“Forget it, Twilight. I know what you're up to. The second I go in, you'll have your little minion Spike come and take Tom!”
"算了吧，暮光。我知道你想干什么。我一进去，你就会让你的小跟班斯派克来带走汤姆!"
“Tom?”
"汤姆?"
“Well, it's not going to work.”
"好吧，这行不通。"
Once, I had met a mare. She’d leapt down upon a bounty hunter who’d been set on taking me to Deus. She’d been rude, assertive, and fearless in all things. She was a Reaper, one of the deadliest fighters in all the Wasteland, sent to find out if I had actually killed one of their own. In the depths of my home, I’d rescued her from the nightmarish fate of becoming a ceaselessly conscious, unending meal for cannibal raiders, and, over time, we’d become friends of a sort. She mocked me, questioned me, and even looked up to me. But she’d been in pain, and had wanted to die, and I… I wanted my friend to live. I could have found a way to kill her if I’d really tried. Found some means to end her eternal regeneration and give her the peace that life had denied her... but I’d refused. I’d been certain that life was always better. And so, she had betrayed me to my enemy for the promise of an end to her life only for it to be denied her yet again. This was a mare cursed with life.
有一次，我遇到了一匹母马。她扑向了一个赏金猎人，他打算带我去见上帝。她在任何事情上都很粗鲁、自信、无所畏惧。她是一个收割者，是荒原地区最致命的战士之一，被派来查明我是否真的杀了他们中的一个。在我家的深处，我把她从噩梦般的命运中解救出来，她成为了食人族无休止的食物，随着时间的推移，我们成为了某种程度上的朋友。她嘲笑我，质问我，甚至尊敬我。但是她一直很痛苦，想死，而我.....。.我希望我的朋友能活下来。如果我真的努力的话，我本可以找到杀死她的方法。找到了一些方法来结束她永恒的再生，给她生命所剥夺的平静......但我拒绝了。我确信生活总是更美好。就这样，她把我出卖给了我的敌人，因为我许诺要结束她的生命，结果她又一次被拒绝了。这是一匹被生活诅咒的母马。
Rampage.
横冲直撞。
Her pink eyes roamed over the three of us casually, her lips twisting in disgust. “Kill you,” she muttered, as if the word suddenly tasted bitter in her mouth. She plucked idly at the carpet with her hoofclaws, scratching it like a manticore. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I mean, of course it’s ‘kill’. Couldn’t be to tie you up and toss you in a closet or delay you with a musical number. But let’s face it, when it comes to consistency, Cognitum’s got more than a few shorts in her
她粉红色的眼睛漫不经心地扫视着我们三个，厌恶地扭动着嘴唇。"杀了你,"她咕哝着，仿佛这个词在她嘴里突然变苦了。她无所事事地用蹄爪抓地毯，像狮身蝎尾兽一样抓地毯。她叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"我的意思是，当然是'杀'。不能把你绑起来，扔进壁橱里，或者用一首音乐剧来拖延你。但是让我们面对现实吧，当涉及到一致性的时候，认知力可不仅仅是几条短裤那么简单
processors, if you know what I mean.” She paused and added, “And I really hope you do, because that’s as far as I get with techie words.”
处理器，如果你懂我的意思的话。"她停顿了一下，接着说:"我真的希望你能做到这一点，因为我对技术词汇的理解仅限于此。"
We didn’t answer. Behind her were the doors that presumably led to the tracks to our destination. Her casual smile turned into a small frown. “What? No banter? No comeback?” She looked at Scotch Tape and grinned. “Hey! You made it to the moon! Awesome. Is this cool or what?”
我们没有回答。她身后的门大概是通往我们目的地的铁轨。她随意的微笑变成了微微的皱眉。"什么？不开玩笑？没有反击?"她看着透明胶带，咧嘴笑了。"嘿！你登上月球了！太棒了。这是不是很酷?"
“You say you’re gonna kill Blackjack, and you wanna talk about the moon being cool?” Scotch Tape replied flatly, not taking her eyes off the striped mare.
"你说你要杀了黑杰克，你还想说月亮很酷?"苏格兰录音带直截了当地回答，目光没有离开那匹斑马。
The corner of Rampage’s eye started to twitch. “Wow. Heck of a girl. When did she become such a grouch? Must take after her father.” She said the last with a grin at P-21.
狂暴的眼角开始抽搐。"哇。真是个好女孩。她什么时候变得这么爱发牢骚？肯定是遗传自她父亲。"她对着P-21笑着说最后一个。
“Thanks,” he answered calmly, returning a casual smile and nothing more. Rampage smirked and waited a few moments, and then her lips melted in a frown.
"谢谢,"他平静地回答，只是随意地笑了笑。狂暴的暴怒得意地笑了一下，等了一会儿，然后她的嘴唇因为皱眉而软化了。
“What the fuck happened to you two? Did Blackjack botch some mind magic or something?” She surveyed the terminal. “And where’s Glory? Back in the rocket? I mean, I know she’s not flying around out there,” she pointed to the window and the moonscape. “And Boo? She’s got to be somewhere around, right?” Rampage looked around the terminal, as if expecting to see the white pony appear from the air. I had to admit, I would have loved to have her with us.
"你们两个他妈的怎么了？黑杰克是不是搞错了什么大脑魔法之类的?"她环顾了一下航站楼。""晨辉在哪里？回到火箭上？我的意思是，我知道她不是在外面飞来飞去,"她指着窗户和月球表面。"那么Boo呢？她应该就在附近，对吧?"狂暴看了看航站楼周围，好像在期待看到那匹白色的小马从空中出现。我不得不承认，我很希望她能和我们在一起。
“Boo’s fine. Glory didn’t make it,” I said, forcing myself to keep my words as controlled as I could.
"Boo很好。"光荣不会成功的,"我说，强迫自己尽可能控制自己的言辞。
“Oh, you have to be shitting me? You left her behind? Fuck! She loves you, Blackjack!” Rampage said sharply. I shoved down the emotions that demanded I roar my hatred, pain, and sorrow at her. I had to stay focused. Even with the operative barding protecting me, Rampage could kill me in one good slam. She scowled at me a moment longer, then lifted her head, eyes wide. “Holy shit… She’s not… she’s… is she?” I didn’t answer. “Oh… damn… Blackjack, I’m so sorry!” And sadder still was the sincerity in her voice. I doubted that there were many ponies Rampage would talk about like that.
"哦，你一定是在开玩笑吧？你把她丢下了？操！她爱你，黑杰克!"狂暴尖锐地说。我把那些要求我向她咆哮我的憎恨、痛苦和悲伤的情绪推了下去。我必须保持专注。即使有特工barding保护我，狂暴可以杀死我在一个良好的满贯。她又皱起眉头看了我一会儿，然后抬起头，睁大了眼睛。"我靠...她不是...她是...是吗?"我没有回答。"哦...该死...黑杰克，我很抱歉!"更令人伤心的是她声音中的真诚。我怀疑是不是有很多小马狂暴会这么说。
“I don’t know. I hope not.” I fought to keep the tremble out of my voice. “It’s been a long couple of days,” I continued, forcing myself to stay calm. “It’s good
"我不知道。我希望不会。"我努力不让自己的声音颤抖。"这几天太漫长了,"我继续说，强迫自己保持冷静。"这很好
to see you, though. I’m glad to see you’re still alive.” A wince and a frown crossed her face. “Let me guess: Cognitum’s put off giving you your death till later?”
但还是很想见你。很高兴看到你还活着。"她皱着眉头，脸上露出一丝畏缩。"让我猜猜:认知力把你的死亡推迟到以后?"
She sighed, scowling and rolling her eyes. “Yeah. She wants her capital restored and realm back and yadda yadda yawn,” she said, slouching a little and waving a claw in a circle next to her dismissively. “I figure if she doesn’t do it by the end of the week, I’m just going to rip her head off. Either she’ll use her überpowers to eradicate me, or she’ll get what she deserves and I’m no worse off.”
她叹了口气，皱着眉头，翻着白眼。"是的。她想要恢复她的首都，拿回她的王国，然后打哈欠,"她说，微微地耷拉着身子，不屑地挥舞着一只爪子在她身边转圈。"我想，如果这周末她还不做，我就把她的头拧下来。要么她会用她的权力来消灭我，要么她会得到她应得的，而我也不会变得更糟。"
“Or you could help us,” I said.
"或者你可以帮助我们,"我说。
Rampage chuckled, rolling her eyes. “She said you’d say that.” She stared into my eyes evenly, then a touch of doubt entered her gaze. “Have you changed your mind about killing me? That would really simplify things. I’m sure you’ve worked out some kind of trick or gadget or… something. Some way to take me out by now.”
狂暴的女人咯咯地笑着，翻着白眼。"她说你会这么说。"她平静地盯着我的眼睛，然后一丝疑虑进入了她的目光。"你改变了杀我的主意了吗？这样事情就简单多了。我相信你一定想出了什么窍门或者小玩意什么的。现在有办法把我弄出去了。"
“Not really. I was kinda hoping you’d join me and help stop all this,” I answered.
""没有。我有点希望你能和我一起阻止这一切,"我回答。
“And why would I do that?” Rampage asked with a smirk.
"我为什么要这么做?"狂暴带着傻笑问道。
“Because you’ve been jabbering with us instead of turning us into paste?” Scotch Tape suggested. “I mean, if you’re going to kill us, shouldn’t you have gotten started a minute ago?”
"因为你一直在和我们闲聊，而不是把我们变成浆糊?"透明胶带建议。"我的意思是，如果你要杀了我们，你不应该一分钟前就开始吗?"
Rampage frowned. “Look, I missed you guys! I don’t even like Cognitum. None of the ponies with her will talk to me. They’re worse than Glory!" She winced as if struck, then managed a genuinely apologetic expression. "Sorry, force of habit. But unless you or pops over there are going to kill me, Cognitum's my best chance to check out, because Blackjack doesn't have the guts to give me what I want. What I fucking need!” She gave me an angry glare.
狂暴皱起了眉头。"瞧，我想死你们了！我甚至不喜欢Cognitum。和她在一起的小马没有一匹愿意跟我说话。他们比光荣还糟糕!"她畏缩了一下，好像被什么击中了似的，然后做了一个真诚的道歉的表情。"对不起，习惯了。但是除非你或者那边的人要杀了我，否则Cognitum是我最好的机会，因为Blackjack没有勇气给我我想要的东西。我他妈的需要什么!"她生气地瞪了我一眼。
“That’s right,“ I answered. “Because I know who you really are, Peppermint.”
"没错,"我回答。"因为我知道你的真实身份，薄荷。"
Rampage went completely still for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she stared at me in some sort of horrified gape. “...Oh no.” I felt a little surge of hope rise as she shook her head. “No! No fucking way!” A smile crept on my face as she pointed at me and cried out, “Fuck you, Blackjack, and fuck your lame-ass Reaper re-names. I mean, Whisper? Peppermint? Next you'll tell me Brutus's
横冲直撞持续了几秒钟，她的眼睛睁得大大的，惊恐地目瞪口呆地盯着我。"哦，不。"当她摇头的时候，我感到一丝希望。"不！不可能!"当她指着我喊道:"去你妈的，黑杰克，去你妈的死神重命名。"我的脸上露出了笑容。我是说，低语？薄荷？接下来你会告诉我布鲁图斯的
‘real name’ was Fluffy or... no. Fuck you." She stuck her tongue out at me and muttered, “Really, if you were going to make up a name, couldn’t it have been from somewhere other than a candy wrapper?”
真名是弗拉菲还是...不是。去你妈的。"她向我伸出舌头，喃喃自语道:"真的，如果你要起个名字，除了糖果包装纸，难道不能从别的地方起吗?"
“You’re Twist’s daughter, Peppermint,” I said as I started to walk around her. “Doof… Deus… is your father.”
"你是特维斯特的女儿，佩珀铭特,"我边说边开始绕着她走。"杜夫......天王......是你父亲。"
“Okay, now you’re just being ‘pop my head like a bloatspite’ stupid, 'cause that's not true,” her annoyance focusing into anger. “That’s impossible.”
"好吧，现在你只是在'像个肿瘤一样戳我的头'，因为那不是真的,"她的烦恼转化为愤怒。"这不可能。"
“It’s true, Peppermint,” I said evenly, knowing this wasn’t going to be pretty. “I touched his mind. He told me everything. He wanted me to look after you.”
"这是真的，薄荷,"我平静地说，心里知道这可不是什么好事。"我触动了他的心灵。他什么都告诉我了。他想让我照顾你。"
“The fuck he did! My…” she trailed off as cognition danced behind her eyes, and she shook her head hard. Rampage growled, “This is getting really fucking annoying, Blackjack. Deus! That guy was a jackass!”
"他妈的他做了什么！我的......"当认知在她的眼睛后面跳动时，她慢了下来，使劲地摇了摇头。狂暴咆哮着,"这真他妈的烦人，黑杰克。上帝！那家伙是个混蛋!"
“To you?” I asked sharply. “He was a twisted monster to most people, yeah, but was he ever to you?”
"对你?"我尖锐地问道。"对大多数人来说，他是个变态的怪物，是的，但对你来说，他是吗?"
Rampage’s eyes locked to mine. “Well, no… but that was probably just because… I mean… who the fuck cares?!”
狂暴的眼睛紧紧盯着我。"嗯，不......但那可能只是因为......我是说......谁他妈在乎呢?!"
“Deus did. About you. He wasn’t scared of you. He didn’t want to rape you. He wanted to protect you. That’s why he stopped fighting for the Harbingers. That’s why he followed us around as long as he did. It was the only way he could be around you,” I said as I held my gaze. Some of that might have been guesswork, but it felt solid. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he was involved in you becoming a Reaper, even. Why else would one of the top ten want to kill you at random? Doesn’t it strike you as odd that you’d cross paths with a Reaper so soon after flopping out of the Core?”
"是上帝。关于你。他不怕你。他不想强奸你。他想保护你。这就是为什么他不再为先驱者而战。这就是为什么他一直跟着我们。这是他在你身边的唯一办法,"我凝视着他说。其中一些可能只是猜测，但感觉很可靠。"即使他参与了你成为一个收魂者，我也不会感到惊讶。不然为什么排名前十的人会随机杀死你呢？难道你不觉得奇怪吗?你从核心飞出来这么快就遇到了一个死神?"
“She heard that I was talking shit,” Rampage answered.
"她听到我在胡说八道,"狂暴回答说。
“And who’d she hear that from?” I challenged.
"她从谁那儿听来的?"我质疑道。
“I… don’t know. She tried to kill me, and when she couldn’t, I killed her,” Rampage stammered. “But I’m not this Peppermint! Why don’t I remember it?”
"我.....。.不知道。她想杀了我，但她做不到，我就杀了她,"狂暴结结巴巴地说。"但我不是这个胡椒薄荷！为什么我不记得了?"
“You had the memory removed. If I had to guess, by Priest. He would have been
"你的记忆被移除了。如果让我猜的话，是Priest写的。他本来可以的
willing to help give you a chance at some peace.” I couldn't prove it, but it made sense to me. “You locked it up in your old room at Miramare. I’m guessing without it, all the other memories in you crowd out memories of that life.”
愿意给你一个平静的机会"我无法证明，但对我来说很有意义。"你把它锁在你在米拉马雷的旧房间里。我猜如果没有它，你身上所有其他的记忆都会挤出那段生活的记忆。"
“I’m not Peppermint,” Rampage countered sharply. “I’m Rampage. A killing machine! That’s all I do! I’m a monster!”
"我不是胡椒薄荷,"狂暴尖锐地反驳道。"我是狂暴。一个杀人机器！这就是我所做的！我是个怪物!"
“You’re Peppermint, a filly younger than Scotch Tape. Think about every time you’re disintegrated. It doesn’t return you to being as you are now. It turns you back into a filly, and then you grow up into who you are now.” I kept my eyes on her. Any second now.
"你是薄荷，一匹比透明胶带年轻的小母马。想想每一次你被分解的时候。它不会让你恢复到现在的样子。它把你变回小母马，然后你长大成为现在的你。"我一直盯着她。马上就好。
“Shut up, Blackjack!” she shouted back at me, tears in her eyes.
"闭嘴，黑杰克!"她也冲我喊，眼里含着泪水。
I really wished I had the recollector right now. I pulled out the memory orb I’d retrieved from Twist’s quarters. “This has it all. Twist trying to take you off the base. The bomb going off. Her shoving the phoenix talisman inside you. All of it.” Then I realized that I might have something else. I pulled out the teddy bear and threw it at her. She caught it in her hooves. “You left that behind.”
我真希望我现在就能回忆起来。我从特威斯特的住处拿出记忆球。"这里什么都有。托斯试图让你离开基地。炸弹爆炸了。她把凤凰护身符塞进你体内。所有的一切。"然后我意识到我可能还有别的东西。我把泰迪熊拿出来扔向她。她用蹄子夹住了它。"你把那个留下了。"
Rampage trembled as she held the teddy bear in her hooves and stared into its slightly forlorn face. “I’ve…” She brought it to her muzzle and inhaled the scent. “I… I know this… but…” She shook her head hard and glared back at me. “No! It’s… you’re trying to trick me! I know you’re up to something, Blackjack. I don’t know what, but it’s not true! I… I’m not Peppermint. I’m Rampage. And I’m going to kick your ass to the mo- er… um… sun! Or whatever!”
当她把泰迪熊放在蹄子里，盯着它那有点凄凉的脸庞时，狂暴颤抖着。"我......"她把它带到嘴边，吸入了气味。"我.....。.我知道这一点......但是......"她用力地摇了摇头，瞪着我。"不！这是...你想骗我！我知道你在打什么主意Blackjack。我不知道是什么，但这不是真的！我。.我不是胡椒薄荷。我是狂暴。我要把你打得屁滚尿流！或者随便什么!"
Damn it, she wasn’t going to make this easy on me. “Demand the recollector from Cognitum. See for yourself!”
该死，她不会轻易放过我的。"要求认知科领回忆者。你自己看吧!"
“Yeah, right. And she’s just going to give it to me? And you’re just going to hang around here while I use it?” Rampage scowled at me. “Now shut it, get back on your rocket, and get gone. I’ll take care of Cognitum. I don’t want her to kill you three anyway. Well, maybe you, Blackjack, but only ‘cause you’re being a jackass right now!”
"是的，没错。她就这么给我了？我用它的时候，你就在这儿闲逛?"狂暴的暴怒怒视着我。"现在闭上嘴，回到你的火箭上去，然后离开。我会照顾好科涅塔姆的。反正我也不想让她杀了你们三个。好吧，也许是你，黑杰克，但那只是因为你现在是个混蛋!"
Okay. It looked like this was going to be the hard way, then. “Which soul was it that betrayed me, Rampage?” I snapped in return. “Was it the Angel? Yeah, I’m sure she’d love to stop giving ‘peace’ to the Wasteland! Or was Softheart a dirty cop all along? Or Razorwire? I’m sure she’s really into siding with authority! Or
好吧。看起来这将是一条艰难的道路。"暴怒，是哪个灵魂出卖了我?"我厉声回应。""是天使吗？是的，我敢肯定她不想再给荒原"和平"了！还是说索菲特一直都是个坏警察？或者是Razorwire？我敢肯定她是真的偏袒当权者！或者
was the Doc interested in stabbing me in the back? How about Shujaa? Was she really a traitor? Or was Twist the one who sold out her friends?” She shifted her whole body towards me, leaning forward, widening her stance, and flexing her powerful hindlegs like a four-hundred-pound steel cat. “That’s right. She was a worthless, no good moth–”
医生有兴趣在背后捅我一刀吗？Shujaa怎么样？她真的是叛徒吗？还是特威斯特出卖了她的朋友?"她把整个身体转向我，身体前倾，站得更加开阔，像一只400磅重的钢铁猫一样伸展着她强有力的后腿。"没错。她是一只没用的、没用的飞蛾——"
Rampage tossed the bear aside and charged me with a scream. I teleported out of her path as she ripped past, materializing a ways back from her. She didn’t turn. She ran right to the wall and then up it, did a twisting jump upside-down off the ceiling, and landed back on her hooves to face me with an ease as impressive as it was terrifying. “No bullets or bombs!” Scotch Tape screamed as I pulled out Sexy and P-21 drew Persuasion. “‘Hard Vacuum’, remember?!”
狂暴把熊扔到一边，冲我发出一声尖叫。当她从我身边疾驰而过时，我瞬移出了她的轨道，突然出现在离她很远的地方。她没有转身。她径直跑到墙边，然后爬上去，头朝下从天花板上扭转着跳了起来，然后用蹄子着地，轻松地面对着我，令人印象深刻，同时也很可怕。"没有子弹和炸弹!"当我拿出性感的胶带，P-21绘制了劝导图时，苏格兰胶带尖叫起来。"'硬吸尘器'，记得吗?!"
Shit… that put a kink in my ‘reboot Rampage’ idea. And she was already on her way back at me. “Stay back!” I shouted, then teleported to the other side of the room again. I needed a way to disable her! She rounded so fast it ripped up a massive burr of carpet, then tore back at me, tugging at her helmet’s chinstrap. “Give it up, Rampage! Fast as you are, you can’t teleport!” I said, and as a demonstration, I disappeared back to the other side of the room once again.
该死...这让我的"重启狂暴"想法有点纠结。她已经在回来的路上了。"退后!"我喊道，然后再次传送到房间的另一边。我需要一个让她失去能力的方法！她转弯的速度太快，撕裂了一块巨大的地毯，然后撕扯着我，拽着她头盔上的帽带。"放弃吧，狂暴！虽然你很快，但你不能瞬移!"我说，为了示范，我又一次消失在房间的另一边。
And got a helmet upside the head for my trouble. It banged into me with a huge clang and nearly knocked me on my ass, and the axelike blade at the brow only barely missed my face to rip a huge gash in my helmet instead. Worse, it kept me in place me long enough for Rampage to pounce. “I’m going to kill you, Blackjack!” she screamed at me.
头上顶了个头盔，解决了我的问题。它发出巨大的撞击声，差点撞到我的屁股上，额头上斧头一样的刀片差点没撞到我的脸，反而在我的头盔上划了一个大口子。更糟糕的是，它让我停留在原地足够长的时间，直到狂暴突袭。"我要杀了你，黑杰克!"她冲我大喊大叫。
She was an emotionally ravaged filly having a tantrum in a body that could grind me into paste. She came down, and I rolled to the side to avoid being crushed. Her foreleg swept out to the side, ripping three furrows in my armor from spine to rump. Without it, my hide would have been shredded to ribbons. I flopped over again to face her as she rose for another strike, then blasted her in the face with a magic bullet. It slowed her down only enough for me to get to my feet again.
她是一个情感上受到蹂躏的小母马，在一个可以把我碾成糊状的身体发脾气。她下来了，我滚到一边，以免被压扁。她的前腿扫到一边，从脊椎到臀部撕裂了我盔甲上的三道皱纹。没有它，我的皮就会被撕成碎片。当她站起来准备再次进攻的时候，我重新扑倒在地面对着她，然后用一颗魔法子弹打在她的脸上。这使她慢了下来，只够我重新站起来。
“Rampage!” P-21 shouted. She snapped her head towards him in time to spot him raising Persuasion and firing a grenade. It smashed into her forehead, bouncing off and flipping in an arc before her. She reached out and actually caught it as P-21 and Scotch covered their eyes. Rampage’s body shielded me from the flash, but the bang made my ears ring. At least Rampage had soaked up
"横冲直撞!"P-21大声喊道。她及时向他猛地扭了扭头，看到他举起了《劝导》，并向他扔了一枚手榴弹。它击中了她的前额，在她面前弹跳成一个弧形。当P-21和苏格兰威士忌蒙住他们的眼睛时，她伸出手，真的看到了。狂暴的身体挡住了闪光，但是砰的一声让我的耳朵嗡嗡作响。至少狂暴吸取了教训
most of that too.
大部分也是。
Rampage shook her head hard, staggering a few steps and blinking her eyes. “Ow,” she muttered, then refocused on P-21, narrowing her eyes as she recovered quickly. “Okay. Your turn.”
狂暴摇了摇头，摇摇晃晃地走了几步，眨了眨眼睛。"噢,"她喃喃自语，然后把注意力重新集中到P-21上，眯起眼睛，很快就恢复过来了。"好吧。该你了。"
“Blackjack! Boost me up!” Scotch Tape shouted as she ran to me, pointing up at the ceiling. P-21 was now backing away on the defensive as I levitated Scotch up to where she could kick open a panel in the ceiling and disappear inside. “Get her over here!” she said from above.
"黑杰克！推我一把!"苏格兰胶带喊道，她跑向我，指着天花板。当我把苏格兰人悬浮起来，让她踢开天花板上的一块嵌板，然后消失在里面时，P-21正在后退，处于守势。"把她带过来!"她从上面说。
Easier said than done. As I watched Rampage, though, I realized that she wasn’t fighting like she could have been. Where were the commando grips? What about the Proditor kicks and tricks? Police combat and dirty fighting were also conspicuously absent. If Shujaa, Twist, and Softheart had been helping, P-21 wouldn’t have had a chance. As it was, he kept swinging, ducking, wildly backflipping, weaving, and barely keeping away from the wild claw swipes that threatened to rip him in half.
说起来容易做起来难。然而，当我看到狂暴的时候，我意识到她并没有像以前那样反抗。突击队员在哪里？那么Proditor又是怎么回事呢？警方的战斗和肮脏的战斗也明显缺席。如果Shujaa、Twist和Softheart帮忙的话，P-21就不会有机会了。事实上，他不停地摇摆着，俯冲着，疯狂地向后翻转着，左右摇摆着，几乎无法躲开那可能将他撕成两半的凶猛的爪子。
There wasn’t anything for it. I raised Sexy, glanced at all that glass with space on the other side, and hoped that it was thicker than it looked, or maybe magic, unbreakable glass. Advancing towards her, I moved till she filled most of the spread and opened up with buckshot. Sexy let loose a thundering roar, pouring a storm of lead at the striped mare. The weapon was, however, less effective than I’d hoped. The Brood that she’d so easily chewed through below hadn’t been covered in an inch of plate steel; much of the shot deflected off or pancaked on the metal. Even when exposed gaps were hit and penetrated, the shot was merely pushed out of the wound a second later.
没有任何东西可以用。我举起了"性感"，瞥了一眼玻璃的另一面，希望它比它看起来要厚，或者可能是神奇的，牢不可破的玻璃。我朝她走过去，直到她填满了大部分的空地，用铅弹打开了缺口。性感发出雷鸣般的咆哮，向斑马泼出一阵铅暴风雨。然而，这种武器并没有我想象的那么有效。布鲁德夫妇下面很容易就被咬穿了，但他们身上没有一英寸厚的钢板，大部分子弹都偏离了方向，或者被金属压扁了。即使在暴露的缝隙被击中和穿透时，子弹也只是在一秒钟之后被推出伤口。
But it did work in one respect: it shifted her attention from P-21 to me. I started to back away again as she advanced on three legs, the fourth raised and shielding her head to prevent me from rendering her vulnerable by pulping her face. Burst after burst cracked out, sending lead flying wildly and spiderwebbing the glass with errant shots. At least it was a little tougher than it looked! Overhead, between shots, I heard Scotch mutter, “Oh, go ahead. Make us suck hard vacuum. I always wanted a special death you just can’t find on Equus.”
但是在一个方面它确实起作用了:它把她的注意力从P-21转移到了我身上。当她用三条腿向前走的时候，我又开始后退，第四条腿抬起来挡住她的头，防止我把她的脸打成浆糊，使她变得脆弱。一阵接着一阵的爆裂声，铅片乱飞，玻璃上布满了乱七八糟的子弹。至少比看起来要难一点！在头顶上，枪声中，我听到苏格兰人咕哝着:"哦，来吧。让我们吸硬真空。我一直想要一种你在马身上找不到的特殊死法。"
“Sorry. You got that with the Joke, Scotch,” I countered as I kept backing away.
"对不起。"开玩笑，苏格兰威士忌，你做到了,"我一边反驳，一边不断后退。
“You’re the joke,” Rampage countered, now moving close enough to leap at me.
"你就是个笑话,"狂暴反驳道，现在离我足够近了，可以跳到我身上。
I turned Sexy sideways just in time and watched her claws scrape at the metal. Thank Celestia for reinforced barrels! I wasn’t going to lose this gun so quickly!
我及时把Sexy转过身来，看着她的爪子在金属上刮来刮去。感谢天堂为加固桶！我可不想这么快就把枪丢了！
Then two wires dropped down. One touched her armored rump. The other touched her unarmored mane. The second it did, there was a sharp snap, a dazzling flash, and a reek of burning mane. Rampage immediately jerked sideways, spasming and flopping like a four-hundred-pound steel-scaled fish as half the lights in the terminal winked out.
然后两根电线掉了下来。一个人摸了摸她那披着盔甲的臀部。另一个抚摸着她那毫无铠甲的鬃毛。第二次它做，有一个尖锐的突然，一个令人眼花缭乱的闪光，和一个燃烧的鬃毛的臭气。机场里一半的灯光都熄灭了，狂暴的人马上猛地向一边抽搐，像一条400磅重的钢鳞鱼一样扑腾着。
Scotch poked her head out the hatch. “Did I get her?”
苏格兰人从舱口探出头来。"我得到她了吗?"
I advanced to the twitching form. “Looks like,” I said as I pressed the gun to her forehead. “Time to reboot.”
