“Sure, no problem! So long as Horizons doesn't fall before you can get there! Which I'm sure it won't!”
"当然，没问题！只要地平线在你到达那里之前没有下降！我肯定不会的!"
Astonishing how quickly I was marginalized once I stepped aside and let everypony else get busy with the actual organization of the fighting. Goldenblood sighed, levitated over a pencil, paper, and clipboard, and started making notes in tiny, neat little scratches as he listened attentively to the numbers of fighters he’d be able to get from the gangs, the newcomers, and the various mercenary groups. I paid attention to the lowest numbers and made my own mental notes. I could make notes too, though mine tended to be in crayon.
令人惊讶的是，一旦我退到一边，让其他人忙于实际的战斗组织，我就很快被边缘化了。金布拉德叹了口气，在一支铅笔、一张纸和一个剪贴板上悬浮起来，开始用细小的、整齐的划痕做笔记，专心地听着他能从帮派、新来者和各种各样的雇佣军那里得到的战士数量。我注意那些最低的数字，并在脑子里做了笔记。我也会做笔记，虽然我的笔记往往是用蜡笔写的。
There really wasn’t anything else for me to do. Smarter, better-trained ponies were on the job. All that remained for me was to maximize our chances, get what I needed, and focus on finishing off Cognitum and stopping Horizons from killing us all. I found myself smiling as if a great burden had been lifted from my back. Just like that, the important ponies took it from me and I was left almost forgotten.
我真的没有别的事可做。更聪明、训练有素的小马正在工作。对我来说，剩下的就是最大化我们的机会，得到我需要的东西，专注于完成科涅塔姆，阻止地平线杀死我们所有人。我发现自己微笑着，仿佛背上的重担被卸下了。就这样，那些重要的小马从我手中夺走了它，我几乎被遗忘了。
The Reapers, the Zodiacs, and Xanthe were talking shop about which bunkers each would hit, what they’d need, and who they would take... and making bets on who would blow theirs up first. Even as I watched, ripples of activity spread out from the rotunda as orders were given and dispatched. The only thing omitted was the talk of who would die in the process. It just wasn’t discussed.
收割者，黄道带，和赞特正在讨论各自会袭击哪些掩体，他们需要什么，他们会带走谁...并且打赌谁会先炸掉他们的掩体。就在我观察的时候，随着命令的下达和发出，活动的涟漪从圆形大厅蔓延开来。唯一遗漏的就是讨论谁会在这个过程中死去。只是没有讨论而已。
“Well, if there’s nothing else for me to do here,” I said as I walked towards Velvet, Calamity, Homage, Life Bloom, and Ditzy Doo. P-21 trotted at my side, concern etched on his face. “I could use some help, if you’re free.”
"好吧，如果我在这里没有别的事情可做的话,"我边说边向天鹅绒、灾难、敬意、生命绽放和迪兹杜走去。P-21小跑着来到我身边，脸上写满了忧虑。"如果你有空的话，我需要帮助。"
“Well, I got to admit, I was getting a little bored of the vacation,” Calamity
"嗯，我得承认，我对这个假期有点厌烦了,"卡拉米蒂说
drawled casually. Velvet shot him a dirty look. “Wut? Come on, Velvet. Even you got to admit it’s funner getting mixed up in a good fight.”
慢吞吞地说。维尔韦特向他投去了一个不怀好意的目光。"怎么了？来吧，维尔维特。就连你也不得不承认，参与一场精彩的打斗更有意思。"
“No fight is good,” Velvet countered crossly, but then she sighed and rolled her eyes a little. “Still, if we work fast, we should be able to save as many lives as possible.”
"没有打架是好事,"维尔韦愤怒地反驳道，但随后她叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"尽管如此，如果我们行动迅速，我们应该能够挽救尽可能多的生命。"
“I’ve sat back and watched long enough,” Homage said with a little nod. “It’s time to get back in the battle saddle again.”
"我已经看得够久了,"霍梅特点点头说。"是时候重返战场了。"
“That horn for show then?” Calamity teased, and Homage stuck her tongue out at him.
"那个号角是作秀用的吗?"灾难取笑着，敬意向他伸出了舌头。
Life Bloom shook his head, but his easy smile faded when he turned to regard me. “One moment of your time, Blackjack?” I blinked, then nodded. We trotted a little ways to the side, and the white unicorn stallion looked at me evenly. “Blackjack, I have a message for you from the Twilight Society. I wasn’t sure when was a good time to give it to you, but it seems like now is better than never.”
生活布鲁姆摇了摇头，但当他转过身来看着我时，他那从容的微笑消失了。"占用你一点时间，黑杰克?"我眨了眨眼，然后点了点头。我们小跑到一边，白色的独角兽公马均匀地看着我。"黑杰克，我有一条来自暮光协会的消息给你。我不知道什么时候适合送给你，但现在送总比不送好。"
“Okay. What is it?” I asked with a concerned frown.
"好吧。这是什么?"我皱着眉关切地问。
“They’re watching events out east closely, and if they have to, they will act,” he said gravely.
"他们正在密切关注东部的事态发展，如果有必要，他们会采取行动,"他严肃地说。
“...Okay.” I blinked in bafflement. “Well, by all means. Let them. I’ll take all the acting I can get right now.”
"...好吧。"我困惑地眨了眨眼。""当然可以。随他们去吧。我现在要尽我所能去演戏。"
“You don’t understand,” he shook his head. “When I say act, I don’t mean against your enemy. I mean against the Hoof. They’ll fire up Celestia One and burn anything that looks hostile to slag. The Core. The Brood. Your forces. With how complicated things are here, telling friends from enemies is too much trouble and too much of a risk compared to shooting everything that moves. We won against Red Eye and the Enclave, and now they’re... concerned... about the events out here and losing them everything they’ve gained.”
"你不明白,"他摇摇头。""我说行动，并不是指对付你的敌人。我是说靠着蹄子。他们会点燃天青石，烧掉任何看起来不利于熔渣的东西。核心。布鲁德一家。你的军队。鉴于这里的情况是如此复杂，与射杀任何移动的东西相比，区分朋友和敌人太麻烦，风险也太大。我们打败了红眼和飞地，现在他们......担心......这里发生的事情，担心失去他们所得到的一切。"
“Can Celestia One obliterate an enormous moonstone boulder falling from space?” I asked back. When he balked, I gave a shaky smile. “No, really, can it? Because if it can, then they are more than welcome to fire away, and best of luck to them. I’ll take all the firepower I can get right now.” He chewed on that, and I
"天堂一号能消除从太空坠落的一块巨大的月亮石吗?"我问道。当他犹豫不决的时候，我摇摇晃晃地笑了笑。"不，真的，可以吗？因为如果可以的话，他们会非常受欢迎，并祝他们好运。我现在就要尽可能多的火力。"他咀嚼着这个，而我
added, “Oh, and you might want to let them know that if they do attack the Hoof, they’ll incinerate not just the city but Twilight’s descendant as well. If that still matters to them, that is.”
"哦，你也许应该让他们知道，如果他们真的攻击霍夫，他们不仅会把城市烧成灰烬，还会把暮光之城的后裔也烧成灰烬。如果这对他们来说仍然重要，那就是这样。"
“It does, and I’m just passing on the message. There are a lot of eyes on the Hoof right now. Just be aware of that,” Life Bloom told me. Then he gave a half smile. “So, what next?”
"的确如此，我只是在传递信息。现在有很多人在关注霍夫。只要意识到这一点,"生活布鲁姆告诉我。然后他微微一笑。"那么，接下来怎么办?"
* * *
* * *
There was something positively surreal about a bony-winged ghoul pegasus being able to fly at all. That thought was one tiny voice amidst the rest of my mind screaming about splatting against the ground below as Ditzy carried us through the sky in her wagon, Absolutely Everything Too. Proving herself yet again to be an honorary Finder, Ditzy had produced both a PipBuck and a broadcaster at my first sarcastic quip. The grin on her face put a smile on everypony else's.
一个瘦骨嶙峋、长着翅膀的食尸鬼竟然能够飞行，真是有点超现实主义的感觉。这个想法只是我脑海中一个微小的声音，尖叫着迪茨用她的马车带着我们穿过天空，一切都完了。迪茨再次证明了自己是一个荣誉发现者，在我的第一次挖苦讽刺中，她制作了一个PipBuck和一个播音员。她脸上的笑容使每个人都露出了笑容。
With Unity broken, being in the Hoof was merely unpleasant rather than intolerable for the alicorns. I’d originally thought of using them to teleport everywhere I needed to go. However, the fact that I had no clue where I specifically needed to go killed that plan pretty quickly. Apparently pointing at a map and saying ‘about here’ wasn’t exact enough for magically winking across the land when none of the teleporters had even so much as glimpsed ‘about here’ before. Fortunately, Ditzy had been generous enough to give us all a ride instead. One purple alicorn had insisted on accompanying us, too, to ‘keep us safe’, though I’d gotten the impression that she was really only there for Velvet.
随着统一的破裂，对于海角来说，在霍夫只是令人不快，而不是无法忍受。我原本想用它们传送到任何我需要去的地方。然而，事实上我并不知道自己需要去哪里，这很快就扼杀了这个计划。显然，指着地图说'这里'不够准确，因为以前没有一个传送员看到过'这里'。幸运的是，迪兹非常慷慨地载了我们一程。一只紫色的小角羊也坚持要陪着我们，以确保我们的安全，尽管我觉得她只是为了维尔维特而来。
The radio was chaos. Pon3’s channel might have been down, but there were other operators springing up. The strongest signal was ‘Unity radio’, which involved the Harbingers urging everypony to join ‘the real Security’ to pull the Hoof together, or else. The counterpoint to this was Homage’s ‘Freedom Radio’, which consisted of a PipBuck, a broadcaster, and a rather startling selection of music she’d squirreled away on the thing before leaving Tenpony to escape the Enclave. As we flew over the Hoof, a dozen more different stations popped up, each with a range of only about a mile.
收音机里一片混乱。Pon3的渠道可能已经下降了，但还有其他运营商涌现出来。最强烈的信号是"团结无线电"，其中包括先驱者们敦促每一匹小马加入"真正的安全"组织，共同行动起来，否则后果自负。与此相对应的是《向往》的《自由广播》，其中包括一个PipBuck，一个播音员，以及一个相当令人吃惊的音乐选集，她在离开Tenpony逃离昂科雷之前就把这些音乐存在这台机器上。当我们飞过霍夫时，又冒出了十几个不同的监测站，每个的监测范围都只有一英里左右。
One was saying I was a fake. One saying everything was a fake and kill everyone. One sounding like a colt spouting as many obscenities as possible.
其中一个说我是个骗子。一个说一切都是假的，杀了所有人。一个听起来像一匹小马，尽可能多地说些下流话。
Quite a few were ripped right out of LittlePip’s memoir… really, she couldn’t have edited that out? I wasn’t sure this kid knew what a clit was… The rest, though, were urging ponies to follow their leaders and get ready for the Battle of the Hoof. “Is that a good sign?” I asked Homage.
有不少是从小匹普的回忆录里撕下来的......真的，她就不能把它删掉吗？我不确定这个孩子是否知道阴蒂是什么......然而，其他人都在催促小马跟随它们的领导者，为霍夫之战做好准备。"这是个好兆头吗?"我问道:敬意。
“I think so. After Fillydelphia, the Everfree, and the battle in the skies, people have started seeing the value of coming together. The old way of tiny settlements and raider bands scattered everywhere just doesn’t work anymore,” she said with a smile. She stared off to the west. “I wish she could be here. I wish I could have done this with her at least once.”
"我想是的。在菲利德菲亚、Everfree和天空之战之后，人们开始看到团结一致的价值。那种到处散布的小定居点和袭击者的老办法已经行不通了,"她微笑着说。她凝视着西方。"我希望她能在这里。我希望我能和她至少做一次这样的事情。"
I sighed, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “I wish she could have been too. It was fun working with her.”
我叹了口气，把蹄子放在她的肩上。"我希望她也能这样。和她一起工作很有趣。"
“I’m just afraid for her. She’s going to live a lot longer than the rest of us. In the S.P.P. hub, with Celestia’s soul powering the shield, she might even survive Horizons. I don’t like thinking of her all alone,” Homage said with a shiver. “I worry about her happiness… her health… even her sanity. How long can somepony stay alone watching without losing their mind?”
"我只是为她担心。她会比我们其他人活得长得多。在s.p.p.中心，有了塞莱斯蒂娅的灵魂作为护盾，她甚至可能在地平线存活下来。我不喜欢一个人想她。"。"我担心她的幸福......她的健康......甚至她的神智。一匹小马能独自看多久而不发疯呢?"
Well, Goldenblood, Celestia, and Spike seemed to have managed it well enough. “And I can’t imagine Celestia wants to be trapped in there forever either,” I said as I looked towards the Core. “That’s not life.” I shook my head. “Well, cyberponies and blanks live a long time too. So if I live through this and I’m still kicking around, I’ll make sure to pop in from time to time and bug her. Have some therapeutic sex. In the name of mental health, of course.”
好吧，金血、天青石和斯派克似乎已经做得足够好了。"我也不能想象塞莱斯蒂亚希望永远被困在那里,"我看着地核说道。"这不是生活。"我摇了摇头。"嗯，网络小马和空包弹也能活很长时间。所以，如果我经历了这一切，仍然无所事事，我一定会时不时地突然出现，打扰她。做一些有治疗作用的性爱。当然是以精神健康的名义。"
She laughed at that, so I counted it as another small win. “Do you really expect to survive this?” she asked, her mirth melting away to leave that horrible sad smile I knew so well. “I mean, I know you’ve died… twice? Or has it been more?”
她对此一笑置之，所以我认为这是又一次小小的胜利。"你真的指望能活下来吗?"她问道，她的快乐消失了，留下了我熟悉的那种可怕的悲伤的微笑。"我是说，我知道你已经死了......两次了？还是更进一步?"
“I’ve lost track,” I said with a grin. Gazing out towards the Skyport, I could see the remains of Thunderhead on the ground. It was half a torus now and looked as if what remained had been gutted and burned by battle. The city in the clouds was acting as a wall, shielding the city from the Brood… but not the Core. “I’m just no good at dying, Homage. So I figure, why not? I’ll live through this, stop Cogs and the Legate, prevent Horizons from destroying the world, raise my baby with P-21, and try to have a few more–” Ugh, sterile body, remember,
"我忘了,"我咧嘴笑着说。凝视着天空港，我可以看到地面上的雷锋号残骸。它现在已经是半个环面了，看起来好像剩下的部分已经被战火烧毁了。云层中的城市就像一堵墙，保护城市不受魔龙军团的侵扰......但不是核心。"我只是不擅长死亡，敬意。所以我想，为什么不呢？我会挺过去的，阻止齿轮和特使，防止地平线号毁灭世界，用P-21来抚养我的孩子，还有试着再生几个——"唉，不育的身体，记住,
numbskull? “Or adopt... adoption's good. I really want lots of babies,” I said with a grin. “Help out Chapel and the Hoof in general. Patch things up with Glory and Rampage. Make life better. See tomorrow.”
笨蛋？"或者领养......领养也不错。我真的想要很多孩子,"我咧嘴笑着说。"帮助教堂和霍夫。用晨辉和暴怒来修补。让生活更美好。明天见。"
“I hope you get all that,” Homage said as she looked out at the clouds as we flew east.
"我希望你能得到所有这些,"在我们向东飞行的时候，霍梅一边望着窗外的云一边说。
I could see the black castle that had been Black Pony Mountain blocking my view of the Core itself. Down below us was the zebra army. They marched out of the bunker, Brood zebras, Brood zebras with cyberwings… And then there were the cyber unicorn zonies. Even after death, Silver Stripe had achieved a kind of immortality. There was no way to approach that during the day, especially for me. I was a shooty shooty kind of pony.
我可以看到黑色的城堡已经被黑色小马山挡住了我的视野的核心本身。在我们下面是斑马军队。他们大步走出地堡，一群斑马，一群长着网络翅膀的斑马......然后就是网络独角兽区带。即使在死后，银条纹已经达到了一种不朽。在白天，特别是对我来说，没有办法接近那种感觉。我是那种会开枪的矮种马。
Besides, my business wasn’t with them. My business was far to the east, farther than I’d ever gone before.
而且，我的生意和他们无关。我的生意远在东方，比我以前去过的任何地方都要远。
* * *
* * *
I trotted up the valley, away from the Core, the others following behind me. The loose scree and ancient coal sands made for treacherous footing, more so in the fading light. It was starting to get late. Tomorrow, I’d have to catch Cognitum at the Space Center before she left for the moon. I could feel time slipping away from me. Time. Time.
我沿着山谷小跑，远离核心，其他人跟在我后面。松散的碎石层和古老的煤砂使地基变得危险，在昏暗的光线下更是如此。天色开始晚了。明天，在她去月球之前，我必须在航天中心赶上Cognitum。我能感觉到时间从我身边溜走。时间。时间。
This was a place that looked as if it’d been skipped by time. Long ago, Equestria had had a technological boom founded on coal. They’d stripped all of their own deposits, then traded with the zebras when the supply ran out. A good arrangement, so long as the trade wasn’t interrupted; the rest of the Wasteland, of course, was the legacy of what had happened when it was. All around me here… this was the legacy of what had happened before the trade began. This was a sacrificed land. Draglines perched on the edges of mountaintops ripped flat. Valleys were filled and beaten level with toxic tailings. Rusty rail lines drew over the landscape like the track lines of an addict unable to sate their hunger. Everywhere I turned my eyes were the shells of mills, their smokestacks jutting towards the gray skies. Power lines snaked this way and that westwards towards the rest of Equestria. It only made sense. If you were going to pollute one area anyway, why not concentrate it to spare others? The ponies who didn’t live here probably considered it a fine system.
这是一个似乎被时间跳过的地方。很久以前，马术国在煤炭基础上实现了技术繁荣。他们剥夺了自己所有的存款，然后与斑马交易时，供应耗尽。一个好的安排，只要贸易没有中断;其余的荒地，当然，是所发生的事情的遗产。我周围的一切......这是交易开始之前发生的事情留下的遗产。这是一块牺牲的土地。栖息在山顶边缘的拖绳被扯平了。山谷中充满了有毒的尾矿。锈迹斑斑的铁路线就像无法填饱肚子的瘾君子的铁路线一样覆盖了整个景观。我的目光所及之处都是磨坊的贝壳，它们的烟囱伸向灰色的天空。电线蜿蜒向这边，向西延伸至Equestria其它地区。只有这样才有意义。如果你无论如何都要污染一个地区，为什么不把它集中起来以免污染其他地区呢？不住在这里的小马可能认为这是一个很好的系统。
I glanced over at Glory, trying to catch her eyes. She simply trotted on. I peeked at P-21, feeling conflicted… there had to be some way to fix things with us. Or should I even try?
我瞥了晨辉一眼，试图抓住她的眼睛。她只是一路小跑。我偷看了一眼P-21，感觉很矛盾......肯定有什么办法可以解决我们之间的问题。或者我应该尝试一下？
The jingling tune of a banjo floated like a ghost through the valley, the twangy music carrying through the quiet, scarred landscape as if travelling through time. From off in another direction came another banjo with an answering tune. My mane crawled at the creepy yet definitely effective form of signaling. Red bars danced everywhere in my E.F.S., but I could hear the skittering of scavenging radroaches in the thorny underbrush.
班卓琴的叮当声像幽灵一样在山谷中飘荡，叮当的音乐传遍了安静的、伤痕累累的风景，仿佛穿越了时间。从另一个方向传来另一架班卓琴，琴声回荡。我的鬃毛爬到了令人毛骨悚然但绝对有效的信号形式。我的远征队里到处都是红条，但我能听到在荆棘丛中觅食的流氓掠过的声音。
“I just want to talk to Big Momma,” I shouted out at the desolation. Mist collected on the edges of broken mountaintops. My voice echoed off the rusting mining lifts and slag heaps. I felt a tremble underhoof and imagined ponies digging deeper and deeper into the earth, no matter how dangerous it became. “I gave back your son’s rifle!” I yelled.
"我只是想和肥妈谈谈,"我对着这片荒凉大声喊道。薄雾聚集在破碎的山顶边缘。我的声音回荡在生锈的矿井升降机和矿渣堆里。我感到浑身颤抖，想象着小马在地下越挖越深，不管它变得多么危险。"我把你儿子的步枪还给你了!"我喊道。
The banjos played again, a faint variation of the tune. Then another exchange. It'd be pleasant were it not for the niggling feeling that there were a dozen gun sights trained on my skull as the plinking notes echoed through the valley.
班卓琴又奏起来了，是那曲调的微弱变奏。然后是另一次交流。如果不是因为这些琐碎的感觉，我会很高兴，有十几个枪口瞄准着我的头骨，敲击的音符在山谷中回荡。
Finally, the music stopped, and a blue filly in a dirty and stained sundress stepped out from behind a rusting tractor. “Momma don’t want you up here no more. This is our land.”
终于，音乐停了下来，一匹穿着脏兮兮、脏兮兮的背心裙的蓝色小母马从一辆锈迹斑斑的拖拉机后走了出来。"妈妈不想让你再上来了。这是我们的土地。"
I looked around at all the waste and devastation. I could only assume she could hear me. “There’s going to be a fight, Big Momma. A nasty fight for the Hoof. We need your help.”
我环顾四周，看到所有的废弃物和破坏。我只能假设她能听见我说话。"要打架了，肥妈。一场为霍夫而进行的恶战。我们需要你的帮助。"
“Told you Momma don’t want you up here no more,” the blue earth filly said with a nod of her head towards the way we’d come. “Now git.” Scotch Tape glowered at the other filly.
"我告诉过你，妈妈不想让你再上来了,"蓝色大地上的小姑娘朝我们来的路点了点头，说道。"现在滚吧。"透明胶带怒视着另一匹小母马。
I took a step towards the filly, and there was a crack. The ground in front of me kicked up dust from a bullet, stopping me short. I hissed softly through my teeth. “I know you want to be left alone!” I shouted, my voice echoing across the valley. “I can respect that. But now is the time we need you! All of you. There’s going to be a battle, and if you don’t join, we’re going to lose.”
我向小母马走了一步，发现有一条裂缝。我前面的地面扬起了子弹留下的灰尘，让我停了下来。我的牙齿发出轻轻的嘶嘶声。"我知道你想一个人呆着!"我喊道，我的声音在山谷里回荡。"我尊重这一点。但现在是我们需要你的时候了！你们所有人。这将是一场战斗，如果你们不加入，我们就会输。"
“Yer a stupid pony, you know that,” the filly drawled.
"你是一匹愚蠢的小马，你知道的,"小母马慢吞吞地说。
“Yeah, well you’re a jerk!” Scotch Tape snapped back.
"是啊，你是个混蛋!"透明胶带反弹了。
“Scotch,” P-21 said in admonishing tone that fell on deaf ears.
"苏格兰威士忌,"P-21以警告的语气说道，但却被置若罔闻。
“Don’t y’all call me names!” the blue filly shouted. “I’ll sic my big sis on you!”
"你们不许骂我!"蓝色的小母马大声叫道。"我要让我的大姐姐来对付你!"
“Well, I don’t need a big sister; I’ll kick your flank all by myself!” Scotch Tape boasted.
"好吧，我不需要一个大姐姐，我会一个人踢你的侧腹!"透明胶带自夸。
“No pony kicks my flank!” the other filly shrieked, charging forward. Scotch Tape raced to meet her, and I was too shocked to levitate her away before the two were rolling in the dirt, biting and kicking.
"没有小马踢我的侧腹!"另一匹小母马尖叫着冲上前去。苏格兰胶带跑过去迎接她，我太震惊了，以至于在他们两个在泥土里打滚、咬人和踢人之前，我无法将她悬浮起来。
“Baby Blue!” a mare snapped loudly, stepping out from between two boulders, Taurus’s rifle at her side. Bluebelle narrowed her eyes at the two muddy fillies. “Y’all were supposed ta tell ‘em ta scoot.”
"蓝宝贝!"一匹母马大声地叫着，从两块大石头中间走出来，金牛座的步枪在她身边。蓝美人眯起眼睛看着两只泥泞的小母马。"你们应该告诉他们快走"
“She started it!” Baby Blue whined, pointing a mucky hoof at Scotch Tape. “She called me a jerk!”
"是她先动手的!"婴儿蓝哀鸣，指着一个肮脏的蹄子透明胶带。"她说我是个混蛋!"
“Well, you called Blackjack stupid!” Scotch Tape snapped as P-21 trotted over, grabbed her by the scruff of her stable barding, and pulled her away.
"好吧，你说黑杰克是愚蠢的!"当P-21小跑过来的时候，苏格兰胶带啪的一声折断了，抓住了她马厩的颈背，把她拉开了。
“But I didn’t call you stupid, stupid!” Baby Blue yelled back.
"但我没有说你愚蠢，愚蠢!"布鲁宝宝也吼了起来。
“That’s it!” Scotch Tape squealed, pulling herself free of P-21’s bite and jumping back on the other filly. I stared at Bluebelle from across the scrabbling girls and stepped around them as Velvet and P-21 tried to separate the two without being beaned by a flying hoof. The alicorn watched with an expression of disdain on her face.
"就是这样!"透明胶带吱吱作响，挣脱了P-21的咬痕，又跳回到另一匹小母马身上。当维尔韦和P-21试图把他们分开而不被飞蹄撞到时，我从那些忙碌的女孩们的对面盯着Bluebelle，绕过她们。阿里克纳看着她，脸上露出轻蔑的表情。
I sighed and shook my head. “I noticed there weren’t many Highlanders at the meeting,” I said to Bluebelle.
我叹了口气，摇了摇头。"我注意到参加会议的高地人并不多,"我对Bluebelle说。
“Big Momma’s stayin’ out of this scrap. It’s too big. Too dangerous. We’re pullin’ all our people back into the mines,” Bluebelle informed me.
"肥妈在外面等着呢。它太大了。太危险了。我们正在把所有的人都召回矿井。"布鲁贝尔告诉我。
“You can’t stay out of this, Bluebelle. The Hoof needs the Highlanders.”
"你不能置身事外，布鲁贝尔。霍夫需要高地人。"
“Mebbe, but we don’t need the Hoof,” she replied stubbornly. The powerfully
"梅布，但我们不需要霍夫,"她固执地回答。强有力的
built blue earth pony crossed her legs. “We don’t need magic or pegasi or robots or nothing. We take care of our own. Piss on the rest of you.”
体格健壮的蓝色地球小马交叉着腿。"我们不需要魔法、飞马座、机器人或什么。我们自己照顾自己。尿在你们身上。"
“You might not need the Hoof now, but you will,” I said evenly. “There’s a storm coming, and if we don't stand against it together, it's going to blow us away.”
"你现在可能不需要蹄子，但你会需要的,"我平静地说。"暴风雨就要来了，如果我们不团结起来，它就会把我们吹走。"
“Sez you,” she countered with a scowl. “What has that pit done but taken our kin from us?”
"给我闭嘴,"她皱着眉头反驳道。"那个坑除了把我们的亲人从我们身边夺走之外，还做了什么?"
“Nothing. But if Cognitum or the Legate win the battle tomorrow, how long do you think it’ll be before you’re next? They won’t leave you alone. They can’t,” I said firmly.
"没什么。但是如果认知神殿或者使者赢得了明天的战斗，你认为你下一次战斗还要多久？他们不会放过你的。他们不能,"我坚定地说。
“We got hundreds o’ fighters. We’ll manage,” she said with a worried frown.
"我们有几百架战斗机。我们会想办法的,"她愁眉苦脸地说。
“They have thousands.” I left out the detail that it was an infinite thousands on top of that. “You’ve been watching the bunker, I assume. That’s one of several. And they don't have children or homes or families. They don't care about their wounded or dead. The only thing they care about is wiping their enemies out.” I took a deep breath. “We need your help.”
"他们有数千人。"我忽略了一个细节，那就是除此之外还有无数个。"我猜你一直在监视地堡。这只是其中之一。他们没有孩子，没有家庭，没有家庭。他们不关心他们的伤员和死者。他们唯一关心的就是消灭敌人。"我深吸了一口气。"我们需要你的帮助。"
“We don’t need your war. Them Brood wanna fight us? Fine. Ain't like we never been outnumbered 'fore. We got holes inside holes we can fall back to. Supplies that’ll last us a good long while too.”
"我们不需要你们的战争。布鲁德家的人想跟我们打吗？好吧。好像我们从来没有被超过过似的。我们的洞里有洞，我们可以回去。这些物资也能维持我们很长一段时间。"
“So that’s how you want to write your epitaph? ‘We ran away and hid in a hole while others who needed us fought and died’?” I asked, trying to keep my temper even. “Two hundred years ago, Equestria took this land from you and used it, and you. They did your ancestors wrong, and I’m sorry about that. But I’m not them. I’m not taking it from you. I’m not telling you that you have to come. I’m asking for help. Begging for it, in fact.” I dropped to my haunches. “Please. We need the Highlanders. Every one you can spare. When the attack comes, we have to hit them from both sides to have a chance.”
"这就是你想写墓志铭的方式？'我们逃跑了，躲在一个洞里，而其他需要我们的人却战斗而死'?"我问，尽量控制住自己的脾气。"两百年前，小马国夺走了你和你的土地。他们对你的祖先做了错事我很抱歉。但我不是他们。我不会从你这里拿走的。我不是说你一定要来。我在寻求帮助。事实上，是在乞求。"我垂头丧气。"求你了。我们需要高地人。你能腾出的每一个人。当攻击来临时，我们必须从两边攻击他们，才有机会。"
Bluebelle actually flushed and backed away a little. “I... look, it ain’t up to me. Big Momma said she’d never help the Hoof ever again.” The mare then paused and blinked. “But... there might be one thing that could do it.”
实际上，蓝美人脸红了，后退了一点。"我.....。.听着，这不是我能决定的。肥妈说她再也不会帮助霍夫了。"母马停下来眨了眨眼睛。"但是......可能有一种方法可以做到这一点。"
One thing? “What is it? Anything!” I said with a smile as I rose.
