https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSJRVrPzVI8

Blood dripped from her nostrils as Tempest Shadow blankly gazed over the crowd standing before her, all shouting and screaming their rage in the early morning sunlight. Her gaze slowly drifted from one side of the festival platform to the other, finding almost every square inch of the area covered in multicolored ponies all pointing their anger directly at her.

How did this happen? She thought to herself, It was supposed to be so easy...

Almost subconsciously, she looked over toward the captured air ships all tied together on the lower platforms below. Memories of her once imposing fleet flashed by her mind, only to be dashed away as she was brutally shoved forward, her broken foreleg giving out immediately and dropping her onto her muzzle, once more.

Cheers echoed from the crowd as the guards picked her up for the third time, and roughly moved her over to the wooden steps just below the slowly swinging noose above. The trial was declared the fastest trial in Equestrian history, having taken less than five minutes for three of the four alicorn princesses to declare her guilty. The fourth took almost an entire eight hours of convincing. High treason and attempted assassination of at least one of the royal alicorns made for an instant death sentence, and as the noose steadily approached, Tempest finally picked up on the voice of the solar princess standing just a few feet away from her.

"-for your crimes against the crown, as well as Equestria as a whole, it is with great sorrow, that I must sentence you to death. You are to be the first pony to be executed in Equestria in over two thousand years. Do you have any last words?" Celestia announced, her regal voice booming over the cheering crowd.

Almost out of morbid curiosity, a hush quickly washed over the gathered ponies, silencing the crowd so they could hear the broken unicorn's last words.

Now with perfect silence, Tempest's mind raced. Memories of her entrance, her speech, and her assault flashed through her mind, but as her eyes flicked back and forth over the crowd, she saw a haunting memory of where it all went wrong. A broken pillar, barely even holding together at its base, sent a flashback right into her brain.

Tempest kicked the fourth medusa orb toward the last princess as she tried to keep Luna's petrified form from shattering into the ground. Just before the orb could make contact, a prismatic blur knocked her out of the way, leaving a gray pegasus mare to take the impact instead. Tempest frowned at the missed shot, but quickly found a smirk reappearing on her face as she watched the last princess gallop away in fear.

"Get her, now!" She barked, her storm soldiers quickly jumping from the airship to the platform below to give chase.

Tempest cocked her head back in mild amusement as the burly creatures barreled after the much smaller pony princess and her friends. She looked over to her left, and then her right, seeing more and more of her air ships anchoring off the platform to deploy her invasion force while the ponies of Canterlot fled in terror. The sight formed a wicked smirk on her face while she confidently strode down her landing stairs to the entombed princesses arranged in different stages of panic.

"You sure got them good, boss! They never saw that coming!" Grubber cheered, wiping the crumbs from his face from his latest snack while he chugged along after her.

"Only one princess to go... and she should be here before me in a matter of seconds. This was almost too easy." Tempest chuckled, tapping the stone Celestia's wither as if she were admiring a sculpture.

Just as Grubber opened his mouth to respond, a sound like thunder echoed out from the direction of the last princess, making both Tempest and her second whip their heads toward the sound of the noise, only for a dozen more to rake at their ears.

"Gah! What the heck was that?!" Grubber exclaimed, covering his ears as another volley of thunderous sound echoed through Canterlot.

"I don't know..." Tempest muttered, her brow furrowing in slight concern, before turning to the Storm soldiers standing all around the platform, all looking confused by the cause of the noise, "Go over there and get me that princess!" She shouted, her horn crackling with malicious intent.

The Storm soldiers immediately took the hint and charged toward the noise. Shouts and battlecries temporarily filled the air while the beasts rounded the corner of a party tent and disappeared into the dust filling the air. The sounds of her soldiers charging into battle faded away after a few moments, leaving an eerie silence as Tempest and Grubber shared a look. Then, the thunder returned, in a volley that made both pony and hedgehog cover their ears as the deafening echoes ricocheted off of the stone Canterlot walls around them, amplifying the sound even more.

