“…”
"..."
Since leaving the stable for the first time, I’d felt that my life had become one great struggle. Against enemies, or mysteries, or simply my friends’ unhappiness, it was always a contest about when the Dealer would finally deal me my last hand, when the Wasteland would break me in two. It’d tried. It succeeded in 99. It’d come pretty close a few other times. Within the push of a safety toggle. But I always got dragged back. Of course, I could have just let go and allowed myself to die, even then. But I couldn’t, really. I knew that I hadn’t atoned yet. I still had hope that somehow I had something else to give. Some comfort. Some peace. Anything to draw a bit more of the Wasteland’s attention to me so that it would leave some innocent alone for a bit longer.
自从第一次离开马厩，我觉得我的生活变成了一场伟大的斗争。对抗敌人，神秘事件，或者仅仅是我朋友的不幸，这总是一场竞赛，关于什么时候庄家最终会把我的最后一手牌交给我，什么时候荒原会把我一分为二。它试过了。它在99年获得了成功。有几次差点就成功了。在安全开关的推动下。但我总是被拉回来。当然，即使那样，我也可以放手让自己死去。但我做不到，真的。我知道我还没有赎罪。我仍然希望，不管怎样，我还有其他东西可以给予。一些安慰。一些宁静。任何能吸引更多荒原的注意力到我身上的东西，这样就可以让一些无辜的人独处更长的时间。
And I wasn’t broken yet.
我还没有崩溃。
The Celestia… or a part of it… had fallen atop me with a grinding metallic scream punctuated by thumps, groans, and booms. The impact pushed me down deeper and deeper, the cold depths squeezing me as my injuries burned in the salty water. My braces were now weights taped to the ends of my limbs, my tattered barding pulling me down. This was probably where I was going to die…
天堂......或者天堂的一部分......已经降临在我的身上，伴随着一声刺耳的金属尖叫，不时被重击、呻吟和隆隆声打断。冲击力把我推得越来越深，当我的伤口在盐水中灼烧时，冰冷的深渊挤压着我。我的牙套现在被重物绑在四肢末端，我破旧的抵押物把我拉了下来。这可能就是我要死的地方..。
But not yet.
但现在还不行。
Swimming really wasn’t a part of my skill set, and right now, as the water rushed around me, I didn’t even know which way was up. For all I knew, I was flailing deeper and deeper into the water. I just knew that I floated in the bathtub and so hopefully the direction I was going was the right one.
游泳真的不是我技能的一部分，而现在，当水在我周围流动时，我甚至不知道哪条路是上游。就我所知，我在水中越来越挣扎。我只知道我在浴缸里漂浮，所以希望我的方向是正确的。
Then I smashed into armored hull. The metal vibrated with terrible force; I could
然后我撞上了装甲船体。金属被可怕的力量震动着，我能
feel the strain humming through the plates as the Celestia tore herself to pieces. I could hear distant explosions. My lungs burned as I felt my way along the surface. Up, a primitive instinct screamed at me. Breathe! Bubbles started to leak out my nose as I crawled like a bug.
感觉到天堂在盘子里嗡嗡作响，把自己撕成碎片。我能听到远处的爆炸声。当我沿着水面摸索时，我的肺都烧起来了。一种原始的本能冲我尖叫起来。呼吸！当我像虫子一样爬行时，气泡开始从我的鼻子里漏出来。
A little longer…
再等一会儿..。
Then my head broke through into a pocket of air, and I gasped as the groans and screams of metal were mixed with those of ponies. I felt sorry for that. I knew there had to have been acolytes and other initiates who hadn’t deserved to die down here with me. One thing was for certain, though; Steel Rain would never get the Celestia to fire another shot. If he’d managed two, I didn’t see anything stopping him from firing two hundred more.
然后我的头钻进了一个气囊里，当金属的呻吟声和尖叫声混杂在小马的声音中时，我倒抽了一口冷气。我为此感到遗憾。我知道肯定有一些追随者和其他同修不应该死在这里。但有一件事是肯定的:钢雨永远不会让天堂再发射一次。如果他做到了两个，我看不出有什么能阻止他再开两百枪。
But still, I hadn’t wanted them all to die this way.
但是，我还是不希望他们都这样死去。
I had no way to tell what I was in, or where. Suddenly, a pony surfaced beside me, screaming hysterically as she gasped for air as well. Her flailing hooves grabbed me and shoved me beneath the water again. Wildly kicking hooves smacked into my head, and I nearly lost my precious lungful of air. I could have gone back up, fought her for the ever precious bit of oxygen left in that space, but I let her have it. Good luck. I scuttled along the overturned ship, hearing swooshing water racing in somewhere. I’d probably put one hell of a hole in the bottom of this thing. I came across a pocket of air no deeper than my muzzle, but it held just enough for me to cough and sputter as I tried to get one or two more breaths.
