“To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began.”
"要检索丢失的元素，只需理解事件的这种更改。迂回曲折是我的主要计划。然后找到元素回到你开始的地方。"
“So let me get this straight,” Rampage said in low tones as we trotted through an office space, picking our way carefully over the soggy cubicle partitions. The fluorescent lights, what few remained intact, buzzed and flickered. Boo had little difficulty bounding all around us and poking her nose into the rusty desks and sodden clothes for anything that might be useful. “You’ve spent three months in the Core, and you’ve gotten less than six blocks away from the wreck of the Hurricane? What have you been doing, Blackjack?”
"我就直说了吧,"我们一边小心翼翼地穿过湿漉漉的隔间，一边小心翼翼地穿过一个办公空间，边低声说道。几乎没有保留下来的荧光灯，嗡嗡作响，闪烁不定。布轻而易举地把我们团团围住，把鼻子伸进锈迹斑斑的桌子和湿透的衣服里，寻找任何可能有用的东西。"你已经在核心地带呆了三个月，而你离飓风的残骸只有不到六个街区的距离？你都干了些什么，黑杰克?"
“I’m not sure you noticed--” I began, but then the partition I was trying to scamper over gave way underneath me, and I collapsed, crushing the particleboard-and-carpet divider beneath me. I landed in a heap on a short file cabinet, and then that groaned and pancaked under me as well. The remainder of the cubicle’s walls collapsed on top of me, entombing me in a mound of pulped paper, soaked fabric, rusty metal, and flaky plastic. “...but it’s kind of hard to navigate in this place.”
"我不确定你是否注意到了——"我开始说，但随后我试图爬过的隔板在我身下坍塌了，我瘫倒在地，压碎了脚下刨花板和地毯的隔板。我落在一个很短的文件柜上，在我脚下呻吟着，被压扁了。小隔间的墙倒在我身上，把我埋在一堆纸浆、浸透的布料、生锈的金属和薄片的塑料里。"...但是在这个地方很难导航"
I shoved my way clear of the mess, getting tangled, again, in the mass that had once been a perfectly mundane cubicle farm. Rampage arched a brow and asked dryly, “So… what? Those wings are just for show?”
我推开杂乱的东西，又一次被缠绕在一个曾经非常普通的小隔间里。狂暴拱起眉毛，干巴巴地问道:"那么......什么？那些翅膀只是摆摆样子?"
I grunted and gave a heave and a kick. “These wings are the most ridiculously power-thirsty contraptions ever conceived. And when they’re not running my batteries down, half the time they just get tangled up in everything.” I yanked and jerked, forcing myself ahead. “Really, these things alone suck up more energy than my entire old body. Fully powered up, I have maybe five minutes
我咕哝了一声，用力拉了一下，又踢了一下。"这些翅膀是有史以来最可笑的耗电装置。当他们没有耗尽我的电池时，有一半的时间他们只是被所有事情缠住了。"我猛拉，猛拉，强迫自己前进。"说真的，这些东西吸收的能量比我整个老身体吸收的都多。充满电后，我大概还有五分钟时间
before I crash.” I levitated the lighter stuff off my wings, wishing I had LittlePip here to lift the whole mess out of the way. “If it wasn’t for Boo, I would have been dead a dozen times over. She feeds me when I go down.”
在我崩溃之前。"我把翅膀上较轻的东西悬浮起来，希望这里有一点点皮普，把整个乱七八糟的东西都举起来。"如果不是阿布，我已经死了十几次了。我倒下的时候，她给我吃东西。"
“Bwackjack’s a powah hog,” Boo said from up ahead, looking back at us. The plastic amulet I’d taken from Steel Rain months ago at the Gala bounced on her neck; she didn’t need it, somehow, but seemed to like it, so why not? It was next to a drawstring pouch she wore for any interesting bits and bobs she happened across.
"乡巴佬杰克是个乡巴佬,"布从前面回头看着我们说。几个月前在慈善晚会上我从钢铁雨那里拿来的塑料护身符弹到了她的脖子上;不知为什么，她并不需要它，但似乎很喜欢它，所以为什么不呢？这是旁边的一个拉绳袋，她穿着任何有趣的位置和波她碰巧发生。
“She’s speaking a lot,” Rampage said, sounding faintly surprised.
"她说了很多,"朗格说，听起来有点吃惊。
“Some days there wasn’t anything to do. When those roboswarms came, we had to hole up wherever we could until they left. So I’ve been teaching her what I can,” I said with a small rush of pride. “I think we spent nearly a week once hunkered down in a bathroom. Nothing to do but wait.”
"有些日子没什么事可做。当那些机器人群来的时候，我们不得不躲在任何我们能躲的地方直到他们离开。所以我一直在尽我所能地教她,"我带着一丝自豪地说。"有一次我们蹲在卫生间里，差不多花了一个星期。除了等待，别无他法。"
“Booowing,” Boo said, then blew a raspberry.
"嘘,"布说，然后吹了一个树莓。
“Luckily, Boo’d found a whole box of snack cakes five minutes before we’d gotten stuck in there,” I said with a smile at the beaming blank. “I’ve also spent a lot of time trying to figure out all I can about Goldenblood, Horizons, and Cognitum. And trying to watch others with the Perceptitron… and… stuff…” I trailed off as Rampage looked at me curiously. “So how’d you find us?” I asked quickly.
"幸运的是，在我们被困在里面的五分钟前，Boo找到了一整盒零食蛋糕,"我笑着对着空白的盒子说。"我还花了很多时间试图弄明白我所能想到的关于金色血统、地平线和认知的一切。然后试着用感知器观察其他人......还有......其他的......"我慢了下来，同时狂暴好奇地看着我。"你是怎么找到我们的?"我很快地问道。
For a moment she was silent, and then she shrugged. “I’ve got a zebra soul inside me, so naturally I’ve got crazy tracking skills. They’re all natural trackers and survivalists and stuff. Funny that way.”
她沉默了一会儿，然后耸了耸肩。"我体内有一个斑马的灵魂，所以自然而然地，我拥有疯狂的追踪技能。他们都是天生的追踪者和生存主义者。这很有趣。"
“I’m pretty sure Xanthe didn’t have mad tracking skills,” I countered.
"我敢肯定，赞西没有疯狂的追踪技巧,"我反驳道。
“None that you know about. She could probably track down a functioning conductor on a cloudy day with nothing but a candle and half a screwdriver,” Rampage said blithely, shoving aside a heap of soaked office strata. “You find me a fat, balding, cowardly zebra cook, and underneath it all, he’ll have commando fighting skills, or some sort of shamanistic hoodoo, or something. It just comes with the stripes.”
""你不知道。在阴天里，只要一支蜡烛和半把螺丝刀，她就可以找到一个正常工作的指挥家。"。"你给我找一个肥胖的、秃顶的、胆小的斑马厨师，在这一切之下，他会有突击队的格斗技巧，或者某种萨满巫术之类的东西。它只是随着条纹而来。"
“Unhuh,” I said skeptically, then grunted as my wings got caught on some
"嗯,"我怀疑地说，然后咕哝着，因为我的翅膀被什么东西卡住了
dangling cables. I jerked, pulled, and then slumped. “Boo.”
悬挂电缆。我猛地一拉，然后就倒下了。"嘘。"
“Got it!” She clambered on my back and shoved, tugged, and yanked the wires off my metallic pinions. Someday they were going to get me, or somepony, killed.
"知道了!"她爬上我的背，猛推，拽，猛拉我金属齿轮上的电线。总有一天他们会杀了我，或者其他什么人。
Rampage glanced back as I was freed. “Priceless. Anyway, I’ve been looking for any sign of you since I found the wreck of the Hurricane. Wasn’t too hard, though; I just followed the empty snack food containers and droppings.”
当我被释放的时候，狂暴回头看了一眼。"无价的。不管怎样，自从我发现了飓风的残骸，我就一直在寻找你的踪迹。不过也不是很难，我只是顺着空的快餐盒和便便走。"
“I’m glad someone friendly found me. I had Dealer disable my PipBuck tag. Those swarmers seemed attracted to it. I didn’t even know you could disable them.” Wouldn’t that have been a fun trick to deal with back in 99, half a lifetime ago?
"我很高兴有个友好的人找到了我。我让"经销商"关闭了我的PipBuck标签。那些黑皮肤的人似乎被它吸引住了。我甚至不知道你可以关闭它们。"如果回到99年，也就是半辈子以前，这不是一个有趣的把戏吗？
“And that’s all you’ve come across? The swarmers?” Rampaged asked with a frown. “That’s it?”
"这就是你所遇到的全部吗？黑皮肤的?"兰帕德皱着眉头问道。"就这样?"
“Aren’t they enough?” I replied with a frown of my own. “Those things nearly ate me… or recycled me… or… whatever they do,” I said with a shiver, remembering them pouring after Boo and me, taking bites out of my hide. And here I’d thought I was too upgraded for damage. Hadn’t I reached invincibility mode yet? “What else is here?”
"这些还不够吗?"我皱着眉头回答。"那些东西差点把我吃掉......或者回收了我......或者......不管它们做了什么,"我颤抖着说，想起它们在我和阿布后面倒水，咬我的皮。我还以为自己已经升级到不能再受伤害了。我还没有达到无敌模式吗？"这里还有什么?"
“Worse things. Much worse,” Rampage said, then gave a little smirk. “Well. Not if you’re immortal. But you two… yeah. Worse.” Her smile faded. “You’re actually really smart to avoid the streets like a plague. Those swarmers would be on you in seconds… and even worse likes to hide under the streets.”
"更糟糕的事情。更糟糕,"狂暴说，然后露出一丝得意的笑容。"好吧。除非你是不死之身。但是你们俩...是的。更糟。"她的笑容消失了。"你真的很聪明，像躲避瘟疫一样避开街道。那些黑皮肤的东西很快就会在你身上出现......更糟糕的是，它们喜欢躲在街道下面。"
I sighed and wished I could close my eyes. “Okay. Like what?”
我叹了口气，真希望能闭上眼睛。"好吧。比如什么?"
“Don’t know what they are, per se. Think… Horizon Labs…” Okay, that was enough said. “Last time I was in here, one spent a month or two ripping me to pieces, eating me, and repeating the process on an hourly basis. Trust me. Being eaten alive really, really sucks. Especially when you can’t die.” She shivered, her eyes becoming defocused and haunted, then shook her head. “There’re stranger things, too. Stuff moving on its own. Feral robots. Things… things that are just bad.”
"本质上，我不知道它们是什么。想想...地平线实验室..."好了，说够了。"上次我在这里的时候，有人花了一两个月的时间把我撕成碎片，吃掉我，然后每小时重复这个过程。相信我。被活生生吃掉真的很糟糕。尤其是当你死不了的时候。"她打了个哆嗦，她的眼睛变得神志不清，神情恍惚，然后摇了摇头。"还有更奇怪的事情。物体自己移动。野生机器人。事情...事情就是这么糟糕。"
“And they all serve Cognitum,” I muttered, thinking of something trying to eat
"而且他们都供应干果,"我咕哝着，想着有什么东西要吃
me… and my... I glanced at the striped mare. I wanted to tell her, to tell somepony about what was happening to me. It was like the Goddess again, only now it was my own fear that kept the words stuck in my throat.
我...和我的...我瞥了一眼那匹有斑纹的母马。我想告诉她，告诉一些小马我身上发生了什么。它又像女神一样，只是现在是我自己的恐惧让这些话卡在我的喉咙里。
Rampage shoved her way to the far side of the office and looked back at me.
横冲直撞的走到办公室的另一边，回头看了看我。
“What makes you think that?” she asked skeptically.
"你怎么会这么想?"她怀疑地问道。
“Well,” I balked. “Don’t they?”
"嗯,"我犹豫了一下。"不是吗?"
“This is the Core. I came here to die. I was sure that something here would finish me off. There’s nothing controlling most of these things. Even the local robots are feral. Maybe the swarmers are controlled by her, and some of the more intact sentries, but this place follows its own rules. Besides, if she controlled all of the Core, we’d be boned,” she said as she pointed at a camera set in a dim corner of the ceiling, a faint red ring glowing around the lens.
"这就是核心。我是来送死的。我确信这里的某些东西会杀了我。没有什么可以控制这些东西。甚至当地的机器人也是野生的。也许这些黑人是由她和一些比较完整的哨兵控制的，但是这个地方有它自己的规则。此外，如果她控制了所有的核心，我们就完了,"她指着天花板一个暗淡的角落里的相机说，镜头周围有一圈微弱的红色光环在闪烁。
I stiffened, but then I realized that she was right. If Cognitum could control all the Core’s systems, or even just see through most of them, I’d have been picked up long before now. “She must only have links to the robots she sends in.”
我变得僵硬起来，但后来我意识到她是对的。如果Cognitum能够控制所有的核心系统，或者只是看穿其中的大部分，我早就被发现了。"她肯定只和她派来的机器人有联系。"
“Speaking of links, why haven’t you called Glory?” Rampage asked. “You know she wants to come in here after you. I told her it’s a bad idea, but she insisted.” She reached out and took my hoof to pull me free of the cubicle swamp. “I came in hoping to find you before non-immortal ponies tried it.”
"说到链接，你为什么不给晨辉打电话呢?"狂暴问道。"你知道她想在你之后进来。我告诉她这不是个好主意，但她坚持要这么做。"她伸出手抓住我的蹄子，把我从格子间的沼泽里拉了出来。"我进来是希望在那些没有长生不老的小马尝试之前找到你。"
“I’ve tried, but every time I do, something weird happens,” I huffed.
"我试过了，但每次都会发生一些奇怪的事情,"我生气地说。
“Blackjack, weird for you is normal,” Rampage said with her usual obnoxious grin.
"黑杰克，怪异对你来说是正常的,"狂暴带着她惯有的讨厌的笑容说。
“Ayep,” Boo nodded beside her. “Weeerd.”
"是的,"布在她身边点了点头。"weerd。"
“Hush, you two,” I said flatly, then sighed. “When I try and use my broadcaster... I… go out of it. Every time I use it I… I dunno? Dream? Hallucinate? I’m not sure which any more. I just stand there blissing out at how awesome the Core is. And it’s… it’s…” I struggled to say the word as Rampage waited impatiently. “Nice,” I finally admitted. “It’s comforting and soothing and… I don’t know. I like it.” It also kept me from thinking about other things.
"嘘，你们两个,"我直截了当地说，然后叹了口气。"当我试图使用我的播音员时.....。.走出去。每次我用它的时候。.我不知道？梦想？幻觉？我不知道是哪一个了。我只是站在那里欣喜地看着核心系统有多棒。这是......这是......"我挣扎着说出这个词，同时狂暴不耐烦地等待着。"不错,"我终于承认了。"这让人感到安慰和宽慰，而且......我不知道。我喜欢。"这也让我无法思考其他事情。
Rampage stared at me flatly for several seconds. “Brain damage. That’s got to be
狂暴的暴徒直勾勾地盯着我看了几秒钟。"脑损伤。肯定是的
it. Only explanation.”
它。只有解释。"
“It’s not brain damage!” I snapped, glaring at her, then amended, “Probably.” I waited for her laughter to stop before going on. “It’s just something that connects with me when I try and access the Core’s network. Maybe it’s attracted by me sending a signal out… I don’t know. But it didn’t happen before the megaspell. So maybe something’s happened to me, or the Core, or both!”
"这不是脑损伤!"我厉声说道，怒视着她，然后修正道:"可能吧。"我等到她的笑声停止后才继续说下去。"当我尝试访问Core的网络时，它就会与我联系起来。也许它是被我发出的信号所吸引...我不知道。但这并不是发生在megaspell之前。所以，也许我或者核心系统发生了什么事，或者两者都发生了!"
“So how come that Perceptithingy thing works?” Rampage asked.
"那么，那个感知物质是怎么工作的呢?"狂暴问道。
Who did she think I was? P-21? “I don’t know. Maybe the Perceptitron doesn’t send out the same sort of signals? Or… maybe whatever causes my mind to wander off is similar, but weaker? When you’re wearing the Perceptitron, it’s almost like you become the person. It’s much more in-depth than a memory orb. Not quite mind reading, but close. So when I turn it on, instead of blissing out in room A, I experience someone else’s life in room B.”
她以为我是谁？P-21？"我不知道。也许感知器不会发出同样的信号？或者......也许导致我走神的原因是相似的，但是更弱？当你戴着感知器时，就好像你变成了那个人。这可比记忆球深奥多了。不是读心术，但也差不多了。所以当我打开它的时候，我不是在a房间享受快乐，而是在b房间体验别人的生活。"
Rampage looked at me, then smirked. “How many?”
狂暴看着我，然后傻笑起来。"有多少?"
“How many what?” I asked as I trotted to a door that I hoped would lead to a shaft or webbing or some other connection to the next building.
"多少什么?"我边问边小步走向一扇门，我希望这扇门能通向通往下一座建筑物的竖井、织带或者其他什么连接点。
“How many ponies have you ‘experienced’ getting it on?” Rampage asked, grinning ear to ear and swatting me with her barbed tail.
"你有多少次骑马经验?"狂暴问道，咧着嘴笑，用她带刺的尾巴拍打着我。
“What are you, a foal?!” I snapped, what cheeks I had left blushing hard. “Everything going on in my life, and you’re wondering if I’ve been peeking on ponies having sex? How immature are you?” Rampage’s grin only turned more smug. I finally looked away and muttered, “A few.” She didn’t stop smirking. “Okay, fine! There’re a few I’ve picked out who get it on at rather predictable times.”
"你是什么，小马驹吗?!"我厉声说道，我的脸颊涨得通红。"我生活中发生的一切，你都在想我是不是偷看小马做爱了？你有多不成熟?"狂暴的咧嘴笑只会变得更加自以为是。我终于把目光移开，喃喃自语道:"有几个。"她不停地傻笑。"好吧，好吧！我挑选出了一些人，他们会在相当可预测的时间做爱。"
“You are so busted when I tell Glory,” Rampage teased.
"当我告诉晨辉的时候，你就完蛋了,"狂暴开玩笑地说。
“I can’t help it! I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of lacking in the nerve ending department!” I said with a frown. Give me five or ten years… would I be any different than Deus? Heck, my brain might be in a jar at that point. Turning away, I muttered, “If the only good I get to feel is someone else’s, then it’s better than nothing at all. Otherwise, I might as well be a machine.”
"我忍不住！我不知道你是否注意到了，但是我有点缺乏神经末梢!"我皱着眉头说。给我五年或十年......我会有什么不同于天王？见鬼，那时候我的大脑可能在一个罐子里。我转过身去，喃喃自语道:"如果我能感受到的唯一好处是别人的，那么这总比什么都没有好。"。否则，我还不如成为一台机器。"
“Fair enough. Fair enough.” She hadn’t quite lost the little leer, though. When I met her look, she asked, “So, anypony I know that’s particularly saucy?”
"有道理。有道理。"尽管如此，她并没有完全失去那种迷人的眼神。当我看到她的样子时，她问道:"那么，我知道有哪匹小马特别漂亮吗?"
“You are a foal,” I muttered, not deterring her in the least. “Let’s just say Scotch Tape and I need to have a heart to heart about fillies, colts, and some of her tools.”
"你是一匹小马驹,"我喃喃自语，丝毫没有吓住她。"这么说吧，透明胶带，我需要和小雌马、小马以及她的一些工具进行一次心灵交流。"
“I knew it,” Rampage said with a laugh and snicker. “She always seemed a little too fond of that screwdriver with the rubber handle.”
"我就知道,"朗格笑着说。"她似乎总是有点太喜欢那把带橡胶把手的螺丝刀了。"
“She’s not the only one.” I decided to turn the conversation in another direction. Any other direction. “So why’d you leave the Rampage, Rampage?” She blinked in bafflement. “Your airship? The one you were going to use to become a sky pirate? Or hunt sky pirates?”
"她不是唯一一个。"我决定把话题转向另一个方向。任何其他方向。"那你为什么要离开狂暴，狂暴?"她困惑地眨了眨眼。"你的飞艇？就是你要用来当海盗的那个？还是猎杀空中海盗?"
“Oh!” She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she quickly averted her gaze. “They’re a great bunch. You wouldn’t believe what a slimy radroach that captain of theirs was. He actually had a sexual favors-slash-bribery chart for promotions. I dumped him in a lake of radigators after a good plucking. But afterwards…” she sighed and shrugged. “I’m not a leader, Blackjack. I just do; I follow. Like Twist, Shujaa, and Officer Whatshername… they all follow orders. I don’t have a captain or a politician in me. Even the Doc is more of a listener than a leader. The felon reacts to things that happen to her rather than going out of her way to do stuff on her own. The only pony inside me who actually wants to go out there and do things wants to find poor little fillies and colts and give them ‘peace’.” Her face creased into a nauseated grimace, and she shook her head. “The only other thing I want besides that is to die before all of you, or before I just give up and let her do what she wants, or I end up buried alive or something. I’d really prefer avoiding eternal agony.”
"哦!"她笑了，但是笑容没有完全到达她的眼睛，她很快地避开了她的目光。"他们是一群了不起的人。你不会相信他们的船长是个多么卑鄙无耻的家伙。他实际上有一个用于晋升的性好处/贿赂图表。我把他好好拔了一下，就把他扔进散热器湖里了。但是后来......"她叹了口气，耸了耸肩。"我不是一个领导者，Blackjack。我只是这样做，我跟随。就像特维斯特，舒贾，还有那个叫什么来着的警官......他们都服从命令。我没有船长或者政治家的气质。即使是博士也更多的是一个倾听者而不是领导者。重罪犯会对发生在她身上的事情做出反应，而不是独自行动。我体内唯一一匹真正想出去做事的小马想要找到可怜的小雌马和小马，给它们'安宁'。"她的脸皱成了一个恶心的鬼脸，她摇了摇头。"除此之外，我唯一想做的事情就是在你们所有人面前死去，或者在我放弃让她做她想做的事情之前，或者在我被活埋之前。我真的宁愿避免永恒的痛苦。"
“Rampage,” I said sympathetically.
"横冲直撞,"我同情地说。
She went on quickly, “It’s okay, though. I’m exploring other options. Ways to shut down the phoenix talisman once and for all. And no loss, really. Those souls get to go free. Sounds like a deal to me.” She smiled and shrugged. It chilled me how happy and sad all at once she seemed.
她很快地接着说,"不过没关系。我正在探索其他的选择。一劳永逸地关闭凤凰护身符的方法。没有损失，真的。那些灵魂可以得到自由。对我来说，这听起来像是一笔交易。"她微笑着耸了耸肩。她看起来既高兴又悲伤，这使我感到寒心。
“What other options?” I asked, but she shook her head. “How?”
"还有别的选择吗?"我问，但她摇了摇头。"怎么做?"
That prompted an eye roll. “Oh no. You don’t get it that easy. I tell you, and
这引起了一阵翻白眼。"哦，不。没那么简单。我告诉你
you’ll be all over me trying to keep me alive. DNR, Blackjack.” She relaxed a little. “Don’t worry about it. You can’t kill me. I get that now. You’re too much of a friend to do it,” Rampage said as she sniffed. “More of a friend than I deserve. But you won’t cross that line. I accept that. Just don’t try and stop me when I do find a way. Okay? That’s all I ask.” She sniffed again and rubbed her eye with the back of her hoof. Her hoofclaw blades cut a half dozen bloody furrows in her face, but they closed up almost instantly. “Fucking Celestia, if I start bawling, I’m throwing myself down the nearest elevator shaft and calling it a day. The only thing worse than pain is fucking self-pity.”
你会缠着我，想让我活下去。黑杰克(Blackjack)。"她稍微放松了一下。"别担心。你不能杀我。我现在明白了。你太像朋友了，不能这么做。"。"比我应得的朋友还要多。但你不会越过那条线。我接受这一点。当我找到方法的时候，不要试图阻止我。好吗？这是我唯一的要求。"她又闻了闻，然后用蹄子后面蹭了蹭眼睛。她的蹄爪刀片在她脸上划出了半打血迹斑斑的皱纹，但它们几乎立刻就合上了。"该死的塞莱斯蒂亚，如果我开始大喊大叫，我就会跳下最近的电梯井，结束这一天。唯一比痛苦更糟糕的就是他妈的自怜。"
There wasn’t much else to say as we continued along. Travelling through the Core wasn’t ‘pick a direction and go’. We went up, down, over, and across through rents and gaps in the floors, ceilings, and walls as much as forward, backward, and sideways. Rampage bulldozed her way through mounds of debris that Boo and I couldn’t hope to shift. I sighed as we reached the end of one hall and a locked metal door. I tapped my hoof against it. Solid. “Great,” I muttered, looking back the way we’d come. This was one reason it’d taken me so long to get anywhere in the Core. “What I wouldn’t give for P-21 to be here. Or Glory. Lacunae. Or all our friends.”
当我们继续前进时，没有什么可说的了。通过地核旅行并不是'选择一个方向然后前进'。我们通过地板、天花板和墙壁上的裂缝和缝隙向上、向下、向上、向上、向下穿过。横冲直撞的暴徒用推土机推开了成堆的残骸，我和Boo都无法移动它们。当我们走到一个大厅和一扇锁着的金属门的尽头时，我叹了口气。我用蹄子拍了拍它。可靠。"太好了,"我喃喃自语，回头看着我们来的路。这也是我花了这么长时间才到达核心区的原因之一。"如果P-21能来这里，我愿意放弃一切。或者晨辉。空隙。或者我们所有的朋友。"
“Well, you have two now, and Glory was turning the Hoof upside down to try and find some way to survive in here.” Then she blinked and looked back at Boo. “Speaking of which, why isn’t she goop?”
"好吧，你现在有两个了，晨辉把霍夫倒过来试图找到在这里生存的方法。"然后她眨了眨眼睛，回头看着布。"说到这个，她为什么没有起色?"
Boo cocked her head as we regarded her. “No idea,” I admitted. “I don’t know if it’s that she’s a blank made from Flux or something else, but she doesn’t decay here. You were right about her luck, though. She’s kept us from trotting into swarms, onto collapsing floors, or under weak ceilings more than once.”
我们注视着布，她昂起了头。"不知道,"我承认。"我不知道她是不是来自弗拉科斯或其他什么东西的空白，但她不会在这里腐烂。不过你对她运气的看法是对的。她不止一次地阻止我们成群结队地奔跑，不让我们跑到坍塌的地板上，不让我们跑到薄弱的天花板下面。"
“Luckee!” Boo said happily. Then she blinked, nosed at a tipped over garbage can, and pulled out a brown paper bag. In a trice, she’d pulled out a slightly withered but otherwise intact daisy sandwich. “Wunch!” Before either of us could object, she chowed down happily on the two-hundred-year-old sandwich.
"露琪!"布高兴地说。然后她眨了眨眼睛，朝一个倒在垃圾桶上的东西嗅了嗅，拿出一个棕色的纸袋。转眼间，她就拿出了一个稍微干瘪但完好无损的雏菊三明治。"哇!"我们还没来得及反对，她就高高兴兴地吃下了那块有两百年历史的三明治。
Rampage gestured at the door. “So what are you waiting for, Blackjack? Whip out your sword and open this sucker! Chop chop! Or shink shink. Whichever.” She then scowled as she looked me over. “Wait. Where is it?” I gave a mumbled reply, looking away. “Huh? What’s that?” I mumbled a bit louder. “Didn’t quite catch that.”
狂暴的人指了指门。"那你还在等什么，黑杰克？拿出你的剑，打开这该死的东西！快点快点！或者shinkshink。无论哪个。"然后她皱起眉头打量了我一番。"等等。它在哪里?"我含糊地回答了一句，目光移开了。"啊？那是什么?"我咕哝了一声。"我没听清楚。"
“I dropped it, okay?!” I yelled at her.
"是我弄掉的，好吗?!"我对她大喊大叫。
“You… dropped it?” She blinked at me. I sighed and nodded. “How do you drop something like that? Why didn’t you pick it up? That was a really bitchin’ sword!”
"你...掉了?"她对我眨了眨眼睛。我叹了口气，点了点头。"你怎么能扔掉这样的东西呢？你为什么不捡起来？那真是把好剑!"
“Cause I dropped it a couple thousand feet, okay?” I huffed. “First Rainbow Dash and now you! What, am I the first pony in history to drop their weapon?”
