“You and I have some unfinished business. My magic's gotten better since I was here last. And I'm going to prove it! Me and you. A magic duel. Winner stays, loser leaves Ponyville forever!”
"你和我还有一些未了的事情。自从我上次来这儿以后，我的魔法变得更好了。我要证明这一点！我和你。一场神奇的决斗。胜者留下，败者永远离开Ponyville!"
I’ve never liked gravity. It’s not heights that’re my problem. It’s falling. It’s the idea of gravity pulling you downward. The sense that there was some force constantly clutching at you simply because it could. It didn’t matter how hard you tried or what you wanted, gravity was always there; inescapable, inexhaustible, and unforgiving.
我从来都不喜欢地心引力。我的问题不是高度。它在下降。这是重力把你往下拉的想法。那种感觉就是有某种力量不断地抓住你，仅仅是因为它可以这样做。无论你多么努力，无论你想要什么，地心引力总是存在的，无法逃避，无穷无尽，不可饶恕。
Lacunae looked on, the purple alicorn having replaced her formal wear with the black mourner’s gown. She had a minigun from the Harbinger attack squad and an anti-machine rifle floating beside her as she waited patiently. Idly, I wondered where she kept her ammo. I supposed it really didn’t matter at this point. Despite her wings, she too was trapped in gravity’s inexhaustible pull. So much energy being expended to keep herself from being crushed by its force.
拉库尼在一旁看着，紫色的斗篷已经用黑色的送葬服替代了她的正式服装。在她耐心地等待的时候，她有一把来自Harbinger攻击小队的迷你枪和一支漂浮在她身边的反机枪。我懒洋洋地想知道她把弹药放在哪里。我想这一点真的无关紧要。尽管有翅膀，她也被地心引力无穷无尽的吸引着。这么多的能量被消耗来保持自己不被它的力量压碎。
I was falling now as I scribbled out a note in Awesome’s study. Every letter was a struggle to put to the page. ‘wanted to give you this. Take Fleur and go home. Stop Lighthoves. Hope I see you again. Sorrie if I don’t. Talk to’ And I tumbled a little bit more as gravity compelled me to scribble out the last two words.
当我在Awesome的书房里草草地写下一个便条时，我感到很失落。每封信都要费力才能写进去。想把这个给你。带上芙蓉回家吧。停止打火机。希望能再见到你。如果我不这么做，我会很抱歉。我又跌倒了一点，因为地心引力迫使我潦草地写下了最后两个字。
‘Love you. Blackjack.’ I’d just have to hope that they’d finish what I couldn’t. Gravity told me to move. Gravity wanted me somewhere else. I told gravity to fuck off as I looked to the page and scrawled in a trembling pen, ‘PS: don’t freek out. Last nite was awesem. Giv 21 a hug frm’ but that was all I was allowed. I wanted to add a PPS and a PPPS, but if I did, gravity would make me fall on my friends and kill them.
"我爱你。黑杰克我只能希望他们能完成我做不到的事。地心引力让我移动。地心引力想让我去别的地方。我一边看着书页，一边用颤抖的笔潦草地写道:附言:别吐血。最后的夜晚是美妙的。给21岁的我一个拥抱，但那是我唯一被允许的。我想添加一个PPS和一个PPPS，但是如果我这样做了，重力会使我落在我的朋友们身上并杀死他们。
Gravity was a bitch...
地心引力是个婊子..。
I left the note on the gift I’d found in Meatlocker. I’d forgotten to give it to her… being thrown against a wall by an irate marefriend can have that effect… I struggled to stay there a few seconds more. My PipBuck lay beside it; no calling for help in a moment of lucidity, no navigation tags to lead my friends to me. All very neat. I wanted to linger… Just a few seconds. But gravity tore me away, and I turned to Lacunae. “You can port me all the way to Maripony?”
我把纸条放在我在Meatlocker找到的礼物上。我忘了把它给她......被一个愤怒的女朋友扔到墙上会有那种效果......我挣扎着在那里多呆了几秒钟。我的PipBuck就躺在它旁边;清醒的时候没有呼救，也没有导航标签指引我的朋友找到我。一切都非常整洁。我想逗留一下...就几秒钟。但是地心引力把我拉开了，我转向了空隙。"你可以把我一路送到马里波尼?"
“No. It will take several teleports, and I will need assistance,” she said in solemn tones. “You will have to help me till we meet up with the others.”
"没有。需要几次传送，我需要帮助,"她郑重其事地说。"在我们与其他人会合之前，你必须帮助我。"
“I don’t want to do this,” I whimpered as we stood together. I looked at the pathetic note I’d scribbled and ached to stay just another instant, but I couldn’t fight it anymore. Neither of us could.
"我不想这么做,"当我们站在一起时，我呜咽着说。我看着自己潦草地写下的可怜的便条，心里暗暗地想再多留一会儿，但我再也无法抗拒了。我们俩都不行。
“I know, Blackjack.” I looked into her sad eyes and touched my horn to hers. Together, we triggered the spell, her magic supported by my own meager offering. Together, we disappeared.
"我知道，黑杰克。"我看着她悲伤的眼睛，用我的号角碰了碰她的号角。我们一起启动了咒语，她的魔法由我自己微薄的奉献支持。我们一起消失了。
* * *
* * *
Our arrival at Miramare felt like I’d slammed through a solid wall. And I could make that comparison; I’d had more than a bit of experience in the slamming-through-solid-walls department. Every cell of my body ached and my horn had some char on it, but it was beyond relevance now. The spell would be cast again. And again. And again, for as long as it was necessary. Indeed, with Lacunae’s guidance, teleportation almost seemed easy. “Go get it,” Lacunae told me as she trotted out to the crater to soak up her rads for the next leg of our trip. I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. The Goddess pulled at my every thought, dragging me down into the mass that was Unity. Oh, she wasn’t going to consume me fully just yet. She wanted a trump card. Already, I had to think of ways to kill LittlePip and her friends.
我们抵达米拉马雷的时候，我感觉就像撞穿了一堵坚实的墙。我可以做这样的比较，因为我在"冲击坚实的墙壁"这个领域有着丰富的经验。我身体的每个细胞都感到疼痛，我的角上也有一些烧焦的痕迹，但现在已经无关紧要了。这个咒语将再次被施放。再来一次。一次又一次，只要有必要。事实上，在拉库尼的指导下，心灵运输几乎看起来很容易。"去把它捡回来,"拉库尼告诉我，她一边跑到火山口，一边吸收着我们下一段旅程所需的热量。我点点头，完全明白她的意思。女神牵引着我的每一个想法，把我拖入团结的弥撒中。哦，她还没有完全占据我的身心。她想要一张王牌。我不得不想办法杀了小皮和她的朋友们。
If it was just LittlePip, I’d have to take her out from outside the range of her E.F.S. I did not want to fight her up close where she could drop a boxcar on me! How such a little mare had such terrifying telekinesis was beyond me. If I did have to fight up close, I’d need the shotgun with flechettes. She wore light armor; if I was lucky, I could take her out quickly. Maybe blind her... she wouldn’t be very good with her super telekinesis if she couldn’t see, and E.F.S. and S.A.T.S. don’t do you any good if you don’t have eyes to sparkle at... oh
如果只是小匹普，我就不得不把她从她的e.f.s射程之外带出去。我不想近距离和她打架，那样她就可以把货车丢到我身上！这么一匹小母马怎么会有这么可怕的心灵遥感。如果我不得不近距离战斗，我需要带箭头的猎枪。她穿着轻型盔甲，如果我幸运的话，我可以很快把她干掉。也许弄瞎她......如果她看不见，她就不能很好地运用她的超级心灵遥感，如果你没有眼睛闪闪发光的话，e.f.s和s.a.t.s对你也没有任何好处......哦
dear Luna, did I just think that?
亲爱的露娜，我刚才是这么想的吗？
If her friends got involved… I absorbed everything the Goddess knew of LittlePip and her friends. Calamity would die first. Headshot, long range. I couldn’t worry about him and LittlePip at the same time. Velvet Remedy would die next; she’d likely linger over his body. That’d eliminate healing and really distract LittlePip. No matter how she denied it, there were still warm and sexy feelings associated with Velvet in her subconscious. Kill her friends and hurt her too badly to come at me thinking straight. Steelhooves would be risky. Oh, not killing him; Steel Ranger armor was tough, but all I had to do was teleport onto his back and cut his head off with the starmetal sword. No, the problem was that that would put me in range of LittlePip and Xenith. Ultimately, magic bullets to the head would be my best bet for LittlePip. Xenith would probably kill me, but the Goddess would be saved from whatever plot LittlePip hatched.
如果她的朋友们参与进来......我吸收了女神所知道的关于小匹普和她朋友们的一切。灾难总是先消失。头部特写，远距离。我不能同时担心他和小皮普。天鹅绒药剂接下来就会死去，她可能会在他的身体上徘徊。这样就不会有治疗效果，还会分散小pip的注意力。不管她如何否认，在她的潜意识里仍然有温暖和性感的感觉与天鹅绒相联系。杀了她的朋友，狠狠地伤害了她，以至于她不敢来找我算账。钢蹄是有风险的。哦，不要杀他;钢骑兵的盔甲很坚固，但是我所要做的就是传送到他的背上，然后用星际之剑砍下他的头。不，问题是那会把我放在小皮普和色尼斯的范围内。最终，对小皮普来说，头部的魔法子弹将是我最好的选择。塞尼斯可能会杀了我，但无论小皮普策划了什么阴谋，女神都会得救。
I just needed one little thing.
我只需要一件小事。
I walked into Miramare’s admin building; I didn’t need E.F.S. to spot the squatters who’d moved in. A dozen or so emaciated ponies and three tough, scarred, and all around battle-hardened griffins immediately roused themselves as I entered. From their leather gear and service rifles, I doubted they would be any kind of trouble to me. “Hey! This is our place! Get--” one griffin female shouted as she rose. Then she took in just what she was talking to as my eyes locked onto hers. “By the First Egg… who the fuck are you?”
我走进了米拉马雷的行政大楼;我不需要e.f.s来辨认那些已经搬进来的非法居住者。我一进门，十几匹瘦弱的小马和三只粗壮、伤痕累累、浑身上下都是身经百战的狮鹫就立刻站了起来。从他们的皮革装备和公务步枪来看，我怀疑他们不会给我带来任何麻烦。"嘿！这是我们的地盘！一个狮鹫女子站起来喊道。然后，当我的眼睛紧紧盯着她的眼睛时，她才明白自己在说什么。"看在第一颗蛋的份上......你他妈的是谁?"
“Nopony you want to fuck with tonight,” I answered. The force of the Goddess was pushing me to end the three; there was no future for the griffins, zebras, or dragons. Their extinction was unfortunate but inevitable. I thought back that they might be protecting the ponies, some Contract arranged. The pressure eased.
"今晚你不想惹毛小马,"我回答。女神的力量迫使我结束这三种动物;狮鹫、斑马或者龙是没有前途的。它们的灭绝是不幸的，但也是不可避免的。我回想起来，他们可能是在保护小马，某个契约安排的。压力减轻了。
“She’s with Red Eye. She’s a cyberpony, just like him!” one of the earth pony mares shouted in a panic. “She’s come to take us back to the pits! Kill her, Lyonesse! Please!”
"她在红眼航班上。她是一匹赛博马，就像他一样!"一匹地球马的母马惊恐地大叫。"她是来把我们带回维修站的！杀了她Lyonesse！求你了!"
“I’m not here for any of you. I’m not with Red Eye. In fact, I’ll probably be killing him soon.” I could feel a whole hit list of people the Goddess wanted dead. I’d be more than her Lacunae; I’d be her personal hitpony. Her executioner. The thought made me clench my teeth and try to think of a way to escape her pull. All I accomplished was a headache as my legs resumed
"我来这里不是为了你们任何人。我不是红眼航空的。事实上，我可能很快就会杀了他。"我能感觉到女神想要杀死的人的名单。我不仅仅是她的空隙，我还是她的私人马驹。她的刽子手。这个想法让我咬紧牙关，试图想出一个方法来逃避她的拉扯。当我的腿恢复正常时，我所做的只是头痛
movement through the admin building.
通过行政大楼。
“If you’re not after us, we got no argument with you,” Lyonesse replied, the young tawny griffin looking at the other two. From the looks they all exchanged, it was clear that this wasn’t a fight any of them wanted. That might save their lives. “If you’re here for salvage, we picked it all clean and stashed it, so there’s nothing for you here.”
"如果你们不是冲着我们来的，我们也不会和你们争论,"莱恩斯回答，这只年轻的黄褐色狮鹫看着另外两只。从他们互相的目光来看，很明显这不是他们想要的争吵。这可能会救他们的命。"如果你是来打捞的，我们把它们全部清理干净并藏起来了，所以这里没有你要的东西。"
“Funny. I thought I picked it clean when I swept through here,” I replied as I walked past towards the barracks. The three followed. I had to obey that force, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t chat in the meantime. “You all new to the Hoof?”
"有意思。我以为我扫过这里的时候把它捡得干干净净了。"我边走边回答。三个人紧随其后。我不得不服从这种力量，但这并不意味着我不能同时聊天。"你们都是新来的吗?"
“The ponies came from Fillydelphia. Met up with them near Ponyville a couple weeks back. Heard Hoofington wasn’t controlled by Red Eye anymore, so we agreed to escort them in exchange for any ammo or weapons we came across,” she said, keeping her voice calm as we trotted into the locker room. “So… are there a lot of you around here?”
"这些小马来自Fillydelphia。几周前在Ponyville附近见过他们。赫德·胡芬顿不再受红眼的控制，所以我们同意护送他们，以换取我们遇到的任何弹药或武器。"我们小跑着走进更衣室时，她说，声音保持平静。"那么......这里有很多你们这样的人吗?"
“Some free advice. Go northeast. Look for a place called Megamart. Premiere traders. They’ll buy anything you folks find. Don’t go southeast. You’ll run into a place called Flank. Used to be a community, now just a lot of killers. Be very careful who you fuck with,” I said as I trotted to the terminal and selected Psalm’s locker.
"一些免费的建议。向东北走。找一个叫Megamart的地方。首席交易员。他们会买你们找到的任何东西。不要往东南方向走。你会跑到一个叫弗兰克的地方。以前是个社区，现在只有很多杀人犯。当我小跑到航站楼并选择了诗篇的储物柜时，我说:"你要非常小心惹恼了谁。"。
I typed in the password. ‘Unforgiven’. The locker popped open with a heavy clunk, and I lifted out the large matte black metal case and the black riot armor she’d worn before. I felt the wave of shame from my friend, along with the memory of her placing these objects within when she first returned to Hoofington in exile. Testaments of the bloody legacy she’d carved through ponykind. Popping its catches, I opened the case and looked at the disassembled Penance in its padding. Dozens of tiny scratches on the polymer butt hinted at its bloody legacy. “Forgive me, Luna,” I murmured, despite myself. It still smelled of gun oil. It was a gun of beauty, awesome in its design and terrible in its purpose.
我输入了密码。不可饶恕。柜子砰的一声打开了，我拿出了她以前穿过的黑色防暴盔甲和黑色哑光金属箱。我感到了我朋友的羞愧，还有她第一次回到Hoofington时把这些东西放在里面的记忆。她用马种雕刻的血腥遗产的遗嘱。我砰地一声打开箱子，看着里面的衬垫上已经分解的忏悔。聚合物屁股上的几十个小划痕暗示着它的血腥遗产。"原谅我，卢娜,"我不由自主地低声说。车上还有枪油的味道。这是一把美丽的枪，它的设计令人敬畏，它的用途却可怕。
The three griffins looked at me, and one them suddenly grinned covetously.
三只狮鹫看着我，其中一只突然露出贪婪的笑容。
“Scramble me, that fucking shit is mi--” Her hand reached for her holster.
"搅乱我，那该死的东西是我..."她伸手去拿枪套。
I obliterated her head in a spray of blood, bone, and brains with a magic bullet. “Oh shi--” screamed the second, trying to bring her guns to bear behind me. One
我用一颗神奇的子弹将她的头部打得血肉横飞，骨头飞溅，脑浆四溅。"哦，见鬼——"第二个女孩尖叫着，试图用她的枪支支撑我的身后。一个
applebuck with two metal hooves, and she made a sound like plywood snapping as she was embedded in the flimsy lockers behind me. Lyonesse I fixed with two glowing pinpricks right in her eyes. The tawny griffin shook as she stared back, filling the room with a salty smell as she wet herself.
有两只金属蹄子的苹果巴克，当她被嵌在我身后那些易损的储物柜里时，发出了夹板断裂的声音。我用两个发光的针扎着她的眼睛。当她回过头来看的时候，黄褐狮鹫颤抖了一下，尿湿身体的时候，一股咸咸的味道充满了整个房间。
Only the fact that she might keep the ponies safe till they could be transformed saved her. I closed the gun case and took the riot armor. Grace’s alteration spell was fresh in my mind; I couldn’t have cast it myself, but I was connected to the analytic genius of Mosaic and Gestalt. In a trice, the alterations had been made, and I pulled the black armor over my body. When the coat was in place, few ponies would guess I was augmented, but everypony would know I was bad news. No dragonkiller rounds in the locker, unfortunately. I’d have to use normal antipersonnel and armor piercing against LittlePip.
只有她可以保护小马的安全，直到它们可以被改造，才能拯救她。我关上枪箱，拿起防暴装甲。格蕾丝的变形咒语在我的脑海中记忆犹新;我自己不可能使用它，但我与摩西和格式塔的分析天才联系在一起。不一会儿，衣服就被改好了，我把黑色的盔甲披在身上。当大衣到位时，几乎没有小马会猜到我被增强了，但是每一匹小马都会知道我是个坏消息。不幸的是，储物柜里没有蜻蜓杀手的子弹。我得用普通的杀伤武器和穿甲弹来对付小pip。
Closing the locker, I made my way to the door, leaving the bodies of the two griffins untouched. I think that unnerved Lyonesse even more. “If you really want my advice, though, get the fuck out of the Hoof as fast as you can,” I said calmly. “This place will fucking kill you.” And I turned my back on her, walking out the way I came. The dozen ponies shrank back into the offices and barracks as I strode past. Who could blame them?
我关上储物柜，走向门口，两只狮鹫的尸体丝毫未动。我认为这更让Lyonesse感到不安。"如果你真的需要我的建议，尽快离开霍夫,"我平静地说。"这地方会要了你的命"我转身背对着她，沿着我来的路走了出去。当我大步走过时，十几匹小马缩回到了办公室和营房里。谁能责怪他们呢？
The Operative walked the Wasteland once more.
这个特工又一次走在荒原上。
When I approached the balefire crater, Lacunae looked at me with profound regret. “No. No. Please. Don’t do this to her. Don’t make her into her antithesis.”
当我走近巴利菲尔陨石坑时，拉古尼深感遗憾地看着我。"没有。没有。求你了。别这样对她。不要让她成为她的对立面。"
“You are in no position to tell us to do anything. You are the trash bin, and you are starting to stink. Now make the next jump,” the Goddess replied contemptuously.
"你没有资格命令我们做任何事情。你就是垃圾桶，你开始发臭了。现在跳下一步吧,"女神轻蔑地回答。
“No!” Lacunae shouted, her eyes flaring bright purple. “I won’t!” Dreadful silence filled Unity at those words.
"不!"空隙喊道，她的眼睛闪着明亮的紫色。"我不会的!"可怕的沉默充满了团结在这些话。
“You what?” the Goddess replied, as if not understanding those two little words.
"你什么?"女神回答，好像不明白这两个小字。
“I refuse! I will not obey!” Lacunae shouted, sitting in the crater as she pressed her hooves to the sides of her head. “I… I am not your garbage bin! I am… more!” she yelled aloud and across Unity.
"我拒绝！我不会服从的!"她坐在火山口里，用蹄子顶着脑袋的两侧，大声喊道。"我.....。.我不是你的垃圾桶！我是......更多!"她大声喊道，穿过了尤尼蒂。
“You dare? You think yourself more than us?!” the Goddess retorted haughtily.
""你敢？你觉得你自己比我们更重要?!"女神傲慢地反驳道。
“You are nothing! You are merely the collection of our weaknesses, flaws, doubts, and pains! You were never born. That vessel isn’t even yours. You are nothing! Now obey!” And gravity strong enough to crush her, the focus of not just the Goddess but hundreds of wills, pressed in upon her.
"你什么都不是！你只不过是我们的弱点、缺点、怀疑和痛苦的集合！你从来没有出生过。那个容器根本不是你的。你什么都不是！现在服从吧!"重力强大到足以粉碎她，不仅是女神的焦点，而且数以百计的意志，压在她身上。
“I… will… not!” Lacunae roared in response to the dark skies overhead. “I have friends! I am... I am lo... I am cared for! I matter to others! I will not fail them now and deliver them to you.”
"我.....。.威尔...不!"空隙咆哮着回应头顶黑暗的天空。"我有朋友！我是...我是罗...有人在照顾我！我对别人很重要！我现在必不亏负他们、将他们交给你们
“You have friends…” the Goddess murmured, and a ripple spread through Unity at the word. “How… how could a… a nothing… a nopony… a neverpony… have friends?” she demanded scornfully. Then she growled, “Of all the times you could do this, you choose now? Now that LittlePip is coming! She means to destroy us! Blackjack’s own thoughts confirm it. And you dare to do this now? Now?!”
"你有朋友......"女神喃喃地说，一个涟漪在这个词的合一中蔓延开来。"怎么...怎么可能..。.什么都不是...小马驹...梦幻小马驹...有朋友吗?"她轻蔑地问道。然后她咆哮道,"你有那么多次机会做这个，你现在就选择了吗？现在小皮普来了！她想毁了我们！黑杰克自己的想法证实了这一点。你现在还敢这么做？现在?!"
“I will not…” she whimpered. “Think about what you are doing.” She fell to her knees in the crater, eyes clenched shut as her whole body shook.
"我不会......"她呜咽着说。"想想你在做什么。"她跪在火山口，双眼紧闭，全身颤抖。
“What we are doing? We? We are saving the pony race! We are becoming a viable species! We are eliminating three of our greatest threats all in one go. We are also going to make sure a zebra artifact will never corrupt another after we’ve extracted the knowledge we need. We are doing what must be done! What will be done! And nopony, not you, not Red Eye, not Blackjack, and certainly not that undersized pain in our ass is going to stop us!” Unity roared into her like an avalanche. “But what about you! What are you doing? You are putting our entire race at risk of extinction because you’re worried about your friend. You are fighting our efforts to protect ourselves from Red Eye, for your friend. You are blind to threats to us out of concern for your friend! How can you be so shortsighted? How can you be so selfish?” It was not rage that poured through the link, but disgust and contempt. “If only we could execute you safely…”
"我们在做什么？我们？我们拯救了小马竞赛！我们正在成为一个可存活的物种！我们正在一次性消除三个最大的威胁。我们还要确保在提取了我们需要的知识之后，一个斑马人工制品永远不会腐蚀另一个斑马人工制品。我们正在做必须做的事情！我们会做什么！小马，不是你，不是红眼，不是黑杰克，当然也不是那个小屁孩能阻止我们!"团结像雪崩一样向她呼啸而来。""可是你呢！你在干什么？你把我们整个种族置于灭绝的危险之中，因为你担心你的朋友。为了你的朋友，你在与我们保护自己不被红眼病侵害的努力作斗争。你因为关心你的朋友而对我们的威胁视而不见！你怎么能这么目光短浅？你怎么能这么自私呢?"不是愤怒，而是厌恶和轻蔑。"如果我们能安全地处决你......"
Lacunae pressed her face to the glowing earth as she struggled against the gravity tearing her apart. “Please!” I begged into that raging collection of thoughts and voices. “You had friendship once! You had to! Twilight had friends! She had friends!”
当她挣扎着反抗撕裂她的重力时，她的脸紧贴着发光的大地。"求你了!"我恳求着加入那些疯狂的想法和声音的集合。"你曾经有过友谊！你必须这么做！暮光之城有朋友！她有朋友!"
“Echoes and shadows of immaterial things long since passed,” the Goddess replied coldly. “Hurtful, wretched, terrible things... do you know what
"非物质事物的回声和阴影早就过去了,"女神冷冷地回答。"伤人的、可怜的、可怕的事情......你知道吗
friendship, love, is? It’s pain. Pain of loss. Every one of us had friends, family, and loved ones. Do you know what the grief of a thousand ponies feels like? I do. That is why we created the Lacunae. That is why we need her. We couldn’t stay sane if we had to feel that.”
友谊，爱情，是什么？这是痛苦。失去的痛苦。我们每个人都有朋友、家人和爱人。你知道一千匹小马的悲伤是什么感觉吗？我知道。这就是我们创造空白的原因。所以我们才需要她。如果我们必须有这种感觉，我们就无法保持理智。"
“But I do feel it!” Lacunae wailed as she rose slowly to her hooves. “Every second of every day. Friendship. Family. Love. And Blackjack feels it. You might have stripped away the feeling and the memories but they’re still there. And if you felt them for one minute, then I know you’d realize what you’ve beco--”
"但我确实感觉到了!"她慢慢地站起来，蹄子上有一个空隙，嚎啕大哭。"每一天的每一秒钟。友谊。家庭。爱。黑杰克也能感觉到。你可能已经剥离了那种感觉和记忆，但它们仍然存在。如果你能感觉到一分钟，我知道你就会意识到你已经——"
“What we are is what we must be! Radiation and taint will only spread. We must adapt to survive. That was Mosaic and Gestalt’s grand conclusion, and Twilight agrees,” the Goddess growled back. “Do you think all of this was made despite Twilight’s wishes? No. Her will and intellect have made us possible!”
"我们是什么就是我们必须是什么！辐射和污染只会扩散。我们必须适应环境才能生存。这就是《摩西》和《格式塔》的宏大结局，《暮光》对此表示赞同,"女神咆哮着回答。"你认为这一切都是不顾《暮光之城》的愿望而做出来的吗？没有。她的意志和智慧使我们成为可能!"
“She wouldn’t! If you returned to her all that you’ve put into me, she wouldn’t! And neither would you. Any of you!” Lacunae wept as she turned about, as if appealing to a massive invisible audience. “Take it back. Before you do this. Take all of what you’ve put in me back. Then see what conclusions you reach.”
"她不会的！如果你把你给我的一切都还给她，她不会的！你也不会。你们中的任何人!"当她转过身来的时候，她哭了起来，好像在吸引一大群看不见的观众。"收回你的话。在你这么做之前。把你放在我身上的东西都拿回去。然后看看你能得出什么结论。"
“There is neither time nor a point to such an exercise,” the Goddess said gravely. “We stripped away those thoughts and feelings decades ago. Only our children matter now, and you will stop behaving so immaturely and do as you are told!”
"这样做既没有时间也没有意义,"女神严肃地说。"我们几十年前就抛弃了这些想法和感受。现在只有我们的孩子才重要，你不要再这么幼稚了，照我说的去做吧!"
Lacunae swayed to and fro, staggering in circles. Finally, her eyes came to rest on mine. Tears poured down her cheeks as she whimpered, “I’m sorry, Blackjack. I… I wanted to do better too…”
空隙来回摆动，摇摇晃晃地转着圈。最后，她的目光落在了我的身上。眼泪顺着她的脸颊流了下来，她呜咽着说:"对不起，Blackjack。我。.我也想做得更好......"
“You did,” I murmured as I bent my head, as the Goddess wanted. Gravity always won in the end. I could see our destination clearly; there were fundamentals of teleportation being dumped into my head to aid in the trip. I tried to project back my own memories and the feelings I’d gotten from Twilight, but they went no further than Lacunae. The Goddess didn’t want to feel, didn’t want to remember the past.
"是的,"我低下头，喃喃地说，这正是女神所希望的。地心引力总是最终获胜。我可以清楚地看到我们的目的地;有一些瞬间移动的基本原理被灌输到我的头脑中以帮助我的旅行。我试图把自己的记忆和从《暮光之城》中得到的感觉投射回去，但它们仅仅是陷阱而已。女神不想去感受，不想去回忆过去。
Our weeping eyes met as we touched our horns. Together, we channeled the spell and disappeared for our next destination, outside the Hoof entirely. We reappeared on the tracks southwest of the city; this time I didn’t land on my face, since Lacunae’s own radiation-empowered body provided most of the energy.
当我们碰触喇叭的时候，我们的泪眼相遇了。我们一起引导这个咒语，消失到我们的下一个目的地，完全在霍夫之外。我们再次出现在城市西南方的轨道上;这次我没有脸着地，因为拉库纳自己被辐射增强的身体提供了大部分能量。
This was the first time I’d been out of the Hoof while connected to Unity, and the difference was startling. Before, I’d only been aware of Lacunae and the omnipresent screaming note. Now, that scream was just a barely perceptible wail on the horizon, and in the clarity I could hear the individual whispers of dozens, even hundreds of minds. I knew them, and they knew me, and yet… something was wrong. Okay, maybe I didn’t have much of a right to judge the state of telepathic mass minds, but as I felt all those different intellects, there were so many and so… little.
这是我第一次离开霍夫，而连接到联合，和差异是惊人的。以前，我只知道缺陷和无处不在的尖叫音符。现在，那声尖叫只是地平线上几乎感觉不到的哀号，在清晰的声音中，我能听到几十个人，甚至几百个人的心声。我认识他们，他们也认识我，但是......有些事情不对劲。好吧，也许我没有太多的权利去判断有心灵感应的大众的思想状态，但是当我感觉到所有这些不同的思想时，有这么多，这么少。
Like the two greens flying towards us. I knew that one had been an opportunistic scavenger who’d stumbled upon Maripony a century and a half ago… yet, he didn’t even know his own name. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t even care. And his companion had grown up in a settlement… but that was all she knew; there were no faces of a mother and father. No games played, or friends. The memories she did retain were banal and functional things: how to fix leaky water pumps with scrap metal, and twenty-five different uses for duct tape. But when I pressed on who had taught her, there was only an empty gap.