我没办法知道我在哪里，在什么地方。突然，我身边出现了一匹小马，歇斯底里地尖叫着，同时也喘不过气来。她扑腾的蹄子抓住我，又把我推到水下。疯狂的踢蹄砸在我的头上，我几乎失去了宝贵的空气。我本可以回去，和她争夺那个空间里永远珍贵的氧气，但我让她得到了它。祝你好运。我沿着翻覆的船快速前进，听到哗哗的水声在某个地方奔腾。我可能会在这东西的底部打一个大洞。我遇到了一小团空气，比我的口鼻还要深，但它刚好够我在试图多呼吸一两次的时候咳嗽和吐痰。
Just a little longer. Just a little longer…
再等一会儿。再坚持一会儿..。
There was one last detonation, and the plates above me jerked and hammered into my head. Now I was pushed against the wreck as it started moving in the direction opposite of floating. I suddenly had an image of the upside-down ship slamming into the seabed and squishing me into paint! I wiggled and kicked and struggled as I tried to find any direction that was ‘away’. Then I felt myself thrust into a slimy morass that oozed into my every nook and cranny as the ship gave a final tired groan. The sludge was being squished like the inside of a radroach, and I was squirted out into water.
最后一次爆炸发生了，我头上的盘子猛地一下子砸进了我的脑袋。现在我被推倒在残骸上，因为它开始朝着与漂浮方向相反的方向移动。我突然想到一幅画面，一艘颠倒的船撞上了海床，把我压成了油漆！我扭来扭去，踢来踢去，挣扎着，试图找到任何'离开'的方向。随着船发出最后一声疲惫的呻吟，我感到自己被推进了一个泥泞的沼泽，渗入了我的每一个角落和缝隙。这些淤泥被压扁了，就像是雨伞里面的东西，我被喷到了水里。
My legs worked slowly, trying for some progress as I felt the silt swirling around me. My mouth worked slowly… I had to breathe… I had to… Bubbles slipped,
我的双腿动作缓慢，试图取得一些进展，因为我感觉到淤泥在我周围旋转。我的嘴慢慢地动了起来...我不得不呼吸...我不得不...气泡滑落了
and I felt my rear legs sink down into the sticky gunk. My rump touched down, and I sat there as a burning sensation roared inside my lungs… and then coolness spread through my chest. This wasn’t so bad… Disemboweling was worse... I felt as if I were drifting away.
我觉得我的后腿陷进了粘糊糊的东西里。我的臀部着地了，我坐在那里，一种燃烧的感觉在我的肺里咆哮着......然后凉意传遍了我的胸膛。这并不是那么糟糕......开膛破肚更糟糕......我感觉自己好像在漂流。
You win, you bony son of a bitch. Now let me rest… I’m so… tired…
你赢了，你这瘦骨嶙峋的狗娘养的。现在让我休息一下...我好累..。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
It’d been a while since I’d had a nice long nap. I yawned and stretched, then blinked… and blinked again as I looked at the interior of a glassy egg. I gaped at the end of the weird little pod I occupied, opening one eye and closing it. Opening the other and closing it! I winked a few times just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it! “Yes!” I cheered and pumped a hoof… a white smooth hoof that neither flopped about nor bulged with growths! And no PipBuck…
我已经有一段时间没有好好睡一觉了。我打了个哈欠，伸了个懒腰，然后眨了眨眼......当我看着玻璃般的鸡蛋内部时，又眨了眨眼。我呆呆地看着我占据的那个奇怪的小圆荚体的末端，睁开一只眼睛，闭上它。打开另一个，关上它！我眨了几下眼睛只是为了确保这不是我的想象！"是的!"我欢呼着，抽动着一只蹄子......一只白色光滑的蹄子，既不会四处乱跑，也不会长出赘肉！还有不许叫PipBuck..。
I was alive. Whole! Complete and intact and for the first time in weeks feeling healthy and alive. How long since I’d had this kind of energy? I saw a little red button in the wall that read ‘release’ and hit it. I had to wonder what kind of miracle was responsible for my–
我还活着。整个！完整无缺，几个星期以来第一次感到健康和充满活力。我多久没有这种精力了？我看到墙上有一个红色的小按钮，上面写着'释放'，然后按了下去。我不得不想知道是什么样的奇迹造成了我的-
The door swung open into the stripped-out remains of Vanity’s bedroom. The bed was a filthy mat, and the desk had been pushed against the doors. I was in an egg-shaped pod similar to the ones in the Fluttershy clinic. A little jury-rigged magical generator puttered and hummed beside it. What was I doing here? I looked around in astonished worry. Where were my friends? What had happened?
门打开了，里面是瓦妮特卧室的残骸。床是一个肮脏的垫子，桌子被推到了门上。我在一个类似于Fluttershy诊所的卵形豆荚里。一个小小的临时魔法发电机在它旁边嗡嗡作响。我在这里做什么？我惊讶地忧虑地环顾四周。我的朋友在哪里？发生了什么？
A corpse on the bed moved. No. Not a corpse, but a pony very near becoming one. Dark hide was covered head to hoof in scars. His cutie marks had been deliberately torn away. ‘Trick Pony’ had been branded in their place. Slowly, he crawled out. Goddesses, he was skinny. So very skinny. “P-21?” He flinched away, then slowly shook his head. A filthy mane, so dirty I couldn’t even tell what color it was, was pushed back from faded, golden eyes. A bloody stump of a horn marred his brow. He looked at me as if he were staring at a ghost, and then his lips curled in the smallest of smiles. “Priest…”
床上有一具尸体在动。没有。不是一具尸体，而是一匹很快就会变成尸体的小马。黑色的皮肤从头到脚都布满了伤疤。他的可爱标记被故意撕掉了。"恶作剧小马"在他们的地方被打上了烙印。慢慢地，他爬了出来。女神们，他很瘦。非常瘦。"P-21?"他畏缩了一下，然后慢慢地摇了摇头。一头肮脏的鬃毛，脏得我甚至分辨不出它是什么颜色的，从褪色的金色眼睛中向后退去。他的额头上沾满了牛角的血迹。他看着我，好像在盯着一个鬼魂，然后他的嘴唇微笑着。"牧师......"
