“You saved my reputation with Princess Celestia, and more importantly, you saved Ponyville! ...Or not.”
"你拯救了我在塞莱斯蒂亚公主面前的名声，更重要的是，你拯救了波尼维尔！或者不要。"
There have been times in which I’ve reacted with excessive violence. Moments where, due to fatigue or overskilled opponents, I engaged in no-holds-barred combat to destroy my enemies. I used to look back at those times with mixed feelings, tinges of shame. They were the times I let the Wasteland win, where the power of slaughter was used instead of harmony. I tried to find another way. A better way.
有时候我的反应是过度的暴力。在那些时刻，由于疲劳或过于熟练的对手，我从事了无限制的战斗，以摧毁我的敌人。我过去常常怀着复杂的感情和一丝羞愧回顾那些时光。那是我让荒原赢得胜利的时代，在那里屠杀的力量被用来代替和谐。我试图找到另一条路。一个更好的方法。
This time, I didn’t even blink. As the councilor’s still-warm blood splashed across my head and face, I stared into Dawn’s luminous green eyes, opened a door in my head, and invited the Wasteland in for tea. And while it was here, would it mind helping me massacre Glory’s mother? Oh, why certainly, Blackjack. Anything for a friend.
这一次，我连眼睛都没眨一下。当议员仍然温热的血液溅到我的头上和脸上时，我凝视着黎明发光的绿眼睛，在我的头上打开一扇门，邀请废墟进来喝茶。既然它在这里，它会介意帮我屠杀晨辉的母亲吗？哦，当然可以，黑杰克。为了朋友什么都行。
I lapsed into S.A.T.S. as Dawn dove to the side, the magic only turning her streak into a slow creep instead of a freeze, a sign of just how fast she moved. I targeted her head and queued four magic bullets, lunging to the side as they fired to keep her in view around the cover she was trying to dive behind. The white bolts of energy streaked towards her, but the two that struck her gray, synthetic, hexagonal hide did little damage. When S.A.T.S. released me from its weird mathemagical grip, I opened fire with twelve-millimeter armor piercing rounds.
当朵儿俯冲到一边时，我进入了s.a.t.s，魔法只是把她的连胜变成了缓慢的爬行，而不是冻结，这是她移动速度的标志。我瞄准了她的头部，排起了四颗魔法子弹，在他们开火的时候冲到一边，以便在她试图潜到后面的掩体周围看到她。白色的能量闪电向她飞来，但两束能量击中了她灰色的、合成的、六角形的皮肤，几乎没有造成伤害。当s.a.t.s把我从魔法般的魔掌中解放出来时，我用12毫米的穿甲弹开了火。
She didn’t make hitting her easy; she leapt onto the wall and started running along it as casually as a pegasus hopping on a cloud. Nevertheless, I wheeled and blasted round after round from Vigilance in the absolute, eerie quiet. I didn’t take time to mourn the venerable texts that exploded in puffs of tattered paper under my bullets. I had only one goal: to stop Dawn before she killed again. I
她并没有让打人变得容易;她跳到墙上，开始像飞马在云上跳跃一样随意地沿着墙跑。尽管如此，我还是在绝对的、可怕的寂静中，从警戒中转过来转过去，一圈又一圈地猛烈轰击。我没有花时间去哀悼那些令人肃然起敬的文字，它们在我的子弹下爆炸成一片片破烂的纸片。我只有一个目标:在道恩再次杀人之前阻止她。一
kept trying to turn and stay facing her, but she was just so damned fast!
一直想转身面对她，但是她太他妈快了！
My ears crackled a moment, and then, in the midst of the silence, I heard her synthesized voice. “You’re hardly being a gracious guest, Blackjack.” Maybe it was because the words distracted me or maybe she’d found a way to magically accelerate herself, but I was nearly taken by surprise when she launched herself off the wall and at me. Her Core-green-glowing wings snapped together an inch from my head as I rolled to the side. I couldn’t stop rolling to fire, though, as she swept a wing back, ripping great cloudy crescents into the floor just behind me.
我的耳朵噼啪作响了一会儿，然后，在寂静中，我听到了她合成的声音。"你可不是什么有礼貌的客人，Blackjack。"也许是因为这些话分散了我的注意力，也许是因为她找到了一个奇迹般地加速自己的方法，但是当她从墙上冲向我的时候，我几乎被吓到了。当我滚到一边时，她发着绿光的核心翅膀在离我头部一英寸的地方折断了。但我还是忍不住旋转着飞向火焰，她把一只翅膀向后掠去，把我身后巨大的云彩撕成了新月形。
I came to a rest against the wall, fortunately on my hooves. I voicelessly swore at her, demanding answers for why she was here and how she’d done this. But Dawn just laughed, her voice accompanied by shrill feedback in my ears. “Oh, I’m sorry, Blackjack. Too bad you don’t have a transmitter in your speech center like I do.” She lunged again, punching both wings right at me. “No one will hear you when you die!”
我靠着墙休息，幸运的是我的蹄子。我无声地咒骂着她，要求回答她为什么会在这里，她是怎么做到这一点的。但是道恩只是笑了笑，她的声音伴随着刺耳的反馈在我耳边响起。"哦，对不起，黑杰克。可惜你的语言中枢里没有我这样的发射器。"她又扑了过来，用两只翅膀猛击我。"你死的时候，没有人会听见的!"
Her wings exploded through the wall behind me as I jumped up, hooked the shelves with my forelegs, then smashed both rear hooves into her manic grin. She reeled back, and I reloaded Vigilance with explosive rounds while flinging a barrage of texts at her to keep her occupied. Each book was shredded by her magically sharp wings before it hit. “I bet I know what you’re wondering… why am I here? It wasn’t hard. My Goddess, a true Goddess, knows all. And when the councilor learned that there was a Neighvarro intelligence cell here wishing to defect to her and her alone, why, the silly little dear came with only a dozen ponies for security!”
当我跳起来的时候，她的翅膀在我身后的墙壁上炸开了花，我的前腿钩住了架子，然后用后蹄撞碎了她狂躁的笑容。她打了个趔趄，我用爆炸性的弹药重新装载了《警惕》，同时向她发了一连串的短信，让她忙个不停。每本书都被她那魔法般锋利的翅膀撕成了碎片。"我打赌我知道你在想什么......我为什么在这里？这并不难。我的女神，一位真正的女神，知晓一切。当议员得知有一个邻里情报组织想要投奔她，而且只有她一个人的时候，为什么，这个愚蠢的小可爱只带了一打小马来保护她!"
A sweep of her wings cleared her of the last of the swirling paper and put her right in my sights. The round exploded near her face, and she fell back, protecting her head with those green-lined wings. I didn’t let up, though, dropping back to the floor and keeping every shot at her face. I’d need the starmetal sword to really finish her off, but I could slow her down. Out came the carbine and, with a gun on either side, I unloaded a stream of metal and explosive shells.
她扫了一下翅膀，把最后一张打着旋儿的报纸清理干净，正好把她放在我的视线范围内。子弹在她脸旁爆炸，她向后倒去，用绿色的翅膀保护着头部。但是我没有放弃，重新回到地板上，每次都对着她的脸开枪。我需要星铁剑才能杀死她，但我可以拖住她。卡宾枪走了出来，两边各有一把枪，我卸下了一连串的金属和爆炸性弹壳。
But I could see her grin. “But I know more of what you’re thinking. Why won’t your friends wake? How could I have drugged them all in their sleep?” I hated to admit, those were some very pressing, and distracting, questions. “Well, you see, Blackjack, I had help.” Who? How? She rammed forward, her enmeshed wings
但我能看到她的笑容。"但我更了解你的想法。为什么你的朋友不醒来？我怎么能在他们睡觉的时候给他们下药呢?"我不得不承认，这些问题非常紧迫，让人分心。"嗯，你看，黑杰克，我有帮手。"谁？怎么做？她猛地向前冲，双翼紧紧地缠在一起
smashing me to the bookcases. The razor-sharp pinions rammed into the wall inches from my shoulders as she pressed her face into mine. “One of your friends has betrayed you.”
把我砸到书架上。她把脸贴在我的肩膀上，锋利的小齿轮就在离我肩膀几英寸的地方撞上了墙。"你的一个朋友背叛了你。"
She was fucking with me. That was the only explanation. It had to be the only explanation. When… how… why would any of my friends work with this monster? I pressed Vigilance into her temple, but before I could fire she ducked her head and wrapped her wire tail around the barrel, yanking it away and tossing it behind her. Around came the sword in an awkward, desperate stroke. Her wing pulled back and blocked it with almost casual ease. Green sparks flashed where one impossibly sharp edge met another.
她在耍我。这是唯一的解释。这肯定是唯一的解释。为什么我的朋友会和这个怪物一起工作？我把"时刻警惕"按进她的太阳穴，但还没来得及开枪，她就低下头，用金属丝尾巴缠住枪管，猛地拉开，把枪扔到身后。剑转过身来，在一个尴尬的，绝望的中风。她的翅膀向后拉，几乎是随意地轻松挡住了它。一个不可思议的尖锐边缘碰到另一个地方，绿色的火花闪闪发光。
“My Goddess has plans for you, Blackjack. Plans you are unworthy of,” Dawn said with utter conviction. “She will realize I am right, in time. Especially when you are torn to pieces! I will save the Wasteland! Me!” Dawn screamed in my ears, then pulled out her other wing and started to ram it forward.
"我的女神对你有安排，Blackjack。你根本不配有计划,"道恩十分确信地说。"她会及时意识到我是对的。特别是当你被撕成碎片的时候！我要拯救荒原！我!"朵儿在我耳边尖叫，然后拉出她的另一只翅膀，开始向前猛撞。
Fortunately, I was descended from Twilight Sparkle. My horn flashed as the wing ripped through where I’d just been, tearing a rent clear through the wall as I disappeared and reappeared behind her. The four feet still felt like I’d teleported four miles from the ache in my horn as I fetched Vigilance and the carbine, but the move let me get hold of something that would help even more than the guns: her tail. My teeth bit down hard on a mouthful of wire and strange synthetic-tasting hair. Still, if it would stop her, I’d eat her.
幸运的是，我是紫悦的后裔。我的翅膀划破了我刚刚去过的地方，我的号角闪烁着，撕裂了墙壁，我消失在她身后，再次出现。当我取出警戒和卡宾枪的时候，四英尺的脚仍然感觉我从我的角的疼痛中传送了四英里，但是这一举动让我得到了比枪更有用的东西:她的尾巴。我的牙齿狠狠地咬下一口金属丝和奇怪的人造头发。不过，如果这能阻止她，我还是会吃了她。
I found myself immediately reconsidering my tactic as she lifted both herself and me into the air and, with a flap of razor wings, barreled right into the nearest wall. Now, I had a vague notion that certain clouds of certain densities were used for different things. Light and fluffy clouds for clothing, heavy dense clouds for building. My notion was confirmed as she slammed through and dragged me along for the ride. The effect was rather akin to getting strung through concrete. I could have simply cancelled the cloudwalking spell, but, aside from the sphincter-loosening sensation that that entailed, I had no difficulty imagining me falling in a nice ballistic arc only to be cut in half by the cybernetically enhanced flyer.
我发现自己立刻重新考虑了我的策略，她把我和自己都举到空中，用剃刀的翅膀拍打着最近的墙壁。现在，我有一个模糊的概念，某种密度的云被用于不同的事物。轻松蓬松的云适合做衣服，厚重的云适合做建筑。我的想法得到了证实，因为她猛地推开我，拉着我一起去兜风。这种效果相当类似于穿过混凝土。我本可以直接取消云游的魔咒，但是，除了随之而来的松弛括约肌的感觉，我毫不费力地想象自己掉进了一个漂亮的弹道弧，结果被控制增强型飞行器切成了两半。
Hadn’t I gotten pounded like this already today?
我今天不是已经被打得够呛了吗？
I bit through the wires, prompting a cybernetic shriek from the mare and an
我穿过电线，引发了一个控制论的尖叫从母马和一个
almighty buck that sent me rolling like a wrecking ball across the foyer. The blood spread liberally all over the ground didn’t help matters much. I rose to my hooves, locked eyes with the furious mare, smiled, chewed, and swallowed. Not too bad, really. She dove upon me, but I lifted my forehooves and let her collide with an impact that sent us both barreling across the floor. My ears made a pop, like a soap bubble, and I heard her gasping for breath. No fair! Why’d she get to emulate life better than me?
全能的雄鹿让我像破碎球一样滚过大厅。血流得满地都是，没有起到多大作用。我站起来，用愤怒的母马紧紧地盯着她，笑了，嚼了，咽了下去。还不错，真的。她向我扑过来，但我抬起前蹄，让她撞在一起，我们两个都在地板上高速奔跑。我的耳朵像肥皂泡一样砰的一声，我听到她喘气的声音。不公平！为什么她能比我更好地模仿生活？
“WE ARE NOT IMPRESSED!” a voice thundered in my ears. For a horrifying instant, I was certain that the Goddess had somehow survived Maripony or crawled her way out of some abomination hell just to dick with me even more. But then I saw that the words had made Dawn flinch. “DOST THOU NOT WISH TO SPARE THE LIVES OF THY YOUNGEST OFFSPRING FROM THE HORRORS TO COME? DOST THOU NOT DESIRE TO SAVE ALL FROM ABJECT MISERY? THOU MUST TRY HARDER! OR PERHAPS WE SHOULD RECONSIDER OUR CHOICE OF CHAMPION?”
"我们不感兴趣!"一个声音在我耳边轰鸣。在一个可怕的瞬间，我确信女神已经以某种方式逃过了马里波尼，或者爬出了某个令人憎恶的地狱，只是为了更多地欺骗我。但是后来我发现这些话让道恩退缩了。"难道你不想让你最年幼的后代免遭即将来临的恐怖吗？难道你不想把所有人从可怜的苦难中拯救出来吗？你必须更加努力！或者也许我们应该重新考虑我们的冠军选择?"
“No!” Dawn gasped. “I can beat her! I can! I am worthy!” Dawn pled, legs wide and wings drooping as if she were being crushed by the weight of that voice.
"不!"道恩倒抽了一口冷气。"我可以打败她！我可以！我是值得的!"黎明皱起了眉头，腿很宽，翅膀耷拉着，仿佛她被那声音的重量压碎了。
“WE REMAIN UNCONVINCED, DAWN. THY CONVICTION IS MEANINGLESS IF THOU CANNOT ENACT OUR WILL, AND, IF THOU CANNOT, PERHAPS ANOTHER SHALL,” the voice thundered, but it had a familiar snide tone I knew boded ill for me.
"我们仍然不相信，道恩。"如果你不能实现我们的意愿，你的信念就毫无意义，如果你不能，也许另一个人会实现,"那声音咆哮着，但我知道那是一种熟悉的讽刺语调，对我来说是不祥的预兆。
I almost pitied her. If things had been a little different, perhaps I would be the mechanical monster in thrall to a higher power manipulating me and pulling my strings. In a way, I had been. We were so much alike…
我几乎可怜她。如果事情有所不同，也许我会成为一个机械怪物，被更高的力量所奴役，操纵着我，控制着我。在某种程度上，我曾经是。我们太像了..。
Wait, we were alike, weren’t we? What happened to me when I got upset? I got reckless. And while my head was one vulnerable point, my main power supply wasn’t in my head but smack dab where my heart used to be. I could hit that a lot easier than what amounted to a small orb easily covered by wings.
等等，我们很像，不是吗？我难过的时候发生了什么？我太鲁莽了。虽然我的头部是一个脆弱的点，我的主要电力供应不是在我的头部，而是恰好在我的心脏曾经是。我可以轻而易举地击中它，而不是用一个很容易被翅膀覆盖的小球体。
I immediately adopted the most obnoxious smirk possible. “Don’t worry, Dawn. Just kick back. Leave saving the Wasteland to the real heroes,” I said with the cockiest grin I could. The shocked and enraged look that got was more than worth the pounding I’d taken. “Guess that silence trick’s not working anymore, but then, few of your tricks do.”
我立刻采取了最令人讨厌的假笑。"别担心，道恩。放松一下。把拯救荒地留给真正的英雄吧,"我带着最傲慢的笑容说。那种震惊和愤怒的表情比我所遭受的打击更有价值。"看来沉默这招已经不管用了，不过你的一些技巧还是管用的。"
That got her to charge, forehooves outstretched as she flew at me like an airborne battleship, but this time I was ready. I deflected her upwards with a raised foreleg as I crouched and pressed Vigilance to her chest. For the first time in our fight, the mare let out a real scream as the round penetrated her armored hide and exploded inside her, the detonation turning a chunk of her chest inside out as hoses and wires dangled, dripped, and sparked. Smoke poured out of her nostrils and mouth as she tumbled over me across the floor, landing in a heap. Of course, I doubted that she was finished. I wouldn’t have been.
这让她向我冲过来，前蹄张开，像一艘空降战舰一样向我飞过来，但这一次我已经准备好了。我抬起前腿让她向上偏转，同时我蹲下，把"警戒"按在她的胸前。在我们的战斗中，这头母马第一次发出了真正的尖叫，子弹穿透了她的装甲兽皮，在她体内爆炸了。烟从她的鼻孔和嘴里涌出，她跌倒在我身上，在地板上，落成一堆。当然，我怀疑她是否已经完成了。我不会的。
Still, for all her rage and crazy, I still wanted to help her. Nopony should have things like that voice thundering in their mind. If I hadn’t had Lacunae… “I know you want to save your children, Dawn. I do, too. Work with me,” I said sincerely as I approached, Vigilance and sword ready. “We can save Thunderhead, together.” We can save you, I added silently, hoping she’d take it, knowing she wouldn’t.
尽管她很愤怒，很疯狂，我还是想帮助她。Nopony应该有这样的事情，声音在他们的头脑雷鸣。如果我没有空隙..."我知道你想救你的孩子，道恩。我也是。跟我一起干吧,"我走近时真诚地说，警惕和剑已经准备好了。"我们可以一起拯救雷锋。"我们可以救你，我默默地补充道，希望她会接受，虽然她知道她不会接受。
“No!” Dawn shouted as she charged, spitting blood, something that was decidedly not blood, and smoke as she swept her wings like dozens of starmetal knives at me. “They had their chance. They could have listened to Striker and me. They could have done better. Instead, they rejected me! Now they get to learn what the surface is really like!” Her wings swung in turns like a metronome, but I kept waiting and backing up, getting her rhythm. Then, when she pivoted from swinging one wing to the other, I buried another explosive bullet into her chest. This time she screamed fire.
"不!"道恩向我冲过来的时候喊道，吐出了血，那绝对不是血，还有烟，她像几十把星铁刀一样拍打着自己的翅膀。"他们有过机会。他们本可以听我和斯垂克的。他们本可以做得更好。相反，他们拒绝了我！现在，他们可以了解地表的真实情况了!"她的翅膀像节拍器一样转来转去，但我一直在等待，后退，找到她的节奏。然后，当她转动一只翅膀到另一只翅膀时，我把另一颗爆炸性子弹埋进她的胸膛。这次她尖叫着开火。
I admit, I balked a moment at the sight, and she sprung, sweeping her wing downward towards me. I crashed to the side and brought the sword down upon her neck; the blade bit through her synthetic hide easily enough but stopped well short of decapitation. Clearly, she had starmetal in more than just her wings. Unfortunately, with my sword jammed in the back of her neck, I didn’t have it to parry her razor pinions. The other wing swept around to the side and I tried to slow the strike with the markspony carbine. The weapon was torn into a half dozen chunks of metal, the magazine exploding between us as the bullets within were cleaved, but it did give me the precious second I needed to get my body clear of the attack.
我承认，我一看到她就犹豫了一会儿，然后她跳了起来，把她的翅膀向下拍向我。我冲到一边，把剑放在她的脖子上;剑刃轻而易举地刺穿了她的人造皮肤，但差一点就把她斩首了。很明显，她不仅仅在翅膀里有星铁。不幸的是，我的剑卡在她的脖子后面，我没有它来躲避她剃刀般的翅膀。另一个侧翼向边路掠过，我试图用马克斯伯尼卡宾枪来减缓进攻速度。武器被撕成了六块金属，子弹在我们之间爆炸，但它确实给了我宝贵的时间让我的身体远离攻击。
I pulled the sword free, levitating it before me. “You don’t have to obey Cognitum. Let me help you cut her strings,” I pled, giving ground. One wing curled in front of her chest, protecting her as the other waited for the perfect
我把剑拔了出来，悬浮在我面前。"你不必服从认知。"让我帮你割断她的绳子吧,"我恳求着，让步了。一只翅膀蜷缩在她的胸前，保护着她，而另一只翅膀则在等待完美
moment to strike. She was learning, too.
攻击时刻到了。她也在学习。
“You haven’t seen her glory! Her wisdom! Her majesty!” Dawn coughed as she swung her wing, my sword deflecting it with emerald sparks. “She may think you a fitting champion, but I know better. You’re nothing more than a self-serving fool.”
"你还没有看到她的晨辉呢！她的智慧！陛下!"唐恩一边挥舞着翅膀一边咳嗽，我的剑用翡翠般的火花拨动着翅膀。""她也许认为你是个合适的冠军，但我知道得更清楚。你只不过是个自私自利的傻瓜。"
Okay, the craziness here was starting to approach surreal levels. “She thinks I’d help her? She’s been trying to kill me!”
好吧，这里的疯狂开始接近超现实的水平。"她以为我会帮她？她一直想杀了我!"
“Steel Rain’s opinion. And mine,” she added, sparks dancing as our edges met and ground against one another. “But she’s been watching you for--”
"钢铁雨的意见。还有我的,"她补充道，我们的边缘相遇，相互碰撞，迸发出火花。"但是她一直在观察你——"
“ENOUGH,” that voice growled. “STILL THY TONGUE AND PROVE THYSELF IF THOU WISH PROTECTION FOR THY PROGENY.” Dawn shuddered from head to hoof, almost in the grip of an epileptic attack, then slumped.
"够了,"那个声音咆哮着。"如果你希望保护你的后代，请安静你的舌头，证明你自己"黎明从头到脚打了个寒颤，几乎要被癫痫发作控制住了，然后摔倒了。
“Yes, my Goddess,” Dawn whispered. I could have killed her then, but her wretchedness stayed my wrath.
"是的，我的女神,"朵儿低声说。那时我本来可以杀了她，但是她的可怜使我的怒火止住了。
The voice wasn’t finished, though. “AND THOU, SECURITY,” it thundered, cold and cruel. Apparently, it had worked out that I could hear it. “WE SHALL HAVE THY FLESH, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. THOU HAST PASSED OUR CHALLENGES AND THWARTED OUR MINIONS. THOU SHOULD BE HONORED.”
不过，声音还没有结束。"还有你，保安,"它冷酷而残酷地怒吼着。很显然，我已经听到了。"无论如何，我们都要得到你的肉体。你已经通过了我们的挑战，挫败了我们的仆从。你应该感到荣幸。"
“I’ve seen one ‘Goddess’ die this week. I know the basics of goddess-slaying,” I retorted.
"这个星期我看到一个'女神'死了。我知道杀死女神的基本方法,"我反驳道。
“HOW DROLL. THEN REALIZE THIS, SECURITY. WE HOLD THE LIVES OF THUNDERHEAD AND THY FRIENDS IN OUR HOOVES. SUBMIT, AND WE SHALL SPARE THEM FROM THE ENCLAVE’S WRATH. DEFY, AND THOU SHALT SEE THEM BURN,” Cognitum roared in my ears.
"多么滑稽。然后意识到这一点，安全。我们用我们的蹄子保护着雷头和你的朋友的生命。屈服吧，我们会让他们免受飞地的愤怒。公然藐视，你就会看到他们被烧死,"认知神在我耳边咆哮。
But I saw the strings clearly now. “For a Goddess, you’re not very creative. You threaten Dawn’s children unless she serves you. You threaten innocent ponies unless I do.” I wished I could spit in her face. “You offer slavery and call it salvation. I’ve already had one Goddess in my head, thanks. I’m not getting another installed.”
但我现在清楚地看到了琴弦。"作为一个女神，你不是很有创造力。你威胁Dawn的孩子除非她服侍你。你威胁无辜的小马，除非我这么做。"我真希望能朝她脸上吐口水。"你提供奴隶并称之为救赎。我脑子里已经有一个女神了，谢谢。我不会再装一个了。"
“THEN PERISH. MINION, RETRIEVE WHAT WE REQUIRE. THEN THY CHILDREN SHALL BE SAVED,” Cognitum demanded.
"那就毁灭吧。仆人，找回我们需要的东西。"那么你的孩子就会得救,"认知问道。
“Yes, my Goddess,” Dawn said in quiet submission, her smoldering eyes lighting once more. Two craters in her chest let out reeking sulfuric green clouds that occasionally crackled with emerald lightning.
"是的，我的女神,"道恩平静地屈服地说，她那双闷烧的眼睛又亮了起来。她胸口的两个弹坑散发出散发着硫磺绿烟雾的恶臭，偶尔还夹杂着翡翠般的闪电。
Oh crap.
哦，糟糕。
In a flash of razor-sharp obsidian, she was on me. Only luck and an already upraised sword saved me from her initial attack. Then I gave ground with every step, parrying each slash and stab of her wings with the star sword as I blocked her furious kicks and stomps with my forehooves. I couldn’t even think of how to go on the offensive; it was all I could do just to stay alive! I needed something, though; the emerald blades were making nicks in my hide and steel, and eventually she’d get something important and slow me down. I needed more.
在一阵锋利的黑曜石闪光中，她向我扑来。只有运气和一把已经举起的剑把我从她最初的攻击中救了出来。然后我每走一步都让步，用星形剑挡开她翅膀上的每一道伤痕和刺伤，同时用前蹄挡住她狂暴的踢腿和跺脚。我甚至想不出如何发动进攻，这是我唯一能做的就是活下去！我需要一些东西，虽然，祖母绿叶片正在我的皮肤和钢制造缺口，最终她会得到一些重要的东西，拖慢我。我需要更多。
I needed my friends.
我需要我的朋友。
Had one of them really betrayed the rest of us? No matter how inappropriate the moment, I couldn’t drive the question from my thoughts. But where I was distracted, Dawn was perfectly focused. I felt my own blood start to flow as her wingtips sliced into my neck. The music I felt in my chest made my wounds tingle and burn. “What would your children think if they saw you now?” I asked at the top of my lungs.
他们中有人真的背叛了我们其他人吗？无论那一刻多么不合时宜，我都无法将这个问题从我的脑海中赶走。但是当我心烦意乱的时候，道恩完全集中注意力。当她的翼尖划破我的脖子时，我感到自己的血液开始流动。我胸中感受到的音乐使我的伤口刺痛和灼烧。"如果你的孩子现在看到你，他们会怎么想?"我声嘶力竭地问道。
It was a flinch, the smallest hesitation in her eyes and motion. Then my magic bullet struck her right between her luminous green eyes and she screamed, falling back and covering her face with hooves and wings. I didn’t let her recover; now it was my turn to give a beating. I might not be able to damage the starmetal parts of her, but I figured that, if I hit her hard enough, something important had to break. I did all I could to hammer her with my hooves, smacking her back with every blow. I didn’t give her any space to dash away. Just a few more blows. Just a few more...
