"You sure about this plan?" Tempest asked, looking at the doorway leading out to the rest of the munitions deck of the airship.

"It's the only option we have." John replied, checking the magazine of his rifle.

He saw that there were still a dozen rounds in the magazine, and proceeded to change it out with a fresh magazine from one of his pockets. He quickly realized that he only had one full magazine left, and as he reloaded his MCX, he turned to Tempest.

"I'm gonna need the rest of the ammo from the duffle bag." He stated.

Tempest nodded and unslung the duffle bag from her withers before hoofing it over to John. He swiftly filled his pockets with the remaining magazines of 5.56 before filling his pockets with the rest of the shotgun shells and pistol magazines. Once he was fully loaded, he gave the duffle bag back to Tempest.

"You know, there's still a chance the rest of his ships will fire on us even if we're on board his ship." Tempest mentioned as she put the duffle bag back on.

"There's a greater chance that they wont. If the Storm King is anything like you say he is, he won't tolerate his own troops firing on him." John reasoned, stepping toward the door.

"His ship is reinforced with steel. Even if they do fire on his ship to kill us, he probably won't even notice. Also, if we don't board fast enough, they can seal us out. If that happens, we won't be able to get in until the they open up to attack Canterlot." Tempest rebutted.

John paused mid step. He looked over his shoulder to Tempest and nodded, "Well then, we'd better be fast."

With a quiet sigh, Tempest followed after him and took her place on the opposite side of the doorway, "Alright, but if this goes sideways, just remember that it was your plan." She replied, with a teasing smirk.

John chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind. You ready?" He asked, shouldering his rifle.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Tempest responded, preparing herself for what was about to come.

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

John nodded. With a calming breath to collect himself, he reached forward and twisted the door handle, pulling the door open. Immediately, he was greeted by two storm soldiers on the far side of the deck, both seemingly bored and not paying attention to him as he came into view. That quickly changed as John stepped into the room, and both soldiers jumped to their claws, spears and shields at the ready as the human pushed into the room.

John fired off several rounds, dropping both soldiers in a matter of seconds. With the threat neutralized, he pushed forward toward the ladder leading up to the next deck. Just as he reached the ladder, his rifle already pointing up at the open hatch leading to the next deck, another soldier looked down at him, a sword in his claws as he peeked at the deck below. John fired another round, instantly killing the soldier and knocking him onto his back as his brains leaked out of his skull.

John quickly climbed up the ladder and up to the next deck, finding no less than a dozen storm soldiers surrounding him on all sides of the deck. He quickly engaged the soldiers directly to his front as the rest closed in on him from all other sides. However, before they could get close enough, Tempest hopped up from the ladder and took her position watching John's back, her horn already sparking at the ready.

Three storm soldiers fell from John's hail of bullets before any of them could get close. The first soldier to close in met Tempest head on, only for her to blast him backwards with a bolt of lighting from her horn. As quickly as she dispatched one, however, two more were on her, and Tempest quickly ducked to the side to avoid a downward slash from the soldier to her right. She quickly leapt to the opposite direction to avoid a spear thrust from the other soldier, her horn glowing as she prepared a powerful wave of electricity.

Meanwhile, John emptied the magazine of his MCX on two more soldiers, before ducking under a sword, and then spinning to the side to dodge another. He held his rifle up vertically in front of his face, catching a blade between the magazine and pistol grip, before yanking the rifle down to get the sword clear of his person, and thrusting at the creature's face with the buttstock. The hard plastic connected with a heavy impact, knocking the soldier back and giving John a moment of breathing room. He quickly drew his pistol and fired three rounds off. Two struck the yeti's stomach, making him hunch over, before the third punched right through his mask and into his skull.

Just as one assailant fell, another swung at him, forcing John to spin out of the way to dodge the attack. The yeti's momentum carried him between John and Tempest, giving John an opening that he immediately seized.

