“I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to The Grand Galloping Gala.”
"我知道，友谊的乐趣之一就是分享你的祝福，但是如果没有足够的祝福，拥有比朋友更多的东西会让你感觉非常糟糕。所以，尽管我很感激你的邀请，但我还是会退回两张《飞驰的盛宴》(TheGrandGallopinggalla)的票。"
Thunderhead rumbled; the entire city vibrated with the clamor of thousands of ponies roused by the timely interruption by Lighthooves. I wondered if he’d been wearing the Perceptitron, watching me give my speech for patience and tolerance before twisting it with his claims that Neighvarro had ordered him to adapt the plague. Worse, between the efforts of Dawn and himself, any pony in Thunderhead who could have put the brakes on this was dead. Now Thunderhead roared with anger and fear. I knew that most of the ponies here didn’t want a fight, but they were being dragged along by those who did.
雷声隆隆;整个城市在成千上万的小马的喧闹声中振动着，它们被轻舟的及时打断所唤醒。我怀疑他是不是戴着Perceptitron的面具，看着我为了耐心和宽容发表演讲，然后扭曲事实，说什么内瓦罗命令他去适应瘟疫。更糟糕的是，在道恩和他自己的共同努力下，任何一匹能够阻止这一切的小马都死了。现在雷霆万钧怒吼着，又是愤怒又是恐惧。我知道这里的大多数小马都不想打架，但是它们被那些想打架的人拖着走。
Just like two centuries ago.
就像两个世纪前一样。
Glass smashed in the distance, and flocks of panicked ponies swirled like shattered rainbows to the safety of their homes… at least, I hoped their homes were safe. Smoke started to fill the air; I didn’t want to imagine what up here could burn. The acrid smell made me choke. All across the city, the flickering signs that had shown advertisements for casual enjoyments now showed static or giant red warnings to stay at home and ‘shelter in place’, whatever that meant. From the confused cries and stunned features of many on the street, I wasn’t the only one disoriented. Some oblivious ponies even seemed annoyed by this interruption to their daily routine.
远处的玻璃碎了，一群群惊慌失措的小马像破碎的彩虹一样旋转着奔向安全的家园......至少，我希望他们的家园是安全的。空气中开始弥漫着浓烟，我不敢想象这里会有什么东西燃烧起来。刺鼻的气味使我窒息。整个城市，闪烁的休闲娱乐广告现在显示静态或巨大的红色警告呆在家里，在原地避难，不管这意味着什么。从街上许多人混乱的叫喊声和惊愕的表情来看，我不是唯一一个迷失方向的人。一些健忘的小马甚至似乎对这种打断它们日常生活的方式感到恼火。
We’d gotten out of the park easily enough; we weren’t all big black flying targets
我们很容易地离开了公园;我们并不都是黑色的大飞行目标
in Neighvarro armor, after all. Boomer was a bloody mess; his own fellows had been particularly rough on him before the fighting had even started. I suspected that he was now a de facto Dashite. The crowd let us pass, and we made our way back towards the Striker estate. Afterburner, however, had managed to escape from the city by the hairs on her tail, darting over the park’s rim, through the ventral opening, and out of sight. Most of her soldiers, battered but otherwise intact, managed to withdraw before Intelligence ponies in their fancy new white power armor arrived. But they’d be back.
毕竟是在Neighvarro的装甲部队。布默是一个血腥的混乱，他自己的同伴已经特别粗暴对待他，甚至在战斗开始之前。我怀疑他现在实际上是个达什派。人群让我们通过，我们回到了斯垂克庄园。然而，加力设法逃离了城市的毛发尾巴，飞速越过公园的边缘，通过腹部的开口，并在视线之外。她的大多数士兵，饱受摧残，但其他方面完好无损，设法撤退前，情报部门的小马在他们的新奇的白色力量盔甲抵达。但他们会回来的。
And there’d be hell to pay.
而且要付出惨痛的代价。
As we walked along the streets, violence was breaking out as gangs of ponies targeted anypony they could accuse of being ‘loyalist’. The thin skin of civility had been scraped away from Thunderhead, and all the nasty acrimonious sentiments, grudges, and disdain that had lain beneath were manifesting in the mob. The leaders, whether they’d been selected ahead of time or were simply exploiting the opportunity, gave Lighthooves what he’d needed: chaos and cover. I’d thought he’d set himself up as a martyr to discredit Neighvarro; I hadn’t anticipated he’d unleash a bloodbath first.
当我们沿着街道行走时，暴力事件正在爆发，一群小马将任何一匹他们可以指控为"忠诚者"的小马作为目标。礼貌的薄薄的外皮已经从雷霆万钧中剥离出来，下面所有的恶毒的、尖刻的情绪、怨恨和蔑视都在暴民中表现出来。领导者们，无论是提前被选中，还是仅仅在利用这个机会，都给了他所需要的:混乱和掩护。我还以为他会以牺牲自己来败坏邻居的名声，没想到他会先大开杀戒。
“Get off her! Now!” I snapped at a half dozen stallions and mares who’d dragged a wild-eyed pegasus from her shop. Somepony had started a fire inside. When my shouts didn’t get their attention, I fired Vigilance. That worked. “Get your hooves off her!”
"放开她！现在!"我抓住了六匹种马和几匹母马，它们从她的店里拖走了一匹狂野的飞马。有个小马在里面放了把火。当我的喊声没有引起他们的注意时，我开除了警惕。这招奏效了。"把你的蹄子从她身上拿开!"
“She’s a sympathizer!” growled a stallion, his coat perfectly matching the color of green foal poop.
"她是一个同情者!"一匹种马咆哮着，他的皮毛和小马驹粪便的颜色完全吻合。
“All… all I said was that we should calm down!” the yellow shop owner said as she tried to protect herself.
"我...我只是说我们应该冷静下来!"黄色商店老板说，她试图保护自己。
“Liar! You said we should let Neighvarro in to investigate! You know they’d just take over,” the stallion spat at her. “You’ve always been soft on them. How much have they been paying you? You’ve been spying for them, haven’t you?”
"骗子！你说我们应该让邻居进来调查！你知道他们会接管的,"种马朝她吐了口唾沫。"你对他们总是很温柔。他们给了你多少钱？你一直在为他们做间谍，是不是?"
“No! I haven’t! I haven’t!” the mare screamed.
"不！我没有！我没有!"母马尖叫着。
I would have liked to explain things. Tell them what was going on and try to come to some kind of understanding… but frankly, I didn’t have the time or a clue where to start. “Rampage,” I said sharply, and she blinked as she looked
我想解释一些事情。告诉他们发生了什么，试着去理解......但是坦白地说，我没有时间，也不知道从哪里开始。"暴怒,"我厉声说道，她一边看一边眨眼
over at me. “Don’t kill them. Just bruise them. A lot.”
看着我。"不要杀他们。只是擦伤他们。很多。"
Rampage blinked at me, then narrowed her eyes at the half dozen. “Yeah. I can do bruising.”
狂暴冲我眨了眨眼，然后对着六个人眯起了眼睛。"是的。我可以弄出淤青。"
“What are you talking about? Stay back!” the poop-green stallion warned, suddenly aware that violence was about to be employed upon him. With a scream, Rampage charged, leaping horizontally like a red and white striped missile, then turning herself sideways midair to crash into the six and scatter them over the prone shopkeeper. The assaulted assaulters tried to fly away, but Rampage somehow entangled all of them, thumping, kicking, and biting whatever limbs she could, be they wing or hoof.
"你在说什么？退后!"大便绿色的种马警告，突然意识到暴力即将发生在他身上。随着一声尖叫，狂暴冲了过来，像一枚红白相间的导弹一样横冲直撞，然后转身在半空中撞向那六个人，把他们分散在趴着的店主身上。受到攻击的暴徒试图飞走，但是狂暴不知怎么把他们都缠住了，不管是用翅膀还是用蹄子，她都会捶打、踢、咬任何可能的肢体。
Glory rushed to the shopkeeper’s side. She’d shed the bright orange jail clothing, and I tried to avoid staring for too long at her beauty. If only all this havoc wasn’t going on... The only thing that marred her delightful appearance was the gray stump of her absent wing. I wondered which she preferred now: her old body back, or being able to fly. “Stay still,” she said as she examined the prone mare. She carefully checked her eyes. “Dilated and anisocoric. Blood from the ears. Can you tell me your name?”
晨辉冲到店主的身边。她脱掉了鲜艳的橙色囚服，我尽量避免长时间地盯着她的美貌。要是这一切没有发生就好了......唯一破坏她美丽外表的就是她没有翅膀的灰色残肢。我不知道她现在更喜欢哪一个:回到她原来的身体，还是能够飞翔。"别动,"她边说边检查那匹卧着的母马。她仔细地检查了眼睛。扩张和各向异性。耳朵流血。你能告诉我你的名字吗?"
“I just… I just wanted them to calm down…” she muttered in a daze before passing out.
"我只是......我只是想让他们冷静下来......"她在昏迷中喃喃自语道。
“She needs medical attention. She might have a concussion,” Glory said sharply. Once again, I wished I had healing spells in my bag of tricks. Her purple eyes turned towards Boomer. “You need to get to a hospital, too. If you don’t have broken ribs, I’ll eat my mane.”
"她需要治疗。她可能有点脑震荡,"晨辉尖锐地说。我又一次希望我的魔法袋里有治疗咒语。她紫色的眼睛转向布玛儿。"你也需要去医院。如果你没有肋骨骨折，我就吃掉我的鬃毛。"
“I’m fine,” Boomer muttered, but from his wheezing and the way he pressed his wings hard to his side, I could tell he wasn’t.
"我很好,"布默喃喃自语，但是从他喘息的声音和用力将翅膀贴在身体一侧的样子，我可以看出他不好。
Twister dropped from the skies, minus her power armor. “There you are. I was stuck on frigging crowd control at the upper aperture,” she said sharply. “City’s gone nuts. Storm Chaser’s ordered a recall.”
龙卷风从天而降，减去了她的能量盔甲。"你在这儿啊。我当时只能在最大光圈处控制人群,"她厉声说道。"这座城市疯了。风暴追逐者已下令召回。"
Storm Chaser? Wait! There was still a pony left who could possibly stop all this. “I need to talk to her.”
风暴追逐者？等等！还有一匹小马可以阻止这一切。"我要和她谈谈。"
Twister blinked at me. “Hoarfrost reported that you killed Stratus. She’s not
图斯特对我眨了眨眼。"Hoarfrost报告说你杀了Stratus。她不是
going to listen to a thing you have to say.”
去听你要说的话"
“I still have to try,” I replied. “Face to face.”
"我还是得试试,"我回答。"面对面。"
“What, is your broadcaster broken?” Rampage asked.
"什么，你的播音员坏了吗?"狂暴问道。
I shook my head. “The only way she might believe me is if I’m there in person,” I said with a frown, and then I looked around at the city. “But… I don’t know what to do about this.”
我摇了摇头。"唯一能让她相信我的方法就是我本人在场,"我皱着眉头说，然后我环顾了一下这座城市。"但是......我不知道该怎么办。"
If the Tower really could fire the Core’s defensive weapons, it would be an absolute nightmare. There was one chance I could think of to stop it, but I had no clue if it would work or what the repercussions might be. If Chaser kept the Raptors away, we wouldn’t have to find out.
如果伦敦塔真的可以发射核心的防御武器，那将是一个绝对的噩梦。有一个机会我可以想到阻止它，但我不知道它是否会起作用，或者会有什么后果。如果猎人赶走了猛禽，我们就不会知道了。
“I think I do,” Glory kept her eyes on the mare, then gave me a nervous glance. “We need to split up.”
"我想我知道,"晨辉一直盯着那匹母马，然后紧张地瞥了我一眼。"我们需要分头行动。"
“After spending so much time together?” P-21 said with a small smile.
"在相处了这么长时间之后?"P-21微笑着说。
“Yes, but I think the only way we’ll get this done is if we separate,” Glory said as she gazed around at her home city falling apart.
"是的，但是我认为我们完成这件事的唯一方法就是我们分开,"晨辉说，她环顾四周，看着自己的家乡支离破碎。
Rampage poked her head up from the pile of groaning pegasi and spat out a bright wad of fecal-green hair. “Split up? You never split the party. What are you, crazy? When has that ever worked well for us?” She pointed at me with a hoof. “Do you remember what happened the last time we split the party? Smooze? Batpony shenanigans? Balefire bomb blows bits of Hightower across the landscape while flaming ghouls tried to kill us all?” Then she blinked and grinned. “Oh yeah. Never mind. Go on.”
"暴怒"从飞马座的呻吟堆中探出头来，吐出一团明亮的粪绿色毛发。"分开？你永远不会分裂党派。你疯了吗？我们什么时候成功过?"她用蹄子指着我。"你还记得上次我们分开的时候发生了什么吗？斯摩兹？Batpony恶作剧？Balefire炸弹把Hightower炸得粉身碎骨，而燃烧的食尸鬼却想把我们全部杀死?"然后她眨了眨眼，咧嘴笑了。"哦，是的。没关系。去吧。"
But I regarded Glory and asked, “What’s the plan?” If she had an idea, it was better than me muddling through.
但我看着晨辉，问道:"计划是什么?"如果她有什么主意，总比我胡乱应付要好。
Glory glanced at me; her eyes played host to dancing doubt and uncertainty, but then they hardened. Being Rainbow Dash for a bit seemed to have done her some good. “I need to get them to a hospital. Then I need to talk to Doctor Morningstar. This plague is too great a threat to the skies and the surface. If we can make a cure, then Lighthooves’s bioweapon is useless.” She sighed. “If I only had a sample. Some contaminated food from Stable 99 would do, but that’s
晨辉瞥了我一眼;她的眼睛里充满了跳动的疑惑和不确定，但随后又变得坚定起来。当一会儿彩虹冲刺似乎对她有些好处。"我得送他们去医院。那我需要和晨星医生谈谈。这场瘟疫对天空和地面构成了太大的威胁。如果我们能制造出治愈方法，那么光剑的生化武器就没用了。"她叹了口气。"如果我有一个样本的话。一些来自Stable99的被污染的食物就可以了，但是那是不可能的
been flushed.”
被冲走了"
I blinked. When you wander the Wasteland, you tend to accumulate a lot of stuff in your saddlebags. I checked my inventory, sat down, and began to dig through my bags, tossing stuff on the street beside me. I stuck my head and hooves inside the enchanted bag and rifled around before I let out a whoop and levitated out a bowl of extremely stale and crumbled grass chips. The magic of my saddlebags had kept them intact despite everything I’d put them through.
我眨了眨眼。当你在荒原漫步的时候，你往往会在你的鞍囊里堆积很多东西。我检查了我的存货清单，坐下来，开始翻我的包，把东西扔在我旁边的街上。我把头和蹄子伸进魔法袋里，四处搜寻，然后大叫一声，飞出一碗极其陈旧的碎草片。尽管我经历了一切，我的马鞍包的魔力让它们完好无损。
“You’ve had those since 99?” Glory asked weakly.
"你从99年开始就有这个了?"格洛里虚弱地问道。
“Yeah. I kinda forgot about them down in the bottom of my bags. Will these work?” I asked.
"是的。我差点把它们忘在包底下了。这些有用吗?"我问道。
She threw her hooves around me. “If they were made from the contaminated recycler, I think so!” she said with a smile, then carefully tucked them under her wing.
她用蹄子把我围住。"如果它们是由受污染的回收商制造的，我认为是这样的!"她笑着说，然后小心翼翼地把它们藏在翅膀下面。
Rampage left the heap of groaning ponies. “Wow, don’t you ever clean out your saddlebag?”
狂暴离开了一堆呻吟的小马。"哇，你从来不清理你的鞍囊吗?"
Scotch Tape stuck her head in and started to rifle around. “What else does she got in here?” But then P-21 bit her tail and dragged her away. “Hey!”
透明胶带把她的头卡进去，开始四处搜寻。"她这里还有什么?"但是P-21咬了她的尾巴，把她拖走了。"嘿!"
“If Blackjack has contaminated food in her bag, I don’t want to know what else is in there,” P-21 said firmly. I felt a little insulted; my bags weren’t any dirtier than my room had been.
"如果Blackjack的包里有被污染的食物，我不想知道里面还有什么,"P-21坚定地说。我觉得有点被侮辱了，我的包并没有比我的房间更脏。
Sweeping them into her own saddlebags, Glory continued, “I’ll get them to the doctor, and we’ll see if we can get him working on a cure. Even if it takes weeks to develop, a start’s better than having nothing at all.” Then she looked at her siblings and addressed Moonshadow first, “You need to get home, find Lambent and Lucent, and get them to your astronomy lab. That’s going to be more secure.”
晨辉把它们扫进自己的鞍囊里，继续说道,"我会把它们送到医生那里，看看我们是否能让他开始研究治疗方法。即使需要几个星期的时间来发展，一个开始总比什么都没有好。"然后她看着她的兄弟姐妹，首先对Moonshadow说:"你得回家，找到兰本特和朗讯，带他们去你的天文学实验室。这将更加安全。"
She turned to Dusk, but the mare raised a hoof. “Save it, little sis. I’m not going to any hospital.”
她转向黄昏，但是母马抬起了蹄子。"省省吧，小妹妹。我不去任何医院。"
“Yes, you are. Just not here and now,” Glory retorted. Dusk appeared a little nonplussed, and her sibling went on, “I know you’re not going to sit this out, so
"是的，你是。只不过不是此时此地,"晨辉反驳道。黄昏出现了一点不知所措，她的姐姐继续说,"我知道你不会坐在这里，所以
you feel up to a flight?”
你能坐飞机吗?"
“Long as it’s not all the way out to Neighvarro. Why?” Dusk asked in confusion. Glory stepped closer to her, talking in low tones. Then Dusk blinked, smiled, and actually gave Glory a hug. “I’ll be back soon.” And with that, she flew off, a bit wobbly but still airborne.
"只要不是一直开到Neighvarro。为什么?"黄昏混乱地问道。晨辉走近她，低声说话。然后黄昏眨了眨眼，微笑着，实际上给了晨辉一个拥抱。"我很快就回来。"就这样，她飞走了，虽然有点摇摇晃晃，但仍在空中飞行。
Glory paused, chewing her lower lip as her eyes dropped in doubt. “Hey, don’t stop now,” I said with a grin. “You’re on a roll. What’s next?”
晨辉停顿了一下，含着下唇，眼神里充满了疑惑。"嘿，现在别停,"我咧嘴笑着说。"你运气真好。下一步是什么?"
“Scotch Tape, P-21, and Boo come with me. You go with Rampage and Twister. She can commandeer a skywagon and get you to meet with General Chaser,” Glory said, and the lavender pegasus nodded. Then Glory turned to P-21 and gave a smile. “Unless you’d rather go with Blackjack?”
"透明胶带P-21和Boo跟我来。你选择狂暴和扭扭乐。她可以征用一辆空中旅行车，带你去见追逐者将军。"晨辉说着，薰衣草色的飞马点了点头。然后晨辉转向P-21，笑了笑。"除非你想玩黑杰克?"
P-21 glanced at me and then at his daughter, clearly torn between taking her somewhere safe and staying with me. “It’s okay, go with her,” I told him. P-21 nodded once but clearly wasn’t happy with this separation. If only I knew what his answer had been.
P-21看了我一眼，然后又看了看他的女儿，很明显，他在带她去安全的地方和和我呆在一起之间左右为难。"没关系，和她一起去吧,"我告诉他。P-黑杰克了点头，但显然对这种分离感到不满。要是我知道他的回答是什么就好了。
“What? But I want to go with Blackjack!” Scotch Tape wailed.
"什么？但是我想玩黑杰克!"透明胶带哀号。
“No,” I said. “It’s too dangerous. If Storm Chaser doesn’t listen to me, then it’s going to get ugly. Rampage can’t die. You can,” I told the filly firmly. She sulked at once; I could see she was upset, and I reached out and rubbed her mane. “Besides, somepony needs to take care of your dad.” That mollified her just a little, but I could tell she still wanted to come with me. Then I glanced around, checking to see who was close. P-21 was watching the half dozen vigilantes as they limped away, and so I ducked my head to her and whispered, “Did he say yes?”
"不,"我说。"这太危险了。如果风暴追逐者不听我的话，事情就会变得很糟糕。狂暴是不会死的。你可以的,"我坚定地告诉小母马。她立刻生气了，我看得出她很不安，我伸出手去摸摸她的鬃毛。"而且，有些小马需要照顾你爸爸。"这只是稍微安慰了她一下，但我看得出她还是想和我一起去。然后我环顾四周，看看谁离我比较近。P-21正看着六个义务警员一瘸一拐地离开，所以我低下头轻声问她:"他答应了吗?"
“Huh?” Scotch Tape asked in bafflement. P-21 glanced over, and a little immature Blackjack stomped her hooves in a huff inside my head.
"啊?"透明胶带困惑地问。P-21扫了一眼，一个不成熟的黑杰克玩家在我脑子里怒气冲冲地跺着她的蹄子。
“Does he... I mean...”
"他......我是说......"
“Blackjack?” Glory asked, with P-21 looking on at me from behind her.
"黑杰克?"晨辉问道，P-21从后面看着我。
Damn it. “Ugh... Nevermind…” I groaned as I rose and turned to Glory and moved away from really important questions to issues of survival and whatnot.
该死。"呃......算了......"我呻吟着站起来，转向《晨辉》，从真正重要的问题转向生存和诸如此类的问题。
“What if something goes wrong?”
"如果出了什么差错怎么办?"
She lifted her PipBuck. “You have my tag. I’ll have my radio on. If you need us to do something, just ask. We’ll meet back at Moonshadow’s lab if this works out. If not, back at Star House.” That was a chilling thought… that things might go so badly that… no. I wouldn’t think about it. Fortunately, I was good at that. I embraced and kissed her ardently, and she melted against me. Somehow, kissing her as Rainbow Dash just hadn’t felt as good.
她举起她的皮伯克。"你有我的标签。我要打开收音机。如果你需要我们做什么，尽管开口。如果成功的话，我们在Moonshadow的实验室见。如果没有，那就回星空之家吧。"这是一个令人不寒而栗的想法...事情可能会变得如此糟糕，以至于...不。我不会考虑的。幸运的是，我很擅长这个。我热情地拥抱她，亲吻她，而她却对我软化了。不知怎么的，像彩虹冲刺那样亲吻她的感觉并没有那么好。
Not at all like this.
完全不是这样的。
“Take care of yourself. I finally got back my cute gray mare. I don’t want anything else to happen to her,” I murmured in her ear.
"照顾好自己。我终于找回了我可爱的灰色母马。我不希望她再出什么事,"我在她耳边喃喃地说。
“Knowing my luck, the professor’s killing joke will get out and turn me into a stallion,” she muttered, then kissed my neck… then gave me a little bite.
"知道我的运气，教授的杀人笑话会泄露出去，把我变成一匹种马,"她喃喃自语，然后吻了吻我的脖子......然后咬了我一口。
“Hey. That’d clear up a whole lot of problems with you, me, and P-21,” I said softly, then watched her blush profusely. P-21 and Scotch didn’t seem all that amused by it, though.
"嘿。这样你、我和P-21之间的许多问题就都解决了,"我轻声说，然后看着她脸红得厉害。不过P-21和苏格兰威士忌似乎并不觉得这有什么好笑的。
“No thank you,” she said firmly. “I’ve had enough of being somepony else. I’d just rather be me,” she murmured in my ear. Now there was the beautiful mare I adored.
"不用了，谢谢,"她坚定地说。"我已经受够了做别人的工作。我宁愿做我自己,"她在我耳边喃喃地说。这就是我喜欢的漂亮的母马。
“Ahem…” Rampage said loudly. I glanced over at everypony staring at us. “If you two need a little time out, I’m sure we can get everyone to put this civil war on hold for fifteen minutes so you two can have a quickie.”
"咳咳......"狂暴大声地说。我瞥了一眼每一匹小马，它们都盯着我们。"如果你们两个需要一点时间休息，我相信我们可以让大家把这场内战推迟15分钟，这样你们两个可以速战速决。"
I rubbed my chin. “You really think so?” I stared speculatively at Glory. “I might be able to make it work with ten.” I saw the resigned smile on her face, looked over at P-21 shaking his head, and noticed Rampage’s nonplussed expression. “Oh. You were being sarcastic. Right. No quickie.” Damn it.
我抚摸着下巴。"你真的这么认为?"我疑惑地凝视着晨辉。"我也许可以用10个人来完成。"我看到她脸上顺从的微笑，看着P-21摇着头，注意到了狂暴的茫然表情。"哦。你是在讽刺我。对。没有速战速决。"该死。
Rampage stared at me for a long moment, then smirked. “Well, it’s official! Normal Glory makes Blackjack dumber.”
狂暴的人盯着我看了很长时间，然后傻笑起来。"好吧，这是正式的！正常的晨辉让黑杰克变得愚蠢。"
We finally began to part ways when Boo suddenly darted for me. She slid on her belly and grabbed my rear hoof in a bear hug. “Boo? No! Go with Glory. Glory, Boo!” She stared up at me with wide pale eyes, and I sighed, turned around, and
我们终于开始分道扬镳，这时布突然冲向我。她趴在地上，紧紧地抱住我的后蹄。"嘘？不！与晨辉同行。晨辉，嘘!"她用苍白的大眼睛盯着我，我叹了口气，转过身来
ruffled her mane. “It’ll be dangerous.” Boo wrapped her legs around my neck and held me tight. I sighed.
竖起了她的鬃毛。"那会很危险。"布用她的腿缠住我的脖子，紧紧地抱着我。我叹了口气。
“Oh, bring the good luck charm along. Maybe her freakish luck will get me killed,” Rampage said with a snort. I sighed, closing my eyes.
"哦，把幸运符带来吧。也许她那倒霉的运气会害死我,"斯皮格哼了一声说。我叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。
Then I smiled. “Okay. You’re with me, Boo.” The blank beamed and nuzzled my cheek.
然后我笑了。"好吧。你和我在一起，波。"空白微笑着，用鼻子蹭着我的脸颊。
As we turned away, Scotch Tape lunged. “Take me too!” she shouted, forehooves outstretched to hug my hind leg too, when suddenly she jerked to a halt and landed on her face. I raised my gaze to P-21 biting the filly’s tail.
当我们转身离开时，透明胶带扑面而来。"把我也带走!"她喊道，前蹄也伸出来抱住我的后腿，突然，她猛地停下来，脸部着地。我抬起头看P-21正在咬小母马的尾巴。
“Come on,” he muttered around a mouthful of blue hair, and then met my eye. “Take care of yourself. See you soon.”
"来吧,"他满嘴蓝头发喃喃自语，然后碰到了我的眼睛。"照顾好自己。回头见。"
“Noooo! Don’t leave me with Glory! She’s boooooring now!” Scotch Tape cried out as she was dragged away, hooves scratching four lines in the floor. Glory and P-21 helped the concussed shopkeeper mare to her hooves and slipped her on Glory’s back. Glory sagged a little but then gave a little heave and carried her along. The filly gave a wail, “Blackjack!”
"不！不要把晨辉留给我！她现在在喝倒彩了!"当她被拖走的时候，透明胶带大叫起来，蹄子在地板上划出了四条线。格洛里和P-21帮助脑震荡的店主母马到她的蹄子和滑倒她在格洛里的背上。晨辉稍微下垂了一点，但是稍稍拉了一下，就把她带走了。小母马嚎啕大哭,"黑杰克!"
“Stay safe,” I said as they departed, then turned and made my own way.
"注意安全,"当他们离开的时候，我说，然后转身走了我自己的路。
* * *
* * *
“You know this is a bad idea,” Twister shouted over her shoulder as she bore me through the air to the west. It wasn’t fair that today was an absolutely beautiful day. The sky seemed exceptionally clear and the most perfect blue I could ever have imagined. If it wasn’t for the ominous Tower rising from the green eye, I would have loved to have spent an afternoon just dozing in the sun. Given that Lighthooves probably didn’t need me anymore, we gave the Tower and its defenses a wide berth.
"你知道这是一个坏主意,"图斯特越过她的肩膀大声喊道，她带着我穿过空气向西走。今天是个绝对美好的日子，这不公平。天空看起来格外晴朗，是我能想象到的最完美的蓝色。如果不是那座从绿色的眼睛中耸立起来的不祥的塔，我真想花一个下午在阳光下打个盹儿。考虑到Lighthooves可能不再需要我了，我们对伦敦塔及其防御工事敬而远之。
“Blackjack excels at bad ideas. The only way this could get any better would be if we got her drunk,” Rampage replied as we flew towards the Raptors. The fleet was arranged in an arc around the perimeter of the valley, and unless I’d forgotten how to count, they’d picked up two more. “Then she’d probably commandeer one of those ships and crash it into the others by accident. While singing... and likely geld somepony for good measure, while she’s at it.”
