Author's Note

Hey all, so fair warning, this chapter might be worthy of a gore tag. Personally I don't think so, but if you're squeamish about descriptions of a hanging, this is your warning. I do hope you all like this chapter regardless. I tried my best to make it work as well as it can, and I hope you agree. Let me know what you think in the comments. I love reading those.

Chapter 1

Smoke filled the air as the smell of gunpowder filled his nose. His eyes glanced back and forth in the dark room, finding nothing but the jagged black pillars supporting the metallic structure he found himself standing in. Blood dripped from his nose, among several other places on his body, yet he could feel no pain. His vision faded in and out in a haze as a maniacal laugh echoed out from all around him.

A blur of white fur and hardened steel flashed past him, making him spin in place and aim his weapon in the direction of the movement. For some strange reason, the weapon only appeared to him as a blurry, disjointed mess of polymer and steel. He blinked his eyes to clear his vision and focus, yet his mind could only drift to the sound of claws scraping against metal. He quickly spun on his feet and aimed at the threat, only to find nothing but darkness once more.

All it took was a fraction of a second for the blur of white to knock him off his feet and send him skidding across the floor, yet no pain registered on his body. Dizzy, disorientated, and struggling to comprehend the situation at hand, he slowly pushed himself to his feet, finding that his weapon was long gone. As he looked up to the snow white figure standing before him, some details finally cleared up enough for him to see.

A twin horned steel helmet sat above a wolfish face contorted into a snarl that showed teeth that could easily rip him to shreds. Ice blue eyes stared back at him with the anger and hatred only a sapient creature could muster. White fur covered nearly every square inch on its body, save for its smoky colored claws. Heavy blackened steel plate armor covered its chest, while two slits of bright blue shown out against the rest of the bleak colors adorning the beast.

He had no time to react, no time to move. Before even an inkling of a thought could process in his head, the creature turned to a blur of motion once more, and suddenly he felt three strong claws wrapped around his neck. Once more, he felt no pain, only pressure. His vision slowly faded as the beast strangled the life from him. His hands fell useless at his sides as the creature laughed a villainous, heinous laugh.

Time slowed and blackness surrounded him, but in the last moment, a flash of light, as blinding as it was brilliant, washed over him. The darkness evaporated and the figure squeezing him to death faded away under the power of the light. Sparks flew and blue arcs of lightning filled the air, turning the dark oppressive room into a kaleidoscope of color, illuminating every dark crevice and corner.

He fell, his body lying limp on the cold steel floor as more and more light washed over him. Vibrations reverberated through the very air, moving him side to side as the light continued to explode into brilliance around him. The vibrations increased, making him shake in place until the motions became violent.

Despite commanding his body to obey his whims and rise, he could only lay there in the volatile tempest completely engulfing his vision. Booming blue light filled his sight, only flickering momentarily for the brief crackle of lightning before resuming its display. However, something quickly blocked out the light. A figure, no more than a few feet tall, blurrily moved to him. His sight, faded as it was, only saw colors, and as he finally lost sight of the blinding blue light, two colors took their place: soft mulberry, and ruby red.

He felt, rather than heard the voice calling out to him, screaming to him with all her strength. It was a feminine voice, tinted with fear and concern, but he couldn't make out the words. Pressure applied to his body in various places reminded him that he could still feel, but the feeling faded fast. All he could focus on was the struggle to hear her voice, and finally, he understood her.

"John! Get up! Please!" She cried.

For the first time, he felt strength well up in his lungs, and a weak, desperate plea sang from his lips, "Did... did you do it?"

His voice felt broken, and jagged. It could more aptly be called a croak, not a voice, yet it was enough for her.

"Y-yes... it's done." She answered, sniffling once.

"Good... that's good." He softly murmured.

The darkness quickly took over once more, and then there was nothing.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsrIy4a4wEQ

John's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a start. Cold sweat stained his linen sheets and sent a chill down his spine as his mind raced. His chest heaved while the events of his dream replayed in his head, although many of the details were lost. Visions of gnashing teeth, white blurs and jagged steel imprinted in his brain, but all of those details were insignificant in comparison to the one detail that he could remember clearly.

"Her... voice." He whispered, his eyes slowly migrating to the open window across his massive bedroom.

The curtains, draped neatly beside the large window, billowed slightly with the gentle morning breeze that filled the room with the scent of the previous day's battle. Smoke and sulfur reached his nose, making it wrinkle slightly as John got out of bed.

Almost instinctively, he walked toward the window, his brow furrowed and his muscles tensed. More and more of the scarred city appeared in his vision as he approached, showing a clear view of the destruction wrought in only a few short minutes of conflict. He quickly caught sight of the crowd of ponies out on the festival platform, and the makeshift gallows they'd built in the wee hours of the early morning. His piercing eyes locked onto the figure standing on the elevated platform, her soft purple coat and red mohawk standing out even at this distance.