The wasted stallion just nodded once.
那匹瘦弱的种马只是点了点头。
I approached him, and he backed away almost fearfully. “What… what
我走近他，他几乎害怕地退开了。"什么......什么
happened? Where are my friends?” He shuddered, walked slowly to a blasted-out window, and pointed down the road. Pointed towards Chapel. An unwholesome hum filled the air, a single note that went on and on. “But…” He shook his head and then opened his mouth wide. Nothing remained of his tongue. He gave an apologetic little shrug.
发生了什么？我的朋友在哪里?"他打了个寒颤，慢慢地走到一扇被炸毁的窗户前，指着路。指向教堂。空气中充满了不健康的嗡嗡声，一个音符不停地响着。"但是......"他摇了摇头，然后张大了嘴。他说不出话来了。他略带歉意地耸了耸肩。
“How… How long…?” I murmured in shock. Slowly, his hoof rose and fell as he tapped out fifteen steps. “Fifteen… weeks?” He shook his head. “Months?” Again. “...Years.” At that, he nodded. Fifteen years? I staggered but tried to focus as I stared at the swaying stallion. “But… why am I here? What happened? Where are my…”
"多久...多久...?"我震惊地低声说。慢慢地，当他敲出十五步时，他的蹄子上下起伏。"十五...周?"他摇了摇头。"几个月?"再来一次。"......年。"听到这里，他点点头。15年？我摇摇晃晃地看着那匹摇摇晃晃的种马，尽量集中注意力。"但是......我为什么会在这里？发生了什么？我的......"
He lay down on the ground, one golden eye looking up at me. His lips moved silently, then he closed them. He took one breath and let it out forever…
他躺在地上，一只金色的眼睛抬头看着我。他的嘴唇静静地动了动，然后闭上了。他深吸一口气，然后永远吐出来.....。
No. This was wrong. This was very very wrong! I needed guns, barding, and my friends beside me now! I shoved the desk away and threw open the doors.
没有。这是不对的。这是非常非常错误的！我需要枪，巴丁，还有我身边的朋友！我把书桌推开，猛地把门打开。
Hoofington had risen.
胡芬顿站了起来。
The rest of Blueblood Manor was a leveled ruin. Only a thin ramp of debris and the corner remained. I looked out directly at the Core. The clouds were gone, but so was the sky beyond. From horizon to horizon, a solid wall of baleful green illuminated the skies in an oppressive monochrome. The Core was awash in green light, the center of the green nimbus that spread over everything. Shadowbolt Tower rose like a dagger pointed at the heavens, and the land around the island was lit with thousands of fires. That droning buzz rolled on and on as if the city itself hummed.
BluebloodManor的其他地方被夷为平地。只剩下一条薄薄的斜坡和一个角落。我直视着核心。云消散了，但远处的天空也消失了。从地平线到地平线，一堵充满恶意的绿色墙壁以令人难以忍受的单色光照亮了天空。核心充满了绿色的光芒，绿色光芒的中心遍布一切。影螺塔像一把匕首一样指向天空，岛屿周围的土地点燃了成千上万的火焰。嗡嗡的嗡嗡声持续不断，仿佛整个城市都在嗡嗡作响。
I kicked my way down the debris and raced along the cracked road towards Chapel. Where else could I go? I passed the first empty and wretched camps. Then a few with earth ponies. Then a few with earth ponies and pegasi and unicorns. Then there were zebras. Griffins. Sand dogs. All together around the guttering fires. No one spoke. No one moved. They simply hummed that single resonant note or sat silently, staring at nothing. At least they weren’t killing each other…
我踢着脚沿着废墟，沿着裂开的道路向教堂跑去。我还能去哪儿呢？我走过了第一批空荡荡的营地。还有几匹小土马。还有几匹小马，飞马和独角兽。然后出现了斑马。狮鹫。沙狗。所有的一切围绕着排水的火焰。没有人说话。没有人动。他们只是简单地哼着那个共鸣的音符，或者静静地坐着，什么也不看。至少他们没有互相残杀。
The graveyard had been torn up; it looked like somepony had tried to plant crops, but they were strange and bloated things. Chapel sat empty and half-finished, its defenses long ago shattered. I peeked in one building after the next,
墓地已经被拆除了，看起来像是有小马试图种庄稼，但它们是奇怪而臃肿的东西。教堂空空如也，只完成了一半，它的防御早已粉碎。我偷看了一栋又一栋的建筑
but only emptiness and that droning sound filled them. Finally, I approached the shell of the chapel itself. ‘Hoofington Rises’ had been spray-painted over every available inch.