Tempest noticed thirty distinct blasts before a short silence filled the air once more. It only lasted for a few seconds, before another fifteen made her wince as her ears flicked back against her head.

"What the heck is that!?" Grubber shouted, frantically looking back and forth between Tempest and the direction of the noise.

Tempest's brow furrowed deeply in concern as she looked straight at the corner her soldiers rounded not thirty seconds earlier. She nearly gasped in shock as she witnessed a lone Storm soldier run around the corner, his fur matted with blood and a distinct limp in his gait. He didn't even make it two steps closer before two more blasts echoed from the corner, and the soldier jerked to the side, as if he'd been struck. Tempest's jaw finally dropped as the second blast dropped the soldier to the ground, his body quickly going limp as blood pooled around him.

Tempest felt a cold feeling well up in her chest at the sight of one of her soldiers laying dead in front of her. Beside her, Grubber fared even worse, and threw up onto the tiled platform. The dust kicked up by their initial assault slowly settled, allowing them both a view of a dark silhouette slowly approaching them. The figure walked on two legs, much like her soldiers, only its frame was markedly smaller and slimmer, though still with a noticeable amount of mass when compared to a pony.

After walking within fifty feet of the unicorn and hedgehog, the figure came to a stop, and shouldered what Tempest could only assume was some kind of weapon.

"This is your one and only chance to surrender peacefully." The figure spoke, it's voice definitively masculine.

Tempest's brow furrowed as she stared back at the creature slowly being revealed through the dust. Even after her decades of travel and experience, It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. A shaggy mop of black hair sat atop its head framing a squared jawline peppered with a black beard that obscured most of its face. Two deep brown eyes glared back at her, just above a surprisingly small nose on the creature's face. He wore a simple black suite with a black tie, and a white undershirt. Aside from the strange stick-like weapon in his hands, the creature looked like a normal Canterlot citizen here for the friendship festival.

"We surrender!" Grubber immediately shouted, sticking his arms up in fear at the intimidating creature standing before him and his commander.

Tempest shot Grubber a look that could melt glass, before her horn crackled with magical energy. The creature immediately pointed its weapon directly at her, its posture noticeably tensing. Tempest smacked the back of Grubber's head, making him squeal in pain.

"We most certainly do not surrender." Tempest seethed through grit teeth.

"B-but, boss, he killed all of those goons in seconds! Maybe we shouldn't mess with him!" Grubber protested, rubbing the back of his head as he frantically looked back and forth between Tempest and the creature.

"Those goons weren't me." Tempest growled, before turning toward the creature once more.

Without waiting for a response from either of the beings around her, Tempest's horn crackled to life, sending a bolt of lighting straight toward the alien creature. It deftly spun to the side, narrowly dodging the bolt of energy, before re-aiming at Tempest, only to duck under a second bolt. Just as she charged a third attack, the creature dove behind one of the vendor carts sitting out on the platform and disappeared. Tempest angrily fired her third bolt of energy at the pillar standing just beside the vendor cart, knocking out the bottom support and toppling the structure right onto the cart, sending stone and wood splinters flying.

Tempest blinked several times, before turning her head to look at the princess standing just a few feet away, an expectant look on her face. She struggled to find words, any words at all that could convey the raging thoughts in her head, but found almost nothing. Her mouth felt dry as she nervously swallowed.

"Even... after everything I told you?" She managed to say, her voice nearly cracking.

Celestia slowly nodded and closed her eyes, "I am afraid so. Your crimes are some of the most severe any pony has ever committed on Equestrian soil, and after Harmony sent us mister Smith... we've learned that our current methods of dealing with threats like you are too lax. For what it's worth, I truly am sorry." She replied, her tone conveying a deep sense of sorrow.