"Blackjack擅长糟糕的想法。唯一能让情况好转的方法就是把她灌醉。"当我们飞向猛禽时，狂暴回答道。舰队在山谷周围呈弧形排列，除非我忘了怎么数数，否则他们又抓了两个。"然后她可能会征用其中一艘飞船，并不小心将其撞向其他飞船。当她唱歌的时候......当她在唱歌的时候，很可能还会给她一匹小马。"
“That only happened once. Or twice. Shoot, I can’t even remember anymore... but that’s beside the point!” I flushed and tried to refocus. “You told them we were coming, right?” I yelled to Twister, keeping my head down a little and not looking over the edge of the skywagon. Looking out was fine. Looking up… okay. For some reason the direction of down gave me a sensation like a hook pulling me towards a messy, smashy end.
"这种事只发生过一次。或者两次。哎呀，我都记不起来了......不过这不是重点!"我脸红了，试着重新集中注意力。"你告诉他们我们要来，对吗?"我冲着Twister喊道，低着头，不去看天车的边缘。向外看没什么问题。抬头看...好的。由于某种原因，向下的方向给了我一种感觉，就像一个钩子把我拉向一个混乱、污秽的末端。
“Twice. But we could be swarmed by a squad of power armor any second,” she said, gazing out at the black specks that hovered in wedges around us.
"两次。但我们随时都可能被一队强力盔甲包围,"她说，凝视着我们周围楔形的黑色斑点。
“Relax. We’re armed,” Rampage said as she reached into a basket and pulled out a brownish-gray orb sprouting strange little tendrils with a stalk coming out of the top. According to Rampage, it tasted something like a turnip mixed with motor oil. I had to admit, it was tastier than most food in the sky. We hadn’t had time to be picky with our source of transportation and had ended up grabbing the turnip wagon. “If one gets too close…” She grabbed a pair of stalks and started swinging them wildly around her body making strange zebraesque ‘waaaah’ noises.
"放松。"我们有武器,"斯皮格一边说，一边把手伸进篮子里，掏出一个棕灰色的球体，上面长着奇怪的小卷须，从顶部伸出一根茎。根据狂暴的描述，它尝起来像是混着机油的萝卜。我不得不承认，这比天上的大多数食物都好吃。我们没有时间来挑剔我们的交通工具，结果抓住了萝卜车。"如果有人靠得太近......"她抓起一对秸秆，疯狂地在身体周围摆动，发出奇怪的"哇"的声音。
Twister glanced back and, even though she wore her own power armor again, I could almost visualize her rolling her eyes. “They don’t even need power armor. They could use a turret to blast us to pieces. Or vaporize us outright with a disintegration bolt. I’d rather not be green goop, if I can help it.”
特维斯特回头看了一眼，尽管她又穿上了自己的能量盔甲，我几乎可以想象她翻白眼的样子。"他们甚至不需要动力盔甲。他们可以用炮塔把我们炸成碎片。或者用碎片把我们蒸发掉。如果可以的话，我宁愿不做绿色粘稠物。"
“Relax. General Chaser doesn’t want a bloodbath. She’ll talk to me.” Of course, after the talk she might try to execute me, lock me up, or ignore me, but she’d listen first.
"放松。查斯将军不想看到一场大屠杀。她会跟我说的。"当然，演讲之后她可能会处决我，把我关起来，或者无视我，但她会先听我说。
“General Chaser’s not the only pony you need to worry about,” Twister said, looking up at a Raptor, its black metal armor detailed with thin crimson lines along the edges. I could barely make out the name Sirocco on the side. “Captain Afterburner’s right there, and she does not like you.”
"你需要担心的不仅仅是追赶者将军,"托斯特抬头看着一架猛禽战斗机说，这架战斗机的黑色金属盔甲边缘有细细的深红色线条。我几乎认不出旁边写着热风科的名字。"加力船长就在那里，她不喜欢你。"
“She can get in line,” I replied. There wasn’t much that I could do about it now, anyway, as we approached the Castellanus. Somepony had to stop Lighthooves. If I could stall things for a day or two, long enough for Thunderhead to calm down and Rainbow Dash to get him out of the Tower, then we could negotiate a peaceful settlement. But Lighthooves was getting ready to do… something… and if he really could use the Core’s defenses… well… I didn’t want to see it.
"她可以排队,"我回答。无论如何，当我们走近卡斯特兰纳斯时，我已经无能为力了。一些小马必须阻止轻骑兵。如果我能拖延一两天，让雷头镇静下来，彩虹冲出塔楼，那么我们就能通过谈判和平解决问题。但是lighthoves正准备做一些事情...如果他真的可以使用核心的防御系统...好吧...我不想看到它。
I noticed Boo staring behind us. I glanced back towards the Tower, wondering if he was spying on me with the Perceptitron, and then saw it. A tiny flash of flame towards the top of the Tower. “What the…” I said, rising a little as a white thread snaked its way through the air directly towards the row of Raptors… and us… almost straight at us! “Look out! Dive!” I shouted as I grabbed Rampage.
我注意到阿布盯着我们后面看。我回头看了看伦敦塔，想知道他是不是在用Perceptitron监视我，然后看到了它。一道小小的火焰朝着塔的顶端闪过。"这是什么......"我说，一根白线从空中蜿蜒而上，直接朝着一排猛禽......还有我们......几乎直冲着我们！"小心！下潜!"我边喊边抓住狂暴。
I don’t know if it was shot at us or if it was simply my rotten luck, but the missile streaked by almost faster than I could see. Almost as fast, the air filled with countless green bolts of energy as the Enclave tried to shoot it down. We were buried in turnips as Twister followed my advice far more literally than I liked and dove, getting clear of the field of fire. When she straightened out, I popped my head clear and spun my head around wildly. “Where’d it go? Did they get it?”
我不知道它是朝我们发射的，还是我运气不好，但是导弹飞过的速度几乎比我看到的还要快。飞地号试图将其击落时，空气中充满了无数绿色能量螺栓，几乎和它的速度一样快。我们被埋在萝卜堆里，因为Twister听从了我的建议，而不是像我喜欢的那样，像鸽子一样飞离火场。当她直起身来时，我伸出我的头，疯狂地旋转我的头。"它去哪儿了？他们拿到了吗?"
They had. A rain of smoke and luminescent green particles drifted towards the cloud layer… behind the Raptors. One missile and it had very nearly gotten past them. “Wow. That was close,” Rampage said.
他们做到了。一阵烟雨和发光的绿色粒子飘向猛禽号后面的云层。一枚导弹几乎就要穿过他们。"哇。差点就成功了,"兰帕德说。
“Too close,” I said, shivering. “Was that directed at us?”
"太近了,"我颤抖着说。"那是针对我们的吗?"
“Probably not,” Twisted replied. “Maybe a test fire. Glad they got it.”
"可能不会,"Twisted回答道。"也许是一次试射。很高兴他们明白了。"
I pressed my brow to the side of the cart. “Scary,” I muttered.
我把眉毛紧紧地贴在马车的一边。"真可怕,"我喃喃自语。
“Oh, please,” Rampage snorted, rolling her eyes. “If you want really scary, think of this: what if that thing wasn’t moving at top speed?”
"哦，拜托,"狂暴哼了一声，转动着眼珠。"如果你想要真正的恐怖，想想这个:如果那个东西没有以最高速度移动会怎样?"
“Thanks, Rampage. Thanks a lot,” I muttered, not able to get the thought out of my head.
"谢谢，狂暴。"非常感谢,"我喃喃自语道，这个念头一直在我脑子里挥之不去。
* * *
* * *
Our reception was waiting for us in the landing bay of the Castellanus. Two dozen power-armored pegasi were arranged in a semicircle around our wagon. This time, the general herself wore armor as well. It appeared to be a well-broken-in suit, the enamel scuffed in places from real use. The only ornamentation was a wing-flanked trio of small golden lightning bolts on her helmet, which was hung by her side. She didn’t step forward to greet me. “I must confess. I hadn’t expected see you again under these circumstances.”
我们的招待会在卡斯特兰纳斯码头等着我们。我们的马车周围围绕着二十四个马力装甲的飞马座，呈半圆形排列着。这一次，将军自己也穿上了盔甲。这套衣服看上去破旧不堪，珐琅质在实际使用中有些地方磨损了。唯一的装饰就是她的头盔侧面挂着三个小小的金色闪电螺栓，分别挂在两侧。她没有走上前来迎接我。""我必须承认。没想到在这种情况下还能见到你。"
I knew my response would be one of the most important I’d ever make. I took a deep breath and a step forward. Twenty beam weapons hummed in response, and I froze. “It’s a trap.”
我知道我的回答将是我做过的最重要的回答之一。我深吸了一口气，向前走了一步。二十束武器发出嗡嗡声作为回应，我愣住了。"这是个陷阱。"
“Mmmmm,” was all she said in reply, her lips pressed into a thin line.
"嗯,"她只回答了一句，嘴唇紧闭成一条细线。
“Lighthooves has access to the Core’s weapon systems. I’ve seen them fire right through a reinforced building,” I said, panning my gaze from one to the next. “Look, I didn’t kill Councilor Stargazer or Director Stratus,” I began to hear a pleading note in my voice that I didn’t like. It was a tone that I usually only used right before I got in a lot of trouble.
"轻型机可以进入核心系统的武器系统。我看见他们正好穿过一座加固过的建筑物,"我说着，目光从一座建筑物移到另一座。"你看，我没有杀死观星家议员或者斯特拉图斯主任,"我开始从我的声音中听到一个恳求的音符，我不喜欢。这是一种我通常只在遇到很多麻烦之前才会使用的语气。
“Of course,” she answered, slow and evenly. “That is exactly what you would say if you were working with Lighthooves to secure Thunderhead independence.”
"当然可以,"她缓慢而平静地回答。"如果你正在与lightthoves合作，以确保Thunderhead的独立性，你肯定会这么说。"
Oh crap. “What?”
哦，糟糕。"什么?"
“It’s the most logical conclusion,” she answered in that most dreadful voice. “Councilor Stargazer was a spineless accommodationist. Director Stratus a loyalist. You, the most dangerous pony I’ve seen in decades, show up from the surface and kill them both. Rumors of a Rainbow Dash clone draws in a crowd, and then you make a wonderful and impassioned speech that is then brilliantly co-opted by Lighthooves at the perfect moment, turning the city against us. Now that we prepare to send in our wings to secure the city, you appear to warn us that our enemy has firepower capable of destroying us. We stay away, and Thunderhead prepares itself for civil war. Meanwhile, Lighthooves prepares missiles capable of striking at our homes with a horrifying contagion.”
"这是最合乎逻辑的结论,"她用最可怕的声音回答。"议员Stargazer是个懦弱的妥协者。导演斯特拉图斯是一个忠诚的追随者。你，这几十年来我见过的最危险的小马，从水面上跳出来，把他们两个都杀了。关于彩虹破折号克隆人的传言在人群中流传，然后你做了一个精彩的充满激情的演讲，然后在完美的时刻被lighthoves巧妙地吸收，让整个城市反对我们。现在我们准备派出我们的翅膀去保卫这座城市，你似乎在警告我们，我们的敌人有足够的火力来摧毁我们。我们避而远之，而雷霆万钧为内战做好了准备。与此同时，轻型飞机准备发射导弹，这种导弹能够用一种可怕的传染病袭击我们的家园。"
“Shit,” Rampage said as she stared at me with awe. “That is slick, Blackjack. I mean, normally your M.O. is just to crash through things like a drunken brahmin, but this is some evil genius shit.”
"该死,"朗格带着敬畏的神情看着我说。"这招真狡猾，Blackjack。我的意思是，通常你的作案手法就是撞穿像醉酒的婆罗门一样的东西，但这是邪恶的天才之类的东西。"
“I suspect it was Lighthooves that came up with the plan,” General Storm Chaser said coolly. “I admit, I was fooled at first. All that talk of doing the right thing. Of saying you’re not a soldier. Quite convincing. You’re far more than just a pawn, Blackjack. You are a queen, and I would be a fool not to remove you from the board.”
"我怀疑是光剑想出了这个计划,"斯托姆·查瑟将军冷淡地说。"我承认，一开始我被愚弄了。所有关于做正确事情的言论。说你不是士兵。很有说服力。你不仅仅是个棋子Blackjack。你是女王，如果不把你从董事会除名，我就太傻了。"
Why did everypony have to keep making chess references? I didn’t even play the
为什么每匹小马都要不停地提到国际象棋？我甚至没有演奏
game! “Then why the hell did I come back here in person?” I retorted.
游戏！"那我为什么要亲自回来?"我反驳道。
“Overconfidence?” Storm Chaser answered with a small frown. “Or perhaps you wanted a chance to eliminate me from the board. Just as you did Stargazer and Strat--”
"过度自信?"风暴追逐者皱着眉头回答。"或者你想找个机会把我从董事会里除名。就像你对待观星镜和斯特拉一样——"
I sat down, threw my head back, and screamed as loud as I possibly could. Into that scream, I put in weeks of frustration, annoyance, and sheer disgust with everything I had been trying to do. “I am trying to save your fucking life! And their lives! Everypony I can. It’s the only thing that’s kept me sane since I left my stable! And you know what? I’m starting to think Rampage was right!” The striped pony blinked in amazement as I began to pace ignoring the guns trained on me. “What the fuck am I doing? You’d think that after a while I would have finally figured it out! I keep trying to save ponies, and fucking it up. My home! The Fluttershy Medical Center. Zebras. Chapel. Twice! I should do like Rampage says, try to kill everypony, and then end up saving everyone! My incompetence will save the Wasteland!” I pointed a hoof at the general. “All I want to do is save your lives, and save the lives of every pegasus caught in the crossfire! Got it? That’s my motivation. You’re accusing me of working with Lighthooves when the plague he’s using infected my stable. I had to gas them! Everypony I knew! I don’t want anypony, ever, to have to do that again! So put your damned suspicions away and work with me because otherwise I got nothing to fall back on but the Rampage plan and then we’re all fucked!”
我坐了下来，仰起头，尽可能大声地尖叫起来。在尖叫声中，我陷入了几个星期的沮丧、烦恼和对我一直试图做的一切的彻底厌恶。"我他妈是在救你的命！还有他们的生命！每一匹小马我可以。这是我离开马厩后唯一让我保持清醒的东西！你知道吗？我开始觉得狂暴是对的!"那匹条纹矮种马惊讶地眨着眼睛，我开始不理会对着我的枪声。"我他妈的在干什么？你可能会认为过了一段时间我终于明白了！我一直想拯救小马，结果搞砸了。我的家！Fluttershy医疗中心。斑马。教堂。两次！我应该像狂暴说的那样，杀掉每一个小马，然后拯救每一个人！我的无能将拯救荒原!"我用蹄子指了指将军。"我只想救你们的命，拯救在交火中被困的每一匹飞马的生命！明白了吗？这就是我的动力。你是在指责我在他使用的瘟疫感染我的马厩的时候和轻骑兵一起工作。我必须用毒气毒死他们！我认识的每一个小马！我不希望任何小马，永远，不得不再次这样做！所以把你该死的怀疑放下，和我一起工作吧，否则除了暴力计划我没有其他可以依靠的了，那样我们都完了!"
The general pursed her lips as she just stared at me for a very long and silent minute. Rampage waited like a steel trap ready to launch herself at everypony and let the mayhem begin. Finally, the general said in slow, even tones, “You are either the smoothest, most dangerous operative I have ever met or the unluckiest spawn of a mule in the history of Equestria. Or worse, you might be both.” She fell silent again for another long pause. “The secretaries,” she said slowly and evenly. “The secretaries were killed.”
将军撅着嘴，盯着我看了很长时间，一言不发。狂暴像一个钢制陷阱一样等待着，准备向每一匹小马发射自己，让混乱开始。最后，将军缓慢而平静地说:"你要么是我见过的最顺利、最危险的特工，要么是Equestria历史上最不幸的骡子之子。或者更糟，你可能两者都是。"她又沉默了很长时间。"秘书们,"她缓慢而平静地说。"秘书们都被杀了。"
I blinked at this jump as the general turned away. “Killing the security ponies was one thing. That’s understandable. Killing Stratus too, understandable. But why would you kill the secretaries in the office? That’s something I couldn’t understand. The surveillance and response network were both down. So why kill the secretaries if they couldn’t sound an alarm? It’d take time, give Stratus a chance to get away or for help to arrive. But somepony did. They eliminated all the eyewitnesses to the murder.”
将军转身时，我对这一跳眨了眨眼睛。"杀死保安小马是一回事。这是可以理解的。杀掉斯特拉图斯也是可以理解的。但你为什么要杀掉办公室里的秘书呢？这是我无法理解的。监视和反应网络都瘫痪了。那么既然秘书们不能发出警报，为什么还要杀他们呢？这需要时间，给斯特拉图斯一个逃跑或者求救的机会。但是有人做到了。他们排除了谋杀案的所有目击证人。"
“They didn’t want anypony alive to say it wasn’t me,” I answered.
"他们不希望任何活着的小马说那不是我,"我回答。
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Damn, what Lighthooves could have been if he’d been loyal…”
她闭上眼睛，叹了口气。"该死，如果他忠诚的话，光剑会成为什么样子......"
“So you believe me?” I asked.
"那么你相信我了?"我问道。
“No,” she replied flatly. “But I suspect you slightly less than I did before. Slightly.” She looked out the bay door at the nearest Raptor. “Regardless of your warning, we’re going to have to move the fleet in.”
"不,"她直截了当地回答。"但是我怀疑你比我之前怀疑的少一点。稍微有点。"她朝外面最近的猛禽号望去。"不管你的警告，我们将不得不让舰队进入。"
“I told yo--” I began, but she cut me off.
"我告诉过你——"我开始说，但她打断了我的话。
“Yes, and while I am skeptical, I haven’t discounted your warning. However, we need to move closer if we want a chance of intercepting any missiles fired from the Tower. There’s a critical window of fifteen seconds where the missile is accelerating where we can shoot it down before it reaches top speed. Otherwise, our interception chance narrows dramatically. And we still need to get Thunderhead pacified. Neighvarro is bucking mad, and I’ve been exceptionally ‘flexible’ in interpreting their orders. One councilor is demanding we bombard Thunderhead till it surrenders. The bloody old fool completely ignored the true threat to himself.”
""是的，虽然我对此表示怀疑，但我并没有忽视你的警告。然而，如果我们想有机会拦截任何从伦敦塔发射的导弹，我们需要靠近一些。在15秒的关键时刻，导弹正在加速，我们可以在它达到最高速度之前将其击落。否则，我们的拦截机会将大大缩小。我们还需要让雷头镇定下来。邻居们都气疯了，我在解释他们的命令时特别"灵活"。一个议员要求我们轰炸雷头直到它投降。这个该死的老傻瓜完全忽视了对他自己的真正威胁。"
I doubted Afterburner or Hoarfrost would have much problem with that. “I believe Lighthooves when he says he can access the Core’s weapons. Somepony I know corroborated it.”
我怀疑加力或霍尔弗罗斯特会有很多问题。"我相信他所说的他可以获得核心的武器。我认识的一些人证实了这一点。"
“That warning alone could save many lives,” she answered. “You and your friends, however, will be spending your time in the brig.”
"这个警告本身就可以拯救许多生命,"她回答说。"不过，你和你的朋友们将在禁闭室里度过你们的时光。"
Rampage groaned. “Why does everypony keep trying to throw Blackjack in to jail? It never works!”
暴怒呻吟着。"为什么每个人都想把黑杰克扔进监狱？它从来都不起作用!"
The general scowled at Rampage. “You are--”
将军怒视着暴怒。"你是——"
“No. My turn. She got to rant. You got to monologue. My turn,” she said as she jumped out of the cart. “The worst thing you can do right now is take Blackjack off the field. She wants to make sure all of you live. I don’t know why...
"没有。该我了。她开始咆哮。你开始独白了。轮到我了,"她一边说，一边跳下车。"现在你能做的最糟糕的事情就是让Blackjack离开球场。她想确保你们所有人都活着。我不知道为什么..。
personally, I would have killed all of you just for fun. Seems like a thrilling challenge, and Big Daddy could never top me killing a Raptor with my bare
就我个人而言，我会为了好玩而杀了你们所有人。看起来是一个激动人心的挑战，而且老爹永远比不上我赤手空拳杀死一只猛禽
hooves. But Blackjack wants you all to live. Lighthooves clearly wants you to kill her.”
蹄。但是Blackjack希望你们都能活下来。很明显，灯塔想让你杀了她。"
“Why would you say that?” the general asked with a scowl.
"你为什么这么说?"将军皱着眉头问道。
“Duh! Lighthooves didn’t turn our little turnip wagon into a flaming cinder. You know he’s watching Blackjack. If he killed her, then everypony who heard her little speech in the park will wonder what the fuck is up with him. But if she comes here trying to prevent the violence and you kill her, or lock her up so she dies when he blasts this Raptor to dust, then you guys are the villains,” she said with a flick of her barbed tail. “You don’t want to trust her, fine. Send her on her way. I’m pretty sure she’ll head straight to the Tower to take care of your little problem for you. But if you lock her up, all you’re doing is tying up an asset that is opposed to Lighthooves.”
"切！轻型驳船没有把我们的小萝卜车变成燃烧的煤渣。你知道他在看Blackjack。如果他杀了她，那么每一个在公园里听到她的演讲的小马都会想知道他到底怎么了。但是如果她来这里试图阻止暴力，而你杀了她，或者把她锁起来，等他把猛禽轰成灰时她就死了，那么你们就是恶棍,"她甩了甩带刺的尾巴说。"你不想相信她，没关系。让她走吧。我很确定她会直接去伦敦塔帮你解决你的小问题。但如果你把她关起来，你所做的就是绑架一个反对光剑的资产。"
The general sighed. “After some of the reports I’m getting from out west…” she began before glowering at me. “Very well. You and your friends can come with me. I don’t want to set you loose just yet, but I won’t remove you from play, either. Still, if you turn out to be an assassin, I should be cremated as the Enclave’s greatest fool.”
将军叹了口气。"在我从西部收到一些报告之后......"她开始说，然后怒视着我。"很好。你和你的朋友可以跟我来。我不想让你现在就放松，但我也不会让你离开游戏。不过，如果你被证明是个杀手，我应该作为昂科雷最伟大的傻瓜而火葬。"
“Oh please,” I said with a smile and a roll of my eyes. “If I were here to kill you I would have teleported directly behind you and cut your head off or blasted four magic bullets down your throat. Heck, I could probably just jump and crush you under my hooves right now!” I chuckled, and Rampage guffawed. Then I became aware that we were the only two laughing and it tapered off to a slack grin. “Um. But, um. I’m not… So. Yeah…”
"哦，求你了,"我微笑着说，转了转眼珠。"如果我是来杀你的，我会瞬移到你身后，把你的头砍下来，或者向你的喉咙发射四颗魔法子弹。见鬼，我现在差不多可以跳起来用蹄子把你踩扁了!"我咯咯地笑了起来，狂暴狂笑起来。然后我意识到我们是唯一两个在笑的人，笑逐渐变得松弛下来。"嗯。但是。我不是...所以。是的......"
“This way,” the general said as she turned and started into the Raptor, then stopped and glanced back at me with an uncertain frown at presenting her back before continuing into the ship. Some of the soldiers fell in behind her while others took positions around the launch bay.
"这边,"将军说，她转身开始进入猛禽号，然后停下来，皱着眉头回头看着我，不确定是否要把她送回来，然后继续上船。一些士兵跟在她后面，其他人则在发射台周围各就各位。
Rampage snorted beside me. “You know what, Blackjack? I don’t think it’s just Glory. Nopony up here has a decent sense of humor.” She stalked along next to me. “I blame the altitude, personally.”
横冲直撞的人在我旁边哼了一声。"你知道吗，黑杰克？我不认为这只是晨辉。这里的马儿都很有幽默感。"她在我旁边昂首阔步地走着。"我个人认为是高海拔的原因。"
“Not now,” I admonished.
"现在不行,"我告诫道。
“See? It’s even affecting you.” Rampage grinned. I groaned, covering my face
""看见了吗？它甚至影响到了你。"狂暴的人咧嘴一笑。我捂着脸呻吟着
with a hoof. “You want me to get out of your mane, go over here, and kill somepony?” she asked, gesturing to the side and a pair of alarmed pegasus stallions. She glanced at them and grinned. “Oh stop. It’ll be fun. Nothing like murder and mayhem to living things up.”
用蹄子。"你想让我离开你的鬃毛，到这儿来，杀一匹小马?"她问道，指了指旁边，还有一对惊慌失措的飞马。她瞥了他们一眼，咧嘴笑了。"哦，别说了。会很有趣的。没有什么比谋杀和故意伤害更能让生物活跃起来了。"
“Dirt pony barbarian,” one of the stallions muttered.
"泥土小马野蛮人,"其中一匹种马咕哝着。
“Yup. And don’t you forget it,” Rampage replied. Then she reached over and, before he could dart away, grabbed him and kissed him hard. His eyes shot wide and his wings popped out to either side. “Want me to show you how we get down and dirty on the surface?”
"是的。你可别忘了,"狂暴回答。然后她伸手过去，在他还没来得及跑开之前，她抓住他，狠狠地吻了他。他的眼睛睁得大大的，翅膀向两边伸出。"想让我给你演示一下我们是如何在地面上下潜和弄脏的吗?"
The general wasn’t stopping, and neither was I. “Don’t, Rampage. No means no,” I added as we headed up some stairs, leaving Rampage with the dozens of armored soldiers in the launch bay. “Feel free to shoot her in the head if she doesn’t listen,” I added to the soldiers. Then I glanced over at Boo, who’d been walking along beside me, looking back at the squirming stallion. “Don’t watch, Boo. She’s a bad influence.” The pale mare blinked cluelessly back. “That’s why I like you, Boo,” I said, nudging her shoulder and getting a beaming smile in return.
将军没有停下来，我也没有。"不行就是不行,"我们一边上楼，一边补充道，留下狂暴和几十名装甲士兵在发射舱里。"如果她不听话的话，你可以朝她的脑袋开枪,"我对士兵们补充道。然后我瞥了一眼布，他一直在我身边走着，回头看着这匹蠕动的种马。"别看，阿布。她是个坏影响。"那匹苍白的母马无知地眨着眼睛回去了。"这就是为什么我喜欢你，波,"我说，轻轻地推了推她的肩膀，得到了一个灿烂的微笑作为回报。
I had to surrender my guns before we went onto the bridge proper. Fortunately, they were far more interested in my pistols and carbine than in my sword. I guess when you soared through the skies in war machines and power armor, you could get dismissive of an ornamental-looking, archaic weapon. Even the general surrendered her weapons; one misfire or mistake and something vital could be damaged. With my ranged weapons in a locker, though, we were allowed into the section of the ship where they kept the brains of the machine.
我不得不在上桥之前交出我的枪。幸运的是，他们对我的手枪和卡宾枪比对我的剑更感兴趣。我想，当你驾驶着战争机器和动力装甲在天空中翱翔时，你可能会对这种看上去像是装饰性的、古老的武器不屑一顾。甚至连将军也交出了她的武器，一次失误或失误就可能毁掉某些重要的东西。我把远程武器放在一个储物柜里，然而，我们被允许进入船上存放机器大脑的区域。
On the bridge were a dozen unarmored pegasus mares in a semicircle who deftly worked glowing control panels made of rainbows and pressed keys with their pinions, the feather tips protected in purple plastic. They wore headgear with a clear band across their face, the surface flickering with images rather like a poor pony’s E.F.S. There were no windows; instead, there were seven large screens showing an angled arc before the ship. Above us were three smaller monitors showing views out the rear of the ship.
桥上有十几匹没有装甲的母马，呈半圆形，熟练地用彩虹做成发光的控制面板，用它们的小齿轮按下按键，羽毛的尖端用紫色塑料保护着。他们戴着头饰，脸上有一条清晰的带子，表面闪烁着图像，就像一匹可怜的小马的e.f.s。船上没有窗户，取而代之的是七个大屏幕，在船前呈弧形倾斜。在我们上方有三个较小的显示器，可以看到船尾的景色。
Four armored stallions stood at attention in the rear of the room, each saluting with a wing as we entered. The big seat in the center of the semicircle of stations
四匹装甲种马立正站在房间的后方，当我们进入时，每匹都带着一只翅膀敬礼。车站半圆形中心的大座位
was occupied by a muscular, serious-looking stallion with a white mane and the most eye-bleedingly neon pink coat I’d ever seen. He rose to his hooves immediately. “General,” he said with a crisp salute of his wing. I noticed that he got a gun.
