//------------------------------//
// The Mysterious Thunder - Askre 
// Story: July - 2012 (T.W.G.) 
// by The Writer's Group 
//------------------------------//


Author: Askre
Prompt: The Cutie Mark Crusaders get explosives.
Title: The Mysterious Thunder



Twilight Sparkle entered Ponyville market intending to buy some much needed ingredients for a salad recipe she wanted to try. Rarity had given it to her and as the fashion designer had described it, it was simply divine. Spike rode on her back, checklist and quill in his claws. It looked to be a busy morning as there were many ponies around either buying or selling.
“What’s the first item on the list, Spike?” the purple mare asked.
“Uh let’s see.” The young dragon rolled up the scroll to check the parchment. “Looks like its turnips.”
The librarian slowed down her trot as she glanced around for the turnip stand. She spotted it and changed her direction, but a thundering noise and a tremor going through the earth underneath her halted the Unicorn.
“What was that?” Twilight glanced back at Spike who could only shrug in response. They both eyed up but could only see blue sky with the occasional white tuft of clouds. From one of them Rainbow Dash was peeking up looking both surprised and annoyed.
“Hey, that can’t be a thunderstorm. It’s not scheduled for another month,” the Pegasus retorted and flew up so she could get a better look.
“You see anything?” the purple Unicorn called. There was no response just yet as Dash was still trying to determine where the sound came from, but then the blue pony gasped in shock.
“There is black smoke coming from Sweet Apple Acres,” she shouted and was off in a multicolored streak.
“Oh no, hold on Spike!” Twilight darted off herself. Spike had to cling to her neck so he wouldn’t be thrown off the galloping pony.
Fortunately it didn’t take the Unicorn too long to arrive and she expected to see carnage before her at the apple farm. What Twilight was not expecting was seeing Rainbow Dash lying on the ground, beating it with her hooves laughing.
“Rainbow, what’s the matter with you?” she asked but all the answer she was given was a blue hoof pointing at something.
Twilight looked and gasped first when seeing the smoldering ruins that had once been one of the farm’s barns. Then her attention was brought to the four shapes running in circles around it. Four black sod covered shapes, three small and one bigger.
“COME BACK HERE!” Applejack’s voice could be heard loud and clear.
“Eeeep, we’re sorry, we’re sorry, we’re sorry,” the three distinct voices of the Cutie Mark Crusaders yelped.
“Oh ya’ll be sorry a’right!” Applejack snapped. “When Ah said Ah wanted that barn down. Ah did NOT mean BLOWIN’ IT TO KINGDOM COME!”
Spike couldn’t hold it in any longer and rolled off Twilight’s back, laughing just as hard as Rainbow Dash. The Unicorn eyed her assistant but then noticed that Big Mac had appeared beside her, he nodded a greeting to her.
“So, I take it that you needed this barn torn down and the girls decided to try and get a cutie mark in demolition, found somehow explosives and blew the whole thing up,” Twilight tried to guess what had happened.
“Eeeyup.” Was the simple confirmation from the red stallion that she had it right.