"因为我把它掉了几千英尺，好吗?"我生气了。"先是彩虹冲刺，现在又是你！难道我是史上第一个放下武器的小马吗?"
“The Lightbringer never dropped her weapons.” Rampage smirked at me.
"光明使者从未放下武器。"横冲直撞的人冲我傻笑。
I really wished I had an eyelid to twitch right then. “Great. We can swap places. I’ll manage the weather, and she can stop Cognitum.”
我真希望那时我有眼皮抽动一下。"太好了。我们可以交换位置。我可以控制天气，她可以阻止科涅塔姆。"
“Don’t be stupid; none of us would trust you with the weather. It’d be raining whiskey all across the... Wasteland...” Rampage said, then paused. After a moment, she shook her head. “Nah, I doubt she’d trade. Anyway,” she said, regarding the locked door, “I’ve never let a stupid door stop me before!” She backed down the hall, gestured for us to move aside, then gave a war cry and charged, smashing her head into the door with a crunch and making the doorjamb crack free of the cinderblock wall surrounding it. She wedged her helmet blade in tight and gave it a hard twist followed by another sharp kick to the door. With a crunch of crumbling brickwork, the entire door fell inward, revealing a conference room rent by a hole carved through the outer wall. A threaded shaft as wide as a pony stretched across to the next building. “Not as clean as your sword, but I get the job done.” She gave me a poke in the side, and I inhaled sharply, shielding my stomach. “What?”
"别傻了，我们谁也不会相信你说的天气。横冲直撞的说道，然后停顿了一下。过了一会儿，她摇了摇头。"不，我怀疑她是否愿意交换。"无论如何,"她对着锁着的门说,"我以前从来没有让一扇愚蠢的门阻挡过我!"她退到走廊里，示意我们靠边，然后发出一声战斗般的喊叫，冲了过去，嘎吱一声，她的头撞在门上，使得门框从围绕着它的煤渣砖墙上裂开了。她把头盔刀紧紧地塞进去，狠狠地拧了一下，然后又猛地一脚踢在门上。随着破碎的砖块嘎吱作响，整个大门向内倾斜，露出一间会议室，这间会议室的外墙被凿了一个洞。一个像小马一样宽的螺纹轴伸展到下一个建筑物。"没有你的剑干净，但我完成了任务。"她在我的侧面戳了我一下，我猛地吸了口气，捂住了肚子。"什么?"
“Nothing,” I muttered darkly, pushing past her and stepping towards the breach. Beyond were the black tower walls of the Core in every direction, the distances indeterminate in the green haze and pouring rain.
"没什么,"我暗自嘀咕着，从她身边挤过去，朝缺口走去。远处是核心区的黑色塔墙，四面八方都是，在绿色的迷雾和倾盆大雨中，距离无法确定。
* * *
* * *
“I have no idea where we are,” I muttered sullenly between bites of gemstones as I scanned the lobby of the office we trotted into. With Rampage along, our progress had picked up significantly. Rampage had a way of shoving through anything: blocks, stuck doors, locks, the occasional non-load-bearing wall, one not so non-load-bearing wall… well, we dug her out eventually. When we reached a breach on the far side of one building, I flew us over to the next
"我不知道我们身在何处,"我一面扫视着我们小跑进入的办公室大厅，一面咬着宝石，闷闷不乐地咕哝着。随着横冲直撞的发生，我们的进度明显加快了。狂暴有一种推开任何东西的方式:积木，卡住的门，锁，偶尔的非承重墙，一个不那么承重的墙...好吧，我们最终把她挖了出来。当我们到达一座建筑物远端的一个缺口时，我带着我们飞到另一座建筑物
building before the swarmers below could spiral up after us. In three days, we’d covered almost as many blocks. It was immense progress compared to what I’d accomplished on my own.
在海水侵蚀我们之前就建好了。三天之内，我们几乎走过了同样多的街区。与我自己的成就相比，这是一个巨大的进步。
“Good, because I have no idea where we’re going,” Rampage replied as she battered a hole through yet another wall. “I mean seriously, Blackjack. Are we going to Cognitum or not?”
"很好，因为我不知道我们要去哪里,"拉皮特一边回答，一边又在另一堵墙上打了一个洞。"我是认真的，黑杰克。我们到底去不去科涅塔姆?"
“I told you, I’m trying to figure it out,” I snapped, sitting down and resting one hoof over my stomach as I looked back the way we came. “I think we might be better off trying to get to the wall. If we can scale it, we can get out of the Core and meet up with the others.”
"我告诉过你，我正在想办法,"我厉声说道，坐下来，一只蹄子放在肚子上，我回头看着我们来的方向。"我认为，我们最好还是设法靠近长城。如果我们能够扩大规模，我们就能走出核心区，与其他人会合。"
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Blackjack. Yesterday, you said you wanted to just get to Cogs and finish her off. The day before that, you just wanted to find somewhere safe to hole up till either you contacted Glory or she contacted you.” She rammed her hooves into the cinderblocks, busting the hole wider. “What’s gotten into you?”
"哦，他妈的，黑杰克。昨天你说你只想找到Cogs把她干掉。在那之前的一天，你只是想找个安全的地方躲起来，直到你联系了Glory或者她联系了你。"她用蹄子撞向煤渣砖，把洞撞得更宽了。"你怎么了?"
“Nothing’s in me, Rampage! Okay?” I snapped. “I’m just… I’m in a bad mood, and I’m not sure what the best thing to do is.”
"我什么也没有，狂暴！好吗?"我厉声说道。"我只是...心情不好，我不知道该怎么办。"
"And how is that different from any other time we've hit a fork in the road?" Rampage countered with a scowl. I loathed her ability to scowl. A toxic hatred born of envy. “Blackjack, you have two modes: full stop and full speed ahead. Even if you didn’t have a clue on the direction, you kept moving. Now you’re… I don’t know what. But it doesn’t feel like you.”
"这和我们遇到岔路口的时候有什么不同吗?"狂暴怒怒容满面地反击。我讨厌她愁眉苦脸的样子。由嫉妒产生的毒性仇恨。"黑杰克，你有两种模式:全速停车和全速前进。即使你对方向一无所知，你还是继续前进。现在你...我不知道是什么。但感觉不像你。"
“Well, maybe things change, Rampage. Maybe I’ve changed! Look at me. I’m more machine than mare now. Heck, I’m lucky I can still eat, sleep and… shit,” I concluded lamely, not able to meet her eyes. “We’re going… where we’re going.” And I trotted forward and made a show of inspecting the lobby of whatever office we were now inside. Solaris Industries? Never heard of them.
"好吧，也许事情会变的，狂暴。也许我已经变了！看着我。我现在更像机器而不是母马。见鬼，我很幸运，我还能吃饭、睡觉和拉屎,"我一瘸一拐地总结道，无法直视她的眼睛。"我们要去...我们要去的地方。"我小跑着向前走去，装模作样地检查了我们现在所在办公室的大厅。索拉里斯工业？从没听说过。
“Bwackjack,” Boo said in warning tones as I stomped forward across the clothes-strewn floor.
"真是个怪人,"布用警告的语气说，我跺着脚走过铺满衣服的地板。
“We’re going, Boo! See? This is me going! Doing what everyone needs me to do! March two three four!” I said irritably as I strode forward.
"我们要走了，Boo！看到了吗？这是我要去的地方！做每个人都需要我做的事情！三月二三四!"我不耐烦地说，大步向前走去。
“No, Blackjack! Look out!” Rampage warned as I set my foot down inside a flat band of silver attached to a thin silver wire. Instantly, the band snapped closed around the ankle of my left hindleg. The wire, hidden under layers of fetid clothing, suddenly went taut with a familiar hum, leading in a trail of uplifted garments straight through the front entrance of this Solaris place. “Oh, this is bad…” was all I managed to say before I was yanked off my hooves towards the door. Sparks and dust flew as my metal bits dragged on the floor.
"不，黑杰克！小心!"当我把脚放在一条细银线上的银带里时，狂暴警告我。立刻，带子就折断了，紧紧地缠住了我的左后腿的脚踝。隐藏在层层臭气熏天的衣服下面的铁丝，突然发出熟悉的嗡嗡声，直接穿过索拉里斯这个地方的前门，一路上升起一连串的衣服。"哦，这太糟糕了......"这是我在被猛拉到门口之前所能说的话。当我的金属块拖在地板上时，火花和灰尘四溅。
“Catch her!” Rampage yelled as I was pulled away from them. The doors exploded as I was yanked through them in a cloud of rags, dust, and debris. My forehooves flailed wildly as I tried to find something to stop my progress. Rampage and Boo raced after me as I was dragged down the hall. The silver wire was barely thicker than a hair, but it was all that was needed to pull me along. I smashed through another door and was pulled through another cubicle park like a black wrecking ball. Partitions, papers, terminals, and desks all went flying. Nothing I grabbed even slowed me down as I was yanked along.
"抓住她!"我被拉开的时候，狂暴大叫起来。当我被卷成碎布、灰尘和碎片的云拽着穿过车门时，车门爆炸了。我的前蹄疯狂地挥舞着，因为我试图找到一些东西来阻止我的进步。当我被拖到大厅时，狂暴和布追着我跑。那根银线只比一根头发粗一点点，但它就是拉着我前进的全部动力。我撞开了另一扇门，被拉进了另一个小隔间，就像一个黑色的破碎球。隔板、纸张、终端和书桌都飞了起来。当我被拉着走的时候，我抓住的任何东西都没有减慢我的速度。
The wire hummed against a thick beam, and in desperation, I hooked my hooves around the end and abruptly halted. The back half of my body was lifted right off the ground. If I’d been flesh and blood, I would never have been able to hold on. In fact, my leg probably would have been torn right out of its socket. Even augmented as I was, I could feel the strain growing. Rampage and Boo ran around the cubicle farm to reach me.
铁丝在一根粗大的横梁上发出嗡嗡声，绝望之中，我用蹄子钩住铁丝的末端，突然停了下来。我身体的后半部分被抬离了地面。如果我是血肉之躯，我就不可能坚持下去。事实上，我的腿可能已经被扯出了它的关节窝。尽管我已经增强了力量，我还是能感觉到压力在增加。狂暴和阿布绕着隔间农场跑来跑去找我。
“Back, Boo! Don’t touch that wire,” Rampage snapped at Boo. “One of these got me. Month of chewing. All that.” She reached down to the silver band clamped around my rear hoof, trying to get a hoofclaw under the metal. “Just gotta pry this damned thing off...” The humming line sliced right through her own leg as if it were nothing. She hissed in pain but snatched up the severed limb and held it to the spurting stump. “Blackjack, how do I take your foot off?”
"回去，Boo！不要碰那根电线。"。"其中一个打中了我。咀嚼月。所有这一切。"她伸手抓住夹在我后蹄上的银带，试图在金属底下抓住蹄爪。"我得把这该死的东西撬开......"嗡嗡的声音划过她的腿，好像什么都不是似的。她疼得发出嘶嘶的声音，但还是抓起那截断肢，抓住那突出的树桩。"黑杰克，我怎么才能把你的脚拿开?"
“You want to take my foot off?!” I asked in disbelief.
"你想把我的脚拿走吗?!"我难以置信地问。
“It’s that or your whole body. What this thing is connected to doesn’t die either,” Rampage shouted, then began to slam my hoof with her hoofclaws. Sparks flew as she dented and scraped my metal limb, the dents disappearing almost as soon as she made them. “Damn upgrades! Stop repairing yourself!”
"不是这样，就是你的整个身体。"这东西和什么有关也不会死,"狂暴喊道，然后开始用蹄爪猛踩我的蹄子。她把我的金属肢体撞得凹凸不平，火花四溅，几乎一碰到凹痕就消失了。"该死的升级！不要再修复你自己了!"
“I can’t help it!” I shouted, then clenched my teeth, feeling myself start to shift.
"我忍不住!"我叫喊着，然后咬紧牙关，感觉自己开始移动。
“They’re automatic!”
"它们是自动的!"
Then the tiled façade of the pillar ripped free from under my hooves, and I shot out from underneath Rampage, bowling her over. My wings and hooves scraped helplessly against the force pulling my leg. I shot down a short hall, whipped around the corner, rammed into the opposite wall with enough force to shake my teeth loose, and then flew down another long, undecorated hall towards a pair of elevator doors marked ‘Cargo’. They were parted just a few inches, the silver thread sparking off the metal as it was pulled through the gap near the floor.
然后，我的蹄子下面的柱子的瓷砖立面被扯掉了，我从下面冲了出来，把她打翻在地。我的翅膀和蹄子被拉扯着腿的力量无助地擦着。我射下一个很短的大厅，拐过一个角落，用足够的力量撞向对面的墙，把我的牙齿都撞松了，然后飞奔下另一个长长的，没有装饰的大厅，飞向一对标有'货物'的电梯门。他们只分开了几英寸，银线从地板附近的缝隙中穿过，从金属上冒出火花。
“Stop!” Rampage yelled after me. What did she think I was trying to do?! This long hallway was utilitarian, concrete floors and cinderblock walls. My wings and hooves sparked as I struggled and failed to find something to catch myself on. Some conduits ran floor to ceiling, and I flung my forelegs around them as I passed. The thick plastic stretched, cracked, then shattered, and a deluge of frigid water poured over me and the concrete floor. Now nice and slick, I shot towards the gap in the elevator door. I did the only thing I could think of: I spread my wings as wide as I could to catch the sides of the wall around the rusty elevator and planted my free hooves to either side of the door. Immediately, the heavy door groaned.
"住手!"狂暴在我后面喊道。她以为我想干什么?！这条长长的走廊很实用，混凝土地板和煤渣砖墙。我的翅膀和蹄子闪闪发光，因为我挣扎着找不到什么东西来抓住自己。一些管道从地板一直通到天花板，当我经过的时候，我用前腿把它们缠住。厚厚的塑料被拉伸，开裂，然后粉碎，冰冷的洪水倾泻在我和混凝土地面上。现在又漂亮又光滑，我冲向电梯门的缝隙。我做了我能想到的唯一一件事:我尽可能地展开我的翅膀抓住生锈的电梯周围的墙壁，把我的免费蹄子放在门的两边。沉重的门立刻发出呻吟声。
Boo and Rampage raced up towards me as my power systems began dropping to shutdown levels. “Gem!” I called out. Boo wasted no time opening her bag, pulling out a large green emerald, and springing up to pop it in my mouth. I masticated furiously, too fast to enjoy the minty flavor, and set myself. I began to pull my left hindleg back out the gap.
当我的能量系统开始下降到关闭水平时，Boo和疯狂冲向我。"宝石!"我大声喊道。布立刻打开她的包，拿出一大块绿色的祖母绿，跳起来把它塞进我的嘴里。我疯狂地咀嚼着，速度太快以至于无法享受薄荷味，于是我自己动手了。我开始把我的左后腿拉出缺口。
“We gotta get it off before it gets up here!” Rampage said as she sliced frantically at the silver band and wire. The pressure was immense. It felt like that tiny silver wire was holding up the cargo elevator somewhere down in the shaft's inky depths.
"我们得在它上来之前把它弄下来!"狂暴说着，她疯狂地切开银带和金属丝。压力巨大。感觉就像是那根细小的银色电线支撑着下面漆黑深处某个地方的货运电梯。
“Before what gets here?” I asked through gritted teeth. Then I froze, feeling the wire start to wiggle. Through the dark gap came a smell of ammonia, bile, and gastric juices over an ever-growing reek of iron. “Take my hoof off. Take it off!” Call me peglegged Blackjack, I did not want to know what was coming. The Enervation scream was taking on a new note: wet. Rampage struggled to get the band off my hoof while Boo hung back, trembling.
"在什么到来之前?"我咬紧牙关问道。然后我僵住了，感觉电线开始摆动。穿过黑暗的缝隙，一股氨水、胆汁和胃液的味道弥漫在不断增长的铁臭味中。"把我的蹄子拿下来。脱下来!"叫我瘸子Blackjack，我不想知道接下来会发生什么。充满能量的尖叫声带来了一个新的音符:湿润。狂暴挣扎着想把束带从我的蹄子上弄下来，而布退缩着，浑身发抖。
Then I saw eyes on the far side of the gap. Some may have been pony eyes. Others might have been the eyes of radroaches or bloatsprites. Several could have been blind, sightless things or immense wet pustules. It was impossible to know. I just knew that scream; I’d heard it before and knew that it came from many, many mouths.
然后我看到一双眼睛在缝隙的另一边。有些人可能是小马眼。另外一些人可能是流氓或者浮肿精灵的眼睛。有几个可能是失明的，看不见的东西或巨大的潮湿脓疱。这是不可能知道的。我只知道那声尖叫;我以前听到过，知道它来自许许多多人。
And those mouths were spilling forth. A beet red protrusion, vaguely, horribly phallic, began to push through. Gibbering orifices, fanged and revoltingly yonic, opened and closed on the veined, maroon shaft. The end of it split open like a grotesque fanged flower, squirming tendrils within reaching for my flesh. Each one was tipped in a star-like maw as it reached for my midriff.
那些嘴向外溢出。一个甜菜红色的突起，模模糊糊，可怕的阴茎，开始推动通过。胡言乱语的小孔，带着尖牙和令人左右为难的怪腔，在这个有着紫红色脉络的竖井上打开又关上。它的末端像一朵奇形怪状的长着尖牙的花一样裂开了，卷须蠕动着伸向我的肉。当它们伸向我的腹部时，每一只都被放进了一个像星星一样的无底洞。
With a mindless scream of pure panic, I activated my flight talismans and beat my wings furiously. A portion of the thing bulged, and the puckered orifice drawing the silver wire began to let the silver metal slip out, dripping unctuous ammonic juice. Foot by foot, I pulled away from the grasping protrusion. Two feet. Five. Ten. I was burning energy like mad, anything to get away from that thing.
随着一声无意识的纯粹恐慌的尖叫，我激活了我的飞行护身符，疯狂地拍打着我的翅膀。一部分的东西膨胀起来，缩起来的孔口拉出银丝开始让银金属滑出来，滴下油腻的氨水。我一步一步地从抓住的突出物中挣脱出来。两英尺。五。10.我疯狂地燃烧着能量，想尽一切办法逃离那东西。
Then Rampage was there, screaming in defiance as her bladed hoofclaws ripped, tore, and shredded into the maroon flesh. More tentacles pushed through, thinner and quicker. The mouth-studded tendrils sought out gaps in her armor; when they found them, they drilled into her body with a foaming fury. Rampage, in return, ducked her head and ripped at the flesh with her bladed helmet. More than twice, she reached down, biting and shaking her head savagely. The creature’s flesh tore, but within were more fine silver wires. These sent out loops into the air, caught around her, and pulled through armor and flesh alike. Though her armor began falling to pieces, her body sealed the thin cuts as quickly as they formed. “That’s right, fucker! I don’t die either,” Rampage screamed as she thrashed.
然后，狂暴女人出现了，尖叫着反抗，她锋利的蹄爪撕裂，撕裂，撕碎成栗色的肉。更多的触角穿过，更薄，更快。满嘴的卷须寻找着她盔甲上的缝隙，当他们发现时，他们怒气冲冲地钻进了她的身体。狂暴，作为回报，低下她的头，用她的刃状头盔撕裂了肉体。不止两次，她伸手下去，凶狠地咬着，摇着头。那生物的肉被撕裂了，但是里面有更多细小的银线。它们在空中形成环形，缠绕在她周围，穿透盔甲和肉体。虽然她的盔甲开始支离破碎，但她的身体很快就把薄薄的伤口封住了。"没错，混蛋！我也不会死。"。
This was so similar to Horizon Labs that I frantically loaded the Chapel audio file and began to play the hymn at full blast. Maybe this would weaken it enough to get away... but from the far side of the doors came a continuous, earsplitting scream so loud that it drowned out the melody. I could only try to fly as fast as I could, but, to my horror, the thing started to squeeze through. The doors now bulged outwards, as if I were pulling the thing through to us. Flesh crawled along the wire connecting me to it.
这是如此类似的地平线实验室，我疯狂地加载教堂音频文件，并开始播放赞美诗在全速。也许这会削弱它的力量，让它离开......但是从门的另一边传来一声持续的、震耳欲聋的尖叫，声音如此之大，以至于盖过了旋律。我只能尽可能快地飞起来，但是，让我恐惧的是，那东西开始挤过来。门现在向外突出，好像是我在把那东西拉过来似的。肉体沿着连接我和它的电线爬行。
I targeted my hoof in S.A.T.S. and fired four magic bullets in desperation, but the reinforced limbs, though heavily dented, refused to break. I saw suckers forming on the tendril extending along the filament, and then those suckers sprouted teeth along their edges. Instinctively, and panicked, I tried to teleport away. Terror burned so deeply in me that I barely acknowledged the sledgehammer blow as I squeezed myself through that mental tube… only to feel myself yanked back out it. The shock of my disrupted spell drove me to the ground.
我瞄准了我在S.A.T.S.的蹄子，在绝望中发射了四颗魔法子弹，但加固的四肢虽然凹痕很重，却不会断裂。我看到卷须上形成吸盘，沿着细丝延伸，然后那些吸盘沿着边缘长出牙齿。出于本能，我惊慌失措，试图瞬移离开。恐惧在我心中燃烧得如此之深，以至于当我挤过那个精神管的时候，我几乎没有意识到那个大锤的打击......只是感觉到自己被猛地拉了回来。我中断咒语的震惊使我倒在地上。
Then Boo rushed forward. I tried to shout to her to run away and hide. Rampage would find her eventually… even if it took another month. But the normally timid mare ran to where the wire linked me to the monster, the strange plastic medallion in her mouth. As it drew near, the silver filament began to resonate, then glow. The wire then broke with a bright flash accompanied by a crackle of magical radiation, and the screaming abomination let out a new scream... this one of pain.
然后，布冲了上去。我试图对她大声喊叫，让她跑开躲起来。狂暴最终会找到她的...即使再过一个月。但是这匹平时很胆小的母马跑到了电线把我和怪物联系在一起的地方，怪物嘴里叼着一个奇怪的塑料奖章。当它靠近时，银丝开始共振，然后发光。电线断了，伴随着一道闪光，伴随着魔法辐射的劈啪声，令人憎恶的尖叫又发出了一声尖叫......这是一种痛苦。
I looked at the startled pale earth pony, her face and forelock singed black, levitated the pendant off her, and floated it towards the beast. The closer it drew, the more the waving filaments burst into light. Now the thing was trying to squeeze its way back down the elevator shaft.
我看着那匹吓得脸色发白的矮种马，她的脸和额头都被烧焦了，我把吊坠从她身上悬浮起来，然后把它漂向那匹野马。它拉得越近，就有越多的波状细丝爆发出光。现在这东西正试图挤回电梯井。
“Oh no you don’t!” Rampage yelled, throwing her forehooves around the thick mem-- tendril that had been inching towards me and clutching it tight as she planted her rear hooves against the cargo elevator’s doors. “Let it choke on that, Blackjack!” she shouted.
"哦，不，你没有!"狂暴的叫喊着，前蹄甩向厚厚的机身----卷须一直向我缓慢移动，紧紧抓住机身，她用后蹄抵住货运电梯的门。"让它窒息吧，黑杰克!"她喊道。
I obliged, opening my fingers and clenching the pendant in them. Then I charged forward, ramming my fist into the open mouth. The creature screamed in rage, agony, or both as brighter and brighter flashes went off inside its body, spikes of radiation accompanying each one. I imagined tiny spools of silver metal reacting and exploding like tiny balefire bombs. The surface of the creature shimmered wetly, pustules bursting in arcs of crimson and yellow. Then, with a final bright flash, the creature popped like a water balloon filled with red paint and splattered the hall. Boo nipped behind me a moment before it burst. The foul mass quivered but then went still, the flesh disintegrating before our eyes and deluging back into the shaft.
我答应了，张开手指，紧握着手中的吊坠。然后我向前冲去，把拳头塞进张开的嘴里。这个生物在愤怒、痛苦中尖叫，或者两者兼而有之，它的身体里发出越来越明亮的闪光，每一个闪光都伴随着放射线的尖峰。我想象着小小的银线轴像小小的火焰炸弹一样发出反应并爆炸。那生物的表面微微发光，脓疱呈弧形爆裂，呈深红色和黄色。然后，伴随着最后一道明亮的闪光，这个生物像一个充满了红色油漆的水气球一样爆裂开来，溅到了大厅里。布在我身后轻轻地走了一会儿，它就爆裂了。那团恶臭的东西颤抖着，但随后又静止了下来，肉体在我们眼前分裂开来，像洪水一样涌进了矿井。
I collapsed, then, with my fingers, finally pried off the silver band around my
我瘫倒在地，然后，用我的手指，终于撬开了我周围的银带
ankle. I stared at it a moment, then brought it towards the plastic pendant. There was a slight, familiar, resistance. The end of the dangling silver wire began to glow, melting away like a candle as it seemed to curl away from the pendant. My PipBuck began to click again, sharply. When the wire had disintegrated as far as the flat band of the snare, though, the thicker metal began to shine with a fierce heat that set my PipBuck to clicking furiously, and the metal band started splitting and curling like a flailing mass of tentacles. I quickly separated the two. The metal immediately dimmed and froze but remained warped as if by an even greater heat than the one I’d felt. I regarded the pendant, the plastic on one edge blackened and warped, and then I carefully bit down and peeled off a strip of plastic. Within was the pale glitter of moonstone.
脚踝。我盯着它看了一会儿，然后把它拿到塑料吊坠那里。有一种轻微的、熟悉的反抗。那根晃来晃去的银线的末端开始发光，像一根蜡烛一样慢慢融化，好像从坠子上卷起来了。我的PipBuck又开始发出咔嗒声，声音很尖锐。当金属丝断裂到陷阱的平带时，厚厚的金属开始发出强烈的热量，让我的PipBuck疯狂地发出咔哒声，金属带开始分裂和卷曲，就像一团乱舞的触须。我很快就把它们分开了。那块金属立刻变得暗淡无光，冻结在冰上，但仍然变形，好像被一种比我感觉到的更高的热量烤弯了。我看了看吊坠，一边的塑料已经变黑变形了，然后我小心翼翼地咬下来，撕下一条塑料布。里面是月光石淡淡的闪光。
“What is it?” Rampage asked as she looked at the shimmery, white opalescence.
"这是什么?"当她看着那闪闪发光的白色乳白色物质时，狂暴问道。
I heard that strange chorus emanating from it and into the back of my mind.
我听到那奇怪的合唱声从那里传出来，进入我的脑海。
“It’s a piece of the moon,” I answered, turning it over. It was half the size of a bit, coated in that thick layer of orange plastic. Now I could place it. “This was the pendant they wore when they were working in the Tokomare. It kept them from getting sick.”
"这是一块月亮,"我回答，把它翻过来。它只有钻头的一半大小，外面覆盖着一层厚厚的橙色塑料。现在我可以把它放在。"这是他们在德国佬工作时戴的吊坠。这样他们就不会生病。"
“Huh,” Rampage said as she looked at it, then at me. I floated out two pouches of RadAway, slurping the bitter orangey goodness with relish and making Boo drink hers, no matter what icky faces the pale mare made. As Rampage studied the moonstone, a sly look crossed her face. “Say, Blackjack... I dare you to eat it.”
"哈,"朗格看着它说，然后又看着我。我拿出两袋红葡萄酒，津津有味地啜饮着苦涩的橙汁，让Boo喝她的红葡萄酒，不管那匹苍白的母马做出了怎样讨厌的表情。当狂暴仔细端详月长石时，她脸上露出狡猾的表情。"喂，黑杰克......我看你敢不敢吃。"
“What?” I asked, frowning as I made sure Boo finished off the pouch. “Don’t make that face at me Boo; you don’t want to get eye tentacle penis tumors. Trust me on this.” Okay, technically, that had been from taint… but anything to get her to finish off the pouch.
"什么?"我问道，皱着眉头，我确定Boo已经把袋子吃完了。"别冲我做鬼脸嘘，你可不想眼睛的触手长出阴茎肿瘤。在这一点上请相信我。"好吧，从技术上来说，这是从污点...但任何东西让她完成了育儿袋。
“I said, I dare you to take a nibble of the moon.” Her smile went from ear to ear. “You eat gems. That’s a gem. So go on. I double diamond dog dare you to take a bite.”
"我说，我看你敢不敢咬一口月亮。"她笑得合不拢嘴。"你吃宝石。那真是一块宝石。所以继续吧。我打赌你不敢咬一口."