但只有空虚和低沉的声音填满了他们。最后，我走近了教堂的外壳。"胡芬顿起义"已经被喷涂在每一寸土地上。
Slowly, I stepped to the door and was hit by a palpable wall of stench. Yet, though I hesitated, I took a step in. And another. Another.
慢慢地，我走到门口，一股强烈的恶臭扑面而来。然而，尽管我犹豫了，我还是迈出了一步。再来一杯。另一个。
I’d found where everypony had gone.
我找到了每匹小马都去过的地方。
From the heaps of tiny bodies emerged a larger one. A withered, yellow filly’s severed head was kicked past me as she worked herself free. Bits of gore cascaded off her as tiny pink pinprick eyes focused upon me. It was hard to tell what were stripes and what was dried blood and dangling viscera. Her lips curled wider and wider as her hooves hugged a tiny dead infant… one with red stripes. One of a dozen lying around her like so many scattered dolls.
从一堆堆小小的身体中出现了一个更大的身体。一只枯萎的、黄色的小母马的断头在她挣脱时从我身边踢过。小小的粉红色针孔般的眼睛聚焦在我身上，血滴从她身上滚落下来。很难分辨什么是条纹，什么是干血，什么是悬挂的内脏。当她的蹄子抱着一个小小的死婴的时候，她的嘴唇变得越来越宽，一个有着红色条纹的婴儿。她周围躺着的十几个娃娃中的一个，就像散落各处的玩偶一样。
And then Rampage spoke. “Shh… baby finally finished crying… but she’s sleeping nice and peaceful now…”
然后，狂暴开口了。"嘘......宝宝终于哭完了......但她现在睡得很好，很平静......"
I backed away. I wanted to scream. Everything was screaming as Rampage laughed. “Come back! I’ll help you sleep too!”
我后退了一步。我想尖叫。当狂暴大笑的时候，一切都在尖叫。"回来！我也会帮你入睡的!"
I turned and fled, not towards the city but to the last refuge I knew. The only refuge I knew anymore. I ran past the reeking camps up the hill towards Star House. To my immense relief, it seemed intact. That horrible message had been spray-painted on every surface, but there was a mare stepping out.
我转身逃跑，不是朝着城市，而是朝着我所知道的最后一个避难所。我唯一的避难所。我跑过那些臭气熏天的营地，向山上的星宫方向跑去。让我大大松了一口气的是，它似乎完好无损。这个可怕的消息已经被喷涂在每一个表面，但是有一个母马走出来。
An olive mare with green eyes and a blue mane. “Scotch!” I shouted happily as I raced up towards her. But she turned and looked at me in shock and fear. I saw her pregnant, distended belly as she stared at me like I were a ghost. Then I slowed. In place of a cutie mark, I saw slashed scars… and the word ‘BREEDER’ carved into her rump. There were nine marks under that violation, three pink and six blue.
一匹有着绿色眼睛和蓝色鬃毛的橄榄色母马。"威士忌!"我高兴地喊着，冲向她。但她转过身来，又惊又怕地看着我。我看到她怀孕了，大肚子，她盯着我，好像我是个幽灵。然后我放慢了脚步。在一个可爱的标志，我看到了削减的伤疤...和单词"饲养员"刻在她的臀部。那次犯规有九个记号，三个粉色的，六个蓝色的。
“Blackjack?” she murmured softly. “You’re awake… finally awake…”
"黑杰克?"她轻轻地喃喃说。"你醒了...终于醒了..."
“Scotch! What happened? What happened to… to everything?” I asked as I sat down hard.
"苏格兰威士忌！发生了什么？这一切都怎么了?"我一边问，一边使劲坐下。
She sat down slowly, rocking back and forth. “You… you died. Or nearly died.
她慢慢地坐下来，前后摇晃着。"你...你死了。或者差点死掉。
The seaponies fished you out of the water… Lacunae and Glory got you breathing again.” Her eyes darted left and right. “Glory… Glory swore she’d save you. She did. She… she gave EC-1101 to Sanguine. And he made you a new body… but he said it would take years for you to… to mature. So we were just going to have to wait. And we did…” and she started to shake and sob. “And… and everything went bad!”
海港把你从水里捞出来......空隙和晨辉让你重新呼吸起来。"她的眼睛左顾右盼。"晨辉......晨辉发誓要救你。她做到了。她...她把EC-1101给了Sanguine。他给你做了一个新的身体......但他说你需要很多年才能......成熟。所以我们只能等了。我们做到了......"她开始颤抖和抽泣。"然后......然后一切都变糟了!"
I reached forward to hold her, but she just smacked my hooves away. “There was a war, Blackjack. And another one. And another one. For a time, things seemed to get better. The Stable Dweller and her friends did great things… got the skies fixed… cleaned the earth... but they didn’t get how bad things were out here. How terrible. Hoofington rose. The city woke up… and nothing could stop it.”