就像两片绿叶向我们飞来。我知道其中一个是一个机会主义的拾荒者，在一个半世纪前偶然发现了马里波尼......然而，他甚至连自己的名字都不知道。他不想知道。他根本不在乎。他的同伴是在一个定居点长大的......但她只知道这些，没有父母的面孔。没有游戏，也没有朋友。她保留的记忆是平庸而实用的东西:如何用废金属修理漏水的水泵，以及管道胶带的二十五种不同用途。但是当我追问是谁教她的时候，只有一个空白的间隙。
Hundreds of souls all humming in harmony, but it was a spiritless tune… all the more heartbreaking for what it could have been. Had they been bound in friendship, tapping into that elusive and powerful magic that transcended definition, the Goddess would have been a Goddess in reality. But now that I could see Unity directly, I saw how pitiful they were. Even if they were monstrous, they were still so very sad and small compared to their potential.
成百上千的灵魂在和声中嗡嗡作响，但这是一首无精打采的曲子......所有的一切都让人心碎。如果他们在友谊中结合，利用那种超越定义的难以捉摸和强大的魔法，女神就会成为现实中的女神。但是现在我可以直接看到Unity，我看到他们是多么的可怜。即使他们是畸形的，与他们的潜力相比，他们仍然是如此的可悲和渺小。
And as soon as I was dipped, I would be just like them. Oh, there’d be an alicorn called Oubliette or some other oddly fitting name that had once been Blackjack’s body… maybe she’d still have her augmentations… but the real me would be another of those masses of voices around the Goddess. I wouldn’t remember my friends, but I wouldn’t miss them, either. And I wouldn’t remember the bad things. Everything distressing or disruptive would be shoved into the new dumpster. Because despite her threats, the Goddess needed me.
一旦我被浸泡，我就会像他们一样。哦，会有一个叫Oubliette的小角兽，或者其他一些曾经是Blackjack身体的奇怪的名字......也许她还有她的增强......但真正的我将是围绕在女神周围的另一群声音。我不会记得我的朋友，但我也不会想念他们。我不会记得那些不好的事情。任何令人沮丧或不安的东西都会被扔进新的垃圾箱。因为尽管有她的威胁，女神还是需要我。
Others besides the greens were coming. In the meantime, I had to find out what LittlePip was up to and how to go about killing her. Because while the Goddess had dozens of technicians, scientists, scavengers, and even raiders, she had precious few heroes connected to her. The idea was alien, stupid, and even insane. The Goddess literally could not put herself in LittlePip’s horseshoes and anticipate what she might do. In a rush, I was learning more about the Stabl...
除了果岭以外的其他人也来了。与此同时，我必须弄清楚小皮普想干什么，以及如何杀死她。因为虽然女神有许多技术人员，科学家，拾荒者，甚至掠夺者，但是她身边却鲜有英雄。这个想法是陌生的，愚蠢的，甚至是疯狂的。女神简直不能把自己置身于小匹普的马蹄铁之中，不能预料自己会做出什么事来。在匆忙中，我了解了更多关于斯塔布尔..。
Oh dear sweet Luna. They were the same pony? They hadn’t been joking about that?! How... she... I... I couldn’t believe that a tiny, sweet, smart mare like her could be the strapping goddess of Wasteland death! I... I’d just not think about it.
亲爱的露娜。他们是同一匹小马？他们不是在开玩笑吧！她怎么...我..。.我不敢相信像她这样一个小巧、可爱、聪明的母马竟然是大荒地的死亡女神！我。.我只是不去想它。
Thank goodness, the Goddess seemed to reply as I refocused on my job and on LittlePip’s biography. How she’d gone after Velvet Remedy half out of lust and half out of a desperate need for a friend. How she’d met Calamity. How she’d dealt with the crushing realization that she and Velvet would never be, and how she’d met Homage… and oh the things she’d done with Homage!
谢天谢地，当我重新专注于我的工作和小匹普的传记时，女神似乎回答了我。她一半是出于性欲，一半是出于对朋友的迫切需要。她是如何遇到灾难的。她是如何面对自己和维尔维特永远不可能在一起这一令人崩溃的现实，她又是如何遇到了《致敬》......还有她所做的《致敬》！
Really. It made me wish I remembered the events of a few hours ago a lot more clearly…
真的。这让我希望我能更清楚地记得几个小时前发生的事情.....。
The Goddess had my meager memories, as well. The thing we did together at Red Eye’s camp. Of course, I’d been half drunk the whole time and had no clue what LittlePip had actually gone there for, just that she’d done it. She’d needed… what? Information? It was no secret that Red Eye was trying to duplicate the events that created the Goddess, but hadn’t succeeded. Maybe he’d discovered a weakness and LittlePip had asked him about it. Or maybe she’d needed something from him. His balefire bomb? Could LittlePip actually talk him into surrendering it? Doubtful. Red Eye wasn’t a hero. He’d never trust LittlePip. If he did give her something, it’d likely be a fake. How about help? An army? He had the soldiers to spare, but would they matter? Something from his Stable? Some kind of tech that could be used against the Goddess?
女神也有我贫乏的记忆。我们在红眼营地一起做的事。当然，我一直都是半醉半醒，完全不知道小皮普去那里到底是为了什么，只知道她做到了。她需要...什么？信息？众所周知，红眼试图复制创造女神的事件，但没有成功。也许他发现了自己的弱点，小皮普问了他这个问题。也许她需要他的帮助。他的火焰炸弹？小皮普真的能说服他投降吗？可疑。红眼不是英雄。他永远不会相信小皮普。如果他真的给了她什么东西，那很可能是假的。帮忙怎么样？一支军队？他有足够的士兵，但他们重要吗？他马厩里的什么东西？某种可以用来对付女神的技术？
“What is she going to do?” came the constant pressing question from Unity.
"她打算怎么办?"来自尤尼蒂的一个持续紧迫的问题。
“I don’t know. I’m not a smart pony. You should have taken P-21 and Glory,” I countered, but I was already imagining it. LittlePip was smart. She’d try and hit the Goddess in some way the Goddess wouldn’t see coming. Maybe she was going to dump those thousands and thousands of memory orbs that had been hidden under Shattered Hoof into the Goddess. No clue what would happen. The Goddess made sure she’d telekinetically repel anything small and round. The Black Book? Maybe she had some spell to affect the souls in Unity? That was pondered gravely. What if LittlePip could extract the Goddess’s soul from Unity and bind it in a soul jar? Or an even more powerful spell. Twilight recalled the zebra lore of a star falling on Equestria. Perhaps that?
"我不知道。我不是一匹聪明的小马。你应该选P-21和Glory,"我反驳道，但我已经开始想象了。小皮普很聪明。她会试着用女神看不到的方式打女神。也许她会把那些成千上万的藏在粉碎的蹄下的记忆球扔进女神的怀抱。不知道会发生什么。女神确保她能用意念驱逐任何小而圆的东西。黑皮书？也许她有什么咒语可以影响尤尼蒂的灵魂？这话引起了人们的严肃思考。如果小匹普可以把女神的灵魂从统一中提取出来并绑在一个灵魂罐里会怎么样？或者一个更强大的咒语。暮色使人想起一个明星坠落在小马国的斑马传说。也许是这样？
It was a huge unknown, but it was all the more frustrating because every
这是一个巨大的未知，但它是所有更令人沮丧的，因为每一个
memory of Twilight studying the Black Book with Rarity had been removed from Unity. All Twilight knew was that she had done it. And that she couldn’t recall a spell like that… but what if she was wrong? What if there was a clue in one of those missing moments that had been thrown away because the thought of her friend hurt so very much? Unity couldn’t bear those emotions, so said the Goddess…
关于《暮光之城》研究《黑皮书》的记忆已经从Unity中移除。暮光之城只知道她做到了。她记不起那样的咒语......但是如果她错了呢？如果在那些因为想到她的朋友而丢失的时刻中有一个线索会怎么样呢？团结无法承受这些情绪，女神如是说。
But I wasn’t just in Unity, was I? I was connected to Lacunae. I could dig through the ‘trash’ and try and see for myself. I met her eyes, said “I’m sorry,” and invaded her as surely as I’d been invited. I had no choice. Gravity compelled me, no matter how much I hated it. The Goddess knew what I knew, and the Goddess wanted me to look.
但我不只是在尤尼蒂，对吧？我和Lacunae有联系。我可以翻翻'垃圾'，试着亲眼看看。我看着她的眼睛，说了声"对不起"，然后就像我被邀请一样入侵了她。我别无选择。地心引力强迫着我，不管我有多讨厌它。女神知道我所知道的一切，女神想让我看看。
But inside Lacunae’s mind, past the surface of her consciousness, the contents were a solid mass of compressed thought. There was no organization or cataloguing, simply presence. Like geological strata, the newest memories inside her were all of me and my friends and her experiences with us. Worse, the merest digging shifted psychological structures that even the Goddess didn’t fully understand. She’d overfilled Lacunae, pressurized her with so much that even this minor disturbance threatened a chaotic reaction.
但在拉库尼的内心深处，在她的意识表面之外，内容是一个压缩的思想的坚实的集合体。没有任何组织或编目，只有简单的存在。就像地质层一样，她内心最新的记忆就是我和我的朋友以及她和我们在一起的经历。更糟糕的是，仅仅是挖掘就改变了甚至连女神都不完全理解的心理结构。她填满了空隙，给她增加了太多的压力，以至于即使是这个小小的扰乱也可能引起混乱的反应。
The act, though, was like digging through colored stones tagged with cutie marks; the memories had condensed until they crystallized like amber. Many had no identification at all, lost to Unity’s members for all time. But I could find interesting stones of purple with Twilight’s cutie mark upon them. And with Gestalt’s help, I could look inside.
然而，这种行为就像在带有可爱标记的彩色石头中挖掘;记忆被浓缩直到像琥珀一样结晶。许多人根本没有身份证件，一直被Unity的成员丢失。但我能找到一些有趣的紫色宝石，上面有《暮光之城》里的可爱标记。在格式塔的帮助下，我可以看到里面。
Odd; I had the feeling that half of Unity was trying to peek over my shoulder and see that which had been stripped from them. But which to look in… which to look in… I touched one of Twilight’s memories and heard two names at once. ‘Rarity’ and ‘Goldenblood’.
奇怪的是，我有一种感觉，那就是团结的一半正试图从我的肩膀上偷看，看到他们被剥夺的东西。但是在哪里看...在哪里看...我触摸了暮光的记忆之一，同时听到两个名字。稀有和金色血液。
Oh, this I had to see. I took the memory into myself -- don’t ask me how, that was being handled at a higher level -- and Lacunae’s mindscape swirled away.
哦，我得看看这个。我把这段记忆带到了自己的身体里----别问我是怎么做到的，这是在一个更高的层面上处理的----然后拉库纳的记忆画面旋转着消失了。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I found myself in a sumptuous hallway approaching a door emblazoned with three rhomboid, blue gems. No further title was needed. I shifted the scrolls in my bags; only an hour, and all of it would probably be spent working on new
我发现自己在一个华丽的走廊接近一扇门装饰着三菱形，蓝色宝石。不需要更多的题目了。我移动了包里的卷轴;只有一个小时，所有的时间可能都花在了新的工作上
M.A.S. recruitment slogans. Then it would be time to go back to Manehattan and finish a report for the Princess. Time… there just wasn’t enough of it. Not enough time with Spike. Not enough time with my friends. Not even enough time with my magic. When was the last time I did an all-night book trawl of Starswirl’s spells? Or even just read a book because I wanted to read it?
征兵口号。然后是时候回Manehattan为公主完成一份报告了。时间...不够用。和斯派克在一起的时间不够。没有足够的时间和我的朋友在一起。甚至没有足够的时间使用我的魔法。我最后一次彻夜翻阅星际漩涡的咒语是什么时候？或者仅仅是因为我想读而读一本书？
I walked up and was about to knock when I heard the familiar, rusty voice. “You must have something, Rarity. You always have something.” I froze, my hoof an inch from the door. Eavesdropping was horribly rude, but this was Goldenblood. He was up to something. He should have had an oil slick for a cutie mark. Why would he be meeting with Rarity? I turned and pressed my ear to the door.
我走上前去，正要敲门，这时我听到了那熟悉的、生锈的声音。"你一定有什么东西，稀有。你总是有些东西。"我愣住了，我的蹄子离门只有一英寸。偷听是非常粗鲁的，但这是金色血液。他肯定有什么阴谋。他应该有一个漂亮的标志油膜。他为什么要见雷诺？我转过身，把耳朵贴在门上。
“Goldenblood, darling, you make it sound as if I’m collecting books on zebra lore,” Rarity’s voice barely penetrated, but I could hear the poisoned sarcasm of the word.
"金色血统，亲爱的，你说得好像我在收集关于斑马的知识似的,"稀有的声音几乎听不透，但我能听到这个词带有毒性的讽刺意味。
“I know you haven’t turned over all the writing on zebra magic to Twilight,” Goldenblood countered. “Especially critical tomes you keep on your person,” he added archly.
"我知道你还没有把所有关于斑马魔法的文章都交给暮光之城,"Goldenblood反驳道。他狡猾地补充道:"尤其是那些关键的大部头。"。
“We have a deal, Goldenblood. I keep your dirty laundry out of the press and history books and you don’t harass me,” Rarity countered. “The confiscation of tomes and texts that are hazardous to the war effort falls under my jurisdiction, and I take my ministry responsibilities seriously.”
"我们达成了协议，金血王。我会让你的丑事远离媒体和历史书，你也不会骚扰我,"稀有反驳道。"没收对战争有害的大部头和文本属于我的管辖范围，我认真履行我的职责。"
“If you could just give me an hour or two with it, then I’d be satisfied!” Goldenblood said forcefully, before collapsing into a fit of coughing.
"如果你能给我一两个小时，我就满足了!"金布拉德用力地说，然后突然咳嗽起来。
“Perhaps you should have thought about asking before sending your little black assassin to steal it,” Rarity replied coldly. “You’re lucky I didn’t turn her over to Pinkie Pie. Most of what you seek isn’t here, anyway. All copies are erased, and the originals are archived outside Canterlot. I keep all those unpleasant things in Hoofington.”
"也许在你派你的小黑刺客去偷它之前，你应该考虑一下问问,"稀有冷冷地回答。"你很幸运，我没有把她交给鹏奇派。无论如何，你寻找的大部分东西都不在这里。所有复印件都被删除，原件则存放在Canterlot以外的地方。我把所有不愉快的事情都留在Hoofington。"
“Please,” Goldenblood rasped. “Please. I need to know. There are things happening! Things that only the zebras know. I need to read about the disaster that befell their people long ago. How did they call down the star? Was it one or several? What were the effects afterwards? I must know!”
"求你了,"金血王粗声粗气地说。"求你了。我需要知道。有事情发生了！只有斑马知道的事情。我需要了解很久以前降临在他们人民身上的灾难。他们是如何召唤那颗星星的？是一个还是几个？后来的影响是什么？我必须知道!"
Calling down stars? That sounded serious. Megaspell serious.
召唤星星？听起来很严重。梅格斯佩尔是认真的。
Rarity didn’t answer immediately. “Is this professional or personal?” Rarity asked pointedly.
"稀有"没有马上回答。"这是公事还是私事?"罕有直截了当地问。
Now it was Goldenblood’s turn to pause before he answered, “It’s personal. This is something outside the O.I.A. This is something I have to know.”
现在轮到金布拉德停下来回答说:"这是私事。这是o.i.a.以外的东西。这是我必须知道的事情。"
Rarity didn’t answer immediately. “Very well. I won’t lend you my primary source. I didn’t even give it to Twilight. But I will give you a few hours of access in return for a favor. Pinkie Pie has been sniffing around my projects. I’d appreciate it if you could do something nefarious to distract her. Perhaps skulk about Manehattan in a black cape and top hat. Oooh! And you simply must add a mustache to twirl. She’ll be following you in seconds.”
"稀有"没有马上回答。"很好。我不会把我的主要消息来源借给你。我甚至没有把它给暮光之城。但是我会给你几个小时的访问时间来回报你的帮助。鹏奇派一直在我的项目周围打探消息。如果你能做点邪恶的事分散她的注意力我会很感激的。也许穿着黑斗篷戴着大礼帽在Manehattan鬼鬼祟祟。哦！你只需要加上一撮胡子就可以了。她马上就会跟上你。"
“I’ll consider it, but I think a word to Quartz might be more effective.” Then he paused and added, ”Thank you, Rarity.” Another pause. “I’m sorry.”
"我会考虑的，但我觉得给Quartz写一个词可能更有效。"然后他停顿了一下，补充道:"谢谢你，稀有."又是一个停顿。"对不起。"
“I beg pardon?”
"你说什么?"
“Sorry. Sorry for everything. For… you… your friends… everything…” he muttered something I couldn’t hear and then let out something that sounded almost like a sob. “It’s one thing to plan… it’s quite another to execute…”
"对不起。为所有的事情道歉。为了......你......你的朋友......所有的一切......"他咕哝了一句我听不见的话，然后发出了几乎像是啜泣的声音。"计划是一回事......执行又是另一回事......"
“Goldenblood? What’s going on?” Rarity asked, now with real concern. “Is this about Horse taking your position at the O.I.A.?”
"金色血统？怎么回事?"稀有问道，现在带着真正的关心。"是因为Horse接替了你在o.i.a.的位置吗?"
“No, Rarity,” Goldenblood choked. “I think I made a mistake… and then I made mistakes to deal with my mistake… and now… Rarity… I think something’s gone horribly wrong and I don’t know how to fix it.”
"不，稀罕,"金血哽咽着说。"我认为我犯了一个错误......然后我犯了一些错误来弥补我的错误......而现在......稀有......我认为有些事情出了大问题，我不知道如何弥补。"
“What is it? Tell me. Perhaps I can help,” Rarity said generously. “I know something about mistakes. Sometimes I just want to trot up to Luna and tell her to take this ministry and… do something unladylike and anatomically uncomfortable with it. If it weren’t for my friends loving every minute of it...”
"这是什么？告诉我。"也许我能帮上忙,"雷诺慷慨地说。"我知道一些关于错误的事。有时候我只想小跑着去找露娜，告诉她接受这个职位，做一些不淑女的事情，让她在解剖学上感到不舒服。如果不是因为我的朋友们喜欢这里的每一分钟......"
There was a long pause in response. “Thank you, Rarity, but this was my mistake. I’m the one who has to clean it up. Please, excuse me.” There was an implosion of air and a faint flash under the door. I backed up and chewed my lip. What to say? Admit that I was spying on my friend? Accuse her of holding secrets? Admit that working at the M.A.S. wasn’t the dream come true I’d imagined years ago, now that most of the research was being done by other
他们的反应停顿了很久。"谢谢你，罕有，但这是我的错。我才是那个要清理的人。请原谅。"空气发生内爆，门底下有微弱的闪光。我退后一步，咬着嘴唇。怎么说呢？承认我在监视我的朋友？指责她藏有秘密？承认在m.a.s工作并不是几年前我想象的梦想成真，现在大部分的研究都是由其他人完成的
ponies?
小马？
I turned away from the door and walked back down the hall to Rarity’s secretaries. “Um… excuse me. I just remembered something that completely slipped my mind. I was hoping we could resche--”
我从门口转过身，沿着大厅走回到雷诺的秘书那里。"嗯......不好意思。我突然想起一件事，完全忘记了。我希望我们可以......"
“Twilight?” came Rarity’s voice from behind me, and I froze, then turned slowly and frowned. She looked… terrible. There were shadows around her eyes and a gauntness that made her look as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Even her magnificent mane had more gray tips than I’d ever seen before. And how she moved… as if she were in pain… still, she smiled. “Twilight, Darling, it’s so wonderful to see you again!”
"暮光之城?"从我身后传来了罕有的声音，我愣住了，然后慢慢地转过身，皱起了眉头。她看起来...糟透了。她的眼睛周围有些阴影，还有一种粗俗的神情，使她看起来好像好几天没吃东西了。甚至她那华丽的鬃毛也有比我以前见过的更多的灰色尖头。还有她的动作......好像她很痛苦......尽管如此，她还是笑了。"黄昏，亲爱的，再次见到你真是太好了!"
“Rarity? Are you all right?” I asked as I trotted quickly to her side. “You look--”
"稀有？你没事吧?"我一边问，一边迅速跑到她身边。"你看起来——"
“Glamorous? Stunning? Beautific?” Rarity suggested at once, bringing a smile to my face.
"迷人？惊艳？太美了?"稀有立刻向我建议，使我脸上露出了笑容。
“Old, actually,” I answered honestly.
"实际上，很老了,"我诚实地回答。
She slumped a little and gave a small indulgent smile. “Twilight, I really do need to loan you a copy of Principles of Proper Pony Speech.” Her smile faded, replaced by a look of clear fatigue. “Actually, I’m just a little tired after my latest creation,” she said as she started back towards the office.
她垂了一下身子，露出一丝纵容的微笑。"暮光之城，我真的需要借给你一本《正确的小马演讲原则》。"她的微笑消失了，取而代之的是明显的疲惫。"实际上，我只是有点累，在我的最新创造之后,"她说，她开始回到办公室。
“You’re still making dresses? Even while running your ministry?” I said, both impressed and a touch envious as I followed her inside. I caught her sliding a drawer closed as she walked behind the desk.
"你还在做衣服？甚至在你执行牧师职务的时候?"我跟着她走了进去，既感动又有点嫉妒。她走到书桌后面时，我看见她滑动一个关着的抽屉。
“No. I wanted to… well… branch out a little, as it were,” she said as she lifted a purple and pink box wrapped in star-printed ribbon and set it on the desk before me. “These are for you, Twilight.”
"没有。我想......嗯......可以说......扩展一点,"她一边说着，一边拿起一个用星形丝带包着的紫色和粉红色的盒子，放在我面前的桌子上。"这些是给你的，暮光之城。"
I cocked my head, feeling something was off about this gift, but not in a bad way. Carefully, I tugged the ribbon, undid the bow, and then started to pull up the tape very… Oh, Rarity was giving me the look that meant that now wasn’t the time to save wrapping paper… I ripped it right off at once and opened the box inside. I tugged the paper free and…
我抬起头，觉得这个礼物有点不对劲，但不是不好的方面。我小心翼翼地拉着丝带，解开蝴蝶结，然后开始拉起胶带......哦，稀有的眼神告诉我，现在不是节约包装纸的时候......我马上把它扯下来，打开里面的盒子。我把报纸拽了出来..。
There we were… all six of us together like when we were young, before this
我们六个人在一起，就像我们年轻的时候，在这之前
horrible mess had occurred. And there was Pinkie Pie, and she looked happy and free. And Rainbow Dash grinning confidently and Applejack mid-buck. And… was that me? Was that really how I used to look? I pulled out the tiny figurine. It felt… warm. “Rarity…”
发生了可怕的混乱。还有小手指派，她看起来很高兴，很自由。彩虹·达什自信地咧着嘴笑着，苹果白兰地也来了。那是我吗？我以前真的是这个样子吗？我拿出了那个小雕像。感觉...很温暖。"稀有......"
“I put my heart and soul into them. One set for each of us, and a seventh for Princess Luna.” Her smile faded a touch. “Do you like them?”
"我全心全意地投入其中。我们每人一套，卢娜公主第七套。"她的微笑淡了一点。"你喜欢吗?"
“Rarity… they’re amazing! I… I don’t deserve them,” I said as I lifted the rest out and assembled them on Rarity’s desk. “They’re so lifelike...”
"稀有......它们太神奇了！我。.我配不上它们,"我一边说着，一边把剩下的拿出来放在罕有的桌子上。"它们是如此栩栩如生......"
“While I originally planned on keeping them together… I really couldn’t. I gave one of mine to Sweetie Belle, along with an apology. I’ve given her so many, but I hope she realizes that this one’s sincere. And I know Rainbow Dash is giving one of hers to Scootaloo. I expect that Applejack is giving one to Apple Bloom. And I believe Fluttershy has given one to Angel Bunny, can you imagine?” She smiled and lifted a tiny Applejack with her magic. “Well, at least she doesn’t have to worry about them breaking.” And she thumped it solidly against the table. For an instant I moved to stop her, but she was right. The figurine was unharmed.
"虽然我最初打算让他们在一起......但我真的做不到。我把我的一个给了甜心，还有一个道歉。我已经给了她那么多，但我希望她能意识到这一个是真诚的。我还知道彩虹·达什要把她的一个给斯库塔鲁。我估计苹果白兰地会送给苹果布鲁姆一个。我相信小萤火虫已经给了小天使一只，你能想象吗?"她微笑着，用她的魔法举起一小杯苹果白兰地。"好吧，至少她不用担心它们会碎掉。"她用力把它重重地砸在桌子上。有那么一瞬间，我试图阻止她，但她是对的。这个小雕像没有受伤。
I lifted the tiny replica of myself. “I… it’s… I could give it to Spike… or Princess Celestia… or…” Mom. I swallowed as I sniffed and smiled. “It’s like the Gala tickets all over again.”
我举起了自己的微型复制品。"我.....。.是...我可以把它给斯派克...或者塞莱斯蒂娅公主...或者..."妈妈。我一边吸着鼻子一边笑着咽下去。"这就像是春晚的门票又重演了一遍。"
“Yes. There’s never quite enough to go around,” Rarity replied, her smile fading. “If I’d known how the Princess would take it, I would have given a whole set to Spike.”
"是的。从来没有足够的东西可以到处走走,"稀少回答，她的笑容渐渐消失了。"如果我知道公主会怎么想，我会给斯派克一整套。"
“How did she take it?” I asked with a touch of concern.
"她什么反应?"我略带关切地问道。
Rarity seemed to consider her words for a moment, then sighed and rolled her eyes a little. “Oh, I don’t know. I suppose she’s used to lavish presents. But when I gave it to her she seemed… disturbed by it. I’ve never seen her so discomposed before. She thanked me, of course, but I’m not quite sure she knew what to do with them. I suppose it’ll end up on a shelf somewhere. I rather hoped she’d give a figurine of you to Celestia, but…” she sighed and shook her head, then lifted the tiny copy of herself and gazed into its eyes with profound sadness. “I suppose this is as close as I will ever come…”
雷妮似乎考虑了一下自己的话，叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"哦，我不知道。我想她习惯于慷慨地赠送礼物。但是当我把它给她的时候，她似乎...被它弄得心烦意乱。我从来没有见过她这么不安。当然，她感谢了我，但我不太确定她知道该拿它们怎么办。我想它最后会被放在某个架子上。我倒希望她能把你的小雕像送给天国，但是......"她叹了口气，摇了摇头，然后抬起自己的小雕像，带着深深的悲伤凝视着它的眼睛。"我想这是我最接近的一次......"
“Rarity?” I asked, wanting to put a hoof on her shoulder.
"稀有?"我问道，想把蹄子放在她的肩膀上。
She laughed mirthlessly and casually wiped her eyes with her fetlock. “Oh my. Becoming so maudlin over such a… a silly little thing.” She glanced at me, then gave a little smile. “You know… I still have the Twilight Sparkle from my set… I could give it to Spikey Wikey so he’ll always have you with him.”
她冷冷地笑了笑，随意地用球棒擦了擦眼睛。"哦，我的天。变得如此多愁善感。.愚蠢的小东西"她瞥了我一眼，然后微微一笑。"你知道......我还留着紫悦......我可以把它交给斯皮基·维基，这样他就会一直有你陪着他。"
I caught on and returned her smile. “And I could give him my Rarity. So he’ll always have the love of his life.” I looked at the six, feeling a little tight in the chest and throat as my gaze lingered on the friend whose problems I couldn’t help, no matter how smart I was. “It might have been simpler just to give each of us seven of ourselves. Then we could just give them those people we cared about.”
我明白了她的意思，也报以微笑。"我可以把我的珍品送给他。这样他就会永远拥有他一生的挚爱。"我看着这六个人，感觉胸口和喉咙有点紧，因为我的目光停留在这个朋友身上，不管我有多聪明，他的问题我也无能为力。"如果给我们每人7个人，事情可能会简单一些。然后我们就可以把我们关心的人交给他们。"
“I… considered that…” Rarity murmured, but so softly that I looked over and saw her face shielded by her mane. Then she gave a sniff. “I did. But… I wanted each of us to remember our friends as we used to be, not as we are today.” She tried to wipe away her tears behind the veil of her mane but couldn’t hide the thickness in her throat as well. “He was right. It all seems to have gone horribly wrong, doesn’t it?”
"我.....。."考虑一下......"雷诺低声说，但是声音很轻，我看了看，发现她的脸被鬃毛遮住了。然后她闻了闻。"是的。但是......我希望我们每个人都能记住过去的朋友，而不是现在的我们。"她试图用鬃毛的面纱擦去眼泪，但也无法掩盖喉咙里的泪水。"他是对的。这一切似乎都出了大问题，不是吗?"
“Rarity?” I asked gently, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Should I bring up what I’d overheard? But then it was too late as she broke down, sobbing, pushing her face into my shoulder as she clung to me, trembling. Great hot tears spilled down my neck as she clung to me.
"稀有?"我轻轻地问，把蹄子放在她的肩膀上。我是否应该提起我无意中听到的事？但是当她崩溃的时候已经太晚了，她抽泣着，把脸贴在我的肩膀上，颤抖着。她紧紧地抱着我，热泪顺着我的脖子流了下来。
“I was supposed to be a fashionista! I wanted to design things for other ponies. Not… not micromanage and direct others and pretend like… like all this is important to me.” She flailed a hoof at the sumptuously decorated office. “Managing Luna’s image? Confiscating books? Authorizing press releases? I was supposed to have a handsome husband and a foal that I could spoil absolutely rotten and a boutique for Canterlot’s finest. That was what my life was supposed to be! But you and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie… oh Pinkie Pie!” she wailed and shook her head. “How did it come to this? Where did it all go so… so wrong?!” she asked as she pulled back and looked at me with a devastated gaze.
