John finished loading the bullets into the magazine, ensuring to place the extras in his pocket, while Tempest tried to lift the behemoth of a rifle.

"For buck's... sake," Tempest groaned as she heaved the rifle into her hooves, "How much does this thing weigh?" She asked, incredulously.

John looked over to Tempest, "It's a Barrett .50 cal. It's about thirty pounds. That's why I didn't bring it with us from the start. Here, give it to me." He replied, holding his hand out for the weapon.

Tempest sluggishly hefted the Barrett over to John's waiting hands, and albeit with a grunt of his own, he took the rifle and set about loading it. He shoved the magazine into the mag-well and pulled the heavy charging handle back. The large spring squealed as it was compressed, before slamming the bolt home with a metallic *chunk*. With that finished, John hastily made his way over to the railing and rested the handguard of the rifle on the wooden frame.

"Do you know roughly where to aim to hit the munitions' cache on those ships?" John asked, resting his cheek against the cheekpad.

Tempest squinted as she looked out at the airship that John was aiming at. After a few moments of deliberate thought and observation, she nodded her head.

"Do you see the starboard window, to the left and above the gun port hatches?" She asked.

"Yeah." John answered.

"Aim level with the gun ports, but directly under that window." Tempest instructed.

John moved the rifle slightly, "Got it. You might want to cover your ears. This one is particularly loud."

Tempest quickly heeded his warning and clamped both hooves over her ears. She watched as John let out a steadying breath, his finger slowly squeezing the trigger, until he reached the wall. With just a few more pounds of pressure, he fired, and a blast of concussion washed over her so quickly and ferociously, that she was nearly knocked off of her hooves. Even with her hooves coving her ears, the sound of the rifle was completely deafening, sounding more akin to a cannon firing just beside her head, than a rifle.

Despite nearly being knocked to her haunches, Tempest watched in awe at the sight of the bullet speeding through the air. A red beam of light bolted through the sky at blistering speed, before slamming into the hull of the airship and exploding in a flash. However, the airship did not explode. Tempest felt her hopes quickly die as the smoke from the impact faded away behind the airship, leaving nothing more than a scorch mark on the wooden hull. Just as she opened her mouth to voice her despair, however, John fired again.

Another bolt of red hot light streaked through the sky, covering the distance just as fast, before once again slamming into the hull of the airship with a flash of light. This time it was swiftly accompanied by a massive explosion that ripped the entire hull apart and sent pieces of wood sailing for hundreds of feet though the air. This time, Tempest did fall to her haunches, her mouth agape in awe at the fantastical explosion brought on by only two shots from the massive rifle in John's hands.

"B-bucking Tartarus..." She whispered, shaking her head in amazement.

"We've still got one more to take out." John stated, as he hefted the Barrett from the railing and hurried over to the starboard side of the deck.

Once there, he rested the rifle on the railing once more, finding his target just a few hundred yards away. The crew on board the airship frantically rushed back and forth, the captain fearfully turning to the ship to run away. John quickly acquired his sight picture and focused on the same spot as before, only from the other side this time.

"Can that thing really punch from one side of the airship to the other?" Tempest wondered, her hooves still covering her ears.

"One way to find out." John muttered as he squeezed the trigger.

Another blast of fire and concussion rocked through the frame of the railing and deck, all the way back into Tempest's chest and lungs as the bullet sailed through the air once again. The laser beam of death slammed into the hull, exploding in a flash of light once more, but failing to ignite the munitions' room. Without hesitation, John fired again, and again. Each shot sent a wave of pressure through the air that made the steel around them ring, and the wood creak.

Tempest felt the air being forced out of her lungs as each blast of explosive power washed over her like a mini explosion, making her ears ring and her bones shake. Finally, after eight violent blasts, John pulled the trigger once more, only to receive a *click* instead. He set the rifle against the railing and hastily released the magazine, before fishing extra bullets out of his pockets.

With her senses no longer under constant assault from the beastly rifle, Tempest looked up over the railing to find several trails of white smoke following the airship as it tried to continue its escape. She even saw the beginnings of flames licking along the side of the ship, nearly cresting onto the deck.

"Even if you didn't hit the black powder, I think that ship is still going to burn down soon." Tempest mentioned.

John merely nodded as he finished reloading the rifle. Without another word, he took aim once more and fired off five more rounds at the fleeing airship, seemingly ensuring that the wooden hull caught fire. Only when he could see flames billowing from the deck and climbing the ropes to the air balloon, did he finally return his attention to Tempest.

However, just as he turned to look at the mulberry unicorn, John's blood nearly froze in his veins at the sight behind her. While they were focused on killing the rest of the Storm King's fleet, the soldiers aboard his flagship had quietly filtered on deck.

