A New Adventure
The life of a Mandalorian is a life of burden.
To many, a Mandalorian is nothing more than a myth, a fantasy used to keep children in awe as their grandparents recount their days under the tranquility of the republic, but to the few who choose to walk the path, they know that is far from the truth. Always lurking in the shadows, the silent protectors of the galaxy that are sworn to The Way and to rid the ordinary citizen from fear of meeting a criminal. It was a dangerous creed, one that was not full of glamour, and guaranteed that tomorrow was never promised.
Some, like the notorious Boba Fett, took extreme measures that often fell into the grey area of The Way, being a hired gun for criminals and often taking innocent lives when it wasn't even necessary as part of the job he was given. This led to a general feeling amongst the rest of the Manadalorians that, by letting his sense of duty cloud his judgment and morals, he was considered rogue and not a true Mandalorian; which, in turn, caused a small celebration when the news was spread that he had fallen into a Sarlacc pit on Tatooine and no body had been recovered.
However, most who followed The Way knew what limits to push, what laws could be loopholed, and how to remain hidden from sight only to collect a bounty when it was needed. Throughout the course of history, many had taken the path of the Mandalorian, but few had the accolades to be recognized wherever they went. They were the Nameless to many, and so few that they were simply a phantom concept unless you actually knew one or was one.
Yet, through it all, The Way was the absolute truth, and The Way was to always be kept. A creed that was both protector and the final judge, and if you strayed from the path you could never return. However, to one Mandalorian, even that bond was beginning to eat away at his morals.
"How could such a tiny baby get me into this mess…" Din Djarin, or simply Mando to the bounty hunter circuit, thought as he guided the Razorcrest to a region of deep space. Looking over to the peaceful, sleeping child that was seated behind him, he started reflecting on how the powerful infant had turned his entire life onto its head.
Ever since he had chosen to follow The Way, he had sworn his life to The Guild and to the Armorer who ran it as the Mandalore; however, his mission to retrieve The Child had opened his eyes to a lot of things, like how The Guild was not always pure, and was in fact seedy in its doings. In a way, Din felt that by saving The Child, who was innocent and pure, was like when he was rescued after The Night of a Thousand Tears, a simple gesture of paying forward the same chance that he had been given. That feeling took root after the Armorer had deemed him and his companion as a tribe of two, and guaranteeing that his new purpose in life was to either find The Child's family, or train him in The Way when he came of age.
"Hello," Din said, looking at The Child as he stirred from his slumber, a joyous smile on the infant's face as he looked at his helmeted caretaker. "Did you enjoy your nap?"
Even though their time together had been short, Din had been able to pick up on some of the various gestures and sounds that The Child used to communicate. High pitched with a gleeful laugh meant happy, a combination of a shriek and whine meant startled, and a whimper meant sad. Right now, The Child simply smiled at him, his necklace firmly in his three-fingered grip.
"I'll take that as a yes," Din said, getting out of his seat and heading towards the lower level. "Sit tight, I got something for you."
Climbing down the ladder and moving towards the storage area, he glimpsed around at all the things that were still down there. From the carbonite rack to the weapons storage area, nothing seemed out of place or missing besides a few trinket wares that he had used to trade with a few locals several stops ago to get some much-needed supplies.
The Razorcrest itself had taken a beating as of late, literally being put back together piece by piece after some Jawas had dismantled it back on Arvala-7, and, in the process, taught him a valuable lesson in how they made a living using the barter-trade system. Of course, much like any childhood toy that comes 'some assembly required', the ship was not fully like it had been before that encounter, with multiple wires and leads having to be crossed and shortcutted just to keep the vessel in working condition.
This included the fridge that stored the perishable goods.
"Come on you stupid piece of circuits," Din said, getting aggravated that the panel refused to accept the keypin, even after a fourth attempt. "I swear I will blast you to smithereens if you don't release the goods I need for Babu!"
Bashing his palm against the panel, it finally triggered the sequence required to open the door to the cold closet, his rage making him ignore the minor outburst and name that he had just said for the foundling that was now in his care.
The fridge, being nothing more than a glorified closet space, only had shelving and ice coating the walls, kept cool by the endothermic reaction of Ammonium Chloride and Barium Hydroxide circulating in the wall space of the makeshift area. This allowed the goods to be kept at a safe temperature without truly freezing, due to the thicker walls absorbing most of the chill. This helped, because a little treat for The Child he picked up on Sorgan would not have survived the trip otherwise.