我走到抽搐的状态。"看起来是,"我一边用枪指着她的额头一边说。"是时候重启了。"
Rampage opened her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. “Please,” she whimpered, “help my little girl.”
狂暴打开了她的眼睛，泪水顺着她的脸颊流了下来。"求你了,"她呜咽着说,"帮帮我的小女儿。"
I blinked.
我眨了眨眼。
Then Sexy went flying as her hoof moved faster than I could see, knocking it to the far corner of the room. Rampage swept around in a circle, hooking her barbed tail in my leg barding and jerking me right off my feet. She continued the motion, flinging me in the opposite direction of my gun. “Electricity? Really? Why not try and taze me, or use rubber bullets? Or fire? That works really well!” she said sarcastically, and then she was leaping at me before I could rise.
然后性感飞了起来，她的蹄子飞得比我看到的还快，撞到了房间的另一个角落。横冲直撞的人围成一个圈，用她带刺的尾巴钩住我的腿，猛地把我拽下来。她继续这个动作，把我扔向我的枪的相反方向。"电力？真的吗？为什么不试着把我弄晕，或者用橡皮子弹？还是火？这真的很管用!"她讽刺地说，然后我还没来得及站起来，她就朝我跳过来。
I imagined I was fighting a tiger as I tried to use my focus to get away from her, but she was on me like a tempest. Raking hoofclaws ravaged the rest of my helmet and nearly took off my face. Her razorwire-threaded tail whipped towards me, catching my flanks and tearing the gaps in my barding even wider. Then she reared up, and I reared up as well, blocking her plunging hoofclaws and really missing my augmentations. Her weight came crushing down as I backed up again and again.
我想象着我正在和一只老虎搏斗，我试图用我的注意力离开她，但是她像暴风雨一样扑向我。耙蹄撕裂了我剩下的头盔，差点把我的脸撕掉。她带着剃须刀丝线的尾巴猛地朝我飞过来，抓住了我的侧腹，把我身上的缝隙扯得更大了。然后她站了起来，我也站了起来，挡住了她的马蹄爪，真的没有看见我的肚子。当我一次又一次倒车时，她的体重快要崩溃了。
“Blackjack!” P-21 shouted from the far side of the room, then hurled Sexy across the terminal towards us. Thankfully, the weapon could take a bounce or two, and, with his usual aim, it rammed into Rampage’s side and knocked her off balance just long enough for me to catch it with my hooves and magic. I now had something heavy to keep between her and myself at least, but Sexy’s mass also worked against me; while it was sturdy enough to be a shield, the weapon
"黑杰克!"P-21在房间的另一边大声叫喊，然后把Sexy从候机厅的另一头甩向我们。谢天谢地，那武器还能弹一两下，像他平时瞄准的那样，它撞到了狂暴的身体一侧，让她失去了平衡，刚好让我用蹄子和魔法抓住了它。现在至少我和她之间有了一些沉重的东西，但性感的质量也对我不利;虽然它足够结实，可以成为一个盾牌，一个武器
was too massive for me to maneuver.
对我来说太大了。
Rampage leapt up, pushing against the gun, grinning ear to ear over it at me as her weight slowly shoved it aside. I blasted her with a magic bullet, but while it tore the side of her head away, her body began to repair the damage immediately. I reared up and planted my forehooves against the gun, trying to push back as I danced on my hindlegs. A second magic bullet to the face failed to go through her brain. The third missed completely as we whirled about.
狂暴跳了起来，顶着枪，对着我咧着嘴笑，她的体重慢慢地把枪推到一边。我用一颗神奇的子弹打她，但当子弹把她头部的一侧撕裂开来时，她的身体立即开始修复损伤。我站起来，用前蹄顶着枪，试图推开枪，同时用后腿跳舞。第二颗打在她脸上的神奇子弹没有穿过她的大脑。当我们旋转的时候，第三个完全没有打中。
Don’t fall! If I fell, I’d be paste. I fought to pull my focus back together to teleport away again, drawing Vigilance at the same time. That really got her moving, pushing us both in a tight spiral as bullets flew wildly at her unarmored head. P-21 and Scotch Tape took cover as we danced around and around on our hindlegs, both pressing against Sexy as I struggled to land a shot that’d blow her brains out so she'd see reason.
别掉下去！如果我摔倒了，我就成浆糊了。我努力把注意力集中到一起，再次瞬移离开，同时引起了警惕。这真的让她动了起来，子弹在她没有装甲的头上疯狂地飞来飞去，把我们紧紧地推在一起。P-21和苏格兰胶带掩护我们，我们用后腿跳来跳去，两个人都顶着Sexy，我努力想拍到一张能打爆她脑袋的照片，这样她就明白了。
“Hard vacuum!” screamed Scotch Tape, and I dimly heard an alarm sounding somewhere as the magazine ran empty. Enough! I had to put some distance between us! I just needed a few more seconds to tele–
"硬吸尘器!"透明胶带尖叫着，我隐约听到某个地方传来了警报声，杂志已经空了。够了！我必须让我们之间保持距离！我只是需要几秒钟的时间
She bit my horn! Bit it! I screamed as my focus shattered and I felt something crunchy happening atop my forehead. The pain was so bad that I almost collapsed, Vigilance bouncing away. My shoulders hit the wall behind me, and something crinkled. Suddenly, Rampage stopped biting down as the crinkling deepened, a sound like cracking ice. I looked up at her, my vision swimming with tears of pain, and spotted her staring past me with a look of trepidation… and awe.
她咬了我的喇叭！咬它！当我的注意力分散的时候，我尖叫起来，我感到前额上发生了一些嘎吱嘎吱的声音。疼痛难忍，我几乎要崩溃了，警惕也随之消失了。我的肩膀撞在身后的墙上，什么东西起了皱纹。突然，狂暴不再咬下来，皱纹加深了，听起来像冰裂的声音。我抬头看着她，我的视线里充满了痛苦的泪水，我发现她带着恐惧和敬畏的神情凝视着我。
Then we were blasted through the window.
然后我们就被炸穿了窗户。
Instantly, I was covered head to hoof in a wrongness. My skin burned as we tumbled out together into the void. Instinctively, I tried to hold my breath, as if we were underwater, but when my back struck the cool dust, the air was blasted from my lungs in a vapor. I felt the dull impact of Rampage beside me, both of us kicking up glowing clouds of dust that settled on us as I looked up at the line of windows a story above us. A metal plate had dropped down, covering the ones we’d punched through. I stared up at the sight of P-21 and Scotch Tape looking down at me through one of the intact ones, mouths moving. My heart thundered in my ears as I lay back in the dust.
立刻，我就因为一件错事从头到脚被蒙上了一层皮。当我们一起跌落到空虚中时，我的皮肤燃烧起来。出于本能，我试图屏住呼吸，就好像我们在水下一样，但是当我的背部碰到凉爽的灰尘时，空气就像蒸汽一样从我的肺里喷出来。我感受到了横冲直撞在我身边产生的沉闷影响，当我抬头看着我们头顶上一排排故事窗户时，我们俩都踢起了发光的尘埃云。一块金属板掉了下来，盖住了我们穿过去的那块。我抬起头来，看到P-21和透明胶带正通过其中一个完好无损的嘴巴向下看着我。当我躺在尘土中时，我的心在耳边轰鸣。
It would be so easy to simply stay down and rest. It was so beautiful here. The moon was full of song. P-21 and Scotch Tape could finish. I could just… rest. I turned my head to lay my cheek on the glowing dust and gravel and pressed my bloodied horn to the gleaming surface, listening to that wonderful song as time seemed to stretch out.
简单地躺下来休息是很容易的。这里真是太美了。月亮上充满了歌声。P-21和透明胶带可以完成。我可以...休息一下。我转过头，把我的脸颊放在发光的尘土和碎石上，把我血淋淋的号角贴在闪闪发光的水面上，听着那美妙的歌曲，时间仿佛在延长。
Get up, Blackjack…
起来，黑杰克..。
I don’t want to.
我不想。
Get up, Blackjack!
起来，黑杰克！
Five more minutes!
再等五分钟！
Then I heard it. The distant cacophony of echoing screams. A muffled concerto of pain. I lifted my head, coated head to hoof in moon dust, and stared up at Equus above me. The planet looked sick. Maimed. Bleeding and dying. I pushed myself to my hooves as I felt my consciousness failing fast. I stared up at it, my eyes feeling dry and itchy.
然后我听到了。远处回响着刺耳的尖叫声。低沉的痛苦协奏曲。我抬起头，从头到脚裹在月光的尘土里，凝视着头顶上方的马。这个星球看起来很糟糕。残废的。流血和死亡。当我感到我的意识正在快速衰退时，我把自己推向我的蹄子。我盯着它，我的眼睛感到干燥和发痒。
Will you leave its fate uncertain? Will you leave the fates of your friends for others to decide?
你会让它的命运不确定吗？你会把你朋友的命运留给别人来决定吗？
I turned and saw Rampage rising to her hooves, chunks of white dust and gravel tumbling off her armor. Her face twisted in torment as she clutched her head, lips moving silently in a scream. There was nothing I could do for her here. I stared up at the world above. So small. So sick and injured. Could I do anything that would help?
我转过身来，看到狂暴爬上了她的蹄子，一大块白色的尘土和碎石从她的盔甲上滚落下来。她抓住自己的头，痛苦地扭曲着脸，嘴唇在尖叫中无声地动着。在这里我无能为力。我凝视着上面的世界。这么小。病得这么重，伤得这么重。我能做点什么吗？
Where there is will, there is hope.
有志者，事竟成。
Where there is hope, there is action.
只要有希望，就有行动。
Where there is action, there is possibility.
只要有行动，就有可能。
Possibility. Not certainty… too much to hope for. I wanted to sigh, but I was feeling pretty numb and wobbly. I closed my eyes, drew in my focus, and teleported back into the terminal, collapsing in a heap under the banner. My whole body tingled from head to hoof as I sucked in air… wonderful, wonderful air. My whole body felt tight and swollen, my eyes burning horribly as if buckets
可能性。不是确定性...太多的希望。我想叹口气，但我感到非常麻木和摇晃。我闭上眼睛，集中注意力，心灵传输回终端，在旗帜下倒成一堆。当我吸入空气的时候，我的整个身体从头到脚都感到刺痛......美妙，美妙的空气。我的整个身体感到紧张和肿胀，我的眼睛像水桶一样可怕地燃烧着
of sand had been poured in my face, my head immediately pounding as my heart rate picked up again. Tears poured down my cheeks as I struggled to clear the grit. The moon dust coating me made my horn tingle like it was plugged into an electrical socket.
沙子已经倾倒在我的脸上，我的头立即狂跳，因为我的心率再次加快。当我努力清除砂砾时，泪水顺着我的脸颊流了下来。覆盖在我身上的月尘让我的喇叭发麻，就像插在电源插座上一样。
“Blackjack! Here!” P-21 shouted as he put a healing potion to my lips. I drank it down eagerly, then coughed and breathed a little while longer. Huh… I couldn’t taste the potion at all.
"黑杰克！这里!"P-21一边喊着，一边往我嘴里倒了一剂治疗药水。我迫不及待地喝了下去，然后咳嗽了一会儿，呼吸了一会儿。嗯...我根本尝不出药水的味道。
“How come you didn’t explode? I thought you were supposed to explode on the moon,” Scotch Tape asked, actually sounding slightly disappointed.
"你怎么没爆炸？我还以为你会在月亮上爆炸呢,"ScotchTape问道，听起来有点失望。
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said, working my tongue and stiff, swollen body. Was there something wrong with my mouth? I didn’t want to not be able to taste Sugar Apple B... damn it, P-21... I slowly pushed myself to my hooves and tugged my ruined barding off. Rampage had pretty much shredded most of it. Damn, I’d been lucky to have her on my side. We walked to the windows and looked out for her.
"对不起，让你失望了,"我说着，舌头打结，身体僵硬肿胀。我的嘴有什么问题吗？我不想不能品尝甜苹果b。.该死，P-21......我慢慢地把自己推到蹄子上，拖走了被毁坏的军服。狂暴几乎粉碎了它的大部分。该死，有她支持我真是太幸运了。我们走到窗前，望着她。
“Where’s Rampage?” P-21 asked. I felt a frisson of fear. There was no sign of her down at the rents we’d left in the moon dust.
"狂暴在哪里?"P-21要求。我感到一阵恐惧。在我们留在月尘里的房租里，没有看到她下来的迹象。
The window exploded in my face amid a loud bang and gust of wind, Rampage’s hooves hooking into the carpet before she could be pulled back. With my head still spinning from my own return, I wasn’t able to brace myself in time, and the exhausting air sent me tumbling into Rampage’s glowy hug. Scotch Tape and P-21 dropped to the floor, wedged in between floor and wall before they could be blown over as well. The steel shutter slammed down over the window, blocking the escape of air. “Peppermint this,” Rampage hissed as she started to squeeze, eyes bloodshot and bulging as she dribbled moon gravel all over me.
窗户在一声巨响和一阵狂风中在我的脸上爆炸了，在她被拉回来之前，狂暴的蹄子钩在地毯上。我的头还在为自己的归来而打转，我没能及时支撑住自己，令人精疲力竭的空气让我跌落到狂暴的热情拥抱中。透明胶带和P-21掉在地板上，卡在地板和墙之间，以免也被吹倒。钢制百叶窗砰地一声关上了窗户，挡住了空气的出口。"薄荷味的,"她开始挤压时嘶嘶地说，眼睛布满血丝，膨胀着，她把月亮上的碎石滴得满身都是。
I had no tricks left. Then P-21 was there, swinging Persuasion’s barrel like a truncheon and striking her again and again across the face with it with a loud ‘poing’ noise. “Ow! Ow! Stop it! Quit it!” she yelled, relaxing her crushing grip on me as she raised a hoof to deflect the wild swings.
我已经没有办法了。然后，P-21就在那里，像警棍一样挥动着《劝导》的木桶，一次又一次地用它打她的脸，发出很大的"噗"的一声。"噢！噢！住手！住手!"她大叫着，放松着紧紧抓着我的手，抬起一只蹄子来转动那些野性的秋千。
Scotch Tape raced by with the banner from the ceiling and pulled it over Rampage’s face, yanking it tight. She lifted a hoofclaw and slashed at the material, ripping a hole in it. P-21 fired a grenade straight at her face, the impact filling the air with a resounding crack as she went reeling. I managed to pull out
苏格兰胶带和天花板上的横幅一起飞驰而过，把横冲直撞的人的脸拉得紧紧的。她举起一只蹄爪，在那块布料上划了一道口子，把它撕开了一个洞。P-21直接向她的脸部发射了一枚手榴弹，当她摇摇晃晃地走时，空气中响亮的爆炸声充满了整个空间。我设法抽身出来
of her grip. I assumed P-21 had loaded a dud as he had with the Legate and wheeled. I could have shot her in the head again, but I’d had enough.
她的抓地力。我以为P-21装的是哑弹，就像他用特使推车一样。我本可以再一枪打爆她的头，但我已经受够了。
She ripped the banner in two and then looked straight into my eyes. I leaned forward and jammed my moonstone-coated horn into her brow. “No, this is Peppermint!” I hissed. Without the recollector, there was no way she could experience the memory in the orb.
她把横幅撕成两半，然后直视着我的眼睛。我身体前倾，用涂满月光石的喇叭塞进她的额头。"不，这是薄荷味的!"我发出嘶嘶声。没有回忆者，她不可能体验到球体中的记忆。
So I gave her mine, transferring a memory of a memory into her mind. It was like dumping a cup of flamer fuel into a smoldering fire. When the memory entered her consciousness, it set light to everything else. A filly didn’t have a lot of memories in general, particularly underneath all the experiences she’d had since waking in the Wasteland. ‘Not a lot’ wasn’t ‘none’, though, and suddenly that simple little memory was drawing up others inside her that had lain dim and dark in the depths of her mind. Shujaa giving rides on her back. Twist baking her a six layer birthday cake. Said cake toppling like a felled tree when Peppermint tried to eat the bottom layer first (Who’d miss it? It was the bottom one, after all.). And dozens more. The memories, thoughts, and emotions of the filly at Rampage's core lit up, the quickfire searing through the brambly depths of her mind.
所以我给了她我的，把一段记忆的记忆转移到她的大脑里。这就像是把一杯火焰中的燃料倒进了一团闷烧的火里。当这段记忆进入她的意识时，它照亮了其他的一切。总的来说，小母马并没有太多的记忆，尤其是在她在荒原醒来之后所有的经历之下。然而,"没有很多"并不是"没有"，突然之间，这个简单的小小的记忆在她内心深处勾起了其他的记忆，这些记忆在她的心灵深处已经变得模糊和黑暗。舒嘉骑在她的背上。给她烤一个六层的生日蛋糕。当薄荷试图先吃底层的时候，蛋糕像倒下的树一样倒下(谁会想念它?)？毕竟，它是最底层的一个。).还有几十个。狂暴的小母马的记忆、思想和情感都被点燃了，火焰在她脑海深处灼烧着。
“No!” Rampage sobbed as she released me and fell on her side, clutching her head and writhing as though in physical pain. I scrambled back as quickly as I could, flopping while I watched the armored mare flail like Tenebra in the midst of an epileptic fit. Her claws raked at her head as if trying to physically scrape the memories out of her skull, and, failing at that, ripped and shredded at the ground. Finally, she collapsed on her side, sobbing brokenly, blood and tears mixing in the sparkling moon dust covering her and tiny bits of carpet drifting in the air like feathers.
"不!"当她放开我，倒在地上时，狂暴的抽泣着，她抓着头，痛苦地扭动着身体。我以最快的速度爬回去，看着像Tenebra一样的装甲母马在癫痫发作时摔倒在地。她的爪子轻轻地抓着她的头，好像要用身体把记忆从她的头骨中挖出来，但是失败了，撕裂并撕碎在地上。最后，她倒在地上，断断续续地啜泣着，鲜血和眼泪混杂在月光下的尘土里，还有一小块地毯像羽毛一样在空中飘荡。
“She wanted me to live. Mommies die for their babies. But I didn’t. I killed my baby, Mommy. I killed her,” she choked out through helpless sobs. I approached slowly as she muttered, “I’m sorry, Mommy. I am so sorry.”
"她想让我活下去。妈妈们为她们的孩子而死。但我没有。我杀了我的孩子，妈妈。我杀了她,"她无助地抽泣着，哽咽着说。我慢慢走近她，她喃喃自语道:"对不起，妈妈。我很抱歉。"
I knelt down and stroked her gently. “Shh… shh… It’s okay, Peppermint.”
我跪下来，轻轻地抚摸她。"嘘...嘘...没事的胡椒薄荷"
“Don’t call me that, Blackjack. I’m not Peppermint anymore, and I’m not Psychoshy,” Rampage said as she looked up at me morosely. “She wanted me to live, Blackjack…” Rampage blubbered. “She wants me to live… but how can I?
"别这么叫我，黑杰克。我不再是胡椒薄荷了，也不再是害羞的精神病了,"朗格一边说一边愁眉苦脸地抬头看着我。"她想让我活下去，黑杰克......"狂暴哭了起来。"她想让我活下去......但我怎么能活下去呢？
I killed my own baby. I... I fucking murdered my own daughter, Blackjack. How do I come back from that?”
我杀了我自己的孩子。我。.我他妈的杀了自己的女儿Blackjack。我怎么才能从那种情况中恢复过来呢?"
Gee, where had I heard that before? She embraced me, and I braced myself as she wept. “I know it hurts, Rampage,” I said gently, waiting as she held me in her hooves. “And I know that you don’t want to go on, but I need you.” Her sobbing continued as the embrace tightened around my shoulders. Keep the anger in check, though. I struggled to keep my voice even. “I need your help.” Her sobbing slowed, and I waited, rage condensing to hate. “We need to save the world.” Show your fucking face...
哎呀，我以前在哪里听到过这句话？她拥抱了我，我鼓起勇气看着她哭泣。"我知道这很痛苦，狂暴,"我温柔地说，等待着她用她的蹄子抱住我。"我知道你不想继续下去，但我需要你。"她的抽泣继续着，拥抱在我的肩膀上越来越紧。不过，要控制住自己的愤怒。我努力保持我的声音平稳。"我需要你的帮助。"她的抽泣声慢了下来，我等待着，愤怒凝结成仇恨。"我们需要拯救世界。"给我露出你的臭脸。
Her weeping stopped. “No,” Rampage breathed as her hooves tightened around me in a crushing embrace. Then she lifted her head, stared into my eyes, and smiled. “We need to give it peace!” There you are!
她停止了哭泣。"不,"狂暴呼吸着，她的蹄子在我周围紧紧地拥抱着。然后她抬起头，凝视着我的眼睛，微笑着。"我们需要给它和平!"你在这儿啊！
And I looked straight into her eyes, vacant as the corpse of a dead star, and pressed my horn against her forehead and unloaded… something… straight into Rampage’s mind. It wasn’t any kind of spell, per se. It was to mind magic what a balefire egg was to precision. As she started to crush me, I rammed a white-hot lance of rage, frustration, fear, and will straight into the pool of Rampage’s mind. The Angel was like an oily blot smothering the flames I’d ignited. With fiery rage and hate, I poured every bit of magic I could squeeze through my horn into her head. There was no ‘mental spell matrix’ or ‘envisioning then actualizing’ like Twilight’s books taught. This was me wanting nothing more right now than to rip, burn, gnash, tear, and obliterate that foul, bilious madness inside Rampage. White light poured out of Rampage’s eyes as I pushed everything I could into her.
我直视着她的眼睛，像死星的尸体一样茫然，用我的角抵着她的额头，卸下了......某种东西......直接进入了狂暴的脑海。从本质上来说，这不是什么咒语。对于魔法来说，它就像一颗火焰蛋对于精确一样。当她开始碾压我的时候，我用一把炽热的愤怒、沮丧、恐惧的长矛直冲进狂暴的脑海。天使就像一个油污，使我点燃的火焰窒息。带着愤怒和憎恨，我用尽一切办法，用我的号角把魔法灌进她的脑袋里。没有像《暮光之城》的书中所教授的那样"心智拼写矩阵"或"构想然后实现"。这就是我现在最想做的事情，就是撕裂、燃烧、咬牙切齿、撕裂、抹去狂暴内心那肮脏、胆汁般的疯狂。当我把所有的东西都塞进她的眼睛时，白光从狂暴的眼睛里涌了出来。
The Angel recoiled. I advanced. The Angel hid. I pursued. The Angel threw images of Glory’s corpse at me. I denied. The Angel promised peace. I mandated action. Deeper and deeper, hotter and hotter, my will burned after her. It would help me kill Cognitum. I didn’t want it. It would help me kill the Legate! The Eater itself! Just stop. I refused. It threw the sensation of serene peace at me like a choking blanket.
天使向后退了退。我继续前进。天使躲了起来。我追问道。天使把晨辉的尸体的影像扔向我。我否认了。天使许诺了和平。我授权采取行动。越来越深，越来越热，我的意志在她身后燃烧。它可以帮助我杀死认知。我不想要。它能帮我杀了特使！食人者本身！别说了。我拒绝了。那种宁静祥和的感觉像一条令人窒息的毯子一样向我袭来。
“You want peace?” I shouted into Rampage. “Have it!”
"你想要和平?"我冲着狂暴喊道。"拿去吧!"
I dug down all the way to a hard little knot that I couldn’t push into, and seizing every bit of that slimy, acidic, poisonous thought, I pulled. I ripped. I consumed.
我一路向下挖到一个硬硬的小结，我无法推进，抓住每一点粘糊糊的，酸性的，有毒的想法，我拉。我撕裂了。我消耗了。
I eradicated. With mental ferocity that outpaced the ruin of any balefire explosion, I tore every last bit to splinters.
我根除了。我的精神比任何一次爆炸的速度都要快，我把每一块都撕成了碎片。
Then my horn burned out with a pop, and we both fell again. The moonstone that had stuck to my horn had turned inky black. It fell freely around my hooves, and I watched as it disintegrated, releasing a black shadow that was swept away with a tiny pathetic scream upon an ethereal wind.
然后我的喇叭砰的一声烧坏了，我们俩又都摔倒了。粘在我号角上的月光石变成了墨黑色。它自由地落在我的蹄子上，我看着它瓦解，释放出一个黑色的影子，随着一阵空灵的风发出一声微弱的可怜的尖叫，它被卷走了。
“What did you do, Blackjack?” Scotch Tape asked in shock. She waved her hooves in the air. “I mean, she was all ‘Grrr!’ and then you went all ‘zap’, and her eyes went ‘wooosh’, and then you were both ‘Ohhh!’” And she slumped, as if momentarily winded by her question.
"你做了什么，黑杰克?"透明胶带震惊地问道。她向空中挥舞着她的蹄子。"我的意思是，她就是'啊!"'然后你们一起"嗖"的一声，她的眼睛"嗖"的一声，然后你们两个都"噢"！"说着，她垂下了头，仿佛一时间被她的问题困住了。
“I have no idea,” I groaned, touching the blackened end of my horn and yelping as a crackle of electricity zapped my hoof. Okay, that was new. “I was just really… really pissed when I did it, think I overdid it, and whatever it was...” I glanced at the sooty black remains of the dust. “I think it worked.”
"我不知道,"我呻吟着，触摸着我那变黑的号角末端，随着电流劈啪击中我的蹄子而发出尖叫。好吧，这是第一次。"当我这么做的时候，我真的...真的很生气，觉得我做得太过火了，不管是什么..."我瞥了一眼灰尘留下的乌黑的痕迹。"我认为它起作用了。"
At least, I hoped it did. Rampage was stirring. “Was it supposed to give me a splitting headache and make me feel like crap?” she asked as she sat up in a sulk, then slumped back on her rump. “‘Cause if so, bravo.”
至少，我希望是这样。暴跳如雷。"这是不是会让我头痛欲裂，感觉自己像个废物?"她一边生闷气一边问，然后又重新趴在地上。"因为如果是这样的话，太棒了"
“I went after that thing that killed Hope, Rampage,” I said, trying to tap my horn and getting another zap and zing of pain through my spire. “Ow…” I winced, then looked at her. “Did I get it?”
"我去追那个杀死霍普的东西，狂暴,"我说，试图敲响我的喇叭，又一阵刺痛透过我的尖顶。"噢......"我皱了皱眉，然后看着她。"我拿到了吗?"
“I dunno. You went away, and then I came back, and...” She rubbed her face with her hooves, looking tired and older as she stared out one of the remaining windows. “Mom would be so ashamed of me,” she muttered.
"我不知道。你走了，然后我回来了，然后......"她用蹄子擦着脸，盯着剩下的一扇窗户，显得疲惫而苍老。"妈妈会为我感到羞耻的,"她喃喃自语。
“Join the club,” I said, shifting and sitting next to her as I scrubbed at my temple. “I know just what my mom would think about me. ‘Couldn’t you have done better without the body count?’”
"加入我们的俱乐部吧,"我边说边挪动身子坐在她旁边，一边擦拭着我的太阳穴。"我知道我妈妈会怎么看我。""没有那么多人，你就不能做得更好些吗？"'
“Yeah, but you didn’t kill your kid, Blackjack,” she pointed out. Scotch Tape sighed, rolling her eyes, and trotted over to examine something by the tram entrances.
"是的，但是你没有杀死你的孩子，Blackjack,"她指出。苏格兰胶带叹了口气，转动着眼珠，小跑过去检查电车入口处的什么东西。
“Got my stable, though,” I answered. P-21 growled, rubbing his own head as he gritted his teeth. “Most of it,” I added.
"不过我有马厩,"我回答。P-21咆哮着，一边咬紧牙关，一边揉着自己的头。"大部分,"我补充道。
“Oh, would you two just stop?!” P-21 shouted at the both of us, throwing his forehooves into the air. “Honestly! You pick now to whine about which of you more disappointed your mothers? I was born with a penis. I beat both of you for disappointed mothers!” he shouted as all three of us just stared at him. He noticed, turned red, and blurted, “Now is not the time for this!”
"哦，你们两个能不能停下来?!"P-21向我们两个喊叫，前蹄抛向空中。"老实说！你现在就抱怨你们哪个更让你们的妈妈失望？我生来就有阴茎。我打败了你们两个成为失望的母亲!"当我们三个都盯着他看的时候，他喊道。他注意到了，脸红了，脱口而出:"现在不是说这个的时候!"
I looked at Rampage out the corner of my eye. “He’s kinda got a point.” I cracked a little smile, but she didn’t share it. “Rampage, I really don’t want to fight Cognitum, but I’d feel a lot better having you with me than not. It’d be like old times again.”
我用眼角余光看着暴怒。"他说的有点道理。"我笑了笑，但她没有笑。"暴怒，我真的不想和认知对抗，但是有你在身边，我会感觉好很多。就像以前一样。"
“Old times,” she sighed, then looked levelly at me. “I still want to die,” she said with a small frown. Nearly a pout.
"以前,"她叹了口气，然后平视着我。"我还是想死,"她微微皱着眉头说。几乎是撅着嘴。
“I know.” I put a hoof across her shoulders and hugged her to me. She pressed her forehead to my shoulder.
"我知道。"我用蹄子跨过她的肩膀，把她抱在怀里。她把前额贴在我的肩膀上。
“But Cogs isn’t going to actually turn it off and kill me, is she?” Rampage asked.
"但是齿轮不会真的把它关掉然后杀了我吧?"狂暴问道。
“Probably. It’s not in her nature to throw away a tool she can use. Heck, she didn’t throw out Dawn or Horse. I hate to imagine what her fridge would look like,” I said, smiling at the utterly nonsensical but unsettlingly plausible idea. Then again, I hadn’t been known for cleanliness either.
