Strider watched as Rainbow Dash shook one last cloud, sending another wave of rain showering down across the wreckage. The final wave of rain extinguished the last remaining flames, allowing the Gunship to be accessible again.
Rainbow Dash bucked the cloud out of existence, before landing in front of him.
"That was a lot of flames, but they're all out." Rainbow Dash claimed.
"Thanks..." Strider said blankly as he walked past her and towards the wreckage.
Strider glanced over his shoulder to see Rainbow Dash fly over to where the rest of her friends were standing. All of them had come rushing once the Gunship exploded, But Rainbow Dash arrived first and managed to wrangle up some clouds to rain on the flames.
Strider weaved through a few outstretched metal shards, making his way over to the cargo hold. He reached the slightly burned panel and tried to open it, but the panel remained stuck. With a groan of annoyance, Strider grabbed the top of the panel and pried it off of its hinges.
The panel fell to the ground with a thump, sending a faint cloud of dust into the air. Strider tried to peek into the cargo hold, but the darkness inside made it near impossible.
Strider flipped on his helmet's headlamp, revealing the interior of the cargo hold. To his dismay, almost every crate had been crushed by fallen panels, or burned up by flames.
However, what did cheer him up was when he saw the Z-6 still in tact. The only damage on it seemed to be some soot on the handle and it was on its side. Strider grabbed the rotary blaster and pulled it out of the cargo hold.
Strider gently set the Z-6 down outside and went back to looking in the cargo hold. He managed to spot two other crates that seemed untouched. He grabbed one of them and set it next to the Z-6, then the other.
Strider popped off the lids of the two crates and looked inside. One of them had two DC-15S's and ammunition which was a score, but the other one only had a few broken wires and a single cable attachment for a DC-15S.
"Well, it's better than nothing." Strider told himself, putting the lids back on the crates and stacking them.
Strider picked up the two crates and carefully balanced the Z-6 on top. Once he was sure it was safe, he left the wreckage and set the stuff down next to Fluttershy's cottage.
Once Strider double checked that everything was alright, he went over to the group of ponies who were all standing over Twilight who had regained conscientiousness.
"Twilight? You think you can stand?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah, I think i'm alright." Twilight claimed, getting to her hooves.
"Phew, we were so worried!" Rarity stated.
Applejack was about to agree when Strider pushed past her and towards where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were standing.
Strider grabbed his helmet and ripped it off, carelessly dropping it as he advanced towards the fillies. He wanted them to see him face to face for this.
"Now that everything has been cleared up, can any of you tell me as to what has happened here?" Strider demanded, glaring at them.
"We don't know! One second we were watching Twilight holding a strange object, the next was it blowing up!" Scootaloo claimed.
"An object? What did it look like?" Strider asked.
"Um, it was hard for us to get a good view, but they looked like metal circles with flashing red lights on the top." Scootaloo said.
"But Twilight must've gotten ah better look." Apple Bloom pointed out.
Strider looked over his shoulder at Twilight. A metal circle with a flashing red light huh? Strider might have an idea as to what those were.
Strider fished around in his utility belt, trying to find a certain item. Once he found what he was looking for, he pulled it out of the belt and went over to Twilight.
Strider knelt down next to the Unicorn and held up the object for her to see.
"Twilight, was this the object that you saw in the ship?" Strider asked.
Twilight used her magic to gently pick up the device. She rotated it around a little, before setting it back in Strider's hands.
"Yeah, that's the same one." Twilight proclaimed.
"That would explain how loud that explosion was." Strider muttered to himself.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked, putting away the medical kit.
"This is a thermal detonator, used primarily on the battlefield. Once activated, a countdown begins with a flashing red light. Once that countdown reaches zero, they detonate. But someone has to activate it before it can go off." Strider exclaimed, turning to face the fillies.
Strider got up and walked back over to the three fillies, showing them the thermal detonator.
"Have any of you seen this before?"
"No."
"Nope."
"Never."
Strider gripped the thermal detonator tightly, his anger rising.
"Well one of you did! So quit lying right to my face and tell me." Strider ordered.
"But none of us put them there! Sweetie Belle was in the cockpit, Ah was work'n on ah wing, and Scootaloo was work'n on the other one!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"Well one of you must of at least activated them, otherwise they wouldn't of blown up." Strider explained.
The other filly who was apparently called Sweetie Belle stood silent for a few seconds, before her eyes widened.
"Can they be activated remotely?" She asked.
"Yes, if they are hooked up to the right frequency. Why?"
"Um, I might of pressed a few buttons in the cockpit." Sweetie Belle admitted.
Strider glared at Sweetie Belle with fiery eyes.
"Why were you even pressing buttons in the first place!?" Strider questioned.
"Well, we thought the futuristic looking screens might of needed repairing. And since I was the only Crusader who has had experience with monitors and computers, I was the one chosen." Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"But she didn't know that this would happen!" Scootaloo stated.
Strider's grip on the thermal detonator tightened even more, his knuckles turning white under the body suit.
"The only thing that needed fixing was the left wing! EVERYTHING else was ALREADY done! WHY would you even THINK that you would be able to fix a ship that ISN'T even FROM YOUR PLANET!?" Strider shouted.
The others quickly took notice of the scene and helped Twilight get to her hooves before rushing over to Strider and the CMC.
"We're so so sorry! I promise we are! We'll never do it again!" Apple Bloom promised.
"Sorry won't bring back my ship! I swear if you think you can just do stuff to people's things WITHOUT EVEN ASKING THEM then I SWEAR I--" Strider cut himself off, realizing that he was boiling over.
As much as Strider wanted to shout more, he needed to remember that they were just younglings, young ponies who didn't know what they were doing. But still, they shouldn't of touched his stuff.
Strider put the thermal detonator away in his utility belt and turned around, walking away from the three fillies. The others tried to talk to him but he ignored them. Instead, Strider walked right past them and towards who knows where. He just needed to take a walk. A moment to think about what to do.
Apple Bloom was about to follow but was cut off by Fluttershy. She was then quickly stared down by her sister as well as the rest of her friends.
All Apple Bloom could do was watch as Strider got further and further away into the distance, the only thing left behind was his helmet which still rested in the grass where he had dropped it.
"Y'all have a lot of explain'n ta do." Applejack said coldly.