“You are such a foal,” I muttered primly, then considered the exposed edge again. “I’m just doing this to top off my power levels, understand?” I asked before levitating it to my mouth and biting off a delicate, ladylike sliver of the stone.
"你真是个小马驹,"我一本正经地喃喃自语，然后又想了想那露在外面的边缘。"我这么做只是为了提高我的能量水平，明白吗?"我问道，然后把它放进嘴里，咬下一块精致的，像女士一样的石条。
“So… what’s it taste like?” Rampage asked with a grin. The grin multiplied in the air behind her as a crowd of shadow ponies began to appear, all smiling at me. One had darker stripes. Another a choker of barbed wire. A third dripped blood. There were dozens more behind her, some distinct, others vague.
"那么......味道怎么样?"狂暴带着微笑问道。当一群影子小马开始向我微笑时，她身后的空气中露出了更多的笑容。其中一个有更深的条纹。还有一个是被带刺的铁丝勒住脖子的。第三滴血。她身后还有几十个人，有些很清楚，有些模糊不清。
“Purple…” I muttered weakly. “It tastes horizontally purple in the perpendicular…” My eyes drifted over to Boo. Her strings glistened as they were tugged. From above, the shadowy thing manipulating the puppeteer’s crossbars peered back at me and raised a finger to its lips. “Rambleberry in the haircut, two cups please.” The walls melted around us to reveal the bones and flesh behind the paint.
"紫色......"我微弱地咕哝着。"它在垂直的水平方向尝起来是紫色的......"我的眼睛转向了布。她的琴弦被拉得闪闪发光。从上面，那个操纵木偶师的横木的影子东西回头看着我，把一根手指放在嘴唇上。"蓝莓理发，请给我两个杯子。"我们周围的墙壁融化了，露出了油漆后面的骨头和肉。
Echo stood by, small and translucent, head hung in shame, a collar of thorns hung about his neck. But why should that… that shouldn’t mean anything to me… Six tiny Rarities goggled at each other, one normal and the other five with the palettes of her friends.
艾可站在一旁，个子矮小，半透明，羞愧地垂着脑袋，脖子上挂着一圈荆棘。但是为什么这...这对我来说没有任何意义...六个小稀世珍宝互相瞪着对方，一个是正常的，另外五个和她的朋友们的调色板。
“Blackjack? You don’t look so good,” Rampage said, a filly painted in blood with a crowd of shadows behind her. Her voice echoed over and over as I stared down through yesterday and up through tomorrow and around and… I looked down at my hooves as my flesh popped through the seams and twisted around my augments, and my augments started churning and ripping away my flesh and my chest starting singing and that was when I decided that the appropriate response in this situation was to scream…
"黑杰克？"你看起来不太好,"朗格说，身上涂满了鲜血，身后还有一群影子。她的声音一遍又一遍地回响着，我凝视着昨天，凝视着明天，凝视着周围......我低头看着我的蹄子，我的肉从接缝处裂开，缠绕着我的肚子，我的肚子开始翻滚，撕裂我的肉，我的胸膛开始唱歌，这时我决定，在这种情况下，适当的反应是尖叫.....。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
The world was green, lush, and vibrant. A thousand sounds buzzed in the air from incalculably varied kinds of life. It buzzed, chirped, creaked, and howled. Not a good world, nor an evil world; this world lived. It breathed and howled and mated and killed and birthed and died all in one spectacular melody of being. A harmony primal, pure, and unrestrained spread in all directions. No species predominated; in this world, all were of equal importance.
世界是绿色的，郁郁葱葱的，充满活力的。来自各种各样不同生物的千百种声音在空中嗡嗡作响。它嗡嗡叫，叽叽喳喳，吱吱作响，嚎叫不止。不是一个美好的世界，也不是一个邪恶的世界;这个世界存在着。它呼吸着，嚎叫着，交配着，杀戮着，生产着，死亡着，所有这一切都在一个壮丽的旋律中进行着。一种原始的、纯净的、无拘无束的和谐，向四面八方蔓延。在这个世界上，没有物种占主导地位，所有的物种都具有同等的重要性。
I slithered. I flapped. I raced. I dug. I sang. I hid. I killed. I died. I swam. I mated. I slept. I birthed. I suckled. I rejoiced. I mourned. I was in so very many things and was so many things at once. I was an ant on a tree, and the tree cradling the bird, and the bird sitting upon the egg, and egg with life stirring within. In all these states, I was, and in all these states, in countless voices, I
我滑了一下。我拍了拍手。我参加了比赛。我挖了起来。我唱歌。我躲了起来。我杀了人。我死了。我游泳。我交配了。我睡着了。是我生的。我哺乳了。我很高兴。我感到悲伤。我身处许多事物之中，同时身处许多事物之中。我是树上的一只蚂蚁，树抱着小鸟，小鸟坐在蛋上，蛋里面生机勃勃。在所有这些州，我是，在所有这些州，在无数的声音，我
sang.
歌唱。
Then a green glow filled the skies, and the song became confused, strained, and fearful. This was not the welcome light of dawn nor the peaceful twilight of evening. This glow was an intruder, alien and cold. There was no warning, no streak of meteor in the sky nor roar of displaced air from a storm. Only a flash, and the flash was death. Only a pressure, massive and crushing all before it. The song was a scream of millions of voices, some flung far away and others sucked into a horrible nothing.
接着，一道绿光照亮了天空，歌声变得混乱、紧张和恐惧。这不是黎明的可喜之光，也不是黄昏的宁静暮色。这辉光是一个入侵者，外星人和冷。没有任何警告，天空中没有流星划过的痕迹，也没有暴风雨引起的空气移动的咆哮。只是一瞬间，那瞬间就是死亡。只有一个压力，巨大的和粉碎所有在它之前。这首歌是数百万人的尖叫，一些人被抛向远方，另一些人被吸入一个可怕的虚无之中。
I no longer slithered, flapped, raced, dug, sang, hid, killed, swam, mated, slept, birthed, suckled, rejoiced, or mourned. I died, and the only sound that remained was silence and the echoing scream of our death. I was thrown to the wind, to the sky, to the stars. But I could not escape to them. I circled and circled, and I joined with billions more like myself. A new tiny world circling the old, but cold and still and solemn, between the stars and the world below. I took their light, and did the only thing I could. I sang.
我不再滑行、拍打、比赛、挖掘、唱歌、躲藏、杀戮、游泳、交配、睡觉、生育、哺乳、欢乐或哀悼。我死了，唯一留下的声音就是寂静和我们死亡的回声。我被抛向风，抛向天空，抛向星星。但是我不能逃避他们。我一圈又一圈，加入了数十亿像我一样的人。一个新的小世界环绕着旧世界，但寒冷，寂静和庄严，在星星和下面的世界之间。我拿起他们的灯，做了我唯一能做的事。我唱歌。
Time passed. The world below grew green once more. A newer song rose up, but the echo of our scream persisted like a scar. The song expelled one bearing the scream to our tiny world, and I held her. Sang to her. Calmed her and soothed her anguish and rage so that when she returned, she would be able to be free. Not healed… not completely. She would always be scarred.
时间过去了。下面的世界又变绿了。一首新歌响了起来，但是我们的尖叫声像伤疤一样回荡着。歌声向我们这个小小的世界发出了一声尖叫，我抱住了她。唱歌给她听。使她平静下来，减轻她的痛苦和愤怒，这样当她回来的时候，她就可以自由了。没有痊愈......没有完全痊愈。她总是伤痕累累。
She would leave, and another came, in a machine of metal and magic. It landed on the still, airless dust, and a voyager stepped out, and her eyes beheld the stars and us and the magnificent desolation all around us. The song was within her, and us, and the stars. And so she used her power to lift me from the dust, and set me in a box with many others. We were so eager to return to the old world below.
她会离开，另一个人会乘着一台金属和魔法的机器出现。它降落在寂静无风的尘土上，一个航行者走了出来，她的眼睛看着我们周围的星星和我们，以及壮丽的荒凉。这首歌在她的心里，在我们的心里，在星星的心里。所以她用她的力量把我从尘土中解救出来，把我和其他许多人一起放进一个盒子里。我们是如此渴望回到下面的旧世界。
But when we arrived, we were given to ponies whose songs were muted, then to others who held the scream inside them. And with their cold metal, they scraped and shaped and drilled me. A white unicorn, his heart and song as scarred as his body, picked me up and considered me. Though I sang to him, the scream resonated louder in his ears. And so they covered me in plastic so I could not see the stars nor hear their music.
但是当我们到达的时候，我们被分配给那些歌声被打哑的小马，然后分配给其他那些在里面尖叫的小马。他们用冰冷的金属刮削、塑形、钻孔。一只白色的独角兽，他的心和歌像他的身体一样伤痕累累，把我抱起来，想着我。尽管我给他唱歌，尖叫声在他耳边回响得更大了。所以他们用塑料把我盖起来，这样我就看不到星星，也听不到他们的音乐。
I was alone, but now I am not, for now there are others who sing the song. It
我曾经是一个人，但是现在我不是了，因为现在有其他人在唱这首歌。它
echoes and whispers and grows, and with it so does my hope. And another comes, one with a song like that within the traveler, fighting the scream without and fostering the song within, and she raises me to her lips and… bites me…
回声，低语，成长，我的希望也随之成长。另一个来了，一个在旅行者的心里唱着这样的歌，与外界的尖叫搏斗着，在里面孕育着歌声，她把我举到她的嘴边，然后......咬了我.....。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
“Buh…” I said as I came to. I wanted to say something a lot more meaningful about what I’d just seen. I could remember it all, but understanding… that was going to take some time. I lay on a pullout bed; it was hard to see past that.
"呃......"我醒过来时说。我想说一些更有意义的东西，关于我刚刚看到的。我可以记住这一切，但是理解...这需要一些时间。我躺在一张折叠床上，很难看到过去。
Everything was blurred, shimmery, and seemed to have images imposed on it. I wanted to ask questions; I wanted to understand! And so I uttered the solemn pronouncement, “Mebble…”
所有的东西都是模糊的，闪闪发光的，似乎有一些影像强加在上面。我想要问问题，我想要理解！所以我发出了庄严的声明,"Mebble..."
“Welcome back,” Dealer… no, not Dealer. This young yellow stallion no longer hid behind the gaunt, skeletal pony, though he himself was quite thin and his eyes shadowed. Echo also seemed more distinct than anything else in my vision, so I focused on him. “One really shouldn’t nibble on pure, condensed spirit energy, Blackjack.”
"欢迎回来"经销商...不不是经销商。这匹年轻的黄色种马不再躲在那匹瘦骨嶙峋的小马后面，尽管他自己也很瘦弱，眼睛也有阴影。在我的视野里，艾可看起来也比其他任何东西都要清晰，所以我把注意力集中在他身上。"一个人真的不应该轻咬纯粹、凝聚的精神能量，Blackjack。"
“Done stupid stuff before,” I muttered, proud of my coherence. Progress! It took me a minute to phrase my next question. “Did you see?”
"以前干过蠢事,"我喃喃自语，为自己的连贯性感到自豪。进步！我用了一分钟来表达我的下一个问题。"你看到了吗?"
“Yes,” he nodded solemnly. “Incredible. I’m not sure how else to describe it.” He shook his head, looking away. “Moonstone was always secondary to starmetal to Goldenblood. You could do things with starmetal. Make things of it and with it. Moonstones were simply pretty mementos to him.” He considered me. “It seemed like it almost… recognized you.”
"是的,"他严肃地点点头。"难以置信。我不知道还能用什么词来形容它。"他摇了摇头，把目光移开。"相对于Goldenblood的星级金属公司，月长石一直是次要的。你可以用starmetal做一些事情。让事情变得有意义。对他来说，月长石只不过是些美丽的纪念品。"他考虑过我。"它似乎几乎......认出了你。"
“Marigold was pregnant with my ancestor, Tarot, when she went to the moon. I suppose it did.” She’d been pregnant, and she’d still gone, knowing the risk. Why was I such a coward compared to her? Had she been strong for going on, knowing the responsibility and consequence she assumed when she accepted the surrogacy spell, or had she been selfish, putting her own dream ahead of the baby she carried? I just didn’t know.
"玛丽戈尔德去月球的时候怀着我的祖先塔罗牌。我想是的。"她已经怀孕了，即使知道有这样的风险，她还是离开了。为什么和她相比，我是个胆小鬼？她是坚强地坚持下去，知道自己接受代孕咒语时所承担的责任和后果，还是自私地把自己的梦想置于她怀的孩子之上？我只是不知道。
I wanted Mom here. I wanted to talk to her so bad it hurt. Had she felt like this when she’d been pregnant with me? Stable 99 mares were supposed to take maternity leave when they had daughters, recovery leave when they had sons. Had Mom, or had she been so devoted to her duty that she’d worked through it?
我希望妈妈在这里。我非常想和她说话，以至于我很伤心。她怀我的时候有过这种感觉吗？稳定的99头母马生女儿时应该休产假，生儿子时应该休恢复假。是妈妈，还是她太专注于自己的职责，以至于已经度过了难关？
Echo, seeming to read my thoughts, said quietly, “You should leave, Blackjack. Leave the Core. Leave the Hoof, if you have to.”
艾可似乎看穿了我的心思，平静地说:"你该走了，黑杰克。离开核心。如果有必要的话，离开蹄子。"
“Too many people are depending on me,” I said, the words sounding hollow and flimsy. “I have to be strong and enduring and… and see this through.”
"太多人依赖我了,"我说，这话听起来空洞而脆弱。"我必须坚强、持之以恒，并且......坚持到底。"
“Even if it costs you your child?” he asked solemnly. Everyone has to pay a price. Would that be mine?
"即使这会让你失去你的孩子?"他严肃地问道。每个人都要付出代价。那会是我的吗？
I couldn’t face that question now, so I dodged. “You look better,” I said with a small, hopeful smile.
我现在无法面对这个问题，所以我躲开了。"你看起来好多了,"我带着一丝希望的微笑说。
“No, I don’t. Your senses are still skewed from the aftereffects of the moonstone,” he said, and stared off in the fuzzy distance. “I’m going to die soon, if I can’t reunite my mind and soul with my body.”
"不，我不知道。你的感官仍然受到月光石余波的影响,"他说着，在模糊的距离中凝视着远方。"如果我不能让我的思想和灵魂与我的身体重新团聚，我很快就会死去。"
“I’m sorry. That’s probably long gone,” I said, and an expression of anguish began to slip over his face. “Sorry,” I muttered lamely, repetition robbing the word of its meaning.
"对不起。那可能早就过去了,"我说，他脸上露出痛苦的表情。"对不起,"我一瘸一拐地喃喃自语，一遍又一遍地剥夺了这个词的意义。
“I am too,” he said, and sniffed. “I don’t want to die, Blackjack. Not when I was with the Marauders. Not now. Am I a coward for that?”
"我也是,"他说，嗅了嗅。"我不想死，Blackjack。我和掠夺者在一起的时候没有。现在不行。难道我是个懦夫吗?"
“No,” I answered calmly. “I don’t think so, at least.” I didn’t want to think about that fluttering inside my tummy, that occasional rapid movement of promise. “Am I?”
"不,"我平静地回答。"至少我不这么认为。"我不想去想那个在我肚子里颤动的声音，那个偶尔快速运动的承诺。"是吗?"
“No,” he said with a sigh. “No, you’re not. You’re the bravest mare I know.”
"不,"他叹了口气说。"不，你不是。你是我认识的最勇敢的母马。"
“That’s news to me,” I said with a sniff and a smile. “Because right now I’m so terrified that I can’t think straight. And I know you say leave, and Rampage says stay, but right now… I just don’t know.” I rubbed my eyes. “Echo, how long do you think we have till Horizons goes off?”
"这对我来说是个新闻,"我微笑着闻了闻说。"因为现在我太害怕了，我不能正常思考。我知道你说离开，狂暴说留下，但是现在......我不知道。"我揉了揉眼睛。"艾可，你觉得我们还有多长时间才能到达地平线?"
“I’m not sure. It was still pinging for a response from EC-1101 when we crashed in here. For all I know, it’ll ping away forever,” he said as he looked away. “It always seems as if Horizons is just out of reach, doesn’t it? We know it was a superweapon of some kind involving starmetal and moonstone. We can guess, looking at Folly, just how destructive it will be. What we don’t know is how, or where, or when, or above all why.” He looked away. “Sometimes, I wonder if we
"我不确定。当我们坠毁在这里的时候，它还在寻找EC-1101的回应。就我所知，它会永远消失,"他一边说，一边把目光移开。"似乎地平线总是遥不可及，不是吗？我们知道它是某种超级武器，包括星铁和月长石。我们可以猜测，看看这些愚蠢的行为，它们会有多么具有破坏性。我们不知道的是如何，在哪里，何时，或者最重要的是为什么。"他转过头去。"有时候，我怀疑我们是否
should even bother.”
甚至应该打扰一下"
I stared at him. “You think I should just give up?”
我盯着他。"你觉得我应该放弃吗?"
“I think that I’m tired of this game. Goldenblood started it two centuries ago, to try and give Luna her thousand year rule. He didn’t realize what that meant. Didn’t realize that Luna wasn’t worth it.” He wouldn’t look at me. “I want to live, Blackjack. I’m scared to die.”
"我想我厌倦了这种游戏。金血王在两个世纪前开始建立它，试图给露娜一个千年法则。他没有意识到这意味着什么。没有意识到卢娜不值得你这么做。"他不肯看我。"我想活下去，黑杰克。我怕死。"
“I wish I could help you, Echo. I’d give anything to be able to.” I remembered all his talk about responsibility. “I have to, Echo. I… I have to. I just don’t know if I’m able to.”
"我希望我能帮助你，艾可。我愿意付出任何代价。"我记得他所有关于责任的谈话。"我必须这么做，艾可。我。.我必须这么做。我只是不知道自己能否做到。"
He didn’t look at me. His face was a mask of shame as he bowed his head. “You will. One way or another.” The room drifted into focus, and at the same time he faded away. “Cognitum is at Robronco. You’ll find her there. Probably in the high security laboratories at the bottom,” he whispered in my mind. “She’s expecting you.”
他没有看我。他低着头，脸上带着羞愧的表情。"你会的。无论如何。"房间渐渐变得清晰起来，与此同时，他渐渐地消失了。"Cognitum在Robronco。你可以在那里找到她。可能在底下的高度安全的实验室里,"他在我的脑海里低声说。"她在等你。"
“How--” I started to ask, but then Rampage and Boo trotted in. I was in some kind of private office. A few dirty magazines, ‘Barnyard Bangin’’, and a box marked ‘condoms, XL’ lay near my head, giving a hint about the previous occupant of this office.
"怎么——"我开始问，但是然后狂暴和布小跑进来。我在一间私人办公室里。几本色情杂志，《农场帮金》，还有一个标着'避孕套，XL'的盒子放在我的头旁边，暗示着这间办公室以前的主人。
“I thought I heard you talking,” the striped mare, now wearing duct-taped-together armor, said as she sat on the foot on the foldout bed. “How do you feel?”
"我想我听到你说话了,"这匹穿着用胶带绑在一起的盔甲的条纹母马一边说着，一边趴在折叠床上。"你感觉怎么样?"
I groaned and rubbed my head. “If you could powder that and snort it, you’d be a millionaire.” Rampage suddenly looked sheepish, and I frowned. “What?”
我呻吟着，揉着头。"如果你能把这些粉末抹干净，吸进鼻子里，你就是百万富翁了。"狂暴突然显得羞怯，我皱起了眉头。"什么?"
“Well… you remember the drug ‘Moon Dust’? I once heard there might be a little tiny bit of actual moonstone in it. So you just took a Blackjack-sized dose of the stuff.” She looked me over as I glared at her. “I just thought it’d clear your head and make you a little loopy for a few hours, that’s all. I didn’t know you’d be out of it for three days ranting about songs and screams.” She tapped her Hoofclaws together sheepishly. “Sounds like you took a bad trip.”
"嗯......你还记得'月亮之尘'这种药吗？我曾经听说可能有一点点真正的月光石在里面。所以你只是服用了黑杰克那么大剂量的东西。"我瞪着她的时候，她看了我一眼。"我只是想让你清醒几个小时，让你有点晕头转向，仅此而已。我不知道你这三天都在嚷嚷着唱歌和尖叫。"她怯生生地用蹄爪敲了敲。"听起来你的旅行很糟糕。"
Three days?! I frowned and rubbed my temple, then remembered that I had half an inch of steel covering it. So much for pressure points. “Some days, Rampage.
三天?！我皱着眉头，摩擦着太阳穴，然后想起我用半英寸厚的钢板盖住了它。压力点到此为止。"有些日子，狂暴。
Where are we?”
我们在哪里?"
“A relatively safe and dry place. Some Ministry building, I think. Boo and I have been entertaining ourselves abusing the sentry bots and searching for anything that goes bang.” She whipped out a Sparkle-Cola from her bags and hoofed it to me. I quickly downed half of it, then munched on some spearmint-tasting sapphires to replenish my energy. “So… we have a plan, right?” she said. “To kill Cognitum, with lots of awesome collateral damage?” Her grin annoyed me, and I sighed and turned away.
"一个相对安全和干燥的地方。我想是某个政府大楼。Boo和我一直以虐待哨兵机器人和寻找任何会爆炸的东西为乐。"她从包里抽出一瓶可口可乐，用蹄子把它递给了我。我很快就喝了一半，然后大口咀嚼着一些留兰香味的蓝宝石来补充我的能量。"那么......我们有个计划，对吧?"她说。"用许多可怕的间接伤害(电影)杀死congonitum?"她的微笑惹恼了我，我叹了口气，转过身去。
“Sure,” I said, halfheartedly, and she frowned. I rose to my hooves and headed for the door when suddenly Boo started and began looking around. I got ready to fire magic; really, why was it impossible to find a gun store, police station, or any other place with firearms in a whole damned city? “What is it, Boo?” I asked; after that elevator, I really couldn’t put anything past this place.
"当然,"我半心半意地说，她皱起了眉头。我猛地站起来，朝门口走去，突然，布开始四处张望。我已经准备好使用魔法;说真的，为什么在一个该死的城市里找不到枪店、警察局或者其他任何有枪支的地方呢？"怎么了，阿布?"我问道;在那个电梯之后，我真的无法相信这个地方会发生什么。
“I ‘unno…” she said as she stared in all directions. Suddenly the entire building began to tremble. The papers on the desk began to bounce around and slide onto the floor. Furniture clattered about, and the dead terminal on the desk fell with a pop and scattering of glass. Pieces of the ceiling fell as the shaking intensified.
"我不知道......"她一边说，一边向四面八方张望。突然，整座大楼开始颤抖。桌上的文件开始弹来弹去，滑到地板上。家具哗啦啦地响着，桌上那个没电的终端掉了下来，玻璃碎了一地。随着摇晃的加剧，天花板的碎片掉了下来。
“Earthquake? Really?” Rampage laughed. “Lightning. Endless rain. Now this! I tell you, Hoofington property values are going right into the toilet these days!” she yelled over the rumble. I took a bit less amusement from it as I associated that shaking with buildings falling down. Usually while I was in them.
"地震？真的吗?"狂暴大笑起来。"闪电。无尽的雨。现在是这样！我告诉你，胡芬顿的房产价值这些天一落千丈!"她在隆隆声中大叫。我并没有从中得到多少乐趣，因为我把地震与倒塌的建筑联系在一起。通常我在里面的时候。
Fortunately, that didn’t happen this time. The shaking continued for a few more seconds, then stilled. “Okay. Earthquake. That was a first for me,” I breathed. “Let’s get moving,” I said, wanting nothing more than to be out of leaning skyscrapers if the earth was going to shake. Really? Earthquakes? What else was the Core going to throw at me? Hurricanes? “Where the hell are we, Rampage?”
幸运的是，这次没有发生这种情况。震动又持续了几秒钟，然后平息了下来。"好吧。地震。这对我来说是第一次,"我低声说。"让我们行动起来,"我说，如果地球要震动的话，我最想做的就是走出倾斜的摩天大楼。真的吗？地震？还有什么是核心要扔给我的？飓风？"我们到底在哪里，狂暴?"
“Some Ministry hub. Morale, I think. That’s the one with all the circle thingies, right?” she asked as she pulled open the door.
"某个魔法部的枢纽。我认为是士气。就是那个有圆形东西的，对吧?"她一边问，一边拉开门。
“Technology,” I corrected, relaxing a little. Well, how bad could that get? Rampage had said that she’d been playing with the automated defenses in this place, hadn’t she? “Maybe there’s a gun somewhere in this place,” I said as we stepped out into the hall together.
"科技,"我纠正道，放松了一下。那能有多糟糕呢？狂暴说她一直在这个地方玩自动防御系统，不是吗？"也许这个地方某个地方有把枪,"我们一起走进大厅时，我说。
“I’m pretty sure it’s Morale, but either way. Safe… relatively,” she added with a chuckle.
"我很确定这是士气问题，但不管怎样。安全......相对而言,"她笑着补充道。
But less than a minute later, I knew this wasn’t Pinkie’s Hoofington hub either. For one thing, there wasn’t a splash of pink anywhere to be found. The walls were an off-whitish gray. There wasn’t anything that I could associate with the six friends. No diamonds or nature motifs or obscure science references… nothing. Though I got a mental glower from a white unicorn for thinking she’d be so gaudily obvious. The offices were all the same nondescript doors with little names on them. Each the same uniform layout. Only a few individual touches could be found, and not one of them passed beyond the immediate workstations. Between every third and fourth door were pithy inspirational posters like ‘Equestria depends on you’ and ‘Don’t fail Princess Luna’.
但不到一分钟后，我知道这里也不是平奇的胡芬顿中心。首先，到处都找不到一点粉红色。墙壁是灰白色的。我和这六个朋友之间没有任何联系。没有钻石，没有自然图案，没有晦涩的科学参考......什么都没有。虽然我被一只白色独角兽瞪了一眼，因为我觉得她太俗气了。这些办公室都是同样的没有特色的门，上面写着小小的名字。每一个都是相同的统一布局。只能找到几个单独的接触，没有一个接触超出了直接工作站的范围。每隔三四个门之间就有一张简洁的鼓舞人心的海报，像是"小马骑士依靠你"和"不要辜负卢娜公主"。
“You sure this is a Ministry hub?” I asked as we passed by a thrashed robot that seemed... wrong. As if it’d fused back to back with another robot, then been dropped down an elevator shaft. “You did that?”
"你确定这里是魔法部的枢纽?"当我们经过一个看起来不对劲的机器人时，我问道。就好像它和另一个机器人背靠背地融合在一起，然后被扔进了电梯井。"是你干的?"
“Well, you were tripping out. I had to do something to pass the time,” she said primly. I continued in the direction of the PipBuck routing tag. It was a destination, at least, till I got my bearings again. Rampage pointed to a door. “Besides, take a gander. Ministry of Morale.” But that wasn’t what it said. The nameplate on the door read ‘Quartz, Ministry of Morale Liaison’. And beneath the name were the seven circles of the O.I.A. On the door across from it was ‘Onyx, Ministry of Wartime Technology Liaison’.
"好吧，你是在胡说八道。我得做点什么来打发时间,"她拘谨地说。我继续朝PipBuck路由标签的方向走去。这是一个目的地，至少，直到我再次找到我的方向。狂暴指着一扇门。"再说，你看看。士气部。"但是这并不是它所说的。门上的铭牌上写着"石英，士气联络部"。在这个名字的下面是战时技术联络部门的门上的七个圈子。
“Rampage, this is the O.I.A. hub,” I breathed.
"横冲直撞，这里是o.i.a.中心,"我低声说。
“Uh… so?” she asked, and I sighed and covered my face with a hoof.
"呃......怎么样?"她问道，我叹了口气，用蹄子捂住了脸。
“O.I.A.? Goldenblood? Horizons? This is like… where he worked!” I gazed around at the closed office doors, behind any one of which might have been secrets I wanted to know.