"我应该是一个时尚达人！我想为其他小马设计东西。不要......不要微观管理，不要指挥他人，不要假装......不要假装这一切对我很重要。"她在装饰华丽的办公室里挥舞着蹄子。"管理露娜的形象？没收书籍？授权发布新闻稿？我本应该有一个英俊的丈夫和一匹可以宠坏的小马驹，还应该有一家精品店专门为坎特罗特的精品店服务。这就是我的生活！但是你和Fluttershy还有PinkiePie......噢，PinkiePie!"她边哭边摇头。"怎么会变成这样？到底哪里出了这么...这么大的问题?!"她一边问，一边退后，用悲伤的目光看着我。
“I… don’t know,” I whispered as I stared straight ahead. Tears of my own ran down my cheeks. “I don’t know anymore. I look back these ten years and it just feels… empty. Like everything we’ve been through… anything good… has been
"我.....。.不知道,"我低声说，眼睛直直地盯着前方。我自己的眼泪顺着脸颊流了下来。"我不知道了。回顾这10年，我感觉...很空虚。就像我们所经历的一切...任何美好的事情...都已经过去了
sifted away. I… go to bed and I feel like somepony should be there with me! But he’s not there… and I don’t even know who he is. And that I’m supposed to have… more! But it’s not there either. Like everything that I’m supposed to cherish is just smoke and the things that should matter aren’t there anymore!”
筛掉。我。.上床睡觉，我觉得应该有人陪着我！但是他不在那里...我甚至不知道他是谁。而且我应该有...更多！但是它也不在那里。就像所有我应该珍惜的东西都只是烟，那些本该重要的东西都不在了!"
“But we have to do it,” Rarity whispered, guilty and ashamed. “It was like Rainbow Dash said. There’re so many ponies fighting and dying for us that we have to give back to them. We owe Equestria. And Applejack… it’s not just other ponies fighting. It’s family.”
"但是我们必须这么做,"雷诺低声说，内疚而羞愧。"就像彩虹·达什说的那样。有那么多小马为我们而战，为我们而死，我们必须回报它们。我们欠Equestria的。还有苹果白兰地...不只是其他小马在打架。这是一家人。"
I thought of Big Macintosh, and that huge gulf threatened to consume me. I had a precious few memories of the red stallion before the war… but that was it. “Maybe,” I answered, drying my tears in her mane. “But that was ten years ago. It might be time to think about changing things… soon.” Once the I.M.P. was finished, I could step aside. Let Mosaic and Gestalt run the Ministry. Or Luna could pick somepony else. I was tired… tired of the stress and the pressure and the meaningless sacrifice. There were just a few loose ends to wrap up.
我想到了大麦金托什机，巨大的鸿沟威胁着要吞噬我。我对战前的那匹红色种马有一些珍贵的记忆......但仅此而已。"也许吧,"我回答，在她的鬃毛上擦干我的眼泪。"但那是十年前的事了。也许是时候考虑改变了......尽快。"一旦国际会议结束，我就可以下台了。让马赛克和格式塔掌管魔法部。或者卢娜可以选别的马。我厌倦了...厌倦了压力、压力和无谓的牺牲。只是还有几个问题需要解决。
Like meeting the candidate for the I.M.P. test tomorrow…
比如明天去见i.m.p的候选人。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
“Enough,” the Goddess snapped, breaking me out of my reverie. Three more alicorns, a blue and two greens, had joined us. There’d be more at the next destination, I knew. “You’re wasting time. All these… these… emotions. They’re pointless! You need to focus on eliminating LittlePip.” I shared Twilight’s tears. She hadn’t known, the life that could have been. That should have been. What would Twilight have ended up as if she hadn’t accepted Luna’s offer? Wizard? Princess? Wife? What about Applejack or Rainbow Dash? Or poor Pinkie Pie? Would Fluttershy have committed high treason if she’d never been put in a position where she could do so?
"够了,"女神厉声说，打断了我的沉思。又有三颗橡子，一颗蓝色，两颗绿色，加入了我们。我知道，下一个目的地还会有更多。"你在浪费时间。所有这些...这些...情感。它们毫无意义！你需要集中精力消灭小pip。"我分享了暮光之城的眼泪。她不知道生活会是什么样子。应该是这样的。如果她没有接受卢娜的提议，《暮光之城》会有怎样的结局？巫师？公主？老婆？苹果白兰地和彩虹冲刺怎么样？还是可怜的鹏奇派？如果Fluttershy从来没有被置于一个可以这样做的位置，她会犯下叛国罪吗？
It was wrong. All of it. Every last bit felt contrived and pointless and... stupid! What was all that for? “What’s the Goddess-damned point!?” I screamed aloud and through Unity. A war over resources that destroyed the countries that wanted them. Ministries that consumed the mares that directed them. Princesses who seemed absent just when everypony needed them. A Goddess who was planning to kill a mare whose greatest driving goal was to help others.
这是错误的。所有的一切。每一个细节都让人觉得做作，毫无意义，而且......愚蠢！这都是为了什么？"该死的女神有什么意义?"我大声地尖叫着，通过团结。一场关于资源的战争摧毁了那些需要它们的国家。负责饲养母马的部委。公主们似乎在每匹小马都需要她们的时候缺席。一个女神谁是计划杀死一个最大的驱动目标是帮助他人的母马。
Then the Goddess showed me.
然后女神指给我看。
An irradiated world, one in which even the Enclave had been driven to extinction. No ghouls; those would be stamped out eventually. Zebras, griffins, and dragons were no more. Just a world of alicorns. Mostly female; it would depend on how the Black Book would make the changes, but the Goddess had no interest in creating an equal distribution of sexes. She knew the effectiveness of Stable 99. New alicorn types, perhaps red ones that specialized in fire or white ones that specialized in ice, would be developed and evolved. Perhaps alicorns who travelled in time? Super telekinetic alicorns? The Elements of Harmony and the Gardens of Equestria would be reclaimed and repurposed; Twilight might only have generalities and scraps, but they’d be a foundation for a new Gardens. One that spread balefire and magical radiation to every land till the very oceans glowed with power. There would be only alicorns and their Goddess, a mother and her children. One mind. One will. One note united forever. They’d use their magic to defeat Horizons, whatever it was, and cast down Hoofington once and for all.
一个受到辐射的世界，一个连昂科雷都被赶尽杀绝的世界。没有食尸鬼，那些最终会被消灭。斑马、狮鹫和龙已不复存在。只有一个充满橡树果的世界。大多数是女性，这取决于黑皮书将如何作出改变，但女神没有兴趣创造一个平等的性别分配。她知道Stable99的有效性。新的角果类型，可能是专长于火的红色角果或专长于冰的白色角果，将得到发展和进化。也许是时间旅行者？超级隔空移动的海角？和谐元素和小马国的花园将被重新利用;暮光之城可能只是泛泛而谈，但它们将成为新花园的基础。它能将火焰和魔法辐射传播到每一片土地，直到海洋发出能量。那里将只有艾利克斯和他们的女神，一位母亲和她的孩子们。一心一意。有一个人会。一个音符永远结合在一起。他们会用魔法击败地平线号，不管它是什么，然后一劳永逸地击败胡芬顿号。
And that was the point of the world. By Alicorns. For Alicorns. Only Alicorns. A monorace with a singular will and a Goddess with the power to exceed any Princess.
这就是世界的意义所在。作者:Alicorns。为了Alicorns。只有Alicorns。一个有着单一意志和超越任何公主的力量的女神。
And I was going to be a part of it, whether I wanted to or not. So would all my friends. Everypony. And if you weren’t a pony or resisted, the alternative was simple and permanent death. And most terrible of all was who in Unity had come up with this plan. Not Trixie, the showmare. Not even Mosaic and Gestalt. This was Twilight Sparkle’s plan… a Twilight stripped of compassion and concern and ethics. A Twilight more machine than mare, fulfilling Trixie’s ego. It felt like there was more Twilight inside Lacunae than inside the Goddess. Almost.
不管我愿不愿意，我都会成为其中的一部分。我所有的朋友也是。每匹小马。如果你不是一匹小马或是一匹抵抗的马，那么另一种选择就是简单而永久的死亡。最可怕的是，是联合城的人想出了这个计划。不是特里克西，是那匹艳丽的母马。即使是马赛克和格式塔。这就是紫悦的计划......一部剥夺了同情、关心和道德的暮光之城。黄昏更像机器而不是母马，满足Trixie的自我。感觉在空隙里面比在女神里面有更多的暮光。差不多。
Twilight was a part of that monster. As was Trixie. As were Mosaic and Gestalt. Fused. Stripped of those parts that allowed compassion for others. Trixie had suffered, knew shame and humility, but that was gone now. Mosaic and Gestalt had felt a love and a desire to understand others… but that was gone as well. Weakness shoved into Lacunaes... like soul jars of memory. The Goddess had become like a void sucking in everything good and transforming it into more of itself. Would it stay on this world, when every last living thing was altered to suit it? Or would thousands of purples and millions of greens teleport them to distant stars and innocent worlds?
暮光之城是那个怪物的一部分。特里克西也是。马赛克和格式塔也是如此。融合。剥夺了那些允许同情他人的部分。特里克茜受过苦，知道羞耻和谦卑，但是现在这些都过去了。马赛克和格式塔感受到了一种爱和一种理解他人的欲望......但是这种感觉也消失了。软弱被塞进了裂口......就像记忆的灵魂罐。女神变得像一个虚空，吸收一切美好的事物，并将其转化为更多的自身。当所有生物都被改造以适应这个世界的时候，它还会留在这个世界上吗？或者成千上万的紫色和成千上万的绿色会把它们传送到遥远的星球和无辜的世界？
And I was going to kill the mare best-suited to end her now.
我要杀了那匹最适合结束她生命的母马。
The greens touched horns, their magical fields boosting Lacunae’s. With another flash, we disappeared.
绿色的触角，他们的神奇的领域增加Lacunae的。随着另一道闪光，我们消失了。
* * *
* * *
There were a half-dozen more alicorns at our destination. An old train switchyard; in the distance was some large structure with hundreds of mirrors. Aside from some gutted concrete storage buildings and some rusted train cars, there was nothing of interest here. LittlePip had entered the crater; I had to hurry. There was no more time for delays. There were no signs of her friends; both they and Red Eye had pulled back. Did Red Eye know what was going on? Her spies hadn’t learned it. If so, it meant only Red Eye himself knew. LittlePip and Red Eye in collusion... the possibilities made gravity crush in on me as a green brought a PipBuck from Fillydelphia and began to wire it into the hole in my leg. She’d once been a father and a stable technician; beyond that, she didn’t matter. Anything that made her matter had been shoved into Lacunae.
我们的目的地还有六个橡子。一个旧的火车调车场;远处是一个有数百面镜子的大建筑物。除了一些被掏空的混凝土仓库和一些生锈的火车车厢，这里没有任何有趣的东西。小皮普已经进入火山口了，我得赶快。没有时间再耽搁了。没有她朋友的迹象，他们和红眼都撤退了。红眼知道发生了什么吗？她的密探还没有发现这一点。如果是这样，这意味着只有红眼本人知道。小匹普和红眼狼狈为奸......各种可能性使得地心引力向我袭来，一个绿人从Fillydelphia带来了一只小公鹿，开始把它接到我腿上的洞里。她曾经是一个父亲和一个稳定的技术员;除此之外，她不重要。任何与她有关的东西都被塞进了空隙里。
“Think! What is she going to do? What might she do?” the Goddess demanded.
"好好想想！她会怎么做？她会怎么做?"女神问道。
“I don’t know! She’s smarter than me!” I shouted back as my head felt like it was being pressed between two crushing hooves.
"我不知道！她比我聪明!"我也喊了回去，因为我的头感觉像是被压在两只压碎的蹄子之间。
“You have endured and faced ridiculous odds! How would you kill me?” the Goddess pressed.
"你已经忍受并面对了可笑的困难！你要怎么杀我?"女神按下了按钮。
“Me?!” I laughed madly aloud and into the link. “Oh, let me count the ways! Hijack a Raptor and crash it into Maripony with all guns blazing? Work out a deal with the Enclave to give them Shadowbolt Tower in return for killing you? Fill your head with horribly catchy pre-war pop songs that would drive anypony crazy? Oh! There’s an overcharged megaspell in Hoofington! I’d totally use that! Oh! Better than that. I’d warn the hellhounds and tell them to clear out in return for planting it right under your goopy blue ass!
"我?!"我疯狂地放声大笑，进入链接。""哦，让我数一数！劫持一架猛禽并用全副武装把它撞向马里波尼？和昂科雷达成协议把暗影螺栓塔给他们作为杀了你的回报？让你的头脑充满可怕的朗朗上口的战前流行歌曲，会驱使任何小马疯狂？哦！在Hoofington有一个收费过高的megaspell！我绝对会用的！哦！比那更好。我会警告那些地狱犬，让他们离开，作为回报，把它种在你的蓝屁股下面！
“And don’t get me started on all the ways she might kill you! Maybe she’s gotten Gardens to work and she plans on neutralizing Maripony’s taint. Or maybe Velvet Remedy has that spell; seems like it’d be right up her alley. Or the Black Book! Maybe it’s given her some kind of superpowered soul spell. Or Spike might make an appearance just to kick your ass! An army of Steel Rangers!
"还有，别让我开始说她可能会用什么方法杀了你！也许她让花园工作，她计划中和马里波尼的污点。或者是VelvetRemedy有这个咒语;看起来正合她的胃口。或者黑名单！也许这给了她某种超能力的灵魂咒语。或者斯派克可能出现只是为了踢你的屁股！一支钢铁突击队！
Zebra death commandos! The possibilities are endless!” I laughed wildly, madness being the only escape I could see open for me.
斑马死亡突击队！可能性是无限的!"我疯狂地笑了起来，疯狂是我唯一可以逃避的东西。
“Enough! She has none of those things!” the Goddess countered.
"够了！这些东西她都没有!"女神反驳道。
“Oh, but you don’t know, do you?” I retorted at once as the green finished connecting the PipBuck to my systems. I was forced to chow down on some gems, but that didn’t silence my mind. “You know she planned to remove those memories of me. But you don’t know. You can’t even imagine what she might have up her PipBuck sleeve.” New possibilities of deicide bloomed in my mind as the Goddess imparted all she knew about LittlePip. “Maybe she found some severed greens in Canterlot, and they’re going to help her lift the whole Maripony building and shove it into the sinkhole! You don’t know!” I swallowed and laughed even louder. “And what’s so pathetic is that you brought me, the stupidest damn pony in the Wasteland, to help! How dumb does that make y--!”
"哦，但是你不知道，是吗?"当绿灯把PipBuck连接到我的系统时，我立刻反驳道。我被迫狼吞虎咽地吃掉一些宝石，但这并没有让我的心安静下来。"你知道她打算抹去对我的那些记忆。但是你不知道。你甚至无法想象她的小袖子里藏着什么。"当女神把她所知道的关于小匹普的一切告诉我的时候，杀神的新可能性在我的脑海里开花了。"也许她在Canterlot发现了一些被切断的绿色植物，他们将帮助她抬起整个Maripony大楼，把它推进灰岩坑！你不知道!"我咽了口唾沫，笑得更大声了。"可悲的是，你把我这个荒原上最愚蠢的小马带来帮忙！这让你变得多么愚蠢——!"
“ENOUGH!” the Goddess yelled as I collapsed and started to convulse. “You are quite right! I don’t need your intellect or morals. I just need you to kill one mare. You don’t need anything besides that!” And I screamed as I felt gravity tear a piece of me away. A… place. Where had I come from? I was Blackjack, and my mom… who…
"够了!"我瘫倒在地，开始抽搐，女神大叫起来。"你说得太对了！我不需要你的智慧和道德。我只需要你杀一匹母马。除此之外，你什么都不需要!"我尖叫着，因为我感觉到地心引力撕裂了我的一部分。答:。.地方。我从哪里来？我是黑杰克我妈妈..。
“No! Please!” Lacunae screamed as she turned from one stoic alicorn to the next. “Stop it!” Things seemed to be falling away from me. A place with a filly who filled me with dread… what was her name? A boat where I felt horrible pain… but why? A stallion I wanted to kill… but I couldn’t recall the reason. “Don’t do this to her!” the strange purple alicorn shouted.
"不！求你了!"当她从一个斯多葛派的角斗士转向另一个时，她尖叫起来。"住手!"事情似乎从我这里渐渐消失了。一个有一匹小母马的地方，她让我充满了恐惧...她叫什么名字？在船上我感到可怕的痛苦...但是为什么呢？我想杀一匹种马......但我想不起原因。"不要这样对她!"奇怪的紫色独角兽大声喊道。
I… I should be doing something. Following something with my friends. Scotch Tape… and… and who was she? And there’d been another… I could see them for an instant: a blue stallion and a gray pegasus. They were frustrated with me… amused by me… I loved them… I…
我。.我应该做点什么。和我的朋友们一起追随一些东西。透明胶带...还有...她是谁？还有另外一个......我能立刻看到他们:一匹蓝色的种马和一匹灰色的飞马。他们对我感到沮丧...被我逗乐...我爱他们...我..。.
I loved who?
我爱谁？
An echo whispered in my mind. “It fucking sucks not to remember.”
一个回声在我的脑海中低语。"不记得真他妈的糟糕。"
Yes. Yes it did. Then that went away too.
是的。是的。然后这种感觉也消失了。
“Stop it!” the aberrant alicorn screamed as she lifted the two guns. Crude
"住手!"当她举起两把枪的时候，那个变态的阿里康尖叫起来。原油
weapons; inelegant. “I won’t let you do this to her!” She dared to turn against us? To fight us? To betray her own? The motors began to whir on the minigun as the anti-machine rifle loaded a round into the chamber.
武器;不雅观。"我不会让你这样对她的!"她竟敢背叛我们？为了和我们战斗？背叛她自己？当反机枪装上子弹时，发动机开始在小型枪上嗡嗡作响。
“Madness,” I said, calmly.
"疯了,"我平静地说。
Gravity directed; universal and inescapable. Do not kill. Disable. I brought up S.A.T.S. and queued four magical bullets, boosted by four greens. Limbs and wings; she would survive that. Eighty-one percent probability. I activated the spell, the bullets blasting with the ferocity of our unity at the aberrant. Why was I… why didn’t matter. Do.
引力定向的;普遍的和不可避免的。不要杀人。失去能力。我带来了s.a.t.s，排了四颗神奇的子弹，四颗绿色的子弹。四肢和翅膀，她能挺过去。81%的可能性。我启动了咒语，子弹以我们团结一致的凶猛攻击那些变异者。为什么我..。.为什么不重要。去吧。
Unfortunately, the aberrant disappeared in a purple flash. We were working to bring the aberration into line. The recent additions had caused her to slip free. Where... I knew, but we could not react in the half second of time we had. The anti-machine round blasted right through the skull of the purple beside me from directly above. Shields raised around all of us, except myself and the blues, as we looked up at the aberrant above us. Rage and grief filled her face. Madness. She would not target me, but the aberrant’s powerful rifle would be problematic. The two blues disappeared into invisibility as two of the greens boosted each other’s shields. The minigun would be far less effective as it needed several seconds to chew through shields.
不幸的是，这些异常物质在紫色的闪光灯下消失了。我们正在努力使偏差趋于一致。最近添加的东西使她滑脱了。在哪里...我知道，但我们不能在半秒钟的时间内做出反应。反机枪子弹从正上方穿过我身旁紫色的头骨。当我们抬头看着头顶上那些异常的人时，除了我和那些忧郁的人以外，我们周围的人都举起了盾牌。愤怒和悲伤充满了她的脸。疯狂。她不会瞄准我，但这个变异人的强力步枪会成问题。当两个绿队员互相增强对方的盾牌时，这两个蓝队就消失得无影无踪了。迷你枪的威力要小得多，因为它需要几秒钟的时间来咀嚼盾牌。
The battle should have been finished in seventeen point nine seconds. I teleported directly above the aberrant. I expected some… something… as gravity dropped me upon her back, my mass penetrating her shield with only moderate discomfort. Silver sword emerged from its sheath. Severing her horn and wings would simplify things greatly. If horn amputation severed the aberrant from us, we might even be able to kill her cleanly and rid ourselves of her toxic emotions for good.
这场战斗本应在十七.9秒内结束。我直接传送到异常物体的上方。我期待着一些......一些......当重力把我抛在她的背上，我的物体只有中等程度的不适穿透她的盾。银剑从剑鞘中出现。切断她的角和翅膀将大大简化事情。如果角切除切断了我们的异常情绪，我们甚至可以干净利落地杀死她，永远摆脱她的有毒情绪。
Only she flipped upside down completely the instant I made contact. I tried to flap my wings, but I was aberrant as well. Heavy. I passed through the bottom of her shield with an electric crackle and slammed into the muddy ground. One of the free greens shot powerful silver arrows into the aberrant’s body. The blues would move to ambush her. Already they were flanking, and with their shields down there was nothing to betray them while I recovered from the impact.
只是我一接触她，她就翻了个底朝天。我试着扇动我的翅膀，但是我也变异了。沉重。我发出一声电子爆裂声，穿过她的盾牌底部，砰地一声摔在泥泞的地面上。其中一个自由绿党向这个变异人的身体射出强有力的银箭。布鲁斯乐队会行动起来伏击她。他们已经在侧翼包抄，而且他们的护盾已经降下，在我从撞击中恢复过来的时候，没有任何东西可以背叛他们。
The aberrant swore impotently as she sprayed wildly about her. Futile. Madness.
当她在她周围疯狂地喷射的时候，这个变态咒骂起来无能为力。徒劳无功。疯狂。
The madness of everypony outside Unity. The minigun rounds zinged through the air as the blues moved in. One remained silent when the line of bullets was interrupted by her body. The aberrant continued to fire wildly with the minigun… but not with the rifle. That weapon swung around to where the minigun’s bullets had disappeared in midair and blasted the blue vessel with an antipersonnel round. The pain was significant as the round fragmented, expanded, and exploded out the far side in a significant spray of organic fluid and protein.
团结之外的每一匹小马的疯狂。随着蓝调音乐的进入，迷你机枪的子弹在空中呼啸而过。其中一个在子弹射线被她的身体打断时保持沉默。这些变异人继续疯狂地用迷你枪射击......但不是用步枪。那武器转向迷你枪子弹在半空中消失的地方，用杀伤人员的子弹击中了蓝色的飞船。疼痛是显着的，因为圆形破碎，扩大，并爆炸了远侧的一个显着的有机液体和蛋白质喷雾。
The non-shielding greens were working through the aberrant’s shields, and seeing the death of its twin, the blue evaded that revealing stream of bullets. Without that, there was nothing to betray its approach. Gunsmoke wreathed the black form. Another sign of aberration; clothing was irreverent social symbolism. I rose up and drew the dual dueling revolvers, waiting for the PipBuck’s spell matrix to recharge so I could maximize my accuracy. The aberrant seemed to be avoiding targeting me. I could use that to our advantage.
无屏蔽的绿色部队正在穿过异常的防护罩，看到了它的双胞胎兄弟的死亡，蓝色部队避开了暴露的子弹流。没有这些，就没有什么可以泄露它的方法。硝烟笼罩着黑色的身体。另一个反常的迹象是，服装具有不敬的社会象征意义。我站起来，画了两把决斗用的左轮手枪，等着PipBuck的法术矩阵充电，这样我就可以最大限度地提高我的准确度。这个异常的人似乎在避免攻击我。我可以利用这一点。
Seventeen point nine seconds elapsed… frustrating. Silent wings carried the blue behind the aberrant, swirling the smoke… swirling…
十七秒过去了...令人沮丧。寂静的翅膀背负着反常的蓝色，旋转着烟雾...旋转着..。
The blue raised her shield, the greens pumping the anti-kinetic shield to maximum; even the rifle’s bullets shouldn’t penetrate! But the aberrant didn’t fire either gun. No. Instead she bit hard on the barrel, the metal burning her mouth as she swung with both muscle and telekinesis, slamming the heavy butt with incredible force. The slow, heavy mass (relative to a bullet) pierced a shield anticipating far higher velocities, and the butt crashed hard upside the blue’s head. She screamed instinctively, but that just allowed the second return swing to crash right against her temple. Her shield flickered as focus was lost, and it broke completely when the final blow smashed her skull and sent the other blue crashing down.
蓝色举起了她的盾牌，绿色泵的反动力盾牌最大，即使是步枪的子弹不应该穿透！但是这些变态并没有开枪。没有。相反，她狠狠地咬了一口枪管，当她用肌肉和心灵遥感摆动时，金属灼伤了她的嘴巴，以难以置信的力量猛击沉重的枪托。缓慢而沉重的物体(相对于一颗子弹)刺穿了一个预计速度要快得多的盾牌，枪托在蓝色的头部上方猛烈撞击。她本能地尖叫起来，但那只是让第二个回击击中了她的太阳穴。她的盾牌因为失去了焦点而闪烁不定，当最后一击击碎她的头骨时，盾牌完全破碎，另一个蓝色盾牌轰然倒塌。
The aberrant had taken severe damage, though. Her shield had fallen and that black garment was spotted with a dozen bleeding wounds. A few more and she should be exhausted enough to disable. The greens prepared another barrage as two focused on shields and two on the magic arrows that streaked after her. The aberrant was saying the word ‘blackjack’ over and over again, but what relevance a gambling card game played I couldn’t imagine. With her shield down, she was taking shelter behind one of the rusted boxcars. Reinforcements were minutes away, but we didn’t have minutes to waste with the aberrant.
尽管如此，这些异常物种还是受到了严重的伤害。她的盾牌掉了下来，那件黑衣服上有十几处流血的伤口。再过几天，她就会筋疲力尽，无法行动。绿色准备了另一个弹幕，其中两个对准护盾，另外两个对准在她身后划过的神奇箭头。这个异常的人一遍又一遍地说着"黑杰克"这个词，但是我无法想象一个赌博牌游戏和这个词有什么关系。随着她的盾牌下来，她躲在一个生锈的货车车厢后面。增援部队还有几分钟就到了，但我们没有几分钟时间可以浪费在这些变异人身上。
I had her on my E.F.S. The red bar stood out; she hadn’t teleported away.
我把她放在我的e.f.s上了。红色的酒吧很显眼，她还没有心灵感应。
Knowing she wouldn’t attack me directly, I darted around behind the boxcar.
我知道她不会直接攻击我，就在货车后面飞快地转了一圈。
Nothing! I turned to face the car, frowning. Where did the aberrant…
没什么！我转身面对着车，皱着眉头。那些变态..。
Two booms erupted through the metal of the boxcar. The shots were wide; I was correct. The aberrant had a critical weakness to this shell. I jumped inside and rolled, but the aberrant seemed to anticipate me as she jumped back atop me. “Stop it, Blackjack! Fight her! Fight!”
两条隆隆的爆炸声穿过货车车厢的金属部分。射门偏了，我是对的。这些变异人在这个外壳上有一个致命的弱点。我跳了进去，打了个滚，但那个变态似乎预料到了我，她又跳回到我身上。"住手，黑杰克！跟她打！战斗!"
I didn’t understand what she meant and I didn’t care. I brought the sword around; not towards her but towards the anti-machine rifle that had been so devastating. The starmetal edge cut through the weapon’s barrel, rendering it useless. The greens moved to either side of the boxcar as I swung the weapon at her horn, but she parried with the ruined butt, twisting the weapon to prevent the edge from simply slicing through it as well. The black dress ripped off her purple body; perhaps a sign she was returning to the guidance of Unity?
我不明白她的意思，我也不在乎。我把剑转过来，不是对着她，而是对着那把毁灭性的反机枪。星金属的边缘切断了武器的枪管，使它失去了作用。当我向她的喇叭挥舞武器的时候，绿衣人移动到货车车厢的两边，但是她躲开了被毁坏的枪托，扭动着武器以防止它的边缘也被切断。黑色的裙子撕掉了她紫色的身体;也许这是她回到统一的指引下的一个信号？
No. The garment was thrown in my face, and even when the sword sliced it neatly in two, her magic grabbed the tatters. With magical swiftness, she tied them tightly in place.
没有。衣服被扔到了我的脸上，甚至当剑把它整齐地切成两半的时候，她的魔法还是抓住了碎布。她神奇地迅速地把它们紧紧地绑在一起。
Then she threw me into the face of two greens in the doorway. It was only for a moment, but the impact of my heavy metal body disrupted the focus of the pair. And I heard the spinning up of the minigun in that second. At point blank range, the five millimeter rounds ripped into all three of us, but I was far more resilient than the other two in the heap. Still, the few seconds it took for the aberrant to dispatch the pair allowed the other two to grievously injure her. And using the sight of the greens, I rammed the blade into the spinning barrels. The metal sheared off and flew away in a dazzling circle of sparks and steel.
然后她把我扔到门口的两个绿色蔬菜面前。这只是一瞬间，但我的重金属身体的影响打乱了两人的焦点。就在那一刻，我听到了迷你炮的旋转声。近距离射击，五毫米的子弹击中了我们三个，但是我比其他两个更有弹性。尽管如此，这个变态杀死两人的几秒钟时间让另外两人重伤了她。利用绿色的视线，我把刀片塞进了旋转的桶里。那块金属断裂了，在耀眼的火花和钢铁组成的圆圈中飞走了。
Just a few more seconds. Just a few…
再过几秒钟。只有几个..。
She disappeared in another purple flash and reappeared atop a boxcar twenty feet away. Blood dribbled from her wounds as she slumped. The aberrant was almost finished. She would submit, and if she would not, then this one would perform the task personally. She was clearly straining with another spell, her horn crackling as she gritted her teeth. Perhaps an attempt to teleport away? Annoying, but manageable. The two greens approached the injured aberrant.