Tempest's already creased brow furrowed even further as she looked out to the crowd once more. Her eyes nearly instantly locked onto a small opening in the crowd, where a damaged table laid, multiple holes present in its frame.

Tempest charged toward the downed pillar, her horn crackling with malicious intent as she leapt through the dust, finding nothing but shattered marble and stone laying on the ground. She quickly looked left and right, finding a shadowy figure running through the dust. Her target located, she galloped after it, her steel horseshoes clopping noisily on the nearly silent platform.

She shot a bolt of lightning at the figure, just as it dove behind a toppled wooden table. Her shot missed, and she lost sight of the target as she quickly closed the last of the distance to the table. However, to her shock, the table suddenly launched from the ground straight at her, forcing her to dive to the ground below. As the table sailed just a few scant inches over her head, her gaze locked onto the creature pointing its weapon directly above her. A blinding flash of light nearly forced her to shut her eyes while another deafening crack of thunder raked at her ears. Splinters of wood touched the back of her neck as hole after hole was punched into the wooden table.

With her newfound proximity, Tempest could finally see the features of the creature's face clearly, as well as the emotion present on its face. Namely, surprise. She watched in slow motion as the creature's eyes flicked down to her while her armor scraped and slid on the stone floor. With the upper hoof finally assured, she slammed her hooves onto the ground like coiled springs, launching herself at the creature as her horn crackled to life once more. Time moved slowly as she closed in, sparks of electrically charged magic sputtering from her broken horn while she wore a scowl of intent.

She could never anticipate just how quickly the creature could react, however, and just before she could make contact, he fell backwards, onto his back. Tempest felt her stomach drop as she sailed just over the creature, her horseshoes only barely grazing his suit as he hit the ground. Tempest flew another few feet before landing and turning to face him, her hooves skidding to a halt after just a moment.

Whatever that thing in his hands is, I can't afford to get hit by it. Looks like he has to be pointing it at me for it to do anything...

Just as quickly as Tempest got solid footing, the creature rolled onto its stomach and shouldered its weapon once more. Tempest immediately dove to the side as another hail of thunder and concussive flashes made her ears ring. She felt heat pass right under her barrel as a sharp breeze whizzed under her. She landed on her wither behind a small cart and quickly rolled to her hooves. She almost couldn't hear the creature getting up as well due to the newfound ringing in her ears.

The creature's weapon stayed trained in her direction almost the entire time as it got to its feet. With perilously few options left, Tempest reached down to her waistline and grabbed her last medusa orb with her hoof.

Was saving this for the Storm King, but I suppose you've left me no choice.

Tempest peeked from behind the cart, finding the creature steadily approaching her, its weapon at the ready. With her plan devised, she clutched the orb in her hoof and broke into a three legged gallop out from her cover. Instantly, another cacophony of terrible sound blared from her left side, and she felt an impact on her hind leg armor. Her entire body rattled as the armor stopped the projectile, the impact leaving a heavy dent and nearly knocking her off of her hooves entirely.

She managed to gallop behind one of the stone princesses and pause to catch her breath. Her left thigh ached badly from the impact, and she cast a worried glance, finding that while the armor held, the dent was so severe that it was nearly completely punctured. She hurriedly looked over Luna's stone wings, seeing the creature fast approaching. Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Tempest jumped onto Luna's back before leaping into the air once more, her forward momentum quickly carrying her into a front-flip just as she released the orb from her hoof. It flew just a foot above her head before her hindleg smacked into it, sending the orb sailing toward the creature as she completed the flip.

Tempest shook her head in disbelief before looking to Celestia once more. The solar princess eyed her warily, but with a noticeable measure of sadness in her eyes that showed through even her world-renowned poker face. Beside her, Luna looked stoically on over the crowd, before glancing over to the broken unicorn. Hostility instantly flashed through her eyes before she looked away to the crowd once more.

"What... what even was that creature?" Tempest questioned, more to herself than to anypony else.