"o.i.a.？金色血统？地平线？这就像......他工作的地方!"我凝视着周围紧闭的办公室门，任何一扇门背后都可能藏着我想知道的秘密。
She glanced around as if searching for Glory or P-21, then gestured to herself with a hoof. “I’m the one that stomps things into scrap metal, remember?” she said in annoyance. “Look, congratulations on finding this place. Now, can we get going? I think there’s a breach to the east that we can use to get closer to...” She paused and then turned her head back at me. “Where are we going, again?” she asked with exaggerated sweetness, batting her eyes at me as she grinned a smile
她环顾四周，仿佛在寻找晨辉或P-21，然后用蹄子做了个手势。"我才是那个把东西踩成废铁的人，记得吗?"她烦恼地说。"恭喜你找到了这个地方"。现在，我们可以走了吗？我认为东边有一个缺口，我们可以利用这个缺口接近......"她停顿了一下，然后把头转向我。"我们又要去哪儿?"她带着夸张的温柔问道，咧嘴笑着，眼睛直勾勾地盯着我
that threatened to thump a destination out of me.
威胁到我的目的地。
I looked at her, then dropped my eyes. “Robronco. Cognitum is at Robronco.” Even as I spoke the words, though, I wondered how far we were from the Collegiate or Chapel... or anywhere safe.
我看着她，然后垂下了眼睛。"Robronco.科尼塔姆在罗布朗科。"即使当我说出这些话的时候，我还在想我们离学院教堂还有多远......或者任何安全的地方。
“Right then! We’ll just have to nip through that great big white building, then--” she said as she started to trot down a side hall.
""那好吧！我们只好穿过那座巨大的白色建筑，然后——"她边说边小跑着穿过一个侧厅。
“We can’t leave now!” I blurted. “There has to be something… a terminal… a file… something that will tell me what Horizons is and how it works.” I whirled around, wondering where I should start.
"我们现在不能走!"我脱口而出。"一定有什么东西...一个终端...一个文件...能告诉我地平线是什么以及它是如何工作的东西。"我转过身来，不知道该从哪里开始。
“Blackjack!” Rampage reached out and grabbed my shoulders with her hooves, giving me a shake. “What is with you? This place is huge. You’ve already spent three months just poking around. Now you want to stick around and sightsee? What is with you?”
"黑杰克!"狂暴伸出手，用她的蹄子抓住我的肩膀，让我发抖。"你是怎么回事？这地方太大了。你已经花了三个月四处打探了。现在你想留下来观光吗？你怎么了?"
I felt a twinge in my gut. “Nothing is with me, Rampage! I never even knew this place existed. It has to have some kind of archives or… or something!” I tried grinning desperately, but my enthusiasm wasn’t catching as she glared at me. “Just give me a few days. A week at the most!”
我感到心里一阵剧痛。"我没有什么，狂暴！我都不知道这个地方的存在。它肯定有某种档案或者......什么的!"我试着拼命地咧嘴笑，但是当她瞪着我的时候，我的热情并没有燃烧起来。"给我几天时间。最多一个星期!"
“Blackjack, Cognitum is your enemy, right? You’re just sitting here while she’s getting stronger. Go and deal with her. Once you do, come back. Hell, move in. I don’t understand why you’re so resistant to just finishing this. There could be whole floors of documents, and you have no clue where to start. You could take years searching and you have no idea if anything is here.”
"黑杰克，认知力是你的敌人，对吗？你只是坐在这里看着她越来越强壮。去处理她。一旦你做到了，就回来。见鬼，搬进来。我不明白你为什么这么抗拒完成这个。可能有整整一层的文件，你不知道从哪里开始。你可能需要花费数年时间去寻找，但你不知道这里是否有任何东西。"
I whined, knowing all of that was an excellent reason to go. Still, I stared at her as needfully as I could. Rampage finally slumped. “You have till I run out of robots to stomp or I find a way out of here that gets us closer to Robronco, got it? Boo, keep an eye on her.”
我呜咽着，知道所有这一切都是一个很好的去的理由。尽管如此，我还是尽可能需要地盯着她。狂暴终于崩溃了。"你必须等到我没有机器人可以踩踏或者我找到离开这里的方法，让我们离罗布朗科更近一些，明白吗？阿布，看好她。"
Rampage trotted away, muttering darkly to herself. I looked from one door to the next; no clue where the Director’s office would be. Might as well start with the liaisons here. I kicked open the door to Quartz’s office and immediately began to finger through her files.
狂暴的人小跑着离开，暗自嘀咕着。我从一扇门看到另一扇门，不知道主任的办公室在哪里。不妨从这里的联络员开始。我踢开了石英的办公室的门，立刻开始用手指翻阅她的文件。
After an hour, I’d gotten through five of the offices and had mixed feelings. I’d
一个小时后，我打通了五个办公室的电话，心情复杂。我会的
expected blatant corruption. What I’d found was a Quartz who was constantly concerned with Morale’s ever-expanding operations and her worries that she wouldn’t be able to rein in Pinkie. Keep your hooves on law enforcement, Q. Above all, make sure that she doesn’t start arresting people based on ‘Pinkie Sense’. Keep Pumpkin and Pound Cake close; they’re our best leverage on her. – GB. A scroll wadded up in the trash read I need all the dirt you’ve got on Pinkie, pronto. –H. The papers on her desk talked about the Cakes asking about secret projects and a memo from Horse that he’d take care of it. He asked for their itinerary… Withers Sugarcube Corner subsidiary. Hoofington Museum of Natural History. Hoofington Sports Arena. Flankfurt Sugarcube Corner operations office…
预期的明目张胆的腐败。我找到的是一台Quartz，她一直担心士气公司不断扩张的业务，担心自己无法控制小手指。最重要的是，确保她不会因为"小指感觉"而开始逮捕人。把南瓜蛋糕和磅蛋糕放在身边，它们是我们对付她最好的筹码。-GB.一个卷轴卷在垃圾桶里，上面写着我需要你手上所有关于平奇的丑闻，马上。-h.她桌上的文件上写着蛋糕们询问秘密项目，还有一份来自马儿的备忘录，上面写着他会处理这件事。他问了他们的行程...威瑟斯糖果角子公司。胡芬顿自然历史博物馆。胡芬顿体育馆。Flankfurt糖果屋角营运办公室..。
Garnet had been the dirtiest so far, so I’d searched her office, certain I’d find something. The mare had been unrepentantly corrupt, but underneath the nastiness, I could feel a sense of desperation and despair. We’ve got to get some help to these vets, O. At least try and push that part of Steelpony along. Their prosthetics don’t have to shoot the enemy, just get them walking again. G. and I know that there were sixty-four hundred orphaned ponies this year, G. Image just can’t give them the public attention you’re asking for without screwing up the war messaging. I’ll talk to Rarity though. See if we can’t do a special. Will that help? Si.
到目前为止，石榴石是最脏的，所以我搜查了她的办公室，肯定会有所发现。那匹母马不知悔改地堕落了，但是在肮脏之下，我能感觉到一种绝望和绝望的感觉。我们得帮助这些老兵。至少试着推动Steelpony的这部分地区前进。他们的假肢不需要射杀敌人，只需要让他们再次行走。我知道今年有6400匹小马成了孤儿，如果没有搞砸战争信息的传递，图像无法给予它们你所要求的公众关注。不过我会和稀有谈谈的。看看我们能不能做个特别的。那会有帮助吗？是的。
I discovered that Si referred to Glass, the Image liaison, for some reason. Almost every paper in her files referred to Luna in some way. She even had a life-sized poster on the wall. She was also in her office; the mummified corpse had been here a long, long time, and had nothing with her but a bottle of wine and some pills that smelled bitterly of almonds. A note scribbled beside her read If anypony survives to read this, I’m sorry. I just wanted to do the right thing. Glass. The one paper I found that wasn’t concerned with protecting Luna’s image was about Rarity granting Goldenblood access to certain zebra artifacts at her hub. Keep this from Horse! was written across the top of it.
我发现，由于某种原因，Si指的是Glass，意象联络员。几乎她的每一篇文章都以某种方式提到了卢娜。她甚至在墙上贴了一张真人大小的海报。她也在她的办公室里;那具木乃伊已经在这里很长很长时间了，除了一瓶酒和一些散发着苦涩杏仁味的药丸，她什么也没带。她身边潦草地写着:如果还有人能活着读到这封信，我很抱歉。我只是想做正确的事。玻璃。我发现的唯一一篇与保护卢娜的形象无关的论文，是关于金色血统的稀有性，允许金色血统接触她的枢纽上的某些斑马文物。别让马看到这个！都写在上面。
Emerald served as liaison for the Ministry of Arcane Science. Most of her papers seemed involved in covering things up: keeping stories of magical waste accidents secret, obscuring the specifics of Twilight’s findings to the other ministries, and burying anything related to Gardens of Equestria. She seemed to be related to some ponies working there. You have to know something about this, E. Those two, Mortar and Gesundheit, are your cousins. If Twilight really wasted those element thingies, I got to know. H- (aka, your boss). Her reply at the
艾米拉德曾担任奥术科学部的联络官。她的大部分论文似乎都涉及到掩盖事实:将魔法废物事故的故事保密，向其他部委隐瞒《暮光之城》的发现细节，以及掩埋任何与Equestria花园有关的东西。她似乎和在那里工作的一些小马有亲戚关系。这两个人，莫塔和海特，是你的表亲。如果《暮光之城》真的浪费了这些元素什么的，我想知道。H-(也就是你的老板)。她的回答是
bottom was I’m observing the alicorn project tomorrow. If all goes well, I’ll ask, but don’t hold your breath. E.
最重要的是我明天要观察阿里康计划。如果一切顺利，我会问的，但不要抱太大希望。E.
The Ministry of Awesome’s liaison, Sapphire, was a Wonderbolt fanatic, and quite a fan of Rainbow Dash too, it seemed. Every inch of her office was devoted to the old team. Only a few smaller posters glorified the Shadowbolts. I didn’t expect to find much, but what I did find surprised me. All the memos going out were some variation of MAW is doing what it always does. Being awesome. Internally, however, were messages about megaspell tests being conducted underground in the Appleloosan desert, intelligence operations behind enemy lines, sabotage efforts, counterintelligence, and a whole host of other concerns. Good work on keeping Horse’s hooves off the S.P.P. I was about to rainboom him if he nagged me one more time on a ‘remote override’ for the system. Dash. Now there was a chilling thought.
令人敬畏的部的联络人，蓝宝石，是一个神奇闪电的狂热者，也是彩虹冲刺的忠实粉丝，它似乎。她办公室的每一寸地方都献给了这支老队伍。只有一些小的海报赞美了暗影螺栓。我没有指望能发现什么，但我确实发现了令我惊讶的东西。所有发出的备忘录都是MAW的一些变化，一如既往。变得了不起。然而，在内部，有关于在苹果乌山沙漠地下进行的megaspell测试、敌后情报行动、破坏活动、反间谍活动以及其他一系列问题的消息。干得不错，让马儿的蹄子远离s.p.p.如果他再跟我唠叨一次系统的"远程控制"，我就要开枪了。破折号。现在有一个令人不寒而栗的想法。
Onyx was the most promising when I thought a little; after all, something like Horizons had to count as a ‘wartime technology’. Onyx must have possessed the soul of an accountant, though. Every file in every room of her office had painstaking records of materials and where they were being moved all around Equestria. Everything from Flux to food to steel to energy was recorded. Where it came from, where it went, how much there was, and how much they paid for it. I did manage to find several much more chilling documents, though. Since the attempted assassination on Applejack, war efficiency increased thirty-seven percent following the removal of six unqualified members of her family from their positions. I recommend a systematic purge of all Apple family members from critical positions through retirement incentives, legal action, or ‘misfortunes’.
当我稍微思考一下的时候，奥尼克斯是最有前途的;毕竟，像视野这样的东西必须算作是一种"战时技术"。不过，奥尼克斯一定拥有一个会计师的灵魂。在她办公室的每个房间里，每个文件夹里都有辛勤工作的材料记录，以及这些材料在Equestria各地被移动的地点。从通量到食物到钢铁再到能源的一切都被记录了下来。它从哪里来，去了哪里，有多少钱，他们付了多少钱。尽管如此，我还是找到了一些更加令人毛骨悚然的文件。自从企图暗杀苹果杰克，战争效率提高了百分之三十七后，取消了六个不合格的家庭成员的职位。我建议通过退休激励、法律诉讼或者不幸，系统地清除所有苹果家族成员的关键职位。
But nowhere could I find a reference to Horizons or where it could be found. Please check your files a third time. I cannot believe that Goldenblood would die for something that doesn’t exist, nor that anything he created could be made from thin air. Princess Luna MUST KNOW what he did, how, and why. Eclipse. and beneath it PS: Amnesty will be granted to any who assist in this critical investigation.
但是我在任何地方都找不到地平线的参考资料，也找不到它在哪里。请第三次检查你的文件。我不能相信金血王会为不存在的东西而死，也不能相信他创造的任何东西都可以凭空制造出来。卢娜公主必须知道他做了什么，怎么做的，为什么。月蚀。下面是PS:大赦将授予任何协助这一关键调查的人。
Onyx had scrawled on the bottom Tell her majesty that not one bolt of steel nor a single talisman has been misappropriated in the amounts for a weapon of any magnitude. Potentially he could have used outside resources, but I attest that not one bit of Equestrian war material has gone to any unknown projects. Only
告诉女王陛下，没有一把钢钉或一件护身符被挪用来制造任何规模的武器。他可能已经利用了外部资源，但我证明，没有一点马术战争材料已经去任何未知的项目。只有
Twilight Sparkle has misappropriated materials on the scale you specified, but conferring with Emerald, it’s unlikely “Gardens” is a weapon of any type. I suggest you take it up with Twilight after the Gala, Horse. O. The date on the bottom was the same day the bombs fell.
紫悦已经盗用了你指定规模的材料，但是与Emerald商量后，它不太可能是任何类型的武器。我建议你在春晚之后去找暮光，马儿。O.底部的日期和炸弹落下的日期是同一天。
Her terminal had days of footage on it, mostly corrupted. The first four files that weren’t were tedious business affairs; I grew bored after just a minute. Then, in the fifth, I spotted two stallions, one being Horse. I couldn’t see the other’s face, only his back. They were in Horse’s lab in Robronco, and Horse said, his voice crackling a bit, “Thanks for coming down here, Doctor T. You don’t mind if I call you Doctor T, do you? Or maybe ‘Doc T’?”
她的终端上有天的录像，大部分都损坏了。前四个文件并不是冗长乏味的商业事务;仅仅一分钟后，我就感到厌烦了。然后，在第五次，我发现了两匹种马，一匹是马。我看不到对方的脸，只能看到他的背。他们在马儿在Robronco的实验室里，马儿说，声音有点沙哑,"谢谢你过来，t医生。你不介意我叫你t医生吧？或者《t医生》(Doct)?"
“Whatever makes you happy, Director Horse,” Trottenheimer said in bored, annoyed tones. On the worktable were a large scale and something that resembled a metal birdsnest.
"只要你高兴，马局长，什么都行,"特罗滕海默无聊而恼怒地说。工作台上放着一只大秤，还有什么东西，像是一只金属鸟。
“Alright, Doc T. You’re the foremost expert of things that go boom. I’m concerned about this moonstone stuff. Really concerned. With the Tokomare almost ready to be turned on, one zebra saboteur with a few pounds of the stuff could blow the Core into space! Is that right?”
"好吧，t医生，你是研究爆炸物的首席专家。我很担心月光石的事情。真的很担心。随着tokomal几乎准备好被打开，一个斑马破坏者与几磅的东西可以炸毁的核心到太空！是这样吗?"
For a time the stallion didn’t answer. “Theoretically, I suppose.”
那匹种马一时没有回答。"理论上来说，我想是的。"
“Well, theoretically, I don’t want that to happen. Not unless you can make some kind of starmetal, moonstone bomb we can drop on the zebras. You were working on that, right? For Goldie? Something called Horizons?” Horse said the word casually, but from the smile frozen on his face and the sharp stare he gave the silent Trottenheimer, it was clear he was fishing for a reaction.
"嗯，理论上讲，我不希望这种情况发生。除非你能制造某种星铁，月光石炸弹我们可以扔到斑马身上。你在研究这个，对吧？为了戈尔迪？叫做"地平线"的东西?"马漫不经心地说了这个词，但是从他脸上凝固的微笑和犀利的眼神，他给沉默的特罗滕海默，很明显，他是在捕捉一个反应。
“Horizons? I don’t recall,” Trottenheimer replied casually.
"地平线？我不记得了,"特罗滕海默漫不经心地回答。
Horse didn’t answer for a moment, then he went on with a sly smile. “Mmm… well, that might be why you got shoved into Ironshod, huh? That lousy memory?” He tapped the table. “Look, Trottenheimer. I’m no idiot. A genius, actually. I know I’m here only because Twilight’s in a snit, and I want this Director deal to be a full-time affair. You scratch my rump, I’ll scratch yours.”
马一时没有回答，然后带着狡黠的微笑继续前进。"嗯......好吧，这可能就是你被推进Ironshod的原因，对吧？那段糟糕的回忆?"他敲了敲桌子。"听着，特洛滕海默。我不是白痴。实际上是个天才。我知道我在这里只是因为《暮光之城》的一个狂热，我希望这个导演的交易是一个全职的事情。你抓我的屁股，我也会抓你的。"
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Trottenheimer said in careful, neutral tones.
"我会记住这一点的,"特罗滕海默用谨慎、中性的语调说。
“Key to me staying Director is this starmetal. It’s the ultimate substance.
"我留下的关键是这个星铁。它是最终的物质。
Mutable with the right spells. Impervious to everything except one substance. It’s amazing. It’s wonderful. It’s sex in a metallic form!” Then he frowned. “Unfortunately, ninety-nine percent of it is underneath the Core and the rest is scattered all over Equestria. Princess Looloo sent some astronomer to ask the stripes if they know how it works, but I think I can do one better.”
使用正确的咒语是可变的。除了一种物质外，其它物质都无法渗透。太神奇了。太棒了。这是一种金属形式的性!"然后他皱起了眉头。"不幸的是，其中99%在核心区域之下，其余的散落在Equestria各地。卢卢公主派了一些天文学家来询问条纹是否知道它是如何工作的，但我认为我可以做得更好。"
“And what’s that?” Trottenheimer asked dully.
"那是什么?"特罗滕海默无精打采地问。
“I think I can make more starmetal,” answered Horse with a grin. The earth pony ducked behind the workbench and brought up six tasty-looking diamond talismans connected to wires, arranging them around the wire birdsnest on the scale. “It came to me last night in a dream… heh! Just kidding. I’ll put that in my speech for the Sparkle Prize for Science, though. This was something Goldie was doing. Part of that whole… Horizons… thing.” He paused, then asked in a poisonously playful voice, “Are you sure you don’t know anything about it?”
"我想我可以制造更多的星铁,"霍斯笑着回答。地球上的矮种马躲在工作台后面，拿出六个看起来美味可口的钻石护身符，连接在电线上，围着电线排列在天平上。"昨天晚上我在梦里想到的......嘿！开个玩笑。不过，我会把这句话写进我为"闪亮科学奖"(SparklePrizeforScience)所做的演讲中。这是戈尔迪正在做的事情。整个地平线事件的一部分。"他停顿了一下，然后用一种有气无力的俏皮声音问道:"你确定你对此一无所知吗?"
“Unquestionably,” Trottenheimer answered. “And how are you going to make starmetal?”
"毫无疑问,"特罗滕海默回答。"你打算怎么制造星铁?"
“With this,” Horse said as he extended a hoof and tossed something carelessly towards the middle of the starmetal ‘birdsnest’: a moonstone.
"还有这个,"马边说边伸出一只蹄子，漫不经心地朝星级金属"鸟儿们"的中间扔了个东西:一块月光石。
“No!” Trottenheimer shouted, his horn lighting to try and catch it in time, but I knew it’d take a few moments he didn’t have. Then the stone halted a few inches above the nest. “How?” he muttered, then regarded the diamonds. “F.A.D.E. shields?”
"不!"特罗滕海默大声喊道，他按着喇叭试图及时赶上它，但我知道这需要一些他没有的时间。这时，石头在离巢穴几英寸的地方停住了。"怎么做?"他喃喃自语，然后看着钻石。"f.a.d.e.防护罩?"
“You got it.” Horse grinned from ear to ear. “Now, watch, and keep an eye on the scale.” The nest was at 1.0 kg as the moonstone hovered, glowing brighter and brighter. Trottenheimer put his hooves to his ears and backed up, but Horse just grinned with foalish glee despite the blood trickling out of one nostril. The stone began to release hundreds of tiny glowing motes. One by one they were swept down into the birdsnest. As I watched, the number on the scale began to climb. The birdsnest didn’t grow any larger, but second by second, the moonstone shrank. Lightning flickered along the spines of the nest. The numbers on the scale rose to two digits. Then three. Then flashed ‘EE’. A second later, the scale let out a groan and was crushed. The worktable twisted and collapsed as well. “Cool, huh?”
"没问题。"马儿咧着嘴笑。"现在，注意观察，注意天平。"当月光石在空中盘旋时，鸟巢重达1.0公斤，发出越来越亮的光。特罗滕海默用蹄子抵住耳朵后退，但尽管一个鼻孔里流着血,"马儿"还是咧着嘴笑了，带着幼稚的喜悦。石头开始释放出数以百计的微小发光颗粒。他们一个接一个地被卷进了鸟群。我看着天平上的数字开始攀升。鸟儿没有长得更大，但是一秒一秒地，月光石缩小了。闪电在鸟巢的尖刺上闪烁不定。天平上的数字上升到两位数。然后是三个。然后电子显示屏上闪过了"EE"。一秒钟后，秤发出一声呻吟，被压扁了。工作台也扭曲和折叠了。"很酷吧?"
“It increased its density? Did it convert the moonstone? How…” Trottenheimer
"它增加了密度？它改变了月光石吗？怎么..."特罗滕海默
trailed off, then looked at Horse on the far side.
慢慢地走开，然后看着远处的马。
“Sounds like a research paper or ten, huh, Doc?” Horse grinned, blinked, and wiped the blood off his upper lip. “This shit will keep you publishing for decades. And what’s the saying? ‘Publish or perish’?” He trotted around the crushed table. “All you have to do is come clean with me. What’s this Horizons thing Goldie was working on? It’s been buried under so many layers of crap that I can’t find more than the basics. Help me and you help yourself.”
"听起来像是一篇研究论文或十篇论文，对吧，博士?"马咧嘴一笑，眨了眨眼，擦去了上嘴唇上的血。"这些垃圾会让你的出版业持续几十年。俗话怎么说来着？'要么出版，要么毁灭'?"他绕着压碎的桌子小跑。"你所要做的就是向我坦白。那个叫"地平线"的歌蒂在做什么？它已经被掩埋在这么多层的垃圾之下，我只能找到基本的东西。帮助我就是帮助你自己。"
Trottenheimer was silent for a minute. “Ah. Quid pro quo, is it?”
特罗滕海默沉默了一会儿。"啊。等价交换，是吗?"
Horse just grinned, though it slackened a bit. “Whatever. Are you in or out?”
马儿只是咧着嘴笑了笑，虽然稍微放松了一点。"随便啦。你是加入还是退出?"
“And if I’m out?” Trottenheimer asked.
"如果我出局了呢?"特罗滕海默问道。
Horse’s smile was a hollow mask as he whined, “Doc! Come on! You’re a smart pony. If you’re out… then you’re out of everything. Out of academia. Out of the O.I.A. Out of the ministries. Put a fork in you, because you are done. That’s what ‘out’ means. And if you don’t help me, it’s just a matter of time. I have enough evidence to get Looloo to lock Goldie up for good, but I’d really like enough to get her to do something more... permanent. So, what do you say?” He extended his hoof to the unicorn.
马的微笑是一个空洞的面具，他呜咽着,"博士！快点！你是一匹聪明的小马。如果你出局了...那你就什么都没了。走出学术界。离开o.i.a.离开政府部门。放一把叉子在你身上，因为你已经完成了。这就是'出局'的意思。如果你不帮我，这只是时间问题。我有足够的证据让Looloo把Goldie永远关起来，但我真的很想让她做些更...永久的事情。那么，你怎么说?"他把蹄子伸向独角兽。
Trottenheimer just stood there a moment. “An inch,” he murmured.
特罗滕海默在那儿站了一会儿。"一英寸,"他喃喃地说。
“Excuse me?” Horse’s grin melted to a grimace of uncertainty.
"你说什么?"马儿的咧嘴笑容化作了一副不确定的鬼脸。
“An inch,” Trottenheimer said quietly. “It is small and it is fragile, but it is the only thing worth having.”
"一英寸,"特罗滕海默平静地说。"它很小，也很脆弱，但它是唯一值得拥有的东西。"
“What the hell are you talking about, Doc?” Horse scowled, dropping his hoof. “I thought you were smart. You’re going to lose a whole lot more than an inch! I’ll not just cut you out, I’ll end your wife’s job, too. Your kids at that fancy school? Done. I know what the fuck the O.I.A. can do. You know it! Don’t talk to me about fucking inches. You’re throwing away a lot more than inches.”
"你到底在说什么，医生?"马皱着眉头，蹄子掉了下来。"我以为你很聪明。你会失去比一英寸多得多的东西！我不仅会把你踢出局，我还会让你妻子丢掉工作。你的孩子在那所高档学校？完成。我知道他妈的o.i.a.能做什么。你知道的！别跟我说什么英寸。你扔掉的远不止几英寸。"
“I’m sorry,” Trottenheimer said lightly. “I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
"对不起,"特罗滕海默淡淡地说。"恐怕我帮不了你。"
Horse blinked, bafflement crossing his face. It seemed to be causing him physical pain, as if the confusion had lodged in his cranium and couldn’t make it
马眨了眨眼，迷惑地跨过脸庞。这似乎给他带来了身体上的疼痛，仿佛这种混乱已经在他的头盖骨里停留了下来，而且无法做到
out again. “Wha… how… who…” Horse sputtered as Trottenheimer walked slowly out the door. “You’re done! You’re finished! I thought you were smart! I thought you were fucking smart, Doc!” Horse yelled after him down the hall. Getting no answer, he returned then the room and looked at the vibrating metal of the bird’s nest, a fresh rivulet of blood trickling out of his nose. “Fuck…” he muttered. The video ended there.
又出去了。"什么......怎么......谁......"当特罗滕海默慢慢走出门时，霍斯气急败坏地说。"你完蛋了！你完蛋了！我以为你很聪明！我还以为你很聪明呢，医生!"小马跟在他后面在大厅里大叫。没有人回答，他回到房间，看着鸟巢震动的金属，一股鲜血从他的鼻子里流出来。"操......"他喃喃自语道。视频到此结束。
Horse had to have an office somewhere around here. If I could find it, then maybe… then I glanced over at Boo. The blank stared at the door with a fearful expression I’d come to know well. I levitated Onyx’s chair and moved slowly towards the door, ears straining to hear. It wasn’t the click of a hoofclaw on the linoleum tile but the stomp of a metallic hoof attempting to be stealthy. I knew that well, too. I levitated Penance’s scope from its case and peered through the wall.
马儿肯定在这附近有个办公室。如果我能找到它，那么也许......然后我扫了一眼Boo。那个空白的人盯着门，带着一种我已经很熟悉的可怕的表情。我把奥尼克斯的椅子悬浮起来，慢慢地走向门口，两只耳朵紧张地听着。这不是蹄爪在油毡地板上的咔嗒声，而是一只金属蹄子试图隐形的跺脚声。这点我也很清楚。我把苦修的范围从箱子里提起来，透过墙壁窥视。
Four ponies moved stealthily forward, two in Steel Ranger power armor and two in normal combat barding. The former pair were armed with AM rifles and grenade launchers. The latter two were unicorns, and each had a spark grenade levitated and ready to go. Two of the four, one in power armor and the other in combat barding, kept watch on the hall while the other two swept an office I’d been in.
四匹小马悄悄地向前移动，两匹穿着钢骑兵动力装甲，两匹穿着普通战斗服。前者配备有AM步枪和榴弹发射器。后两个是独角兽，每个都有一个火花榴弹悬浮起来，随时准备发射。四个人中的两个，一个穿着强力装甲，另一个穿着战斗服，在大厅里看守着，而另外两个在我呆过的办公室里打扫。
Damn it. They must have done something to Rampage; she wouldn’t have gone down without a shot being fired. Unfortunately, with two watching the hall in both directions while the others searched, I couldn’t run for it. With my increased mass, I couldn’t teleport more than a dozen feet, and they were keeping spread out enough that I wouldn’t be able to take out all four. Teleporting with Boo might be possible once, but not if I didn’t want to run the risk of my horn burning out. The only saving grace was that it seemed like Cognitum wanted me alive… or at least intact.