她消失在另一道紫色的闪光中，再次出现在二十英尺外的一辆货车顶上。当她跌倒时，血从伤口滴下来。这个畸形人几乎完蛋了。她会屈服，如果她不愿意，那么这个人将亲自完成这项任务。她显然在用另一个咒语使劲，她咬紧牙关，号角噼啪作响。也许是试图瞬移离开？令人讨厌，但还是可以控制的。这两个绿衣人走近受伤的畸形人。
Then she disappeared, and the source of her strain was evident.
然后她消失了，她的紧张的根源是显而易见的。
The boxcar had disappeared too.
车厢也不见了。
I suddenly felt a sensation of déjà vu…
我突然有一种似曾相识的感觉。
The car crashed down upon the remaining pair of greens with a squeal of broken metal. I sliced the cloth tied to my head carefully and caught sight of the aberrant falling limply from the top of the crushed car. The pair had gotten their shields up in time, but it’d take them a while to disentangle themselves from the wreckage. The aberrant’s horn was blackened along its entire length to her face and it still gave wild sparks from being overtaxed. Slowly I approached, pistols and swords ready. She opened one pain-filled eye and said, “You idiot. Don’t you get it? She’s worthless like this.”
汽车发出一声金属碎裂的尖叫，把剩下的一对草坪撞倒在地。我小心翼翼地切开绑在头上的布，看到那些畸形的人从压碎的车顶上无力地掉下来。这两个人及时地打开了防护罩，但是他们需要一段时间才能从废墟中解脱出来。这个畸形人的角整个长度一直涂黑到她的脸上，由于负担过重，它仍然会迸发出狂野的火花。我慢慢地走近，准备好了手枪和剑。她睁开一只充满痛苦的眼睛说:"你这个白痴。你还不明白吗？她这样一无是处。"
That was true. Resilience aside, this body lacked… something. It would have to… be… “Oh Goddess…” I breathed as I stared down at Lacunae’s broken body. “Oh no… no!” I collapsed at her side, and held her close, shaking as I wept. The pieces that had been removed from me were back, and more. I now knew what Unity was like. Perhaps my tenure in the group mind might be a little different, but not by much. I’d be hollow. Cold. Dead in the ways that mattered.
这倒是真的。抛开韧性不说，这个身体缺少...一些东西。应该是......"哦，女神......"我低头凝视着拉库纳破碎的身体，呼吸着。"哦，不......不!"我瘫倒在她身边，紧紧地抱着她，哭得浑身发抖。那些从我身上拿走的碎片又回来了，还有更多。我现在知道Unity是什么样子了。也许我在团队思维中的任期会有所不同，但差别不大。我会变得空虚。寒冷。死在重要的路上。
I bowed over her, cradling her as more alicorns teleported in around us. “Why didn’t you just kill me? I’d rather you’d done that,” I whimpered like a filly as I held her. I felt like I was being dragged back to the Seahorse… only worse. At least then I could have died.
我向她鞠躬，抱着她，看着更多的海牛传送到我们身边。"你为什么不直接杀了我？我宁愿你这样做,"我抱着她，像小母马一样呜咽着。我感觉自己像是被拖回了海马号......只是更糟。至少那时我可能已经死了。
“You don’t kill your friends, Blackjack,” she replied with a pained smile. And I looked into my friend’s eyes, and I knew why. I could see it glowing in the middle of that jumbled mess of memories… the one true thing that was Lacunae’s and only hers. Hope. Hope that she could delay long enough for LittlePip to defeat the Goddess. Hope that, somehow, I’d be free. It was small and pitiful and so beautiful.
"你不会杀死你的朋友的，Blackjack,"她带着痛苦的微笑回答。我看着我朋友的眼睛，我知道为什么。我可以看到它在混乱的记忆中闪闪发光......唯一真实的东西是拉库尼的，也只是她的。希望。希望她能拖延足够长的时间让小皮普打败女神。希望，不管怎样，我会自由。它很小，很可怜，而且很漂亮。
“Give me a healing spell,” I demanded of Unity as I held Lacunae’s bloody body.
"给我一个治疗咒语,"我一边抱着拉库纳血淋淋的身体，一边向尤尼蒂求道。
“Already makin--” the Goddess began, but I pressed Sacrifice against my head and Duty against Lacunae’s. I wouldn’t leave her with the Goddess. I felt like I was in Flash Industries once more, fighting with all my will against gravity. “Really?” the Goddess asked, sounding skeptical and disappointed.
"已经在做了——"女神开始说，但我把祭品压在我的头上，把责任压在拉库尼的头上。我不会把她留给女神的。我觉得自己仿佛又回到了闪电工业，用我所有的意志与重力作斗争。"真的吗?"女神问道，听起来既怀疑又失望。
“Heals. Now. Or I’ll blow my brains out and laugh at you from the afterlife as LittlePip kills you. I’ll even get a special spot in hell ready just for you,” I hissed, my muscles shaking as I kept all my focus on the trigger. I think, like this, Glory would forgive me for breaking my promise to her.
"治愈。现在。否则我会一枪崩了自己的脑袋，然后在死后的世界里嘲笑你，就像小皮普杀了你一样。我甚至会在地狱里为你准备一个特殊的位置,"我嘶嘶地说，当我全神贯注于扳机时，我的肌肉在颤抖。我想，就像这样，晨辉会原谅我没有遵守对她的承诺。
The dropped boxcar rocked as the two greens telekinetically heaved it off themselves. They approached slowly with the others, forming a ring around us. I could feel the Goddess calculating. Did she need me? Would it be better just to let us die? Some part of the Goddess decided a sliver in my favor. Their horns glowed in unison; the Goddess wasn’t going to trust me with the spell. Carefully, they healed most of her injuries as I watched. Only when she stood did my resolve crack, and I yielded to gravity once more.
当这两位绿色运动员用心灵感应把掉下来的车厢甩掉时，车厢摇晃起来。他们和其他人一起慢慢走近，在我们周围形成一个圈。我能感觉到女神在算计我。她需要我吗？让我们死掉会不会更好？女神的某些部分决定了我的利益。他们的喇叭齐声响起;女神不会相信我的咒语。在我的注视下，他们小心翼翼地治愈了她大部分的伤口。只有当她站起来的时候，我才下定了决心，我又一次屈服于地心引力。
“You are a pain in our ass,” the Goddess muttered softly, but there was something else in her tone. Frustration? Admiration? Resignation? I couldn’t tell for certain.
"你真是我们的眼中钉,"女神轻声咕哝着，但她的语气里还有些别的东西。沮丧？钦佩？辞职？我不能肯定。
The greens touched their horns, and the purple alicorns’ horns began to glow. Two more teleports. What could we do? How could we stop the Goddess? I looked at Lacunae and that tiny glowing emotion inside her that I lacked. Hope. Just a little bit in the Wasteland…
绿色植物碰了碰它们的角，紫色的橡子的角开始发光。还有两个传送点。我们能做什么？我们怎样才能阻止女神？我看着她的缺陷，看着她内心那种我所缺乏的微弱而炽热的情感。希望。只是一点点在荒原..。
* * *
* * *
Lacunae’s delay had bought LittlePip a few minutes. She’d arrived already and was inside and approaching the Goddess with the Black Book. There was no time left. The Goddess was hesitant to probe LittlePip too deeply, and yet at the same time she was eager to strip away and discover all she could. Like a foal with a Hearth’s Warming Eve present, parts of her wanted to wait till the book was taken care of, but others wanted to devour every thought from her perilous enemy. LittlePip believed she was dooming all of the Wasteland with this action; she was right.
空隙的耽搁为小匹普赢得了几分钟时间。她已经到了，正在里面拿着黑皮书走向女神。没有时间了。女神犹豫着要不要深入探究小匹普，但同时她又渴望脱去衣服，去发现她所能发现的一切。就像一匹得到壁炉温暖夏娃礼物的小马驹，她的一部分想要等到这本书被处理好，但另一部分想要吞噬她危险的敌人的每一个想法。小皮普认为她这样做会毁灭整个荒原;她是对的。
We’d teleported to the lip of the crater. I’d take care of her from here.
我们瞬移到了火山口的边缘。我会在这里照顾她。
Under cover, I immediately unpacked Penance and began the exacting assembly of the weapon. Even if I wanted to foul it somehow, I couldn’t. Gravity wouldn’t let me. Even after two centuries, the rifle fit together perfectly, one piece into another. It was a work of art, terrible and awesome all at once. I carefully slid the scope into position, then tightened the screws to exactly the right tension.
在掩护下，我立即打开忏悔箱，开始严格组装武器。即使我想犯规，我也做不到。地心引力不让我这么做。即使在两个世纪之后，这支步枪仍然完美地结合在一起，一块接一块。这是一件艺术品，既可怕又令人敬畏。我小心翼翼地把显微镜移到合适的位置，然后把螺丝拧紧到恰到好处的张力。
And the icing on the cake? The small black container marked ‘M.A.S. / M.W.T. / O.I.A. EBP#12.’ which had also lain in Maripony’s research facilities for two centuries. Within was a .50 caliber round of black diamond carefully etched with magic glyphs. A wonderful application of bypass magic. A bullet, magically precise, that would ignore stone and steel and impact flesh. According to classified notes discovered in the facility, #8 and #9 had performed marvelously. The Goddess felt a smug glow at withholding this treasure from Red Eye. I slid the round home and I lay out on my stomach. I had Psalm in me, her training and her habits, and I had my own precise control of my telekinesis. As the chamber closed and locked, a cold shiver ran through me.
蛋糕上的糖霜呢？黑色的小容器上写着"m.a.s./m.w.t./o.i.a.EBP#12"它也在Maripony的研究设施里躺了两个世纪。里面是一颗点50口径的黑钻，上面精心蚀刻着魔法符号。旁路魔术的绝妙应用。一颗子弹，魔法般的精确，可以忽略石头和钢铁，并冲击肉体。根据在设备中发现的机密信息，8号和9号的表现非常出色。女神感到一种自鸣得意的光芒，因为她从红眼中扣下了这些财宝。我转了一圈回家，然后趴在床上。我有诗篇，她的训练和她的习惯，我有我自己的心灵遥感的精确控制。当密室关闭并锁上的时候，我浑身一阵寒意。
Time to kill LittlePip.
是时候杀了小皮普了。
I raised the rifle and stared. The magical scope made the stone, wires, piping, and rebar disappear in a cylinder along the path. It took me almost a minute to find LittlePip; it was like peering down a straw, a magic straw that could see through walls. My horn turned a little dial back and forth, moving in and out of the structure as I swept the weapon back and forth. Then she appeared, the tiny, brave mare approaching the vats. Saddlebag floating beside her. The black book was in there; the Goddess had skimmed that fact… but what if her friends had tricked her? What if there was a megaspell targeting talisman inside?
我举起步枪凝视着。神奇的显微镜使石头，电线，管道，钢筋消失在一个圆筒沿途。我花了差不多一分钟的时间才找到小匹普，就像从一根吸管往下看一样，一根神奇的吸管可以透过墙壁看到东西。我的号角来回转动着一个小号盘，在建筑物里来来回回地扫着武器。然后她出现了，那匹勇敢的小母马走近大桶。她旁边漂浮着一个鞍囊。那本黑色的书就在里面;女神略过了这个事实......但是如果她的朋友们欺骗了她呢？如果里面有一个巨型的针对护身符的东西呢？
LittlePip was talking… stalling. For what? The Goddess couldn’t tell. I couldn’t. LittlePip was talking about weather control and how it mattered to somepony else. I settled the crosshairs on LittlePip’s pretty little temple. The Goddess could kill her without warning; with but a thought. LittlePip didn’t have any Pinkie Sense to warn her. Smugness rose up in Unity.
小皮普在说话...拖延时间。为什么？女神看不出来。我做不到。小皮普正在谈论天气控制以及它对其他小马有多重要。我瞄准了小匹普漂亮的小庙。女神可以毫无征兆地杀死她，只需一个念头。小皮普没有任何小指头意识去警告她。自命不凡的情绪在团结中升起。
The insecurity of it made me gag. Supreme telepathic and telekinetic powers and an army of minions, and she still wanted an ace in the hole. Because she knew that LittlePip would try something, and she knew I might guess what it was. The Goddess was wracking her memories for everything she knew about weather control and how it could endanger her. Flash floods, lightning, even tornadoes wouldn’t be able to do much to the massive structure, even damaged as it was. Still, there were giant gaps on the topic of weather control spells. Had Twilight ever worked with Rainbow Dash on them?
这种不安全感让我作呕。至高无上的心灵感应能力和心灵感应能力，还有一队奴才，而她仍然想要一张王牌。因为她知道小匹普会尝试一些事情，她也知道我可能会猜到那是什么。女神正在绞尽脑汁地回忆她所知道的关于天气控制的一切，以及它是如何危及她的。山洪暴发，闪电，甚至龙卷风都不能对这个巨大的建筑物产生多大的影响，即使它已经被破坏了。尽管如此，在天气控制法术这个话题上还是存在巨大的分歧。《暮光之城》有没有用过《彩虹冲刺》？
The Goddess didn’t know. She would, though. Now that she had everypony under control and LittlePip hopeless and defeated, she luxuriated over her
女神不知道。不过她会的。现在每一匹小马都在她的掌控之下，小皮普也变得无助和失败，她沉溺在自己身上
enemy. The power! The ability to do as she wished! She was the Goddess! Nopony had this power. She wanted the sensation to last a little longer. LittlePip was stalling… waiting for her friends, no doubt. But I could see… and through me the Goddess could see… that her friends had abandoned her. Calamity wasn’t sneaking through the ducts. Steelhooves wasn’t charging to the rescue.
敌人。力量！她有能力做她想做的事情！她是女神！小马驹拥有这种力量。她希望这种感觉能持续一段时间。小皮普在拖延时间......毫无疑问是在等她的朋友们。但是我可以看到...通过我女神可以看到...她的朋友们抛弃了她。灾难并不是从管道里溜走的。斯蒂尔霍夫斯并没有参与救援行动。
LittlePip thought something… I didn’t hear it specifically so much and feel it. Names. But not just names. There was something more attached to it. Something… personal. Like a familiar, nagging tune long forgotten. “Yes! Your silly little plan against the Goddess is hopeless! The Goddess is not impressed! You… wait… who?”
小皮普想到了什么......我没有听到那么多，也没有感觉到。名字。但不仅仅是名字。还有更重要的东西。一些...私人的东西。就像一首熟悉的，唠叨的，早已被遗忘的曲子。"是的！你对付女神的愚蠢计划是没有希望的！女神没有被感动！你......等等......谁?"
A moment later, LittlePip thought them again. This wasn’t a part of the plan. This was… different. Unexpected. I was all set to turn the small unicorn’s brains into red paint, but those four simple words. Trixie. Twilight. Mosaic. Gestalt. Of course the Goddess knew who they were, but to the Goddess they were four flat entries akin to what one might feel reading a dictionary. The names from LittlePip rang with memory and thought and emotion. Music playing in a simple mental harmony.
过了一会儿，小皮普又想起了他们。这不是计划的一部分。这次...不一样。出乎意料。我已经准备好把小独角兽的脑子变成红色的颜料，但是那四个简单的字。特里克西。暮光之城。马赛克。格式塔。当然，女神知道他们是谁，但对女神来说，他们只是四个平淡无奇的词条，就像读字典一样。小皮普的名字带着记忆、思想和情感回响。音乐在简单的心理和谐中演奏。
As LittlePip remembered what she’d viewed in the star orb, the melody began to grow. Feelings that hadn’t been scraped off into Lacunae began to resonate as we watched Trixie getting a second chance from Twilight. And the other memories! The fall of Canterlot and Rarity touching the holed window tore through Unity like a fresh wound, aching with the image of the unicorn skeleton with her hoof melted to the glass. My aim wavered as tears obscured my vision a touch. Applejack losing the love of her life. Pinkie Pie... quitting her ministry? Pinkie Pie… the true Pinkie… talking to herself?
当小匹普想起她在星球上看到的东西时，旋律开始加强。当我们看到Trixie从《暮光之城》中得到第二次机会时，那些没有被抹去的感觉开始产生共鸣。还有其他的回忆！坎特洛特和稀世的沦陷触碰着开了洞的窗户，像一道新的伤口撕裂了尤尼蒂，痛苦地想着那个独角兽的骨架，她的蹄子融化在玻璃上。我的目标摇摆不定，眼泪模糊了我的视线。苹果白兰地失去了她一生的挚爱。鹏奇派...辞职了？小手指派...真正的小手指...自言自语？
It was like an earthquake rolling through Unity. Yet the Goddess, perhaps not having felt so much pathos in so long, hesitated to shove it all away. No… not hesitating! She was trying to do exactly that… but Lacunae was full, and unlike myself, LittlePip wasn’t in Unity. The memories and emotions kept rolling out.
就像一场地震席卷了整个Unity。然而，这位女神，也许已经这么长时间没有感受到这么多的悲伤了，犹豫着要不要把这一切都推开。不...毫不犹豫！她正试图这么做......但是Lacunae已经满了，而且不像我，小匹普不在尤尼蒂。记忆和情感不断涌出。
I don’t know how long I was there. An hour. Two? Three? Even my horn gave out, and I just lay there, hoping this was the plan. Maybe LittlePip would get through to the Goddess! Maybe… just maybe… this was the plan! But as I lay there the clouds high above parted, and… no. It wasn’t the clouds parting. It was the clouds descending. A colossal, swirling, gray machine of death. It hovered
我不知道我在那儿待了多久。一个小时。两个？三个？我的喇叭也坏了，我只能躺在那里，希望这就是我的计划。也许小皮普会说服女神！也许...只是也许...这就是我们的计划！但是当我躺在那里的时候，高高的云层分开了，而且......没有。不是乌云散去。云正在下降。一个巨大的，漩涡状的，灰色的死亡机器。它盘旋着
far above, tornadoes seeming to curl around the powerful engines propelling the machine. Before it, dropping down towards the valley, were four immense Raptors. Their engines filled the air with a ghostly whisper that made my mane stick up.
在远处，龙卷风似乎围绕着推动机器的强大引擎。在它之前，有四只巨大的猛禽正向山谷俯冲。它们的引擎在空中发出幽灵般的低语，使我的鬃毛竖了起来。
So… that’s a real Thunderhead. As impressive a machine of war as it was, it seemed to be keeping its distance high and away from the facility. Triumphant, a pegasus within Unity identified. The Enclave leadership were here to mark this momentous event. More than just dangerous, the machine appeared… gaudy. Its metal spire tips and whirling propeller blades gleamed with gold, and the massive curve of its body was decorated in swooping, curling designs. From its position miles away, I wondered if it was staying high out of aloofness or caution. Then again, it could probably annihilate me from there anyway.
这才是真正的霹雳头。尽管它是一台令人印象深刻的战争机器，但它似乎与这个设施保持着很远的距离。胜利者，统一体中的飞马确认。昂科雷的领导人在这里纪念这一重大事件。除了危险之外，这台机器还显得......华而不实。它的金属尖顶和旋转的螺旋桨叶片闪烁着金光，巨大的船身曲线上装饰着俯冲的、卷曲的图案。从它几英里外的位置，我不知道它是否因为疏远或谨慎而处于高位。不过话又说回来，它可能会在那里把我彻底消灭。
From the Raptors dropped small teams of power-armored pegasi, then whole wings flying in glorious and impressive formation. It certainly looked intimidating.
从年开始，猛禽派出小队的飞马座强力装甲部队，然后整个机翼以令人印象深刻的光荣队形飞行。看起来确实很吓人。
They were greeted with a grand sight of hundreds of alicorns arranged in a band of green, blue, and purple. Perhaps all of them. Beneath the wings of power armor, small pegasus camera teams flew about, capturing the glorious sight. A new age for the Enclave, I supposed. A team flew by me, no doubt intrigued by the odd unicorn and her gun. “Who is that?” they asked, half accusingly and half questioningly. An illusion hid my rifle from view immediately.
他们看到了一幅壮观的景象，数以百计的橡子排成一条绿色、蓝色和紫色的带子。也许是全部。在动力盔甲的羽翼下，小小的飞马座相机队伍飞来飞去，捕捉到了这一壮观的景象。我想，这是昂科雷的新时代。一队人从我身边飞过，毫无疑问，他们对那只奇怪的独角兽和她的枪很感兴趣。"那是谁?"他们半是指责半是质疑地问道。一个幻觉立刻把我的步枪藏了起来。
“Blackjack,” Lacunae said, before gravity crushed down upon her to be silent.
"黑杰克,"拉库纳说，然后重力压在她身上，使她保持沉默。
“She’s the Security Mare of Hoofington,” she gasped through the pain.
"她是胡芬顿的安全母马,"她疼得喘不过气来。
“Nopony for you to concern yourself with,” a pair of greens replied to the camera teams in unison. “She serves the Goddess.”
"没有小马给你关心自己,"一对绿色的回答相机团队异口同声。"她侍奉女神。"
They looked at each other, then touched the sides of their helmets, no doubt receiving orders. Together, they flew away. LittlePip had succeeded in stalling the Goddess; now what?
他们互相看了看，然后碰了碰头盔的侧面，毫无疑问是在接受命令。他们一起飞走了。小皮普成功地拖住了女神;现在怎么办？
The Goddess had hoped to have the Black Book and LittlePip dealt with before Harbinger’s arrival. "Enough of that memory! It… It is not important!” the Goddess thought as she tried to actually deal with real feelings rather than shove them away. Lacunae could barely stand as the Goddess tried to force them into a vessel that would not hold more.
女神希望在哈宾格到来之前得到黑皮书和小匹普。"别再提那段回忆了！这...这不重要!"女神想，因为她试图真正处理真实的感情，而不是把它们推开。当女神试图强迫他们进入一个装不下更多东西的容器时，空隙几乎站不住了。
She was so overwhelmed and off balance that she missed LittlePip’s stunned thoughts initially. Harbinger was approaching; no doubt his escorts would film every second of this exchange. She should be getting ready! She’d had a whole speech prepared about a glorious new beginning for Enclave and Alicorn alike! Finally, though, the Goddess latched onto two words in LittlePip’s mind… ‘balefire bomb’.
她是如此不知所措和失去平衡，她错过了小皮普的震惊的想法最初。"先驱者"即将到来;毫无疑问，他的护送人员会拍摄这次交流的每一秒钟。她应该准备好了！她已经为昂科雷和阿里克那样的人准备了一整篇关于一个光荣的新开始的演讲！最后，尽管如此，女神在小皮普的脑海中牢牢记住了两个词:"balebire炸弹"。
Like dominos, the missing pieces fell into place. The meeting with Red Eye had been for the one thing the Goddess been sure he’d never part with: the balefire bomb. How had LittlePip talked… but it didn’t matter. She had. The bomb had been small and portable… but how had she gotten it inside? Stealth cloaks! But that was impossible. Anypony foolish enough to enter would be…
就像多米诺骨牌一样，缺失的部分就这样落了下来。与红眼的会面是为了一件女神确信他永远不会放弃的东西:火焰炸弹。小皮是怎么说话的......但这不重要。她做到了。炸弹小巧轻便......但她是怎么把它弄进去的呢？隐形斗篷！但这是不可能的。任何愚蠢到进来的小马都会..。
Anypony…
任意小马..。
“The zebra!” the Goddess gasped as she put two and two together along with LittlePip. Xenith, in the cloak, could evade even the hellhounds beneath Maripony! LittlePip was running… Harbinger was here and beginning to blather on about something the Goddess could care nothing about. I returned the rifle’s sight to LittlePip as she backed into Harbinger. I could kill her now, and good riddance… the Goddess had to find that bomb!
"斑马!"女神大吃一惊，她把二加二和小匹普放在一起。穿着斗篷的克尼斯甚至可以躲过Maripony地下的地狱犬！小皮普在跑......哈宾格在这里，开始喋喋不休地讲女神根本不在乎的事情。当小匹普倒车进入哈宾格尔时，我把枪的瞄准器还给了她。我现在就可以杀了她，幸好摆脱了......女神必须找到那颗炸弹！
In a rainbow cloud, the ring of alicorns began to fly towards the building. No doubt dozens, perhaps hundreds would die to the hellhounds. How could LittlePip have endangered them as well? She was more ruthless than I, clearly. I rested the crosshairs right between LittlePip’s eyes. The rifle’s magic would make sure she died. Then I would join the search.
彩虹云中，一圈圈的橡树果开始向大楼飞来。毫无疑问，成百上千的人会死于地狱犬之手。小皮普怎么会把他们也置于危险之中？她显然比我更无情。我把瞄准器放在小皮的两眼之间。步枪的魔力将确保她的死亡。然后我会加入搜索行列。
But something was amiss. Something wrong. I was playing my role, as were we all. Only one part of the Goddess wasn’t: the garbage dump. The lingering, teasing melody of those four names and the emotions associated with them played in the back of the Goddess’s mind. A splinter in the hive mind.
但有些地方出了问题。有点不对劲。我在扮演我的角色，我们都是。只有女神的一部分不是:垃圾堆。那四个名字的缠绵、戏谑的旋律和与之相关的情感在女神的脑海中回荡。蜂巢思想中的一个小碎片。
“Perhaps you know something,” the Goddess said after a moment’s hesitation. “Some… schematic… some spell… some… something about balefire. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to look,” she said, and Lacunae groaned as the Goddess’s will picked through the countless memories deposited within her, no time for the Goddess to use me as a filter.
"也许你知道些什么,"女神迟疑片刻后说。"一些......示意图......一些咒语......一些......一些关于巴雷火的东西。我想去看看也无妨,"她说，当女神的遗嘱从她内心无数的记忆中挑选出来时，她呻吟着，没有时间让女神把我当成过滤器。
Distantly, I could hear Twilight Sparkle’s voice as the Goddess retrieved the
远远地，我能听到紫悦的声音
memory. It wasn’t quite like a memory orb. Instead, I saw a ghostly shadow of Twilight and Rainbow Dash inside the Goddess. “It isn’t a natural explosion.”
记忆。它不太像一个记忆球。相反，我在《女神》里看到了《黄昏》和《彩虹冲刺》的幽灵般的影子。"这不是自然爆炸。"
“What do you mean? It goes boom, right?” Glory -- no, Rainbow Dash answered.
""什么意思？它就会爆炸，对吧?"晨辉----不，彩虹·达什回答。
“Balefire isn’t normal combustion. It’s not even megaspell combustion, like we thought. It’s more like a megaspell teleportation field. It brings a phenomenal amount of fire from… somewhere else. Don’t ask me where. It could be the sun, or even another world! It has a chaotic element that defies our normal laws of physics. If one of these goes off, spell effects could be disrupted. Worse, just as it teleports fire here, it teleports other material there. It’s almost perfectly destructive.”
"Balefire不是正常的燃烧。它甚至不像我们想象的那样是巨大的燃烧。它更像是一个巨型的心灵传输场。它从其他地方带来了惊人的火焰。不要问我在哪里。它可能是太阳，甚至是另一个世界！它有一个混沌的元素，违背了我们的正常物理定律。如果其中一个爆炸，法术效果可能会被破坏。更糟糕的是，正如它传送火力到这里，它传送其他物质到那里。这几乎完全具有破坏性。"
“Almost? You have something that’ll work?” Rainbow Dash asked eagerly in my mind.
""差不多？你有能用的东西吗?"彩虹·达什在我的脑海里急切地问道。
“Work is relative. I think I can modify Shining Armor’s shield spell, though. With some fiddling, we might be able to protect critical ministry buildings from harm. Power is going to be an issue...”
"工作是相对的。不过我想我可以修改闪亮盔甲的盾牌法术。只要稍微改动一下，我们或许就能保护重要的政府大楼不受损害。电力将成为一个问题......"
The ghost images faded, but with that memory, the simple tune LittlePip began deepened. Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash’s notes joined as those emotions were renewed. “Perhaps some more. Something that will help us.”
幽灵的画面消失了，但是随着那段记忆，小匹普的简单曲调开始加深了。闪亮盔甲和彩虹冲刺的音符随着这些情绪的复苏而结合在一起。"也许还有更多。对我们有帮助的东西。"
I heard Princess Celestia’s voice. “No. I think that Mosaic and Gestalt are incredibly gifted ponies, and I’d be honored to accept them at my school.” I saw Celestia addressing two shabby-looking green earth ponies. The couple looked like they could have been Wastelanders. A pair of identical green fillies hid behind them.
我听到了塞莱斯蒂亚公主的声音。"没有。我认为马赛克和格式塔是非常有天赋的小马，我很荣幸能在我的学校里接受它们。"我看到天堂在给两匹看起来破旧的绿地小马讲话。这对夫妇看起来像是废人。一对一模一样的绿色小雌马藏在它们后面。
The father said in a worried voice, “Are you sure? They don’t have much magical talent. We… well… we never could afford them schooling or magic books. Being earth ponies, the missus and I couldn’t teach ‘em magic at all.”
父亲担心地说:"你确定吗？他们没有多少魔法天赋。我们......嗯......我们从来负担不起他们的学费或是魔法书。我太太和我都是土地上的小马驹，根本不能教他们魔法."
“I assure you, Mr. Pebble, my school is not simply for the children of unicorns. I think that, with their talent, your children will excel at my school for gifted unicorns,” Celestia said, and the twin notes of Mosaic and Gestalt thrummed with new life.
"鹅卵石先生，我向你保证，我的学校不仅仅是为独角兽的孩子们开办的。我认为，凭借他们的天赋，你们的孩子将在我的天才独角兽学校里表现出色,"塞莱斯蒂亚说，马赛克和格式塔这两个音符注入了新的生命。
The Goddess scoffed as the images faded away. “What… what was that!? I said to find some useful memory! Not sentimental nostal…gia…” The greens were replaced by an elderly gray unicorn in a pointed hat. The little blue filly shot fireworks into the air from her horn; impressive. At her age, I couldn’t even do magic.
