> John Wick: Redemption > by TGOPoma > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One: Arrival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Listen, John, with all sincerity: I don’t want to be here.” John knew in that moment exactly what Santino was there for that night, why he had come to his home unannounced, and was sitting at his table. “Please… Don’t.” John begged. He wanted to leave that life behind. Taking out Viggo and Iosef was personal. He only did it to avenge Marcus and Daisy, respectively, not to go back into the life that he had been through Hell itself to crawl out of only to lose her. “I’m asking you not to do this.” He finished, giving Santino a look that begged and pleaded for him to change his mind and walk out the door, and never come back. Not again, please… Santino’s response came swiftly. “I’m sorry.” With that he reached into his jacket and pulled it out. John recognized it instantly. The Marker, almost like a coin in Santino’s hand, albeit one much larger than most currency would be typically sized. The token to the blood oath John swore upon when he went to Santino for help with the mission, the task that laid the foundation of the Tarasov mob on that fateful night, which gave John the ability to finally walk away from it all and marry Helen. He had hoped he’d never see it again. “No one comes out and gets back without repercussions.” Santino said. The marker clanged against the table as he set it down, before he began to slide it towards John, speaking up yet again. “I do this, with a heavy heart, John.” He pointed his finger at John before continuing, his voice going low with warning, as John looked down at the cursed thing in front of him. “But remember, if not for what I did, on the night of your impossible task: You wouldn’t be here, right now, like this… This…” He gestured his finger around the room. “Is because of me. This, in part, is mine.” John looked back to Santino, his eyes slowly going from sadness to a hint of anger, before he spoke again. “Take it back.” “Take it back?” Santino questioned. “Take it back.” John repeated, nodding. Santino’s own eyes narrowed. “A marker is no small thing, John, for a man to grant a marker to another is to bind a soul to a blood oath.” John leaned forward, peering into Santino’s dark eyes, his anger rising like magma in the depths of a volcano. “Find someone else.” For a moment, John thought Santino may lunge for him, before he reached forward and grabbed the marker. “Listen to me.” He said as he opened up the device. “What is this, hmm?” He pointed to the bloody thumbprint within. “Do you remember? This is your blood. You came to me; I helped you, if you don’t do this… You know the consequences.” John looked at the marker yet again before looking back at Santino. “I’m not that guy anymore.” Santino stared at him for a tense moment before closing the marker. “You’re always that guy, John.” He set the marker onto the table yet again. John only shook his head slightly. “I can’t help you.” He placed his middle and index fingers onto the marker before sliding it back to Santino. Santino looked down to it before looking back up to John with a glare. “I’m sorry.” John said as he moved to stand up. Santino hesitated for a brief moment before picking up the marker and placing it back into his jacket. “Yes.” Santino said. “You’re right. You can’t.” He too stood up, placing his hands in his pockets, looking John dead in the yes. “But he can.” As he began to walk away, Santino spoke. “See you soon, John.” John opened the door for him as he left the house, looking at the people assembled outside his home standing watch as Santino stepped over the threshold, before he turned around to face John yet again. “You have a beautiful home, John.” He then muttered a brief farewell in Italian before walking away. John looked on for a few moments before closing the door, moving into the living room, before looking upon the framed photograph on one of the tables. He picked it up and held it in his hands, looking at the face of the woman he loved. After a few moments, he heard glass shattering in front of him, before there was a flash of orange closely followed closely by a large explosion. The next thing John felt was searing agony as glass shards pierced into his chest, abdomen, and face as he was launched back onto the ground outside. