Operation Firework

"Look out!" Tempest yells, "Quickly!"

Five unthinking ice-fiends lunge forward, three at Tempest, two at yourself. You have the good foresight to wait until they're in mid-leap before casting your Teleportation spell.

With a flash, you disappear just as they collide with the wall where you were once bound by shackles. The last you see of Tempest Shadow is her driving her rear hooves into two of her own assailants.

Your teleport spell was not focused on the row-boat. Of course it wasn't. Instead, you reappear in the cargo hold, complete with the still-frozen ballast and twelve quite dangerous barrels. Your mind protests with a pang of pain, causing you to stumble to the ground in disorientation; that long-range jump from earlier must have taken its toll a lot more than you thought. After a few more seconds of breathing to calm yourself, you try to get your head back into gear. Ignore that pain. Try to avoid teleporting for now, there's only so much stress a unicorn can take.

The sounds of havoc can be heard above; you silently pray that Tempest is alright. Without wasting a second more, you tear off the latch holding one of the gunpowder kegs down with your teeth, remove the lid and begin throwing it over the other eleven explosives. Then you start to pour the powder on the floor in a thin line. The longer the line, the better; it will serve as a rudimentary fuse.

Kicking the cargo hold's door open, you carefully run the powder up the staircase, tracing the skirting-board to keep the fuse connected. When you're ready, you proceed to burst through the door leading back outside.

*******

"Look out!" Tempest yells, "Quickly!"

Five unthinking ice-fiends - ponies once, but no longer - lunge forward, three at Tempest, two at her Elite Operative partner. Tempest readies her rear hooves, and bucks two of her lunging attackers squarely in their faces. The two that leapt for her partner clumsily collide with the wall behind him; he's already gone in a flash.

The third icy cultist to pounce at Tempest wraps its bitter hooves around her. She feels the burn of the cold against her skin, and retaliates with a burn of her own; an almighty blast of unrefined magical energy from her broken horn. The creature release its grip and howls like an animal as it stumbles backward, robes singed. Water drips forth from under its clothes. Was it melting!?

No time to know for sure; one of her partners' original attackers had picked itself back up. It tries to swipe for Tempest's legs, perhaps to get her on the ground for an easy target, but she deftly evades the attempt. Now, she grasps that same attacker's flailing hoof, ignoring the cold on touch, and flings it towards the recently-burnt minion. With a thunderous crash, they collide. Shards of ice spread over the deck as the latter is utterly destroyed. The former shrieks like ice on a chalkboard; from under the robes, it's clear that everything below its spine was reduced to diamond dust. Nevertheless, it mindlessly starts dragging itself across the floor with its two remaining limbs.

Before the other assailants can regroup for their strike, Tempest charges the wounded one, slamming her hoof with startling strength against its skull. The head shatters in a cloud of mist and cold debris, the former living thing falling to the ground with a ghostly sigh.

While the madness of battle unfolds, the leader just stands calmly to the side, muttering an ancient incantation.

Tempest leaps across the deck to avoid the three remaining cultists charging her all at once. Leading them towards one of the corners of the ship, complete with one of the many lanterns dotted around, she feigns getting herself cornered. In truth, this was just to give the others overconfidence. It works; they abandon simultaneous attacks and heedlessly charge in one at a time.

Tempest's reflexes are faster; she strikes the first enemy swiftly, shattering not its head, but its face. It tries to scream in rage as it thrashes around, but it ultimately becomes lost in the confusion, with no eyes to guide it. One of its errant hooves make a close-enough estimate to where Tempest is, thumping her across the cheek. She grunts as a hot flash of pain assaults her vision.

The second attacker doesn't fair much better than the first, getting launched with another blast of magic courtesy of her broken horn. It stumbles back in shock, tripping over the now-faceless monster, landing them both in a half-melted heap. As the third one gallops in for the tackle, Tempest swipes the nearby lantern and swings it with full-force over the fiend's head, igniting the robes, hood and all.

As it shrieks from the heat, flailing around the deck in a fit of melting panic, the door to the fo'c'sle bursts open.