"可能吧。扔掉她能用的工具不是她的天性。见鬼，她没有扔掉Dawn或者Horse。我讨厌想象她的冰箱会是什么样子,"我说，对这个完全无意义但却令人不安的似是而非的想法微笑着。不过话又说回来，我也不是以爱干净著称的。
“I want to die. What I did… what she did for me… it hurts. I’m so angry it hurts,” she said, almost in a whimper. “And I can’t make it stop.”
"我想死。我所做的...她为我做的...很痛苦。我很生气，好痛,"她说，几乎是在呜咽。"我没法让它停下来。"
I nuzzled her as Mom had done me when I was a filly. “I know. But you can do it after we stop her and save the world,” I pointed out.
我用鼻子蹭她，就像我小时候妈妈对我做的那样。"我知道。但是你可以在我们阻止她并拯救世界之后再做。"我指出。
“Promise?” she asked in a tiny voice.
"你保证?"她小声问道。
“I promise,” I answered.
"我保证,"我回答。
Rampage didn’t answer, and I waited. Time was running out, but if I pressed her, she’d just spend the rest of time sulking right here waiting to die. “Right,” Rampage said half a minute later. “Let’s do this.” She rose to her hooves and trotted to her helmet. Jamming it on her head, she looked back at me and smirked. “Oh, and by the way, Blackjack? I totally would have kicked your ass if you hadn’t broken out the freaky mind magic shit.”
暴怒没有回答，我等待着。时间不多了，但如果我逼她，她只会在这里生闷气等死。"是的,"半分钟后，朗格说。"我们开始吧。"她站起来走向她的头盔。她把它塞在头上，回头看着我，傻笑着。"哦，顺便说一句，黑杰克？如果你没有破除那个奇怪的大脑魔法，我肯定会揍你的。"
I lifted myself to my feet, looking at the tatters of my barding. “Yeah. No argument here,” I replied, feeling as if I’d been stuck in a dryer with a load of rocks thrown in. I had moonstone tangled up in my mane. Stuck to my hide. Everywhere! It was making me feel decidedly weird, and I brushed off what I could, collecting it in a Sparkle-Cola bottle. The operative barding, on close inspection, was indeed a total loss; hopefully I’d find a decent replacement before too long.
我站了起来，看着帐篷上的破布。"是的。这里没有争论,"我回答，感觉自己像是被困在烘干机里，被扔进去一堆石头。我的鬃毛里缠绕着月长石。粘在我的皮上。到处都是！这让我感觉非常奇怪，我尽量不去理睬，把它收集在一个闪亮可乐瓶子里。经过仔细检查，操作性的抵押确实是一个完全的损失;希望我能在不久之后找到一个像样的替代品。
We walked to the two doors, and I tapped the button next to the one for the Lunar Palace. “How many others does Cognitum have with her?” I asked Rampage. Another little spark of magic erupted from my horn. “Oww. What’s the deal?” I asked, trying to stare at it as pain shot from the tip through the base and into my brain.
我们走到两扇门前，我按了一下月宫旁边的按钮。"她身边还有多少个同类?"我问道。又一个小小的魔法火花从我的角中迸发出来。"噢。怎么回事?"我问道，试图盯着它看，就像疼痛从尖端穿过根部进入我的大脑。
“Fourteen others. The best Harbingers she could find, along with a few mercenaries she rented. Talons,” Rampage said dismissively. “Most of them are in power armor. Nothing I can’t handle,” she continued with a sniff.
"另外十四个。她能找到的最好的预兆，还有她租来的几个雇佣兵。魔爪,"狂暴不屑地说。"他们中的大多数都穿着强力盔甲。没有我搞不定的事,"她嗅了一下，继续说道。
“Right,” I said as I scowled at the display over the double doors. It showed a shuttle moving from a crown-like icon to a rocket-like icon, which I assumed was where we were. I frowned at the display, then caught P-21 with an identical expression. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
"是的,"我皱着眉头看着双开门上的显示屏说。它展示了一架航天飞机从一个皇冠状的标志物移动到一个火箭状的标志物，我想这就是我们所在的地方。我对着显示器皱了皱眉，然后用同样的表情看到了P-21。"你和我想的一样吗?"
“Oh Goddesses, if you two screw again…” Scotch Tape said in disgust. Rampage blinked at her in surprise, and she slumped, ears flat, and grumbled, “They did it right next to me while I was in the Perceptithing. I’m getting why Glory had issues.”
"哦，女神，如果你们两个再上床......"苏格兰胶带厌恶地说。暴跳如雷的冲她眨了眨眼，她垂下了耳朵，嘟囔着:"我在观察的时候，他们就在我旁边干的。我终于明白为什么晨辉有问题了。"
“Seriously?” Rampage asked P-21.
"真的吗?"狂暴问P-21。
“Your reset button is a bullet through the brain. Blackjack’s is through her happy hole,” P-21 replied with a casual smile and shrug. “I didn’t make you crazy mares this way. I just work with that I have.”
"你的重置按钮就是一颗子弹穿过大脑。黑杰克是通过她的快乐洞,"P-21回答与随意的微笑和耸肩。"我没有让你们这样做疯狂的母马。我只是利用我所拥有的。"
“Actually!” I declared to cut them all off, thrusting a hoof up at the display. “That tram, it’s probably powered from the Palace, right?”
"事实上!"我宣布要把它们全部剪下来，在展览会上抬起一只蹄子。"那辆电车，可能是从宫殿里来的，对吧?"
She frowned, then nodded. “Unless there’s a big old reactor hidden under this terminal, probably.”
她皱了皱眉，然后点了点头。"除非在这个终端下面藏着一个大型的老式反应堆。"
“Then I’m thinking that stranding me in that tram car would be a pretty easy way to neutralize me. Either I get trapped in there till Horizons goes off, or she can just use a bomb and blow me to pieces in the middle of nowhere.” I looked at my friends. “Even if I teleported away, I couldn’t take any of you with me.”
"然后我想，把我困在那辆有轨电车里，可能是压制我的一个简单办法。要么我被困在里面直到视野号启动，要么她就用炸弹把我炸成无所适从(电影)。"我看着我的朋友们。"即使我瞬移走了，我也不能带走你们中的任何一个。"
“Someday you really need to work out that little wrinkle,” P-21 told me. I grumbled, mentally adding it to learning healing spells, finding some reliable barding, and stopping a superweapon from destroying the world.
"有一天你真的需要解决这个小问题,"P-21告诉我。我抱怨着，在心里加入了学习治疗法术，找到了一些可靠的抵抗，并阻止了超级武器毁灭世界。
“Huh, that’s not a bad idea,” Scotch Tape rubbed her chin as she considered me. “Did her chewing on your horn add a couple of IQ points, Blackjack?”
"哈，这主意不错,"苏格兰磁带摩擦她的下巴，她考虑我。"黑杰克，她嚼你的喇叭提高了你的智商吗?"
“Maybe,” I muttered, reaching up to rub my abused spire, and getting rewarded with another painful shock. “Ow.” I winced, then glared at the display, turned, and looked at the other door. That tram was already here. “What’s in the Astrostable?”
"也许吧,"我喃喃自语，伸手去摩擦我那已经损坏的尖顶，结果又是一次痛苦的电击。"噢。"我皱了皱眉，然后盯着展示柜，转过身，看着另一扇门。那辆有轨电车已经到了。"天体稳定器里有什么?"
“Dunno,” Rampage replied with a shrug. “The blanks that helped build this place, I think. Cogs said she was sending a couple Harbingers to watch the place in case you tried to get in that way.”
"不知道,"朗格耸耸肩回答。"我认为，帮助建造这个地方的空白。考格斯说她会派两个"先驱者"去监视那个地方，以防你试图从那条路进去。"
I grunted. Probable trap or possible ambush? I consulted P-21 and Scotch Tape, but they both gave shrugs of indifference. “Let’s go through the Astrostable,” I said as I watched the icon creep along above. “Scotch, can you rig that button to send the tram back when it gets here? Try and confuse her.”
我咕哝了一声。可能是陷阱还是可能是埋伏？我咨询了P-21和ScotchTape，但他们都耸了耸肩表示漠不关心。"让我们通过天体稳定,"我说，我看着图标蠕变上面。"苏格兰人，你能把那个按钮装上去，等电车到了再把它送回来吗？试着迷惑她。"
“So there’s a way from the Astrostable to the Palace?” P-21 asked Rampage.
"这么说有办法从天文台到宫殿了?"P-21询问狂暴。
She shrugged. “Pretty sure. Those Harbingers weren’t wearing space suits when they left.”
她耸了耸肩。"非常肯定。那些先驱者离开的时候没有穿太空服。"
“Rig it,” I told Scotch Tape, then went and tapped the button to the other tram. The door hissed open, revealing a ten by twenty foot glass box with elegant polished aluminum filigree in a vaguely lunar motif on more or less every surface. Couches were arranged along the walls with a bench in the middle that seemed ideal for setting Sexy down for a good seeing to. Rampage had scratched up her finish badly, and I couldn’t help but shoot the striped mare a reproachful look as I tried to buff it out.
"装配好,"我告诉ScotchTape，然后走过去按了另一辆电车的按钮。门嘶嘶地打开了，露出一个10×二十英尺的玻璃盒子，盒子的每一面上都有着优雅的抛光铝金银丝，模糊的月亮图案。沙发沿着墙排列，中间有一条长凳，似乎很适合让Sexy坐下来好好看看。狂暴已经严重抓伤了她的终点，我忍不住责备地看了一眼那匹斑马，试图把它擦亮。
Two minutes later, Scotch Tape trotted in and pushed a button, and the door
两分钟后，苏格兰胶带小跑进来，按下一个按钮，门就开了
closed. There was a tiny lurch, and the glass cart began to roll along the elevated track. The speakers crackled, and light classical music began to play. The four of us shared a look, as if not sure if we should laugh or shudder.
关闭。有一个轻微的倾斜，和玻璃车开始滚动沿着高架轨道。扬声器噼啪作响，轻古典音乐开始播放。我们四个人看了一眼，好像不知道我们是该笑还是该发抖。
The tram certainly wasn’t the epitome of high speed rail, but it soon became clear why the terminal had been built out in the open flat. As we travelled, the shining dusty plains became increasingly studded by larger and larger boulders. Milky crystals the size of houses began to jut up around the track. They only grew larger as the terminal shrank into the background, rising like great shining towers. The atmospheric classical was drowned out by a ghostly choir singing sublime ethereal notes in my mind. It brought forth memories of my friends together in Star House. When I paid more attention, the song faded.
有轨电车当然不是高速铁路的缩影，但很快人们就明白了为什么终点站要建在露天公寓里。随着我们的旅行，这片明亮的、尘土飞扬的平原越来越多地点缀着越来越大的巨石。像房子那么大的乳白色水晶开始在轨道周围突起。随着终端缩小到背景中，它们变得越来越大，就像闪亮的大塔一样高高耸起。幽灵般的唱诗班在我的脑海中吟唱着崇高而飘渺的音符，淹没了古典的气氛。它唤起了我和朋友们在星宫相聚的回忆。当我更加注意的时候，这首歌消失了。
“Look at the size of those things,” Scotch Tape said, gawking as we moved past crystals the size of apartment buildings. The shimmery white stone had an opalescence to it, with rainbow colors crawling along the facets.
"看看这些东西的大小,"苏格兰磁带说，呆呆地看着我们走过公寓楼大小的水晶。闪闪发光的白色石头有一个乳白色的它，彩虹的颜色沿着层面爬行。
“Eh, they’re rocks,” Rampage scoffed dismissively.
"呃，它们是石头,"狂暴不屑地嘲笑道。
I turned my head and studied the display over the door, which showed the rocket icon, a studded line, and a pyramid; the tramlike icon was creeping along what seemed horribly slowly. The tram had just reached the first stud on the line after three minutes. “How long is this going to take?”
我转过头，仔细看了看门上的显示屏，上面有火箭图标，一条镶嵌的线条，还有一个金字塔;像蹦床一样的图标慢慢地爬过，看起来很可怕。三分钟后，电车刚刚到达了线路上的第一个立柱。"这要花多长时间?"
“I dunno,” Rampage shrugged. “Other one was like half an hour.”
"我不知道,"狂暴耸耸肩。"另一个大概要半个小时。"
“Right,” I said. There was one thing this called for! I pulled out the battered Perceptitron.
"对,"我说。只有一件事值得我们去做！我拿出了那个破旧的感知器。
“Blackjack, are you sure you should be using that thing?” Scotch asked as she eyed the poor battered device. It sure had had a rough trip with me. Some of the talismans were chipped, and the wires were split and frayed.
"黑杰克，你确定你应该用那东西吗?"苏格兰人看着这台破旧不堪的设备问道。这次旅行对我来说肯定很艰难。一些护身符被弄断了，电线也断了，磨损了。
“I need to know what’s going on back home. Unless somepony can speed this thing up?” I asked, gesturing at the tram with a hoof, looking from one to the next. “No? Then I might as well use the time productively!”
"我需要知道家里发生了什么。除非有人能加快速度?"我问，一边用蹄子指着电车，从一个地方看到另一个地方。""不是吗？那我还不如有效地利用这段时间呢!"
“But you’ve been using that an awful lot today,” P-21 warned. “Maybe you should just take it easy. The state that thing is in, it'll probably give you brain damage.”
P-21警告说:"但是你们今天已经使用了太多次了。"。"也许你应该放轻松。那东西现在的状态很可能会对你的大脑造成损伤。"
“No, I’m... won’t!” I frowned at their various skeptical expressions. “Look, I can take it easy tomorrow. Right now, I have to know,” I said stubbornly as I jammed it onto my head, entered in Goldenblood’s tag, and the world–
"不，我......不会!"我对他们各种怀疑的表情皱起了眉头。"听着，我明天可以放松一下。"现在，我必须知道,"我顽固地说，我把它塞到我的头上，进入金色血液的标签，和世界-
Exploded.
爆炸了。
I screamed as I flopped to the floor of the tram as fireworks went off from my horn, talismans popped and sizzled, and somepony started setting off balefire eggs inside my skull. Lights and voices blasted through my head as I took in images of a half dozen different ponies all at once. P-21 and Scotch Tape grabbed me, but that only made things worse as I gibbered, screamed, and thrashed in their grasp. I could see myself through both their eyes even as I saw so many other things. Finally Rampage did what she did best: she ripped the helmet off my head and stomped it repeatedly till the light show ended.
我尖叫着扑倒在电车的地板上，烟火从我的喇叭里燃放出来，护身符砰的一声发出咝咝声，还有一匹小马开始在我的脑袋里放烟火蛋。灯光和声音轰鸣着穿过我的脑袋，我一下子拍下了六只不同小马的照片。P-21和透明胶带抓住了我，但这只会让事情变得更糟，因为我喋喋不休，尖叫着，被他们抓住了。我可以通过他们的眼睛看到我自己，即使我看到了很多其他的东西。最后，狂暴做了她最擅长的事:她把我的头盔从头上扯下来，不停地跺脚，直到灯光秀结束。
I rolled limply onto my side, my horn feeling… either numb from shock or tingly from a million different sensations. Or both. “What was that?” Rampage asked.
我无力地翻滚到身体一侧，我的角感觉......要么因为震惊而麻木，要么因为千万种不同的感觉而刺痛。或者两者都有。"那是什么?"狂暴问道。
“Too much arcane device usage,” P-21 said tersely. “Getting her horn chewed on. Using too much magic that last fight. Covering her horn in moonstone. All of the above? Take your pick.” His voice echoed oddly, like it was sloshing around to the left and right inside my skull. “Are you alright, Blackjack?”
"太多神秘的设备使用,"P-21简洁地说。"她的角被咬了。在最后一战中使用了太多的魔法。用月光石遮住她的角。以上所有？你自己挑吧。"他的声音回荡得很奇怪，好像在我脑袋里左右晃动。"你没事吧，黑杰克?"
“Med-X,” I barely whispered. Just talking made it feel like Rampage was still chomping on my horn. I tried opening my eyes, but what I saw was just wrong. It was as if I were looking at a dozen different images overlapping, each one slightly out of synch with the next. At least I could stop the distorted visions by clenching my eyes shut. The voices whispering in my ears were a different matter. They churned inside me, each one jockeying over the next.
"Med-X,"我轻声说。光是说话就让我觉得狂暴还在对我大吼大叫。我试着睁开眼睛，但是我看到的却是错误的。就好像我看到了一打不同的图片重叠在一起，每一张都有点不同步。至少我可以闭上眼睛，停止那些扭曲的幻觉。在我耳边低语的声音是另一回事。它们在我体内搅动，一个接着一个。
“…sure that they’re broadcasting outside the Hoof?” Homage whispered in my ears. “To whom? Why?”
"...确定他们在霍夫外面广播?"敬意在我耳边低语。""给谁？为什么?"
“No idea,” Windsheer replied. “The Enclave? Tenpony? The Cathedral? Your Lightbringer? Why would the Legate want everypony to see boring footage of the Core? There’s nothing happening there. Ignore it. We’ve got more important things to focus on.”
"不知道,"温施尔回答。"飞地？天波尼？大教堂？你的光明使者？为什么特使要每个小马看无聊的核心影片？那里什么也没发生。忽略它。我们还有更重要的事情要关注。"
“They’re coming again!” one of the cyberpegasi shouted as the words faded
"他们又来了!"其中一个飞马在词语消失的时候大叫
away.
离开。
The prick of the Med-X cut the pain immediately, and I relaxed. “Ooo, I really didn’t need this right now.” I could hear gunshots and shouts, but I had no clue who or what they belonged to. Somepony was screaming to run. Xanthe? I opened my eyes and looked up at the twitching images of my friends along with shadowy flickers behind them.
Med-x的刺痛立刻减轻了疼痛，我也放松了。"噢，我现在真的不需要这个。"我能听到枪声和喊叫声，但我不知道它们属于谁，属于什么。有一匹小马尖叫着要跑。赞斯？我睁开眼睛，抬头看着我的朋友们身后闪烁的影像。
“She’s bleeding out her ears and nose,” Rampage said, curling her lip as if she found my weakness disturbing. “What the hell happened, Blackjack?” I wanted to answer, but as I lifted my head to do so, everything lurched and I gagged, then gave several dry heaves. The agony in my skull exploded anew, which only made me want to throw up more. Finally I just collapsed. “Oh, we are fucked,” Rampage muttered.
"她的耳朵和鼻子都在流血,"狂暴说着，撇了撇嘴，似乎觉得我的软弱令她不安。"到底发生了什么，黑杰克?"我想回答，但是当我抬起头想回答的时候，一切都乱了套，我呕吐起来，然后干呕了几下。我头脑中的痛苦再次爆发了，这只会让我更想呕吐。最后我崩溃了。"哦，我们完蛋了,"暴怒喃喃自语。
“No, we’re not. We talked about this. Scotch Tape and I will find some way to disable Horizons. Rampage, you can keep Cognitum busy,” P-21 said evenly.
"不，我们不是。我们谈过这个。透明胶带和我会找到一些方法禁用视野。狂暴，你可以让认知忙起来,"P-21平静地说。
“Great. She’s going to use her übercorn powers to punt me to the sun, I just know it,” Rampage muttered.
"太好了。她要用她的玉米力量把我踢到太阳底下去，我就知道,"狂暴喃喃自语。
“Look on the bright side,” Scotch Tape said sarcastically as she put a healing potion to my lips. “That might kill you.” I had to sip it carefully. What did it say about me that I was so experienced with pain that I knew how to manage this?
"往好的方面想,"苏格兰磁带讽刺地说，她把治疗药水放到我的嘴唇上。"那可能会要了你的命。"我不得不小心地啜一口。我经历了如此多的痛苦，以至于我知道如何处理这些痛苦，这说明了我的什么？
“Hey, yeah! That is a good point. I mean, I tried attacking her once or twice before, but my heart really wasn’t in it,” Rampage said eagerly. “I bet if I really try to kill her, she’ll end me properly.”
"嘿，耶！这个观点很有道理。我的意思是，我以前曾经试图攻击过她一两次，但是我的心真的不在那里,"狂暴急切地说。"我敢打赌，如果我真的想杀了她，她会好好地了结我。"
“Just… let me lie here for a while,” I muttered. I’d pushed too hard. Tried too much. Now I had to deal with the consequences.
"就......就让我在这儿躺一会儿吧,"我咕哝着。我逼得太紧了。尝试太多了。现在我不得不面对后果。
And the consequences, at this moment, were listening to a distant orchestra of horror composed of screams, gunshots, and explosions. The indistinct mumbling rose and fell like waves, sometimes merging into crushing unity that made me want to scream as it felt as if the silent, terrible weight of the whispers would blow my head apart. Then sliding out of synchronicity so that I could hear that soothing song of the moon and pick out individual voices.
此时此刻，结果就是听到远处由尖叫声、枪声和爆炸声组成的恐怖乐队。模糊不清的喃喃自语像波浪一样起起伏伏，有时合并成一个令人崩溃的整体，让我想尖叫，仿佛沉默的、可怕的低语声的重量会把我的头炸开。然后滑出同步性，这样我就可以听到月亮抚慰人心的歌声，并分辨出个人的声音。
“…don’t like it! His tactics are changing. Becoming less general and more
"...不喜欢它！他的策略正在改变。变得不那么笼统，而是更多
focused. He’s mimicking our own strategy with the purple alicorns now. We barely pulled back from 99 before that group cut them off!” Storm Chaser said in my ears.
集中。他现在用紫色的橡子来模仿我们自己的策略。我们几乎没有从99英里以外撤退，就被那群人截住了!"风暴追逐者在我耳边说。
“So it’s getting difficult. Adapt. Overcome. That’s what life does,” Goldenblood rasped. “Meatlocker is in the process of being overrun. Do the ghouls have a line of retreat?”
"所以现在越来越难了。适应。克服。生活就是这样,"金血王愤怒地说。"肉库正在被侵占的过程中。食尸鬼有退路吗?"
“We’ve got a tunnel secured. Hopefully the ferals in there won’t bother them,” Storm Chaser said as there were sounds of trotting and a distant chatter of gunfire. “We’re moving everypony in the east into the department stores around Fallen Arch, from the Collegiate to the old Boom refinery. Some scavengers bridged the gap into the Core. There’re a lot of ponies wanting to go in…”
"我们已经封锁了一条隧道。希望那里的野兽不会打扰他们,"斯托姆·查瑟边说边听到小跑的声音和远处传来的枪声。"我们正在把东部的每一匹小马都搬到FallenArch附近的百货商店，从Collegiate搬到Boom的老炼油厂。一些食腐动物填补了进入核心的空隙。很多小马都想进去......"
“No. Stop that at all costs,” Goldenblood said sharply. “I don’t know what’s happening with that place, but I know it’s a trap. Nothing good comes from there. I know. I helped build it.”
"没有。不惜一切代价停止这种行为。"。"我不知道那个地方发生了什么，但我知道这是个陷阱。那里没有什么好东西。我知道。我参与了它的建设。"
The voices started to slide beneath the others, but Storm Chaser shouted, “Look out!”
声音开始在其他人的脚下滑动，但是风暴追逐者喊道,"小心!"
I cracked my eyes open, catching a half dozen different scenes, but aside from a flash of stripes, I couldn’t see any sign of whatever she yelled about. Instead, I saw Sagittarius blasting at a Brood tank rolling along the inside of a flooded underground garage, smashing over equipment and steamrolling over machinery and through great sheets of water. Behind it, on a raised platform, a dozen Brood laid out a raking fire at the power-armored Aries. The red-armored pony unleashed a torrent of flame. Her armor flaked away like bloody snow as they poured bullets back on the mare.
我睁大了眼睛，看了半打不同的场景，但除了一道道条纹，我看不到任何她大喊大叫的迹象。相反，我看到人马座在一个被淹没的地下车库内部的一个小槽里爆炸，砸碎了设备，蒸汽碾过了机器和大片的水。在它的后面，在一个升起的平台上，十几个布鲁德家的人向装甲强悍的白羊座开火。那匹红装甲的小马放出一股火焰。当他们把子弹倒在母马身上时，她的盔甲像血雪一样剥落了。
Suddenly, one side of the platform exploded, making the defenders lurch as a pink pony shape streaked through the foaming water. A turquoise pony lunged up, locked her hoof flipper things around the neck of one of the staggered shooters, and pulled it off the crumpling platform and into the churning flood water. A white unicorn who’d tattooed her left side in electric blue tribal marks stood on a table as lighting and ice blasted from her horn in two matching arcs, slamming into a golden tree as she laughed.
突然，平台的一边爆炸了，防御者们摇摇晃晃，就像一匹粉红色的小马在起泡的水中划过。一匹绿松石色的小马跃了上来，把它的蹄蹼锁在一个交错的射手的脖子上，把它从倒塌的平台上拉下来，投入翻腾的洪水中。一只白色的独角兽站在一张桌子上，左边身上有铁蓝色的部落纹身，当时她的角上闪着光和冰块，形成两条相同的弧线，撞上了一棵金色的树，她大笑起来。
A half dozen battlefields swirled past my eyes, my ears roaring with a never-ending torrent of shouts, gunshots, and explosions. I struggled to focus on any
六个战场从我眼前旋转而过，耳边不停地响着喊叫声、枪声和爆炸声。我努力把注意力集中在任何事情上
one of them, but they kept melting away with every passing moment. My perception caught on certain scenes, though, and I struggled to latch onto them before I was yanked to some other.
他们中的一个，但是他们每时每刻都在融化。然而，我的感知捕捉到了某些场景，在被拉到其他场景之前，我挣扎着抓住了它们。
I succeeded with an image of Toaster blazing like a comet as they struggled through a burning armory. No matter how much I might hate him, I had to admit that he was good at what he did. The scarred stallion burned a hole through the Brood defenders as Brutus and Hammersmith followed him. They were pushing their way towards the golden tree at the far side of the long room. It seemed as if its production had been ramped up, and it now popped out half-formed Brood that just tumbled into the converter, which was working double-time putting out malformed things that swarmed into the Reapers like a bloody tide. The malformed zebras piled on, and when beaten or battered aside, they simply hauled themselves back up again. I watched with horror as Hammersmith bashed one to the left, Brutus slammed one to the right, and they crushed a third between them. The bodies collapsed on top of one another, merged together, and sprang upon Brutus as a three-headed, six-legged profanity of flesh. Some of them had anatomy that no zebra or pony possessed: eagle claws, lion paws, and snake tails.
我成功地拍摄了一张照片:烤面包机像彗星一样燃烧着，挣扎着穿过燃烧的军械库。无论我多么恨他，我都不得不承认他做得很好。布鲁特斯和哈默史密斯紧随其后，伤痕累累的种马在布鲁特斯病房的防守者身上烧了一个洞。他们正朝着长房间另一边的那棵金树挤过去。看起来它的产量已经提高了，现在它出来的时候已经成型了一半，刚刚跌跌撞撞地进入转换器，转换器正在加倍地工作，把畸形的东西像血腥的潮水一样涌入死神。畸形的斑马挤在一起，当他们被殴打或殴打到一旁时，他们只是简单地把自己拉回来。我惊恐地看着哈默史密斯将一个球击向左边，布鲁图斯将一个球击向右边，他们在两人之间碾碎了第三个球。两具尸体一个接一个地倒在地上，融合在一起，像一个三头六足的亵渎肉身一样扑向布鲁图斯。其中一些有着斑马或小马所没有的解剖学特征:鹰爪、狮爪和蛇尾。
The sheer monstrous mass pushed the Reapers back foot by foot. Even the blazing form of Toaster disappeared beneath cooking striped carcasses that refused to die. I clenched my eyes shut, but that just brought the voices back in force. I heard heavy breathing and the close rattle of gunfire. “We need to go,” Splendid said in serious tones.
巨大的庞然大物将"收割者"一步步逼退。甚至烤面包机燃烧的形式消失在烹饪有条纹的尸体下面，拒绝死亡。我紧闭双眼，但这只是把声音带了回来。我听到沉重的呼吸声和近距离的枪声。"我们得走了,"斯普兰迪严肃地说。
“Go?” Grace replied. “Where do you expect to flee to, Brother?”
"去?"格蕾丝回答道。"你想逃到哪里去，兄弟?"
“Some of these alicorns have enough sense to know a good deal when it’s offered. I’ve arranged three of them to teleport us to safety. We have more than enough money to purchase a place at Tenpony for the foreseeable future,” Splendid said in calm, reasonable tones.
"这些海洋公司中的一些公司有足够的判断力，知道什么时候能拿到好价钱。我已经安排他们中的三个把我们传送到安全的地方。在可预见的未来，我们有足够的钱在Tenpony买一个房子。"。
There was no answer for several seconds. I struggled to focus on that silence over the babble that threatened to spill forward. “It’s time we left. There’s nothing more we can do here, Grace,” he said, his voice growing softer and lower. “We’ve done all we can. It’s only a matter of time before the fighting reaches Elysium. Father wouldn’t want us to die here.”
有几秒钟没有回答。我努力把注意力集中在那种对即将发生的喋喋不休的沉默上。"我们该走了。我们在这里已经无能为力了，格蕾丝,"他说，声音变得越来越低沉。"我们已经尽力了。战斗到达极乐世界只是时间问题。父亲不希望我们死在这里。"
There was a terribly long pause and then the sounds of hooves on marble. “Where are you going?!” Splendid shouted in alarm. “Grace!”