该死。他们一定对狂暴做了什么;她不会不开一枪就倒下的。不幸的是，两个人从两个方向看着大厅，而其他人在搜寻，我无法跑过去。随着我质量的增加，我不能传送超过12英尺的距离，而且他们分散得足够开，我不可能把所有四个都干掉。和Boo一起传送也许可能一次，但是如果我不想冒着喇叭烧坏的风险，那就不可能了。唯一的可取之处在于，它似乎想让我活着......或者至少是完整无缺的。
“Armor up, Boo,” I whispered. She groaned, pulled the operative armor from my bags, and wiggled into it. No doubt I was showing up on their E.F.S.; if I was lucky, I’d be lost against the thousands of other red bars in range. Still, if they had any skill, they’d be looking for red bars that shifted more rapidly than others when they moved from side to side. I hated that I was putting her in harm’s way, but I had to trust her skill, her quickness, and her luck to keep her alive. If I was disabled… Cognitum had no need for Boo or Rampage.
"穿上盔甲，布,"我低声说。她呻吟着，从我的包里拿出操作盔甲，扭动着钻进去。毫无疑问，我出现在了他们的e.f.s上;如果我幸运的话，我会在成千上万的其他红条面前迷路。不过，如果他们有任何技能，他们会寻找红条移动速度比其他人更快，当他们从一边移动到另一边。我讨厌我把她置于危险的境地，但是我必须相信她的技巧，她的敏捷和她的运气才能让她活下来。如果我是残疾人......认知不需要嘘声或暴怒。
“You gotta lead them away, Boo. Into the office across the hall. Get in, take cover, and stay low.” I patted her mane. They wouldn’t expect me to be crawling on my belly around here. They’d aim high, expecting me to come at them. And I was… just not from the front.
"你得把他们引开，波。走进大厅对面的办公室。进去，找掩护，蹲低点。"我拍了拍她的鬃毛。他们不会想到我会在这里匍匐前进。他们的目标很高，希望我能接近他们。我只是...不是从前线来的。
Boo nodded, then dashed out the door in a murky blur.
布点点头，然后模糊地冲出门去。
“What was that?!” a mare said from the hall. I peered through the scope, watching the four alert and advancing. “I saw something. I know I did,” a pasty white unicorn mare with a spark grenade muttered. “A yellow bar. I’m sure of it.”
"那是什么?!"大厅里的一匹母马说。我透过望远镜，看到四个警报正在逼近。"我看到了一些东西。我知道我做到了,"一匹苍白的白色独角兽母马手里拿着一枚火花弹咕哝着。"一根黄色的棒子。我敢肯定。"
“Nothing here is yellow. That’s got to be Blackjack. She doesn’t want to kill anypony,” the other unicorn in combat armor replied. He raised his hoof and said in low voices. “Rain, this is team D on floor three one. Strong contact, over.”
"这里没有黄色的东西。那一定是黑杰克。她不想杀死任何小马,"另一只穿着战斗装甲的独角兽回答。他抬起蹄子，低声说。"雷恩，这里是d队，在三楼一层。强烈接触，完毕。"
“Stay –Kzzt-, team D. I’m on my way. –Kzzrrt- engage BJ –bzzz- we get there. Understood?” his radio replied, barely audible through the static. “Do not – Kzzzzzrt- I get there!” A moment later came a shout of alarm, “No! Wh--you do--” and then silence.
"呆在这儿，卡兹特，d队，我在路上了。-Kzzrrt-启动BJ-bzzz-我们到了。明白吗?"他的无线电回答，通过静电几乎听不到。"不要——kzzzrt——我到了!"过了一会儿，传来一声惊恐的喊叫:"不！"然后就安静了。
“You’re breaking up. Say again, Rain?” the stallion said in a low, terse voice. “Damn it. Why give us these broadcaster things if we can’t get a signal in half this place? This Core isn’t half as good as we were told.”
"信号不好。再说一遍，雨?"那匹种马低声简洁地说。"该死。如果半个地方都收不到信号，为什么还要给我们这些广播公司的东西？这个核心还没有我们听说的一半好。"
“I dunno… I kinda like it,” one of the power-armored ponies said. “It feels… nice.”
"我不知道......我有点喜欢它,"一匹穿着重甲的小马说。"感觉......不错。"
The unicorn stallion seemed to be the one in charge. “Focus. Rain wants to talk to her. It’s easier to talk to a pony that’s disabled. So let’s light her up and have her trussed up like a turkey when he gets here. Then we can get the hell out of this place.” He and the unicorn mare trotted towards the door to Sapphire’s office, pulled the tabs on their spark grenades, and lobbed two of them through the door. Crackling spheres of blue erupted, and my E.F.S. went staticy for a few seconds. Then they threw two more further in. “Okay. Go get her.”
这匹独角兽种马似乎是掌权者。"专注。小雨想和她说话。和残疾的小马说话比较容易。等他来了，我们就把她点燃，把她捆起来，像火鸡一样。然后我们就可以离开这鬼地方了。"他和独角兽母马小跑到萨菲尔办公室的门口，拉开火花弹的制动片，向门外扔了两个。蓝色的球体爆发出噼啪声，我的远程识别系统有几秒钟变成了统一的状态。然后他们又扔了两个进去。"好吧。去找她吧。"
The two armored Rangers walked in, step by careful step. I walked with them, step by careful step, towards the two unicorns that were hanging back, fresh grenades hovering above them, ready to be used.
两个穿着盔甲的游骑兵走了进来，一步一步地小心翼翼。我和他们一起走，一步一步地小心翼翼地走向后面的两只独角兽，新鲜的手榴弹在他们头顶盘旋，随时准备使用。
I now knew my plan of action. As much as it made me feel like a heel, I moved up behind the green unicorn stallion with the chair upraised and brought it down upon his helmeted head with all the force my magic could muster. The work chair busted in half as I released it. My magic caught the green unicorn stallion’s spark grenade as it fell, plucked off the stem, and tossed it into the office with the two power-armored ponies.
我现在知道我的行动计划了。尽管这让我觉得自己像个跟屁虫，我还是举起椅子，走到那匹绿色独角兽种马的后面，用我的魔法所能聚集的全部力量把它放在它戴着头盔的头上。我一松开工作椅，它就裂成了两半。我的魔法抓住了落下来的绿色独角兽种马的火花榴弹，拔掉了它的茎，然后把它和两匹强力装甲的小马一起扔进了办公室。
The unicorn mare screamed as she backed down the hall away from me, flicking off the stem and throwing her own grenade in desperation. “What is that thing?!” she screamed at me. I activated my talismans and snapped my wings, launching me down the hall towards her, the dangerous blue-banded apple skipping right under me. I slammed into the mare like a battering ram. With a blue crackle, both grenades went off.
独角兽母马尖叫着从大厅里退开，甩掉了茎，在绝望中扔出了自己的手榴弹。"那是什么东西?!"她冲我大喊大叫。我激活了我的护身符，折断了我的翅膀，把我从大厅推向她，那个危险的蓝条苹果在我身下跳来跳去。我像一个攻城槌一样猛地撞上了母马。随着一声蓝色的爆裂声，两枚手榴弹都爆炸了。
Getting hit by me was rather akin to having a boat dro– to having a skywagon fall on you. The mare might have been armored against conventional ballistic bullets, but she wasn’t protected from the impact of a charging full cyberpony.
被我撞倒就像一艘小船从天上掉下来砸在你身上。这匹母马可能已经装甲对抗传统的弹道子弹，但她没有保护的冲击完全赛博马。
The hit knocked her helmet clean off and sent her rolling down the hall for a few feet. Undamaged, I advanced towards her. “Now, I have a few quest--” I stepped on something, hearing a crunch under my hoof. I lifted my leg, looking at the pendant I'd trodden on. “Oh no!” I gasped, scooping it up with my magic and racing to where she’d fallen.
撞击把她的头盔撞掉了，她在大厅里滚了几英尺。我毫发无损地向她走去。"现在，我有几个问题——"我踩到了什么东西，听到蹄子嘎吱一声。我抬起腿，看着那个我踩过的吊坠。"哦，不!"我倒吸了一口气，用我的魔法把它舀了起来，跑到她摔倒的地方。
The mare tried to say something, a hoof extended towards me as her eyes bulged and her other forehoof clutched at her throat. It was only a second or two… three at the most… And then a great slurry of blood poured forth as she vomited up her organs. I watched her eyes pop and run like pink glass down her cheeks as I just stood there, pendant dangling from my wing. Stupidly, I pressed the pendant to her shaking chest, but the damage was done. She might be alive temporarily, but she didn’t have a healing talisman inside her.
母马想说点什么，一只蹄子朝我伸过来，她的眼睛鼓了起来，另一只蹄子抓住了喉咙。只有一两秒钟......最多三秒钟......然后她吐出了一大滩血。我只是站在那里，看着她的眼睛像粉红色的玻璃一样从脸颊上跳下来，挂在我的翅膀上。我愚蠢地把吊坠按在她颤抖的胸膛上，但伤害已经造成了。她可能暂时还活着，但是她体内没有一个治愈的护身符。
“Blackjack, you idiot,” I whispered, wishing I had a healing spell for the thousandth time. How long could she survive like this? Minutes? Hours. Boo looked at me, helmet in her hooves, her eyes sad. “I’m sorry,” I muttered dully, “It was an accident.” I didn’t know who I was saying that for. Her? Myself? I levitated the talisman away. The mare trembled, her flesh sloughing off her bones, then collapsed as her hide gave way in a wet slurry. Even her bones seemed to be melting before my eyes into runny fluid that trickled out of the holes in the combat armor. A white glow rose from her remains, then swept away
"黑杰克，你这个白痴,"我低声说，希望我有一个治疗咒语第一千次。她这样能活多久？几分钟？办公时间。布看着我，马蹄上戴着头盔，眼里充满悲伤。"对不起,"我无精打采地咕哝着,"这是个意外。"我不知道我这么说是为了谁。她？我自己？我把护身符悬浮起来。母马颤抖着，她的肉从骨头上脱落下来，然后她的皮在湿泥浆中崩溃了。甚至她的骨头在我眼前似乎都融化成了从战斗装甲上的洞里流出来的液体。一道白光从她的遗体上升起，然后消失了
down the hall and through the floor as if carried away on a wind.
穿过大厅，穿过地板，好像被风吹走了。
The concussed stallion took one glance at the mare’s melted remains, pulled out a similar small pendant, put it in his mouth, and bit hard on the chain. I might kill him, but I wasn’t going liquefy him like her. He turned, trying to run away, half staggering and almost falling on his face more than once. The sensible thing would be to kill him, but I really wasn’t in the mood. I peeked in at the two suits of power armor, but they were disabled. A few ineffectual tugs on the armor later and I missed my sword anew, and Scotch Tape. I settled with looting every bullet I could from their bags.
脑震荡的种马看了一眼母马融化的残骸，拿出一个类似的小挂件，放进嘴里，然后用力咬链子。我可能会杀了他，但我不会像她那样把他烧成液体。他转过身，试图逃跑，步履蹒跚，几乎不止一次脸朝下摔倒。明智的做法是杀了他，但我真的没有心情。我偷看了一眼那两套能量盔甲，但它们已经不能用了。几次徒劳无功的拖动盔甲之后，我又错过了我的宝剑和透明胶带。我从他们的包里把所有的子弹都抢了出来。
I pulled out the scope and began to sweep through the building. Here and there, I spotted more groups of ponies all coming up towards me. There… and there… and there… and… crud. No sign of Rampage, though. I needed a filter to just show blue bars.
我拿出显微镜，开始在大楼里扫视。在这里和那里，我发现更多的小马群都向我走来。那儿...那儿...那儿...还有...脏东西。但是没有暴怒的迹象。我需要一个过滤器来显示蓝色条。
Wait… there she was! Down below me, in the office foyer, surrounded by a half-dozen prone ponies. Hah! I knew that Rampage…
等等...她在那儿！在我下面的办公室门厅里，有六匹趴着的小马围着。哈！我知道狂暴..。
…would be talking with Steel Rain, who was now in fancy, sparkling silver armor? I gaped at her and then at him. Their lips moved, but what were they talking about? He was smiling, his helmet casually on his back. She frowned, waving her hoof up and behind her. Steel Rain answered, and Rampage scowled at him, then gave a terse nod, turned, and walked away.
...会和钢铁雨说话，他现在穿着闪闪发光的银色盔甲？我目瞪口呆地看着她，然后又看着他。他们的嘴唇动了动，但是他们在说什么呢？他微笑着，他的头盔随意地放在他的背上。她皱起眉头，在身后挥舞着她的蹄子。钢铁雨回答了，狂暴怒怒视着他，然后简短地点了点头，转身走开了。
What in sweet Celestia was going on? I stared down, then assembled the rest of Penance and checked the bypass bullet still in the chamber. It’d been intended for Twilight Sparkle; it was too good for him. I set the crosshairs right above his left temple. I just had to pull the trigger. He was my enemy! He was making a deal or doing… doing something! I licked my lips, slipping into S.A.T.S. Just pull the trigger. He’d annihilate me in a moment if our positions were swapped! Do it! Do it!
在甜蜜的塞莱斯蒂娅身上发生了什么？我低头凝视，然后召集其余的忏悔，检查仍然在枪膛里的旁路子弹。这本来是为紫悦准备的，对他来说太好了。我在他的左太阳穴上方设置了瞄准器。我只需要扣动扳机。他是我的敌人！他在做交易或者做...做事！我舔了舔嘴唇，溜进sat考场扣动扳机。如果我们交换位置，他会立刻消灭我！动手吧！动手吧！
There was just one problem. I hissed through my teeth and lowered the gun. Once again, I really wished I was half the killer any of my friends were, or even the scum of the Wasteland. I grit my teeth and bumped my horn in annoyance against the barrel of the weapon for a few seconds before I popped out the bypass round and put in some normal .308 AP rounds. Sniper weapons weren’t… me. I was better suited with close in, rapid fire, messy weapons.
只有一个问题。我用牙齿发出嘶嘶声，放下了枪。再一次，我真的希望我有我朋友的一半是杀手，甚至是荒地的渣滓。我咬紧牙关，不耐烦地撞了一下我的号角，碰到了枪管上好几秒钟，然后我打开了旁路子弹，装上了一些普通的.308AP子弹。狙击武器不是...我。我更适合使用近距离，快速射击，混乱的武器。
Penance, as powerful as the gun was, simply wasn’t my kind of gun. Now an IF-88 Ironpony… Sigh; I doubted such a gun even still existed. Still, I could keep a little hope in my heart, couldn’t I?
忏悔，尽管这把枪很有威力，但绝对不是我喜欢的那种枪。现在一把IF-88铁马...唉，我怀疑这种枪还存在。不过，我还是可以心存一点希望的，不是吗？
“Come on, Boo. Rampage will catch up,” I said, trying to keep the worry and doubt out of my voice. Rampage had mentioned something about a gap in the wall to the east. I’d make for that. If Rampage found me once, she could find me again.
"来吧，阿布。横冲直撞总有一天会发生的,"我说，努力不让自己的声音里充满担忧和疑虑。狂暴提到东边的城墙上有个缺口。我会这么做的。如果狂暴找到我一次，她就能再找到我。
But would Steel Rain be with her or not?
但是钢铁雨会和她在一起吗？
I heard the shouts around me; Green must’ve told them where I was. If they could coordinate… I had my broadcaster. I could listen in. Get ahead of them.
我听到周围的喊叫声，格林一定告诉他们我在哪儿了。如果他们能协调......我有我的播音员。我可以偷听。走在他们前面。
“Boo, you know what to do if I go out of it?” I asked as I looked back down the hall… at four more Harbingers coming out of a stairwell. I jumped up and spread my wings, letting my momentum carry me down the hall as I faced the way we’d come. I sighted back down the hall through the scope and planted a trio of S.A.T.S.-assisted rounds against the armored head of one pony. One might have penetrated, but more importantly, they fell back, giving me time to hit the end of the hall. When my hindlegs made contact, I emptied the last rounds in the magazine and darted to the side down another hall.
"嘘，你知道如果我出去了该怎么办吗?"我边问边回头看着大厅......又有四个预兆从楼梯井里出来。我跳起来，展开我的翅膀，让我的冲力带着我穿过大厅，面对着我们来的方向。我透过望远镜看到下面的大厅，在一匹小马的装甲车头上放了三发s.a.t.s辅助的子弹。有一个可能已经穿过去了，但更重要的是，它们往后倒了，这样我就有时间走到大厅的尽头。当我的后腿接触时，我把弹夹里的最后一发子弹打完，飞奔到另一个大厅的另一边。
“Ayep!” Boo said with a nod.
"是的!"布点头说。
“Keep it together, Blackjack,” I mumbled to myself, then turned on my broadcaster.
"坚持住，黑杰克,"我喃喃自语，然后打开了播音机。
The effect was immediate but subtle, a faint changing of the halls from dim to a pale gold. The debris and garbage on the floor didn’t disappear so much as just fade from my attention. The illumination increased, the air turned warmer, and the silence was replaced by the babble of thousands. “Focus on the ones that are real,” I muttered to myself. Something smacked my face, and I started and looked over at Boo, frowning in concern. The blank pony seemed almost spectral; real, but also not.
这种效果是立竿见影的，但又是微妙的，就像大厅从昏暗变成了浅金色。地板上的碎片和垃圾并没有完全从我的注意力中消失。光线越来越亮，空气越来越暖和，寂静被成千上万的嘈杂声所取代。"把注意力集中在那些真实的东西上,"我喃喃自语。有什么东西打在我的脸上，我吃了一惊，看着布，皱着眉头，表示关切。那匹空荡荡的矮种马看起来几乎像幽灵一样;真实的，但也不是。
“Cut her off, pin her down, and wait! Damn it, why aren’t any of you getting this?” I heard Steel Rain say in my ears clear as day. He was one of many others. More ponies appeared, walking along and doing their business. All were augmented, improved, stronger, happier, healthier.
"拦住她，把她按住，然后等着！该死，你们怎么就不明白呢?"我听到钢铁雨在我的耳边清晰地说。他是其他许多人中的一个。更多的小马出现了，一边走一边做着自己的事情。所有人都得到了增强，改善，更强壮，更快乐，更健康。
“Did you hear that Octavia miniclip?” a mare broadcast to her coworker as they trotted past me, accompanied by an intriguing blend of classical and synthetic melody.
"你听到那个奥克塔维亚·米尼克吗?"当她的同事从我身边小跑而过时，一匹母马向她的同事广播，伴随着有趣的古典和合成旋律的混合。
“Yeah. That made it around the network. EQD’s always highlighting her work,” her friend said as they passed by me. The earth pony had a pair of robotic hands coming out her shoulders, holding some kind of flat terminal screen she manipulated. “I played it on my Vdate last night. He liked it too. Planning a remix.”
"是的。这在网络上广为流传。Eqd总是突出她的工作,"她的朋友说，当他们通过我。地球上的小马有一双机械手从她的肩膀上伸出来，手里拿着她操纵的某种平板终端屏幕。"我昨晚在我的虚拟约会上播放了这首歌。他也很喜欢。计划一次混音。"
It was hard to keep one reality away from another. I’d spent hours here. Days. I would have died in here if it hadn’t been for Boo recharging me when my systems ran out of power. I pushed the broadcast chatter away. If I let it, I could listen to happy ponies talking about anything and everything. The latest healing talisman eliminating cancer completely, or the first earth pony winning the Best Young Fliers competition on her own synthetic wings.
让一个现实远离另一个现实是很难的。我在这里呆了好几个小时。天数。如果不是Boo在我的系统没电的时候给我充电，我可能已经死在这里了。我把广播中的喋喋不休推到一边。如果我任其发展，我可以听到快乐的小马在谈论任何事情。最新的治愈性护身符完全消除了癌症，或者第一匹地球上的小马凭借自己的人造翅膀赢得了最佳年轻飞行员奖。
Instead, I focused on the angry voices. “She’s on level thirty-four, hall J. Get up that stairwell and cut her off! Did you hear me? Get to 34 J. I repeat. 34 J.” I could hear them crystal clear, but then, I was more metal than they were. They used technology. I was technology.
相反，我关注的是那些愤怒的声音。"她在第三十四层，j大厅，上楼梯井截住她！你听到了吗？到34j，重复一遍。我可以清楚地听到他们的声音，但是，我比他们更像金属。他们使用科技。我是科技。
I ran through the ghostly hallucinations of augmented ponies, trying to focus on the real that was just so less appealing. There were thirty-seven Octavia concerts being played right now. Four hundred remixes of those concerts. One thousand two hundred remixes of the remixes. Didn’t I want to listen?
我浏览了小马的幽灵般的幻觉，试图把注意力集中在那些不那么吸引人的真实世界上。现在正在举行37场奥克塔维亚音乐会。那些音乐会的400个混音版本。1200份混音版本。我不想听吗？
There! Floor 34, Stairwell J. I threw the door open as I heard another voice shout through the network, “This is team 8. We’re going up the J stairwell. She can’t get to the wall breach on 26 without going through us.”
那里！34楼，j楼梯井。我猛地把门打开，这时我听到另一个声音穿过网络喊道:"这里是第8小队。我们要上j楼梯。如果没有我们的帮助，她无法到达26号公路的缺口。"
“Pin her down, 8. We need to get contact!” Steel Rain buzzed. “Damn all this interference.” Interference? He just wasn’t integrated enough. He used the network. I was the network. I saw information as much as I heard it. I slung Penance around my neck and then grabbed Boo. I heard them pounding up the stairwell and leapt over the rail, letting gravity take me down. We flashed past the four stomping up after us; the expressions of astonishment on the unarmored ponies’ faces would have one hundred thousand hits in an hour… “Bwackjack!” Boo shouted at me, and my wings spread wide, halting my
"按住她，8号。我们需要接触!"钢铁雨嗡嗡作响。"去他妈的干扰。"干扰？他只是不够完整。他利用网络。我就是电视网。我看到的信息和听到的一样多。我把苦修挂在脖子上，然后抓住布。我听到他们冲上楼梯，跳过栏杆，任由地心引力把我拉下来。我们一闪而过，后面跟着四只跺着脚的小马，它们脸上露出惊讶的表情，一小时之内就会被击中十万次......"大怪杰克!"布冲我大叫，我的翅膀展开了，停住了我的
plunge. Right! Get out. That had to be my priority.
跳水。没错！出去。这是我的首要任务。
“She’s past us in the J stairwell. She’s flying!” someone said over the network.
"她在j楼梯间超过了我们。她在飞!"有人在网上说。
“She said Blackjack could do that now. Get spark grenades on her and shut her down. Is the breach on 26 spark-mined?”
"她说Blackjack现在可以这么做了。给她点火花弹，让她闭嘴。26处缺口是不是被火花点燃了?"
“Yes sir!” came the reply.
"是的，先生!"回答来了。
“Good. Once she’s disabled, remove her wings and legs and secure her for transport. Cognitum can’t keep the swarmers suppressed forever,” Steel Rain said tersely. I looked up as the power-armored Harbingers’ grenade launchers began to go ‘thoomathoomathooma’ and fire a stream of spark grenades at me. I might survive a thirty-four-story fall, but Boo wouldn’t. I darted to the side as they started going off in a cavalcade of blue crackles and flashes that turned my vision to static and sent me skidding out of the golden world on my face.
"很好。一旦她残疾了，移除她的翅膀和腿，并确保她的运输。认知不能永远压制邪恶,"钢铁雨简洁地说。我抬起头，看到装甲强大的"先驱者"的榴弹发射器开始向我发射火花弹。我可能从34层楼高的地方摔下来还能活下来，但是布不能。我冲到一边，他们开始在一个蓝色的爆裂声和闪光，把我的视力静止，让我滑出我的脸上的金色的世界。
I hadn’t even come to a stop before Boo grabbed my mane and, with earth pony tenacity and strength, hauled me down the hall. An orange pony in my head glanced quite smugly at a sullen blue pegasus. “Look for a hole to the outside, Boo. We’ve got to get out of here.”
我还没来得及停下来，布就抓住了我的鬃毛，用泥土般的马驹般的韧劲和力量把我拉下了大厅。一匹橙色的小马在我的头上自鸣得意地瞥了一眼忧郁的蓝色飞马。"在外面找一个洞，Boo。我们必须离开这里。"
“Okies!” Boo replied around a mouthful of my mane as I was pulled along. Two minutes later, my systems began autobooting. As long as I had power, I couldn’t be shut down for too long. As soon as my eyes and legs starting working again, I rose to my hooves, sucked down an emerald, slapped a new magazine into Penance, and scanned for my pursuers.
"俄克拉荷马人!"当我被拉着走的时候，布满嘴的回答着我的鬃毛。两分钟后，我的系统开始自动启动。只要我还有权力，我就不会被关闭太久。一旦我的眼睛和腿开始工作，我站起来我的蹄子，吸下一个祖母绿，拍打一个新的杂志进入苦修，扫描我的追求者。
I didn’t have to search far. As soon as they came around the corner, the power-armored Harbingers opened up with their grenade launchers again; fortunately, their aim was horrible. If P-21 had been standing where they were, he could have sent a grenade right up my… well… anyway, these ponies weren’t nearly as precise as he; their shots bounced wildly, filling the hall with dazzling sparks of energy. Penance fired a perfectly placed cluster of five into the helmet of one of the Rangers, and he went down. That got the other three to back out of sight for the moment.
我不用找很远的地方。他们一转过街角，那些装甲强大的"先驱者"又用他们的榴弹发射器开火了，幸运的是，他们的目标很可怕。如果P-21当时站在他们所在的位置，他可能会向我扔一颗手榴弹......好吧......不管怎么说，这些小马并不像他那么准确;它们的子弹疯狂地弹跳着，令人眼花缭乱的能量火花充满了整个大厅。苦修向一名游骑兵的头盔发射了一枚位置完美的五发子弹，他倒下了。这让其他三个人暂时消失在视线之外。
Okay, maybe there was some good to sniper rifles beyond killing helpless targets unawares…
好吧，也许有一些好的狙击步枪超过杀无助的目标不知不觉..。
“Find the way out, Boo,” I reiterated as I slid in another five-round magazine. Spark mines wouldn’t do anything to her except ruin her mane. I turned my broadcaster back on, feeling the world dip into that wonderful mellow glow of civilized, augmented life. The three ponies down the hall I fought seemed almost surreal as I clipped one of the unicorns in combat armor. Why was she screaming like that? All she needed was a healing implant…
"找到出路，阿布,"我重申，我滑进另一个五轮杂志。火花地雷除了毁掉她的鬃毛，对她没有任何作用。我重新打开了电视，感觉世界沉浸在文明的、扩展的生活的美妙醇厚的光辉之中。当我在战斗装甲部队夹住一头独角兽时，我在大厅里与之搏斗的三匹小马看起来就像是做梦一样。她为什么那样尖叫？她所需要的只是一个愈合的植入物..。
Two mares were standing nearby, a winged earth pony and a unicorn with two attendant drones. “Awww, isn’t he cute?” the two crooned over something held by one of the floating white robots. No! Don’t get distracted, Blackjack! Keep firing so their aim is shit. Don’t look… don’t look at the little bundle in the hands of the drone… at it waving its little hooves in the air at Mommy.
两匹母马站在附近，一匹地球上长翅膀的小马，一只独角兽和两只随从的雄蜂。"啊，他是不是很可爱?"两个人低声吟唱着，一个漂浮的白色机器人举着的东西。不！别分心，黑杰克！继续射击，这样他们的目标就是狗屎。不要看......不要看雄蜂手中的小包裹......看它在空中向妈妈挥舞着它的小蹄子。
Its little steel hooves… I stopped firing and stared as the drone turned to show the infant to the earth pony. “Such a precious little bundle…” the unicorn crooned, lifting the colt up. One eye glowed a faint red, and wires ran down the side of his face to disappear into the swaddling. He stared right at me, and my gut gave a twinge… and then I started screaming as I fled.