*******

The door to the fo'c'sle bursts open as you rejoin the deck, pouring out the last of the gunpowder. You're instantly met with a view of the carnage; shards of ice that were once living ponies are scattered over the wooden floorboards. Discarded robes, some even burnt, lie where some of them fell. Tempest is in a melee by the corner, where you see two more cultists swept off their hooves and one of them even on fire. Did she do all of this by herself!? You knew she was strong, but that's something special.

"Tempest! Get ready with the fuse, I'll cut the boat down!" you call out, propping the now-empty barrel against the door to keep the line of powder connected. One of the cultists - its face a horrifying visage of shattered ice and little more - hears your voice and instinctively shambles towards you. Despite the numb pain that still courses through your horn, you teleport behind it in a flash and sweep its legs from below. As soon as it hits the floorboards, you bring your rear hooves down upon its head, which shatters on impact. Its whole body twitches a little, before moving no more.

All the while, the leader of the cult's voice starts to build to a crescendo in its Old Ponish chanting. Your partner moves in to finish the second-to-last cultist with ease - the one not thrashing around while on fire, at least - as you rush to the small row-boat, still suspended over the side. Leaping up to it, you start cutting it free from its ropes, levitating a piece of glass from a nearby lantern that was recently shattered in the fight.

The flaming minion's aimless panicking sends it hurtling towards the line of gunpowder on the ground. Just before it gets close enough to set it off, Tempest blasts it with a jolt of unrefined magic power. The creature, already half-melted, collapses into a pile of wet mush. She knew you needed more time to cut the row-boat loose. Only two more cuts left to make...

The leader, and only living - if one could call it that - cultist left completes his strange incantation. With a menacing grin, claws and flat screens of ice take form over him, twisting his form into something truly unlike the Earth Pony he used to be. Soon he becomes a formless demon; gnashing jaws and teeth at every side of him, and too many limbs made from ice, as sharp as any hoof-made weapon.

Tempest doesn't wait for it; she charges with all her wits and might, ducking and bobbing between the various maws and claws before striking is hard over what was once its face. The demon recoils in pain. You slash away at the ropes as fast as you can; one more cut left to make.

Amidst the combat, Tempest continues to swiftly swoop between every hideous bite and grasping claw, until a limb blind-sides her from out of nowhere. That one strike was all it took for Tempest to be sent hurtling towards the side of the boat, the momentum carrying her overboard against her will. In her last moment, she lets loose a flare of raw magic, her half-horn spitting it towards the line of gunpowder. The gunpowder lights, hissing down the path you set for it.

Tempest Shadow falls into the inky-black ocean. With a heart-stopping splash, she disappears beneath the waves.

"Tempest!" you scream, the horror of her falling into the water gripping your heart; she's still clad in that heavy Storm King armour. The many-limbed monstrosity turns its attention towards you.

You've fought monsters before. But this terrifying beast is something that would usually be far out of your league. In short; you're terrified, though you'd never admit it. But you have to stop the monster before trying to save your partner. With a last triumphant slice, the row-boat is cut away from its ropes. It falls into the water without issue, floating atop the churning sea. You keep holding tightly to the ropes as the demon tries to swipe at you with its cold, horrible limbs. You have an idea; a stupid one, but you have no choice. There's no time to actually fight this thing. You just need it to be unable to escape the impending blast.

From the ropes above, you swing directly above the beast. A full second that feels like eternity passes as you let go, dropping down on top of it. The instant you make contact with it, you ignore the common sense in your mind telling you not to overexert yourself, and teleport. Not yourself, but the monster.

In a flash, you send it exactly two feet downwards. The very attempt to cast this spell feels like someone has broken something sharp and jagged over your head. You ignore your own scream. You need to stop teleporting in this condition.

The abomination reappears, stuck halfway in the floorboards of the ship's deck. No way to properly attack. No way to escape from the ship. It tries to thrash at you, but the majority of its limbs are trapped by the teleportation error. You easily jump past the few loose ones. It cries in a primal, wordless rage as you gallop towards the spot where you saw Tempest fall. In a single bound, you clear the wooden bulwark and dive overboard.