His palms felt sweaty, and his arms tensed as he watched her fearfully glancing through the crowd, almost as if she was looking for something or someone to save her. He could just barely hear the voice of Celestia as she addressed the crowd, gaining a volley of cheers and applause in response.

John looked away from the sight, his hand moving to rub his temple as he strained to recall more of the dream, but the memories were even more faded than just a few moments prior. He squeezed his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to remember anything more useful, but his efforts proved fruitless, as only one thing remained in his mind.

Y-yes... it's done.

Growling at his inability to recall anything more meaningful, John looked up through the window once more to observe the crowd. Celestia spoke to the mulberry mare with a red mohawk once more, ushering silence over the gathered ponies. She said something, so quietly that it was inaudible at such a great distance, before receiving an answer that made her gaze sink to the ground below.

John chewed on his tongue as he fought with himself over his next course of action. His own hesitation sent a flash of anger through his mind, and he tightly balled up his fists as he watched the sentence continue. Brief glimpses of his dream bubbled back up to the surface, granting a realization that made his blood run cold, and his eyes to widen.

"Red... hair... purple coat..." He muttered, his eyes quickly flicking back up to the mare standing at the end of the gallows.

Time froze as John got a clear look at the mare. Mulberry and red, just like his dream. He took no further time to debate. With the speed and precision of a man possessed, he spun on his feet and sprinted to the closet across the room. Grabbing both handles with his hands, he flung the doors open to reveal a smorgasbord of weapons. He grabbed his .308 precision rifle and cocked the bolt back, ensuring that a round was still loaded in the chamber. Once he was sure there was brass seated comfortably in the action, he closed the bolt and ran to the window, flipping open the bipod in the process.

Setting the rifle down on the windowsill, he pulled the stock into his shoulder and brought his cheek down to the cheek-pad. His eye instinctively found its place just behind the crystal clear glass of his scope. Black crosshairs appeared in his vision, immediately followed by hundreds of colorful ponies. With the magnification he had, individual hairs stood out on each and every pony he could see, making it easy to identify the pony he was aiming for.

His crosshairs came to a rest just a few inches above her head, and focused atop the brown rope tied around her neck. She stood still, almost as if to help him line up a clean shot. As his finger slowly migrated to the trigger, John let out a long, controlled breath. He allowed the weapon to steady against him as he gently applied pressure to the trigger. Ounces of pressure crept the trigger forward until it reached its wall, leaving nothing but another pound of pressure between firing and not firing.

Just as his finger reached the threshold to break the trigger, a yellow blur suddenly obscured his view of his target. Instantly breaking his cheek-weld on the stock and looking over his scope, John saw the source of the obstruction to his target. A yellow pegasus, having taken flight to get a better view of the execution, held his position in the sky, directly blocking his view of his objective.

Frantically looking for a way to shoot over or under the pegasus, or possibly reposition for a better shot, John whipped his head back and forth. There was only one window with a line of sight to the platform, which he was currently using. There was room to move to the side, but after quickly repositioning, he found that the pegasus was too close to the target for his new angle to give a clean shot. He let out a frustrated growl as he watched another pony speak on the platform.

Finally, with no other options, he threw his rifle onto the bed and rushed over to the closet. He hurriedly grabbed the Beretta 1301 shotgun from the bottom rack and racked the charging handle to the rear, ejecting the buckshot shell already loaded into the weapon. He hastily grabbed the slug from the side saddle and threw it into the action, before letting the bolt slam home and chamber the new ammunition. Without a moment of hesitation, he turned on his heels and sprinted to the door.

Guards standing beside his chambers jumped as he barged through the door, his feet screeching to a halt in the marble hallway, before he turned left and bolted down the hallway.

"Sir!?" One guard cried.

"What's wrong!?" The other added, as they both galloped after him.

John quickly arrived at the end of the hallway, and descended the spiral staircase leading down to one of the many entertainment rooms filling the castle. Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, he sprinted through the room, startling several nobles and castle staff as he passed them, wearing only a pair of boxers, a white t-shirt, and carrying a shotgun in his hands.

Several ponies tried to get his attention, or question his reasons for creating such a scene in the castle, but he paid them no mind as he quickly reached the end of the room and burst into another hallway. Hooking a right, he ran until arriving at the main foyer of the castle, where nearly three dozen ponies froze in their tasks to stare at him with wide eyes as he hurried past them.

"Open the door!" John shouted, startling the guards standing beside the massive foyer doorway as he quickly approached.