停顿了很长时间，接着是大理石上的蹄声。"你要去哪儿?!"灿烂的喊叫声惊恐地响起。"格蕾丝!"
Then I heard, almost like a whisper, “I will be the lady Father wanted me to be. I will be the noble that I’ve always pretended to be. But Goddesses, I am so scared. So terribly scared. But I can’t run. I will be the pony I must be. For Father. For the Society. For my people.”
然后我听到，几乎像耳语,"我将成为父亲希望我成为的那个女人。我将成为我一直假装的高尚。但是女神们，我很害怕。非常害怕。但是我不能跑。我将成为我必须成为的那匹小马。为了父亲。为协会。为了我的人民。"
“Goodbye, Brother. Be sure to give Charm my love when you take her with you. I believe Tenpony will be a wonderful place for her to recover,” Grace said calmly, with no animosity or bitterness. Take care of her, Brother.
"再见，兄弟。当你带着她的时候一定要转达我的爱。我相信腾马会是她康复的好地方,"格蕾丝平静地说，没有敌意或怨恨。照顾好她，兄弟。
“Grace? Grace!” Splendid shouted after her, his voice growing fainter and fainter as the sounds of gunfire rose. A door creaked open, and the noise spiked.
"格蕾丝？格蕾丝!"斯普兰迪在她后面喊了起来，随着枪声的升起，他的声音变得越来越微弱。一扇门吱吱作响地开了，噪音突然响了起来。
“Ma’am? What are you doing out here?” a stallion asked, surprise clear in his tone. “I thought… well… aren’t you...?”
"夫人？你在这儿干什么?"一匹种马问道，语气中透着惊讶。"我想......嗯......你不是......吗?"
You thought I was going to run. To take care of myself. To abandon you… all of you… because that’s what aristocrats do.
你以为我会逃跑。照顾好自己。抛弃你们...抛弃你们所有人...因为这就是贵族所做的。
Grace responded primly, “Queen Blackjack appointed me regent of the Society. It would be improper for me to flee while it was still being contested. Somepony should have the good grace to stand with you at this hour of need. Now, if you please, good sir, could you explain how one goes about using this thing?” There was a gunshot and a yelp. “Oh my! Are you alright?” she gasped in alarm.
格蕾丝拘谨地回答说:"黑杰克王后任命我为协会摄政王。在争论还没有结束的时候我就逃走是不合适的。有些小马应该有良好的风度，在这个时候站在你的需要。现在，如果你愿意，好先生，你能解释一下怎样使用这个东西吗?"接着是枪声和尖叫声。"哦，我的天！你没事吧?"她惊恐地倒抽一口冷气。
“Never… better… ma’am…” the stallion grunted with pain. “First… please put the gun down… ma’am… and pass me a potion, please?”
"从来没有......更好......夫人......"种马疼得咕哝道。"首先......请把枪放下......女士......请递给我一瓶药水，好吗?"
The din of battle faded away to a dull roar, the hum of the tram’s engines growing. I cracked an eye open. In the periphery of my vision, flickers and images danced about, but I stayed focused on Rampage, P-21, and Scotch Tape over by the door. My head had a woozy, numb sensation, as if it were wrapped in layers of cloth.
战斗的喧嚣消失为一声沉闷的轰鸣，电车发动机的嗡嗡声越来越大。我睁大了眼睛。在我的视野的边缘，闪烁的图像在跳舞，但我仍然专注于狂暴，P-21，和门边的透明胶带。我的头有一种眩晕、麻木的感觉，好像被一层层的布包裹着。
The tram was now moving through mountains of moonstone that loomed like colossal tombstones over the track, jutting out at sharp angles overhead. To one side, towards the massive chasm, the pure white was tainted by streaks of dark purple, blue, and black. I could barely make out a low structure ahead of us, the
有轨电车此时正穿过月光石堆成的山脉，月光石像巨大的墓碑一样耸立在轨道上，在头顶上突出尖锐的角度。在一边，向着巨大的裂缝，纯白色被几道深紫色、蓝色和黑色的条纹所玷污。我几乎看不清我们前面的一个低矮的建筑物
top of the terrace built into the edge of the ravine.
平台的顶部建在峡谷的边缘。
“I can make the tram take her back to the terminal, and stay there. She can’t fight like this,” Scotch Tape insisted, pointing a hoof at me as she glared up at her father.
"我可以让电车把她送回航站楼，然后呆在那里。她不能这样打架。"苏格兰磁带坚持着，一边用蹄子指着我，一边瞪着她的父亲。
“Oh, yeah. Watch this,” I slurred a little as I pushed myself to my hooves. All three watched with some alarm as I swayed. “Tadaa…”
"哦，是的。"看这个,"我用力推动自己的蹄子时有点含糊不清。当我摇摆时，他们三个都惊恐地看着我。"塔塔......"
P-21 and Scotch rushed to me, keeping me up. “Goddesses… what did you do to yourself, Blackjack?”
P-21和苏格兰威士忌冲向我，让我睡不着觉。"女神们......你对自己做了什么，Blackjack?"
“What I always do,” I muttered. “Now, I need to go kick… butt…”
"我总是这样,"我喃喃自语道。"现在，我需要去踢...屁股..."
“You need to go back to the rocket and let us do this,” P-21 argued.
"你需要回到火箭上，让我们来做这件事,"P-21争辩道。
“No,” Rampage suddenly contradicted with a scowl. “We need to get her to the Astrostable, stat.”
"不,"狂暴突然皱起眉头反驳了他的话。"我们得马上把她送到天体稳定器去。"
“What are you talking about?” P-21 snapped.
"你在说什么?"P-21突然崩溃。
Rampage stared into my eyes. “Blackjack, do you have any numbness, weakness, or paralysis? Blurred vision? Headache?” I made a muttered yes-ish noise to each. Rampage looked at the other two. “I think she’s having a hemorrhagic stroke, or something very similar to one.”
狂暴盯着我的眼睛。"黑杰克，你有麻木、虚弱或瘫痪的症状吗？视力模糊？头痛?"我对每个人都发出一种"是的"的声音。狂暴看着另外两个人。"我认为她得了出血性中风，或者类似的病症。"
“A stroke? P-21 gives a great stroke,” I said with a giggle, feeling a little drunk as I slumped against him, still bleeding out my nose and ear.
"中风？P-21给了我一个很大的打击,"我咯咯地笑着说，当我靠着他的时候感觉有点醉了，鼻子和耳朵还在流血。
“How do you know?” P-21 asked.
"你怎么知道?"P-21要求。
“Six years of medical school and two years of residency,” Rampage replied as she stared at me. She shoved a healing potion in my mouth, and I chugged it reflexively. That allowed the pain to abate a little, but I still didn’t feel any better. “My field may be psychiatry, but I know severe red flags when I see them. We need to get her to the stable’s medical station at once. Hopefully they’ll have something more substantial than just restoratives.”
"六年的医学院和两年的实习期,"狂暴看着我回答道。她往我嘴里塞了一瓶治疗药水，我条件反射地一饮而尽。这让疼痛稍微减轻了一点，但我仍然没有感觉好一点。"我的研究领域可能是精神病学，但当我看到它们时，我知道它们是严重的危险信号。我们需要马上把她送到马厩的医疗站。希望他们能找到比恢复剂更实质的东西。"
“Doctor Octopus?” P-21 asked.
"章鱼博士?"P-21要求。
“Unless there’s another medical specialist inside Miss Peppermint here, yes,” she said tersely. “It’s been an absolutely lousy few days for everyone concerned.”
"除非薄荷小姐体内还有另一位医学专家，否则是的,"她简洁地说。"对所有相关人士来说，这几天绝对糟糕透顶。"
“You’ve been aware of what’s going on?” Scotch Tape asked, a touch warily.
"你知道发生了什么吗?"透明胶带警惕地问。
“Yes. It’d been rather difficult to maintain focus and push through the Angel’s interference, but now that she's gone and dear Peppermint’s back, I can address this. Drink another restorative draught,” Rampage said as she put another potion to my lips. It barely made a dent in the pain. “I remember this happening to M.A.S. researchers pushing themselves too hard to meet a deadline. Burnout is a safety measure to prevent more severe damage to the unicorn. Some unicorns would try and push through burnout with talismans or drugs. The results were never pretty.”
"是的。在天使的干扰下，我们很难保持注意力集中，但是现在她走了，亲爱的薄荷回来了，我可以解决这个问题。再喝一杯滋补药水,"朗格一边说，一边又往我嘴唇上放了一瓶药水。疼痛几乎没有减轻。"我记得这种情况发生在m.a.s.的研究人员身上，他们把自己逼得太紧，以至于无法赶上最后期限。工作倦怠是一种安全措施，可以防止对独角兽造成更严重的伤害。一些独角兽会尝试通过护身符或者毒品来摆脱倦怠。结果从来都不好看。"
“Wasn’t pushing past burnout…” I muttered.
"难道不是为了摆脱倦怠......"我喃喃自语道。
“No, you were just using a highly experimental device too much with an injured horn while coated with highly magically sensitive moon dust. Completely different,” he replied with soft sarcasm. “Also…” She suddenly leaned in and hugged me closely, but with care. “Thank you, Blackjack. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered in my ear.
"不，你只是在使用一个高度实验性的装置时过度使用了受伤的喇叭，同时还涂上了高度魔法敏感的月球灰尘。完全不一样,"他回答时带着轻微的讽刺。"还有......"她突然靠近我，紧紧地抱住我，但是很小心。"谢谢你，黑杰克。谢谢，谢谢，谢谢,"她在我耳边轻声说。
“Twist?” I murmured.
"扭扭舞?"我低声说。
“I never meant to hurt my baby. I only wanted her to live. To be happy. I didn’t realize what was truly inside this talisman. The ghosts trapped inside,” she said with a snotty sniff. “I thought she could have a happy life. That’s all I wanted. Please. Please tell her that,” she begged me as she pulled back, weeping.
"我从没想过要伤害我的孩子。我只想让她活下去。快乐。我没有意识到这个护身符里面到底有什么。鬼魂被困在里面,"她轻蔑地闻了闻说。"我以为她会过上幸福的生活。这就是我想要的。求你了。请告诉她这一点,"她哭着向我乞求，一边往后退。
“Why are they all coming out now?” P-21 asked.
"为什么他们现在都出来了?"P-21要求。
Rampage wiped her eyes, still holding me gingerly. Her tone returned to that of the doctor. “The Angel saw Cognitum as the best way to end the pain of the Wasteland. Even better if the Legate was right. Her desire was so great, she stood between Peppermint and the rest of us. The shock of knowing the truth and the mental attack Blackjack made on the Angel broke her interference.”
狂暴擦了擦她的眼睛，仍然小心翼翼地抱着我。她的语气恢复到医生的语气。"天使认为认知是结束荒原痛苦的最好方法。如果特使是对的就更好了。她的欲望是如此强烈，她站在薄荷和我们其他人之间。知道真相的震惊和黑杰克对天使的精神攻击打破了她的干扰。"
“You weren’t fighting right,” I muttered weakly. “No special combat fighting things.”
"你打得不对,"我虚弱地咕哝着。"没有特殊的战斗用品。"
She gave me another potion. How many did we have left? I’m glad P-21 had insisted we load up on them. “It doesn’t help that I remember things now too,” Rampage muttered. “Now that all these ghosts are woken up and… ugh…” She rubbed her face with a hoof. “I can feel Mom inside me. And Momma Shujaa… and… now I can’t really stop feeling them. And Mom wants me happy and Razor wants me to stop whining and… I’m not sure if I’m more me or less me than I was before you shoved that shit back in my head, Blackjack.”
她又给了我一剂药。我们还剩多少？我很高兴P-21坚持要我们把它们装上车。"我现在想起来的事情也没用了,"狂暴喃喃自语道。"现在所有这些鬼魂都醒了，而且......呃......"她用蹄子蹭了蹭脸。"我能感觉到妈妈在我体内。还有舒贾妈妈......还有......现在我真的停不下来了。妈妈希望我快乐，剃刀希望我停止抱怨......我不知道我是否比你把那狗屎塞回我脑袋之前更像我，还是更不像我，Blackjack。"
She was flowing more easily from one person to the next. I would have considered that an improvement, except that I couldn’t really talk right. “S’rie,” I muttered, but I wasn’t sure if I’d meant to say ‘sorry’ or ‘all right’.
她更容易从一个人流向另一个人。我本来认为这是一种进步，只是我不能真正正确地说话。"没关系,"我喃喃自语，但我不确定自己是想说'对不起'还是'没关系'。
The tram reached the station. Past the end of the tracks and the edge of the cliff, I could see that the chasm was studded with more and more moonstone monoliths. The further down I looked, the darker the crystals were. On the floor of the chasm was an immense domed structure that glowed with a prismatic aura. A second inclined lift rose from that building far below to the base of this structure. “Come on, Blackjack. If it’s got the word ‘stable’ in it, then it has a medical bay,” P-21 said as he helped support me.
电车到达车站。越过铁轨的尽头和悬崖的边缘，我可以看到裂缝里镶嵌着越来越多的月光石巨石。我越往下看，晶体就越暗。在裂缝的底部有一个巨大的穹顶结构，闪着棱镜般的光芒。第二个倾斜的升降机从远远低于这个建筑物的底部升起。"来吧，黑杰克。如果它里面有'稳定'这个词，那么它就有一个医疗舱,"P-21一边帮助支持我一边说。
The door to the tram opened up into a foyer with a familiar immense rolling door in the far wall. Scotch Tape helped me drink another healing potion as Rampage hit the tab on the console. The lights began to flash as the klaxon sounded. The door behind us sealed shut, and then the huge round door slid away from us and rolled to the side. I wanted to hold Vigilance in my mouth, if only to shoot something in the direction of trouble. I wanted to be ready for anything.
电车的门通向门厅，远处的墙上有一扇熟悉的巨大的滚动门。苏格兰胶带帮助我喝下另一个治疗药水作为横冲直撞的标签在控制台上。随着汽笛的响起，灯光开始闪烁。我们身后的门被封死了，然后那扇巨大的圆门从我们身边滑开，滚到了一边。我想保持警惕在我的嘴里，如果只是向麻烦的方向射击的东西。我想为任何事做好准备。
But I wasn’t ready for the sight of fifty white ponies in party hats facing us with bright star-filled eyes, grinning happily and shouting in unison, “Welcome to the moon, Princess Luna!” As horns were blown and plumes of glittery paper flittered into the air, I decided to get to the bottom of this mystery in the most effective and efficient method possible: I collapsed and passed out on the floor of the Astrostable.
但是我还没有准备好看到五十只戴着派对帽的白色小马用明亮的星星般的眼睛对着我们，一起开心地笑着，一起大喊:"欢迎来到月球，卢娜公主!"随着喇叭的吹响，闪闪发光的纸片在空气中飞舞，我决定用最有效和最有效的方法来弄清这个谜团的真相:我瘫倒在天文台的地板上。
* * *
* * *
The problem was that I wasn’t really unconscious as I lay there, because my brain continued to work. It just wasn’t working well. Whatever I’d done to myself had been a doozy, and my mind kept swishing round to things that just…
问题是当我躺在那里的时候，我并没有真正失去意识，因为我的大脑还在继续工作。只是效果不太好。无论我对自己做了什么，都是一件非常奇妙的事情，我的思绪不停地转向那些.....。
well… didn’t make much sense.
嗯...没什么意义。
I saw General Storm Chaser and a squad of Enclave pegasi fighting against the Legate in the Skyport. He moved from one power-armored pegasus to the next like a force of nature, his hooves crushing, smashing, and tearing everything they came in contact with. Repeatedly their energy weapons struck him, but as quickly as bits of him were disintegrated or decayed into magical goop, the mass twisted in upon itself and reformed his striped body. Incinerated dust simply swirled back in and reassembled itself. At the edge of the battle, Goldenblood lay on his side, his legs smashed beneath him and his horn cracked off, trying to drag his broken body away from the fighting.
我看到了风暴追逐者将军和飞马飞地的一个小队在空中港对抗特使。他像大自然的力量一样，从一个强力装甲的飞马到另一个，他的蹄子碾碎，粉碎，撕裂他们接触到的一切。他们的能量武器不断地击打着他，但是就像他身体的碎片一样迅速地被分解或腐烂成神奇的粘液，这些物质自身扭曲着，改变了他有条纹的身体。焚烧的灰尘只是简单地回旋并重新组合起来。在战斗的边缘，金色血液侧躺着，双腿在身体下面被撞得粉碎，他的角裂开了，试图把他破碎的身体拖离战场。
Then something finally made the Legate slow down: the terminal’s dusty windows burst inward in a shower of glass and windblown rain, and magic shields shimmered into being between the zebra and his targets. Velvet Remedy and a dozen alicorns had come to the rescue. The shields exploded like crystal bubbles with every strike of his hooves, the alicorns grimacing when their magic was shattered, but they popped back as quickly as they were destroyed. As he turned towards Velvet with a half-grin, half-snarl on his face, her horn glowed, and somehow, then even he was staggering about as if in a drunken stupor. Now why didn’t I have that spell?
终于有什么东西让特使慢了下来:航站楼尘土飞扬的窗户在玻璃雨中向内爆裂，风吹雨打，魔法盾牌在斑马和他的目标之间闪闪发光。"天鹅绒补救法"和十几只橡子赶来救援。护盾像水晶泡泡一样随着他的每一次蹄子的敲击而爆炸，当魔法破灭的时候，长角兽做鬼脸，但是它们像被摧毁一样迅速地回来了。当他转向维尔维特时，脸上带着半笑半咆哮的表情，她的角闪着光，不知怎么的，连他也摇摇晃晃地走着，好像醉得不省人事似的。为什么我没有那个咒语？
But as I watched, the scene blurred and transformed to that of Ironmare Naval Base, the capsized remains of the HMS Celestia visible as a dark shadow beside the pier. A rusted cargo ship with the name ‘Applejack’ spray-painted on the flaking hull and the Applejack’s Rangers’ flag flying was moored with a stream of desperate refugees rushing to board. Behind them, a zebra tank rolled towards the shore, Steel Rangers firing volley after volley at the war machine as it crawled into firing position. All around me, ponies screamed and pushed, a few being shoved into the foaming waters.
但是当我看到，场景变得模糊，变成了铁梅海军基地，倾覆的皇家海军舰艇天堂的残骸看起来像是码头旁边的一个黑影。一艘锈迹斑斑的货船上喷着"苹果白兰地"的名字，船上飘扬着"苹果白兰地游骑兵"的旗帜，船上停泊着一群绝望的难民。在他们身后，一辆斑马坦克滚向海岸，钢铁游骑兵队在进入射击位置时，向战争机器连续射击。在我的周围，小马儿们尖叫着，不停地推挤着，有几只被推进了起泡的水里。
The turrets belched smoke, and the sea near the Applejack’s stern kicked up two great jets of water. The froth didn’t die down, though, the disturbance from the tank shells replaced with that from the ship as, unseen beneath the surface, the propellers spun to life. The ship began to crawl away from the pier, the gangplanks starting to turn and tilt and make the frantic ponies on them shove and shout even harder to be the last aboard. Whatever pony I was in skidded to a stop at the edge of the concrete as the gangplank dropped into the water before them and was lost between the hull and pier, a few ponies going with it. The
炮塔冒着烟，苹果白兰地船尾附近的海水喷出两股巨大的水柱。然而，泡沫并没有消失，来自坦克外壳的干扰被来自飞船的干扰所替代，因为在看不见的水面下，螺旋桨转动起来。船开始爬离码头，跳板开始转动和倾斜，使上面那些发狂的小马推挤和叫喊更难成为最后一个上船。不管我骑的是什么样的小马，当跳板掉到他们面前的水里，在船体和码头之间迷路时，它们都在水泥地的边缘停了下来，几匹小马也跟着一起掉了下去。这个
despairing, crying ponies behind didn’t stop, though, and their press sent the pony I was in into the salty ocean as the Applejack, laden with hundreds of lucky refugees, moved away from the end of the pier. Then the forecastle of the ship exploded in flame and shrapnel as the tank struck home.
然而，绝望、哭泣的小马在后面并没有停下来，他们的压力把我所在的小马送进了咸咸的海洋，因为载着数百名幸运难民的苹果白兰地从码头尽头离开了。随后，坦克击中了本方，船的前甲板起火爆炸，弹片四处飞散。
Then from out of the smoke coiling over the waves shot a lean, blackened boat skimming across the water. The Seahorse, scorched and battered but not yet sunk, sliced towards the shore and came around in a hard crashing slew that sent a wave from one side of its stern and a water jet from the other. From an improvised turret atop the cabin, a grenade machine gun began its rapid bark, the fire flashing off the tank and shrouding it in smoke so that its next shots only fountained up beside the Applejack's hull. Machine gun fire chattered, both tank and Brood infantry firing on the annoying mosquito of a patrol boat as it launched a salvo of grenades into the infantry and then rocketed away across the water, dodging wildly.
然后从盘旋在波浪上的烟雾中射出一只瘦削的、发黑的小船，掠过水面。海马号，已经被烧焦了，但是还没有沉没，切成片朝着海岸飞去，在一次猛烈的撞击中旋转起来，从船尾的一侧掀起了波浪，从另一侧喷出了水柱。在小屋顶上的一个临时炮塔上，一架手榴弹机枪开始快速地咆哮，火光从坦克上闪过，烟雾笼罩着坦克，以至于它的下一发子弹只落在苹果白兰地的船体旁边。机枪声不绝于耳，坦克和布鲁德军团的步兵向巡逻艇上恼人的蚊子开火，巡逻艇向步兵发射了一连串的手榴弹，然后飞速穿过水面，疯狂地躲闪着。
A glow covered my body, and I was lifted from the cold water by a unicorn in some sort of fancy robes. Then I was stumbling back along the pier as Steel Rangers escorted those who hadn’t made it to the ship towards the hulking remains of the naval station. “Get clear! Get clear!” a Ranger in power armor bellowed. “Move, you sorry gits! South! Get south! Move!”
一道亮光覆盖了我的身体，我被一只穿着华丽长袍的独角兽从冰冷的水面上抬了起来。然后我跌跌撞撞地沿着码头返回，钢铁突击队员护送那些没有上船的人前往海军基地的笨重遗址。"让开！让开!"一个穿着强力盔甲的游骑兵咆哮着。"滚开，你们这些对不起的家伙！南边！往南走！快走!"
“For Applejack!” cried others as they hurried towards defensible positions between the helpless and the advancing enemy; on the water, the Seahorse was coming around for another pass and showering the Brood with a rain of explosives. On land, the tank growled forward, turret lights moving in the smoke cloud as the guns tracked a new target.
"为苹果白兰地!"当他们急急忙忙地走向无助者和前进的敌人之间的防御阵地时，其他人都喊道，在水面上，锡霍斯正在绕过另一个隘口，向布鲁德病房倾泻大量的炸药。在陆地上，坦克轰隆隆地向前开去，炮火追踪到一个新目标，炮塔的灯光在烟雾中移动。
I tried to see what happened next, but I couldn’t hold on to it. My perception just swirled to another scene, the sea and refugees melting like wax and reforming into dingy walls and wounded people. Triage walked down a hall in the Collegiate, puffing hard on the cigarette as she snapped, “I don’t care! It’s a choice between saving a hundred lives now or maybe… maybe saving one life!”
我试图看看接下来发生了什么，但我无法坚持下去。我的感觉只是旋转到另一个场景，大海和难民像蜡一样融化，变成肮脏的墙壁和受伤的人。分诊医生走过学院的一个大厅，一边吸着烟，一边厉声说道:"我不在乎！这是一个选择，是现在拯救一百条生命，还是也许......也许拯救一条生命!"
A flash of white wing and golden mane, and the stunningly beautiful
白色的翅膀和金色的鬃毛一闪而过，美得惊人
Morningstar landed in her path. “One life! One life?! How can you say that?!
晨星落在了她的道路上。"一条命！一条命?！你怎么能这么说?！
That one life is worth a thousand of the people you’re wasting it on!”
一条生命抵得上你浪费它的一千个人!"
“Those people are my people!” Triage shouted at her. “And that machine is my
"那些人是我的人!"分诊医生冲她喊道。"那台机器是我的
machine! And the call is mine, not yours! I’m not going to pull the plug and let you fiddle with the rejuvenation pod in the middle of this battle. Right now, that machine is the only reason we’re losing hooffuls and not scores!”
机器！电话是我的，不是你的！我不会在这场战斗中拔掉插头让你摆弄返老还童舱。现在，这台机器是我们失去霍弗斯而不是得分的唯一原因!"
“The science will work! The theory is sound, whether you understand it or not!” Morningstar screamed at her.
"科学会起作用的！无论你理解与否，这个理论都是正确的!"晨星对她大喊大叫。
“And if the Hoof wasn't on fire right now, I'd be fully behind the peer review process but your timing is shit!” Triage snapped back. Ponies ran by, adamantly not looking at the pair. Many dragged stretchers behind them. Wounded cried out on old gurneys while ponies tried desperately to help them. “Every minute that machine’s not working, ponies die! My ponies! Ponies we need. I’m not going to take the pod offline for a science experiment you’re not even sure is going to work!”
"如果霍夫号现在没有着火，我会完全支持同行评议程序，但你的时机糟透了!"伤检分类迅速恢复。小马跑过去，坚决不看这一对。许多人在他们身后拖着担架。受伤的人在旧轮床上大声呼救，小马拼命想帮助他们。"机器每停一分钟，小马就死一分钟！我的小马！我们需要的小马。我不会为了一个你甚至不确定是否有用的科学实验而让这个舱离线。"
“It will work! The wing was proof! Science can do anything!” Morningstar bellowed in her face. “What would Blackjack say if she knew how you were letting–”
"会成功的！翅膀就是证据！科学无所不能!"晨星在她的脸上怒吼。"如果Blackjack知道你是怎么放的，她会怎么说?"
Triage’s horn glowed, and a clipboard slapped hard across Morningstar’s face. The stunned pegasus shook her head, and the clipboard swung back and struck her again. It was enough force to send her crashing to the floor with a nosebleed. Triage glared down at her and blew a plume of smoke. “Either she’d say a thousand lives are worth more than one, or I don’t give a shit what she’d say. Now get out of my way and get out of the Collegiate. I have to save all the lives I can before we all die.”
分诊部的喇叭闪着光，一个剪贴板狠狠地拍了一下晨星公司的脸。目瞪口呆的飞马摇了摇头，手里的笔记板挥了回去，又打了她一下。这种力量足以让她流鼻血倒在地板上。分诊医生瞪着她，冒出一缕烟。"要么她说一千条命比一条命重要，要么我根本不在乎她说什么。现在给我让开，滚出学院。在我们都死之前，我必须尽我所能拯救所有的生命。"
I wanted to hold on to that. Maybe Morningstar would say more, but things were sliding away. I saw… was it Xanthe, Sagittarius, or Candlewick’s battle? Maybe it was all three. I wanted to simultaneously charge forward and help all of them at once and cringe away from the sight of the fighting that I was helpless to end.
我想坚持下去。也许晨星公司会说得更多，但事情正在悄悄溜走。我看到...是赞丝，射手座，还是烛芯之战？也许三者都有。我想同时冲上前去，立刻帮助他们所有人，同时避开我无力结束的战斗。
As if in response to half of my desire, I felt those horrible, violent visions fade away to be replaced by a faint glow beneath me and a comforting darkness above and around. The glow was peaceful and calm, a blue-white illumination that drove the pain away bit by bit. It felt familiar... The same sensation I’d felt while lying on the dust outside the terminal. Sympathetic in understanding. Compassionate towards my suffering and the suffering I witnessed.
仿佛是对我一半欲望的回应，我觉得那些可怕的、猛烈的幻觉渐渐消失了，取而代之的是我身下微弱的光芒和四周令人欣慰的黑暗。那光辉是平静而安详的，一道蓝白色的光芒一点一点地驱走了疼痛。感觉很熟悉......和我躺在航站楼外面的灰尘中时的感觉一样。理解中的同情。对我的痛苦和我亲眼目睹的痛苦表示同情。
“Who are you?” I spoke into the glow.
"你是谁?"我对着灯火说话。
“A friend who has come a long way,” the illumination responded gently.
"一个远道而来的朋友,"灯光温柔地回答。
“Can you help me? I hurt myself. Badly, I think,” I whimpered, feeling the sensation of being held.
"你能帮我吗？我伤到自己了。"糟透了，我想,"我呜咽着，感到被抱着的感觉。
“No. No more than I already am. I’m sorry,” the voice said in soft sincerity.
"没有。不会比现在更糟了。"对不起,"那个声音温柔而真诚地说。
“That’s okay,” I murmured, imagining I was nuzzling into Mom’s embrace. “I need to go back, don’t I?” The thought filled me with dread, and I heard the distant echo of battles growing.
"没关系,"我喃喃地说，想象着自己正用鼻子蹭着妈妈的怀抱。"我需要回去，不是吗?"这个想法使我充满了恐惧，我听到远处战斗的回声越来越大。
“Maybe. Maybe not. I cannot tell. I know that this must end, though. One way, or another.”
"也许吧。也许不是。我不知道。但我知道这一切必须结束。无论如何。"
“I want to live,” I whimpered, daring to look more directly at the massive ghostly white pony shape holding me. “I don’t want to die. I want to fix things with Glory. I want a family with babies. I want to help Rampage get better. I want so many things now!” I sniffed and smiled. “Is that so wrong? To want to live?”