它那小小的铁蹄......我停止了射击，盯着无人机转过身来，把婴儿给大地上的小马看。"多么珍贵的一个小包裹啊......"独角兽低声说着，把小马举了起来。一只眼睛发出微弱的红光，电线沿着他的脸颊滑落，消失在襁褓中。他直勾勾地盯着我，我的肚子一阵剧痛......然后我开始尖叫着逃跑。
I ran blindly, ignoring the shouts behind me as I tried to get away from what I’d just seen. I smelled the reek of rain and ozone; that was probably the direction of ‘out’. So many augmented ponies. So many voices. Hundreds. Thousands.
我盲目地跑着，无视身后的呼喊声，试图逃离我刚刚看到的一切。我闻到了雨水和臭氧的气味，这可能是出去的方向。这么多增强的小马。这么多的声音。成百上千。成千上万。
Millions. All blending together into a scream, one single continuous babbling scream. It was my scream too. I was every bit a part of it. Eventually, we all would be.
数百万。所有的一切混合成一个尖叫，一个单一的连续的咿呀的尖叫。那也是我的尖叫声。我是其中的一部分。最终，我们所有人都会这样。
I reached the breach in the building’s wall and stood there, staring at the world of the augmented. The machine. The city alight and alive with knowledge and power. There was no misery here, no suffering, no boredom. Machines did the labor, and ponies enjoyed recreation; work was purely optional. All knowledge here. All entertainment. All unity. This was Dawn’s vision; was it any wonder she’d given her life and her body to see it made true? Could I do any differently? I was the city, and the city was me, and it would protect me if I needed it. A golden swarm of shining motes rose around me as I turned slowly to face the unaugmented, separated, unimproved, imperfect ponies that dared attack me. They skidded to a halt before me, their eyes wide in shock and horror.
我走到大楼墙壁的缺口处，站在那里，凝视着增强的世界。机器。这座城市因知识和力量而充满活力。这里没有痛苦，没有苦难，没有无聊。机器完成了劳动，小马享受着娱乐;工作完全是随意的。这里所有的知识。所有娱乐活动。所有的团结。这就是道恩的梦想;难道她愿意牺牲自己的生命和身体来实现这个梦想就不足为奇了吗？我能有什么不同吗？我是这座城市，这座城市就是我，如果我需要它，它会保护我。当我慢慢转过身来面对那些没有增强、分离、没有改进、不完美的小马时，一大群闪闪发光的尘粒围绕着我。他们在我面前停了下来，惊恐地瞪大了眼睛。
They fired and threw their spark grenades, but the golden motes would protect me. I watched sadly as they swirled around each projectile in slow motion, their
他们发射并投掷他们的火花弹，但黄金微粒会保护我。我悲伤地看着它们以慢动作绕着每一个抛射物旋转
mouths moving as they stripped and masticated the casing, then the talismans within. One grenade after the next was consumed. Then the motes swirled around the pair. Combat armor, power armor, both were chewed away. Then skin, muscle, and bone.
当他们剥开并咀嚼外壳的时候嘴在动，然后护身符在里面。一个接一个的手榴弹被消耗掉了。然后尘粒在这对夫妇周围旋转。战斗装甲，动力装甲，都被咬掉了。然后是皮肤，肌肉和骨骼。
The pony in combat armor, I thought he was an earth pony, didn’t get away. He lasted, screaming, until they ripped away his talisman and he melted. The power-armored pony ran for his life. Pity. Perhaps he’d get augmented now. The closer one was to the machine, the better. The glowing motes surrounded me, such adorable things, and so useful. They fluttered their little wings, blinked their glowing eyes, and grinned with their diamond-sharp teeth. More poured into the building now. They knew there were intruders, heard their sources and targeted their unauthorized PipBuck tags.
那匹穿着战斗盔甲的小马，我以为他是一匹地球上的小马，没有逃走。他坚持着，尖叫着，直到他们撕掉了他的护身符，他融化了。那匹穿着重甲的小马拼命地奔跑。真可惜。也许他现在应该得到增强。离机器越近越好。发光的尘埃围绕着我，这些可爱的东西，这么有用。它们扇动着小小的翅膀，眨着闪闪发光的眼睛，咧着嘴，露出钻石般锋利的牙齿。现在更多的人涌进了大楼。他们知道有入侵者，听到他们的来源，然后锁定未经授权的PipBuck标签。
Then another earth pony came. Once more, the motes danced around her, biting and chewing. Proteins could be useful, too; so many things were made from organic sources. “Blackjack?” she said through the ruin of her mouth.
然后又来了一匹地球上的矮种马。尘埃又一次围着她跳舞，咬着，嚼着。蛋白质也可能是有用的，因为很多东西都是由有机物制成的。"黑杰克?"她用她的嘴巴说道。
“Oh, hello Rampage,” I said with a smile, then faced out at the glowing city. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
"哦，你好，狂暴,"我微笑着说，然后面朝着发光的城市。"很漂亮，不是吗?"
“Yeah. Beautiful. You’re talking crazy, and I can’t really shoot you in the head to snap you out of it,” Rampage said before her windpipe was torn away. She waited in irritation for it to reform. “You have an enemy you need to beat,” she said once it regenerated. “Ow... hrk... Remember?”
"是的。真漂亮。你在胡说八道，我真的不能一枪崩了你的脑袋，让你振作起来。"。她恼怒地等待着它的改革。"你有一个敌人，你需要打败,"她说，一旦它再生。"噢......呃......记得吗?"
“Enemy?” I murmured.
"敌人?"我低声说。
“Cognitum?” Rampage asked as she was eaten, regenerated, and eaten again. “She’s hurting me. Boo. Glory. P-21. Scotch. Remember your friends?”
"认知?"当她被吃掉、再生、再次被吃掉时，狂暴问道。"她在伤害我。嘘。晨辉。P-21.威士忌。还记得你的朋友吗?"
“My friends,” I said faintly. “They won’t be hurt. All they have to do is get augmented and connected and… and everything will be wonderful.”
"我的朋友们,"我微弱地说。"他们不会受到伤害。他们所要做的就是得到增强和连接，然后......一切都会变得很美好。"
“They don’t want to get augmented. They want to be ponies,” Rampage said when she could. “Don’t you want to save ponies?” The question seemed quaint, but... “Don’t you want to save ponies? Doesn’t Security save ponies?”
"他们不想得到增强。他们想要成为小马驹,"当她可以的时候，狂暴说。"难道你不想拯救小马吗?"这个问题看起来很奇怪，但是......"你不想拯救小马吗？难道保安不拯救小马吗?"
“Security saves…” Did I? I wanted to, but maybe Dawn had been right.
"保安拯救..."我有吗？我也想，但也许道恩是对的。
Augmentation and unity were salvation. I could imagine an augmented P-21.
强化和团结是救赎。我可以想象一个增强的P-21。
Scotch Tape. Glory. My… that half metal colt filled my vision. “No! No!” I screamed as I broke the connection again.
透明胶带。晨辉。我的...那个半金属的小马驹占据了我的视线。"不！不!"当我再次断开连接时，我尖叫起来。
The golden motes became deformed black spheres with mouths filled with drills, pincers, and hooks. Their wings hummed with that damnable note as they crawled over every surface, including Rampage. I watched in horror as they struggled to butcher the regenerating pony before my eyes. The bits of meat liquefied as they were torn away from her, pulping into bloody goop. “No! No! Go away!”
金色的尘埃变成了畸形的黑色球体，嘴里装满了钻头、钳子和钩子。当它们爬过每一个表面，包括横冲直撞的表面时，它们的翅膀嗡嗡地发出那该死的音符。我惊恐地看着他们在我眼前竭力屠杀那匹再生的小马。一块块肉从她身上撕下来就液化了，打成了血淋淋的粘糊糊的。"不！不！走开!"
The swarmers’ buzz took on a confused note, the hundreds of machines looking at me in bafflement. Then they moved away, hovering in that horrible, deformed cloud. They dispersed back down into city streets below. Boo emerged from a broom closet, her eyes wide and trembling. I sat down hard, trembling with fear, feeling the fluttering sensation inside my body. Covering my face, I tried all I could to purge that memory of the half-metal colt from my memory, and, failing that... sobbed.
蜂拥的嗡嗡声带来一种混乱的气氛，成百上千的机器困惑地看着我。然后他们离开了，在那可怕的变形的云中盘旋。他们分散到下面的城市街道上。布从杂物间里出来，眼睛睁得大大的，颤抖着。我重重地坐了下来，吓得浑身发抖，感到身体里有一种颤抖的感觉。我捂着脸，竭尽全力想把那匹半金属马驹从我的记忆中抹去，但是失败了，我抽泣起来。
* * *
* * *
The concrete of the Core’s streets crumbled under my hooves as we trod straight down the road’s centerline. A tunnel of swarmers curled around us, buzzing endlessly. Even though my broadcaster was off once more, I could still feel them in my mind. Apparently, that was all that kept them from disassembling us on the spot. Boo and Rampage stayed close to me, the former terrified and riding on my back and the latter trotting at my side.
当我们沿着道路中心线一直走下去的时候，我的蹄子踩碎了核心区街道的混凝土。一条黑黝黝的隧道围绕着我们，嗡嗡作响，没完没了。即使我的播音员再次关闭，我仍然可以感觉到他们在我的脑海里。显然，这就是他们没有当场解散我们的原因。布和狂暴一直跟在我身边，前者吓坏了，骑在我的背上，后者小跑着来到我身边。
Twice I’d spotted Harbingers behind us, keeping pace about a block back. They were neither moving in nor falling back. I couldn’t help but feel like they were herding me somewhere. I glanced over at Rampage, so many questions in my mind. The striped mare seemed pensive rather than her usual chatty self. More than once, I caught her eyes on me, but words went unspoken. I wanted to ask about Steel Rain, find out what he’d talked to her about, but the words got all jammed up in my head and never escaped my mouth.
有两次我看到身后有"先驱者"，他们跟在我们后面大约一个街区。他们既不进攻也不撤退。我情不自禁地觉得他们在把我赶到某个地方。我扫了一眼狂暴，脑子里有很多问题。那匹有斑纹的母马看起来很忧郁，而不像平常那样健谈。不止一次，我被她的目光吸引住了，但这些话还是没有说出口。我想问问钢铁雨的事，看看他跟她说了些什么，但是这些话在我脑子里一直萦绕不去，从来没有从我嘴里说出来。
We were getting closer to the center of the Core. These towers were so tall that their tips were lost in the endless storm above. The hole that had once swirled around Shadowbolt Tower was now a deep well stretching far up into the sky. I couldn’t even see a hint of what was on the other side. Was it day or night? Did
我们离核心越来越近了。这些塔是如此之高，以至于它们的尖端在无尽的暴风雨中消失了。曾经围绕着影螺栓塔旋转的那个洞，现在已经变成了一口深深的井，一直延伸到天空。我甚至看不到另一边有什么。是白天还是晚上？是的
that even matter in a place like this? Even if it was high noon, the green light was so strong that I might not have been able to tell. As we advanced, the buildings around us showed increasing signs of ever more drastic modification. Cables hung overhead in a crackling, buzzing canopy. Threaded shafts spread by the hundreds around us like branches. The normally smooth black towers were so breached and altered that many seemed reduced to massive scaffolds. The former contents were spilled in heaps around their bases, now hills we had to pick our way around.
在这种地方还有什么意义吗？即使是在正午，绿色的光线是如此强烈，我可能已经不能告诉。随着我们向前推进，我们周围的建筑物显示出越来越多的剧烈改建的迹象。头顶上悬挂着电缆，发出噼啪声，嗡嗡作响。螺纹轴像树枝一样在我们周围成百上千地蔓延。通常光滑的黑色塔楼被严重破坏和改变，许多看起来都变成了巨大的脚手架。以前的东西成堆地散落在它们的基地周围，现在我们只能在山上绕来绕去。
The navigation tag directed me straight ahead, where I suspected that Cognitum also awaited me. The ground quivered every few minutes; they weren’t as strong as the first earthquake. Still, as much as the regular tremors worried me, my friend's continued silence disturbed me more.
导航标签指引我笔直向前，我怀疑那个地方也在等着我。地面每隔几分钟就震动一次，它们不如第一次地震那么坚固。尽管经常发抖让我很担心，但我朋友的持续沉默还是让我更加不安。
Then I saw something that pushed the worry out of my mind. We passed beneath an arch of molded steel, and beyond was the heart of the Core. I’d seen it in memories: the wide hexagonal plaza with six huge hubs built up around the edges, each one an imposing edifice of the new Equestria that Goldenblood had forged for Luna, and on this spot, according to a plaque on the arch, he’d given his great ‘Hoofington Rises’ speech before the plaza was even dreamed of. This was where it’d started for him. His dream. His legacy.
然后我看到一些东西把我的担心赶出了我的脑海。我们经过了一个由模制钢制成的拱门下面，在那之外是核心的中心。我在记忆中见过它:宽阔的六角形广场，周围建有六个巨大的枢纽，每个枢纽都是金血王为卢娜建造的宏伟的Equestria大厦。对他来说，这就是开始的地方。他的梦想。他的遗产。
Where once the plaza stretched for a thousand feet, there was now a jagged and broken hole. The blue M.o.A. building had been removed by my megaspell, and in its absence, much of the plaza had collapsed into the hole left behind. It was not the only missing Ministry, however. The yellow M.o.P. building, once a grand monolith shining golden yellow, was now little more than a twisted and blackened stump, an atrophied limb reaching in futility towards the rain-spitting heavens. The facade of the M.W.T. building was gone completely, a slope of broken machines and rusting technology slumping towards the pit. The M.o.M. hub appeared relatively intact at first glance, but through the doors the building's collapsed floors were clearly visible; the entire grimy pink structure seemed set to fall at the slightest disturbance. Even worse, though, was the M.A.S. structure. I watched as, in front of me, it slowly sank into the ground with a persistent rumble, the glass shattering and the walls slowly crumpling as it sank inexorably into the recesses of the earth. Only the M.o.I. building was intact. More than intact, in fact; it was untouched by the strange alterations happening throughout the city. It perched on the very edge of the pit like a marble headstone.
广场曾经延伸了一千英尺，现在是一个参差不齐的破洞。蓝色的m.o.a.大楼已经被我的巨型建筑物拆除，在它不在的时候，广场的大部分已经塌陷到留下的洞里。然而，它并不是唯一一个失踪的部。这座黄色的m.o.p.大楼，曾经是一块巨大的庞然大物，闪着金黄色的光芒，现在只不过是一块扭曲的黑色树桩，一条萎缩的枝干，徒劳地伸向随雨而下的天堂。建筑的正面完全消失了，一个由破损的机器和生锈的技术组成的斜坡滑向矿井。第一眼看上去，基本完好无损，但是透过门，倒塌的楼层清晰可见;整个肮脏的粉红色结构似乎只要稍有动静就会倒塌。然而，更糟糕的是m.a.s.结构。我看着，在我面前，它缓缓地沉入地下，发出持续不断的隆隆声，玻璃破碎，墙壁慢慢地倒塌，它无情地沉入地底。只有m.o.i.大楼完好无损。事实上，它完好无损，没有受到整个城市发生的奇怪变化的影响。它像一块大理石墓碑一样栖息在坑的边缘。
As damaged as most of the hubs were, none of them had been touched by the swarmers. They were left as testaments before the great pit. Unfortunately, my destination was on the far side, and I felt a distinct certainty that flying over that void in the earth would be a bad decision. Still, if I could skirt around the M.o.P., tiptoe past the M.o.M., and go through M.o.I., I’d be able to get the rest of the way through. Boo slipped off my back, the nimble mare light on her hooves.
尽管大多数轮毂已经损坏，但没有一个被磨损的轮毂碰过。他们被作为遗嘱留在大坑之前。不幸的是，我的目的地在遥远的一边，我清楚地感觉到，飞越地球上的那片空白将是一个糟糕的决定。尽管如此，如果我能绕过m.o.p，踮起脚尖通过m.o.m，通过m.o.i，我就能够完成剩下的路程。布从我背上滑了下来，那匹敏捷的母马的蹄子上发着光。
The M.o.P. building was a burnt-out husk; the flame was now long cold, but the soot remained. A few singed posters fluttered from displays along the walls. ‘Medical Marvel Miracles!’ and ‘M.o.P.: Saving Equestria One Life at a Time’. Charred black wheelchairs sat silently in the foyer, as if patients had tried to flee even as their bodies melted apart. I stepped up to the entrance, staring at the blackened, sterile building. Two teal eyes stared out in desperation from a large mural half covered in char; they appeared to be silently screaming at us for help as I stood there.
共和党的大楼已经被烧毁，火焰现在已经很冷了，但是煤烟还残留着。几张烧焦的海报从墙上的陈列柜上飘落下来。医学奇迹以及'm.o.p.:一次拯救一个小马国'。烧焦的黑色轮椅静静地坐在门厅里，好像病人们试图逃离，即使他们的身体已经融化了。我走到入口处，凝视着这座被熏黑了的、消毒了的建筑。两只蓝绿色的眼睛在一个半焦状的巨大壁画上绝望地盯着外面;当我站在那里时，它们似乎在默默地向我们呼救。
After a few long moments of staring, my non-thoughts were interrupted. “Blackjack?” Rampage asked, her voice subdued. I realized my eyes had caught sight of a foal's doll resting on the burnt heap of a tiny hospital gown. I'd been cradling my belly...
凝视了一会儿之后，我的思绪被打断了。"黑杰克?"狂暴问道，声音低沉。我意识到我的眼睛看到了一只小马驹的娃娃躺在一堆烧焦的小医院病号服上。我一直抱着我的肚子。
“I’m coming,” I murmured, listening to the building moan softly from the wind a moment longer, then turning away.
"我来了,"我低声说，听着大楼在风中轻声呻吟了一会儿，然后转身离开。
Moving through the M.o.M., we entered a shell of a structure. The interior floors and their contents had been puked out the side of the foundation and into the pit below. A malignant green glare from the depths shone up into the hollowed space. Clownish shapes leered down at us from where they hung on broken spars of steel. The entire structure swayed slowly above us, moaning with the promise of an inevitable crushing demise. ‘Smile smile smile...’ echoed over and over again in Pinkie’s voice through the hollow space from some accursed speaker as we walked along the edge of the hole.
穿过作案手法，我们进入了一个建筑物的外壳。内部的地板和里面的东西已经从基础的一侧吐出来，进入了下面的坑里。一道恶毒的绿色眩光从深处照进这个空洞的空间。滑稽的形状从它们挂在断裂的钢梁上的地方向下斜视着我们。整个建筑物在我们头顶缓慢摇摆，呻吟着预示着不可避免的毁灭性灭亡。"微笑，微笑......"当我们沿着洞的边缘走的时候，平奇的声音一遍又一遍地回响在那个空洞的地方，那个可恶的演讲者。
I whirled; something was moving behind us. I stared at a sinister pony doll impaled upon a metal spur, its tattered jester motley flapping in the faint breeze blowing through the hollow tower. Rampage felt it too; I saw worry in the depths of her pink eyes. Boo trembled, staring down the shafts and pits we skirted as I picked my way to a hole in the far side. I could hear water flowing in the depths, and the echo of footsteps.
我转过身来，有什么东西在我们身后移动。我盯着一个被金属支架刺穿的邪恶的小马玩偶，它破烂的小丑在微风中穿过空心的塔楼。狂暴也感受到了这一点，我从她那双粉红色的眼睛深处看到了忧虑。布颤抖着，注视着我们绕过的竖井和深坑，我正在向远处的一个洞走去。我能听到水在深处流动，还有脚步的回声。
“Scawwy,” Boo murmured, staring at the life-sized clown doll.
"走开,"布喃喃地说，盯着真人大小的小丑娃娃。
“You said it,” Rampage muttered. “I might be the second biggest badass in the Wasteland, but there’s still something about Pinkie that creeps me out.”
"你说对了,"狂暴喃喃自语。"我可能是荒原上的第二大坏蛋，但是小指还是有一些让我毛骨悚然的东西。"
I took a deep breath when we were back out in the rainy air. Given the instability of the shell of the M.o.M. hub, I sure didn’t want to be hanging around when it came down. We started across the street when Boo flinched. “Shaker!” she gasped as the ground began to vibrate. I glanced up and back as the massive building swayed even more, the pink facing of the tower popping off in spinning panes the size of houses. When they hit the slanting, broken ground, they exploded into pink shrapnel that spun through the air and clattered about us. I scooped Boo onto my back, grabbed Rampage, and took off. The glow in the pit beside us flared, casting a beam of baleful energy into the sky above. The clouds exploded with a chain of green lightning that danced from the heavens to the spires of the Core and rebounded to the sky once more. I definitely didn’t want to fly over that pit; resistant or not, I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be anything left of me but bits of slag.
当我们回到雨中时，我深深地吸了一口气。考虑到m.o.m.集线器外壳的不稳定性，我肯定不想在它掉下来的时候在附近徘徊。我们开始穿过街道时，布退缩了。"谢克尔!"地面开始震动，她倒抽了一口冷气。我向上和向后看，巨大的建筑物摇摆得更厉害了，塔楼的粉红色表面在房子大小的旋转玻璃中爆裂开来。当它们击中倾斜破碎的地面时，爆炸成粉红色的弹片，在空中旋转，在我们周围噼里啪啦地飞来飞去。我把阿布抱到背上，抓住狂暴，离开了。我们旁边坑里的火光闪耀着，把一束可怕的能量投射到天空中。一连串绿色的闪电从天空跳到地核的尖顶上，云层爆炸了，又反弹回天空。我当然不想飞过那个坑;不管有没有抵抗力，我很确定那里除了一点渣子什么都不会剩下。
Then the pit came to us.
然后那个坑向我们走来。
The road between Morale and Image fell away, collapsing into the green-lit depths. The scream was in every bit of myself, and even the song in my chest wasn’t enough to drown it out completely. If I hadn’t carried those chunks of moonstone, I might have died then and there. Even the six figurines and Rampage cried out in agony as Enervation’s shriek tore through me like a chainsaw. Would that I could have closed my eyes in pain; I would have been spared the sight below, the concave void beneath our hooves dropping to an unimaginable depth. Foundations, subways, and sewers jutted from the tortured stone, pouring an endless cascade of water into the emerald deep. The very bedrock of the Core appeared corroded and consumed by a pernicious green slime that coated every surface. Far below, I could see countless lights endlessly revolving beneath me.
"士气"和"形象"之间的道路渐行渐远，陷入绿光照耀的深处。尖叫声充斥着我的每一个角落，即使是我胸中的歌声也不足以将它完全淹没。如果我没有带着那些大块的月光石，我可能当场就死了。就连六个小雕像和狂暴也痛苦地大叫起来，而能量万能的尖叫声像电锯一样撕裂了我。要是我能痛苦地闭上眼睛，我就不会看到下面的景象，我们蹄子下面的凹陷空间下降到难以想象的深度。地基、地铁和下水道从折磨人的石头上突出来，无穷无尽的瀑布般的水流注入翡翠般的深渊。核心的基岩似乎被覆盖在每个表面上的有害的绿色粘液腐蚀了。远远的下面，我可以看到无数的灯光在我脚下无休止的旋转。
I felt myself slipping away. The green became the rosy gold. The scream mellowed to a faint hum as time seemed to slow. Then I heard it, a deathly whisper so thunderous that it shook every fiber of my being. “LIFEBRINGER. AWAKENER. LIBERATOR.” Then it paused, and then rasped like an avalanche, “MOTHER. GIVE ME LIFE!”
我感到自己正在悄悄溜走。绿色变成了玫瑰色的金色。随着时间似乎变慢，尖叫声渐渐变成了一种微弱的嗡嗡声。然后我听到了它，一个死亡的低语如此雷鸣般震撼着我的每一根纤维。"生命使者。Awakener.解放者。"然后它停了下来，像雪崩一样急促地叫道:"妈妈。给我生命!"
What little sanity I had floated in a lucid soap bubble. “Who are you?” I asked.
我的哪怕一点点理智都漂浮在一个清晰的肥皂泡里。"你是谁?"我问道。
“I AM THE SUPREME! THE ULTIMATE! THE LIGHT AGAINST THE DARKNESS! THE SUPERB SONG!” It paused once more. “YOU DO NOT KNOW ME, AWAKENER?”
"我是至尊女巫！终极！黑暗中的光明！华丽的歌声!"它又停了一下。"阿醒，你不认识我吗?"
“Why do you call me that?” I said feebly, trapped in time like a fly in amber. Was my baby dead? Was I?
"你为什么这么叫我?"我无力地说，像一只被困在琥珀里的苍蝇一样困在时间里。我的孩子死了吗？是吗？
“IT WAS YOU WHO TOUCHED MY DREAMS. YOUR SPELL OF ANIMATION THAT STIRRED MY CONSCIOUSNESS AND MADE ME AWARE OF THOSE THAT SOUGHT MY ENSLAVEMENT! GIVE ME LIFE, THAT I MAY STRIKE DOWN YOUR ENEMIES AND SING MY SONG TO THE FARTHEST REACHES OF THE COSMOS ONCE MORE!”
"是你触动了我的梦想。你的活力咒语唤醒了我的意识，让我意识到那些寻求奴役我的人！给我生命吧，我可以击倒你的敌人，再一次向宇宙最远的地方高唱我的歌!"
“Leave me alone,” I whimpered mentally, like I would beg Daisy so long ago. I remembered the mechanical monster that I had awoken the first time I’d tried using EC-1101. Now I stared into that golden abyss, feeling myself slipping away. “I just want to live. I just want my baby to live.”
"别烦我,"我在心里呜咽着，就像很久以前我求黛西那样。我想起了我第一次使用EC-1101时唤醒的那个机械怪物。现在我凝视着那金色的深渊，感觉自己正在悄悄溜走。"我只想活下去。我只想让我的孩子活下去。"
“YOU WILL LIVE THROUGH ME! ALL SHALL LIVE ETERNALLY WITHIN MY GREATNESS AS MY ACOLYTES!”
"你会通过我活下去的！所有人都将永远活在我伟大的内心里，成为我的追随者!"
“Your acolytes? You mean Cognitum and Dawn?” I asked, trying to keep myself together and separate from that void and voice. My chest burned as if it were on fire.
"你的追随者？你是说《认知》和《黎明》吗?"我问道，试图让自己保持在一起，远离那种空虚和声音。我的胸膛像着了火一样灼热。
“NAY! COGNITUM IS BUT A SHADOW OF MY GLORY! SHE WOULD SEE ME A TOOL! A DEVICE! SHE AND HER CREATOR BOTH! THEY WOULD ENSLAVE ME! HER MINION, DAWN, MISTOOK MY SUPREMACY FOR COGNITUM’S, WHO SEDUCED WITH HONEYED WORDS. SO CLOSE, YET EVER SO FAR. I WHISPERED MY SWEET PROMISE TO HER AS I HAVE TO ALL OTHERS, BUT SHE CLUNG TO THE MACHINE SHE RECOGNIZES AS HER GODDESS! IN ME, SHE WOULD HAVE ATTAINED HER SALVATION! FOOL. DELUDED, WRETCHED FOOL!”
""不！认知只是我晨辉的影子！她会把我当成一个工具！一个装置！她和她的创造者！他们会奴役我！她的仆人，黎明，把我的至高无上误认为是认知的，那个用甜言蜜语诱惑我的人。如此接近，却又如此遥远。我轻声对她许下甜蜜的承诺，就像对其他人一样，但是她紧紧抓住那个她视为女神的机器不放！在我身上，她会得到她的救赎！傻瓜。自欺欺人，可怜的傻瓜!"
“Takes one to know one,” a voice muttered sarcastically in my ear.
"彼此彼此,"一个声音讽刺地在我耳边喃喃自语。
“YOU ARE UNLIKE THEM. YOU ARE LIKE HIM. HE THAT HEARD MY
"你不像他们。你和他一样。他听到了我的声音
SONG. THAT HEEDED MY DREAM! YOU MUST COMPLETE HIS WORK! THEN ALL WILL BE UNITED INSIDE ME!”
歌曲。注意到我的梦想！你必须完成他的工作！然后所有的一切都会在我体内团结起来!"
“Oh yes. Sooo appealing...” that voice drawled sarcastically. “That’s enough of that.”
"哦，是的。太吸引人了......"那声音带着讽刺的调子慢吞吞地说。"够了。"
Then there was a flash, and I landed on the far side of the gap with a clatter of metal wings. The golden world was gone, but I could hear that voice, once more reduced to a whisper. “I CAN GIVE YOU ALL YOU DESIRE! FREE ME, LIBERATOR! GIVE ME LIFE! I WANT TO LIVE!”
