all I look forward to the next chapter even more now!

[Logic Flip]

5535912 YES! YES! YES! You're the first person to figure it out!

[Logic Flip]

5535912 I wanted Rainbow to play a Ventress-like character role.