"Tempest!" John shouted, wheeling the barrel of the massive sniper rifle around to face the now rushing soldiers.

Tempest barely managed to duck under the barrel of the gun as she turned her head, her eyes widening in alarm at just how close the soldiers were. The closest soldier was already preparing to thrust forward with his spear, its tip aimed right at John's chest. Unfortunately for the soldier, however, John was just barely fast enough to spin the Barret into position and squeeze the trigger.

https://youtu.be/3DsGp9so6qs

Tempest instantly lost her hearing as the shockwave of concussive fire exploded forward from the barrel of the gun, the bright flash instantly blinding the soldiers in front and nearly knocking them off their paws. The bullet shot forth like a rocket, blasting straight through the chest of the approaching soldier and sending a fountain of blood spewing from the half inch hole in his chest.

Without so much as a struggle, the soldier lifelessly dropped to the deck, his spear flopping out of his claws as the wooden material ran red with his blood. The soldiers beside him covered their ears in pain from the volume of the rifle, while Tempest tried to correct the dizziness in her head and clear the ringing in her ears.

John, on the other hand, took full advantage of the confusion to pivot and fire a second shot, knocking the next soldier off of his paws and sending him sailing backwards, blood erupting from the hole in his chest as well. The last soldier in such close proximity finally snapped out of his surprised stupor, his eyebrows furrowing with rage at just how quickly John killed his brothers. He quickly rushed forward, swinging his sword in a sideways arc, aiming for John's neck.

With barely a moment to react, John instinctively slipped the buttstock from his shoulder and dropped the rear of the rifle, bringing the muzzle up to aim the rifle straight upwards and block the blade just before it could cut into his throat. The sword crashed against the steel of the rifle, sending a spark flying through the air as the creature pressed forward, quickly pinning John against the railing.

With no room to maneuver, and the snarling soldiers growling down at him, just a few scant inches between them, John glanced up. The muzzle break of the rifle sat just a few centimeters away from the soldier's temple. An idea formed in his brain, and with grit teeth, John twisted the rifle with all his might to aim the vent holes of the muzzle break straight into the soldier's ear.

The blade inched closer and closer to John's throat, but he kept his focus on the muzzle break and his trigger. Millimeter by millimeter, the barrel twisted in the standstill, the openings of the muzzle finding their target just a hair's breadth away. Finally, just as the edge of the blade pressed against his skin, John squeezed the trigger. The blast of concussion from the Barrett slammed into the side of the soldier's head, cracking his skull and hemorrhaging his brain in an instant. He quickly fell to the side, all the fight leaving his body as blood oozed from his furry ear.

Now with some breathing room, John looked over to see Tempest holding off the rest of the soldiers, her horn blasting wave after wave of magical electricity through the remaining soldiers. He felt relief at the sight, but just as he pushed himself up to aim his rifle at the group and help her finish them off, the airship suddenly listed to the side, nearly knocking him over the railing and making everyone else on deck stumble. While he managed to keep himself from falling, John could not maintain his grip on his rifle and keep himself on the deck, and he quickly lost control of the rifle, sending it falling off the side of the airship to the ground far below.

John glanced up at the airship's balloon to find a new hole venting the helium gas inside at an alarming rate. The airship quickly lost altitude, and descended down into the clouds below. While the rest of the soldiers stumbled and fumbled over themselves, all trying to figure out what exactly happened, John hastily unslung his shotgun and took aim. He emptied the tube of his weapon, red shells flying out into the air and falling the thousands of feet to the ground below, and killed the remaining soldiers on deck.

With all the present threats taken care of, John rushed over to Tempest's side, finding her panting for breath while sweat dripped from her coat.

"You alright?" John asked.

"What!?" Tempest shouted back, looking up to him as she slowly caught her breath.

"Are you okay!?" John shouted back, looking her over for any overt or serious wounds.

"I'm good! Just a little... winded!" Tempest replied, before turning to the front of the deck, "What happened!?" She questioned.

John tapped her wither, regaining her gaze, before pointing up at the air balloon. A shocked look adorned her face, before she looked back down at John.

"We need to get off of this ship!" She shouted.

"The Storm King has to die first!" John replied.

"He'll die in the crash!" She shot back.

"I'm not taking chances!" John shook his head.

Before either Tempest or John could say anything else, the airship jolted heavily, nearly knocking them both to the deck. They both looked around in confusion, before John rushed over to the railing and looked over the side of the airship. He saw what appeared to be the bow of the airship splitting open, and folding out to the side.

"What the Hell is happening down there!?" John questioned, just as Tempest looked over the side.

"I don't know! I've never seen anything like that before!" Tempest replied.