"Tempest! Duck!" John ordered, before shooting the soldier before him, in the knee.

Tempest, while busy dodging and ducking under two sharp blades, did as instructed, and quickly dropped to the ground. John spartan kicked the soldier before him, knocking him back and forcing him to trip over Tempest and block the two soldiers attacking her for a moment. Tempest gladly took the newfound breathing room to push herself to her hooves and jump back from the three soldiers before firing a wave of magical energy forward. All three soldiers howled in pain as they were knocked off of their claws and sent flying off of the deck of the ship.

Just behind her, John dodged another swipe of a sword, the blade just barely cresting the tips of his hair. He quickly aimed behind to shoot the soldier approaching his rear, and fired off a round, striking the creature in the stomach. The approaching soldier stumbled, giving John the opportunity to duck low and sweep his legs out from under him. The yeti slammed to the deck between John and the other soldier, giving him just a moment of space.

John used the room to his advantage, firing two rounds into the approaching soldier's chest, making him stumble back. Pressing his advantage, John fired three more rounds, dropping the soldier. However, just as he turned to deal with the last soldier on the deck, he felt a strong claw wrap around his leg and pull him down to the ground. John used his free leg to hold the soldier at bay as the yeti tried to rip into him with his claws. John felt the impacts against his thigh and hip as the soldier swiped at him, before angling his pistol to get a clean shot.

Once John managed to find a sight picture that wouldn't result in him shooting his own leg, he fired, killing the last soldier. With the work finished, John got to his feet and changed the magazine of his pistol. Once that was done, he moved to drop the magazine of his rifle, only to find that the trigger guard was snapped inward, and there was a harsh dent in the frame of the rifle. He released the bolt and tried to pull the trigger, but couldn't complete the action, as the trigger locked in place.

With a heavy sigh, John unslung his rifle and dropped it on the deck. He unslung his M4 from his back and checked the chamber to ensure he still had buckshot at the ready. He quickly fished any rifle magazines out of his pockets and dropped them on the deck before turning to Tempest, finding her panting for breath as sweat dripped from her brow.

"You good?" John asked, walking toward the helm of the ship

"Y-yeah... just gotta... catch my breath. That spell always takes a lot out of me." Tempest replied, walking after him.

"Well we're gonna have to jump ship soon. Our entrance wasn't exactly subtle, and the infantry on the decks below will be up here soon." John responded as he reached the helm.

"What's wrong with your... other weapon?" Tempest asked, eying the MCX behind her.

"Trigger mechanism was damaged. It won't fire now." John answered.

"I see..." Tempest said, before turning back to John and tilting her head to the side, "Uh, do you even know how to steer an airship?" She inquired.

John hesitated for a moment, before sighing, "I was kinda hoping you would take the reins on that one." He replied, stepping away from the helm.

Tempest smirked, "Just leave it to me."

The plum coated unicorn quickly trotted up to the helm and took her position. She eyed the airships surrounding them with a scrutinizing gaze, scanning for a target of opportunity.

"I think I found us a window." She said, pointing to the airship at the head of the fleet.

"I'll get the powder." John announced, before rushing down the deck and to the ladder leading below.

As Tempest steered the airship, she observed the other airships closest to theirs. She watched for any sign of gun ports opening, or ships turning to aim their harpoon guns. While she could see movement and several soldier's pointing at her from afar, she didn't see any sign of retribution from the surrounding fleet. Instead, she heard the muffled sound of gunfire from the deck below. The concussive blasts sent vibrations through the wood of the deck and into her hooves, making her wince at just how much more powerful those shots sounded.

Within thirty seconds, she saw John climb back up the ladder. Once he was up, he rushed back over to her side while hurriedly loading more shells into his shotgun.

"Alright, we've got a trail of powder leading to the ammo room. I locked the hatch leading below, so that should hold them until we can board the Storm King's flagship." John explained.