"我想活下去,"我呜咽着，敢于更直接地看着那巨大的、幽灵般的、白色的小马身。"我不想死。我想用晨辉来弥补。我想要一个有孩子的家庭。我想帮助狂暴好起来。我现在想要的东西太多了!"我闻了闻笑了笑。"这有什么不对吗？想要活下去?"
“No. But life is not easy. It struggles. Day by day, it struggles. How you face that struggle gives meaning to your life. It is only when things are at their darkest that you find your greatest strength. Life for life’s sake is not always enough. It is meaning that makes you greater than you are, and sometimes that meaning is greater than life itself.”
"没有。但是生活并不容易。它挣扎着。日复一日，它挣扎着。你如何面对这种挣扎会给你的生活带来意义。只有当事情最黑暗的时候，你才能找到自己最大的力量。为了生活而生活并不总是足够的。正是意义让你比自己更伟大，有时意义比生命本身更伟大。"
“It’s not fair,” I muttered, saying the dullest and most immature thing a pony could.
"这不公平,"我咕哝着，说着一匹小马所能做的最迟钝最幼稚的事情。
“No. It’s not. Not unless you make it so,” the glowing pony replied.
"没有。并非如此。除非你让它这么做,"那匹发光的小马回答。
“I don’t want to pay that price,” I whispered.
"我不想付出那样的代价,"我低声说。
“Pity the few that do,” it answered. “Pity more those who fear death and loss. Who hold life and the lives of others in contempt. Who have nothing to offer others but bile and vitriol and hate. They have made their lives a torment, and remain living only to inflict that torment on others. They have no other meaning.”
"可怜可怜少数这样做的人吧,"它回答说。"更可怜那些害怕死亡和损失的人。他们蔑视生命和他人的生命。除了愤怒、尖酸刻薄和仇恨，他们什么也不能给别人。他们把自己的生活变成了一种折磨，活着只是为了把这种折磨加在别人身上。它们没有其他意义。"
“Like the Eater. And the Legate,” I added. “And Cognitum. You think I should
"就像食人者。还有特使,"我补充道。""还有认知。你觉得我应该
pity them?”
可怜他们?"
“Don’t you?” the glowing eyes stared down at me curiously.
"不是吗?"发光的眼睛好奇地盯着我。
I closed my eyes. It would have been easier to hate my enemies, but I really didn’t. There hadn’t ever been one where I’d been glad they were dead. Well… maybe Steel Rain… but just because he’d been such an ass. “I guess. I just wish… I wish so many things could be different.”
我闭上了眼睛。仇恨我的敌人会更容易一些，但我真的没有。从来没有一次我为他们的死感到高兴。好吧......也许钢铁雨......但是仅仅因为他是个混蛋。"我想是的。我只是希望......我希望很多事情都能不一样。"
“Wishing is a start, but if you want them different, you must make them so,” it said softly. “And to do that…”
"许愿是一个开始，但如果你想让它们与众不同，你必须让它们与众不同。"。"要做到这一点......"
“I have to wake up…” I said to it with a regretful smile, and did so.
"我必须醒来......"我带着遗憾的微笑对它说，然后就这样做了。
* * *
* * *
I woke up on a table, lying on my side, my head hurting but feeling a little better. A green light poured down on me from a moonstone talisman mounted on a flexible swivel arm hanging from the ceiling. I heard Scotch Tape’s voice from nearby. “...guys are the descendants of ponies who said ‘buck it’ in the last month after Goldenblood got the boot and snuck off Equestria and into this lunar stable?”
我在一张桌子上醒来，侧躺着，头很痛，但感觉好一点了。一盏绿灯从安装在天花板上的可弯曲旋转臂上的月光石护身符上射下来。我听到附近的ScotchTape的声音。"......这些家伙是小马的后代，在上个月金血王被解雇并溜出Equestria进入这个月球马厩之后，他们说'去死吧'?"
“Some of us are,” a stallion’s voice replied calmly. “Liaison Sapphire knew the O.I.A. was conducting regular launches transporting Flux to the Lunar Palace. She started sending members of the M.o.A. and O.I.A. that she trusted up here with each launch. She was our first overmare, too. She thought it was a terrible waste of a stable to just give it to blanks. Oddly, though, with enough time they stopped acting quite like mere blanks, even when the implants were off and they were supposed to be in a rest state. They became almost like normal ponies. You saw how they celebrated ‘Princess Luna’s’ arrival.”
"有些人是的,"一匹种马平静地回答。"联络蓝宝石知道o.i.a.定期进行发射将Flux运往月球宫。她开始派遣m.o.a.和o.i.a.的成员，每次发射时她都信任他们。她也是我们第一匹成功的母马。她认为把马厩给空着的人是一种可怕的浪费。奇怪的是，随着时间的推移，他们不再表现得像空白一样，即使植入物已经关闭，他们应该处于休息状态。它们变得几乎像普通的小马一样。你看到他们是怎样庆祝'卢娜公主'的到来的。"
“And nopony knew?” P-21 asked.
"没有小马知道吗?"P-21要求。
“I think, towards the end, that everything was such a mess that nopony knew precisely what was going on. Horse was in the process of purging the O.I.A. When Luna had Goldenblood arrested, that was when Sapphire thought it’d be best to leave. Of course, we all figured that Luna would come up here sooner or later, one way or another, so we might as well be friendly when she did. I have to admit, we rather thought it would be sooner.”
"我想，到了最后，一切都变得一团糟，没有一个小马知道到底发生了什么。Horse正在清理o.i.a。当卢娜把金血王抓起来的时候，萨菲尔觉得最好还是离开。当然，我们都认为卢娜迟早会来这里，无论如何，所以我们最好对她友好一点。我不得不承认，我们本以为会更快。"
“And so you guys just stay up here and… do what?” Rampage asked with a snort. “Spend all day wigged-out on moon dust?”
"所以你们就呆在这儿......做什么?"狂暴哼了一声问道。"整天坐在月尘上发呆?"
The doctor scrunched up his face evasively. “No! That’s... rarely happens. Besides, the day-to-day maintenance of the stable takes a great deal of work. And there’s meditation and philosophical discussions as well. Others enjoy astronomy, art, poetry, and monitoring signals from the stars or Equus,” the stallion replied. I took a risk and twisted to look in the direction they spoke from. I might as well have been in Stable 99’s medical bay, only everything was extremely clean and shiny. The air had a strange acrid tang to it that was a little unpleasant. The motion gave me a little bit of a headache, but far less than I’d experienced earlier.
医生闪烁其词地揉了揉他的脸。"不！这种事...很少发生。此外，马厩的日常维护也需要大量的工作。还有冥想和哲学讨论。其他人则喜欢天文学、艺术、诗歌，以及观测来自星星或马的信号。我冒着风险，扭曲地看着他们说话的方向。我可能已经在稳定99的医疗舱，只是一切都非常干净和闪亮。空气中有一种奇怪的辛辣味道，有点令人不快。这个动作让我有点头疼，但是比我之前经历的要少得多。
“I’ve said it before. Stable ponies are just frigging weird, whether they’re in the ground or on the moon,” Rampage said with a shake of her head.
"我以前说过。不管是在地上还是在月亮上，稳定的小马都非常奇怪。"。
The stallion they talked to wore a medical coat and reminded me of nothing so much as a male Boo. His mane and hide were both pale pink, and he had eyes that seemed to glow faintly with stars.
和他们交谈的种马穿着一件医用外套，让我想起了一个男人。它的鬃毛和皮毛都是淡粉色的，它的眼睛仿佛闪烁着微弱的星光。
“So… I gotta ask, Doc Comet. When’s the next scheduled orgy?” Rampage asked, looking around as if expecting group sex to break out at any moment. “Come on. If this place is based on 99, it’s got to have something perverted going on.”
"所以......我得问问，康麦特博士。下一次预定的狂欢是什么时候?"狂暴问道，环顾四周，仿佛期待着随时爆发群交。"来吧。如果这个地方是以99为基础的，那它肯定有什么变态的东西。"
The stallion leaned away from her. “Uh, I just met you, so no. Thank you, but… no.”
那匹种马向远处斜着身子。"呃，我刚认识你，所以没有。谢谢，但是......不用了。"
Rampage pursed her lips, then shrugged. “Eh. Probably for the best. I’m only a filly, anyway, so it’d be sick and wrong.” She trotted away, casually fishing a tin of Mint-als out of her armor and shaking a mouthful into her mouth, munching them like they were candy. The pale pink stallion looked at the other two, mouth working silently in bafflement, but they just shook their heads.
狂暴的暴怒撅起嘴，然后耸了耸肩。"嗯。也许这样最好。不管怎么说，我只是一匹小母马，所以这是不对的。"她小跑着离开，不经意地从盔甲里掏出一罐薄荷糖，摇着一口放进嘴里，像吃糖果一样大嚼特嚼。这匹淡粉色的种马看着另外两匹，嘴巴在莫名其妙地动着，但它们只是摇了摇头。
“We should get going,” P-21 said as they started for the door.
"我们应该出发了,"P-21一边说着一边向门口走去。
“Wait!” I groaned, half climbing and half falling off the table. “Wait. I’m coming.”
"等等!"我呻吟着，一半在爬，一半从桌子上掉下来。"等等。我来了。"
“I thought she was out!” Scotch Tape hissed. “Wasn’t she drugged?”
"我以为她出去了!"透明胶带发出嘶嘶声。"她不是被下药了吗?"
“Yeah. Blackjack doesn’t really do the whole ‘out for the count’ thing,” Rampage said with a sigh and a shake of her head over by the door.
"是的。"黑杰克并不是真正的'为了点数'而出去玩的,"兰格叹了口气，在门边摇了摇头说。
The doctor trotted to me and shone a light into both of my eyes. From his frown, I got the impression I’d done something wrong. “How are you feeling?”
医生小跑过来，把一束光照进我的两只眼睛。从他皱起的眉头，我感到我做错了什么。"你感觉怎么样?"
A very good question. The screwdriver was out of my horn, and I could move my head without a little ball of agony searing my brain. There were still flickers in the periphery of my vision, but I could ignore the whispers. “Better. What happened to me? Have I been here long? Did Horizons fire?”
一个非常好的问题。螺丝刀从我的角里拔出来了，我可以移动我的头而不会有一个痛苦的小球灼伤我的脑袋。我的视线周围仍然闪烁着光芒，但我可以忽略那些耳语。"好多了。我怎么了？我在这里很久了吗？地平线号开火了吗?"
The pale pink stallion consulted a clipboard. “Hemorrhagic aneurism of your temporal and visual cortex. Good thing your friend had you slugging down restoratives like crazy. You were slowly bleeding into your brain. The rejuvenation talisman stopped the bleeding, but you’re looking at some scarring, plus complications from acute moonstone poisoning.” He paused and then squinted at me a little skeptically. “Did you actually go rolling around in the stuff?”
那匹淡粉色的种马查阅了一下剪贴板。你的颞叶和视觉皮层出血动脉瘤。还好你朋友让你疯狂地喝恢复剂。你的脑部正在慢慢出血。恢复活力的护身符止住了出血，但你看到的是一些疤痕，还有急性月光石中毒的并发症。"他停顿了一下，然后怀疑地眯着眼睛看着我。"你真的穿着这些东西到处打滚吗?"
“Something like that,” I muttered, working my mouth. “Is that bad? My tongue feels numb.”
"差不多吧,"我喃喃自语，嘴里嘟囔着。"那很糟糕吗？我的舌头麻木了。"
“Your tongue?” He arched a brow. “No. That’s just an effect of hard vacuum. Moonstone poisoning… well…” he coughed and stared into my eyes. “Are you hearing singing? Seeing time dilation? Uncontrollable extrasensory perception?”
"你的舌头?"他挑起眉毛。"没有。这只是硬吸尘器的作用。月光石中毒......好吧......"他咳嗽着，盯着我的眼睛。"你听到歌声了吗？看到时间膨胀了吗？无法控制的超感官知觉?"
I stared at him silently for a few seconds. “Maybe?”
我静静地盯着他看了几秒钟。"也许?"
“Yeah. That usually takes a few years of exposure to small amounts. From what your friends told me…” He consulted the clipboard. “You rolled around in the stuff, then did radical and uncontrolled mind magic, then used an experimental extrasensory perception device. I’m shocked your head didn’t explode.” He sighed and set the clipboard away. “Anyway. You’re talking coherently and not bleeding out the nose and ears anymore, so I suppose that’s as close to a clean bill of health as I can give. Normally I’d be bundling you up in a corner to bliss out among the stars while sticking you under that talisman for a few more hours.”
"是的。这通常需要几年的时间来接触少量。根据你朋友告诉我的......"他查看了一下笔记板。"你在这些东西里打滚，然后使用激进的、不受控制的大脑魔法，然后使用一种实验性的超感官知觉设备。我很惊讶你的头居然没有爆炸。"他叹了口气，把写字板收起来。"不管怎么说。你说话很连贯，没有流鼻血和耳朵了，所以我想这是我能给出的最接近健康的证明了。通常我会把你绑在一个角落里，在星空中享受幸福，同时把你放在那个护身符下几个小时。"
“As for Horizons,” P-21 broke in firmly, “no. It hasn’t. We’re going now. And you’re staying here.”
"至于视野号,"P-21坚定地插话道,"不。但事实并非如此。我们要走了。你要留在这里。"
“Nope! I don’t–” I tried hopping off the table but tripped over my hooves and tumbled to the floor, landing on my head. The impact gave me a dozen flashes from places that were decidedly not my head. “Ow!” I groaned as little stars shot across my vision. “We’re not splitting up.”
"没有！我没有——"我试着从桌子上跳下来，但被蹄子绊了一下，跌倒在地，头部着地。这种撞击使我脑海中闪过十几个明显不是我脑袋的地方。"噢!"我呻吟着，小星星在我的视线中闪烁。"我们不会分开。"
“She really is that bad,” the doctor remarked. “I mean, from what you told me… she just had multiple microstrokes, and she wants to go fight?”
"她真的有那么坏,"医生说。"我的意思是，根据你告诉我的......她刚刚多次微中风，她想去打架?"
“Yep,” Rampage said. “Tie her up and give her a good dicking. She likes that.”
"是的,"朗格说。"把她绑起来，好好教训她一顿。她喜欢这样。"
“No time for quickies now!” I waved a hoof at all twelve-ish of them. “I am not getting left behind. I’m coming with all of you and that is that.”
"现在没时间吃速食了!"我朝他们十二个人挥了挥蹄子。"我不会被落在后面。我要和你们所有人一起去，就这样。"
“Blackjack, you’ve had a stroke,” P-21 explained as I rose to my hooves.
"黑杰克，你中风了,"P-21在我站起来的时候解释道。
“It’s not the first time I’ve fought with brain damage!” I said as I swayed and thumped against one of the tables. “I have to go. The big glowy pony of light said so.” I rubbed my temple and then noticed the incredulous looks on their faces. “What? You’re doubting I’m seeing things now?”
"这不是我第一次与脑损伤作斗争了!"我一边说，一边摇晃着重重地拍打着其中一张桌子。"我得走了。那只发光的小马驹这样说。"我揉了揉我的太阳穴，然后注意到他们脸上不可思议的表情。"什么？你在怀疑我现在看到的东西吗?"
“Not with eyes like that,” Scotch Tape said as she pointed at a polished bulkhead. I stared at my own reflection and was immediately taken by the sight of hundreds of motes of light swirling in my eyes. I couldn’t see them in my vision, but they gave my eyes a faint luminescent glow like Snails had.
"眼睛不是这样的,"苏格兰胶带说，她指着一个抛光的舱壁。我凝视着自己的倒影，立刻被眼中旋转的成百上千的微光所吸引。我看不见他们，但是他们像蜗牛一样使我的眼睛发出微弱的发光。
“Well… fuck…” I muttered at my own reflection. “My eyes glow. Again.”
"好吧...操..."我对着自己的倒影喃喃自语。"我的眼睛在发光。再来一次。"
P-21 simply nodded. “Yep.”
P-21只是点了点头。"是的。"
"...kay. Well... it’s not the first time. Still going,” I declared, marching forward, a picture of resolution.
凯。这不是第一次了。还在继续,"我说，一边向前走着，一副决心十足的样子。
“Not the first...” the doctor said weakly.
"不是第一个......"医生虚弱地说。
Scotch Tape shook her head. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
透明胶带摇了摇头。"相信我，你不会想知道的。"
“Yup. Doesn’t matter. I’m marching right out this door and kicking her–”
"是的。没关系。我要走出这扇门，踢她——"
“That’s the supply closet,” P-21 informed me gently.
"那是储藏室,"P-21温和地告诉我。
I blinked at the door. “Right. I knew that.” And turned to the other door on the far side of Medical.
我对着门眨了眨眼。"对。我知道。"然后转向医务室远处的另一扇门。
“I can drug her,” the doctor said, and I felt a little stab of fear that I might actually have to fight my friends on this.
"我可以给她下药,"医生说，我感到一阵小小的刺痛，害怕我实际上可能不得不和我的朋友们争论这个问题。
“No. She’d get a spoon and defeat you. She’s tricky like that,” Rampage said with a sigh. I tripped over my own hooves and faceplanted into the floor in front of everypony... again. “Very tricky,” Rampage repeated, solemnly.
"没有。她会拿个勺子打败你。她就是这么狡猾,"朗格叹了口气说。我又一次被自己的蹄子绊倒，脸栽在每个小马面前的地板上。"非常狡猾,"狂暴庄严地重复道。
“We don’t have time for this,” P-21 said as he trotted to me and helped me to my hooves. “Are you okay?” he asked as he lifted my face and stared into my eyes. I could see the glow reflected off his irises. “I mean really okay, Blackjack?” Just tell me what you need.
"我们没有时间了,"P-21一边说一边小跑过来扶我起来。"你还好吗?"他抬起我的脸，盯着我的眼睛问道。我能看见他的虹膜反射出的光芒。"我是说真的没事吧，黑杰克?"告诉我你需要什么。
I gazed at him for what felt like forever, and licked my lips nervously. “I have to go,” I whispered softly. “I can’t stay here while you face her,” I told him, trying to keep my head together as images flickered in my vision. “I can’t stay here and see… what I’m seeing… and do nothing… I’ll go mad,” I whispered, trying to keep my fear as calm as I could.
我凝视着他，感觉像是永远，紧张地舔着我的嘴唇。"我得走了,"我轻声说。"当你面对她的时候，我不能呆在这里,"我告诉他，当图像在我的视线中闪烁时，我努力保持头脑清醒。"我不能呆在这里，看着......我所看到的......什么也不做......我会疯掉的,"我低声说，尽量让我的恐惧平静下来。
P-21 returned my stare equally as long, then smiled and gave a little nod. “Okay.” He straightened and looked at the others. “She’s coming. Let’s go.”
P-21同样长时间地盯着我，然后微笑着点了点头。"好吧。"他直起身子，看着其他人。"她来了。我们走吧。"
“Daddy… sometimes, I think when it comes to Blackjack, you don’t think so good,” Scotch Tape grumped, then asked the doctor. “Is moonstone poisoning fatal?”
"爸爸......有时候，我觉得当你玩黑杰克的时候，你的想法不是很好,"ScotchTape嘟囔着，然后问医生。"月光石中毒致命吗?"
“Not in and of itself. Severe cases usually incapacitate the victim. It takes a long while to work out of the system, though,” he said with a more concerned frown. “And you really shouldn’t be fighting with a case as severe as yours.”
""不是内在的，也不是外在的。严重的病例通常使患者丧失能力。不过，解决这个系统需要很长时间,"他皱着眉头，更加关切地说。"你真的不应该为一个像你这样严重的病例而战。"
“You, Triage, and Rover should write a book: Dumb Patients Fighting When They Shouldn’t,” I said as I took a seat and breathed hard. Then I regarded the doctor and gave him a sincere smile. “Thank you for helping me, Doctor. I mean it. And I don’t think I got your name.”
"你、分诊医生和罗孚应该写一本书:愚蠢的病人在他们不该战斗的时候战斗,"我一边说着一边坐下，呼吸困难。然后我看了看医生，给了他一个真诚的微笑。"谢谢你的帮助，医生。我是认真的。我想我还不知道你的名字。"
“Comet. Doctor Comet,” he said with a small smile in return. Then he sighed and rose to his hooves. “Well, I guess I’ll walk you to the tram down to the Palace. If you relapse, I’ll be nearby.”
"彗星。"可迈特医生,"他微笑着回答。然后他叹了口气，站起身来。"好吧，我想我会陪你走到有轨电车那里，一直走到皇宫。如果你故态复萌，我就在附近。"
Together, we walked out of Medical and into... 99, as it should have been. Stepping out into the hall, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. There was a drinking fountain, right where it would have been in 99. Down there was a bathroom. In the other direction, a sign pointing to the atrium. Unlike 99, there’d been no Incident here. Stallions and mares walked past in stable barding with ‘LA’ on the collars talking excitedly of Equus being able to support spaceflight again. The blanks were harder to notice here, even with their white manes and eyes, as they followed along and nodded to conversations. The lights were steady, the air clean with the faint ozone tang.
我们一起走出医务室，走进了......99号房，本来应该是这样的。走进大厅，一股怀旧的情绪袭来。那里有一个饮水机，就在99年的地方。楼下有个洗手间。在另一个方向，一个指向中庭的标志。与99不同，这里没有发生任何事故。种马和母马走过与洛杉矶稳定贸易的衣领上兴奋地谈论马能够再次支持太空飞行。在这里，即使用他们白色的鬃毛和眼睛，也很难注意到那些空白，因为他们跟在后面，对谈话点头。灯光很稳定，空气中弥漫着淡淡的臭氧味。
“I know. Freaky, isn’t it?” Scotch Tape said as she walked next to me. “I actually walked into some stranger’s home thinking it was my quarters in 99. And they have similar recycler systems.” Trust her to check that. One thing that was definitely different, though, was the clouds of mechasprites flying in little swarms overhead. I saw them dive into a trashcan, and, after some fearful chewing, fly out carrying small rods of aluminum and iron and a lump of carbon. “That’s new, though.”
"我知道。很奇怪，不是吗?"苏格兰胶带说，她走到我旁边。"实际上，我走进一个陌生人的家时，以为那是我在99年的住处。他们也有类似的回收系统。"相信她会检查的。然而，有一件事情是绝对不同的，那就是机甲兵团在头顶上成群地飞行。我看见他们跳进一个垃圾桶里，经过一番可怕的咀嚼之后，带着一小根铝铁棒和一堆碳飞了出来。"不过，这倒是新鲜事。"
“Hey! Do you eat your own poop and dead?” Rampage asked Comet.
"嘿！你是不是吃了自己的便便就死了?"横冲直撞的彗星问道。
He furrowed his brows. “We try not to think about it like that.”
他皱起眉头。"我们尽量不去那样想。"
I laughed. It was like coming home… even if it was nothing like coming home. “I hear ya. Has Cognitum come here?” Our passage drew all sorts of odd looks from pale-colored ponies who kept their distance but seemed to regard us as welcome curiosities. Only a few had the starry eyed gaze that I did, and none were as bright as mine. I wished that I had more time to meet them and find out more about life on the moon.
我笑了。这就像回家一样，即使不像回家。"我听见了。认知力来了吗?"我们走过的路上，那些淡色的小马儿都露出各种奇怪的表情，它们保持着距离，但似乎把我们当作受欢迎的好奇心。只有少数人拥有我那种充满幻想的目光，没有人能像我这样明亮。我希望能有更多的时间与他们见面，了解更多关于月球上的生活。
“You mean the Princess? No. Not that it was that surprising. It makes sense she’d see to the Palace first. And our ancestors did flee here to escape her law at the end of things. Hopefully she’s pleased by all the hard work that’s gone into the Lunar Palace.” He grew worried. “Of course, we’ve gotten alerts from the Palace security system since she arrived, but we’re not involved in defense of the Palace.”
""你是说公主吗？没有。这并不令人惊讶。所以她应该先去皇宫看看。我们的祖先逃到这里是为了在事情结束时逃避她的法律。希望她对进入月宫的艰苦工作感到满意。"他开始担心起来。"当然，自从她来到白金汉宫后，我们已经收到了来自白金汉宫安全系统的警报，但我们并没有参与保卫白金汉宫。"
“What is, then?” I asked as we walked.
"那是什么?"我边走边问。
“Robots,” Rampage said with a yawn. “Turrets. Mechasprites. Pretty straightforward, actually. She’s got enough firepower to get through it all
"机器人,"朗格打着哈欠说。"炮塔。Meechasprites.事实上，非常简单。她有足够的火力撑过这一切
eventually. I’m surprised the pair she sent over here haven’t caused trouble.”
最终。我很惊讶她派来的那两个人居然没有惹麻烦。"
“Oh, them?” the doctor said with a smile. “Yes, they were very assertive when they arrived. Made some rude and threatening declarations. It’s a wonder how some moonstone and Med-X can pacify certain aggressive individuals, though. Hopefully the Princess can sort out the confusion when she arrives.”
"哦，他们?"医生笑着说。"是的，他们到达时非常自信。发表了一些粗鲁和威胁性的声明。然而，一些月光石和Med-X如何能安抚某些好斗的个体却是一个奇迹。希望公主到来时能解决这个问题。"
That sorting might involve body parts if Cognitum was in a bad mood. “Do you know about Horizons?” I asked.
如果认知神经元心情不好的话，这种分类可能会涉及到身体的某些部位。"你知道地平线吗?"我问道。
“Project Horizons? Yes. It was Goldenblood’s plan to restore Equestria by sending a magically infused moonstone to a certain location on the surface. I don’t know the details personally, but I’m sure the Overstallion could explain it better,” Doctor Comet said with another smile. I was sure he couldn’t. Still, I couldn’t miss the wistful look on P-21’s face. I could easily imagine him here as a teacher. Or husband. I glanced back at his flank, where red and silver peeked through the flakes of blue.
"地平线计划？是的。这就是金血王的计划，他要把一颗魔法般浸泡过的月光石送到地球表面的某个特定位置，从而恢复Equestria。我个人不知道细节，但我相信超种马可以更好地解释它,"科米特医生说与另一个微笑。我肯定他不能。尽管如此，我还是不能不注意到P-21脸上充满渴望的表情。我可以很容易地想象他在这里当老师的样子。或者丈夫。我回头望了一眼他的侧腹，那里透过蓝色的薄片，闪着红色和银色的光芒。
“Not a bad stable, huh?” I said to him as we walked towards the steps to the utility sections. On the way, we trotted past something else 99 hadn’t had: windows! How freaky was that? They looked out into the crystal-lined chasm in the moonscape.
"马厩不错吧?"当我们走向通往公用设施区的台阶时，我对他说。在路上，我们小跑着经过了99没有的东西:窗户！这有多诡异？他们望着月球表面上水晶镶嵌的深坑。
“Will it be okay if Horizons fires?” he asked.
"如果'地平线'开火，可以吗?"他问道。
Oh, that was something I didn’t want to think about! A stable full of good ponies, and… “Just more reason to hur--”
哦，那是我不愿意去想的事情！马厩里全是好马，还有..."只是更多的理由--"
The hallway exploded before me, the tank rolling through the smoke and flames, treads churning up oil-slicked water. I raised my hooves and screamed as the crushing treads rolled over me.
走廊在我面前爆炸了，水箱在浓烟和火焰中滚动着，踩着滚滚油污的水。我抬起我的蹄子，当压碎的踏板滚过我身上时，我尖叫起来。
Then I was aware of ponies holding and shaking me. “--bad idea!” the doctor was saying. “We’ve got to get her back to medical!”
然后我意识到小马紧紧地抱着我，摇晃着我。"--坏主意!"医生说。"我们得把她送回医务室!"
“No! No. I’m fine,” I said, shivering, sure that somewhere, somepony definitely wasn’t. I picked myself up to my hooves. “Just a reason to finish this sooner than later. People need us back on Equus.” I shoved my way out of their hooves so they couldn’t drag me back.
"不！没有。我很好,"我说，颤抖着，确信在某个地方，有些小马肯定不好。我重新站起来。"只是一个尽早完成这项工作的理由。人们需要我们回到马队。"我从他们的蹄子里挤出来，这样他们就不能把我拖回去了。
We didn’t chat again as we went down and down, reaching the reactor level and then a sign that read ‘To Lunar Palace’. Trotting towards the tram doors, I tried to ignore the sounds of gunfire. It was all in my head. All in my head…
我们没有再次交谈，因为我们下降和下降，达到反应堆的水平，然后一个标志，上面写着月球宫。我小跑着朝电车门走去，尽量不去理会枪声。这一切都是我的幻觉。都在我脑子里。
Wasn’t it?
不是吗？
The tram doors slid open, and a pair of ponies in combat armor came into view. One levitated a disintegration rifle. The other wore a battle saddle with two miniguns. I blinked, not sure if they were Brood or not. Then Rampage dove atop me as the miniguns opened up with streams of lead. “Ow! Ow! Ow!” she hissed as the metal deflected wildly off her plate armor, bouncing every which way in a flurry of glowing shrapnel.
电车门打开了，一对穿着战斗装甲的小马出现在眼前。其中一个使一支变形步枪悬浮起来。另一个戴着战斗马鞍，上面有两个小步枪。我眨了眨眼，不知道他们是不是布鲁德。然后狂暴跳到我身上，小矮人们用铅流开火。"噢！噢！噢!"她发出嘶嘶的声音，金属从她的钢板盔甲上猛然偏离，在一阵闪闪发光的弹片中四处弹跳。
P-21 immediately sent a grenade flying towards the pair, but the unicorn with the disintegration rifle raised a shield of shimmery green magic just in time for the explosive to detonate outside it and blast back at us. More shrapnel flew around us, biting hide wherever it could penetrate. P-21’s eyes blazed with rage at the indignity of eating his own grenade. Rampage lunged off me, racing towards the door as the smoke cleared to show the field still intact. Then two small holes formed in the wall of magic, and a rain of bullets poured through them and pushed Rampage back on the concrete floor.