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, as the sound of the flames engulfing his house slowly began to grow muffled in his ears as he saw blackness at the edges of his vision. So this was it? This was how it was going to end, wasn’t it? John was surprised to find himself at ease. At least he was going to see Helen again, soon, and hold her in his arms like before. That thought was the only thing on his mind as he surrendered to the pain and blackness, slipping away into the embrace of what he thought to be death, waiting anxiously to be with his beloved again. Feeding the animals was a task that Fluttershy enjoyed immensely in her job as Ponyville’s animal caretaker, making sure each and every one of them got their share of breakfast was the perfect motivator for her to face the oncoming day as she placed bowls and plates of various delicacies in front of her animal friends. This did not mean all of them were easy to please, of course, as was evidenced by Angel’s well aimed throw at her head with the carrot she’d placed on his plate. “Angel!” She scolded, turning back to face him. “You do not throw your food at others, mister!” The rabbit glared at her as he tapped his foot, before sticking his nose up at the remaining carrots in his plate. “You can turn your nose up at it all you like, that is your breakfast, and I’m not making you anything else.” She said firmly as she looked down at him. Angel met her gaze for a time, the two locked in a staring contest so intense one could mistake the Pegasus and Bunny as mortal enemies, before he finally slumped in defeat, and began to nibble on a carrot from the plate, albeit none too happily. Satisfied with Angel's surrender, Fluttershy turned to Harry to give him the bowl full of fish for his breakfast, before she heard a bird tweeting for her attention from the window, telling her of something terrible it had seen. She immediately turned her attention to him. “What? What did you see? What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked as she approached him. He responded with him seeing a strange creature near the edge of the Everfree Forest, wearing clothing that was covered in blood, who was barely breathing with what looked like serious injuries. At first Fluttershy was afraid, wondering just what this creature could be and why it was so badly hurt, before she squashed those fears. This creature needed her. She couldn’t let her fear get in the way of giving it the care it needed. She looked up to the bird. “Can you take me to it?” The bird gave a nod before flying off, with Fluttershy in pursuit, following closely. The creature wasn’t hard to find, he was surrounded by other woodland creatures that had gathered around in worry, and Fluttershy could see that almost the entire front half of it’s body had been impaled with what looked to be possibly hundreds of shards of what looked to be glass. Fluttershy was shocked. How could such a thing happen to this poor being? This had to feel like agony, no wonder the being was unconscious, the pain and blood loss likely being the culprits. The being had skin that was pale across it’s body, with black fur on it’s face and head but nowhere else, along with what must’ve been the strangest digits Fluttershy had ever seen It took Harry’s help to carry this being back to the cottage, and Fluttershy had him place it onto her couch as she collected all of the medical supplies she could from around her cottage before coming towards the couch with a pair of scissors. She carefully and delicately removed the top piece of clothing covering what looked to be the chest before placing them on the table and taking a pain relieving salve she had gotten from Zecora. She very carefully spread it across most of the wounds to ease the pain before she grabbed a pair of tweezers. It was hard, delicate work to remove all of the shards, which were in his abdomen and legs as well. She had found out this was a male, though of what she had no idea. Once she finally finished the precarious process of removing every piece of glass she could find, she began to wrap him up in every piece of gauze she possibly could, after applying stitches to a few of the more serious lacerations. He’d grunted, grimaced, and groaned during the process. But he had yet to wake up. She finally finished around noon, before she set the medical supplies aside and felt of what looked to be his forehead. He didn’t feel too warm to her, meaning that he probably did not have fever, meaning no infection. She’d gotten to him on time to stop that, thank Celestia, but there was still one question unanswered. What was he? She vaguely remembered Twilight talking about encountering similar beings to him through that mirror. But if he was from the mirror, how did he get here? And why was he so far out of Ponyville? There were so many questions that she could not answer, leaving her with only one solution she could think of to try and find the answers: Go to Twilight. Still, she was very hesitant to leave him alone in the cottage with the animals, what if he woke up and hurt them? She’d never forgive herself if that happened. But there was only one solution to this problem. The animals were not too happy about having to leave the cottage before she left, but they understood why, so far as Fluttershy could tell. This being needed privacy and time to heal, and she had to know for sure that the animals were all safe while she was gone, so this was the best thing she could do. After locking the cottage door behind her, Fluttershy set off at a gallop towards Ponyville, taking flight once she got enough speed. She had to reach Twilight, to tell her about what she found, and to bring her to the cottage before this being