那里住着一匹肌肉发达、样子严肃的种马，鬃毛白白的，穿着我见过的最耀眼的粉红色外套。他立刻站了起来。"将军,"他清脆地向他的机翼敬礼。我注意到他有一把枪。
“Situation, Captain Racewind?” the general asked as she studied the rainbow screens at the front of the room.
"情况如何，拉斯温德上尉?"将军看着房间前面的彩虹屏幕问道。
“Poor, General. We’re deployed too far back for effective interception. Those missiles are damned fast, ma’am. Coms is… active,” he said with a glower as he looked at a station. “Both across the fleet and with command. The GPE is screaming at us to move in. The formation is holding, mostly. The Blizzard and Galeforce are... 'drifting' closer to the Tower.”
"贫穷，将军。我们部署得太靠后了，无法进行有效拦截。那些导弹真他妈的快，夫人。通信......很活跃,"他看着一个电台怒目而视地说。"无论是舰队还是指挥部。Gpe一直在叫我们搬进来。大多数情况下，阵型保持不变。暴风雪和战舰正在向塔楼"漂移"。"
“Order the two Raptors back into position and await further orders from Neighvarro. Have they appointed a replacement for Harbinger yet?” she asked, her body language noticeably tensing.
命令两架猛禽回到原位等待Neighvarro的进一步命令。他们已经为Harbinger指定了替代者了吗?"她问，她的身体语言明显紧张。
“No. It’s currently contested between Ironfeather, who has seniority, and Starburst and her connections. There’re a few retired generals making claims for the position, too. But they’re almost unanimous in their orders for us to act immediately. Apparently, we’re leadwings compared to Colonel Autumn Leaf and others out west,” he said with a disapproving frown.
"没有。目前，铁羽和星爆还有她的关系网正在争夺这个位置。铁羽是老资格的。还有一些退休的将军也在争夺这个职位。但他们几乎一致要求我们立即采取行动。显然，与秋叶上校和其他西部人相比，我们是群龙无首的,"他不以为然地皱着眉头说。
“Neither of those two are good news. Why is it all the good ponies are too decent for politics?” Storm Chaser asked rhetorically.
"这两个都不是好消息。为什么所有的好马对政治来说都太体面了呢?"风暴追逐者反问道。
“You could try to throw your feathers in for High General,” the captain suggested.
"你可以试着把你的羽毛交给大将军,"船长建议道。
“And when I left to play political games, they’d put Hoarfrost in charge here.” The general sighed, shaking her head, then snorted. “So long as they haven’t confirmed a leader, this is my command. Fortunately, we’re about to make our move.”
"当我离开去玩政治游戏时，他们会让霍尔弗罗斯特掌管这里。"将军叹了口气，摇了摇头，然后哼了一声。"只要他们还没有确定领导人，这就是我的命令。幸运的是，我们即将采取行动。"
A mare at her station began to work the controls. “Captain!” she said after a moment. “I’ve got something strange. Two signals. One’s a narrow band broadcast out of our ship, but it’s not on any Enclave frequency we use. The other’s an access signal from the Tower targeting our ship. It doesn’t seem to be trying to access any of the ship systems, though.”
一匹母马在她的车站开始操纵控制器。"船长!"过了一会儿她说。"我发现一些奇怪的东西。两个信号。一个是从我们的飞船发出的窄带广播，但它不在我们使用的任何飞地频率上。另一个是来自塔台的进入信号，目标是我们的飞船。不过，它似乎并没有试图访问任何飞船系统。"
“Sleeper device? Explosive?” the captain asked immediately.
"潜伏装置？爆炸性?"船长立即问道。
“No sir. But it’s on the bridge,” the mare said. Why was my mane suddenly crawling?
"没有，先生。但是在桥上,"母马说。为什么我的鬃毛突然会爬行？
“Can you block them?” I asked earnestly.
"你能阻止他们吗?"我诚恳地问道。
The orange mare looked at me with an expression of wondering who was this crazy pony asking her questions and glanced at the captain, who nodded, but appeared no happier that the surfacer was interfering. “Yes, ma’am. I can throw out enough ECM to scatter the signals.”
橙色的母马看着我，带着一种好奇的表情，想知道这个问她问题的疯狂的小马是谁，然后瞥了一眼船长，船长点了点头，但似乎并没有因为表面的人的干涉而感到高兴。"是的，夫人。我可以抛出足够多的ECM来分散信号。"
“Do it. It’s Lighthooves,” I said to the general. “He has a spy device that lets him see what I’m doing.” Everypony stared at me for a long moment, and I felt myself go red. “Look! I have a very busy life, and sometimes little things slip my attention! Sorry.”
"去做吧。这是光剑,"我对将军说。"他有一个间谍装置，可以让他看到我在做什么。"每匹小马都盯着我看了很长时间，我觉得自己都红了。"你看！我的生活非常忙碌，有时候会注意不到一些小事情！对不起。"
“That would have been good information to have disclosed earlier,” Storm Chaser said lightly, then nodded to the technician. The mare’s feathers nearly flew over the glowing control panel, and then my eyes turned fuzzy for a second before my sight returned.
"如果早点披露这些信息，那就太好了,"斯托姆·查瑟轻声说道，然后向技术人员点了点头。母马的羽毛几乎飞过发光的控制面板，然后我的眼睛模糊了一秒钟，我的视力恢复。
“Both signals blocked,” the mare said with a decisive nod.
"两个信号都被屏蔽了,"母马果断地点头说。
General Chaser nodded and moved to the seat in the middle of the bridge. The captain vacated it immediately. “General has the conn,” he said as he stood to her left. The air in the middle of the bridge flashed, and a holographic display appeared showing the twelve Raptors, the Tower, and Thunderhead. It also had the dark circle of the Core beneath it.
查斯将军点点头，走到桥中间的座位上。船长立即把它空出来了。"将军掌舵,"他站在船左边说。桥中央的空气闪烁着，出现了全息显示屏，显示着十二架猛禽战斗机、塔和雷头。它下面还有一个黑色的核心圈。
“Now hear this. This is General Storm Chaser. We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. It is now time to act. We are going to close in, intercept any missiles, disable the Tower’s launch capability, and restore order to the city of Thunderhead. Be aware that our enemy not only has the Tower’s defenses but may also control the defenses of the city itself. Sirocco, Blizzard, Galeforce. Approach the Tower in staggered formation two two one J. Diverge at your discretion. Intercept any missiles fired and destroy the launchers the moment they’re exposed.” Three dotted lines zig-zagged erratically towards the Tower.
"现在听我说。我是风暴追逐者将军。我们一直在等待。我们一直很有耐心。现在是行动的时候了。我们要逼近目标，拦截任何导弹，摧毁塔楼的发射能力，恢复雷霆之城的秩序。请注意，我们的敌人不仅有塔的防御工事，而且可能控制城市本身的防御工事。热风，暴风雪，加勒福斯。以交错编队2-2-1-j-Diverge进入塔楼，由你决定。拦截所有发射的导弹，并在发射器暴露时立即摧毁它们。"三条虚线不规则地向伦敦塔蜿蜒而行。
“Finally!” Afterburner blurted impatiently over the radio.
"终于!"加力燃烧器不耐烦地在收音机里脱口而出。
“Understood. We shall execute all orders,” Hoarfrost responded.
"明白了。我们将执行所有的订单,"霍尔弗罗斯特回答。
“Azimuth, Helicity, Hurricane, Perihelion, Sleet, and Stratus Fractus will approach and take positions at 22AJ, 24RS, 34PP, 56TS, 57FA, and 88RD respectively.” Spheres popped into view in a roughly hexagonal arrangement, covering altitude as well as arc of flight. “Intercept anything that gets past the inner three and take it out. Your wings will be dispatched to Thunderhead to restore order. Restrain your fire. They’re still Enclave citizens,” the general said grimly. That prompted an outcry. “This is not a debate. Those are your orders. I don’t care if they throw horseapples at you, you’re in power armor. Separate, disperse, and keep your cool.”
方位角、Helicity、飓风、近日点、斯雷特和斯特拉图斯将分别在22AJ、24RS、34PP、56TS、57FA和88RD接近并就位球体突然出现在视野中，大致呈六角形排列，覆盖了飞行高度和弧度。"拦截任何能通过内侧三层的东西，然后干掉它。你的翅膀将被派遣到雷锋城去恢复秩序。抑制你的火焰。他们仍然是飞地的公民,"将军冷冷地说。这引起了强烈抗议。"这不是一场辩论。这是你的命令。我不在乎他们是否会朝你扔马苹果，你有强大的装甲。分开，散开，保持冷静。"
“General. High General Harbinger left standing orders that traitors to the Enclave were to be dealt with extreme prejudice,” Hoarfrost said coolly.
"将军。霍尔弗罗斯特冷静地说:高级将军哈宾格尔下达了常规命令，要求反攻美国处理飞地的叛徒。
“And then he went and got himself killed at Maripony,” General Storm Chaser growled in reply. The outcry went silent. “I don’t care what orders he might have left. I am not going to authorize the Enclave killing its own. When this situation is taken care of, the GPE can do what it wants. It’ll be out of my feathers then, but I am telling you that right now you are to order fire restraint. Thunderhead is not the target. Is that clear?”
"然后他去了马里波尼，结果被杀了。"风暴追逐者将军咆哮着回答道。抗议声平息了下来。"我不管他可能下达了什么命令。我不会授权昂科雷自相残杀。当这种情况得到处理，GPE可以做它想做的事情。到时候我就不管了，但是我现在要告诉你们的是，你们必须订购防火装置。雷锋不是目标。明白了吗?"
“Transparently,” Hoarfrost said in a quiet voice that made me give the intercom speaker a shooty look.
"透明的,"霍尔弗罗斯特说，在一个安静的声音，使我给对讲机喇叭一个扫射的外观。
“Castellanus, Cyclone, and Lightning will advance and target the Tower’s anti-air defenses, breach the Tower at five thousand, four thousand, and three thousand feet, and secure the weapon. Remember, we want to take the Tower and its personnel intact. Exercise maximum fire restraint.” Three dotted lines arched to touch the Tower towards the top. She looked at me, clearly questioning if I’d changed my mind about participating. I sighed and then gave a small nod. I might not be a soldier, but sometimes security had to get in there and shut problems down. “We’ll have irregulars with us. White unicorn with black cybernetics, all-white earth pony, and a z-- white earth pony with stripes. Red ones.”
"卡斯特兰纳斯、旋风和闪电将前进并攻击塔楼的防空系统，在5000、4000和3000英尺处突破塔楼，夺回武器。记住，我们要完好无损地占领塔楼和它的人员。保持最大限度的防火克制。"三条虚线拱起，与塔顶相连。她看着我，清楚地询问我是否改变了参加的想法。我叹了口气，然后轻轻点了点头。我可能不是一名士兵，但有时安全人员必须进入那里，解决问题。"我们会带上非正规军。白色的独角兽配上黑色的控制论，全白色的地球小马，还有一匹z白色的地球小马配上条纹。红色的。"
“Surfacer terrorists,” somepony muttered just loud enough to be heard over the speaker. I saw the general grind her teeth but also caught the unsure glance at me. I had to admire her focus; she was dealing with a number of ponies that just
"Surfacer恐怖分子,"一匹小马咕哝着，声音刚好能通过扬声器听到。我看到将军磨着她的牙齿，但也捕捉到不确定的目光看着我。我不得不佩服她的专注;她正在处理一些小马
weren’t on the same page as her.
和她意见不一致。
“Azimuth and Fractus are our designated reserves if we have to fall back. Helicity and Sleet will move to cover them if they have to drop position. Does everyone understand?” the general asked. There were no replies. “Execute orders in sixty seconds. Mark.”
"如果我们必须撤退，方位角和弗拉克图斯是我们指定的储备。螺旋和雨夹雪将移动到掩护他们，如果他们必须下降的位置。大家都明白了吗?"将军问道。没有回复。"60秒后执行命令。马克。"
The captain immediately snapped, “Turbines to full! Sound general quarters.” An alarm rang out, and the lights immediately dropped to amber. “Secure all hatches. Prime turrets one through six.” The mares typed commands into their controls and repeated the orders back as they were completed. I felt a purr run through the ship, and for the first time I felt more thrilled by a machine than I normally would have liked. Say what you wanted about the Enclave’s policies, they did have awesome toys!
船长立即厉声说:"涡轮机满了！全面戒备。"一声警报响起，灯光立刻变成了琥珀。"关闭所有舱口。第一至第六炮塔。"母马在控制中输入命令，并在完成后重复命令。我感到一阵咕噜声穿过整个船体，这是我第一次对一台机器感到比平时更加兴奋。说说你对昂科雷的政策有什么想法吧，他们确实有很棒的玩具！
“Now would be the time to remember anything else you might have overlooked, Blackjack,” the general said above the pinging alarm.
"现在是时候记起任何你可能忽略的事情了，Blackjack,"将军在警报器上面说。
“What? It looks like you got the perfect plan all squared away,” I said as I pointed at the holographic display with a hoof.
"什么？看起来你已经准备好了一个完美的计划,"我一边说一边用蹄子指着全息显示屏。
“A plan is like a house of cards. It tends to scatter when the winds of war catch up with it,” she replied, not taking her eyes off the icons. “What orders should I give? Will they be carried out fast enough? Can we react in time? Is Lighthooves’s plan better than my own? I’d be a fool not to think of that.” She sighed and leaned back in the chair. “War is never so neat and clean as in the movies. If you can think of anything at all, now is the time.”
"计划就像纸牌搭成的房子。当战争的风卷起它的时候，它就会四散开来。"她回答道，眼睛没有离开那些图标。"我应该下什么命令？他们的执行速度够快吗？我们能及时做出反应吗？轻舟号的计划比我自己的好吗？如果我没有想到这一点，那我就太傻了。"她叹了口气，向后靠在椅子上。"战争从来没有像电影里那样整洁干净。如果你能想起任何事情，现在正是时候。"
I took a moment to think as she gave orders for the ship to take its position and the vessel began to move. The lights changed from amber to red. There was one thing. “He said I gave him a weapon, but I can’t think of what it might be.
我想了一会儿，她命令船就位，船开始移动了。灯光从琥珀色变成了红色。还有一件事。"他说我给了他一件武器，但我想不出是什么。
Maybe he got his hooves on Folly and a silver bullet? He could fuck up a Raptor with that, but you have twelve of them.” There was something else, though. Dawn. Her arrival in Thunderhead was convenient. Too convenient. I didn’t believe it was simple happenstance that she’d come for her youngest children. To save them. Save them from what? Save them from whatever she was planning. But what? What interest could Cognitum have in the skies?
也许他的蹄子碰到了蠢货和一颗银弹？他可以用这个毁掉一架猛禽，但是你有十二架。"不过还有别的原因。黎明。她来到雷霆岬很方便。太方便了。我不相信她会为了她最小的孩子而来，这只是偶然的事情。为了拯救他们。救他们什么？把他们从她的计划中拯救出来。但是什么？天空中的认知有什么意义？
“There’s something else. There’s a pony… a mare named Dawn. She’s… Celestia, it’s a twisted story. To sum it up, she’s bad news. Completely crazy and
"还有一件事。有一匹小马...一匹叫道恩的母马。她是...塞莱斯蒂娅，这是个扭曲的故事。总而言之，她是个坏消息。完全疯了
a total zealot. She’s involved… but I don’t know how.” I sighed and rubbed my mane. “She thinks she’s going to save the Wasteland by getting everypony killed for her ‘goddess’.”
彻头彻尾的狂热分子。她参与了......但我不知道是怎么做到的。"我叹了口气，搓了搓鬃毛。"她认为她会为了她的'女神'而杀死每一匹小马，从而拯救荒原。"
“Wait,” the general said, holding up one extended pinion, then smiled. “Did you hear it?”
"等等,"将军说，举起一个长长的小齿轮，然后笑了。"你听到了吗?"
I checked around the bridge, then frowned. “No. What?”
我环顾了一下桥，然后皱起了眉头。"没有。什么?"
The general shook her head. “That was the sound of the cards starting to slip,” she replied. “We’ll have to see what others tumble down.”
将军摇了摇头。"那是扑克牌开始滑动的声音,"她回答。"我们将不得不看看其他人跌倒了什么。"
The ship gave a sudden lurch, and I nearly fell over Boo. The pegasi simply leaned instinctively as the Castellanus rose at a sharp angle. I looked out the window at the sight of the black airships breaking from their neat line, propellers blurring above the machines as they rose, dropped, twisted, and banked in the air.
船突然倾斜了一下，我差点跌倒在布身上。飞马座只是本能地向前倾斜，卡斯特兰纳斯呈一个尖锐的角度上升。我向窗外望去，看到黑色的飞艇脱离了它们整齐的线条，螺旋桨在机器上方模糊不清，它们在空中上升、下降、扭曲、堆积。
I barely paid it any attention, though. The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that Dawn’s presence up here mattered. That meant that Cognitum thought this fight mattered. She’d killed Stargazer… the only pony with a chance of shutting things down early. But why would Cognitum care? The Core was unbreachable, even to the Enclave. I suppose if they got all their Thunderheads together, they could blast the buildings, but if Cognitum had even a minimum of power she could fight back and hide behind the Core’s shields. That had been the plan in the very beginning. If it hadn’t been for the spike in Enervation…
然而，我几乎没有注意到这一点。我越想越觉得Dawn在这里很重要。这意味着Cognitum认为这场战斗很重要。她杀了占星家......唯一一个有机会提前关闭系统的小马。但是为什么认知研究所会在意呢？核心是不可逾越的，即使对昂科雷也是如此。我想如果他们集合了所有的雷电头，他们可以炸毁建筑物，但是如果认知力有哪怕是最小的能量，她就可以反击并躲在核心的护盾后面。一开始就是这么计划的。如果不是因为衰弱指数的上升..。
Wait. I felt a quiet horror steal over me as I slowly walked towards the display before the captain’s chair. Blue beams like lines of crackling lightning out to weld the heavens, not the Core’s weapons but not something I’d seen before either, were lancing out from the corners of the Tower near the crown and halfway down the side. One touched the Castellanus, making the ship quake under my hooves. The general was giving orders about alignment and readying fliers for boarding; I ignored her as I stared at the dark ring of the Core at the base of the display. “Cognitum doesn’t have access to all the Core’s systems. She has to fight for it. That’s why she needs EC-1101,” I muttered to myself, rubbing my forehooves together and scraping metal on metal. “But what if another pony already had partial access? Like Shadowbolt Tower being connected to the
等等。当我慢慢走向船长椅前的展台时，我感到一种安静的恐惧悄悄笼罩着我。蓝色的光束像一道道劈啪作响的闪电划破天际，不是核心的武器，也不是我以前见过的东西，从塔顶附近的角落一直划到半边。其中一个碰到了卡斯特兰纳斯，使船在我的蹄下震动。将军正在下达调整航线和准备登机的命令;我盯着显示器底部黑色的核心环，没有理会她。"Cognitum无法访问核心系统的所有系统。她必须为之奋斗。这就是为什么她需要EC-1101,"我自言自语道，摩擦着前蹄，在金属上刮擦着金属。"但是，如果另一匹小马已经获得了部分权限呢？就像暗影螺栓塔被连接到
Core’s defenses.
核心的防御。
“But if they turn on the Core’s defenses, it’s going to draw power, just like last time. If it does, all the Enervation rings will energize. It’ll be Silverstar Sporting Goods all over again.” Who knew how far past the river it could spread? I hoped it was only my imagination hearing that faint scream in the back of my mind. “She came up here to get her children out because she knew this was going to be a slaughter!”
"但是如果他们打开核心的防御系统，就会像上次一样吸收能量。如果是这样的话，所有的能量环都会活跃起来。这将是银星体育用品公司的翻版。"谁知道它能传播多远？我希望那只是我的想象，在我的脑海里听到那微弱的尖叫声。"她来这里救她的孩子们出去，因为她知道这将是一场屠杀!"
“What are you talking about, Blackjack?” General Chaser asked.
"你在说什么，黑杰克?"查斯将军问道。
I sat down hard. “Why the hell can’t I get one atrocity at a time?” I asked nopony in particular. “Okay… There’s really no way I can explain all this neatly. There’s a life-killing radiation in the Hoof called Enervation. When they turn on the guns, it’ll draw power through the system, causing the Enervation to spike. Maybe the Tokomare will activate automatically; I bet it has some sort emergency override during an attack. Maybe Cognitum will do it herself. The Enervation field will kill everypony indiscriminately. It might even reach Thunderhead, if the city is close enough!”
我重重地坐了下来。"为什么我就不能一次搞定一件暴行?"我特别问了小马。"好吧......我真的没办法把这一切解释清楚。霍夫有一种能杀死生命的辐射，叫做衰弱。当他们打开枪的时候，系统会吸收能量，导致能量衰减达到峰值。也许Tokomare会自动激活;我打赌它在攻击时会有某种紧急覆盖。也许认知力会自己做这件事。能量场会不分青红皂白地杀死每一匹小马。如果城市足够近的话，它甚至可能到达雷霆岬!"
“But why? What would be the purpose of mass slaughter like that?” Racewind said with a scowl.
""但是为什么呢？这种大规模屠杀的目的是什么?"滚丝风皱着眉头说。
“I don’t know yet, but what did you say about plans?” I asked the general archly, then looked at the display. “If the Enervation is strong enough, it’ll weaken you. If it’s stronger than that… It made the original inhabitants of the Core melt. If the draw is great enough, both sides might just drip away.” The Tower’s weapons were focusing on ships, scorching them where the blue-white beams touched. The cloud of power-armored ponies moved in arrowhead formations towards the Tower while a veritable swarm of defenders emerged from the building.
"我还不知道，不过你说的计划是什么?"我狡黠地问将军，然后看了看展示品。"如果能量足够强大，它会削弱你。如果它比那更强大...它会使核心的原始居民融化。如果平局足够大，双方可能都会分崩离析。"伦敦塔的武器集中在舰船上，把蓝白色光束碰到的地方都烧焦了。电力装甲小马云移动箭头编队向塔，而一个名副其实的防御者群从建筑物出现。
“What do you want me to do, Blackjack?” the general countered. “We’re committed. Once Lighthooves is dealt with and the Tower is under our control, we will be able to shut down their weapon systems.”
"你要我怎么做，黑杰克?"将军反驳道。"我们承诺。一旦处理好轻骑兵，控制好塔楼，我们就能关闭他们的武器系统。"
“We have power armor contact,” the captain said as flickering red and blue beams began to spark back and forth between the power armored ponies. “They’re fast… I knew that their armor was good, but reaction times like that are phenomenal.” His eyes widened. “Several wings inbound… coming in rather disturbingly fast.”
"我们与动力装甲部队发生了接触,"当红蓝闪烁的光束开始在动力装甲部队的小马之间来回闪烁时，上尉说。"他们速度很快......我知道他们的装甲很好，但是像那样的反应时间是非凡的。"他的眼睛睁大了。"几个机翼正在返航......速度相当快，令人不安。"
“Yeah. Lighthooves all but tap danced on me. He beat me almost as good as Dawn had…” my voice trailed away. I’d fought Enclave armor before I was augmented and won. Power armor just wasn’t fast enough. It had inertia. That was the only saving grace of anypony fighting it. But Lighthooves had almost taken me apart in his brother’s office. “Oh you son of a mule! That’s what you were talking about.” I swore as I glared at the display. “That wasn’t power armor!”
"是的。除了踢踏舞，所有的灯塔都在我身上跳舞。他打我打得几乎和道恩打得一样厉害......"我的声音渐渐低了下去。在我被扩充并获胜之前，我已经和昂科雷的装甲部队战斗过。动力盔甲只是不够快。它有惯性。这是任何与之抗争的小马唯一的可取之处。但是在他哥哥的办公室里，lighthoves差点把我撕成碎片。"哦，你这骡子的儿子！这就是你所说的。"我怒视着展览，咒骂着。"那不是动力盔甲!"
“What are you talking about, Blackjack?” the general asked in tones suggesting she was tired of asking me that.
"你在说什么，黑杰克?"将军用不同的语气问我，暗示她已经厌倦了问我这个问题。
But I didn’t have time to explain as the captain shouted, “Incoming fire and hostiles!”
但我没有时间解释，因为队长喊道,"来袭的火力和敌人!"
A blue beam shot out of the corner of the Tower and lingered on the Castellanus, and the ship shrieked. Then a second beam swept in to meet the first. I was nearly thrown off my hooves as the air filled with the smell of burning metal. “Bank! Climb! Get that beam off us before it penetrates our armor!” the pink stallion bellowed at the mares. A third blue beam was coming up to meet the other pair.
一道蓝色的光束从塔角射出，停留在卡斯特兰纳斯上，船尖叫起来。然后第二道光束横扫进来迎接第一道光束。空气中弥漫着金属燃烧的味道，我几乎要从马蹄上摔下来。"银行！爬啊！在那束光线穿透我们的盔甲之前把它拿开!"粉红色的种马向母马吼叫。第三根蓝色的光束走上前来迎接另一对。
“I can’t, sir! It’s going to br--” Then a sound unlike any I’d heard before pierced the ship. It was like the scream of metal of the factory abomination I’d faced in the tunnels, only this time it was as if I were inside the beast rather than before it. The entire ship reeled to the side, rolling as the bridge filled with nostril-searing smoke. The general pulled her helmet on, but everypony else tried to breathe and work the controls. Frigid wind howled and snapped through the Raptor. I guessed the beam had penetrated right next to the bridge.
"我不能，先生！接着，一种我以前从来没有听到过的声音穿过了船身。那声音就像我在隧道里遇到的工厂里令人憎恶的金属发出的尖叫声，只不过这一次，我仿佛置身于这头野兽之中，而不是它之前的样子。整艘船都倾斜到一边，桥上弥漫着灼热的烟雾，船在摇晃。将军戴上了她的头盔，但其他人都试着呼吸和操作控制器。寒风呼啸着穿过猛禽。我猜测光束正好穿过了桥的右边。
Red bars in my E.F.S. White-armored pegasi stormed into the bridge; the soldiers on guard sprang to action, but they were unarmed. Armed ponies were probably on their way, but by the time they got here, it’d be all over. Still, to the soldiers’ credit, they charged the boarders with fearless skill and determination. Their blows were to deflect weapons away from the crew and computers, even if it meant putting themselves at risk. I wondered if they were trying to disarm their attackers, but the invaders’ weapons were grafted to their sides beneath their wings. The soldiers’ scorpion tails stabbed and flashed, but their opponents had reinforced organs and internal healing talismans repairing their injuries. They were all going to get slaughtered...
我的e.f.s.白甲飞马座上的红栏杆猛冲进桥里;站岗的士兵们立即采取行动，但他们没有武器。武装的小马可能已经在路上了，但是当他们到达这里的时候，一切都结束了。不过，值得赞扬的是，他们以无畏的技巧和决心向寄宿者提出了要求。他们的攻击将使武器偏离船员和计算机，即使这意味着将自己置于危险之中。我不知道他们是否在试图解除攻击者的武装，但是入侵者的武器被嫁接到他们的翅膀下的身体两侧。士兵们的蝎尾刺伤和闪光，但他们的对手已经加强了器官和内部修复他们的伤口的护身符。他们都会被屠杀..。
Not if I could help it. I just really wished Rampage were here right now. This was the perfect situation for an immortal death dealer.
除非我能帮上忙。我真希望现在狂暴就在这里。对于一个不朽的死亡执行者来说，这是完美的情况。
Two of the white armored invaders stormed into the bridge, their gatling beam guns starting to glow, when I threw myself at them with my hooves wide. One limb linked around each neck as I employed every ounce of my augmented bulk against them and twisted the guns up so they raked the air above the furiously working mares. Scorpion-tipped tails arched forward and stabbed at my chest, but even though I cried out in pain, I didn’t let go. I looked at the armor on my left and saw confirmation of my fears. Like Lighthooves at Chicanery’s studio, the mare wasn’t wearing a helmet... and her eyes glowed bright red just like mine.
