(Story extract)

“Pardon my asking, but I still want to know why in the name of the goddesses do you have so much… uh, hardware, with you? I mean, the auto-rifles I get, and the grenade one too, to a lesser extent, but…” He stalled for a long moment, looking up and down the length of Kindness dumbfoundedly. As we trotted out of the east gate of Turnpike, I couldn’t help but smirk at his expression. “That… thing, it actually fires those striped warheads? Why the hell did Equestria make something that shot Zebra ammunition?!” Oh, Stable 76, you were so goddess-damned crazy, weren’t you? I let off a chuckle, idly letting the large launcher sway on my back, looking up at the clear blue plexiglass of the half-pipe guide.

“Hey, when you need to make absolutely sure that whatever’s shooting at you will be killed to death in the face, what better way than with a miniature balefire bomb?” Releasing a gleeful cackle, Cross Stitch took a few steps away from myself, looking a little less thrilled to be traveling along with us. Wearing a stupid grin, I let off a sigh, looking over at the concerned unicorn. He sped up in his trotting slightly, pulling up alongside Fringe and still glancing back at myself every now and again. “Oh, c’mon Cross, balefire explosions are pretty!”

“Twintails, rule two for the tank applies to that thing, too.” The power-armored stallion glared back at myself, Minty glancing back as well. Rule two… oh, come on, Fringe! It’s not like I’d be wasting a 3-inch shell traveling at a couple hundred meters per second on a bloatsprite, it’s just a regular balefire egg! Though… oh, fine. “Buck up. Those bears in Quebuck’ll sure be in for one hell of a surprise, eh?” He let off a smoky chuckle, peering down the road ahead as the morning sun crested the mountains, only to be shrouded by the incessant cloud cover as the day moved on. Sliding up alongside Minty, I fidgeted with my Pip-buck’s radio, tuning back into Hi-fi and Tom. Least it was something to pass the time…