could awaken. Because who knew what he would do if he woke up and panicked… > Chapter Two: Awakening > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, had started off her morning the same as every morning. Make bed, bathe, brush out mane, tail, and teeth, have breakfast, and face the day. This was the routine for her; it had been since she was a little filly. It had gone that way this morning and would continue forever, as far as she knew. Lunch was equally sacred, as it was Twilight’s break from the mountains of paperwork she found herself buried under everyday as a princess. She may have loved to read books, but somehow paperwork robbed the joy of reading from her every time she looked at it... So when Fluttershy all but broke down the doors to the dining room, Twilight nearly choked on the daisy sandwich she was in the process of eating for lunch, only by the grace of Celestia herself did she manage to get it into the right place down into her stomach instead of her windpipe. Starlight was not so lucky, she too was in the process of swallowing, and she had begun to choke on her bite before she finally coughed it up after a tense moment into a napkin. “Twilight! I need your help!” Fluttershy cried out as she galloped towards the dining room table. “Fluttershy, what’s the matter?” Spike asked as he set a bowl of rubies onto the table. “There’s…” Fluttershy took a moment to catch her breath as she panted. “There’s somepony unconscious in my cottage. He’s just like what you told us about the creatures in the mirror, Twilight.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked to Fluttershy in shock. “Wait, the mirror? How did… Where did you find him?” “My animal friends found him near the edge of the Everfree forest. He was covered in so much glass cutting into him that I spent all morning pulling them out… He’s… He was so hurt, Twilight, there was blood everywhere… It was awful!” “He was hurt?! How?” Twilight asked, leaping to all four of her hooves. ”I don’t know. It looked like the glass came to him, somehow, some of  it was really deep…” Twilight began to pace around the table. “This isn’t good… Spike, get the journal to Sunset Shimmer. I need to ask her if anypony has gone missing from her world.” Spike offered a salute before rushing off. Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “Can I see him? Maybe I’ll recognize him from across the mirror if he is from there.” Twilight said as she thought hard. If he wasn't from the mirror world, there was no telling where he came from or how he got here. Not until he woke up and she could ask. "Of course." Fluttershy said as Spike rushed back with the journal, Twilight hastily wrote a letter to Sunset asking her whether anyone had gone missing on her end, before closing the book and placing it into the saddlebags she had levitated onto her back. "Okay, Fluttershy, let me see him." The trip to the cottage was tense, Twilight was unsure of what to think as they came up to the door, would she recognize this person? What if he wasn't from behind the mirror? He'd undoubtedly want to go home. And Twilight wasn't sure if she COULD do that... As the two of them approached the Cottage, they were alerted to the sudden sound of a scream, a scream of full of fear. The two mares immediately looked at each other, before they ran towards the Cottage at a full gallop. The elevator ride was quick, the digital counter showing the floors that it passed as John gripped his pistol in both hands, adjusting the grip as he prepared for the doors to open. He steadied his breathing just as the elevator doors opened, and the first thing he saw were two men turning to look at him, recognition and panic flashing across their features as they scrambled for their weapons. John immediately put 2 rounds into the chest of the man on the left, before shifting his aim and putting a round into the chest and head of the man to the right, before finishing off the left man with a single headshot. The man further down the hall drew his own weapon just as John finished off the first two, though fortunately he misjudged the range of his weapon, allowing John to hit him thrice in the chest before downing him with a final shot to the head. John turned to the hallway to the right and ran towards another man running towards the scene, tackling him onto the ground and rolling until he was on top of him, raising his pistol to eliminate a second man approaching before turning his weapon onto the man under him and pulling the trigger. He turned his head upon hearing footsteps approaching, and quickly moved to a nearby door, opening and closing it as quickly and quietly as he could before backing away. He took a moment to reload his weapon as he listened to the footsteps draw closer to him, before aiming at the wall and firing 6 rounds into it towards the sound of the closest footsteps. He immediately turned to the left and started running as automatic weapon fire tore apart the wall he was just behind before slamming his body into a door further down the room, knocking