一件事？"这是什么？什么都行!"我微笑着说。
“She might do it if Big Daddy asked her for help,” she said slowly, as if the big blue mare was unsure. “But he’d have ta ask her real nice.”
"如果大爸爸向她求助，她可能会这么做,"她慢慢地说，好像那匹蓝色的大母马不确定似的。"但他得好好地问她。"
“He will. I’m sure of it!” I said with a grin.
"他会的。我敢肯定!"我咧嘴笑着说。
Bluebelle seemed pretty skeptical. “Well, we’ll see. Big Momma’s always listenin’ on the radio. If he asks, she might come. Dunno. Maybe.” She turned and trotted away. “Come on, Baby Blue. That’s enough playin’.”
布鲁贝尔似乎非常怀疑。"好吧，我们走着瞧。肥妈总是听收音机。如果他问起，她可能会来。不知道。也许吧。"她转身小跑着离开了。"来吧，蓝宝贝。玩够了吧。"
The two fillies halted their battle to the death, and the blue one extracted herself and trotted away. She paused and whirled, narrowing her eyes. “Next time I won’t be so nice, fat head.”
两匹小母马停止了战斗直到死亡，蓝色的那匹下了马，小跑着离开了。她停顿了一下，转过身，眯起眼睛。"下次我就不会这么好了，肥猪头。"
“You better not be, ‘cause I’m gonna kick yer hind end halfway ta Manehattan!” Scotch replied. Baby Blue stuck her tongue out at Scotch Tape, then trotted away with Bluebelle. Scotch Tape glared after the filly, then realized we were all staring at her. “What?”
"你最好别这样,'因为我要把你踢到曼哈顿去!"'苏格兰人回答。蓝宝贝在ScotchTape上吐了吐舌头，然后和蓝宝贝一起跑开了。透明胶带盯着小母马，然后意识到我们都在盯着她看。"什么?"
“What?” Velvet Remedy asked in shock. “What do you mean ‘what’? What was that all about?!”
"什么?"天鹅绒药方震惊地问道。"什么意思？这是怎么回事?!"
Scotch Tape picked herself out of the mud and trotted in the opposite direction. “Ain’t every day a filly meets her arch nemeswatever-ya-call-it. I’ll thump her good next time.” Velvet stared after the filly, her mouth working silently in baffled shock.
透明胶带从泥泞中站起来，朝相反的方向小跑。"不是每天都有小母马遇到她的宿敌。下次我要狠狠地揍她一顿。"维尔韦特盯着小母马，她的嘴在莫名的震惊中默默地工作着。
* * *
* * *
“It’s simple, Velvet,” Scotch Tape said simply and with a prim nod. Velvet had finally regained the ability to ask about the fight after we got airborne again. “See, the second she insulted Blackjack, I knew we were going to be enemies forever.”
"很简单，天鹅绒,"ScotchTape简单地说，带着一本正经的口吻。在我们再次起飞后，维尔韦特终于恢复了询问战斗情况的能力。"瞧，她侮辱Blackjack的那一刻，我就知道我们会永远是敌人。"
“But you just met her! Why did you fight her? It doesn’t make any sense!” Velvet Remedy lamented. “You could have told her not to say those things. Been the bigger pony!”
""可是你刚刚才见到她呀！你为什么和她打架？这没有任何意义!"维尔维特·勒姆感叹道。"你本可以告诉她不要说那些话的。我是最大的那匹马!"
Scotch Tape looked at her flatly. “You never had a nem-er...” She glanced at P-21.
透明胶带直勾勾地看着她。"你从来没有......"她瞥了一眼P-21。
“Nemesis,” he supplied.
"复仇女神,"他补充道。
“Right! Them nemesis things growing up, did you?” Scotch Tape asked.
"对！那些复仇女神的东西长大了，是不是?"透明胶带问道。
Velvet blinked, taken aback for a moment. “Of course not! Everypony in Stable Two loved me!” We all just stared at her and sighed. “What?” she asked with a baffled frown.
维尔韦特眨了眨眼，吃了一惊。"当然没有！马厩里的每个小马都爱我!"我们都只是盯着她叹了口气。"什么?"她皱着眉头问道。
Scotch sighed in return and shook her head. “Blackjack?”
苏格兰人也叹了口气，摇了摇头。"黑杰克?"
“Daisy,” I said with a smile. “Might not have realized it at the time, but yeah. Total nemesis.”
"黛西,"我笑着说。"当时可能没有意识到，但是，是的。完全是报应。"
“My sister, Dusk,” Glory chipped in with a smile.
"我的妹妹，黄昏,"晨辉微笑着插话。
“Just your sister? I’ll raise ya all o’ my brothers plus my dad,” Calamity said with a chuckle.
""只有你妹妹吗？"我要把你们，包括我的兄弟们，还有我的父亲，都养大,"卡拉米特笑着说。
“Calamity! Not you too!” Velvet lamented.
"我的天哪！你不会也是吧!"维尔韦特哀叹道。
“Wut? Just a good old colt grudge match.”
"怎么了？只是一场古老的小马之间的恶战。"
Ditzy turned her head and showed on her chalkboard, ‘Pinkie on a muffin binge.’ “Diamond Tiara…” the alicorn murmured softly. “That filly had serious flank issues.”
迪茨转过头，在黑板上写着"小指在松饼上狂欢""钻石头冠......"阿里克纳轻声低语。"那匹小母马有严重的侧腹问题。"
“The Overmare,” P-21 said with a sad smile. I put my hoof on his shoulder, glad he hadn’t said ‘all of Stable 99’.
"乌弗马尔,"P-21带着悲伤的微笑说。我把我的蹄子放在他的肩膀上，庆幸他没有说'99号稳定区'。
“My father,” Life Bloom said casually. “He didn’t approve of my preference for stallions.” Well now, didn’t that make P-21’s eyebrow raise speculatively.
"我的父亲,"生命布鲁姆漫不经心地说。"他不赞成我喜欢种马。"那么现在，这不是让P-21疑惑地扬起了眉毛吗。
Now, suddenly, all eyes were on Homage, and Velvet Remedy said a touch crossly, “Oh, I suppose you had a childhood nemesis too?”
现在，突然，所有的目光都集中到了"敬意"上,"天鹅绒药方"生气地说:"哦，我想你小时候也有一个复仇女神吧?"
“No,” Homage said quietly. Velvet Remedy smiled in triumph before Homage continued, “I would have loved to have had one, though.”
"不,"敬意平静地说。《天鹅绒补救法》得意洋洋地笑了笑，然后《致敬》接着说:"不过，我倒是很想要一个。"
“Homage! Nemesis! Hate! Wastelands! Bad! Want? Why!?” Velvet Remedy sputtered.
"敬意！复仇女神！仇恨！荒地！糟糕！想要？为什么?"天鹅绒药店爆炸了。
“I reckon that’s the first time anypony made Velvet skip,” Calamity said, giving the fuming unicorn a little nudge.
"我估计这是第一次有小马做出'丝绒跳跃',"卡拉米蒂说，轻轻推了一下冒烟的独角兽。
“Because it would have meant I wasn’t alone,” Homage said quietly, looking out into the growing twilight. “I spent most of my fillyhood on my own picking through Manehattan, just trying to stay alive. A nemesis might not like me, but at least they would have cared about me, if only as a target. Feral ghouls and raiders… bloatsprites and bloodwings… I was just another meal to them, another victim, another... toy. Being the subject of somepony’s disdain would have been a step up from being nopony at all.”
"因为这意味着我不是一个人,"霍瑞特平静地说，望着渐渐变大的暮色。"我的大部分时间都是自己在Manehattan采摘，只是为了活下去。一个复仇者可能不喜欢我，但至少他们会关心我，即使只是作为一个目标。凶猛的食尸鬼和掠夺者......膨胀的精灵和血翅膀......对他们来说，我只是另一顿饭，另一个受害者，另一个......玩具。成为一匹小马的鄙视对象，比起成为一匹小马根本就不算什么。"
She gave a smile to Life Bloom and went on, “Fortunately, I made some friends. And then met LittlePip, who I think was just as familiar with loneliness as I was.”
她微笑着说:"幸运的是，我交到了一些朋友。然后遇到了小匹普，我想他和我一样熟悉孤独。"
“As I recall, you robbed Joke and me,” Life Bloom said casually. “Took us for every cap we had and left us in just our hide for the bloodwings.”
"我记得，你抢劫了乔克和我,"生命布鲁姆漫不经心地说。"带走了我们所有的帽子，留下我们只是为了躲避血翼。"
“Yeah. So you two followed me for three days begging for your stuff back. Finally I returned it just to keep your whining from giving us away,” Homage replied with a small grin. “I guess I was your nemesis for a little while, then.”
"是的。所以你们俩跟了我三天，求我把你们的东西还给你们。最后我把它退了回去，只是为了不让你的牢骚把我们送走。"。"我想我有一段时间是你的克星。"
I grinned at Homage. “So you were a bad mare back then?”
我对着《致敬》咧嘴一笑。"这么说你以前是匹坏母马?"
She blinked, then gave a sly look to the west. “I’m even worse in other ways now, but I was a survivor and a scavenger… just two steps above an animal, really, and one above a raider. It was Jokeblue always trying to cheer me up and Life Bloom with his endless optimism and smart pony talk that made me better. Eventually, we had a dream of getting into Tenpony. An impossible dream for three wastelanders, but it was a start.” Trying to imagine a serious and brooding Homage was tough to do.
她眨了眨眼睛，然后狡猾地向西看了一眼。"我现在在其他方面更糟糕了，但我是一个幸存者和食腐动物......真的，只比动物高两级，比突袭机高一级。开玩笑的布鲁总是试图让我振作起来，生命的布鲁姆用他无穷无尽的乐观主义和聪明的马语使我变得更好。最终，我们做了一个进入Tenpony的梦。对于三个荒废者来说，这是一个不可能实现的梦想，但这是一个开始。"试图想象一个严肃而深沉的致敬是很难做到的。
“Of course,” Life Bloom added sourly, “it would have helped if we’d known it was impossible from the start. Tenpony says that if you gather a hundred thousand caps, you can join their community. That’s horseapples. They’re after ‘civilized’ ponies who are ‘interesting’ and ‘valuable’. Not just thrifty wastelanders.”
"当然,"生活布鲁姆酸溜溜地补充道,"如果我们从一开始就知道这是不可能的，那就好办了。Tenpony说，如果你收集了十万个帽子，你可以加入他们的社区。那是马苹果。他们追求的是'有趣'和'有价值'的'文明'小马驹。不仅仅是节俭的废物。"
“Then DJ Pon3 took me in, and just like that I became civilized, interesting, and valuable. Imagine that.” Homage shook her head. “I called them on their double
"然后DJPon3接纳了我，就这样，我变得文明、有趣、有价值。想象一下。"霍梅摇了摇头。"我叫了他们两个
standard so often they finally honored it… not that many could reach that amount of caps anyway, but still…” She sighed, pensively, “Too late for Jokeblue…”
标准如此频繁，他们终于兑现了它...不是很多人可以达到这个数额的帽子，反正，但仍然..."她叹息，沉思,"太晚的幽默蓝..
“What happened to her?” Scotch Tape asked in a worried voice, then glanced around and lowered her eyes. “Nevermind. I don’t wanna know.”
"她怎么了?"苏格兰胶带忧心忡忡地问道，然后环顾四周，低下了眼睛。"没关系。我不想知道。"
Homage smiled wistfully as she stared off into the night. “That’s the reason I want the Wasteland ended. So that nopony will have to go through what we did, and the biggest worry a pony would have is a grudge match with another young pony.” That killed the mood for further silly arguments.
她凝视着夜色，怀念地微笑着。"这就是为什么我想结束这个荒原。所以那匹小马不得不经历我们所经历的一切，而一匹小马最大的担心就是与另一匹年轻的小马进行不公平的比赛。"这扼杀了进一步愚蠢争论的气氛。
We were making our way south, giving the Luna Space Center a wide berth. Looking to the southeast, I could see the massive buildings and the four Raptors hanging over them. I’d guessed that Hoarfrost and Afterburner had gotten some more help on their side. Did they know Cognitum’s full plan, or were they just signing up with the stronger pony? Below us, I could see a trail of activity stretching from the mounds of refuse at Scrapyard to the long L-shaped building I guessed was Paradise Mall. Sitting directly between the Luna Space Center and the rest of the Core, it looked like Big Daddy was going to be turning it into a major fortification. At least some good would come from it.
我们正向南行驶，与月神航天中心保持一定距离。朝东南方向望去，我可以看到巨大的建筑物和四架猛禽战斗机悬挂在上面。我猜霍尔弗罗斯特和加力在他们那边得到了更多的帮助。他们知道Cognitum的全部计划吗，还是他们只是和那匹强壮的矮种马签了约？在我们下面，我可以看到一连串的活动，从Scrapyard堆积如山的垃圾，一直延伸到长长的l形建筑，我猜那是天堂购物中心(ParadiseMall)。它坐落在月球太空中心和地核其余部分之间，看起来好像老爹要把它变成一个主要的防御工事。至少它会带来一些好处。
I looked at all these ponies and swallowed. A battle was coming. It was inevitable. I wasn’t scared for myself; I’d lasted this long and hadn’t died yet...
我看着这些小马，咽了口唾沫。一场战斗即将来临。这是不可避免的。我并不为自己感到害怕，我活了这么久，还没有死.....。
well, stayed dead... but I didn’t like that so many others were in harm’s way now. I was the kind of idiot who would take bullets, but I couldn’t take them all. And while I was sure of myself in a fight, what about everypony else? I stared at my friends, new and old, and felt a growing anxiety inside me. Worse, I could tell everypony else was probably thinking similar thoughts. Calamity and Velvet sat a little closer together in the back of the crowded wagon. P-21 put a hoof around Scotch Tape. Glory sat on the opposite end of the seat from me, but I caught her glancing toward me.
嗯，死了......但我不喜欢现在有那么多人受到伤害。我是那种愿意挨子弹的白痴，但我不能全部挨子弹。当我确信自己在战斗的时候，其他人怎么办？我盯着我的朋友们，不管是新朋友还是老朋友，我感到内心越来越焦虑。更糟糕的是，我可以告诉每一个人，他们可能也有同样的想法。卡拉米特和维尔韦特在拥挤的马车后面靠得更近一些。P-21用蹄子踢透明胶带。晨辉坐在我对面的座位上，但我发现她朝我瞥了一眼。
I opened my mouth, wanting to say... well, I didn’t know. Something. Anything! But that sad smile appeared in the corner of her mouth, she turned her purple eyes to the sunset, and my words shriveled in my mouth.
我张开嘴，想说......好吧，我不知道。一些东西。什么都行！但是那悲伤的微笑出现在她的嘴角，她把她紫色的眼睛转向夕阳，我的话在我的嘴里枯萎。
* * *
* * *
“Are you sure about this?” P-21 asked as he frowned down at me from the
"你确定吗?"P-21一边问，一边从空中向我皱着眉头
wagon.
马车。
“Yeah. I’m sure. If all of you are down here… yeah. I need them to know it’s me,” I said with a half smile as I looked around the blasted plains.
"是的。我确定。如果你们都在这里...是的。我需要他们知道是我,"我边说边微笑着环顾着这该死的平原。
“I... some of us should come with you, Blackjack,” Velvet began. “I’ve advocated for–”
"我.....。."我们中的一些人应该和你一起去，Blackjack,"维尔韦特开始说。"我主张..."
I shook my head. “It has to be me.”
我摇了摇头。"必须是我。"
“And if they decide to kill you anyway?” P-21 asked with another frown.
"如果他们决定杀了你呢?"P-21又皱着眉头问道。
“Well, keep the cart still and hope I can teleport back to it faster than they can grab me,” I answered with a toss of my mane. There wasn’t much to say beyond that. Slowly, Ditzy hefted the cart back up into the sky, and I surveyed my surroundings. The blasted landscape appeared to be nothing more than an arid desert at first glance. Then little things started to stand out, like the fact that many of these rocks resembled melted glass. That others were arranged in the shapes of charred foundations. And who could ignore the steady click-click-click of radiation?
"好吧，让马车保持不动，希望我能比他们抓住我更快地传送回去,"我甩动着鬃毛回答。除此之外没什么好说的了。慢慢地，迪茨把推车举到空中，我环顾四周。乍一看，这片荒芜的土地只不过是一片干旱的沙漠。然后，一些小东西开始脱颖而出，比如这些岩石中的许多像是熔化的玻璃。还有一些则以烧焦的地基形状排列。谁又能忽视辐射持续发出的咔嗒咔嗒声呢？
Oh. And the nearly solid band of red surrounding me in every direction.
哦。在我周围的每个方向都是近乎坚固的红色。
I walked slowly through the irradiated blight, knowing that they were following me. I kept my horn illuminated, ready to wink out. To the north of me, on the edge of my vision, I could barely make out the lights of Grimhoof Army Base. I should have realized that the Remnant were there for more than just the missiles. The bunker housing their Tree of Life was practically right underneath it. It’d probably been built into the superstructure of the base as another line item by zebra sympathizers. And I’d helped them to secure it…
我慢慢地走过受到辐射的枯萎病，知道它们在跟着我。我一直按着喇叭，随时准备熄灯。在我的北方，在我视线的边缘，我几乎看不清格里姆霍夫陆军基地的灯光。我应该意识到残余势力在那里不仅仅是为了导弹。他们的"生命之树"所在的地堡几乎就在它的正下方。它可能被建成上层建筑的基地作为另一行项目由斑马同情者。我帮他们保护了它。
I found a hole in the irradiated landscape. All I could hope was that a combination of interest in the novelty and suspicion of a trick was keeping them from tearing my head off. But with a naked, unarmed unicorn dropped in the middle of their territory, it was only a matter of time before they acted. I crouched at the edge of the hole but didn’t shine my light in. “I came here to talk.”
我在受到辐射的地方发现了一个洞。我所能希望的就是他们对新奇事物的兴趣和对诡计的怀疑能够阻止他们把我的脑袋扯下来。但是随着一只赤身裸体、手无寸铁的独角兽落在他们的领地中央，他们采取行动只是时间问题。我蜷缩在洞口边缘，但没有把灯光照进去。"我是来谈判的。"
No answer from the hole. None but the steady ticking of my PipBuck. “A few months ago, one of your kind came to ask my kind for help with the Enclave and
洞里没有回音。除了我的皮伯克的滴答声，什么也没有。"几个月前，你们中的一个人来找我帮忙
their control helmets. Gnarr, I think his name was,” I said as I felt the ground vibrate a moment. “Now I’m back to ask you for help.”
他们的控制头盔。"纳尔，我想他的名字是,"我说，我感觉到地面颤动了片刻。"现在我回来找你帮忙了。"
Nothing. I could imagine ears twitching in the dark. “Tomorrow, the Brood that drove you out of Grimhoof is going to attack Hoofington. They outnumber us several times over. They’ll probably kill all of us in a few hours. A day at the most.” I closed my eyes. “I know your kind and mine don’t have a good history of helping each other out. I know a lot of you want to kill me just for being here. But I want you to know that right now, we need you. We need your people. I know that most folks see you as monsters. I know you’ve suffered. I know what it means to suffer. I know you’re more than they think you are.
没什么。我可以想象耳朵在黑暗中抽搐。"明天，把你赶出Grimhoof的布鲁德一家要进攻胡芬顿。他们的人数比我们多好几倍。他们可能会在几小时内杀了我们所有人。最多一天。"我闭上了眼睛。"我知道你们这种人和我们这种人互相帮助的历史不长。我知道你们很多人因为我在这儿就想杀了我。但我想让你知道，现在，我们需要你。我们需要你的人。我知道大多数人都觉得你们是怪物。我知道你很痛苦。我知道受苦是什么滋味。我知道你比他们想象的要好。
“I can’t offer you anything for helping us. I really can’t think of anything we can give you that you don’t already have. The only thing I can say is you’ll have our respect. I don’t know if that means anything to you, but you’ll have it,” I said as I rose. I had no idea if they were listening. No idea if they cared. For all I knew, they were laughing at our impending slaughter.
"我不能给你任何帮助我们的东西。我真的想不出还有什么我们能给你的你还没有的。我唯一能说的就是我们会尊重你。我不知道这对你来说是否有什么意义，但你会得到它的,"我站起身来说。我不知道他们是否在听。不知道他们在不在乎。据我所知，他们在嘲笑我们即将到来的屠杀。
I took one long look back at the hole and then teleported up to the wagon. Time would tell if they would come or not.
我回头看了看那个洞，然后心灵传输到马车上。时间会证明他们是否会来。
* * *
* * *
The return to Star House was a solemn one. No debates or discussions about childhood rivals. Everypony knew that in a few hours, we’d hit the space center. I’d get my body back… I had plans for teleporting in and dropping a spark grenade covered in Wonderglue on her back and hoping that’d do it… but there was no guarantee. And once Cognitum was down, or worse, gone, the Legate would stop pretending to fight and tear the Harbingers to pieces. And there was a very good… very real chance that one of my friends...
回到星宫是一件庄严的事情。没有关于儿时对手的辩论或讨论。每个小马都知道再过几个小时，我们就要到达太空中心了。我想要回我的身体......我曾经计划过瞬移进去，把一枚覆盖在Wonderglue的火花榴弹扔在她的背上，希望这样就能做到......但是这并不能保证。一旦认知空间被摧毁，或者更糟的是，它消失了，使节就会停止假装战斗，把先驱者撕成碎片。而且很有可能我的一个朋友..。
Losing Lacunae had hurt, but it was a death I could handle. She’d chosen it in order to save others. Painful as it was, I could rationalize and understand it. But I remembered reading about Steelhooves’s abrupt demise. What if something like that happened to Glory? P-21? Scotch Tape? Boo? We’d been at risk before, but I’d always been able to throw myself to the front practically screaming ‘shoot me first’. And they had. And I’d been tough enough or lucky enough to survive it.
失去空隙是痛苦的，但这是我可以处理的死亡。她选择它是为了拯救其他人。虽然这很痛苦，但我可以理解和合理化它。但我记得读到过斯蒂尔霍夫斯的突然死亡。如果这样的事情发生在晨辉身上怎么办？P-21？透明胶带？嘘？我们以前也有过这样的危险，但是我总是能够冲到最前面，几乎是在尖叫'先杀了我'。他们做到了。我已经足够坚强，足够幸运地活了下来。
Now?
现在？
“Cap for your thoughts?” P-21 asked as he held his dozing daughter in his forelegs.
"帽子代表你的想法?"P-21一边用前腿托着打瞌睡的女儿一边问。
“Just… nervous,” I confessed. “I’m thinking about this too much. We should just go straight to the space center and go for it!”
"只是...太紧张了,"我坦白道。"我想得太多了。我们应该直接去太空中心，然后大干一场!"
“Sure. The eight of us versus a small army of Harbingers and Brood, plus your old body and the Legate. Why not?” he said, so straightforwardly that I immediately flushed.
"当然。我们八个人对抗一个小军队的先驱者和布鲁德，加上你的旧身体和使节。为什么不呢?"他直截了当地说，我立刻脸红了。
“I’m serious,” I said, running a hoof nervously through my mane. “The more I think about it…”
"我是认真的,"我说，一边紧张地用蹄子拨弄着我的鬃毛。"我越想越......"
“So am I. I haven’t stopped thinking about it. So let’s go,” he said with that casual smile. It actually turned teasing after a few seconds. “Let me guess. You realize why we shouldn’t?”
"我也是，我一直在想这件事。"那么我们走吧,"他带着不经意的微笑说。事实上，几秒钟后，它就变成了戏弄。"让我猜猜。你知道我们为什么不能吗?"
I groaned, leaning over and burying my face in his shoulder. “Maturity sucks. When did I get to be so old and worried about consequences and plans and stuff?”
我呻吟着，弯下身子，把脸埋在他的肩上。"成熟糟透了。我什么时候变得这么老了，开始担心后果、计划和事情了?"
“I think it was when we lost Lacunae,” he replied calmly. “I know for me it was when I almost got Scotch Tape killed. After that…” He shook his head. “None of us are who we were anymore, Blackjack. The stupid but kindhearted security mare… the bitter and resentful breeder… the lonely, orphaned filly… even the naive pegasus scientist,” he added, regarding Glory grudgingly and getting a thankful smile in return. “Knowing you… being with you… has helped make us better, Blackjack. Better ponies. Better people.”
"我想是在我们失去缺口的时候,"他平静地回答。"我知道对我来说，那是在我差点把透明胶带弄死的时候。然后......"他摇了摇头。"我们都不再是以前的我们了，Blackjack。愚蠢但善良的安全母马......苦涩和愤恨的饲养者......孤独的小母马，孤儿......甚至天真的飞马科学家,"他补充说，关于晨辉勉强和得到一个感激的微笑作为回报。"认识你......和你在一起......让我们变得更好，Blackjack。更好的小马。更好的人。"
“I didn’t do anything,” I muttered, embarrassed.
"我什么也没做,"我尴尬地咕哝着。
He shook his head. “More than you realize,” he said with a kind smile.
他摇了摇头。"比你想象的要多得多,"他带着和蔼的微笑说。
Ditzy kicked the cart, rousing us, and then pointed ahead with a scarred-up undead hoof. We peered forward into the open land around Chapel and…
迪茨踢了踢车子，唤醒了我们，然后用一只疤痕累累的不死的蹄子指着前面。我们凝视着教堂周围的开阔地..。
That was a lot of people.
那可是很多人。
I mean, at the amphitheatre there'd been a lot of people, more than I’d ever seen together in the Wasteland before. But now there were dozens of fires all around
我的意思是，在那个圆形剧场里有很多人，比我以前在荒原见到的一起还要多。但是现在到处都是火灾
the small community. The people around them milled about like a kicked-up radroach nest. I hadn’t thought that there were that many ponies in all the Wasteland, let alone the Hoof. As Ditzy set us down on the roof of the post office, I gaped at the sight of them all. Most of them appeared to be scavengers, but I also saw clumps of families. I’d always kind of imagined the Wasteland as just raiders, bandits, scavengers, punctuated with a few normal people just trying to survive. The reverse was true. And war had finally brought them together.
这个小社区。他们周围的人像一个被踢起来的苜蓿窝一样到处乱转。我没想到荒原上有这么多小马，更不用说霍夫了。当迪茨把我们放在邮局的屋顶上时，我一看到他们就目瞪口呆。他们中的大多数看起来像是食腐动物，但我也看到成群结队的家庭。我一直以为荒原只是掠夺者，强盗，拾荒者，夹杂着一些正常人只是为了生存。反之亦然。战争最终使他们走到了一起。
“Crap. I didn’t expect so many to come so fast,” Scotch Tape muttered. “I got to get out there and make sure we’ve got water, food, and some decent latrines going. With the rain stopped, water’s going to quickly become an issue, and we don’t want it getting contaminated because someone’s pissing upstream,” she said as she scrambled down the stairs into the building. We quickly followed her down.
"糟糕。没想到这么多人来得这么快,"ScotchTape咕哝着。"我得出去，确保我们有水、食物和一些像样的厕所。雨停了，水很快就会成为一个问题，我们不希望因为有人在上游撒尿而被污染,"她一边说一边爬下楼梯进入大楼。我们很快就跟着她下去了。
“How are things?” I asked as I spotted Charity, Bottlecap, and Keeper amidst so many boxes it was hard to move through the post office.
"最近怎么样?"我问道，因为我发现了Charity，Bottlecap，和Keeper在这么多的箱子中，很难通过邮局移动。
“Could be better,” Charity muttered as she scowled at a clipboard. “We need to charge these Talons an extra ten percent for bullets. They got the caps to cover it, and I think some of those featherbrains are ‘overstocking’,” Charity said to a small purple unicorn filly, who saluted and ran off quickly through the stacks. Charity shuffled another clipboard to the front. “Make sure those Society assholes don’t try and stiff us more than five caps per pound of produce. They got it in spades and if things pan out, we’re not feeding people past two days,” she said to a red earth pony colt who followed the unicorn out.
"本来可以更好的,"查瑞蒂一边皱着眉头看着一个写字板，一边喃喃自语。"我们需要对这些魔爪的子弹额外收取10%的费用。他们用帽子盖住了它，我觉得那些羽毛脑袋里的一些人是'囤积过多',"Charity对一只紫色的独角兽小母马说，这只小母马敬礼后迅速穿过书堆跑开了。慈善机构把另一个剪贴板拖到了前面。"确保那些社会组织的混蛋们不会试图对我们每磅农产品超过五个限额。她对一只跟着独角兽出来的红地球小马驹说:"他们肯定得了这个病，如果事情进展顺利，我们过了两天就不给人们提供食物了。"。
“You’re charging people for ammunition and food?” Velvet Remedy said, aghast. “At a time like this?”
"你们向人们收取弹药和食品费?"天鹅绒补救说，惊呆了。"在这种时候?"
Charity didn’t look up from her boards. “Yep,” she said in a level tone that made me stand back and smile.
小慈没有抬起头来。"是的,"她平静地说，这让我微笑着退后一步。
“So you’re making a profit off this crisis,” Velvet Remedy said in angry, accusatory tones. Charity didn’t answer, but I spotted the vein pulsing in the filly’s temple. “How could you? Those ponies are scared and helpless, and you’re charging them for what they need.”
"所以你是在从这场危机中获利,"VelvetRemedy用愤怒、指责的语调说。查瑞蒂没有回答，但我发现小母马的太阳穴里有血管在跳动。"你怎么能这样？那些小马很害怕，很无助，而你却向它们收取所需的费用。"
Charity slapped the board down flat on the table. “Look! There’re fifteen hundred refugees out that way. I didn’t ask them to come here, but here they are.