Both ponies instantly ignited their horns, a look of fear on their faces as their eyes fell on him. The door handles illuminated in gold and silver hues, before the massive doors were slowly pushed open. John hastily ran between them, squeezing through the still-narrow opening of the doors as they sluggishly opened for him.

Now out in the open, John looked to the direction of the platform, using the many pegasi circling or hovering in place as a reference. He rushed toward the site, narrowly dodging the dozens of ponies walking around in the front yard of the castle. He pushed through the crowded ponies until reaching the front gate and pushing past the guards stationed there, leaving puzzled looks on their faces as he ran into Canterlot morning traffic.

Carts and ponies' taxis screeched to a halt as John ran through them. Several sharply turned to avoid hitting him, while others simply didn't see him until it was too late. As he reached the end of the busy district street, a pony taxi failed to see him, and plowed into his legs, knocking him over the cab and down to the hard ground below. His weapon fell from his grasp, and clattered to the asphalt beside him while the pony dragging the taxi frantically tried to unhitch himself to help him.

"Oh my Celestia! I didn't see you there, Mister Smith! Are you alright?!" He asked, clearly alarmed.

As John pushed himself to his knees, he gave the taxi a sidelong glance and a heavy sigh, before shaking his head and getting up completely.

"I'm fine." He said, tersely, before reaching down to pick up his shotgun.

The ponies in the cart looked at him with a measure of fear and concern as he limped to the sidewalk, rubbing his road rash-ridden forearm against his white shirt, staining it red, instantly. Once he was safe on the sidewalk again, he looked up for the pegasi once more. He spotted them easily enough, and broke into an uneasy jog. Pain flared up in his right knee, but he quickly pushed it to the side as he increased his pace.

Within a few more seconds, he reached the staircase leading down to the lower levels of Canterlot. He hurried down the stairs, and found himself in the middle district, just a few hundred feet from the platform. He forced his bruised knee to cooperate as he sprinted as fast as he could toward the gathered ponies. He quickly found himself at the back of the group, with no clear line of sight due to all the pegasi still hovering about, blocking out the gallows. He quickly rushed to his left, finding a party tent that was still standing and ran inside.

Fortunately, there were no ponies in the tent, allowing him to easily reach the other side and throw the flap out of his way. He just barely noticed the purple pony princess standing just in front of him, tears spilling from her eyes as she looked out to the sight ahead. However, just as John's eyes darted up to the elevated platform ahead, the executioner pulled the lever, and the plum colored mare fell, the rope around her neck snapping taut just a fraction of a second later.

John's jaw fell slightly as the snap of the rope rang out over the platform, making most of the ponies present cringe and look away. More than one pony vomited at the sight of the Storm King's captain hanging by her neck, though that sight was far from the worst of it. The worst part was that she was still alive.

Tears leaked from her bulging eyes as the rope constricted her airway, depriving her of precious oxygen as her body dangled several feet above the ground. She struggled a gag of pain while her forehooves struggled with their bonds, making little progress as they were tied off to her hindlegs as well. Any attempt to reach up to her neck was swiftly halted by her inability to contort her body far enough.

Nearly every pony in the crowd gasped and cringed at the sight. Some outright ran from the scene while others stood stock still, too taken aback to even look away. Beside John, Twilight let out a horrified gasp.

"Her neck didn't break..." She whispered, fresh tears clawing out of her eyes as she watched.

On the elevated platform, many guards squirmed uncomfortably from witnessing the sight before them, while Celestia, Luna, and Cadence shared a bounty of mixed emotions.

"Should we cut her down?" Cadence fearfully questioned, looking back and forth between her aunts.

"Nay. This is a much slower and more painful way to die... but death was her sentence anyway." Luna replied, struggling to watch the mare choke to death before her.

"Auntie Celestia?" Cadence asked, a pleading tone in her voice.

"I'm afraid... Luna is right, Cadence. Tempest's sentence was death... while I wouldn't wish this on any creature, she's already half way through death's door. There's no sense in stopping it now." Celestia sadly answered, shaking her head as she closed her eyes and looked away.

Tempest's lips quickly turned blue and her eyes bloodshot as she grit her teeth in a desperate fight for survival. The rope tightly coiled around her neck like a snake, crushing her windpipe and putting enormous strain on the admittedly strong muscles of her neck and wither. As the seconds dragged on and on, each passing like an eternity of pain and anguish for the broken mare, her struggles grew weaker and weaker. Harsh, jerky movements quickly lost their strength, and devolved into small twitches that could barely be perceived.

John grit his teeth and sprinted through the crowd of stunned ponies, knocking Twilight out of her stupor in the process. The lavender alicorn stared at him in shock as he barreled closer to the dying unicorn. Any words she had to say died in her throat as she watched him rush over to a broken cart that was still laying among the crowded ponies and brace his shotgun against the frame. He instantly shouldered the weapon and pressed the fire selector from 'safe' to 'fire'.