John and Tempest watched in disbelief as another, smaller airship slowly descended from the bow of the flagship. It only took a moment for them to realize what was happening.

"He's escaping!" Tempest exclaimed, looking over to John.

"We need to get on that ship!" John said, rushing over to the railing at the front of the deck.

"What are you planning on doing!?" Tempest questioned.

"What does it look like!?" John answered, before climbing onto the railing.

Tempest shook her head and opened her mouth to respond just as the airship finally dropped out of the cloud cover. Now with a clear view of where exactly they were going, they both looked over the front of the airship, finding Canterlot fast approaching. They were noticeably lower in the sky than either would have liked, giving them only a few seconds before the airship would crash into the upper district.

"No time! Jump!" He ordered, before jumping off the side of the airship and falling toward the smaller airship below.

With barely a moment of hesitation, Tempest galloped after him and jumped off the side of the airship as well. They both fell, seemingly in slow motion, through the debris-ridden air. They both aimed as best as they could for the helium balloon, each trying to twist or angle their bodies to land on the soft fabric. Just a couple of seconds passed, but for them, an eternity, before John slammed into the balloon, followed closely by Tempest.

Due to his larger frame and weight, John bounced much higher off of the balloon than Tempest did. He caught enough air to flip back over onto his back and land at the edge of the balloon while Tempest bounced and landed in place. Her eyes locked on his as he slid from the edge of the balloon, off of its side and toward the ground below.

"John!" Tempest shouted, reaching out with her foreleg, though she knew it was a fruitless endeavor.

John desperately tried to grab a hold of something to keep him anchored to the balloon, but found nothing. Just as he slipped off of the side, however, his frantically grasping hands caught hold of a length of rope tied to the balloon. Under his weight, the rope quickly snapped on the rear of the balloon, sending him falling down once more toward the city below.

With only a few dozen feet between him and the buildings, John tucked his legs up as high as he could to avoid slamming them into the rooftops of the cobblestone buildings littering the streets of Canterlot. While he occupied himself with dodging buildings, Tempest looked down at him from her spot atop the air balloon. She let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him still breathing, but found her attention quickly pulled to the obstacles coming at him.

John's eyes narrowed as he held onto the rope, the buildings growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. He eyed several houses or gardens he could potentially land on, but found nothing that wouldn't shatter most of his bones on impact. With his time running out, and no options available, he settled on simply dropping from the rope at the last second before impact.

He didn't have to wait long, as the airship scraped the rooftops of the buildings, and John watched the cobblestone street approach much quicker than he was hoping for. With his options running out, and only fractions of a second left, John let go of the rope and tucked his body down. He hit the street hard and fast, ensuring to drop his shoulder and roll to disperse his kinetic energy as much as possible. He rolled nearly a dozen times before slamming into a fruit stand, destroying the plywood construction and sending fruits of all kinds flying in every direction.

Just a few seconds after John's body came to a halt, the Storm King's flagship smashed into the buildings just up the street and ignited in an explosion that ripped the entire frame apart. Burning wooden splinters sailed through the air as fire and toxic gas exploded in all directions. Every building in a several hundred foot radius went up in flames as gunpowder, fuel, and wood sprinkled all over the city.

Over at the fruit stand, John sluggishly pushed himself to his knees. Everything hurt, from his head, all the way down to his feet. He sported several small cuts on his face and hands, along with a healthy share of splinters and quickly developing bruises. Luckily though, nothing felt broken, although he noticed that his pistol was missing from its holster. With a groan of pain, John searched around himself for the pistol, but could not find it amongst the debris. After a few moments of searching, he sighed heavily and forced himself to look upward at the destruction and burning city before him.

"John!" Tempest cried out, as her airship swiftly turned to leave the city.

John looked up to Tempest, finding that she was just barely visible atop the Storm King's airship.

"Can you bring that airship down!?" John shouted as he pushed himself to his feet.

"I can try!" Tempest called back, just before losing sight of him.

Just as John turned to limp after the airship, he caught sight of the quickly approaching gas as it engulfed the street, turning everything in sight to solid stone. He pushed himself to get away from the gas, the pain in his knee almost making him limp. He pushed through the pain, gritting his teeth and growling with each breath. Behind him, the toxic gas swiftly consumed the fruit stand he'd crashed into, turning even the splinters of wood to solid stone.

John rounded the corner, scanning for the airship as the buildings around him obstructed it. He hastily searched the sky for any sign of the ship, and after a moment, caught the barest glimpse of the dark black fabric belonging to the balloon of the airship, as it rushed to escape. He hurried forward to follow after it, quickly pushing the pain in his leg to the side and running forward, gritting his teeth with each throbbing pain that jolted through his knee.