慈善家啪的一声把板子平放在桌子上。"你看！那条路上有1500名难民。我没有叫他们来这里，但是他们来了。
So we’re taking care of them. Do you know what happens when you say the word ‘free’ to somepony scared and helpless? They get stupid. They get greedy. They load up on as much as they can carry, nevermind most of it will spoil before they can eat it, and then they get killed by the equally stupid, greedy pony who figures out that there’s not going to be enough for them, so better kill them and take what they can. And since everypony who happens to be a merchant knows this, the ones that really are out for the profit will be sure to cash in on the one giving away shit.
所以我们要照顾他们。你知道当你对一些害怕和无助的小马说"免费"这个词时会发生什么吗？他们变得愚蠢。他们变得贪婪。他们尽可能多的负载，不用担心大部分会在他们吃之前变质，然后他们被同样愚蠢，贪婪的小马杀死，小马发现对他们来说已经不够了，所以最好杀了他们，拿走他们能拿的。既然每一个商人都知道这一点，那些真正想赚钱的人一定会从捐赠者身上赚钱。
“Oh, and in addition, most scavengers don’t work for free, and we need every bullet, gun, suit of barding, and chem we can get, so I need to bring in some caps to buy it. Otherwise my stock is gone, my caps are gone, and we’re all up shit creek. If well-off groups like Talons and heroes like yourself pay more, then I can subsidize the ones who can’t. Which I do,” Charity snapped, pointing a hoof at Velvet. “One hundred caps for wasting thirty seconds of my time.” She thrust a hoof at a large, half-filled jar of caps on the counter; the label read ‘Blackjack’s Stupid People’s Comments Fee’.
"哦，另外，大多数拾荒者不是免费工作的，我们需要我们能得到的每一颗子弹、每一把枪、每一套防护服和每一个化学用品，所以我需要带一些帽子来买。否则我的股票就没了，帽子也没了，我们就完蛋了。如果像魔爪和像你这样的英雄这样的富裕群体支付更多，那么我可以补贴那些不能的。我就是这么做的,"查瑞蒂厉声说，用蹄子指着维尔韦特。"浪费了我30秒钟的时间，却得到了100顶帽子。"她用蹄子戳了一下柜台上一大罐半满的瓶盖，瓶子上写着"Blackjack'sStupidPeople'sCommentsFee"。
“What?!” Velvet stammered, waving her forehooves wildly at the jar. “That’s outrageous! You can’t…”
"什么?!"维尔韦结结巴巴地说，用前蹄疯狂地向罐子挥去。"这太过分了！你不能......"
“Pay the filly, Velvet,” I advised.
"付钱给小母马，维尔维特,"我建议道。
“Why?” she asked, glaring at the little yellow earth pony.
"为什么?"她问道，眼睛盯着那匹小黄地球马。
“Because if you don’t, I’m pretty sure you’re not buying anything in the Hoof,” I answered. I didn’t know if Charity could actually swing that, and I really didn’t want Velvet to find out the hard way.
"因为如果你不买，我敢肯定你不会在霍夫买任何东西,"我回答。我不知道Charity是否真的能做到这一点，我真的不希望Velvet以一种艰难的方式发现。
Velvet narrowed her gaze, but then opened her saddlebags after a few seconds.
天鹅绒缩小了她的视线，但几秒钟后打开了她的鞍囊。
“You are a horrible, detestable pony,” she almost growled.
"你真是一匹讨厌的可怕的小马,"她几乎是在咆哮。
“Then you have no problem with me leveling a ten percent surcharge,” Charity countered. “Since I’m so horrible keeping everypony fed, armored, and armed to save their lives.” She pointed towards the door. “Now, if you’re not going to buy anything, there’s the door. I got way too much going on to deal with ponies who don’t have a clue about basic business.”
"那你就不介意我收取10%的额外费用了,"Charity反驳道。"因为我很讨厌让每一匹小马都吃饱穿暖，全副武装来保命。"她指了指门。"现在，如果你不打算买东西，门就在那儿。我要处理的事情太多了，这些小马对基本业务一无所知。"
“Fine! We’d never, ever shop with you in the first–” Velvet began to say when Homage popped in.
"好吧！"我们从来没有，从来没有和你一起购物过——"维尔韦在《致敬》出现的时候开始说道。
“I really need something decent if we’re going to be in a fight. How are you lined up for energy weapons?” Homage asked.
"如果我们要打架，我真的需要一些体面的东西。你们是如何准备能源武器的?"表示敬意。
“I’m also gonna need ammo fer Spitfire,” Calamity said.
"我还需要喷火式战斗机的弹药,"卡拉米蒂说。
Ditzy held out a grimy purchase order that had every line filled in.
迪茨拿出一张肮脏的订购单，每一行都填好了。
I trotted up next to the speechless Velvet. “Come on. Let the evil necessity of capitalism commence.” I guided her outside.
我小跑到无言的天鹅绒旁边。"来吧。让资本主义的邪恶必然性开始吧。"我把她带到外面。
“That… she… how could… I can’t… ugh!” Velvet Remedy stammered, glaring at me and then back to the post office stacked high with stuff. I gave a sympathetic nod as she turned and gestured at the hundreds of ponies camped around Chapel. “That filly is deplorable. I’m going to see if I can’t heal some injuries and raise some spirits with a few songs… for free!” she shouted back into the post office.
"那个...她...怎么可能...我不能...啊!"天鹅绒药方结结巴巴地说，怒视着我，然后回到堆满东西的邮局。我同情地点了点头，她转过身，指了指在教堂周围扎营的几百匹小马。"那匹小母马真可悲。我要去看看我是否能治愈一些伤痛，用几首歌来提高一些精神......免费的!"她对着邮局喊道。
“Don’t care!” Charity called back, the filly sounding almost happy. “Have fun!”
"我不在乎!"查瑞蒂回答说，小母马听起来几乎很高兴。"玩得开心!"
Snorting, Velvet Remedy stalked off into the crowd. I watched her go, marveling. Sometimes you met your fillyhood nemesis a little late.
"天鹅绒补救法"哼了一声，大摇大摆地走进人群。我看着她离去，惊叹不已。有时候你遇到你的受害者有点晚。
Left alone, I walked through the crowd. Most didn’t notice me in the black operative’s armor. Just another wastelander who’d come to fight for my survival. A few caught on to the Security written upon it. Those that did mostly stared as I passed. Some scowled. Others smiled. I guess it depended on how much pain I’d caused or spared. I’d have liked to think that I saw more frowns than scowls, but I couldn’t be sure.
独自一人，我穿过人群。大多数人没有注意到我穿着黑人特工的盔甲。又一个为了我的生存而战的废物。有几个人看到了写在上面的安全标志。当我经过的时候，大多数人都盯着我看。一些人皱起了眉头。其他人笑了。我想这取决于我造成了多大的痛苦或者我能减轻多少痛苦。我本以为我看到的皱眉比皱眉多，但我不能确定。
Nothing was certain anymore. Everything was tense and energized. Part of me wanted to hide, become anonymous behind the helmet of the operative barding, but I knew the last thing ponies needed to see was a faceless enemy. So many eyes staring at me. So many lives depending on me. I swallowed again and again, the fear chewing up the back of my throat.
没有什么是确定的。一切都紧张而充满活力。一部分的我想要隐藏，隐藏在特工barding的头盔后面，但是我知道小马最不需要看到的就是一个没有脸的敌人。那么多双眼睛盯着我。这么多的生命都指望着我。我一次又一次地咽下去，恐惧吞噬着我的喉咙。
“Walking among the troops, eh Blackjack?” a familiar mare said, and I whirled around and saw the Steel Ranger Crumpets. The toasty-yellow-brown mare with the freckles wore her armor casually. “Very regal of you. Just need to give you a cloak for proper brooding and I think we can write a play.”
"在军队里走来走去，嗯，黑杰克?"一匹熟悉的母马说着，我转过身去，看到了SteelRanger脆饼。那匹长着雀斑、面色温和的黄褐色母马随意地穿着盔甲。"您真是太有王者风范了。只要给你一件斗篷，让你好好沉思一下，我想我们可以写一部戏剧。"
“I don’t want to be in a play. I just want everyone to live past tomorrow,” I said with a sigh.
"我不想演戏。我只是希望每个人都能活过明天,"我叹了口气说。
“I imagine so, girl. Hope I’m there too. Be a bloody nuisance to clean out Stable 99 only to have the whole world go kablewy,” she said with a mirthless smile. “Stronghoof told me all about Horizons. And the bugger who designed the damned thing is calling the shots? Bloody brilliant.”
"我想也是，姑娘。希望我也在那里。清理99号稳定站，却让整个世界陷入混乱，你真是个该死的讨厌鬼,"她苦笑着说。"他告诉我地平线的一切。设计这个该死的东西的混蛋居然在发号施令？太棒了。"
“It was the only way to keep everypony together. Or do you think you’d be happy taking orders from Big Daddy?” I asked her. She shrugged, conceding the point.
"这是让所有人团结在一起的唯一办法。或者你认为你会乐意听从老爹的命令吗?"我问她。她耸耸肩，承认了这一点。
“Goldenblood will succeed,” a familiar mare said as the throng around us gave way. The purple alicorn glanced at me, then away, rubbing her legs together awkwardly. “Failure would kill him.”
"金血王子会成功的,"一匹熟悉的母马在我们周围的人群让路时说。紫色的角果看了我一眼，然后走开了，笨拙地揉着双腿。"失败会害死他的。"
Several snappy retorts died as I stepped towards her and gave her a hug around her neck. “Psalm,” I murmured as she stiffened beneath me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
当我走向她，搂住她的脖子时，几个尖锐的反驳都消失了。"诗篇,"当她在我身下僵硬时，我喃喃地说。"我很高兴你没事。"
“Okay… is relative. You know that better than anypony,” she said hesitantly, constantly looking around. “How’s the barding fit?”
"好吧......是相对的。你比任何小马都清楚这一点,"她犹豫地说，不停地四处张望。"这个条件怎么样?"
“Like I was dipped in a vat of badass and wired to a neon sign saying ‘kill this one first’,” I replied. I stared into her mournful purple eyes. The spark of Unity between us was long dead, but I felt as if we were both trying to awkwardly probe each other’s minds so we knew what not to say.
我回答说:"就好像我被泡在一大桶坏蛋里，身上绑着霓虹灯，上面写着'先杀了这个'。"。我凝视着她那双忧伤的紫色眼睛。我们之间团结的火花早已熄灭，但我觉得我们都在试图笨拙地探索对方的思想，所以我们知道什么是不该说的。
“No,” Psalm murmured, barely audible over the crowd.
"不,"诗篇喃喃自语，在人群中几乎听不见。
“Beg pardon?” I blinked.
"你说什么?"我眨了眨眼。
“No. I don’t have anything of Lacunae in me.” She dropped her eyes. “I have her memories, but they’re not the same thing. I could never be so strong. So compassionate. I’m sorry.”
"没有。我身上没有任何缺陷。"她垂下了眼睛。"我有她的记忆，但它们不是一回事。我从未如此坚强过。太有同情心了。对不起。"
I sighed, slumping a little. “That’s okay,” I said, digging into my saddlebags.
我叹了口气，微微下垂。"没关系,"我一边说，一边翻着我的鞍囊。
“No. I don’t want it back,” she said a moment later, and I froze and withdrew my hooves. “Penance… no. I don’t deserve it.”
"没有。我不想要回来,"过了一会儿，她说，我僵住了，收回了我的蹄子。"忏悔...不。我不配。"
“I’m not a sniper,” I told her. “I can never use it like you could. And Calamity already has a supergun.”
"我不是狙击手,"我告诉她。"我永远不能像你那样使用它。卡拉米蒂已经有了一把超级大炮。"
But Psalm shook her head again. “I don’t want to be a murderer again,” she whispered. Crumpets sighed, rolling her eyes and looking clearly annoyed. Psalm caught her expression and seemed to shrink into herself. “I know… I was a soldier… but, I shouldn’t have been. That was a mistake… killing for Luna.”
但是诗篇又摇了摇头。"我不想再做一个杀人犯了,"她低声说。松脆饼叹了口气，转动着眼珠，看上去明显很生气。诗篇捕捉到了她的表情，似乎缩成了一团。"我知道......我曾经是一名士兵......但是，我不应该成为一名士兵。那是个错误...为了露娜而杀人。"
I smiled at her. As much as I knew she could be important in the battle, I couldn’t make her take up a life that had done her so much harm. “I’m sure you’ll find some way to help.” I stretched up and brushed her mane out of her eyes. “You have a second chance.”
我冲她笑了笑。尽管我知道她在战斗中可能很重要，但我不能让她接受一个对她造成如此大伤害的生活。"我相信你会想办法帮忙的。"我伸了伸懒腰，拂去她眼前的鬃毛。"你还有第二次机会。"
“Thanks to you and LittlePip,” she murmured as she nuzzled me.
"多亏了你和小匹普,"她一边用鼻子蹭我一边喃喃自语。
I sniffed, rubbing my eyes with a hoof. “Did I make a mistake with Goldenblood?”
我用蹄子闻了闻，揉了揉眼睛。"我在金血王这件事上犯错了吗?"
Psalm shook her head slowly. “Goldenblood strives for success, and he manipulates people like an artist manipulates pigment on canvas. He will achieve what you want, but you may not like how he does it. Maybe you convinced him to try a better approach… I hope so. But he won’t betray you, unless he feels you’ve betrayed yourself and everypony else.”
诗人慢慢地摇了摇头。"金血王努力争取成功，他像画家在画布上操纵颜料一样操纵人们。他会实现你想要的，但你可能不喜欢他做事的方式。也许你说服他尝试一个更好的方法...我希望如此。但他不会背叛你，除非他觉得你背叛了自己和其他人。"
“We need to get going,” Crumpets broke in. “Some nut with the Harbingers keeps insisting we give him 99 due to eminent domain, and we need to make sure we get the ammo we need. Trading chems and healing potions for it.” At my shocked and baffled expression, she quirked a grin. “What, did you think your stable just recycled organic waste into food? It recycles nearly anything you put into it.”
"我们得走了,"松脆饼插嘴道。"有些先驱者的疯子坚持认为我们应该给他99%的土地征用权，我们需要确保我们得到我们需要的弹药。用药品和治疗药剂来交换。"在我震惊和困惑的表情下，她突然咧嘴一笑。"什么，你以为你的马厩就这样把有机废物回收利用变成了食物吗？它几乎可以回收你放进去的任何东西。"
“I’ll be around,” Psalm murmured. “I can’t… be… Lacunae… but if you need help, I’d like to.”
"我会在你身边,"诗篇喃喃地说。"我不能......成为......空白......但如果你需要帮助，我很乐意。"
I stretched up and gave her another hug. “I’d appreciate it. Thank you.” I watched the pair trot towards the post office.
我伸了个懒腰，又给了她一个拥抱。"我会很感激的。谢谢。"我看着他们两个小跑着朝邮局走去。
Behind me, a musical note struck me like a shot. A voice rose above the babble of the crowd like a breaking sunrise and silenced the camp. The ponies moved back to give room to Velvet Remedy. No stage. No lights. Not even music, and
在我身后，一个音符像子弹一样击中了我。一个声音从嘈杂的人群中响起，犹如破晓的日出，使营地安静了下来。这两匹小马后退，给"天鹅绒补救"留出了空间。没有舞台。没有灯光。甚至连音乐都没有
yet with her voice alone she released a melody that rippled through the massed people like a wave. The song sounded like something Sweetie Belle, but I didn’t recognize it. Within a minute, a red middle aged earth pony mare missing a hind leg bravely joined her, backing her up. I’d read Velvet could have done that herself with her magic, but her singing alone seemed to pull at the crowd. A purple unicorn filly, Sonata, clambered up next to Velvet. Her trilling soprano rang out; she didn’t even seem to know the words, but the three legged mare and the beautiful unicorn mare adjusted to her inexperience.
然而，她独自一人的声音，唱出了一首旋律，像波浪一样在人群中荡漾。这首歌听起来像甜心贝尔，但我没有认出来。不到一分钟，一匹失去后腿的红色中年地球小马勇敢地加入了她，支持她。我听说维尔维特可以用她的魔法做到这一点，但是她独自一人的演唱似乎吸引了观众。一只紫色的独角兽小母马索纳塔爬上了天鹅绒的旁边。她颤抖的女高音响了起来，她似乎不知道歌词是什么，但是三条腿的母马和美丽的独角兽母马适应了她的缺乏经验。
A glowing smile rested upon her lips as the audience put aside their worries for a moment and stared raptly at her. I spotted a purple earth pony stallion with dirty bandages wrapped around his limbs watching with his mouth hanging down.
观众们暂时把忧虑放在一边，全神贯注地盯着她，她的嘴角露出了灿烂的笑容。我看到了一匹四肢缠着脏绷带的紫色土地种马，嘴巴耷拉着。
Here, she gave a little bit of kindness and beauty. It was such that I spotted Charity watching from the door of the post office. The filly twisted her lips sourly but gave a little nod of acknowledgement.
在这里，她给予了一点善意和美丽。就是这样，我发现Charity在邮局门口看着我。小母马酸溜溜地抿着嘴，点了点头表示感谢。
As much as I’d love to sit and just listen to Velvet’s beautiful, impromptu little concert, I tore myself away and made my way towards the bridge to the Core.
虽然我很想坐下来听维尔维特美妙的即兴小型音乐会，但我挣扎着离开，朝着通往核心区的桥走去。
Down by the river, I was astonished to find the Seahorse tied up to the underside of the bridge. The pilothouse was gone and the deck and cabin roof slightly scorched, but the boat was still seaworthy. The crew were in the midst of hammering planks to the roof. Thrush lay draped across the bow next to the battered gun turret, hat covering her head, a trio of rum bottles collected around her.
在河的下游，我惊奇地发现锡霍斯被绑在桥的下面。驾驶室已经不见了，甲板和舱顶也有点烧焦了，但是船还是可以航行的。船员们正在把木板钉到屋顶上。画眉鸟躺在破旧的炮塔旁边，头上戴着帽子，周围堆着三个朗姆酒瓶。
“You survived?!” I shouted at the ship.
"你活下来了?!"我对着船大喊。
She jerked upright, scattering bottles every which way as her head turned wildly with her captain’s hat still covering her face as it dangled from her horn. “I fully reject the false equivocation of that statement!” she bawled out. “That’s unfair profiling of the nautically challenged, and I am offended, sir! Offended!”
她猛地直立起来，瓶子到处乱扔，她的头疯狂地转动着，船长的帽子挂在她的角上，遮住了她的脸。"我完全反对这种错误的模棱两可的说法!"她大喊大叫。"这是对那些顽皮的挑战者的不公平评价，我感到被冒犯了，先生！被冒犯了!"
“It’s me, Thrush,” I said as teleported over in front of the inebriated green mare.
"是我，画眉,"我一边说着，一边把自己传送到那头醉醺醺的绿色母马面前。
“Blackjack. Security.” I pulled off the helmet and grinned at her.
"黑杰克。安全。"我脱下头盔，冲她咧嘴笑了笑。
She pulled the hat off and arched a brow as she eyed me suspiciously. “I’ve heard that often of late. Some say they are. Some say they aren’t. How am I to know this isn’t a highly elaborate scheme to confound and disabuse me of my dignity and high character?”
她把帽子摘下来，皱起眉头，怀疑地看着我。"我最近经常听到这种说法。有些人说是的。有些人说他们不是。我怎么知道这不是一个精心策划的阴谋，目的是使我的尊严和高尚品格受到玷污和破坏呢?"
“I… uh…” She’d missed the meeting, it seemed. Then I picked up one of the empty bottles, stuck it on my horn, and grinned at her.
"我.....。.呃......"她似乎错过了会议。然后我拿起一个空瓶子，按在喇叭上，对她咧嘴笑了笑。
“Well,” she said formally. “That changes things.” And she pulled the bottle off my horn, looked at the others arranged around her, and lifted up one with a few dregs, downing it.
"好吧,"她正式地说。"这改变了一些事情。"她把瓶子从我的角上拿下来，看了看她周围的其他人，拿起一个瓶子，倒了几杯。
“How are you still afloat?” I asked. “I saw the Seahorse get hit.”
"你怎么还在水上?"我问道。"我看见海马被击中了。"
She scowled at her crew. “Did not. You saw the Seahorse almost get hit.” She spat at the city.
她怒视着她的船员。""没有。你看到海马差点被击中。"她向城里人吐唾沫。
“Captain, we nearly got blown out of the water!” a teal mare objected.
"船长，我们差点被风吹出水面!"一匹野鸭拒绝了。
“Not even close!”
"差得远呢!"
“It nearly burned the roof off the ship! We were almost cooked in the steam,” a red pegasus objected.
"它差点把船顶烧掉！我们几乎被蒸汽烤熟了,"一位红色的飞马反驳道。
“Just a graze,” Thrust said, adopting a stoic pose.
"只是擦伤,"斯力说，摆出一个斯多葛主义的姿势。
“Didn’t it vaporize those bottles of Luna’s Moonrise Rum, Captain?” a third crewmember asked.
"船长，卢娜的月升朗姆酒瓶子不是被蒸发了吗?"第三个船员问。
Thrush’s bottom lip quivered, and then she grabbed me and sobbed into my shoulder. “It was a disaster! A catastrophe! If we hadn’t of turned towards the city at the last moment, I would have lost the last bottle too!”
画眉的下唇颤抖了一下，然后她抓住我的肩膀抽泣起来。"这是一场灾难！一场灾难！如果我们没有在最后一刻转向城市，我也会把最后一瓶酒弄丢的!"
“You nearly lost your boat, Captain Dodo!” the teal mare yelled back.
"渡渡船长，你差点把船弄丢了!"Tealmare也吼了回来。
The water beside the boat splashed as a pink mare poked her head out. “The bottom is patched. Any more leaks, Seabiscuit?” The teal mare poked her head into a hatch at the front of the boat, then shook her head. “Good,” the swimming one said before her eyes turned to me and she broke into a wide grin, waving a fin. “Hey, Blackjack. Wait, you are the real Blackjack, right?”
船边的水溅起水花，一匹粉红色的母马探出头来。"底部打了补丁。还有泄漏吗,"海洋饼干"?"青色的母马把头伸进船头的舱口，然后摇了摇头。"很好,"游泳的那只鱼在转向我的眼睛前说，然后咧嘴大笑，挥动着鱼鳍。"嘿，黑杰克。等等，你是真正的黑杰克，对吗?"
Thrush levitated a bottle over and stuck it on the end of my horn. She then gestured to me with both her hooves and an arched brow.
画眉把一个瓶子悬浮起来，粘在我的号角上。然后她用蹄子和弓形的眉毛向我做了个手势。
“I’m the real Blackjack,” I assured her. “It’s good to see you, Pisces. Is
"我是真正的黑杰克,"我向她保证。"很高兴见到你，双鱼座。是
Capricorn around?”
摩羯座在吗?"
She shook her head. “Capri’s over on the northwest side. There was a barge loaded with munitions that sank there, and she’s helping the Finders and Reapers pull out the crates.” The pink mare cocked her head. “Finders, Reapers, and Zodiacs working together. That’s just…”
她摇了摇头。"卡普里岛在西北边。有一艘满载军需品的驳船沉没在那里，她正在帮助拾荒者和收割者把箱子拖出来。"粉红色的母马歪着头。"发现者，收割者，和黄道带一起工作。这真是......"
“Weird. I know,” I assured her with a smile.
"真奇怪。我知道,"我微笑着向她保证。
“No. It’s good.” She smiled back at me. “Brutus is really cute,” she said, flushing a little.
"没有。这很好。"她也对我笑了笑。"布鲁特斯真的很可爱,"她说，脸上有点红。
“He’s… well…” My face reddened as I remembered my close brush with him. “Shiny. Very shiny.”
"他......嗯......"回想起与他的亲密接触，我的脸涨得通红。"闪闪发光。非常闪亮。"
“Do you even have a port for his ship?” Thrush taunted with a grin.
"他的船有港口吗?"画眉咧嘴笑着嘲弄。
Pisces went from pink to scarlet. “Yes! I do. Not that it’s any of your business!”
双鱼座从粉红色变成了猩红色。"是的！我知道。这不关你的事!"
I shook my head to refocus off shiny, buff stallions and seapony reproduction.
我摇了摇头，把注意力从闪亮的、浅黄色的种马和海港的繁殖上转移开。
“What are you doing with the Seahorse?” I asked Thrush.
"你拿海马做什么?"我问画眉。
“Well, that’s quite a question. What to do with the fastest boat on the river, a bit of scorching aside?” Thrush rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"好吧，这是一个相当大的问题。河上最快的船怎么办，有点烧焦了吗?"画眉若有所思地摩挲着下巴。
“We’re running cargo and getting refugees to the Ironmare naval station,” the teal mare answered for her. “The Steel Rangers have a ship they’re going to bring to try and get ponies clear of the battle. No idea how many trips their ship can make before the shit hits the props. If we all live through this, we’ll have enough caps to rebuild the Seahorse completely.”
"我们正在运送货物，把难民送到Ironmare海军基地,"蓝绿色的母马替她回答。"钢铁游骑兵有一艘船，他们准备带来试图让小马离开战场。不知道他们的飞船还能飞多远才能撞上道具。如果我们都能挺过去，我们就有足够的帽子来完全重建海马了。"
Well, that was promising. I didn’t know how many the Seahorse could move either, but even one was better than nothing. “I’m glad you’re not running.”
嗯，那很有希望。我也不知道海马能移动多少个，但是即使是一个也比什么都没有强。"我很高兴你没有逃跑。"
“Thought about it.” Thrush frowned. “Honestly, egress would be the smart thing to do. Digression and valor and all that. But this city’s kept me here this long. Leaving it just feels… eh.” She gave a little shrug. “Currents keep bringing me back here.”
"考虑过了。"画眉皱了皱眉。"老实说，离开是明智之举。题外话，勇气，诸如此类。但是这个城市让我在这里呆了这么久。离开它只是感觉......嗯。"她微微耸了耸肩。"洋流不断地把我带回这里。"
I thought about the Tokomare and how its Enervation field drew souls to it.
我想到了托克马雷，想到了它的能量场是如何吸引灵魂来到它身边的。
These ponies might not be losing their souls, but I thought of the attraction. Maybe it was affecting all of us on a level that we couldn’t quite perceive. A kind of soul gravity, pulling us in. I’d returned. So had others. Until this was finished, one way or another, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to leave this valley.
这些小马可能没有失去他们的灵魂，但我想到了吸引力。也许它在某种程度上影响着我们所有人，我们无法完全察觉。一种灵魂的引力，把我们拉进去。我回来了。其他人也是如此。在这一切结束之前，无论如何，我都不认为我能离开这个山谷。
“Blackjack?” Pisces asked in worry.
"黑杰克?"双鱼座担心地问。
I shook my head. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m glad you’re okay, Pisces.”
我摇了摇头。"我很好。我没事。很高兴你没事，双鱼座。"
“I am too. And I’m glad you’re the real one. The other you… the armored one… really scared me,” she admitted, dropping her eyes to the brown water as she tapped her fins together. “I thought she was going to shoot us even after we got that gun for her.”
"我也是。我很高兴你是真正的那个。另一个你......那个披着盔甲的......真的吓到我了,"她承认道，垂下眼睛看着棕色的海水，轻轻地拍打着自己的鳍。"我以为即使我们给了她那把枪，她还是会朝我们开枪。"
“Gun for her? What gun?” I asked with a worried frown.
"枪对着她？什么枪?"我愁眉苦脸地问。
“Well, it was something that Steel Rain guy had us look for months ago after the Celestia blew up. A really weird gun. We found it a few days ago and delivered it to her. I’ve never seen a gun like it before, but she had ammo for it and everything.”
"几个月前，在天堂爆炸之后，钢铁雨的人让我们寻找这个东西。一把很奇怪的枪。我们几天前发现了这个，然后把它送给了她。我以前从来没有见过这样的枪，但她有它的弹药和一切。"
My body felt cyberponyish once again. “This ammo... was it great big silver bullets?”
我的身体又一次感觉到了网络的浮华。"这个弹药...是大银弹吗?"
“Yeah. You know what it is?” Pisces asked.
"是的。你知道这是什么吗?"双鱼座问道。
“A gun. Folly. I killed a battleship with it,” I said absently. “I need to find the jackass that asked for the damned thing to be built in the first place.” I had other reasons, too, but if Cognitum had Folly… I had a sudden image of a beam obliterating me from a mile or two away. “I’m glad you’re both still okay. Stay–”
"一把枪。愚蠢。我用它杀死了一艘战舰,"我心不在焉地说。"我需要找到那个一开始就要求建造那该死的东西的混蛋。"我也有其他的原因，但是如果科涅塔姆有愚蠢......我突然想象到一道光束在一两英里之外把我消灭了。"我很高兴你们俩都没事。留下-"
My words were drowned out by an enormous booming thump coming from the Core. The babble of thousands of ponies died down to a crackle as a great metallic groan rippled over the valley. Slowly, I climbed up the slope to the bridge above us as the thumps were replaced by more softer, quicker thuds and more moans. Deep thuds sounded somewhere far below. I saw ripples dance in puddles left on the road. More ponies were following me up and on to the bridge.
我的话被来自地核的巨大轰隆声淹没了。山谷里传来一阵金属般的轰鸣声，成千上万匹小马的叽叽喳喳声渐渐变成了噼啪啪的响声。慢慢地，我爬上斜坡，来到我们上面的桥上，重击声被更柔和、更快速的砰砰声和更多的呻吟声所取代。深沉的撞击声听起来远在下方。我看见涟漪在路上的水坑里跳舞。更多的小马跟着我上了桥。
I stared at the Core and saw that the beam turrets atop the wall were dark. How
我凝视着核心，看到墙上的光柱塔是黑暗的。怎么会
long had they been off? Slowly, I walked along the bridge towards the open gate. I reached the word ‘Mercy’ painted across the bridge, balked, and then took a tentative step forward. Another. Another. No beams lanced out at me to render me to ash. Slowly, I continued forward as the groans and moans of metal continued, punctuated by thuds and shivers under my hooves.