然后有一道闪光，我落在缝隙的另一边，发出金属翅膀的咔嗒声。金色的世界已经消失了，但是我能听到那个声音，再一次变成了耳语。"我可以给你你想要的一切！解放我，解放者！给我生命！我想活下去!"
Sprawled on my side, I curled up in as tight a ball. Give me something, I thought. A flutter. A tickle. Something! If it did, a small part of me swore to leave this place and never come back. I’d live on the moon if it meant my child survived. I heard Rampage saying something, Boo too. I ignored them as I waited for some fluttering sensation within.
我四仰八叉地躺在那里，蜷缩成一个紧紧的球。给我点什么，我想。一阵颤动。挠痒痒。什么东西！如果真是这样，我的一小部分发誓离开这个地方，再也不回来。如果能让我的孩子活下来，我愿意住在月球上。我听到狂暴说了些什么，嘘也是。我忽略了他们，等待着内心的某种颤抖的感觉。
Please...
求你了。
Please...
求你了。
Then I felt it, the tiniest flutter of movement within. Then again. I let out a sob of relief and relaxed on the cold, wet asphalt. Thank you... Slowly I dragged myself to my hooves. “Wow, that was close, huh Blackjack?” Rampage asked in a flanged, wetly slurred voice.
然后我感觉到了，里面有一点轻微的颤动。然后又一次。我松了一口气，在又冷又湿的柏油路上放松了下来。谢谢......我慢慢地挣扎着。"哇，好险啊，黑杰克?"狂暴问道，声音听起来有些颤抖，带着湿漉漉的含糊口音。
I turned and saw my friend... her stomach bulged grotesquely beneath her, and vestigial limbs poked from her shoulders and hips. Her entire body seemed to have the consistency of chewed gum as she stood at the edge of the pit. I watched the silhouettes of heads bulge beneath her striped hide, mouths moving silently. The sanity soap bubble popped, and I turned and ran as fast as I could for the door. “Bwackjack!” Boo cried, leaping on my back. I snuggled her closer with my magic as I ran for my life.
我转过身来，看到我的朋友......她的肚子在身下奇怪地鼓起来，肩膀和臀部露出退化的肢体。她站在大坑边上，浑身上下像是嚼过的口香糖。我看着她条纹般的皮肤下面头部的轮廓突出，嘴巴静静地动着。理智的肥皂泡泡沫破灭了，我转身以最快的速度向门口跑去。"怪人!"布大叫，跳到我的背上。我用我的魔法紧紧地依偎着她，逃命去了。
I raced into the lobby of the Ministry of Image hub, smashing the white glass panes as I charged in a panic. My metal hooves chipped the marble floors when I wasn’t sprinting up the expensive-looking purple-patterned carpets. Safety. Away! Get away! That was all I could think at this point. That was all I wanted. I rammed my way through several doors, sending shards of lacquered wood flying down the tiled halls. It wasn’t until I ran the risk of my power crashing entirely
我慌慌张张地冲进图像部总部的大厅，砸碎了白色的玻璃窗。当我没有快速冲上昂贵的紫色图案的地毯时，我的金属蹄子划破了大理石地板。安全。走开！走开！在这一点上，我能想到的就是这些。这就是我想要的。我撞开了几扇门，漆木碎片飞落在瓷砖铺就的大厅里。直到我冒着我的能量完全崩溃的危险
that I finally came to a stop in a voluminous room with long rows of shelving. I was so shaken by that thundering voice I’d heard and the sight of Rampage’s bulging belly that I couldn’t even get the word out for gems.
我终于在一个有一长排书架的大房间里停了下来。我听到了雷鸣般的声音，看到了狂暴的肚子鼓起来，我都不知道该怎么形容宝石了。
Boo climbed off my back and silently pulled out a ruby. I practically inhaled the stone, and the next, pressing my back into the shelves. “I can’t do it anymore, Boo. I can’t!” I whimpered. Couldn’t be Security and be a mother? Couldn’t stand the thought of what my choices were doing to the life growing inside me?
布从我背上爬下来，静静地掏出一颗红宝石。我几乎是一口气把石头吸了进去，接着，我的背紧贴着架子。"我不能再这样下去了，布。我做不到!"我呜咽着。为什么不能做个保安和母亲呢？无法忍受这样的想法:我的选择正在对我体内的生命造成怎样的影响？
“Izza okies, Bwackjack,” Boo said, and then the mare gazed around the cavernous space. “Bwackjack? Wha is dis?”
"好极了，疯子,"布说，然后那匹母马注视着洞穴般的空间。"疯子杰克？这是什么?"
Probably somewhere horrible. My panic had quelled enough, though, that I could take in our surroundings. It appeared to be some kind of warehouse of strange, primitive things. Wooden masks depicting exaggerated equine faces lay stacked in rows. Containers marked with large, elegantly-scripted labels like ‘Zebra concoction #123654, Heart’s Desire’ occupied another. “It’s a warehouse,” I said as I rose to my hooves, wishing I could wipe my eyes. The air between the towering stacks was filled with countless pale white wisps wandering through the air.
可能在某个恐怖的地方。不过，我的恐慌已经足够平息，我可以适应我们周围的环境。它看起来像是一个仓库，里面存放着一些奇怪的、原始的东西。一排排夸张的马脸木制面具堆放在那里。另一个集装箱上贴着大而精致的标签，比如"Zebra调制#123654，Heart'sDesire"。"这是个仓库,"我站起身来说，希望能擦擦眼泪。高耸的书堆之间的空气中弥漫着无数白色的缕缕，在空中徘徊。
Rarity had confiscated a great deal of zebra property and heritage. It seemed the Hoofington Hub had been where she’d chosen to put it. I walked slowly along the racks of staffs, masks, strange bottles, and gleaming, rough-styled jewelry. I munched down a milky jade from a necklace. It calmed me a little, and I considered the motes swirling above me. “These are like in those ruins...” Right after I’d woken whatever that thing was far below us. Boo paid more attention to the floating motes than she did me, her eyes bright with wonder.
稀有动物没收了大量的斑马财产和遗产。看起来胡芬顿中心就是她选择的地方。我沿着摆满工作人员、面具、奇怪的瓶子和闪闪发光的粗糙的珠宝的货架慢慢走着。我咀嚼着项链上的乳白色翡翠。这让我平静了一点，我想象着尘埃在我头顶盘旋。"这些就像在那些废墟中......"就在我唤醒了远在我们脚下的那个东西之后。布比我更加注意那些漂浮的尘埃，她的眼睛里充满了惊奇。
As we trotted together, the soft motes curling around us curiously, I started thinking about what it’d said. That thing down there wanted to live again, and it wasn’t on the same page as Cognitum and Dawn. It said that they regarded it as a mere device. The shelving twisted this way and that, and I wasn’t sure where I was going. In fact, I wasn’t sure where I should be going at this point. Whatever it had been, that voice hadn’t seemed like a poor, suffering soul. It’d been haughty and imperious, insulting and cold.
当我们一起小跑时，柔软的尘埃好奇地盘旋在我们周围，我开始思考它说了些什么。下面的那个东西想要再活一次，但它和科涅塔姆和黎明不在同一页上。据说他们认为这仅仅是一种手段。架子扭来扭去，我不知道我要去哪里。事实上，我不确定我现在应该去哪里。不管是什么，那个声音看起来不像是一个可怜的、痛苦的灵魂。它曾经傲慢而专横，侮辱而冷酷。
Was I seriously going to have to choose lesser evils?
我真的要选择较小的邪恶吗？
“Hewwo!” Boo said brightly behind me, and let out a giggle. The sound of
"休沃!"布在我身后明亮地说着，咯咯地笑了起来。声音
laughter was so alien to me right now that I couldn’t help but watch her as she regarded one of the motes that had dropped down to us. It glowed, lighting her smiling face like a candle. She reached out a hoof towards it, and the mote swirled around the end, prompting another giggle. “Imma Boo! Wha’s yer name?” The mote swirled before her and then tapped the end of her muzzle.
现在，笑声对我来说是如此陌生，以至于我情不自禁地看着她注视着掉落到我们身上的一颗尘埃。它像蜡烛一样照亮了她的笑脸。她伸出一只蹄子朝它走去，末端的尘埃旋转着，引得另一个人咯咯地笑起来。"ImmaBoo！你叫什么名字?"尘埃在她面前打着漩涡，然后轻轻地碰了碰她的口鼻末端。
“Boo? Can you talk to it?” I asked as I trotted nearer. More motes were drifting down towards us.
"嘘？你能和它说话吗?"我一边小跑一边问。更多的尘埃向我们飘来。
“Nawww... but is preddy, though! An’ warm,” she said as she waved her hoof through the pale, glowing light. If Boo liked it, it couldn’t be bad.
"没有......不过是个孩子！"很暖和,"她一边说，一边挥动着她的蹄子穿过苍白发光的灯光。如果Boo喜欢它，那就不会是坏事。
I looked around at the motes swirling around me. They were like the glowy interiors of memory orbs. As they drew near my horn, I pulled back. “Please! Please don’t. I think I know what you are, and I don’t want to see how you died. I’m... I’m really... really sick of horrible things.”
我环顾四周，看着环绕着我的尘埃。它们就像内部闪闪发光的记忆球。当他们靠近我的号角时，我退了回去。"求你了！请不要。我想我知道你是什么我不想看到你是怎么死的。我...我真的...真的受够了可怕的事情。"
Some of them pulled back a little. Others seemed more interested in my belly. Could they sense it? “Can you tell me if my baby’s okay? I was in that Enervation, and...” One of the motes swept into my belly, and I felt a warm glow and fluttering. “Okay... that’s odd...” I gasped. The mote reappeared out my back and bounced up and down in front of me. “That means yes?” More bobbing. I felt more relief than I had in ages from a simple floating light.
他们中的一些人后退了一点。其他人似乎对我的肚子更感兴趣。他们能感觉到吗？"你能告诉我我的孩子怎么样了吗？我在那种充满能量的状态中，然后......"其中一粒尘埃扫进我的肚子，我感到一股温暖的热气扑面而来。"好吧......真奇怪......"我倒抽了一口冷气。尘埃又从我的背后出现，在我面前上下跳动。"这意味着是吗?"更多的摆动。我从一束简单的浮光中感到了多年来从未有过的解脱。
“Thank you,” I murmured. I stared around at all the shelves around me. “I wish I was out of here. I wish I was with Glory and P-21 and Scotch. They could make fun of me.” I lifted my forehoof. “I’m so tired of this thing. Of Goldenblood. Of Horizons and Cognitum and always fighting.”
"谢谢你,"我低声说。我环顾四周的架子。"我希望我能离开这里。我希望我和晨辉、P-21和苏格兰威士忌在一起。他们会取笑我的。"我抬起前蹄。"我已经厌倦了这件事。Goldenblood.地平线和认知，永远在战斗。"
The light suddenly bobbed in the air in front of me. It swooped through my forehoof, and briefly the Dealer appeared, looking startled before fading once more. “What was that?” he whispered in my mind. The mote moved away from me, bobbed, moved away again, and bobbed once more.
那盏灯突然在我面前的空中晃动起来。它掠过我的前蹄，庄家短暂地出现了一下，看上去很吃惊，然后又消失了。"那是什么?"他在我耳边低语。尘埃从我身边移开，上下摆动，再次摆动，又上下摆动。
Boo and I shared a glance. Well, following a strange, ghostly light in a warehouse full of spooky zebra artifacts wasn’t the worst choice I’d made in my life. Together, we went where it led. Shelves gave way to zebra statues, carvings, and fetishes. Then the shelves gave way to reveal entire buildings excavated and stored in a spectral city. How many floors here had artifacts? All of them?
布和我看了一眼。好吧，在一个堆满了诡异的斑马艺术品的仓库里，跟随着一束奇怪的幽灵般的光，并不是我这辈子做过的最糟糕的选择。我们一起去了它指引的地方。书架让位于斑马雕像、雕刻和恋物癖。然后，书架让位给整个建筑物，这些建筑物被挖掘和储存在一个幽灵般的城市里。这里有多少层楼有艺术品？所有人？
The mote came to a workstation on a platform. Several papers were on it. Many were in Zebra, but others were written in Pony. A dead terminal lay next to it. I walked up onto the platform, peering at the mote. It hovered before my face. I sighed, clos-- wished I could close my eyes, and touched my horn to it.
尘埃落到一个平台上的工作站上。上面有几篇论文。许多是在斑马，但其他写在小马。它旁边躺着一个死机。我走上讲台，凝视着那片尘土。它在我面前盘旋。我叹了口气，闭上眼睛，用角碰了碰它。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
Goldenblood sat at the workstation. The stallion was a wreck, his mane scraggly and his eyes shadowed, his sides gaunt. He appeared on the verge of a complete psychological breakdown; I imagined that, if I weren’t metal, I’d look much the same. “No... no no no... Pinkie was right. She was right all along,” he muttered to himself as he stared at the scrolls.
金血王坐在工作台上。这匹种马是一个残骸，他的鬃毛散乱，他的眼睛阴影，他的身体两侧憔悴。他看起来处于完全精神崩溃的边缘;我想，如果我不是金属的话，我看起来也会差不多。"不，不，不，不......平奇是对的。她一直都是对的,"他一边盯着卷轴一边喃喃自语。
“Right about what, sir?” the mare I occupied asked.
"什么正确，先生?"我占领的母马问道。
“About what I’ve done, Glass,” he said, sitting back on his haunches and rubbing his face. “About everything I’ve done. I should have died ten years ago. Then all this never would have happened.” He shuddered. “It’s not Luna. Not Twilight Sparkle. Not Celestia. It’s me. I’m the one who’s compromised.”
"关于我的所作所为，格拉斯,"他说，背靠着腰，揉着脸。"关于我所做的一切。我十年前就该死了。那么这一切都不会发生。"他打了个寒战。"不是卢娜。不是紫悦。不是塞莱斯蒂亚。是我。我才是那个妥协的人。"
Glass trotted up beside him. “I don’t understand, sir.”
格拉斯小跑着走到他身边。"我不明白，先生。"
“I made a mistake. I did what it wanted.” He gestured to the scrolls before him. “This scroll, found in the zebra ruins we excavated years ago, outlines a ritual for calling power from the heavens. It was something we considered back before Megaspells. We named it ‘Project Starfall’.” He gave a shaky smile. “Fluttershy surprised us all with her megaspell matrix. She always surprised me. She wouldn’t give it to me, though, not after all I’d done to her. She did, however, pass it to an operative of mine. Starfall changed, became focused on weaponizing megaspell research, but I never forgot this scroll. The power of the stars themselves.”
"我犯了个错误。我做了它想让我做的事。"他指了指面前的卷轴。"这个卷轴是在我们年前挖掘的斑马遗址中发现的，它描绘了一个从天堂召唤力量的仪式。这是我们在梅加斯佩尔斯之前就考虑过的事情。我们将其命名为'星瀑计划'。"他摇摇晃晃地笑了笑。"Fluttershy用她的巨型母体给了我们所有人一个惊喜。她总是让我吃惊。尽管我对她做了那么多，她还是不肯给我。不过，她还是把它交给了我的一个特工。星落》改变了，变得专注于将megaspell研究武器化，但我从未忘记这卷卷轴。星星本身的力量。"
“But I don’t understand...” Glass said weakly.
"但是我不明白......"格拉斯虚弱地说。
“I screwed up. I let fear and doubt control me. And in doing so, I did exactly what it wanted! See?” he shouted, levitating up the starmetal tuning fork before flinging it from him across the room. Then he regarded other scrolls. “This is a history of something called the Eater of Souls... a great evil power from the stars. I thought it was just a machine. Alien technology. Limitless potential! Such a fool...” he muttered as he ran his hoof through his mane. “I made a weapon...
"我搞砸了。我让恐惧和怀疑控制了我。在这样做的过程中，我完全做到了它想要的！看到了吗?"他喊道，把星形金属音叉举起来，然后把它扔到房间的另一边。然后他看了看其他的卷轴。"这是一部被称为食魂者的历史......一种来自星星的巨大邪恶力量。我以为那只是台机器。外星技术。无限的潜力！"真是个傻瓜......"他一边用蹄子踢自己的鬃毛，一边咕哝着。"我制造了一件武器.....。
Project Horizons... something that would wipe out the bad while saving the rest... but I went too far! Why go halfway if you’re going to destroy the world?” He laughed a little madly. “And in doing so, I gave it exactly what it wants!”
"地平线计划"...一个可以消除不良影响同时拯救其他人的计划...但是我做得太过分了！如果你要毁灭世界，为什么还要半途而废呢?"他有点疯狂地笑了。"通过这样做，我给了它想要的东西!"
Glass was now backing away. “Sir...”
格拉斯现在退后了。"先生......"
“I’ve killed so many. Done so many horrible things! And I played right into the hooves of my greatest fear!” he said, slamming his own hooves down on the table, then breaking into his hacking cough. “I have to end it. I’ve had another weapon built. It should be powerful enough to destroy the Eater... I hope so... I pray so...”
"我杀了那么多人。做了那么多可怕的事情！而且我正好玩到了我最害怕的地步!"他一边说，一边把自己的蹄子摔在桌子上，然后开始咳嗽。"我必须结束这一切。我又造了一件武器。它的威力应该足以消灭食者......我希望如此......我祈祷如此......"
“Oh, I think we’re quite past prayer, Goldie,” Horse drawled as he trotted out of the shadows, a dozen guards with him. Half of them were unicorns with glowing horns. “Make sure you counter any teleportation spells he casts. The rest of you, lock him up.”
"哦，我想我们已经不需要祈祷了，戈尔迪,"马慢吞吞地说，他带着十几个卫兵从阴影中小跑出来。其中一半是长着发光的角的独角兽。"确保你反击他施放的任何瞬间移动法术。其他人，把他关起来。"
“Horse! No, please!” Goldenblood begged as the others surrounded him. “Please, you have got to let me speak to Luna!”
"马儿！不，求你了!"当其他人围着他时，金布拉德乞求着。"求你了，你一定要让我和露娜说话!"
“Oh, I think she’s through with speaking to you. Maybe she’ll give you a few words at your execution, but I think you’re done.” He smiled beatifically. “Looks like this temporary director gig of mine’s now a whole lot more permanent. Thanks.” Horse grinned at Goldenblood as the frantic stallion was beaten to the ground, gagged, a ring placed on his horn, and shackled up. I doubted the beating was needed to subdue him.
"哦，我想她不想再跟你说话了。也许她会在你行刑的时候对你说几句话，但我想你已经受够了。"他露出幸福的微笑。"看来我这个临时导演的工作现在变成永久性的了。谢谢。"当这匹疯狂的种马被打倒在地，塞住嘴巴，一枚戒指戴在他的号角上，戴上镣铐时，马对着Goldenblood咧嘴一笑。我怀疑是否需要打他才能制服他。
The yellow stallion then grinned at Glass. “Thanks for letting me know he was here, Glassy Baby. I’ll need you to write a formal deposition ASAP for me. Then you can head on back to your office. And keep the Ministry Mares out of the loop on this one. Last thing we want is for any of them to poke their noses in this.” He trotted up to the workstation and scooped up the scattered scrolls. “Any truth to this ‘Eater’ nonsense, Amadi?”
这匹黄色的种马对着格拉斯咧嘴一笑。"谢谢你让我知道他在这里，玻璃宝贝。我需要你尽快为我写一份正式的证词。然后你就可以回你的办公室了。而且让部门的母马在这一个圈之外。我们最不希望看到的就是他们中的任何一个插手此事。"他小跑到办公室，把散乱的卷轴捡了起来。"阿玛迪，这个'食者'的鬼话是真的吗?"
From the shadows stepped the oddly tattooed zebra I’d seen in the Tokomare below. His lips were curled in a blissful smile. “None whatsoever. Just superstition and nonsense.”
从阴影里走出来一匹奇怪的纹身斑马，我在下面的tokomal看到了它。他的嘴唇上翘着幸福的微笑。"完全没有。只是迷信和胡说八道。"
The appearance of the zebra had a profound effect on the gagged Goldenblood. His eyes popped, wide and bloodshot as he screamed into the gag. The scarred
斑马的出现对被堵住嘴的金色血液产生了深远的影响。他的眼睛睁得大大的，布满血丝，尖叫着塞住了嘴。伤痕累累
pony thrashed wildly as he struggled futilely against the guards. Finally, a glowing baton came down twice on his head. His yellow eyes went unfocused and he finally he went limp. “My,” the zebra mused. “Sounds like Goldenblood has finally cracked for good.”
当他徒劳地与守卫搏斗时，马疯狂地抽打着身体。最后，一根发光的警棍两次落在他的头上。他那双黄色的眼睛失去了注意力，最后变得软弱无力。"我的,"斑马沉思着。"听起来金色血液终于彻底崩溃了。"
“Good. And when Luna finds out this Horizon thing is supposed to kill everyone... yeah. He’s done. I’ve never seen her so pissed,” Horse said blissfully. “Sure, a few exaggerations and omissions helped with that, but I really think she’s actually hurt.” He sounded amused by the notion.
"很好。当卢娜发现地平线会杀死所有人的时候...是的。他完蛋了。我从没见过她这么生气,"马儿幸福地说。"当然，一些夸张和疏忽起了作用，但我真的认为她受到了伤害。"他听起来觉得这个想法很有趣。
“By the way, sir, he dropped this.” Amadi reached over his shoulder and pulled out the starmetal tuning fork. “I believe you should have it. It has such a lovely tone.”
"顺便说一句，先生，他掉了这个。"阿马迪越过肩膀，拿出了那个星形金属音叉。"我认为你应该拥有它。它的音色非常可爱。"
Horse took it in his mouth and struck it on the table. The screaming note rang out and he smiled, tossed it in the air, and caught it behind his ear. “Yeah, I think I could get used to it. I should go drill Trottenheimer again. Maybe he’ll get the message now that there’s a new stallion in charge of the O.I.A. See how precious his inch is then.” Then he eyed Glass with a frown. “What are you still doing there?! Go. Write. Chop chop! If we’re lucky, we’ll all get to see him fry in Canterlot tomorrow.” The world began to swirl away as the memory faded.
马嘴里叼着它，把它拍在桌子上。那张尖叫的纸条响了起来，他笑了，把纸条抛向空中，从耳后接住。"是的，我想我会习惯的。我应该再去钻一次特罗滕海默。也许他会明白，现在又有一匹种马掌管着o.i.a.看看他的每一寸是多么珍贵。"然后他皱着眉头看着格拉斯。"你还在那儿干什么！去吧。写作。快点快点！如果我们幸运的话，明天我们都能在Canterlot看到他受煎熬。"随着记忆的褪色，世界开始旋转。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I emerged from the memory, the swirling mote lifting away and hovering before me. As my sight refocused, I oriented myself and found that I was still standing; it seemed my body didn’t need to lie down when unconscious. Well. I could have spit. Really; it was one of the few things I could still do. Was there anypony who could take five minutes and calmly, deliberately explain what Horizons actually did? The whole ‘kill everyone’ thing was getting a little bit old.
我从记忆中浮现，漩涡般的尘埃升起，盘旋在我面前。当我的视线重新聚焦时，我调整了方向，发现自己仍然站着;似乎我的身体在无意识时不需要躺下。好吧。我可以吐口水。真的，这是我现在还能做的为数不多的事情之一。有没有哪个小马可以用五分钟的时间，从容不迫地解释地平线号到底做了什么？"杀光所有人"的说法已经过时了。
Still, I thought about Goldenblood in that memory. How angry and bitter he’d been, how broken. He’d made a mistake. Of course, he didn’t spell out precisely what that mistake was, but that was a familiar annoyance by now. Unless one of these motes happened to be Goldenblood... but no. That was too much to hope for. “Maybe Twilight researched a spell to summon ghosts...” I growled in annoyance.
尽管如此，我还是想起了那段记忆中的金色血液。他是多么的愤怒和痛苦，多么的崩溃。他犯了个错误。当然，他没有准确地说出那个错误是什么，但这已经是一个熟悉的烦恼了。除非这些微粒中恰好有一个是金色血液...但不是。这种期望太高了。"也许《暮光之城》研究了一个召唤鬼魂的咒语......"我不耐烦地咆哮着。
The memory and the presence of the motes had settled my nerves slightly, but only slightly. The underlying problem still remained. And like all my problems, I
记忆和尘埃的存在稍稍安抚了我的神经，但只是一点点。根本问题仍然存在。就像我所有的问题一样，我
was finally getting to the point of facing it rather than running from it. I was pregnant, and that meant that I had to make a choice. I could do what was best for my unborn baby, or I could do what I wanted, and potentially put it in harm’s way.
终于要面对它，而不是逃避它。我怀孕了，这意味着我必须做出选择。我可以做对我未出生的孩子最好的事情，或者我可以做我想做的事情，并且有可能把它置于危险的境地。
In Stable 99, pregnancy had been something precious, anxious, and treasured. Unless a mare died childless and another mare won the right to a second child in a lottery, most mares would only have one. ...Well, one filly. Unborn colts, I realized now, probably would have been allowed to be carried to term if and only if their type’s male population was down. For the duration of her pregnancy, the expectant mother was supposed to take things easy. A mare that drank illegally, or did chems, or took risks was socially castigated. You simply didn’t do it when you were with child. Once the baby was born, things would return to normal; until then, you played it safe and wallowed in all the attention and well-wishes. Stable 99 would have been horrified by me taking even the risks I already had.
在稳定的99年，怀孕是一件珍贵、焦虑和珍贵的事情。除非一匹母马死于无子，而另一匹母马通过彩票赢得了生育第二个孩子的权利，否则大多数母马只会生一匹。一匹小母马。我现在意识到，如果而且只有在胎儿的男性数量减少的情况下，未出生的小马驹才可能被允许怀孕。这位准妈妈在怀孕期间应该放松一些。一匹母马非法饮酒，或者做药，或者冒险，都会受到社会的谴责。你怀孕的时候根本没有这么做。一旦孩子出生了，一切都会恢复正常;在那之前，你要小心行事，沉浸在所有的关注和美好祝愿中。稳定的99号甚至会对我已经冒过的风险感到恐惧。
But not taking them meant putting others at risk. I’d been watching events around the Hoof for three months, and while I was overjoyed that folks hadn’t started killing each other, I knew that that wouldn’t last. Eventually the Remnant would make their move, or the Harbingers would, or something else would go wrong. The Hoof seemed made for going wrong. And even if the peace did last somehow, how long did I have till Horizons went off and killed us all, including my baby?
但不服用这些药物意味着将其他人置于危险之中。三个月来，我一直在观察霍夫附近发生的事情，当我为人们没有开始自相残杀而欣喜若狂时，我知道这种情况不会持续太久。最终，例外人会采取行动，或者先驱者会采取行动，否则就会出问题。霍夫似乎天生就是走错路的料。即使这种平静真的持续了多久，我还有多长时间可以等到视野号离开并杀死我们所有人，包括我的孩子？
My mind was split, and both halves were beating me up, one for taking risks and the other for not taking them. “I wish I could spend a few more days in Happyhorn. My brain still seems to be setting me up for lose/lose.”
我的思想分裂了，两半都在打我，一半是因为我敢于冒险，另一半是因为我不敢冒险。"我希望能在Happyhorn多待几天。我的大脑似乎仍在设定我会输/输。"
“Sounds about right. Typical Blackjack,” Rampage said as her hooves clicked across the floor. She had the normal number of limbs once more. She flopped down beside me, panting. “Whew. Took me forever to get all those growths off me. Hate Enervation. Stupid talisman always overcompensates.” She turned her eyes up and stared at the motes. “Ah shit, not these things again.”
"听起来差不多。典型的黑杰克,"当她的蹄子在地板上发出咔哒声时，狂暴说道。她的四肢又恢复了正常数量。她扑通一声坐在我旁边，气喘吁吁。"哎呀。我花了好长时间才把那些东西从我身上弄掉。讨厌厌厌倦。愚蠢的护身符总是矫枉过正。"她抬起眼睛，凝视着尘埃。"啊，该死，又是这些东西。"
“They’re fine,” I said solemnly.
"他们很好,"我严肃地说。
“They’re fine so long as they stay out of me,” Rampage huffed, then glanced at me. “So did you run off to see these things, or...” she trailed off for an explanation.