P-21立即向这两个人投掷了一枚手榴弹，但是那只带着解体步枪的独角兽打开了一道闪闪发光的绿色魔法防护罩，刚好赶上爆炸物在外面引爆并向我们爆炸。更多的弹片在我们周围飞来飞去，无论它能穿透到哪里，都会咬人。P-21的眼睛因为吃了自己的手榴弹而感到羞耻而怒火中烧。狂暴从我身上冲了出来，冲向门口，烟雾散去，显示出场地仍然完好无损。然后魔法墙上出现了两个小洞，一阵子弹雨从洞中穿过，把狂暴推回到混凝土地板上。
I tele– Correction, I faceplanted into the ground as my horn sparked wildly and went dead. Worse, I suddenly had images of three cyberpegasi fighting hoof to hoof against Brood soldiers while Homage and Windsheer worked furiously on terminals. No! Focus! I looked past Rampage’s legs as the unicorn created a third hole, lifting her rifle to point back down the hall at us.
我远程纠正，我面对着地面，我的喇叭疯狂地点燃，然后死去。更糟糕的是，我突然想到了三个飞马座的人对抗布鲁德军队的画面，而"顶礼膜拜"和"温施尔"则在终端上疯狂地工作。不！集中注意力！独角兽打开了第三个洞，我抬起来复枪指着大厅里的我们。
Biting down on Vigilance with my mouth, my cheek pressed against the ground, I saw the force field flickering where it met the floor. I dropped into S.A.T.S. and targeted four armor piercing shots at her front left hoof. Two splashed against the field, but two ripped through and right into her forehoof. The mare cried out, faltering as blood spurted from her crippled hoof. She started to pull back, cradling it, and closed the hole she’d opened to fire through.
我用嘴咬着"警戒"，脸颊贴着地面，我看到力场在与地板接触的地方忽隐忽现。我跳进了s.a.t.s，瞄准她前面的左蹄开了四枪穿甲弹。其中两个溅落在田野上，但有两个正中她的前蹄。母马叫了起来，因为血从她残缺的蹄子里喷出来而颤抖着。她开始往后拉，抱着它，关上她打开的洞，准备射击。
But not before Persuasion sent a grenade soaring through it.
但是在此之前，《劝导》向它投掷了一枚手榴弹。
The explosion flattened both ponies, the field popping like a bubble as the mare was slammed to the left and the minigun-armed stallion to the ground. He managed to get to his feet for all of a second before Rampage hooked her
爆炸把两匹小马都炸倒了，当母马被甩到左边，那匹配有小型枪械的种马倒在地上的时候，场地像气泡一样爆炸了。他设法站起来足有一秒钟，然后狂暴就把她迷住了
hoofclaws into the back of his neck and ripped his head from his shoulders. The mare tried to haul the disintegration rifle around to point at Rampage, but I put three more rounds into her before she could fire. The rifle clattered to the ground as I approached.
马蹄抓住了他的脖子，把他的头从肩膀上扯了下来。那匹母马试图拖着解体步枪转过身来指向狂暴，但是在她开枪之前我又给了她三枪。我走近时，步枪咔嗒咔嗒地落在地上。
She wasn’t a pretty mare. Blue-gray like Homage, but with a flat black mane. Her eyes stared up at me. I’m hit. Fuck. Can’t feel… can’t move… fuck! Her eyes widened as her breathing picked up, blood bubbling in her mouth. No. I have to kill her. Russet will be okay if she dies. Everyone will… Her body trembled as I gazed into her eyes, a tear cutting through the blood on her cheek. Russet… my beautiful girl… I have to… have to… to… Then she went slack, slumping over as her red bar disappeared from my E.F.S.
她不是一匹漂亮的母马。蓝灰色的"敬意"，但是有着扁平的黑色鬃毛。她的眼睛盯着我。我中弹了。操。感觉不到...动不了...妈的！随着呼吸加快，她的眼睛睁大了，嘴里冒着血泡。没有。我必须杀了她。如果她死了Russet会没事的。每个人都会......当我凝视着她的眼睛时，她的身体颤抖着，泪水划破了她脸颊上的血迹。赤褐色......我美丽的女孩......我必须......必须......必须......然后她松弛下来，随着她的红色棒子从我的e.f.s上消失，她跌倒在地。
“Blackjack?” P-21 asked me, putting a hoof on my shoulder.
"黑杰克?"P-21把蹄子放在我的肩上问我。
I jumped at the touch, looking at him and feeling his worry in his stare. “I’m fine. I’m fine,” I lied, and he knew it. I tore my eyes from him, back to the mare. “Give me their barding. And see if you can rig that battle saddle to Sexy and me.”
我一碰到他就跳起来，看着他，在他的凝视中感受到他的担忧。"我很好。"我很好,"我撒谎，他知道这一点。我把目光从他身上移开，回到母马身上。"把他们的帐单给我。看看你能不能把那个马鞍改装成"性感和我"。"
I turned to Doctor Comet. “Thank–” I started to say, and then I saw him lying prone on the ground. A bloody hole oozed in the pink hide of his forehead right where a unicorn’s horn would be.
我转向康麦特医生。"谢谢——"我开始说，然后我看见他趴在地上。一个血淋淋的洞渗出在他的前额粉红色的隐藏权的独角兽的角。
I bring the Wasteland everywhere I go. Xanthe was right. Help me, and it gets you killed. Face me, and it gets you killed. “Come on,” I croaked as I stepped into the tram, dragging the mare by the collar. Rampage brought the other one. Once we were inside the steeply inclined tram and it had started off, I removed the mare’s combat armor. A few holes wouldn’t compromise it too badly. I pulled a picture from a pocket. It was just a charcoal sketch of the unicorn I’d killed and a small, smudged filly.
我所到之处都带来了荒原。赞特是对的。帮我会害死你的。面对我，你会被杀的。"来吧,"我一边走进电车，一边用脖子拽着母马的脖子发出低沉的叫声。狂暴带来了另一个。一旦我们进入倾斜陡峭的电车，它已经开始了，我脱下母马的战斗装甲。几个洞不会使它受损太严重。我从口袋里拿出一张照片。这只是我杀死的独角兽和一匹小小的、模糊不清的小母马的炭笔素描。
“Daddy, you should put on that other barding,” Scotch Tape said in a small voice as she took the mare’s rifle and fumbled with it. He’s going to die. Blackjack’s going to die. Rampage is going to die. I’ll be all alone. “I wish I knew how to use this thing better.” I’m useless. I shouldn’t have come.
"爸爸，你应该换上另一把枪,"苏格兰磁带轻声地说，她拿起母马的步枪，摸索着。他就要死了。黑杰克就要死了。横冲直撞必死无疑。我会孤单一人。"我希望我知道如何更好地使用这个东西。"我真没用。我不该来的。
I glanced at P-21, felt the worry dripping off him, and then looked at Scotch. “Hey. It’s not that hard. Find something to brace against. Point that end. Fire. Repeat. You’ll be fine.” I rubbed her head. “We’re not going to die.”
我瞥了一眼P-21，感觉到他的忧虑在滴落，然后看了看苏格兰威士忌。"嘿。没那么难。找一些东西作为支撑。指向那头。火。重复。你会没事的。"我抚摸着她的头。"我们不会死。"
She stared at me. “Well… no duh. I knew that!” She gave as brave a smile as she could as she fumbled with how to reload the rifle. I tried to keep her from firing it by accident... though, for all I knew, the thing I thought was the safety was actually the trigger! Ugh… arcane magic weapons were just bizarre.
她盯着我。"好吧......不是吧。我就知道!"当她笨手笨脚地摸索着如何装子弹时，她尽可能勇敢地笑了笑。我试图阻止她不小心开火...尽管，就我所知，我认为是保险的事情实际上是扳机！呃......神秘的魔法武器真是太奇怪了。
P-21 mumbled, “Do I have this on right?” I returned my eyes to him and started at seeing him wearing the stallion’s scorched and dinged combat armor. He’d removed the miniguns; he really didn’t have the frame or skill for the weapons anyway. Lacunae… sigh…
P-21喃喃自语,"这件衣服我穿对了吗?"我回过头来看他，开始看到他穿着那匹种马烧焦了、凹凸不平的战斗盔甲。他已经移除了迷你武器;他真的没有框架或技能的武器反正。空隙...叹息..。
“You got these buckles mixed up,” I said, flushing as I gently corrected the straps and got the combat barding in place. Aside from a big gap between the shoulders from Rampage’s tear, it was mostly intact.
"你把这些扣子弄混了,"我一边说，一边冲着脸轻轻地修正带子，把作战条令弄到位。除了因为横冲直撞撕裂的肩膀之间有一个很大的缝隙，它基本上是完好无损的。
“What’s wrong, Blackjack?” P-21 said as he hooked Sexy to my battle saddle. Unff... I really wished I had an earth pony’s frame for this. I tried to use my magic, and from the blue stallion came words as if from an old stereo. Just get through today. Whatever happens, get through today with no one else dead. Just get home, and everything will be alright. Get Scotch Tape home safe. Watch Rampage. Damn, Blackjack’s ass is almost as nice as Calamity’s. Get back safe.
"怎么了，黑杰克?"P-21一边说，一边把"性感"挂在我的战斗马鞍上。我真希望我有一个地球小马的框架来做这个。我试着使用我的魔法，从那匹蓝色的种马身上传来的话语仿佛来自一台旧的立体声音响。只要熬过今天。无论发生什么，今天不要再有人死去。回家吧，一切都会好起来的。把透明胶带安全带回家。观看狂暴。该死，黑杰克的屁股几乎和卡拉米蒂的一样好。注意安全。
“I think...” I started to say, then stopped. What was there to gain by telling them that there was something else wrong with me? “Just... I remember back when my life was just patrolling through the stable halls and the occasional illegal poker game. I just have to wonder how much more weird my life can get.”
"我想......"我开始说，然后停了下来。告诉他们我还有别的毛病，有什么好处呢？"只是......我还记得那时候，我的生活只是在马厩大厅里巡逻，偶尔还有非法的扑克游戏。我只是想知道我的生活还能变得多么奇怪。"
“Well, we’re on the moon. That’s a good indication for starters,” Scotch Tape said as she stared out the window. I miss Mommy so much. I wish she could see this. I wish she could know what I did.
"好吧，我们在月球上。这对于初学者来说是一个很好的暗示,"ScotchTape盯着窗外说。我好想妈妈。我希望她能看到这一切。我希望她能知道我做了什么。
I rubbed my horn vigorously and was rewarded with an electrical zap and a muting of my friends’ thoughts. I had to stay focused. As the tram dropped down the canyon wall towards the shining dome at the bottom, the moonstone crystals took on the appearance of amethysts. Dark swirls of magic ran circuits around the spires. “Did anyone else hear that?” P-21 asked sharply.
我用力地按着喇叭，得到的回报是一阵电击以及朋友们的沉默。我必须保持专注。当缆车沿着峡谷的岩壁下降到底部闪亮的圆顶时，月光石水晶呈现出紫水晶的外观。魔法的黑暗漩涡绕着塔尖旋转。"还有别人听到了吗?"P-21尖锐地问道。
Rampage rubbed her eyes. “Hear that? Did anyone see that?”
横冲直撞使她的眼睛发红。""听见了吗？有人看到了吗?"
“Are you guys seeing and hearing things too?” I asked them.
"你们这些家伙也能看到和听到东西吗?"我问他们。
“Whispers. Flickers. Like... I thought I saw Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia,” Rampage said as she looked at one of the dark purple crystals particularly close to the track.
"耳语。闪烁。就像......我觉得我看到了噩梦月亮和天国公主,"狂暴一边说，一边看着特别靠近轨道的一块暗紫色水晶。
“I saw something like that too. Nightmare Moon leading an army towards Princess Celestia’s army,” P-21 agreed.
"我也看到了类似的东西。噩梦之月带领一支军队走向塞莱斯蒂亚公主的军队,"P-21同意。
“This must be what it’s like to be Blackjack,” Scotch Tape muttered. It’s scary.
"这肯定就是黑杰克的感觉,"ScotchTape喃喃自语。太可怕了。
How does she handle it? I rubbed my horn again, hard.
她是怎么处理的？我又用力按了按喇叭。
I looked at another dark purple monolith. “I think this is where Nightmare Moon was trapped for a thousand years. These stones... I think they’re like giant memory orbs.” I stared at the swirling darkness around the stone. My vision blurred, and I heard Princess Luna crying out. Why don’t they like me? I give them wonderful dreams and beautiful nights! I do so much work for them. Why is it always Celestia, Celestia, Celestia? Why is it always her?! “They’re not true memory orbs, so we’re not sucked into the experience. And... I think these are thoughts...”
我看着另一块深紫色的巨石。"我想这就是梦魇之月被困千年的地方。这些石头......我觉得它们就像巨大的记忆球。"我凝视着石头周围旋转的黑暗。我的视线模糊了，我听到卢娜公主的哭声。他们为什么不喜欢我？我给他们美好的梦想和美丽的夜晚！我为他们做了很多工作。为什么总是天堂，天堂，天堂？为什么总是她?！"它们不是真正的记忆球，所以我们不会被吸入这种体验。而且......我认为这些都是思想......"
“Why would Goldenblood build Horizons here?” P-21 asked as we dropped towards the Lunar Palace below. It wasn’t a perfect hemisphere; it had a slightly conical shape to it, like the little end of an egg. Most of it appeared to be huge crystal windows, the ones at the apex glowing brightly towards the planet above. I wondered if it was visible so far away, a glowing eye in a patch of shadow. The tram was dropping down towards the base of it.
"金血王国为什么要在这里建造地平线?"P-21在我们向下面的月球宫降落时问道。它不是一个完美的半球;它有一个稍微圆锥形的形状，就像一个鸡蛋的小末端。其中大部分看起来像是巨大的水晶窗户，顶端朝着上面的行星明亮地发光。我不知道它是否在那么远的地方就可以看见，一只发光的眼睛在一片阴影中。有轨电车正向车厢底部驶去。
“I don’t know,” I answered, and started to speculate. “Horizons was a trap. When Cognitum tried to deactivate it, she set it off. That’s probably why it had a countdown. It was trying to get a response from Princess Luna. I half bet that if nothing was sent, Horizons would have just gone back on standby. After all, there must have been megaspells and balefire bombs going off before I fired Folly. The only difference was that this time, Cognitum fell into the trap.” I studied the dark crystals. “I think that he put this here so that, if Luna ever did come here, it would be a sign she was actually Nightmare Moon. Princess Luna would never come here if she was sane. This place represents her very worst.”
"我不知道,"我回答，然后开始猜测。"地平线是一个陷阱。当Cognitum试图使它失效时，她引爆了它。这可能就是为什么它有一个倒计时。它试图从卢娜公主那里得到回应。我敢打赌，如果没有发送任何东西，视野号就会回到待命状态。毕竟，在我开枪之前肯定有巨型炸弹和烟火炸弹爆炸。唯一不同的是，这一次，科涅图姆落入了陷阱。"我研究了黑色的水晶。"我认为他把这个放在这里是为了，如果卢娜真的来过这里，这将是一个信号，她实际上就是梦魇月亮。如果卢娜公主神志清醒的话，她是不会来这里的。这个地方代表着她最坏的一面。"
Rampage regarded P-21 and Scotch Tape flatly. “Is it just me, or is a hornhead’s life really fucking weird?” I smiled at the simultaneous agreement in their thoughts, then smacked my horn again.
狂暴对P-21和透明胶带不屑一顾。"是只有我这么觉得，还是一个角头龙的生活真他妈的奇怪?"听到他们同时表示同意，我笑了笑，然后又按了一下喇叭。
“Why do you keep doing that?” P-21 asked in concern. “I thought you were trying to recover from burnout.”
"你为什么老是这样?"P-21关切地问。"我还以为你是想从疲惫中恢复过来呢。"
“Um... actually, I’m trying to stop reading your minds,” I admitted, shuffling a little. “Not all of them! Just... kinda... what you’re thinking at the moment.”
"嗯......实际上，我不想再读你的心了,"我承认，有点拖着脚走。"不是所有的！只是......有点......你现在在想什么。"
“You can read my mind?” Scotch squeaked in shock, then pressed her hooves to her temple. Don’t think of having sex with Daddy. Don’t think of having sex with Rampage. Don’t think of having sex with Blackjack...
"你能读懂我的心思?"苏格兰人在震惊中吱吱作响，然后用蹄子抵住太阳穴。不要想和爸爸做爱。不要想和狂暴的人发生性关系。不要想着和Blackjack做爱..。
“It’s not like that. It’s more just... words,” I said as I rubbed my horn to try and scatter it.
"不是那样的。更多的只是......文字,"我边说边摩擦着喇叭，试图把它撒开。
“Oh yeah, prove it. What am I thinking?” Rampage demanded. I glanced at her, stopping my rubbing and letting my horn tune in. I’ll tell her she’s wrong no matter what. Goddesses, Blackjack is frigging weird sometimes, though. Still, if she’s wrong, maybe Scotchy won’t think she’s actually reading minds, because frigging weird! “Well? It’s a number between one and billion.” No, it’s not!
"哦，是的，证明给我看。我在想什么?"狂暴追问道。我瞥了她一眼，停止摩擦，让我的号角调谐。无论如何我都会告诉她她错了。天啊，黑杰克有时候真他妈的奇怪。不过，如果她错了，也许Scotchy不会认为她真的在读心，因为该死的奇怪！""怎么样？这是一个介于10亿到10亿之间的数字。"不，不是！
“Uh...” I blinked at her. “Seven?” I glanced over at Scotch.
"呃......"我眨了眨眼睛。"七个?"我扫了一眼苏格兰威士忌。
Rampage blinked as well, then pointed a hoofclaw at me and laughed loudly. “Hah! Wrong! I was thinking your butt is fat!” She snorted at me, rolling her eyes. “Reading minds. Yeah, right.”
狂暴也眨了眨眼，然后用蹄爪指着我，放声大笑。"哈！错了！我在想你的屁股太肥了!"她对我哼了一声，翻着白眼。"读心术。是的，没错。"
I relaxed a little and smiled at her. “Yeah. Guess I was wrong. I’m frigging weird sometimes,” I said, robbing her of her laugher. “Just saying,” I added.
我稍微放松了一下，对她笑了笑。"是的。看来我错了。我有时候真他妈的古怪,"我说，不让她笑。"说说而已,"我补充道。
“So frigging weird,” she muttered, looking at me uneasily.
"真他妈奇怪,"她喃喃自语，不安地看着我。
Too bad it’s not two way. That would be useful. P-21’s thoughts came with a warm tone that matched his smile.
可惜不是双向的。那会很有用的。P-21的思想带着一种与他的微笑相称的温暖的语调。
I looked back and thought. Yeah. I miss Lacunae. Maybe it was just an effect of the moment, but I gave the thought a little added emphasis. I imagined I was pushing it out at him.
我回头想了想。是的。我想念缺口。也许这只是一个时刻的影响，但我给了这个想法一个额外的重点。我想象着自己是在向他推挤。
All three of them jumped as if simultaneously shocked. “Lacunae! You miss Lacunae! You thought it at me!” Scotch Tape said, then glowered at Rampage. “And you’re a liar.”
他们三个人都跳了起来，好像同时受到了惊吓。"空隙！你错过了空隙！你是冲我来的!"胶带说，然后怒目而视。"你是个骗子。"
Rampage flushed and rolled her eyes. “Sorry, kiddo. You were kinda freaking out.”
暴怒的脸涨得通红，翻着白眼。"对不起，孩子。你有点吓坏了。"
It took a few minutes to work it out. Apparently, as long as they were thinking it at me, I could pick it up, and vice versa. The only limitation was that my friends couldn’t think at each other, which was probably for the best. You know what this is, right? P-21 asked with a small smile as the tram reached the base of the ravine.
花了几分钟才算出来。显然，只要他们对我有这样的想法，我就能接受，反之亦然。唯一的限制是我的朋友们不能互相思考，这可能是最好的。你知道这是什么吧？当电车到达峡谷底部时，P-21微笑着问道。
Yeah. I thought back at all of them with a small, hopeful grin. An edge.
是的。我带着一丝希望的微笑回想着他们所有人。一种优势。
* * *
* * *
The Lunar Palace rumbled like an immense turbine in bad need of a new bearing. As soon as the tram connected to the airlock, the vibration resonated under my hooves and into my teeth. Above it, a high frequency squeal keened out, barely within my upper threshold of perception. As soon as the airlock opened, a dusty miasma reeking of gunsmoke, ozone, and burnt candy blasted in my face. Beam turrets crackled as they spat magical death while sentry robots boomed their warning for trespassers to leave and be destroyed. The muted crumps of missile impacts paired up with the loud zaps of beam guns in an unholy orchestra of annihilation that made me wonder if our ‘edge’ wasn’t nearly as big as I hoped it was.
月宫隆隆作响，就像一个巨大的涡轮机迫切需要一个新的轴承。当电车连接到气闸舱时，我的蹄子和牙齿都产生了共鸣。在它上面，一个高频率的尖叫声响起，刚好在我的感知阈值之内。气闸一打开，满是灰尘的烟雾、臭氧和烧焦的糖果的臭气就喷到了我的脸上。炮塔噼啪作响，他们吐出神奇的死亡，而哨兵机器人发出隆隆声警告入侵者离开和被摧毁。导弹撞击产生的微弱碎片，伴随着光枪的巨响，组成了一支邪恶的毁灭乐队，这让我怀疑我们的优势是否没有我所希望的那么大。
Inside, the Lunar Palace was an immense open space dominated by a huge circular hole in the floor that emitted the white glow. From this angle, I couldn’t see how far down it went, but it felt deep under my hooves. Four smoldering Ultra-Sentinels lay scattered around the rim. Above it was an elevated platform ring connected to the floor by four broad stairways. The ring was studded with perhaps a dozen beam turrets beneath and a dozen sentry robots above. In the center of the ring, over the direct middle of the shaft, was an even higher dais connected by walkways and topped with an enormous throne of moonstone and steel. A familiar golden mesh dangled from the top of the throne, and I felt my scalp itch at the sight of the thing. At the tip of the dome, a hemisphere protruded down from the roof, a cloud of mechasprites swirling around it like a miniature steel galaxy. Cables dangled down from the half-sphere to the throne.
在内部，月宫是一个巨大的开放空间，地板上有一个巨大的圆形孔洞，发出白色的光芒。从这个角度，我看不到它下去了多远，但我的蹄子下面感觉很深。四只闷烧的超级哨兵散落在边缘。在它的上面是一个高架平台环，通过四个宽阔的楼梯与楼层相连。戒指下方镶嵌着大约十几个大炮塔，上方则有十几个哨兵机器人。在圆环的中央，在竖井的正中间，是一个更高的台阶，由人行道连接，顶部有一个巨大的月光石和钢制的宝座。一个熟悉的金色网状物从宝座上垂下来，我一看到这个东西就觉得头皮发痒。在圆顶的顶端，一个半球从屋顶伸出来，一团mechasprites云围绕着它旋转，就像一个微型的钢铁星系。电缆从半球体上垂下来，吊在王座上。
Whoa was all I could think as I watched Cognitum and eight Harbingers fighting their way up the steps. Whenever they destroyed one of the robots, a swarm of
当我看着Cognitum和八个先驱者奋力走上台阶时，我脑子里只有哇。每当他们摧毁一个机器人，一群
mechasprites would fly down and start repairing it even as more fire pressed in from other sides. Cognitum had erected a blood-red magical field that protected her and only her as her two floating turret drones returned fire. I looked at the intense firefight, considered my friends, and then considered the battle again. Um... thoughts?
机械兵团会飞下来，开始修理它，即使更多的火力从其他方向压过来。认知空间已经建立了一个血红的魔法场来保护她，只有她的两个浮动炮塔无人机还击。我看着激烈的交火，考虑着我的朋友们，然后再次考虑这场战斗。有什么想法吗？
P-21 and Rampage looked around me, the latter almost climbing onto my back to get a good look. Scotch Tape moved around my legs and peeked into the room. Okay, they could have waited for me to move out of the way first! She gave a mental grunt, then pulled herself back into the airlock. When the door closed, she looked at the rest of us. “Okay. That’s stupid.”
P-21和狂暴看了看我周围，后者几乎爬到我背上好好看了一下。透明胶带绕着我的腿，窥视着房间。好吧，他们可以等我先让开！她心里咕哝了一声，然后把自己拉回气闸舱。门关上后，她看着我们其余的人。"好吧。这太愚蠢了。"
Rampage clapped her hooves together. “Okay. Good answer. It’s stupid. Can I go kill them all?”
狂暴把她的蹄子敲在一起。"好吧。答得好。这太愚蠢了。我能把他们全杀了吗?"
“You’ll be Peppermint-sized in two seconds with all those incineration and disintegration beams going off,” P-21 told her.
P-21告诉她:"两秒钟之内，你就会变成薄荷大小，所有的焚化和分解光束都会发射出来。"。
“What I mean when I say it’s stupid is that that room doesn’t make any sense architecturally.” She sighed, took off her saddlebags, took out some paper and a pen, and sketched the room. “So... like... why put an enormous platform over a deep pit with a throne in the very middle, out in the open?” She scowled and pointed up at the glowing hemisphere. “For that matter, why put a maneframe up there? There’s no maintenance access, and if it fell, anyone on the throne would be smack underneath it! It’s like somepony wanted this room to be the most impractical thing imaginable.”
"当我说这个房间很愚蠢的时候，我的意思是这个房间在建筑上毫无意义。"她叹了口气，拿出她的鞍囊，拿出一些纸和一支笔，勾勒出房间的轮廓。"那么......比如说......为什么要在一个深坑上面放一个巨大的平台，在坑的正中央放一个宝座，露在外面呢?"她皱起眉头，指着发光的半球。"既然如此，为什么还要在那儿放一张照片呢？这里没有维护通道，如果它倒塌了，任何一个坐在王座上的人都会被压在下面！就好像有人想让这个房间成为你能想象到的最不切实际的东西。"
“Well, duh. That’s got to be the controls, right?” Rampage asked. “Whoever gets to the throne rules.”
"好吧，废话。那肯定是控制器，对吧?"狂暴问道。"谁登上王位谁就是王者。"
Scotch Tape looked at me and P-21 flatly. “Did we have a throne in Stable 99?”
透明胶带直勾勾地看着我和P-21。"我们在Stable99有王位吗?"
I glanced at him, and he shrugged. “She had a really big desk,” I replied. “And controls. And a secret passage.”
我瞥了他一眼，他耸了耸肩。"她的办公桌真的很大,"我回答。"还有控制。还有一条秘道。"
“Right! Because she used all those things! She was the Overmare.” Scotch Tape gestured at the closed door. “Who is the person sitting in that huge fancy seat supposed to be ruling?” I thought about it a little, but a stable of blanks really didn’t seem fitting. “It’s not even all that defensible, because it has four nice big stairways leading up to it! The person sitting in the throne is exposed on all
"对！因为她用了所有这些东西！她就是那匹母马。"透明胶带指着关着的门。"坐在那个巨大的豪华座位上的人应该是谁?"我想了一下，但是一堆空白似乎真的不合适。"它甚至不是完全可以防御的，因为它有四个漂亮的大楼梯通向它！坐在宝座上的人全都暴露了
sides. Puts the person sitting in the throne out in the open right in the middle of a great big pit. And if something did happen to that dome, they’d be smack underneath that great big computer as it comes crashing down!”
边。把坐在宝座上的人放在一个大坑中间的空地上。如果那个圆顶真的发生了什么事情，它们就会在那台巨大的计算机崩溃的时候被压在下面!"
“Shit,” I muttered as I realized she was right. “Horizons was made to kill Nightmare Moon. This whole place... the throne... the glowing pit... even the name... it was all one big lure to Nightmare Moon’s vanity.”
"该死,"当我意识到她是对的时候，我喃喃自语。"地平线是用来杀死噩梦之月的。这整个地方......王座......发光的深渊......甚至名字......都是噩梦之月虚荣心的巨大诱惑。"
“So, what’s the plan here?” Rampage asked. “I rush into the middle and draw all their fire while Blackjack does whatever she does that makes her automatically win?”
"那么，这里的计划是什么?"狂暴问道。"我冲到中间，吸引他们所有的火力，而Blackjack做她做的任何事情，使她自动获胜?"
“Tempting,” I mused. “I’d really like to pull it off. But the priority is preventing Horizons from firing.” Besides, Cognitum had taken my auto-win talent. I turned to Scotch Tape. “If the key to this place isn’t the throne, then where do we need to go?”
"很诱人,"我若有所思。"我真的很想成功。但当务之急是防止"地平线"成功。"此外，认知力已经夺走了我的自我赢得天赋。我转向透明胶带。"如果这个地方的关键不是王位，那么我们需要去哪里?"
Scotch Tape’s eyes widened. “You’re asking me to guess the layout of a superweapon on the moon?” I can’t do it. There’s no way! Everypony is going to die because I can’t…
透明胶带的眼睛睁大了。"你是让我猜月球上超级武器的布局吗?"我做不到。不可能！每个小马都会死因为我不能..。
I reached out and held her hooves. “You can do it, Scotch. Just give your best guess. If it doesn’t work, we can go with Rampage’s idea.”