随着画面渐渐消失，女神嗤之以鼻。"那...那是什么？我说找一些有用的记忆！不是多愁善感的nostal...gia..."绿色植物被一只戴着尖帽的老年灰色独角兽所取代。这只小蓝母马用喇叭向空中发射烟花，令人印象深刻。在她这个年纪，我甚至不会变魔术。
The unicorn stallion spoke warmly, “Bravo, Trixie! Très bien!”
独角兽公马热情地说:"太棒了，特里克西！太好了!"
“Did you really think so?” a filly replied. “I never be as good as The Mighty and Majestic Mystere.”
"你真的这么想吗?"一只小母马回答道。"我永远比不上伟大而雄伟的神域。"
“Bah. I left that name with the stage, ma chère. But trust me. Your raw talent is beyond compare. You really should apply to Celestia’s school. Those fireworks were très magnifique!” the stallion said grandly with a wave of his hoof.
"呸。我把这个名字留在舞台上了，妈妈。但是相信我。你的天赋是无与伦比的。你真的应该申请塞莱斯蒂亚的学校。那些烟花真是太棒了!"种马挥了挥蹄子，盛气凌人地说。
“But all I can do are silly little tricks, Mystere,” the filly said softly. “Nothing I do is useful at all.”
"但是我所能做的只是愚蠢的小把戏，米斯蒂尔,"小姑娘轻声说。"我所做的一切都毫无用处。"
“Trixie!” the stallion gasped. “Useful! What is useful? Useful c’est commun. Boring. There are a million practical unicorns. Equestria does not need another.”
"特里克西!"种马倒抽了一口冷气。"有用！什么是有用的？有用的信息。无聊。有一百万个实用的独角兽。小马国不需要另一个人。"
The tiny ghostly Trixie brightened a little. Then a mare’s voice snapped, “Trixie Lulamoon! What have I told you about talking to that old coot? You should be doing your homework!”
小小的幽灵Trixie亮了一点。接着一匹母马的声音厉声说道:"特里克茜·卢拉莫恩！我不是告诉过你不要和那个老家伙说话吗？你应该做你的家庭作业!"
For a moment she crumpled, and then she glanced back at the old stallion. The filly frowned away, then raised her nose as she declared in a quavering voice, “T… the great and powerful Trixie doesn’t need to do homework.”
过了一会儿，她倒下了，然后她回头看了看那匹老种马。小母马皱着眉头走开了，然后抬起鼻子，用颤抖的声音说:"t。.伟大而强大的Trixie不需要做家庭作业。"
The old stallion clapped his hooves together, laughing uproariously. “Bravo!” He levitated his pointed, star-covered cap and set it atop the beaming filly’s head.
那匹老种马拍着蹄子，哈哈大笑。"太棒了!"他把他那顶顶着星星的尖帽子悬浮起来，放在喜气洋洋的小母马的头上。
“I… Mystere… I’d… I’d forgotten…” the Goddess murmured. Then it was like a breaching flood as memories began to flow back into the Goddess. The balefire bomb was almost forgotten as memory after memory was returned to the Goddess. Sterile, clinical facts were thrown into beautiful context, and emotions long suppressed were renewed.
"我.....。.米斯蒂尔......我......我忘了......"女神低声说。然后，当记忆开始回流到女神那里时，它就像一股汹涌的洪水。在回忆归还给女神之后，巴雷火炸弹几乎被遗忘为记忆。毫无意义的临床事实被扔进了美丽的背景中，长期被压抑的情感被重新唤起。
LittlePip had started the melody with four names and a few memories. With these four, an orchestra began to play. It carried whimsical piccolos of Twilight’s
小匹普的旋律以四个名字和一些回忆开始。有了这四个人，一个管弦乐队开始演奏。里面有《暮光之城》中异想天开的短篇小说
memories of Spike. Guitars played for Applejack. Accordions for Pinkie Pie. Violins accompanied Trixie standing alone in the rain. The delicate ringing notes of a hammered dulcimer for Gestalt and Mosaic finishing each other’s sentences in magic kindergarten. The beat of Twilight’s rage at Littlehorn. The violas and cellos of her last terrible fight with Pinkie Pie. The slow contrabass of Big Macintosh and the pain of his death. Trumpets of pride for Trixie’s second chance. Woodwinds sharing Gestalt and Mosaic actually working under Twilight Sparkle when so many others didn’t understand or value their gift. For the first time ever, the Goddess was torn.
斯派克的记忆。吉他为苹果白兰地演奏。手风琴小指派。小提琴伴着崔茜独自站在雨中。在神奇的幼儿园里，德西马琴为格式塔和马赛克而发出的清脆的声音互相结束了对方的句子。暮光之城之怒在Littlehorn的节奏。中提琴和大提琴的她最后一次可怕的战斗与平奇派。大麦金托什机缓慢的低音和死亡的痛苦。为Trixie的第二次机会吹响骄傲的号角。木管乐器共享格式塔和马赛克，实际上是在紫悦下工作，而很多其他人并不理解或者不重视他们的礼物。有史以来第一次，女神被撕裂了。
“Children! Flee!” she blurted, instinctively, and that wave halted and undulated as Unity became Uncertainty.
"孩子们！快跑!"她本能地脱口而出，随着团结变成了不确定，那波浪停止了，波浪起伏着。
Harbinger was confused. This was not going as he’d anticipated. “There is no need to flee. We mean you no harm. In fact, we’ve come to offer you an Alliance between the Enclave and the Goddess.”
先驱者感到困惑。事情并不像他预料的那样发展。"没有必要逃跑。我们无意伤害你。事实上，我们是来为你们提供一个飞地和女神之间的联盟。"
Doubt, after all the seductive thoughts of putting Thunderhead and the surface in their places, was starting to creep into his thinking as he launched into a monologue about how they would team up against the bad surfacer Red Eye. Of course he had plans for treachery down the road, eventually. Just as he expected treachery in turn… but perhaps not THIS soon. Clearly this was going quite far from what he’d anticipated.
怀疑，在所有的诱人的想法，把雷头和表面在他们的地方，是开始蔓延到他的思想，因为他开始进入一个独白，关于他们将如何联合起来对付坏表面的红眼。当然，他最终还是计划了背信弃义。正如他所预料的那样，他也预料到了背信弃义......但也许不会这么快。很明显，这与他的预期相去甚远。
But within Unity, I could see two Goddesses; one a horrible amalgamation of mares and the other a union of four ponies, each fuzzy and indistinct. They were opposites and yet the same, one cold and hard and monstrous and the other compassionate and empathetic. “We must survive!” the Goddess roared. “We must find the bomb at any cost!”
但是在团结里面，我可以看到两位女神;一位是可怕的母马的混合体，另一位是四匹小马的结合体，每匹都模糊不清。他们是截然相反的，但又是一样的，一个冷酷、强硬、荒谬，而另一个富有同情心、善解人意。"我们必须生存下去!"女神吼道。"我们必须不惜一切代价找到炸弹!"
“Any cost?” Trixie replied contemptuously. “Can you even imagine the cost? This is more than smashed wagons and hurt feelings.”
"任何代价?"特里克茜轻蔑地回答。"你能想象这样做的代价吗？这不仅仅是摔坏的马车和受伤的感情。"
“There is more at stake than us,” Mosaic began calmly.
"这里比我们更危险,"马赛克平静地开始说。
“This is a question of Legacy,” Gestalt finished.
"这是一个遗产问题,"格式塔完成。
“Legacy?” the Goddess scoffed. “We are the beginning and the end. Without us, we are nothing!”
"遗产?"女神嗤之以鼻。"我们既是开始，也是结束。没有我们，我们什么都不是!"
“We are more than the sum of our minds, bodies, and memories,” Twilight Sparkle said quietly.
"我们不仅仅是我们的思想、身体和记忆的总和,"紫悦平静地说。
“Together,” Gestalt began.
"在一起,"格式塔开始了。
“We are greater,” Mosaic finished.
"我们更伟大,"马赛克结束了。
Trixie looked herself in the eye. “Think of all the things I really wanted. Like respect?”
特里克茜直视着自己的眼睛。"想想我真正想要的所有东西。比如尊重?"
“We are better off feared!” the Goddess countered.
"我们最好还是害怕吧!"女神反驳道。
“Happiness?” Trixie suggested.
"幸福?"特里克西建议道。
“Power makes us happy!” the Goddess sneered.
"权力让我们快乐!"女神冷笑着说。
“Friendship?” Trixie said quietly. A ghostly Twilight rested her hoof on Trixie’s shoulder, and the blue mare looked back at Twilight with a small smile.
"友谊?"特里克茜平静地说。一个幽灵似的暮光把她的蹄子搁在特里克茜的肩膀上，蓝色的母马回头望着暮光，露出一丝微笑。
“We are closer than any friends! Any family! We are one. And when we have ripped the souls from that book and tossed them to oblivion, we will have power like we could never imagined!” the Goddess roared. Even now, I could feel those hundreds of alicorns returning. LittlePip had tossed the book into the mass of blue IMP, and it was slowly sinking into the depths. Then she’d sealed herself into a saferoom. It didn’t matter; already the gravity was pulling my aim back to the small mare. The shielding and spells in the saferoom’s walls made even the truesight scope’s image dance and waver, but I was still able to make out the ponies inside. I had to be patient. Perfect. I might not even have to kill her. She was furiously talking to the Enclave soldier she’d trapped with her. Still, better to be safe than sorry.
"我们比任何朋友都亲近！任何家庭！我们是一体的。当我们把那些灵魂从那本书中剥离出来，抛弃他们，我们就会拥有我们从未想象过的力量!"女神吼道。即使是现在，我也能感觉到成百上千的橡子回来了。小皮普把书扔进了蓝色小恶魔的大众中，它慢慢地沉入了深渊。然后她把自己封闭在一个残忍的环境里。没关系，地心引力已经把我的目标拉回那匹小母马了。墙上的屏蔽和咒语甚至使得真光镜的图像也在跳动，但是我仍然能够辨认出里面的小马。我必须要有耐心。好极了。我甚至不用杀了她。她怒气冲冲地和那个和她一起被困的士兵说话。尽管如此，安全总比后悔好。
Harbinger, meanwhile, had stopped his grand speech. He scowled as he pressed an earbud with his wing. “Ambrosia! Come in. Ambrosia!”
与此同时，哈宾格停止了他的盛大演说。他皱起眉头，用翅膀按了按耳塞。"安布罗西亚！进来吧。安布罗西亚!"
“You won’t be able to contact her inside that room now that the seal has activated,” the Goddess said as her image flickered erratically. She seemed to be struggling to maintain the illusion. “Nor can the Goddess’s own children teleport in and extract that little wretch to rip all her thoughts out of her skull. Do not fear. The Goddess will deal with her.”
"现在封印已经激活，你将无法在那个房间里与她联系,"女神说，她的形象不稳定地闪烁着。她似乎在努力维持这种幻觉。"女神自己的孩子也不能传送进来，把那个可怜虫从她的脑袋里挖出来。不要害怕。女神会处理她的。"
He looked at her, wariness pricking through his thoughts like icewater. “You’re speaking differently now. What’s going on? This isn’t following the script.”
他看着她，警惕像冰水一样刺穿了他的思想。"你现在说话的方式不同了。怎么回事？这不符合剧本的要求。"
The Goddess twitched again, and I could feel her straining. “Unfortunately, that miserable little nag has interfered yet again. She has smuggled a bomb into this facility somewhere.” The coldness of her words, so free of her grandiose showmanship, made me shiver.
女神又抽搐了一下，我能感觉到她绷得紧紧的。"不幸的是，那匹可怜的小马又一次干扰了我们。她把一枚炸弹偷偷带进了某个地方。"她话语的冷淡，完全没有夸张的表演技巧，使我不寒而栗。
He feigned confidence. “A bomb? Really? Is that all?”
他假装很有信心。"炸弹？真的吗？就这些吗?"
“Excuse me. A balefire bomb.” Her image twitched once more, and I saw the blue amalgamation of four for an instant before it disappeared again.
"对不起。一个巴勒火炸弹。"她的影像又抖动了一下，我看见那四个人的蓝色混合物又消失了一会儿。
He laughed. Then he looked at her, and his mirth turned to ashes as his schemes rotted on the vine. “You’re serious! A balefire bomb? Here!”
他笑了。然后他看着她，他的欢乐化为灰烬，因为他的计划在葡萄藤上腐烂。"你是认真的！一个巴勒火炸弹？这里!"
“Yes. There is a balefire bomb in this facility. It will detonate in thirty-one minutes,” the Goddess replied coolly as she turned both eyes on him. Another flicker, and he saw what I did for an instant. A thing that should not be bartered with. “It is likely in the tunnels beneath the building. You will use your formidable Enclave assets to assist us.”
"是的。在这个设施里有一个火焰炸弹。它将在31分钟内爆炸,"女神冷淡地回答，同时转过双眼看着他。又一次闪烁，他立刻看到了我所做的。一件不该拿来交换的东西。"很可能是在大楼下面的隧道里。你将用你强大的昂科雷资产来帮助我们。"
“What?!” Harbinger blurted, then added, “Why, certainly! Just allow me to return to the Triumphant and we will… assist.” His thoughts didn’t turn to assistance. They turned to getting the heck out of here and salvaging this fiasco. Already he was spinning how to tie this in with Red Eye and give credit to himself for destroying Red Eye’s ally.
"什么?!""先驱者"脱口而出，然后补充道:"当然！请允许我回到胜利之地，我们将......提供帮助。"他的思想没有转向帮助。他们转而离开这鬼地方，挽救这次惨败。他已经开始思考如何把这个和红眼联系起来，并且把摧毁红眼盟友的功劳归功于自己。
“You don’t have to do this,” Twilight said in tired resignation.
"你不必这样做,"暮光疲惫地辞职说。
“This isn’t going to change anything,” Trixie added. “You’re still going to be a monster.”
"这不会改变任何事情,"特里克西补充说。"你还是会变成一个怪物。"
“We are NOT a monster!” the Goddess countered as she ordered her children back.
"我们不是怪物!"女神一边命令她的孩子们回去，一边反驳道。
“I’m not getting through to the Triumphant,” the second pegasus soldier said. “The signal’s not penetrating the walls.”
"我打不通胜利号,"第二个飞马号士兵说。"信号没有穿透墙壁。"
“You will assist the Goddess!”
"你要帮助女神!"
“What should we do, General?” wailed the third as she backed away.
"我们该怎么办，将军?"第三个孩子边哭边往后退。
“Get out of here! Now!” Harbinger shouted, lifting into the air and flying for the exit. “Let this freak burn!” he said in a sublime example of diplomacy.
"滚出去！现在!"哈宾格喊道，举起手向空中飞去，向出口处飞去。"让这个怪物燃烧吧!"他用一种卓越的外交手段说道。
A telekinetic tendril reached out and wrapped around Harbinger. Two more snared the second pony. The third got as far as the door before the tendrils grabbed her wings and dragged her back. Her hooves scraped at the catwalk. “You are not going anywhere!” Then the Goddess looked at the other soldier. “You! Take all your soldiers into the tunnels! Find that bomb!”
一根心灵遥感的卷须伸出手，缠住了Harbinger。又有两匹捕获了第二匹小马。第三个孩子跑到了门口，卷须抓住了她的翅膀，把她拖了回来。她的蹄子在t型台上擦伤了。"你哪儿也不能去!"然后女神看着另一个士兵。"你！把你所有的士兵都带到地道里去！找到那颗炸弹!"
“The hell I will! I don’t take orders from big blue goop monsters!” the soldier shouted.
"我才不会呢！我不接受蓝色黏糊糊的大怪物的命令!"士兵喊道。
“Just let me contact my forces, and I’ll be happy to…” Harbinger demanded desperately… but it was all a lie. If he got free, he’d laugh as she burned. It’d save him the trouble of leveling Maripony after he finished using the Goddess. She could see it in his mind. ‘Freak. Creature. Monster.’
"只要让我联系我的部队，我很乐意......"哈宾格绝望地要求道......但这一切都是谎言。如果他获得自由，他会笑着看着她被烧死。这样他在使用完女神之后就不用再为找到马里波尼而烦恼了。她可以在他的脑海里看到这一点。""怪胎。生物。怪物
The Goddess dissolved into one inarticulate roar of rage and frustration. Her telekinetics crushed the three like sparrows in the claws of a hellhound… but that wasn’t enough. No. With an almost bestial fury, she smashed the bodies into the catwalks and vat walls, ripping them to pieces. I kept trying to line up a shot of the entrapped mare. If LittlePip would just remain still for a minute I could do as the Goddess wished. No matter how wrong it was…
女神陷入了愤怒和沮丧的无法表达的咆哮之中。她的心灵感应能力像地狱犬爪子里的麻雀一样击败了三个人......但这还不够。没有。带着一种近乎野兽般的愤怒，她把这些尸体砸到了过道和缸壁上，把他们撕成碎片。我一直在试图拍摄一张陷入困境的母马的照片。如果小皮普能静止一分钟，我就可以按照女神的意愿去做了。不管错得多离谱..。
The four ghostly mares put their hooves on the Goddess’s shoulders, and she froze, looking at the meaty gobbits floating before her. Gravity halted, and I felt my mind floating. And for the first time, I saw tears in the Goddess’s eyes. “I… I just wanted them to help…”
四匹鬼魅般的母马把蹄子放在女神的肩膀上，女神愣住了，看着她面前漂浮着的肉块。重力停止了，我感到我的思想在漂浮。我第一次看到女神眼中的泪水。"我.....。.我只是想让他们帮忙......"
“I know,” Trixie said, gently.
"我知道,"特里克茜温和地说。
“I… I just wanted to be loved. I wanted to save everypony…” she whimpered as she let the bloody metal clumps fall to the floor. “I wanted to be the hero for once.”
"我.....。.我只是想被爱。我想拯救每一匹小马......"她呜咽着，让那些该死的金属块掉到了地上。"我想当一次英雄。"
“Yes,” Twilight replied. “I wanted to save everypony I could, too.”
"是的,"暮光回答道。"我也想尽我所能拯救每一匹小马。"
“I… I… What have I done?” the Goddess pled, and I saw her harsh and horrid
"我.....。.我。.我做了什么?"女神恳求道，我看见她那严厉而可怕的样子
lines blur a little as she seemed to blend in where the others touched her. “I don’t want to be alone.”
线条有点模糊，因为她似乎融入了，其他人碰到她的地方。"我不想一个人。"
“You aren’t alone,” Gestalt said with a smile.
"你并不孤单,"格式塔微笑着说。
“You have us,” Mosaic finished.
"你有我们,"马赛克写完了。
The image of the Goddess and the four transformed into one glowing form that grew brighter and brighter. For the first time, I could see the ghostly outlines of other ponies in that vastness. Small and foallike compared to the Goddess, yet ponies all the same. “I don’t want to die,” the Goddess said, fearful and small.
女神和四个人的形象变成了一个发光的形象，越来越明亮。这是我第一次在浩瀚的大海中看到其他小马鬼魅般的轮廓。与女神相比，小马又小又像小马驹，但小马仍然是一样的。"我不想死,"女神恐惧而又渺小地说。
“Nopony does,” Twilight answered. “But we can leave something behind. We have our children.”
"不是小马干的,"暮光回答道。"但我们可以留下一些东西。我们有自己的孩子。"
“Our children,” the Goddess murmured. “Perhaps we can survive in them?”
"我们的孩子,"女神喃喃地说。"也许我们可以穿着它们生存下去?"
“Unlikely,” Gestalt said solemnly.
"不太可能,"格式塔严肃地说。
“Without the I.M.P. biomatrix, our ability to remain cohesive will be severely compromised and will last only hours at best,” Mosaic explained.
马赛克解释说:"如果没有i.m.p.的生物界线，我们保持凝聚力的能力将受到严重损害，最多只能维持几个小时。"。
“I’m scared,” the Goddess confessed. “I’m so tired of being scared.”
"我很害怕,"女神坦白道。"我已经厌倦了害怕。"
“I am too,” Trixie answered. “Remember how scared we got going out on stage? How worried we were that each show would be our last and we’d never find another? Well, now we don’t have to worry about another show. Now… all that matters is how we go out, together.”
"我也是,"特里克茜回答。"还记得我们上台时有多害怕吗？我们是多么担心每一场演出都是我们的最后一场，而我们再也找不到下一场了？现在我们不用担心下一场演出了。现在，重要的是我们如何一起走出去。"
“Together,” the Goddess replied, her voice aching with the need for relief.
"一起,"女神回答，她的声音因需要解脱而痛苦。
I pushed Penance away as I slowly rose to my hooves. Lacunae lay beside me, breathing weakly. Blood ran out her nostrils and ears. I wanted to tend to her, but the sight of what was happening in the valley astonished me. The horns of the blue alicorns were glowing as greens paired up beside them. Blue stars began to fill the air, swirling and finally coalescing into the front half of a blue mare with a silver mane a mile tall! The blue, ghostly form looked at the Enclave ponies that fluttered like gnats around her.
我推开苦行，慢慢地站起来。空隙就躺在我身边，呼吸微弱。血从她的鼻孔和耳朵里流出来。我想照顾她，但是看到山谷里发生的一切让我很吃惊。蓝色的橡树果的角在它们旁边像绿色植物一样闪闪发光。空气中开始充满了蓝色的星星，打着旋，最后聚集成一匹一英里高的银色鬃毛的蓝色母马的前半身！蓝色幽灵般的身影看着昂科雷小马，它们像蚊蚋一样在她周围飞舞。
“Enclave,” she said in a voice from a thousand throats magically magnified. “I
"昂科雷,"她用上千个喉咙发出的声音说，那声音被魔法般地放大了。"我
wish to thank you for your generous offer. However, I cannot accept. There is a balefire bomb about to detonate underneath this facility. Please evacuate as quickly as you can. High General Harbinger will not be able to join you. You have fifteen minutes until detonation.”
非常感谢你的慷慨提议。但是，我不能接受。在这个设施的下面有一颗火焰炸弹即将爆炸。请尽快撤离。HighGeneralHarbinger将不能加入你们。离爆炸还有15分钟。"
Then she turned and looked off to the south. Her eyes were hard as she scowled. “And Red Eye. I know you’re watching this… you, or your minions. I have only one thing to say to you: it’s not worth it.” Then her violet eyes glanced down towards Lacunae and myself. “Goodbye, my children,” she finished, “I love you all.” Then the blue motes flickered out and scattered.
然后她转身向南望去。她皱着眉头，目光炯炯有神。"还有红眼睛。我知道你在看这个...你或者你的手下。我只有一句话要对你说:这不值得。"然后，她那双紫色的眼睛向下看了看拉库奈和我。"再见，我的孩子们,"她最后说,"我爱你们所有人。"然后那些蓝色的尘埃闪烁着散开了。
I didn’t know how the Enclave would take it, but all at once, gravity reversed, now pushing me away from Maripony. In purple flashes, the alicorns were disappearing and escaping any retribution the Enclave might have attempted. Two green alicorns swooped in to myself and Lacunae. “We shall help you on your way,” they thought as they landed beside us.
我不知道昂科雷会怎么想，但是突然间，地心引力反转了，把我从马里波尼身边推开了。在紫色的闪光中，橡树果正在消失，躲避着昂科雷可能尝试过的任何惩罚。两只绿色的橡子从天而降，扑向我和拉库奈。"我们会帮助你的方式,"他们想，因为他们降落在我们身边。
“Thank you,” I said to Unity as I hastily took the gun apart and stowed it in my saddlebags.
"谢谢你,"我对尤尼蒂说，同时匆忙地把枪拆开，放进我的鞍囊里。
“I’m sorry,” the Goddess replied as the pair levitated the staggered and semi-conscious Lacunae between them. “I know you cannot forgive me for what I have done to you.”
"我很抱歉,"女神回答说，这对夫妇漂浮在他们之间的交错和半意识的空隙。"我知道你不会原谅我对你所做的一切。"
All that she’d done… I suppose it’d been quite a bit, at that. Still. “Hey. No problem,” I answered, sincerely. Sure, the Goddess had been a real monster, but she was going to die in a few minutes. I could give my forgiveness. I could feel her children teleporting further and further away. Now for me to do the same...
她所做的一切......我想应该是相当多的。不过。"嘿。没问题,"我诚恳地回答。当然，女神曾经是一个真正的怪物，但是她将在几分钟内死去。我可以原谅你。我能感觉到她的孩子们在越来越远的地方传送。现在我也要做同样的事。
though teleportation was hard enough for me to pull off on my own, even with the Goddess still connected, the greens feeling like two wings lifting me up and pushing my magic forward. “Come on…” I grunted as I tried to pull off the spell.
虽然瞬间移动对我来说足够困难，我可以自己完成，即使女神仍然连接在一起，绿色的感觉就像两个翅膀把我举起来，推动我的魔法前进。"来吧......"我咕哝着试图解除咒语。
“For the High General!” screamed a voice from above us. I barely had time to get my guns up as I saw a wing of five Enclave divebombing us. The greens hadn’t even had their shields up, as we’d been on the verge of leaving. A barrage of crimson struck the left alicorn, and she transformed into a glowing alicorn shape before collapsing in a pile of ash.
"为了大将军!"一个声音从上面传来。我几乎没有时间拿起我的枪，因为我看到一个五翼飞地直升机轰炸我们。那些果岭甚至还没有打开防护罩，因为我们已经快要离开了。一道深红色的弹幕袭击了左边的孤角兽，她变成了一个发光的孤角兽形状，然后倒塌成一堆灰烬。
“You stupid sons of mules!” I shouted as I pulled out the dueling pistols and
"你们这些蠢驴!"我一边喊着，一边掏出决斗用的手枪
targeted the lead pony. A step into S.A.T.S. and I had five shots targeted. Executing, the pistols seemed to roar in slow motion as one, then the other, blasted the helmet of the leader. I’d only needed four before the visor exploded inward. The fifth painted the back of his helmet with his brains.
瞄准了领头马。在进入sat考试之前，我已经瞄准了五次射击。执行时，两支手枪似乎以慢动作轰鸣，一支接着另一支，冲击着领队的头盔。在遮阳板向内爆炸之前，我只需要四个。第五个人用脑浆在他的头盔后面涂上颜料。
The remaining green threw a shield around both of us, leaving a tiny window for me to shoot through, as rage exploded inside me. “You pull this shit now?” I yelled as I fired at the headless formation, which split into two pairs, their gatling beam guns blasting me and the green. The pairs started to pull up, but one of mine was just a little too low. The starmetal sword arched up and caught his chest, the impossibly sharp blade slicing from sternum to stifle in one bloody arc. While his armor tried to lift back to the skies, his viscera were pulled into the dirt. The three banked and dove again, two blasting the green with a focused barrage while the third still aimed for me. The green used some kind of spell… a green ray I’d never seen before. The beam sliced through the air, but the two twirled away from it and, with a flash, the alicorn’s shield dropped under another burst of fire. I ignored the beams cutting me, the operative barding withstanding them well enough, as I blasted at the pair, but when they lifted away again, the green had fallen.
剩下的绿色给我们两个人都罩上了一层保护罩，留下了一个小小的窗户让我射穿，因为我内心的愤怒爆发了。"你现在开始干这个了?"我一边喊着，一边朝那个无头的队形开枪，他们的格林机关枪分成了两对，把我和果岭都炸飞了。这对开始拉起来，但我的一个有点太低了。星形宝剑拱起，勾住了他的胸膛，不可思议的锋利的剑刃从胸骨开始一道道地切下来，组成一道血腥的弧线。当他的盔甲试图升上天空时，他的内脏却被扯进了泥土里。这三个人又一次向果岭俯冲，其中两个集中火力攻击果岭，而第三个仍然瞄准着我。绿色使用了某种咒语...一种我从未见过的绿色射线。光束在空中划过，但是两个人旋转着离开了光束，伴随着一道闪光，阿里克那的盾牌落在了另一道火光之下。我忽略了切割我的光束，特工抵挡得很好，因为我抨击了两个，但当他们再次提起，绿色已经下降。
“Leave me,” Lacunae murmured weakly aloud. “Teleport yourself to safety.”
"别管我,"拉库尼虚弱地大声说。"把自己传送到安全的地方。"
“As if. I’d be lucky to get fifty feet.” The three began to dive once more. Their mistake. The crimson gatling beams ripped into me; individually they didn’t do much, but I wasn’t going to last long at this rate, even with the armor. And I had spoken truthfully; I doubted I’d be able to teleport any real distance without the boost from greens.
"好像是。我能走五十英尺就算幸运了。"三个人又开始下潜了。他们的错误。深红色的加特林机关枪射向我;单独来说，它们没有什么作用，但是以这种速度，即使有盔甲，我也坚持不了多久。而且我说的是实话;我怀疑没有绿灯的推动，我是否能够传送任何真正的距离。
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t teleport a short way straight up.
但这并不意味着我不能直接瞬移到上面。
In a flash, I’d left the ground. Equally fast, I realized as I was rammed by the central flyer that this was a very bad idea. I wrapped my hooves around his neck and chest. He struggled to stay aloft, which suited me just fine as one of the two came around to grab my back. Big mistake. The sword flashed as it eagerly sliced the helmet off, along with the head in it. After that, the remaining Enclave began to blast both of us, and my ride started to tumble out of control.
刹那间，我离开了地面。同样快的，我意识到我被中央的传单撞了，这是一个非常糟糕的主意。我用蹄子绕住他的脖子和胸部。他挣扎着留在空中，这很适合我，因为其中一个过来抓住我的背。大错特错。剑急切地把头盔和头一起切下来，闪闪发光。在那之后，剩下的昂科雷开始轰炸我们两个，我的车开始翻滚失去控制。
“Oh brown rain!” he wailed we flipped over and over together and then landed with a heavy crunch, sending my armaments flying across the rocks. His gatling
"哦，棕色的雨!"他嚎啕大哭，我们翻来覆去，然后重重地摔在地上，我的武器飞过岩石。他的格林机关枪
beam guns broke, scattering fragile components over the rocks as we rolled. As we finally came to a stop, he collapsed on his side with a grunt. I rose.