我向前伸手去抱她，但她只是拍了拍我的马蹄。"发生了一场战争，Blackjack。还有一个。还有一个。有一段时间，情况似乎有所好转。马厩定居者和她的朋友们做了伟大的事情......修好了天空......清洁了地球......但是他们不知道这里的情况有多糟糕。太可怕了。胡芬顿站了起来。城市苏醒了......没有什么可以阻止它。"
I took a deep breath. “What about our friends, Scotch? I saw Rampage,” I said as I looked back at the distant little building. “Where’s Glory? P-21? Lacunae?”
我深吸了一口气。"我们的朋友呢，苏格兰人？我看到了狂暴,"我回头看着远处的小建筑说。"晨辉在哪里？P-21？空白?"
“Glory…” Her eyes turned to the door. “I… I bring her things to eat… as a breeder, I get a little extra…”
"晨辉......"她的眼睛转向门口。"我.....。.我给她带吃的东西......作为一个饲养员，我得到了一点额外的......"
I looked to the door as well, but she was shaking too much to say any more and simply hugged her stomach with one leg as she backed away. I slowly pushed the door open. The room was dark. I could still hear the hum, but it was muted as if heard from far away. Something was eating from a basket in the corner. Something gray. I saw a wing. I saw two. A smile started across my face. I saw a third. A fourth… Fifth…
我也看了看门，但是她抖得太厉害了，没有再说什么，只是用一条腿抱着肚子，然后退开了。我慢慢地把门推开。房间里一片漆黑。我仍然可以听到嗡嗡声，但它是静音好像听到从远处。角落里的篮子里有东西在吃东西。灰色的东西。我看到了一只翅膀。我看到了两个。我的脸上露出了笑容。我看到了第三个。第四个...第五个..。
Purple eyes opened, one after the next along the side of her neck. Of course Sanguine had tried to fix her too. Maybe he’d experimented. Maybe this was intentional. But those purple eyes widened in shock before they clenched shut. “Don’t look at me…” she rasped, low and heavy.
紫色的眼睛睁开了，一个接一个地沿着她的脖子。当然，桑吉也试图治好她。也许他做过实验。也许这是故意的。但是那双紫色的眼睛在震惊中睁大了，紧紧地闭上。"别看我......"她粗声粗气地说。
“Glory… how…?” was all I could mutter.
"晨辉......怎么......?"我只能咕哝着说。
That hulk of flesh and feathers shivered, tears running down her neck. “I didn’t have you… I didn’t have anything. So nothing mattered. Nothing…”
那一大块肉和羽毛在颤抖，泪水顺着她的脖子流了下来。"我没有你......我什么都没有。所以什么都不重要了。没什么......"
She’d… let him do this…? “Glory… I…”
她会...让他这么做？"晨辉......我.....。。」
“Why did you have to leave? Why did you have to be a damned hero?” the gray… pegasus… said in an inequine voice. “You left me behind… always…
"你为什么要离开？你为什么一定要做一个该死的英雄?"灰色的...飞马...用一种不同寻常的声音说。"你把我抛在身后......永远.....。
always…” She closed her eyes again. “Leave me… or kill me… I can’t survive being with you, and I can’t live being without you, so I’m dead either way.”
总是......"她又闭上了眼睛。"离开我......或者杀了我......和你在一起我活不下去，没有你我活不下去，所以不管怎样我都死定了。"
I backed out. “I wish I’d never met you…” Glory rasped. “I wish you’d never saved me…”
我退出了。"我希望我从来没有遇见过你......"晨辉愤怒地说。"我希望你从来没有救过我......"
I fell back over my hooves as the door slammed shut from a powerful gust. I just sat there and stared at it. There had to be a way to fix this. To make her… right… again. I’d find Sanguine, and I would beat a way of fixing her out of him! Scotch Tape sat nearby, rocking and humming that slow single tune. I rose to my hooves. “What… how did this happen? What did you mean by ‘Hoofington rose’?”
一阵狂风把门猛地关上，我从马蹄上摔了下来。我只是坐在那里盯着它看。肯定有办法解决的。让她...重新...回到正轨。我会找到桑吉尼，我会想办法把她从他身体里弄出来！苏格兰磁带坐在附近，摇摆着，哼着那首缓慢的单曲。我猛地站起来。"这...这是怎么回事？你说的'胡芬顿玫瑰'是什么意思?"
She started to walk slowly towards the bridge. “With EC-1101, Sanguine took the city. The Overlord came to power and used the factories under the city to make weapons. Everypony who’d lost everything in the war came to fight for him. Any mare that could bear foals was a breeder. Any stallion, a warrior.”
她开始慢慢地向桥走去。"凭借EC-1101，桑吉纳占领了这座城市。霸王掌权后，利用城下的工厂制造武器。每个在战争中失去一切的小马都来为他而战。任何能生小马驹的母马都是繁殖者。任何种马，任何战士。"
“What about the Stable Dweller? The rest of the Wasteland?” I asked as we walked side by side. I couldn’t believe she would just… let this happen!
"那么马厩里的居民呢？其余的荒原?"我们肩并肩地走着，我问道。我简直不敢相信她会让这种事发生！
“They tried to fight. They did. They sent hurricanes and tornadoes and terrible spells… but Hoofington had the megaspell facility… and with EC-1101 they got it working again. Megaspell… after megaspell… after megaspell. You joined the Hoof… or you were destroyed. Ponies. Alicorns. Zebras. Griffins. Dragons. It didn’t matter. With EC-1101, they could do everything. So you came to the Hoof, or you died,” she said softly as she walked. “The Overlord killed the Stable Dweller.”