两个穿着白色装甲的入侵者冲进了桥，他们的格特林机枪开始发光，当我用我的蹄子扑向他们的时候。当我用我增加的体重每盎司都用在它们身上的时候，每个脖子上都连着一条腿，然后把枪扭起来，这样它们就可以在正在疯狂工作的母马上空扫过空气。蝎子的尾巴向前拱起，刺向我的胸口，但即使我痛得大叫，我也没有放手。我看了看左边的盔甲，确认了我的恐惧。就像Chicanery工作室里的灯塔一样，这匹母马没有戴头盔......她的眼睛和我的一样闪着红光。
At least, they did before I blasted her face with a quartet of magical bullets. The magical impacts ripped hide from the flesh beneath it, exposing gray synthetic materials bonded to bone and tissue. Her glassy orbs exploded in shards as my magic tore her face down to the metal and bone beneath it.
至少，在我用四颗魔法子弹打烂她的脸之前，他们是这么做的。神奇的冲击撕裂了它下面的肉体，暴露出粘附在骨头和组织上的灰色合成材料。当我的魔法把她的脸撕裂成金属和骨头时，她的玻璃球爆炸成碎片。
The mare screamed and flailed wildly as I let her go and turned my attention to the stallion on my right. He slammed his steel hooves into my chest as he struggled to knock me back. With the gouges in my chest his tail spike had inflicted, I couldn’t hold on to him. He flipped in the air, pointing both guns at me. “Kill the bridge crew! Quickly!” he snapped.
当我放开那匹母马时，它尖叫着，疯狂地挥动着身体，我的注意力转向了我右边的那匹种马。他用他的铁蹄猛击我的胸膛，挣扎着想把我踢回去。他的尾巴在我胸口留下了深深的伤口，我无法抓住他。他飞到空中，用两把枪指着我。"杀了舰桥上的船员！快点!"他崩溃了。
Then he was slammed to the side by the worn gray armor of the general. He flipped through the air and smashed into the side of the bridge, shaking his head hard as Storm Chaser hovered in his previous position. “Captain, you have the conn.”
然后，他被穿着灰色盔甲的将军猛地推到一边。他在空中飞了一下，撞到了桥的一边，当风暴追逐者在他之前的位置盘旋时，他使劲摇了摇头。"上尉，你来指挥。"
“Yes ma’am! Get reinforcements and emergency response teams here now. Helm, climb one thousand feet and present our starboard side to the enemy while we get that hole dealt with,” Racewind said coolly as he took the seat. The Castellanus continued to shake as alarms sounded. “Keep those beams off our engines or we’re done!”
"是的，夫人！马上派增援部队和紧急反应小组过来。舵手，爬升一千英尺，在我们处理那个洞的时候，向敌人展示我们的右舷。"。当警报声响起时，卡斯特兰纳斯仍在颤抖。"让那些光束远离我们的引擎，否则我们就完了!"
Two more invaders entered. The armored guards tried to move in to grapple and stab with their stinger tails, but it was as I feared. It was one thing to wear a shell that reinforced your body. It was another to be reinforced. And these ponies weren’t just augmented like me; my augments were cobbled together from three
又有两个入侵者进来了。装甲警卫试图冲进去用他们的尾巴抓住并刺穿他们，但这正是我所担心的。戴上一个能增强你身体力量的外壳是一回事。这是另一个需要加固的地方。这些小马不只是像我一样被加强了，我的增强是由三个部分拼凑起来的
different sources. Lighthooves must have taken Project Steelpony designs and fabricated fresh, brand-new parts. They twisted around, ignored stabbing tails, broke the wings of the stallions, and ripped out their ribcages and throats. One soldier managed to break the neck of a white cyberpony, but the others struggled just to survive.
不同的来源。莱特霍夫斯必须采取项目钢小马的设计和制造新的，全新的部件。它们扭来扭去，不理会刺穿它们的尾巴，折断了种马的翅膀，撕裂了它们的肋骨和喉咙。一名士兵设法扭断了一匹白色赛博马的脖子，但其他士兵只能挣扎求生。
“You’re dead, old mare! We’re the future of the Enclave!” the stallion roared as two more came in, bringing his guns to bear on her. Outside, in the hall, I could hear the electric crack of beam fire being exchanged.
"你死定了，老母马！我们是飞地的未来!"当又来了两个人的时候，种马咆哮起来，用他的枪指着她。在外面的大厅里，我可以听到火光交换时发出的电响。
Storm Chaser didn’t reply or waste time with taunts. She swooped in high and dove at the stallion. At first, I thought she’d missed as she came in short, but her wings snapped and she performed a roll in midair. The scorpion tail of her armor blurred as it swung around and the razor tip ripped a jagged line from leering mouth to chest. Blood and mechanical fluids spilled as gray synthetic underlays were exposed. He gurgled as he clamped his hooves to his throat. Big mistake. Storm Chaser continued the roll and brought both forehooves down atop his head with an impact that dented his skull. The transfer of momentum sent him flipping forward, and as he came around, Storm Chaser performed a backflip in midair. Rising tail spike met descending stallion face in a shower of sparks and blood.
风暴追逐者没有回答，也没有用嘲弄来浪费时间。她高高地俯冲下去，扑向那匹种马。一开始，我以为她没打中，但是她的翅膀折断了，在半空中做了一个翻滚动作。她盔甲上的蝎子尾巴转了一圈，变得模糊不清，剃须刀的尖端从嘴巴到胸部勾出了一条锯齿状的线条。当灰色的合成衬底暴露在外时，血液和机械液体纷纷溢出。他用蹄子夹住喉咙，咯咯地笑着。大错特错。风暴追击者继续翻滚，两只前蹄落在他的头顶上，撞击凹进了他的头骨。动量的转移使他向前翻转，当他转过来时，风暴追逐者在半空中完成了一个后空翻。上升的尾巴尖遇到下降的种马的脸在一个淋浴的火花和血液。
“If you’re the future, I’m not impressed,” she said with superb disdain. The stallion’s reply was to gurgle and collapse in a heap, leaking blood and brains from the gash ripped through his head.
"如果你是未来的话，我不会留下什么好印象,"她极其不屑地说。这匹种马的回答是咯咯地笑着，瘫倒在一堆东西里，头上被撕裂的伤口渗出了血和脑浆。
More white armored ponies stormed in through the smoking doorway. One balked as he got a close look at me. “Confirmed. Blackjack and the general together! What do we do?” he said as he pointed beam weapons built into his sides at me.
更多的白色装甲小马从冒烟的门口冲了进来。其中一个在仔细看我的时候犹豫了。"确认。黑杰克和将军在一起！我们该怎么办?"他一边说，一边把装在身体两侧的光束武器指向我。
“If she’s not dead or in the brig, kill her,” the mare beside him yelled as she pointed her own integrated disintegration rifles at the general. “She’s a liability now!”
"如果她没有死或者在禁闭室里，就杀了她,"他旁边的母马用她自己的解体步枪对着将军大喊。"她现在是个累赘!"
“Over my dead body,” I replied and drew my sword, starting to teleport when the pony I’d blinded grabbed me from behind. Lacunae had once rattled off some rather fancy words about why it was difficult to teleport other ponies and yourself. Something about mass and distance and other things that made my eyes
"除非我死了,"我回答，拔出了我的剑，开始传送时，小马被我从后面抓住了我。有一次，拉库尼说了一些相当花哨的话，解释为什么传送其他小马和你自己是很困难的。一些关于质量和距离的东西，还有其他一些东西，让我的眼睛
glaze over at the time when I had eyes that could glaze. When my teleportation spell went off, I had the sensation of trying to squeeze myself down a Blackjack-sized tube that was now half the size of Blackjack. The result was I slammed to the deck with every organic part of me feeling like it’d been beaten with a belt. “Math… hurts…” I groaned, trying to pull myself together as I watched helplessly.
那时候我的眼睛会变得呆滞。当我的瞬间移动咒语失效时，我有种感觉，我试图把自己塞进一个黑杰克大小的管子里，这个管子现在只有黑杰克的一半大小。结果我摔在了甲板上，身体的每一部分都感觉像被皮带抽过一样。"数学......伤害......"我呻吟着，无助地看着，努力让自己振作起来。
One lunged at Boo, his white laminate cybernetic tail ending in a glowing green crackle of energy. The blank backed away, eyes wide and tail tucked as she swayed to the side and gave ground. “Filthy dirt pony,” the pegasus snarled. “Stand still!” I could only stare in shock as the faster cyberpony soldier kept missing Boo by mere inches.
其中一只扑向Boo，他那白色的层压板控制论的尾巴终结在一个发光的绿色爆裂的能量。空白后退着，眼睛睁得大大的，尾巴蜷缩着，她摇晃着身子让开了。"肮脏的小马驹,"飞马吼道。"站住!"我只能震惊地盯着那个跑得更快的塞伯马士兵，他只差几英寸就射中了布。
Probably only the fact that I wore an equally stunned pegasus atop me saved me from being disintegrated, incinerated, or both. The stallion closed the distance, his wings glittering with razor sharp edges as he approached. A little ungroaning part of my mind took some small measure of relief they didn’t have that green glow to them too. The general was not so lucky, given that her armor didn’t have any ranged weapons on it and I doubted that the cyberpony mare would allow her to close the distance. The general tried anyway, going into a dive straight at the armored mare. The cyberpony mare grinned as she opened up a stream of lethal energy bolts and beams. The captain was drawing his disintegration pistol as some of the bridge crew started to move towards her...
也许只是因为我穿着一件同样惊艳的天马服，才使我免于瓦解、焚化，或者两者兼而有之。那匹种马拉近了距离，当它靠近时，它的翅膀闪着锋利的光芒。我的心里有一点点不痛不痒的感觉，因为它们没有那种绿色的光芒。将军就没那么幸运了，因为她的盔甲上没有任何远程武器，我怀疑赛博马能否让她接近我们。将军还是试了一下，径直冲向装甲母马。那匹赛博马咧嘴笑着，打开了一连串致命的能量螺栓和横梁。船长拔出他的解体手枪，舰桥上的一些船员开始向她走来。
But they were just flesh and blood ponies and would never reach the cyberpegasus in time. The mare moved with the swiftness and cold murderous action of a machine. I could only stand by and watch the rapid fire barrage strike the general with the precision of S.A.T.S. For an instant it seemed as if she’d close the gap. For an instant, I felt like I was the one stuck in S.A.T.S. Then the tips of her hooves glowed with the brilliance of a star…
但他们只是有血有肉的小马，永远不可能及时到达赛伯帕伽索斯。那匹母马像机器一样迅速而冷酷地行凶。我只能站在一旁，看着炮火像特种部队一样准确地向将军猛烈扫射。有那么一瞬间，我觉得自己好像被困在了S.A.T.S.。然后她的蹄尖闪耀着星星的光辉..。
Like a lightning bolt, the general struck the cybermare and crushed her between bulkhead and her metalshod hooves. That would have killed anypony without a generator for a heart. As it was, mechanical fluids and blood burst from the cybermare’s throat as the sound of cracking ribs carried clear through the air. Still, her guns were wired into her brain, and one of them swiveled around and blasted wildly around her with more crimson beams. Clearly, the crippled mare wanted to take one of us with her.
就像一道闪电，将军击中了赛伯母马，将她压在隔板和她的金属蹄子之间。如果没有发电机作为心脏，那会杀死任何小马。事实上，赛伯母马的喉咙里充满了机械液体和血液，肋骨断裂的声音清晰地传遍了整个空气。尽管如此，她的枪还是连在脑子里，其中一支在她周围转来转去，发出更多深红色的光束。很明显，那匹瘸腿的母马想带上我们中的一个。
Unfortunately, that was when one of the screens towards the front of the bridge exploded inwards behind General Storm Chaser. Chunks of metal flew through the air; the mare sprawled atop me caught a piece of steel longer than my body and thick as my horn. It sliced almost completely through her and crushed me down even more. The bridge mares struggled to keep the ship under control even though more than half of them had been wounded by flying metal; Boo managed to avoid having her head taken off by a dinner plate sized chunk by inches.
不幸的是，就在这个时候，大桥前面的一个屏幕在风暴追逐者后面向内爆炸了。巨大的金属块在空中飞舞，母马趴在我身上，抓住了一块比我身体还要长，和我的角一样厚的钢板。它几乎完全切开了她，把我压得更重了。尽管一半以上的母马都被飞行的金属击伤，但它们还是竭力控制着飞船;Boo设法避免了自己的头被盘子一寸一寸地砍掉。
More white-armored pegasi began to swarm the staggered general. Then a brilliant green bolt blasted into the lead cyberpony’s head. I watched as Captain Racewind slowly advanced across the bridge. His uniform was slick with blood and one ear was gone as he walked slowly across the shaking deck. One of his targets collapsed in a shower of glowing green goop. Then a second. A third. He stood over the general before the breached wall. When his gun was dry, he flicked out the cartridge and slapped a fresh one in without removing it from his mouth.
更多白甲的飞马开始蜂拥而至。接着，一道亮绿色的闪电击中了牵头的赛博马的头部。我看着拉斯温德船长慢慢地走过桥。他的制服沾满了血，滑溜溜地走过摇晃的甲板时，一只耳朵不见了。他的一个目标在一阵绿色的液体中倒下了。然后一秒钟。第三个。他站在被攻破的城墙前，俯视将军。当他的枪是干的，他弹出了弹匣，并拍了一个新的没有从他的嘴里取出来。
The rest didn’t enter shooting. Instead, they removed things from their armor, small metal apples with bright green bands around the middles. In unison, they pulled the pins of around a dozen magic grenades and threw them through the breach. Even if I hadn’t been halfway across the room with a dead mare on my back, I would have been hard pressed to catch and return so many at once. For a pony without magic, I didn’t think it possible.
其他人没有参加射击比赛。取而代之的是，他们从盔甲上取下东西，小小的金属苹果，中间环绕着亮绿色的带子。同时，他们拔掉了大约一打魔法手榴弹的大头针，把它们从缺口扔了出去。即使我没有背着一匹死去的母马穿过房间的半路，我也很难一次抓住并归还这么多头母马。对于一匹没有魔法的小马来说，我认为这是不可能的。
I guess it wasn’t, because rather than try, he dashed right up to the breach in the wall and stood upright before it, spreading his wings wide to cover the portal and deflecting the magical grenades back into the room beyond. There were panicked shouts from our attackers as he looked back at the rest of the bridge.
我猜不是，因为他没有去尝试，而是直接冲向墙上的缺口，笔直地站在缺口前，张开翅膀盖住传送门，把魔法手榴弹引回了远处的房间。当他回头看着桥上的其余部分时，我们的袭击者发出了惊慌的喊叫声。
I’ll be damned if the stoic captain didn’t smile a little.
如果这位坚忍的船长连一点微笑都不笑的话，我会被诅咒的。
Then there was a rapid fire series of brilliant green flashes and in an instant, he was gone, reduced to a glowing green mist that settled on the deck. The general was closest to the blast, but the captain’s sacrifice had kept her out of range of the explosives. All it did was knock her back.
然后是一连串的绿色闪光，瞬间，他消失了，变成了一团落在甲板上的绿色的薄雾。将军离爆炸点最近，但是上尉的牺牲使她远离了炸药的射程。它所做的一切只是把她打回去。
“Racewind…” the general murmured, only audible to my ears.
"赛马风......"将军低声说，只有我的耳朵能听见。
“One tyrant down,” wheezed a gurgling voice as the cybermare Storm Chaser’d crippled proved not quite dead yet, and managed one last well-aimed volley that
"一个暴君倒下了,"当风暴追逐者残废的赛博母马被证明还没有完全死亡的时候，一个咯咯的声音呼哧呼哧地响了起来，并且完成了最后一次精准的齐射
raked the general with brilliant red beams. “Die, you murdering whores!” she shouted, blood and black fluids spraying from her mouth. I’d forgotten how infuriatingly resilient cyberponies could be. The general took a step back, staggered, and finally collapsed as the beams raked her from behind.
用明亮的红色横梁耙将军。"去死吧，你这个杀人的婊子!"她喊道，血和黑色的液体从她的嘴里喷出来。我已经忘记了赛伯马有多么令人愤怒的弹性。将军后退了一步，摇摇晃晃，最后在横梁从后面倾斜过来的时候倒下了。
No. I needed her. The Enclave needed her.
没有。我需要她。昂科雷需要她。
“Captain! General!” screamed half the mares as they rushed to the fallen general and swarmed over the cyberpony, their hooves twisting her integrated guns up towards the ceiling. The cybermare wheezed a horrible, gurgling laughter as she fired wildly. I watched my last, best hope to ending this lying in a smoking heap on the deck.
"船长！将军!"半数的母马尖叫着冲向倒下的将军，蜂拥而上，骑着赛伯马，蹄子扭曲着她的枪，冲向天花板。赛博母马发出可怕的咯咯笑声，同时疯狂地开枪。我看着我最后，最大的希望就是结束这一切，躺在甲板上的一堆烟里。
A cold and hateful part of my mind pushed such simple weaknesses as pain aside and summoned up all my focus. As another cybermare rushed in and started to take aim, another of Twilight’s spells, one that I’d thought exceptionally bizarre, came immediately to my mind. I imagined the newcomer with the biggest, bushiest beard and eyebrows I could. Her face disappeared into a yellow puff of dandelion-like hair, and she staggered back as I shrugged the dead pegasus off me.
我内心冰冷而可恨的一面把痛苦这样简单的弱点抛在一边，唤起了我所有的注意力。当另一匹赛博母马冲进来并开始瞄准时，另一个暮光之城的咒语，一个我认为异常怪异的咒语，立刻出现在我的脑海里。我想象着这个新来的人有着我能想象到的最大、最浓密的胡须和眉毛。她的脸消失在一团蒲公英般的黄色头发中，她摇摇晃晃地回来，我耸耸肩把死去的飞马从我身上拿开。
My magic seized the excess mane and I yanked her head toward me. My magic brought the sword up through her neck, slicing clean through it. Another pair of Lighthooves’s cyberponies rushed me. “Get Blackjack!” one yelled. Instead, he should have been paying more attention, as my telekinesis threw the severed head into his face. He caught it, blinked down stupidly, and was rewarded with a sword swing that decapitated him just as neatly as the first. The third skidded short, deciding to shoot me rather than get in close. My hooves shoved the spurting stump of the second in his direction, and his S.A.T.S.-enhanced shooting was ruined by a blinding spray of blood and mechanical fluids. He’d need a few seconds to clear his eyes.
我的魔法抓住了她多余的鬃毛，我猛地把她的头拉向我。我的魔法把剑刺穿了她的脖子，一剑刺穿了她的脖子。另一对莱特霍夫的赛博小马冲向我。"去拿黑杰克!"其中一个喊道。相反，当我的心灵遥感把那颗被砍下的头扔到他脸上的时候，他应该多花点心思。他抓住了它，愚蠢地眨了眨眼睛，然后被奖励了一把挥舞的剑，像第一个一样干净利落地砍下了他的头。第三个人急速滑行，决定向我开枪，而不是靠近。我的蹄子把第二个马蹄推向它的方向，一阵炫目的血液和机械液体的喷溅毁掉了它在s.a.t.s上增强的射击能力。他需要几秒钟来清醒一下自己的眼睛。
He didn’t even get half a second before I plunged the sword through his hoof, his eye, his skull, and his brain. A twist and yank and he collapsed into a twisting, twitching heap. The sword came down in a finishing swipe and took his head as well. Even healing talismans couldn’t reverse decapitation. I took three steps towards where the crippled cybermare continued to fire wildly with her arcane energy weapons and sliced them off.
我把剑刺进他的蹄子，他的眼睛，他的头骨，还有他的大脑之前，他连半秒钟的时间都没有。一个猛拉，他就瘫倒在地，身体扭曲，抽搐了一下。剑在最后一击落下来，也砍下了他的头。即使治愈的护身符也不能逆转斩首的过程。我朝着那匹瘫痪的赛伯母马继续用她的奥术能量武器疯狂开火的地方走了三步，然后把它们切下来。
The stallion with the crackling tail stinger had finally backed Boo into a corner. “Now! Hold still and die!” he roared, plunging the weapon at the terrified mare. I just needed a few more seconds and I could help her. A few seconds. That’s all I needed. Then I’d wake up and find out this was all a dream. A vision. A memory orb of a pony who’d seen too many good ponies die for stupid reasons. Boo ducked at the last second, curling up into a terrified ball as the stinger ripped through plastic and metal conduits above her.
那匹尾部刺得嘎嘎作响的种马终于把布逼到了墙角。"现在！别动，去死吧!"他咆哮着，用枪指着那头吓坏了的母马。再给我几秒钟我就能帮她了。几秒钟。这就是我所需要的。然后我醒来，发现这一切都是一场梦。一个愿景。一个记忆球的小马谁见过太多的好马死于愚蠢的原因。布在最后一秒躲开了，毒刺刺穿了她头顶上的塑料和金属管道，蜷缩成一个吓坏了的球。
One of which read ‘Warning: high voltage’. As the tail ripped through, a noise like an enormous angry bee filled the bridge. The stallion went rigid as electricity played over his body for a second, then sparks shot from his blackening metal bits as his flesh began to char, then he exploded with a sickening pop.
其中一条写着"警告:高压"。当尾巴被扯断的时候，一种像一只巨大的愤怒的蜜蜂一样的声音充满了这座桥。这匹种马的身体在电流的作用下僵硬了一秒钟，然后他的皮肤开始变焦，黑色的金属碎片发出火花，接着他爆炸了，发出令人作呕的爆炸声。
“Hey! Blackjack!” Rampage called from the doorway. “Did you know that there’s this great big hole in the side of the ship?” One of the cyberponies fighting the soldiers in the bridge whirled on her and started to open fire. With an annoyed look, she whirled as well, wrapped her barbed tail around the cyberpony’s face, and, with a jerk of her haunches, pulled him down under her backside. She sat down hard on his shoulders. She paused, then shrugged. “Tempting, but bloody pleasure before squishy pleasure,” she said, then raised both her forehooves and slammed them down on the cyberpony’s skull like a jackhammer until his brains dribbled like bloody tar out his mouth and nose.
"嘿！黑杰克!"狂暴从门口喊道。"你知道船舷上有个大洞吗?"在桥上与士兵战斗的一只赛伯矮种马旋转着向她开火。她带着恼怒的表情旋转着，用带刺的尾巴缠住了赛伯马的脸，然后用臀部猛拉了一下赛伯马，把它拉到了她的背下面。她紧紧地坐在他的肩膀上。她停顿了一下，然后耸了耸肩。她说:"很诱人，但是这种血腥的快感先于湿软的快感。"然后她抬起两只前蹄，像手提钻一样狠狠地敲打着赛博马的头骨，直到它的脑浆像血淋淋的沥青一样从嘴巴和鼻子里滴出来。
I rushed to the general and wished for the umpteenth time that I had some kind of healing spell. Her blue bar was still on my E.F.S.… she was still alive, but any second I expected it to wink out. Her armor smoked from the beam blasts it’d absorbed. She wasn’t moving. I didn’t think she was breathing. Screw healing magic. At this point I’d be happy with something more substantial than first aid training I’d gotten years ago and slept through because any stable medical emergency would be handled by medics, not me.
我冲到将军面前，无数次地祈祷我有某种治愈魔法。她的蓝色棒子还在我的e.f.s.上......她还活着，但我随时都可以预料到它会熄灭。她的盔甲从被它吸收的射束中冒出烟来。她一动不动。我没想到她还有呼吸。去他的治愈魔法。在这一点上，我很乐意接受比我几年前接受的急救训练更实质的东西，因为任何稳定的医疗紧急情况都会由医务人员处理，而不是我。
Fucking idiot, Blackjack.
他妈的白痴黑杰克。
I felt the ship begin to list and groan with an alarming, substantial sound and turned briefly to the three mares around the general. “Keep us in the air, or we’re all dead!” They nodded and rushed to their damaged stations. The most I could remember was ‘ABC’. Her Airway was clear, and when I put my ear to her muzzle, my enhanced hearing could pick up shallow Breaths… and I forgot what
我感到船开始倾斜和呻吟，伴随着令人震惊的巨大声响，我转向将军周围的三匹母马。"把我们留在空中，不然我们都得死!"他们点点头，冲向受损的岗位。我能记得的最多的就是ABC。她的呼吸道很通畅，当我把耳朵贴近她的口鼻时，我增强的听力可以听到浅浅的呼吸...我忘记了什么
C meant. Contact medical? Control? Concede defeat?
意思是。联系医务人员？控制？承认失败？
Rising from the twitching body, Rampage pounced on another cyberpony, grabbed his head in a hooflock, twisted, and snapped his neck. That would have been sufficient for anypony besides Rampage. The mare kept pulling, the neck starting to pinch like taffy, till the head came off completely with a wet popping sound. Holding the decapitated head, trailing wires, she tossed it to one of the horrified Castellanus soldiers. She whistled at the smoking, crackling remains before Boo. “Nice job. Well done. I give it a nine out of ten. You want to make sure you can take a trophy from your kills, Boo. Or eat them. Or both.” The shivering blank wasn’t uncurling from her ball.
狂暴从抽搐的身体上站起来，扑向另一匹赛博矮种马，用蹄锁抓住他的头，扭断了他的脖子。除了狂暴，这对任何小马来说都已经足够了。母马不停地拉，脖子开始像太妃糖一样疼，直到头完全脱落，发出湿漉漉的爆裂声。她拿着斩下的头，拖着电线，把它扔给一个惊恐的卡斯特兰纳斯士兵。她对着烟吹了一声口哨，噼里啪啦的声音依然回荡在布面前。"干得好。干得好。我给它打了九分。你想确保你能从杀戮中获得战利品，Boo。或者吃掉它们。或者两者都有。"颤抖的空白没有从她的球上展开。
It was the wrong time for a quip. “Where have you been?” I asked darkly as I stared at the limp, prone form of the general. “Why weren’t you here? What were you off doing, Rampage? Fucking? Fighting?”
现在不是说俏皮话的时候。"你去哪儿了?"我盯着将军那软弱无力、俯卧着的样子，阴沉地问道。"你为什么不在这儿？你去干什么了，狂暴？做爱？打架?"
“Uh, yeah. Well, the second one,” Rampage said with a frown. “What’s the problem?”
"呃，是的。好吧，第二个,"朗格皱着眉头说。"有什么问题吗?"
It wasn’t right, or fair, but I stormed over to her and shoved her hard against the wall. “The problem?! The problem is if you had been here, the general wouldn’t have been hurt! This isn’t a fucking game anymore! Glory’s family… Thunderhead… maybe even all the Wasteland… could be killed if we can’t end this nightmare.”
这是不对的，也是不公平的，但我气冲冲地冲向她，把她狠狠地推到墙上。"有什么问题吗！问题是如果你在这里，将军就不会受伤了！这不再是他妈的游戏了！如果我们不能结束这场噩梦，光荣的家庭......雷头......甚至整个荒原......都可能被杀死。"
Then Rampage shoved back. I’d only been shoved once by Rampage, when we’d first met. Now, however, she set her back against the wall and kicked out with all four of her hooves. I found myself suddenly flying clear across the room, smashing into the opposite wall and landing in a heap. Rampage glared at me as she slowly advanced.
然后狂暴又回来了。我们第一次见面时，我只被狂暴推开过一次。然而现在，她把自己靠在墙上，用四只蹄子踢了出去。我发现自己突然飞过房间，撞到对面的墙上，摔成一堆。当她慢慢向前走时，狂暴的怒视着我。
“I like you, Blackjack, but you’re really starting to get on my nerves.” Her voice was low, and for an instant I realized that this was the Rampage everypony else knew. The Reaper. “You’re the one who cares about Thunderhead, not me.
"我喜欢你，Blackjack，但你真的开始让我感到不安了。"她的声音很低，刹那间我意识到这就是每个人都知道的暴怒小马。死神。"关心霹雳头的是你，不是我。
You’re the one who gives a shit if the Wasteland lives or dies. Not. Me. I only give a marginal shit about a half dozen ponies in this world. The rest can go fuck themselves. This is war. Ponies die. A lot. Good and bad, innocent and guilty. Do not ever talk to me like that and tell me what I should be doing. Ever.”
你才是那个在乎荒原是死是活的人。没有。我。我只在乎这个世界上半打的小马。其他人都去死吧。这是战争。小马死了。很多。好与坏，无辜与有罪。不要这样跟我说话，告诉我应该做什么。永远不会。"
I struggled to my hooves. “I thought you wanted to die,” I spat, not able to bring
我挣扎着用蹄子。"我以为你想死,"我吐了口唾沫，无法带来
myself to face her.