这是一种退缩，是她眼睛和动作中最细微的犹豫。然后我的魔术子弹正好击中了她明亮的绿眼睛之间，她尖叫起来，向后倒去，用蹄子和翅膀遮住了脸。我没有让她康复，现在轮到我打她了。我可能无法破坏她身上的星形金属部分，但我想，如果我打得足够重，一定会有什么重要的东西破裂。我尽我所能用我的蹄子重重地敲打她，每一下都打在她的背上。我没有给她任何逃跑的空间。再打几下。还有几个..。
Her wings spread wide, throwing me off. “Enough! You cost me my husband and Morning Glory. You will not cost me any more!” she proclaimed as a gust of wind send me sliding along the hall. I came to rest before the great, dark, stained-glass window. The synthetic hide covering her face had peeled away,
她的翅膀张得很大，把我甩了出去。"够了！你害我失去了丈夫和牵牛花。你不会再让我付出任何代价了!"她宣称，一阵风送我沿着大厅滑动。我来到那块巨大的、漆黑的彩色玻璃窗前休息。覆盖在她脸上的合成皮已经剥落,
flapping in tatters around the edges and revealing a sickeningly familiar amalgam of metal, bone, and tissue.
拍打着碎片的边缘，露出令人作呕的熟悉的金属、骨头和组织的混合物。
“Don’t make me kill you in your own house!” I begged. “Think of your children!”
"别逼我在你家里杀了你!"我苦苦哀求。"想想你的孩子!"
I’d hoped she could still be reached and reasoned with, but in one powerful lunge she roared, “I AM!” and put everything she had into a final attack. If I’d stood there, she might have cut me in half. Instead, I reared up, hooked my hooves on hers, and fell backwards. Dawn’s eyes widened in shock as I rolled and she rose above me. Vigilance fired a third time into her sternum, the blast peppering me with blood and shrapnel, and then, as the roll completed, I kicked out as hard as I could with all four legs. With a scream, Dawn crashed through the stained glass window and flailed as she fell from view.
我本希望她仍然能够被联系到并且被说服，但是在一次有力的冲刺中，她咆哮道:"我是!"把她所有的一切都投入到最后的攻击中。如果我站在那儿，她可能会把我劈成两半。相反，我站起来，用我的蹄子钩住她的蹄子，然后向后倒下。当我翻身的时候，道恩的眼睛因为震惊而睁大了，她从我上面站了起来。警惕第三次向她的胸骨开了一枪，爆炸的冲击波中充满了血迹和弹片，然后，当滚动完成后，我用四条腿拼命地踢了出去。随着一声尖叫，道恩撞破了彩色玻璃窗，从视线中掉了下来。
I flipped back onto my hooves, crouched there for a moment, and then slowly rose. I’d lived through bad stuff, but I wasn’t sure just how much she could take. For almost a minute, I stared at the hole into the sky, but I readied myself to leap if she came through the floor, or the ceiling, or the wall. The cuts she’d made weren’t regenerating as fast as they should; I was making a bloody mess just standing there with my sword and gun out.
我飞快地回到我的蹄子上，蹲在那里一会儿，然后慢慢地站起来。我经历过不好的事情，但我不确定她能承受多少。我盯着天空中的洞看了将近一分钟，但是如果她从地板、天花板或者墙上穿过来，我就做好了跳跃的准备。她所造成的伤口并没有以应有的速度复原;我只是站在那里，拔出剑和枪，弄得一团糟。
From the foyer came shouts and yells, and then purple-uniformed pegasi stormed in through the front door. Dozens of magical beam weapons hummed as they pointed at me, the ones with mouths free shouting at me to drop my weapons and surrender. I turned slowly and their shouts trailed away to stunned silence as I locked eyes with them. One shot by them, one sneeze by me, and the manor would get a whole lot bloodier. I could hear the blood dripping off my sword in soft pats.
门厅里传来喊叫声，然后穿着紫色制服的飞马从前门冲了进来。当他们指向我的时候，许多神奇的光束武器发出嗡嗡的声音，那些嘴巴张得大大的向我喊着放下武器投降。我慢慢地转过身去，当我和他们对视时，他们的叫喊声渐渐消失在令人目瞪口呆的寂静中。只要他们一枪，我一个喷嚏，庄园就会变得更加血腥。我可以听到血从我的剑上轻轻地滴下来。
“That’s enough,” a stallion said from the front door. Slowly, a dark gray stallion approached. Stratus, from the Rainbow Dash Skyport, stared at me with an inscrutable expression. He glanced towards the library and pressed his lips together in clear anger before glaring at me once more.
"够了,"一匹种马在前门说。慢慢地，一匹深灰色的种马走了过来。从彩虹飞机场来的斯特拉图，带着神秘莫测的表情盯着我。他向图书馆瞥了一眼，愤怒地紧闭双唇，然后又一次怒视着我。
“I don’t suppose saying I didn’t do it would mean anything, would it?” I asked in careful, low tones.
"我不认为说我没有做过这件事意味着什么，是吗?"我小心而低沉地问道。
A round, apple-like device rolled under me. I barely caught a glimpse of blue before there was a flash of crackling magic and everything went dark.
一个圆形的苹果状的装置从我身下滚过。我只是瞥了一眼蓝色，然后一道闪电般的魔法劈啪作响，一切都变黑了。
* * *
* * *
When consciousness returned, I found myself in a tiny room. Being a security pony, I recognized a jail cell when I saw one. The walls were a meshing of metal and the darkest cloud I’d ever seen, and the steel cot and hard ‘cloudcrete’ toilet were a dead giveaway. The energy field across the door dashed any plan of chewing through bars to make my escape. For several minutes, I just lay there and let my nerve endings inform me how much Dawn’s wings sucked. The Enervation damage was healing, but it was taking its sweet time.
当意识恢复时，我发现自己在一个小房间里。作为一匹安全的小马，我一看到牢房就认出来了。墙壁是金属网格和我所见过的最黑暗的云，钢吊床和坚硬的混凝土厕所是一个死的泄露。穿过门的能量场粉碎了任何想要通过栅栏来逃跑的计划。有几分钟，我只是躺在那里，让我的神经末梢告诉我黎明的翅膀吸了多少。能量损伤正在愈合，但是需要一些时间。
Still, I couldn’t lie there and do nothing. I opened my PipBuck, but the device had been tampered with. The only thing that appeared was an Enclave symbol and the notice ‘Electronic Interface Lockout 4227’, and no amount of banging or button mashing would make it work. Apprehension began to rise in me. I tried to teleport through the field and spent the next ten minutes lying on my back, my body spasming from the magical feedback.
尽管如此，我还是不能躺在那里什么也不做。我打开我的PipBuck，但是设备已经被篡改了。唯一出现的是昂科雷的标志和电子接口锁定4227的通知，再大的敲击声和按钮的摩擦声也不能让它工作。我开始感到忧虑。我试图通过能量场瞬移，在接下来的十分钟里，我仰面躺着，身体因为魔法的反馈而痉挛。
A tiny, singed purple mare in my mind flipped through her notes and observed that teleportation through magical energy fields was hazardous to my health. The diagram of me plus a purple flash equaling a skull and crossbones made it fairly clear. I was just going to lie here and do nothing for a little bit, till the twitching wore off.
我脑海中浮现出一头烧焦的紫色小母马在翻阅她的笔记，发现穿越魔法能量场进行心灵传输对我的健康有害。我和相当于骷髅画的紫色闪光的图表清楚地表明了这一点。我只想躺在这里，什么也不做，直到抽搐渐渐消失。
“Good. You’re awake.” Stratus’s voice came in through a speaker in the ceiling, and I looked around. There, in the corner, was a reinforced camera. The black lens peered at me as I glowered up at it. “I must admit, when I heard that the surface terrorists had been located, I was quite surprised. I hadn't anticipated such a weak performance. I suppose I should thank you for sparing me the tedium of an evening filling in work-related death forms.”
"很好。你醒了。"天花板上的喇叭里传来了斯特拉图斯的声音，我环顾四周。在那个角落里，有一架加固过的照相机。我怒视着黑色镜头，它凝视着我。"我必须承认，当我听说地面上的恐怖分子已经被找到时，我非常惊讶。我没想到演出会这么差劲。我想我应该感谢你，让我免去了一晚上填写与工作有关的死亡表格的沉闷。"
“Moonshadow--” I began, trying to haul myself to my hooves before a spasm sent me flopping over onto my opposite side.
"月光之影——"我开始说道，试图把自己拉到马蹄上，突然一阵痉挛把我推倒在对面。
“Please, don’t try shielding them,” Stratus cut me off abruptly. “The young twins may escape exile if you cooperate. The earth pony filly might be granted clemency as well. Moonshadow and Dusk will be held for treason and conspiring with the surface. The adult earth ponies’ fates are unimportant. I anticipate that they will be executed along with the traitors, or given flying lessons. That leaves you and the Rainbow Dash clone.”
"请不要试图屏蔽它们,"斯特拉图斯突然打断了我。"如果你们合作，这对年轻的双胞胎可能会逃脱流亡。大地上的小雌马也可以得到宽恕。月影和黄昏将被视为叛国罪和与地面共谋罪。成年小马的命运并不重要。我预料他们会和那些叛徒一起被处决，或者接受飞行训练。那就只剩下你和彩虹破折号的复制品了。"
I stared up at the camera as he went on, feeling cold as a corpse. My aches and pains were shoved away by cold rage. “You are a terrorist wanted by the Neighvarro for your presence at the Maripony attack. I anticipate a great deal of goodwill from Neighvarro for handing you to them, but not nearly as much as from handing over the Rainbow Dash clone.”
他继续讲下去的时候，我抬头看着摄像机，觉得自己像一具尸体一样冰冷。我的疼痛被冷气驱散了。"你是一个被邻居通缉的恐怖分子，因为你参与了马里波尼的袭击。我期待着Neighvarro政府把你交给他们，给你带来巨大的善意，但远不及交出RainbowDash的克隆品。"
Enough lying down. Even if I was damaged, I rose to hooves with a rush of adrenaline. “Don’t you dare!” I shouted, slamming the wall with a bang much like the ringing of a bell. “She’s not Rainbow Dash! She’s Morning Glory!”
躺着的时间够长了。即使我受到了伤害，我也会因为肾上腺素的冲击而猛地跳起来。"你敢!"我大声喊道，砰的一声摔在墙上，就像门铃一样。"她不是'彩虹冲刺'！她是牵牛花!"
“Oh, my mistake. We’ll be sure to try her with her siblings, then give her to Neighvarro for sentencing,” Stratus chuckled.
"哦，我的错。我们一定会把她和她的兄弟姐妹们一起审判，然后把她交给Neighvarro审判。"。
I stared at the camera and scowled. Something was off about this. “Why are you telling me this?” But there was no answer. Something was very off. “Why gloat? Why not just let me find out in sentencing?”
我盯着相机，皱起了眉头。这事有点不对劲。"你为什么要告诉我这些?"但是没有答案。有些事情很不对劲。"为什么幸灾乐祸？为什么不让我在判决中找到答案呢?"
“I just wanted to thank you for all that you’ve done for me,” Stratus said in clear amusement. “Now, behave yourself. When the Neighvarro fleet arrives, this will all be wrapped up quite nicely.” I sat down hard on the uncomfortable metal bunk, staring straight ahead. My friends were all going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it.
"我只是想感谢你为我所做的一切,"斯特拉图斯愉快地说。"现在，规矩点。当邻居罗的舰队到达时，一切都会得到很好的解决。"我重重地坐在那张不舒服的金属床铺上，目不转睛地盯着前方。我的朋友们都要死了，我对此无能为力。
Storm Chaser had given me a window to work out a settlement between Neighvarro and Thunderhead. Stratus had found himself a shortcut by handing us over on a silver platter. But I still didn’t understand why the councilor had been there. Why come in the middle of the night? If she’d wanted to arrest me, she could have sent others to fetch me to her. If she’d wanted to talk, she could have simply waited for our meeting in the morning.
风暴追逐者给了我一个机会，让我在Neighvarro和Thunderhead之间找到一个解决方案。斯特拉图斯发现了一条捷径，把我们拱手相让。但我还是不明白议员为什么会在那里。为什么大半夜的跑来？如果她想逮捕我，她可以派别人去找她。如果她想谈谈，她可以简单地等到我们早上的会面。
“Is that you, Babe?” a familiar voice asked, not through the speaker but from underneath me. I lay down and found, in the gap between the bunk and floor, an air vent. I peeked back up at the camera, but really, I couldn’t stop him from watching if he was. If he wanted to send in ponies to stop me, that was fine with me.
"是你吗，宝贝?"一个熟悉的声音问道，不是通过扬声器，而是从我下面传来的。我躺下来，在床铺和地板之间的空隙处发现了一个通风口。我回头偷看了一下镜头，但是真的，即使他在看，我也不能阻止他。如果他想派小马来阻止我，我没意见。
“Chicanery?” I asked back, keeping my voice low. The screws on the vent cover were loose; I magically twisted them and pulled it aside, along with a wad of dust that made me sneeze. Inside, I spotted something I never would have expected inside the duct: a tiny, weakly-glowing memory orb. I extracted the
"诈骗?"我低声问道。通风口盖上的螺丝松了，我奇迹般地把它们拧在一起，把它拉到一边，还有一团让我打喷嚏的灰尘。在里面，我发现了一些我从来没有想到过的东西:一个微小的，弱发光的记忆球。我提取了
dusty globe and peered through the duct at the vent opposite mine.
尘土飞扬的地球仪，透过矿井对面通风口的管道窥视。
“The one and only. Looks like my producing career might be clipped along with my wings. Intelligence goons came for me ten minutes after you and Legerdemain left. Threw around the word ‘terrorist’ with every other sentence.” He sighed. “And I really was looking forward to the ‘Wastelander!’ premiere.”
"独一无二的。看来我的制作生涯可能随着我的翅膀一起被剪掉了。你和莱格德曼走后十分钟，情报人员就来找我了。把'恐怖分子'这个词和其他句子放在一起。"他叹了口气。"我真的很期待《荒废者》!"首映式"
“Are any of my friends with you?” I asked, hoping to hear Glory or P-21 reply. I needed smart-pony help.
"我有朋友和你在一起吗?"我问，希望听到晨辉或P-21的答复。我需要聪明的小马帮忙。
“Just the white earth pony. Blue, I think you called her,” he replied.
"只是一匹白色的大地小马。布鲁，我想你给她打过电话,"他回答。
I relaxed a little. “That’s Boo.”
我放松了一下。"那是Boo。"
“That’s it. She was put in here an hour or so ago,” Chicanery replied. “Not a very talkative cellmate, but she’s a demon at tic tac toe.”
"就是这样。她大约一小时前被放在这里的,"奇卡纳里回答。"不是一个很健谈的狱友但她是个井字游戏高手"
“Right.” I considered my PipBuck a moment. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to lift an electronic interface lockout, would you?”
"对。"我想了一下我的PipBuck。"你不会碰巧知道如何解除电子接口锁定吧?"
“Oh, my favorite malware,” he drawled sarcastically. “The Enclave’s way to lock down anypony discussing ideas like clearing the cloud cover or clandestine trips to the surface. If I had a terminal and a couple of days, maybe. That’s more Leger’s field.”
"哦，我最喜欢的恶意软件,"他讽刺地慢吞吞地说。"这是一种封锁任何小马的方式，可以让它们讨论一些想法，比如清除云层或者秘密地到水面上去。如果我有一个终端和几天，也许。这更像是莱杰的领域。"
Too bad. But speaking of the operative… “What happened to Lighthooves after I… left?” I asked. Falling screaming through the floor counted!
太糟糕了。但是说到特工..."在我之后发生了什么。.左边?"我问道。尖叫着从地板上掉下来算数！
“He dove out of there shortly after you did. Just took the Perceptitron and told me to get to the Tower right away. Said I’d be safer there than anywhere.” He sighed. “Of course I hadn’t even had a chance to pack anything before Stratus’s ponies stormed in and arrested me.”
"他在你跳下去之后不久就跳了出来。只是拿了感知器，告诉我马上去塔里。他说我在那里比任何地方都安全。"他叹了口气。"当然，在斯特拉图斯的小马冲进来逮捕我之前，我还没来得及收拾行李。"
Wait. Either Status’s special talent was perfect timing, or the stink in Thunderhead wasn’t just down to interloping Wastelanders. “You say that Stratus was there as soon as Lighthooves left?”
等等。要么是《地位》的特殊天赋来得正是时候，要么就是《雷霆万钧》中的糟糕表现不仅仅是因为《荒原漫游者》的闯入。"你说光芒号一离开斯特拉图斯就在那儿?"
“Yeah. Pinched me good,” Chicanery said with a rueful chuckle. “If they’d been a minute quicker, they would have gotten both of us. So, what are you in for, Babe? Aside from terrorism, ‘cause that’s a given. Capital Trespassing?”
"是的。狠狠地掐了我一下,"奇卡纳里苦笑着说。"如果他们能快一分钟，他们就能抓住我们两个。你为什么进来，宝贝？除了恐怖主义，因为这是必然的。非法入侵?"
“They’re blaming me for the murder of the councilor,” I muttered sullenly.
"他们指责我谋杀了议员,"我闷闷不乐地咕哝着。
“What? Gazer’s been killed?” Chicanery gasped.
"什么？盖泽被杀了?"骗子们倒抽了一口冷气。
“By a surfacer I know named Dawn. Stratus showed up right after I threw her out a window,” I said, frowning. Again, the timing was good. Too good. If one of his security ponies had seen me fighting Dawn, could he have locked me up and handed over Glory? “With the councilor dead, who takes over?”
"我认识一个叫黎明的地面人。我刚把斯特拉图从窗户扔出去，她就出现了,"我皱着眉头说。再说一次，时机很好。太好了。如果他的保镖看到我和道恩打架，他会把我关起来交给晨辉吗？"议员死了，谁来接管?"
“Aw, Babe, you’re forcing me to remember government class? I slept through half of that,” Chicanery whined, then sighed. “Okay. Let me think. If the councilor dies, the lieutenant councilor takes over, but he resigned last week. Sex scandal. Three wives and six kids. Even for Thunderhead, that’s too much. There was supposed to be a special election next month to replace him.”
"噢，宝贝，你是在强迫我记住政府课吗？我睡了一半的时间,"奇卡纳人抱怨着，然后叹了口气。"好吧。让我想想。如果议员死了，由中尉议员接管，但他上周辞职了。性丑闻。三个妻子和六个孩子。即使对于Thunderhead来说，这也太多了。下个月应该会有一次特别选举来取代他。"
“So who is running Thunderhead right now?” I asked tensely, fearing I already knew the answer. It was the same person who always ran things when official ponies in power died.
"那么，现在是谁在管理雷锋呢?"我紧张地问，害怕我已经知道答案了。当官员们的小马死去的时候，总是由同一个人管理事务。
“Internal Security? Intelligence? The judiciary? I don’t know. One of those three,” Chicanery replied. What did I want to bet that Stratus was the head of one of those agencies?
"内部安全？智力？司法部？我不知道。那三个中的一个,"奇卡纳里回答。我敢打赌斯特拉图斯就是其中一个机构的头儿吗？
“What do you know about Stratus? Is he head of Enclave Intelligence?” That would be the icing on the cake.
""你对斯特拉图了解多少？他是飞地情报局的负责人吗?"那将是蛋糕上的糖衣。
Chicanery chuckled. “No. He’s like… director of Thunderhead Security. He’s a midlevel bureaucrat connected to Enclave Intelligence, so he’s one with a lot of pull I suppose. No, I don’t know who the head of Enclave Intelligence is.
骗子们咯咯地笑了起来。"没有。他就像是...霹雳头保安公司的主管。他是一个与昂科雷情报局有联系的中层官员，所以我想他是一个很有影响力的人。不，我不知道飞地情报局的头儿是谁。
Nopony does, except maybe the GPE leadership in Neighvarro. Probably some general or something.”
也许除了GPE在Neighvarro的领导地位之外，Nopony是这么想的。可能是将军什么的。"
I sighed, shaking my head as I lay there next the vent. “So, what’s your story?”
我叹了口气，摇着头躺在通风口旁边。"那么，你的故事是什么?"
“Me?” He sounded surprised.
"我?"他听起来很惊讶。
“Does this vent connect to some other pony?” I asked with a sardonic smile.
"这个通风口和其他小马有联系吗?"我带着讽刺的微笑问道。
“No. I’m just used to telling other ponies’ stories. Not my own.” He was silent a moment. “My mom is a unicorn. We were born in the Tower and grew up there.
"没有。我只是习惯于讲其他小马的故事。不是我自己的。"他沉默了一会儿。"我妈妈是独角兽。我们出生在伦敦塔，在那里长大。
We explored every inch of that place. There were labs for all kinds of experiments and storage during the war. Lots of Ministry of Awesome stuff that I don’t think anypony ever realized was going on.” He sighed again. “When Lighthooves was old enough, he sailed right through the tests and joined the Enclave. Then he made me promise I wouldn’t join him.”
我们探索了那个地方的每一寸土地。战争期间有各种各样的实验室和储藏室。很多很棒的事工，我想没有人意识到正在进行。"他又叹了口气。"当lighthoves足够大的时候，他顺利通过了测试并加入了昂科雷。然后他让我保证不加入他的行列。"
“He did?” I asked in surprise. “Why not? I thought he was devoted to it.”
"是吗?"我惊讶地问。"为什么不呢？我认为他对此很投入。"
“Didn’t want me getting hurt. He’s devoted to Thunderhead. But I think he hates Neighvarro for two centuries of lies and excuses. He said stagnation was our greatest enemy. He once calculated that if we’d ended the isolation policy fifty years after the bombs fell, we would have prevented almost a million deaths and hundreds of millions of bits wasted in rationing. He always thought of Neighvarro as a threat, and he was always talking about going down there and finding something to help Thunderhead get its independence once and for all. A balefire bomb. A megaspell. Something.” A plague, I thought silently to myself.
"不想让我受伤。他是雷霆万钧的忠实粉丝。但是我认为他因为两个世纪的谎言和借口恨死了马里瓦罗。他说停滞是我们最大的敌人。他曾经计算过，如果我们在炸弹爆炸50年后结束这种隔离政策，我们就可以避免将近100万人的死亡和数亿比特被浪费在定量配给上。他总是认为Neighvarro是一个威胁，他总是说要去那里，找到一些东西来帮助雷霆海德一劳永逸地获得独立。火焰炸弹。一个巨型的。一些东西。"一场瘟疫，我默默地对自己说。
“Do you think he’ll use it? That bioweapon?” I asked.
""你认为他会用吗？那种生化武器?"我问道。
Chicanery was quiet for a long time. “Yes, he will. How is another story. I want to say he’d never actually fire it… but, honestly, I’m sure he would. Then he’d do some rationalizing about him not having any choice. But he might have some other plan in mind.” Chicanery sighed. “I hope he does.”
骗局沉默了很长一段时间。"是的，他会的。另一个故事怎么样。我想说他从来没有真正开过枪......但是，说实话，我相信他会的。然后他会为自己没有选择做一些辩解。但他可能另有打算。"奇卡纳人叹了口气。"我希望他知道。"
I hoped I could figure it out, too. “And you?”
我也希望自己能弄明白。"你呢?"
He chuckled. “I was the younger brother, Babe. All the freedom in the world. Since service was out, I got creative. Made the usual films glorifying the Enclave and soldiers. Usual propaganda droppings. But when I got the Perceptitron working… damn. That was the best.”
他咯咯地笑了。"我是他的弟弟，宝贝。世界上所有的自由。因为服务中断了，我变得有创意了。制作通常的赞美昂科雷和士兵的电影。常见的宣传粪便。但是当我让感知器工作的时候...该死。这是最好的。"
Glad lives of bloody misery are so inspiring, I thought sarcastically. “Did Lighthooves know you did?” I asked, wondering how long he’d been able to spy on me.
我觉得讽刺的是，痛苦的生活是如此的鼓舞人心。"莱特霍夫斯知道你这么做吗?"我问道，不知道他监视我多久了。
“No,” he said with a sigh. “Not till recently, when I came out with ‘Wastelander!’. I think he thought I was tapping into little flying robots. Someone down there is apparently infamous for that. He didn’t know I could access you till today.” So his brother hadn’t been watching me every second. I wondered if he was watching me now, though. Chicanery fell silent as I thought,
"不,"他叹了口气说。"直到最近，我出版了《瓦斯特兰德》(Wastelander).我想他认为我在利用小型飞行机器人。下面的某个人显然因此声名狼藉。直到今天他才知道我可以接近你。"所以他哥哥并不是每时每刻都在监视我。我不知道他现在是否在看着我。我以为骗子们都安静下来了
then asked, “You’ve got a plan out of this, right? You’ve always got a plan?”
然后问道:"你已经有计划了，对吧？你总是有计划?"
“I’ll let you know soon as I do,” I replied, trying not to share the pit inside me. As far as I knew, I was screwed every way I looked. Couldn’t teleport out. Couldn’t chew through the bars because there weren’t any. Without Lacunae, I didn’t have anypony I could plan through. I didn’t even have my figurines. All I had was a movie producer. I glanced at the dusty little ball. It’d probably been stuck in that vent for decades or more. “What the heck. Maybe I’ll get lucky,” I muttered as I climbed onto my hard steel bunk and levitated the memory orb above me. “Tell me there’s a secret passage out of this cell or something.”
"我会尽快让你知道的,"我回答，尽量不让别人知道我的内心。据我所知，我看上去的每个方面都糟透了。不能瞬移出去。因为没有铁栏杆，所以不能咀嚼。没有空隙，我没有任何可以计划的东西。我连小雕像都没有。我只有一个电影制片人。我瞥了一眼那个满是灰尘的小球。它可能已经被困在那个通风口几十年甚至更久了。"管他呢。也许我会走运,"我一边爬上坚硬的钢制床铺，一边喃喃自语，把记忆球悬浮在我头顶。"告诉我有一条秘密通道可以离开这个牢房什么的。"
Then I touched my horn to it and let the world swirl away.
然后我用我的号角去触摸它，让世界旋转而去。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
Now this was a familiar sensation. It was the second time in the last twenty-four hours that I was in Rainbow Dash. This version, however, was different from her in her prime. Her body, while strong and fit, had dozens of niggling little aches in the joints. Still, it certainly didn’t slow her down as she trotted down a hospital corridor. Through the windows outside, I saw the skyline of Manehattan. The nurses and other patients all had instant reactions when their eyes met Rainbow Dash, some grinning in delight and others scowling sullenly. She simply wasn’t a mare you could ignore.
这是一种熟悉的感觉。在过去的二十四小时里，这是我第二次来彩虹冲刺了。然而，这个版本与她的全盛时期不同。她的身体虽然强壮健康，但关节却有几十处小小的疼痛。尽管如此，当她沿着医院走廊小跑时，这并没有减慢她的速度。透过窗户，我看到了Manehattan的天际线。当护士和其他病人的眼睛看到彩虹冲刺时，他们都立刻有了反应，有些人高兴地笑，有些人闷闷不乐。她根本不是一匹你可以忽视的母马。
She approached a door where a mare and stallion in pink M.o.M. uniforms stood attentively. The tall, thin unicorn mare and wide, beefy brown pegasus stallion both brightened when Dash approached them. “Pumpkin. Pound. How are my favorite set of twins?” Rainbow Dash asked, greeting the pegasus with a hoof bump that made the stallion smile a little more, even though the question caused some clear distress.
她走近一扇门，门口站着一匹穿着粉红色军装的母马和种马。那匹又高又瘦的独角兽母马和一匹宽阔、结实的棕色骏马，当达什靠近它们时，它们都变得明亮起来。"小南瓜。英镑。我最喜欢的一对双胞胎怎么样了?"彩虹·达什问道，用撞蹄声迎接了飞马，这使得这匹种马更加微笑，尽管这个问题明显引起了一些痛苦。
“We’re… we’re okay, Rainbow,” he said, but their eyes went to the closed door.
"我们......我们很好，彩虹,"他说，但是他们的眼睛盯着紧闭的门。
Rainbow Dash sighed. “And how’s Pinkie doing?”
彩虹·达什叹了口气。"平奇怎么样了?"
“The doctors say she’s stable… medically,” the mare said, her blue eyes full of worry. “They pumped her stomach and used magic to detoxify her, but it was a lot of PTMs.” The unicorn glanced at the stallion and chewed her bottom lip.