"他们试图反抗。他们做到了。他们带来了飓风、龙卷风和可怕的魔咒......但胡芬顿有巨大的设备......和EC-1101他们让它再次工作。梅格斯派尔......梅格斯派尔......梅格斯派尔之后。你加入了霍夫...或者你被毁灭了。小马。Alicorns.斑马。狮鹫。龙。没关系。有了EC-1101，他们可以做任何事。"所以你要么来到霍夫，要么就是死了,"她边走边轻声说。"霸王杀死了马厩居民。"
“What?!” Oh, I was going to go plan D on this ‘Overlord’ all over the place. Maybe I could get through to Rampage… or somehow Glory could help… or… I looked at the swollen Scotch Tape, and she quivered. Stop using us in your stupid fight, her eyes seemed to beg me. “What about Lacunae? P-21? Where are they?” If I could find some way to get EC-1101 back… some way… some… something!
"什么?!"哦，我打算用d计划把这个"霸王"弄得到处都是。也许我能挺过暴怒......或者晨辉能帮上忙......或者......我看着肿胀的透明胶带，她颤抖起来。不要在你们愚蠢的争吵中利用我们，她的眼睛似乎在求我。""那么空隙呢？P-21？他们在哪里?"如果我能找到一些方法把EC-1101弄回来......一些方法......一些......一些东西！
She looked at me and trembled. “This way…” she murmured as she hung her head and walked slowly towards the bridge.
她看着我，浑身发抖。"这边......"她低着头，慢慢地向桥走去，喃喃地说。
I followed after her. She seemed so… drained. So empty. I thought being a
我跟在她后面。她看起来很...疲惫。如此空虚。我以为作为一个
mother was supposed to be a wonderful thing. “Um… congratulations? Who’s the father?” Then she looked at me and I shut up. I’d never talk about her being a mother again. There was such despair and hopelessness in her eyes that I knew I could never bring it up.
妈妈应该是个很好的人。"嗯......恭喜你？孩子的父亲是谁?"然后她看着我，我闭上了嘴。我再也不会提起她当妈妈的事了。她的眼睛里充满了绝望和绝望，我知道我永远不会提起这件事。
“The Overlord… Majina and I are his favorites…” was all she said. Oh… damn.
"霸王......马吉纳和我是他的最爱......"她说。该死。
Time to shut the fuck up, Blackjack, and start concentrating on putting as many magic bullets as possible into this bastard the second I see him.
是时候闭上你的臭嘴了，黑杰克，集中精力在我看到这个混蛋的那一刻，尽可能多地给他点魔法子弹。
We walked together, side by side, towards the bridge. A trickle of people were already walking one way or the other across it. Earth ponies, unicorns, ghouls, sand dogs, and others. All humming a common note and moving around as if half dead. If this was peace, then it was at far too high a price. Severed heads adorned the bridge, all species butchered equally and ground down under the Hoof. The walls of the Core were painted with the words ‘Hoofington Rises’ in streaks of vivid red.
我们肩并肩地走向那座桥。一小部分人已经走过这条或那条路了。地球上的小马、独角兽、食尸鬼、沙狗和其他动物。所有人都哼着同样的调子，像半死不活的样子四处走动。如果这是和平，那代价就太高了。桥上装饰着被砍下的头颅，所有的物种都被同样地屠杀，在霍夫的脚下被碾碎。核心区的墙壁被涂上了鲜艳的红色条纹，上面写着"HoofingtonRises"。
The humming made my head hurt. No, not just a hum. It was like a drill trying to get inside me. It hurt to think about anything. I stared at the glassy-eyed creatures moving as if they were so much machinery. A few ranted, screamed, fought, and struggled… but they were ignored. From the few others who showed expression at all, it was clear that these people were more annoyed than disturbed by the outbursts.
嗡嗡声使我头痛。不，不仅仅是嗡嗡声。这就像一个钻头试图进入我的身体。想任何事情都很痛苦。我凝视着这些目光呆滞的动物，仿佛它们是一台台机器。一些人咆哮，尖叫，打斗，挣扎......但是他们被忽视了。从少数几个表现出一点表情的人来看，很明显，这些人更多的是被这些爆发所激怒，而不是被打扰。
The towers rose, seeming to stare down at the insignificant meat funneling through their dark canyons. The cracks and breaks in the towers bled green light. Purple lamps and yellow flares made glaring contrasts that hurt my eyes. It was as if every appearance of the city were designed to inflict pain! Who could be the Overlord? Sanguine? Maybe… Steel Rain? That seemed more likely. Somehow, he’d gotten his hooves on my PipBuck… been able to use it. My stomach churned and I coughed. The very city itself made me feel like crap.