"Still alive, good," Din said, picking up one of the carefully wrapped packages and, after a quick kick to make sure the closing mechanism activated on the sliding door, made his way back up towards the cockpit as the package began to stir from the far warmer environment than the near-hibernation cold that it had been kept in. "This is for you kid."
The Child looked at the package with a mix of curiosity and awe, only replaced with sheer glee as a slimy green head with beady black eyes wormed its way out of the package. The frog, sensing danger, did its best to free itself from the vice grip it was in, only to find itself being gobbled down like a Hutt traitor in a Sarlacc pit.
"You like those huh?" Din's tone was soft, rubbing the infant's head as he enjoyed his meal. "Well, I got a couple more in storage that should hold you off til we find another place to land. Let me check the star maps in our travel path for a good place to rest."
The command was simple, a maneuver Din had performed numerous times before without any prompt or circumstance. Pressing the button sent a signal to the ship's onboard computer and, even in hyperspace, it was able to determine what planetary systems were closest to the Razorcrest by using the gravitational lens constant from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy to triangulate the ship's position.
However, these were far from usual circumstances.
The moment the button was pressed, the electrical signal was carried out to the circuits, but due to the makeshift, and somewhat rushed, rewiring job that had been done the signal did not go directly to the correct terminal. Instead, the crossed circuits bounced and relayed the command through all the connected transistors, causing several key instruments to fluctuate and give a false trigger. One of these was the hyperdrive terminal, which, from the sudden electrical pull, briefly dipped; thus, the onboard guidance drew more energy to counteract the problem, something that the ship was not suited for as it suddenly shuddered and rocked from the burst of speed.
"Hang on!" Din said, trying to take back control from the runaway hyperdrive. Yet, to the outside observer, all they would feel it a strong pulse ripple as the ship literally vanished from sight. "I'm going to try the emergency shut down, hope this works!"
Reaching up under the command board, Din hit the emergency shut down, delivering a 'kill and reset' command to every system onboard and fully cutting off the power. Luckily, the order worked, jolting both Din and The Child in their seats from the sudden deceleration and bringing the ship to a total, pitch-black standstill. Only the humming of the life support, which was on a remote system separate from the kill switch, kept the cockpit from being a stilled silence.
"What the world happened?" Din said, turning his head back towards the infant while using his thermal and bio functions in his helmet to check on its vitals, relieved that he was ok other than being scared. "That is the first time that has ever happened, it should have only brought up the star and planetary map. Maybe there was a frayed wire or something…"
Opening the access panel to the wiring, a wide range of emotions tore through him. Rage, anger, grief, and shock all came and went, and it was only by sheer force of his will did he manage to keep from saying some very naughty words in front of the minor.
"This…" Din finally sighed. "Is gonna take a while…"
It took a countless amount of time, the sense of seconds, minutes, and hours having long since bleed into each other like a flowing river on a mountainside, but Din managed to get the wiring to where he deemed it was suitable. Like a docile surgeon, he flipped switch after switch, hoping with his only remaining hope that he managed to correct the issue that had resulted in the hyperdrive malfunction. The systems came to life like birthing stars, lighting up the cockpit and ensuring that his repair job was in fact done as a run through the systems check returned no red flags.
"Alright, it seems I got everything fixed kid," Din said, looking to make sure The Child was still awake. "Lets see where we are."
After a brief hesitation, Din hit the button to bring up the star maps. The hologram flickered before finally solidifying, revealing a troubling sight. All of the stars, planetary systems, and even the shape of the galaxy itself were all wrong, all the IDs pinging up as 'Unknowns'.
"Did I accidentally erase the data?" Din was confused, never experiencing the map being uncharted before. "Maybe if I reset it…"
Time and time again he reset the program, and with each attempt a cold sensation started to crawl up his spine. Glancing from the star map to The Child, it was times like this he was thankful he couldn't take his helmet off, not wanting his adorable companion of mischief to see the tears streaming down his face.
"I don't know how to put this," Din's tone caused The Child to tilt his head, looking at his father figure with concern that Din could practically feel. "It seems that when the hyperactive malfunctioned, it seems not only did it put us in an unknown region of space, but also in an entirely different galaxy and I don't know how long it will be before we can return home…"
Din then pressed himself into his seat as the realization of his words hit him like a stun bolt. He knew that space was vast, the stars visible at any given point being just a tiny fraction of the amount that was in the entire universe, but to be in such an unknown made him realize that there were things just waiting to be discovered. Both good, and evil.