他们离开多久了？慢慢地，我沿着桥向敞开的大门走去。我走到桥上画着'仁慈'的地方，犹豫了一下，然后试探性地向前迈了一步。另一个。另一个。没有一丝光芒射向我，使我灰飞烟灭。慢慢地，我继续向前走，金属的呻吟和呻吟继续着，不时被我马蹄下的砰砰声和颤抖声打断。
I glanced back and saw not a single other pony advancing past the Mercy line. Smart. Any second I expected the beams atop the wall to light up and dust me… but why would they? Cognitum wasn’t connected to the Core anymore. The stallion she left behind was dead. Goldenblood wasn’t wired in through his pod, so… who was left to turn the guns on? I swallowed as I reached the massive gate.
我回头一看，没有一匹小马走过慈悲线。聪明。任何时候我都希望墙上的光束能够照亮我，让我灰飞烟灭......但是为什么他们会这样做呢？认知已经不再与核心相连了。她留下的那匹种马已经死了。金血王没有通过他的分离舱接上电线，所以......谁留下来打开枪？当我到达巨大的大门时，我咽了口唾沫。
Ahead, the Core lay still. The green glow radiating from the cracks in the streets had dimmed. Hundreds of tiny robots lay scattered about in motionless heaps like so many unwanted toys. I stepped forward, unable to hear even the faint whisper of Enervation. Only the metallic groans sounded. The thumps. The deep thuds.
前方，核心静止不动。从街道的裂缝辐射出来的绿光已经暗了下来。成百上千的微型机器人一动不动地堆在一起，就像许多不需要的玩具一样。我向前走了一步，连微弱的、充满着能量的耳语都听不见了。只听到金属般的呻吟声。重击声。深沉的撞击声。
Wait. I froze, staring ahead. Did that skyscraper just… move? I stared up at one of the shorter, sixty-story-tall black towers laced with wires and cables. I saw several of the cables go taut, accompanied by a moan of metal and a great thump. The tower swayed, and slowly moved upright. Then it went still. A second thump and other cables off to the side went taut, and the tower shifted ever so slightly in that direction. My eyes followed the hoof-thick cables to immense wheels exposed by torn away siding. I had no idea what those immense motors had been for. Elevators? Power cables feeding directly into the machines gave the city a sharp reek of ozone as the wheels turned to take in the slack, thumped to a halt, strained, and then went slack again.
等等。我愣住了，目不转睛地盯着前方。那幢摩天大楼是不是...动了？我抬头看着其中一座更矮的六十层楼高的黑色塔楼，塔楼上交织着电线和电缆。我看到几根电缆绷紧了，伴随着金属的呻吟和巨大的撞击声。塔楼摇晃着，慢慢地竖直移动。然后它静止了。第二声砰的一声，另一边的电缆拉紧了，铁塔朝那个方向轻微地移动。我的眼睛顺着蹄子粗的电缆看到被拆掉的侧板暴露出来的巨大的轮子。我不知道那些巨大的发动机是干什么用的。电梯？直接进入机器的电缆给这个城市带来了一股强烈的臭氧气味，因为车轮转动收紧了松弛的空气，猛地停了下来，拉紧了，然后又松弛下来。
“Do you–” a stallion rasped from beside me, making me almost jump out of my hooves. Goldenblood looked at me flatly, then at the Core. “Do you get the feeling that something bad is about to happen?”
"你——"一匹种马从我身边刺耳地叫起来，我几乎要跳出马蹄了。金色血液直勾勾地看着我，然后又看着核心。"你有没有感觉到不好的事情即将发生?"
“You mean something bad isn’t already happening?” I answered with a grim grin. I looked out at the moaning city. “I’ve been having that feeling since I first saw this place.” Then I blinked and stared at him. “Wait! You’re not melting!”
"你是说坏事还没有发生?"我冷笑着回答。我望着呻吟的城市。"自从我第一次看到这个地方，我就有这种感觉。"然后我眨了眨眼睛，盯着他。"等等！你没有融化!"
“No. I’m not. The Enervation is gone,” he said quietly. “Why do I feel that that’s
"没有。我没有。他平静地说。"为什么我觉得那是
a bad sign too?”
也是个坏兆头?"
Because if there was no Enervation, no killer robots, and no beams of death, then there was nothing to keep everypony in the Hoof from flooding into the city for protection or loot. “It’s Silverstar Sporting Supplies all over again. Lure everypony in… turn the Enervation back on… kill us all at once and harvest our souls.” But why? What did the Eater get from pony souls? What did it want?
因为如果没有衰弱，没有杀人机器人，没有死亡之柱，那么就没有任何东西可以阻止霍夫的每匹小马进入城市寻求保护或掠夺。"这又是银星运动用品公司的翻版。引诱每一匹小马进来......让它们重新获得能量......一次性杀死我们所有人，收获我们的灵魂。"但是为什么呢？食人者从小马的灵魂那里得到了什么？它想要什么？
“I’ll pass on word to seal off the three bridges into the city. Hopefully that will keep everypony out,” he said grimly, tapping buttons on the broadcaster-equipped PipBuck he was wearing. He reached over and did something to mine too. “There. Tags of every PipBuck we have. You can listen in with that Perceptitron device.”
"我会传话封锁进城的三座桥。希望这样能把每一匹小马都挡在外面,"他冷冷地说，同时轻轻地敲着身上戴着的播音员皮布克牌电视机上的按钮。他把手伸过来，对我的手也做了些什么。"那儿。每一个PipBuck的标签。你可以用感知器设备收听。"
I nodded, not taking my eyes off the tower that slowly crept back into a vertical position. “Cognitum has Folly. Any advice on how not to get annihilated?”
我点点头，眼睛没有离开那座慢慢爬回垂直位置的塔。"认知有愚蠢。对于如何不被消灭有什么建议吗?"
“Don’t sit there while she fires it. It does have a ridiculously long fire delay, and only a ten or twelve square foot area of effect. Rather idiotic to use it against anything smaller than a building,” he murmured, also staring at the tormented city.
"她点火的时候，你别坐在那儿。它确实有一个荒谬的长火延迟，只有一个10或十二平方英尺的影响面积。用它来对付任何比建筑物还小的东西都是愚蠢的,"他喃喃地说，同时也盯着这座饱受折磨的城市。
“What were you going to fire it at?” I asked with a wry smile.
"你打算朝什么开火?"我苦笑着问。
“Tom,” he answered quietly. “I realized something was manipulating me into creating Horizons a short time before the bombs fell. I wasn’t precisely sure what. Pinkie’s warning had… shaken me. Deeply. But was it Luna manipulating me? Horse? Twilight Sparkle? I couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. I realized Horizons was a mistake, and so I had Trottenheimer make a weapon that could destroy the moon rock.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I have no idea how he pulled it off. Maybe he’d already been working on something similar...”
"汤姆,"他平静地回答。"在炸弹落下前不久，我意识到有什么东西在操纵我创造了地平线号。我不太确定是什么。平奇的警告让我震惊。深深地。但那是卢娜在操纵我吗？马？紫悦？我再也不能确定任何事了。我意识到地平线号是个错误，于是我让特罗滕海默制造了一种可以摧毁月球岩石的武器。"他咯咯地笑着，摇了摇头。"我不知道他是怎么做到的。也许他已经在做类似的事情......"
Wait. Barring instant vaporization… “Could I use Folly to stop Horizons?”
等等。除非瞬间蒸发......"我能用愚蠢来阻止地平线吗?"
“I don’t see why not. Granted, destroying Tom as it falls would probably cost you the valley. Instead of one immense stone, you’d be showered with thousands of smaller ones… but none of them would be caught by the system that would turn them into starmetal or penetrate the mile of stone and interact with the Tokomare directly.”
"我不明白为什么不行。当然，在汤姆倒下的时候毁掉它可能会让你失去整个山谷。不是一块巨大的石头，而是数以千计的小石头......但是没有一块会被将它们变成星级金属或穿过一英里的石头，直接与Tokomare人交流的系统捕捉到。"
“Still, it’s a plan B. But what about my body? If she fires it, the Flux...”
"尽管如此，这仍然是一个b计划。但是我的身体怎么办？如果她开火，磁通量号......"
“Will start mutating her badly. Multiple shots will accelerate the change, of course.” He closed his eyes. “Folly was my other suicide. Dying destroying my greatest and most terrible creation seemed… fitting.”
"她会变异得很厉害。当然，多次拍摄会加速这种变化。"他闭上了眼睛。"愚蠢是我的另一个自杀。死亡摧毁了我最伟大、最可怕的创造似乎......很合适。"
I stared at him flatly. “No offense, Goldie, but I think a good therapist would have probably helped you out a whole lot more.” I sighed and looked out at the city once more. “If she does fire, and she’s pregnant, how long could she last before the baby…” I choked. If it was immediate… there wasn’t much point to taking my body back alive once she shot Folly.
我直勾勾地盯着他。"无意冒犯，戈尔迪，但我认为一个好的治疗师可能会帮助你更多。"我叹了口气，再一次向城市望去。"如果她真的着火了，而且她怀孕了，她能在孩子出生前活多久......"我哽咽了。如果是眼前的事......一旦她杀了Folly我就没有必要活着把我的身体带回去了。
He stared at me in shock, and then his eyes softened in understanding and he gazed out once more. “I’m not a doctor. I believe the placenta would offer a tiny amount of protection, but no more than a day. Flux is… fickle.”
他震惊地盯着我，然后他的眼睛因为理解而变得柔和起来，他再次凝视着外面。"我不是医生。我相信胎盘会提供一点点的保护，但不会超过一天。Flux是...善变的。"
“Right. Right,” I muttered. “Just more incentive to get moving and finish this. When do we move on the space port?”
"对。是的,"我喃喃自语。"只是更有动力行动起来，完成这件事。我们什么时候进入太空港?"
“Tomorrow morning at dawn. Big Daddy and the teams are getting what they need. Mare Do Well has a squad to tap into their control network. Everything is getting staged at Paradise Mall. We’ll storm in and hit Cognitum hard before they launch.” He sighed. “At least, that's the plan. You do have an idea how to stop her?”
"明天黎明。大老爹和球队得到了他们想要的。MareDoWell有一个小队可以进入他们的控制网络。所有的一切都在天堂购物中心上演。我们会冲进去，在他们发射前狠狠地打击科涅塔姆。"他叹了口气。"至少，计划是这样的。你有办法阻止她吗?"
“Spark grenades and Wonderglue. Glory and Homage distract her with distance fire, protected by Velvet and her alicorns. Calamity snipes her floating weapon pods. I try and teleport onto her back. She expects the move and gets really pissed and focuses on me. P-21 sticks a spark grenade on her butt with Wonderglue so she can’t teleport out of range or levitate it off.” He gave me a funny look, and I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’ve been plotting how to take myself out. Sad, huh?” I sighed and went on, “Zap knocks her out. Scotch Tape takes off her legs and wings. Brings her back here. Triage and smart ponies take Cognitum out and put me back in. Take rocket to stop Horizons and deal with Brood or, if too late, you get to use Folly and blow it out of the sky while we run for the Highlanders’ mines.”
"火花弹和神奇胶水。晨辉和敬意用远处的火焰分散了她的注意力，天鹅绒和她的橡树果保护着她。灾难狙击了她漂浮的武器舱。我试着传送到她的背上。她期待着这次搬家，非常生气，把注意力集中在我身上。P-21用神奇胶把火花弹粘在她的屁股上，这样她就不能传送出射程，也不能让它飘起来。"他给了我一个奇怪的眼神，我叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"是啊，我一直在想怎么把自己弄出去。很悲伤，是吧?"我叹了口气，继续说,"嗖的一声，她就昏过去了。透明胶带剥去了她的腿和翅膀。把她带回来。伤检分类法和聪明的小马把Cognitum拿出来，把我放回去。坐火箭去阻止地平线，对付布鲁德，或者，如果太晚了，你可以用愚蠢把它轰出天空，而我们跑向高地人的矿井。"
“You’d let me do that?” he said, sounding oddly touched. His broadcaster let out a squawk, somepony requesting confirmation of moving refugees through Burner territory, and he said, “Yes. Survivors from Flotsam. Let them through
"你会让我这么做吗?"他说，听起来很奇怪的感动。他的播音员发出了一声尖叫，一匹小马请求确认是否有难民穿过燃烧者的领地，他说:"是的。漂浮物中的幸存者。让他们过去
and don’t waste time shaking them down. They’re refugees.” He took a deep breath. “I’m honored you’d grant me such a death.”
别浪费时间敲诈他们。他们是难民。"他深吸了一口气。"我很荣幸你能让我这样死去。"
“You have issues,” I said flatly. “Anyway, once Brood are done, find surrogate for my baby, transfer back into this body for good. Stick the original in your stasis pod to keep it safe. Get Snails to put my soul back together. Then spend many long years being a mommy with P-21 and either patch things up with Glory or make sure she has a mare worthy of a girl like her. Spend the rest of my existence making things better ‘till a raider is luckier than me and call it a good life.”
"你有问题,"我直截了当地说。"无论如何，一旦孵化完成，为我的孩子找到代孕妈妈，转移到这个身体为好。把原始的放在你的休眠舱里保证它的安全。让蜗牛让我的灵魂重新回到一起。然后花很多年做P-21的妈妈，要么和晨辉和好，要么确保她有匹配得上她的母马。把我的余生都用来让事情变得更好，直到一个袭击者比我幸运，然后称之为美好的生活。"
“I see a gap in your plan,” he said softly.
"我看到你的计划中有一个缺口,"他轻声说。
“I know, but unless I know for sure how Boo thinks of me, I can’t really work her into the equation, now can I?” I asked with a feeble stab at humor.
"我知道，但是除非我确切地知道阿布是怎么看我的，否则我不可能真正地让她参与进来，不是吗?"我略带幽默地问道。
“Not that,” he countered, the voice of reasonable concern.
"不是那个,"他反驳道，这是合理的担忧。
I shook my head. “Yeah. Getting to Cognitum through the Harbingers, Brood, and Legate. Amadi isn’t going to make this easy. He wants her to go.” I sighed and rubbed my face. “Maybe Charity has a crate of StealthBucks lying around and we can all just cheat our way through.”
我摇了摇头。"是的。通过预言者，孵化，和使节获得认知。阿马迪不会让事情变得简单。他想让她走。"我叹了口气，揉了揉脸。"也许Charity有一箱StealthBucks，我们都可以用欺骗的方式度过难关。"
“The ones she has are going to the infiltration teams,” Goldenblood said with a half smile.
"她带的那些人要去渗透部队,"金布拉德半带微笑地说。
“Figures. What I need is firepower. Vigilance is great for close-in work, but I need something more on the kinetic killing machine scale.” I rolled my eyes with a sheepish smile. “What I really need is a… ah, forget it.”
"就知道。我需要的是火力。警惕是伟大的近距离工作，但我需要更多的动能杀人机器规模。"我含着羞怯的微笑转了转眼珠。"我真正需要的是.....。.算了吧"
“What?” he asked in bafflement.
"什么?"他困惑地问道。
“It’s stupid.”
"这太愚蠢了。"
“What is?”
"是什么?"
I rolled my eyes again and said with a touch of sarcasm, “You wouldn’t happen to know where I can get my hooves on an IF-88 Ironpony, would you?”
我又翻了翻眼睛，略带讽刺地说:"你不会碰巧知道我在哪里可以买到IF-88铁马驹的马蹄吧?"
He smiled. Of course he smiled…
他笑了。当然他笑了。
* * *
* * *
“This is a bad idea, Blackjack,” P-21 said as we teleported to the east side of the Miramare Air Station. The alicorns had deposited us outside the base; apparently alicorn fast travel wasn’t precise enough to get me into the room I needed. I was glad they’d agreed to transport us, given Velvet was helping out the refugees.
"这是个坏主意，Blackjack,"P-21在我们传送到米拉马雷空军基地东侧时说。橡子们把我们放在了基地外面;显然，橡子的快速旅行不够精确，不足以让我进入我需要的房间。我很高兴他们同意接送我们，因为维尔维特在帮助那些难民。
Homage and Scotch Tape had stayed behind as well, the former to work with Mare Do Well on how to return control of the MASEBS and the latter to prevent the refugees from spreading disease.
"敬意"和"苏格兰胶带"也留了下来，前者与MareDoWell合作，研究如何恢复对MASEBS的控制，后者则防止难民传播疾病。
“What’s new about that?” Glory asked with a smile.
"这有什么新鲜的?"晨辉微笑着问道。
“Nothing. Just like to be on the record, that’s all,” he admitted. In every direction were countless red bars. The base was awash in crackling gunfire as dozens of Harbinger defenders attacked the swarm of Brood to the west of the base. I lifted Penance and sighted through the scope, assessing things. Calamity did the same through Spitfire’s Thunder. I lingered the crosshairs on the back of a stallion’s head and shivered. No matter what, I’d never be a sniper. Even if these were technically the enemy.
"没什么。他承认:"我只是想公开表明自己的立场。"。每个方向都有数不清的红条。基地里充斥着噼里啪啦的枪声，数十名"先驱者"的防御者攻击了基地西边的布鲁德蜂群。我举起忏悔牌，通过望远镜观察，评估事物。同样的灾难也发生在喷火式战斗机的雷霆战斗机上。我在一匹种马的后脑勺上停留了一会儿，然后颤抖了一下。不管怎样，我永远不会成为一个狙击手。即使这些从技术上来说是敌人。
I sighted on several of the combat-armor-clad Harbingers blasting away with markspony carbines, assault carbines, and anti-machine rifles. I watched as cybernetic Brood made lazy attacks on the base, standing out in the open and letting themselves get shot to pieces before falling back. Out of sight, I knew their repair and healing talismans were restoring them to full. Repeat ad nauseam. “That is one hell of a turkey shoot,” Calamity said flatly. “Barely any fire control at all. Did these idiots just raid an arms storeroom, put on the same outfit, and call themselves an army?”
我目击了几个穿着战斗装甲的"先驱者"用卡宾枪、突击卡宾枪和反机枪开火。我看着控制论的布鲁德对基地懒洋洋地进行攻击，站在开阔地，让自己在撤退之前被打成碎片。眼不见为净，我知道它们的修复和治疗护身符正在使它们恢复到最佳状态。反复做令人作呕的事情。"这真是一场精彩的射击比赛,"卡拉米特直截了当地说。"几乎没有任何火力控制。这些白痴是不是突袭了一个军火库，穿上同样的装备，自称是一支军队?"
“Some of them have training, but for the most part, yeah. That’s the Harbingers,” I replied.
"他们中的一些人接受过培训，但大多数人都接受过。那是预兆,"我回答。
“That’s a joke. Sick, sad, deadly joke,” Calamity replied.
"这是个玩笑。"病态的，悲伤的，致命的笑话,"卡拉米特回答。
“Is there a plan?” P-21 asked me with a smile.
"有计划吗?"P-21面带微笑地问我。
I thought about teleporting in, getting the stuff, and getting out again. What if there were guards? They’d probably blast anypony who just teleported in next to them. “Get into the crater, up the pipes, in through the command center, and up into the building. Extraction the same way. Calamity and the alicorns will stay
我想过瞬移进去，拿到东西，然后再出来。如果有警卫怎么办？他们可能会炸死任何刚刚传送到他们旁边的小马。"进入火山口，通过管道，通过指挥中心，进入大楼。用同样的方法提取。灾难和橡树果将留下来
here and provide cover fire if we need to bolt,” I said, getting a surprised smile from P-21. “What?”
如果我们需要撤退，他们会在这里提供掩护,"我说，P-21的脸上露出惊讶的微笑。"什么?"
“Nothing. That's just much more of an actual plan than you normally have,” he replied. “I remember when the plan was ‘run for our lives’.”
"没什么。这只是一个实际的计划，比你通常拥有的要多得多,"他回答。"我记得当时的计划是'逃命'。"
“The good old days.” I chuckled and then looked at Glory with her wistful smile. “Just the three of us again. Been a while, huh?”
"过去的美好时光。"我笑了，然后用她渴望的微笑看着格洛里。"又是我们三个人。有一阵子没见了吧?"
“Yes,” she said with a happy sigh.
"是的,"她高兴地叹了口气说。
Together, the three of us waited for a rise in firing, then rushed to the tank lying near the crater. I gave a few seconds’ consideration for the bones of the mare I’d seen so long ago. Now they’d been scattered by some reckless looter. The pictures were gone. She only existed as a person in my memory.
我们三个人一起等待火力加强，然后冲向火山口附近的坦克。我考虑了几秒钟，因为我很久以前见过的那匹母马的骨头。现在他们被一些鲁莽的抢劫者驱散了。照片不见了。在我的记忆中，她只是一个人。
No time for that now. We each took some Rad-X, dropped into the crater, and made our way through drainage culverts and up into the base. I didn’t think the Harbingers would be using this area. Without power, I recalled how dark, hot, and stuffy it was down here. This time, I was surprised. The utility room the culverts connected to was well-lit, and there were red bars moving around. It looked like the Harbingers had some decent technicians with them.
现在没时间了。我们每人带上一些Rad-X，降落到火山口，然后穿过排水管道进入基地。我没想到"先驱者"会利用这个地区。没有电力，我回想起这里是多么黑暗、炎热和闷热。这一次，我很惊讶。下水道连接的杂物间灯光明亮，四周有红色的栏杆在移动。看起来"先驱者"号上有一些不错的技术人员。
And guards. One unicorn spotted us coming around a corner, levitated up an assault carbine, and opened her mouth wide. Glory’s beam pistol sent a line of oscillating rainbow light into her head. The light spread along her body, turning her into a glowing mass that disappeared in a flash when it reached her hooves. The armor and gun clanged to the floor of the hall. She spat out the pistol, turning it over in her hooves. “What setting was that?”
还有守卫。一只独角兽发现我们从拐角处过来，把一支突击卡宾枪悬浮起来，张大了嘴。晨辉的光束手枪把一束振荡的彩虹光射进了她的脑袋。光线沿着她的身体传播，把她变成一个发光的物体，当它到达她的蹄子时，一瞬间消失了。盔甲和枪发出叮当的声音落在大厅的地板上。她把手枪吐了出来，用蹄子把它翻过来。"那是什么场景?"
“Awesome, I think. Or is that Cool?” I asked as I pointed a hoof at a little dial on the side, looking at the various settings.
"太棒了，我觉得。或者这很酷?"我一边问，一边用蹄子指着旁边的一个小刻度盘，看着各种设置。
P-21 sighed and retrieved the combat barding and guns. “You should put this on,
P-21叹了口气，收回了战棍和枪支。"你应该穿上这个,
Blackjack. That operative barding stands out way too much.” I had to agree.
黑杰克。这种特殊的条件太突出了。"我不得不同意。
Better to fit in.
最好能融入进去。
On mostly silent hooves… why couldn’t I be all sneaky sneaky like LittlePip?... the three of us prowled through the halls of the command center. We had to hide in the interrogation room to avoid a patrol. I stared at its smashed-out window
在大部分无声的蹄子上......为什么我不能像小匹普那样鬼鬼祟祟的？我们三个在指挥中心的大厅里徘徊。我们不得不躲在审讯室里躲避巡逻队。我凝视着它那被砸碎的窗户
and the dark stains still covering the walls. I glanced at Glory, shifting over and hugging her as she trembled. So much pain had started here, some of which I contributed to. She gave me a smile and stilled.
墙上还有黑色的污渍。我瞥了晨辉一眼，转过身去拥抱她，她颤抖着。如此多的痛苦从这里开始，其中一些是我造成的。她给了我一个微笑，然后停了下来。
As we passed by the command center, I heard a familiar stallion say, “Tell them to stop firing! Stop! Until we get a resupply, I want them to hunker down and only attack if the Brood cross the fence into the base proper. We’re going to be fighting them with hooves soon, and I’ve seen cyberponies in action.”
当我们经过指挥中心时，我听到一匹熟悉的种马说:"告诉他们停止射击！住手！在我们得到补给之前，我要他们蹲下来，只有当魔龙军团穿过栅栏进入基地时才能发动攻击。我们很快就会用蹄子与它们战斗，而且我已经看到了网络小马的行动。"
I wanted to stay and listen more, but every second we did increased the chance of detection. Upstairs, the plan was seriously straining. I hadn’t expected there to be this many Harbingers inside. The cafeteria was filled with injured Harbingers. Dozens lay on bloody mattresses set out on the floor. Clearly, the Brood were whittling away at the ponies without internal healing talismans.
我想留下来听更多的音乐，但是我们做的每一秒都增加了被发现的机会。楼上，计划严重紧张。我没想到里面会有这么多先驱者。自助餐厅里挤满了受伤的预兆者。几十个躺在血淋淋的床垫上，躺在地板上。显然，布伦特一家正在削减小马没有内部治疗护身符。
“You!” a mare snapped at us. “What do you think you’re doing?” I whirled to stare at a gaunt lavender unicorn with a white mane and a pair of crossed scalpels on her flank. She seemed familiar. Her eyes stared hard at Glory and P- “If you two aren’t injured you need to get your gear and get on the roof,” she snapped.
"你!"一匹母马向我们猛扑过来。"你以为你在干什么?"我转过头去盯着一只憔悴的淡紫色独角兽，它有着白色的鬃毛，旁边有一对交叉的手术刀。她看起来很眼熟。"如果你们两个没有受伤，你们需要拿上你们的装备，到屋顶上去,"她厉声说道。
“Right. Gear. They just got here,” I murmured.
"对。齿轮。他们刚到,"我低声说。
“Hurry up,” she snapped, pointing towards the back towards our destination. “Get some barding that’s not too bloody and get shooting.” And then she returned to casting healing spells. Either she hadn’t recognized us, or she had and assumed I was just another impostor.
"快点,"她厉声说，指向我们的目的地。"找些不太血腥的武器，然后开枪。"然后她回来施放治疗咒语。要么她没有认出我们，要么她认出了我们，并认为我只是另一个冒名顶替者。
Either way, I wasn’t going to question my luck. In the barracks were more Harbingers trying to sleep. One rocked back and forth muttering to himself, “Security will save us. Security will save us. Any second.” I wanted to reassure him. To let him know I was trying my best… but the Security he prayed to couldn’t care less if he lived or died.
不管怎样，我都不会质疑自己的运气。营房里有更多的"预言者"正在睡觉。一个人来回摇晃着自言自语道:"保安会来救我们的。保安会救我们的。随时都有可能。"我想让他放心。让他知道我已经尽了最大的努力......但是他祈祷的安全部门根本不在乎他是死是活。
In the locker room filled with boxes of combat barding, a haggard stallion stared desperately at the three of us. “Reinforcements? Say you’re reinforcements!” he begged.
在更衣室里堆满了格斗用的箱子，一匹面容憔悴的种马绝望地盯着我们三个。"增援部队？说你是援军!"他苦苦哀求。
I shared a look with the other two. “We’re here to help,” I finally said.
我和另外两个人看了一眼。"我们是来帮忙的,"最后我说。
“It’s been a nightmare. Just a nightmare,” he muttered as the earth pony pawed through the barding looking for a complete set. “At first it was a joke. Like that fake Security saying she was the real thing. But the attacks never stopped. They just let us shoot them and fall back. Shoot them some more and fall back. And for every twenty we shoot, they shoot one of ours. Like clockwork.”
"这是一场噩梦。只是一场噩梦,"他喃喃自语道，此时大地上的矮种马正在草丛中寻找一整套。"一开始，这只是个玩笑。就像那个假保安说她是真的。但是攻击从未停止过。他们只是让我们射杀他们然后撤退。向他们再开几枪，然后撤退。我们每开二十枪，他们就开一枪。就像钟表一样准时。"
As he worked, I moved over to the back row of lockers, gesturing for them to keep him occupied. I got to the ones used for the Marauders and tapped the control panel. It flickered to life. Somepony had apparently tried to rip them open, or maybe, from the scorch marks, blast them open. I brought up the locker of Big Macintosh.
在他工作的时候，我走到后排的储物柜前，指着那些柜子让他有事可做。我找到了掠夺者使用的那些，然后点击了控制面板。它闪烁着生命的光芒。一些小马显然试图撕开他们，或者可能，从烧焦的痕迹，炸开他们。我提起了大麦金托什的柜子。
Password Clue: Where the heart is.
密码提示:心在哪里。
Carefully I entered in the obvious ones while the old stallion with the armor blathered on about the constant casualties, the gangers refusing to help like they should, and low ammunition. Family. Home. Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack. Apple Bloom. All failed. Twilight Sparkle. I sighed… if this didn’t work… I tried my last one. Maripony.
我小心翼翼地走进那些显而易见的地方，那匹穿着盔甲的老种马喋喋不休地说着不断有人伤亡，分身拒绝像他们应该的那样帮忙，而且弹药也很少。家庭。家。甜苹果园。苹果白兰地。苹果花。都失败了。紫悦。我叹了口气......如果这个不管用......我试了最后一个。女名女子名。
The locker clicked open. Inside was a large black case with a note on the top. I leaned over and read it. Thought you should have the prototype, Cupcake, since it was made for him. Sadly, anti-machine rifles are more effective against zebra robots and infantry. Might roll out a model for power armor. Hope you can use it to inspire others to follow in his hoof steps. Braeburn.
柜子突然打开了。里面是一个黑色的大盒子，上面有一张便条。我俯身看了看。我想你应该拥有这个原型，纸托蛋糕，因为这是为他量身定做的。不幸的是，反机械步枪对付斑马机器人和步兵更有效。可能会推出一个动力装甲模型。希望你可以用它来激励其他人跟随他的脚步。布雷伯恩。
I cracked open the case and was immediately struck by the smell of gun oil. The twelve gauge barrel was thicker than a riot gun, and about four inches shorter than usual. The full automatic action had a select fire for single, burst, or fully automatic fire. On the lid of the case rested the magazines, two double drums, each capable of holding fifty twelve gauge rounds and fitted with selector switches allowing different types of ammo to be used. There was also a feeder chain connected to a two-hundred-round ammo drum. The latter could only have been intended for use with a battle saddle.