我伸手扶住她的蹄子。"你可以的，苏格兰人。只要给出你最好的猜测。如果它不起作用，我们可以接受"狂暴"的想法。"
Why am I always plan B? Rampage huffed in annoyance.
为什么我总是执行b计划？暴怒怒不可遏。
You’re usually plan D or E, actually, but you’re also the most reliable. I thought back at her. That seemed to brighten her up a little. I didn’t add that was because that happened when the plan was the shit hitting the ventilator, but it was good to have her on my side again.
实际上，你通常是d计划或e计划，但你也是最可靠的。我回想着她。这似乎使她心情愉快了一些。我没有补充那是因为那是发生在计划是狗屎撞上呼吸机的时候，但是有她在我身边是好的。
Scotch Tape’s eyes worked back and forth. “It has to be beneath us, Blackjack. I don’t know where or what Horizons is, but the mechanism has to be under our hooves. I just don’t see anything we can reach in that wide-open, empty chamber than could control a megaspell.”
透明胶带的眼睛前后运动。"它一定不值得我们这么做，Blackjack。我不知道地平线在哪里或者在哪里，但是这个机制一定在我们的蹄子下面。我只是觉得，在那个宽敞、空旷的房间里，我们什么也够不着，连一个巨大的房间都控制不了。"
“Okay. We go in there and find an access point to get down below. Find where it’s fired from. Stop it or break it. Then we deal with Cognitum,” I replied. We shared a look, then nodded in unison.
"好吧。我们进去找一个入口下去。找出它是从哪里发射的。要么停下，要么毁了它。"那么我们来处理'认知',"我回答。我们看了一眼，然后异口同声地点了点头。
Back out in the Lunar Palace, Cognitum was a few feet closer to her throne. She stood composed, powerful, and cruel. A Princess in all but fact, but a cruel bitch of a Princess. A princess of hard data and harder contempt. Her gun pods flashed and blasted as the enemy fire splashed and flickered off her magical shield.
回到月宫，认知空间离她的王座只有几英尺远。她站在那里，沉着冷静，有力而又残忍。事实上，她是一个公主，但却是一个残忍的婊子公主。一个公主的硬数据和更严厉的蔑视。当敌人的炮火在她的魔法盾上溅起和闪烁时，她的炮舱又闪又爆。
Deadly crimson bolts blasted from her horn with crushing force. The mechasprites worked tirelessly to repair and restore the defenders, but the wedge of attackers kept ripping the turrets and sentry bots apart with their steady fire. Every now and then, one of her soldiers would fire a spark grenade far from Cognitum, sending a swarm of mechasprites tumbling down into the pit in the center of the chamber. I couldn’t get close enough to see what was in that enormous hole, but I had my suspicions.
致命的深红色闪电从她的角爆炸与粉碎的力量。机甲士兵不知疲倦地修复和恢复防御者，但是楔形的攻击者持续不断地用他们稳定的火力撕裂炮塔和岗哨机器人。每隔一段时间，她的一个士兵就会在远离Cognitum的地方发射一枚火花榴弹，把一大群麦克斯普雷特人扔进弹膛中央的陷阱里。我无法靠得足够近去看那个巨大的洞里有什么，但是我有我的怀疑。
Keep your thoughts as hostile as you can. Yellow bars will stand out. I thought at my friends as we moved along the edge of the room.
尽可能保持你的敌对思想。黄色的栏杆会很醒目。当我们沿着房间的边缘移动时，我想着我的朋友们。
Blackjack, who do you think you’re talking to here? Rampage scoffed. I’m like a dozen different flavors of hostile right now! I’m frigging infra-red hostile!
黑杰克，你以为你在跟谁说话？狂暴对此嗤之以鼻。我现在就像一打不同口味的敌人！我是该死的红外敌人！
We searched, but the walls were virtually seamless. They seem to be molded like clay instead of assembled from pieces. Scotch thought as we moved, tapping the grayish walls. Is that metal or ceramic? We skirted the edge of the fighting, moving around towards the far side of the chamber. I could only hope the automated defenses would focus on the nearer, more obvious targets instead of us.
我们搜索了一下，但是墙壁几乎是无缝的。它们看起来像粘土一样被塑造，而不是由碎片组合而成。我们一边走，一边敲着灰色的墙壁，苏格兰人在想。那是金属的还是陶瓷的？我们绕过战斗的边缘，朝着房间的另一边走去。我只能希望自动防御系统能把注意力集中在更近、更明显的目标上，而不是我们。
Grate in the floor! P-21 thought at me, and I ran to where he was pointing. Rampage hooked her claws into the grate, its bars spaced widely enough to admit mechasprites but strong enough to support sentries that rolled over it. Her body strained, metal scraping on metal, and then the bars snapped free with a loud crack and peeled up. Below us was about a ten foot drop.
壁炉在地板上！P-21看着我，我跑到他指的地方。狂暴把她的爪子钩进栅栏里，栅栏之间的距离很宽，足以容纳机甲兵，但也足以支撑滚过栅栏的哨兵。她的身体绷得紧紧的，金属摩擦着金属，然后金属条啪的一声断裂开来，剥落了。我们下面大约有10英尺高。
Then a crackling red bolt of energy slammed into me, sending me flying away from the hole and into the far wall. The ceramic plates of my combat armor, as well as something inside me, crunched from the impact. Ow! I thought plaintively, but I hid my pain from my enemy. Cognitum walked to the edge of the platform, staring down at me as her mane snapped in an eternal wind. Thousands of tiny stars, little blazing red giants and cold white dwarfs, glimmered in that billowing magical mane. “Blackjack,” she said, her voice magnified by speakers in the hovering gun pods. “It seems Rampage wants to
然后一道劈啪作响的红色能量闪电击中了我，让我飞离洞口，飞向远处的墙壁。我的战斗盔甲上的陶瓷板，还有我体内的一些东西，在冲击中发出嘎吱嘎吱的响声。噢！我悲伤地想，但是我对我的敌人隐藏了我的痛苦。科涅塔姆走到讲台的边缘，低头看着我，她的鬃毛在永恒的风中啪啪作响。成千上万的小恒星，炽热的红巨星和冰冷的白矮星，在滚滚的鬃毛中闪闪发光。"黑杰克,"她说，她的声音被盘旋着的枪支播放器放大了。"看起来狂暴想要
live forever after all.”
永生不死
“Eh, you’re too much of a pussy to kill me anyway!” Rampage bellowed back at her. “Must be that body you’re in!” How’s that, eh? Reverse psychology! Rampage smirked back at me. Then a crackling bolt of crimson magic enveloped her and flung her high into the air. As she began to slow down, the magic suddenly flared and slammed her into the ground hard enough to make her bounce twice. Ow. A second later, a red aura illuminated around her, and as it grew Rampage burst into flame. OW!
"唉，反正你是个胆小鬼，杀不了我!"狂暴的怒吼回应着她。"一定是因为你的身体!"怎么样，嗯？逆反心理！狂暴的人也冲我傻笑。然后一道噼啪作响的深红色魔法包围了她，把她抛向空中。当她开始慢下来的时候，魔法突然闪现，把她重重地摔在地上，让她弹了两下。噢。一秒钟后，一个红色的光环照亮了她的周围，随着它的增长，狂暴爆发成为火焰。哎哟！
I had to give her credit, I would have been screaming incoherently right now as my nerves burned, regenerated, and burned some more. I scrambled to my hooves, trying to ignore my own pain, as I faced Cognitum. From her horn emanated a red cone of magic that focused on me like a spotlight, and I felt myself start to grow warm. Really warm! Rampage, jump to your left! I thought. She sprang, somewhat ungainly, into the path of the cone.
我不得不赞扬她，否则我现在就会语无伦次地尖叫，因为我的神经在燃烧，再生，再燃烧。当我面对认知神经时，我拼命挣扎着用蹄子，试图忽略自己的痛苦。从她的号角中散发出一种红色的魔法锥，像聚光灯一样聚焦在我身上，我感觉自己开始变得温暖起来。真的很暖和！狂暴，跳到你的左边！我想。她笨拙地跳到圆锥形的路径上。
Agh, fuck, Blackjack! You bitch! Fire sucks! she thought at me, or maybe shouted, it was hard to tell as I hit the ground behind her, peered at Cognitum, and fired a magic bullet right at her face! The spell was twice as hard to cast as usual, but I felt great that it worked at all, even if it just popped ineffectually off her magical shield.
啊，操，Blackjack！你这个婊子！火太烂了！她想着我，或者大声喊道，当我落在她身后的地上，凝视着Cognitum，向她的脸上发射了一颗神奇的子弹时，很难说清楚！这个咒语的施法难度是平时的两倍，但是我感觉很棒，因为它真的有效，即使它只是徒劳地从她的魔法盾牌上掉了下来。
Then for an instant I was a pegasus flying through the rusted remains of a factory or something with a half dozen Brood fighters on her tail, a dusky gray batpony at her side. She twisted on her side, threading her body through a space so narrow I felt it brush her belly. Stygius just teleported past the obstacle. As he reappeared, she actually leaned forward and kissed him with a midair smooch, then banked off as the fliers caught back up with the pair. Fortunately, the vision only lasted a few seconds.
有那么一瞬间，我变成了一匹飞马，从锈迹斑斑的工厂废墟中飞过，尾巴上跟着六架布鲁德战斗机，旁边还有一匹灰色的蝙蝠马。她侧着身子扭动着，身体穿过一个狭窄的空间，我感觉到它在她的肚子上划过。斯蒂吉乌斯刚刚穿越了障碍物。当他再次出现的时候，她真的向前倾身，在空中亲吻了他，然后当传单追上他们的时候，她转身离开了。幸运的是，这种幻觉只持续了几秒钟。
Okay… that was bad timing. Luckily, it seemed Cognitum was in a monologuing mood. “Do you really think you can defeat me? I am the Princess of the Night! I am a thousand times what Celestia was. I live and walk again while my sister’s feeble mind and soul are bound to a hulk of metal and steel,” she crowed as she fired bolt after bolt of dark magic at me. The crimson energy crackled with electricity, arcing from Rampage’s metal armor to me and making my mane stand on end beneath the helmet. It would have been great to shout back that she was just a damaged mind and soul on a hijacked cybermare, but my jaw was
好吧...时机不对。幸运的是，它似乎在一个独白的情绪认知。"你真的认为你能打败我吗？我是夜之公主！我是塞莱斯蒂亚的一千倍。当我妹妹脆弱的思想和灵魂被一个金属和钢铁的巨人所束缚的时候，我又活了下来，又重新走了起来。"。深红色的能量带着电流劈啪作响，从狂暴的金属盔甲射向我，让我的鬃毛竖立在头盔下面。如果能回嘴说她只是一匹被劫持的赛博母马上受到伤害的思想和灵魂，那就太好了，但我的下巴却是
clenched shut from the discharge.
因为放电而紧紧闭合。
Then a spark grenade went off against her shield. I glanced over to where P-21 was halfway through the hole, his hindlegs braced against the walls of the shaft as his forelimbs and mouth aimed Persuasion. The blue sphere of electrical energy crackled against the magic and evoked a scream of pain from Cognitum, making her rear up on her hooves. Her talismans flickered, but they didn’t die. Thank Celestia she still had that vulnerability at all, even if it didn’t shut her down completely as it would have me. “Kill them. Kill them now! This has gone on long enough!”
然后一枚火花榴弹击中了她的盾牌。我瞥了一眼P-21穿过洞口的位置，他的前肢和嘴对准了说服，后腿紧贴着洞壁。蓝色的电能球在魔法的作用下劈啪作响，唤起了来自Cognitum的一声痛苦的尖叫，使她的后蹄立起来。她的护身符在闪烁，但它们没有消失。谢谢塞莱斯蒂娜，她仍然有那个弱点，即使它没有完全关闭她，因为它会有我。"杀了他们。杀了他们！这种事情已经拖得够久了!"
Four of her Harbingers ran down the nearest staircase, one of them with a missile launcher. Rampage wasn’t burning anymore but hadn’t regrown her eyes just yet, so I shoved her forward. Move! Move! Missiles! I thought desperately as she staggered forward. Left! Your other left! One came streaking past and detonated behind me, a magical field flickering to life over those immense windows. F.A.D.E. shields.
她的四个预言者跑下最近的楼梯，其中一个带着导弹发射器。狂暴已经不再燃烧了，但她的眼睛还没有恢复，所以我把她往前推。快走！快走！导弹！当她蹒跚着向前走时，我绝望地想着。左边！你的左边！一架飞驰而过，在我身后爆炸了，在那些巨大的窗户上闪烁着生命的魔幻之光。F.a.d.e防护罩。
“Stop pushing! I got my eyes back, Blackjack!” she snapped. Another of the four had a sniper rifle, a pegasus carried a gatling beam gun, and an earth pony rushed at us with a chainsaw clutched in his jaws and light machine guns on his sides… wait, how he pull that off?! Rampage paused at the sight of him. “Oh, hey! I think I know that guy! Didn’t you use to run a gang called Buzzkill last year or so? Operated around Withers?”
"别推了！我的眼睛回来了，黑杰克!"她厉声说道。另一个有一把狙击步枪，一匹飞马带着一把加特林机枪，一匹矮种马叼着电锯，两侧放着轻机枪冲向我们......等等，他是怎么做到的！看到他，狂暴停止了。"哦，嘿！我想我认识那个人！你去年是不是经营过一个叫Buzzkill的帮派？在威瑟斯周围操作?"
Sniper rounds pinged off the floor much too close to my head for my liking. Who cares! Get in the hole before that beam gun fillifies you. It was days like this that I really wished LittlePip could be here. Or Calamity. Or Glory… definitely Glory… or somepony with some precision and range! But nooo, I gave away my own sniper rifle. It made me uncomfortable! Ugh…
狙击手的子弹离地板太近了，离我的头太近了。谁在乎啊！在光束枪击中你之前赶快进洞。在这样的日子里，我真的希望小皮普能在这里。或者是灾难。或者晨辉......绝对是晨辉......或者是一些精确度和范围的小马！但是，不，我放弃了我自己的狙击步枪。这让我很不舒服！呃..。
Blackjack, are you meaning to think all that? Scotch Tape thought at me. I shut up my mental whining, rushed to the hole in the grate, and dropped down. Halfway through the hole, I felt a distinct lurch in my stomach as I went from normal gravity to lighter gravity, landing not nearly as hard as I’d expected.
黑杰克，你打算这么想吗？透明胶带想了想我。我闭上了心里的牢骚，冲到栅栏的那个洞里，倒在地上。在穿过洞口的半路上，我感到胃部明显地一阵剧烈震动，因为我的重力从正常变得更轻了，落地的力度远没有我预想的那么大。
Underneath, we entered a world of scaffolds and girders, wires and strange equipment. Glowing talismans sang their strange melodies to me as my brain swirled. I rolled out of the way a second before Rampage came flying down the
在下面，我们进入了一个由脚手架、大梁、电线和奇怪的设备组成的世界。闪闪发光的护身符对着我唱着奇怪的旋律，我的大脑在打转。我闪开了，然后狂暴横冲直撞的冲了下来
hole at me, landing with a loud thud. This way! Scotch thought, waving at us from the end of a walkway… no, not exactly a walkway. Clearly, this sublevel hadn’t been made for ponies to move around in it. This was more like a broad, flat support for a number of cables. Even in the reduced gravity, it flexed alarmingly under Rampage. Below us lay more of that diffuse white light, like glowing milk.
在我身上打了个洞，然后砰的一声落地。这边！苏格兰人想着，在人行道的尽头向我们挥手......不，不完全是人行道。显然，这个地下层并不是为小马在里面走动而建造的。这更像是一个广泛的，扁平的支持一些电缆。即使在减小的重力下，它在狂暴状态下也会发生令人担忧的弯曲。在我们下面，弥漫着更多的白光，就像发光的牛奶。
Quickly! Quietly! Carefully! I thought desperately as we moved from support to support, girder to girder, moving away from the hole. Now I was glad E.F.S. didn’t show height.
快点！安静点！小心点！当我们从一个支撑架移到另一个支撑架，从一个梁移到另一个梁，从这个洞移开时，我拼命地想着。现在我很高兴e.f.s没有显示出身高。
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” a mare taunted.
"出来，出来，不管你在哪儿!"被嘲笑的母马。
“Shut up. Spread out. Find them, kill them, and then we can go home,” a stallion replied.
"闭嘴。散开。找到他们，杀了他们，然后我们就可以回家了,"一匹种马回答。
Spreading out was good. They must not have thought we were all a threat. Scotch Tape, P-21, find some way to shut down Horizons. Rampage, you and I get to stop them. Rampage rewarded me with an eager grin that was a disturbing blend of feral viciousness and foal-like glee. Being down here narrowed our odds quite a bit, and…
散开是件好事。他们一定没有想到我们都是威胁。透明胶带，P-21，想办法关闭地平线。狂暴，你和我去阻止他们。狂暴给了我一个热切的微笑，这是一种混合着凶残和小马驹般的欢乐的令人不安的表情。来到这里，我们的胜算就大大缩小了。
…That was a lot of Flux.
那可是一大堆弗拉克斯。
Below us was an incredible churning, swirling pool of the shimmery fluid. There was no way a few rockets brought that much Flux up here. Ten thousand rockets, maybe. I could only guess that somehow the Flux had expanded… or maybe they’d found some way to make the stuff… or maybe it just naturally broke the laws of nature out of habit. All I knew was there was a Maripony-sized lake of the stuff a few hundred feet down. And who knew how deep it was!
在我们的下面是一个令人难以置信的搅动，闪闪发光的液体旋转池。几枚火箭不可能把那么多弗拉科斯带到这里。也许有一万枚火箭。我只能猜测，不知何故，磁通量已经扩大...或许他们已经找到了一些方法，使东西...或许它只是自然而然地打破了自然法则的习惯。我只知道在几百英尺深的地方有一个马里波尼湖那么大的湖泊。谁知道它有多深！
I really didn’t want to find–
我真的不想找到
Then the world around me exploded. Thankfully, there was a girder between the blast and me, saving me from the shrapnel, but I was still knocked off the edge and into the air. I went flipping end over end, crashing onto a junction box of some kind several feet down and getting the wind knocked from my lungs. Above me, a petite orange unicorn mare in combat barding popped the missile launcher levitating beside her open and slipped another missile in. “So much for Blackjack,” she chuckled.
然后我周围的世界爆炸了。谢天谢地，在爆炸和我之间有一根梁，把我从弹片中救了出来，但我还是被击落到了空中。我翻来覆去，撞到了几英尺下面的一个接线盒上，让风从我的肺里吹出来。在我上方，一匹身材娇小的橙色独角兽母马在战斗中突然打开了悬浮在她身边的导弹发射器，又一枚导弹落了进去。"黑杰克玩够了,"她咯咯地笑着说。
She barely had time to take a breath before she was soundly smashed by the spiked wrecking ball that was Rampage. She sailed across the gap between girders and barely managed to grab onto one fifteen feet down. “Let me guess,” Rampage said happily, “your nickname is Boom-something, right?” She grinned down at the mare struggling for a grip. “Trust me, you’re better off dead. If you live, Blackjack will just name you something embarrassing like ‘Pillow’.”
她几乎没来得及喘口气，就被那个长满尖刺的破坏球狠狠地砸了个稀巴烂。她轻快地穿过大梁之间的缝隙，勉强地在15英尺的地面上抓住了东西。"让我猜猜,"狂暴高兴地说,"你的绰号是'砰'什么的，对吧?"她咧嘴笑着看着那匹正挣扎着要抓住它的母马。"相信我，你死了更好。如果你还活着，Blackjack只会给你起一个让你尴尬的名字，比如"枕头"。"
Rampage! I mentally shouted at her. Unicorn!
横冲直撞！我在心里对她大喊大叫。独角兽！
Huh? So wha– Rampage turned her head to look at the levitating missile launcher pointed right at her. Aw shit. The missile fired and detonated almost immediately, turning her into a spiked cannonball sailing away from us, some of her limbs flying off in different directions from her body. I only hoped she recovered or landed on something before she fell all the way to the bottom.
什么？那么——狂暴转过头来，看着正对着她的悬浮导弹发射器。该死。导弹几乎立即发射并引爆，把她变成了一颗尖尖的炮弹，飞离了我们，她的一些肢体从身体的不同方向飞走了。我只希望她能恢复过来，或者落在什么东西上，然后一路跌到谷底。
I pointed Sexy at the dangling unicorn and unloaded a burst, but just before I fired, she let go and dropped to the girder below her. A second blast glanced her; but she managed to get behind cover before I could really tear into her.
我指着那只晃来晃去的独角兽，卸下了一阵子弹，但就在我开枪之前，她松开了手，掉到了她下面的横梁上。第二声爆炸扫视了她一眼，但在我真正撕开她之前，她设法躲到了掩体后面。
“MADAKADMARAKAMRGH!” roared a muffled voice around the grip of a chainsaw a second before the blood-red earth pony wielding it leapt down, motor roaring, chain whirring, and guns blazing. I didn’t have time to shift and blast back, barely managing to jump sideways off the junction box. Crazy landed and didn’t even stop shooting, pelting himself with ricochets and bits of metal. He continued to scream into the grip of the chainsaw as he twisted, walking his fire after me.
"MADAKADMARAKAMRGH!"紧接着，血红的土地上的小马挥舞着电锯跳了下来，马达咆哮着，铁链呼呼地响着，枪声四起。我没有时间换挡，也没有时间冲回去，只能勉强从接线盒侧面跳下来。疯狂的飞机降落了，甚至没有停止拍摄，向自己投掷弹片和金属碎片。他一边扭动着身体，一边对着电锯的把手尖叫着，他的火焰在我身后移动着。
There was nothing for it. I needed to telepo–
没什么好说的。我需要通过电话
Charity stood atop Chapel’s stockade, wearing combat armor that looked as if it had been magically shrunk to fit. The walls had been reinforced by skywagon hulks and bits of scrap metal. Atop the guard towers, filly and colt fireteams crewed machineguns and miniguns set into pivoted braces. As many adult stallions and mares stood along the walls as the young ponies. From down the hill, a dwindling stream of refugees raced as if their lives depended upon it. “I need three-oh-eight!” a stallion shouted, and a colt raced to the post office, coming back with an ammo crate balanced on his back.
查瑞特站在查普尔的栅栏顶上，穿着战斗盔甲，看上去就像魔法般地缩小到合身。这些墙壁是用空中货车的车身和一些废金属加固的。在警卫塔的顶上，小母马和小马枪队配备了机枪，小武器装备在转动的支架上。许多成年公马和母马像小马一样站在墙边。从山下，越来越少的难民川流不息，仿佛他们的生命依赖于此。"我需要308!"一匹种马大叫，一匹柯尔特跑到邮局，背着一个弹药箱回来。
“Here they come, kids,” a mare muttered as along the hilltop the dead trees swayed and crackled. Then the Brood emerged as a solid wall of dark shapes.
"他们来了，孩子们,"一匹母马咕哝着，沿着山顶，枯死的树木摇晃着，劈啪作响。然后，孵化出一个黑暗的形状坚实的墙壁。
Suddenly their tactic didn’t seem simple. It seemed terrifying. Above the Brood on the ground were fliers. Amidst the Brood on the ground, unicorns put up shields. “Shit, where did they learn that trick?”
突然之间，他们的策略似乎并不简单。这看起来很可怕。地面上的巢穴上方是飞行员。在地上的魔龙军团中，独角兽们竖起了盾牌。"妈的，他们从哪儿学来的这招?"
“It doesn’t matter,” Charity said. A shot rang out from the defenders, and she shouted out, “Ten caps from any moron who doesn’t wait for them to come in range! Wait!” In unison, the Brood advanced down the hill towards Chapel.
"没关系,"Charity说。一声枪响从防守队员中传出，她喊道:"任何不等他们进入射程的白痴都可以射中十发子弹!"！等等!"布鲁德一家齐声下山，向教堂走去。
From behind the defenders came screams from refugees, who began to move across the bridge and into the Core. “Damn it! Stay out of there unless you want to die!” she shouted back behind her. Then from beyond the Core she spotted something strange: a long gray V of rapidly swirling clouds. It almost appeared to have a massive face covering one side of it.
难民们的尖叫声从防御者的身后传来，他们开始穿过大桥进入核心区。"该死！离那儿远点，除非你想死!"她在身后喊道。然后从核心的另一边，她发现了一些奇怪的东西:一个长长的灰色v字形的快速旋转的云。它似乎有一个巨大的脸覆盖它的一面。
Then a bullet pinged off her barding, nearly taking her off the wall. The yellow mare beside her caught her before she fell. “Easy there, kid,” she said in alarm.
然后一颗子弹从她身上打了出来，差点把她从墙上打下来。她身边的黄色母马在她摔倒前抓住了她。"放松点，孩子,"她惊恐地说。
“Call me kid again, and you’re paying double for your ammo,” she warned, straightening and rubbing her sore shoulder before looking at the advancing Brood. “Wait for it!”
"再叫我孩子，你就要为你的弹药付双倍的钱了,"她警告道，在看到前进中的布鲁德一家之前，她伸直了她酸痛的肩膀。"等着瞧!"
For ten horrible seconds, the Brood advanced, unchallenged, laying down a steady, withering rain of fire. There was a horrible inevitability in their advance, a casualness in their slaughter that made me want to shiver. Then Charity waved to a purple batpony colt who had his legs wrapped in bandages and was almost blinded by his oversized combat helmet. He gave a salute with his wing, drew a detonator from under his other wing, and gleefully depressed the shiny red button.
在可怕的十秒钟里，魔龙军团毫无阻碍地向前推进，发出一阵持续不断的毁灭性的火雨。在他们的前进中有一种可怕的不可避免性，他们杀戮时的随意，让我不寒而栗。接着，Charity向一匹腿上缠着绷带的紫色小马驹挥手，它超大的战斗头盔几乎弄瞎了它的双眼。他用自己的翅膀行了个礼，从另一个翅膀下面抽出一个引爆器，然后兴高采烈地按下了那个闪亮的红色按钮。
It sounded like the world’s largest machine gun going off. From left to right, every ten feet along the Brood line, the ground exploded in a plume of mud, steel, and meat. In less than three seconds, nearly a thousand feet of Brood had the ground blown out from under them. “Thanks, Nomad,” Charity said to the purple batpony, who seemed stunned at what his little detonator had done. Then she turned back to the battle and murmured, “Over fifty thousand caps of C-4, though...”
听起来像是世界上最大的机关枪响了。从左到右，布伦特一家每走十英尺，地面就会溅起一缕泥土、钢铁和肉。在不到三秒钟的时间里，将近一千英尺的布鲁德河底下的土地被炸飞了。"谢谢你，诺曼,"查瑞蒂对那匹紫色的蝙蝠马说，他似乎对自己的小引爆器的作用感到震惊。然后她转身回到战场，喃喃地说:"不过，超过五万顶C-4炸药......"
“Worth it,” the yellow mare replied.
"值得,"黄色母马回答。
With the detonation, chaos erupted as well. The Brood, rather than pulling back, reforming, and resuming that unified advance, now attacked in disorganized
随着爆炸，混乱也随之爆发。布伦特一家非但没有撤退，反而进行了改革，恢复了统一的进步，现在却在混乱中发动了进攻
rage. “Fire! Ten caps per Brood!” The Brood fliers dove in, but the machine guns along the walls opened up in an earsplitting chatter of bullets. One Brood flyer swooped at the wall as bullets tore into its body, and when it landed atop the wall, it exploded with as much force as the bombs that had torn up the field. Charity rushed to one of the machine guns, the foals crewing it stunned by the close blast, grabbed the handles with her hooves, and mashed the trigger, pointing the gun towards the next Brood flyer sweeping in towards the wall. “My home is not getting blown up a third time, you get me?!” she yelled, barely audible over the chatter of the gun as two colts helped steady her aim in time to take the head off the lead flyer.
愤怒。"开火！每窝10个!"布鲁德一家的飞行员跳了进去，但墙上的机关枪在子弹震耳欲聋的轰鸣声中打开了。一架布鲁德公司的飞机从墙上俯冲下来，子弹穿过它的身体，当子弹落在墙上的时候，它爆炸的威力和炸弹撕裂整个场地的威力相当。查瑞蒂冲向其中一架机枪，小马驹被近距离的爆炸震晕了，她用蹄子抓住枪柄，捣碎了扳机，把枪指向下一个冲向墙壁的布鲁德传单。"我的家不会再被炸第三次了，你明白吗?!"她大叫起来，枪声几乎盖过了她的声音，因为两匹小马帮助她稳定了目标，及时把领头飞行员的头砍了下来。
Blackjack! Snap out of it!
黑杰克！振作起来！
Huh? The intrusion of P-21’s thoughts made the sight of Charity blasting away melt away, though the gunfire didn’t stop. I found myself draped over a beam, forelegs dangling over one side and hindlegs over the other. “You gotta be kidding me,” I muttered. Was my horn going to be doing this for good, now? A chainsaw motor roared above me, and I blinked as I became aware of hooves straddling either side of me. I glanced up to see Chainsaw holding the weapon aloft in his forehooves, ready to swipe my head clean off. Worse, I couldn’t use magic or twist around to shoot him.