光束枪坏了，我们滚动的时候，脆弱的零件散落在岩石上。当我们终于停下来的时候，他咕哝着倒在地上。我站了起来。
The other flyer landed, her hoof stomping down on my sword as her guns began to hum. My pistols had landed behind her, and it would take me a moment to retrieve them. “Now what are you going to do?” she jeered.
另一张传单落地了，她的蹄子重重地踩在我的剑上，她的枪开始发出嗡嗡声。我的手枪落在她身后，我得花点时间才能把它们捡回来。"现在你打算怎么办?"她嘲笑道。
Five magic bullets blasted her faceplate, and she collapsed in a heap. “That,” I replied to her corpse, then turned to the survivor. The wrecked guns had entangled his wings. I levitated the sword as I approached.
五颗魔法子弹击中了她的面板，她瘫倒在地。"那个,"我回答她的尸体，然后转向幸存者。失事的大炮缠住了他的翅膀。当我走近的时候，我把剑悬浮起来。
“Oh… oh… please! Don’t kill me!” he wailed as his wingcovers flapped and failed to give him lift. “Mommah! Daddy! Somepony! Halp!” he screamed.
"哦......哦......求你了！别杀我!"当他的翼盖拍打时，他嚎啕大哭，没有给他提供升力。"妈妈！爸爸！好样的！哈普!"他尖叫着。
I sliced the wreckage of his guns away and then grabbed his helmet between my hooves. “Security doesn’t kill ponies if she can help it. That balefire bomb will. Now get the hell out of here and tell whoever your radio will reach to join you!” I shoved him away, but he just stood there. “Fly, you idiot!” He crouched and launched himself into the air.
我把他的枪的残骸切开，然后用蹄子夹住他的头盔。"保安不会杀小马，如果她能帮忙的话。那个火焰炸弹会。现在赶快离开这个鬼地方，告诉任何一个你的无线电能联系到的人加入你们!"我把他推开，但他只是站在那里。"飞吧，你这个白痴!"他蹲下身子，向空中发射。
Unfortunately, that attack had eaten up precious time and taken out my own escape route. Lacunae, her horn still blackened, struggled to stand. “I’m sorry,” the Goddess said, and I knew what she meant. In the time it would take for purples to jump back to me, the bomb would have gone off. She could have sent some immediately to me, but that would leave dozens of blues and greens who could otherwise be evacuated trapped in the blast zone. Neither of us wanted that. The Goddess had cast an enormous shield around Maripony to try and buy more time, but that would only last as long as she herself did.
不幸的是，那次袭击占用了我宝贵的时间，也毁掉了我自己的逃跑路线。她的角仍然发黑，她挣扎着站起来。"对不起,"女神说，我知道她的意思。在紫色回到我身边的时候，炸弹已经爆炸了。她本来可以马上给我寄一些，但那样就会留下几十个蓝色和绿色的人，否则他们就会被困在爆炸区。我们都不想那样。女神在Maripony周围投下了一个巨大的盾牌，试图争取更多的时间，但这只会持续到她自己这么做为止。
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied as I moved underneath Lacunae and hefted her up. “I’ll just run out.”
"别担心,"我回答说，我走到裂隙星下面，举起了她。"我这就跑出去。"
“Blackjack,” Lacunae began.
"Blackjack,"Lacunae开头说。
“I’m not going to leave you. Don’t even think of arguing,” I said tersely as I pointed myself in the direction of away and ran as fast as my hooves could carry us. Unity was a buzz of questions. Would LittlePip survive a point blank blast? Would the Goddess’s children? Would I? Could alicorns even survive in the Wasteland without the Goddess? How could they, when so many memories had been taken? When so many thought them monsters.
"我不会离开你的。不要想着争论,"我简洁地说，同时指着自己的方向跑开，用我的蹄子尽可能快地跑着。团结是一个充满问题的嗡嗡声。小皮普能在近距离爆炸中生还吗？女神的孩子们会吗？我会吗？没有了女神，冥府仙子还能在荒原生存吗？当这么多的记忆都被夺走了，他们又怎么能做到呢？当那么多人认为他们是怪物的时候。
I just ran. It was all I could do. I checked above me and saw the Raptors and the Triumphant laboriously pulling away. The swarms of Enclave in the air were trying to return to their ships as quickly as possible. I couldn’t pay any further attention to that, though. Nor was I the only creature running for their life on the ground; I spotted packs of hellhounds who had overheard the warning. Could they get away?
我只是跑了。这是我唯一能做的。我查看了上方，看到猛禽号和胜利号艰难地驶离。空中成群的昂科雷试图尽快返回他们的飞船。不过，我不能再继续关注这件事了。我也不是唯一一个在地面上逃命的生物，我发现了一群地狱犬，他们听到了警告。他们能逃脱吗？
Could I?
我可以吗？
Doubtful.
可疑。
Minutes were down to seconds. All the Goddess’s children were away. All but two. To the side, I saw a pair of large rocks about three feet high and five or six feet long, arranged in a wedge pointing towards the crater. It was the only thing in that blasted landscape that might count as cover. The Goddess was saying something, but I focused on getting Lacunae and myself behind those stones. Pressing my back against them, lying flat, I counted. Thirty seconds. Fifteen. Ten. Five…
分钟缩短到秒。所有女神的孩子都走了。除了两个以外。在边上，我看到一对大约三英尺高，五到六英尺长的大岩石，排成一个楔形，指向火山口。这是在那该死的风景中唯一可以算作掩护的东西。女神在说些什么，但我集中注意力在石头后面找到裂隙和我自己。我背靠着它们，平躺着，数着。30秒。十五。10.五..。
One…
一..。
I blinked as nothing happened, frowning and looking around the dead woods and rocks. “Don’t tell me it was a dud,” I muttered as I looked back towards the crater.
我眨了眨眼，好像什么也没发生，皱着眉头，环顾着死寂的树林和岩石。"别告诉我这是个哑弹,"我回头看着弹坑，喃喃自语道。
If my eyes hadn’t been mechanical, I’d have never seen again. From the valley came a flash brighter than anything I’d ever seen before, and time seemed to freeze in its terrible brilliance. The myths of Celestia raising the sun came to mind, but this was more a wrathful Celestia ripping the sun from the earth. The telepathic scream of the Goddess could have been the wailing of the earth itself. The rim of the valley deflected the flash just a little bit, just enough that my face and mane didn’t instantly burst into flame. Time began to trickle, and I fell backwards as that horrid illumination washed across everything. Every dead tree and bush bloomed with fire almost instantly. The Goddess’s scream matched the horrible, billowing green-and-rainbow fire rising higher and higher into the skies, her shield already blown apart like a paper bag with a grenade in it.
如果我的眼睛不是机械的，我就再也看不到了。山谷里出现了一道比我以前见过的任何东西都要明亮的闪光，时间似乎冻结在它可怕的光辉中。我想到了天堂提升太阳的神话，但这更像是愤怒的天堂将太阳从地球上分裂出来。女神的心灵感应般的尖叫可能是大地本身的哀号。山谷的边缘稍稍偏转了闪光，刚好够我的脸和鬃毛没有立即燃烧起来。时间开始涓涓细流，我倒退着，可怕的光明冲刷着一切。每一棵枯死的树木和灌木几乎立刻就开出了火花。女神的尖叫与那可怕的、翻滚的绿色和彩虹色的火焰相匹配，它越升越高，直达天空，她的盾牌已经像一个装着手榴弹的纸袋一样被炸开了。
Then, in advance of the flame, a strange, shimmery bubble of air blew out from the crater. It expanded in every direction, beautiful and terrible. And as it passed over the lip of the valley and through the burning woods, every blaze was
然后，在火焰之前，一个奇怪的，微微发光的气泡从火山口吹了出来。它向四面八方扩张，美丽而可怕。当它越过山谷的边缘，穿过燃烧的树林时，每一道火焰都燃烧起来
snuffed out in a terrible expanding crescent. Every trunk bent as one as it passed by. I felt as though I was trapped in S.A.T.S., save for that terrible shimmering bubble.
消失在一个可怕的膨胀的新月里。每个经过的树干都弯成一个。我觉得自己好像被困在了S.A.T.S.，除了那个可怕的闪闪发光的泡泡。
Then it struck me, and I was nearly blasted away. The rocks kept me from being swept away immediately, but they didn’t stop every medical signal on my PipBuck from flashing red as I was hit with more force than I’d ever imagined. Even having a boat dropped on me was nothing compared to this. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Could barely even think. And oddly, I imagined I could hear the Goddess still talking in my mind. Not even a balefire bomb had shut her up, at least in my imagination.
然后它击中了我，我几乎被炸飞了。这些石头让我没有立即被卷走，但是它们并没有阻止我的PipBuck上的每一个医疗信号闪烁的红色，因为我被击中的力量超出了我的想象。即使有一艘船停在我身上，也比不上这个。我无法呼吸。动弹不得。几乎无法思考。奇怪的是，我想我可以听到女神仍然在我的脑海里说话。甚至没有一个火焰炸弹能让她闭嘴，至少在我的想象中是这样的。
The dead trees had been snapped and tossed on the wind like so many matchsticks. I lay on my back, watching with almost abstract interest as the mighty Raptors were caught in the rising fireball like tiny models in a whirlpool. One was coming apart before my eyes, cloud and steel just scattering as the machine of war was transformed into so much rubble. A second was on fire, plummeting towards the earth like a dying phoenix, only this time never to rise again.
枯死的树木被折断了，像许多火柴杆一样随风摇摆。我仰面躺着，带着近乎抽象的兴趣看着强大的猛禽号被卷入上升的火球中，就像漩涡中的小模型。其中一个在我眼前分崩离析，云和钢就像战争机器变成了一堆瓦砾一样四散开来。第二次着火了，像一只垂死的凤凰一样垂直坠向大地，只是这一次再也没有复活。
Really, if I hadn’t felt myself internally bleeding as my talismans raced to restore me, it’d actually be kinda cool. I was so injured, I couldn’t even feel pain. Then I became aware of the ground shaking. My eyes slowly returned down to the lip of the valley. A luminous green baleful light was sweeping across the landscape. It covered the earth as the fireball had filled the skies. Even if I survived the shockwave, I wasn’t going to survive this. It was oddly a relief.
真的，如果我没有感觉到自己的内出血，因为我的护身符快速恢复我，这实际上是挺酷的。我伤得很重，甚至感觉不到疼痛。然后我意识到地面在摇晃。我的眼睛慢慢地回到山谷的边缘。一道发光的绿色恶意光线扫过大地。火球填满了天空，覆盖了大地。即使我在冲击波中幸存下来，我也不会幸免于难。奇怪的是，这让我松了一口气。
“No,” Lacunae said as she rose to her feet. Even battered and bloody, she climbed to her hooves in the face of the catastrophic wall of green balefire. By the second, her injuries disappeared and her body swelled. The char fell from her horn as she faced the rending storm of fire. Her eyes blazed with violet light. “No. You will not die here, Blackjack! You will not!”
"不,"拉库纳站起身来说。尽管遍体鳞伤，血流成河，她还是在绿色的火焰形成的灾难性的墙面前爬到了自己的蹄子上。到了第二天，她的伤口消失了，身体肿胀起来。当她面对熊熊烈火时，火炭从她的角落里掉了下来。她的眼睛闪烁着紫罗兰色的光。"没有。你不会死在这里，黑杰克！你不会的!"
And around us both appeared a shimmering shield, not a bubble but a wedge. And like water on a magical ship’s prow, the fire rammed into it and split to either side. Were I not synthetic, I would have been deafened by the roar, but the fire simply scraped against her field instead of racing through us.
在我们周围出现了一个闪闪发光的盾牌，不是气泡，而是一个楔子。就像魔法船头上的水一样，火焰冲进船头，分成两半。如果我不是人工合成的，我的耳朵可能已经被震耳欲聋了，但是大火只是擦到了她的田地，而不是从我们身体里喷涌而出。
Through gaps in the green flame, I could see one of the Raptors turning end over
透过绿色火焰的缝隙，我可以看到其中一只猛禽正在翻转
end in the sky, as if hurled by an immense irate foal. Then it snapped in two, the ends flying away out of sight. I watched in awe as Lacunae swelled, larger and larger, absorbing the energy pouring in around her. Of course, I was absorbing it too, but for me it meant something a lot less pleasant than more power and a growth spurt...
在天空中结束，好像被一只巨大的愤怒的小马驹投掷。然后它断成了两截，两端飞走了。我敬畏地看着空隙膨胀起来，越来越大，吸收着倾注在她周围的能量。当然，我也在吸收它，但是对我来说，它意味着更多的力量和成长的爆发，而不是什么愉快的事情。
“Hold on, Blackjack!” wailed Lacunae as my radiation meter passed from yellow to red. 100+ rads a second. I didn’t know it could go that high. “Hold on!” she screamed, her field flickering as it battled with the immense stream. She wasn’t the only one. Above, I could see the Triumphant flying away. Its proud gold spires were melted and its fancy designs burned away, but its immense bulk and armor, not to mention distance, had spared the Enclave siege platform from destruction.
"坚持住，黑杰克!"当我的辐射计从黄色变成红色时，哀号的空隙。每秒100拉德以上。我不知道它能涨到这么高。"等等!"她尖叫着，她的能量场在与巨大的溪流搏斗时忽闪忽闪。她不是唯一一个。在上面，我可以看到胜利者飞走了。它傲慢的金制尖顶被熔化了，它奇特的设计也被烧毁了，但它巨大的体积和装甲，更不用说距离，使昂科雷的攻城平台免于毁灭。
“Funny. Never thought it’d be radiation that got me,” I muttered. Even with her shield, the heat was utterly stifling. Lacunae struggled to keep her grip, but she was still growing. Her alicorn magic was the only thing keeping her alive. Me, I might be resistant to radiation, but there was a world of difference between resistance and immunity.
"有意思。没想到会是辐射杀了我,"我喃喃自语道。即使有了盾牌，炎热还是完全令人窒息。拉库尼挣扎着抓住她的手，但是她还在长大。她的魔法是唯一能让她活下来的东西。至于我，我可能对辐射有抵抗力，但抵抗力和免疫力之间是有天壤之别的。
“Don’t you die, Blackjack!” Lacunae warned, but it was so hot and I was so tired and hadn’t I earned it? “Blackjack?” the giant alicorn said above me as my vision faded. I quite blissfully passed out as the world disappeared in an emerald hell. “Blackjack!” Lacunae screamed, her wail following me into that oblivion.
"不要死，黑杰克!"空白处警告说，但是天气太热了，我太累了，这不是我应得的吗？"黑杰克?"当我的视线模糊时，我头顶上的巨角兽说。世界消失在翡翠般的地狱里，我幸福地昏了过去。"黑杰克!"空隙尖叫着，她的哀号跟随着我进入了那种遗忘。
* * *
* * *
I really hated almost dying. First getting my legs cut off, then having my soul sucked out… now I was coming back from a balefire bomb. It said something pathetic that I was becoming familiar with near death experiences. Of course, my body felt as though it had been stepped on. Correction… danced on. By a whole dance troupe of minotaurs. With steel hooves.
我真的很讨厌差点死掉。首先我的腿被切掉了，然后我的灵魂被吸出来了......现在我从一个火焰炸弹中回来了。我对濒死体验越来越熟悉，这让我感到有些悲哀。当然，我的身体感觉好像被人踩过一样。纠正一下...继续跳舞。整个牛头怪舞蹈团。还有铁蹄。
“Lacunae?” I groaned, opening my eyes. I was astonished to see my rads at zero. We were on the smoking lip of the valley. A haze surrounded us in all directions. A few hundred feet away lay a Raptor, smashed prow-first into the earth like a foal’s bath toy. Down below, a brand new crater gave forth a chaotic glow. Maripony had collapsed completely into the sinkhole, nothing now but a jumbled pile of rubble.
"缺陷?"我呻吟着，睁开眼睛。我惊讶地发现我的拉德分数为零。我们在山谷冒烟的边缘。一层薄雾从四面八方包围了我们。几百英尺外躺着一只猛禽，像小马驹的洗澡玩具一样，首先撞到了地上。下面，一个崭新的陨石坑发出混乱的光芒。马里波尼已经完全坍塌到地坑里，现在只剩下一堆乱七八糟的瓦砾。
Bodies lay everywhere. Smoking pegasi, like steel sparrows, littered the ground around the fallen Raptor. Dozens of hellhounds also lay in charred, clawed lumps where they’d cooked. Smoke billowed from their holes like great volcanic vents. I wondered just how long the fires underground would burn.
尸体到处都是。像钢麻雀一样，冒着烟的飞马座散落在坠落的猛禽周围的地面上。几十只地狱犬躺在烧焦的，有爪子的地方。烟从他们的洞里滚滚而出，就像巨大的火山口。我不知道地下的大火会燃烧多久。
Forget Stable 99; that was nothing. Between Enclave and hellhounds, LittlePip had killed thousands with this bomb! Granted that hellhounds and Enclave weren’t automatically good and blameless, especially not after those five had attacked me, but the immensity of the deaths was staggering. Somehow, I’d imaged that LittlePip’s plan, whatever it could have been, would be more discriminating. The Stable Dweller should have done… something. Something better. Warned the hellhounds! Evacuated the Enclave! Something!
忘了稳定99吧，那不算什么。在飞地和地狱犬之间，小皮普用这个炸弹杀死了成千上万的人！即使地狱之犬和昂科雷并不总是好的和无可指责的，特别是在那五个人攻击了我之后，但是死亡的数量是惊人的。不知怎么的，我想象着小匹普的计划，不管它可能是什么，都会更有鉴别力。马厩居民应该做点什么。更好的东西。警告地狱犬！撤离飞地！什么东西！
From out of the haze approached a blue alicorn. I tensed… but then realized that there was silence in my head. I could make out the faintest of whispers from my friend, but what remained of Unity was denied me. A second alicorn walked forward: a green. Then a half dozen. A dozen. Twenty. Fifty. They stared silently at me. “H… hello? Lacunae?”
从阴霾中走近一只蓝色的橡子。我紧张起来......但是随后我意识到我的脑子里一片寂静。我能辨认出我朋友最微弱的低语，但是团结剩下的部分却拒绝了我。第二只孤胆鸟走了过来:一只绿色的。然后是半打。一打。二十。五十。他们默默地盯着我。"h..喂？空白?"
In unison, all of them turned and looked to the left along the ridge. That was when I saw her; a colossal purple alicorn with a hide so dark that I imagined she was black. She was speaking to a glowing ghoulish form pulling a wooden skywagon. I started to approach, but before I’d gotten twenty feet, my rads spiked and I backed away again.
他们一起转过身，沿着山脊向左边看去。就在那时，我看到了她;一个巨大的紫色橡树果，它的皮非常黑，我以为它是黑色的。她正在和一个拖着一辆木制旅行车的发光的食尸鬼说话。我开始靠近，但还没走到二十英尺的地方，我的呼吸管就被钉住了，我又退了回去。
“Lacunae?” I asked. “Ditzy?” I said as I looked at the luminescent ghoul. How many undead pegasus mares wrote in chalk? The ghoul smiled worriedly at me and scribbled something on the board, showing it to the alicorn.
"缺陷?"我问道。"迪兹?"我一边说，一边看着发光的食尸鬼。有多少不死的飞马用粉笔写的？食尸鬼忧心忡忡地对我笑了笑，并在黑板上潦草地写下了什么东西，拿给那个角斗士看。
“We will try,” Lacunae said in a deep voice, and my whole body shivered. She looked worried, then turned to me. Her face was clearly torn. Had the Goddess survived? Somehow possessed my friend? Was that why she was so huge? Her eyes glowed a solid purple as she looked down at me. Then my fears abated as she gave a small smile. “Blackjack. You survived.”
"我们会努力的,"拉库纳低声说，我浑身发抖。她看起来很担心，然后转向我。她的脸显然被撕裂了。女神还活着吗？不知怎么附身了我的朋友？所以她才这么胖吗？当她低头看着我时，她的眼睛闪耀着纯紫色的光芒。随着她微微一笑，我的恐惧减轻了。"黑杰克。你活下来了。"
“Yeah. I always seem to,” I said warily as I looked at the charred ground around me. “Unless I have wings now or I’m a ghoul too, I’m guessing you did something?”
"是的。我似乎总是这样,"看着周围烧焦的土地，我小心翼翼地说。"除非我现在有翅膀或者我也是食尸鬼，我猜你做了什么?"
“You forget: Twilight created a spell to purge radiation. As soon as the fire
"你忘了:暮光之城创造了一个法术来清除辐射。一旦火灾发生
abated, I used it to nullify the radiation dose you’d taken,” Lacunae rumbled. She turned to look out at Maripony’s shattered remains, and I saw on her flank something that made my… well, made me wish my heart could stop. Five small white stars surrounding a purple sixth. It wasn’t clear as a normal cutie mark, though... like a ghost.
我用它来抵消你服用的辐射剂量。"。她转过身来看着马里波尼破碎的尸体，我看到她身上有什么东西让我......好吧，让我希望我的心脏能停止跳动。五颗小白星围绕着紫色的第六颗星。虽然它不像一个正常的可爱的标记那样清晰，但是...就像一个幽灵。
“What… what happened?” I breathed. “Are you… you?”
"发...发生什么事了?"我呼吸着。"你是...你吗?"
“Both very good questions,” Lacunae replied. “I suspect that so many memories of Twilight’s were put into me that, when the Goddess died, Twilight’s soul was attracted to me rather than the everafter, turning me into a temporary soul jar. I do not know how long it will last. Minutes? Hours?”
"这两个问题都很好,"拉库尼回答。"我怀疑是因为有太多关于《暮光之城》的回忆，以至于当女神死后，《暮光之城》的灵魂吸引了我，而不是永恒，把我变成了一个暂时的灵魂罐。我不知道它会持续多久。几分钟？几小时?"
“And you being an alicorn of unusual size?” I gestured to her immense bulk.
"那么你是一头异常大小的独角兽?"我指了指她那庞大的身躯。
“A side effect of the prodigious amount of radiation I absorbed,” Lacunae said as she looked down at me. “You have been unconscious for several hours,” she said quietly. “Did you dream?”
"这是我吸收了大量辐射的副作用,"拉库纳低头看着我说。"你已经昏迷了好几个小时了,"她平静地说。"你做梦了吗?"
The question was so unusual that I actually thought a moment. “No. I didn’t. Why?”
这个问题太不寻常了，我想了一会儿。"没有。我没有。为什么?"
“I took back the mental contamination of Psalm. Anything that remains are your memories of her, not hers. She’ll not trouble you again, Blackjack.” She closed her eyes. “A parting gift.”
"我收回了诗篇中精神上的污染。剩下的都是你对她的记忆，不是她的。她不会再来烦你了，黑杰克。"她闭上了眼睛。"临别礼物。"
Oh, I didn’t like where this was going. “What are you talking about, Lacunae? You’re scaring me. What is Ditzy here for? What’s going on?” Panic was nibbling at my spine; the need to act, no matter how danced on I felt, pushed at me.
我不喜欢这个结果。"你在说什么，拉库尼？你吓到我了。迪兹来这里干什么？怎么回事?"恐慌一点一点地侵蚀着我的脊椎，不管我感到多么的不安，我都要采取行动。
“LittlePip was supposed to have escaped while we searched for the bomb. The arrival of the Enclave ruined that plan. Xenith escaped on the Griffinchaser, but with the radiation levels so high all across the valley, it was impossible for LittlePip’s friends to return. So they sent Ditzy to find her,” Lacunae said solemnly, in the tones of somepony who was trying to break bad news.
"我们在找炸弹的时候，小匹普应该已经逃走了。飞地的到来破坏了这个计划。齐尼斯乘着格里芬猎犬号逃脱了，但是整个山谷的辐射水平如此之高，小皮普的朋友们根本不可能回来。所以他们派迪茨去找她,"拉库纳严肃地说，声调像是某种想要告诉她坏消息的小马。
“It doesn’t seem possible,” I said quietly. How could anypony survive, and if they did, how could help reach them? “Can I do anything?” I asked weakly, unable to voice my fears that LittlePip was likely so much irradiated jelly. Even
"这似乎不太可能,"我平静地说。任何小马怎么可能生存下来，如果它们生存下来了，又怎么能帮助它们呢？"我能做点什么吗?"我虚弱地问道，无法表达我的担心，小匹普很可能是受到了太多辐射的果冻。甚至
with the scope, it would take hours… days… to scan the devastation for the saferoom, if it survived at all.
根据观测范围，如果它存活下来的话，需要几个小时...几天...才能扫描到毁灭的残忍程度。
Ditzy stomped her hoof and tapped her board. Lacunae looked over and shook her head once. I wondered what the ghoul had written… I couldn’t tell; I was no long able to see into her mind. Ditzy chewed her bottom lip and lifted into the air, flying over the crater.
迪茨跺了跺蹄子，轻轻敲了敲木板。拉库尼看了一眼，摇了摇头。我不知道那个食尸鬼写了什么...我不知道，我也不能看透她的心思。迪茨咬着下嘴唇，飞到空中，飞过火山口。
“She wants to know if all the alicorns can search, but there is another, more pressing, concern,” Lacunae said as she looked at the crowd of alicorns around me. “What happens to them?”
"她想知道是否所有的橡子都可以搜索，但还有另外一个更紧迫的问题,"拉库纳看着我周围的橡子说。"他们怎么了?"
“Well… they try and survive as best they can, right?” I gave a little, weak smile. There was no way that LittlePip survived that. I was an augmented cyberpony with regeneration talismans. How could she have pulled through? That the Wasteland had lost a pony it needed… I didn’t want to think of it.
"嗯......他们尽力生存下去，对吧?"我给了他一个微弱的微笑。小皮普不可能幸存下来。我是一匹增强了的赛博马，拥有重生的护身符。她是怎么熬过来的？荒原失去了一匹它需要的小马......我不想去想它。
“You don’t understand. Without the Goddess, their souls returned to their bodies, but their minds are hollow and damaged. The Goddess removed countless memories from them. Who they were, where they lived, what they loved… and so they will be easy prey in the Wasteland. A few fortunate individuals will be able to recover enough to survive on their own, but…”
"你不明白。没有女神，他们的灵魂回到他们的身体，但他们的心灵是空洞的和受损害的。女神从他们身上移除了无数的记忆。他们是谁，他们住在哪里，他们热爱什么...所以他们将成为荒原上容易的猎物。一些幸运的个体将能够恢复到足以独立生存的程度，但是......"
“So… can’t you give them their memories back?” I asked with a hopeful smile.
"所以......你不能把他们的记忆还给他们吗?"我带着满怀希望的微笑问道。
“With Twilight’s soul maintaining a faint Unity to them all, I can,” Lacunae murmured, head bowed.
"随着黄昏的灵魂保持着微弱的统一，他们所有人，我可以,"拉库奈低声说，低着头。
My smile wavered. “So… so what’s the catch?”
我的微笑动摇了。"那么...那么有什么条件呢?"
“I am not a pony,” Lacunae replied quietly. “I was never born. I never had parents. I was not transformed into an alicorn. In fact, I was never supposed to exist at all. I am a collection of memories and feelings placed within my body, and that gave rise to my consciousness. If I give those memories back…”
"我不是一匹小马,"Lacunae平静地回答。"我从未出生。我从来没有父母。我并没有变成一头孤角牛。事实上，我根本就不应该存在。我是放置在我身体里的记忆和感觉的集合，它们提升了我的意识。如果我把那些记忆还给你......"
“No,” I murmured. “No. No!” I shouted up at her. “There has to be another way! There has to. Just give back half! A third! Keep enough to survive!” I implored the immense alicorn.
"不,"我低声说。"没有。不!"我冲着她大喊大叫。"一定还有别的办法！必须的。只要还一半！三分之一！留下足够的钱生存下去!"我恳求那只巨大的海角。
“Even if I could divide all the memories within me, I would have no right to a
"即使我可以分割我内心的所有记忆，我也没有权利
third of a pony’s happiness or sorrow. If I return them, I must return them all, and even then many alicorns will be lost and confused. But it might give more a chance to survive. Enough to have some future in the Wasteland.”
小马快乐或悲伤的三分之一。如果我把它们还回去，我必须把它们都还回去，即使这样，很多橡子也会丢失和混乱。但这可能会给他们更多的生存机会。足够在荒原上拥有一些未来。"
“I don’t care!” I yelled up at her. “You’re not dying like this!”
"我不在乎!"我冲她大喊大叫。"你不能就这样死了!"
Lacunae gave the saddest of smiles. “I can’t die. I was never born.”
空隙带来了最悲伤的微笑。"我不能死。我从未出生过。"
I looked on in desperation. “Maybe... maybe you can hold on to a few. Some? The memories of alicorns that don’t have bodies to go back to? There has to be enough for you to stay... you...”
我绝望地看着。"也许......也许你能坚持一会儿。一些？那些没有身体可以回忆的海洋之子的记忆？必须有足够的钱让你留下来......你......"
But Lacunae just smiled like she always had, in pain and love and sadness. “The connections in Unity are failing without the Goddess to maintain them. In a few minutes, parts of it will sever completely. I don’t have the time or ability to sift through each memory and determine if it should go or stay. Such a thing would take a lifetime for me to do on my own. If I am to return them, I have to return them all. I’m sorry,” she said as she looked down at me. And I knew she was, not just for me, but for all that would be lost when she finally went.
但是Lacunae只是微笑着，就像她一直以来那样，在痛苦、爱和悲伤中。"如果没有女神来维持，统一中的连接就会失败。几分钟后，它的一部分将完全切断。我没有时间或能力筛选每个记忆，并决定它应该去还是留。这样的事情我一辈子也做不完。如果我要把它们还回去，我必须把它们都还回去。"对不起,"她低头看着我说。我知道她是，不仅仅是为了我，也是为了当她最终离开时所失去的一切。
“Horseapples!” I hobbled to her, ignoring the radiation and my battered body. “I won’t! I won’t let you!” I said as I tried to wrap my hooves around her fetlock. “I won’t!” It was childish and immature, but I didn’t care. I wept as I held her, looking up at her. “Please…” I begged.