我自己去面对她。
“And I do. You won’t do that. So I do what I always do. Whatever else I want,” she said, and I glanced at her and saw her looking at the glowing smear that had been the captain.
"我确实是这么想的。你不会那么做的。所以我做了我一直在做的事。不管我想要什么,"她说，我瞥了她一眼，看到她在看船长身上发光的污迹。
Then the general’s blue bar disappeared on my E.F.S. No… no! Damn it NO! The pinned cybermare took a deep, crackling breath and shouted, “Confirmed! General is dead! Blackjack is alive! Report! Blackjack is--”
然后将军的蓝条消失在我的e.f.s.上不...不！该死的，不！被牵制的赛博母马深深地吸了一口气，大声喊道:"确认！将军死了！黑杰克还活着！报告！黑杰克是——"
Rampage reared up, the bridge mares scrambling away. “Shut,” she said with her hooves upraised. “Up!” she shouted as with one blow, she crushed the mare into a ball of bloody metal.
暴跳如雷，桥上的母马们争先恐后地离开。"闭嘴,"她抬起蹄子说。"起来!"她一下子就把母马压成了一团血淋淋的金属。
“Medics! Somepony get somepony! Please!” I begged. Rampage looked over as she wiped her bloody hoofclaws off on the slain mare. “Find a doctor!”
"医生们！有人得到了一些小马！求你了!"我苦苦哀求。狂暴看着她在被杀死的母马上擦去她血淋淋的蹄爪。"去找医生!"
“Hush up. I’m not that kind of doctor,” Rampage said, her voice becoming oddly calm and gruff, as she knelt beside the fallen general. Her hooves fiddled around her face a moment. “Mmm. Not good.” She pointed a hoof at a bridge mare.
"安静点。我不是那种医生,"当她跪在倒下的将军身边时，她的声音变得异常平静和粗暴。她的蹄子在她的脸周围摆动了片刻。"嗯。情况不妙。"她把蹄子指向一匹母马桥。
“You. I need a medical kit. Bring it and see if it has a shot of adrenaline and some M.o.P. electropads. Healing potion too would be nice. And I’d love a sake for when this is all over.” She tugged off the bloody claws from her forehooves. “Hope this works.”
"你。我需要急救箱。带上它，看看有没有注射肾上腺素和一些m.o.p电垫。还有治疗药水就更好了。当这一切都结束时，我想要一杯清酒。"她用力拔去前蹄上血淋淋的爪子。"希望这有用。"
She rolled the general on her back. “Press one nostril closed and blow in the other when I tell you to.” And then, with surprising care, she began to compress the general’s chest with short bursts. I was so worried that I didn’t even gross out at the thought of putting my mouth there. “Breathe. Breathe.” She intoned every ten compressions.
她把将军翻了个身。"按住一个鼻孔，我让你按时吹另一个。"然后，她出人意料地小心翼翼，开始用短促的爆发压迫将军的胸部。我非常担心，一想到要把嘴放在那里，我甚至都不觉得恶心。"呼吸。呼吸。"她每按十下按压一次。
“Is she going to make it?” I asked between breaths.
"她能挺过去吗?"我在呼吸间隙问道。
“Probably not, but she definitely won’t if we stop. Breathe,” she said as she continued compressions. “I’m glad this body is so strong and this mare has a nice, flexible sternum. Breathe. Always distressing when you snap ribs. Breathe.”
"可能不会，但如果我们停下来，她肯定不会。呼吸,"她边说边继续按压。"我很高兴这只母马的身体这么强壮，胸骨又漂亮又有弹性。深呼吸。当你折断肋骨的时候总是很痛苦。呼吸。"
A mare rushed in with a plastic box. “Blackjack, after the breath after this one, cut open the chest of her armor with your sword. Breathe. Try not to cut her
一匹母马拿着一个塑料盒子冲了进来。"Blackjack，在这一次呼吸之后，用你的剑切开她的盔甲胸膛。深呼吸。尽量不要割伤她
deeply, but be quick. She has enough problems. Breathe.”
很深，但要快。她的麻烦已经够多了。呼吸。"
As soon as I finished blowing in her nose I levitated over my sword and sliced the armor between the plates as quickly and neatly as I could, tugging the rubbery underlayer away from her body as I sliced. To my shame, I did nick her a few times, but her armor was open. Rampage pulled the front of her armor wide and did another round of compressions. “Breathe, Blackjack. Can you find a vein, young mare?” Rampage asked the bridge mare. When she shook her head, Rampage nodded downward. “Twenty compressions, then let Blackjack breathe. Breathe. Swap.” And Rampage moved away so the beige bridge mare could take her place. “Just like that. Put your whole weight into it.”
我一吹完她的鼻子，我就用剑悬浮起来，尽可能快速而干净地切开了两个钢板之间的盔甲，一边切，一边把橡胶底层从她身上拽开。令我感到羞耻的是，我确实伤害了她几次，但她的盔甲是敞开的。狂暴把她的盔甲前部拉得很宽，又做了一轮挤压。"深呼吸，黑杰克。你能找到血管吗，小母马?"横冲直撞的母马问道。当她摇头时，狂暴向下点了点头。二十次按压然后让Blackjack呼吸。深呼吸。交换。"然后狂暴离开了，这样米黄色的母马就可以取代她的位置。"就是这样。全身心投入其中。"
“Please save her. Please. We lost the captain. We can’t lose her too,” she said, tears on her cheeks as she used her weight to press rapidly on the general’s chest.
"请救救她。求你了。我们失去了船长。我们不能再失去她了,"她说着，用她的体重快速地压在将军的胸口上，脸上挂满了泪水。
“I’m twenty five years out of residency, young mare, but I’m trying my best. We all are,” Rampage said as she sorted through the hypodermic needles. “Why’d they have to go and relabel everything? This was complicated enough before the bombs fell.” Then she picked up a bright yellow syringe. “Ah! Here we go.” She bit down on the end, tugged off the cap, and said around the fat plastic cylinder, “Halt breaths.” When I did, she turned the general’s head and felt along her neck, pressed the needle in with care that would do a unicorn proud, and then her tongue pressed a little button. The syringe gave a hiss of compressed gas. “Hope that was her jugular. Otherwise she’s going to have a doozy of a headache on top of being dead.”
"我已经二十五年没当住院医生了，年轻的母马，但我已经尽力了。我们都是,"朗格一边说，一边整理着皮下注射针头。"他们为什么要把所有东西都重新贴上标签呢？在炸弹落下之前，这已经够复杂的了。"然后她拿起一个鲜黄色的注射器。"啊！我们开始吧。"她在瓶口咬了一口，拉开瓶盖，绕着塑料瓶说:"停止呼吸。"当我这样做的时候，她转过将军的头，摸了摸她的脖子，小心翼翼地按下针，这足以让独角兽感到骄傲，然后她的舌头按了一个小按钮。注射器发出一阵压缩气体的嘶嘶声。"希望那就是她的要害。否则，她除了死了之外，还会头疼得厉害。"
Suddenly the general gave a little gasp, her eyes wide as her body jerked and then went still again. Still, I saw her blue mark reappear on my E.F.S. “She’s alive!”
突然，将军发出一声轻微的喘息，她的身体猛地一抽，眼睛睁得大大的，然后又一动不动了。尽管如此，我还是看到她的蓝色标记出现在我的e.f.s上:"她还活着!"
“Stars and suns, it worked! Old Doc Hatchet would be amazed,” Rampage blurted, pressed her hoof to the side of the general’s throat beneath her jaw. She then grabbed a pair of thick yellow plastic blocks and cracked them neatly into two pads, revealing a clear goop on one face and pressed it to her side. Then she did the same with the other half on her other side. The backs of the pads were ripped open, and one had a bright yellow crystal. The other had a wire. She connected the pads with the wire then tapped the crystal, which started to growl like thunder. “Get back folks, especially you, Blackjack.”
"星星和太阳，起作用了！狂暴脱口而出，把蹄子踩在将军的喉咙上，用下颚压住他的喉咙。然后，她抓起一对厚厚的黄色塑料积木，整齐地把它们砸成两块，露出一张脸上明显的黏糊糊的东西，并把它压在身体一侧。然后她对另一边的另一半做了同样的事情。护垫的背面被撕开了，其中一块上面有一块明亮的黄色水晶。另一个有一根电线。她把垫子和电线连接起来，然后敲打水晶，水晶开始像雷鸣一样咆哮起来。"回去吧，伙计们，特别是你，黑杰克。"
I did, and she tapped it a second time. The talisman flashed brightly, and there was a sound of lightning. The general jerked, coughed, and sucked in a breath of air, then promptly rolled over and puked. She spat, then immediately asked, “Racewind?” In her eyes was a mix of hope and fear I knew all too well.
我打了，她又敲了一下。护身符闪着明亮的光芒，传来一阵闪电的声音。将军抽搐了一下，咳了一下，吸了一口气，然后迅速翻了个身，呕吐起来。她吐了口唾沫，然后马上问道:"赛马风?"在她的眼里，混合着希望和恐惧，这一点我再清楚不过了。
“I’m sorry,” was all I could think to say.
"对不起,"我只能说这么多。
She closed her eyes, took a shallow breath as Rampage pushed the pad of her hoof to the general’s throat. “Huh. You must take care of yourself, general. Weak but steady pulse. It normally takes two or three tries, if it works at all. Don’t move, and we’ll see if it sticks.”
她闭上眼睛，浅浅地吸了一口气，然后把马蹄推向将军的喉咙。"哈。你必须照顾好自己，将军。脉搏微弱但稳定。它通常需要两次或三次尝试，如果它在所有的工作。别动，我们看看它能不能粘住。"
“Are we still under attack?” she asked.
"我们还在遭受攻击吗?"她问道。
“Cyclone and Sleet are shielding us. Sirocco and Blizzard didn’t even try to intercept their flyers. They passed right on through,” a bridgemare reported.
"飓风和雨夹雪在掩护我们。热风和暴雪甚至没有试图拦截他们的传单。他们直接穿过去了。"。
“I am going to personally pluck those two,” the general muttered with a groan.
"我要亲自把那两个人拔出来,"将军咕哝着呻吟着。
“You mean fuck? As in fuck over?” I asked, a little baffled.
"你是说他妈的？你是说他妈的完蛋了?"我问道，有点困惑。
“No. Pluck. It’s a more serious condition when you throw them off your ship.”
"没有。拔毛。如果你把他们从船上扔下去，情况就更严重了。"
Ah. “Well, you could probably pull it off. That was some good fighting, especially against augmented ponies.”
啊。"好吧，你可能会成功的。这是一场精彩的战斗，尤其是对抗扩张的小马。"
Then she groaned and muttered, “Ugh… fighting is for privates. Let me up.”
然后她呻吟着喃喃自语,"呃......打架是私人的事。让我上去。"
“Stay down for three minutes. Make sure everything is stabilized,” Rampage said. “Otherwise, I’ll make them haul you to the medical bay and put Blackjack in charge.”
"蹲下三分钟。确保一切都稳定下来。"。"否则，我会让他们把你拖到医务室，让Blackjack负责。"
I blinked. “No. No way. That’s a bad idea. Of monumental proportions. I can’t think of what to do with a ship besides ‘shoot’ and ‘ramming speed’.”
我眨了眨眼。"没有。不可能。这可不是个好主意。具有重大意义的。除了'射击'和'撞击速度'之外，我不知道该拿船怎么办。"
“Which is why the general is going to indulge me and rest a little bit before climbing back into the seat,” Rampage replied, smiling down at the weakened but angry mare.
"这就是为什么将军要迁就我，在爬回座位之前稍微休息一下,"狂暴回答道，微笑着俯视着那头虚弱但愤怒的母马。
Storm Chaser clearly chafed but relented. “Since when are you a doctor? I
风暴追逐者显然很恼火，但态度有所缓和。"你什么时候开始当医生了？一
thought you were some kind of Wasteland primitive.”
还以为你是某种荒原原始人呢。"
“It’s complicated. Even I don’t understand it,” she said, then regarded me. “So, Blackjack, how have you been doing with your self-destructive tendencies?”
"这很复杂。连我自己都不明白,"她说，然后看了看我。"那么，黑杰克，你的自我毁灭倾向怎么样了?"
This wasn’t exactly the best time for a therapy session, but I guessed I couldn’t pick and choose. “Well… I… better, I guess. I still seem to be the Wasteland’s chew toy, but I don’t think I’m…” then I blinked. “Wait. You’re a lot more aware than the last time we met.”
这确实不是进行心理治疗的最佳时机，但我猜我不能做出选择。"嗯......我.....。.好多了，我想。我似乎仍然是荒原的咀嚼玩具，但我不认为我是......"然后我眨了眨眼。"等等。你比我们上次见面时意识到了很多。"
“Yes,” the doctor said with a curious smile. “I too am wondering at it. Before, it was like being in another world with walls of dense smoke. Little by little, the smoke is clearing. Things are more lucid. For example, I know that I’m a soul in a talisman rather than a pony flying home to Manehattan after a conference. Quite astonishing really, even if I still expect to wake up and find myself crashing to the ground.”
"是的,"医生带着好奇的微笑说。"我也很好奇。以前，这里就像是在另一个充满浓烟的世界。渐渐地，烟雾开始散去。事情变得更加清晰。例如，我知道我是一个护身符中的灵魂，而不是会议结束后飞回曼哈顿的小马驹。真的很令人吃惊，即使我仍然希望醒来时发现自己摔倒在地。"
“Do the memories help?” I asked.
"这些记忆有帮助吗?"我问道。
She nodded. “In a way. I’m also aware of others with me… some are aware of me while others aren’t.” Her smile faded as the doctor said, “I’ve been trying to treat the Angel. She’s… a difficult patient. Still, it gives us something to do while I’m inside. Every time we experience another’s memories it… connects us.”
她点点头。"在某种程度上。我也知道其他人和我在一起......有些人知道我，而其他人不知道。"医生说:"我一直在试着治疗天使。她是个很难相处的病人。尽管如此，我在里面的时候我们还是有事可做。每次我们经历别人的记忆，都会把我们联系在一起。"
I swallowed, dreading this next question. “What about Rampage? Have you… do you… is she in there with you?”
我咽了口唾沫，害怕接下来的问题。"那么狂暴呢？你...你...她和你在一起吗?"
She reached up to her brow to fiddle with glasses that weren’t there. “I don’t know. When I’m here, I’m not aware of things happening ‘inside’. And when I’m not here, it’s like peering through fog. I can’t say for sure one way or the other. I’m sorry.”
她抬起眉毛，拨弄着不在眼镜上的东西。"我不知道。当我在这里的时候，我并不知道里面发生了什么。当我不在这里的时候，就像透过雾看东西。我不能肯定是这样还是那样。对不起。"
“I guess, ‘I don’t know’ is better than ‘No’.” I sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re able to help others in there. Personally, I’m kicking myself over how badly I misjudged Lighthooves. I could have sworn he was going to surrender himself… but he seems like he’s going all out.”
"我想,'我不知道'总比'不知道'好。"我叹了口气。"嗯，我很高兴你能在那里帮助别人。就我个人而言，我对自己判断错得如此严重感到懊悔。我本来可以发誓他会投降的......但是他看起来像是在全力以赴。"
Rampage’s pink eyes softened, and she patted my back. “Don’t be. From what I understand, and I may not understand it all, but I think that option was lost when
狂暴的红眼睛变得柔和了，她拍了拍我的背。"别这样。据我所知，我可能并不完全理解，但我认为这个选择在
Stargazer was killed. Lighthooves would never have turned himself over to Neighvarro. It wouldn’t play in with this martyrdom idealization he has for himself.”
观星者被杀了。轻舟绝不会向邻居自首。这不会影响他对自己的这种理想化的殉难。"
“Huh?” I blinked.
"啊?"我眨了眨眼。
Rampage gave a rueful chuckle. “He likely had quite the fantasy about how he’d surrender the weapons. Possible he had speeches written just for the event. But when Stargazer died, his perfect scenario fell apart. He seems to have a self-destructive streak as wide as yours. Perhaps wider. It’s an immature response, to be sure.”
狂暴的暴怒发出一声悲伤的轻笑。"他很可能幻想着如何交出武器。也许他专门为这次活动写了演讲稿。但是当观星者死后，他完美的设想破灭了。他似乎和你一样有自我毁灭的倾向。也许更宽。毫无疑问，这是一种不成熟的反应。"
“If he wanted to kill himself, there’re easier ways to do it,” I muttered. “I thought his big motivator was saving Thunderhead at all costs.”
"如果他想自杀，有更简单的方法,"我喃喃自语。"我以为他的最大动机是不惜一切代价拯救雷霆队。"
“I said self-destructive, not suicidal. Subtle but different. Saving Thunderhead is an expression of his psychology, not a driver. For instance, no rational person would utilize a biological weapon as a means of defense or liberation. In fact, had he wished for Thunderhead’s security and safety, he would have aligned himself more with Stratus and Neighvarro.”
"我说的是自我毁灭，不是自杀。微妙但与众不同。拯救雷霆是他心理的一种表现，而不是一个司机。例如，没有一个理性的人会利用生物武器作为防御或解放的手段。事实上，如果他希望雷霆头的安全和保障，他会更多地与斯特拉图斯和邻居罗结盟。"
“So what is his driver then?” I asked with a frown.
"那么他的司机是谁?"我皱着眉头问。
Rampage arched a brow as she smiled, “What was yours? When you were running around like a madmare? What’s driven you to harm and undermine yourself?”
狂暴女士微笑着皱起眉头,"你的是什么?"？当你像母马一样到处乱跑的时候？是什么驱使你伤害和破坏自己?"
“I…” I opened and closed my mouth. I glanced at the general. “I… hate myself. The things I’ve done. That I’ve experienced. What I’ve become. Ways I’ve disappointed Glory and failed my friends. Even before leaving 99… I mean, even if I only count P-21, I did unforgivable things to him and didn't even know I was doing it.” My ears dropped. “I’m trying to do better and make up for it.”
"我.....。。」我张开嘴，闭上嘴。我瞥了一眼将军。"我.....。.恨我自己。我所做的一切。这是我经历过的。我变成了什么样子。我让晨辉失望和让我的朋友失望的方式。甚至在离开99之前......我的意思是，即使我只算上P-21，我对他做了不可原谅的事情，甚至不知道我在做这件事。"我的耳朵垂了下来。"我在努力做得更好，并为此做出补偿。"
“I know.” She patted me on the back. “And that’s a healthier expression than embracing all the things you hate and becoming an utter monster. But, most importantly, you felt you deserved to suffer horribly for it. Suicide is easy, relatively speaking. A suicidal person wants pain and misery to stop. Self-destruction is complex. It reinforces denial. A suicidal person is the first to admit they’re a mess. A self-destructive person will deny it to their grave, and possibly the graves of others.”
"我知道。"她拍了拍我的背。"这是一个比拥抱所有你讨厌的东西变成一个彻头彻尾的怪物更健康的表达。但是，最重要的是，你觉得你应该为此遭受痛苦。相对而言，自杀很容易。有自杀倾向的人希望痛苦和不幸停止。自我毁灭是复杂的。它强化了否认。一个有自杀倾向的人是第一个承认自己一团糟的人。一个自我毁灭的人会在他们的坟墓里否认它，甚至可能在别人的坟墓里否认它。"
“But why?” I asked, not just her but myself as well.
"但为什么呢?"我问道，不仅仅是她，还有我自己。
“Well, if you can convince him to surrender and schedule a few dozen therapy sessions, I’d be glad to find out. I’ll even do it pro bono. Just have him make an appointment. But other than that, somepony is going to have to stop him, and it’s going to be ugly. A self-destructive person doesn’t just want to be stopped. They want to be destroyed, and they tend to cause a lot of collateral damage in the process. It’s the ultimate expression of pettiness and ego, frequently painted over with a façade of selflessness or some higher--”
"好吧，如果你能说服他投降并安排几十次治疗，我会很高兴知道答案。我甚至愿意无偿服务。让他预约一下。但除此之外，必须有人去阻止他，而且这将是丑陋的。一个自我毁灭的人不只是想被阻止。他们想要被摧毁，而且他们往往在这个过程中造成大量的间接伤害(电影)。这是卑鄙和自负的终极表现，经常被无私或更高尚的外表所掩盖——"
The general grunted, “Okay. That’s enough psychobabble. I’m not dying in the next few minutes. Get me up. There’s still fighting going on.”
将军咕哝着说:"好的。心理呓语说够了。接下来的几分钟我不会死的。扶我起来。战斗还在继续。"
Rampage smiled at me, then reached down and helped nudge the general to her hooves. She shrugged out of the slit armor and pulled off the yellow boxes. As she staggered back towards the captain’s seat, Rampage’s eyes unfocused and she staggered, then looked around. “What happened? I… you…” She saw the general and blinked. “She’s alive?”
狂暴冲我笑了笑，然后伸手把将军推到她的蹄子上。她耸了耸肩，脱掉了开叉的盔甲，脱下了黄色的箱子。当她摇摇晃晃地回到船长的座位上时，狂暴的眼睛失去了注意力，她摇摇晃晃地走开了，然后环顾四周。"发生了什么事？我。.你......"她看见将军，眨了眨眼睛。"她还活着?"
“Alive enough to try and salvage this mess.” Her stern professionalism returned. “Back to your stations,” she said firmly. “I want the ship searched for any we might have missed. And get a clean-up crew in here, please.” She took a seat and closed his eyes. “General has the conn. Status?”
"还有足够的生命去尝试挽救这场混乱。"她又恢复了严肃的职业精神。"回到你们的岗位上去,"她坚定地说。"我要搜查这艘船，看看有没有我们可能遗漏的东西。请派个清洁队过来。"她坐下来，闭上了他的眼睛。将军接管控制室。地位?"
It took a few moments for the mares to return to their stations. Most of them had some injury or another -- ripped feathers, lacerations, contusions -- but none of them left the bridge. “Damage to Starboard sections 2A and 4B and 6C. Breach at 5B and 11C. Engines operating at 78%. Primary systems are down, but we have backups operational and emergency response and fire crews are on,” reported a red mare.
母马们过了一会儿才回到它们的岗位上。他们中的大多数都受过一些伤----羽毛被扯断，身上有撕裂伤，身上有挫伤----但是没有一个人离开过桥。"右舷第2A、4B和6C部分损坏。5B和11C处发生故障。发动机工作在78%。主要系统已经关闭，但是我们有备份操作和紧急反应和消防人员正在进行,"一个红色母马报告。
“Long range transmissions are down. We’re bouncing comms through the Cyclone. No further breach or boarding parties,” a russet mare sniffed as she glanced where Racewind had died. “Casualty list is being drafted.”
"远程传输系统故障。我们在飓风中反弹通讯信号。没有进一步的违约或登船聚会,"一匹赤褐色的母马闻着鼻子，瞥了一眼拉丝温德死去的地方。"伤亡名单正在起草中。"
A seafoam green mare stared at her console, the metal twisted, the rainbow controls shattered, and little sparks of electricity snapping in the guts. “Uh...
一匹海绿色的母马盯着她的控制台，金属扭曲着，彩虹控制器破碎了，小小的电火花在内脏里噼啪作响。"呃.....。
navigation is... um... well, we’re still in the air, ma’am.” The general just gave her a look and moved on to the next mare as the Nav mare moved to a smaller terminal in the back of the bridge and started working from there.
导航系统...呃...我们还在空中，女士"将军只是给了她一个眼神，并移动到下一个母马作为导航母移动到一个较小的终端在桥梁后面，并开始从那里工作。
“Blizzard, Galeforce, and Sirocco are engaged with the Tower, focusing fire on the projectors. No ship losses reported, but all are being heavily engaged by Thunderhead fliers,” one ochre mare said in low tones as she too glanced at the green puddle on the floor. “Cyclone was boarded as well. Colonel Twilight Sonata’s been critically injured and they’re falling back. The Lightning is reporting a fire on board.”
"暴雪、加勒福斯和西洛科正在与伦敦塔交火，火力集中在投影仪上。没有船只损失的报告，但是所有的都被迅雷公司的飞行员占用了,"一匹赭色的母马低声说，她也瞥了一眼地板上的绿色水坑。"龙卷风也登船了。暮光索纳塔上校伤势严重，他们正在撤退。闪电号报告船上起火了。"
I sat down, aching and tired. No. Not just tired. Drained. Botching a spell and getting thumped by a friend didn’t help. So much killing… All over a damned, stupid Tower, fear, and pride. It was the war two hundred years ago, only so much worse as now ponies were killing ponies. That’d ended with nearly everypony dying.
我坐了下来，又疼又累。没有。不仅仅是累。排干。修改咒语和被朋友重击都没有帮助。如此多的杀戮......围绕着一座该死的愚蠢的塔，恐惧和骄傲。这是两百年前的战争，现在的小马杀死小马更糟糕。最后几乎每匹小马都死了。
I stared up at the lights overhead. At the moment, I had a greater appreciation for what all the ministry mares had gone through. War had its own terrible momentum, and it seemed like it only ended when both sides annihilated each other. My eyes drifted over to Rampage helping Boo up. Was Rampage right? Should I just flip a bit, pick a side, and get to killing?
我抬头看着头顶上的灯光。此刻，我更加感激所有的部门的母马所经历的一切。战争有其可怕的势头，似乎只有当双方互相消灭时战争才会结束。我的眼睛转向暴怒，帮助布站起来。狂暴是正确的吗？我是不是应该稍微反转一下，选择一边，然后开始杀人？
No. There had to be another way. Somehow.
没有。肯定还有别的办法。不知怎么的。
The general scowled at the display. Green fire danced over the Tower, but apparently the general didn’t like what she saw. “What are Afterburner and Hoarfrost doing? They haven’t even scratched the launch tubes yet.”
将军对表演皱起了眉头。绿色的火焰在塔上跳跃，但显然将军不喜欢她所看到的。加力燃烧室和霍尔弗罗斯特在做什么？他们甚至还没有刮过发射管。"
I trotted up beside her. “I have a feeling that there’re going to be a lot of promotions and demotions by the time this is over,” I said, a weak attempt at humor.
我小跑着走到她旁边。"我有一种感觉，当这一切结束的时候，将会有很多晋升和降职,"我说，这是一种微弱的幽默尝试。
“My faith in command has been sorely tested of late. Ever since we’ve come to this place...” She shook her head, then addressed the brown coms mare, “Can the Lightning and Cyclone still breach the Tower?”
"最近，我对指挥的信心受到了严峻的考验。自从我们来到这个地方......"她摇了摇头，然后对棕色的母马说:"闪电和旋风还能破坏塔吗?"
“Captain Cirrus wants to hang back and soften their defenses more. Captain Barrel Roll is directing damage control teams. He asks for fifteen minutes,” the brown mare replied.
"瑟拉斯上尉想退后一步，进一步软化他们的防御。桶滚队长正在指挥损害控制小组。他要求十五分钟,"棕色的母马回答。
“He has five. We can’t be driven off. In the state the fleet would be in if it were routed, the Enclave would be wide open.” She thumped the arm of the chair with her hoof. “Tell Cirrus to get in range and do all he can to slag those missile
"他有五个。我们不能被赶走。按照该州的标准，如果舰队被发现，昂科雷将是完全开放的。"她用蹄子猛敲椅子的扶手。"告诉西瑞斯进入射程，尽一切可能射击那些导弹
apertures, then get us doing the same. And make sure we have some guards posted at our breaches.” As they started to relay orders, she rubbed her eyes once more, and then they met mine. “What were those things, Blackjack? That wasn’t any armor I’ve ever seen before.”
开口，然后让我们做同样的。还要确保我们的缺口处有警卫把守。"当他们开始传达命令时，她又揉了揉眼睛，然后他们遇到了我。"那些是什么东西，黑杰克？这是我以前从未见过的盔甲。"
“It’s not. They’re cyberponies made from a pre-war secret project called Steelpony. That’s what he meant about a gift from me. He must have gotten a copy of the designs,” I said as I slumped. “This is my fault.”
"不是这样的。它们是战前秘密项目Steelpony的赛博小马。这就是他说的我送他的礼物。他一定是拿到了设计图的复印件,"我边说边垂头丧气地说。"这是我的错。"
She snorted. “Unless you intentionally gave him the plans with the aim of getting ponies killed, it’s not. This Lighthooves is smart. If he’d been loyal, he might have become a prominent general himself,” Storm Chaser said evenly. “What are their capabilities?”
她哼了一声。"除非你故意把计划告诉他，目的是让小马死掉，否则就不是。这把轻型火柴很聪明。如果他是忠诚的，他本人也许会成为一名杰出的将军。"。"他们的能力是什么?"