"That creature was mister Smith. A human." Cadence answered from beside Celestia, a deep frown on her face as she observed.

Tempest mouthed the word 'human', before another guard shoved her forward once more. She managed to not fall on her muzzle again, and slowly ascended the three steps leading to the noose. Another guard was already waiting for her on the platform, his horn glowing yellow as he adjusted the noose down to her head. Tempest felt her lip quiver as the rope was pushed over her head and secured around her neck. She felt the tightness cut off her air slightly, but managed to gulp back her protests as she crowd erupted into cheers once more.

With her time quickly coming to an unforeseen end, Tempest took one last look over the crowd. Ponies of every species, color, and corner of Equestria cheered and stomped their approval at the prospect of watching her die. Every pony in the crowd cheered for her death, except one. Even from across the platform, Tempest could see the Princess of Friendship watching her, tears streaking down from her purple eyes as she stared on in horror.

As Tempest landed on her hooves with a resounding *clang* of steel against stone, she watched the orb bolt through the air toward the approaching creature. However, for what could have been the third time, Tempest was stunned by the split second reaction of the creature. He quickly lowered his weapon and dove away from the orb as it sailed right past his shoulder and collided with a potted plant, instantly exploding and turning it to stone.

Tempest took no time to worry over the failed attempt, as she saw a new opening, and instantly seized upon it. Breaking into the fastest gallop she could muster, the mulberry unicorn darted toward the creature as it stood back up to its full height. Just before he could aim his weapon in her direction, she closed the last few feet between them, her horn sparking as she leapt forward, slamming her armored wither into his shoulder and nearly knocking him to the ground.

Quickly skidding to a halt just beside him, Tempest spun around, her tail flicking back and whipping the backs of his knees and knocking him to his back once more. He managed to maintain control of his weapon with his right hand, although with it now pointing straight into the sky, Tempest easily kicked it out of his grasp with one leg.

With the creature now defenseless beside her, she reared back and brought her forehooves down to the ground to slam into the creature's skull. He deftly rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the impact as her steel horseshoes cracked the marble underneath. Tempest had but a fraction of a second to realize her attack missed, before a hand firmly grasped her collar. She looked up only in time to see the creature's knee as it slammed into her muzzle, sending a sharp jolt of pain through her skull as the cartilage in her snout broke.

Tempest attempted to stagger back, only for the creature to hold her firmly in place and knee her in the muzzle once more. She felt a woozy feeling in her head as she tried to break his grip with her forelegs, but as blood spilled from her nostrils, she found that the beast was simply stronger than she was. The stunning strike against her face stunted her ability to use her broken horn, and any attempts to smash the creature's face with her hooves were blocked by his other arm acting as a shield over its head.

With her left foreleg, Tempest tried to hold the creature back while she used her right foreleg to attempt to pry his grip from her collar. However, after less than a second of this, the creature latched onto her left foreleg with his free hand and rolled his legs back up almost over his head. In a blur of motion that she could barely see, the creature trapped her foreleg between his legs and his hands. He quickly extended his legs against her chest and barrel, swiftly pushing her off balance and to her back while he pulled her foreleg against his stomach with both hands. Meanwhile, his legs held her down to the ground, and a feeling of horror welled up in the broken unicorn's heart as she realized just what predicament she was in.

A foreleg-bar?! But... how!? What kind of creature is this thing!?

As pressure increased on her foreleg, bending it in a way that it most certainly was not supposed to bend, panic set in. Tempest desperately kicked at the creature's ribs while she fought with all her strength to resist the unnatural movement of her foreleg. The pressure continued to increase, and her struggle grew even more desperate. Pain creeped up her foreleg into her wither as her muscles strained to hold her bones in the proper shape, but it was a quickly losing battle. A loud, unnatural, and grotesque *snap* echoed out from her foreleg, and Tempest screamed in agony as her bones gave way.