双子塔耸立起来，似乎在凝视着那些穿过黑暗峡谷的微不足道的肉块。双子塔上的裂缝和断裂处闪烁着绿光。紫色的灯和黄色的照明弹形成了耀眼的对比，刺痛了我的眼睛。好像这个城市的每一次出现都是为了造成痛苦！谁会是霸王呢？乐观？也许...钢铁雨？这似乎更有可能。不知怎么的，他的蹄子踩到了我的皮普巴克......还能用。我的胃不停地翻腾，咳嗽不止。这个城市本身就让我感觉糟透了。
Then I spotted Lacunae. The purple alicorn stood by as silent as a statue. “Lacunae!” I shouted as I raced to her. She glanced at me, then stared straight ahead again. “Lacunae?” There was another purple alicorn standing by, staring. And another. And another and another. I looked at Scotch standing quietly by, waiting. There was a lump of black rubble beside Lacunae; I stood on it and I stretched up to touch my horn to hers.
然后我发现了空隙。紫色的橡树果静静地站在一旁，像一尊雕像。"空白!"我冲向她喊道。她瞥了我一眼，然后又直直地盯着前方。"缺陷?"还有一只紫色的橡子站在旁边，凝视着。再来一杯。一个又一个。我看着苏格兰威士忌静静地站在旁边，等待着。空隙旁边有一堆黑色的碎石，我站在上面，伸手去碰她的喇叭。
I felt the world blur away… except for that annoying hum. I felt the same vast space that had been here before, but, instead of a seething mass of whispering voices dominated by the Goddess, now there was only the same hum. It was everywhere. Inside everything. In the alicorns themselves. “Lacunae?” I asked… and the word was a discordant jumble echoing and ripping through that single note. “Lacunae!” I shouted into the humming darkness.
我觉得整个世界都模糊了......除了那恼人的嗡嗡声。我感觉到了以前曾经在这里的广阔空间，但是，现在只有同样的嗡嗡声，而不是由女神控制的嘈杂的低语声。它无处不在。在所有东西里面。在橡树果自己。"缺陷?"我问道......这个词是一个不和谐的混乱回响，撕裂了那个单一的音符。"空白!"我对着嗡嗡作响的黑暗喊道。
Then, soft as a lover, the darkness whispered back, “There is no Lacunae. There never was.”
然后，黑暗像情人一样温柔地回应道:"没有空隙。从来就没有。"
I staggered back and fell off the lump of stone and onto my rump. Scotch was walking away, and I hurried to catch up. My eyes turned to every single still alicorn; I was surprised to see a few males, but I supposed that Sanguine had made them with Chimera. There was no life in any of them. They were simply living machinery now.
我摇摇晃晃地向后退去，从那块石头上摔了下来，摔在了我的臀部上。苏格兰威士忌走开了，我赶紧追上去。我的眼睛转向每一个仍然孤独的角果;我很惊讶地看到几个公的，但我猜想血印是用奇美拉做的。他们中的任何一个都没有生命。他们现在简直就是活生生的机器。
We passed under a severed purple dragon head hanging from chains. Spikes had been driven into his eyes… I didn’t appreciate the irony. Beneath it was written in harsh words that hateful slogan. “Goldenblood is the Overlord, isn’t he?” I asked, pressing my lips together. It all made sense. He’d know about Spike. He’d known about Hoofington. He had secrets; he’d probably found some way to survive, and now he was in charge of this nightmare. It’d probably been his plan all along.
我们经过一个挂在铁链上的紫色龙头。刺钉刺进了他的眼睛......我不喜欢这种讽刺。下面用刺耳的字眼写着那可恨的口号。"金血王就是霸王，对吧?"我问道，嘴唇紧闭着。这一切都说得通。他知道斯派克的事。他知道胡芬顿的事。他有秘密;他可能找到了生存的方法，现在他掌控着这场噩梦。这可能一直就是他的计划。
It looked like I was about to find out… except…
看起来我马上就要知道了...除了..。
I puked a deluge of foamy water; I guess it was the only thing I had in me. Suddenly, I was feeling… wrong. Really wrong. But it didn’t matter. I was almost to the Overlord. We were in the great plaza where the ministry buildings rose like headstones. The plaza had been torn up by the balefire blast, and horrid green light shot up through holes in the paving slabs. Every building… every person, pony or otherwise… they all hummed that single uniform note.
我吐了一大堆泡沫水，我想那是我身上唯一的东西了。突然，我感觉......不对劲。大错特错。但这并不重要。我差点就到霸王了。我们来到了大广场，那里的政府大楼像墓碑一样拔地而起。广场已经被爆炸的火焰撕裂了，可怕的绿光从铺路石上的洞里射了出来。每一座建筑......每一个人，小马或其他......他们都哼着那个单一的音符。
I wanted to sing. I wanted to scream. I wanted to do something… anything… to break up that monotonous note. But I couldn’t… my chest flared as I moved slowly forward through the crowd. There was a sort of throne there. Good. That’d make shooting this Overlord much easier. There were mares up there, all of them pregnant. I spotted Scotch on the left side of the throne. I saw a young zebra mare on the right. And in the middle…
我想唱歌。我想尖叫。我想做点什么...什么都行...来打破那单调的音符。但是我不能......当我慢慢地穿过人群时，我的胸部突然变大了。那里有一个类似王座的东西。很好。这样就更容易干掉霸王了。上面有几匹母马，都怀孕了。我发现苏格兰人坐在王座的左边。我看见右边有一匹年轻的母斑马。而在中间..。
“Hello, Blackjack,” P-21 welcomed me, the crowd falling back as my blue friend stared down with undisguised malice. With my PipBuck on one foreleg and Folly cradled in the other, his gaze blazed brightly. “Welcome to the future,” he said coldly as he loaded a silver bullet into the breech and clapped it closed. I couldn’t shoot. Of all the ponies ever, he had the right to shoot me. I just sat there, my chest burning as I was pierced by his hatred. “Goodbye.” Then he raised the gun, and everything went brilliant white. The scream went on… and on… and my world faded to black.