I thought a moment. “Similar to power armor but with none of the drawbacks. If they’re using the original design I was, then you’re talking tougher and lots faster. You wear your armor. A cyberpony is their armor. Internal regenerative and repair talismans to prevent rejection. Major damage like a lost limb will need to be replaced, but they won’t bleed out and die. They need some kind of power talisman in the chest, but that’s beyond what I know. If I had time, I’d contact Rover and…” Hmmm…
我想了一会儿。"类似于强力盔甲，但没有任何缺点。如果他们使用的是我原来的设计，那么你说的就更难更快了。你穿着盔甲。赛博马就是他们的盔甲。内部再生和修复护身符，防止排斥反应。主要的伤害，如失去的肢体需要更换，但他们不会失血过多死亡。他们需要某种能量护身符，但我不知道。如果我有时间，我会联系罗孚......"。
“Weaknesses?”
"弱点?"
“Similar to power armor. Spark weapons work great. If we get knocked out, eventually our systems will self-reboot. No getting trapped in power armor. Ingest metal, food, and gems to maintain yourself. The real damage is long term psychological. You stop feeling like a pony. You can never take the augments out and just be yourself. Most of the cyberponies I’ve met are pretty unhappy characters… or crazy.”
"类似于动力盔甲。火花武器工作很棒。如果我们被击倒，最终我们的系统会自我重启。不要被强力装甲困住。摄取金属、食物和宝石来保持身体健康。真正的伤害是长期的心理上的。你不再觉得自己像一匹小马。你永远不可能把这些东西拿出来，做你自己。我见过的大多数网络小马都是相当不快乐的角色......或者是疯子。"
“Most non-cyberponies are the same way in the Wasteland, Blackjack,” Rampage said with a smirk. “Especially around the Hoof.” I couldn’t argue with that. And yet, there was something that I couldn’t quite accept. Everypony still wanted to be happy. They hadn’t given up on that simple, little mote of hope. Not yet. If you didn’t want to be happy, you might find contentment, but it’d be the sort that the dead shared.
"大多数非网络小马在大荒地都是这样，黑杰克,"狂暴带着傻笑说。"特别是蹄子周围"我无法反驳这一点。然而，有些事情我不能完全接受。每个小马仍然想要快乐。他们没有放弃那一点点简单的希望。还没有。如果你不想快乐，你可能会找到满足感，但那是死者所分享的那种。
So I couldn’t give up either.
所以我也不能放弃。
One of the mares said that the ship was aligned to target.
其中一匹母马说，这艘船已经跟目标一致了。
“Open fire. Take some heat off the Lightning,” Storm Chaser ordered. A second later, the entire deck twitched under my hooves as a ‘Thwoom’ rolled through the ship. I could almost see the wave as it ran along the bridge. Then another. Then another.
"开火。减少闪电的热量,"风暴追逐者命令道。一秒钟之后，整个甲板在我的蹄下抽搐，一个"Thwoom"滚过船身。我几乎可以看到波浪沿着桥流过。然后是另一个。然后是另一个。
“Let’s see some results,” the general said as she regarded the front ‘window’. I could see blue beams flickering back and forth from the cornices of the Tower and at the base of those six heavy plates. I watched as a half dozen beams seemed to hone in on one Raptor like blazing claws of energy, but the ship suddenly climbed and only one blue beam flashed over the hull with a line of deep fire. Blasts from the Raptors flickered over the surface like boiling green balefire. Several of the green bolts met one of the blue beam protectors at once, and it exploded in a blinding flash. Gaps were starting to open in its armor as well.
"让我们看看结果,"将军说，她注视着前面的'窗户'。我可以看到蓝色的光束在塔的檐口和那六个沉重的盘子底部来回闪烁。我看着半打的光束似乎像猛禽的燃烧的能量爪磨，但船突然爬升，只有一个蓝色的光束闪耀在船体与深火线。猛禽号发出的冲击波在海面上闪烁，就像沸腾的绿色火焰。几个绿色的螺栓同时碰到了一个蓝色的光束保护器，它在一道眩目的闪光中爆炸了。它的盔甲也开始裂开。
“Jeeze, I thought these Raptor things were supposed to be powerful,” Rampage scoffed as I saw to the trembling Boo, stroking her mane to calm her. “What’s taking so long?
"天哪，我以为这些猛禽的东西应该是很强大的,"当我看到发抖的布时，狂暴嘲笑着，抚摸着她的鬃毛让她平静下来。"怎么这么久？
“You’re not looking at some rickety Wasteland structure, or even an ordinary fortress from the war,” Storm Chaser replied, not taking her eyes off the screen. “Scootaloo saw to it that Stable-Tec built Shadowbolt Tower for Rainbow Dash. It had the most advanced structural and magical defenses of any building in Equestria. You could level Canterlot with a Thunderhead and some effort. It’s old. But nothing short of a direct hit by a balefire bomb could take out the Tower... and even that is a maybe, given that everything in this crosswind-damned valley was made to hold up to anything the enemy could throw at it.”
"你看到的不是什么摇摇欲坠的荒地建筑，甚至不是战争时期的一座普通堡垒,"风暴追逐者回答道，眼睛没有离开屏幕。"斯库塔卢确保Stable-Tec为彩虹冲刺建造了影螺塔。它拥有Equestria所有建筑中最先进的结构和最神奇的防御。你可以用一个雷电头和一些努力来夷平坎特罗特。很旧了。但是，除非被火箭弹直接击中，否则不可能摧毁伦敦塔......即便如此，考虑到这个侧风该死的山谷里的一切都是为了抵挡敌人可能向它投掷的任何东西而建造的。"
“You’re just not trying hard enough,” Rampage countered. “If I wanted to, I could take it out. It might take a couple centuries of kicking, but I could do it.”
"你只是不够努力,"狂暴反驳道。"如果我想的话，我可以把它拿出来。这可能需要几个世纪的时间，但我可以做到。"
“Not necessary,” Storm Chaser replied as another two projectors exploded. “Against a few ships, the Tower’s weapons are formidable, but we’re not allowing them to focus fire. A few more arclight projectors down and we should be able to focus fire on the launch bays directly. Lighthooves’s plague won’t be much use if he can’t deliver it.” For an instant, she smiled. “We’ll achieve victory yet.” Then Boo started looking around in alarm, followed by the bridge
"没有必要,"风暴追逐者回答说，另外两个放映机爆炸了。"对付几艘船，塔楼的武器很强大，但我们不允许他们集中火力。再放下几个弧光投影仪，我们就可以直接把火力集中在发射舱上。如果他不能传播的话，轻舟的瘟疫就没有多大用处了。"一瞬间，她笑了。"我们会取得胜利的。"接着，布开始警惕地四处张望，后面跟着那座桥
mares and guards, then Rampage. “Wait… what’s that noise?”
母马和守卫，然后是横冲直撞。"等等...那是什么声音?"
But I knew exactly what that screaming sound was.
但我清楚地知道那尖叫声是什么。
The clouds beneath us began to glow with a horrible emerald hue, and the black cloud layer began to roil and boil as if it were a great luminescent sheet being torn and shaken by giant invisible hooves. Great twisting plumes blasted up, hundreds of feet high as the cloud layer was ripped from below. The Castellanus lurched and turned so far that I grabbed Boo with my hooves and slid till I was standing on the wall, the metal around us groaning as the mares shouted warnings.
我们脚下的云层开始以一种可怕的翠绿色调发光，黑色的云层开始翻滚沸腾，仿佛是一块巨大的发光薄片，被看不见的巨大马蹄撕裂和震动着。巨大的扭曲的羽状物喷涌而出，数百英尺高的云层从下面被撕裂。卡斯特兰纳斯摇摇晃晃地转了很远，我用蹄子抓住布，滑到我站在墙上，母马大声警告着我们，我们周围的金属呻吟着。
And then I saw the Core.
然后我看到了核心。
Stripped of its clouds, the damned city now seemed alight and inhabited by forsaken souls. Black monoliths stretched towards the sky, the glassy black surfaces lit by gleaming green lines far below, as though the streets were rivers of balefire. Some of the towers had broken and leaned at haphazard angles against each other. Others were connected and draped, as if by spider webs. This was not a pony city. It may have been built by ponies, may have been inhabited by them, but there was nothing of my kind in this place. It was a city inspired by hubris. In the very center, right at the base of Shadowbolt Tower, was a horrible emerald glow within the earth.
这座被诅咒的城市现在看起来光彩夺目，被遗弃的灵魂占据着。黑色的巨石向天空伸展，光滑的黑色表面被远处闪烁的绿色线条照亮，好像街道是烟火的河流。有些塔楼已经倒塌，相互斜靠成一个随意的角度。另一些则是连在一起的，像是被蜘蛛网缠绕着。这不是一个小马城。它可能是由小马建造的，也可能是由它们居住的，但是在这个地方没有我这样的人。这是一个受到傲慢启发的城市。在塔的正中心，就在暗影螺栓塔的底部，地球内部有一种可怕的翡翠色的光芒。
“First breeze, what is that?” Storm Chaser breathed.
"第一阵微风，那是什么?"风暴追逐者呼吸着。
The Core answered. An emerald beam from atop one of the intact geometric spires sent a line of crackling death into the skies. It caught a climbing Raptor on the stern and I watched as it ripped right through the length of the ship, fire erupting from every port and seam as the storm clouds boiled away, before the beam exploded from the prow of the ship and continued its ascent into the skies. What remained of the Raptor fell like a flaming metal pipe to the ground far below.
核心回答道。一道翡翠色的光束从一座完整的几何形尖顶上射出，将死亡的裂纹射入天空。它在船尾抓住了一只正在爬升的猛禽，我看着它正好撕裂了整艘船的长度，随着暴风雨云层逐渐消散，火焰从每个港口和缝隙喷发出来，然后光束从船头爆炸，继续上升到天空。猛禽的残骸像一根燃烧的金属管子一样掉到了下面很远的地方。
“The Azimuth,” breathed one mare. “It’s gone!”
"方位角,"一匹母马轻声说。"不见了!"
“Incoming fire, General!” shouted another. “Multiple weapon signatures!”
"炮火来袭，将军!"另一个人喊道。"多个武器信号!"
“Evasive maneuvers!” ordered the general. There were no attempts to return fire now. Even a glancing blow from one of those weapons would be a death
"规避策略!"将军命令道。现在没有人试图还击。哪怕是这些武器的一个侧击都会致命
sentence.
句子。
The Castellanus began to move as I never imagined anything so big or massive could. Boo clung to me, I clung to a piece of conduit, and Rampage squealed in delight as she slid around like a pinball. I’d thought the force jerking me around would have flung the ship apart as it dove and banked around the slaying beams.
卡斯特兰纳斯开始移动，因为我从来没有想象过这么大或这么庞大的东西可以移动。布紧紧抓住我，我紧紧抓住一根导管，当她像弹球一样滑来滑去时，狂暴兴奋地尖叫起来。我还以为当它俯冲下来，撞上横梁的时候，那股力量会把我拉得四分五裂。
“Looks like their targeting talismans haven’t been calibrated for two hundred years,” the general hissed. I watched in horror as a beam punched right through the bottom of one Raptor, the green energy slicing right through as it progressed to the heavens. The shot had been off center, possibly the only reason the ship wasn’t snapping in half. “They’re off by a few degrees.”
"看起来他们的目标护身符已经两百年没有校准过了,"将军嘶嘶地说。我惊恐地看着一道光束穿透了猛禽号的底部，绿色的能量一直穿透，直达天堂。子弹偏离了中心，这可能是飞船没有折断的唯一原因。"它们偏离了几度。"
“Good news for us, then,” I muttered weakly, staring at the flames spreading along the side of the warship on the screen.
"那么，对我们来说是个好消息,"我有气无力地咕哝着，盯着屏幕上沿着战舰一侧蔓延的火焰。
“Until they compensate for the deviation. Hold on!” A forest of green beams flashed around us, and I discovered that a Raptor could do a barrel roll. I grabbed on to the arm of the captain’s seat, the machine’s engines howling as the shots from below flared to our left. “It seems Lighthooves wants us particularly badly,” the general observed coolly as the Castellanus’s engines roared behind us.
"直到他们补偿了这种偏差。坚持住!"一片绿色的光束在我们周围闪烁，我发现猛禽可以做一个桶滚。我抓住机长座位的扶手，机器的引擎咆哮着，枪声从下方向我们的左侧扩展开来。当卡斯特兰纳斯号的发动机在我们身后呼啸而过时，将军冷淡地说:"看来光芒号特别想抓住我们。"。
“He must know I’m on this ship,” I replied. But why? Why would he be after me? Granted, I had every interest in and capability for killing him if we met face to face, but why single me out over any other Raptor?
"他一定知道我在这艘船上,"我回答。但是为什么呢？他为什么要追杀我？当然，如果我们面对面的话，我对杀死他有很大的兴趣和能力，但是为什么把我排除在其他猛禽之外呢？
“General. I’m not feeling…” a mare said weakly from her seat. I saw blood dripping from her nose.
"将军。我没有感觉......"一匹母马虚弱地从座位上说。我看见血从她的鼻子里滴下来。
The purple mare in my head whipped out a chalkboard and began doing fancy things with numbers. The Core was teardrop shaped, and five miles across from east to west. The Tower was three miles high. We are all fighting within five miles of the center of the city, inside the strongest Enervation in the middle.
我脑海中的紫色母马突然抽出一块黑板，开始用数字做一些奇特的事情。地核呈泪滴状，从东到西横跨五英里。这座塔有三英里高。我们都在距离市中心五英里的地方战斗，在中间最强的衰弱区域。
“Get away! Get some distance!” I yelled.
"滚开！保持距离!"我喊道。
“I’m barely keeping ahead of the beams,” the helmsmare shouted as she frantically hit the glowing controls with her pinions and forehooves and the Castellanus banked hard the other way. “If we run straight for ten seconds we’ll
"我快赶不上横梁了,"当她用小齿轮和前蹄疯狂地打开发光的控制器时，守护者大声喊道，卡斯特兰纳斯则向另一边用力倾斜。"如果我们直接跑十秒钟，我们就会
be zeroed in.”
"被归零"
Indeed, from the screen at the front of the ship, I could see other ships furiously maneuvering to avoid the beams. A beam sliced right through the front quarter of one Raptor as neatly as my starmetal sword through a neck. Another was on fire as it tried to limp away. The only safe zone was next to the Tower; but I knew that wouldn’t be safe for long. He wasn’t going to risk shooting his own nose off, but he could tear us apart piece by piece while the Raptors struggled to get clear or get in.
事实上，从船头的屏幕上，我可以看到其他船只为了避开光束而疯狂地操纵。一道光束直接穿透了猛禽战斗机的前部，就像我的星际宝剑穿透了它的脖子一样。另一只在试图挣扎着离开时着了火。唯一的安全区域就在伦敦塔旁边，但我知道那不会安全很长时间。他不想冒险把自己的鼻子打掉，但是他可以在猛禽挣扎着逃离或者进入的时候把我们撕成碎片。
Lighthooves was using the Core’s weapons to rip the fleet to pieces. Only the fact the Core’s weapons were focused on the Castellanus allowed them to try and get any distance. But why? He must have thought the general would have killed me or locked me up. She’d been reported as dead. If he’d been spying right before the bridge mares cut off his signal, he knew I was free. The fleet was his big priority. So why me? Personal? Not his style. I had to have something… something… something that was a threat to him.
轻骑兵使用核心武器将舰队撕成碎片。唯一的事实是核心的武器集中在Castellanus允许他们尝试和得到任何距离。但是为什么呢？他一定以为将军会杀了我或者把我关起来。据报道她已经死亡。如果他在桥上的母马切断信号之前一直监视我，他就知道我自由了。舰队是他的首要任务。那为什么是我？私人的？这不是他的风格。我必须拥有一些...一些...一些对他构成威胁的东西。
My eyes landed on my right forehoof and lingered there a moment. It wasn’t possible… was it?
我的眼睛落在我的右前蹄上，在那里停留了一会儿。这是不可能的...不是吗？
The Castellanus jerked hard, flinging both Boo and myself off the wall and across the room to land on the ceiling, then the wall, floor, wall, ceiling, wall… and finally ended up on the floor as smoke poured into the bridge. “We’ve lost turrets two, four, and six, ma’am. Breach all along the C section, from sector 2 to 8.”
卡斯特兰纳斯猛地一扭，把我和布都甩出墙外，穿过房间，落在天花板上，然后是墙，地板，墙，天花板，墙......最后落在地板上，烟雾涌进了大桥。"我们损失了2、4、6号炮塔，女士。从第2区到第8区，c区全部被破坏。"
“They got us?” I asked, looking around.
"他们抓住我们了?"我环顾四周，问道。
“No,” the general replied grimly. “That was a near hit.”
"不,"将军冷酷地回答。"差点就成功了。"
“Hey, Blackjack. Remind you of Hightower?” Rampage yelled from the corner of the room. “We’re all fucked!”
"嘿，黑杰克。让你想起了海托华?"房间的角落里传出狂暴的叫喊声。"我们都完蛋了!"
Actually, it did, and that gave me an idea. Okay. At this point, there was nothing else to lose. As the decks started to list, I scrolled frantically through all my broadcast connections till I found it. ‘Hoofington’. I then opened as many channels at random I could, and hoped that she’d hear one of them. It was my only chance.
事实上，是的，这给了我一个想法。好吧。在这一点上，已经没有什么可失去的了。当甲板开始列表，我疯狂地滚动通过我所有的广播连接，直到我找到它。胡芬顿。然后我随机打开了尽可能多的频道，希望她能听到其中的一个。这是我唯一的机会。
“Cognitum,” I said as clearly as I could over the clamor and banging and shouting and alarms, “This is Blackjack. I’m about to die again. EC-1101 is about to be destroyed if you don’t stop the weapons.” Nothing happened as a mare called out casualty reports. “If you can’t stop them, Goddess, then tell me how.”
"congonitum,"我越过喧嚣、砰砰声、叫喊声和警报声，尽可能清楚地说,"我是Blackjack。"。我又要死了。如果你不停止这些武器，EC-1101就要被销毁了。"一匹母马叫出伤亡报告，什么事也没有发生。"如果你不能阻止他们，女神，那就告诉我怎么做。"
For the longest time, nothing. I wondered if she even heard me. Then several lines of code began to fly across my vision. I caught a glimpse of a few words that stood out. ‘OIA backchannel’. ‘Random walk encryption active’. Then a series of instructions appeared.
很长一段时间，什么都没有。我不知道她有没有听到我说话。然后几行代码开始飞过我的视线。我瞥见了几句引人注目的话。"OIA后台"。随机漫步加密激活。然后一系列的指示出现了。
>EC-1101 Priority Command
Ec-1101优先指令
>Backdoor Access: Password: Pokeysmoke.
后门访问:密码:Pokeysmoke。
Heir Protocol Enable
允许继承协议
Ministry Mare descendant access.
马力部后裔通道。
Hoofington power grid access.
胡芬顿电网通路。
Luna and Celestia power generators at 97%. Authorization of Tokomare power generators pending EC-1101 access.
月神和天使发电机的功率为97%。在进入EC-1101之前，德国电力公司发电机的授权。
Do you wish to activate Tokomare power systems?
你希望激活tokomale动力系统吗？
>Y/N?
Y / n？
I froze. I’d forgotten that the Tokomare wasn’t the sole source of power in the Core. The two hydroelectric dams that flanked the Core must be running the weapons. Cognitum was trying to get me to turn on the Tokomare for her! “Forget it,” I countered, and hit no. The instructions repeated several times.
我愣住了。我已经忘记了tokomal并不是核心能源的唯一来源。位于堆芯两侧的两座水力发电大坝一定是在运行核武器。科涅塔姆正试图让我为她打开德国佬的电视！"算了吧,"我反驳道，答案是否定的。这个指示重复了好几遍。
The Castellanus jerked as another beam nearly touched it. “We’re slowing down.
卡斯特兰纳斯猛地一抽，因为另一根横梁几乎要碰到它了。"我们正在减速。
I don’t know how much longer I can evade,” the helmsmare shouted.
我不知道我还能躲多久,"头盔护士喊道。
“Abandon ship,” the general ordered, but the surviving bridgemares remained at their station. “That’s an order!”
"弃船,"将军命令道，但幸存的布里奇马雷斯仍然留在他们的岗位上。"这是命令!"
“We’d be dead fifteen seconds after leaving our posts, ma’am. Just like the
"我们离开岗位十五秒后就会死去，夫人。就像
Azimuth,” a mare protested.
方位角,"一匹母马抗议道。
I hissed into my broadcaster, “You have ten seconds and then EC-1101 is dust. Horizons goes off. You lose!” Nothing. At this point I didn’t even know if we were still connected. Then, new instructions appeared in my vision.
我对我的播音员嘶嘶地说:"你有10秒钟，然后EC-1101就会化为灰烬。地平线开启。你输了!"没什么。在这一点上，我甚至不知道我们是否还有联系。然后，新的指示出现在我的视野中。
>EC-1101 Priority Command
Ec-1101优先指令
>Backdoor Access: Password: Pokeysmoke.
后门访问:密码:Pokeysmoke。
>Heir Protocol Enable.
允许继承协议。
>Ministry Mare descendant access.
马力部后裔通道。
>Hoofington power grid access.
胡芬顿电网通路。
Substation access
变电站通路
Emergency shutdown SUB 8, SUB 10, SUB 12, SUB 13, SUB 19, SUB 20. >Password: Thisisgonnahurt
紧急关闭潜艇8，潜艇10，潜艇12，潜艇13，潜艇19，潜艇20密码:Thisisgonnahurt
>Confirm Emergency Shutdown Y/N? Emergency shutdown of power grid during power draw not recommended.
确认紧急停机y/n?？不建议在抽电时紧急关闭电网。
>Y
Y
>Are you absolutely, positively sure?
你绝对肯定吗？
>Y
Y
> Execute: Y/N?
执行:y/n？
I closed my eyes, swallowed, and mentally hit Y.
我闭上眼睛，咽了口唾沫，心里想着y。
My eyes swam with a solid block of rapidly scrolling code I couldn’t begin to understand. Then one of the bridge mares shouted, “General! Look!”
我的眼睛里充满了我无法理解的快速滚动的代码。然后其中一只母马大叫:"将军！看!"
Parts of the Core started to go dark. The lights flickered as one by one they died. As the streets and towers dimmed, the beams atop the roofs also halted. Then, one of the sides of a tower swelled like a glowing blister, bursting in flame and
部分核心区域开始变暗。灯光闪烁着，他们一个接一个地死去。随着街道和塔楼的暗淡，屋顶上的横梁也停止了。然后，一座塔的一侧像一个发光的水泡一样膨胀起来，在火焰中破裂
molten metal as green sparks shot out, arching along those black spiderwebs. I saw the base of one tower engulfed in flames that were crawling up the side of the building. Apparently, power substations didn’t do so well when you pulled the plug on them while they were shooting energy weapons. The Enervation note receded and the cloud bank rolled in to obscure the Core once more. Still that sullen glow at the heart of the city remained like an ember.
熔化的金属像绿色的火花一样喷出，沿着黑色的蜘蛛网拱起。我看到一座塔楼的底部被火焰吞没，火焰正沿着大楼的一侧向上蔓延。显然，当变电站在发射能量武器的时候，当你拔掉它们的插头时，它们并没有表现得很好。衰弱的音符消退了，云层卷了进来，再一次遮蔽了核心。城市中心那阴沉的火光依然像一团灰烬。
“The attack’s… stopped,” one of the mares said in a daze.
"攻击......停止了,"其中一匹母马茫然地说。
“Damage control teams. I want a status update from all departments in two minutes,” Storm Chaser said as she calmly wiped her brow. “What is the status of the fleet?”
"损害控制小组。我要所有部门在两分钟内更新状态,"风暴追逐者说着，平静地擦了擦额头。"舰队情况如何?"
A minute later, a bridge mare reported, “Only the Azimuth was lost, ma’am. Perihelion, Lightning, and Helicity are all reporting severe damage and are falling back. Only the Blizzard, Galeforce, and Sirocco report no significant damage.”
一分钟后，一匹母马报告说:"只有方位角号丢失了，女士。近日点，闪电和螺旋度都报告了严重的损害，并正在后退。只有"暴风雪"、"加勒福斯"和"热风"没有显著的伤害
“Of course not. We couldn’t be so lucky today,” she said with a grimace. “Status of the Tower?”
"当然不是。我们今天可没这么幸运,"她做了个鬼脸说。"伦敦塔的现状?"
“It’s not firing,” another mare said. “I think that whatever happened down in the Core might have knocked them out too.”
"没有开火,"另一匹母马说。"我认为，不管核心地区发生了什么，它们可能也被击昏了。"
“Now’s our chance. Contact any ship besides those three to help. Get us into a position to board--” Storm Chaser began to say, but another mare looked up.
"现在是我们的机会。联系除了这三艘以外的任何一艘船来帮忙。让我们进入登船的位置——"风暴追逐者开始说，但另一匹母马抬起头来。
“Transmission from Neighvarro,” a brown bridge mare said as she pressed a hoof over her ear while working her flickering controls. “I can’t put it on speaker, ma’am. One second…” she worked furiously with her wing tips, then thumped the keys with her hooves.
"从Neighvarro传来的,"一头棕色的母马边说边用蹄子捂住耳朵，边操纵着闪烁的控制器。"我不能开免提，夫人。一秒钟......"她用她的翼尖拼命地工作，然后用蹄子重重地敲击着钥匙。
“Nevermind the speakers. What’s Neighvarro telling us?” she asked.
"别管喇叭了。邻居告诉我们什么?"她问道。
I watched the mare’s eyes unfocus as she listened, then widen in shock. “No. I…” she shook her head and blurted. “General… You… I… they say you have been relieved of your command!” The words made the general slump as if she’d just been shot. She pulled off her helmet, her eyes wide and glassy as she peered at nothing. The bridgemare went on, “We’re to…” she faltered. “Oh no…”
我看着母马的眼睛失去焦点，她听着，然后震惊地睁大了眼睛。"没有。我。。」她摇摇头，脱口而出。"将军...你...我..。.他们说你被解除指挥权了!"这些话使整个场面一片混乱，就好像她刚刚被枪击了一样。她摘下头盔，眼睛睁得大大的，目光呆滞。"我们要......"她犹豫了一下。"哦，不......"
“What is it?” the general ordered.
"这是什么?"将军命令。
“We’re being ordered to shell Thunderhead until Lighthooves surrenders himself and his weapons,” she said weakly.
"我们奉命轰炸雷头直到光剑投降并交出他的武器,"她虚弱地说。
“What! Confirm that last! Who is in command? Who gave that order?” Storm Chaser barked. “Don’t those idiots realize that the Tower is exposed now?”
"什么！最后确认一下！谁在指挥？谁下的命令?"风暴追逐者咆哮道。"难道那些白痴没有意识到塔楼现在已经暴露了吗?"
She spoke rapidly into the microphone of her headset, then slumped back in the seat. “I don’t know, ma’am. Just that the order’s been repeated.” The brown pegasus mare stomped her controls with her hooves in frustration. “Wait. I think I got it…” And then there was a crackle before the speakers came live.
她迅速对着耳机的麦克风说话，然后又倒在座位上。"我不知道，夫人。只是命令重复了一遍。"那匹棕色的母马沮丧地用蹄子重重地踩着控制器。"等等。我想我明白了......"然后在演讲者开始演讲之前，传来一阵劈啪声。
A cold mare’s voice came in over the speaker. “Blizzard to Castellanus. Storm Chaser, respond.” The lack of rank was like a slap across her face. “Storm Chaser, please respond.” The soft amusement in her voice trickled through the ship like cold poison.
一个冷冰冰的母马的声音盖过了扬声器。"暴风雪呼叫卡斯特兰纳斯。风暴追逐者，请回答。"她没有地位，就像挨了一记耳光。"风暴追逐者，请回答。"她声音里柔和的乐趣象冰毒一样在船上缓缓流淌。
“This is General Storm Chaser,” she said grimly.
"我是风暴追逐者将军,"她冷冷地说。
“Oh, I’d heard a report that you’d died. So glad you’re still alive.” Another soft laugh that precluded any letting her off easy the next time we met. “Storm Chaser, would you please acknowledge Neighvarro’s last order, or do you need me to relay it to you?” Captain Hoarfrost asked in amused tones that really made me regret not slamming her head in the door till it cracked like an egg… but then I had no one to blame but myself for that one.