With his goal in mind, John unslung his shotgun from his back and rushed through the deserted streets. The gas swallowed the buildings behind him, pushing him to move even faster, lest he find himself turned into a statue among the remains of the city.

In the air above him, Tempest eased herself down the side of the air balloon, grabbing hold of the dangling rope John fell from, to make her way down to the deck of the airship. She was instantly spotted by several soldiers on the deck, each of whom unsheathed their swords or pulled out their spears to attack the quickly descending unicorn.

She landed on the hard wood deck with a *thump*, her horn igniting with malicious intent as the first soldier swung at her. She deftly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the swinging blade before firing a bolt of energy at the second soldier and kicking out her hindleg to strike the first one in the temple. Both soldiers were knocked to the floor, giving her time to rush forward to the helm.

Tempest jumped clear over the horizontal slash of another soldier's sword, before using his back as a springboard to leap forward into the amassing group of no less than a dozen soldiers. Her horn glowed white hot as she poured every once of her magical might into another massive blast of arcane energy, and as her hooves connected with the wooden deck in the center of the gathering of soldiers, she fired a wave so powerful that it sent all of them flying off the deck.

However, in her haste, Tempest failed to see the kegs of black powder behind the group of soldiers. The wave of electrical energy blasted through the kegs, igniting the powder inside and creating a chain explosion that ripped the deck apart. The pressure wave knocked her off her hooves and to her back, while flames engulfed the majority of the deck and reached for the air balloon above.

Quickly shaking the shock from her head, Tempest looked up at the destruction she'd caused on the deck. Her path to the helm was barely accessible, as most of it covered in flames. She hastily galloped over to the bow of the airship, her eyes scanning the deserted city for any sign of John. After a few moments of searching, she found a hastily moving dot in the middle district, running down the street away from the gas quickly descending over the entire city.

"John!" Tempest shouted as loud as her lungs would allow, "Middle district! Get to the platform! I'll steer the airship over there!"

Unsure if he'd heard her or not, Tempest rushed back over toward the helm of the airship. She carefully dodged the flames now engulfing the better part of the entire deck of the airship, and climbed the stairs leading to the helm. Once she was there, she grabbed hold of the wooden spokes and redirected the airship toward the middle district of the city, while also lowering the altitude of the airship. She carefully descended until the ship was flying just a few feet above the rooftops of the buildings below.

Several more of the storm soldiers rushed out onto the deck, all equipped with firefighting tools or extinguishers. They fought to control the flames and douse them while Tempest throttled down the airship until it was just barely coasting along toward the aerial platforms on the middle district. Before she could properly land the airship, however, several more soldiers rushed the helm, their weapons at the ready.

Tempest tried to duck and dodge the blades being thrust and swung at her while also trying to steer the airship, but quickly found the combined tasks impossible. She felt the cold steel of a sword slice her wither, making her gasp in pain, before a thrusted spear caught her flank with the edge of the blade, cutting deeply into her flesh and making her cry out. Wave after wave of agony pulsed through her wounds as she tried to avoid the onslaught of blades, and despite her best efforts to use her magic, the strain of using so many high powered spells simply left her too drained to rely on it anymore.

She was forced to back up to the edge of the deck, her haunches bumping into the railing as she panted in ragged, pained gasps. Sweat and blood dripped from her body to the wooden deck below as the three soldiers cornered her, all prepared for the kill. However, before any of them could make a move, a blast rang out from the platform beside them, and one of the soldiers fell to the deck, blood splattering from his chest.

Tempest and the remainder of the soldiers instantly looked over to see John, sweat soaking his clothes as he heaved air into his lungs. He fired two more blasts from his M4, cleaving a section of the arm off of one soldier and knocking another to the floor. Without another word, John rushed forward and leapt from the platform, covering the twenty or so feet of air between him and the airship in spectacular fashion, before landing on the deck and rolling to a kneeling position. The bolt on his shotgun was locked to the rear, indicating that he was out of ammunition, but he quickly remedied that by hastily loading another shell into the chamber, hitting the bolt release, and finishing off the last soldier.

As the soldier fell to the floor, his body landed on the throttle, slamming it all the way to the max. The airship jolted forward with force as the engine roared and a cloud of black smoke shot out the back. However, John ignored the state of the airship and rushed over to Tempest's side, his hands quickly grabbing hold of her and pulling her close as he inspected her wounds.

"Are you alright?" He asked, breathlessly.

"I... I think so." Tempest wheezed, leaning gratefully into John's torso.

"Okay. You stay here. I'll finish this." John announced, looking down at her.

"No chance in Tartarus. We do this together." Tempest firmly asserted.

John looked into her eyes for just a few moments, before giving a small nod.

"Okay. Let's get the bastard."

Author's Note

Time for the final showdown.