"医生说她的情况很稳定......医学上讲,"母马说，她的蓝眼睛充满了担忧。"他们给她洗了胃，用魔法给她排毒，但那是很多PTMs。"独角兽瞥了一眼这匹种马，咬住了她的下嘴唇。
“Where’s the rest of the pony gang?” Dash asked, looking around.
"小马帮的其他人呢?"达什环顾四周问道。
“She didn’t want us to contact them. Only you,” Pound replied. “Since she woke up… it’s been bad. She won’t let the doctors see her. She won’t come out. She’s been working all night, sending out messages, but none of them are to anypony important. Why would she suggest that an old groundskeeper invite an astropony and her kid over?”
"她不想让我们联系他们。只有你,"庞德回答。"自从她醒来......情况很糟糕。她不让医生给她看病。她不肯出来。她整晚都在工作，发送信息，但没有一条对小马来说是重要的。她为什么要建议一个老园丁邀请一匹小马和她的孩子过来呢?"
Pumpkin nodded. “And she’s made special orders, but none of them make any sense either. Like sending Braeburn a box of bobby pins? He’s a stallion!” Her eyes swept up and down the hall, and her voice dropped. “I don’t know how long we can keep this from Princess Luna.”
小南瓜点点头。"她还下了特殊的订单，但是没有一个是说得通的。比如送给布雷伯恩一盒发夹？他是匹种马!"她的眼睛在大厅里扫来扫去，声音低了下来。"我不知道我们还能瞒露娜公主多久。"
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Just say she’s got a nasty case of the pony pox,” Dash replied. “I’ll talk to the doctors. Make sure they don’t make any public statements.” Then she glowered. “Or did Scarface take care of that?”
彩虹·达什皱起了眉头。"就说她得了严重的马痘,"达什回答。"我会和医生谈谈的。确保他们不会发表任何公开声明。"然后她怒目而视。"还是疤面煞星搞定了?"
“Goldenblood spoke with the hospital administration, yes,” the pegasus said in a low voice, averting his brown eyes.
"是的，金血王和医院管理部门谈过了,"飞马低声说，转移了他棕色的眼睛。
“Was he involved in this?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing at the door with a wing.
"他参与了这件事吗?"彩虹·达什用翅膀指着门问道。
“I…” Pound looked at his twin; she gave a small nod, and he continued. “We’re not sure. We don’t think so. He’s the one who called the paramedics, but some of the things she’s said since she woke up…”
"我.....。。」庞德看着他的双胞胎兄弟，她轻轻点了点头，他继续说道。"我们不确定。我们不这么认为。他是那个打电话叫医护人员的人，但是她醒来后说的一些话......"
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. “I’m going to kill him.”
彩虹·达什咬紧牙关。"我要杀了他。"
The door to the room cracked open, and a wide eye with a tiny pupil and thin blue ring stared out the gap. “Don’t be silly, Dashie. Come in! Quickly!”
通往房间的门突然打开了，一只眼睛睁得大大的，带着一个小小的瞳孔和细细的蓝色圆环，盯着门缝。"别傻了，达什。进来！快点!"
The eye disappeared, and Rainbow Dash nodded at the pair before pushing the door open and stepping into the dark hospital room. Only the few slits of light penetrating the blinds offered any illumination, and when Rainbow Dash hit the light button with her wing several times, nothing happened. “Oh, this is familiar,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she stared at the room. The bed and most of the medical equipment had been shoved in a corner. At one small table, a game board rested, half covered with chess pieces and half covered with checkers. A bag of flour with a pipe shoved in the middle sat in one chair, opposite a bucket of turnips with a derby hat on top. A shadow whisked by the corner of her eye.
眼睛消失了，彩虹·达什朝他们点了点头，然后推开门，走进昏暗的医院病房。只有少数几道穿透百叶窗的光线提供了照明，当彩虹·达什用翅膀按了几次灯光按钮后，什么也没有发生。"哦，这很熟悉,"彩虹·达什盯着房间喃喃自语。床和大部分医疗设备都被推到了一个角落里。在一张小桌子上，放着一块棋盘，一半上面覆盖着棋子，一半上面覆盖着跳棋。一袋面粉，中间插着一根烟斗，坐在一把椅子上，对面是一桶萝卜，上面戴着一顶圆顶礼帽。一个影子掠过她的眼角。
One wall was covered with scribbles, circles, and arrows pointing from one to the other. They fanned out like an enormous spider web that stretched from wall to wall and in some places crept out onto the floor and ceiling. In the middle of the web were the six cutie marks of the ministry mares, circled, surrounding a seventh circle with a huge question mark in the middle. Other predominant landmarks in the web of concepts were ‘four stars’, ‘Military Endgame’, ‘Enclave’, ‘Maripony’, ‘Goddess’, and ‘EoS’ in bold letters. I felt my insides lurch as I read, ‘Littlepip’, ‘Blackjack’, ‘Zebra(?) filly(?)’ in that nest of connections. ‘Hugs for Murky’? What’s a Murky? A large pile of rocks rested in a stack like a plinth, a monocle perched near the apex. Somepony in the room made a noise that was a mix of the worst parts of a laugh and sob.
一面墙上满是涂鸦，圆圈，箭头从一面指向另一面。它们呈扇形展开，就像一张巨大的蜘蛛网，从一面墙延伸到另一面墙，有些地方还爬到地板和天花板上。在蜘蛛网的中间有六个可爱的母马标记，环绕着第七个圆圈，中间有一个巨大的问号。其他主要的标志性概念网络是"四星","军事终局","飞地","马里波尼","女神"，和"地球观测系统"在粗体字。当我阅读《小匹普》、《黑杰克》、《斑马》时，我感到内心一阵剧痛小母马在那个联系的巢里。黑暗中的拥抱？什么是黑暗？一大堆石头像柱基一样堆在一起，一个单片眼镜栖息在顶点附近。有个小马在房间里发出了一种混合着最糟糕的笑声和呜咽声的声音。
“Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked warily as she looked around. In the corner of the room, before a large heap of lint wearing a fancy hunting cap, were pictures, photos, and other odd collections of objects. I recognized all the ministry mares, the Princesses, Goldenblood, and other ponies from the time before the war. Clippings from newspapers were interspersed with them, some going all the way back to Nightmare Moon’s return to Ponyville. I saw an old piece of paper upon which was an ominous black alicorn, rearing and kicking the air, silhouetted by a massive, sheer, flat-topped crag. A crescent moon banner fluttered above her.
"平奇?"彩虹·达什环顾四周，谨慎地问道。在房间的角落里，在一大堆戴着奇特猎帽的棉绒前面，有一些图片、照片和其他一些奇怪的东西。我认出了战前所有的部里的母马、公主、Goldenblood和其他小马驹。他们穿插着报纸上的剪报，有些甚至可以追溯到梦魇之月重返Ponyville时期。我看到了一张旧纸，上面有一只不祥的黑色橡子，它直立在空中，被一块巨大的、透明的、平顶的峭壁衬托着。一条新月旗在她头顶飘扬。
Then hooves grabbed Dash’s shoulders, and Pinkie Pie hissed in her ear, “I am not crazy! Do you understand? I. Am. Not. Crazy!” Her voice trembled with desperation.
然后，马蹄抓住了达什的肩膀，小指头派在她耳边嘶嘶地说:"我没有疯！你明白吗？我是。没有。疯了!"她的声音因绝望而颤抖。
When Rainbow’s gaze turned to her, I disagreed with that. The mare I saw looked positively deranged. She was thin; huge shadows surrounded her eyes, and her trademark poofy hair hung in pink and white streaks over her face. Tiny pupils stared from bloodshot eyes. “Sure, Pinkie. Why don’t we step outside so we can see the doctor and…” Rainbow Dash began in those tones reserved for crazy ponies. Then tears welled up in Pinkie’s eyes, and she began to sob, burying her face in Rainbow Dash’s chest as her friend held her.
当彩虹的目光转向她时，我不同意。我看到的那匹母马看上去精神错乱。她很瘦，巨大的阴影包围着她的眼睛，她标志性的同性恋的头发在她的脸上挂着粉红色和白色的条纹。小小的瞳孔从充血的眼睛里凝视着。"当然，平奇。我们为什么不出去看看医生......"彩虹·达什用那种为疯狂的小马准备的语调开始说道。然后，平奇的眼睛里涌出了泪水，她开始抽泣，当她的朋友抱着她时，她把脸埋在彩虹·达什的胸膛里。
“You have to believe me, Dashie. You have to. Please. Everything… everything… depends on you believing in me,” she said as she trembled. “None of the others will. Only you. Please.”
"你必须相信我，达什。你必须这么做。求你了。一切...一切...都取决于你是否相信我,"她颤抖着说。"其他人都不会。只有你。求你了。"
Dash held her friend and patted her back awkwardly. “Okay. I believe you. You’re not crazy. But you just had an overdose on those PTMs,” Dash said, then
达什抱住她的朋友，笨拙地拍了拍她的背。"好吧。我相信你。你没疯。但你只是服用了过量的PTMs,"达什说，然后
her voice hardened. “Did Goldenblood try to do something to you?” Pinkie Pie shook at his name, and Dash hissed, “I’ll kill him.”
她的声音变得僵硬。"金色血统是不是想对你做什么?"平奇·派对着他的名字发抖，达什嘶嘶地说:"我要杀了他。"
“Yes, he did, and no, you won’t,” Pinkie Pie said with a sniff as she rubbed her swollen eyes and looked away. When Dash turned away for the door, Pinkie pulled her back. “You can’t.”
"是的，他做了，不，你不会的,"平奇·派嗅了嗅说，揉揉肿胀的眼睛，把目光移开。当达什转身去开门时，平奇把她拉了回来。"你不能。"
“The hell I can’t!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “I can think of half a dozen ways to take him out on my own. A dozen more with my ministry.”
"见鬼，我不能!"彩虹·达什反驳道。"我自己能想出六种方法把他干掉。我的事奉里还有一打呢。"
“If you tried, you’d be thrown in jail, and even if you got him, it wouldn’t change anything. I know. I know,” Pinkie said with terrible urgency. “There’s bigger… worse… horrible things going to happen soon. Terrible bad things and there’s only a few ponies I can trust to stop it.”
"如果你尝试，你会被扔进监狱，即使你抓住了他，也不会改变任何事情。我知道。我知道,"平奇急切地说。"更大......更糟......可怕的事情很快就会发生。可怕的坏事，我只能相信几匹小马能阻止它。"
Clearly, the haggard mare needed her friend to believe her. On the other hoof, a small vicious part of me wanted to cheer the blue pegasus on. Finally, Rainbow Dash sighed. “If we go to Luna and tell her how Goldenblood attacked you…”
显然，这匹憔悴的母马需要她的朋友相信她。另一方面，我的一小部分邪恶的想要为蓝色的飞马欢呼。最后，彩虹·达什叹了口气。"如果我们去找卢娜，告诉她金血王是怎么攻击你的......"
Pinkie grabbed Dash’s shoulders and gave her a shake. “You don’t understand! Goldenblood is nothing! Nothing! I’m nothing. Fluttershy is nothing. Luna only needs Twilight and Rarity. Even you and Applejack are expendable.” She sniffed and released Dash. “Besides, Goldenblood is going to get his in a month or so. I need you to help me with something much more important.”
小指抓住达什的肩膀，摇了摇她。"你不明白！金色血统什么都不是！没什么！我什么都不是。萤火虫什么都不是。月神只需要黄昏和稀有。就连你和苹果白兰地也是可以牺牲的。"她嗅了嗅，放开了达什。"再说，金布拉德一个月左右就要得到他的奖章了。我需要你帮我做一件更重要的事。"
Rainbow Dash was silent for several seconds before answering. “Okay. What?” she asked with a small frown.
彩虹·达什沉默了几秒钟才回答。"好吧。什么?"她皱着眉头问道。
Pinkie Pie’s eyes moved left and right. “No, I can’t tell… achy hoof… flank flick… eye twitch…” Pinkie gave a sick smile that made her look as if she might vomit. “I can’t…” Again, she winced. She sat and hugged herself. “If I tell you… will you promise to hear me out and not think I’m crazy? Please?”
平奇·派的眼睛左右移动。"不，我不知道......马蹄疼痛......侧腹轻弹......眼睛抽搐......"平奇露出病态的微笑，这让她看起来好像要呕吐。"我不能......"她又一次皱起了眉头。她坐下来，紧紧地抱住自己。"如果我告诉你......你能保证听我说完，而不认为我疯了吗？求你了?"
Rainbow Dash glanced to the door again, and Pinkie seemed on the verge of bawling. I felt Dash’s body start to shift, then stop. She shifted back. “I’ll try,” Rainbow said, her voice heavy with skepticism.
彩虹·达什又向门口瞥了一眼，小萍似乎快要哭出来了。我感觉到达什的身体开始移动，然后停了下来。她转过身去。"我会试试的,"彩虹说，她的声音里充满了怀疑。
And now Pinkie was crying, punctuating it with occasional thank yous.
现在平奇哭了起来，不时地说声谢谢。
Pinkie trotted to the corner and retrieved a purple velvet box, then opened it up.
平奇小跑到墙角，取出一个紫色的天鹅绒盒子，然后打开它。
Inside were six memory orbs, each one emblazoned with the cutie mark of a ministry mare. “I need you to collect a memory about each of our friends. She’ll need them.”
里面有六个记忆球，每一个都装饰着一个牧师母马的可爱标记。"我需要你收集我们每个朋友的记忆。她会需要它们的。"
“Who?” Rainbow Dash asked as Pinkie Pie fished out the memory orb emblazoned with a thunderbolt.
"谁?"彩虹·达什问道，小指客掏出了那个印有雷电图案的记忆球。
Pinkie Pie didn’t answer for several seconds. I wondered what she was feeling as she twitched there. “LittlePip. She’s going to need these memories,” Pinkie Pie mumbled as she looked down at the lightning cloud orb. “They’re the only thing that matters now.”
萍琪派好几秒钟都没有回答。我不知道她抽搐的时候是什么感觉。"小匹普。她需要这些记忆,"小手指派低头看着闪电云球喃喃自语。"他们是现在唯一重要的东西。"
“Who?” Rainbow Dash asked again in bafflement.
"谁?"彩虹·达什困惑地再次问道。
“She’s… don’t ask. Please. Please, trust me! The more you know about this, the less you’ll be able to do it,” Pinkie begged as she held out the memory orb. “In this, you need to put the memory of the Single Pegasus Project meeting you had with Apple Bloom and the Princess. Pumpkin Cake will help you. She knows the spells. But you have to get it from her. Say it’s for security or something.”
"她......别问了。求你了。请相信我！你知道的越多，你就越不可能做到这一点,"小指头一边伸出记忆球，一边央求道。"在这里，你需要把你与苹果布鲁姆和公主的单飞马项目会议的记忆。南瓜蛋糕会对你有帮助。她知道咒语。但你必须从她那里得到。就说是为了安全起见什么的。"
“Buh… the… how do you know about that?” Dash gaped, then frowned. “Have you been spying on me?”
"呃......那个......你怎么知道的?"达什目瞪口呆，然后皱起眉头。"你一直在监视我吗?"
“No! Well, yes, but no. This isn’t that. You have to do it. She has to know if she’s going to take over the Single Pegasus Project,” Pinkie said. “Please, don’t ask more, Dashie.”
"不！是的，但不是。不是这样的。你必须这么做。她必须知道自己是否会接管单飞马项目。"拜托，别再问了，达什。"
“This LittlePip is a pegasus in my ministry?” Rainbow Dash asked in a baffled tone.
"这个小匹普是我部里的一匹飞马?"彩虹·达什疑惑地问道。
“No, she’s a stable pony unicorn who in two hundred years will use the Single Pegasus Project to defeat the Enclave,” Pinkie Pie blurted, then covered her mouth in horror, like she’d said something dirty. The two stared at each other for a minute.
"不，她是一只马厩里的独角兽，200年后她会利用单飞马项目打败昂科雷,"平奇·派脱口而出，然后恐惧地捂住嘴，好像她说了什么肮脏的话。两个人对视了一会儿。
“Okay… are you sure you won’t see the doc--” Rainbow Dash began, but then met Pinkie’s pleading gaze and deflated. “Fine. It wasn’t that critical a meeting anyway. Just an overview.” Rainbow Dash sounded surprisingly bitter about just an overview. “Wait… two hundred years?”
"好吧......你确定你不会见到那个医生——"彩虹·达什开始了，但是随后遇到了平奇恳求的目光并泄了气。"好吧。不管怎么说，这个会议并没有那么重要。只是概述一下。"彩虹冲击听起来令人惊讶的苦涩，只是一个概述。"等等......200年?"
Pinkie rapidly scooped up and pressed the diamond orb into Dash’s hooves. “Don’tworryaboutthatnow!” Rainbow Dash blinked, then looked down. “You need to get this one on Rarity. It’s the memory of her splitting her soul into those statuettes she gave us. Snips or Snails should give it.”
小手指迅速抓起来，把钻石球塞进了达什的蹄子里。"现在不用担心这个!"彩虹·达什眨眨眼，然后往下看。"你需要把这个放在'稀有'上。这是关于她把自己的灵魂分裂成她给我们的小雕像的记忆。剪刀或者蜗牛就可以了。"
“She what?!” Rainbow Dash blurted, horrified. “You mean those little…”
"她什么?!"彩虹冲口而出，吓坏了。"你是说那些小......"
“Yes. She did. They are. I know, I felt the same way too,” Pinkie Pie said as she hung her head. “Please don’t ask too many questions. She thought it’d bring us together, but it’s too late for that. Too late…” Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and sniffed, then scrubbed her eyes. She stared at the shafts of light coming through the window. “You should give your Rainbow Dash figurine to Scootaloo. I know she’d enjoy it.”
"是的。她做到了。是的。我知道，我也有同样的感觉。"。"请不要问太多问题。她以为这样我们就能在一起了，但是已经太迟了。太晚了......"平奇·派闭上眼睛闻了闻，然后擦了擦眼睛。她凝视着透过窗户射进来的光柱。"你应该把你的彩虹冲刺小雕像送给斯库塔鲁。我知道她会喜欢的。"
“Yeah… I… okay,” Rainbow Dash replied in a light, shocked tone. Then, when she was given the star orb, she asked, “What do I need from Twilight?”
"嗯......我.....。."好的,"彩虹·达什用一种轻松、震惊的语气回答道。然后，当她得到了星球，她问,"我需要什么从黄昏?"
“She’s going to do an interview with Trixie next week. You need that memory from Trixie. It’s what will trigger the Goddess to remember herself. Otherwise, LittlePip is doomed, and Blackjack with her.” Pinkie looked away. “You and Pumpkin could say it’s a background check or something.”
"她下周要接受Trixie的采访。你需要Trixie给你的记忆。这将触发女神记起她自己。否则，小皮普就完了，黑杰克也完了。"平奇看向别处。"你和小南瓜可以说这是背景调查之类的。"
“LittlePip? Blackjack?” Rainbow frowned. “Which Goddess. Luna?”
"小匹普？黑杰克?"彩虹皱起了眉头。"哪位女神。卢娜?"
“Don’t ask. Even I don’t fully get it. Well, Go Fish, but she changes her name,” Pinkie said, then waved her hoof. “Don’t get me started on her! LittlePip will be bad enough!”
"别问了。即使是我也不能完全理解。"好吧，去钓鱼，但她改了名字,"平奇说，然后挥动着她的蹄子。"别让我提起她！小皮普已经够坏的了!"
“No surprise with a name like that,” Rainbow Dash asked, then frowned. “Wait. Will be? Going to do an interview? You mean this stuff hasn’t happened yet?”
"有这样一个名字并不奇怪,"彩虹·达什问道，然后皱起了眉头。"等等。会吗？要去面试吗？你是说这种事情还没有发生?"
Pinkie sighed. “I know. I know! It doesn’t make sense, but it will. It’s all one big ball of… of… wibbly-wobbly… timey wimey… stuff!” She slumped and spread her hooves wide. “Please. Trust me. Believe me.”
平奇叹了口气。"我知道。我知道！这没有意义，但是它会的。它是一个大球......一团......歪歪扭扭......时间歪歪扭扭......东西!"她瘫倒在地，四肢张开。"求你了。相信我。相信我。"
Another long moment. I wondered if my friends ever felt this way about my explanations for things. Dash rubbed her face with her wings. “Okay. What about the apple one?”
又是一个漫长的时刻。我想知道我的朋友们对我的解释是否也有这种感觉。达什用翅膀擦了擦脸。"好吧。那苹果味的呢?"
“This one is easy. There’s a security mare down in the ICU who’s in a coma.
"这个很简单。重症监护室里有一头昏迷的母马。
She’s going to die in a few hours, but Pumpkin Cake can get the memory of Applesnack killing Zecora last night,” Pinkie said as she bowed her head. “I almost asked her myself, but she’s going to have to get used to working with you.”
她再过几个小时就要死了，但是南瓜蛋糕会让人想起苹果奈克昨晚杀死泽科拉的情景。"平奇低下头说。"我差点自己问她，但她得习惯和你一起工作。"
“What? Zecora?! But how… why? Was it Goldenblood?” Rainbow Dash asked. “He was a Marauder! Maybe--”
"什么？泽科拉?！但怎么...为什么？是金色血统吗?"彩虹·达什问。"他是一个掠夺者！也许——"
Pinkie Pie grabbed Dash’s face, silencing her and making her lips bulge. “Didn’t you hear me? Forget about Goldenblood. This is bigger than him.”
小手指饼抓住了达什的脸，让她安静下来，嘴唇鼓了起来。""你没听见我说话吗？忘了金色血液吧。这比他更重要。"
Rainbow pulled her face back and rubbed her cheeks. “Okay, okay. But we both know he’s up to something. Somepony in the O.I.A. is sending secret ministry information to the enemy.” I mentally growled in agreement.
彩虹把脸拉回来，揉了揉脸颊。"好吧，好吧。但我们都知道他在谋划什么。O.i.a.的某个小马正在向敌人发送秘密部门信息。"我心里默默地表示同意。
“You have no idea,” Pinkie groaned, and shook her head. “But no. It was a completely random chance. LittlePip just needs to know why he and Applejack broke up. Oh, but Blackjack needs to know that Zecora learned a pony was passing the Projects to a spy.”
"你不知道,"平奇呻吟着，摇了摇头。""但是不行。这是一个完全随机的机会。小皮普只需要知道他和苹果白兰地分手的原因。哦，但是Blackjack需要知道Zecora得知一匹小马将项目传给了一个间谍。"
“Who?” Rainbow Dash said eagerly. “Who is it?”
"谁?"彩虹·达什急切地说。"是谁?"
“Oh, I can’t tell her that. When is as important as what.” Rainbow Dash’s eyelid twitched. What? But I... she... buh... This was giving me a headache.
"哦，我不能告诉她。什么时候和什么一样重要。"彩虹·达什的眼皮抽动了。什么？但是我。.她...呃...这让我头疼。
In a display of extreme patience, Dash took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said, then looked at the balloon orb. “Can’t you get this one yourself?”
达什表现出极度的耐心，深吸了一口气。"好吧,"她说，然后看着气球。"你不能自己买吗?"
“No. You need to get that from me next week, right before I raid Four Stars. Just tell me that I told you to tell me to give the memory of the mirror to you. I won’t understand… because I’m going to have Pumpkin Cake erase what I know so that I can’t mess things up. Which I have… so badly. But I’ll give it to you,” Pinkie Pie said softly. “You’re my friend.”
"没有。你得在下周我突袭四星之前拿到这个。只要告诉我，我告诉你告诉我把镜子的记忆给你。我不明白......因为我要让南瓜蛋糕擦掉我知道的东西，这样我就不会把事情搞砸了。我已经...非常痛苦了。但是我会把它给你的,"平奇·派轻声说。"你是我的朋友。"
“But… why?” Rainbow Dash asked.
"但是......为什么?"彩虹·达什问。
Pinkie stared at Rainbow with a piercing gaze. “I know what you did in Roam,” she said, her voice low.
平奇用一种锐利的目光盯着彩虹。"我知道你在罗马干了什么,"她说，声音很低。
Rainbow looked away this time. “I had to,” she said in a haunted voice. “He was
彩虹这次把目光移开了。"我必须这么做,"她用一种不安的声音说。"是的
a traitor.”
叛徒"
“I know. But you did it. And I don’t want to know. I don’t want to think of my friend doing something like that, and that’s one of a kajillion things I don’t want to know.”
"我知道。但你做到了。我不想知道。我不想让我的朋友做这样的事情，这是我无数次不想知道的事情之一。"
Rainbow closed her eyes and nodded. “Timey wimey... stuff. Okay,” Rainbow Dash groaned and slipped it into her saddlebags.
彩虹闭上眼睛，点了点头。"时光飞逝......的东西。"好的,"彩虹·达什呻吟着，把它塞进了她的鞍囊。
Pinkie Pie removed the last orb. “This one you’ll have to get from Angel Bunny at Zecora’s hut… after the bombs fall. You’ll… you’ll have to get Pumpkin Cake to go with you after the bombs fall.” Pinkie stared straight ahead with her pinprick eyes. Rainbow Dash’s own pupils contracted as she stared in horror and Pinkie said in a hollow voice, “The memory will tell LittlePip how to get the Black Book...”
小手指饼把最后一个圆球拿走了。"炸弹落下后，你必须在Zecora的小屋里从天使兔那里得到这个。你得...你得在炸弹落下之后带上南瓜蛋糕。"小手指用她针刺一样的眼睛直直地盯着前方。彩虹·达什自己的瞳孔收缩起来，惊恐地瞪着眼睛，平奇用一种空洞的声音说:"记忆会告诉小皮普如何拿到黑皮书......"
“Wait. What bombs? What are you saying?” Rainbow Dash asked as she rose her hooves. “Are you saying the zebras are going to do a first strike? My ministry doesn’t have any info on that!” Rainbow Dash turned to the door. “I’m going to meet with Twilight and Luna and--”
"等等。什么炸弹？你在说什么?"彩虹·达什站起来，问道。"你是说斑马要先发制人吗？我的部门没有任何这方面的信息!"彩虹·达什转向门口。"我要去见暮光和露娜，还有--"
But Pinkie Pie grabbed Rainbow Dash around the neck from behind and with surprising energy flung Dash against the wall and pushed her back against it. Pinkie hung her head, her mane falling in her face. “We can’t stop it,” she muttered.
但是小手指从后面抓住了彩虹·达什的脖子，用惊人的力气把达什推到墙上，把她的背推到墙上。小手指低下头，鬃毛垂到脸上。"我们阻止不了,"她喃喃自语道。
Rainbow Dash stared at her. “Horseapples. If you know, we can stop it.”
彩虹·达什盯着她。"马苹果。如果你知道，我们可以阻止它。"
“No. We can’t,” Pinkie Pie whispered.
"没有。"我们不能,"平奇小派低声说。
“The hell we can’t! How can you say that?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.
"我们当然不能！你怎么能这么说?!"彩虹·达什问道。
“Because I’ve seen what happens if we try!” Pinkie Pie cried out in anguish. “We get arrested, and everything dies! Everything! Or we win, and everything dies! Or you try telling our friends, they don’t believe us, and then everything dies. I’ve had combos so clear and so…” She sobbed and slumped against Rainbow Dash, who suddenly had to hold the pink mare up. “Don’t you understand? The bombs falling are the best chance for us. In two hundred years, there will be another chance for other ponies to do better. To make this world right again! LittlePip will be the first. Then Blackjack. Then others! It’s the
"因为我已经看到了如果我们尝试会发生什么!"鹏奇派痛苦地大叫起来。"我们被捕了，一切都死了！所有的一切！否则我们赢了，一切都完了！或者你试图告诉我们的朋友，他们不相信我们，然后一切都死了。她啜泣着，靠在彩虹·达什身上，彩虹突然不得不把那匹粉红色的母马扶起来。""你不明白吗？投下炸弹对我们来说是最好的机会。在两百年后，还会有另一个机会让其他小马做得更好。让这个世界恢复正常！小匹普将是第一个。然后是黑杰克。然后是其他人！这就是
slimmest of slim chances, but it’s the only chance there is. But I can’t do what needs to be done because I’ll be dead in Manehattan!” And to my horror, she started laughing so broken heartedly that I wanted to hold her.