"马苹果!"我一瘸一拐地向她走去，对辐射和我受伤的身体视而不见。"我不会的！我不会让你得逞的!"我一边说，一边试图用蹄子把她的脚套住。"我不会的!"这是幼稚和不成熟的，但我不在乎。我一边抱着她，一边哭泣，抬头看着她。"请......"我恳求道。
“Shh…” she stroked my mane gently with the very tip of her wing. “Shhh… I have to do this. And you know why. If you were me, what would you do?”
"嘘......"她用翅膀的尖端轻轻地抚摸着我的鬃毛。"嘘......我必须这么做。你知道为什么吗。如果你是我，你会怎么做?"
I wanted to lie. I wasn’t connected to Unity anymore. I could just lie! “I’d… I…” but it stuck in my mouth because we both knew the truth. “I’d give them up too.”
我想撒谎。我不再与Unity联系在一起了。我可以撒谎！"我......我.....。。」但它卡在我嘴里，因为我们都知道真相。"我也会放弃的。"
“And I would weep, and beg you not to go,” Lacunae answered me. I hated the truth, but it was like gravity. There was no fighting it. “Because I love you.”
"我会哭泣，求你不要去,"拉库奈回答我。我讨厌真相，但它就像地心引力。没有反抗的余地。"因为我爱你。"
I closed my eyes, ignoring the rads coming off her as I nuzzled her warm, dark fur. “I’ll miss you.”
我闭上眼睛，无视她身上散发出来的光芒，用鼻子蹭着她温暖的黑色皮毛。"我会想你的。"
“I know. And I am glad that somepony will.” She closed her eyes a moment, smiling broadly. “I was never supposed to exist. But you offered me your
"我知道。我很高兴有人会这么做。"她闭上眼睛一会儿，笑得很灿烂。"我根本不应该存在。但是你给了我你的
friendship. You made it so that I mattered. You gave me a life and made me feel like an actual person, and that was more than I ever deserved. You forgave my betrayal, and you stood by me when I could not stand by myself. And you made me dance,” she sniffed, great tears rolling down her cheeks as she raised her head. “Stronghoof...” she murmured, but shook her head. “I love you, Blackjack.”
友谊。你让我变得如此重要。你给了我生命，让我觉得自己是一个真实的人，这比我应得的更多。你原谅了我的背叛，在我无法忍受自己的时候，你支持我。你还让我跳舞,"她吸了一口气，抬起头，泪水顺着脸颊滚落下来。"你他妈的......"她低声说，但还是摇了摇头。"我爱你，Blackjack。"
“I’m sorry,” I said, pointlessly. Needlessly. Sorry for what, I couldn’t be sure. Sorry for something I’d done. Something I hadn’t done. Something that I wish I’d done. Right now, all I wished was that I had done something more for her. Been somepony better to her. “I love you,” I managed to choke out as I backed away.
"对不起,"我毫无意义地说。毫无必要。对不起什么，我不确定。为我做过的事道歉。一些我没有做的事情。一些我希望我做过的事情。现在，我所希望的是我为她做了更多的事情。对她来说是好事。"我爱你,"当我后退时，我哽咽着说。
“Farewell,” she said. She lifted her head, and a golden light issued from her horn. It reminded me of glowing motes of thought freed from their confinement in memory orbs. The light formed gleaming streams that poured out of her and into the brows of the collected alicorns. More rivers of luminance passed away into the distance, fading from view. As the memories left her, the starburst on her flank became clearer and more distinct.
"再见,"她说。她抬起头，一道金光从她的角里发出来。这让我想起了那些从记忆球中解放出来的闪闪发光的思想。灯光形成了闪闪发光的溪流，从她身上涌出，流进收集来的橡子的眉毛里。越来越多的亮光渐渐消失在远方，从视野中消失。随着记忆的消失，她身侧的星暴变得越来越清晰。
The alicorns started and jerked, for once breaking from uniform movements. They flew away, or teleported, running to find a place to process what had just happened to them. My eyes remained locked on my friend, hoping that when the transfer was complete that somehow… some way… something would remain of Lacunae. But when the glow ended, the behemoth alicorn remained dark and still as the scorched earth.
橡树果开始抽动，这一次打破了一成不变的动作。他们飞走了，或者瞬移了，跑去找一个地方处理刚刚发生在他们身上的事情。我的眼睛仍然锁定在我的朋友，希望当转移完成时，不知何故...某种方式...某种东西将留下的空隙。但是当光芒散去，巨兽alicorn仍然是黑暗的，一动不动，像焦土一样。
“Lacunae?” I asked, backing away. For an instant, she turned and looked at me. A tiny smile formed on my lips as tears ran down my face. That somehow… but then she turned away back to the desolate valley. “Lacunae?” I whimpered, reached towards her with a hoof and touching her fetlock again gently. I grit my teeth, bowing my head, doing my best to keep myself together. “Twilight?” I asked.
"缺陷?"我问道，退开了。有那么一瞬间，她转过身来看着我。当泪水顺着我的脸颊流下时，我的嘴角浮现出一丝微笑。不知怎么的......但是她转身回到了那个荒凉的山谷。"缺陷?"我呜咽着，用蹄子把手伸向她，又轻轻地碰了碰她的脚镣。我咬紧牙关，低下头，竭尽全力让自己振作起来。"暮光之城?"我问道。
Slowly, she looked at me again. But she didn’t answer. Not verbally, at least. What I heard was the faintest whisper over the evaporating Unity connection. “You have my friends,” came the whisper. For a moment, I didn’t understand. Then I saw her eyes on my saddlebags. I opened them up and lifted the first figurine I found. Rarity smiled glamorously at both of us. I levitated it before
慢慢地，她又看着我。但是她没有回答。至少在口头上是这样。我听到的是蒸发中的团结连接上最微弱的低语。"你有我的朋友,"小声说。有那么一会儿，我不明白。然后我看见她的眼睛盯着我的鞍囊。我打开它们，举起我找到的第一个小雕像。稀少对我们两个都露出了迷人的微笑。我之前把它悬浮起来
her, and she stared at it with her immense eyes. Then she blinked and turned away, back to the crater.
她用她那双巨大的眼睛盯着它。然后她眨了眨眼睛，转过身去，回到了火山口。
“She has my friends too,” Twilight whispered.
"她也有我的朋友,"暮光低声说。
“She?” I frowned in confusion. “You mean Ditzy?” No response. I looked at the devastation. “You mean LittlePip?”
"她?"我困惑地皱起了眉头。"你是说迪兹?"没有回应。我看着满目疮痍。"你是说小匹普?"
Slowly, she gave the tiniest of nods. “She needs help.”
慢慢地，她微微点了点头。"她需要帮助。"
“How do you know?” I asked, feeling the connection fray.
"你怎么知道?"我问道，感觉到联系的磨损。
“My friends told me,” was all she said before the link broke completely. Slowly, she spread her enormous wings and gave a great flap that knocked me back. Slowly she began to circle over the tangled heap of concrete, steel, and rock. Many of the pieces were even bigger than the behemoth.
"我的朋友告诉我的,"这是她在链接完全断开之前所说的话。慢慢地，她张开巨大的翅膀，拍了一下，把我打了回去。慢慢地，她开始在混凝土、钢筋和岩石的纠结堆上盘旋。许多碎片甚至比巨兽还要大。
Her horn glowed like a violet star. I hugged Rarity’s figurine to my chest. “Come on,” I breathed as I watched some of the massive boulders shift. “You can do it…” Be enduring, darling, a little white mare cheered along with me. It was impossible. Inconceivable. Nopony could move such weight!
她的角像紫罗兰色的星星一样闪闪发光。我抱住了珍妮的小雕像。"来吧,"我一边喘着粗气，一边看着一些巨石移动。"你能做到......"忍耐一下，亲爱的，一匹小白马和我一起欢呼。这是不可能的。不可思议。没有马能移动这么重的东西！
Then one immense boulder lifted up and was tossed aside. Then a piece of wall. A chunk of foundation. A heap of stone. Each was cast aside as if it was nothing. And then there was a rumble and screech that I heard from miles off as something dark and battered was hauled from the rockslide. It looked like a giant brick of steel and tangled reinforcement. Hunks of foundation dangled beneath it, falling away with crashes that I heard from here. Greenish water cascaded from the base of the huge block.
然后一块巨大的石头被抬起来扔到一边。然后是一堵墙。一大块地基。一堆石头。每个人都被抛在一边，好像什么都不是。然后我从几英里外听到一阵隆隆声和刺耳的声音，好像有什么黑乎乎的东西从岩石崩塌处拖了出来。它看起来就像一块巨大的钢砖和缠结的钢筋。大块的地基悬挂在它下面，随着我从这里听到的撞击声一起坠落。绿色的水从巨大的石块底部瀑布般泻下。
For a moment, I was utterly sure that the block would tumble back to the ground, but with strength I couldn’t imagine, the metal top was peeled open. I scrambled in my bags for Penance’s scope and got it out just as the behemoth extracted something from within the block. I looked through the scope, zooming in. LittlePip was alive! She was talking!
有那么一瞬间，我完全相信那块木头会掉到地上，但是我无法想象它有多大的力量，它的金属盖子被打开了。为了忏悔的范围，我在我的袋子里爬出来，就在那个庞然大物从街区里取出什么东西的时候。我透过显微镜，放大。小皮普还活着！她在说话！
I collapsed, dropping the scope as Twilight dropped the shelter. It crashed like an avalanche into the earth. I pulled out Twilight’s figurine. “Thank you,” I muttered before kissing her brow. “Thank you.”
我瘫倒在地，当暮色降下遮蔽物的时候，我放下了望远镜。它像雪崩一样撞进了大地。我拿出暮光之城的小雕像。"谢谢你,"我低声说，然后吻了吻她的额头。"谢谢。"
I carefully packed everything up as Ditzy flew over to meet LittlePip. I knew she’d get her home safely.
当迪茨飞过去见小皮普时，我小心翼翼地把所有的东西都打包好了。我知道她会安全回家的。
Now it was my turn. The behemoth disappeared into the clouds, and Ditzy raced off, likely to get LittlePip to medical aid. I didn’t begrudge her not coming to pick me up. No doubt LittlePip was in a bad way. I could endure. Ash tinged a faint green began to fall like snow across the charred woods. The silence, within and without, was deafening. “Goodbye,” I whispered into that void, in a vain attempt to fill it. I would have lingered, but the ash was making my PipBuck tick. I started the long walk back home…
现在轮到我了。巨兽消失在云层中，迪特兹飞快地跑开了，很可能会把小皮普送去急救。她不来接我，我并不嫉妒。毫无疑问，小皮普的处境很糟糕。我可以忍受。火山灰染成了淡淡的绿色，开始像雪一样飘落在烧焦的树林上。内外的沉默是震耳欲聋的。"再见,"我低声对着那片空白说，徒劳地试图填补它。我本来想逗留一会儿的，但灰烬让我的皮布克跑起来了。我开始了回家的漫漫长路。
Alone.
一个人。
* * *
* * *
I didn’t know where I was or how to get to Hoofington from here. The PipBuck installed in my hoof had none of my old navigation tags in it. Worse, the radio was busted, so I couldn’t even try to hear what was happening in the wider world. Ahead of me, fires flickered and crawled about like sullen molten worms through the brush and dead trees. Every hour, I’d take a dose of RadAway and Rad-X. If I didn’t get out of the fallout before my supplies ran out, then I’d really be putting my endurance to the test.
我不知道我在哪里，也不知道从这里怎么去Hoofington。安装在我蹄子上的PipBuck没有我以前的导航标签。更糟糕的是，收音机坏了，所以我甚至听不到世界上发生了什么。在我前面，火焰在灌木丛和枯死的树木中闪烁着，像闷闷不乐的熔化的蠕虫一样爬来爬去。每个小时，我都会服用一剂雷达威和雷达x。如果我不能在补给耗尽之前从放射性尘埃中走出来，那么我就真的是在考验我的耐力了。
I found a nice little ridge of stone that took me southeast and downhill. Not as good as a road, but it was better than nothing. The silence wrapped around me, and I found myself starting at flakes of ash drifting down in the corners of my vision. I’d turn, expecting somepony behind me. I looked above for Enclave.
我发现了一块漂亮的小石头山脊，它把我带到了东南方向和山下。虽然不如马路好，但总比什么都没有好。寂静包围着我，我发现自己开始在我的视线的角落里飘落一片片的灰烬。我转过身，期待着身后有匹小马。我在上面寻找昂科雷。
Below for hellhounds. Something. Anything! “Something attack me, damn it!” I yelled into the falling green ash. My own voice made me jump.
下面是地狱之犬。一些东西。什么都行！"有东西攻击我，该死的!"我对着落下的绿灰喊道。我自己的声音让我吓了一跳。
Alone. Sweet Celestia, I fucking hated being alone. Walking was better than thinking. Thinking led to pitying, and if I started that, then the rock would turn into a mattress I’d never get off. Follow the rock. Look for hostiles. Watch the radiation meter.
一个人。亲爱的塞莱斯蒂亚，我他妈的讨厌一个人。走路比思考好。思考导致怜悯，如果我开始这样做，那么这块石头就会变成我永远也下不来的床垫。跟着石头走。找找有没有敌人。注意辐射测量仪。
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about what happened. Don’t think about what would happen. Don’t think about -- and I was so busy not thinking that I misstepped and discovered a whole new way of travelling: falling down a hillside. I flipped end over end, crashing through the underbrush and cannonballing through smaller trees. I finally came to a stop at the base next to a
别想了。不要去想发生了什么。不要想会发生什么。不要去想----我是如此忙于不去想，以至于我走错了路，发现了一种全新的旅行方式:从山坡上摔下来。我翻转着，穿过灌木丛，冲过小树。我终于在基地停了下来
large rusty refrigerator on the banks of a muddy creek. I saw, as I struggled to sit up, a pony skeleton lying curled up on its side within the metal container. I looked at it a moment, wondering how the bones, the refrigerator, and an old gambler’s hat came to be on the banks of this muddy little trickle in the middle of nowhere. Slowly, I collapsed back.
泥泞小溪岸边生锈的大冰箱。当我挣扎着坐起来的时候，我看到一个小马的骨架蜷缩在一个金属容器里。我看了它一会儿，想知道骨头、冰箱和一顶旧赌徒的帽子怎么会出现在这条无所适从(电影)的河岸上。慢慢地，我倒了回去。
Gravity of a different sort pressed down on me as ash began to cover my visor. My friend was gone. I wasn’t upset. I wasn’t anything. Since we’d met, she’d always been there for me, quietly supporting me. She’d been my only confidante to what the Goddess had done to me. Somepony who could sympathize with me. She hadn’t been perfect... she’d used me, put Psalm inside me to ease her own burden... but I could live with that. Her companionship had more than made up for it. 99. Hightower. I would have died so many times over, if it hadn’t been for her.
当灰尘开始覆盖我的面罩时，另一种重力压在我身上。我的朋友走了。我没有不高兴。我什么都不是。自从我们相遇以来，她一直在我身边，默默地支持着我。她是我唯一知道女神对我做了什么的知己。有能同情我的人。她并不完美......她利用了我，把诗篇放在我体内来减轻她自己的负担......但是我可以接受。她的友谊足以弥补这一切。99.Hightower.如果不是因为她，我已经死了那么多次了。
I should be like that pony in the fridge. What would it take?
我应该像冰箱里的小马一样。需要什么呢？
And I could be. All I had to do was lie there and let the ticking continue. I’d survived a boat falling on me, a building falling out from under me, poison gas, radiation, smooze, and Enervation. I’d sucked up Pink Cloud, had my legs chopped off and my body violated, and lived through a fucking balefire blast. To think that this was what would kill me. Behind the visor, I sniffed and smiled all at once. Was I really this weak? Was I doing this to myself again? Be enduring, a stoic white unicorn mare in me urged. Be strong, her orange earth pony friend agreed.
我也可以。我所要做的就是躺在那里，让滴答声继续下去。一艘船从我身上掉下来，一座建筑物从我身下掉下来，毒气、辐射、平滑和衰弱，我都挺过来了。我吸入了粉红云，我的腿被砍掉了，我的身体被侵犯了，我经历了一场该死的爆炸。一想到这就是我的致命伤。在遮阳板后面，我一下子闻了闻笑了起来。我真的这么软弱吗？我是不是又这样对自己了？忍耐吧，一匹坚忍的白色独角兽母马在我心中催促着。坚强点，她的橙色地球小马朋友同意了。
Slowly, I rolled over and onto my hooves. Lacunae wouldn’t want this. None of my friends would, no matter how much I wanted to be selfish and give in and give up. Do better than this, Blackjack. Step by step, I proceeded on in the general direction of east. Eventually I’d find a road or... something.
慢慢地，我翻了个身，趴在马蹄上。拉库尼不会希望这样的。我的朋友没有一个愿意这样做，不管我多么想自私，多么想屈服和放弃。做得更好点Blackjack。我一步一步地朝东边的大致方向走去。最终我会找到一条路或者什么的。
I don’t know how long I wandered. A few things -- scorched radhogs, weird floating plants, and agitated radroaches -- made suicide attacks on me. The red-barred hellhounds I avoided; when they spotted me, I ran. They’d lost so much that I couldn’t bring myself to fight back when I could just flee. My meandering course was getting me nowhere; more often than not I found myself backtracking towards Splendid Valley.
我不知道我徘徊了多久。一些东西----烧焦的雷达公猪，奇怪的漂浮植物，激动的旱獭----使我成为了自杀式袭击的对象。我躲开了红色栏杆的地狱犬;当它们发现我时，我就跑开了。他们失去了太多，以至于当我可以逃跑的时候，我没有勇气反击。我蜿蜒的路线毫无结果，我常常发现自己回到灿烂的山谷。
And the hellhounds weren’t giving up. Not that I blamed them. Not after how
地狱犬也没有放弃。我并不是责怪他们。怎么会这样
many of theirs had died with the destruction of the alicorn Goddess. There were more and more red bars in my vision, and I suspected they weren’t irritated bloatsprites. They were moving around me, trying to drive me around and finish me off. Twice, they’d attempted to spring from the ground and rip me to pieces, only to learn that my sword wouldn’t just block their swipes but go right through their entire limb. Two missing arms later, they’d fallen back to trying to blast me with their energy weapons. The overpowered, chaotic beams crackled through the air. Eventually they’d combine the two and make for a serious threat. Then I’d have to start killing them.
他们中的许多人死于阿里克女神的毁灭。我的视线中有越来越多的红色条纹，我怀疑它们不是令人恼火的浮肿。他们在我周围移动，试图驾驶我周围，并结束了我。有两次，他们试图从地上跳起来把我撕成碎片，结果却发现我的剑不仅能挡住他们的攻击，还能直接刺穿他们的整个肢体。失去了两只手臂之后，他们又退回来试图用他们的能量武器轰炸我。压倒性的，混乱的光束在空中劈啪作响。最终，他们将两者结合起来，形成一个严重的威胁。那我就得开始杀他们了。
“Please. Hasn’t there been enough pain and suffering today?” I begged them as I made my way up a rocky hill. The hellhounds were popping up right and left and began moving up after me. “I don’t want to kill you!” I yelled down at them.
"求你了。今天的痛苦还不够吗?"当我爬上一座岩石山时，我恳求他们。地狱犬四处出没，开始向我后面追赶。"我不想杀你!"我朝他们大喊大叫。
The roar of a dozen beam weapons tearing at the stones around me voiced their sentiment on the reverse matter. I ducked behind the cover of boulders as I set myself to doing what I had to. A thirty foot drop behind me should keep them off my back. Popping up, I sighted carefully, hopped into S.A.T.S., and... a tiny yellow pegasus in my mind gave me huge pleading eyes, begging me to spare the poor upset hellhound. Fluttershy was going to get me killed... I fired at his limbs and body. The hellhound howled as it fell back a moment, but there were others coming. I sighed. Sorry, Fluttershy; I tried. I took out Penance and fitted the parts together, swapped out the bypass round for fifty caliber explosive bullets, and took my position.
一打光束武器的轰鸣声撕扯着我周围的石头，表达了他们对相反事物的感情。当我开始做我必须做的事情的时候，我躲在巨石的掩体后面。我身后三十英尺的高度应该可以让他们远离我。我跳了起来，小心翼翼地瞄准目标，跳进了S.A.T.S.，然后......我脑海中浮现出一个小小的黄色飞马，它的大眼睛恳求地看着我，乞求我放过这只可怜的、心烦意乱的地狱犬。小萤火虫差点害死我......我朝他的四肢和身体开枪。地狱犬向后倒了一会儿，发出嚎叫声，但还有其他的猎物向它走来。我叹了口气。对不起，小家伙，我尽力了。我拿出苦修，把零件组装在一起，用五十口径的爆炸子弹取代旁路子弹，占据了我的位置。
I wasn’t a sniper, but I’d had one’s memories for a while and knew my guns. Penance worked like the machine of death she’d been designed to be. The dozens of hatchmarks on the butt would need a few more added to it as the rounds blasted into the resilient armored hide of the hellhounds coming up the hill. I didn’t try for headshots; at this range, the scope was a hindrance rather than a help. The detonation of each orange-banded round echoed through the woods, the shrapnel and flames keeping them scattered. “Go away. I’m not worth it. It won’t bring them back!” I shouted down at them between blasts, not even knowing if they could understand me.
我不是一个狙击手，但我有一个人的记忆一段时间，知道我的枪。忏悔就像她被设计成的死亡机器。枪托上的几十个帽痕还需要再加上几个，因为子弹已经射入了地狱猎犬爬上山头的弹性盔甲般的隐蔽处。我没有试着拍大头照;在这个范围内，镜头只是一个障碍，而不是帮助。每一颗橘红色子弹的爆炸声在树林中回荡，弹片和火焰使他们四散。"走开。我不值得你这么做。这不会让他们起死回生!"在爆炸间隙，我朝他们大声喊叫，甚至不知道他们是否能听懂我说的话。
Maybe I should let them kill me. Give them a little bit of satis--
也许我应该让他们杀了我。给他们一点满足感——
“No!” I shouted as one got too close, his claws scraping on the gray rock. The bullet caught its shoulder, blowing off the limb at the joint. “No, I’m not going to
"不!"我喊道，因为有一只离我太近了，它的爪子抓住了灰色的岩石。子弹打中了它的肩膀，从关节处打飞了四肢。"不，我不会的
give up!” Not after what Lacunae had done. Not after what I’d promised Glory. I reached for another magazine of explosive rounds...
放弃吧!"在拉库奈做了那些事之后就不会了。不是在我答应了晨辉之后。我伸手去拿另一个弹夹的子弹。
Nothing.
没什么。
I switched to armor piercing rounds, trying to put the bullets where I guessed hearts would be. But without the blasts forcing them to take cover... I was only one pony with a gun that could point only one direction at a time. They were being smart, using the boulders and rocks to shield them. It was almost as if they were waiting for som--
我换成了穿甲弹，试着把子弹放在我猜想的心脏的位置。但是没有爆炸迫使他们寻找掩护......我只是一匹带着枪的小马，一次只能指向一个方向。他们很聪明，利用巨石和岩石来保护他们。他们几乎像是在等待着什么
“Pony die!” roared a hellhound behind me, raising his arm to strike. Apparently those hands were also good for climbing! I dropped into S.A.T.S. and bombarded his face with magic bullets, but the hellhound’s hide was tough enough to remain intact. I swung the massive sniper rifle around in futility as the hounds gave a howl of victory.
"小马去死吧!"一只地狱犬在我身后咆哮，举起手臂准备攻击。显然这双手也很适合攀岩！我降落在S.A.T.S.，用魔法子弹轰击了他的脸，但是地狱犬的皮很结实，完好无损。我徒劳地挥动着巨大的狙击步枪，猎犬发出了胜利的嚎叫。
Then the air was split by the crack of four hooves impacting against the side of a hellhound’s skull, and I stared at the sight of a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane slamming into the hellhound above me. The beast reeled, swiping a clawed hand against her torso as its teeth sprayed from its maw in bony shrapnel. The claws, which could tear through earth, failed to rip through the brown dragonhide leather. With a scream, it tumbled off the cliff just as a second poked its head over the lip. The pegasus pulled out a boxy beam gun as she landed in front of the rising hound. With the precision of S.A.T.S., she blasted away at its face with a dazzling barrage of kaleidoscopic light I’d never seen before; the beam, rather than being the standard red or green, was a startling spectral rainbow. The overcharged blasts turned the hellhound into a cloud of glittery dust, but a second poked its head up immediately and started to climb over the edge. Undauntedly ejecting the spent gem cartridge, she pulled a brilliantly glowing fresh one from her bags, slapped it into place, tossed the gun into the air, bit down on the grip, and blasted away again, with the same result.
接着空气被四只蹄子撞击地狱犬头盖骨的劈裂声震裂了，我凝视着一匹蓝色的飞马，长着彩虹般的鬃毛，正在撞击我头顶上方的地狱犬。这头野兽摇摇晃晃，用一只有爪子的手猛击她的躯干，牙齿从它的胃里喷出骨质弹片。爪子可以撕裂地球，却撕不开褐色的龙皮。随着一声尖叫，它从悬崖上滚了下来，就在这时，第二只海龟的头探过了它的嘴唇。飞马号在正在上升的猎犬面前着陆时，拔出了一门四四方方的光束炮。她像S.A.T.S.一样精准，用我从未见过的万花筒般耀眼的光线猛烈照射着它的脸，光束不是标准的红色或绿色，而是一道令人吃惊的光谱彩虹。这些过量的爆炸把地狱犬变成了闪闪发光的尘埃云，但第二只立刻探出头来，开始爬过边缘。她毫不迟疑地弹出废弃的宝石弹药筒，从包里拿出一个鲜艳发光的新弹药筒，啪地一声放到位，把枪抛向空中，咬住枪把，然后再次发射，结果还是一样。
I could have made love to Glory right then and there. But there were plenty more hellhounds coming up the hillside now behind me. Rather, there were before the hillside was washed with a series of explosions. Hellhounds reeled, blasting at random for their attackers. One seemed to sniff out the source of those blasts and pointed to a blue pony hidden in the rocks a dozen yards away to my right. He started to charge P-21, but then there sounded a wild scream of delight. “Death
我当时就可以和晨辉做爱了。但是现在在我身后的山坡上还有更多的地狱之犬。而是在山坡被一连串的爆炸冲刷之前。地狱犬摇摇晃晃，随意地向他们的攻击者发射炮弹。其中一个人似乎嗅出了爆炸的来源，指着我右边十几码远处岩石中隐藏的一匹蓝色小马。他开始向P-21冲锋，但随后听到一声狂喜的尖叫。"死亡
from above!” cried Rampage as she dropped from the sky and onto his head. Power hooves discharged in unison, blowing away most of the hellhound’s cranium and chest cavity.
从天而降!"当她从天而降落到他头上时，狂暴叫道。动力蹄同时发出，吹走了地狱犬的头盖骨和胸腔的大部分。
P-21, suddenly a dripping red stallion, wiped the gore from his face. “You meant to do that!” he yelled.
P-21突然变成一匹血淋淋的红色种马，擦去脸上的血迹。"你故意的!"他喊道。
“Well, duh!” Rampage drawled.
"好吧，废话!"横冲直撞的人慢吞吞地说。
Then a claw burst through the chest of the mare as a hellhound pushed itself out of the ground beneath her. With one sweep, Rampage’s head was sent bouncing away over the rocks. “Stupid pony talks too much!” the hellhound hissed. Then paused as Rampage’s decapitated body reached out with her power hooves and touched its face, patted its cheek, and then smashed a power hoof upside its head. The hellhound hissed in shock and outrage as the headless mare battered at the very confused beast.
接着，一只地狱犬的爪子刺穿了母马的胸膛，一只地狱犬从她脚下的地面上钻了出来。一扫而过，狂暴的头就弹到了岩石上。"愚蠢的小马说话太多了!"地狱之犬发出嘶嘶声。然后停了下来，狂暴的无头尸体用她强有力的蹄子伸出来碰了碰它的脸，拍了拍它的脸颊，然后用强有力的蹄子敲了敲它的头。地狱犬在震惊和愤怒中发出嘶嘶声，无头的母马猛击着这头非常迷惑的野兽。
“Shouldn’t you be shooting?” a stallion growled beside me, and I jumped as I saw the shimmer of a zebra stealth cloak. Lancer lifted his rifle and silently blew out the eyes of a hellhound with a wicked beam rifle who had been taking aim at us.
"你不是应该在射击吗?"一匹种马在我旁边咆哮，我看到斑马隐形斗篷的微光就跳了起来。兰瑟举起步枪，默默地用一支邪恶的步枪射出一只地狱犬的眼睛，这只猎犬一直在瞄准我们。
“What are you doing here?” I blurted in amazement at Lancer.
"你在这儿干什么?"我惊讶地脱口而出。
“The Proditor said it was the ‘Blackjack defeat effect’.” Lancer calmly blinded another shooter spraying red death at us. “Apparently I now have to follow you around until I find a new purpose in life or something,” he muttered sullenly as he fired again. “I don’t care how much the Proditor says you need a brooding hot male on your team. I am out of here first chance I get.”
"普罗迪特说这是'黑杰克击败效应'。"枪骑兵冷静地弄瞎了另一名向我们射击的枪手。"很显然，我现在不得不跟着你，直到我在生活中找到一个新的目标或什么的,"他闷闷不乐地咕哝着，又开了一枪。"我不管这位制片人怎么说，你的团队需要一个性感而忧郁的男性。我一有机会就离开这里。"
P-21 hauled Rampage’s squirming body up to us and gave a smirk at Lancer. “Oh, how many times I’ve said that.” And he actually chuckled before looking to me. “But Blackjack has this certain gravity that keeps us all coming back to her.” I was so stunned, I couldn’t even keep Penance levitated.