什么？P-21的思想侵入使得查瑞特的炮火消失了，尽管炮火并没有停止。我发现自己身子搭在一根横梁上，前腿悬在一边，后腿悬在另一边。"你一定是在开玩笑,"我咕哝着。我的号角会永远这么做吗？一个电锯发动机在我头顶呼啸而过，当我意识到跨坐在我两边的马蹄声时，我眨了眨眼睛。我抬头一看，电锯手正用前蹄举着武器，准备把我的脑袋一扫而空。更糟糕的是，我不能使用魔法或扭转身体射杀他。
So I used gravity instead.
所以我用地心引力来代替。
I dropped back off the beam, spreading my hooves wide and clipping his hooves out from under him as I fell one way and he, overbalanced by the chainsaw, the other. Of course, now my problem was more of the falling-to-my-death-impaled-on-some-spur-or-hung-from-wires sort rather than the imminent-decapitation-by-chainsaw sort. My legs flailed wildly as I hoped to catch something, anything, before I either splatted on a girder like a bloatsprite or tried swimming in Flux. Who knew what that much would do to me? Heal me? Turn me into one of those fat blanks from Hippowhatever? Give me super powers?
我从横梁上掉了下来，把我的蹄子张开，从它身下把它的蹄子夹了出来，因为我从一个方向掉了下去，而它被电锯弄得失去了平衡，另一个方向掉了下去。当然，现在我的问题更多的是被什么马刺或者悬挂在电线上摔死，而不是即将被链锯斩首之类的问题。我的双腿疯狂地抖动着，我希望能抓住什么东西，任何东西，然后我要么像一个浮游生物一样飞溅在大梁上，要么尝试在弗拉科斯游泳。谁知道那么多钱会对我造成什么影响？治愈我？把我变成"希波克马法"里的那种胖子？给我超能力？
While the screaming did nothing, my swinging hooves got caught in some black cabling strung horizontally across a gap. The cable jerked and started sliding through the brackets that had been holding it, but the extra drag started gently slowing me. Fortunately, something at both ends must have held, and the slowing ended in a stop instead of the cable joining me in my fall. Unfortunately, it left me dangling in the middle of space by one foreleg tangled in the point of a
虽然尖叫声没有起到任何作用，但我摆动的蹄子却被水平穿过缝隙的黑色绳索缠住了。电缆猛地一拉，开始滑过托架，托架一直支撑着它，但额外的阻力开始温和地减慢我的速度。幸运的是，一定有什么东西在两端支撑着，而且减速以一个停止结束，而不是缆绳在我的下降。不幸的是，它让我的一条前腿在空间的中央晃来晃去
taut vee. “Okay. I’ve dealt with worse,” I muttered as I tried to swing myself to the nearest beam.
拉紧的v形。"好吧。我遇到过更糟的情况,"当我试图把自己甩到最近的横梁上时，我喃喃自语道。
Then the pegasus with the gatling beam gun dropped down a parallel shaft to mine, snapped his wings out, hovered with his weapon pointed at me, and opened fire. Swinging spared me from a few shots, but plenty more scorched and scoured my barding. I managed to hook my hindlegs around the cable and get Sexy out to point at him, upside down, though, then bit down on the trigger rig and gave a new definition to the term ‘wild fire’. The shots made the pegasus bank sharply out of the field of fire, but suddenly, with all the jerking around, one of the ends of the cable gave. I just had time to clutch the cable and Sexy to my body, and then I was swinging down between the girders. The pegasus, clearly an overachiever, flew after me.
然后，佩加索斯带着格林机关枪从一个平行的竖井向我扔下来，折断他的翅膀，用他的武器指着我在空中盘旋，然后开火了。摇摆使我免于几个镜头，但更多的烧焦和冲刷我的barding。我设法把我的后腿钩在缆绳上，然后让赦克斯倒着指着他，然后咬住扳机，给"野火"这个词下了新的定义。这些子弹使飞马座突然偏离了火力范围，但是突然间，随着电缆的一端猛地转动起来。我只是有时间抓住缆绳和性感到我的身体，然后我摇摆下来之间的大梁。飞马，显然是一个优等生，在我之后飞行。
Suddenly I was whipped up as the cable snagged on something and was wrenched from my grasp, my leg coming free from the tangle, sending me flipping freely through the air again. The low gravity gave me a momentary sensation of being a pegasus as I sailed along. Then I smashed down on an honest-to-goodness walkway, acutely aware of a multitude of aches and pains as I struggled to my hooves. Low gravity didn’t mean none.
突然，我被电缆钩住了什么东西，从我的手中被拽了出来，我的腿从缠结中挣脱出来，让我再次在空中自由翻转。低重力使我有一种短暂的感觉，当我航行的时候，我觉得自己是一匹飞马。然后我猛地撞上了一条老老实实的人行道，当我挣扎着用蹄子走路的时候，我敏锐地意识到了无数的疼痛。低重力并不意味着没有重力。
The pegasus popped into view at my side, hovering next to the walkway, and I tried to turn to face him even as the crimson beams scorched my hide and drew black lines of soot on my barding. Ugh, this would be so much easier with my magic!
飞马突然出现在我身边，盘旋在人行道旁，我试图转身面对他，即使深红色的光束烧焦了我的皮肤，在我的帐篷上画出了黑色的烟灰线。有了我的魔法就容易多了！
Then the pegasus exploded, a grenade shredding his wings. The ruined limbs flailed desperately in the air, struggling for purchase before a second grenade found him and sent him screaming down into the abyss below. I scanned my surroundings and spotted P-21 and Scotch Tape at a terminal set on a rail on the walkway about fifty feet behind me. Awww, she doesn’t have her magic. Scotch Tape thought sarcastically. However will she get by?
然后飞马爆炸了，一枚手榴弹撕裂了他的翅膀。残肢在空中绝望地挥舞着，挣扎着想要购买，直到第二枚手榴弹发现了他，把他扔进了深渊。我扫描了一下周围的环境，发现P-21和ScotchTape在我身后大约五十英尺的走道上的一个铁轨上。啊，她没有魔法。透明胶带带着讽刺的心情。她怎么过得去？
For a filly who I can still paddle, you’re awfully snarky. I thought back at her. Where were Boom Boom and Sniper? Rampage? I thought at the striped mare. Where are you? A second later, the girders a ways away above me and to the left exploded. Ah, there you are. Carry on.
作为一只我还能划桨的小母马，你真是太刻薄了。我回想着她。砰砰和狙击手在哪里？横冲直撞？我想到了那匹斑马。你在哪儿？过了一会儿，我上面和左边的大梁都炸开了。你在这儿啊。继续。
We looked like we were halfway between the floor of the Lunar Palace above
我们看起来就像是在月球宫的地面上
and the Flux below. The walkway seemed to make a circle around the central core, passing by all sorts of strange equipment. As I trotted over to my friends, I also saw an access stairway leading up to a hatch we hadn’t had time to find. Tell me you have good news. I begged.
还有下面的通量号。人行道似乎围绕着中心形成了一个圆圈，经过各种各样奇怪的设备。当我小跑着走向我的朋友们时，我还看到了一条通往舱口的楼梯，我们没有时间找到它。告诉我你有好消息。我苦苦哀求。
We have good news. Scotch Tape thought back as P-21 resumed typing on the computer. The good news is that this place has only the basest Stable-Tec programming security. That’s about it for the good news.
我们有好消息。当P-21继续在电脑上打字时，ScotchTape回想起来。好消息是这个地方只有最基本的Stable-Tec编程安全性。好消息就是这样。
Horizons is going to fire, Blackjack. P-21 thought grimly. Technically, it already has fired. The Flux reaction just hasn’t completed. And it’s going to complete in the next fifteen minutes, which is good enough to hit the Core just like Cognitum and the Legate want. It’s autocorrecting the F.A.D.E. fields it’s using to aim at the Tokomare. He tapped the keys rapidly. There’s some sort of buffer talisman or safety spell that’s slowing the reaction down. I’m refreshing it as often as I can, but it’s buying us literally only seconds each time.
地平线要开火了，黑杰克。P-21冷酷地想。从技术上讲，它已经发射了。通量反应还没有完成。它将在接下来的十五分钟内完成，这足以击中核心，就像科涅图姆和使节想要的那样。它正在自动修正它用来瞄准Tokomare的f.a.d.e场。他迅速地敲击着键盘。有某种缓冲护身符或安全法术可以减缓反应速度。我尽可能经常刷新它，但每次只能为我们争取几秒钟的时间。
What about Goldenblood? Is he fighting you? He looked blankly at me. He’s supposed to have copied part of his head into the machine running this place.
金色血统怎么样？他在和你打架吗？他茫然地看着我。他应该是把自己的一部分头部复制到了这个地方的机器上。
You mean ‘Goldenblood_kernel’? P-21 thought back at me, still typing rapidly.
你是说'金血果仁'？P-21回过头来看着我，还在飞快地打字。
It’s here, but it doesn’t seem to be paying as much attention to us as it is to... gotta refresh! A deep thrum sounded underneath us, the light shivering. It’s not paying much attention to us. Mostly on Cognitum. It’s fixing any attempts I make to mess with the system, though. I’m lucky I can discharge the failsafe talismans and buy us time. Backdoor access just isn’t helping us as much so far. I need root access to really rip into this system.
它就在这里，但它似乎并没有给予我们太多的关注，因为它是...刷新！我们脚下传来深沉的敲击声，灯光在颤抖。它不怎么关注我们。主要是关于Cognitum。不过，它正在修复我试图扰乱系统的任何尝试。我很幸运，我可以卸下保险的护身符，为我们争取时间。到目前为止，后门访问并没有给我们带来多少帮助。我需要根访问才能真正进入这个系统。
Shit. Can you aim Horizons to miss the Core, at least?
该死。你能让地平线至少错过核心吗？
No. Something like that requires you to use the mind interface on the throne. Of course, the second you do, the F.A.D.E. targeting fields will go off and trap you inside the firing tube. He gritted his teeth and typed some more. From below came an odd sour note, and the Flux turned a little more rainbowish. And there’s someone else in the system already messing with things who’s not making it much easier. They keep trying to jury-rig the F.A.D.E. fields to hit the Core. If you stop them, I might be able to get us a few more minutes. If we can just delay things an hour or so, Horizons won’t be able to correct the aiming enough, and it’ll just hit somewhere to the east of the Core.
没有。类似的东西需要你在宝座上使用意识界面。当然，一旦你这么做了，f.a.d.e的瞄准场就会爆炸，把你困在发射管里。他咬紧牙关，又打了几个字。从下面传来一种奇怪的酸味，弗拉科斯号变得有点像雨滴。而且系统中还有其他人已经把事情搞得一团糟，他们并没有让事情变得更简单。他们一直试图操纵f.a.d.e能量场撞击核心。如果你能阻止他们，我也许能再给我们争取几分钟。如果我们只是拖延一个小时左右，地平线将不能够纠正足够的瞄准，它将只是击中某个地方的核心。
Someone… shit. I’ll find him. You two keep buying us time and see if you can find some way to stop this thing from blowing up the world. Maybe take the fields down. Be creative. Stalling to save the world… well… whatever worked.
有人...该死。我会找到他的。你们俩继续给我们争取时间看看能不能找到阻止这东西炸毁世界的方法。也许可以把田地拆了。要有创造力。为了拯救世界而拖延时间...好吧...不管管用。
Then P-21 staggered, blood fountaining between his shoulder blades. He dropped, eyes bulging as he collapsed to his haunches, his eyes still on the computer terminal. “No!” I screamed, turning Sexy towards the girders above, switching to explosive slugs, and going to town as I screamed mentally at Scotch Tape. Healingpotionhealingpotionhealingpotionnownownow! I couldn’t lose him. Not him! Not now! Not ever! Sexy screamed along with me as I sprayed the upper girders where I guessed the sniper had taken the shot from.
然后P-21摇摇晃晃，血从他的两个肩胛骨间涌了出来。他垂下头，眼睛突出，瘫倒在地，眼睛仍然盯着电脑终端。"不!"我尖叫着，把性感转向上面的大梁，换成爆炸性的子弹，然后冲着思想上对着ScotchTape尖叫的我去了城里。现在就治疗药物治疗药物！我不能失去他。不是他！现在不行！永远不会！性感的尖叫声伴随着我，当我向上面的大梁喷射的时候，我猜测狙击手是从那里开的枪。
Ohnoohnoohno! Scotch Tape thought back just as fast and desperately, her hooves fumbling on the potions before pouring one, then another, into his mouth. His throat worked weakly, and I burned with the wish that Glory was here. She’d know what to do with a gunshot! All I could do was give gunshots. “Drink, Daddy! Come on!” she begged as she gave him a fourth.
哦哦哦哦哦哦哦！苏格兰胶带迅速而绝望地回想着，她的蹄子在药水上摸索着，然后一个接一个地倒进他的嘴里。他的喉咙发出微弱的声音，我燃烧着希望光荣就在这里。她知道怎么处理枪伤！我所能做的就是开枪。"喝吧，爸爸！来吧!"她乞求着，给了他第四个孩子。
Finally, he stirred, pulled himself up, lowered his head, and vomited a slurry of blood and healing potion onto the floor. Need to refresh... he thought, then pulled himself back up to the computer and typed the series of commands again. The thrum sounded again, and he coughed up some more blood. “I think the bullet it still in there,” he said, grimacing. “Feels like a shaft of metal straight through me.”
最后，他搅拌了一下，站了起来，低下头，把血浆和治疗药水吐到了地板上。需要刷新......他想，然后把自己拉回到电脑前，再次输入一系列的命令。砰的一声又响了，他咳出了更多的血。"我想子弹还在里面,"他皱着眉头说。"感觉就像一根金属杆直直地穿过我。"
“Hold on. I’ll find him. Maybe he has root access. Then we’ll get this taken care of,” I said in a rush. I love you.
"等一下。我会找到他的。也许他有root权限。然后我们会处理好这件事的,"我匆忙地说。今夜月色很美。
He looked back at me, in obvious pain, and smiled. I love you too. He smiled a little wider. If only you were a stallion, Blackjack. Then his smile faded. Take care of Scotch Tape, no matter what.
他回头看着我，带着明显的痛苦，笑了。我也爱你。他笑得更大了一点。要是你是匹种马就好了，黑杰克。然后他的笑容消失了。无论如何都要保管好透明胶带。
I will. I promise. I replied, then leaned forward and kissed him firmly. Just a little longer. We’ll get out of here, and everything will be sunshine and rainbows. Promise.
我会的。我保证。我回答道，然后弯下身子，坚定地吻了他。再等一会儿。我们会离开这里，一切都会充满阳光和彩虹。我保证。
Then Scotch Tape fired her disintegration rifle up at the rafters. “Will you two stop thinking at each other and get going? I think the sniper is still up there!” She fired again and thought, Hee! Blackjack and Daddy sitting on the moon. He’s gonna make her...er... damn it. And she fired another burst with renewed vinegar.
然后苏格兰胶带把她的瓦解步枪射向椽子。"你们两个能不能不要再想对方了，赶紧走？我想狙击手还在上面!"她又开了一枪，心想，嘻！黑杰克和爸爸坐在月亮上。他会让她...呃...该死。然后她又用新的醋点燃了一阵。
I swept my eyes around our surroundings. There were my friends. I was guessing that that rapidly moving yellow bar was Rampage up above. That left one yellow bar thataway, on the other side of the great big… enormous… glowing…
我环顾四周。还有我的朋友。我猜那个快速移动的黄色横条就是上面的狂暴。那只留下一条黄色的横线，在巨大的......巨大的......发光的......另一边.....。
Oh. That must be Tom.
哦。那一定是汤姆。
It was hard to overlook a small mountain hovering in the middle of the shaft, but it was so big I’d missed it in the confusion. The moonstone was shaped like a multifaceted teardrop and was suspended in the center of the walkway ring and a loop of talismans. The only thing I could compare it to size-wise was the Celestia. It pulsed with a steady, warm illumination. Something seemed to swirl around inside as I watched, but I couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light or not.
在竖井中央盘旋的一座小山是很难俯瞰的，但它太大了，我在混乱中错过了它。月长石的形状像一个多面的泪珠，悬挂在走道环和一个护身符环的中心。我唯一可以将它与大小进行比较的是天堂。它在一种稳定温暖的光照下脉动。在我观察的时候，有些东西似乎在里面打着旋，但是我不知道这是不是光线的作用。
I made my way around Tom, keeping my eyes open for Sniper or my target. The sound of fighting was growing ever quieter above me. Cognitum would be down here herself any second. I had to find him… and he didn’t make it hard for me.
我绕过汤姆，睁大眼睛盯着狙击手或我的目标。战斗的声音在我头顶越来越小。科涅顿随时都会到这儿来。我必须找到他...他没有让我难做。
As I trotted around the curve of the giant moonstone, I spotted the yellow stallion sitting before a terminal, his eyes focused on the screen as his hooves worked the keys. I trotted right up behind him.
当我沿着巨大的月光石的曲线小跑时，我看到一匹坐在终端前的黄色种马，它的眼睛盯着屏幕，蹄子敲击着键盘。我小跑着跟在他后面。
“Hello, Blackjack,” he said without turning from the terminal.
"你好，黑杰克,"他说，没有从航站楼转身。
“Hey, Dealer,” I replied as I sat next to him. “So. Been busy?”
"嘿，商人,"我坐在他旁边回答。"所以。忙吗?"
“None of us really have time to chat. If you were smart, you’d get out of here, get on your rocket, and go back to Equus,” he said, eyes on the screen. “Or you could just kill me.”
"我们没有人真正有时间聊天。如果你够聪明的话，你应该离开这里，坐上你的火箭，回到雅科仕,"他说，眼睛盯着屏幕。"或者你可以杀了我。"
“That’d be a waste,” I replied. “After all, you went through so much hard work to get that body back.” That made him pause a second. “You have to help me stop her, Echo.”
"那就太浪费了,"我回答。"毕竟，你为了找回那个身体付出了那么多努力。"这让他停顿了一下。"你得帮我阻止她，艾可。"
“And then what? The Wasteland stays poisoned and polluted forever? Hope that six heroes magically make everything better with their friendship?” He typed faster than I could follow, even faster than P-21. If they worked together, maybe they could do something. “Has the Wasteland changed pony nature, Blackjack?”
""然后呢？荒原永远被毒害和污染？希望六位英雄用他们的友谊神奇地使一切变得更好?"他打字的速度比我跟得上的还快，甚至比P-21还快。如果他们一起工作，也许他们可以做点什么。"《荒原》改变了小马的本性吗，黑杰克?"
“This is not the time, Dealer,” I replied sharply. “I just watched my dearest friend nearly get killed. End of the world shit going on. You know that Cognitum
"现在不是时候，商人,"我厉声回答。"我刚刚亲眼看到我最亲爱的朋友差点被杀。世界末日来了。你知道那种认知
is fucking crazy.”
太他妈疯狂了"
“Maybe. Or maybe she’s exactly what we deserve right now,” he countered as he continued to stare at the screen. “Two hundred years of savagery and butchery. Two hundred years and we’re still fighting wars. I’ve seen all the same slaughter you have, Blackjack. Is the fate of the world to continue being a post-apocalyptic nightmare?”
"也许吧。或许她正是我们现在应得的,"他一边继续盯着屏幕一边反驳道。"两百年的野蛮屠杀。200年了，我们还在打仗。我见过和你一样的大屠杀黑杰克。世界的命运会继续成为后世界末日的噩梦吗?"
“Of course not. We make it better!” I countered sharply.
"当然不是。我们让它变得更好!"我尖锐地反驳道。
“Just like Luna and the ministries did?” he asked as his hooves worked the controls. I could have yanked him away, but if I did, I could probably write off any chance of his help. “Two hundred years, and the most we have to show for it is the same mess we had after the bombs fell. You might think this Lightbringer is going to make everything all right, but that’s exactly what everypony thought when the ministries were announced. ‘Oh, Luna is taking over. Everything will be different!’ And it was, only it was worse!”
"就像卢娜和政府部门那样吗?"他边问边用蹄子操纵。我本来可以把他拉走的，但是如果我这样做了，我可能就失去了他帮忙的任何机会。"200年来，我们最多能证明的就是炸弹落下后的混乱局面。你可能认为这个"光明使者"会让一切都好起来，但事工宣布的时候每个小马都是这么想的。哦，露娜接手了。一切都会不一样事实确实如此，只不过更糟糕!"
“What about what I’m trying to do, Dealer? I’m trying to make the world a better place. And stopping Cognitum from achieving her goal is definitely a big plus in my book,” I shouted, wondering if this was a hopeless cause.
"那么我想做的事情呢，庄家？我在努力让世界变得更美好。在我的书中，阻止科涅图姆实现她的目标绝对是一个很大的优点,"我喊道，想知道这是否是一个毫无希望的原因。
“She’s what we deserve!” he shouted, turning away from the screen and looking at me with anguish in his eyes. “We fucked up. We fucked it all up! We deserve a monster like her to rule over us. To punish us for taking two centuries and still not setting things right!”
"她是我们应得的!"他喊道，转身离开屏幕，痛苦地看着我。"我们搞砸了。我们全搞砸了！我们应该有一个像她这样的怪物来统治我们。为了惩罚我们花了两个世纪还没有把事情处理好!"
I sighed and rubbed my face. Echo sure had spent way too much time around Goldenblood. “You don’t get to make that call. Neither do I. But nopony deserves a shittier life. Not me. Not you. Not even Cognitum, even if she’s causing all this mess. Everypony needs a chance at a better life, and if they blow it, another chance. Nopony deserves a worse life. Ever.”
我叹了口气，揉了揉脸。Echo肯定在Goldenblood待了太长时间。"你不能打那个电话。我也不知道。但是没有一匹小马应该过更糟糕的生活。不是我。不是你。甚至连认知都没有，即使这一切都是她造成的。每个小马都需要一个过上更好生活的机会，如果他们搞砸了，那就是另一个机会。小马应该过更糟糕的生活。永远不会。"
He stared at me, and I couldn’t tell if he was marveling at me or pitying me. Maybe both. “How do you do that, Blackjack? Be so right and so wrong all at the same time?” He stopped typing and sat, closing his eyes. “I just wanted to live, Blackjack. I didn’t want to fade away inside that nothingness. I felt it happening ever since we first left 99. Like slowly bleeding to death.” He gave me a stricken little grimace. “And I knew you’d forgive me, too. That made it so much easier and so much worse.”
他盯着我，我不知道他是在惊叹我还是在可怜我。也许两者都有。"你是怎么做到的，黑杰克？既对又错?"他停止打字，坐下来，闭上眼睛。"我只想活下去，Blackjack。我不想消失在那虚无之中。自从我们第一次离开99号公路，我就感觉到它正在发生。就像慢慢流血而死。"他给了我一个痛苦的小鬼脸。"我知道你也会原谅我的。这让事情变得更容易，也更糟糕。"
“Yeah, well… I lived. I’m here. And now you get another chance to do what’s right,” I said as I stared into his desperate eyes. “Help me stop Horizons from firing.”
"是啊......我活下来了。我在这里。现在你又有机会做正确的事了,"我盯着他那双绝望的眼睛说。"帮我阻止'地平线'开火。"
“I–” he stammered.
"我——"他结结巴巴地说。
Now, I’ve had a lot of experience with things messing around in my head. Sad to say, but I’ve become a bit of an expert on outside sources intruding on my mind. From the Goddess’s relentless pressure to machines playing with my perceptions to supernatural thingies gibbering in my brain, there’d been no lack of experiences with things reaching out and making contact with my head. So I really shouldn’t have been as shocked as I was when a stallion’s rolling deep bass voice boomed out, NO! HORIZONS MUST FIRE! THE EATER OF SOULS MUST DIE!
现在，我已经有了很多的经验，在我的头脑中乱七八糟的东西。很遗憾的说，但是我已经成为了一个侵入我大脑的外部资源方面的专家。从女神无情的压力，到玩弄我感知的机器，再到我脑中超自然的胡言乱语，我从来没有缺少过与外界事物接触并与我的大脑接触的经历。所以我真的不应该感到震惊，因为我是一匹种马的滚动深低音发出的声音，不！地平线号必须开火！灵魂的食者必须死！
It knocked me right off my hooves, and from the sight of Echo, he’d heard it too. It had him curled up fetally, a nosebleed starting to drip out of his yellow nostrils. “Too loud!” I thought and shouted at the same time.
它把我从马蹄上撞了下来，从回音的视线中，他也听到了。它把他像婴儿一样蜷缩起来，一股鼻血从他黄色的鼻孔里流出来。"太吵了!"我一边想一边喊。
OH. SORRY. I’LL TRY AND TURN DOWN THE VOLUME. the voice said with a lower rumble. HOW’S THIS?
哦。对不起。我会试着把音量调小点。那个声音低沉地说。这是怎么回事？
Well, it wasn’t quite splitting my head open this time. I thought I could handle it, at least. “Better. So... who are you?” I frowned. There was something familiar to this voice. “I’ve heard you before.”
好吧，这次我的脑袋可没那么开花。我以为我至少能应付得来。"好多了。那么......你是谁?"我皱起了眉头。这个声音有些耳熟。"我以前听说过你。"
YES, IT’S NICE TO FINALLY MEET YOU FACE TO FACE. The voice chuckled. I turned, looking left and right, then behind me at the massive moonstone. Only this time, the light that had swirled within had coalesced into a gargantuan glowing pony-shaped outline… an alicorn-shaped outline. Well, that raised a couple theological questions I didn’t want to think about at all right now! The pony’s eyes were ovals filled with bluish light. CALL ME TOM.
是的，很高兴终于和你面对面了。那声音咯咯地笑了起来。我转过身，左顾右盼，然后在身后望着那块巨大的月长石。只是这一次，原本在里面打着漩涡的光合成了一个巨大的发光的小马形轮廓...一个阿里康形的轮廓。好吧，这提出了一些神学上的问题，我现在根本不想去思考！小马的眼睛是椭圆形的，充满了蓝色的光芒。叫我汤姆。
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: Okay. In order to prevent a sixty page chapter, it was best to end here. Hope it was okay. This one was a pain to edit, but I’m glad that all my editors put in the time and effort to make it better. I want to thank
(作者的笔记:好的。为了避免一个六十页的章节，最好在这里结束。希望你不介意。这是一个痛苦的编辑，但我很高兴，我所有的编辑投入时间和精力，使它更好。我要感谢
them for their hard work at making sure this ending is everything I planned it to be. I hope it turns out alright.
他们的努力工作，以确保这个结局是一切我计划它。我希望一切顺利。
Thanks to Kkat for creating Fallout Equestria in the first place, and thanks to everyone for reading as far as they did. Next chapter is the showdown with Cognitum. I hope It’s decent too. I look forward to reading people’s feedback on Cloudsville, FimFic, or Reddit. Let me know what I did wrong.
感谢Kkat在第一时间创造了FalloutEquestria，也感谢每一个读到这篇文章的人。下一章是关于认知的摊牌。我希望它也是体面的。我期待着读到人们在Cloudsville，FimFic，或Reddit上的反馈。让我知道我做错了什么。
Also, if folks want to help out, bits would be very welcome now. I’m not going to be able to do the teaching abroad thing... and the IRS decided that there’s a problem with my tax return, and are sitting on it till it gets resolved. (Someone used my SSN to file their taxes). So bits to David13ushey@gmail.com through paypal are very much appreciated. It’s the difference between paying rent and not these days. I’m working on getting a Patreon account going. I have no idea if it will work but I can hope...
此外，如果人们想要帮忙，比特现在是非常受欢迎的。我不能去国外教书了......国税局认为我的纳税申报单有问题，所以就把它搁置起来，直到问题解决。(有人用我的社会保障号码来报税)。因此，通过paypal发送到david13ushey@gmail.com的信息非常受欢迎。这就是现在付房租和不付房租的区别。我正在努力开一个Patreon的账户。我不知道这是否有用但我希望..。
Anyway, thanks for bearing with me. I hope it all turns out okay.) Hinds: Just thought that I’d clarify, for anyone who was wondering, the design of the Luna Astrostable and why our recent edit of Chapter 19 to change the design did not change it to what is seen here. Out of universe… Let’s sum it up by saying that there was much confusion and miscommunication. In-universe, changes were made; Stable 90 already showed both the readers and Blackjack, after all, that what was seen in Chapter 19 did not always correspond to the reality.
不管怎样，谢谢你能忍受我。我希望一切顺利。)我想澄清一下，对于那些好奇的人，月球天体稳定器的设计，以及为什么我们最近编辑的第19章没有改变它的设计。在宇宙之外......让我们总结一下，有很多困惑和误解。在宇宙中，变化发生了;Stable90已经向读者和Blackjack表明，毕竟，在第19章中看到的东西并不总是符合现实。
Heartshine: I don’t have any clarifications, but a little bit of praise for Somber, as he accidentally did a clever. This was a really… interesting chapter. The ability to feel the moment of death of one of my enemies is one of my own worst nightmares.
心灵闪耀:我没有任何澄清，但有一点点赞扬宋伯，因为他不小心做了一个聪明的。这真是...有趣的一章。能够感受到敌人死亡的那一刻是我自己最可怕的噩梦之一。
swicked: Special thanks to Heartshine for teaching me, if you ever feel a bit too excited while looking at Stonehenge, just eat a whole raw potato and those less than double-holy thoughts with clear up in a snap. Heartshine: Just trying to help swicked out when he needs to study.
Swiched:特别感谢Heartshine教会我，如果你在观看巨石阵时感到有点过于兴奋，那就吃一整个生土豆，还有那些不到双重神圣思想的东西，然后马上清醒过来。心灵闪耀:当他需要学习的时候，我只是想帮忙。