机会微乎其微，但这是唯一的机会。但是我不能做需要做的事情，因为我会死在曼哈顿!"让我恐惧的是，她开始伤心地笑起来，我都想抱抱她了。
“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said as both slowly sank to the floor.
"小指头,"彩虹·达什说着，两人慢慢地沉到了地板上。
Pinkie Pie trembled in Rainbow Dash’s hooves. “I can’t wait for Pumpkin to take all this from me. I don’t want to know it. I don’t! But I do. My Pinkie Sense… I know! We’re going to die, or worse. And you know what? We deserve it! We do. The things we did for the stupid war. The ponies we’ve hurt. The zebras! Defeat would have been better! But it’s too late now. Too late for us. Too late for them. It’s going to take two centuries of death and misery as penance for what we’ve done. And for some of us, it’s going to take so very much more.” She sobbed and shook. “I wish it were a horrible joke… I want to say it’s all a big prank. Just a great big prank. But I can’t do it alone. I can’t! I need your help.”
小手指派在彩虹·达什的蹄子里颤抖。"我迫不及待地想让小南瓜把这一切从我身边夺走。我不想知道。我没有！但我知道。我的小手指感觉...我知道！我们会死，或者更糟。你知道吗？我们应得的！是的。我们为那场愚蠢的战争所做的一切。我们伤害的小马。斑马！失败会更好！但现在已经太晚了。对我们来说太晚了。对他们来说太晚了。这需要两个世纪的死亡和痛苦来弥补我们所做的一切。对于我们中的一些人来说，这需要付出更多的努力。"她抽泣着，颤抖着。"我希望这是一个可怕的玩笑......我想说，这一切都是一个大恶作剧。只是一个很大的恶作剧。但是我一个人做不到。我不能！我需要你的帮助。"
Rainbow Dash held her in her hooves and then closed her eyes. I wish I knew what she’d thought in that minute, before she opened them again. “Okay.”
彩虹·达什用蹄子抱住她，然后闭上了眼睛。我希望在她再次睁开眼睛之前，我能知道她当时在想什么。"好吧。"
Pinkie Pie gave a little hiccup before looking at her. For the first time, the mare’s eyes seemed to be returning to normal. “You’ll do it?”
小手指派在看她之前打了个嗝。这是第一次，母马的眼睛似乎恢复了正常。"你愿意吗?"
Rainbow Dash nodded, then said, “I’d really like to talk to Twilight about this. Or any of our friends. But you’re right. Twilight probably wouldn’t hear me out once I mentioned your name. Even the others might have trouble believing it.” She rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “I hate to admit, I have trouble wrapping my head around all this.”
彩虹·达什点点头，然后说:"我真的很想和《暮光之城》谈谈这件事。或者我们的朋友。但你是对的。暮光之城可能不会听我说完一旦我提到你的名字。即使是其他人也可能难以相信。"她用蹄子蹭自己的后脑勺。"我不得不承认，我很难理解这一切。"
“But you believe me, right?” Pinkie Pie asked.
"但是你相信我，对吗?"平奇·派问。
“I believe you, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash reassured her. “I may not understand you, but I believe you.” Rainbow Dash smiled and nudged her shoulder with a hoof. “Though I am going to try to make you wrong. No offense. At the very least, I’ll make sure the S.P.P. will be all set up and ready to go.” The aging blue pegasus sighed. “Honestly, I’m still gonna pretend that this is one huge prank. I’ll go cross-eyed otherwise.”
"我相信你，平奇,"彩虹·达什安慰她说。"我可能听不懂你的话，但我相信你。"彩虹·达什微笑着用蹄子推了推她的肩膀。"尽管我会试着让你错。无意冒犯。至少，我会确保s.p.p已经准备就绪，随时可以启动。"年迈的蓝色飞马叹了口气。"老实说，我还是会假装这只是个大恶作剧。否则我会斗鸡眼的。"
“In a way, it is. When you get all six, you need to take them to your ministry’s storage in Canterlot and make sure they’re well protected. And in two hundred
"在某种程度上，是的。当你得到所有的六个，你需要把他们带到你的部在Canterlot的仓库，并确保他们得到良好的保护。两百年后
years, if everything goes perfect, we’ll get a punchline that’ll fix the world,” Pinkie Pie said, smiling at her friend, and then she blinked. “Oh. And you’re going to have to copy the memory of me telling you all this, too. Put it in the vent behind cell twenty-one in Thunderhead.”
几年后，如果一切顺利的话，我们会得到一句妙语来修复这个世界,"平基·派说，微笑着看着她的朋友，然后眨了眨眼睛。"哦。你还要复制我告诉你这一切的记忆。把它放在雷头市21号牢房后面的通风口。"
“Um… do I want to ask why?” Rainbow Dash said warily.
"嗯......我能问问为什么吗?"彩虹·达什小心翼翼地说。
Pinkie Pie’s candycane mane was curling a little before Dash’s eyes as she smiled. “So I can tell Blackjack to remember what Lighthooves did to Glory.” Then she blinked. “Oh. I guess I just did.” She rubbed her eyes and looked away. “Dawn wasn’t lying, but just because somepony does something bad doesn’t mean they’ve stopped being your friend. And sometimes, if two babies are determined to fight, sometimes you have to take away what they’re fighting over. Oh. And congratulations,” she said, then shook her head. “I wish I could tell you about Horizons, Blackjack, but you’re going to find out soon enough… and...” she paused, her smile twitching a little before she said in a cracking voice, “I know you’ll pull through. I believe in you.” She shook her head once more, looking utterly exhausted and drained, but happy. “That’s enough. I need Pumpkin Cake.”
小粉红派的糖果鬃毛在达什的眼前微微卷曲，露出了微笑。"所以我可以告诉Blackjack记住lighthoves对Glory做了什么。"然后她眨了眨眼睛。"哦。我想我刚刚做到了。"她揉揉眼睛，转过脸去。"Dawn没有撒谎，但是一些小马做了坏事并不意味着它们不再是你的朋友了。有时候，如果两个孩子决定要吵架，有时候你不得不把他们吵架的东西拿走。哦。祝贺你,"她说，然后摇了摇头。"我希望我能告诉你关于地平线的事情，Blackjack，但是你很快就会知道的......而且......"她停顿了一下，微笑抽搐了一下，然后用一种破裂的声音说,"我知道你会度过难关的。"。我相信你。"她又摇了摇头，看上去精疲力尽，筋疲力尽，但很高兴。"够了。我需要南瓜蛋糕。"
“Pinkie, are you…” Rainbow started to ask as she held her up.
"平奇，你......"彩虹扶起她，问道。
“No. I’m not. But neither are you. But I will be. And so will you. And Twilight. And everypony. After all,” she said as the world started to blur away, “You’re my true, true friend.”
"没有。我没有。但你也不是。但我会的。你也是。还有《暮光之城》。还有每一匹小马。"毕竟,"当世界开始变得模糊时，她说,"你是我真正的、真正的朋友。"
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
When I came out of the memory, I felt like my brain had been tied into a timey wimey ball of wibbly wobbly stuff. Pinkie Pie had overdosed on PTMs and saw… me? LittlePip? Other heroes? How had she known those memories would help LittlePip? Why didn’t she tell me what Horizons was? Or which of my friends had betrayed me? Why hadn’t she marched up to Luna and told her what would happen in a month?
当我从记忆中醒来的时候，我感觉我的大脑被绑在一个时间不稳定的球里。平奇·派服用了过量的PTMs，然后看到了......我？小匹普？其他英雄？她怎么知道这些记忆会帮助小皮普？她为什么不告诉我地平线是什么？或者我的哪个朋友背叛了我？为什么她没有大步走向卢娜，告诉她一个月后会发生什么？
She’d believed the bombs were what they deserved, but everypony? Dash must have been a really good friend, because Pinkie sounded pretty crazy to me. I wondered just what she might have arranged before Rainbow Dash arrived. Memories sent out? Messages? All so that we could have a chance now to reverse the course set during that stupid war. I wondered if she might have made
她相信那些炸弹是他们应得的，但是每个小马？达什一定是个很好的朋友，因为小指在我听来很疯狂。我想知道在彩虹·达什到来之前她会安排些什么。送出的记忆？留言？这一切都是为了让我们现在有机会扭转在那场愚蠢的战争中所设定的路线。我不知道她是不是
suggestions to Scootaloo for certain ponies to go to certain stables.
建议斯库塔卢让某些小马去某些马厩。
Checkers vs. chess. I was hopeless at the latter, but I knew that sometimes in checkers, sometimes, if you were lucky and could get everything lined up, you could jump from square to square and sweep the board. I wasn’t sure if I felt uneasy or reassured that Pinkie Pie, of all ponies, was helping LittlePip and me two centuries later. Finally, I settled on reassured. No matter how unstable she’d appeared, she’d wanted to help. So, I’d take it however I could. If she didn’t tell me, it was because I either didn’t need to know, or she knew I’d find out eventually.
西洋跳棋vs国际象棋。我对后者是绝望的，但是我知道有时候在跳棋中，有时候，如果你足够幸运，能够把所有的棋子排列起来，你可以从一个方格跳到另一个方格，然后扫棋盘。我不确定自己是感到不安还是放心，两个世纪后，在所有的小马中，小指派帮助了小匹普和我。最后，我决定打消疑虑。不管她看起来多么不稳定，她都想帮忙。所以，我会尽我所能。如果她没有告诉我，那是因为我不需要知道，或者她知道我最终会发现。
Still, I really wish she’d mentioned what Goldenblood was up to.
尽管如此，我还是希望她能告诉我金血王想干什么。
The fact this orb was in the vent said that Rainbow Dash had done what she wanted. That was a leap of faith and friendship that staggered me. It would have been easy for Rainbow Dash to simply write off her friend as cracked. Heck, it would have been more rational than actually helping as she had. “Hey, Chicanery, guess what I just found out?” I said with a smile.
这个球在通风口的事实说明彩虹·达什已经做了她想做的事。这是一次信任和友谊的飞跃，让我感到震惊。对于彩虹·达什来说，简单地把她的朋友写成疯子是很容易的。见鬼，这样做比像她那样实际上帮助别人要理智得多。"嘿，伙计，猜猜我刚刚发现了什么?"我笑着说。
Silence. I frowned and rolled off the cot to peer through the vent. “Chicanery?” No response. “Oh, this can’t be good.” Then I looked over at the… powered-down energy field, and my eyes widened. A bloody heap lay in the doorway. “Definitely not good,” I said as I walked to the door and peeked out into the hallway. Down at the end of the hallway was a stallion lying in a pool of blood. A trail of bloody hoofprints led straight to my cell. I sighed, closed my eyes, and thumped my head against the wall. “I just got here. I wanted to catch a movie. Maybe listen to another concert. Why, for the love of Celestia, can’t I just have a little less blood in my day?”
沉默。我皱了皱眉头，从帆布床上滚下来，透过通风口窥视。"诈骗?"没有回应。"哦，这可不妙。"然后我看了看那个...断电的能量场，我的眼睛睁大了。门口躺着一堆血肉模糊的东西。"肯定不是什么好事,"我边说边走到门口，向外面的走廊偷看。走廊尽头有一匹种马躺在血泊中。一串血淋淋的蹄印直指我的牢房。我叹了口气，闭上眼睛，用头撞墙。"我刚到这儿。我想去看电影。也许再听一场音乐会。为什么，为了天堂的爱，我就不能少喝一点血吗?"
I stepped out into the hall and checked next door. “Boo?” I asked. She poked her head out from under the cot and rushed to me, hugging me fiercely. “It’s okay. Where’s Chicanery?” But she just cocked her head at me, and I sighed and looked around for myself. The other cell doors were off too, the rooms empty. Then I came to the last door. This one was metal, its surface bulged and buckled. ‘High Security’ was written across it, and I gave an experimental knock with my hoof.
我走进大厅，检查了一下隔壁。"嘘?"我问道。她从床底下探出头来，冲向我，紧紧地拥抱着我。"没关系。奇卡纳里在哪里?"但她只是向我昂起了头，我叹了口气，四处张望。其他牢房的门也关了，房间里空无一人。然后我来到最后一扇门。这是一个金属，它的表面膨胀和扣曲。上面写着"高度安全"，我用蹄子实验性地敲了敲门。
With a metallic shriek, the door fell right out of its frame and landed atop me with a clang. Then a pony stomped on the other side. “Lock me up, you sons of
随着一声金属般的尖叫，门从门框里掉了出来，当啷一声落在我身上。然后一匹小马在另一边跺脚。"把我关起来，你们这些狗娘养的
mules? I’ll kick all your asses! Your horses and camels too! Bring it on!” Rampage said from atop me, then continued in a slightly confused voice, “Hey. Where’d you go?”
骡子？我要踢烂你们的屁股！还有你的马和骆驼！来吧!"狂暴站在我身上说，然后用略带困惑的声音继续说道:"嘿。你去哪儿了?"
“I’m down here, Rampage,” I groaned from beneath the steel door.
"我在下面，狂暴,"我从铁门下呻吟着。
She lifted it with one rear hoof. “Oh, hey, Blackjack. What are you doing?” A heavy metal collar and shackles dangled chains from her neck and limbs. “Where is everypony?”
她用一只后蹄把它举起来。"哦，嘿，黑杰克。你在干什么?"一个沉重的金属项圈和脚镣吊在她的脖子和四肢上。"每匹小马都去哪儿了?"
“At this point, I have no idea,” I groaned, answering both her questions. She flipped the door up with a kick of her hoof and then jammed it back into the frame. “Where are the others?” I asked, sitting up.
"在这一点上，我不知道,"我呻吟着，回答着她的两个问题。她马蹄一踢，把门掀了起来，然后又把它塞回了门框里。"其他人呢?"我坐起来问道。
“Uh, no clue?” she asked with a little smirk. She trotted over to Boo and gave her a nudge. “Hey, Boo.” The pale mare gave a nervous, hesitant smile. “When I woke up, I was locked up. I figured if I just beat on the door long enough, somepony would come, and I could beat them up for answers. Or just beat them up. Or pulverize them into a fine red paint. That’d be good too.” She looked down the hall at the dead guard. “I see you had the same idea?”
"呃，不知道?"她带着一丝傻笑问道。她小跑过去，用肘轻推了一下布。"嘿，阿布。"苍白的母马紧张地、犹豫地笑了笑。"当我醒来的时候，我被锁起来了。我想，如果我在门上敲的时间足够长，就会有人来找我，我可以揍他们一顿，找到答案。或者干脆揍他们一顿。或者把它们磨成细小的红漆。那也不错。"她看着走廊尽头死去的警卫。"我看你也是这么想的吧?"
“That wasn’t me,” I replied with a frown as I stood. “They must have the others somewhere else.”
"那不是我,"我皱着眉头回答。"他们肯定把其他人关在别的地方。"
I walked slowly along the blood trail to where the guards lay in crushed heaps, something I would have done if my magic bullets didn’t kill them outright. No alarms, which was even more ominous. The first guard was armed only with a baton; it brought back memories as I took it. I followed the bloody hoofprints to a door wedged open by two more security ponies’ bodies. These were shot in the head by high-caliber bullets.
我慢慢地沿着血迹走到守卫们躺的地方，他们躺在一堆堆粉碎的尸体上，如果我的魔法子弹没有直接杀死他们的话，我会这么做的。没有警报，这更是不祥之兆。第一个警卫只带着一根警棍，我拿着它的时候，它勾起了我的回忆。我跟着血淋淋的蹄印来到一扇门前，门上又多了两具保安小马的尸体。这些子弹是被大口径子弹击中头部的。
On the far side, I saw why there weren’t any alarms going off. A security post lay on the far side of the door. Somepony had smashed through the reinforced glass… or transparent cloud... smashed one pony’s head into the console, and impaled the other’s throat on the shattered glass partition. The trail led to an access hatch, just beyond the security station, that had been beaten in. Down two halls to the left and right, I could see more active cells. Elevators were against the back wall.
在远处，我看到为什么没有任何警报响起。门的另一边有一根安全柱。有人把一匹小马的头撞进了控制台，另一匹小马的喉咙被碎玻璃隔板刺穿。这条小路通向一个入口，就在安全站的外面，这个入口在年被殴打过。沿着左右两个大厅，我可以看到更多活跃的细胞。电梯靠在后墙上。
“So, you’re sure you didn’t do this?” Rampage asked as we walked by the
"那么，你确定不是你干的?"当我们走过街道的时候，狂暴问道
security cell in the center, pointing with a hoof. It was reinforced plastic on three sides, with a locked door in the back. I guessed it controlled all these cells.
安全单元在中间，用蹄子指着。它的三面都是加固的塑料，后面有一扇锁着的门。我猜它控制了所有这些细胞。
“I am…” I paused. Well, I couldn’t say I was completely sure. I’d been taken over before, but I really hoped somepony else didn’t have the keys to my body. “I’m mostly sure.” She smirked and arched a skeptical brow. “Ninety percent.” Eighty-five percent sure… sureness levels dropping… “Right,” Rampage replied. “Then you need to bust that ten percent out more often,” she said as she shoved the body back into the security cell, hopped through the hole, and started to search it. I walked around to the door and twisted the deadbolt from the far side. Pegasus security really wasn’t much for unicorn abilities. She opened up a case with some emergency bandages and peered at a bottle of tablets. “‘Isosteroprophenhol’? ‘Buck’ is a lot easier to say. Ahhh!” She immediately beamed and extracted a second jar. “‘Precognazine’! Come to me, my minty beauties,” she said, shaking some into her mouth. After chewing and swallowing, she sighed, then looked at me as I examined the monitors for some sign of my friends. “Hey, Blackjack. Why haven’t you killed me yet?”
"我是......"我停顿了一下。我不能说我完全确定。我以前曾经被接管过，但我真的希望别的小马没有开启我身体的钥匙。"我非常肯定。"她得意地笑了笑，眉毛上露出怀疑的神色。"90%。"百分之八十五的确定...确定程度下降..."对,"狂暴回答。"那么你需要更经常地把那10%弄出来,"她一边说，一边把尸体推回安全牢房，跳进洞里，开始搜查。我绕到门边，从远处拧开门栓。帕伽索斯的安全系统对独角兽的能力不是很在行。她用急救绷带打开了一个箱子，看了看一瓶药片。"'Isosteroprophenhol'？'Buck'更容易说。啊!"她立刻露出笑容，拿出了第二个罐子。"'预知者'！"到我这儿来，我的薄荷味的美人儿,"她说着，把一些东西往嘴里抖了抖。在咀嚼和吞咽之后，她叹了口气，然后看着我，我检查着监视器，寻找我朋友的踪迹。"嘿，黑杰克。你为什么还不杀了我?"
The question was like a wrench thrown into my thought processes, and I froze in the act of pulling the smashed stallion off the controls. “You’re asking this now?”
这个问题就像一把扳手扔进了我的思维过程中，我在把那匹摔碎的种马从控制器上拉下来的时候僵住了。"你现在问这个?"
“There’s a better time?” Rampage asked idly. She had a point, but I avoided looking at her as I tried to figure out how to work the controls. “You know I want to die. You could have killed me with that Folly thing, but you didn’t.”
"还有更好的时机吗?"狂暴漫不经心地问道。她说的有道理，但是当我试图弄清楚如何操作控制器时，我尽量避免看着她。"你知道我想死。你本可以用那愚蠢的东西杀了我，但你没有。"
“I don’t generally kill my friends,” I replied.
"我一般不杀我的朋友,"我回答。
“Even when they want you to kill them?” she asked casually.
"即使他们想让你杀了他们?"她漫不经心地问。
“Especially then,” I answered.
"特别是那个时候,"我回答。
“I don’t ask for much, following you around. You saved me from a life of being a buffet. You’ve given me hope that maybe, somehow, things might be okay. But the fact is that, even if it is, I’m going to live while all of you die.”
"跟着你，我要求不多。你把我从自助餐的生活中拯救了出来。你给了我希望，也许，不管怎样，一切都会好起来的。但事实是，即使是这样，我也会活着，而你们都会死去。"
“I’m a cyberpony, Rampage. I might live centuries,” I said evenly.
"我是一匹赛博马，狂暴。我可能会活上几个世纪,"我平静地说。
“And this soul talisman might last millennia. Or longer,” she replied. “And you
"这个灵魂护身符可能会持续几千年。或者更久,"她回答。"还有你
might be killed in five minutes. You’re tough, but I haven’t seen you come back from being disintegrated. It’s practically a joke for me. But if you die… that’s it. I don’t think I can make it. When Lacunae bought it… I envy her so much that it hurts.” She turned away. “I don’t want to bury everypony I know.”
可能会在五分钟内被杀。你很坚强，但我还没看到你从崩溃中恢复过来。对我来说简直就是个笑话。但是如果你死了...就这样了。我想我来不了了。当Lacunae买下它的时候......我嫉妒得要命。"她转过身去。"我不想埋葬我认识的每一匹小马。"
I stared at the screens but didn’t really see them. “I thought that you were doing better with the recollector and those memories I’ve found.”
我盯着屏幕，但并没有真正看到它们。"我以为你在回忆录和我找到的那些记忆方面做得更好。"
“Oh, it’s interesting, I guess,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “But they’re still other ponies’ memories. Other ponies’ souls. I don’t have a single memory of a childhood that’s mine. I haven’t seen anything that indicates I’m more than a thing.”
"哦，我想这很有趣,"她转了转眼珠说。"但它们仍然是其他小马的记忆。其他小马的灵魂。我对自己的童年没有一点记忆。我没有看到任何表明我不仅仅是一个东西的东西。"
I paused, then told her, “I can’t kill you, Rampage.”
我停顿了一下，然后告诉她,"我不能杀了你，狂暴。"
“Horseapples. You kill better than I do, and I like it,” Rampage said to me flatly. “So I want to know, if you find a way to end me, will you tell me? Some spell. Some device. Something.” I looked over at her and saw in her eyes doubt and need. She needed something I couldn’t give. Even now, I wondered if the star sword could do it. It cut through almost everything else. Maybe one slice and she could live a normal pony’s life. Grow old. Die. Or it might kill her instantly.
"马苹果。你杀得比我好，我喜欢,"狂暴直截了当地对我说。""所以我想知道，如果你找到了结我的办法，你会告诉我吗？一些咒语。一些设备。一些东西。"我看着她，从她的眼睛里看到了怀疑和需要。她需要我给不了的东西。直到现在，我还在想星剑是否能做到这一点。它几乎切断了所有其他的东西。也许只要吃一片，她就能过上普通小马的生活。变老。去死吧。或者它可能会立即杀死她。
I slumped and sighed. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. She didn’t say a word as she turned away again. “I’ll help you any way I can, but that. I’ll help you find memories. I’ll be here for you and I swear to you that for as long as I can, I won’t leave you alone.”
我垂下头叹了口气。"对不起,"我平静地说。她再次转过身去，一句话也没说。"我会尽我所能帮助你，但是。我会帮你找回记忆。我会一直陪在你身边，我向你发誓，只要我还活着，我就不会离开你。"
“Mhmmm,” Rampage said indifferently as she trotted for the door. “Well, you were searching for the others, right? Better get to that,” she said coolly. “Wouldn’t want them to die or anything…”
"嗯......"朗格一边小跑一边冷淡地说。"好吧，你是在找其他人，对吧？最好赶紧去办,"她冷静地说。"我不希望他们死去或者怎样......"
I watched her step out, chains jingling. Then I laid one foreleg on the controls, buried my face in it, barely muffling my scream of frustration as I banged my hoof against the panels beside me. Why couldn’t Pinkie have told me more?
我看着她走出来，铁链叮当作响。然后我把一只前腿放在控制器上，把脸埋在里面，当我用蹄子猛撞我旁边的面板时，挫败的尖叫几乎没有减弱。为什么平奇不能告诉我更多？
Some answer to make things go smoothly. Just for once, with the lives of thousands on the line, I wanted them to go smoothly! Boo patted my shoulder; she’d seen the gesture enough that I supposed I should be glad she knew it.
有些答案可以让事情顺利进行。就这一次，成千上万的人命悬一线，我希望他们一切顺利！布拍了拍我的肩膀;她已经看到了足够的姿势，我想我应该庆幸她知道这一点。
“Who’s there?” P-21 said through a speaker. “What’s that banging noise?”
"谁在那儿?"P-21通过发言人说。"那砰砰的声音是什么?"
I looked up at a screen that showed four cells, and in one of them were P-21 and Scotch Tape. A red light next to the word ‘Intercom’ indicated that the cell’s speaker was on. I brightened, rising up, and the red light winked off. “Hu…bu… wa?” I stared at the bloody, banged up control panel before me, trying to find the ‘open’ button. What button had I pushed? Where had my hooves been? I watched the pair talking silently. When in doubt, push buttons! “Come on. Which one is it?”
我抬头看到屏幕上显示着四个细胞，其中一个是P-21和透明胶带。"对讲机"旁边的红灯指示手机扬声器开着。我高兴起来，红色的灯光熄灭了。"呼...不...哇?"我盯着面前那个血淋淋、撞得一塌糊涂的控制面板，试图找到那个"打开"按钮。我按了什么按钮？我的蹄子去哪儿了？我看着他们两个默默地交谈着。如果有疑问，就按按钮！"来吧。到底是哪一个?"
A green light appeared next to the word ‘mic’ on the screen, and I heard Scotch Tape say, “Don’t change the subject, Daddy. You were having sex with Blackjack and Glory during the Gala, weren’t you?”
屏幕上"mic"一词旁边出现了绿灯，我听到ScotchTape说,"爸爸，不要转移话题。你在庆祝会上和Blackjack和Glory做爱了，是不是?"
I froze. Suddenly, the concerns of tens of thousands of ponies seemed much less pressing. P-21 crossed his forehooves and looked away. “I think that I’m starting to get why Glory gets a headache when 99 and sex come up together.” Scotch Tape tapped her hoof impatiently, and he sighed. “I was drunk; first time ever. It was a one-time thing.”
我愣住了。突然之间，成千上万匹小马的担忧似乎不那么紧迫了。P-21跨过前蹄，看向别处。"我想我开始明白为什么99和性一起出现时晨辉会头疼了。"苏格兰胶带不耐烦地敲击着她的蹄子，他叹了口气。"我喝醉了，这是我第一次喝醉。这是一次性的事情。"
“You were drunk and happy, Daddy,” Scotch Tape retorted.
"你喝醉了，而且很高兴，爸爸,"透明胶带反驳道。
P-21 sighed and smiled. “Yeah. I was. Happier than I’ve been in a long time.” I felt strange fluttery feelings that had no place in a cybernetic body.
P-21叹了口气，笑了笑。"是的。是的。比以往任何时候都快乐。"我感到一种奇怪的颤抖的感觉，这种感觉在一个控制论的身体里是没有位置的。
“Do you love Blackjack?” Scotch Tape asked.
"你喜欢黑杰克吗?"透明胶带问道。
I leaned towards the screen a little, my eyes wide.
我向屏幕微微倾斜，眼睛睁得大大的。
Then my hoof slipped and the green light winked out as his lips started to move. Something in me snapped as I shouted “Arrrgh! Stupid, frigging blood-covered buttons!” I mashed the control panel ruthlessly. I glanced up in time to see Scotch Tape cover her mouth in shock, and then I punched the control panel even harder. I needed to hear his answer. The control panel was nearly smashed to scrap as I snarled, “Turn on! Turn on! I need to hear what he says!”
