Applejack had been eyeing the shotgun ever since Twilight dropped it off. She didn’t know where Twi had gotten the thing, or how it worked, or what it did, but that never stopped any Apple from doing anything before, dadgummit! Grandpappy himself almost built the entire barn she was sitting in without any help from no one. 

[i]Rest in peace grandpappy, [/i]Applejack thought. [i]Somepony shoulda told you about support beams.[/i] 

Sighing, Applejack unraveled the note Twilight had left her in some vague attempt to understand the workings of the firearm Twilight had generously donated to her. 

[i]Dear Applejack,

This shotgun should help you get rid of those varmints you’ve been complaining about. I’ve included a diagram and 500-page explanation of how to properly fire, aim, and clean the shotgun. I’ve also taken the liberty to pre-load it with ammunition because you can’t use magic. This should make keeping your fields clean of nasty gophers much easier!

Your friend,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Do not under any circumstances tell Fluttershy about this or what you’re doing. 
[/i]

Applejack flipped through the gargantuan tome Twilight had written before tossing it aside. Twilight was a peach, but the girl had no sense of restraint when it came to writing. Instead, she looked over the diagram, a crudely drawn series of images in comic book style obviously made by Spike. 
	
The first panel had the barrel with a pump drawn on, with an arrow pointed at the pump. “Pull back here.” The second had the trigger, “Pull here.” Lastly, simply the words “BOOM!” with smiley face. 
	
Applejack couldn’t make heads or tails of this claptrap. Spike really needed to work on his art more. She tossed the “diagram” aside as well. She tried to “pull” back on the pump as described, but found that it just wouldn’t budge. She took a moment to consider her next move. 
	
Naturally, the next course of the action was to smack it as hard as possible. She stamped a hoof on top of the barrel as hard as she could. The shotgun rattled off with a deafening “BOOM!” and blew a hole in the side of Applejack’s barn.  
	
“Whoo wee! What was that!?” Applejack exclaimed, excited. She then saw the barn. “Aw, horse-feathers. Sorry grandpappy.“
	
Obviously Spike had no idea what he was talking about. All you had to do was smack it to fire. Why couldn't Twilight just given her a paper that said "Just smack it" instead of some elongated diatribe about the manufacturer's second cousin? 

Applejack took the shotgun outside. She again stomped on the barrel of the gun, but this time from the back. The weight shifting the barrel of the gun upwards as the shotgun discharged with another roaring “BOOM!” 
	
Suddenly, a light blue blur dropped out of the sky and plopped beside Applejack in the mud. Applejack ran to inspect it, hoping that it was just some sort of mutant bird she had shot. 
	
[i]Oh no. [/i]

“Argghhhhh, Applejack what did you do?!” Rainbow Dash yelled.  

“Uh, um, nothing, just uh, testin’ my new shotgun,” Applejack stammered. 

"Your what?"

"It's some dohickey that Twilight gave me for gettin' rid of varmints. I was, uh, just testin' it out. You okay down there, Dash?" 

"Do I look okay?!" Rainbow screeched.

Applejack inched over to see the damage she had inflicted and winced. Ouch. That did [i]not[/i] look good. Rainbow was probably gonna have to spend more than a couple days in the Ponyville hospital. 

"Hold on, Rainbow, I'll go fetch Nurse Redheart."

“Applejack whhyyyyyy?!” Rainbow shrieked after her. 


Applejack returned the shotgun to Twilight the next day. Attach to it was a note, "Twilight: Ponies were never meant to use shotguns."