我打开箱子，立刻闻到了枪油的味道。十二口径的枪管比防暴枪还厚，比平时短了大约4英寸。全自动的行动有一个选择火单，爆发，或全自动火。弹匣盖上放着两个双圆筒，每个圆筒能装50发12口径的子弹，上面装有选择开关，可以使用不同种类的弹药。还有一个连接到200发弹药桶上的供弹链。后者只能用于战斗马鞍。
Inscribed on the barrel was a simple word: ‘Ayup’.
木桶上刻着一个简单的字:"Ayup"。
“I think you’re gonna need more shotgun shells for that thing,” Glory said over my shoulder.
"我想你需要更多的猎枪子弹,"晨辉在我的肩膀上说。
The grizzled stallion realized we weren’t listening to him ramble on as he held the combat armor out to P-21. “Wait, did you get those lockers in the back open?”
灰白的种马意识到我们没有听他漫谈，因为他拿着战斗装甲到P-21。"等等，你把后面的储物柜打开了吗?"
“Um. Nope,” I said with a bald-faced lie, trying to hide the gun case behind my back, closing the locker with a hindhoof as carefully as I could.
"嗯。"不,"我说着一个赤裸裸的谎言，试图把枪盒藏在背后，用后蹄尽可能小心地关上柜子。
“Anything there is the property of–” he started to say with a frown. P-21 charged him, pinning him against the racks of armor and glaring into his eyes. “Y’all!” the stallion yelped. “Nine tenths and all that.”
"任何东西都是-的财产。"他皱着眉头开始说。P-21向他冲过来，把他压在盔甲上，瞪着他的眼睛。"你们好!"那匹种马叫了起来。"十分之九之类的。"
“Good,” P-21 said, then met my gaze. “What?”
"很好,"P-21说，然后看着我的眼睛。"什么?"
“Nothing,” I said as we turned to go, shaking my head. I couldn’t fault him. I wanted to trot the heck out of here, but as I looked out, a gray stallion with bars on his helmet was trying to rally more soldiers to get up on the roof and fight back the enemy. There were at least a dozen armed Harbingers in there. Oh, to just teleport out. “Stay close,” I told them, and concentrated. I could do this. I could teleport my friends with--
"没什么,"当我们转身准备离开时，我摇着头说。我不能怪他。我想快步离开这个鬼地方，但是当我向外望去，一匹头盔上有栅栏的灰色种马正试图召集更多的士兵上屋顶反击敌人。那里至少有十几个武装的先驱者。哦，只是瞬移出去。"跟紧点,"我告诉他们，然后全神贯注地说。我可以这么做。我可以传送我的朋友
Flash, and I appeared next to Calamity. “Yes, I knew–”
闪光，我出现在卡拉米特旁边。"是的，我知道——"
Next thing I knew I was flipping sideways through the air in a whole heap of pain, landing in a heap with my whole body alternating between pain and numb. “Aw horseapples,” Calamity said as he rushed up, setting down Spitfire’s Thunder and immediately pulling out freshly brewed healing potions. “Why can’t folks send me a memo when they’re gonna dress up like the bad guys? That too much ta ask?”
接下来我知道的就是我在空中翻来覆去，痛苦不堪，全身麻木，疼痛难忍。"胡胡苹果,"卡拉米特一边说着，一边冲上去，放下喷火式战斗机的雷霆战斗机，立刻拿出新鲜酿制的治疗药剂。"为什么人们不能给我一个备忘录，当他们要打扮成坏人？这要求太过分了吧?"
I chugged down half a dozen healing potions, thankful for their potency. That rifle hurt! “Don’t worry. You’re just the latest in a fine tradition.” I looked at the hole punched through the ceramic composite plate in my barding, then at my side, then out the opposite side. I gulped down another healing potion for good measure. If Calamity had taken a second to aim rather than shooting in reaction, I’d be dead. “I need some whiskey. Then let’s get out of here.”
我一口气喝了六瓶治疗药水，感谢它们的效力。那支步枪很疼！"别担心。你只是一个优良传统的最新成员。"我看着那个穿过陶瓷复合板的洞，然后在我身边，然后从另一边出来。另外，我还喝下了另一种治疗药水。如果卡拉米蒂花一秒钟瞄准而不是反击，我早就死了。"我需要一些威士忌。那我们走吧。"
He demonstrated he was the best of ponies by pulling out a half full bottle of amber intoxicant and passing it to me. I wasted no time taking a hearty pull. “I’m sorry about your friends,” he murmured, taking off his hat. Then I blinked and realized there were only the two of us and the alicorn here.
他拿出半瓶琥珀色麻醉剂递给我，证明他是最好的小马驹。我毫不浪费时间来一次热情的拉扯。"我为你的朋友们感到难过,"他低声说，摘下帽子。然后我眨了眨眼睛，意识到这里只有我们两个人和那只独角兽。
I upended the bottle.
我把瓶子倒过来。
My bloodstream charged with healing potions and happy juice, I focused and teleported back where I’d come. The grizzled stallion fell back again. “Gah! What’s with the flashing and the popping in and out and...”
我的血液里充满了治疗药剂和快乐果汁，我集中注意力，心灵传送回我来的地方。那匹灰发的种马又往后退了一步。"啊！这些闪光灯是怎么回事，突然出现又突然出现......"
“Where are my friends?” I demanded. He blinked at me several times, as if trying to figure out what I was asking. In the cafeteria, the lavender doctor was peering at me with a sharp scowl.
"我的朋友们呢?"我问道。他对我眨了几下眼睛，好像在试图弄明白我在问什么。在自助餐厅里，那位淡紫色的医生严厉地怒视着我。
“On the roof? Where else? The Brood are picking up the attack! I’d get out of here myself if they wouldn’t shoot me for trying!” he said.
""在屋顶上？还有什么地方？魔龙军团受到攻击！如果他们不朝我开枪的话，我就自己离开这里!"他说。
“Right. The roof.” I trotted out and made my way to the stairs, past the second floor offices into the third floor quarters. Most of them had been broken into and looted long ago. I was depressed to see that Colonel Cupcake’s was one of them. There was an injured soldier holding her guts in lying in the hallway. “Roof?” I asked, immediately passing her my last healing potion. She drank it at once and pointed to the end of the hall.
"对。屋顶。"我小跑出去，走向楼梯，穿过二楼的办公室，来到三楼的宿舍。他们中的大多数很久以前就已经被破门而入并被洗劫一空。我很沮丧，因为杯子蛋糕上校就是其中之一。有一个受伤的士兵在走廊里抱着她的内脏。"屋顶?"我问道，立刻把我最后一瓶治疗药水递给她。她立刻喝了下去，指着走廊的尽头。
As I walked down, a pink pony in my head immediately began waving a red flag, and I paused, considering one of the closed doors. Then my eyes were drawn to the nameplate, the letters on it obscured by accumulated grime. I reached up and wiped the film off the metal. Sgt. Twist. The door was locked, and I mentally kicked myself... If only I had the time and skill. Friends first, though.
当我走下去的时候，一匹粉红色的小马马在我的头上立刻开始挥舞一面红旗，我停了下来，想到其中一扇关着的门。然后我的眼睛被铭牌吸引住了，铭牌上的字母被积累起来的污垢遮住了。我伸手把胶卷从金属上擦掉。特威斯特中士。门是锁着的，我在心里踢自己...要是我有时间和技巧就好了。不过，朋友优先。
At the end of the hall, a stair continued up and the chatter of bullets became louder. The roof was awash with brass and confused heaps of discarded ammo boxes. Sandbags along the roof’s edge afforded some protection from the ground as the Brood continued to press in from the west. The momentum had changed, too. The peek and retreat tactic I’d noticed earlier had transformed into a more steady push. Dozens of augmented zebras were now out in the open, laying down a steady cover fire as they advanced. Fifty ponies in battered combat armor milled about returning fire, some just hopelessly spraying their weapons into the advancing throng.
在大厅的尽头，楼梯继续向上，子弹的声音变得更大了。屋顶上堆满了铜制的废弃弹药箱。屋顶边缘的沙袋提供了一些来自地面的保护，因为布伦特一家继续从西面挤进来。这种势头也改变了。我之前注意到的偷窥和撤退策略已经变成了一种更加稳定的推进。几十只增援的斑马现在出现在空地上，在前进的过程中不断地开火掩护。五十匹穿着破旧战斗装甲的小马在回击，有些只是绝望地向前进的人群喷射武器。
Now was a time I really would have loved to have Calamity or Psalm with me. I drew out Penance and searched my inventory for armor piercing rounds. Two dozen, better than nothing. “I need AP ammo,” I shouted to the pony next to me,
现在是我真正想要的灾难或诗篇与我在一起的时候。我抽出忏悔牌，在我的存货清单里找穿甲弹。两打总比没有强。"我需要美联社的弹药,"我对我旁边的小马喊道
who was firing bullets wildly with a levitated sniper rifle.
用悬浮的狙击步枪疯狂射击。
“What?” she screamed, staring at me.
"什么?"她尖叫着，盯着我。
“AP! Armor piercing!” I yelled.
"美联社！穿甲!"我喊道。
“What’s that?” she asked, blinking at me in bafflement.
"那是什么?"她疑惑地眨着眼睛问我。
I levitated out three bullets. “Hollow point. Standard jacket. Armor piercing! These! Use these on their heads!” I waved the third at her before loading and shoving out two sandbags, giving myself a firing hole. These weren’t real zebras. They were organic killing machines... not ponies. No souls... still, I felt a squirm of unease as I aimed the crosshairs at the nearest zebra.
我飞出了三颗子弹。"空尖弹。标准外套。穿甲弹！这些！把这些戴在他们的头上!"在装载并推出两个沙袋之前，我朝她挥了挥第三个沙袋，给自己留下了一个火坑。这些不是真的斑马。他们是有机杀人机器...不是小马。没有灵魂......但是，当我瞄准最近的斑马时，我感到一阵不安的扭动。
It took two headshots for me to drop it. Then over to the next. Two shots. The next. Two shots and a reload. I glanced over at the other Harbingers. “Aim!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “You won’t kill these without a headshot. Use spark grenades if you have them!” Still, there was chaos. One stallion seemed to be dumping brass in ammo crates, duct taping them shut, and tossing them at the enemy!
我拍了两张大头照才放下它。然后转到下一个。两枪。第二天。两发子弹和一次重新装弹。我扫了一眼其他的先驱者。"瞄准!"我大声尖叫起来。"没有头部特写你是杀不死它们的。如果你有火花手榴弹的话就用吧!"尽管如此，还是出现了混乱。一匹种马似乎要把黄铜扔进弹药箱里，用胶带把它们封死，然后扔向敌人！
A trio of cyberwinged zebras dove in a wedge straight at me in a strafing run. I levitated as much brass as I could and flung it up at them, ruining their shots and breaking their dive in a moment of confusion. Their programming probably didn’t account for this. Nor did it account for me drawing Vigilance and teleporting in a flash onto one’s back. I unloaded the magazine into the nearest one, the heavy bullets ripping through wings and hide and sending it crashing to earth. The last in the wing turned and opened fire on the one I rode, and I flashed off my current mount and on to the diving one, switching to Duty and Sacrifice. The old dueling pistols boomed in unison as I blasted it, and then I put the last two bullets in the head of the already-injured last one just in case. I teleported back to the roof, popped open the revolvers, and started reloading; the click of the cylinders closing was accompanied by the thump of a dead cyberzebra hitting the roof behind me.
三只长着网络翅膀的斑马在扫射中一头楔形斑马径直朝我飞来。我尽可能多地悬浮铜管，向他们扔过去，破坏了他们的镜头，在一片混乱中破坏了他们的俯冲。他们的程序可能没有考虑到这一点。这也不能解释为什么我会提高警惕，瞬间瞬移到别人的背上。我把弹匣卸到最近的一个弹夹里，沉重的子弹撕裂翅膀，藏了起来，把它打到地上。机翼上的最后一只转过身，朝我骑的那只开火，我闪了闪，从现在的坐骑上跳到了潜水的那只上，切换到了责任和牺牲。当我开枪的时候，旧的决斗手枪齐声发出隆隆声，然后我把最后两颗子弹射入已经受伤的最后一颗子弹的头部，以防万一。我把自己传送回车顶，砰地一声打开左轮手枪，开始重新装弹;汽缸关闭的咔嗒声伴随着一个死去的网络斑马撞击我身后车顶的砰砰声。
A dozen Harbingers had stopped fighting to gape at me, the corpse, and the air where I'd been. "What?" I asked in annoyance. “Fire! They won’t stop just for that.” Galvanized, the fight began to shift. Less panic and more discipline. I moved up and down the line to make it harder for their zebras to hit me as I looked for my friends. I spotted a pegasus firing an anti-machine rifle with no
十几个预兆者停止了战斗，目瞪口呆地看着我、我的尸体和我所到过的地方的空气。"什么?"我不耐烦地问道。"开火！他们不会因为这个而停下来。"战斗激烈起来，开始发生转变。少一点恐慌，多一点纪律。当我寻找我的朋友时，我上上下下地移动以使斑马更难打我。我发现一匹飞马发射了一支反机器步枪
heed for the recoil, the muzzle waving all over the place as she struggled.
注意后坐力，枪口在她挣扎的时候到处乱晃。
“You’ve got to compensate for the recoil! Slow down!” I bellowed at her.
"你得补偿后坐力！慢点!"我对她大吼大叫。
“I’m trying! Energy weapons are easier!” she yelled back at me in frustration. Then Glory looked up at me, her purple eyes widening in surprise. “About time you got back!”
"我正在努力！能源武器更容易!"她沮丧地冲我大喊大叫。然后晨辉抬头看着我，她紫色的眼睛惊讶地睁得大大的。"你也该回来了!"
“Sorry. Teleporting is funny like--”
"对不起。心灵传输很有趣，就像——"
At that instant, six cyber unicorns flashed in around us, each with a pistol and, of all things, a sword. The six moved at me with terrifying swiftness and sureness; so this was what it was like being on the receiving end of augmentation. I lifted Duty, Sacrifice, and Vigilance and got ready to kiss my ass goodbye.
就在那一瞬间，六只网络独角兽在我们周围一闪而过，每一只都带着一把手枪，最重要的是，还有一把剑。六个人迅速而确信地向我移动，这就是成为增强器的接收端的感觉。我解除了责任、牺牲和警惕，准备和我的屁股说再见。
But Glory was faster. Abandoning the huge rifle, she drew the rainbow blaster and, with the smoothness of S.A.T.S., transformed one into a glowing bright nimbus of light. I gritted my teeth, preparing for pain as I fired the dueling pistols and my magic bullets at a pair. The barrage slammed into them, not fatally, perhaps, but enough to ruin their shots.
但是《晨辉》更快。她放下巨大的步枪，拔出彩虹爆能枪，带着s.a.t.s的流畅，把它变成了一束发光的明亮光晕。我咬紧牙关，为疼痛做好准备，向一对手发射了决斗用的手枪和魔法子弹。弹幕猛烈地击中了他们，也许不是致命的，但足以毁掉他们的射击。
But the other three... they rushed in as one, pistol shots sending Harbingers diving for cover as they stabbed at me in unison, their blades precisely aimed to pierce my heart, throat, and eye. I did the only thing I could and jumped away as hard and fast as I could. Unfortunately, the only direction of ‘away’ was over the sandbags, and I found myself flipping into empty air.
但是其他三个......他们一起冲了进来，枪声让"先驱者"潜入掩体，他们一致向我刺来，他们的刀刃准确地刺穿了我的心脏、喉咙和眼睛。我做了我唯一能做的事，然后用尽全力和最快的速度跳开了。不幸的是，唯一的"离开"方向是越过沙袋，我发现自己翻到了空气中。
Did I mention I was on the roof of a three story building? With a whole bunch of Brood advancing? Maybe that Wild Pegasus wasn’t the best idea...
我有没有说过我在一栋三层楼的屋顶上？还有一大群孩子在前进？也许野马飞马不是个好主意..。
I tumbled through the air for a few seconds, then teleported back to the roof. I had enough velocity that I slammed down on one of the cyber unicorns with a crunch that was only partially from me. The ones I’d missed wheeled about without the good manners to be marginally impressed, but now the soldiers had gotten over their shock and came to my rescue, mobbing them and joining Glory. I staggered to my hooves as the remaining unicorns were dispatched. “Get back to firing! That was a distraction. Go!” I croaked, waving a hoof to the west. The soldiers rallied, fighting back with more vigor and determination.
我在空中翻滚了几秒钟，然后传送回屋顶。我有足够的速度，我把一个网络独角兽摔倒了，嘎吱一声，这只是我身体的一部分。我错过的那些轮子没有给我留下深刻印象的礼貌，但是现在士兵们已经从他们的震惊中恢复过来，来拯救我，把他们团团围住，加入了Glory。当剩下的独角兽被赶走时，我踉踉跄跄地站了起来。"继续开火！那是一种分散注意力的手段。去吧!"我呱呱地叫着，向西挥着一只蹄子。士兵们重新振作起来，以更大的精力和决心进行反击。
Glory knelt beside me. “Have any healing potions?” she asked as she poked my side, making me hiss in pain.
晨辉跪在我身旁。"有治疗魔药吗?"她一边戳我的侧面，一边问我，弄得我痛得嘶嘶作响。
“Used my last on a mare downstairs,” I confessed.
"最后一次用在楼下的母马身上,"我坦白道。
“Me too,” she answered. “Just take it easy.”
"我也是,"她回答。"放轻松。"
I scanned the battlefield and then gave her a sardonic grin. “Sure. I was thinking of taking a little nap. Sounds good. Wake me when it’s over.” She sighed and shook her head. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” Then I looked over at that crazy pony throwing ammo crates over the edge and shouted at him. “What are you doing?!” My side gave a twinge of pain. Okay, shouting bad.
我扫视了一下战场，然后给了她一个嘲讽的笑容。"当然。我想小睡一会儿。听起来不错。结束后叫醒我。"她叹了口气，摇了摇头。"谢谢。我很感激。"然后我看了看那匹疯狂的小马，它把弹药箱扔到了边上，然后冲着它大喊。"你在干什么?!"我的身体一阵剧痛。好吧，大喊大叫。
Then P-21 regarded me flatly, a detonator in his mouth. He bit down hard and from the west came multiple sharp explosions as the ammo crates exploded, peppering the enemy with countless spent shell casings. Even cyberponies were staggered by that. The stunned Harbingers recovered and finished picking them off before they could retreat and regenerate. “Sorry, I didn't realize you were enjoying yourself,” P-21 said as he trotted to us and pulled out a healing potion for me.
然后，P-21直视着我，嘴里叼着一个引爆器。他狠狠地咬了一口，弹药箱爆炸的时候，从西边传来了多次剧烈的爆炸声，无数的弹壳散落在敌人身上。甚至连网络小马也被这个消息震惊了。受惊的"先驱者"们恢复了元气，并在它们撤退和重生之前把它们干掉了。"对不起，我没有意识到你正在享受自己,"P-21说，他向我们小跑，并拿出了我的治疗药剂。
The Harbingers began to give little cheers and shouts of joy. I wondered how happy they’d be if they knew that there were more coming. Still, a little hope was better than no hope. “Let’s get out of here,” I said as I started for the stairs. If I was lucky, I’d be able to make it out of here without any more troub–
"先驱者"们开始欢呼雀跃。我想知道如果他们知道还有更多的人要来，他们会有多高兴。尽管如此，有一点希望总比没有希望好。"我们离开这儿吧,"我边说边向楼梯走去。如果我够幸运的话，我可以毫不费力地离开这里
Down in the third floor hall, a solid wall of soldiers faced me. As scared and shaken as they were, they had more than enough force to liquefy us. I blinked at so many red bars, and one yellow. “Hi,” I said, giving the yellow bar a wave. Fortunately, it belonged to the pony with what I suspected was Colonel Cupcake’s combat helmet on his head. Hopefully that meant he was the pony in charge of this firing squad. “Let’s not anypony do anything they’re going to regret.”
在三楼的大厅里，一堵坚实的士兵墙正对着我。尽管他们又惊又怕，但他们有足够的力量将我们液化。我对着那么多的红条和一条黄条眨了眨眼睛。"你好,"我说，向黄色条挥了挥手。幸运的是，它属于那匹小马，我怀疑它头上戴的是卡皮特上校的战斗头盔。希望这意味着他是负责行刑队的小马。"让我们不要做任何会让他们后悔的事情。"
“I told you. P-21 and Morning Glory and the impostor we were warned about,” the gaunt lavender doctor said. “I remember them from Flank. Not many stallions with dots all over their flanks.”
"我告诉过你。这位憔悴的淡紫色医生说:"P-21和牵牛花，还有那个骗子，我们都被警告过了。"。"我记得他们在弗兰克。没有多少种马的两侧都有斑点。"
“Yes, I recognize both of them. You’re the mare calling herself Blackjack, then?” the officer asked in that tantalizingly familiar voice. I tugged off the helmet, tossing my mane before staring evenly into his eyes. P-21 scowled at him and gave a low growl.
""是的，我认得他们两个。那么，你就是那个自称"Blackjack"的母马?"警官用那熟悉得诱人的声音问。我扯下头盔，甩了甩鬃毛，然后均匀地盯着他的眼睛。P-21对他皱起眉头，发出低沉的咆哮。
“You!” he spat. “You raping bastard!”
"你!"他吐了口唾沫。"你这个强奸的混蛋!"
“P-21,” I said evenly, my hind end clenching at that word. I kept my eyes on his, stepping closer. “So… you were one of the four on the Seahorse.” He didn’t answer immediately, just gave a little nod.
"P-21,"我平静地说，后背紧紧地攥着这个词。我盯着他的眼睛，走近他。"所以......你是海马号上的四个人之一。"他没有马上回答，只是点了点头。
“Captain Nails,” he replied evenly after a moment. “Thanks for helping out with the attack.”
"美甲队长,"过了一会儿，他平静地回答。"谢谢你帮忙发动袭击。"
“I was in the neighborhood. It’s sort of a thing I do.” I swallowed hard. “I spared your life,” I said, hoping it was still possible for all three of us to get out of here. Why didn’t I have alicorn teleportation that could yank a half dozen ponies where I wanted?
"我就在附近。这是我做的一件事。"我艰难地咽了口唾沫。"我饶了你一命,"我说，希望我们三个还有可能离开这里。为什么我没有空间运输能把六匹小马拉到我想去的地方？
“And I yours. Happyhorn, remember?” he said as he kept my gaze.
"我也是你的。哈比霍恩，记得吗?"他盯着我的眼睛说。
“I’m so glad you two are acquainted! She’s wanted by Security!” the doctor said with a roll of her eyes. “Dead, as I recall. Her friends too.”
"真高兴你们两个认识！她被保安通缉了!"医生转了转眼珠说。"死了，我记得。还有她的朋友们。"
Nails didn’t answer. Now that I could get a better look at him, I took in his brown and black mane. Earth pony, bigger than P-21, with a steady and thoughtful gaze. “You spared my life,” he said finally. “The mare… that cyber thing… never would have. She’d have been creative with killing us.” He closed his eyes. “You’re the real Blackjack.”
指甲没有回答。现在我可以看得更清楚了，我看到了他棕黑色的鬃毛。地球上的矮种马，比P-21还要大，目光坚定而深邃。"你饶了我的命,"他最后说。"那匹母马...那个网络的东西...永远不会。要是她杀了我们，肯定会很有创意。"他闭上了眼睛。"你才是真正的黑杰克。"
“Who cares!” the doctor scoffed. “The mare calling the shots wants her dead.”
"谁在乎啊!"医生嗤之以鼻。"发号施令的母马想要她的命。"
“I care!” Nails snapped at her, making her back away. He frowned at me. “If you’re really Blackjack, then it’s as he said. So I have two questions to ask: is Steel Rain dead?”
"我在乎!"指甲在她身上啪地一声折断，把她推开了。他对我皱起眉头。"如果你真的是黑杰克，那就像他说的那样。所以我有两个问题要问:钢铁雨死了吗?"
I could have denied it. Remained vague, but really, I was just tired of lies. Tired of so damn much. “Yes.”
我本可以否认的。依然模糊不清，但实际上，我只是厌倦了谎言。厌倦了这么多。"是的。"
“Did you kill him?” He asked me.
"是你杀了他吗?"他问我。
“Actually, it was his own damn treacherousness that killed him, but yeah. I guess you could say I did,” I replied. I glanced back at P-21 and he gave the tiniest of nods. I glance out the corner of my other eye and Glory gave a sad, resigned smile.
"事实上，是他自己的背信弃义害死了他，不过是的。我想你可以说是的,"我回答。我回头看了一眼P-21，他微微点了点头。我用另一只眼角瞥了一眼，晨辉露出一个悲伤的、顺从的微笑。
“I see,” he said and then looked at the soldiers and then back at me.
"我明白了,"他说，然后看了看士兵们，又看了看我。
“What are you waiting for?” the lavender nag demanded.
"你还在等什么?"那匹薰衣草马问道。
“Making a decision,” I murmured.
"做个决定,"我低声说。
“Ha… bu…gah… wa?” the mare – Scalpel! That was the name! From Flank! – blustered. “Are you insane? She just said she killed him! Shoot now!” Her magic glowed around the gun of the pony next to her.
"哈...卜...嘎...哇?"母马-手术刀！就是这个名字！从侧翼！-咆哮。"你疯了吗？她刚刚说她杀了他！现在就开枪!"她的魔法在她旁边的小马枪周围闪闪发光。
Nails fixed her with a cold, hard glare. “Shut up. That cyberpony nag would shoot you without a second thought.” His hoof smacked her horn, and she sat hard on her ass, holding her horn as her focus was shattered. More and more guns lowered, red bars changing to yellow as he advanced on me. “Steel Rain gave us a recording for if he died and you killed him. We haven’t heard from him in over twenty-four hours. That’s unheard of for him.” He lifted his leg and accessed a scratched-up PipBuck. I guessed that after LittlePip and me, they were all the rage.
铁钉冷冷地瞪着她。"闭嘴。那匹赛博马会毫不犹豫地向你开枪。"他的蹄子拍打着她的角，她紧紧地坐在她的屁股上，当她的注意力被击碎的时候，她握着她的角。他的枪越来越低，红条变成了黄条，向我走来。"钢铁雨给了我们一份录音，如果他死了，而你杀了他。我们已经超过24小时没有他的消息了。这对他来说是闻所未闻的。"他抬起腿，拿起一块划伤了的皮布克。我猜自从小皮和我之后，他们就风靡一时。
From his hoof came a familiar, warm voice that made me shiver. “Hello. I don’t have much time. I’m taking a squad of soldiers into the Core and there’s a good chance I won’t make it out. I hoped that I could work the angles and take the Core for all of us, but if you’re playing this then that’s just not going to happen. So if a pony comes out of the Core that’s not with us, I’m probably dead. You need to know that the Harbingers are a trap. All of it. That Dawn and her goddess, Cognitum, are using all of you as chumps. Just like they used me.
从他的蹄子里传来一个熟悉而温暖的声音，使我颤抖。"你好。我没多少时间了。我要带一队士兵去核心区，很有可能我出不去了。我希望我可以从不同的角度，为我们所有人使用核心，但是如果你玩这个，那就不会发生了。所以如果一匹小马从核心区出来而不是和我们在一起，我可能已经死了。你需要知道"先驱者"是一个陷阱。所有的一切。道恩和她的女神科尼顿把你们当傻瓜使用。就像他们利用我一样。
“Nails, you know Security. You’ll know the real deal. I put you in charge of the Harbingers. If you meet her and she’s killed me, I want you… well… fuck… to be honest, I want you to nail her to the floor and fuck her ass a dozen times. Set up a conga line. I want you to chop her head off. And if her friends are there, kill them first.” The recording laughed. “Then kill that cybermare. The Legate. The whole damn Hoof. Kill ‘em all!
"钉子，你知道保安的。你会知道真相的。我让你负责预言者。如果你见到她，她杀了我，我要你......嗯......操......说实话，我要你把她钉在地板上，操她的屁股十几次。排成康茄舞的队形。我要你把她的头砍下来。如果她的朋友在那里，先杀了他们。"录音中的人笑了。"然后杀了那个赛博母马。使节。整个霍夫。杀光他们！
“And Blackjack, if you’re listening to this, I’ll be waiting for you!” the stallion on the recording said cheerfully. Then it clicked off.
"还有黑杰克，如果你在听这个，我会等你的!"录音里的种马兴高采烈地说。然后它就关机了。
A loud sneeze might set things off. I didn’t want to blast these guys, but I didn’t see much choice. Everything hinged on a stallion who’d nailed my hooves to the floor and raped me. Scalpel looked from Nails to me as we stared into each
一个响亮的喷嚏可能会引起爆炸。我不想打击这些家伙，但我别无选择。一切都取决于一匹把我的蹄子钉在地板上强奸我的种马。我们凝视着每个人，手术刀从指甲看向我
other’s eyes, her head jerking back and forth so quickly, I thought the snapping of her neck might set everyone off. “Well?” she shrieked.
别人的眼睛，她的头猛地前后晃动，我想她脖子的折断可能会引起大家的注意。"怎么样?"她尖叫着。
Nails kept his eyes on mine. I knew that P-21 somehow had a grenade ready to fly and Glory was set to start blasting, but so were they. It felt like I was back in Happyhorn, and I mentally begged him to be the better pony. “Keep your guns down,” he said in a low but sure voice.
他的眼睛一直盯着我。我知道P-21不知何故有一个手榴弹准备飞行和晨辉被设置开始爆破，但他们也是。感觉就像回到了Happyhorn，我在心里祈求他做一匹更好的小马。"把枪放下,"他用低沉而坚定的声音说。
“What!?” Scalpel said, her voice sharp as griffin claws on a chalkboard. “Cognitum–!”
"什么!?"解剖刀说，她的声音尖锐，就像格里芬的爪子在黑板上。"干杯!"