The Child said nothing, but through a mysterious way he knew was ancient and protective, understood every word that the metallic man had just said. That same feeling drew his attention to the star map, to one of the tinier points of light that to a normal observer would be insignificant. It wanted them to go there, but he still needed to get his friend to know as he reached for the flickering light.
"What’re you doing?" Din said, observing his companion trying to grasp a star point in his tiny hand. "Do you want us to go there?"
The Child simply smiled.
"Alright then," Hitting a few controls, Din isolated the star that The Child had been trying to grab, but due to it being an unknown system the result was not instantaneous. However, when the scan came back, what he saw intrigued him. "Ten planets, but only one seems to be in its' star's Habitable Zone… I say it is at least worth a shot, and is better floating here waiting for our inevitable demise from starvation."
The Child was happy. Not only had he managed to have his guardian understand him, but he also knew that the feeling that had guided him to that world was also content. As he watched the points outside the windows turn into streaks from the hyperdrive, eagerness and excitement took hold and banished sleep to the darkness where it resided. It wasn't long before both he and his parental figure dropped out of hyperspace, and the view shook both of them to the core.
Against the darkness of space, a beautiful world stood before them. Roughly the size of Coruscant, it had all the features that made Alderaan such a wonderful tourist destination. A vast, deep blue sea covered a majority of the planet's surface, accompanied by glistening ice caps at the north and south poles with low altitude clouds rolling with the breeze. Other than a very intense cyclone in the middle of the ocean, almost like it was locked in place by surrounding high-pressure zones, it was like a flat plane of stillness only broken by numerous tiny islands closer to the continental shelf.
As the land rotated into view, Din could make out swamps, a volcanic rift field, numerous grassy plains, and several tall mountains. It was like it was a wildlife preserve, barren of any noticeable technology that he was accustomed to during his travels, but the ship's scanner was picking up on a wide variety of lifeforms.
"Seems that whatever is here is most likely primitive, but clustered in herds," Din said, looking for the best possible place to land as he observed the full moon overhead, its crater-pocketed landscape void of life from its thin atmosphere and the intense streams of an unknown, invisible plasma. "However, the planet's air seems breathable, so I say we land and see what we can find to eat."
Prepping the landing sequence, the Razorcrest began to slowly lose altitude, the distant stars soon becoming masked by light reflecting off the outer layers of the atmosphere.
"Hang on tight kid, things are about to get bumpy…"
To a foreign dignitary, Equestria was viewed as a simplistic nation. Vast, empty plains covered much of the area, and the few villages not named Manehatten, Ponyville, or Appleoosa were often overlooked due to being deemed as 'too far back in the times'. However, far to the southeast of Canterlot, the Baahamas sat like an outcrop in the vast
sea.
It's lush landscape and beautiful coastline, unique and far different than the murky waters of Horseshoe Bay or the Horseton Gulf offered visitors a chance to have prime snorkeling conditions, see the reef microbiome, and see the rare and native Baahamian Marlien in its' natural habitat as it chilled in the shallow coastal water and let young fillies and colts slide on its smooth back.
As a result, multiple resorts opened along the pristine beaches, turning the remote island into a budding tourist destination; however, far away from kiosks selling 'I was a temporary seapony' merchandise, deep in the heart of the island was a different kind of resort. This one was fortified in solid gold, with a large crystal clear pool in front scattered with different playing gear and a diving board. It was a place where delegates of all nations went when they retired, able to enjoy the rest of their days in pampered seclusion.
"This is the life, isn't It Lulu?" Celestia said, adjusting her shades as she basked in the rays of the sun. "No paperwork to file, no nobles to chase after, no threats to deal with every week…"
"No drab court sessions either dear sister," Luna said, drinking the last remaining drops of juice out of her pineapple, looking at the fruit with a foregone look that its' heavenly nectar had been depleted and making the hallowed husk obsolete. "It has been odd for me to adjust to a daytime schedule, but it is worth it considering I get to spend more time with you. For over a century we held duel rule, until my banishment that is, and even after I returned there never was time for both of us to go off on a sister bonding day."
"Something always came up, no matter how minuscule," Celestia's sigh carried the weight of an asteroid, pounding at her mental defenses that had once been corroded from guilt but now stood stronger than ever. "A stupid bill, Blueblood on a tantrum, and so many more things kept us apart Lulu, but now we can finally bond like we should and be the sisters that we should have always been. Twilight has done a terrific job keeping everything in balance so far, so I don't think there is anything that will require us to go to Canterlot anytime soon."