"Good. We've got no way to know just how long that powder will take to burn, so I'll light it as soon as we're ready to board. If you man the harpoon gun and hit the ship at the front of the formation, it should reel this ship in without any more guidance from me. That should at least take out the front three ships and this one in the chain of explosions." Tempest replied, giving John a nod.

"Just tell me when." John said as he ran back down the deck to the harpoon gun.

He quickly manned the massive gun, its giant triggers taking up both of his hands as he aimed the rudimentary crosshair sight at the specified target ship. Once he had a clean sight picture, he gave a thumbs up to Tempest, who returned the gesture with a nod.

"Harmony, if you are real... please let me do this right." She whispered, before stepping on the throttle.

The engine of the airship roared as it pushed harder and harder, black smoke billowing from the rear and propelling the ship forward. Just as the ship jolted forward, Tempest saw gun ports open on both airships beside theirs. A volley of cannon fire reigned through the sky, black lines shooting past and through the airship as cannons ripped through the air. Tempest nearly fell over as a cannon slammed into the wood behind her, showering her with splinters.

The airship managed to avoid the majority of the volley, having only been hit by the very front guns of the opposing airships, but the damage was still severe. However, much to her surprise and elation, as Tempest looked over her wither, she found that the storm king's soldiers did more damage to themselves in the crossfire. Both airships now behind her sported a scattershot pattern of holes and black smoke billowing from their insides. She let out a grateful sigh of relief as the two airships slowed to a halt behind them, their engines too damaged to continue.

One airship even started falling from the sky, it's balloon having been torn asunder by shrapnel and cannonballs, while the other sustained severe damage to the tank holding its payload of the storm king's weapon. Blackish green smoke wisped from the ruptured tank, catching the breezing air and engulfing the hull of the airship. Tempest watched, part in fascination, and part in fear as the hull hardened into stone, increasing the weight of the ship tenfold. Much like its comrade, the other airship quickly plummeted out of the sky and to the land below.

Tempest watched as the enemy airships fell below her field of view before returning her attention to the Storm King's flagship as it quickly came into range. She squinted slightly to see the ship at the front of the fleet, ensuring that it was still in position. Luckily, it hadn't reacted to the destruction behind, yet.

Tempest turned to John, "As soon as we're alongside the flagship, fire the harpoon and I'll light the powder!" She ordered, turning the helm slightly to position their airship on a flight path that would give them the admittedly small opening they needed.

"Got it!" John called back.

The airship barreled through the air, a trail of smoke and falling debris trailing behind at they flew in close to the Storm King's ship. Once they reached the stern side of the flagship, John squeezed the trigger of the harpoon gun. A blast of concussive force rocketed forward from the airship as the harpoon sailed through the air and impaled itself in the hull of the distant airship.

"Let's go!" John shouted, abandoning the harpoon gun as the winch swiftly spooled to life, pulling the airship on a boarding course.

Tempest nodded and rushed over to the ladder leading down to the second deck. She quickly found the trail of black powder John trailed all the way back to the munitions room. She sparked her horn to life, igniting the powder and sending a flame down the line toward the back of the ship. With that done, she quickly turned on her hooves and rushed up the steps of the ladder to the deck. Once there, she hurried over to John's side as he climbed onto the railing to jump to the flagship beside them.

Tempest followed behind and climbed onto the railing, her eyes searching for the best place to jump to. After just a few moments, several gun ports opened, before nearly a dozen cannons quickly presented themselves, all trained on the hull of their airship.

"Shit." John muttered, just before all cannons fired off at once, peppering the hull of their airship with cannonballs.

Both John and Tempest nearly fell off of the railing as the shock of the cannon fire rocked their airship. Wooden splinters sailed through the air as the airship's hull was decimated by the close proximity barrage.

"We need to jump now!" Tempest shouted, casting a fearful glance back at the deck ladder.

"Go!" John responded, before leaping from the railing to the side of the flagship.