“Is not here! This mare is!” he snapped back. “Cognitum gave her orders for us to fight to the last. Well, I will fight to the last, but only for a mare who deserves it.” He faced me again. “Can you help us any more? We’ll be out of ammo in an hour or two and overrun if we can’t get some reinforcements and resupply. I know a dozen other squads that are just as bad off or worse.”
""不在这儿！这匹母马!"他反击了一下。"她命令我们战斗到最后一刻。好吧，我会战斗到最后一刻，但只为了一匹配得上它的母马。"他再次面对我。""你还能再帮我们吗？一两个小时后我们就没有弹药了，如果我们不能得到增援和补给，我们就会被击溃。我知道还有很多其他的队伍也一样糟糕，甚至更糟。"
I activated my broadcaster and found the tag. “Goldenblood?”
我激活了播音员，找到了标签。"金色血统?"
A minute later, he rasped, “Blackjack?”
一分钟后，他粗声粗气地说:"黑杰克?"
“I’m talking with an officer in the Harbingers at Miramare. They need our help. I want you to tell Big Daddy to reinforce them and Keeper to try and get them more ammo. Lots of them are shot to hell, too,” I informed him. A tiny smile formed in the corner of Nails’s mouth. I regarded him a moment. “Will you follow Big Daddy’s orders?” The smile disappeared. “He’s calling the shots in the fight for me. Can you?”
"我正在与米拉马雷的一名官员交谈。他们需要我们的帮助。我要你告诉大爸爸去增援他们，让守护者去多拿些弹药。他们中的许多人也被枪毙了,"我告诉他。尼尔斯的嘴角露出了一丝微笑。我打量了他一会儿。"你会听从大老爹的命令吗?"笑容消失了。"在这场比赛中，他为我发号施令。你能吗?"
“He obliterated my gang a year ago, the Nightmares,” Nails said darkly, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You forgave me. I can work with him, at least.”
"他一年前消灭了我的帮派，噩梦,"内尔斯阴沉地说，然后闭上眼睛深深地吸了一口气。"你原谅了我。至少我可以和他一起工作。"
“You… you… you…” Scalpel’s eyes bulged. “She’s going to kill you. All of us.” Was she talking about me or Cognitum? In the eyes of my enemies, was there really any difference?
"你......你......你......"手术刀的眼睛鼓了起来。"她要杀了你。我们所有人。"她是在说我还是在说认知？在我的敌人眼里，真的有什么区别吗？
“No she’s not. Because I’m trying to help,” I told the old mare.
"不，她不是。因为我想帮忙,"我告诉老母马。
“Help?” she screeched. “I remember the help you gave Flank! It was my home. Then you showed up, and it all went to shit. All because of you! Everything you
"帮忙?"她尖叫着。"我记得你给弗兰克的帮助！那是我的家。然后你出现了，一切都乱套了。都是因为你！你的一切
do gets everypony killed. You’re a fucking menace! You’re a plague! A fucking monster!”
每匹小马都会被杀。你是个该死的威胁！你是一场瘟疫！一个该死的怪物!"
I stood there, hollow. “I’m trying to do better,” was all I could say.
我站在那里，空洞的。"我在努力做得更好,"我只能说这么多。
“Ever think the whole Hoof would be better off if you didn’t?” She hissed the question like acid.
"你有没有想过，如果你不这么做，整个霍夫会过得更好?"她像酸液一样嘶嘶地回答这个问题。
“No,” Glory said immediately, stepping forward. “I know it wouldn’t be.” Scalpel balked as she went on. “This valley is like an infected wound. It’s full of poison and disease, so twisted up that you can get killed just by stepping hoof in it. But Blackjack didn’t cause that. She’s lancing this boil, draining the pus, debriding the wound, and giving us all a chance at survival. It’s not easy, and even she can’t force the healing that it’s going to take. But it’s better than slowly dying.”
"不,"晨辉立刻说，走上前去。"我知道不会的。"手术刀在她继续时犹豫不决。"这个山谷就像一个感染的伤口。它充满了毒药和疾病，如此扭曲以至于你只要走进去就会被杀死。但黑杰克不是原因。她切开疖子，排脓，清理伤口，给我们所有人一个生存的机会。这并不容易，即使是她也不能强迫自己接受治疗。但这总比慢慢死去要好。"
“Cognitum’s going to kill us all for this,” Scalpel said quietly. Then, without another word, she turned and walked down the stairs.
"为了这个,'认知'会杀了我们所有人,"解剖刀平静地说。然后，她一句话也没说，转身走下楼梯。
P-21 looked at the rest of the Harbingers. “I know you’re scared. I know you’re angry. I’m an expert on fear and hatred. And I know how difficult and hard it is to change. Steel Rain, Cognitum, and Dawn don’t change. They just want to go back to Old Equestria, with the power and the war machines and the facade of normal life. Well, we don’t. We’re trying for a New Equestria. And we, all of us, need each other to do it. I know you’re scared. I know you want to fight and kill and hurt those that hurt you. You can’t. These Brood aren’t zebras. They’re killing machines, and they’re infinite. We have a plan to stop them.”
P-21观察其余的预兆者。"我知道你很害怕。我知道你很生气。我是研究恐惧和仇恨的专家。我知道改变是多么的困难。钢铁雨，认知，和黎明不变。他们只想回到OldEquestria，拥有权力、战争机器和正常生活的外表。我们不知道。我们正在努力建设一个新的小马国。而我们，我们所有人，都需要彼此去做。我知道你很害怕。我知道你想战斗，杀戮，伤害那些伤害你的人。你不能。这些雏鸟不是斑马。它们是杀人机器，而且它们是无限的。我们有一个阻止他们的计划。"
“Do you really think you can?” Nails asked.
"你真的认为你可以吗?"美甲问道。
“We stopped them now. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think it was possible,” I told him.
"我们现在阻止了他们。如果我们认为这是不可能的，我们就不会在这里,"我告诉他。
He shook his head. “After what we did... I just wanted to die. Planned to. Then I heard that Dawn pony talking about becoming a part of something bigger. But we weren’t. We were just a collection of smaller pieces. Steel Rain talked about being a part of something stronger. But we weren’t. He just worked for a pony that knew where the arms caches were. You’re the first pony I’ve ever met who wants to make things better and get nothing for it.”
他摇了摇头。"在我们做了那些事之后......我只想死。计划。然后我听到那匹"黎明小马"说要成为更大事业的一部分。但我们没有。我们只是一个小块的收集。钢铁雨谈到成为某种更强大的东西的一部分。但我们没有。他只是为一匹知道武器藏匿处的小马工作。你是我见过的第一匹想把事情做得更好却一无所获的小马。"
“‘Cause I’m stupid,” I laughed, a little forced, as I blushed in embarrassment.
"因为我是个笨蛋,"我尴尬地脸红了，笑了，有点勉强。
“No,” Nails said with a shake of his head.
"不,"奈尔斯摇摇头说。
“Here,” P-21 said as he pulled the broadcaster off his PipBuck and gave it to Nails. “If she’s set on giving you another chance, I will too.” He paused as Nails took the broadcaster, then fixed him with a look that portended a certain, cruel death. “One. Chance. Don't waste it.”
"给你,"P-21一边说，一边把播音员从他的PipBuck上拿下来交给Nails。"如果她决定再给你一次机会，我也会的。"他停顿了一下，美甲师接过了播音员，然后用一种预示着某种残酷的死亡的眼神盯着他。"一个。偶然。不要浪费它。"
There wasn’t much to say after that. We stepped past. I hoped Big Daddy and the other Harbingers listened. I also realized something else: if Nails was no longer following the script, it wouldn’t be long before Cognitum knew I was undermining her control. Would she tell Amadi? Maybe. The Legate wouldn’t want to act till she was off the ground. He needed her to change Tom’s entry angle if the Eater was going to get its feast. He’d probably tell her about using the Core to squash me like a bug when she returned. Would she move up the timetable? Maybe. Apparently it took a lot of time to safely fill up a rocket full of highly explosive chemical and magical propellant. Rushing it tended to result in explosions, as I’d heard from Stronghoof in the meeting.
之后就没什么好说的了。我们走过去。我希望"大老爹"和其他"先驱者"听我的。我还意识到了一些其他的事情:如果美甲师不再遵循剧本，那么不久之后Cognitum就会知道我在破坏她的控制。她会告诉阿玛迪吗？也许吧。使节在她离开地面之前是不会采取行动的。他需要她改变汤姆进入的角度，如果食者要得到它的盛宴。当她回来的时候，他可能会告诉她用核心把我像一只虫子一样压扁。她会把时间表提前吗？也许吧。显然，安全地给一个装满高度爆炸性化学和魔法推进剂的火箭加满燃料需要很长时间。正如我在会上从Stronghoof那里听到的那样，仓促行事往往会导致爆炸。
As we started for the exit, I paused. “Wait,” I said to P-21 as I looked at Twist’s door. “Can you open this?”
当我们向出口出发时，我停了下来。"等等,"我看着特威斯特的门，对P-21说。"你能打开这个吗?"
“I got it.” He got out his tools and started to work on the lock.
"我明白了。"他拿出工具，开始修理锁。
Glory frowned at the door. “What is it?”
晨辉在门口皱了皱眉头。"这是什么?"
“I’m hoping to find something in here for Rampage,” I said as he worked the lock with a bobby pin and screwdriver. A second later, it popped open.
"我希望能在这里为狂暴找到些什么,"我边说边用发夹和螺丝刀敲击着锁。一秒钟后，它突然打开了。
Twist’s room was spartan, as I expected. The windows were obscured by a thin veil of grime, and dust covered everything. There were two bunk beds in the corner, and on the top one rested a teddy bear. On the computer desk were a burned-out terminal... and pictures. Twist and the Marauders. Twist celebrating atop Big Macintosh with a grin from ear to ear. Twist and Stonewing laughing at a soaking wet Applesnack sitting in a doorway with a bucket atop his head. Twist cuddled up with a red-striped zebra.
正如我所料，特威斯特的房间很简朴。窗户上覆盖着一层薄薄的污垢，灰尘覆盖了一切。角落里有两张上下铺，上铺放着一只泰迪熊。电脑桌上有一个烧坏的终端机......和一些图片。特威斯特和掠夺者。扭曲庆祝大麦金塔从耳朵到耳朵咧嘴一笑。斯特温和斯特温看到一个浑身湿透的苹果包坐在门口，头上顶着一个桶，哈哈大笑。小扭扭抱着一只红条纹的斑马。
And Twist with her filly.
和她的小母马扭来扭去。
I’d seen her several times; it was the same filly Rampage reverted to every time she was disintegrated. In the pictures, she went from a tiny foal to a tiny filly. In another, she suddenly had red stripes too, and a little note on the picture read ‘Shu needs to hide her magic zebra dyes better.’ The last picture was Twist embracing her striped daughter.
我见过她好几次，每次她崩溃的时候，同样的小姑娘狂暴又回来了。在照片中，她从一只小马驹变成了一只小母马。在另一张照片中，她突然也有了红色的条纹，照片上的一个小字写着"舒需要更好地隐藏她的神奇斑马染料。"最后一张照片是特威斯特抱着她有条纹的女儿。
This was it. Proof that Rampage wasn’t just some mix of souls. She’d been a real filly once. The talisman might have prolonged her life, but the grin on that painted filly almost matched the one on my friend for eagerness and energy. I levitated the picture...
就是这个。证明了狂暴不仅仅是灵魂的混合体。她曾经是一匹真正的小母马。这个护身符可能延长了她的生命，但是那个涂着小雌马的微笑几乎和我朋友身上那个充满渴望和活力的微笑相匹配。我把画悬浮起来。
And spotted the memory orb behind it.
发现了它后面的记忆球。
“Blackjack, you’re not thinking of going into that thing, are you?” Glory asked.
"黑杰克，你不会是想玩那东西吧?"晨辉问道。
“I need to. If I can give Rampage a reason to live, she won’t have a reason to help Cognitum anymore,” I said. “If I’m out for too long, carry me back, please.” I touched the orb to my horn before there could be any further argument.
"我需要。如果我能给狂暴一个活下去的理由，她就没有理由再去帮助认知了。"如果我出去的时间太长，请把我带回去。"在进一步争论之前，我用我的号角碰了碰那个球。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I was thrust into the body of an earth pony mare. Twist, I guessed. Her hornless body felt tough and strong; how much of that was due to her earth ponyness and how much was from the talisman inside her, I couldn’t say. As she raced down the hall of the base, sirens wailed outside. Muted explosions sounded in the distance. She ran into the command center, starting to speak before she was all the way through the door. “Lieutenant Flash and Captain Grapevine are down. Zebra snipers. I got the snipers, but...” she started to say, and then she spotted the rotund Colonel Cupcake slouched in a chair. “Sir?”
我被塞进了一匹地球上的母马的身体里。特维斯，我猜的。她那没有角质的身体感觉强壮有力;这在多大程度上是因为她的地球笨重，又有多大程度上是因为她体内的护身符，我说不上来。当她沿着基地的大厅跑下去时，外面响起了警报。远处传来柔和的爆炸声。她跑进指挥中心，还没走到门口就开始说话了。"飞侠中尉和葡萄藤上尉受伤了。斑马狙击手。我找到了狙击手，但是......"她开始说，然后她看到了圆胖的纸杯蛋糕上校懒洋洋地坐在椅子上。"先生?"
“They’ve gotten Canterlot,” the overweight brown stallion said in a hollow voice, a pained smile on his lips. “Some kind of chemical weapon like the one deployed at Littlehorn.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “And the bastards claimed they weren’t behind it.”
"他们得到了坎特罗特,"超重的棕色种马说，在一个空洞的声音，他的嘴角上带着痛苦的微笑。"某种类似部署在Littlehorn的化学武器。"他闭上眼睛，摇了摇头。"那些混蛋声称他们不是幕后黑手。"
“The Princesses?” Twist asked.
"公主们?"特威斯特问道。
“Presumed dead. It’s not clear. Cloudsdale Command and Control is gone. Earth Pony Command is gone. General Steelspire gave orders for megaspells to be
"假定死亡。还不清楚。克劳斯代尔指挥控制中心已经不存在了。地球小马指挥部已经不存在了。斯蒂尔斯皮尔将军下令将megaspels
deployed as fast as possible, but her command went silent ten minutes ago. The MASEBS is up, but patchy, and there’s no word from any of the ministries.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Pegasus Air Command is ordering all pegasi to pull back to the clouds and seal the skies.”
尽快部署，但她的指挥在10分钟前停止了。Masebs正在上升，但不完整，而且没有任何一个部门发表任何声明。"他闭上眼睛深深地吸了一口气。"帕伽索斯空军司令部命令所有飞马座的人撤回到云层中封锁天空。"
“They can’t do that!” Twist shouted. “We need them!”
"他们不能这么做!"特威斯特喊道。"我们需要他们!"
“They’re doing it. Rainbow Dash gave orders to help us, but they were countermanded. Since the military doesn’t answer to the M.o.A.… we’re on our own.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Twist, you need to evacuate.”
"他们正在这么做。彩虹·达什命令帮助我们，但是他们被收回了。既然军方不听命于m.o.a.......我们只能靠自己了。"他叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。"特威斯特，你需要撤离"
“Evacuate?” she stammered. “Evacuate where? With the skies closed, there’s nowhere left to go! The stables are sealed. Hoofington is silent. I can’t reach anyone there. The lines are open, but everypony is gone!”
"疏散?"她结结巴巴地说。"疏散到哪里？天空关闭了，没有地方可去了！马厩是密封的。胡芬顿沉默了。我联系不上那里的任何人。热线已经开通，但是每匹小马都不见了!"
“Go to the Highlands. I doubt the zebras will waste a missile on played-out mines. You might have a chance if you go now and hurry.” He gave a sad smile and saluted her. “It has been an honor, Sergeant Twist, but I must relieve you of your duty. Your final orders are to get your daughter out of here and keep her alive at all costs.”
"去苏格兰高地。我怀疑那些斑马不会把导弹浪费在废弃的地雷上。如果你现在就走，抓紧时间，也许还有机会。"他苦笑了一下，向她致敬。"这是我的荣幸，特威斯特中士，但我必须解除你的职务。你最后的命令是把你女儿带出去，不惜一切代价让她活着。"
“Sir...” she began in a broken voice.
"先生......"她断断续续地说。
He looked over at the consoles and terminals, the speakers crackling with static. “I’ll remain here. Maybe we can get some organization out of this chaos. Go.”
他看着控制台和终端机，扬声器发出噼啪的静电声。"我会留在这里。也许我们可以从混乱中找到一些组织。去吧。"
Twist stiffened and snapped a stiff salute with a tear running down her cheek. He stood and returned it with a kind smile. “Permission to... to...” He gave a little nod. She rushed forward and gave him a quick, fierce hug. “It all turned out wrong, sir...”
她扭得僵直，厉声敬礼，泪水顺着脸颊流了下来。他站起来，带着和蔼的微笑回敬了他。"请允许......"他点了点头。她冲上前去，给了他一个迅速而激烈的拥抱。"结果一切都错了，先生......"
“It may work out in the end,” he replied and released her, regarding a radar display peppered with little flashing dots. “Now hurry. There’s another wave of balefire missiles inbound. They might be hitting Grimhoof again, but they might be heading here.”
"最后可能会解决的,"他回答说，然后放了她，因为雷达显示器上点缀着闪烁的小点。"现在快点。又有一波导弹发射。他们可能会再次袭击格里姆霍夫，但他们可能会朝这里来。"
“Goodbye, Colonel. I hope...” but she didn’t finish the statement. Instead, she turned and rushed away from him, back the way she came.
"再见，上校。我希望......"但是她还没有完成陈述。相反，她转身离开了他，回到了她来的路上。
In the front entrance, behind sandbag barricades, were a few soldiers making a
在前门，在沙袋路障后面，有几个士兵正在做一个
feeble, futile defense. They had to know it was doomed, but what else did they have? Twist scampered up to the third floor. “Peppermint? Peppermint!” she shouted, looking around the room.
软弱无力的徒劳无益的辩护。他们必须知道这是注定的，但是他们还有什么？特威斯特蹦蹦跳跳地上了三楼。"薄荷？薄荷糖!"她喊道，环顾四周。
“Mommy!” the filly shouted as she scampered out from under the bed and hugged her fiercely. “I’m scared! What’s going on?”
"妈妈!"小母马一边叫着，一边从床底下蹦出来，狠狠地拥抱着她。"我害怕！怎么回事?"
Twist’s body shuddered as her lips curled in a smile. Her limbs tightened on the red striped filly’s form. “It’s okay... I’m going to take care of you... take care of you...” she murmured.
当特威斯特的嘴唇微笑时，她的身体颤抖着。她的四肢紧贴着红条纹的小母马的身体。"没关系......我会照顾你......照顾你......"她低声说。
“Mommy! You’re squishing me!” Peppermint squealed.
"妈妈！你把我压扁了!"薄荷尖叫着。
That seemed to shake Twist out of it as she released her. “I’m sorry, Mint. Get your gear, baby. We need to go. We’re going on a camping trip in the Highlands. It’ll be safe there.” Mint nodded once and ran to the closet, pulling out a filly’s saddlebags and immediately wiggling into them. Twist rushed to the desk and pulled out a pack of photographs. Her eyes lingered on the larger pictures in the frames, but she just stuffed the pack into her pocket. “Come on. We have to hurry, honey. It’s not safe here.”
这似乎在她释放自己的时候震撼了特威斯特。"对不起，梅特。拿上你的装备，宝贝。我们得走了。我们要去苏格兰高地露营。那里很安全。"敏特点了点头，然后跑到壁橱里，拉出一匹小母马的鞍袋，马上扭动着。特威斯特冲到书桌前，拿出一包照片。她的目光停留在镜框里较大的照片上，但她只是把包装塞进了口袋。"来吧。我们得快点，亲爱的。这里不安全。"
“I thought you said you’d keep the bad zebras away, Mommy,” Peppermint said as Twist scooped her onto her back and started from the room. “Wait! You forgot Mr. Ripper Killer Death Machine!”
"我以为你说你会赶走那些坏斑马，妈妈,"当特威斯特把她抱到背上，从房间里出发时，薄荷说道。"等等！你忘了开膛手杀手先生的死亡机器!"
Twist didn’t stop. “We’ll come back for him, Minty. Hold tight,” she said as she raced down the stairs. “Now, what do we do if we’re attacked?”
特维斯特没有停下来。"我们会回来找他的，明蒂。抓紧了,"她边说边跑下楼梯。"现在，如果我们受到攻击，我们该怎么办?"
“Get off your back and hide,” she replied at once.
"赶紧躲起来,"她马上回答。
“And if I’m attacked and you see an opening?” Twist asked briskly.
"如果我被攻击了，而你看到了机会?"特威斯特轻快地问道。
“Knees. Eyes. Private bits. Hit ‘em as hard as I can!” Peppermint replied fiercely.
"膝盖。眼睛。私人信息。用尽全力打他们!"薄荷激烈地回答。
“Good girl,” she said, reaching into her pocket for a tin of Mint-als. She popped two into her mouth and chewed furiously. The world became sharper and clearer she trotted down to the entrance of the command center and froze. The ponies that had been at the barricade were now dead. “Trouble, sweetie,” she murmured. Without a work of argument, Peppermint slipped off her back and
"好姑娘,"她说着，从口袋里掏出一罐薄荷糖。她把两个放进嘴里，疯狂地嚼着。世界变得越来越清晰，她小跑着来到指挥中心的入口处，呆住了。原来在街垒里的那些小马现在都死了。"有麻烦了，亲爱的,"她喃喃地说。没有争论的工作，薄荷从她的背上溜走了
backed up as Twist stepped forward, all her senses on high alert.
当特威斯特向前走时，她的所有感官都高度警觉。
Twist immediately froze, her ears twitching a moment. Then she lunged to the side, her hooves wrapping around thin air that immediately shimmered and manifested into a zebra. He shouted something at her in Zebra, and her hooves twisted with incredible force, snapping his neck. Something screamed behind her, and kicks designed to shatter bones slammed into her back, driving her to the ground. Twist turned to look at a second zebra draped in a mistcloak.
扭动立刻僵住了，她的耳朵抽搐了一会儿。然后她冲到一边，她的蹄子在稀薄的空气中绕来绕去，立刻闪闪发光，变成了一只斑马。他用斑马的姿势朝她喊了些什么，她的蹄子以难以置信的力量扭曲着，扭断了他的脖子。有什么东西在她身后尖叫着，并且用脚踢打她的背部，以粉碎她的骨头，把她推倒在地。特威斯特转身看了看另一个披着斗篷的斑马。
Then Peppermint dove at the zebra, wrapping her limbs around one hind leg and biting down hard on the ligament attached to his hock. He cried out, turning away from Twist for a critical second to deal with the nuisance. Twist turned, hooked a hoof around his neck, and pulled his head back sharply, nearly making his ears touch his rump. A vicious blow to his throat crushed his trachea and sent him down in a gagging, gurgling heap. Peppermint extracted herself from the leg, grinning up at her with bloody lips.
然后Peppermint扑向斑马，用四肢缠住斑马的一条后腿，重重咬住了斑马飞节上的韧带。他大叫起来，转身离开扭扭转了关键的一秒钟来对付这个讨厌的家伙。扭转身体，用蹄子钩住它的脖子，把它的头猛地往后拉，几乎使它的耳朵碰到它的臀部。他喉咙被狠狠地一击，气管被挤破了，他被挤成了一堆呕吐物。薄荷从腿上抽出身来，用血淋淋的嘴唇朝她咧嘴笑着。
“Aunty Shu Shu taught me that one!” she said brightly.
"舒阿姨教我的!"她明快地说。
“Come on, Minty. On my back again,” she said as she scooped her up and went running out into a world of chaos. Several long buildings were ablaze. Wagons lay scattered over the field, and several hangars had collapsed. Missiles streaked overhead from the east and south, trailing smoke as they slammed into more buildings beyond the tree line. Far to the south, there was an immense red glow, like a piece of the sun resting on the earth. A megaspell?
"来吧，敏蒂。她一边说，一边把她抱起来，跑到一个混乱的世界里去了。几座长长的建筑物着火了。四轮马车散落在田野上，几个机库已经倒塌。从东面和南面飞来的导弹在我们头顶上空飞过，尾部冒着浓烟，它们猛烈地撞击到树木线以外的更多建筑物上。在遥远的南方，有一个巨大的红色辉光，像一块太阳休息在地球上。一个巨无霸？
“We got to hurry, Minty. We’re going... somewhere. Somewhere safe,” she said as she rushed across the field towards a smoldering tank. Ponies lay scattered about as bullets zipped back and forth, buzzing like deadly lead bees.
"我们得快点了，敏蒂。我们要去...某个地方。一个安全的地方,"她一边说着，一边穿过田野奔向一个冒着烟的坦克。小马四散地躺在地上，子弹来回地拉着拉链，像致命的铅蜂一样嗡嗡作响。
“It’s okay, Momma. I’m not scared,” Peppermint said in her ear as they fled. “Aunty Shu said not to be.”
"没事的，妈妈。我不害怕,"他们逃走时，薄荷在她耳边说。"舒阿姨说不要。"
As they were passing an abandoned tank, a zebra with bat wings strafed the ground, machine guns chattering as lines of bullets tore through the field. One pierced right through Twist’s leg, but as she put her weight down, I could feel the muscle and bone shifting to heal the injury. The bat zebra wheeled back around, and Twist ducked inside the tank.
当他们经过一辆废弃的坦克时，一只长着蝙蝠翅膀的斑马在地上扫射，一排排子弹穿过田野，机枪发出格格的声音。其中一根刺穿了特威斯特的大腿，但当她放下体重时，我能感觉到肌肉和骨头在移动，从而治愈了伤口。斑马蝙蝠转过身来，扭扭钻进了坦克。
“It’s okay... not scared...” Peppermint whimpered on her back.
"没关系......不用害怕......"薄荷在她背上呜咽着。
“That’s right...” Twist began, and then she felt a hot, wet wash on her back. “Peppermint?” No answer. Carefully she slipped the filly from her back and saw the hole punched from spine to chest, right next to her heart.
"没错......"特威斯特开始说话，然后她感到背上有一股又热又湿的水流。"薄荷?"没有回答。她小心翼翼地把小母马从背上放下来，看见那个洞从脊椎刺到胸口，就在她的心脏旁边。
“Peppermint!” she screamed. “No... no! Not you too! Peppermint!” She shook as she saw the blood leaking out of Peppermint’s mouth. “No. Please no...” she wept. Then her eyes focused on the hole in her hind leg closing before her eyes. “Peppermint...”
"胡椒薄荷!"她尖叫着。"不......不！你不会也是吧！薄荷糖!"当她看到薄荷糖的血从嘴里漏出来时，她吓得发抖。"没有。请不要......"她哭了。然后她的眼睛聚焦在她的后腿上的洞闭合在她的眼前。"薄荷......"
She reached down and seized a combat knife that had fallen on the floor and turned it towards herself. “Peppermint...” she whispered, and then she rammed the knife into her chest with a scream. As the blade passed through her flesh, it began to heal immediately. Tears running down her cheek, she cut again and again, struggling to excise the device implanted within her chest. The tip of the knife scraped against something, and she pressed deeper. “Hold on, Peppermint... hold on...” she whimpered. She pried hard, levering against her ribs. Something tore, and a glowing glob connected to tendrils of flesh came free. Gasping and whimpering, she cut the very last connection to the heart.
她弯下腰，抓起一把掉在地上的战刀，转过身来。"胡椒薄荷......"她低声说，然后尖叫一声，把刀捅进自己的胸口。当刀刃穿过她的肉体时，伤口立刻开始愈合。眼泪顺着她的脸颊流下来，她一次又一次地割伤，努力切除植入她胸腔的装置。刀尖擦到什么东西上了，她又往下压。"等等，薄荷糖......等等......"她呜咽着说。她使劲地撬，用胳膊顶着肋骨。什么东西撕裂了，一团连接着肉体卷须的发光的液体自由了。她喘着气，呜咽着，切断了通往心脏的最后一根电线。
Abruptly, I was plunged into darkness. Then, slowly, I came to... only now I was in an aching filly’s body. Peppermint groggily got to her hooves and saw her mother as she lay there on her back, looking at pictures. The sounds of shooting had softened a little, and a terrible calm was filling the air. “Mommy?” Peppermint asked, her eyes wide and fearful at the weak way she slumped back against the wall of the tank.
突然，我陷入了黑暗之中。然后，慢慢地，我苏醒了......只是现在我躺在一匹疼痛的小母马的身体里。薄荷摇摇晃晃地走到她的蹄子前，看到她的母亲躺在那里，仰面看着照片。射击的声音变得柔和了一些，空气中弥漫着一种可怕的平静。"妈妈?"佩珀敏特问道，她的眼睛睁得大大的，害怕地看着自己软弱无力地靠在坦克的墙上。
“You’re okay,” Twist whispered, stroking her mane with a bloody hoof. “You’re going to be okay...”
"你没事的,"特威斯特低声说，用血淋淋的蹄子抚摸着她的鬃毛。"你会没事的......"
Peppermint stood up and saw the horrible hole in her mom’s chest. Her eyes rose to Twist’s as tears ran down her cheeks. “You’re not. You need medicine, Mommy. You’re hurt.”
薄荷站了起来，看到了她妈妈胸口上那个可怕的洞。当泪水顺着她的脸颊流下时，她的眼睛上升到了特威斯特的水平。"你不是。你需要药，妈妈。你受伤了。"
“Shhh... I’m fine,” she whispered. “Such a brave and strong girl. I want you to promise me. Promise me you’ll live. That you’ll have a house and a family and a life. Please...”
"嘘......我没事,"她低声说。"多么勇敢坚强的女孩啊。我要你答应我。答应我你不会死。你会有房子，有家庭，有生活。求你了......"
“I promise Mommy. I promise. But you need a doctor, Mommy!” she begged, sniffling.