"Quite, and I see nothing that can possibly go wrong to make me think otherwise." Luna's statement caused a small bead of sweat to roll down Celestia's cheek, knowing the dangers of tempting Marephy far too well, but Luna was none the wiser to her little quip as she summoned two popsicles from their ice chest. "I suppose a frozen toast is in order, to sister bonding!"
"To sister bonding…" Celestia, taking her popsicle, touched her's to Luna's. The rich taste of chocolate made her worry melt away in the silky sea of flavor, but a shining object out the corner of her eye caught her attention. Even with both her and Luna being retired, she knew the star charts by heart due to carefully tending them in Luna's absence, and she knew that there was no meteor showers planned for the next few months. "Say sister, does that object in the sky look a bit odd to you?"
"Nice try Tia," Luna said, removing the cylindrical tube of flavor that was in her muzzle with a rather loud *pop*. "Too bad this isn't squid, I love the taste of calamaried tentacle, but anyway the last time you asked me that you stole my apple juice cup when we were fillies, do you expect me to fall for that again? I may forgive Tia, but I never forget."
"Oh come on, you really going to bring that up!?" Celestia said, her gaze following the mysterious object as it descended further below the atmosphere, the fireball fading and revealing a metallic object of the likes she had never seen. "You made me albino!"
"Which, I did turn you back to normal without mom and dad getting involved, and it was an accident from a puberty magic surge." Luna said, her flat tone showing she was about to deliver the parting shot. "And on top of that, you permanently turned your coat white after you gave Sunset Shimmer up for adoption!"
"W-wha," Celestia froze in place, a look of pure fear in her eyes as adrenaline surged through her body. There was a mental list of things that she was not proud of, including driving Yetis to the brink of extinction, but Sunset Shimmer topped that list of things that showed just how imperfect she was. "How do you know about that?! That took place while you were banished, and I had all evidence stricken off the record!"
"Be that as it may, dear sister, you forgot to take into consideration Nightmare's fuel." Luna said, briefly pausing as she closed her eyes. "Even on the moon, I could see nightmares, for Nightmare drew her power from them and I saw every one. Some were stupid, like a filly wetting themselves while giving a speech in front of their class, but your recurring nightmare of Sunset and the populace finding out the truth was like a drug to her. I deeply suspected it to be nothing more than a normal fantasy nightmare due to your falling out with her, but you just confirmed it to be true."
"Clever mare…" Celestia's tone was flat, like a hunter that had just been ambushed by its prey as she forced herself to keep from falling into a mental pit of anger. "Alright, you got me, but right now is not the time to go into that topic. Since you made sure to make me remember my greatest regret, can you please turn around and look at what I'm talking about?"
Luna didn't even get the chance to as a reverberating *BOOM*, louder than anything that even a collective Wonderbolt Soundbuster could reach, thundered across the sky and caused the other inhabitants of the retirement resort to clamor outside to see what the cause was.
"Is that a flying machine?" Giloubus, the former Prince of Griffinstone, said as he tried to use his aging vision to focus on the object. "It is! It is a flying machine! I told you I wasn't going crazy in the head, just look!"
"We are looking you overcooked turkey!" Meadowbrooke said, thunking Giloubus across the head. "I swear if you were any older, we would be calling you Dry Roast! Only reason you even are accepted is because you held the Griffionian Crown for five minutes before Gruff ran you out of town by your tail feathers."
"He caught me with my guard down," Giloubus muttered, ignoring the looks the others were giving him. "Anyway, what do you suppose that object is?"
"To cause that big of a sonic boom it has to be large," Queen Amethyst said, the purple changeling queen becoming the center of attention due to rarely coming out of her room. "If I had to guess, roughly the size of the Royal Zeppelins, but traveling much faster and able to withstand the atmospheric turbulence. In short, we are dealing with aliens, and it looks like it is on a collision course with Ponyville going by the angle."
"Of course it is," Celestia groaned, her sister joining in her facehoof. "Guess we need to prevent Ponyville from overreacting and making a bad impression huh?"
"It would appear so dear sister," Luna said, reluctantly putting down her tropical ware and giving herself a once over. "Funny how for once we are the ones having to save the day isn't it?"
"Now hold on," Amethyst said, causing both alicorns to look at her once again. "Before you two set off, I got a favor I need to ask of you. You know that my daughter somehow managed to free herself from her stone prison using a drone substitution spell, I still glare at that newspaper clipping by the way, but if you somehow run into her tell her that her mother sees her as an unfit ruler and-"
There were many languages that Celestia had seen be born and die out over the course of her rule. From Ancient Roam and Fleece, to Olde Equish, each held a special place in her heart for the wonderful melodies that had been written during those times. However, there was one tune that conquered all the others.