"哦，我听说你死了。真高兴你还活着。"又一次温柔的笑声使我们下次见面时不会轻易放过她。"风暴追逐者，请你回应一下邻居的最后命令，还是要我转达给你?"霍尔弗罗斯特船长用愉快的语调问道，这让我后悔没有把她的头像鸡蛋一样摔在门上......但是这件事我只能怪我自己。
“I have received a transmission from Neighvarro but I question if they are acting with full knowledge of the facts here,” she said with supreme self-control. “The Tower’s defenses are down, Hoarfrost. We can simply fly in and stop him!” Storm Chaser said sternly.
"我收到了来自Neighvarro的信息，但我怀疑他们的行动是否完全了解这里的事实,"她极为克制地说。"塔楼的防御工事已经解除了，霍尔弗罗斯特。我们可以直接飞进去阻止他!"风暴追逐者严厉地说。
“I’m aware of that. The Sleet and Cyclone will secure the Tower. However, Neighvarro’s ordered us to shell Thunderhead. A chastisement that is long overdue, to be sure,” Hoarfrost practically purred. “I’m sure somepony will tell the rest of the council… eventually.”
"我知道。雨夹雪和旋风会保护塔楼。但是邻居命令我们轰炸雷头。毫无疑问，这是一个早该得到的惩罚。"。"我相信最终会有人告诉委员会其他成员的。"
The general stared at the communication mare so intensely I thought she’d ignite. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Our long range transmitter is out.”
将军紧紧地盯着那匹交流母马，我以为她已经点燃了。"对不起，夫人。我们的远程发射机坏了。"
“That is a civilian target! Who gave the order? It can’t be with the sanction of the GPE!” Storm Chaser countered through clenched teeth. “Put us through to Neighvarro.”
"那是一个平民目标！谁下的命令？不可能是GPE批准的!"风暴追逐者咬紧牙关反击。"帮我们接通邻里。"
“This came from Councilor Ironfeather’s office, and given the incompetence of the commander in the field, you have no authority to countermand it. I have been given battlefield commission to Colonel and placed in command of this exercise,” Hoarfrost’s icy voice dripped menace. “You can’t pick and choose your orders anymore, Storm Chaser. Do you acknowledge the order, or not?”
"这是铁羽毛议员的办公室发来的，鉴于战地指挥官的无能，你没有权力撤销命令。霍尔弗罗斯特冰冷的声音中透露出威胁的意味:"我被授予上校战地委任，并指挥这次演习。"。"你不能再挑选你的命令了，风暴追逐者。你到底承不承认这个命令?"
“Galeforce, Blizzard, and Sirocco have weapons aligned with us,” a mare intoned, her voice numb.
一匹母马用麻木的声音说道:"格雷弗斯、暴雪和热风公司的武器和我们是一伙的。"。
“Do you acknowledge the order?” Hoarfrost asked coolly.
"你承认这个命令吗?"霍尔弗罗斯特冷静地问。
“This is outrageous. The Enclave cannot--”
"这太过分了。昂科雷不能——"
The Castellanus lurched as the rear of the ship was hit with something that made the whole vessel groan ominously. They were firing on their own now? “Do you acknowledge the order?”
当船尾被什么东西击中时，卡斯特兰纳斯摇摇晃晃地走着，整艘船都发出不祥的呻吟声。他们现在是在自己开火吗？"你承认这个命令吗?"
The general looked at the battle-wrecked bridge, the battered bridge crew, the bodies that hadn’t been cleared away, and the hole where the captain had vanished. “We acknowledge the order,” Storm Chaser said quietly.
将军看了看战争中损毁的桥梁，看了看受损的船员，看了看还没有清理掉的尸体，看了看船长消失的那个洞。"我们承认这个命令,"StormChaser平静地说。
“General…” the helmsmare said, clearly as shocked as Storm Chaser had been moments ago.
"将军......"直升机说，显然就像刚才的风暴追逐者一样震惊。
“Do it properly, Storm Chaser. We’ll relay your broadcast to the rest of the fleet,” Hoarfrost replied.
"好好干，风暴追逐者。我们会把你的广播转播给其他舰队。"霍尔弗罗斯特回答。
The gray mare rose, her lips pressed together. There were tears on her cheeks, but her eyes were hard and furious. “This is General Storm Chaser. I acknowledge the order. I also wish to acknowledge to the fleet and the GPE that I am resigning in response to an order to kill our own. Never would I imagine that the Enclave that protected our kind for two centuries would stoop to wanton murder of Enclave citizens. It seems Rainbow Dash was right. ‘Pegasi first’ has become ‘Military first’.”
灰色的母马站了起来，她的嘴唇紧闭在一起。她的脸颊上有眼泪，但她的眼睛坚硬而愤怒。"我是风暴追逐者将军。我承认这个命令。我也希望对舰队和GPE表示感谢，我辞职是为了响应杀死我们自己人的命令。我从来没有想象过，这块保护了我们种族两个世纪的飞地会堕落到肆意屠杀飞地公民。看来彩虹·达什是对的。"飞马座优先"已经变成了"军事优先"
She turned to one of the bridge mares. “Please locate Lieutenant Flywheel. She
她转向其中一匹母马。"请找到飞轮中尉。她
needs to be briefed on the boarding operation--”
需要了解登船行动的情况
“Sleet and Cyclone will be sufficient to capture the Tower and its launch systems intact. The Castellanus will not be needed,” Hoarfrost said coolly. “Move in position to fire on Thunderhead.”
"雨夹雪和旋风将足以完整捕获塔台及其发射系统。卡斯特兰纳斯不再需要了,"霍尔弗罗斯特冷冷地说。"移动位置向雷暴山开火。"
“Intact? I ordered the launch facilities destroyed!” Storm Chaser blurted.
"完好无损？我下令摧毁发射设施!"风暴追逐者脱口而出。
Hoarfrost nearly purred. “What a waste that would be. Neighvarro recognizes that they have a biological weapon and a delivery system that will make the quarantine a reality. With a few dozen missiles, we will be able to pacify the surface indefinitely. Ironfeather was appalled that the general wanted to destroy such an opportunity.” Now I really regretted not killing her. “Do you acknowledge my orders?”
白霜几乎发出咕噜咕噜的声音。"那将是多大的浪费啊。邻居们认识到他们拥有生物武器和运载系统，这将使隔离成为现实。有了几十枚导弹，我们将能够无限期地平定地面。铁羽毛对将军想要破坏这样一个机会感到震惊。"现在我真后悔没有杀了她。"你明白我的命令吗?"
Storm Chaser slumped in the seat and bowed her head. “Our weapon systems have been damaged. We will have to fall back until we can make repairs. Castellanus acknowledges the Enclave’s orders.”
暴风追逐者瘫坐在座位上，低下了头。"我们的武器系统已经损坏。我们将不得不后退，直到我们能修理好为止。卡斯特兰纳斯接受了昂科雷的命令。"
“Very well, coward. Please make sure that whatever commissioned officer assumes command of the Castellanus does so as well. Civilians do not have the authority to command Enclave ships, after all.” Cold contempt came over the speakers. “Fall back to an intercept position. Storm Chaser, please confine yourself to quarters until this mess is resolved.”
"好吧，胆小鬼。请务必确保任何受委任的军官承担卡斯特兰纳斯号的指挥权时也这样做。毕竟，平民没有指挥昂科雷舰队的权力。"扬声器里传来冷酷的蔑视。撤退到拦截位置。风暴追逐者，请把自己关在房间里，直到这场混乱得到解决。"
“Of course,” Storm Chaser replied in a voice so hollow that it made me wonder if I’d done her wrong by saving her life.
"当然,"风暴追逐者用一种空洞的声音回答道，这让我怀疑我救了她的命是不是做错了。
It was too much for me. “I saved your life, Hoarfrost!” I snapped. “Don’t kill innocent ponies in Thunderhead!”
这对我来说太难了。"我救了你的命，霍尔弗罗斯特!"我厉声说道。"不要在霹雳头杀害无辜的小马!"
There was a pause. “Ah. The terrorist. You’re still alive.” Storm Chaser groaned as Hoarfrost continued, “Yes, you did. Let me show you my gratitude by giving you the chance to surrender.”
停顿了一下。"啊。那个恐怖分子。你还活着。"风暴追逐者呻吟着，霍尔弗罗斯特继续说,"是的，你做到了。让我给你一个投降的机会来表达我的感激之情吧。"
I glanced around the bridge. Maybe I could buy seconds. “Will you spare Thunderhead if I do?” I asked.
我环顾了一下桥的四周。也许我可以再买一份。"如果我这么做，你会饶了雷霆万钧吗?"我问道。
“Blackjack! No! That’s stupid, even for you!” Rampage snapped.
"黑杰克！不！即使对你来说，这也太愚蠢了!"狂暴突然爆发了。
“Of course. I’ll dispatch some fliers to come pick you up. You have my word,” Hoarfrost said in amusement. “Please hold them till we arrive. That is an order.”
"当然。我会派几张传单来接你。我向你保证,"霍尔弗罗斯特逗趣地说。"等我们到了再说吧。这是命令。"
The former general sat back and said in a defeated voice. “Understood.”
这位前将军靠在椅背上，用一种失败的声音说。"明白。"
“Signal ended,” the coms mare said. “Do you want me to try and get Neighvarro again? We might be able to get Cyclone to relay it?”
"信号结束了,"母马说。"你想让我再去找一次邻居吗？我们也许能让旋风号转播?"
“No. It looks like they’re determined to make an example of Thunderhead. And us,” Storm Chaser said hollowly as she gazed at something a few thousand yards behind the screen displaying the Raptors. “Well, that explains why they left the missile system intact. They intended this all along.” She sighed and closed her eyes. I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling now, but she compartmentalized it and moved on to the next issue. “Blackjack, you can’t be serious about surrendering to them,” she said sharply as she frowned at me.
"没有。看起来他们决心要杀鸡儆猴。"还有我们,"暴风追逐者空洞地说，她凝视着屏幕后几千码处显示着猛禽的东西。"嗯，这就解释了为什么他们没有损坏导弹系统。他们一直都有意这么做。"她叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。我无法想象她现在的感受，但她把它划分开来，继续下一个话题。"黑杰克，你不会真的要向他们投降吧,"她尖刻地对我皱着眉头说。
“No. But it might give Thunderhead a few minutes before they start firing,” I said as I opened my broadcaster and selected Glory’s PipBuck. “This is Blackjack Radio. Things are bad. General is removed from command. Tower is disabled. Enclave wants the plague and they’re going to shell Thunderhead. Give warning however you can. Love you. Promise I’ll try and stay out of trouble till I see you again.” I wished she had a broadcaster too so she could talk back. I really would like the advice of a smart pony.
"没有。但是在他们开火之前，Thunderhead可能还有几分钟的时间。"我一边说着，一边打开广播，选择了Glory的PipBuck。"这里是黑杰克电台。情况很糟糕。将军被免去指挥权。塔台关闭。昂科雷想要瘟疫，他们要轰炸雷头。尽你所能给予警告。我爱你。我保证在下次见到你之前尽量不惹麻烦。"我希望她也有一个播音员，这样她就可以回嘴了。我真的需要一匹聪明的小马的建议。
“You can communicate with someone in Thunderhead?” Storm Chaser asked.
"你可以用Thunderhead与人交流?"风暴追逐者问道。
“Sure. My very special pony is there with a radio. She’s the one who stopped her Rainbow Dash impression,” I said.
"当然。我非常特别的小马在那里，它有一个收音机。是她阻止了她的彩虹冲刺,"我说。
“And you’re doing so on non-Enclave channels.” She sighed, “Blackjack, you really need to learn to convey pertinent information.” She reached over and lifted my hoof. “Turn it on.” And then, “This is Storm Chaser. You have about five minutes to get away from the equatorial regions. Take shelter in the internal support structures. If they inflict critical damage…” she paused and looked at me. “Where’s a place down below that would be safe for them?”
"而且你是在非enclave频道上这么做的。"她叹了口气,"黑杰克，你真的需要学会传达相关信息。"她伸手过来抬起我的蹄子。"打开它。"然后,"这是风暴追逐者。你有大约五分钟的时间离开赤道地区。在内部支撑结构中寻求庇护。如果他们造成致命伤害......"她停顿了一下，看着我。"下面哪个地方对他们来说是安全的?"
“In the Wasteland?” I gaped a moment at that thought. ‘Safe’ and ‘the Hoof’ did not go well together. At all. Still, I could think of a few places they wouldn’t be instantly killed. “The Rainbow Dash Skyport. The Volunteer Corps had some supplies there. The Society, I suppose. The Collegiate… er, Hoofington
"在荒原?"这个想法让我目瞪口呆。"安全"和"蹄子"并不协调。完全没有。尽管如此，我还是能想到一些他们不会立即死亡的地方。"TheRainbowDashSkyport.志愿兵团在那里有一些补给品。我想是社团吧。学院...呃，胡芬顿
University. Megamart. Hoofington Memorial Hospital. Fluttershy Medical Center. Even the Hoofington Sports Arena,” I said to the broadcaster.
大学。Megamart.胡芬顿纪念医院。福特斯医疗中心。甚至还有胡芬顿体育馆,"我对播音员说。
Rampage guffawed. “Oh sure. Big Daddy will just love that!”
狂暴的狂笑。"哦，当然。大老爹一定会喜欢的!"
“But he won’t kill them and turn them into coats on sight, will he?” I countered.
"但他不会杀了他们，一看见他们就把他们变成衣服吧?"我反驳道。
She rubbed her chin. “Eh… mmaaybe not,” she conceded with a little nod. “He tends to prefer thrashing dumbasses. And I think he wants to make a balaclava next. Refugees are kinda under his weight class.”
她揉揉下巴。"呃......也许不是,"她点了点头，承认道。"他更喜欢打哑巴。我想他接下来想做一个巴拉克拉法帽。难民有点超过他的体重级别。"
“Just make sure they mention Security. They should be okay for a few days.” I blinked and realized that I seriously believed that. Somehow, in my meandering travels across the Wasteland, I’d met horrible ponies that lived to kill and dominate, but I’d also met the good ones too. And that, hopefully, I’d done well enough that they would take them in for a while.
"只要确保他们提到安全问题。他们这几天应该没问题。"我眨了眨眼，意识到我真的相信这一点。不知怎么的，在我漫步穿越荒原的旅途中，我遇到了可怕的小马，它们为了杀戮和支配而活着，但是我也遇到了好的小马。而且，希望我做得足够好，他们会收留他们一段时间。
Past a while… well, we’d have to work something out. “Guess I better get out of here before they come and haul me off,” I said as I cut off the connection.
过了一段时间...我们得想想办法。"我想我最好在他们来把我拖走之前离开这里,"我一边说一边切断了电话线。
“So you’re not going to nobly trot to your death?” Rampage asked, and then relaxed as I shook my head. “I was worried for a second. You’re occasionally really stupid about things like that.”
"所以你不打算高贵地快步走向死亡?"狂暴问道，然后我摇摇头，放松了下来。"我担心了一会儿。你偶尔也会对这种事情犯傻。"
“Thanks,” I replied dryly. “If I thought I could trust her to keep her word, I might. I’m just not that optimistic anymore.” I regarded Storm Chaser. “I’m afraid that I’m going to have to make my escape now. What about you? What are you going to do, General?” I asked. The rank seemed to sicken her.
"谢谢,"我干巴巴地回答。"如果我认为我可以相信她会信守诺言，我会的。我只是不再那么乐观了。"我注意到了风暴追逐者。"恐怕我现在得逃走了。你呢？你打算怎么办，将军?"我问道。军衔似乎使她感到厌烦。
“What is there to do?” she said simply. “I have been relieved of command. I have resigned. I suppose I should begin to prepare a defense for my court martial.”
"有什么可做的?"她说得很简单。"我被解除了指挥权。我已经辞职了。我想我应该开始准备军事法庭的辩护了。"
“You’re not going to try and help?”
"你不打算帮忙吗?"
She turned away. “There is little I can do at this point. One damaged Raptor cannot combat three or more, and trying would mean the loss of this crew.” I looked around at the bridge mares, but all were pretending not to hear as they kept their eyes averted from the disgraced general. “I would accompany you, but I’d be twice a fool. I’m a decade or more past the age where I could fly out, do
她转过身去。"在这一点上，我无能为力。一架损坏的猛禽无法与三架或更多的猛禽战斗，如果试图这样做，将意味着失去这批船员。"我环顾四周看着那些母马，但它们都假装没有听见，眼睛都从那些倒下的将军身上移开。""我愿意陪你去，但我是个傻瓜。我已经超过我可以飞出去的年龄十几岁了
something reckless, and pretend it was glorious.”
一些不计后果的事情，并且假装它很光荣"
I felt a cold, mechanical stillness sweep through me. “What about Thunderhead?” I asked numbly. She didn’t answer. “What about my friends? What about all those ponies? You have to do something!”
我感到一种冰冷的、机械的寂静席卷了我。"那么Thunderhead呢?"我麻木地问。她没有回答。"我的朋友们怎么办？那些小马怎么办？你必须做点什么!"
“What?” she asked in return a mirthless smile on her face as her eyes distant and dead. “What do you expect me to do? We lost. They got the Tower.” As if to nail the point home, on the front screen was the smoking spire of Shadowbolt Tower. “They won.”
"什么?"她问道，眼神冷漠，死气沉沉，脸上露出一丝不快的微笑。"你要我怎么办？我们输了。他们得到了高塔。"仿佛要把这一点钉回家，在前面的屏幕上是影螺塔冒着烟的尖顶。"他们赢了。"
It was that word that set me off. “This is not a game! How can you just… give up?”
正是这个词使我激动不已。"这不是游戏！你怎么能就这样...放弃呢?"
“Part of being an officer is accepting the reality that bad things happen and there is nothing you can do to change that.” Her eyes turned to the glowing mass that was the captain who saved all our lives, then surveyed all the injured and battered mares at their stations, then finally the battered stallions, living and dead, who had faced an augmented enemy and won. “I can’t risk more lives for a fool’s errand. The Enclave has removed me from command, and they’ll have their damned Tower.”
"作为一名军官，部分原因是要接受这样一个现实:坏事总会发生，而你无法改变这一点。"她的目光转向那些闪闪发光的群众，那是救了我们所有人性命的队长，然后调查了所有在岗位上受伤和受伤的母马，最后是那些受伤的公马，不管是活的还是死的，它们面对的是一个强大的敌人并且赢了。"我不能为了一件愚蠢的差事而拿更多的生命去冒险。飞地解除了我的指挥权，他们将拥有他们该死的塔。"
I stared at her, starting to understand exactly what she was feeling. She was on a mattress of her very own. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of what to say to snap her out of it. Rampage sighed and started towards the door. “Come on, Blackjack. She’s done.”
我盯着她，开始准确地理解她的感受。她躺在自己的床垫上。不幸的是，我不知道该说什么才能让她振作起来。横冲直撞的人叹了口气，开始向门口走去。"来吧，黑杰克。她完蛋了。"
Storm Chaser glanced at her. “You have a better idea? Or you, Blackjack?”
风暴追逐者瞥了她一眼。"你有更好的主意吗？还是你，黑杰克?"
“Ideas! That’s all it is with you ponies. It really isn’t just Glory!” Rampage said as she turned and sneered at Storm Chaser. “Sometimes you just have to fight! So you don’t know what exactly to do next? So what! Look at Blackjack! She makes everything up as she goes. Sure, it doesn’t always work out, but at least she’s doing something.”
"想法！你们这些小马就是这样。这真的不仅仅是晨辉!"狂暴说着，她转过身，嘲笑着风暴追逐者。"有时候，你必须战斗！所以你不知道下一步该怎么做？那又怎样！看看黑杰克！她边走边编故事。当然，这并不总是奏效，但至少她在做一些事情。"
“What do you expect to me to do?” Storm Chaser glowered at her. “I’ve been stripped of command!”
"你想让我做什么?"风暴追逐者怒视着她。"我被剥夺了指挥权!"
“Have you been stripped of respect too?” Rampage scoffed. “I served under one of the finest officers in the Equestrian Army. Colonel Cupcake. Pudgy little
"你也被剥夺了尊严吗?"狂暴对此嗤之以鼻。"我曾在一名最优秀的马术军官手下服役。纸托蛋糕上校。矮胖的小矮子
bastard couldn’t lick a zebra unless you dipped it in chocolate first, but we followed his orders into hell more than once. Not because Luna told us to, but because we knew he’d always do what was right. This fight isn’t over yet, and you know that plague is super bad news, so are you going to pony up and prove that you actually deserve that rank, or go sulk in your cabin and think about how absolutely and utterly you failed today?”
那混蛋连只斑马都舔不过，除非你先把它蘸上巧克力，但我们不止一次听从他的命令下地狱。不是因为卢纳让我们这么做，而是因为我们知道他总是做正确的事。这场战斗还没有结束，而且你知道瘟疫是个超级坏消息，所以你是打算掏腰包证明你确实配得上这个头衔，还是在你的船舱里生闷气，想想你今天是多么彻底地失败了?"
Twist then smiled at me through Rampage’s eyes. “I know Big Macintosh wouldn’t give up. Even if it killed him, he’d go down doing what’s right. It’s just the kind of pony he was.”
然后，特威斯特透过狂暴的眼睛向我微笑。"我知道大麦金托什不会放弃。即使他死了，他也会做正确的事。他就是这样一匹小马。"
“I won’t risk the lives of this crew…” the general began.
"我不会拿全体船员的生命冒险......"将军开始说。
“Permission to speak freely?” the brown Coms mare said as she rose to her hooves. The formal request made Storm Chaser sit up a little straighter in her seat and she nodded. “Every single pony on this ship, from the commanding officer down to the lowliest private, knows what’s at stake. We didn’t join the Enclave to stay safe, get connected with the powerful muckity mucks, and retire after twenty years. We serve because we believe that the Enclave does the right thing. If things really are so bad that some windbrained nag thinks shelling one of our own settlements is anything short of an atrocity, then we’re finished. We need ponies like you if the Enclave is ever going to have a chance.”
"允许我畅所欲言吗?"棕色的Coms母马一边说一边站起来。这个正式的请求让风暴追逐者在座位上坐直了一点，她点了点头。"这艘船上的每一匹小马，从指挥官到最底层的士兵，都知道什么是危急关头。我们加入昂科雷不是为了安全，不是为了和那些有权有势的混蛋们联系，也不是为了在二十年后退休。我们服务是因为我们相信昂科雷做了正确的事情。如果事情真的如此糟糕，以至于一些脑子发热的唠叨者认为炮击我们自己的定居点简直就是一种暴行，那么我们就完了。如果昂科雷有机会的话，我们需要像你这样的小马。"
The surviving bridge mares began to stomp their hooves and cheer. Storm Chaser looked at the soldiers, but they too nodded, smiled, and even cheered as well. She seemed to be searching for somepony to disapprove, but Rampage nodded with her wide grin, and even Boo stomped her pale hooves... even if the blank didn’t seem to know what she was stomping for. I met Storm Chaser’s eyes, and the gray mare finally showed signs of life again.
幸存的桥马开始跺着蹄子欢呼起来。追风者看着士兵们，但他们也点头微笑，甚至欢呼起来。她似乎在寻找一匹不赞成的小马，但是狂暴的狂怒咧着嘴笑，甚至布也跺着她苍白的蹄子......即使空白似乎不知道她跺脚是为了什么。我看到了风暴追逐者的眼睛，那匹灰色的母马终于又有了生命的迹象。
Storm Chaser sighed. “I wonder if your LittlePip friend knew she was going to start a civil war with one balefire bomb,” she asked wryly.
风暴追逐者叹了口气。"我想知道你的小皮普朋友是否知道她将用一颗火焰炸弹发动一场内战,"她挖苦地问道。
I smiled and answered, “Probably not. It’s just funny how things end up that way.” Storm Chaser shook her head, and her expression turned more solemn.
我微笑着回答:"也许不会。事情的结果就是这样，真是有趣。"风暴追逐者摇摇头，她的表情变得更加严肃。
She closed her eyes. “I did not want it to come to this. I would have given almost anything to keep us from killing our own. It goes against everything the pegasi are. We’re competitive, passionate, and driven, perhaps unreasonably so, but we never spilled the blood of our own. I’ll have to take solace in the fact that
她闭上了眼睛。"我不希望事情发展到这种地步。为了不让我们自相残杀，我愿意付出任何代价。它对抗飞马座的一切。我们有竞争意识，有激情，有动力，也许这是不合理的，但是我们从来没有流过自己的血。我不得不安慰一下
Neighvarro ordered this, and that my surrender won’t stop it. But I’m at a bit of a loss as to what I can do with only one damaged ship.”
邻居命令我投降也阻止不了。但是我有点不知道只有一艘受损的船能做些什么。"
The brown coms mare smiled. “I’ll patch a line in with the coms officers of the Cyclone and Lightning. They have to want to stop this.”
棕色的母马笑了。"我会给旋风和闪电号的指挥官接通电话。他们必须想办法阻止这一切。"
The russet helmsmare nodded, “Colonel Sonata would have followed orders, but Captain Cirrus was a close friend of Captain Racewind. I know she’ll help.”
赤褐色的海姆斯马尔点点头,"索纳塔上校本来是会服从命令的，但是西拉斯上尉是赛丝风上尉的亲密朋友。我知道她会帮忙的。"
“Can you do it without Hoarfrost finding out?” Storm Chaser asked.
"你能做到不被Hoarfrost发现吗?"风暴追逐者问道。
The coms mare grinned. “I will, ma’am. Even if I have to fly over a tin can tied to a string!”
那匹马咧着嘴笑。"我会的，夫人。即使我不得不飞过一个系在绳子上的罐头!"
“That still leaves me with the question of what I can do with a few damaged ships.”
"这仍然给我留下了一个问题:如何处理几艘受损的船只?"
“You could ram them!” Rampage said with a grin. “Or abandon ship and let me ram them! Oh! Let me do it! Please? Pretty please with murder and mayhem on top.” It seemed like Rampage was back to herself.
"你可以撞死他们!"狂暴笑着说。"或者弃船，让我撞他们！哦！让我来！求你了？非常高兴，谋杀和故意伤害在上面。"看起来狂暴又回到了她自己身边。
“That wouldn’t address the Tower,” Storm Chaser replied.
"那样就不会有塔楼了,"风暴追逐者回答道。
“So I’ll ram the Tower.”
"所以我要撞塔。"
“Which wouldn’t stop Blizzard and the other Raptors,” Storm Chaser answered smoothly.
"这并不能阻止暴雪和其他猛禽,"风暴追逐者平静地回答。
“Okay, so I’ll ram all the Raptors into the Tower!” She twitched a moment in silence. “Ugh… you’re thinking too much again. Just let me do it! It’ll be awesome!” She looked around hopefully, but saw nopony eager to entertain that idea. “Oh come on. It’s not like we have another balefire bomb to blow them all up in one big boom!”
"好吧，那我就把所有猛禽都撞到塔里去!"她在沉默中抽搐了一会儿。"呃......你又想太多了。让我来吧！这会很棒的!"她满怀希望地环顾四周，但是没有一匹小马愿意接受这个想法。"哦，得了吧。这又不是说我们有另一个巴勒火炸弹，可以在一个大爆炸中把他们全部炸飞!"
A sensation like lightning began at my tail and zinged right up to my scalp. I slowed, staring off into space. She couldn’t… I didn’t… I muttered quietly, “When they act like babies, you have to take it away…”
一种像闪电一样的感觉从我的尾巴开始，一直到我的头皮。我放慢了速度，凝视着外面的空间。她不能......我没有......我低声咕哝着,"当他们表现得像个孩子的时候，你必须把他们带走......"
“What?” Storm Chaser asked. What indeed, but my mind was going a mile a minute down disturbingly familiar paths. It was impossible. No pony could do it.
"什么?"风暴追逐者问道。的确如此，但是我的思绪却一分钟一英里地沿着令人不安的熟悉的路径前进。这是不可能的。没有小马能做到这一点。
There was no way.
没有办法。
Unless…
除非..。
Oh!
哦！
Oh shit.
哦，该死。
“I think Rampage is right,” I said absently. If I did this wrong a lot of ponies were going to die. But if I did it right… If I dared…
"我认为狂暴是对的,"我心不在焉地说。如果我做错了，很多小马将会死去。但如果我做得对...如果我敢..。
“Hot damn!” Rampage said as she rushed to helm, plucked the visor from the helmsmare’s head, and popped it askew on her own. She shoved the russet mare aside and gleefully rubbed her hooves together over the controls. Then her rubbing slowed as she glared at all the buttons. “Um…” She tapped a few and nudged the panel. “What? Are you telling me that I got a dozen souls in me and none of them can fly this thing?!” She turned to the irate helmsmare. “Where’s the manual? I need to learn how to crash this thing.”