Tempest gave one last twitch as consciousness left her, finally allowing the rope to settle from its pendulous movement. With his finger pressed against the trigger, immediately taking up all of the slack and pushing it right to its breaking point, John let out a steadying breath and aimed for the rope. The red dot of his optic found its place covering a small portion of the rope, and after just a fraction of a second to ensure he was ready, John pulled the trigger.

A roaring boom shot forth from his weapon, sending a one ounce rifled slug sailing out of the barrel and through the air at lightning speed. Ponies around him didn't even react before the slug struck the rope, shredding it instantly, and letting Tempest's unconscious form fall free. For a brief moment, all time stood still. Smoke billowed from the barrel of John's shotgun while the expended shell sailed out of the action as it picked up the next shell in the tube.

Then time resumed, and chaos immediately ensued. All ponies in the area jumped and covered their ears from the concussive blast of a twelve gauge shotgun firing in their immediate vicinity. Tempest's body fell to the ground like a sack of bricks, but nopony even noticed as John pulled all of their attention to himself. As he stood up to his full height, the ponies closest to him backed away in fear, their eyes wide and trained onto the still smoking barrel of his gun.

The princesses on the platform were aghast as John calmly walked toward the gallows, his shotgun resting on his shoulder.

"Wha-What is the meaning of this!?" Luna exclaimed, her already loud voice booming over the deadly silent platform.

John ignored her as he continued to walk to the downed commander. He quickly reached the front line of royal guards, the majority of them still staring at him in surprise and fear. As he approached, they quickly parted enough to allow him to pass, before closing their formation once more, although, not without a concerned glance over all of their withers.

"Mister Smith, what in the name of Harmony is going on?" Celestia questioned, flapping down to John's side.

"If she's still alive, I'll explain." John replied, as he reached the plum coated unicorn.

He kneeled down beside her and set his shotgun on the ground to his side. With some quick finagling, he undid the noose around her neck and pressed his fingers against her jugular while also brining his ear to her mouth. A weak, almost desperate pulse greeted him, along with rough, struggling breaths, prompting a sigh of relief from the man as he looked over to Celestia.

"Get her to the hospital. Make sure her trachea isn't crushed. Now." John ordered, turning to Celestia.

Celestia's jaw moved up and down as she tried to formulate words, yet none would come to her. The ponies around them both stared in abject shock at both John's sudden concern for the unicorn's health, as well as the blatant disregard for their ruler's authority. Several tense seconds ticked by as John stared her dead in the eye, a small frown present on his face.

Finally, Celestia let out a quiet sigh and looked down in defeat, "Alright," She replied, before turning to her guards, "Take her to the hospital and make sure she survives." She ordered.

Several of the guards standing just a few feet away snapped to attention and saluted their princess, before scrambling over each other to get Tempest on a stretcher and to the hospital. Meanwhile on the platform above them, Luna and Cadence stumbled over their words.

"Wha? B-but... I don't understand." Cadence said, her eyes darting back and forth between John and Celestia.

"What in Tartarus is this!? She's been tried, and convicted!" Luna shouted, her wings flaring out in frustration, before she looked to Celestia, "Sister, have you gone mad? We've already sentenced this mare!"

Celestia visibly winced at her sister's words, but before she could turn to answer her, John spoke up.

"Meet me in the castle once we're sure she's alive. I'll explain everything there." John announced, before turning around and heading toward the hospital with the guards.

"I-wha... but... he can't just do that!" Luna cried, looking back and forth between her sister and niece.

"John's always had his reasons for everything he does... something must have happened." Celestia muttered, her voice so quiet that her sister couldn't quite hear her.

"What?" Luna questioned, flying down to Celestia.

The solar princess shook her head, "Nevermind that, Luna. Please, take Cadence and Twilight to the castle throne room. I will go to the hospital with John and ensure that Tempest survives." She replied.

Luna did a double take, "Y-you cannot be serious, sister!? We're just going to... let him stop an execution that we all agreed upon? Something that was his idea in the first place?" She questioned, exasperation in her voice.

"It appears so. I'm not certain as to what's going on either, Lulu... but please just do as I ask for now. I will try to learn what I can from John at the hospital... we've trusted him in much more dire times than this, so I'd hope that he has a good reason." Celestia explained, giving a placating look to her sister.

Luna moved to speak, before biting her lip and sighing heavily through her nostrils, "Fine, sister. I just hope that for all our sakes, you're not putting too much trust into him."

Celestia gave a grateful nod to her sister before turning away and walking toward the hospital.

"That makes two of us." She quietly muttered to herself.