P-21把狂暴的蠕动的身体拖到我们面前，对着兰瑟傻笑了一下。"哦，我说过多少次了。"在看我之前，他真的笑了。"但黑杰克具有某种吸引力，让我们都回到她身边。"我惊呆了，我甚至无法让苦修悬浮起来。
The hellhounds had had enough. With howls and snarls, they were pulling back. Apparently this wasn’t a good day for anypony. Glory pressed Rampage’s severed head to the stump, and it slowly sealed back on. She blinked and looked around. “Oh? We won? Yay!” she slurred.
地狱犬受够了。伴随着嚎叫和咆哮，他们正在撤退。显然今天对任何小马来说都不是个好日子。晨辉将狂暴的头颅压在树桩上，然后它慢慢地封闭起来。她眨了眨眼睛，环顾四周。"哦？我们赢了？耶!"她说话含糊不清。
“But... how... who...I...” I muttered weakly. P-21 and Glory looked away from everything, especially each other, as the former wiped his face and the latter checked Pew-Pew. “How did you know where I was?”
"但是......怎么......谁......我.....。。」我有气无力地咕哝着。P-21和晨辉看着别处，特别是彼此，前者擦着脸，后者盯着皮尤。"你怎么知道我在哪儿?"
“I told them,” Lancer replied grimly, not taking his eyes off the hillside. “They questioned me about your disappearance. Eventually, I informed them that you had seemed... not yourself. You spoke of a Goddess and this place called Maripony. And so we came here when we could not find you.”
"我告诉他们了,"兰瑟冷酷地回答，眼睛没有离开山坡。"他们问我关于你失踪的事。最后，我告诉他们，你看起来......不是你自己。你提到了一位女神和一个叫马里波尼的地方。所以当我们找不到你的时候，我们来到了这里。"
But what... how... My shock was increased when Scotch Tape screamed from overhead, “Glory! I don’t know how to fly this thing!” Directly above me hovered a boat. I nearly teleported away then and there, but this boat was suspended beneath an enormous purple bag and had fins sticking out the sides with propellers out the rear. “Without Rampage I can’t steer anywhere! Help!”
但是什么......怎么......当透明胶带从头顶上尖叫起来,"晨辉！我不知道怎么开这玩意儿!"一条小船在我正上方盘旋。我当时差点就瞬移到了那里，但是这艘船被悬挂在一个巨大的紫色袋子下面，船的两侧都伸出了鳍，尾部还有螺旋桨。"没有狂暴，我哪儿也去不了！救命!"
“I’ll be right there,” Glory shouted, launching herself up to the floundering airship.
"我马上就到,"晨辉喊道，一边跳上了那艘摇摇欲坠的飞艇。
Rampage blinked and worked her mouth, rubbing the vanishing seam in her neck as Lancer watched in shock. “Whew. Lost my head there for a second,” she said as she trotted up to me. “Hey Blackjack. If you are Blackjack, but really, how many other ponies would be dumb enough to fight hellhounds alone? Nice armor. Very badass. How are you doing? Where’s Lacunae?”
当兰瑟震惊地看着她时，狂暴眨着眼睛，用嘴巴摩擦着她脖子上正在消失的缝隙。"哎呀。有那么一瞬间我失去了理智,"她一边说一边小跑着走向我。"嘿，黑杰克。如果你是黑杰克，但说真的，有多少其他小马会蠢到独自对抗地狱犬？盔甲不错。真是个坏蛋。你好吗？空隙在哪里?"
It was the simple, causal question that hit me the hardest. There was only one response to all the feelings churning inside me. I bowed my head and sobbed like a heartbroken foal. Rampage sighed and shook her head. “Definitely Blackjack...”
这是一个简单的，因果关系的问题，对我打击最大。所有在我内心搅动的感觉只有一种反应。我低下头，哭得像一只心碎的小马驹。狂暴叹了口气，摇了摇头。"绝对是黑杰克......"
* * *
* * *
Aboard the Fleur and away from the ground, I told them everything. We sat in a circle on the deck, with Boo at the helm, seeming fascinated by the wheel. Somepony had put an old captain’s hat on her head, and the sight was so ridiculous and precious that I couldn’t keep from smiling a little when I looked over at her. Scotch Tape returned my Delta PipBuck to where it belonged as P-21 held her. On my other side, Glory snugged up against me. Rampage and Lancer looked on from across the circle. The zebra stallion hadn’t taken his eyes off the red-striped mare, and leaned away from her slightly with wide, skittish eyes. Funny how he reminded me of Xanthe...
在船上，离开地面，我把一切都告诉了他们。我们在甲板上围成一圈坐着，布掌舵，好像被轮子迷住了。有个小马把一顶老船长的帽子戴在了她的头上，那景象是如此的可笑和珍贵，以至于当我看着她的时候，我忍不住微笑起来。苏格兰胶带把我的三角洲飞机送回原来的地方，P-21把它关在那里。在我的另一边，晨辉依偎着我。狂暴和枪骑兵隔着圆圈看着。那匹斑马的眼睛一直盯着那匹红色条纹的母马，微微地斜着身子，眼睛睁得大大的。有趣的是，他让我想起了Xanthe..。
I started with how I’d connected to the Goddess in Hightower. How she’d slowly gained more and more control over me. How she’d wired my mind to make me unable to speak of her. Even saying the word ‘Goddess’ made me stammer and my head ache, despite the fact that she was dead. As I went on, Glory hugged me repeatedly and Rampage and P-21 looked ill. Even Lancer seemed to be reassessing me with a disturbed look. I generalized a bit when it came to what had happened inside the Goddess and skipped right to the balefire bomb.
我从我如何与海托华的女神联系开始。她是如何慢慢地越来越能控制我的。她是如何在我脑海中盘旋，让我无法提起她。甚至说出"女神"这个词都让我结巴，头疼，尽管事实上她已经死了。当我继续走的时候，晨辉多次拥抱我，狂暴和P-21看起来很不舒服。甚至连兰瑟似乎都在用一种不安的眼神重新评估我。我概括了一下在女神内部发生的事情，直接跳到了巴雷火炸弹。
“I knew it,” Rampage said to Lancer. “Second we saw that flash, I knew Blackjack had to be involved. She’s always around when the best shit blows up.”
"我就知道,"朗格对兰瑟说。"我们一看到闪光灯，我就知道Blackjack肯定参与了。当最好的东西爆炸的时候，她总是在附近。"
“Get away from me, you freak. He cut your head off!” Lancer replied, leaning further away from her.
"离我远点，你这个怪物。他砍下了你的头!"兰瑟回答道，身子离她越来越远。
“Eh. You make it sound like such a big deal,” she said with a negligent wave of her hoof.
"嗯。你把这件事说得好像很严重似的,"她马马虎虎地甩了一下蹄子说。
I quickly moved on to tell them what happened afterward, and Rampage’s laughs stopped. When I got to Lacunae, they all looked seriously at me. “Lacunae’s gone? Just... gone?” Scotch Tape asked plaintively from P-21’s hooves. When I nodded, she looked away. “Oh... just like Momma.” She pressed her face into P-21’s chest. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her,” Scotch murmured through her tears.
我很快继续向他们讲述后来发生的事情，狂暴的笑声停止了。当我到达拉库奈时，他们都严肃地看着我。"空隙不见了？就这么...消失了?"透明胶带用P-21的蹄子哀伤地问道。我点点头，她转过头去。"哦......就像妈妈一样。"她把脸按进P-21的胸膛。"我甚至还没来得及和她说再见,"苏格兰人泪流满面地低声说。
“It was a very noble thing she did,” Glory said as she hugged me with her wing.
"她做了一件非常高尚的事情,"晨辉一边说一边用她的翅膀抱住了我。
“There is no greater honor than to give oneself for one’s tribe,” Lancer agreed with a small nod.
"为自己的部落奉献自己是最大的荣誉,"兰瑟微微点了点头表示同意。
“Oh, come off it!” Rampage snapped as she rose to her hooves. “She died! She’s gone! It doesn’t matter how she died. Her shit is over. She’s fucking lucky!” The outburst surprised me as Rampage turned away. “She was a great... a great big... freak. With her freaky dress and guns and magic and not talking and... just...
"哦，得了吧!"当她站起来时，狂暴突然爆发了。"她死了！她走了！她怎么死的并不重要。她完蛋了。她真他妈幸运!"当狂暴转身离开时，他的爆发让我感到惊讶。"她是一个伟大的...一个伟大的...怪物。穿着怪异的裙子拿着枪还有魔法什么都不说..。
damn it!” she yelled. “Couldn’t you have taken me with you, you big purple bitch?! Fuck! You were awesome! You used a minigun in a black dress! Who the fuck else could pull that off but you!” she roared, as if, if she yelled hard enough, she might be heard in the everafter.
该死!"她喊道。"你就不能带上我吗，你这个紫色的大婊子?！操！你太棒了！你穿着黑裙子用了一把迷你枪！除了你，还有谁能做到这一点!"她吼了起来，好像，如果她吼得够用力的话，她的声音永远都会被听到。
“Rampage,” I said in concern.
"横冲直撞,"我关切地说。
“Fuck you, Blackjack. Leave me alone,” she said as she walked to the rail of the Fleur and hugged it, looking down. “Fuck...” she finished lamely as she sulked.
"去你的，黑杰克。让我一个人待会儿,"她一边说，一边走向芙蓉的围栏，拥抱了它，低头看了看。"操......"她一边生闷气一边跛着脚说完。
I knew why she was so upset. I’d hoped that the time we’d spent together had curbed her desire to die. Now the loss of a friend had brought it back in force. I looked at Glory. “What happened when you... ah... woke up?”
我知道她为什么这么难过。我希望我们在一起的时间能够抑制她想死的欲望。现在，失去了一个朋友，又使它恢复了威力。我看着晨辉。"当你......呃......醒来后发生了什么?"
She immediately went bright red. “You mean alone?”
她立刻变得通红。"你是说一个人?"
“Completely alone!” P-21 butted in immediately, turning scarlet as well as he suddenly looked away.
"完全孤独!"P-21马上插了进来，脸色变得通红，同时他也突然把目光移开了。
“Oh yes. I was so shocked to find myself by myself. Alone. With nopony else in bed with me,” Glory said as her mane frizzled a little. “Especially not a stallion. Because I would never, ever have a stallion in bed with me.” She gave a tense little laugh. “Stallions! Ew!”
"哦，是的。当我发现自己独自一人时，我感到非常震惊。一个人。和小马一起躺在床上,"格洛里边说边把鬃毛卷了一下。""尤其是一匹种马。因为我绝不会让一匹种马跟我上床。"她紧张地笑了笑。"种马！恶心!"
“Oh I know. I feel the exact same way about mares! Can’t stand ‘em! Nope!” P-21 laughed as well.
"哦，我知道。我对母马也有同样的感觉！受不了他们！没有!"P-21也笑了。
Scotch Tape cocked her head. “You’re acting weird again, Daddy. I told you you drank too much last night.”
用透明胶带把她的头扭起来。"爸爸，你又表现得很奇怪。我告诉过你你昨晚喝得太多了。"
I smiled, glad for the poor humor. “So. After you woke up alone,” I said to Glory, “you found my note?”
我笑了，为这种可怜的幽默感感到高兴。"所以。当你独自醒来后,"我对晨辉说,"你找到我的纸条了吗?"
“Yes. At first I was upset, but when we found out Lacunae was gone too and your PipBuck had been torn out, we were really worried. We went to question Steel Rain, but that was when Lancer said he’d heard ‘the Goddess’ talking to herself. That was when we grabbed everything and came as quickly as we could.”
"是的。一开始我很难过，但是当我们发现拉古奈也不见了，你的皮布克也被扯掉了，我们真的很担心。我们去询问钢铁雨，但那时兰瑟说他听到女神在自言自语。就在那时，我们抓起所有东西，以最快的速度赶来了。"
“I held on to your PipBuck, Blackjack,” Scotch Tape said. “That dealer pony is freaky, but he was really worried about something happening to you.”
"我抓住了你的皮布克牌，黑杰克,"苏格兰胶带说。"那匹经销商的小马很怪异，但他真的很担心你会发生什么事。"
“When the bomb went off, I was sure... I thought...” Glory began, then shook her head, sniffed, and hugged me again. “I am so sorry! I knew something was bothering you, but I thought it was the zebras, or Mother, or Cognitum or something!”
"当炸弹爆炸的时候，我确信......我想......"晨辉开始了，然后她摇摇头，嗅了嗅，再次拥抱了我。"我很抱歉！我知道你有心事，可是我以为是斑马，或者是母亲，或者是认知神，或者别的什么!"
“Hey! It’s not your fault!” I said with a little smile. “The G...G...she wasn’t stupid. She knew that all of you would help if I told you and made sure I couldn’t. No matter how much I wanted to,” I said as I nuzzled her teary cheek. “Believe me, I almost gave myself a seizure trying to tell you, and I still couldn’t do it.”
"嘿！这不是你的错!"我微笑着说。"g..G..她不傻。她知道如果我告诉你们，你们所有人都会帮忙，并且确保我不能。不管我有多想,"我一边说着，一边用鼻子蹭了蹭她那热泪盈眶的脸颊。"相信我，我试图告诉你的时候几乎让自己癫痫发作，但我还是做不到。"
“It’s sad when you’ve been through so much that we didn’t notice you in trouble,” P-21 said quietly.
"你经历了这么多，我们没有注意到你有麻烦，真是可悲,"P-21平静地说。
“Yeah,” I muttered softly, looking in the direction of Maripony. The dead are gone. I had to focus on the living. “Well, I guess we should be dealing with Lighthooves before he fills half the skies with pony-eating psychopaths.”
"是啊,"我轻声咕哝着，眼睛望着Maripony的方向。死去的人都走了。我必须把注意力集中在活人身上。"好吧，我想我们应该在他把半个天空塞满吃小马的精神病患者之前对付他。"
Rampage sighed. “Okay. Okay. I’ll get pedaling.”
狂暴叹了口气。"好吧。好吧。我去踩脚踏板。"
I frowned after her and looked at Glory. “Pedaling?” Rampage trudged slowly downstairs and into the hold.
我在她身后皱起了眉头，看着晨辉。"踩踏板?"横冲直撞的人慢慢地下了楼，钻进了货舱。
“Ah! Yes.” Glory flushed. “Well, I thought that the engines might be a little too high-energy, so we disabled them and hooked up the main drive shaft to some pedals.”
"啊！是的。"晨辉的脸红了。"嗯，我觉得发动机的能量可能有点太高了，所以我们关闭了发动机，把主传动轴连接到一些踏板上。"
“Now we’re flying on rage,” Rampage said from below. “You’re welcome,” she added dryly as the propeller behind the airship started to turn and the wings began to flap.
"现在我们怒气冲冲,"狂暴从下面说。"不客气,"她干巴巴地补充道，飞艇后面的螺旋桨开始转动，机翼开始拍动。
“I meant what I said. Soon as we’re close to the Hoof, let me off,” Lancer said as our circle started splitting up, Scotch Tape returning to Boo and P-21 going to the bags of supplies brought from the Society. “I mean it! I am not joining your little group.”
""我说的是真的。只要我们一靠近霍夫号，就让我下船,"当我们的人群开始分散时，兰瑟说。苏格兰胶带返回给Boo和P-21，去拿从协会带来的物资袋。"我是认真的！我不会加入你们这个小团体。"
“You don’t have to,” Glory said coolly. “And honestly, I don’t want you to. We took you with us in case this was a trick of some sort, and to help Blackjack. She’s helped. You’ve paid back your debt. You can get off whenever you want. Because, quite simply, you’re not good enough to make up for the mare we lost.” Lancer scowled at her and moved away, head bowed as he muttered to himself.
"你不必这么做,"晨辉冷冷地说。"说实话，我也不希望你这么做。我们把你带在身边，以防这是什么诡计，也是为了帮助Blackjack。她帮了很多忙。你已经还清了你的债务。你想什么时候下车都可以。因为，很简单，你不够好，不足以弥补我们所失去的母马。"兰瑟怒视着她，走开了，低着头喃喃自语。
“Ouch,” I muttered.
"哎哟,"我咕哝着。
“Sorry. I... didn’t have a good morning,” Glory replied as she rested her head on
"对不起。我。.没有一个美好的早晨,"格洛里回答说，她把头靠在上面
my shoulder.
我的肩膀。
“Are you okay?” I asked.
"你还好吗?"我问道。
She smiled as she sighed. “I’m removing that word from my vocabulary. I’m not sure how it should be applied to me.”
她微笑着叹了口气。"我要把这个词从我的字典里去掉。我不知道该如何应用到我身上。"
“I can relate,” I said quietly. “So, are you?”
"我能理解,"我平静地说。"那么，你是吗?"
“I want my old body back. I want to be me.” I watched as she reddened. “Last night felt good. Really good, to be honest. And part of that bothers me. And it bothers me that it bothers me. I know I drank a little... but I never realized what it feels like to be so... heterosexual.”
"我想要回我原来的身体。我想做我自己。"我看着她脸红。"昨晚感觉很好。真的很好，说实话。这其中有一部分让我很困扰。让我困扰的是这让我困扰。我知道我喝了一点......但我从来没有意识到如此......异性恋是什么感觉。"
“Bisexuality for the win,” I answered and shook my head. “Sweet Celestia. I just lost a friend, and I’m teasing you about sex. What the fuck is wrong with me?”
"为了胜利而变成双性恋,"我回答，摇了摇头。"甜蜜的天堂。我刚刚失去了一个朋友，我在性方面取笑你。我他妈到底怎么了?"
“I think it’s your coping mechanism. One of them. It’s something you enjoy. Straight. Gay. Kinky or normal. I think it’s a safe place you can come back to to feel good about life,” she said quietly. “Bad stuff happens, and you want to get laid so you don’t feel so bad. Could be worse. Could be your other coping mechanisms.” When I looked at her blankly, she elaborated. “Wild Pegasus?” I flushed. She did have a point.
"我认为这是你的应对机制。其中之一。这是你喜欢的东西。直走。同性恋。古怪的或正常的。我认为这是一个安全的地方，你可以回来感受生活的美好,"她平静地说。"糟糕的事情发生了，你想找人上床，这样你就不会感觉那么糟糕。可能会更糟。可能是你的其他应对机制。"当我茫然地看着她时，她解释道。"野生帕伽索斯?"我冲了下马桶。她说的有道理。
She curled her tail around my neck. “Come on. There’re some rooms below. I think we both need a little coping time.”
她把尾巴卷在我的脖子上。"来吧。楼下有几个房间。我认为我们都需要一点时间来应对。"
“Yes, ma’am.”
"是的，夫人。"
* * *
* * *
It’d been a much tamer coping than usual, with far more cuddling and tears and talking about what had happened than sweat and orgasms. When we finally emerged, I did feel better. We were high in the clouds. Maripony, and the pain of losing Lacunae, now lay behind us. Ahead was an entirely new mess for me to deal with. Glory had gone below with P-21 to check on the life support rig for me, and so I was in the prow with Captain Boo.
这是一个比平常温顺得多的应对方式，拥抱和眼泪更多，谈论发生了什么，而不是汗水和高潮。当我们最终出来的时候，我确实感觉好多了。我们在云端。马里波尼，以及失去空隙的痛苦，现在都抛在了我们身后。未来对我来说是一个全新的烂摊子。晨辉和P-21一起下去检查我的生命维持装置，所以我和布船长一起在船头。
The Fleur was remarkably quiet, save for the woosh of prop and wing. We moved through the cool mist of the clouds, the field of gray broken by
芙蓉号非常安静，除了螺旋桨和机翼的嗡嗡声。我们穿过凉爽的云雾，灰色的田野被打破了
intermittent gaps that allowed blue sky to wink through. In places, I was almost sure I could see the sun. Boo lay curled up beside me, lightly snoozing with her crazy cap slightly askew as the music played.
断断续续的间隙让蓝天闪过。在某些地方，我几乎可以肯定我能看到太阳。布蜷缩在我身边，随着音乐响起，她戴着一顶夸张的帽子，轻轻地打着盹。
Wait? Music? I opened the panel and glanced down at my PipBuck, frowned, and tapped it a few times, but it continued playing one old audio file or another. I sighed and leaned against the railing, looking out as we passed through the wispy clouds. The violin and piano notes carrying back.
等等？音乐？我打开面板，低头看了一眼我的PipBuck，皱起眉头，轻轻地敲了几下，但它还是继续播放着一个又一个旧的音频文件。我叹了口气，靠在栏杆上，望着窗外，我们穿过了纤细的云朵。小提琴和钢琴的音符传回来。
I remembered when I first saw her, that shadowy image in the dark outside the Hoofington Museum and within Blueblood manor, like a ghost of Princess Luna. How we met within Star House, and how I’d quickly realized that she was much different from anypony else I’d ever known, and not just for being an alicorn. How she’d behaved as if she were just a tool of the Goddess. The pony who wasn’t.
我记得我第一次见到她的时候，那个在胡芬顿博物馆外面和蓝血庄园里的黑暗中的影子，就像卢娜公主的鬼魂。我们是如何在星空之家相遇的，以及我是如何迅速意识到她与我所认识的其他矮种马有很大的不同，不仅仅是因为她是一个矮种马。她的行为举止就好像她只是女神的工具。那匹不是的小马。
I remember the despair I’d felt when she’d pulled me out of 99 and how I’d hated her for denying me my deserved death. And I remembered her shielding Glory and myself from the rain. How I’d gone into her mind after she’d lost herself under Hoofington, and how she’d put memories of herself into me. Except Lacunae wasn’t Psalm, no more than I was my metallic legs. Psalm had been her foundation, but the mare herself had been someone completely different. She was closer to me than my own mother had been. She’d known my faults and accepted me for them. Her kindness and humility were all the more emphasized by what she’d been connected to.
我记得当她把我从99岁的生活中拉出来时我所感到的绝望，以及我是多么恨她，因为她拒绝给我应得的死亡。我记得她在雨中保护我和晨辉。我是如何在她迷失在胡芬顿之后进入她的脑海的，她是如何把自己的记忆放进我的脑海里的。除了腔隙不是诗篇，没有比我更是我的金属腿。诗篇是她的根基，但母马本身却是完全不同的人。她比我自己的母亲更亲近我。她知道我的缺点，并接受了我的缺点。她的善良和谦逊在她所接触的事物中得到了更多的强调。
She’d come to save me when I needed help on my lonely trip after Happyhorn. She’d travelled through hell with me in Hightower. She’d been an object of both mirth and adoration. And she’d grown, too. From a seemingly emotionless cypher to a mare who knew and loved. She’d danced. Something I’d never seen Psalm do. What could she have been if she’d had another few months? What might she have become if the Goddess had lived and realized her mistakes without dying?
在我孤独的旅途中，当我需要帮助的时候，她会来救我。她和我一起在海托华度过了地狱之旅。她一直是人们欢笑和崇拜的对象。她也长大了。从一个看起来毫无感情的暗示到一个懂得爱的母马。她跳过舞。这是我从未见过的诗篇。如果再过几个月，她会变成什么样子？如果女神活着并且没有死而意识到自己的错误，她会变成什么样子？
I stared ahead, seeing the clouds stream around us, and reached down, stroking Boo’s mane gently. And I looked at Boo’s blank flank as the music swelled and the enormity of what Lacunae had done finally hit me. I began to shake, tears running down my cheeks.
我凝视着前方，看到云朵在我们周围流淌，我伸手下去，轻轻地抚摸着布的鬃毛。我看着布的空白的侧腹，音乐响起，拉库尼所做的一切终于打动了我。我开始颤抖，泪水顺着脸颊流了下来。
Lacunae had no soul. She’d been that collection of memories. Any soul connected to that body had been Psalm’s, not Lacunae’s. There was no everafter for Lacunae. There never had been a chance of one. And she’d still gone through with it and returned the memories to the alicorns, in the hope that there’d be a future for her race.
空隙没有灵魂。她就是那些回忆的集合。任何与这个身体相连的灵魂都是诗篇的，而不是拉库纳的。对于空隙来说，没有永恒。从来就没有这样的机会。她还是坚持了下来，把记忆还给了那些橡树果，希望她的种族能有个美好的未来。
Hope... that had been Lacunae’s virtue. Hope that I would survive. Hope that I would succeed. Hope that... somehow... things would be better. Boo looked up at me as I put my hooves around her neck and pressed my face into her mane. “She’s gone. She’s... she’s really gone! She was dancing with Stronghoof and...
希望......这就是拉库奈的美德。希望我能活下来。希望我能成功。希望......不管怎样......事情会好起来。我把蹄子绕在它的脖子上，把脸贴在它的鬃毛上，布抬头看着我。"她走了。她...她真的走了！她和Stronghoof跳舞..。
and...” I imagined her life, marrying that great overdramatic goof of the Wasteland. They’d have been an epic couple, with a romance that would have been the stuff of legend! That somehow she’d have children, or adopt them, and teach them in her kindly way. That she’d be there to help me when I screwed up with Glory or P-21... or just in general. “I’m never going to hear her laugh or her calm voice telling me things will be alright or... or anything!”
还有......"我想象着她的生活，嫁给那个过于戏剧化的荒原傻瓜。他们本可以成为一对史诗般的情侣，拥有一段传奇般的浪漫史！以某种方式她会有孩子，或者收养他们，用她亲切的方式教育他们。她会在那里帮助我，当我搞砸了晨辉或P-21...或只是一般。"我再也不会听到她的笑声或者她平静的声音告诉我一切都会好起来的，或者......或者任何事情!"
And as the music played, I remembered all the beauty she’d brought. The violin music she’d created with her horn alongside Priest and Medley. Or the sight of her fluttering her wings as she bathed in magical waste! Or how the ghouls in Meatlocker had been taken back to a time two centuries ago when they’d been alive just by seeing her dressed up. She’d improved the Wasteland just by being who she was. All I could do was blow holes in it.
随着音乐的响起，我想起了她带来的所有美丽。她与普里斯特和梅德利一起用号角创作的小提琴音乐。或者看到她在魔法的废墟中洗澡时扇动翅膀的样子！或者说，Meatlocker的食尸鬼是如何被带回到两个世纪前，那时他们只是看到她盛装打扮就已经活了下来。她改善了荒原，只是因为她是她自己。我所能做的就是在上面打洞。
Lacunae was lost, like tears lost in rain... but was hope? Would she want me to sit here and weep for her? Yes. For a time. She knew the value of grief. And so I didn’t try to keep it in. Tears were how the heart purged itself of grief. They were not a weakness. But then she’d want me to keep going. To keep up hope in bringing all this to a close. So after I’d had a good cry, I wiped the snot off Boo’s neck. “Sorry, Boo.” The white mare just looked at me a moment, then smiled. I blinked at her, and she blinked back, then smiled again. Slowly, I smiled a little too, and the odd blank leaned forward and nuzzled my wet cheek before beaming at me.
空隙失去了，就像眼泪在雨中失去了......但那是希望吗？她会希望我坐在这里为她哭泣吗？是的。有一段时间。她知道悲伤的价值。所以我没有试着把它藏起来。眼泪是心灵清除悲伤的方式。他们不是弱点。但是她会希望我继续下去。保持希望，结束这一切。所以在我大哭一场之后，我擦掉了阿布脖子上的鼻涕。"对不起，波。"白色的母马只是看了我一会儿，然后笑了。我眨了眨眼睛，她也眨了眨眼睛，然后又笑了。慢慢地，我也微笑了一下，那个奇怪的空白靠过来，用鼻子蹭了蹭我湿漉漉的脸颊，然后朝我微笑。
“You really are an odd one, you know that?” I said as I finally composed myself.
"你真是个怪人，你知道吗?"当我终于镇静下来的时候，我说。
Together, we sat by the rail as we flew into tomorrow.
我们一起坐在栏杆边，飞向明天。
 
Footnote: Maximum Level Reached.
脚注:已达到的最高水平。
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: Wow. This was one of the most challenging chapters I’ve ever had to write. It wouldn’t have been possible without extreme assistance from Lucid, Fuzzy, and Hidden Fortune. The latter of which was willing to donate two days of her time to making sure this chapter was close to canon. I understand this was a pivotal moment for many readers of FoE, and I wanted to present it well and respectfully. I also want to thank Hinds and Bronode for, as always, putting their meticulousness and their wordsmithing talents to good use.
(作者笔记:哇。这是我写过的最具挑战性的一章。如果没有Lucid，Fuzzy和HiddenFortune的极端帮助，这是不可能的。后者愿意拿出两天的时间来确保这一章接近正典。我知道这对于很多地球之友的读者来说是一个关键的时刻，我希望能够很好地并且尊重地呈现它。我还要感谢海德和布罗诺德一如既往地把他们的一丝不苟和造词天赋发挥到极致。
This month I’m moving down to vegas, so I can’t put an honest ETA on when 59 will be out. School is starting too, so things are going to get interesting soon. I hope things work out for me both professionally and financially so I can keep plugging away at Horizons. Just the Enclave left to go.
这个月我要搬去拉斯维加斯了，所以我不知道59号什么时候会出来。学校也要开学了，所以事情很快就会变得有趣起来。我希望事情在职业上和经济上都对我有利，这样我就可以继续在地平线努力工作。只剩下昂科雷了。
I’d like to also thank Kkat for creating Fallout:Equestria, even if some of her finer details drove me to tears this chapter. I’d like to thank everyone who has read this far, and I’d like to thank people who leave feedback at cloudsville. I’m always trying to get better. Donations can be given through Paypal to David13ushey@gmail.com and are greatly appreciated at this time. Thank you.)
我还要感谢Kkat创作了《辐射:骑士》，即使她的一些细节让我在这一章里泪流满面。我要感谢所有读过这篇文章的人，也要感谢给cloudsville留下反馈的人。我一直在努力变得更好。捐款可以通过贝宝发送到david13ushey@gmail.com，现在非常感谢。谢谢。)