"我向妈妈保证。我保证。但是你需要医生，妈妈!"她哭着求我。
“Shh... shh... it’s okay...” she whispered as she kept petting her mane.
"嘘......嘘......没事的......"她轻声说着，不停地抚摸着自己的鬃毛。
“It’s not okay. You’re hurt!” She sniffed. “I don’t want you to die!”
"这不好。你受伤了!"她吸了一口气。"我不希望你死!"
“Shh…” Twist said quietly. “It’s okay. Sometimes mommies get hurt to save the lives of their babies.”
"嘘......"特威斯特平静地说。"没关系。有时妈妈们为了救自己孩子的性命而受伤。"
Peppermint hugged her as she wept, and then the hoof stroking her mane stilled. “Mommy?” She pulled away, looking at her still form. At the other hoof holding photographs to her chest. “Mommy!” A smile lingered on the corner of her mouth. Then there was a colossal roar and a terrible pain in her head, and everything returned to black.
当她哭泣的时候，薄荷拥抱了她，然后马蹄抚摸着她的鬃毛停止了。"妈妈?"她走开了，看着自己静止的身体。另一只蹄子把照片抱在胸前。"妈妈!"她的嘴角挂着一丝微笑。接着，她的脑袋里发出一声巨大的吼叫和一阵可怕的疼痛，一切又恢复了黑暗。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I came out of the memory weeping. It hadn’t been a long one, a few minutes at the most. “I’m getting too old for this,” I muttered, remembering the feel of that probing knife. But now it was clear why she couldn’t remember who she was: that memory had been removed. I could only imagine the anguish Twist must have felt at Shujaa’s death, only to carry her inside her. But what guilt had Peppermint felt, promising to live to a dying mother, and then wanting to end it after she killed her own baby? But it was as Rampage herself had said: not knowing sucks.
我哭着从记忆中走出来。这并不是一个漫长的过程，最多也就几分钟。"我年纪大了，干不了这个了,"我咕哝着，想起了那把刺刀的感觉。但是现在很明显，为什么她不记得自己是谁了:那段记忆已经被抹去了。我只能想象特威斯特在舒贾死后一定感受到的痛苦，只是为了把她带进她的身体。但是薄荷又有什么罪恶感呢?她承诺要活到一个垂死的母亲身边，然后又想在她杀死自己的孩子之后结束这一切？但正如狂暴自己所说:不知道糟透了。
“Rampage... needs our help,” I muttered as I looked around the tight quarters. Of course Twist would want her daughter close at hoof and in a safer home than that little outbuilding towards the end. And Cupcake would let her keep her here, as the last Marauder. I didn’t even know if it was possible to help Rampage at this point...
"横冲直撞......需要我们的帮助,"我低声说，同时环顾四周。当然，特威斯特希望她的女儿住在附近，住在一个安全的房子里，而不是最后那个小小的外屋。纸托蛋糕会让她留在这里作为最后一个掠夺者。我甚至不知道现在是否有可能帮助狂暴..。
But I had to try.
但我必须试一试。
* * *
* * *
We returned to Star House. Charity had delivered several cardboard boxes of supplies. Healing potions, 12.7mm and 12 gauge ammunition in a variety of flavors, food and bottles of water, spark grenades and Wonderglue. And, of course, a bill. ‘To be paid if you live’ was scribbled at the bottom. Charity might have only been a filly, but she’d helped with this fight more than I suspected she could imagine.
我们回到星宫。慈善机构已经运送了几个纸板箱的物资。治疗药剂，12.7毫米和12规格的弹药在各种口味，食物和水瓶，火花榴弹和神奇胶水。当然，还有一张账单。底部潦草地写着"如果你活着就会得到报酬"。查瑞蒂可能只是一匹小母马，但是她对这场争斗的帮助超出了我的想象。
Glory, P-21, and Scotch Tape all had similar packages waiting for them. Glory was using some spark batteries to ‘optimally charge’ her gem cartridges. P-21 was inspecting each 40mm shell for Persuasion. Scotch Tape examined her array of tools, spanners, hammers, duct tape, Wonderglue, turpentine, and other equipment. Nopony talked.
晨辉、P-21和透明胶带都有类似的包裹等着他们。晨辉是使用一些火花电池"最佳充电"她的宝石墨盒。P-21正在检查每枚40毫米炮弹的说服力。透明胶带检查了她的一系列工具，扳手，锤子，管道胶带，Wonderglue，松节油和其他设备。Nopony说话了。
P-21 cleared his throat.
P-21清了清嗓子。
“I’m coming with you, Daddy,” Scotch Tape declared flatly. “Don’t tell me to stay where it’s safe, ‘cause nowhere is. I’m coming and I’m helping and that’s that.”
"我和你一起去，爸爸,"透明胶带平淡地宣布。"不要告诉我呆在安全的地方，因为没有地方是安全的。我来了，我来帮忙，就这样。"
P-21 froze, mouth open, then closed it again. He glanced at me, but all I could do was smile and shrug. Send her away or take her with us, either way was risky. “Stick close to me,” he told her. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” The words hung over us like a shroud. I could only focus on loading twelve gauge slugs into the ammo drums.
P-21僵住了，嘴张开，然后又合上了。他瞥了我一眼，但我能做的只有微笑和耸肩。要么把她送走，要么把她带走，不管怎样都是危险的。"跟紧我,"他告诉她。"我不希望你出什么事。"这些话像裹尸布一样笼罩着我们。我只能集中精力往弹药桶里装十二口径的子弹。
Then the door opened, and Boo sauntered in. I immediately smiled. “Hey! There you are. I wondered where you’d got off to.”
然后门开了，布布悠闲地走了进来。我立刻笑了。"嘿！你在这啊。我不知道你去哪儿了。"
Boo beamed a smile and then turned and said outside, “Come’n!”
布笑了笑，然后转过身来，在外面说:"来吧!"
“What...?” I began to say when Homage, Calamity, Velvet, and Ditzy sauntered in. “Oh, um, hi,” I said weakly. “Is something the--”
"什么......?"当"敬意"、"灾难"、"天鹅绒"和"迪兹"漫步走进来的时候，我开始说。"哦，嗯，嗨,"我虚弱地说。"有什么......"
But they weren’t the end. After them came Big Daddy, Brutus, Candlewick, Dazzle, and Storm Front. “Where do you want us to put this grub?” Big Daddy asked as he gestured to boxes of food carried casually on Brutus’s back.
但它们并不是结束。紧随其后的是BigDaddy，Brutus，Candlewick，Dazzle和StormFront。"你想让我们把这些食物放在哪里?"大老爹边问边指着布鲁特斯背上随意背着的几盒食物。
“Um... over there,” I murmured, gesturing at the long dining table. “But we have more than...”
"嗯......在那边,"我低声说，指着长长的餐桌。"但我们拥有的不止......"
Again my words died out as Triage, Sagittarius, Virgo, a red earth pony mare with a flame cutie mark I guessed was Aries, and a griffin I guessed was the new Leo trotted in. Triage and Sagittarius levitated a wooden tub with Capricorn and Pisces waving at me. “Tell me where I can set them down. They’re heavy,” Triage grumbled. Thrush staggered in after them with her crew carrying boxes of sloshing bottles.
我的话再一次消失了，因为分流，射手座，处女座，一个红色的地球小马有火焰可爱的标志我猜是白羊座，和一个狮鹫我猜是新狮子座小跑进来。伤检分类法和射手座让木盆悬浮起来，摩羯座和双鱼座向我招手。"告诉我在哪里可以放下它们。它们很重,"伤检分类医生抱怨道。画眉摇摇晃晃地跟在他们后面，她的船员扛着装有晃动瓶子的箱子。
“I... ah... what are you?” I stammered. But there were still more ponies. Grace and Splendid followed with a protective Pain Train and a worried looking Charm, her head still bandaged. Stronghoof, Crumpets, Psalm, Chicanery, and Farsight funneled in after them. Storm Chaser, Mare Do Well, Twister, Boomer, Doctor Morningstar, and Lightning Dancer entered along with Dusk, Moonshadow, Lambent, and Lucent; the latter four immediately went to Morning Glory. Charity, Bottlecap, and Keeper arrived with even more food on their back, and behind them was a horde of colts and fillies, Sonata and Adagio bearing Octavia on their backs.
"我.....。.啊...你是什么?"我结结巴巴地说。但是还有更多的小马。优雅和灿烂紧随其后的是保护性的止痛列车和一个忧心忡忡的护身符，她的头上仍然缠着绷带。斯特朗霍夫、松饼、赞美诗、墨西哥菜和法赛特跟在他们后面。风暴追逐者、玛丽做得好、龙卷风、婴儿潮、晨星博士、闪电舞者和黄昏、月影、兰本特、朗讯一起进来了;后面四个立刻进入了牵牛花。查瑞特、博特凯普和管理员背着更多的食物来了，他们身后是一群小马和小雌马，背上背着奥克塔维亚的奏鸣曲和慢板。
The house overflowed, and so the crowd spilled outside. I saw Whisper and Stygius, Tenebra and Persephone, and the still blind Hades clustered together with the yellow pegasus trying to get the four close to the others. The ghouls Windclop the mayor, Willow the security mare, and Velvet the... what did you call a pony who made naughty underwear anyway?... along with Boing. Harpica and the ghoul fillies and colts immediately joined them in polite and civilized conversation. Rover, Gnarr, and Fifi kept a little pocket of clear space around themselves as still others arrived. Silver Spoon, Xanthe, Carrion, Cerberus, and Snails trotted and floated up to the house as well. I spotted a restored Sweetie Bot alongside a holographic Apple Bloom whose appearance flickered in and out to reveal the mechanical filly beneath. Applebot? But they...
房子里人满为患，于是外面的人群涌了出来。我看到了Whisper和Stygius，Tenebra和Persephone，还有仍然失明的冥王哈迪斯和黄色飞马聚集在一起，试图让他们四个靠近其他人。食尸鬼Windclop的市长，柳安全的母马，和丝绒的...你是怎么称呼一个小马，谁做淘气的内衣呢？和波音一起。哈皮卡和食尸鬼小雌马马上加入了他们礼貌文明的谈话。罗孚、格纳尔和菲菲在自己周围留了一小块空地，其他人也来了。银匙、黄丝、腐肉、刻耳柏洛斯和蜗牛小跑着，也飘到了屋子里。我发现了一个修复过的小甜心机器人，旁边是一个全息的苹果花，它的外表闪烁着，露出了下面的机械小雌马。苹果机器人？但是他们..。
Horrifying images of Cognitum packing them with balefire eggs and detonating them in the crowd or spying through their mechanical eyes to find the perfect time and place to fire a Raptor’s guns swept through my head. “It’s okay, Blackjack,” Triage said from beside me with a nod to Rover off in the crowd. My fears must have been apparent on my face as I gaped at the pair of machines. “We checked them as soon as they showed up. They’re not broadcasting to anyone. No nasty surprises, either. Some funny tech in the white one, but if they get out of hand…” She casually checked the pack on her beam pistol, and Rover scraped his formidable metal claws together. “They won't be any trouble.”
在我脑海中，可怕的画面是Cognitum将它们装满火鸡蛋，然后在人群中引爆它们，或者通过它们机械的眼睛窥探，找到最佳时间和地点来发射一只猛禽的枪。"没关系，黑杰克,"伤员分类处理小组在我旁边对人群中的罗孚点了点头。看着这两台机器，我的恐惧一定表现在脸上。"他们一出现，我们就对他们进行了检查。他们没有向任何人广播。也没有令人讨厌的惊喜。一些有趣的技术在白色的，但如果他们得到了控制......"她不经意地检查了她的横梁手枪包，和罗孚刮了他强大的金属爪子在一起。"他们不会惹麻烦的。"
That was a little bit of a relief, even if it didn’t explain where they came from. Definitely something I should ask about, but if they were safe, it could wait. More urgent was the question of where… everyone here came from. Almost everyone I knew was gathered around us. “What’s...” I looked down at Boo. “What’s going on?”
这让我松了一口气，尽管这并不能解释他们是从哪里来的。这当然是我应该问的问题，但是如果他们是安全的，我们可以等等。更紧迫的问题是......这里的每个人都是从哪里来的。几乎所有我认识的人都聚集在我们周围。"什么......"我低头看着阿布。"怎么回事?"
“Isn’t it obvious?” Big Daddy said, “Tomorrow morning we’re going to battle.”
"这不是很明显吗?"大爸爸说,"明天早上我们要去打仗。"
“So we have two choices,” Storm Chaser said deeply. “To ponder the imminent battle ahead with sobriety and grim contemplation.”
"所以我们有两个选择,"StormChaser深刻地说。"以冷静和冷酷的思考来思考即将到来的战斗。"
“Or get shitfaced drunk and spit in the face of Death and enjoy ourselves ‘cause tomorrow we’re fucked!” Thrush exclaimed.
"或者喝得烂醉，朝死神的脸上吐口水，享受我们的生活，因为明天我们就完了!"画眉叫道。
“And while we know you might prefer the former,” Homage said with a sad smile.
"虽然我们知道你可能更喜欢前者,"霍梅特带着悲伤的微笑说。
“The latter will probably do you a whole lot more good,” Triage commented around her cigarette. “Us, too.”
"后者可能会给你带来更多的好处,"伤检分类法对她的香烟评论道。"我们也是。"
“So...” The white blank grinned eagerly, then leapt up in the air and yelled, “Leeeeet’s... party!”
"那么......"白色的空白热情地笑了笑，然后跳起来在空中喊道,"莉依特的......聚会!"
Once again, Star House was home to a celebration grossly inappropriate to the Wasteland. It was a rude gesture at despair and sober reality. Any second, the nightmare might begin. Heck, if I were Cognitum and still in the Core, I’d incinerate the whole house and all of us in one blast. But none of that seemed to matter here. People needed celebration and joy in the Wasteland. And so while I tried to smile and enjoy myself, I kept turning a wary eye out for a flash of silver or an ominous red alicorn shape.
星宫再一次成为了一场庆祝活动的场所，而这场庆祝活动完全不适合在荒原举行。这是对绝望和清醒的现实的一种粗鲁的姿态。随时，噩梦可能开始。见鬼，如果我是认知神，而且还在核心，我会一下子把整个房子和我们所有人都烧成灰。但在这里，这些似乎都无关紧要。人们需要庆祝和欢乐的荒原。因此，当我试图微笑并享受自己的时候，我不停地用机警的眼睛寻找银色的闪光或者不吉利的红色橡果形状。
But that didn’t mean others couldn’t have fun.
但这并不意味着其他人不能享受乐趣。
The two strange ponies from Flank had set up a table and plugged cables into Applebot, who’d deployed two large speakers from her sides, and begun to play thumping, lively music with Sweetie Bot providing ‘live’ vocals. I just hoped they were waterproof in case the Hoofington weather decided to join this party too. Whisper tried to drag Tenebra into the middle of everyone to dance, but the batpony pulled free and made off into the crowd; instead, Whisper returned to Stygius who, to his credit, gave as good as he got on the impromptu dance floor. Was it just me, though, or was Whisper a little... well… radiant? It was probably just me. Storm Front and P-21 sat off to the side, drinking beer and nodding to each other. Brutus, Stronghoof, and Pain Train engaged in a flex off. Charity and Bottlecap abstained from the festivities but seemed to enjoy keeping the food and drink flowing. Repeatedly, Charity tried to tally up the drinks and meals served, and repeatedly Bottlecap stopped her, reminding her sibling that this was on the house. It seemed to cause Charity pain.
来自弗兰克的两匹奇怪的小马已经架起了一张桌子，把电缆连接到Applebot上，Applebot从两侧安装了两个大喇叭，开始用SweetieBot提供的现场声音播放震耳欲聋的活泼音乐。我只是希望它们是防水的，以防胡芬顿的天气也决定参加这个聚会。斯威尔斯试图把特内布拉拉拉到人群中去跳舞，但是那匹蝙蝠马挣脱了束缚，跑到人群中去了。是只有我这么觉得，还是Whisper有点...呃...容光焕发？可能只有我一个人。"暴风前线"和P-21坐在一边，喝着啤酒，互相点头。布鲁图斯，斯特拉霍夫，和疼痛训练参与了一个弯曲关闭。和Bottlecap没有参加庆祝活动，但似乎很享受保持食物和饮料的流动性。一次又一次，Charity试图统计所提供的饮料和膳食，Bottlecap一次又一次地阻止她，提醒她的兄弟姐妹这是免费的。这似乎给慈善机构带来了痛苦。
Calamity, Chicanery, Mare Do Well, and Storm Chaser talked about the future of the Enclave and Thunderhead. Homage and Velvet chatted with Grace and Splendid; what did you call a collective of unicorns? Boing and Charm sat off to the side, looking dour, before Harpica brought over some of her ghoul children to talk. Hades almost appeared to be having a taste test wearing his bandages as he sampled dishes provided by his wife. Being beaten in his own throne room seemed to have done wonders for his disposition.
灾难，诈骗，母马做得好，和风暴追逐者谈论未来的飞地和雷头。敬意和天鹅绒与优雅和灿烂交谈;你称一个独角兽集体为什么？波因和查姆坐在一边，看起来阴沉沉的，然后哈皮卡带着几个食尸鬼的孩子过来说话。当哈迪斯品尝他妻子提供的菜肴时，他看上去几乎像是穿着绷带在进行品尝试验。在他自己的宝座上挨打似乎对他的性情产生了奇迹般的影响。
As I wandered around, I kept hearing bits of conversation. Things were so crowded and wonderfully chaotic that I could eavesdrop on them without even trying. What did they call it? Mingling? Something like that.
当我四处闲逛时，我不断听到一些对话。东西是如此拥挤和奇妙的混乱，我可以偷听他们，甚至没有尝试。他们怎么说来着？混在一起？差不多吧。
When they were between songs, I trotted over to Applebot and Sweetie Bot. “You... the two of you... I thought you were scrap, and you... well... were scrapped too!” I couldn't believe it. Sweetie Bot was in bits! But now there wasn't a mark on her. Did Horse have a spare or something? And Applebot… Even ignoring what happened to her body, wasn’t she just Cognitum in disguise?
在他们唱歌的间隙，我小跑到Applebot和SweetieBot。"你......你们两个......我以为你们是废物，而你......嗯......也被废弃了!"我简直不敢相信。甜心机器人碎成了碎片！但是现在她身上已经没有伤痕了。马儿有备用的还是什么？还有苹果机器人......即使忽略发生在她身上的事情，难道她不是伪装的认知吗？
“We are happy to see you again, too,” Sweetie Bot said with a smile. The imitation was uncanny. Now that I wasn’t fighting for my life, I could appreciate the job Horse had done. Bar the synthetic warble in her voice, she was almost indistinguishable from the real thing. “Though I was deactivated for several hours, my repair talisman was intact, and, barring problems with some improperly installed hardware, I was able to recover enough system integrity to leave the Core. Without the sexy, splendid Mr. Horse, I found myself with a complete lack of purpose. I had no driving goal, only fragmented data of Sweetie v1.0.” She nodded to Applebot. “Fortunately, I recovered engrams of the previous imprint accessing her system.” If only I spoke smart pony...
"我们也很高兴再次见到你,"甜心微笑着说。这种模仿是不可思议的。现在我不是在为我的生命而战，我可以欣赏马所做的工作。除了她声音中模仿出来的颤音，她几乎和真实的东西没有什么区别。"虽然我被停用了几个小时，但我的修复护身符完好无损，除了一些硬件安装不当的问题，我还是能够恢复足够的系统完整性，离开核心系统。没有了性感、出色的马先生，我发现自己完全没有了目标。我没有驾驶目标，只有Sweetiev1.0的零碎数据。"她向苹果机器人点点头。"幸运的是，我恢复了之前进入她系统的印记。"如果我能说聪明的小马..。
“Sweetie Belle got me fixed up right proper. ‘Course, there was a little problem with my operatin’ system. Thing was buggier than an anthill. But I got a new system installed and backed up.” She frowned, looked around the party, and leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper, “Has Goldenblood told you anything new yet? Have you changed your mind on this whole ‘execution by mercy’ hogwash?”
"甜心贝儿帮我安排好了。当然，我的操作系统出了点小问题。那东西比蚁丘还要恐怖。但我安装了一个新系统，并进行了备份。"她皱起眉头，环顾四周，倾身向前，带着一种阴谋般的低语:"金布拉德告诉你什么新消息了吗?"？你改变主意了吗?"
“Ah... no?” I said as I gaped at her.
"啊......不是吗?"我说着，目瞪口呆地看着她。
“Hokey Dokie!” Applebot said, beaming at me. “Just let me know if you need
"HokeyDokie!"苹果机器人笑着对我说。"如果你需要的话，尽管告诉我
me to take him out. I can’t do it as creatively as I could in the pod, but I’ll try my best!”
让我干掉他。我不能像在太空舱里那样创造性地做这件事，但我会尽我最大的努力!"
“You... installed the megastable interrogation program into her?” I asked Sweetie Bot.
"你......给她安装了高度稳定的审讯程序?"我问SweetieBot。
“Yes. It was a challenge, but the program was remarkably stable," Sweetie Bot said brightly, as if I'd just paid her a compliment. “And it had all of Applebot’s old files. I think the two integrated well.”
"是的。这是一个挑战，但是程序非常稳定,"SweetieBot愉快地说，好像我刚刚是在恭维她。"里面有Applebot的所有旧文件。我认为这两者结合得很好。"
Applebot hung her head a little. “Darn sorry for the fibs I told, but I didn’t have no choice. I had ta do what she wanted.”
苹果机器人低了一下头。"我为我说的那些谎话感到非常抱歉，但我别无选择。我必须按她说的做。"
I sighed and shook my head. Robots. “Well... I’m glad you two are free now. Are you going to help with the fight?” I didn’t see a lot of weapons on either of them.
我叹了口气，摇了摇头。机器人。"嗯......我很高兴你们俩现在有空。你要帮忙打架吗?"我没在他们身上看到什么武器。
“Well,” Applebot began, “if she tries to use that PipBuck to access the MASEBS, we can try and mess with her. But otherwise, I don’t think we’ll be able to do much. Sorry.” She sounded a touch down, but then she brightened. “Instead, I’m going to do my best to find out every dirty and underhanded secret in the Wasteland. And we’re going to need a Scootabot... maybe one of those sentry robots!”
"好吧,"Applebot开始说,"如果她试图用PipBuck进入MASEBS，我们可以试着和她作对。但除此之外，我不认为我们能做很多。对不起。"她的声音稍微低了一点，但随后又变得高兴起来。"相反，我要尽我最大的努力去发现荒原上每一个肮脏和卑鄙的秘密。我们还需要一个斯库塔博......也许是一个岗哨机器人!"
I had images of a bright orange sentry rolling along praising Rainbow Dash. “And I have a sample of super sexy Horse’s DNA,” Sweetie Bot gushed. “If I can get one of those cloning trees, we’ll be reunited!”
我有一个鲜艳的橙色哨兵沿着赞美彩虹冲刺的图像。"我有一个超级性感的马的DNA样本,"甜心机器人滔滔不绝地说。"如果我能弄到一棵克隆树，我们就能团聚了!"
“Sweetie... he’ll be a mindless, soulless blank,” I pointed out.
"亲爱的......他会变成一个没有思想，没有灵魂的空白,"我指出。
“I know. He’ll be perfect!”
"我知道。他会很完美的!"
“Okay... well... good luck with that!” I said as I stepped away from the pair.
"好吧......那么......祝你好运!"我一边说着，一边离开了那一对。
Robots...
机器人..。
I spotted Crumpets and Lacu– Psalm. She was Psalm... I spotted them off to the side and tried to approach. “...still loves you, you know,” I picked out Crumpets saying as I drew closer, feigning interest in the music. “I know it's a ballache listening to him going on about love everlasting and all that, at least for me, but he means it.”
我看到了松脆饼和Lacu-Psalm。她是诗篇......我发现他们在一旁，并试图接近。"......仍然爱着你，你知道吗?"我一边走近，一边挑出松脆饼，假装对音乐感兴趣。"我知道听他谈论永恒的爱等等，至少对我来说是这样，让我感到很痛苦，但他是认真的。"
“He loves a mare who’s gone. A mare who was better than me,” Psalm said, and I had to drift closer to pick up her soft words. “I don’t deserve his love.”
"他爱上了一匹走了的母马。一匹比我好的母马,"诗篇说，我不得不靠近她，才能听懂她温柔的话语。"我不配得到他的爱。"
Crumpets shook her head. “How’d you get so bloody fucking lucky and so sodding leatherheaded at the same time?” The yellow mare thumped Psalm’s chest. “He. Fackin’. Loves ya. You have any idea how bleedin’ rare that is? Not ‘likes ya’. Not ‘wants to mount you and shag you proper’. Love. Real fackin’ deal. But you’re standing here saying you don’t deserve it. What’s wrong with you?”
圆饼摇了摇头。"你怎么会这么他妈的幸运，同时又这么他妈的呆头呆脑?"那匹黄色的母马捶打着赞美诗的胸膛。"他。面对。爱你。你知道这有多稀有吗？不是'喜欢你'。不是'想上你然后和你上床'。爱。真正的交易。但是你站在这里说你不配。你怎么了?"
“I don’t deserve it! Don’t you understand?” Psalm said, flushing. “He’s... he’s so much better than me...”
"我不配！你还不明白吗?"诗篇满脸通红地说。"他...他比我好多了..."
“He’s not a saint, you right big purple pillock. He’s done things he ain’t proud of. So have I. So have you. So what? It’s not about what you deserve. Name me one geezer in this world who deserves love after all we do to survive!” Crumpets demanded jabbing the alicorn in the breast again. “Deservin’ it don’t come into it. What matters is whether you get it.”
"他不是圣人，你是对的，紫色的大笨蛋。他做过不光彩的事。我也是。你也是。那又怎样？这不是你应得什么的问题。在这个世界上，我们为了生存做了那么多事，谁值得我去爱?"松脆饼又一次要求用手指戳爆玉米角羊的胸口。"应得的不在其中。重要的是你能否得到它。"
“It’s not...” Psalm stammered.
"这不是......"诗篇结结巴巴地说。
“Do you love him too?” Crumpets asked. “Are you only into mares? Just not interested right now?”
"你也爱他吗?"松饼问道。""你只喜欢母马吗？只是现在不感兴趣?"
“No! He’s wonderful. He’s caring. He’s... noble...” Psalm replied.
"不！他太棒了。他很体贴。他是......高贵的......"诗篇回答。
“Then take what he’s giving you and enjoy it as long as you can! Sure, you did some grim shit, but so what? You ain’t special there, darlin’. If he forgives you and accepts you, then that’s all that bloody matters, you dozy git.” Crumpets sighed. “Some of us would sodding kill for what you’ve been given.” She turned and trotted away.
"那就接受他给你的东西，尽情享受吧！当然，你做了一些可怕的狗屎，但那又怎么样？你在那里并不特别，亲爱的。如果他原谅了你，接受了你，那才是最重要的，你这个笨蛋。"松脆饼叹了口气。"我们中的一些人会为你得到的东西拼命的。"她转身小跑着离开了。
Psalm started away in the other direction, but I trotted up to her. “She’s right, you know.”
诗篇从另一个方向开始，但我小跑向她。"你知道，她是对的。"
“Eavesdropping is a bad habit,” Psalm said with a grumpy little pout.
"偷听是一个坏习惯,"诗篇说，带着一种暴躁的小撅嘴。
“Yeah. I’m full of those. Setting off balefire bombs. Wanton megaspell-assisted vandalism. Eavesdropping. If we get carts running on the road again, I can add jaywalking to the list, and then I'll have the full set!” I said as I walked in front
"是的。我满脑子都是这些。引爆爆炸弹。放荡的megaspell协助的破坏行为。偷听。如果我们再次让马车在路上跑，我可以把乱穿马路加到名单上，然后我就有全套了!"我一边走在前面一边说
of her. “She’s still right. Stronghoof is a good pony. You’re a good pony. You’ll be better together.”
她的。"她还是对的。斯特朗霍夫是一匹好马。你是匹好马。你们在一起会更好。"
“How can you say that? Blackjack... you know what I did,” Psalm said with a touch of anguish.
"你怎么能这么说呢？黑杰克......你知道我做了什么,"诗篇带着一丝痛苦说。
“You killed Big Macintosh,” I answered, making her flinch. “We all make mistakes, Psalm. Some of them huge. Some we can never forgive ourselves for. But...” I turned and looked at the huge, strong, tiny-horned unicorn and paused. “He reminds you of Big Macintosh. That’s what’s wrong.” Psalm closed her eyes and gave a little nod. “Did you love Big Macintosh?”
"你杀了大麦金托什,"我回答，让她退缩了。"我们都会犯错，诗篇。有些很大。有些事情我们永远无法原谅自己。但是......"我转过身来，看着那只巨大、强壮、长着小角的独角兽，停了下来。"他让你想起了大麦金托什。这就是问题所在。"诗人闭上眼睛，轻轻地点了点头。"你喜欢大麦金塔吗?"
“It was... more a crush. I never spoke of it. Never acted. We all thought he had a mare somewhere, secret. But still... I dreamed of being with him. And then I killed him. As good as he was. As much as I... loved... I killed him. How could I dare to love again after doing that?” Psalm said, striding from the party to hide her anguish.
"这更像是一种迷恋。我从来没有提起过。从来没演过。我们都以为他在什么地方有匹母马，秘密的。但我还是梦想着和他在一起。然后我杀了他。和他一样出色。和我一样。.爱...我杀了他。做了那样的事，我怎么敢再去爱呢?"诗篇说，大步离开聚会，隐藏她的痛苦。
“You dare because you can. Because love is so rare that when you have it, you hold it as best you can. Because losing it...” I sighed and shook my head. “I wish it was about deserving. It would be so much easier if it was that simple. Love is... precious. Fleeting. Frustrating. Wonderful. Terrifying. And above all... worth it. Besides, after tonight, there may not be a tomorrow.”