John slammed into the opposite railing, his arms quickly wrapping around the wooden frame as he quickly clambered up. A moment later, Tempest landed in much the same position, her hindlegs scraping against the wood and steel inlaid hull as she tried to get onto the deck. As they both managed to climb to the deck, they found that, to their surprise, there weren't any soldiers on the top deck. In fact, there weren't any yeti creatures at all. John shouldered his shotgun and hastily cleared the entire top deck of the flagship, finding no sign of any life at all. Once he was completely sure that there weren't any soldiers around at all, he turned to Tempest with a frown.

"Dammit. They're locked in." He said, walking back over to Tempest's side.

He received no response for a moment, as Tempest's attention seemed completely focused on their previously hijacked airship as it closed the last of the distance and collided with the airship at the front of the pack. Just a moment later, a massive explosion rippled through the air, completely obliterating both airships, and sending a flaming chunk of debris falling to the earth below.

"What's the move here, Tempest?" John pressed, looking down at her.

"He's locked the hatches. They're reinforced steel," Tempest sighed, "I don't think even your weapons can punch through that." She explained.

John frowned, "Is there any other way to get inside?"

Tempest shook her head, "Unless you want to go crawling down the side of the airship with no harness or rope and try to pry one of those gun ports open again, no."

John heavily sighed, "Well we need something here." He stated, urgency in his tone.

Tempest bit her lip, "There is nothing here. We weren't fast enough. We're stuck until he opens the hatches back up, and half of Canterlot will already be solid stone by then."

John tilted his head to the side, "What do you mean 'solid stone'?" He questioned.

"That's the weapon. I saw it leaking from one of the airships that fired on us before we boarded. They caught each other in the crossfire and ruptured the tank. That dumped the weapon out. It's the same gas that he filled my medusa orbs with when I attacked Canterlot. His plan is to turn Equestria into stone." Tempest explained.

"Are you certain?" John pressed.

"I watched it turn the entire ship's hull to stone, so yeah. Pretty sure." Tempest replied.

John quickly turned on his heels and walked over to the front of the ship. He squinted slightly as he watched the slow approach on Canterlot mountain. Just as Tempest trotted over to his side, he turned around again and marched back over to the center of the deck. Tempest gave him a confused look, but continued to follow behind as John checked his watch. She tilted her head to the side as he twisted the face of the watch a few times. Eventually, he unscrewed it and removed the face entirely, before dropping a purple crystal out onto his hand.

Tempest's eyes widened as she observed John place the crystal on the deck, "Is that a communications crystal?"

John nodded, "Insurance policy." He said, as the crystal glowed to life.

A fuzzy image appeared above the crystal. It appeared faint at first, but quickly cleared up, giving an image of the crystal castle, and the cutie mark map surrounded by six pony-sized thrones and one smaller one. Sitting on one of the thrones, her muzzle buried in a book, was Twilight. A half eaten bagel laid on the table beside her, along with a healthy amount of crumbs.

For a few seconds, she didn't notice that she was being watched, but eventually, the little purple alicorn looked up, shrieked, and jumped, falling out of her throne to the crystal floor below.

"Ughhhhhh." She groaned, getting to her haunches.

"Twilight, can you hear me?" John asked, receiving a nod in response.

"Yes, I can hear you. You scared the heck out of me, John," Twilight responded, looking up to the hologram before her, "And I see you're on a ship... oh hi, Tempest!" She added, giving a small wave to the mulberry unicorn.

Tempest hesitantly returned the wave with a small one of her own, while looking to John for help. Ignorant or uncaring of her plight, John cleared his throat to get the friendship princess's attention.

"Twilight, we have a problem and we need your help." John started, getting her full attention.

"What do you need me to do?" Twilight asked, her entire personality adopting a much more serious tone.

"We're on the Storm King's flagship. We were able to destroy most of his fleet but a few ships managed to get away before we could burn them. At the moment we count five airships, not including the flagship." John explained.