然后我的蹄子滑了一下，绿光随着他的嘴唇开始动而闪烁。当我大叫"啊！该死的血淋淋的纽扣!"我狠狠地捣碎了控制面板。我及时抬起头，看到苏格兰胶带封住她的嘴，她震惊了，然后我用力地打了控制面板。我需要听到他的回答。当我咆哮道:"打开！打开！我需要听听他说什么!"
“Detention Block AA-23? What’s your status?” an angry, official-sounding pony asked tensely. “You’re five minutes late for your check in.”
"AA-23号拘留区？你的情况如何?"一只愤怒的、官方口音的小马紧张地问。"你已经迟到五分钟了。"
Not the channel I’d hoped for. “I… uh…” I stared at the bodies. “There was a… a weapons malfunction! Yes, slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything is perfectly alright now. I’m fine. We’re all fine here, thank you,” I said, and then
不是我想要的频道。"我.....。."呃......"我盯着尸体。"有一个。.武器故障！是的，轻微的武器故障。但是现在一切都很好。我没事。我们在这里都很好，谢谢你,"我说，然后
added lamely, “How are you?”
一瘸一拐地补充说,"你好吗?"
“We’re sending a squad in,” the pony said peremptorily.
"我们要派一个小队过去,"小马坚决地说。
Oh crap. What’s something that’d keep me out in 99? “No no no, don’t do that. We had a… reactor leak up here! Yeah! Radiation everywhere! Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak. Very dangerous,” I said desperately, willing them to believe it.
哦，糟糕。什么东西能让我在99分钟内出局？""不，不，不，不要那样做。我们有一个。.反应堆泄漏了！耶！到处都是辐射！给我们几分钟封锁现场。大量泄漏。非常危险,"我绝望地说，希望他们相信这一点。
“Reactor? What are you talking about? Who is this? What’s your operating number?” the pony demanded.
"反应堆？你在说什么？你是谁？你的营业电话是多少?"小马问道。
I looked at the controls and finally just stomped them as hard as I could repeatedly, showering myself in sparks. Boo staggered back and hit a pair of large red buttons marked ‘fire’ and ‘emergency release’. “Boring conversation anyway.” I turned to the door. “Rampage! We’re going to have company!” An alarm began to sound and I saw the magical fields on the screen wink off one by one.
我看着控制器，最后用尽全力反复踩踏它们，让自己沐浴在火花中。Boo摇摇晃晃地退后，击中了一对标有"着火"和"紧急释放"的红色大按钮。"无聊的谈话。"我转向门口。"横冲直撞！我们要有客人了!"警报开始响起，我看到屏幕上的魔法领域一个接一个地消失了。
“Good,” Rampage said, then started taking tablets of Buck. “I’m in the perfect mood for company.” Okay, I’d better hurry and get her out of here before she painted the walls in pony.
"很好,"狂暴说，然后开始服用巴克的药片。"我现在心情很好，有人陪伴。"好吧，我最好在她刷墙之前赶紧把她弄出去。
A young stallion jumped out as I trotted to the left hallway. “Oh yeah! Riot! Ri--” And he froze at the sight of me. A few other criminals emerged too, only to balk at the bloody cyberpony before them. “Oh shit…”
当我小跑到左边走廊时，一匹年轻的种马跳了出来。"哦，是的！暴动！"他一看见我就愣住了。其他一些犯罪分子也浮出水面，只是对面前那匹血淋淋的赛伯马望而却步。"哦，该死......"
“Yeah. It’s that kind of day,” I replied. “Back in your cells. There’s no fire.”
"是的。就是那种日子,"我回答。"回到你们的牢房。没有火。"
A few of them looked around. “Aw, come on, I was--” he started to say.
他们中的一些人环顾四周。"噢，别这样，我——"他开始说。
“Nope! Not hearing it! Back in your cells and behave.” He opened his mouth again, and I silenced him with a raised hoof. “Any other day, I’m sure your sob story would convince me to let you go, but right now I am just not in the mood. Besides, there’s a squad coming. I doubt you want to run into them.” Or Rampage. “So, in your cells. Now.”
"没有！没听见！回到你们的牢房，乖乖听话。"他又张开了嘴，我抬起蹄子让他安静了下来。"任何一天，我肯定你的悲惨故事会说服我让你走，但是现在我没有心情。另外，还有一个小队要来。我怀疑你不想碰到他们。"或者狂暴。"那么，在你们的牢房里。现在。"
Muttering, they returned. “Boo? Blackjack!” Scotch Tape squealed from behind me. The pair raced down from the other hall of cells, the filly almost tackling me. Then she realized what I was covered in. “Ew… Blackjack…”
他们咕哝着回来了。"嘘？黑杰克!"透明胶带在我身后吱吱作响。两人从另一间牢房里跑了下来，那匹小母马几乎把我扑倒在地。然后她意识到我穿的是什么。"呃...黑杰克..."
“You’ve been busy,” P-21 said casually, looking over the mess.
"你一直很忙,"P-21漫不经心地说，看着一片狼藉。
“I didn’t--” I started to say, when there was a ping from the elevator. “Get out! Follow the blood,” I yelled as two elevators opened almost simultaneously. A pair of ponies in power armor stood in each, their beam weapons humming as they charged up. Their first mistake.
"我没有——"我开始说，这时电梯响了一声。"滚出去！跟着血迹走。"两部电梯几乎同时开启，我喊道。一对穿着强力盔甲的小马站在每一个里面，它们的光束武器在它们充电的时候嗡嗡作响。他们犯的第一个错误。
“On the floor! Now!” they bellowed. Their second mistake. Granted, I was already interposed between the elevators and P-21 and Scotch and Boo as they raced for the open access hatch.
"趴在地上！现在!"他们咆哮着。他们的第二个错误。当然，当P-21和Scotch和Boo冲向开放通道舱口时，我已经被安排在电梯和他们之间。
Rampage stood before one elevator, completely unarmed save for her shackles. She tilted her head and gave an almost blissful smile, Buck dust around her lips. “You guys are exactly what I need right now,” the striped mare said in a voice approaching seductive. The two armored ponies looked at each other. Their final mistake. The striped mare leapt the ten feet separating them, landing in the elevator. Beam blasts sizzled as the doors closed, but I could hear the smash of metal against metal and the screams of pain.
横冲直撞的人站在一部电梯前，手无寸铁，只戴着手铐。她歪着头，露出几乎是幸福的微笑，巴克在她的嘴唇上抹了一层灰。"你们正是我现在所需要的,"那匹斑马用一种近乎诱惑的声音说。两匹披着盔甲的小马彼此对视着。他们最后的错误。条纹母马跃过离他们十英尺的地方，降落在电梯里。随着门的关闭，激光束发出嘶嘶声，但我能听到金属撞击金属的声音和痛苦的尖叫声。
The other pair had a perfect view of the three of us dashing for the open door with no cover. I couldn’t think of anything to protect us except... my horn flashed, and a door and frame appeared in the air before them. Then it swung shut in their faces with a slam as we scrambled for the open portal. An instant later, gatling beams blasted the flimsy impediment into flaming shards of wood, but it had served its purpose. We got through the access door before their gatling beam guns turned us into four piles of glowing ash. I slammed my hooves against the door, shoving it closed.
另外一对拍到了我们三个人没有掩护地冲向敞开的大门的完美景象。我想不出任何东西来保护我们，除了......我的喇叭闪了一下，一扇门和门框出现在他们面前。然后，当我们争先恐后地向开放的传送门爬去时，它砰地一声关上了他们的脸。过了一会儿，格林机关枪的横梁把这个薄薄的障碍物炸成了燃烧的木片，但它已经达到了它的目的。我们穿过入口，他们的加特林机关枪把我们变成了四堆发光的灰烬。我的蹄子砰地一声撞在门上，关上了门。
“I hope Rampage will be okay,” Scotch Tape said. The access door led to a dimly-lit spiral staircase. The trail of blood led up. Down was a locked grate that I probably could have chewed through if we didn’t have power armor banging on the other side of the door. I smashed the keypad beside the door; hopefully that would slow them down.
"我希望狂暴会平安无事,"ScotchTape说。出入口通向一个光线昏暗的螺旋楼梯。血迹向上延伸。下面是一个锁着的栅栏，如果没有强力装甲在门的另一边砰砰作响的话，我可能已经把它咬穿了。我砸碎了门边的键盘，希望这能让他们慢下来。
“She’ll be fine. I’m more worried about Glory.” Actually, I was also worried for us. Whoever had left this trail of blood couldn’t have meant me any good. “Up, I guess,” I said, glancing at the others. My eyes met P-21’s, and I immediately flushed. “Oh... uh... I...” Huh. I could blurt out questions about bowel movements and make casual comments about sex that curled Glory’s feathers,
"她会没事的。我更担心晨辉。"事实上，我也很担心我们。不管是谁留下了这条血迹，对我来说都不是什么好事。"上去，我猜,"我说，瞥了一眼其他人。我的目光遇到了P-21，我马上满脸通红。"哦...呃...我..。。」哈。我可以脱口而出关于排便的问题，随意地评论性，这让晨辉的羽毛卷曲,
but the simple question about how he’d answered Scotch Tape turned my tongue to clay. “Um… It’s good to see you, P-21.”
但是关于他如何回答透明胶带这个简单的问题使我的舌头变成了粘土。"嗯......很高兴见到你，P-21。"
He blinked back. “Likewise?” The door beside us banged loudly. “Shouldn’t we get moving?”
他眨了眨眼睛。"彼此彼此?"我们旁边的门砰地一声关上了。"我们是不是该走了?"
I looked from him to the door to Scotch Tape to Boo and finally just gave up. “Today just keeps getting better...” I muttered, taking the lead up the stairs. The twisting ascent would be a bitch for them to navigate in power armor. And up. And up. And up.
我把目光从他身上转向门口的透明胶带，最后还是放弃了。"今天真是越来越好了......"我咕哝着，带头走上楼梯。对于他们来说，穿着动力盔甲上升会是一件麻烦事。起来。起来。起来。
Every twenty feet was another access door, each with the access panels smashed.
每隔二十英尺就有一扇门，每扇门的门板都被砸碎了。
“Odd,” P-21 observed.
"奇怪,"P-21观察到。
“That describes my entire day,” I said, then went through and told them about Dawn, Stratus, the Pinkie Pie orb, and how I’d ‘escaped’ from my cell. I was so occupied with telling them everything that had happened, minus the little scene I’d overheard, that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. We came around a corner just in time to run smack into a power-armored pegasus next to a cut-open door.
"这就描述了我一整天的生活,"我说，然后走过去告诉他们黎明，斯特拉图斯，小手指馅饼球，以及我如何'逃离'我的牢房。我全神贯注地告诉他们所发生的一切，除了我无意中听到的那个小插曲，我没有注意到我要去哪里。我们来到了一个拐角处，正好撞上了一辆装甲车上的飞马，旁边是一扇被切开的门。
Her gatling beam guns opened up in a spray of magical fire that sizzled and sparked off the walls and ceiling. I couldn’t even poke my head up long enough to try a magical bullet. “I’ve got them! They’re pinned at access junction 12! Hur--” she started to shout.
她的格林机枪射出魔法火焰，嘶嘶作响，照亮了墙壁和天花板。我甚至无法抬起头来尝试魔法子弹。"我抓住他们了！他们被困在12号交叉口！嗯——"她开始大喊。
I teleported directly above her, landing like a ton of cyberpony. Her armor still stood, but her shooting went wild. The stinger tail jabbed down at me, nearly ripping open my back as I slowed the tip with my telekinesis, then grabbed the end and hugged it tight. My hind legs pinned her wings to her side, but that didn’t stop her from going into a bucking bronco of gunfire as her tail twisted like a snake. “Stop,” I shouted, my horn sending a magic bullet into the back of her head. “Stop!” I shouted again, shooting her. Each blast widened a hole in her helmet as she screamed and struggled. “Damn it! Stop it!” Two more shots.
我瞬移到她的正上方，像一吨赛博马一样着陆。她的盔甲仍然坚固，但她的射击变得疯狂。我用心灵遥感减慢了尾巴尖的速度，尾巴猛地向下戳了我一下，几乎把我的后背撕裂开来，然后抓住尾巴的一端紧紧地抱住它。我的后腿把它的翅膀固定在身体一侧，但是这并没有阻止它像蛇一样扭动着尾巴，进入一群猛烈的炮火中。"住手,"我喊道，我的号角向她的后脑勺发射了一颗神奇的子弹。"住手!"我又喊了一声，朝她开了枪。每次爆炸都在她的头盔上扩大一个洞，她尖叫着，挣扎着。"该死！住手!"再来两杯。
Suddenly her body spasmed and she collapsed beneath me. “No...” I pulled off her helmet, revealing a rose colored mare with blood coming out her ears. I concentrated, trying to heal her as Lacunae had healed me. I could do it! I’d done magic with minimal instruction. I was Twilight’s descendant! I could do it! I strained and pushed and envisioned her without the blood or the hole I’d
突然她的身体抽搐了一下，倒在了我的身下。"不......"我摘下她的头盔，露出一匹玫瑰色的母马，血从她的耳朵里流出来。我全神贯注，试图治愈她，就像空隙治愈了我一样。我能做到！我只用了很少的指令就施展了魔法。我是暮光之城的后裔！我能做到！我紧张地推着她，想象着她没有血也没有洞的样子
punched in her head.
在她头上打了一拳。
“Blackjack, she’s dead,” P-21 said.
"黑杰克，她死了,"P-21说。
“No! I can... I have to... I...” I faltered, staring down at her. “I came here to save ponies, damn it! I wanted to save all of you!” I shouted at her corpse. I wanted to save Thunderhead from the Wasteland. Help it grow. Help civilization to spread. “Why won’t you let me help you? Just stop fighting me!”
"不！我能...我必须...我..。。」我颤抖着，低头看着她。"我是来拯救小马的，该死的！我想救你们所有人!"我对着她的尸体大喊。我想从荒原拯救雷霆。帮助它成长。帮助文明传播。"你为什么不让我帮你？别再反抗我了!"
“Blackjack,” P-21 said calmly. “We can’t stay here.”
"黑杰克,"P-21平静地说。"我们不能呆在这里。"
I knew what he meant, but he was more right than he knew. “Come on,” I said as I rose to my hooves, looking up the spiral stair. “Let’s see where this trail of blood ends.”
我知道他的意思，但是他说的比他知道的更对。"来吧,"我一边说，一边站起来，抬头看着螺旋楼梯。"让我们看看这条血迹到哪里为止。"
* * *
* * *
Five minutes later, we emerged in an office. The beige walls were a hint to its bureaucratic nature, and the body of a slain secretary outside the door was a continuation of the carnage. Her corpse was still warm; whoever had done this hadn’t gotten far. I avoided looking at the smashed head; it was too similar to the body I’d left below. I stepped into the hall, but it was eerily silent. Unanswered phones rang, and an alarm sounded. Two more ponies lay in crumpled piles down the hall. Had the survivors been evacuated, or had whoever had done this slaughtered them all before they could flee?
五分钟后，我们来到一间办公室。米黄色的墙壁暗示着它的官僚主义性质，门外被杀害的秘书的尸体是这场大屠杀的延续。她的尸体还是热乎乎的，不管是谁干的，都没走多远。我避免去看那个被砸烂的脑袋，因为它和我留在下面的尸体太相似了。我走进大厅，但是那里出奇地安静。无人接听的电话响了，警报响了。另外两匹小马躺在大厅里，堆得皱巴巴的。幸存者是否已经被疏散，还是在他们逃离之前就被杀害了？
I followed the bloody hoofprints, adding my own to them as we walked along towards a corner office. These were pretty fancy, important offices, and I began to get an inkling of my final destination. There were unarmored security ponies lying outside the door, bullet holes in their faces. I closed my eyes a moment, then read the blood-spattered nameplate.
我跟着血淋淋的马蹄印，走向一间转角的办公室，把我自己的也加了进去。这些办公室都非常豪华、非常重要，我开始对自己的最终目的地略知一二。门外有几匹没有装甲的保安小马，脸上都是弹孔。我闭上眼睛一会儿，然后看了看溅满鲜血的铭牌。
‘Security Director Stratus’.
安全主管Stratus。
“Oh, son of a mule,” I hissed, then slowly pushed open the door to the large office.
"哦，骡子的儿子,"我嘶嘶地说，然后慢慢地推开大办公室的门。
An impressive oak desk sat at one end, the kind of desk used by ponies who valued their position. Stratus’s voice filled the air from a scratchy recording coming from a terminal. “...weapon is complete. Stargazer isn’t going to be an
一端摆放着一张令人印象深刻的橡木桌子，这种桌子是那些珍视自己地位的小马所使用的。从一个终端发出的沙哑的录音中，空气中充满了斯特拉图斯的声音。"...武器完成。观星镜不会成为一个
issue, as she was tragically killed by the surfacer terrorist Blackjack. I’m securing the city. When you get here, there shouldn’t be any excuse for securing the Tower. I look forward to your reply and hope you will keep my cooperation in mind when appointing the next Councilor to Thunderhead. I believe I’ve demonstrated my loyalty. End burst transmission. Send. Save.”
因为她被地面恐怖分子Blackjack不幸杀害。我在保卫这座城市。当你到达这里的时候，不应该有任何借口来保卫伦敦塔。我期待着您的答复，并希望您在任命下一任雷锋镇议员时铭记我的合作。我相信我已经证明了我的忠诚。端点突发传输。发送。拯救。"
Bent over the desk, his hooves splayed wide, was a dark stallion. His face had frozen in an expression of shock, as if he couldn’t believe it had come to this. Buried in his back was a very familiar sword: mine. Duty and Sacrifice lay neatly on the table beside him. A shattered window lay behind him. I glanced over the scattered papers on his desk and spotted a picture next to his outstretched hoof. It was a grainy, slightly amberish-tinted image of four dark-colored pegasi: Sky Striker, Stratus, Stargazer, and the squinty-eyed Dawn.
他弯腰伏在桌子上，四蹄张开，是一匹黑色的种马。他的脸冻结在一种震惊的表情，好像他不能相信它已经到了这一步。在他的背后有一把非常熟悉的剑:我的剑。责任和牺牲精神整齐地摆在他旁边的桌子上。他身后有一扇破碎的窗户。我扫视了一下他桌上散乱的文件，发现他伸出的蹄子旁边有一张照片。这是一个颗粒状，略带琥珀色的影像，显示了四个深色飞马:天空冲锋者、层云、观星者和斜视眼的黎明。
Suddenly, that explained his perfect timing at Dawn’s house.
突然之间，这就解释了他在道恩家出现的完美时机。
“Begin Burst Transmission. Councilor Ironwing. I wish to offer my condolences for the death of High General Harbinger. I hope that the GPE selects a deserving and visionary pony such as yourself to lead us in these difficult times. I wish to report that Thunderhead is ripe for plucking. I’ve been able to arrange things, and your pretext is in position. The bio-weapon is complete. Stargazer isn’t going to be an issue...” the terminal repeated as I slowly walked up and retrieved my guns.
开始脉冲传输。铁翼议员。我谨对高将军先生的逝世表示哀悼。我希望GPE选择一匹值得和有远见的小马，就像你一样，在这些困难时期领导我们。我想告诉大家，雷头公司已经成熟可以采摘了。我已经安排好了，你的借口已经准备好了。生化武器完成了。观星镜不会成为一个问题......"终端重复着，我慢慢走上前去取回我的枪。
Suddenly, his body jerked, and he drew a wet and rasping breath. His bulging eyes turned in his head to stare up at me. “You... it’s...”
突然，他的身体抽搐了一下，吸了一口湿气，发出刺耳的声音。他鼓起的眼睛转过头来盯着我。"你......这......"
“Don’t move!” I said as I looked at the sword and then at him. If I pulled the sword out... “Go find a medical kit or something,” I said to P-21 and Scotch. The two immediately rushed off to search as I lowered my face to his. “Where’s Glory?”
"别动!"我边说边看着那把剑，然后又看着他。如果我把剑拔出来......"去找个医药箱什么的,"我对P-21和苏格兰人说。当我把脸低向他的时候，他们两个立刻冲出去寻找。"晨辉在哪里?"
“The clone? I gave her to the Enclave military. They should have a press conference any second now. Should cause quite a stir...” He laughed weakly. “She was my golden ticket...”
"克隆人？我把她交给了昂科雷军队。他们随时都可能召开新闻发布会。应该会引起不小的轰动......"他虚弱地笑了笑。"她是我的金票......"
I resisted the urge to hit the dying stallion. “Who did this to you? Was it Dawn?”
我抑制住了去打那匹垂死的种马的冲动。"谁把你弄成这样的？是道恩吗?"
Stratus coughed, breathing heavily. “Dawn. I thought... she was so perfect... get that damned bleeding heart out of the way...” Blood bubbled out his mouth.
层云咳嗽着，喘着粗气。"黎明。我认为......她是如此完美......把那颗该死的流血的心移开......"血从他的嘴里冒了出来。
“She... she wanted to help. Kill Stargazer. Take you. Hand over everypony to the Enclave and... and I’m the next councilor. It was perfect,” he gurgled, then shuddered and coughed a fan of crimson.
"她...她想帮忙。杀死观星者。带你去。把每匹小马都交给昂科雷...我就是下一任议员。太完美了,"他咯咯地笑着，然后打了个寒战，咳出了一个深红色的扇子。
“Who did this?” I asked again. “Lighthooves?”
"这是谁干的?"我又问了一遍。"灯塔?"
I was losing him. His eyes were defocusing. “Lighthooves. So eager. So devoted. So stupid. He didn’t realize... nopony did...” He spasmed and lunged for me. “It... it should have been... me!” he gasped into my face before convulsing and falling over. He gurgled one last bloody breath and went still.
我正在失去他。他的眼睛失去了焦点。"轻舟号。如此渴望。如此投入。太蠢了。他没有意识到......小马没有......"他抽搐着扑向我。"应该......应该是......我!"他对着我的脸大口喘气，然后抽搐，摔倒在地。他咯咯地吐出最后一口血，一动不动地走了。
I levitated my sword out of his back. It still had a tiny identification tag tied to the hilt. I walked to the broken window and looked out at the bright lights of the city.
我把我的剑从他的背上飘了出来。刀柄上还系着一个小小的识别标签。我走向破碎的窗户，望着城市里明亮的灯光。
I’d been wrong.
我错了。
We hadn’t left the Wasteland after all. The scheming, the manipulation, the avarice, and the ruthless ambition that plagued Hoofington below were up here as well. It might not have been ponies killing each other in the streets, but there was still the Hoofington madness above as there was below. Chicanery and Lighthooves. Doctor Morningstar. Stratus.
我们根本没有离开荒原。阴谋、操纵、贪婪和残忍的野心一直困扰着胡芬顿，在这里也是如此。也许不是小马在街上互相残杀，但是上面和下面仍然有胡芬顿式的疯狂。菊苣和轻舟。晨星医生。层云。
From down the hall came the stomping of many hooves. Scotch Tape let out a shriek a moment before P-21 yelled, “Blackja--” followed by a loud thump.
从大厅下面传来了许多蹄子的跺脚声。苏格兰录音带发出一声尖叫，然后P-21大喊"黑子"，接着是一声巨响。
I stood there with sword and pistols as power-armored pegasi stormed into his office. More appeared outside the window. These were the old designs. Neighvarro forces. I closed my eyes and groaned.
我拿着剑和手枪站在那里，看着身穿强力装甲的飞马冲进他的办公室。更多的人出现在窗外。这些都是旧的设计。邻里势力。我闭上眼睛，呻吟着。
“Well well well,” Captain Hoarfrost said from the door. “Isn’t this interesting?”
"好，好，好,"霍尔弗罗斯特船长在门口说。"这难道不有趣吗?"
“You have got to be kidding me!” I shouted up at the ceiling. “Twice? Getting set up once by Stratus wasn’t bad enough, I have to get set up twice?” I looked at the icy blue pegasus, who seemed a little baffled and unsure by my outburst. “Let me guess? I’m now the perfect patsy to pin all this on, right? Am I right?” Then I threw my weapons aside. “Congratulations. You win.”
"你开什么玩笑!"我对着天花板大喊大叫。""两次？被斯特拉图斯陷害一次还不够糟，我还要被陷害两次?"我看着冰冷的蓝色飞马，它似乎对我的爆发感到有点困惑和不确定。"让我猜猜？我现在是最好的替罪羊了，对吧？我说的对吗?"然后我把我的武器扔在一边。"祝贺你。你赢了。"
“I... what?” Hoarfrost said, the cool blue mare now definitely not sure what I was doing.
"我.....。.什么?"霍尔弗罗斯特说，凉爽的蓝色母马现在肯定不知道我在做什么。
“You win! I surrender. I mean, Stratus sets me up. Then Lighthooves sets me up. Now you!” I said as I thrust my hooves into the air. “So you know what? I’m not going to fight it any more. Huzzah. Congratulations. Take me in. I want to talk to General Storm Chaser about this.”
"你赢了！我投降。我是说，斯特拉图斯陷害了我。然后，光芒刺激了我。该你了!"我一边说，一边把蹄子伸向空中。"那么，你知道吗？我不会再反抗了。万岁。恭喜你。带我进去。我想和风暴追逐者将军谈谈这件事。"
Hoarfrost scowled at me narrowly. “No, I don’t think so. Kill her.”
白霜紧紧地盯着我。"不，我不这么认为。杀了她。"
Okay. That wasn’t quite what I’d expected.
好吧。这并不是我所期待的。
Twenty power-armored soldiers all primed their weapons with the same ominous hum. Surrounded. Even if they hit each other, I’d be ash long before they were. And if I teleported away and left my friends in Hoarfrost’s custody... would they be next? Probably.
二十名强力装甲士兵的武器都发出同样的不祥的嗡嗡声。被包围了。即使他们互相攻击，我也会在他们之前就化为灰烬。如果我瞬移走了把我的朋友们留在Hoarfrost...他们会是下一个吗？可能吧。
Then one second passed. Then ten. Hoarfrost frowned. “What are you waiting for? Open fire!”
然后一秒钟过去了。然后是10。白霜皱起了眉头。"你还在等什么？开火!"
From inside the helmet of one suit of armor came a muffled, “I can’t!”
从一件盔甲的头盔里传来一个低沉的声音:"我不能!"
“What do you mean you can’t?” Hoarfrost asked coldly. “Fire. Last thing I want is General Chaser to waste more time with this terrorist.”
"你说不能是什么意思?"霍尔弗罗斯特冷冷地问。"火。我最不希望的就是追击者将军在这个恐怖分子身上浪费更多的时间。"
“My suit’s in repair and diagnostic mode!” wailed a stallion.
"我的宇航服正在维修和诊断模式中!"哀号着一匹种马。
There were more muted shouts of dismay from the others.
其他人发出了更多的无声的惊愕的叫喊。
I looked at Hoarfrost, and her eyes widened. She reached down to the beam pistol in her front holster with her mouth. I could have killed her four different ways. I could have levitated up the sword and sliced her head off. Duty and Sacrifice were nearby, too, though I wasn’t sure if they were loaded. I could have managed at least one magic bullet to her face. Or simply smashed her with my hooves.
我看着霍尔弗罗斯特，她的眼睛睁得大大的。她用嘴把手伸向前枪套里的平底手枪。我可以用四种不同的方式杀了她。我本可以把剑悬浮起来，把她的头割下来。责任和牺牲也在附近，虽然我不确定他们是否装载。我至少可以在她脸上开一枪。或者干脆用我的蹄子砸碎她。
Instead, my horn glowed, and a door instantly poofed into existence right in front of her. Then it slammed shut in her face with a resounding bang. I opened it again, saw her swaying with a mildly concussed expression, her gun held limply in her mouth, telekinetically pulled her head forward, and slammed the door closed a second time. Hoarfrost thumped to the ground behind it.