"你敢，因为你能。因为爱是如此珍贵，当你拥有它的时候，你会尽你所能地去拥有它。因为失去了它......"我叹了口气，摇了摇头。"我希望这是值得的。如果事情就这么简单的话，那就容易多了。爱是...珍贵的。稍纵即逝。令人沮丧。太好了。太可怕了。最重要的是......值得。此外，过了今晚，可能就没有明天了。"
Psalm wiped her eyes and stared across the party at where Stronghoof laughed jovially with the others. “Perhaps...”
诗人擦了擦眼睛，凝视着大家，看到斯特朗戈夫和其他人一起欢笑的地方。"也许......"
I opened my saddlebags and pulled out Penance’s case. “I want you to have this back, Psalm. I can’t use it like you can, and in the upcoming fight, I think you’ll need it.”
我打开我的鞍囊，拿出苦行僧的箱子。"我希望你能把这个拿回去，诗篇。我不能像你那样使用它，在即将到来的比赛中，我认为你会需要它。"
She froze, staring at it. “How... how could you... how can I...” she muttered, half in horror.
她呆住了，盯着它。"你...你怎么...我怎么能..。。」她喃喃自语，有点害怕。
I stood and held her shoulders, gazing into her eyes. “I can because I know you’re strong enough to carry it. And I know you’re strong enough to use it, because you don’t want to repeat your mistakes. Forgive yourself, Psalm. I know that Big Macintosh would forgive you if he were here.” I pushed the case into her hooves. “If you can’t, or won’t, give it to somepony who can. But it should be a better pony than me.”
我站起来，抓住她的肩膀，凝视着她的眼睛。"我可以，因为我知道你有足够的能力承受这一切。我知道你有足够的能力使用它，因为你不想重复你的错误。原谅你自己，诗篇。我知道如果大麦金托什在这儿，他会原谅你的。"我把箱子塞进她的蹄子里。"如果你不能，或者不愿意，就把它送给能做到的人。但它应该是一匹比我更好的小马。"
“I... will think about what you have said,” Psalm murmured, barely audible above the noise. Then she turned and walked away, floating the case beside her. I hoped she came to terms with it. Hating and denying yourself happiness because of past mistakes didn’t do anything to help overcome pain like that.
"我.....。.会考虑你所说的话,"在嘈杂声中几乎听不见的诗篇喃喃地说。然后她转身走开了，把箱子放在身边。我希望她能接受这个事实。因为过去的错误而憎恨和否定自己的幸福并不能帮助你克服那样的痛苦。
I kept mingling. I overheard Velvet, Homage, and Grace talking about babies, with Splendid looking like he was contemplating chewing his leg off to escape the conversation. Off to the side, Xanthe pranced quite happily to the music.
我一直在和人打交道。我无意中听到维尔维特、敬意和格蕾丝在谈论婴儿，他看起来很灿烂，好像正在考虑咬掉自己的一条腿以逃避谈话。在旁边，赞斯随着音乐欢快地蹦跳着。
Then she spotted me watching her and immediately flushed. “Hiding now,” the suit piped, and when I blinked, she was gone.
然后她发现我在看她，马上冲了出去。"现在躲起来了,"制服男尖叫着说，当我眨眼的时候，她已经走了。
“The griffins are sitting this one out,” Carrion told General Storm Chaser over by the door to Star House. “The Talons came because of money, but most of my people remember the great war. They won’t get involved this time.”
"这次狮鹫不参加比赛,"卡里昂告诉星星之家门口的"追风将军"。"魔爪是为了金钱而来，但我的大多数人都记得那场大战。这次他们不会再插手了。"
“That’s too bad. We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Storm Chaser said with a frown. “You’d think that with the end of the Enclave, they’d be glad to get involved again.”
"那太糟糕了。我们需要所有能得到的帮助,"斯托姆·查瑟皱着眉头说。"你可能会认为，随着昂科雷的结束，他们会很高兴再次参与进来。"
“You would think that,” Carrion countered. “You’re a pony. But two hundred years of battle has left a bitter taste in our mouths. Our people lived in Equestria, were even a part of it, but we aren’t ponies. There’s some that just want to watch the battle play out and then finish off whoever wins.”
"你可能会这么想,"卡里昂反驳道。"你是一匹小马。但两百年的战斗给我们留下了苦涩的回忆。我们的人民生活在Equestria，甚至是其中的一部分，但我们不是小马。有些人只是想看战斗结束，然后结束谁赢谁输。"
“They think they can?” Storm Chaser scowled.
"他们认为他们可以吗?"风暴追逐者满脸愁容。
“Their leaders do. Time will tell if they can pull together the support to actually make it happen,” Carrion said with a shrug. Then they spotted me and looked at me coolly. I gave a sheepish smile and pretended to be interested in... a whiskey mixer... actually, nevermind the pretending. The whiskey helped me think about what I’d just heard.
"他们的领导人知道。时间会证明他们是否能够齐心协力实现这一目标,"卡里翁耸耸肩说。然后他们发现了我，冷静地看着我。我羞怯地笑了笑，假装对威士忌调酒器很感兴趣......实际上，不介意假装。威士忌让我想起了刚才听到的话。
That was a depressing thought. Winning the battle tomorrow just to have another battle. And another. And another. But why should our fight tomorrow be the end of all fights? That was hardly realistic. There would always be conflict and strife of some sort or another. Twilight had Nightmare Moon. The Princesses had struggled with Discord. The ministries with the zebras. Who knew what battles would come, who would face them, or how they would win?
这是一个令人沮丧的想法。赢得明天的战役只是为了另一场战役。再来一杯。再来一杯。但是为什么我们明天的战斗就是所有战斗的结束呢？这几乎是不现实的。总会有某种形式的冲突和冲突。黄昏有梦魇之月。公主们一直在与纷争作斗争。有斑马的部门。谁知道会发生什么样的战斗，谁将面对他们，或者他们将如何取得胜利？
Face the battle in front of you, Blackjack, I thought, and make sure the world
面对眼前的战斗吧，黑杰克，我想，让全世界都知道
gets a chance for those battles tomorrow.
明天才有机会参加那些战斗。
I continued through the celebration. Velvet Remedy was now having an argument with P-21 about whether it was appropriate for Scotch Tape to fraternize with Adagio and Allegro. P-21 asked if there was an age at which a filly could give fellatio to multiple partners without parental approval that he wasn't aware of and if Velvet would instruct her own child of such. I stayed clear of that one. If Scotch Tape wanted to fool around and had her implant, good on her. Ambitious to tackle two at once, though; I’d never have had such an opportunity at her age.
我继续庆祝。VelvetRemedy现在正在与P-21进行辩论，讨论透明胶带是否适合与慢板和快板结成友谊。P-21询问是否存在一个小母马可以在没有父母同意的情况下给多个伴侣口交的年龄，而小母马并不知道这个年龄，以及维尔韦特是否会对自己的孩子这样做。我避开了那个人。如果苏格兰胶带想到处鬼混并植入了她的耳蜗，那对她来说是好事。不过，我有雄心要同时处理两个问题;在她这个年纪，我从来没有过这样的机会。
Then I spotted Candlewick and Dazzle talking, the scarred stallion in the red fire coat giving awkward smiles as the mare remained polite... maybe even a little interested. Good for– then Toaster approached the pair and Dazzle immediately backed off and moved away. I headed closer, pretending to be interested in the music again as I listened.
然后我看到蜡烛芯和闪亮在说话，穿着红色防火外套的伤痕累累的种马给出尴尬的微笑，而母马仍然保持礼貌...也许甚至有点感兴趣。"后来的好处"烤面包机接近了这一对,"炫"立即后退，离开了。我走近一些，假装对音乐再次感兴趣，听着。
“What is the matter with you, Candle? Getting sweet on a Flasher? Bad move, Bro. Bad move,” Toaster said as he leaned towards him.
""你怎么啦，蜡烛？对一个暴露狂有好感？这招不好，兄弟。错误的举动,"吐司机一边说，一边向他靠过来。
“We’re going on a mission tomorrow,” Candlewick countered with a scowl.
"我们明天要去执行一项任务,"烛芯皱着眉头反驳道。
“Yeah, yeah. No doubt. But you got to be thinking about things after the mission, Bro. ‘Cause if you’re smart, you’ll make sure that you’re the only pony that walks out of that bunker. Things are gonna change around here, Bro, and you can’t be thinking with your dick over some mare that doesn’t give a fuck about you,” Toaster said with a dark chuckle.
"是的，是的。毫无疑问。但是你得在任务结束后想想事情，兄弟。因为如果你够聪明的话，你会确保你是唯一一个走出地堡的小马。这里的一切都会改变的，兄弟，你不可能用你的老二去想那些根本不在乎你的母马,"吐司机暗笑着说。
“It’s not like that!” Candlewick protested.
"不是那样的!"烛芯抗议道。
“Oh, but you wish it was!” Toaster leered at him, leaning in. “Look at you. You’re a fucking steak, well done. You’d like her to do you a little more though. It’s fucking branded on your face. Get a clue. Flashers fuck who they want to fuck and that ain’t a pony who looks like a ghoul. Little bitches give a ‘I was raped’ sob story and then shoot you in the back for your caps. Well, the Flashers are done. They just don’t know it yet. They still don’t have a new leader since Diamond got squashed flat. Psychoshy’s more interested in fucking that batpony. Blackjack’s way out of their league. They’re gonna be toasted. So don’t get too attached, Bro.”
"哦，但是你希望它是!"烤面包机斜着身子看着他。"看看你。你他妈就是块牛排，全熟。不过你还是希望她多帮你一点忙。你脸上都他妈烙上烙印了。得到一个线索。花花公子和他们想上的人上床，那不是一匹长得像食尸鬼的小马。小贱人们给你一个'我被强奸了'的悲伤故事，然后从背后向你开枪要你的帽子。闪电侠完蛋了。他们只是还不知道而已。自从戴蒙德被压扁后，他们仍然没有新的领导人。神经病更喜欢操那匹蝙蝠马。黑杰克已经超出了他们的能力范围。他们会被烤焦的。所以不要太依恋，兄弟。"
He trotted away, leaving an anguished Candlewick as he stared across the party at where Dazzle was talking with Whisper. “Asshole,” a stallion muttered beside me, and I jumped, the navy blue Storm Front having snuck up beside me. The pegasus glanced at me and then in the direction Toaster went. “Toaster has more ambition than’s healthy for him. Dreams of seeing himself in Big Daddy’s position. He keeps the Burners together, but that’s about all the good you can say about him.”
他小跑着离开了，留下了痛苦的蜡烛芯，他凝视着聚会的另一头，戴泽正在用耳语交谈。"混蛋,"一匹种马在我旁边咕哝着，我跳了起来，海军蓝色风暴阵线悄悄地靠近我。帕伽索斯看了我一眼，然后朝烤面包机的方向走去。"烤面包机对他来说野心太大了。梦想着看到自己处于大老爹的位置。他让燃烧者团结在一起，但这就是你能说的关于他的所有好话。"
“Is he right?” I asked the Halfheart, who gave a noncommittal shrug.
"他说得对吗?"我问他，他不置可否地耸了耸肩。
“Big Daddy’s old. No question about that. Question is if he’s old enough to be taken down. If Brutus dies in the bunker, I think Toaster might just try it. Or were you asking about the Flashers?”
"大老爹老了。毫无疑问。问题是他是否已经到了可以被拿下的年龄。如果布鲁特斯死在地堡里，我想烤面包机也许会试试。还是你在问闪光者的事?"
“Both,” I said with a small half smile.
"都有,"我微微一笑说。
“Flashers always have it rough. East side of the river has always been tough. Flashers are used to fighting for their lives. Toaster thinks raped mares are funny. Halfhearts know better. Pride keeps the Flashers going after they’ve been hurt. They’re like us. Desolate, but still trudging forward, even when you know the most sensible thing to do is eat a bullet,” he rumbled. Wow, melodramatic much? Wait, was that what I used to sound like? No wonder ponies liked to shoot me. “Losing Diamond Flash was a blow, but they’ll continue on. Maybe Dazzle will take over. Maybe somepony else. Maybe Toaster’s right. Time will tell.”
"闪电侠总是很粗暴。这条河的东岸一直以来都很艰难。闪电侠习惯于为自己的生命而战。烤面包机觉得被强奸的母马很有趣。半心人知道得更清楚。骄傲让闪光者在受到伤害后继续前进。他们和我们一样。"荒凉，但仍然步履蹒跚，即使你知道最明智的事情是吃子弹,"他嘟囔着。哇，太夸张了吧？等等我以前也是这么说话的吗？怪不得小马喜欢朝我开枪。"失去钻石闪光灯是一个打击，但他们将继续。也许Dazzle会取而代之。也许是别的什么地方。也许Toaster是对的。时间会证明一切。"
I regarded him. “Do the Halfhearts have a leader?”
我注视着他。"哈佛哈特家族有领袖吗?"
“Heartmender. You won’t meet her. She’s scared to death of you. M.o.P. ghoul. Used to be a caseworker. She keeps us all from doing something permanent to ourselves. We keep her sane. Good arrangement,” he said in his short, clipped sentences. A casewoker? Well, at least somepony in the Wasteland was getting therapy. “Toaster thinks Halfhearts are weak, but then, Toaster thinks everypony is. Probably even you.”
"心灵拯救者。你不会见到她的。她怕死你了。食尸鬼。以前是个办事员。她阻止我们对自己做一些永久性的事情。我们让她保持理智。很好的安排,"他用简短的句子说。卡塞沃克？至少荒原上的一些小马正在接受治疗。"Toaster认为halfheart很弱，但是Toaster认为每个小马都很弱。甚至可能是你。"
“Is he going to be a problem?” I asked with a frown.
"他会成为问题吗?"我皱着眉头问。
“Of course. But if you try and do something to him or get rid of him, you’ll lose all the Burners’ fighters and turn their territory into a great big hole for the Brood to pour through,” he answered.
"当然。但是如果你试图对他做些什么或者除掉他，你就会失去所有的燃烧者的战士，把他们的领地变成一个巨大的洞，让布鲁德一家人通过,"他回答。
I groaned and rubbed my face. “Why is all of this so damned difficult?”
我呻吟着，揉着脸。"为什么所有这一切都如此困难?"
“Because it’s life. Life is a struggle. Killing is easy. It’s why Toaster is doomed to fail; he only wants to do what’s easy. He doesn’t have the strength for a real struggle,” Storm Front said, then patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry about Toaster. We’ve been dealing with him for years. You worry about your battle. We’ll deal with ours.”
"因为这就是生活。生活是一场斗争。杀人很容易。这就是烤面包机注定要失败的原因，他只想做简单的事情。他没有力气进行真正的斗争,"斯托姆·弗朗特说，然后拍了拍我的肩膀。"别担心烤面包机。我们跟他打了好几年交道了。你担心你的战斗。我们会处理我们的问题。"
That... cheered me up a little bit. It wasn’t all my fight. Maybe I’d have to deal with Toaster later... but that was something way down on my list.
这...让我开心了一点。这不是我的全部战斗。也许我以后还得和烤面包机打交道......不过那是我清单上的一项。
I spotted Glory disappearing around the back of Star House and blinked, then trotted after her. Behind the building, I spotted the gray mare sitting next to Tenebra. The charcoal batpony wept as she sat on a rock. “It’s hard. I try so hard to be like... like Stygius. Father. Even Whisper. But I can’t. Every time I get into a fight... everything goes wrong. I just... I’m a liability. A joke. Whisper thinks it’s funny.”
我发现晨辉消失在星宫的后面，眨了眨眼睛，然后小跑着跟在她后面。在大楼后面，我看到一匹灰色的母马坐在Tenebra旁边。木炭小马坐在岩石上哭了起来。"这很难。我如此努力地想要像...像斯提吉乌斯一样。父亲。即使是耳语。但我做不到。每次我打架...一切都不对劲。我只是...我是个累赘。一个笑话。Whisper认为这很有趣。"
“Whisper has her own issues. She can be cruel,” Glory said as she put a wing around Tenebra’s shoulders. “Epilepsy isn’t a joke. For fliers, it can be fatal if they have an attack at high altitudes and can’t recover in time.”
"Whisper有她自己的问题。她可能很残忍,"晨辉一边说，一边在Tenebra的肩膀上放了一只翅膀。"癫痫不是玩笑。对于飞行员来说，如果他们在高海拔地区受到攻击而不能及时恢复，这可能是致命的。"
“I’m just... I want to be like her. I want to be... strong. Dangerous. Confident. All my people were supposed to be fighters, so a pony who can’t fight... is nothing,” Tenebra said with another sniff, wiping her eyes. “Ignored. I know Father is ashamed of me.”
"我只是......我想像她一样。我想变得...坚强。危险。自信。我所有的人都应该是战士，所以一匹不能战斗的小马......算不了什么,"特内布拉又闻了闻，擦了擦眼睛说。"被忽视了。我知道父亲以我为耻。"
“I know how you feel. It’s rough when the expectations of others aren’t in accord with our own,” Glory said.
"我知道你的感受。当别人的期望与我们自己的不一致时，我们会很难过,"晨辉说。
“I don’t want to be useless. I’d rather die than be useless,” Tenebra said as she pressed her face to Glory’s mane.
"我不想变得一无是处。我宁愿死也不愿变得一无是处,"特内布拉把脸紧贴在格洛里的鬃毛上说。
“You don’t have to feel that way. Blackjack blinded Hades, and he seems...
"你不必有那种感觉。黑杰克弄瞎了冥王，他似乎..。
okay,” Glory said awkwardly.
"好吧,"晨辉尴尬地说。
Tenebra sighed. “If we survive the battle, Triage will give him robot eyes to restore his sight. It’s only a temporary uselessness... unlike mine.”
特内布拉叹了口气。"如果我们能在战斗中活下来，伤检分类将会给他一双机器人眼睛来恢复他的视力。这只是暂时的无用......不像我的。"
“You’re not useless. You just have to take your weakness and work around it.
"你不是一无是处。你只需要找到你的弱点，然后努力克服它。
Just a guess, but I suspect your attacks are the result of adrenaline. Whisper and Stygius focus on close in attacks, right? Have you considered focusing on more long-ranged weapons? Rifles? Something that will keep you out of imminent harm and still let you fight.”
只是猜测，但我怀疑你的攻击是肾上腺素的结果。窃窃私语和冥河专注于近距离攻击，对吗？你有没有考虑过把重点放在远程武器上？来福枪？一些能让你远离迫在眉睫的伤害，同时又能让你战斗的东西。"
“Rifles? I don’t... traditionally, we use hooves and blades, not guns,” Tenebra said as she wiped her eye. “Do you really think so?”
"步枪？我不......传统上，我们用蹄子和刀片，而不是枪,"特内布拉擦着眼睛说。"你真的这么认为吗?"
“I think it’d be better than hating yourself because you can’t be like someone else. Believe me, I’ve been guilty of that lately too,” Glory said as she held her.
"我认为这总比因为你不能像别人而憎恨自己要好。相信我，我最近也为此感到内疚,"晨辉抱着她说。
“I... heard you and Blackjack...” Tenebra began.
"我.....。.听到你和Blackjack......"Tenebra开始说。
“Mhmmm...” Glory answered.
"嗯......"晨辉回答。
“I’m sorry,” Tenebra said.
"对不起,"Tenebra说。
“I am too. Blackjack is... Blackjack. I can’t hate her. It’d be so much easier if I could, for both of us. I’ve tried hating her, and it’s just so hard. Soon as I ended it, she went and had marathon sex with another pony. I thought I’d be hurt by it...
"我也是。黑杰克是...黑杰克。我不能恨她。如果我可以的话，对我们俩来说都会容易得多。我试过恨她，但这太难了。我一结束，她就跑去和另一匹小马马拉松式地做爱了。我以为我会被伤害。
but I was glad she did. Loving Blackjack is... hard. I know she wants to accommodate my feelings, but in the end, she is who she is. A wonderful, self-destructive, self-sacrificing, determined, lecherous, loving mess of a mare.” Glory and Tenebra were silent for a moment, and I considered sneaking away before I was caught. Then, “I also wonder if she was right.”
但我很高兴她这么做了。喜欢黑杰克...很难。我知道她想迁就我的感受，但最终，她还是她自己。一个美好的，自我毁灭的，自我牺牲的，坚定的，好色的，爱一团糟的母马。"晨辉和特内布拉沉默了一会儿，我想在被抓住之前偷偷溜走。然后,"我也怀疑她是否正确。"
“About what?” Tenebra asked, and I did as well.
"谈什么?"Tenebra问，我也问了。
“About the marathon sex being good for getting over a breakup,” Glory said with a smile. Tenebra immediately flushed and squirmed a little.
"马拉松式的性爱有助于从分手中恢复过来,"晨辉笑着说。Tenebra马上脸红了，扭动了一下。
“Do you think it would be okay?” Tenebra asked.
"你觉得这样可以吗?"特内布拉问道。
Glory then turned and regarded me with a cool smile and arched brow. I immediately stammered, “Um… Hi. I just... saw... and... um...” There wasn’t any animosity in her eyes though. Friendliness. We were friends... just friends now.
然后晨辉转过身来，带着冷静的微笑和拱起的眉毛看着我。我马上结结巴巴地说,"嗯......嗨。我只是......看到......和......嗯......"尽管她的眼睛里没有任何敌意。友善。我们曾经是朋友...现在只是朋友。
“Hey, Blackjack,” she said, and then she returned her attention to Tenebra. “I think, if we take it slow, it’ll be just fine,” she said as she rose to her hooves with the batpony beside her. “Let’s go to my room.” Together, the pair walked past
"嘿，黑杰克,"她说，然后又把注意力转回到了Tenebra。"我想，如果我们慢慢来，一切都会好起来的,"她说，同时她站起身来，身边还有一匹蝙蝠马。"我们去我的房间吧。"两人一起走过
me, Glory giving a warm smile to me and the mare beside her.
我，晨辉给我和她身边的母马一个温暖的微笑。
I watched them disappear around the corner, my last sight of them being Glory nibbling Tenebra’s ear.
我看着他们消失在街角，我最后一次看到他们是晨辉在轻咬特内布拉的耳朵。
What a night.
多么美好的夜晚。
Though… there was one pony I hadn’t seen yet. I checked my PipBuck and found his tag. There he was. I trotted to the edge of the party and up the hillside into the still woods. Goldenblood sat alone, looking down at the festivities with a longing, pained look. “Hey. This is my brooding spot,” I said as I sat down beside him.
虽然...有一匹小马我还没见过。我检查了我的皮伯克牌，发现了他的牌子。他来了。我小跑到聚会的边缘，爬上山坡，进入寂静的树林。金色的血液独自坐着，带着渴望和痛苦的神情俯视着这些欢庆。"嘿。这是我沉思的地方,"我在他旁边坐下时说。
“I’ve never been good with social functions,” he answered. “Besides, I was here first.”
"我从来就不擅长社交,"他回答说。"而且，是我先来的。"
I watched the party as well. For several long minutes, we just spectated. Neither of us were particularly happy. We’d been through too much to ever join in like everyone else was. But we could find comfort in the happiness of others.
我也看了派对。有好几分钟，我们只是旁观。我们俩都不是特别高兴。我们经历了太多，所以不能像其他人一样加入进来。但是我们可以从别人的幸福中找到安慰。
“What are our chances?” I asked him. “Seriously?”
"我们的机会有多大?"我问他。"真的吗?"
“Seriously... I don’t know. We’re outnumbered, outgunned, and there’re too many ways this can end disastrously. Horizons will fire tomorrow afternoon and impact at midnight. If the trajectory isn’t altered, sooner. We may all die. But I do know that there is no way to calculate success at this point. We will win, or we will lose.”
"说真的......我不知道。我们在人数和武器上都处于劣势，有太多的方式可以结束这场灾难。"地平线"将于明天下午点火，午夜时分着陆。如果轨迹没有改变的话，会更快。我们可能都会死。但是我知道在这一点上没有办法计算成功。我们要么赢，要么输。"
Twenty-four hours. I should have been shocked... but really, considering how my life had gone… “When will Cognitum leave?” I asked.
二十四小时。我应该感到震惊......但说真的，考虑到我的生活是如何过去的......"认知什么时候会离开?"我问道。
“It takes a lot of time to fuel a rocket safely. Dawn, at the soonest. We’re trying to keep tabs on her, but between Harbingers still loyal to her at the base, the Brood, the Remnant, and any Enclave that are throwing in with her... well, it’s been difficult.”
"安全地为火箭加油需要很长时间。黎明，最快。我们试图密切关注她，但是在基地里的"先驱者"仍然忠于她，布鲁德，残余者，以及任何和她一起投入的飞地......嗯，这很困难。"
“It seems wrong to have a party now,” I said.
"现在开派对似乎是不对的,"我说。
He checked his PipBuck. “It doesn’t matter. We won’t be ready to attack until morning either. So folks may as well be happy.” He nodded towards the
他检查了他的皮伯克。"没关系。我们也要到早上才能准备好进攻。所以人们还是高兴的好。"他朝着我点了点头
celebration. “You should go. It’s not good for the leader to hide during events like this. Luna always made that mistake.”
庆祝。"你应该去。在这样的事件中，领导者躲藏起来是不好的。卢娜总是犯这样的错误。"
I rose, extending a hoof to him. “Only if you come with me.”
我站起来，向他伸出一只蹄子。"除非你跟我走。"
He stared at it for a long moment, then reached out and took it. Life was messy. A tangled perplexity that kept you constantly wondering what came next. Even in a moment where people weren’t shooting at each other, you couldn’t escape the rushing, twisting, churning, chaos of it all. Boo’d been right. A party was exactly what we needed right now. Life was a party, and while you may not always have fun, it was still preferable to the alternative. So together, Goldenblood and I rejoined the mess, as the celebration pressed on towards oblivion.
他盯着它看了好一会儿，然后伸手去拿。生活一团糟。一个纠结的困惑，让你不断想知道接下来会发生什么。即使在人们没有互相射击的时刻，你也无法逃脱这一切的急促、扭曲、搅动和混乱。布是对的。我们现在正需要一个派对。生活就是一场派对，尽管你可能并不总是能找到乐趣，但总比另一种生活要好。因此，随着庆祝活动逐渐被遗忘，金血王和我一起重新加入了这场混乱。
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: The universe hated this chapter. It did everything it could to conspire against me getting it out. I had writers block and frustration. There were huge banal scenes. People got sick. There was lightning storms knocking out power and fire drills going off and just everything went wrong. This chapter was really a continuation of the last chapter, getting things set up for next chapter, and just kept growing and growing... it’s like in FONV where you’re about to go to the Hoover Dam and the game asks ‘Are you sure you want to go, because you can’t resolve any more quests from here on out if you do!’
(作者的笔记:宇宙讨厌这一章。它想尽一切办法阻止我把它取出来。我遇到了作家们的阻碍和挫折。有大量平庸的场景。人们生病了。雷雨打断了电源和消防演习，一切都出了问题。这一章实际上是最后一章的延续，为下一章做好准备，并且不断成长...就像在FONV游戏中，你要去胡佛大坝，游戏问你确定你想去吗，因为你不能解决任何更多的任务从现在开始，如果你这样做
Anyway, finally got the thing written and edited. It’s horrible... so sorry. I’m sorry it took so much longer than I intended. I wanted to thank Kkat for creating FoE in the first place, and Bro, Hinds, swicked, and Heartshine for their hard word in making this a better story. Even if we had to add in seven or eight pages... seriously. It was crazy.
不管怎样，最终我把这些都写好并编辑好了。太可怕了...真对不起。我很抱歉花了这么长的时间。我想首先感谢Kkat创造了FoE，然后是Bro，Hinds，swized，和Heartshine，感谢他们使这个故事变得更好的强硬措辞。即使我们不得不增加七到八页......说真的。太疯狂了。
Anyway, I hope folks leave feedback. I really do like reading if I do things right or not, even if I’m quiet about it. You can put it on Reddit, cloudsville, or on FimFic’s blog. Also, if anyone wants to donate, it would be incredibly welcome this month. I haven’t gotten much subbing work, so bits at David13ushey@gmail.com through paypal would be hugely appreciated. I wish I knew how to set up a Patreon thing. Anyway thank you for reading.
无论如何，我希望人们留下反馈。我真的很喜欢阅读，不管我做的对不对，即使我对此保持沉默。你可以把它放在Reddit，cloudsville，或者FimFic的博客上。此外，如果有人愿意捐款，这个月将会非常受欢迎。我没有得到太多的子程序的工作，所以在david13ushey@gmail.com通过贝宝将会非常感激。我希望我知道如何建立一个Patreon的东西。不管怎样，谢谢你的阅读。
Next chapter is going to catch Cognitum and... stuff...
下一章是要抓住Cognitum和...东西..。
EDIT: Oh! About Homage! I spoke with Kkat about her origins. It was actually different than what I had in my head, so I’m very glad to have gotten her input. This wasn’t something I just made up.) (Bronode: I was responsible for 1 and a half-ish pages of the new growth. Blame swicked for the other stuff. And friendly synthetics that show up and don’t immediately get ganked! Finally my wish came true!! ...Well, I kind of made it come true, but it still counts!)
编辑:哦！关于敬意！我和Kkat谈了她的出身。这实际上和我脑子里想的不一样，所以我很高兴能得到她的意见。这不是我瞎编的。)(布罗诺德:我负责写了大约一页半的新书。其他的事情都是怪罪。还有友好的人工合成物，它们出现后不会立刻被干掉！我的愿望终于实现了!！好吧，我算是让它成真了，但还是算数的!)
(swicked: Huzzah, the chapter is complete! And gosh, wasn't it grand? That Twist saving Peppermint scene had me in stitches!
(嗖的一声:哈哈，这一章完成了！天啊，是不是很壮观？《扭扭舞》中保存胡椒薄荷的场景让我忍不住大笑起来！
And also I’d like to extend a personal thanks to Bronode for helping edit in an accent he absolutely hates.)
同时，我还要表达我个人对Bronode的感谢，感谢他用他讨厌的口音帮助编辑。)