Vespin was the ancient language of the changelings, its unique blend of chirps strung together in different rhythms and pitches made Celestia want to learn it just so she could mentally hum a ballad to push her through Day Court. Even though she herself lacked the ability to chirp, there were times she wished she could just to be able to join in on the glorious symphony that used to be heard all across ancient Canterlot. It saddened her when the Chloroflu Epidemic wiped out most of the hives of the time, which not only allowed Chrysalis to rise to power, but also brought an end to her favorite pastime. When Amethyst showed up at the resort, Celestia's heart surged with hope as the relic queen taught her what each chirp meant, how to decipher the words and use it in Equish. So, when Amethyst whispered in Vespin something that Celestia would never see her own daughter as, the alicorn could only stutter.
"I-I will give her the message…" Celestia said, visibly shaken by Amethyst's remark. "If I run into her that is."
"Good to know," Amethyst said, her pleased smile showing a little too much fang for anyone's liking. "Now, I think you better get going before all of Ponyville escalates into a full blown riot."
With a glowing teleport, Celestia and Luna vanished, but Meadowbrooke had something else entirely on her mind.
"Will you ever tell them Amethyst?"
"Maybe one day Meadowbrooke… Maybe one day…" Amethyst's tone was softer than any she had used since her return from the Frozen North, and deep in the recesses of her mind the memories of two fillies, one yellow with a pink tail and the other navy blue, tucked against her barrell burned brighter than ever before.
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For the record: I know that is not Mando's helmet, but the visual effect was too good to resist
This should be a good read if you keep up on the quality. Well done.
Love it.♥️
This is The Way.
10102099
This is The Way.
Looks like I am in for an interresting ride.
Is there a planned update sheduled?
10102166
Considering the absolute clutterfuck I am in with as many open stories as I have? I'm going to try, for now, once every 3 months
10102099
10102147
This is the Way
10101577
10101837
Thank you!
I had exactly this same idea for a setup, except in mine, the Child and the CMCs use his force powers to raid Sugarcube Corner for sweets.
10102306
That sounds like a nightmare for the Mane 6
Yes please let baby yoda in sugar cube Conner I wan tto see that happening.
...Okay, you've caught my interest. The science-y stuff you mentioned for how the ship's systems work also implies you know your stuff, so well done on that.
And this seems like a lovely resort. And Celestia is Sunset's mother? And Amethyst may be her and Luna's? Don't suppose we'll get any follow-up on that?
And is that Mage Meadowbrook or a different Meadowbrook?
10102373
That is Mage Meadowbrook, and yeah, parental issues are going to play a big part
Y'know that howling joke in Zootopia? I like to imagine the Mandalorians are like that with that phrase, "This is the way."
Aaaanyway, I kinda skimmed over the second portion of this story. It completely ruins my immersion when characters — in this case, Celly and Woona — start conversation about things they would have talked about long ago. Exposition shouldn't be so painful and forced.
To combat this, without any novel-length guide to write, I'd advise that you leave little "crumbs" of exposition throughout the story, just hints. Or otherwise just find a way for the characters to deliver it naturally (like maybe a tourist pony asks for directions — "I'm sorry, I've never been to [location] before!"). Hell, you could even just straight-up tell us the details, if it doesn't rob the story of an interesting reveal. But a great guideline to follow if you want to be smoother about it is KEEP IT RELEVANT to the plot. (Maybe the tourist pony is a main character in that hypothetical. O.o)
There are loads of practical ways of delivering exposition. I think we're all afraid of it to some extent, but de-mystifying this aspect of writing can make it way easier and even fun.
10103070
Thanks for the tip!
I cant with that title
10106045
In a good way or...
I need more of this
I want more. Especially of the Mando and Baby Yoda
I like the story and where It's going, but can I recommend having Din Djarin not talk as much? He was never a sociable character and seemed to keep to himself quite a lot. It would be a good idea to turn most of his lines into just him thinking to himself, as it ruins the feeling of it actually being Din under that helmet. Still, it's a great start and I can't wait for the next chapter. You got this man!
10149791
Fair, but in my mindset, he talks to the Child "off camera" as it were. And something like that happen, he would talk more to keep him calm
10150072
I have been looking all over the damn place to find a story based around The Mandalorian.
Oh look, another mando story that has been abandoned.
10245759
Nope, got an update planned for next month (I am a COVID essential worker... 'Nough said...)