Twilight quickly magic'd a notepad and quill before scribbling down her notes, "Alright, and what about his secret weapon?" She asked.

"It's the same one he gave Tempest when she attacked Canterlot. His plan is to turn Canterlot and everything along his path to stone. He's barricaded himself inside the flagship and we can't get in. You need to get word to all of Equestria that a storm is coming from the South. Evacuate Canterlot and every town or city along our path." John instructed.

Before he could continue, the ship jolted upward, nearly knocking both Tempest and John to the deck. They both looked around in confusion for a moment before a look of realization flashed across Tempest's face.

"Oh, buck..." She whispered.

"What? What is it?" John questioned.

"Buck, of course he would..." Tempest muttered.

"Tempest, what is he doing!?" John demanded.

"He's going to a higher altitude. My guess is the edge of the troposphere. John, if he releases that gas at that altitude, he won't have to get anywhere near Canterlot. The wind currents will carry the gas across the entire continent!" Tempest explained.

John's brow quickly furrowed as his gaze fell down to the deck below. After a moment, he looked over to Twilight, "Any ideas?" He asked.

Twilight bit her lip in thought, "This is worse than even I was expecting. I understood the Storm King was ruthless, but not completely reckless. He could easily end up turning a quarter of the planet to stone. Is there any way you can force him to stay at a low altitude?"

John shook his head, "Not on the flagship. Everything's covered in steel and I don't have a weapon that can punch through that.." He admitted, "At least... not on me right now."

Tempest tilted her head to the side, "What does that mean?" She questioned.

Rather than answer her, John fixed Twilight with a serious look, "How quickly can you teleport to my room in Canterlot Castle?"

"I can be there right away. What do you need?" Twilight replied.

"On the bottom shelf in my closet, there's a safe. You can't miss it. The combo is six, three, seven, seven. You'll find the biggest rifle I have. I need it along with all the ammunition in the drawer below it." John explained.

"I'll be right there." Twilight responded, before disappearing in a flash.

While the duo waited for Twilight to return, Tempest tapped John on the shoulder, earning a curious look from the man.

"What kind of weapon is she bringing?" Tempest asked.

Before John could respond, Twilight reappeared in the crystal image. She held a long metallic rifle in her magic. Atop the frame, rested a long scope, capable of six to thirty five power magnification. A folded up bipod sat under the barrel while the buttstock rested on the floor due to the sheer length of the gun. Twilight held several box magazines and massive .50 caliber bullets in her magical grasp, all with red and silver tips.

"This the one?" Twilight inquired, huffing slightly from the exertion of teleporting twice in such a short time.

Tempest's eyes widened in shock at the sheer size of the weapon, along with its ammunition.

"That's the one. Can you teleport it to our position?" John asked.

"I can try. You're moving pretty quickly, and if your crystal's signature is any indication, you're closing on Canterlot pretty quickly too... alright, I think I know where to teleport this. Be ready." Twilight answered, closing her eyes in concentration.

A few seconds passed as her horn lit up in a violet hue that slowly turned white. Eventually, the rifle disappeared in a flash, only to reappear just a few feet in front of John, and drop to the deck. The rifle made a loud, metallic *clang* as it hit the deck, followed by the sound of bullets reigning down around it.

"Thanks, Twilight. If all goes well, I won't have to call you again until this is all over." John said, giving a thankful smile.

"Just make sure you both get out of there safe, okay?" Twilight replied.

"Will do. I'll see you soon." John gave a nod.

With that, the crystal image faded away and John stepped over to the colossal rifle. As he grabbed and loaded the weapon, Tempest picked up one of the bullets with her hoof and examined it.

"Why is the tip colored red and silver?" She asked.

"Armor piercing, incendiary tracer rounds." John answered.

Author's Note

Haha .50 cal go brrrrr.