Tears spilled from her tightly closed eyes while her body shook with the finality of the broken bones, and she wheezed in pain while the creature quickly released its hold on her shattered limb and got to his feet. A grimace covered Tempest's face as she grit her teeth and looked up to the creature. Agonizing, stabbing pain shot up her foreleg and into her wither, making the entire limb twitch with each erratic beat of her heart, sending additional jolts of pain down the broken bones and making her nearly sob in pain.

The creature stood up to its full height, now towering over the prone form of Tempest, before brushing its coat to the side, revealing a small satchel of some sort, holding what looked like an 'L' shaped piece of metal. He quickly grabbed the new weapon and moved to aim it directly at her head, only to dive to the side as she fired one last bolt of magical lighting. As he dove out of the way, he pointed his weapon at her and blindly fired two markedly smaller, but still blinding flashes of concussive light.

Tempest felt another jolt of pain, so swift that she almost didn't notice the feeling of the impact, until pain in her left hindleg shot all the way through to her flank. She gasped before crying out in agony as excruciating pain throbbed through her hindleg and blood quickly oozed out to the ground below. Laying in a small puddle of her own blood, unable to move her limbs as lancing pain shot through her again and again, Tempest watched as the creature got back up to his feet and walked toward her.

He stopped just ahead of her, and aimed his weapon directly at her head, though her tear filled eyes made it hard to tell. A pregnant moment of silence filled the air as the broken unicorn stared down a spiral of death held by the only creature to ever best her. With a small whimper of pain and regret, she closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

"John! Wait!" A feminine voice cried out, snapping Tempest's eyes open.

The princess of friendship galloped over to the imposing creature, her hooves skidding to a halt just a few feet away as she panted for breath.

"Don't... kill her..." Twilight ordered, catching her breath, "I asked you to take her alive."

The creature, now known as John, slowly looked up to Twilight, a small furrow in his brow, "Do you really think you'll get anything useful out of her?" He asked, his raspy voice sending a chill down Tempest's spine.

"I do. Even if not, Luna has ways to get that information." Twilight reasoned.

John sighed through his nostrils, "Alright." He said, holstering his weapon and turning away.

Tempest could only watch in a daze as John walked away, picking up his bigger, longer weapon from the ground, before leaving her with the princess of friendship. She quickly lost consciousness as dozens of guards galloped over to her at Twilight's behest, bandages and hoofcuffs already held in their magical grasp.

Tempest felt the rope pull taught against her neck as the guards prepared to drop her. She struggled a nervous gulp against the thick fibers wrapped tightly around her neck. She fought a losing battle to to stop the tremor shooting down her legs and up her spine, but the knowledge of what was about to happen simply overpowered her resistance. She blinked back tears as another guard read out her last rites.

Memories of her childhood, of the ursa minor, and of the decades all alone quickly flashed through her mind. The rope rubbed against her neck, irritating the skin underneath and making her hiss in discomfort. The guard finished her rites and stepped to the side, giving the nod to the executioner guard standing next to the lever that would bring about her demise. As she heard him take the last steps to the lever, she felt her heart plummet into her stomach, and closed her eyes in fear at the impending end to her miserable life.

Then, the lever was pulled and as she fell, all she could hear was the sound of the rope snapping taught above.

Author's Note

Well that was certainly an entrance! I am very excited to bring you guys this new story, and I hope you like what I have so far. As you can see above, chapter themes are back! Woohoo!

I know some people might be asking "why didn't you just make it John Wick and then change his backstory", and well, I honestly just don't really see John Wick in this scenario. Idk, I don't think he works in the mlp world the way I want him to, and personally, I don't really like crossovers, so I figured I'd change him up enough to where he is still pretty much the same guy, but also not, in a way. Regardless, I hope you guys liked the chapter, and fear not, I will be uploading weekly until I either finish writing the story, or run out of finished chapters to upload.

This is gonna be a fun journey, and I think you all will like what I have planned.