"太棒了!"狂暴说，当她冲向舵，从舵手的头上摘下护目镜，自己把它歪向一边弹了出去。她把那匹赤褐色的母马推到一边，兴高采烈地用蹄子在操纵杆上摩擦。然后她的摩擦放慢了速度，她怒视着所有的按钮。"嗯......"她轻轻敲了几下仪表板，轻轻推了一下。"什么？你是在告诉我，我体内有十几个灵魂，但没有一个能驾驶这东西吗?"她转向愤怒的助手。"说明书在哪儿？我需要学习如何让这东西坠毁。"
“Tell me you aren’t seriously proposing this?” Storm Chaser said with a worried frown. “I’m not sure a Raptor ramming the Tower would bring it down, even supposing Hoarfrost didn’t shoot her down.”
"告诉我，你不是认真地提出这个建议吧?"风暴追逐者愁眉苦脸地说。"我不确定猛禽撞击伦敦塔会不会把它撞倒，即使霍尔弗罗斯特没有把它打下来。"
I opened my mouth, then stopped. “No. But… I do have something that might work. And since Lighthooves might be watching me…” I looked around and spotted a chunk of charred cyberpony… well, they had attacked us... I closed my eyes and began to write on the deck four words, fifteen letters. I fought hard to resist the urge to peek. “Don’t say it!” I blurted, hoping that my lines were straight and not wandering all over the floor. The bridge suddenly grew very quiet.
我张开嘴，然后停了下来。"没有。但是...我确实有些东西可能有用。我环顾四周，发现了一大块烧焦的赛博矮种马......嗯，它们袭击了我们......我闭上眼睛，开始在甲板上写4个单词，十五个字母。我努力克制住偷看的冲动。"别说了!"我脱口而出，希望我的台词是直接的，不要在地板上到处乱跑。桥上突然变得非常安静。
Then Rampage broke it with a chuckle and a sincere, “Blackjack, I fucking love you.”
然后朗格轻声笑了一声，真诚地说:"黑杰克，我他妈的爱你。"
* * *
* * *
“You’re insane,” Storm Chaser said as I trotted towards the slagged, ozone-reeking hole that the Tower’s weapons had ripped through the armored hull. “Certifiably mad.”
"你疯了,"风暴追逐者说，当我跑向污垢，臭氧臭气弥漫的洞，塔的武器撕裂了装甲船体。"肯定是疯了。"
“I won’t argue that at this moment, but it’s the only way to neutralize both the Tower and the Raptors attacking Thunderhead, and I can’t do it without your help.” I stepped out and was immediately blasted by a gust of cold air. Outside was a narrow ledge that ran along the hull right next to the Castellanus’s disintegration cannons. Rampage sulked a bit having been informed that she’d have to save her Raptor ramming trick for another day. Still, something to keep in mind.
"我现在不想争论这个问题，但这是唯一能同时抵消伦敦塔和猛龙攻击雷霆岛的方法，没有你们的帮助，我做不到。"我走出去，立刻被一股冷空气吹了起来。外面是一块狭窄的壁架，沿着船体延伸，紧挨着卡斯特兰纳斯的瓦解大炮。狂暴被告知她必须把猛禽撞击的把戏留到以后再玩，她有点生气。尽管如此，还是要记住一些东西。
Off in the distance I could see five Raptors close to the Tower. The rest were hanging back and silently watching. I hoped that Lighthooves couldn’t seize his moment and fire a missile past them. Of the five lining up to fire on the settlement, four were on one side, pointing their cannons at the distant cloudy torus of Thunderhead, while one was on the other. Any second, she’d start firing. Soon as Hoarfrost heard I’d ‘escaped’, probably.
在远处，我可以看到五架猛禽战斗机靠近塔楼。其余的人退后一步，静静地看着。我希望光剑不要抓住他的机会，向他们发射导弹。在向定居点开火的五个人中，有四个人站在一边，用大炮瞄准远处云雾缭绕的雷头城，另一个人站在另一边。她随时会开枪。可能等到霍尔弗罗斯特听说我"逃跑了"。
“Thank the skies the Cyclone has agreed to help. The Lightning may as well if they can get that fire under control. I don’t know about the Sleet. Captain Snowblind never lets anyone see what she’s planning,” Storm Chaser answered. “I can only hope one of the others comes to our side when they see that Hoarfrost is serious about shelling civilians.”
"感谢上天，飓风同意帮助我们。如果他们能控制住火势的话，闪电也是一样的。我不知道雨夹雪。"雪盲船长从来不让任何人知道她的计划,"风暴追逐者回答。"我只能希望，当其他人看到霍尔弗罗斯特对炮击平民是认真的时候，他们中的一个会站到我们这边来。"
“We need another ship,” I said with a frown.
"我们还需要一艘船,"我皱着眉头说。
“Preferably one that isn’t struggling just to stay in the sky,” Storm Chaser agreed.
"最好是一个不会挣扎着停留在空中的飞机,"风暴追逐者同意道。
“Wait. Wait wait wait. Are you saying that we need to capture an enemy ship?” Rampage asked.
"等等。等等，等等。你是说我们需要俘虏一艘敌舰吗?"狂暴问道。
“Well, it would be nice,” I said, a little sarcastically.
"那就好了,"我有点讽刺地说。
The armored mare pointed towards the disintegration cannons at the front of the Castellanus. “What’s the range on those things?”
装甲的母马指向卡斯特卢纳斯前面的解体大炮。"那些东西的射程是多少?"
“Ten miles… why?” she asked, a little warily now.
"十英里......为什么?"她现在有点警惕地问道。
“And if I get one of their Raptors, can I ram that ship into something?” Rampage asked.
"如果我得到他们的一架猛禽战斗机，我能把那艘飞船撞到什么东西上吗?"狂暴问道。
Storm Chaser looked a little pained. “Raptors are just a touch precious and
风暴追逐者看起来有点痛苦。"猛禽只是一种宝贵的动物
irreplaceable, Rampage.”
无可替代，狂暴。"
The striped mare snorted and rolled her eyes. “That’s what makes it awesome, duh.”
那匹有条纹的母马喷着鼻息，翻着白眼。"这就是它令人敬畏的地方，咄。"
I glanced at the gray pegasus, and she just shrugged. “Okay, Rampage. If you capture an enemy ship, you can crash it.”
我瞥了一眼灰色的飞马，她只是耸了耸肩。"好吧，狂暴。如果你抓住了一艘敌舰，你就可以把它撞毁。"
“Sweet!” She started to dance a little back and forth. “My own Raptor. This is gonna be so! Awesome!”
"太好了!"她开始来回地跳舞。"我自己的猛禽。一定会很棒的！太棒了!"
Storm Chaser sighed softly. “Ironic. Even if he didn’t outright destroy the fleet, Lighthooves might very well achieve his goals. If operations in the north and west fail, there may not be much of an Enclave left. And with your plan…”
风暴追逐者轻轻地叹了口气。"真讽刺。即使他没有彻底摧毁舰队，lighthoves也很有可能实现他的目标。如果在北部和西部的军事行动失败，可能就没有剩下多少昂科雷了。有了你的计划......"
“Shh.” I tapped my head. “He might be listening.” I was going to smash that Perceptitron thing to bits if it meant a little less paranoia for me.
"嘘。"我拍了拍头。"他可能在听。"如果那个感知器对我来说不那么偏执的话，我会把它粉碎成碎片的。
She sighed. “Well. The fact is that the Enclave’s power has been wearing thin for generations. I might not have agreed with Thunderhead’s pride and certainly not their methods, but I freely admit that they were correct about the slow degradation of our war machine.”
她叹了口气。"好吧。事实上，昂科雷的力量已经消耗了几代人。我可能不赞同雷霆队的骄傲，当然也不赞同他们的方法，但我坦率地承认，他们关于我们的战争机器缓慢退化的说法是正确的。"
“Maybe that’s a good thing. Balefire bombs, Raptors, Thunderheads… maybe the world will be a little better without them in it,” I told her.
"也许这是件好事。巴勒火焰炸弹，猛禽战机，雷霆战机......也许没有他们的世界会更好一点,"我告诉她。
“And yet we’re using tools like those to try and save lives too,” she replied. “The fault lies not within our tools, but inside our hearts.”
"然而，我们正在使用这样的工具，试图挽救生命,"她回答说。"错误不在于我们的工具，而在于我们的内心。"
“Maybe,” I said as I walked out on the edge. “So, Afterburner’s ponies are in the landing bay looking for me… so all I have to do is… ah… oh…” Oh, that was a long way down…
"也许吧,"我边走边说。"所以，加力的小马是在登陆湾找我...所以我要做的是...啊...哦..."哦，这是一个很长的路下来..。
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t ‘relieve the general of her command’,” Rampage promised. “And I’ll keep Boo safe.”
"别担心。我会确保他们不会'解除将军的指挥权'。"。"我会保证阿布的安全。"
Now to make my escape. My brain locked up as I stared down and utterly refused to do what I needed it to do. “Um… Rampage?”
现在我要逃走了。当我低头凝视的时候，我的大脑僵住了，完全拒绝做我需要它做的事情。"嗯...暴怒?"
“Huh?” she blinked.
"啊?"她眨了眨眼。
“A little help?” I asked in a tiny voice as I closed my eyes.
"帮个小忙?"我闭上眼睛，小声问道。
“Oh. Oh! Right.” She moved behind me. “It must be my birthday.”
"哦。哦！对。"她走到我身后。"今天一定是我的生日。"
“Any time now,” I said, rapidly rethinking this. Maybe I could dig through the magic book for some other trick…
"随时都可以,"我说，并迅速重新考虑了这个问题。也许我可以从这本魔术书里找点别的把戏..。
“One second, Blackjack. Let me savor the moment,” Rampage said with a chuckle. “Pull!” And then two metal hooves clanged against my backside and launched me into the air. A second later I heard her shout, “Boo! No!”
"等一下，黑杰克。让我尽情享受这一刻吧,"狂暴笑着说。"拉!"然后两只金属蹄子撞在我的背上，把我抛向空中。过了一会儿，我听到她喊道:"嘘！不!"
And now I was falling. And while I understand that at times I am quite terrifying to certain ponies, I believe I set a new record for screaming like a little filly as I plunged through the air. This was the second time in two days… really, I had a feeling that there was something fundamentally wrong with having my hooves off the ground. The wind roared in my ears as I dared to look down at the rapidly approaching cloud layer. Those were fluffy clouds. Soft, fluffy clouds. I’d hit them with a great big ‘pwooof’ and laugh about it later.
现在我正在坠落。虽然我知道有时候我对某些小马来说是相当可怕的，但我相信我创造了一个新的记录，当我在空中纵身一跃时，像一匹小母马一样尖叫。这是两天内的第二次......真的，我有一种感觉，我的蹄子离开地面有一些根本性的错误。当我敢往下看迅速逼近的云层时，风在我耳边呼啸。那些是蓬松的云朵。柔软，蓬松的云朵。我会用一个很大的"噗噗"打他们，然后一笑置之。
Unless, a purple pony in my head speculated, my armored body proved too dense and punched right through the clouds to land somewhere in the vicinity of Riverside, or the river. After all, the clouds were recently disturbed and might not support-- I took that purple pony, mentally tied her up, gagged her, and threw her in a closet in my brain. Those were soft, fluffy clouds. Soft and… soft… “Fluffy!” I screamed a second before I hit! For a terrifying second I kept falling, but then felt myself quickly slow. I came to a rest, my forelegs catching on the cloud around me.
除非我脑子里有一匹紫色的小马在猜测，否则我装甲车的身体实在是太密集了，穿过云层直接降落在河边的某个地方。毕竟，乌云最近被扰乱了，可能不支持----我拿起那匹紫色的小马，在心里把她绑起来，堵住她的嘴，然后把她扔进我脑子里的一个壁橱里。那些是柔软、蓬松的云朵。柔软...柔软..."蓬松!"我尖叫了一秒才打中他！有那么可怕的一瞬间，我不停地往下掉，但随后我感到自己很快地慢了下来。我来到一个休息，我的前腿抓住我周围的云彩。
My rear hooves kicked open air.
我的后蹄踢开了空气。
“Okay. It worked! Nice and Fluffy clouds… nice… and…” I frowned as I felt my forehooves start to slip as I was tugged downward. “Fluffy… fluffy… come on!” I said as I swung my legs hoping to grab something a little more substantial and failed. My head popped free, and I suddenly had a view of the ground, and something in my brain broke as the clouds around my hooves began to pull away. My last thought was going to be that I could see my house from here.
"好吧。成功了！漂亮蓬松的云朵......漂亮......还有......"我感到前蹄开始向下滑动，我皱起了眉头。"毛茸茸的......毛茸茸的......来吧!"我一边说，一边摆动着双腿，希望能抓住一些更有价值的东西，结果失败了。我的头突然自由了，我突然看到了地面，当我的蹄子周围的云开始拉开时，我脑子里的一些东西破裂了。我最后一个念头是，我可以从这里看到我的房子。
Then I felt a pain in my scalp as my direction was reversed and I was hauled back up into the clouds. When I couldn’t see the thousands of feet of empty air
然后我感到头皮一阵疼痛，因为我的方向反过来了，我被拉回到云层中。当我看不到几千英尺的空气
below me, my brain kicked in and I looked up to see Boo biting my mane and struggling to haul me up. Fortunately, she provided just enough pull for me to quickly scramble up into the cloud. Together, we sat in the middle of a fog bank, the hole I’d punched in my descent rapidly filling up. “Okay. Boo. No more falling. How is that for a plan?” Boo just cocked her head and blinked at me. I reached out and ruffled her mane. “That’s what I thought. Glad we had this talk.”
在我下面，我的大脑开始活动，我抬起头来，看到阿布咬着我的鬃毛，挣扎着把我拉起来。幸运的是，她给了我足够的吸引力，让我迅速爬上云端。我们一起坐在雾堤的中央，我在下降过程中打的洞很快就填满了。"好吧。嘘。不再跌倒。这个计划怎么样?"布只是抬起头，对我眨眨眼。我伸手抚摸着她的鬃毛。"我也是这么想的。很高兴我们进行了这次谈话。"
Soon, there was one lone cloud scudding its way over fields of rotten vegetation, propelled by my telekinesis. The Enervation had killed acres and acres of the floating crops, and they hung in the air, dangling limply, the bizarre plants dropping one by one through the clouds as their air sacs burst with flaccid hisses. Normally, that would have concerned me, but at the moment I could see green flashes along the curved wall of Thunderhead. The smooth torus now flickered and flashed, with tiny pockmarks appearing in the smooth side. Hoarfrost was taking her time. If she’d really wanted a body count, she would have taken a Raptor inside the city itself. It was my only hope, because somewhere in that cloud were three of my closest friends, one of whom had just gotten her snuggly body back!
很快，有一朵孤独的云在腐烂的植被上空飞过，被我的心灵遥感所推动。大量的雨水淹没了大片漂浮的农作物，它们无力地悬在空中，随着空气囊爆裂发出嘶嘶的声音，这些奇异的植物一株接一株地从云层中掉落下来。通常情况下，这会让我担心，但此刻我可以看到沿着Thunderhead弯曲的墙壁有绿色的闪光。光滑的圆环现在闪烁起来，光滑的一面出现了小小的麻点。霍尔弗罗斯特慢吞吞的。如果她真的想清点死亡人数的话，她会在城市里面安排一架猛禽。这是我唯一的希望，因为在那片云彩的某个地方有我最亲密的三个朋友，其中一个刚刚找回了她温暖的身体！
Call me shallow, but in addition to saving tens of thousands of lives and preventing the spread of a cannibalistic plague across the world, I really really looked forward to renewing that snugglage. I wonder if that one spot behind her knee would still make her squeak…
你可以说我肤浅，但是除了拯救成千上万的生命和防止同类相食的瘟疫在全世界蔓延之外，我真的很期待重新拥抱这个温暖的家。我想知道她膝盖后面的那一点是否还会让她尖叫..。
It was times like this that I really wished that LittlePip were with me. With my cloudwalking spell and her telekinesis, we could have flown halfway to the moon with no trouble. As it was, I puttered along as fast as I could push myself and tried to ignore the fighting above.
在这样的时刻，我真的希望小皮普能和我在一起。有了我的云游咒语和她的心灵遥感，我们可以毫不费力地飞到半个月球。事实上，我以最快的速度慢吞吞地走着，尽量不去理会上面的争吵。
Suddenly, the cloud layer fell away in a tattered edge, and I found myself in open air on my little cloud. Beneath me stretched the Core in every direction, the green light suffusing its black canyons. I remembered folks saying that a balefire bomb had gone off in the city. I’d seen the kind of devastation one of those could do; I felt skeptical that something like that had gone off here. It was clear that something had happened, though. Few of the monolithic buildings rose vertically. They all seemed to be off by a few degrees. Some actually leaned far enough over to touch. The streets were filled with green light that seemed to come up from the ground, shining from deep below. Swirling black twisters crawled along the streets and buildings. Many of the towers were breached, and
突然，云层在破碎的边缘消失了，我发现自己在我的小云上露天。在我的脚下，核心向四面八方延伸，绿色的光芒照亮了它的黑色峡谷。我记得有人说城里发生了爆炸。我见过其中一个可能造成的那种破坏;我怀疑类似的事情在这里发生过。不过，很明显发生了一些事情。很少有整体式的建筑是垂直上升的。他们似乎都偏离了几度。有些人甚至靠得足够远去触摸。街道上到处都是绿色的灯光，仿佛是从地面上发出来的，从深处发出光芒。旋转的黑龙卷沿着街道和建筑慢慢移动。许多塔楼被攻破
cables and wires were strewn from building to building like rotten entrails.
电缆和电线像腐烂的内脏一样，从一座建筑散布到另一座建筑。
Green lightning occasionally snapped from one building to the next.
绿色的闪电偶尔会从一座建筑物传到另一座建筑物。
How could Dawn think ponies could ever live in such a place? How did anypony ever think of building such a place?
道恩怎么会认为小马会住在这样的地方呢？怎么会有人想到要建这样一个地方呢？
So close, Enervation sounded less like a scream and more like… something else. It was almost a machine noise. A staticky note that plucked at my heart. I checked Boo, afraid she’d be coughing up blood, but the blank just blinked back at me, cocking her head in confusion. “Huh. Guess it’s not just a cyberpony thing after all.” Well, that was the second bit of good news I’d had today.
如此接近，弱化听起来不像是尖叫，而更像是......别的什么东西。这几乎是一个机器的噪音。一个静止的音符刺痛了我的心。我看了看阿布，怕她咳出血来，但那个空包弹对着我眨了眨眼，困惑地摇着头。"哈。我想这毕竟不仅仅是赛博马那么简单。"这是我今天听到的第二个好消息。
Storm Front had said there that were two ways in. One way at the top and one down at the cloud layer. First, I tried my own way in. I stuck the sword in the side of the Tower and sliced down, then around, and tried to tug open a hole. No chance. The wall was clearly thicker than my sword. So I scuttled my way around, looking up and down the massive structure for a way in. Up close, the Tower swelled to proportions that threw my sense of direction out of whack. I felt a touch of vertigo as up and down became confused with the horizontal. The hexagonal faces of the Tower were simply so large that a part of my brain wanted to walk on it.
风暴阵线说有两条路可以进去。一个在上面，一个在下面的云层。首先，我尝试了自己的方法。我把剑插进塔的一边，切下来，然后转过身，试图用力拉开一个洞。不可能。墙壁显然比我的剑厚。所以我急忙绕过去，上上下下地看着这个巨大的建筑物，想找到一条进去的路。近看，大厦的比例膨胀得让我的方向感乱了套。我感到一阵眩晕，因为上下变得和水平线混淆了。塔的六边形的面简直太大了，以至于我的一部分大脑想在上面行走。
From a distance, the Tower appeared a uniform black, but as I drew closer and closer, it appeared more of a midnight blue. The surface wasn’t metal, as I’d supposed. It was the same glassy material as the rest of the Core. A layer of ceramic coating the steel underneath. In places, the layer had chipped away and created bleeding holes of oxidization that streaked the surface like bullet wounds. I puttered my little cloud along the face of the Tower, heading down and around as I searched for the entrance.
从远处看，塔楼呈现出一片黑色，但当我越走越近，它看起来更像是一片午夜的蓝色。表面并不像我想象的那样是金属。它和核心的其他部分是同样的玻璃材料。一层陶瓷涂层覆盖在钢板下面。在某些地方，表层已经剥落，形成了渗出的氧化孔，在表面留下了条纹，就像子弹造成的伤口。我把我的小云沿着塔的表面移动，在寻找入口的时候不停地向下移动。
I could feel the Enervation tugging at me, countered by that strange tuneless song within. At this point, I’d given up guessing what could be causing it. Just one of many things to ask Professor Zodiac when next we met. I looked down into the very center of the city, where six enormous towers rose from the foundations below. The ground in the midst of them had fallen away into a deep pit from which issued that soft, baleful green glow.
我可以感觉到那种无力的感觉在拉扯着我，里面那首奇怪的不成调的歌反驳了这种感觉。在这一点上，我已经放弃了猜测是什么导致了这种情况。这只是我们下次见面时要问十二宫杀手教授的许多问题之一。我俯视着城市的中心，六座巨大的塔楼从底下的地基上拔地而起。他们中间的地面已经陷进一个深坑里，从那里发出柔和的、可怕的绿色光芒。
There! The door resembled little more than a round scar in the side of the colossal building, but when I got down to it, it was easily twice as large as
那里！在这座庞大的建筑物的侧面，那扇门看上去就像一道圆形的伤疤，但是当我走下去时，它的大小已经是那扇门的两倍了
myself. ‘Ministry of Awesome -- No Trespassing’. Little chance of that here. I couldn’t see any latch or control, but I doubted that the hatch was as thick as the exterior wall. After all, it was supposed to be opened. Once more I sliced around the perimeter of the hatch, then cut an X through the middle. I gave them a kick, then another, and then the triangles of steel pulled free and tumbled into the Core below. I hopped into the gap and then paused, my eyes drawn down into that emerald pit.
我自己。"棒极了部----禁止擅入"。在这里几乎不可能。我看不到任何门闩或控制器，但我怀疑舱口是否和外墙一样厚。毕竟，它应该是打开的。我又一次绕过了舱口的周边，然后从中间切了一个x。我踢了他们一脚，然后又踢了一脚，接着三角形的钢板挣脱开来，滚进了下面的堆芯。我跳进那个缺口，然后停了下来，眼睛盯着那个翡翠色的大坑。
She was down there... Cognitum, and possibly Dawn too. I could just go down there and end it. Get my answers, stop her, and wake from this bad dream I’d been living for two months. All it would take was for me to throw the lives of thousands into the wind. “You’re lucky I have bigger things to worry about,” I growled, pointing a hoof at the glowing pit below me. “But don’t get too comfortable. The second I’m done here, you’re next.” There was every possibility that this would get me killed, but, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the slightest selfish hope that I’d die.
她在下面......认知，可能还有道恩。我可以直接过去结束这一切。得到我的答案，阻止她，从这个我已经活了两个月的噩梦中醒来。我所要做的就是把成千上万的生命抛到九霄云外。"你很幸运，我还有更重要的事情要操心,"我咆哮着，一只蹄子指着我下面发光的坑。"但是不要太舒服了。我一结束这里的工作，你就是下一个。"很有可能这会让我送命，但是，这么长时间以来，我第一次没有一丝自私地希望自己会死去。
I looked into the dark interior of the Tower. “Time to double down,” I said, smiling as I imagined Lighthooves listening in and watching me check my ammo for Vigilance. Then, with that smile, I headed into the depths of Shadowbolt Tower.
我看着塔里黑暗的内部。"是时候加倍下注了,"我微笑着说，想象着灯塔在监听，看着我检查自己的弹药，寻找警惕。然后，带着那个微笑，我向暗影螺栓塔的深处走去。
 
END PART ONE
完第一部分
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: Sigh... I really wanted this chapter to be the finale of the Thunderhead Arc. I really did. But after edits... revisions... more revisions...
(作者的笔记:唉......我真的希望这一章能成为雷雨之源弧的结局。真的。但是经过编辑...修改...更多的修改..。
re-revisions... it got to the point where if I wrote out the whole thing, it’d be 70 pages. Much as I love Kkat’s canterlot chapter, that’s a bit much for any one chapter to read through at once. So this chapter is coming in two parts. Part Two will be in a few more weeks.
重新修改...到了这个地步，如果我把整篇文章都写出来，就得有70页。尽管我非常喜欢Kkat的canterlot章节，但是对于任何一个章节来说，一次性读完有点过了。这一章分为两个部分。第二部分将在几个星期后进行。
As usual, I want to give thanks to Hinds, Bronode (AKA Niphl), Swicked, Fuzzy, and Hidden Fortune for helping me get this chapter out. We went through four versions, one with no pony dying, one with the general dying, one with the general and captain dying, and one with just the captain dying.
像往常一样，我要感谢Hinds，Bronode(又名Niphl)，swiched，Fuzzy和HiddenFortune帮助我完成了这一章。我们看了四个版本，一个没有小马死亡，一个将军死亡，一个将军和上尉死亡，还有一个只有上尉死亡。
I think this version is the best, though it will change the general’s arc. As always, thank you Kkat for creating Fallout Equestria. And I’d like to thank everyone who has continued reading this long and provide feedback wherever it gets posted.
我认为这个版本是最好的，虽然它会改变将军的弧线。像往常一样，感谢Kkat创造了Equestria。我要感谢每一个继续阅读这篇文章的人，并且在文章发表的任何地方提供反馈。
Lastly, I’d like a special thank you to certain people who have helped me immensely this month. As some of you may know, the teaching job I moved here for fell through and the school decided not to fill it. So I’ve been struggling to get into their sub teacher program, but it’s been an arduous process. I’m still waiting for the background check to pass. I have a temp job, but it’s only 16 hours a week and brings in less than 200 a week. I’m starting to work on an original manuscript for E-publication too; hopefully that will help me get ahead of my bills too. Still, if it weren’t for these people’s help, I probably wouldn’t have made it.
最后，我要特别感谢这个月帮助我很多的人。正如你们中的一些人可能知道的，我搬到这里的教师工作失败了，学校决定不填补它。所以我一直在努力争取进入他们的代课教师计划，但这是一个艰难的过程。我还在等背景调查通过。我有一份临时工作，但每周只有16个小时，每周的收入还不到200美元。我也开始为电子出版物撰写原稿，希望这也能帮助我解决账单问题。然而，如果没有这些人的帮助，我可能不会成功。
So a very heartfelt thank you to Кутлуев, Steven, Stepan, Donovan, Michael, Mel, Alexander, Nathan, Kenneth, Frank, Michael L., Keith, Lawrence, Alexander L., Tech, Martin, Nick, Swicked, Wes, Stuart, Cory, Jeremy, Brandon, Brian, Mac, Steven Z, Spencer, Christian, Ryan, Patrick, Erick, Jeffery and all the others who helped me out. When I started writing this, I never imagined the generosity and kindness of my readers. As much as the support and feedback keep the story going, these generous folk have helped to keep me going. If it weren’t for them and others like them, I wouldn’t have made it. So thank you and thank you to everyone who supports this story and its creator. Any additional help will be greatly appreciated till Clark County School District gets its head out of its butt and finishes processing my paperwork.
所以，我衷心地感谢史蒂文、斯蒂潘、多诺万、迈克尔、梅尔、亚历山大、纳森、肯尼斯、弗兰克、迈克尔l、基思、劳伦斯、亚历山大l、理工大学、马丁、尼克、斯威特、韦斯、斯图尔特、科里、杰里米、布兰登、布莱恩、麦克、史蒂文z、斯宾塞、克里斯蒂安、瑞安、帕特里克、埃里克、杰弗里以及所有帮助过我的人。当我开始写这篇文章的时候，我从来没有想象过我的读者的慷慨和善良。尽管支持和反馈使故事继续，这些慷慨的人们也帮助我继续下去。如果没有他们和其他像他们一样的人，我不可能成功。所以感谢你们，感谢每一个支持这个故事的人和它的创造者。任何额外的帮助将会非常感激，直到克拉克县学区得到它的头从屁股和完成处理我的文件。
Again, thank you everyone.
再次感谢大家。