相反，我的喇叭发出光芒，一扇门立刻在她面前噗的一声变成了现实。然后它砰的一声关上了她的脸。我再次打开它，看到她摇摆着轻微的脑震荡表情，她的枪在她的嘴里无力举行，心灵感应把她的头往前拉，砰的一声关上了门第二次。白霜重重地砸在它身后的地上。
I was wrong. That was a useful spell of Twilight’s.
我错了。这是《暮光之城》的一个有用的魔法。
Scotch Tape walked in, staring at the immobile ponies with clear wariness as the occupants within the motionless armor grunted. “Wow. How’d you do that, Blackjack?” Boo followed her in, walking among the black metal statues.
苏格兰胶布走了进来，带着明显的警惕注视着那些不能动弹的小马，装甲车里的人咕哝着。"哇。你怎么做到的，黑杰克?"布跟着她走了进去，在黑色的金属雕像中间走着。
“I didn’t,” I replied. P-21 entered with Rampage following behind, the Reaper lacking the chains and wearing the top half of a power armor helmet like a hat. I didn’t want to think about what happened to the head that had been in that helmet. “You’re okay!” I said to her, giving her a hug. She didn’t quite return it...
"我没有,"我回答。P-21进入后随着狂暴跟在后面，收割者没有链子，戴着像帽子一样的动力盔甲头盔的上半部分。我不想去想那个头盔里的头发生了什么。"你没事!"我对她说，给她一个拥抱。她没有归还。
P-21 was carrying all our stuff on his back. He started passing it back, telling Scotch something about finding the evidence locker just before the soldiers arrived. I admit, the return of those six figurines helped settle the imaginary ponies in my head. I could almost hear them sigh in relief.
P-21把我们所有的东西都背在背上。他开始把它递还给苏格兰人，在士兵到达之前告诉他一些关于找到证物柜的事情。我承认，那六个小雕像的归还帮助我解决了脑子里想象中的小马驹。我几乎可以听到他们松了一口气。
“Yup. Still alive,” she said coolly as she looked at the power-armor-clad ponies and then smacked her hooves together. “Shall I start smashing the ones on the left while you get the ones on the right?” she asked as she rubbed her hooves.
"是的。"还活着,"她看着那些穿着电动盔甲的小马，冷冷地说，然后用蹄子敲了敲。"要不要我开始砸左边的，你砸右边的?"她一边搓着蹄子一边问。
“What? No!” I retorted. “I’m trying to find a way to stop this mess, Rampage. Not add to it!”
"什么？不!"我反驳道。"我正在想办法阻止这场混乱，狂暴。不要再增加了!"
“You need to think like a Wastelander here, Blackjack, not a stable pony or cloud dweller,” Rampage replied. “You have side A and side B. You don’t want them to fight each other and hurt the sane ponies that don’t want to be involved, right? So kill a side. Hell, kill both sides! Then we can set you up as ruler of Thunderhead, Glory can be your lovely concubine, P-21 your master of intelligence, and me your brutal enforcer. It’ll be a blast.” She grinned as she spread her hooves wide.
"你需要像一个浪子一样思考，黑杰克，而不是一匹马驹或云端居民,"狂暴回答。"你有a面和b面。你不希望他们互相争斗，伤害那些不想参与的理智的小马，对吗？所以杀死一方。见鬼，杀死双方！然后我们可以让你成为雷暴君的统治者，晨辉可以成为你可爱的妃子，P-21是你智慧的主人，而我是你残酷的执行者。这将是一场狂欢。"她咧嘴笑着，把蹄子张开。
“What would Boo and I do?” Scotch Tape asked curiously as I tried to pointedly ignore Rampage’s advice.
"我和布会怎么做?"苏格兰胶带好奇地问道，我故意不理会狂暴的建议。
“Boo can be public relations. Anypony we don’t want to kill who has a problem can take it up with her. As for you...” Rampage paused and rubbed her chin. “You’ll be the young lieutenant who devises all the war machines we’ll need to maintain our empire.”
"Boo可以是公共关系。任何小马，我们不想杀谁有问题可以采取与她。至于你......"狂暴停顿了一下，摩挲着下巴。"你将成为一名年轻的中尉，为维护我们的帝国设计所需的所有战争机器。"
“Cool! I’m in,” Scotch Tape said with a grin.
"酷！我加入,"苏格兰胶带笑着说。
“Please stop corrupting my daughter,” P-21 interjected in mild annoyance.
"请不要再腐蚀我的女儿了,"P-21略带恼怒地插话道。
“Awwww, but being in an evil empire sounds fun,” Scotch Tape whined. “You’d look great in a black uniform, Daddy.”
"啊，但是身处一个邪恶帝国听起来很有趣,"ScotchTape抱怨道。"爸爸，你穿黑色制服一定很好看。"
“Empress Blackjack is vetoing the Empire idea,” I declared flatly. “It’s all fun at first, but then some ragtag bunch of misfits rises up and overthrows you. I want to end this without any more ponies dying on either side.”
"黑杰克皇后否决了帝国的想法,"我断然宣布。"一开始都很有趣，但后来一群不合群的乌合之众站出来推翻了你。我希望结束这一切，不再有任何一方的小马死去。"
“Oh. The crazy route,” Rampage said with a snort and a wave of her hoof. “Go on, then. Give it your best shot. Worked well with the Reapers and Rangers, after all.”
"哦。疯狂的路线,"朗格哼了一声，挥了挥蹄子说。""那么，去吧。尽你最大的努力。毕竟，在收割者和突击队中工作得很好。"
Oh boy, she was in a pissy mood. I ignored her as I levitated up my sword and sliced through the bolts holding a soldier’s helmet in place. The terrified green mare within shouted, “Please don’t kill me!”
哦，天哪，她心情很糟糕。我无视她的存在，扬起我的剑，划破了固定士兵头盔的螺栓。里面吓坏了的绿色母马喊道:"请不要杀我!"
Rather bold of her to beg that after she’d been about to kill me, but I didn’t need her terrified. I needed her to listen. “I’m not going to. Is your radio up?”
在她准备杀了我之后，她还大胆地乞求我，但我不需要她害怕。我需要她倾听。"我不会的。你的收音机开着吗?"
“No! How did you do that? Nopony is supposed to be able to do that!” the mare blurted.
"不！你是怎么做到的？小马驹应该能做到这一点!"母马脱口而出。
“Trade secret,” I replied. “Listen. I need you to listen.” The mare’s panicked green eyes dilated a little. “When your systems come back up or you reboot or whatever, I need to you tell General Chaser that I didn’t do this. Understand? I know the blood leads right up to him, but it wasn’t me. I’m still trying to stop Lighthooves. Understand?” I really needed her to believe me. I was in enough trouble with Thunderhead. If Neighvarro thought that I’d killed their pony too, I’d never get this stopped... which was probably the point.
"商业机密,"我回答。"听着。我需要你听我说。"母马惊慌失措的绿色眼睛放大了一点。"当你的系统恢复或者重启或者其他什么的时候，我需要你告诉Chaser将军这不是我干的。明白吗？我知道血迹指向他但不是我。我还在试图阻止光剑。明白吗?"我真的需要她相信我。我已经够麻烦的了。如果邻居认为我也杀了他们的小马，我永远不会停止这一切......这可能就是问题所在。
“But... I...” She looked over at the body behind the desk.
"但是......我.....。。」她看了看桌子后面的尸体。
“I don’t want to kill anypony,” I said flatly. “If I did, I’d kill you too. I don’t. Okay? Please just tell General Chaser that.”
"我不想杀任何小马,"我平静地说。"如果我知道，我也会杀了你。我不知道。好吗？请告诉查斯将军这一点。"
“I’ll... I’ll pass it along,” she replied. “Thank you for not killing me.”
"我会......我会转达的,"她回答。"谢谢你没有杀我。"
“I’m not an executioner,” I replied, making Rampage groan. “You want to thank me, though? Don’t kill. I know there’re problems in the Enclave right now, but don’t kill. These ponies didn’t do anything to deserve that.”
"我不是刽子手,"我回答，让狂暴呻吟起来。"不过，你想谢谢我吗？不要杀人。我知道昂科雷现在有问题，但是不要杀人。这些小马并没有做什么值得这么做的事。"
“I...” the mare began with a frown, but then took in my sword and her paralyzed companions and dropped her gaze. “Yes ma’am.” I had no clue if she actually would. For all I knew, the second my back was turned, she could start slaughtering ponies. But I had to give her a chance to do better.
"我.....。。」母马皱了皱眉头，然后收起了我的剑和她瘫痪的同伴，放下了她的目光。"是的，夫人。"我不知道她是否真的会。据我所知，只要我一转身，她就可以开始屠宰小马了。但我必须给她一个机会，让她做得更好。
Otherwise, all I’d have left was a body count.
否则我就只剩下一堆尸体了。
“Let’s go,” I said as we walked out into the hall. I needed to find Glory, and then I needed to get in contact with Storm Chaser. So long as Thunderhead didn’t actively start fighting the Neighvarro, I had a chance. Even if I hadn’t liked High General Harbinger or the Captains Icyhot, a Neighvarro victory was better than a bloodbath. If Thunderhead turned actively hostile against the Neighvarro forces here... well, I just had to head that off before things entered the zone of clusterfuckery.
"我们走吧,"当我们走进大厅时，我说。我需要找到晨辉，然后我需要与风暴追逐者联系。只要雷锋不主动开始与Neighvarro作战，我就有机会。即使我不喜欢HighGeneralHarbinger或者Icyhot队长，一个邻居的胜利总比一场大屠杀要好。如果霹雳头变得主动敌对邻居的军队......好吧，我只是不得不在事情进入聚集性交区之前阻止他们。
Provided we weren’t there already.
如果我们还没到那儿的话。
“So, what are you going to do now?” P-21 asked. “What’s the plan?”
"那么，你现在打算怎么办?"P-21要求。"计划是什么?"
We entered an empty charnel field of a room, wide open and full of cloud cubicles; I looked around, levitated over a stack of papers from the nearest desk, and started slicing the sheets into little squares. “Well. I’m hopefully going to get some help.” Everypony stared at me in confusion. “You see, I didn’t override all that power armor. I’d love it if I did, but I didn’t. And I’m pretty sure that none of you did,” I said with a little smile. Not unless P-21 had gotten a broadcaster or special spark grenade and hadn’t told me about it. “So I’m betting that the pony who did do it...” And my horn flared as I flung the paper about in a literal blizzard of white squares. They covered everything, including a patch of shimmery air ten feet from us down the hall. I faced it and smiled, “...is still here.”
我们走进一个空荡荡的停尸房，房间敞开着，里面全是云隔间;我环顾四周，从最近的桌子上悬浮起一叠纸，开始把纸片切成小方块。"好吧。我希望能得到一些帮助。"每个小马迷惑地盯着我。"你看，我没有覆盖所有的能量盔甲。如果我知道的话我会很高兴的，但是我没有。我敢肯定你们没有一个人知道,"我微笑着说。除非P-21得到了一个播音员或特殊的火花榴弹，而且没有告诉我。"所以我打赌是那匹小马干的......"当我把报纸扔来扔去的时候，我的喇叭响了起来。它们覆盖了所有的东西，包括离我们十英尺远的一片微微发光的空气。我面对着它，微笑着说,"......还在这里。"
The air flashed, and the purple-caped Mare Do Well appeared. “That usually doesn’t happen,” the mare said in her synthesized voice.
空气一阵闪光，紫色披风的母马出现了。"那通常不会发生,"母马用她合成的声音说。
“First rule when you think somepony invisible is around you: throw shit everywhere,” I replied.
"当你认为某个看不见的小马就在你身边的时候，第一条规则是:到处乱扔东西,"我回答。
“Wow. Blackjack really wasn’t crazy,” Rampage said in shock as she stared at the billowing cape and wide-brimmed purple hat.
"哇。黑杰克真的不是疯子,"朗格盯着波涛汹涌的斗篷和宽边紫色帽子，震惊地说。
“Told you,” P-21 replied smugly.
"我就说吧,"P-21得意洋洋地回答。
“Why were you staying invisible, though?” Scotch Tape asked with a frown.
"不过，你为什么要隐身呢?"透明胶带皱着眉头问。
“I wanted to see if she would kill them. If she was responsible for this,” Mare Do Well answered, gesturing at the slaughter. “So I shadowed the Neighvarro when they came up, and when they wanted to shoot, I used a little backdoor in the Mark II design’s repair talisman.”
"我想看看她会不会杀了他们。"如果是她干的,"玛尔回答，指着屠宰场。"所以他们来的时候我就跟着邻居，当他们想拍摄的时候，我就在马克二世设计的修理护身符里加了一个小后门。"
“And if I’d started killing, you’d have deactivated it?” I asked archly.
"如果我开始杀人，你会关闭它吗?"我狡黠地问道。
“I thought you were supposed to be dumb,” Mare Do Well answered, oddly surprised.
"我还以为你是个哑巴呢,"MareDoWell回答说，奇怪的惊讶。
“Even a not-too-bright pony learns things,” I countered. “So. Are you going to help us? Because I’m guessing another squad is going to come up here, and they might not all be wearing power armor vulnerable to your trick.”
"即使是一匹不太聪明的小马也能学到东西,"我反驳道。"所以。你会帮助我们吗？因为我猜想会有另一支队伍来到这里，他们可能并不都穿着强力盔甲，容易受到你的攻击。"
Without another word, she turned and trotted away. I considered her not flashing away or disappearing a good enough answer for the moment, so we all followed.
她一言不发，转身小跑着离开了。我认为她不会一闪而过或消失，这是一个足够好的回答，所以我们都跟着她。
* * *
* * *
I am really not one for stealth, but even I had to admire the purple-armored Mare Do Well’s ability to evade the Thunderhead Security and Neighvarro pegasi. She didn’t chat at all as we moved through the building, frequently stopping to let power armor pass, and she had to be connected to their communications because she seemed to know their precise movements. More than once she peered through the wall; I imagined her helmet had an enchantment on it similar to Penance’s scope.
我真的不是一个偷偷摸摸的人，但即使是我也不得不佩服紫甲马做得好的能力，以规避雷头安全和邻里飞马。当我们穿过大楼时，她一句话也不说，经常停下来让能量装甲通过，她必须连接到他们的通讯系统，因为她似乎知道他们的准确行动。她不止一次地透过墙壁向外张望;我想象着她的头盔上有一个魔法，就像苦行僧的瞄准镜一样。
“That’s quite some armor,” I said as we waited in a janitor’s closet for a squad of security ponies to stop chatting and head away so we could leave.
"这盔甲真不错,"我们在一个看门人的衣橱里等待一队保安小马停下来聊天，然后离开，这样我们就可以离开。
Mare Do Well glanced back at me, then at the wall. “Mark IV prototype for recon, infiltration, and sabotage. Twilight Sparkle herself oversaw some of the talismans that went into it. Been a nightmare keeping it up to spec. The stealth systems in particular are a headache to calibrate, but then, it’s not a production model.”
MareDoWell回头看了我一眼，然后又看了看墙。"马克四型侦察渗透破坏原型。紫悦亲自监督了一些护身符的使用。保持它的规格真是一场噩梦。隐形系统尤其令人头疼，需要进行校准，但它不是生产型号。"
“That include the hat and cape?” Rampage asked.
"包括帽子和斗篷吗?"狂暴问道。
“Yes, actually. Twilight’s version of a joke, I suppose. Not all that funny to me, but then, she wasn’t exactly consulting Pinkie Pie when she designed it,” Mare Do Well replied tensely. “Now be quiet. I don’t want to have to fight them if they hear us.”
"是的，事实上。我想，这是《暮光之城》中的一个笑话。对我来说一点也不好笑，但是当她设计它的时候，她并没有正确地咨询PinkiePie,"MareDoWell紧张地回答。"现在安静点。如果他们听到我们的声音，我可不想跟他们打。"
We waited till the five security ponies moved away, then dashed across the hall to a flat stretch of hall obscured by two large fake plants. Mare Do Well pressed some hidden latch or button, and a three by three foot square of wall swung in. We all filed through into a tunnel dominated by rainblastic pipes and conduits. Then she closed the door behind her.
我们等待着，直到那五匹警卫小马离开，然后穿过大厅，奔向一片平坦的大厅，大厅被两株巨大的假植物所遮蔽。MareDoWell按了一些隐藏的门闩或者按钮，一面三英尺见方的墙壁就倒了进来。我们都排成纵队进入了一个由雨水管和管道构成的隧道。然后她关上了身后的门。
“Who are you?” Scotch Tape asked as Mare Do Well took the lead.
"你是谁?"苏格兰胶带问道，母马做得好带头。
“Just a pony trying to help ponies who need help. These days, that’s a pretty long list,” she said as she led us along the low room. Thankfully, we were stable ponies, a Reaper, and Boo. The tight quarters didn’t bother us a bit. “Finding other ponies who share that sentiment is... rather new.”
"只是一匹小马试图帮助需要帮助的小马。这些日子，这是一个相当长的名单,"她一边说，一边领着我们走进那间低矮的房间。谢天谢地，我们是稳定的小马，一个收割者，和嘘。紧凑的房间对我们没有丝毫影响。"找到其他持有同样观点的小马是......相当新鲜的事情。"
“Nice secret passage,” P-21 said, in complete honesty. “Must make getting around easier.”
"漂亮的秘密通道,"P-21非常诚实地说。"肯定让出行更方便了。"
“Yes. They do,” the armored mare replied tersely.
"是的。是的,"装甲母马简洁地回答。
“I need to find out what’s going on. I need to find Glory. And with Stargazer and Stratus dead, who’s in charge? The head of Enclave Intelligence?” I asked as we went down a stairway.
"我需要弄清楚到底发生了什么。我需要找到晨辉。既然观星者和斯特拉图斯都死了，谁来负责？飞地情报局的负责人?"我们走下楼梯时，我问道。
“No. What you need to do is go home,” Mare Do Well replied.
"没有。你需要做的就是回家,"MareDoWell回答道。
“Not with things about to explode,” I retorted. “And absolutely not without Glory.”
"不能在事情要爆炸的时候,"我反驳道。"绝对不能没有晨辉。"
She sighed as she stopped and pushed her hoof against a wall of cloudcrete. “I was afraid you’d say that.” Then the wall swung open into a dim, cavernous space. “Welcome to the Mare Lair.”
她叹了口气，停下脚步，把蹄子推到一堵混凝土墙上。"我就怕你会这么说。"然后，墙壁打开，变成了一个昏暗的洞穴状空间。"欢迎来到母马之巢。"
The Lair was a hexagonal room dominated by a massive computer along one wall. Numerous screens showed images from all over Thunderhead, and smaller
巢穴是一个六角形的房间，沿着一面墙由一台巨大的计算机控制。无数的屏幕上显示着来自各个地方的图片，甚至更小
screens showed various parts of the Wasteland. I scowled at the sight of Enclave armor walking the halls of Tenpony Tower. A second wall was an armory with three separate suits of Enclave armor and one suit of Steel Ranger armor. There were weapons of all kinds in lockers along the base. The third wall had at least two dozen disguises, half for above the clouds and half below. A series of rubber masks in a variety of colors sat like a row of dismembered heads before the apparel. The fourth wall had two enormous maps, one of the Equestrian surface and another of the Enclave settlements. I recognized Neighvarro and Thunderhead, but the rest were a mystery to me. Hundreds of pins of different colors decorated both maps. The fifth wall was dominated by spartan living quarters. A large bed, a kitchenette, a medical cart, and gym equipment rested next to several pictures. The last wall had lab equipment, including a lot of electronics and explosives. In the middle was a mechanics bay, with several talismans lying on carts and tables around an empty stand.
屏幕上显示着荒原的各个部分。看到昂科雷装甲部队在天马城塔的大厅里走来走去，我皱起了眉头。第二道墙是一个军械库，里面有三套独立的飞地盔甲和一套钢骑兵盔甲。基地的储物柜里有各种各样的武器。第三道墙至少有二十多种伪装，一半是为了遮蔽云层，一半是为了遮蔽下面。一系列颜色各异的橡胶面具摆放在衣服前，就像一排被肢解的头颅。第四道墙有两幅巨大的地图，一幅是骑士地面，另一幅是昂科雷定居点。我认出了邻瓦罗和雷霆头，但其余的对我来说都是个谜。数以百计的不同颜色的图钉装饰着这两幅地图。第五道城墙由斯巴达式的居住区所主宰。一张大床，一个小厨房，一辆医疗手推车，健身器材摆放在几张照片旁边。最后一面墙上有实验室设备，包括许多电子设备和炸药。中间是一个机械间，在一个空架子周围有几个护身符放在推车和桌子上。
Personally, I was disappointed by a substantial lack of mares.
就个人而言，我对大量缺少母马感到失望。
A young unicorn mare beside the bay popped her head up. Her brown hide was smeared with oil and other mechanical fluids. A mechanic’s harness jangled with dozens of tools, and her black mane was messy and tied back with a bandana. “You’re back! Are you okay? Do you need any repairs? Did you find her? And... oh...” she immediately faltered at the sight of us. “I guess you did.”
海湾边一匹年轻的独角兽母马探出头来。她棕色的皮肤上沾满了油和其他机械液体。一个机修工的马具和许多工具叮当作响，她的黑色鬃毛凌乱不堪，还用一块大手帕系在背后。"你回来了！你还好吗？你需要修理吗？你找到她了吗？然后......哦......"她一看到我们就不知所措。"我想是的。"
“Blackjack, Monkeywrench,” Mare Do Well said as she trotted to the computer. “She takes care of the magical end of things here.” The unicorn balked a little, blushing and looking down. “Get them something to eat, please,” Mare Do Well said as she walked over to the computer.
"Blackjack，Monkeywrench,"MareDoWell边说边小跑到电脑前。"她负责这里神奇的结局。"独角兽羞红了脸，低下头，稍稍退缩了一下。"请给他们弄点吃的,"MareDoWell边说边走向电脑。
“What about you?” Monkeywrench asked, ears folding down a little.
"你呢?"猴扳手问道，耳朵往下折了一点。
“I’m fine,” she replied brusquely, then said to me, “I’ll see if I can find your Glory and then get you out of here.”
"我很好,"她粗暴地回答，然后对我说,"我看看能不能找到你的晨辉，然后带你离开这里。"
I looked from Mare Do Well to Monkeywrench. The unicorn was already trotting to the kitchenette. “Rude much?” Scotch Tape said before heading over after her. P-21 frowned but followed, along with Boo and Rampage. I hung back, watching the mare work as she skillfully typed on the computer.
我从马雷看到了Monkeywrench。独角兽已经跑向小厨房。"太粗鲁了?"苏格兰胶带说，然后跟着她走过去。P-21皱着眉头，但随后跟着布和狂暴。我退后一步，看着母马熟练地在电脑上打字。
“Are you her slave?” P-21 asked in a low voice. “If you are, we can take you with us.”
"你是她的奴隶吗?"P-21小声问道。"如果你愿意，我们可以带你一起去。"
“Oh, no no no! I’m not a prisoner,” Monkeywrench replied. “She’s one of the good ponies. One of the best ponies. And normally, if things weren’t so bad and you weren’t here, she’s a lot friendlier. She normally never brings ponies here. I’m astonished she did.” She took out some bottles. “Sparkle-Cola?”
"哦，不，不，不！我不是囚犯,"Monkeywrench回答。"她是一匹好马。最好的小马之一。通常情况下，如果事情没那么糟，而你不在这里，她会友好得多。她通常从不带小马来这里。我很惊讶她会这么做。"她拿出一些瓶子。"闪亮可乐?"
“Oooh, is that Sparkle-Cola Rad?” Rampage said in delight.
"哦，那是快乐可乐吗?"狂暴高兴地说。
“Yeah, but those are for... for Mare Do Well,” Monkeywrench replied firmly. When Rampage reached for one, the brown mare almost closed the door on Rampage’s face.
"是的，但那些是为了......为了做好母马,"Monkeywrench坚定地回答。当狂暴达到一个，棕色的母马几乎关上门在狂暴的脸上。
“Are you two together?” Scotch Tape asked.
"你们两个在一起吗?"透明胶带问道。
“I... No. Not that... I mean... ah... no,” Monkeywrench replied.
"我.....。.没有。不是那个......我是说......啊......不,"Monkeywrench回答。
“Are you from the Tower?” P-21 asked.
"你是从塔里来的吗?"P-21要求。
“Actually, I’m from the surface. She... rescued me... from some bad ponies,” she replied in those delicate tones that left little to imagine what she’d been rescued from. “I’ve been helping her out since I was your age,” she told Scotch Tape.
"实际上，我来自地表。她......把我......从一些坏马驹手里救了出来,"她用那种微妙的语调回答，几乎无法想象她是从哪里被救出来的。"我从你这么大的时候就开始帮她了,"她告诉ScotchTape。
Mare Do Well said from beside me, “Eavesdropping is a bad habit.”
MareDoWell在我旁边说:"偷听是个坏习惯。"
“Speaking from experience?” I asked.
"从经验上来说?"我问道。
Mare Do Well turned her head to look at me a moment. “Maybe.”
《玛丽做得好》转过头来看了我一会儿。"也许吧。"
Oh fine, be all mysterious. “So what’s happening?” I asked in frustration as I looked at the terminal screens. “Where’s Glory?”
好吧，神神秘秘的。"那么，发生了什么?"我沮丧地看着终端屏幕问道。"晨辉在哪里?"
She hit some buttons. A diagram of the Hoofington Valley appeared. Shadowbolt Tower stood prominently in the middle, while Thunderhead was off to the east like an immense tire. Ten arrowheads were arranged along the west and southern sides of the valley in a semicircle. “The Raptors are hanging back. They sent in four formations through the cloud cover. Stratus probably gave them codes to bypass the lightning rods.”
她按了几个按钮。一张胡芬顿山谷的图表出现了。影螺塔醒目地矗立在中间，而霹雳头像一个巨大的轮胎一样向东移动。十个箭头沿着山谷的西面和南面呈半圆形排列。"猛禽在后退。他们以四个队形穿过云层。斯特拉图可能给了他们绕过避雷针的密码。"
“How many in a formation?”
"一个编队有多少人?"
“Twenty five. Five five-pony wings. Each Raptor carries four formations, or a
"二十五。五只小马的翅膀。每只猛禽有四个编队，或者说一个
flock,” Mare Do Well answered grimly.
羊群,"做得好的母马冷酷地回答。
“So a thousand ponies, give or take?” Oh yeah, this nightmare was getting worse by the second. “What does Enclave Intelligence have in the Tower?” She turned and stared at me silently, and I smirked, “What, you don’t know?”
"那么一千匹小马，差不多吧?"是啊，这个噩梦越来越严重了。"昂科雷情报局在伦敦塔里有什么?"她转过身来，默默地盯着我，我得意地笑道:"什么，你不知道?"
“Five flocks, if they recalled all the reservists before this started,” she replied. “If Thunderhead Security joined them, that’s another five hundred, but they only have paramilitary training.”
"五个羊群，如果他们召回所有的预备役在这之前开始,"她回答。"如果霹雳头保安公司加入了他们，那还有500人，但他们只受过准军事训练。"
“Small wonder Neighvarro wanted Stratus on their side,” I said with a frown. “Is there any way I can contact the head of Enclave Intelligence? Maybe they can help stop Lighthooves.”
"难怪邻居希望斯特拉图站在他们那边,"我皱着眉头说。"我有什么办法可以联系昂科雷情报局(EnclaveIntelligence)局长吗？也许他们可以帮助阻止轻骑兵。"
“The official head of E.I. is a joke. Lightning Blaze is more interested in banging her way through the well-connected ponies in Neighvarro than doing her job,” Mare Do Well replied. “She doesn’t even stay in the Tower. I doubt she even knows that the attack is happening.”