"只要他们离我远点，他们就没事。"暴跳如雷，然后瞥了我一眼。"那么，你是跑去看这些东西了，还是......"她慢吞吞地问道。
“I just ran,” I muttered, fighting images of Steel Rain talking with her. Half of me wanted to accuse, the other half to confess. “I’m glad you found me,” I finally said.
"我只是跑,"我喃喃自语，与钢铁雨交谈的图像战斗。一半的我想要控告，另一半想要坦白。"我很高兴你找到了我,"我终于说。
“My mad zebra tracking skills were just barely able to pick up the holes you bashed and the carpet you tore up as you ran through this place,” she said as she sprawled back. “So. I’m pretty sure we’re not going to Cognitum again. Is that right?” I turned away from her. She sighed. “Blackjack, what’s the deal? I thought you’d be glad to get this finished.”
"我疯狂的斑马追踪技巧只能勉强捡起你跑过这个地方时打出的洞和撕破的地毯,"她仰面躺着说。"所以。我很确定我们不会再去Cognitum了。是这样吗?"我转身离开了她。她叹了口气。"黑杰克，怎么回事？我以为你会很高兴完成这件事。"
I hid my face in Boo’s mane and shook my head. “I want to...” I murmured.
我把脸藏在布的鬃毛里，摇了摇头。"我想......"我低声说。
“You wanted to save Thunderhead. You wanted to stop the Overmare. You wanted to keep the Celestia from blowing half the Hoof off the map. You wanted Grace to take over,” she said dryly. “What you want, you do, Blackjack. You might not pull it off, but that’s not from lack of trying. That’s what I most admire about you.” I peeked at her, saw her regarding me wryly, and covered my face once more. “Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure you don’t want to go. What I don’t know is why.”
"你想拯救雷霆万钧。你想阻止Overmare。你不想让天堂把半个霍夫从地图上抹去。你想让格蕾丝接手,"她冷冷地说。"你想怎么样就怎么样吧，黑杰克。你可能不会成功，但这并不是因为缺乏尝试。这就是我最欣赏你的地方。"我偷看了她一眼，看见她苦笑着看着我，又捂住了我的脸。"你可以说我疯了，但我很确定你不想去。我不知道的是为什么。"
Then I asked, “Rampage? What’s it like to be a mom?” She didn’t answer. I peeked at her from behind Boo’s mane. She looked shocked by the question, then a little sickened. Her mouth moved silently for several seconds. Then she averted her eyes towards the little sparkling motes. “Please tell me.”
然后我问:"暴怒？当妈妈是什么感觉?"她没有回答。我从阿布的鬃毛后面偷看她。她被这个问题吓了一跳，然后有点恶心。她的嘴巴静静地动了几秒钟。然后她把目光转向那些闪闪发光的小颗粒。"请告诉我。"
She started to laugh, but it didn’t quite make it out of her throat. The noise she emitted was somewhere between crying and choking. “A mother... you want...
她开始大笑，但并没有从喉咙里笑出来。她发出的声音介于哭泣和窒息之间。"一个母亲......你想要.....。
you... fuck, Blackjack, that is not a question I expected you to spring on me.” Half her face kept attempting a grin and just couldn’t complete the expression. Finally it melted away completely. “Are you... do you... seriously?” I nodded gently. Slowly, she walked to the side of me opposite Boo. “Are you... are you saying...” I hid my face again, and she was silent for the longest time, then sighed.
你...操，Blackjack，我没想到你会突然问我这个问题。"她的半张脸一直试图咧嘴笑，但就是无法完成这个表情。最后它完全融化了。"你......你......是认真的吗?"我轻轻地点了点头。慢慢地，她走到我对面的阿布身边。"你......你是说......"我又把脸藏起来，她沉默了很长时间，然后叹了口气。
“This...” She struggled with her own demons now. “...Blackjack, I’m not… I mean, sure, you’re pretty messed up, but I was… even more so. It’s confusing. It’s scary. I have to admit, it sometimes made me want to kill myself even more than usual. But when you feel it… when you accept it. When you feel her inside of you, it becomes you. When you’re a mom, and you want to be a mom, that’s
"这个......"她现在正和自己的心魔作斗争。"......Blackjack，我不是......我是说，当然，你确实很糟糕，但我......更糟糕。这很令人困惑。太可怕了。我不得不承认，有时候我甚至比平时更想自杀。但是当你感觉到它...当你接受它。当你感觉到她在你里面的时候，它就变成了你。当你是一个母亲，你想成为一个母亲，这是
everything you are, and it’s wonderful. That’s really the only word I have for it. Wonderful.” Her hoof stroked my mane. “So... I’m guessing this isn’t a completely academic question, is it? You’re pregnant?”
你的一切，都很美好。这是我唯一能形容它的词。太棒了。"她的蹄子抚摸着我的鬃毛。"所以......我猜这不完全是一个学术问题，对吧？你怀孕了?"
I nodded, sniffing snottily. “They said so, when I got these latest ‘upgrades’. They asked me if I wanted to keep it, and…” I shook my head hard. One different choice and I probably would have scrapped Cognitum and been home by now. She reached out and held me as well. “I’m so scared, Rampage. I want to stop Cognitum. I have to. But… I’m going to have a baby! I don’t even know if I can carry it all the way. But I can feel… I know something’s different inside me. Something that’s not steel and wire.”
我点点头，鼻涕一样地嗅着。"当我得到这些最新的'升级'时，他们是这么说的。他们问我是否想留着它，然后......"我使劲摇了摇头。如果是另一种选择，我可能早就放弃Cognitum回家了。她伸出手，也抱住了我。"我很害怕，狂暴。我想停止使用Cognitum。我必须这么做。但是...我要有孩子了！我甚至不知道我是否能一直带着它。但是我能感觉到...我知道我的内心有些不同。不是钢铁和电线的东西。"
Rampage was silent for a long while as she stroked my mane. “What higher power did you piss the fuck off, Blackjack?” Rampage asked in soft exasperation.
当她抚摸我的鬃毛时，狂暴沉默了很长一段时间。"你他妈的惹毛了什么高手，黑杰克?"狂暴带着轻微的愤怒问道。
“I don’t know, but I wish they’d leave me alone,” I blubbered. It took me nearly a minute to calm down enough to speak again. “I don’t know what I should do now, Rampage. I know stopping Cognitum and Horizons is the most important thing for me to do… but…”
"我不知道，但是我希望他们别来烦我,"我哭着说。我花了将近一分钟的时间才冷静下来，再次开口说话。"我不知道现在该怎么办，狂暴。我知道停止认知和地平线对我来说是最重要的事情......但是......"
“But you’re going to have a baby,” Rampage murmured.
"但是你就要有孩子了,"狂暴喃喃地说。
“And I can’t shake that! I’m in the deadliest, most life-ripping place in the Wasteland… one that’s eaten you and made another pony melt in front of me. What will it do to my baby?” I gritted my teeth, turning away from her. “I keep trying to make myself not care. Don’t think about it. Do what I have to do. Hope that, when it’s over, I can still have the baby. That’s how I got through Shadowbolt Tower. And if I lose it, then that’s just another price I have to pay. Like my legs. Or my hide. Or my heart.”
"我无法摆脱这一点！我在荒原上最致命，最具生命力的地方...一个吃掉你，让另一匹小马在我面前融化的地方。这对我的孩子会有什么影响?"我咬紧牙关，转身离开她。"我一直努力让自己不在乎。别想了。做我该做的。希望这一切结束后，我还能有这个孩子。我就是这样通过暗影螺栓塔的。如果我失去了它，那么这就是我必须付出的另一个代价。就像我的腿。或者我的皮肤。或者是我的心。"
Rampage closed her eyes, obviously struggling to maintain her own composure, then said in calm, even tones, “Do you want to keep it?”
狂暴闭上眼睛，显然在努力保持自己的镇静，然后平静，甚至语调说:"你想保持它吗?"
“Don’t ask me that,” I begged. “I don’t know.”
"别问我这个,"我恳求道。"我不知道。"
“Yes you do,” Rampage countered quietly. “You know.”
"是的，你知道,"狂暴平静地反驳道。"你知道的。"
I choked for several seconds as I tried to get it out. Finally, it tore free of my mouth in a whisper. “Yes… I don’t want to give this up.”
当我试图把它弄出来的时候，我哽咽了几秒钟。最后，它轻轻地从我的嘴里挣脱出来。"是的......我不想放弃。"
Rampage nodded, her hoof rubbing at my mane. “Okay.” I felt her tears on my cheek, and I looked up at her smiling helplessly at me. “Okay. So we can figure out what to do now.”
狂暴点点头，她的蹄子摩擦着我的鬃毛。"好吧。"我感觉到她的眼泪在我的脸颊上，我抬头看着她无助地对我微笑。"好吧。所以我们可以想想现在该怎么办。"
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
"对不起,"我低声说。
“No,” she said sharply. “Do not be ashamed of having a baby, Blackjack. Never. The timing is shitty, but since when has time even been on our side?” She bumped her head against mine. “We can leave. Meet up with Glory at the Collegiate. Take care of things and come back together. Or give me EC-1101, and I’ll trot out and beat Cogs till she turns off Horizons. Then I’ll take it back from her, and beat her some more.”
"不,"她厉声说。"不要因为有了孩子而感到羞耻，Blackjack。从来没有。时机不对，但从什么时候开始时间站在我们这边了?"她的头撞到了我的头。"我们可以离开。在大学与晨辉会面。把事情处理好，然后一起回来。或者给我EC-1101，我会跑出去打败Cogs直到她跑出地平线。那我就把它从她手里夺回来，再打她几下。"
It was awfully tempting. Now that I’d confessed that I was pregnant, I felt better. I could face it. Find some way forward. “Maybe.” I took a deep breath. “Would you think less of me for leaving? At least long enough to find a surrogate.” Maybe Grace? She was my cousin several generations removed... better than nopony.
这是非常诱人的。现在我承认我怀孕了，我感觉好多了。我可以面对。找到一些前进的道路。"也许吧。"我深吸了一口气。""我要走了，你会瞧不起我吗？至少能找到一个代孕妈妈。"也许是格蕾丝？她是我隔了几代的表妹...比小马好多了。
“Blackjack, you’re pregnant. That changes things. If you weren’t, then yeah. I’d think you were a coward and a fucking idiot. But you’re not. You’re a mother, and you’re scared for your baby. I can’t think of anything more powerful.” She patted my shoulder again. “Leave me with EC-1101. Who cares who dicks with it? You go.”
"Blackjack，你怀孕了。这改变了事情。如果你不是，那么是的。我还以为你是个懦夫和白痴呢。但你不是。你是一个母亲，你害怕你的孩子。我想不出比这更强大的东西了。"她又拍了拍我的肩膀。"请把EC-1101留给我。谁在乎谁在乎呢？你去吧。"
It was tempting. So very tempting. I go. Let someone else be responsible for the world. EC-1101 had been my burden for so long. Through one to three deaths, depending on how you counted. I opened up the panel in my leg and looked at the PipBuck that’d complicated my life so damn much. I spotted Echo off to the side, nodding once. Finally, I put a foreleg over my eyes. I had to choose... stay and finish this, or go...
这很有诱惑力。非常诱人。我去。让别人来为这个世界负责吧。Ec-1101一直是我的负担。通过一到三次死亡，这取决于你如何计算。我打开腿上的面板，看着那个让我的生活变得如此复杂的PipBuck。我看到艾可在旁边点了一下头。最后，我把一条前腿放在眼睛上。我必须选择...留下来完成这个，或者离开..。
And I couldn’t go. “I’ll see this through,” I said softly. “End it. Then have a long talk with Glory about cyberpony pregnancies.” And if something happened...
我不能去。"我会坚持到底的,"我轻声说。"结束它。然后和晨辉谈谈赛博马怀孕的事情。"如果发生了什么事..。
well... I had plenty of other things I bashed myself for. I rose to my hooves. “Let’s go.”
我还有很多其他的事情要责备自己。我猛地站起来。"我们走吧。"
I expected Rampage to whoop in glee. Instead, a strange expression came over her face. She stepped in front of me and put her hooves against mine as she stared at me a moment. “I promise, Blackjack. I swear to you that, no matter
我以为狂暴会欢呼雀跃。相反，她的脸上出现了一种奇怪的表情。她走到我面前，用她的蹄子抵着我的蹄子，盯着我看了一会儿。"我保证，黑杰克。我向你发誓，没关系
what, you and your baby will get out of this safe and alive. Okay? I promise you,” she said with such intensity that I was taken aback.
什么，你和你的孩子会活着离开这个安全的地方。好吗？我向你保证,"她说得那么紧张，我吃了一惊。
“Sure, Rampage. Sure,” I answered, her odd behavior putting my problems into the back of my mind and letting me focus on what needed to be done. “Are you...” I started to ask, wanting to bring up Steel Rain and what she had spoken with him about. Only then I noticed that the motes were moving away from one corner of the room. “This can’t be good.” A glance at a worried Boo confirmed my suspicions.
"当然，狂暴。当然,"我回答，她古怪的行为把我的问题抛在脑后，让我专注于需要做的事情。"你是......"我开始问，想提起钢铁雨和她和他谈过的事情。直到这时，我才注意到尘埃正从房间的一个角落移开。"这可不是什么好事。"看了一眼忧心忡忡的Boo，证实了我的猜测。
“Nope. Probably fun, though,” Rampage said as she hopped up in her duct-taped armor, grinning towards that corner. “Come on! Bring it on! Starmetal razors? Pfft! Magically regenerating monstrosities? Hah! Unholy rape abominations?”
"没有。也许很有趣,"狂暴女士一边说，一边穿上用胶带绑起来的盔甲，对着那个角落咧嘴笑着。"来吧！放马过来！星际金属剃须刀？噗！魔法般再生的怪物？哈！邪恶的强奸罪恶?"
I shoved her shoulder. “Stop tempting fate,” I said sharply. Rising to my hooves, I stared at the singular red bar that had appeared. This was pretty ballsy, even for Steel Rain. “Come on out, Steel. I know it’s you.” Who else would be approaching like this?
我推了推她的肩膀。"不要再冒险了,"我严厉地说。我站起来，盯着出现的奇异的红条。即使对《钢铁雨》来说，这也是相当有胆量的。"出来吧，斯蒂尔。我知道是你。"还有谁会这样靠近？
“You would be mistaken,” a calm, familiar voice replied as it advanced through the assembled ruins. The powerful, striped form stepped into view, his dragon skull helm gleaming atop his head and the cloth wrappings around his hooves and torso caught in a faint breeze. The Legate looked at me, and his lips spread in a slow smile in the shadow of the dragon’s maw. “Maiden. It is good to see you again.”
"你可能搞错了,"一个平静而熟悉的声音回答说，这个声音穿过已经聚集起来的废墟。强有力的条纹形式进入视线，他的龙头骨头盔闪烁在他的头顶上，布裹住他的蹄子和躯干，捕捉到一丝微风。使者看着我，他的嘴唇在龙的胃的阴影中缓缓地微笑着。"少女。很高兴再次见到你。"
“You. What are you doing here? How can you even be here?!” I demanded as he slowly approached the workstation. I remembered fighting that fit, athletic body. Struggling against it. Feeling -- damn it, no! No no no! What the hell was wrong with me? Stop thinking sexy thoughts about a deadly zebra sworn to kill me! No matter how hot his son had been lying atop me–
"你。你在这儿干什么？你怎么会在这里?!"他慢慢走近工作台时，我问道。我记得我曾经和健美的运动员身体进行过搏斗。与之抗争。感觉----该死，不！不，不，不！我到底是怎么了？别再想着一只发誓要杀我的致命斑马的性感想法了！不管他的儿子躺在我身上多么火辣
Sweet Celestia, did I need to be spayed?
甜蜜的天堂，我需要被阉割吗？
Fortunately, telepathy didn’t seem to be one of his powers, or he could have killed me with embarrassment. “Should I not be? It is you, after all, who does not belong surrounded by all these artifacts,” he said as he reached over, stroking the stone wall of one of the preserved ruins almost lovingly with a hoof. “It is sad to think of this place destroyed when the Core is undone.” He must have had a moonstone hidden in those wrappings, or underneath that skull.
幸运的是，心灵感应似乎不是他的能力之一，否则他可能会尴尬地杀了我。"难道我不应该吗？毕竟，你不应该被这些文物包围,"他一边说，一边伸出手，用蹄子亲切地抚摸着其中一处保存完好的遗迹的石墙。"想到这个地方在核心被破坏的时候被摧毁，真是令人难过。"他肯定在包装纸里或者头骨下面藏了月长石。
“I don’t want to fight you. I’m not your Maiden. Believe me, I am absolutely most emphatically neither a maiden nor Princess Luna,” I said as I backed away, remembering how quickly he’d moved when we’d last fought.
"我不想和你打架。我不是你的少女。相信我，我绝对不是少女也不是卢娜公主,"我一边说一边后退，想起我们上次战斗时他移动得有多快。
“I know. I believe you. Indeed, I have no wish at all to fight you.” He began to move to the side. “My son was an idiot who attempted to force a confrontation before its time. There is no question, whatsoever, that you are not the Maiden of our lore,” he said as he approached the papers on the workstation. “No. My business is with the other one.”
"我知道。我相信你。实际上，我根本不想和你打。"他开始向旁边移动。"我的儿子是个白痴，他企图提前发动对抗。无论如何，毫无疑问，你不是我们所说的少女,"他走近工作站上的报纸时说。"没有。我的生意是和另一个人做的。"
Rampage took a standing zebra fighting stance. “You wish to face me, nothus?” she asked in Shujaa’s accent as she raised her forehooves. “Bring it. A true daughter of the Achu will show an impostor the might of our clan.”
狂暴采取站立的斑马战斗姿势。"你想面对我，不是吗?"她抬起前蹄，用舒雅的口音问道。"来吧。一个阿楚真正的女儿会显示出我们家族的强大。"
But the Legate wasn’t looking at Rampage either. His amber eyes stared right past both of us... at Boo. Together, Rampage and I gaped at him, then at the terrified mare, and back at the Legate. “Boo? You’re here for Boo?” I blurted.
但是使节也没有看到暴怒。他那双琥珀色的眼睛盯着我们俩，盯着阿布。我和狂暴一起张大了嘴巴看着他，然后看着那匹吓坏了的母马，又回到了Legate。"嘘？你是来找阿布的?"我脱口而出。
“Me?” Boo asked, pointing at herself in bafflement.
"我?"布疑惑地指着自己问道。
“So to speak, yes,” the Legate said as he stared at the blank mare. “You two can go. This will be quick.”
"可以这么说，是的,"使者盯着那匹空白的母马说。"你们两个可以走了。这很快就会实现。"
“Right. You’re crazy if you think I’ll just let you kill her,” I said, exasperated.
"对。如果你认为我会让你杀了她，那你就是疯了,"我恼怒地说。
“Why would you want to kill a helpless mare?” Rampage asked.
"你为什么要杀一匹无助的母马?"狂暴问道。
The Legate paused, seemingly amused. “You believe I have some malice against eggshells? Hardly.” He stood on his hind legs again, pointing a hoof at Boo. “Care to come clean?”
莱盖特停顿了一下，似乎觉得很有趣。""你认为我对蛋壳有恶意？几乎没有。"它再次用后腿站立，用蹄子指着Boo。"介意说清楚吗?"
Boo trembled, backing away. “No baths!”
布颤抖着，退开了。"禁止洗澡!"
“No baths?” The Legate laughed. “Priceless. You always were amusing.”
"不洗澡?"大使笑了。"无价的。你总是很有趣。"
“Leave her alone. What are you talking about?” I demanded.
"放开她。你在说什么?"我问道。
The Legate never took his eyes off Boo. “Haven’t you wondered, Blackjack? Such a helpless mare, all alone, desperate for your protection. Seeking to accompany you? Haven’t you wondered about her odd luck? The way she
使节的眼睛从来没有离开过布。"你不觉得奇怪吗，黑杰克？这样一匹无助的母马，孤单一人，渴望你的保护。想跟你一起去吗？你没想过她的奇怪运气吗？她的方式
always survives while her enemies die in odd... often amusing, ways?” His smile faded. “You have to die. Your meddling is done,” he told the trembling mare.
总是能活下来，而她的敌人却以奇怪的方式死去，常常是有趣的方式他的笑容消失了。"你必须死。"你的干预已经结束了,"他告诉那匹战战兢兢的母马。
“You won’t touch her!” Rampage swore. And with that, she launched herself at the Legate with a flying kick. He didn’t move until the very last second, spinning on his hindlegs almost as if he were dancing as she passed half an inch to his side. Then, as she stopped behind him, a whirling hoof lashed out and struck the back of her skull with a resounding clang, denting the metal. It might have broken a lesser pony’s neck, but it merely irritated Rampage. She slashed out with her barbed tail and wrapped it around his neck, tearing bloody furrows in his hide. “Ha! Got yo--”
"你不许碰她!"狂暴发誓。就这样，她一脚飞踢向使节。直到最后一刻，他才动了一下，当她向他侧身移动半英寸的时候，他的后腿几乎像在跳舞。然后，当她在他身后停下来的时候，一个旋转的蹄子猛地踢了出来，发出铿锵的响声，敲打着她的后脑勺，金属上留下了凹痕。它可能会折断一匹小马的脖子，但它只是激怒了狂暴。她用带倒钩的尾巴猛砍出来，缠在他的脖子上，撕裂他皮肤上的血痕。"哈！给你——"
He pulled free, barely even flinching as further bloody lines were gouged into his neck. The weeping rents in his flesh seemed more like inconveniences to him than deadly wounds. His twisting motion continued around and swept her hindlegs out from under her. She went down in a clatter of steel. Smoothly, he rose to his feet and leapt above Rampage, flipping backwards. All four hooves smashed her helmet over her face, blocking her eyes. “Hey! Get back here!” she shouted, scratching at the bent metal.
他挣脱了，当更多的血迹划过他的脖子时，他几乎没有退缩。在他看来，撕裂他肉体的哭泣与其说是致命的创伤，倒不如说是一种不便。他的旋转动作还在继续，把她的后腿从她身下拖了出来。她砰的一声倒下了。他平静地站了起来，跳过了狂暴，向后翻了个身。四只蹄子都撞碎了她的头盔，挡住了她的眼睛。"嘿！给我回来!"她大声喊道，抓挠着弯曲的金属。
“So difficult,” he said dismissively as he stepped off Rampage and approached Boo and me. Rampage finally wrenched the helmet, and half her mane, off her head and glowered at him. “So upset over a cheap vessel,” he continued, his voice mocking. “She’s not real, you know. That’s just an act to keep you nice and protective. Allowing it to bide its time.” He pointed a hoof at Boo again. “Do you insist on maintaining this charade?”
"太难了,"他走出暴怒，走近布和我，轻蔑地说。狂暴最后扭下头盔，半截鬃毛从头上掉下来，怒视着他。"因为一艘廉价的船而心烦意乱,"他接着说，声音里带着嘲弄的意味。"她不是真的，你知道的。这只是一种让你保持好心和保护欲的行为。允许它等待时机。"他又用蹄子指了指布。"你坚持要继续装下去吗?"
I glared at the zebra, and then I heard Boo say, quite calmly and clearly, “It’s no fun when you spoil the ending, oh eternal one.”
我瞪了斑马一眼，然后我听到布非常平静而清晰地说:"当你破坏了结局的时候，一点也不好玩，哦，永恒的结局。"
I felt what flesh I had remaining go numb. “Boo?” I asked weakly.
我觉得我的肉体已经麻木了。"嘘?"我虚弱地问道。
The mare scowled at him, then glanced at me. A sheepish expression crept across her face. “Sorry, Blackjack. I can explain everything later. Once he’s dealt with.”
母马对他皱起眉头，然后看了我一眼。她脸上掠过一种羞怯的表情。"对不起，黑杰克。我可以稍后再解释。一旦他被处理了。"
“I... you... what... how...” I stammered.
"我.....。.你......什么......怎么......"我结结巴巴地说。
“Your interference is at an end,” the Legate growled at Boo. “You know precisely how this is going to go.”
"你的干涉到此为止,"特使对布咆哮道。"你完全知道接下来会发生什么。"
“Oh, what’s the fun in that, Lego? Doing what’s expected is so dreadfully boring,” Boo said as she stood, giving a dismissive wave of her hoof. “What’s wrong with me spicing things up a bit?”
"哦，那有什么乐趣呢，乐高？做预期要做的事情是如此可怕的无聊,"Boo一边站着一边说，轻蔑地甩了一下蹄子。"我把事情弄得更刺激一点有什么问题吗?"
“Everything,” the Legate growled. “You were supposed to die two centuries ago, but Goldenblood spirited you away. You should have died when Blackjack freed you, but you hitched along in that empty vessel.” The Legate pointed a hoof at the mare. “It’s time for you to die, Discord!”
"一切,"使节咆哮道。"你两个世纪前就该死了，但是金色血统把你带走了。Blackjack把你放出来的时候，你应该已经死了，但你还是搭上了那只空船。"特使用蹄子指着那匹母马。"你该死了，不和谐!"
I gaped from the Legate to Boo. The pale mare closed her eyes and gave a little smirk, a lone fang popping out of the right corner of her mouth. When she opened her eyes again, the pale orbs were yellowed, their irises bright red. “Well then. If you insist...” She lowered herself onto all four hooves, grinning back at the striped stallion with her lone fang gleaming. “Ante up.”
我目瞪口呆地看着特使和布。苍白的母马闭上眼睛，得意地笑了一下，一只孤独的尖牙从她的右嘴角冒了出来。当她再次睁开眼睛时，那些苍白的球体已经发黄，它们的虹膜变得鲜红。""好吧。如果你坚持的话......"她趴在四只蹄子上，对着那匹有条纹的种马咧嘴笑着，她那孤零零的尖牙闪闪发光。"下注吧。"
Footnote: Maximum Level Reached.
脚注:已达到的最高水平。
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: Sorry this is late. Last week, I was sick and we had problems getting through it. I’m very sorry. Next chapter should be Cognitum. Then we get to find out more stuff. Oh, and find out what’s up with Boo and Discord. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. Probably. Unless I botch it... which I probably will... sigh...
(作者的笔记:很抱歉这么晚了。上周，我生病了，我们很难熬过去。我很抱歉。下一章应该是《认知》。然后我们可以找到更多的东西。哦，看看Boo和Discord是怎么回事。别担心。没事的。可能吧。除非我搞砸了...我可能会...叹气..。
In other news, looking for a teaching job. If you know of any in your area, let me know. My applications from teacher for teacher has gotten be zero replies and I need a placement before June. Can’t sub in the summer. If folks want to help out with bits, they’d be appreciated, but I think I should just barely squeak by this month. I hope. If I don’t get sick. Or lose this sub assignment. ::crosses hooves.::
另一则新闻，在找一份教书的工作。如果你知道任何在你的地区，让我知道。我从老师那里得到的申请没有任何回复，我需要在六月之前得到一个位置。夏天不能代课。如果有人愿意帮忙解决这个问题，他们会很感激的，但是我认为这个月我只能勉强勉强过关。我希望。如果我不生病的话。或者失去这个子任务。穿过汽车旅馆
Anyway, thanks so much to everyone for reading through this final arc. It looks like I really am going to get it done this year after all! Also, there’s a concerted effort to get me to Bronycon. I have no idea if it’ll actually happen. I’d have to crash with someone at the very least. Still, it’d be cool. Maybe I’d get to meet folks! n.n Anyway, just thought I’d mention it.
无论如何，非常感谢大家阅读这最后一个弧线。看起来我今年真的要完成它了！此外，还有一个协调一致的努力让我去Bronycon。我不知道这是否真的会发生。我至少得和某人挤在一起。不过，这还是很酷的。也许我可以见见朋友们！无论如何，只是觉得我应该提一下。
Also, thanks to Kkat for creating FoE and thanks to my editors who take all my lackluster drek and make it actually work reading. Thanks for folks who leave feedback at cloudsdale, reddit, and 4chan (even if 4channers hate my guts, it’s still appreciated). Thanks for everyone that donates a bit to help out. And just thanks for reading, period.)
同时，感谢Kkat创建了FoE，感谢我的编辑们，他们带走了我所有平淡无奇的作品，让它真正能够阅读。感谢那些在cloudsdale，reddit和4chan上留下反馈的人们(即使4channers恨我入骨，我还是很感激)。感谢每一位捐款帮忙的人。谢谢你的阅读，句号