it off it's hinges and on top of one of his assailants, before aiming his weapon and firing 4 shots into the man with the assault rifle. He then spun himself to where he could grab the weapon of the man under him, a shotgun, and placed a single round into the man's head. He quickly turned and began to move down the hallway, placing the pistol into it's holster on his belt and holding the shotgun properly before he gunned down two men who came around a corner 8 yards ahead, before turning the corner and placing a slug straight into another man's torso. He then hastily went back around the corner as another man down the hall began firing at him with a handgun, though they were foolish or eager enough to be moving towards him as they did so, allowing John to duck down and blow off the man's kneecap before ending his life with a shot to the stomach. As he was moving down the hallway, he was suddenly knocked back by a door slamming into him from the side, where he fell down as woman armed with an SMG came from behind it and aimed at him. John did the only thing he could think of and threw the shotgun at her with all of his strength, which stunned her long enough for him to tackle her to the ground, the SMG flying from her hands as the two fought wildly for a moment before she pulled a knife from her belt and began to slash at him with her left hand. She managed to land a gash on his shoulder before he could wrestle the knife out of her grip, plunging it into her chest and watching her breathe her last breath before standing up and grabbing her weapon, aiming it forward as he listened carefully around him for any sounds. Nothing. He was none the less cautious as he approached the final door up ahead, knowing that behind it lie his last target. He kicked the door open and aimed inside, but the desk before him was empty, and as he whirled around to study his surroundings he discovered no one was in here. This wasn't right. His contact was adamant he would be here, and there was only on exit... That was when he heard a walkie talkie on the desk come to life, him looking towards it in surprise, before a crisp accented voice that he instantly recognized came through: "Be seeing you, John." That was when he saw the window shatter, and the grenade fly into the room, he did not even have the chance to scream. The world came back to John in a harsh wave of clarity as he awoke with a scream, and the first thing he felt was pain, which did not help the sense of panic and shock that coursed through his system. He nearly fell off the couch he was lying on as he quickly realized that he was not in either his house or that office building. If he was not there, then where was he? As he looked around, he saw that the building he was in was incredibly vibrantly colored, almost to the point where it might induce a headache. Looking down at himself he discovered that his injuries had been tended to, even stitched, and while the stitching was not textbook it was still more than enough to prevent him from bleeding out. The big question here was: Who stitched him? This was no hospital. It was a home, from the looks of it, and as he sat up from the couch he could see a window to his left, which showed trees and hills in the distance. They were just as vibrantly colored as the house. There must be something wrong with my vision. My occipital lobe might have been damaged after I hit the ground. John thought as he moved to get up off the couch. That was when the door to the home opened, and he saw something that made him freeze, and convinced him he was either hallucinating or had gone insane. Standing in the door frame were two small horses, but they were not normal by any means. Horses didn't have wings, or horns, or any combination of the two. Plus by his estimates they were only up to his upper stomach in height, maybe 3 feet tall, and he knew of no horse or pony that was lower in height than just under 5 feet. Then they stunned him even more: The yellow one, with a pink tail and mane no less, (as if the wings were not ridiculous enough), came forward and asked. "Are you alright?" John just took a long look at the small horse, pony, whatever, before putting a hand over his eyes and shaking his head briskly. When he opened them and it was still there. No, she, she spoke and it was in english. His mind said. When he did not respond, the purple one spoke while stepping forward. "Can you understand us?" Another female, mare, he corrected himself. "Yes." He said, surprising himself in the steadiness of his voice despite his inner shock. "I can." And I have no idea how. His mind finished. "How did you get here? Can you tell us your name? I'm Twilight Sparkle. And this is my friend Fluttershy." The purple one, Twilight Sparkle, said. The yellow one, Fluttershy, was in the process of eyeing up his stitched wounds. Maybe she was the one who helping him? "John." He said after a moment, his eyes never leaving Twilight, as he sat back down onto the couch. "My name is John." "And I have no idea how I got here."