"e.i.的官方负责人是个笑话。"闪电火焰"更感兴趣的是她的方式通过在Neighvarro有良好关系的小马比做她的工作,"马做得好回答。"她甚至不住在伦敦塔里。我怀疑她甚至不知道袭击正在发生。"
I groaned and rubbed my face, and then I frowned. “Wait. Official head?”
我呻吟着，揉了揉脸，然后皱起了眉头。"等等。官方负责人?"
“Neighvarro’s always appointed one of their little scions to Shadowbolt, and they’re almost always completely incompetent. The slightly less incompetent ones try for military command. And if somepony with half a brain shows up for the position, they usually don’t last too long,” Mare Do Well said grimly.
"邻居们总是任命他们的一个小子到Shadowbolt，而他们几乎总是完全不称职。那些稍微不那么无能的人试图成为军事指挥官。而且，如果有些半个脑子的小马出现在这个职位上，它们通常不会坚持太久。"MareDoWell冷冷地说。
What I knew of Lighthooves and what I’d seen so far didn’t mesh with her description of incompetence. “So then who is the unofficial head of Enclave Intelligence? It’s Lighthooves, isn’t it?”
到目前为止，我对Lighthooves的了解和所见所闻与她对无能的描述并不吻合。"那么，谁是飞地情报局的非官方负责人？这是一把光剑，不是吗?"
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied firmly. “This has to happen.”
"没关系,"她坚定地回答。"这必须发生。"
“This... are you crazy?” I asked, gesturing to the screen. “Why does this have to happen?!”
"这......你疯了吗?"我指着屏幕问道。"为什么一定要发生这种事?!"
“Because for two hundred years, the Enclave has been blind to the parasitic actions of the military and so complacent that they can’t even see how the quality of life up here has decayed!” She tapped a key, and the main screen brought up a picture of a pegasus city that seemed to be falling apart, the buildings stretched and distorted. Only a few dozen pegasi seemed to be living in
"因为两百年来，昂科雷对军队的寄生行为视而不见，自鸣得意，他们甚至看不到这里的生活质量是如何衰退的!"她敲了一下钥匙，主屏幕上出现了一幅飞马城的画面，那座城市似乎正在分崩离析，建筑物被拉伸和扭曲。似乎只有几十只飞马住在里面
what were virtual cloud ruins. She hit another button and showed another city, again vast and colossal and again all but abandoned. Another showed cloud fields barely filled by weedy crops. And another showed a settlement slightly more intact but with sparking and crackling talismans that were wired and re-wired. “Every settlement that is not vitally important to the war effort suffers. Sons and daughters are sent to Neighvarro to serve and send a pittance back to their families. Command is fat and corrupt. It’s time that the pegasus people see this for what it is: an untenable situation that must be ended sooner rather than later.”
什么是虚拟的云废墟。她按下另一个按钮，展示了另一个城市，又是一个巨大的城市，又是一个几乎被遗弃的城市。另一张照片显示，云田里几乎没有杂草。另一张照片显示了一个安置点，稍微更加完整，但有闪烁和噼啪作响的护身符，连接和重新连接。"任何对战争努力不是至关重要的解决办法都会受到影响。儿子和女儿被送到Neighvarro服役，然后寄给他们的家庭一点点钱。命令是肥胖和腐败的。是时候让飞马公司的人们看清这一点了:这是一个难以维持的局面，必须尽早结束，而不是推迟。"
“You knew this attack was coming,” I said in shock.
"你知道这次袭击会来,"我震惊地说。
“Of course. A civil war’s been inevitable for the last thirty years,” Mare Do Well replied.
"当然。在过去的三十年里，内战是不可避免的。
“Then you know about Lighthooves’s bioweapon,” I countered. “His missiles.”
"那么你知道光剑的生化武器了,"我反驳道。"他的导弹。"
“Oh, yes,” she laughed and pointed a hoof at me. “But you see, you’re doing the exact same thing that Neighvarro has. A report of a viral weapon. A report of missiles. This must be evidence of an attack! And so they send their ships to threaten and rattle their sabers. But when it’s revealed that the bioweapon doesn’t infect a pegasus’s neuroglobin and that the missiles are in fact scrap metal, then Enclave aggression will be clear. The democracy will be revealed for the sham that it is, and we can finally make the changes to the Enclave that were needed two centuries ago!”
"哦，是的,"她笑着用蹄子指着我。"但你看，你正在做的事情完全相同的邻居有。一个病毒武器的报告。导弹报告。这一定是袭击的证据！所以他们派出他们的舰队去威胁和炫耀他们的军刀。但是当生物武器不会感染飞马座的神经球蛋白，而且导弹实际上是废金属的时候，飞地的侵略性就清楚了。民主将揭示出它的虚伪，我们终于可以改变两个世纪以前所需要的飞地!"
I stared at the masked mare, then said quietly, “He adapted it.”
我盯着那匹面具母马，然后平静地说:"他适应了。"
For a second, the Lair was utterly silent. Even Monkeywrench and my friends had stopped talked and were listening in. “What?”
有那么一瞬间，巢穴一片寂静。甚至Monkeywrench和我的朋友们也停止了交谈，开始倾听。"什么?"
“He adapted it to infect pegasi,” I said evenly.
"他让它感染飞马座,"我平静地说。
“You... he...” the masked mare stammered as she pointed a hoof at me. “You’re...”
"你......他......"蒙面母马用蹄子指着我，结结巴巴地说。"你......"
“On the surface, I came across two places where he adapted the virus to infect pegasi. And the ‘scrap metal missiles’... They’re intact. I think that, with a little bit of effort, they could be made to fly again.”
"从表面上看，我偶然发现了两个地方，在那里他使病毒感染了飞马座。还有"废金属导弹"...它们完好无损。我认为，只要稍加努力，它们就能再次飞起来。"
“On the surface...” Mare Do Well breathed softly. “Son of a mule...”
"在水面上......"母马轻轻地呼吸。"骡子的儿子......"
She began to rapidly tap the keys, and an instant later there was a ring. Then Lighthooves’s voice came over the connection, faintly buzzing and tinny. “Yes, Grandmother?”
她开始快速地敲击键盘，不一会儿就响起了铃声。然后灯塔的声音从连接中传来，微弱的嗡嗡声和尖细的声音。"什么事，奶奶?"
I froze and panned from the blank terminal to Mare Do Well, feeling the shooty look establishing itself on my face. What... the... fuck?!
我呆住了，从空白终端摇镜头到MareDoWell，感觉到我脸上出现了一种射击的表情。搞什么?！
“Legerdemain. I want a status update on the virus,” Mare Do Well said.
"戏法。我想要一个关于病毒的状态更新,"MareDoWell说。
“All samples are accounted for and ready to go,” Lighthooves replied a little too evenly.
"所有的样品都清点好了，随时可以出发。"。
“And there is no chance that it’s infectious to pegasi?” Mare Do Well pressed.
"这种病毒对飞马座没有传染性吗?"母马压力很大。
“None whatsoever,” Lighthooves replied evenly.
"完全没有,"莱特霍夫斯平静地回答。
Mare Do Well glanced over at me. “This is very important, Grandson. Very important. It is impossible for this virus to infect pegasi?”
MareDoWell看了我一眼。""这很重要，孙子。非常重要。这种病毒不可能感染飞马座?"
Lighthooves said, in a buzzing voice of annoyance, “Why so concerned, Grandmother? We’ve forced the Enclave’s hoof. Either they attack and are destroyed, or they don’t attack and Thunderhead achieves its independence. The infectiousness of the virus is moot.”
轻舟带着烦恼的嗡嗡声说:"为什么这么担心，奶奶？我们强迫昂科雷的蹄子。要么他们攻击并且被摧毁，要么他们不攻击并且雷头获得它的独立。这种病毒的传染性没有实际意义。"
“Because if it is a threat to pegasi, then our legitimacy is shot!” Mare Do well shouted. “The rest of the Enclave will never make the changes needed if they think we’re a rogue state!”
"因为如果它对飞马座是一种威胁，那么我们的合法性就会遭到破坏!""MareDowell"喊道。"如果昂科雷的其他人认为我们是一个流氓国家，他们永远不会做出必要的改变!"
“The rest of the Enclave can buck themselves,” Lighthooves said in a low, ominous voice. Mare Do Well stared up at the screen, her helmet’s glowing eyes somehow seeming to grow wide in shock. “They cower and crawl up to whatever pony has the power. They fear and cringe because of Raptors and Thunderheads. They deserve the military. And, when their talismans fail and they start starving to death, they’ll come to us happily.”
"昂科雷的其他人可以反抗自己,"莱特霍夫斯用一种低沉而不祥的声音说。MareDoWell盯着屏幕，她头盔上闪闪发光的眼睛似乎在震惊中睁得很大。"他们畏缩着，爬向任何有力量的小马。他们害怕和畏缩，因为猛禽和雷电头。他们值得拥有军队。而且，当他们的护身符失效，他们开始挨饿致死时，他们会很高兴地来找我们。"
Mare Do Well sat back hard.
MareDoWell努力地坐回去。
“I thought the last time you fought with Neighvarro, they almost destroyed you
"我以为上次你和马里瓦罗打架的时候，他们差点把你干掉
with four Raptors?” I shouted.
带着四只猛禽?"我喊道。
“Oh? Hello, Security. Thank you for your distraction. If you hadn’t killed the councilor and Stratus, then we never could have gotten our reserves back to the tower. A few more hours and everything will be ready.”
"哦？你好，保安。谢谢你让我分心。如果不是你杀了议员和斯特拉图斯，我们就不可能把预备队带回塔里。再过几个小时，一切都会准备就绪。"
“I didn’t kill them. But I’m guessing you did,” I growled. “And you didn’t answer my question: why are you so sure you can destroy the Enclave when they have more than double the forces they brought last time?”
"我没有杀他们。但是我猜你做到了,"我咆哮道。"你没有回答我的问题:为什么你这么肯定你可以摧毁飞地，而他们的兵力是上次的两倍多?"
“Grandmother hadn’t told you? It’s quite simple. You see, the Core is a fortress, designed to defend against air attacks from dragons and missiles. Yes, the tower itself has limited armament... but the tower is connected to the Core.”
""祖母没有告诉你吗？这很简单。你看，核心是一个堡垒，旨在防御来自龙和导弹的空中攻击。是的，塔本身的武器装备有限......但塔是连接到核心的。"
I had an image of a green beam of energy punching straight through Hightower. “Holy shit...” I breathed. “You can access those?!”
我想象着一束绿色的能量直直地穿过海托华。"我靠......"我低声说。"你可以访问这些?!"
“Oh yes. We didn’t use them last time; concerns about killing our own. This time, I’m afraid I simply don’t give a damn.” Lighthooves chuckled. “The Enclave has just lost its High General at Maripony. The rest of the leadership is in chaos. When a quarter of the fleet is blasted from the sky for threatening Thunderhead, it will never be able to endanger us again,” Lighthooves said with complete confidence. “A few judicious applications of the virus, and what remains of the military will be busy dealing with outbreaks. A few more missiles should take care of Red Eye and any other surfacer threats. Thunderhead will be secure to usher in a new era and save Equestria, just like you wanted, Grandmother.”
"哦，是的。我们上次没有使用它们;担心杀死我们自己人。这一次，恐怕我根本不在乎。"轻舟咯咯地笑了。"昂科雷刚刚在Maripony失去了它的最高统帅。其余的领导人都处于混乱之中。当四分之一的舰队因为威胁"雷头"号而从空中被炸毁时，我们就再也不会受到威胁了。"。"病毒的一些明智的应用，以及剩余的军队将忙于应对疫情爆发。一些更多的导弹应该照顾红眼和任何其他地面威胁。雷霆将安然无恙地开创一个新纪元，拯救小马国，正如你所愿，奶奶。"
“Not like this, you fool. Not like this,” Mare Do Well groaned. “You’re making the same mistake she did.”
"不是这样的，你这个傻瓜。不像这样,"母马做得好呻吟。"。"你和她犯了同样的错误。"
“With you on top?” I growled dangerously.
"你在上面吗?"我危险地咆哮着。
“Of course not. I will be publicly tried and executed for crimes against Equinity. I expect my monsterdom will last for centuries, but I also expect that Thunderhead will be there for those centuries,” Lighthooves answered.
"当然不是。我将被公开审判和处决，罪名是违反平等。我希望我的怪物身份能持续几个世纪，但我也希望雷霆之源能持续几个世纪。"。
“I’m going to stop you,” I swore. “You’re going to kill thousands.”
"我要阻止你,"我发誓。"你会杀死成千上万的人。"
“Tens of thousands, actually. Necessary sacrifices,” he said dismissively. “I
"实际上是成千上万。必要的牺牲,"他轻蔑地说。"我
would have thought you’d be more interested in saving Morning Glory. You should probably tune in to the television.” He sighed. “Good bye, Grandmother. I’m sorry that I deceived you. Your plan was a good one, but you were trying to save an Enclave not worth saving.” Then the connection cut off.
我还以为你对拯救牵牛花更感兴趣呢。你也许应该收看电视。"他叹了口气。"再见，奶奶。我很抱歉欺骗了你。你的计划很好，但你是想拯救一个不值得拯救的飞地。"然后连接被切断了。
“You fool. You damned fool.” Monkeywrench came up behind her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Saving lives doesn’t mean ending them. I thought I taught you better.”
"你这个傻瓜。你这个该死的傻瓜。"猴扳手走到她身后，把一只蹄子放在她的肩上。"拯救生命并不意味着结束生命。我还以为我教得更好呢。"
I didn’t have time for this. “What did he mean about Glory?”
我没时间跟你说这些。"他说的晨辉是什么意思?"
Mare Do Well pushed some buttons with her hoof, and the central screen lit up. The screen was split between a cute mare and a live scene in Thunderhead. It showed the central ring park of the city, a stage, and a large statue of Rainbow Dash. Twenty-five power-armored ponies stood before an angry crowd of hundreds. Twenty-five more encircled a smaller group. There were all kinds of crazy tickers saying things like ‘Neighvarro declares Martial Law in Thunderhead.’, ‘Accusations of bioterrorism from Neighvarro officials.’, and ‘Rumors of renewed Rainbow Dash sightings. Illegal cloning experiments in Thunderhead?’.
MareDoWell用蹄子按了几个按钮，中央屏幕亮了起来。屏幕分为一个可爱的母马和现场场景在雷霆万钧。它展示了城市的中央环形公园、一个舞台和一座巨大的彩虹雕像。数百名愤怒的人群面前站着二十五匹穿着重甲的小马。又有二十五人包围了一个较小的团体。有各种各样的疯狂的股票报价者说类似的事情"邻居宣布戒严令在雷霆头。"来自Neighvarro官方的生物恐怖主义指控还有"彩虹冲击号再次出现的传言"。在Thunderhead进行非法克隆实验.
“Yes. Yes. We are getting word that both Councilor Stargazer and the director of Security have been murdered by Thunderhead terrorists. Several have been apprehended, and we’ve been told that they’re going to be transferred to Raptors for transport back to Neighvarro,” the mare said as she touched an earbloom. The peach reporter standing in front of the stage went silent a moment, then nodded again. “Apparently they’re going to make a formal announcement any minute. There’s some reports that the surfacer terrorists working with these ultranationalists are still at large.”
"是的。是的。我们得到消息说，议员Stargazer和安全主管都被Thunderhead恐怖分子谋杀了。有几个已经被逮捕了，我们被告知他们将被转移到猛禽号运回邻居那里。"母马一边抚摸着一朵花，一边说道。站在舞台前的桃记者沉默了一会儿，然后又点了点头。"显然，他们随时都会发表正式声明。有报道称，与这些极端民族主义分子合作的表面恐怖分子仍然逍遥法外。"
She disappeared, replaced by a handsome, if vapid-looking, stallion. “Thank you, Sun Sprinkles. Keep us up to date.” Then he turned to another camera, smiling banally. “Rumors of Thunderhead perfidy have existed since the establishment of the disarmament treaty a century ago, but never before have we received a clearer sign that our Enclave, our place of security, our sanctuary, is under attack. Whether it be from the surface or our own, it is clear that unity must be preserved at any cost. This is Neighvarro News Network, keeping you up to date with news, fair and balanced. We’ll be right back.”
她消失了，取而代之的是一匹英俊的，虽然看上去索然无味的种马。"谢谢你，太阳屑。随时向我们报告最新情况。"然后他转向另一个相机，平淡地微笑着。"自一个世纪前签订裁军条约以来，就有关于雷头帮背信弃义的谣言，但我们从未收到过一个更明确的信号，表明我们的飞地、我们的安全地、我们的避难所正在受到攻击。无论是从表面上还是从我们自己的角度来看，很明显，团结必须不惜一切代价来维护。这里是邻居新闻网，让您了解最新的新闻，公正和平衡。我们马上回来。"
I turned away as a commercial for feather shampoo began to air. “Where is that park?” She didn’t respond. After finding out that her own plan had been given a deadly twist, I could imagine how she must feel. I reached over and shook her hard. “Hey! That section of the park! Where is it?”
当羽毛洗发水的广告开始播出时，我转身离开了。"那个公园在哪里?"她没有回应。在发现她自己的计划遭遇了致命的转折之后，我可以想象她的感受。我伸手过去，使劲摇了摇她。"嘿！公园的那个区域！它在哪里?"
She raised her head. “Hmm... that’s the Rainbow Dash memorial park.”
她抬起头。"嗯......那是彩虹冲刺纪念公园。"
“You think they have Glory there?” P-21 asked.
"你认为他们在那里有晨辉吗?"P-21要求。
“I think it’s likely. Enclave hates traitors, right? What better place to turn over a whole bunch of them?”
"我认为很有可能。昂科雷憎恨叛徒，对吧？还有什么地方比这里更适合翻阅这么多书呢?"
“But what about Lighthooves?” Rampage asked. “I mean, I know you love Glory, but aren’t the lives of thousands more important?” The question hit me like a ton of bricks. Lighthooves had said he needed just a few more hours, which meant to me that he was doing something important and final. Fueling the missiles, perhaps? If I wasted time freeing Glory, his plans might come to fruition. But if didn’t...
"但是，那些轻舟呢?"狂暴问道。"我的意思是，我知道你热爱晨辉，但成千上万人的生命不是更重要吗?"这个问题对我打击很大。说他还需要几个小时，这对我来说意味着他正在做一些重要的和最后的事情。也许是为导弹加油？如果我浪费时间释放晨辉，他的计划可能会实现。但如果没有..。
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll deal with my grandson myself,” Mare Do Well said grimly. “I’ll get you to the park and then go to the Tower.”
"别开玩笑了。"我自己来处理我的孙子,"马都很好冷酷地说。"我送你去公园，然后去伦敦塔。"
“You can get in?” I asked in surprise.
"你能进去吗?"我惊讶地问。
She pulled off her hat, then reached under and unclipped something on her black and purple helmet. The eyes darkened, and then the armor hissed. An acrid stench escaped as the seal broke and the helmet detached. Beneath, I gaped at the mottled grayish-blue hide and the thinning polychromatic mane. Cloudy rose eyes met mine. The right side of her face was marred by three gouges running from her brow down past her eye and alongside her muzzle to her throat. “Duh,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s my ministry, after all.”
她脱下帽子，然后伸手到下面，解开黑色和紫色头盔上别着的东西。眼睛变黑了，然后盔甲发出嘶嘶声。印章破了，头盔也脱落了，一股刺鼻的恶臭散发出来。下面，我目瞪口呆地看着斑驳的灰蓝色皮毛和稀疏的多色鬃毛。朦胧的玫瑰色的眼睛与我相遇。她的右脸上有三道伤痕，从她的额头往下流过她的眼睛，沿着她的鼻子流到喉咙。"切,"彩虹·达什说。"毕竟，这是我的事工。"
* * *
* * *
We all had a million questions and no time to ask them. I wanted to take her aside and talk all about the Pinkie Pie orb. Rampage just laughed in delight. P-21 was curious how she’d survived. Boo seemed to want to know where there was more Sparkle-Cola. Before any of that, though, Rainbow Dash busied herself picking up various supplies while Scotch Tape and Monkeywrench worked to quickly clear the Enclave block on my PipBuck; I was glad to have my E.F.S. up
我们都有成千上万的问题，却没有时间去问它们。我想把她拉到一边，谈谈小指派圆球的事。狂暴只是高兴地笑了笑。P-21很好奇她是怎么活下来的。布似乎想知道哪里有更多的闪亮可乐。在此之前，彩虹·达什忙于收集各种物资，而透明胶带和Monkeywrench则在我的PipBuck上快速清理Enclave区块;我很高兴我的e.f.s出现了
again. Only after that, when we began making our way down one of Rainbow Dash’s secret passages, did she explain what she could to our varied curiosity.
再一次。直到那以后，当我们开始沿着彩虹·达什的一个秘密通道走下去时，她才向我们各种各样的好奇心解释了她所能解释的一切。
“Fact is, when I left the Enclave, they sent my childhood friend to bring me back, preferably not breathing. Hell of a fight. Best one I was ever in. Got me this,” she said as her wing touched the scars running along her face. “And the fact was that I couldn’t kill her in the end, not after all my other friends were dead. She didn’t have the same problem, though. Ripped me to pieces, and I ended up crashing into a balefire crater. She left me for dead, which to be fair, I was. I just didn’t stay that way.”
"事实上，当我离开昂科雷时，他们派我儿时的朋友来把我带回来，最好不要呼吸。真是一场恶战。我坐过的最好的一次。给我这个,"她说，她的翅膀碰了碰她脸上的伤疤。"事实上，在我的其他朋友都死了之后，我最终无法杀死她。但她没有同样的问题。把我撕成碎片，最后我撞上了一个火山口。她让我等死，说句公道话，我确实死了。我只是没有保持那种状态。"
“Why?” I asked. “Why go on? Why dress up as Mare Do Well?”
"为什么?"我问道。"为什么还要继续下去？为什么要打扮成"好母马"?"
Rainbow Dash’s cloudy eyes dropped. “Well, when you’re a ghoul, you have to do something to keep your marbles together. The fact was that the Enclave thought I was dead. I didn’t see any reason to correct them on that. I had access to the Tower and to Thunderhead, so I made this my base of operations and tried to make up for... for failing my friends.”
彩虹·达什模糊的眼睛垂了下来。"当你是食尸鬼的时候，你必须做点什么来保持你的理智。事实是昂科雷以为我死了。我看不出有什么理由去纠正他们。我可以进入伦敦塔和雷霆岬，所以我把这里作为我的基地，并试图弥补......对我朋友的失败。"
“You mean when the bombs fell?” P-21 asked, and she nodded.
"你是说炸弹落下的时候?"P-21问道，她点了点头。
“Did you try and stop it after all?” I asked lightly.
"你到底有没有试图阻止它?"我轻轻地问。
She looked at me sharply, then rolled her eyes. “Oh, right. The orb in the cell. You actually got it... ugh... Pinkie...” She shook her head. “Yeah, I did. As much as I could. By then, though, the war had its own momentum. I asked questions. I even tried to get Twilight to speak to the Princess. But something that I didn’t know was what triggered the exchange. The zebras claimed that one of our megaspells went off in Roam. Then Cloudsdale went up. Then Maripony. Then everywhere else. The fact is, even though I knew the bombs were going to go off, I couldn’t just stand on the roof of the palace and shout that the world was going to end. I would have been locked up as a nutcase.”
她用锐利的目光看着我，然后转了转眼珠。"哦，对了。牢房里的球体。你真的拿到了......呃......平奇......"她摇了摇头。"是的，我做到了。尽我所能。然而，到那时，战争已经有了自己的势头。我问了一些问题。我甚至试图让暮光之城和公主说话。但是我不知道是什么触发了这次交易。斑马声称我们的一只巨型蜘蛛在Roam爆炸了。然后克劳斯代尔就被关起来了。然后是马里波尼。然后是其他地方。事实是，即使我知道炸弹要爆炸，我也不能站在宫殿的屋顶上大喊世界末日就要来了。我会被当成疯子关起来的。"
“And Pinkie Pie erasing her memories couldn’t have made it easier,” I said.
"小手指派抹去了她的记忆，不可能使事情变得更简单,"我说。
“Sure. Even she didn’t believe me. Which I think was the point. Whatever her prank was, I couldn’t mess with it. She couldn’t mess with it. She put everything into motion and then left. All I could do was carry out her instructions, even after all my friends died.” She sighed and shook her head again. “I should have done more, earlier. Before Big Macintosh died. But I was too busy fighting for
"当然。连她都不相信我。我觉得这才是重点。不管她的恶作剧是什么，我都搞不定。她不能把它弄乱。她把一切都安排好，然后就离开了。我所能做的就是执行她的指示，即使我所有的朋友都死了。"她叹了口气，又摇了摇头。"我早就应该做得更多。在大麦金托什死之前。但是我太忙于争取
Equestria.”
Equestria。"
“Personally?” Rampage asked, and the ghoul smirked.
"私下里?"暴怒问道，食尸鬼得意地笑了。
“Hell yeah. I wasn’t going to be like Rarity and sit behind a desk or hold board meetings like Applejack. I got out there and did the work that needed to get done. We were operating behind the lines, gathering intelligence and sabotaging enemy action. It was glorious. And best of all, everypony thought I was just sitting in the Tower, twiddling my hooves and making photo ops. Ha!” She laughed. But her smile quickly faded. “Wasn’t worth it in the end, though. Not by half.”
"当然。我不会像稀有那样坐在办公桌后面，或者像苹果白兰地那样召开董事会议。我走出去，完成了需要完成的工作。我们在后方行动，收集情报，破坏敌人的行动。那真是太棒了。最棒的是，每个小马都以为我只是坐在伦敦塔里，玩弄我的蹄子和拍照。哈!"她笑了。但是她的笑容很快就消失了。"不过到最后还是不值得。还不到一半。"
“What wasn’t?” Scotch Tape asked.
"什么不是?"透明胶带问道。
“The Ministry of Awesome. The ministries in general. When Luna and Scarface suggested them, I thought they were crazy. But then Twilight started having ideas. Then Fluttershy. Then Pinkie. Ways that we could help make things better for other ponies. They got into it, and I came along for the ride. Because that’s what Loyalty does, right?” She shook her head. “Fact is, I should have spoken up. Luna wasn’t worth what we gave up.”
"令人敬畏的部。一般的政府部门。当卢娜和疤面煞星建议他们的时候，我觉得他们疯了。但是后来暮光之城开始有了一些想法。然后是Fluttershy。然后是平奇。我们可以帮助其他小马改善生活的方法。他们上了车，我也跟着上了车。因为忠诚就是这样，对吧?"她摇了摇头。"事实上，我应该大声说出来。卢娜不值得我们放弃什么。"
I felt a little shocked by that. “She was your Princess.”
我对此感到有点震惊。"她是你的公主。"
Rainbow Dash stopped walking and faced me. “When I came up with the Single Pegasus Project, it was going to be a way to help all of Equestria. We’d get more fighters to take the heat off the Earth Ponies, and we’d be able to help countless civilians. Do you know the first thing Princess Luna said when I proposed it to her?” I shook my head slowly and the ghoul grimaced. “She wanted to know how she could use the damned thing as a weapon! Throwing hurricanes and tornadoes at her enemies. She was glad for me to weaponize the frigging sky, and I had to grin and act like it was the awesomest thing since me.” She bared her teeth, her filmy eyes glowing in agitation. “Fuck. Luna.”
彩虹·达什停下脚步，面对着我。"当我提出单飞马项目时，它将成为帮助整个Equestria的一种方式。我们将得到更多的战斗机来减轻地球上小马的热量，我们将能够帮助无数的平民。你知道我向卢娜公主求婚时她说的第一句话是什么吗?"我慢慢地摇了摇头，食尸鬼做了个鬼脸。"她想知道她怎样才能把那该死的东西当作武器！向她的敌人投掷飓风和龙卷风。她很高兴我能把该死的天空变成武器，而我不得不咧嘴笑，表现得好像这是自我以来最棒的事情一样。"她露出牙齿，那双朦胧的眼睛因激动而发光。"操。卢娜。"
From the pain and rage in her eyes, this wasn’t something I should argue. “So, since then you’ve been protecting the Wasteland?”
从她眼中的痛苦和愤怒来看，这不是我应该争辩的问题。"那么，从那以后你一直在保护荒原?"
“Pretty much,” Rainbow Dash replied as we resumed walking. “Trying to save who I could. I was a corpse already, so the radiation wasn’t a problem. Lightning Dust had risen to the top of the martial government that would turn into the Grand Pegasus Enclave, so there was absolutely no way I could show my face
"差不多吧,"彩虹·达什回答，我们继续往前走。"尽我所能去拯救他们。我已经是一具尸体了，所以辐射不是问题。闪电尘埃已经上升到军事政府的最高层，变成了飞马座飞地，所以我绝对没有办法露面
there. There were a few ponies in the Tower who knew about me, though. We did what we could to nudge, cajole, blackmail, and otherwise convince the Enclave to pull their heads out from under their wings and do something. And I kept my eyes open for this ‘LittlePip’ who Pinkie said was going to fix everything.”
那里。不过，伦敦塔里有几匹小马认识我。我们尽我们所能去劝说、哄骗、勒索，或者说服昂科雷把他们的头从他们的羽翼下拔出来，做点什么。我睁大眼睛看着这个"小匹普"，平奇说他会解决一切问题。"
“Did you ever tell... Spike?” I asked, and Rainbow Dash gave a lurch, pain crossing her face.
"你告诉过......斯派克吗?"我问道，彩虹·达什脸上突然一阵剧痛。
“No,” she said, her voice rasping barely above a whisper. “I was too ashamed. He loved Twilight, and I let her die... or melt into that goop thing... never quite knew which it was. If I’d told him... maybe... maybe...” but she slumped and shook her head. “I don’t know. I just wish things could have been different for him. For all of us.” She straightened a little and went on, “He’s known the myth of Mare Do Well, and I was fine with that.”
"不,"她说，她的声音刺耳，几乎超过了耳语。"我太羞愧了。他喜欢《暮光之城》，而我却眼睁睁地看着她死去......或者融化在那黏糊糊的东西里......永远不知道那是什么。如果我告诉他......也许......也许......"但她垂下头，摇了摇头。"我不知道。我只是希望对他来说事情能有所不同。为了我们所有人。"她稍稍直了一下身子，继续说:"他知道玛丽做得很好的神话，我对此没有意见。"
“So you really do come out and save ponies?” Rampage asked.
"那么你真的出来拯救小马了?"狂暴问道。
“When I can. I perfected hit and run techniques. Sometimes one shot from a mysterious stranger is all a pony needs to survive,” she said with a smile and shrug. “Otherwise, I was up here. It’s a really big Wasteland, above and below.”
"当我可以的时候。我完善了打了就跑的技巧。有时候，一个神秘陌生人的一针就是一匹小马生存所需要的一切,"她微笑着耸耸肩说。"要不然，我就在这儿了。这是一个真正的大荒原，上面和下面都是。"
“So... Lighthooves calling you ‘Grandmother’... that’s not literal, is it?” P-21 asked.
"那么......光剑叫你'祖母'......不是字面上的意思，对吧?"P-21要求。
She laughed. “I was alone in my tower with a lot of sexy soldiers and plenty of tension to work out. And work it out I did.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “But no, no time for foals. Fact is, I ‘adopted’ all of my best fliers. They became the children I never had myself.” She shrugged. “Lighthooves and his brother were Fleetfoot’s daughter’s daughter’s etc.... so they’re my ‘grandchildren’. They grew up calling me ‘grandma’. It was cute for a while. Now?” She sighed and shrugged again.
她笑了。"我独自一人在塔里，身边有许多性感的士兵，还有许多紧张的情绪需要缓解。我做到了。"她叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。""但是，不，没有时间给小马驹。事实上，我"收养"了所有最好的飞行员。他们变成了我从未有过的孩子。"她耸了耸肩。"lightthoves和他的兄弟是Fleetfoot女儿的女儿等等......所以他们是我的'孙子'。他们从小就叫我奶奶。有那么一会儿还挺可爱的。现在?"她叹了口气，又耸了耸肩。
“You should get in touch with Spike again,” I said. “He’d like to know that one of his friends is still around. And I think he’d be proud of what you’ve been doing.”
"你应该再联系一下斯派克,"我说。"他想知道他的一个朋友还在附近。我想他会为你所做的感到骄傲的。"
“Maybe,” Rainbow Dash said. Her tone told me that it wouldn’t be anytime soon. “Maybe someday when I can think of it without feeling like I let all our friends die.” I knew a little of what she was feeling. We reached another hidden
"也许吧,"彩虹·达什说。她的语气告诉我不会很快。"也许有一天，当我想起这件事的时候，我不会觉得我让我们所有的朋友都死了。"我对她的感受略知一二。我们找到了另一个隐藏的地方
door, and she pushed it open. The tunnel on the other side sloped sharply upward. “That should take you out into the park. Once you have Glory, you should leave. Let me clean up this mess; it’s my responsibility.”
她把门推开了。另一边的隧道急剧地向上倾斜。"那应该能把你带到公园里去。一旦你拥有了晨辉，你就应该离开。让我来收拾这个烂摊子，这是我的责任。"
“You know, I figured you’d have realized by now that I’m not going to walk away from this,” I replied.
"你知道，我以为你现在已经意识到我不会就此罢休,"我回答。
The ghoul smirked and pulled her helmet back on. “I got to ask: is LittlePip anything like you?”
食尸鬼得意地笑了，把头盔拉了回来。"我得问问:小皮普和你有什么相似之处吗?"
“Um.” I frowned. “She’s a lot more sane. And cute.”
"嗯。"我皱起了眉头。"她比以前理智多了。而且很可爱。"
“Pff. Sane’s boring. Still, I look forward to meeting her sometime,” Rainbow Dash said. “Try to stay out of trouble.”
"噗。疯子很无聊。尽管如此，我还是很期待有一天能见到她。"。"尽量别惹麻烦。"
“Somehow, I don’t think that Blackjack can,” P-21 said.
"不知何故，我不认为黑杰克可以,"P-21说。
Rainbow Dash started away, but Rampage rushed up to her. “Wait! Wait wait wait!” She moved in front of her and then grinned. “I gotta know... is that your natural mane color?” Rainbow stared at her with those impassive purple eyepieces, then stepped past her. “Oh, come on! That’s a question for the ages!” Rampage called after her. “You know this is going to keep me up all night!” With a shimmer, Mare Do Well disappeared, and Rampage slumped. “Come on, I gotta know...”
彩虹冲了出去，但狂暴冲向她。"等等！等等，等等!"她走到她面前，然后咧嘴笑了笑。"我想知道......这是你天生的鬃毛颜色吗?"彩虹用那些冷漠的紫色目镜盯着她，然后从她身边走过。"哦，得了吧！这是一个长期存在的问题!"狂暴在她后面喊道。"你知道这会让我整晚睡不着觉的!"随着一抹微光，马都好消失了，狂暴暴跌落。"来吧，我想知道......"
“Some mysteries will forever remain such,” P-21 said sagely, drawing a giggle from Scotch Tape.
"有些谜团将永远保持这样,"P-21睿智地说，引得透明胶带咯咯地笑了起来。
“So what is the next step?” Rampage asked, then grinned. “Oooh! Oooh! Wait! Let me guess. It’s not going up there and killing everypony!”
"那么，下一步是什么?"狂暴问道，然后咧嘴一笑。"哦！哦！等等！让我猜猜。它不会上去杀死每一匹小马!"
“Yup,” I replied sardonically.
"是的,"我讽刺地回答。
“So how are we going to get Glory back?” P-21 asked as he readied Persuasion, checking the sights and inspecting the barrel.
"那么，我们怎样才能把晨辉夺回来呢?"P-21一边准备好《劝导》，一边检查瞄准器和检查枪管。
“We’re going to go up there and beat the snot out of them short of killing them till we get her back. Completely different plan,” I said defensively.
"我们要上去把他们打得鼻青脸肿，除非杀了他们，直到把她找回来。完全不同的计划,"我辩护地说。
Rampage gaped at me. “Blackjack, killing is a lot easier, especially since it’s
横冲直撞的看着我。"黑杰克，杀人容易多了，特别是因为它是
what they’d do to us! I mean, be reasonable! Slaughter is a perfectly sensible action at times.”
他们会怎么对我们！我的意思是，理智一点！屠杀有时是一种非常明智的行为。"
“Not when I need to beg General Chaser not to attack,” I answered.
"当我需要乞求追击者将军不要进攻的时候，就不需要了,"我回答。
P-21 frowned as he tugged his hat back. “There’s also something bugging me. Lighthooves wanted the Enclave to attack, right? No problem there. What I don’t understand is how he’s going to get Thunderhead to back him. I mean, he is a terrorist with a biological weapon at this point. Not exactly somepony the masses get behind.”
他把帽子往后拉时皱了皱眉头。"还有一些事情困扰着我。光剑想让昂科雷进攻，对吧？没问题。我不明白的是他怎么能得到雷头的支持。我的意思是，他是一个拥有生化武器的恐怖分子。这可不是什么大众支持的项目。"
Pinkie had said to remember what he’d done to Glory. Betrayed? That was a given. Lied? Nothing new about that. There was something. Some trick he hadn’t pulled yet. He’d turned Neighvarro against Thunderhead. He needed some way to turn Thunderhead against Neighvarro.
平奇说过要记住他对晨辉所做的一切。背叛？这是理所当然的。撒谎？这没什么新鲜的。有些事情。一些他还没有玩过的把戏。他让邻居反对雷霆万钧。他需要一些方法让雷头公司反对邻居。
But what? All he’d done to Glory was brand her and make her somepony for everypony to...
但是什么？他对晨辉所做的一切就是给她打上烙印，给她做一匹小马驹给每个小马驹..。
Oh, shit.
该死。
“We have to move. Now,” I said sharply. If I was right... things were about to get a whole lot uglier. I scrambled up the slope, my friends following behind me.
"我们必须行动。现在,"我厉声说道。如果我是对的...事情将会变得更加糟糕。我爬上斜坡，我的朋友们跟在我后面。
“Are we still going for your wussy ‘beat them up’ plan? Or have you come to your senses?” Rampage yelled after me.
"我们还要继续你那懦弱的'揍他们'计划吗？还是你恢复理智了?"狂暴在我后面喊道。
“We’re going with the ‘Save Glory and then get the Neighvarro the hell out of here before they get killed and Storm Chaser comes in to save her soldiers’ plan!” I ended at a grate and kicked it open, emerging into a green park.
"我们要去'保存荣誉，然后得到邻居地狱离开这里之前，他们被杀害和风暴追击者来拯救她的士兵的计划!"我在一个栅栏前结束了旅程，一脚把它踢开，走进了一个绿色的公园。
And it was filled with ponies. A thousand, maybe more. They were angry and scared, but they had the numbers. All they needed was a match, and Lighthooves was holding it.
里面全是小马驹。一千个，也许更多。他们很生气，也很害怕，但是他们人多势众。他们所需要的只是一场比赛，而Lighthooves正在坚持着。
At the stage further along the park, rainbow projectors had created an immense holographic image of Captain Afterburner as she gleefully informed the crowd of the terrorists found in the Sky Striker family. The clueless red mare seemed to be missing that calling a war hero a traitor and his children terrorists was definitely not winning hearts and minds. Fortunately, the sight of my friends and
在公园更远处的舞台上，彩虹投影仪制作了一幅加力船长的巨大全息图像，她兴高采烈地告诉人群在天空冲锋者家族中发现的恐怖分子。毫无头绪的红色母马似乎没有意识到，称一个战争英雄为叛徒和他的孩子为恐怖分子绝对不能赢得人心。幸运的是，看到我的朋友和
me was parting the crowd enough that we could made our way towards the stage. Dusk, Moonshadow, and Glory were all wearing bright orange jumpsuits with hoods. It’d be impossible for them to run and hide in the crowd.
我把人群分开，这样我们就可以上台了。黄昏、月影和晨辉都穿着带帽子的鲜橙色连体裤。他们根本不可能躲在人群中。
When Afterburner saw us, the red mare grinned broadly. “And here, just as I promised, are the final culprits! Security and her friends, surfacer savages who conspired with the Striker family to murder both the councilor and the Director of Security, Stratus.”
加力看到我们时，红色的母马咧嘴大笑。"而这里，正如我所承诺的，就是最后的罪犯！保安和她的朋友们，那些与斯垂克家族密谋谋杀议员和保安主管斯特拉图斯的野蛮人。"
The crowd, however, was having a decidedly different reaction. Perhaps it was the advertisements. Perhaps it was the fact that we were approaching the stage rather than running. There were grins, whistles, and cheers. A small group of mares began to chant ‘Twenty-One!’ and others asked where LittlePip and Calamity were. Captain Afterburner’s sneer faltered. “What is wrong with you people!? She’s a murderer and a killer! Arrest her!”
然而，人群的反应却截然不同。也许是因为那些广告。也许是因为我们正在接近舞台，而不是在奔跑。有笑声，口哨声和欢呼声。一小群母马开始唱"二十一!"还有人问小皮普和卡拉米蒂在哪里。加力船长的冷笑动摇了。"你们这些人有什么毛病？她是个杀人犯，杀人犯！逮捕她!"
“No!” came a shout from the stage as an armored pegasus launched into the air. He removed his helmet, and Boomer yelled out. “Don’t believe her! Blackjack isn’t a murderer. I don’t know who killed the councilor, but it wasn’t her!”
"不!"舞台上传来一阵欢呼声，一架装甲飞马飞向空中。他摘下头盔，布玛儿大声喊道。"不要相信她！黑杰克不是杀人犯。我不知道是谁杀了议员，但肯定不是她!"
“Arrest him! Gross insubordination!” Afterburner shrieked. Three pegasi launched themselves up to tackle him, but they failed to drag him to the stage.
"逮捕他！太不服从命令了!"加力燃烧室尖叫起来。飞马座的三个人奋起扑倒他，但他们没能把他拖上舞台。
I reached the steps of the stage and started ascending. Lighthooves had probably planned on me being here. Doubt. Confusion. It was feeding into the anger and fear. But I had to head this off. “I didn’t kill Captain Hoarfrost or her formation, even when they were helpless in front of me. I am not your enemy!”
我走到舞台的台阶上，开始向上爬。莱特霍夫斯可能早就计划让我来这里了。怀疑。困惑。它加剧了人们的愤怒和恐惧。但我必须阻止这件事。"我没有杀死霍尔弗罗斯特上尉或她的编队，即使他们在我面前无助。我不是你的敌人!"
“Lies!” Afterburner screamed, then launched herself at me. Call me blasé, but she wasn't Dawn. She wasn't even wearing power armor. Some of the Enclave who were armored moved to grab me, but Rampage intercepted them.
"撒谎!"加力燃烧室尖叫着，然后向我开火。你可以叫我布拉斯，但她不是道恩。她甚至没有穿上能量盔甲。一些被武装起来的飞地人抓住了我，但是暴怒拦截了他们。
“Bloodbath, Blackjack. Try it sometime!” she grunted before heaving them off me. Two more dove at me along with Afterburner. That I was unarmed seemed to be keeping them from just spraying me and the crowd behind me, something that would have done Lighthooves’s work for him. Please, don’t get any more stupid.
"大屠杀，黑杰克。有时间试试吧!"她哼了一声，然后把它们从我身上扔下去。两个更多的鸽子在我连同加力。我手无寸铁的样子似乎阻止了他们向我和我身后的人群开枪，这种行为本可以替他完成莱特霍夫的工作。拜托，别再犯傻了。
I teleported away to where Afterburner had been standing, and immediately I was magically magnified in the air above me. “Everypony listen to me!” I
我心灵传输到加力站立的地方，立刻我被魔法般地放大在我上方的空气中。"大家听我说!"一
yelled, and then...
大叫，然后..。
Then...
然后..。
They were. Thousands of eyes all on me, Thunderheader and Neighvarro alike. “I... I... this... we... ah...” Suddenly everything I needed to say was dribbling out of my head. I couldn’t even pay attention to the cards a little purple unicorn and little yellow pegasus were holding up in my head. I felt the silence growing tighter, tenser.
是的。成千上万的眼睛都盯着我，雷霆头和邻居都一样。"我.....。.我。.这个......我们......啊......"突然间，我想说的一切都从我的头脑中流了出来。我甚至没有注意到一个紫色的小独角兽和一个黄色的小飞马在我的头上举行的卡片。我感到寂静越来越紧张。
Then I saw a pony in the crowd. He wasn’t really there. The pale stallion in the wide-brimmed hat in the front row just smiled at me, his watery pale eyes believing in me.
然后我在人群中看到了一匹小马。他不是真的在那里。前排戴着宽边帽的苍白种马只是冲我微笑，他那双水汪汪的苍白的眼睛相信我。
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then...
我闭上眼睛深呼吸然后..。
“I know that you’re all scared. I know that you’re angry. You have good reasons to be, both Neighvarro and Thunderhead alike. But I want you to think back. Two hundred years ago, we were just as scared and angry as you are now. That led to a war that nearly destroyed everypony. It killed countless people, pony, zebra, griffin, and otherwise. Now, today, there are ponies who are using that same fear and anger to start bloodshed like the world hasn’t seen in two centuries!
"我知道你们都很害怕。我知道你很生气。你有很好的理由，无论是邻居和雷霆头一样。但我希望你回想一下。两百年前，我们和你们现在一样害怕和愤怒。这导致了一场几乎摧毁每一匹小马的战争。它杀死了无数的人----小马、斑马、狮鹫等等。现在，今天，有些小马正在利用同样的恐惧和愤怒开始流血，这是两个世纪以来世界上从未见过的！
“I came from that world below. It’s a terrible place. The life you have here in the sky is better than anything down below. But you cannot keep that life through fear, indifference, and hate. It’s time to do better. It’s time for calm and rationality to win the day for once, rather than hate and violence.”
"我来自下面那个世界。那是个可怕的地方。你在天上的生活比在下面的任何生活都好。但是你不能通过恐惧、冷漠和憎恨来保持这种生活。是时候做得更好了。现在是时候冷静和理智地赢得胜利了，而不是仇恨和暴力。"
I pointed a hoof behind me. I had no idea if I was pointing in the right direction or not. “There’s a pony in the tower over there that’s a real threat, to both Neighvarro and Thunderhead. I know you have little love or reason to trust, but I am asking you... I am begging you... please don’t let your home become the Wasteland.”
我指了指身后的一只蹄子。我不知道我指的方向是否正确。"那边的塔里有一匹小马，对邻居和雷头都是真正的威胁。我知道你没有什么爱或理由去相信，但我请求你......我请求你......请不要让你的家变成一片荒原。"
Suddenly there was a loud squeal, and my image flickered. Then it coalesced into the white-armored image of Lighthooves. “Blackjack is correct. There is a pony who is a threat. A pony with a biological weapon capable of killing countless innocent ponies. But perhaps it should be known how this weapon came to be. A year ago, a virus was discovered on the surface... a terrible
突然传来一声尖叫，我的脑海里闪过一个画面。然后它合并成一个白色盔甲的轻舟形象。"黑杰克是正确的。有一匹小马是个威胁。一种拥有生物武器的小马，能够杀死无数无辜的小马。但也许我们应该知道这种武器是如何形成的。一年前，一种病毒在海面上被发现.....
biological plague that, thankfully, miraculously, did not infect pegasi. This virus came to the attention of High General Harbinger, who ordered me to seek a method to convert it for use against our own people! A fitting weapon against ponies who seek independence, freedom, and security. Well, I did as he instructed under threat of death, but now that Harbinger’s weapon is completed, I cannot give it up to him to be used against us.”
感谢上帝，这种生物瘟疫奇迹般地，没有感染飞马座。这种病毒引起了高级将军哈宾格的注意，他命令我寻找一种方法来转化它，用来对付我们自己的人民！这是对付寻求独立、自由和安全的小马的合适武器。好吧，我在死亡的威胁下按照他的指示做了，但是现在哈宾格的武器已经完成了，我不能把它交给他用来对付我们。"
The speakers drowned out all but his rising, dramatic voice. “The Neighvarro say Blackjack killed Councilor Stargazer, but I have sworn affidavits from Doctor Morningstar that a public meeting was scheduled today and was changed only when Director Stratus informed the Counselor that a midnight meeting was called for at the Striker residence. I have evidence taken from the director’s terminal of burst transmissions to Neighvarro, confirming that their weapon was prepared and ready to be shipped over. And I have evidence that Captain Hoarfrost’s own ponies slew Director Stratus in a bloody attempt to silence him and to bury this evidence.”
演讲者淹没了一切，只留下他那升高的、戏剧性的声音。"邻居说黑杰克杀死了议员Stargazer，但是我有晨星医生的宣誓证词，说今天安排了一次公开会议，只是在Stratus主任通知顾问要在Striker住所召开一次午夜会议后才改变的。我有证据从导演的终端突发传输到Neighvarro，确认他们的武器已经准备好，随时可以运过来。我还有证据表明，霍尔弗罗斯特船长自己的小马杀死了斯特拉图斯局长，血腥地企图让他闭嘴，并掩盖这一证据。"
Oh shit. What?
哦，该死。什么？
“There is a time that a pony can be silent no more! A time when a pony must take a stand against the unabashed evil that threatens their home. A time where the wrongness of others must be rejected and thrown out! That time is now! I say to you, Thunderhead, my home! Rise up and send these miserable dogs of war back to Neighvarro with their tail between their legs!”
"有一段时间，小马再也不能沉默了！这是一个小马必须站出来反抗威胁它们家园的不加掩饰的邪恶的时代。在这个时候，别人的错误必须被拒绝和抛弃！就是现在！我对你说，霹雳头，我的家！起来吧，把这些可怜的战狗夹着尾巴送回Neighvarro去!"
For an instant, there was a horrible silence. It was like being on the Seahorse in the rapids, seconds before the boat made its terrible plunge. A rational pony would have heard that silence and perceived the threat in it. A wise pony would have left.
有那么一瞬间，一阵可怕的沉默。这就像是在急流中的海马上，几秒钟后船就猛烈地冲了进去。一匹理智的小马会听到这种沉默，并察觉到其中的威胁。一匹聪明的小马会离开的。
Afterburner was neither rational nor wise.
加力燃烧室既不理性也不明智。
“Traitors!” she screamed as she drew her gun.
"叛徒!"她一边拔枪一边尖叫。
The crowd screamed back. It was a roar of a thousand voices, incomprehensible and mad. Somepony fired, maybe Afterburner or maybe somepony in the crowd, but there was a scream. It was the scream of the Wasteland, and it had come for us.
人群也尖叫起来。那是一千个难以理解和疯狂的声音的咆哮。一些小马开火了，也许加力或者也许一些小马在人群中，但是有一个尖叫。这是荒原的尖叫声，它是冲着我们来的。
I’d failed. All I could do was get to Glory and her family as the pegasi of
我失败了。我所能做的就是接近晨辉和她的家人，成为飞马座的一员
Thunderhead swarmed up in a great, vengeful cloud. One on one, they had no hope against the power armor, but these ponies were ten to one. Fifty to one. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fly, and I was swept to the side. I heard one of my friends scream my name.
雷雨云密布在一片复仇的巨大云层中。一对一，他们没有希望对抗强力盔甲，但是这些小马是十对一。五十比一。不幸的是，我不能飞，我被扫到一边。我听到我的一个朋友尖叫我的名字。
Afterburner, however, still had one last play to make. She swooped through the crowd, landed beside Glory, and seized her, pulling her into the projector’s pickup area. “Get back! Get back! We have Rainbow Dash!” The sheer madness of the statement seemed to make the mob pause. “Get back, I say! I know you damned traitors love the rainbow-maned bitch! Get back, or I’ll break her fucking neck. See?” And she bit the hood and yanked it off.
加力，然而，仍然有最后一个发挥。她穿过人群，降落在晨辉身边，抓住她，把她拉进放映机的拾音区。"退后！退后！我们有彩虹冲刺!"这种疯狂的言论似乎使群众停顿了下来。"退后，我说！我知道你们这些该死的叛徒喜欢彩虹女！退后，否则我扭断她的脖子。看到了吗?"然后她咬住引擎盖，把它扯了下来。
Purple mane cascaded out from beneath the orange hood. Immense lavender eyes opened and looked out at the crowd. A lovely face that I hadn’t seen in so long bathed in the sunlight and brought a smile to my face, despite everything.
紫色的鬃毛从橙色的兜帽下垂落下来。巨大的淡紫色眼睛睁开，看着外面的人群。一张我很久没有见过的可爱的脸，沐浴在阳光下，不管发生了什么，脸上总是带着微笑。
“Ahhh...” Afterburner gaped at the mare who obviously wasn’t Rainbow Dash, and then she lunged forward and yanked the bag off of Moonshadow and then Dusk. Looking over her shoulder at the crowd, she grinned desperately from ear to ear. “Ah... whoopsie?”
"啊......"加力目瞪口呆地看着那头显然不是彩虹冲刺的母马，然后她向前冲去，猛地把包从月影和黄昏身上扯了下来。她回头望着人群，拼命地咧着嘴笑。"啊......哎呀?"
Ha. Ha. Ha.
哈。哈。哈。
 
Footnote: Maximum Level Reached.
脚注:已达到的最高水平。
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
 
(Author’s notes: I’d like to thank Bro, Hinds, and Swicked for putting up with an absolutely grueling chapter. This one turned out more of a pain than I ever expected, and I am thankful for them taking the time to brush out several with Gdocs being a complete nightmare. It’ll be nice to be finished, put everything on FimFic and be done. Couple more chapters to go.
(作者的笔记:我要感谢Bro，Hinds，和Swicked，他们忍受了一个绝对折磨人的章节。这个问题比我想象的更让人头疼，我很感激他们花时间刷掉了几个Gdocs，因为Gdocs完全是一个噩梦。这将是很好的完成，把一切在FimFic和完成。还有几章要读。
In other news, I am still unemployed. The part of the federal government that does background checks is apparently ‘non-essential’ so until Washington pulls its head out of its ass, I am broke. Any help right now
另一方面，我还没有找到工作。联邦政府中负责背景调查的部分显然是"无关紧要的"，所以除非华盛顿把脑袋从屁股里挪出来，否则我就破产了。现在有任何帮助吗
would be supremely appreciated. Tips are through Paypal at David13ushey@gmail.com. If things don’t straighten out soon... well, hopefully I can snag some seasonal work here in vegas. Otherwise I don’t know what I’m going to do.
会非常感激的。小贴士可以通过Paypal在david13ushey@gmail.com找到。如果事情不能很快恢复正常...好吧，希望我能在拉斯维加斯找到一些季节性的工作。否则我不知道我该怎么办。
I’d like to thank everypony that has stayed with the story this long. It really means a lot to me that I’ve done something folks enjoy. Comments through Cloudsville are appreciated too. I want to get these last chapters done well. Hugs to Kkat for making FoE and hugs to everyone for reading along. Thank you.
我要感谢每一匹坚持了这么长时间的小马。我做了一些人们喜欢做的事情，这对我来说真的意义重大。通过Cloudsville发表的评论也很受欢迎。我想把最后几章写好。拥抱Kkat制造敌人，拥抱大家一起阅读。谢谢你。