"你好，黑杰克,"P-21欢迎我，人群后退，我的蓝色朋友毫不掩饰的恶意盯着我。我一只前腿踩着皮伯克，另一只前腿踩着弗里，他的目光明亮地闪耀着。"欢迎来到未来,"他一边冷冷地说，一边把一颗银弹装进后膛，把它关上。我不会开枪。在所有的小马中，他有权向我开枪。我只是坐在那里，我的胸膛燃烧着，因为我被他的仇恨刺穿了。"再见。"然后他举起了枪，所有的东西都变成了亮白色。尖叫声继续着......继续着......我的世界渐渐变得黑暗。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
“Is she alive?” Scotch Tape asked shrilly.
"她还活着吗?"透明胶带尖声问道。
No. I wasn’t alive. Life wasn’t this. This was another nightmare. My lungs throbbed like they were on fire as they sucked in watery air, spasmed, and coughed again. My stomach clenched as it tried to void itself yet again but had nothing to bring up. I felt hooves holding me down as I jerked and coughed and gasped yet again.
没有。我当时已经死了。生活不是这样的。这又是一场噩梦。当他们吸入水样的空气，抽搐，咳嗽的时候，我的肺就像着火了一样悸动。我的胃又一次想要排泄出来，但是没有什么可以提出来。当我猛拉、咳嗽、再次喘气的时候，我感到有蹄子把我按在地上。
Life wasn’t black like this.
生活不是这样的黑暗。
“Sweet Goddesses, her eyes,” I heard a mare say… Oilcan, I think.
"亲爱的女神，她的眼睛,"我听到一匹母马说......油罐，我想。
“Give her a Hydra. Give her one right now,” Glory demanded. I remembered how, weeks ago, she’d gone on and on about how horrible Hydra was. How damaging to my systems it was. But there was something different now.
"给她一个九头蛇。现在就给她一个,"晨辉要求道。我记得几个星期前，她不停地说海德拉有多可怕。这对我的身体造成了多大的伤害。但是现在情况不同了。
Something had changed. With this last firing of Folly, I felt as if something… something vital had been touched. Something integral had been corrupted. And as the Hydra helped soothe the searing pain in my face… the blackness endured. Glory started to sob. “Give her another. Please…” I felt her wing on my wet cheek.
有些事情发生了变化。在最后一次放电的时候，我觉得好像有什么......什么重要的东西被触动了。一些完整的东西被破坏了。当九头蛇帮助缓解我脸上灼热的疼痛时......黑暗依然存在。晨辉开始哭泣。"再给她一个。求你了......"我感觉到她的翅膀在我湿漉漉的脸颊上。
“It… won’t do anything…” Oilcan protested weakly. From the faint swoosh of the water talisman and the rocking, I guessed we were on the Seahorse.
"它......什么也做不了......"油罐公司无力地抗议道。从水中护身符的微弱旋动和摇摆声中，我猜想我们是在海马号上。
“Give her another Goddesses-damned Hydra!” Glory screamed at her. She collapsed over me, weeping as I gasped for air, holding me tight. I lifted a hoof… no… it didn’t feel like a hoof. I didn’t know what that appendage was, but everything about it moved… wrong. Other voices started to raise their concerns as my condition changed from ‘dead’ to ‘not dead’.
"再给她一个女神——该死的九头蛇!"晨辉对着她尖叫。她在我面前倒下，哭泣着，我喘着气，紧紧地抱着我。我抬起一只蹄子...不...它感觉不像蹄子。我不知道那个附属物是什么，但是关于它的所有东西都移动了......错了。其他的声音开始提出他们的担忧，因为我的状况从'死'变成了'不死'。
Lacunae had shown me. I’d stared into the mirror. I’d seen what I was becoming. A thing. A thing that used to be a pony. And as I lay there with all the panicked chatter, I heard the soft whisper of Lacunae in my mind now. “I’m sorry.”
空隙已经告诉我。我凝视着镜子。我看到了我正在变成的样子。一件事。一个曾经是小马的东西。当我躺在那里，听到恐慌的喋喋不休时，我听到了脑海中轻柔的空隙的低语。"对不起。"
“Yeah,” I thought softly back at her. Then I cleared my throat. “Stop… no more… please… no more.”
"是啊,"我轻轻地回头看着她。然后我清了清嗓子。"停下......不要......求你了......不要了。"
Glory held me even tighter as she shook, and hot liquid trickled down my cheek as she cried for me. “Blackjack…”
当她颤抖的时候，晨辉把我抱得更紧了，当她为我哭泣的时候，滚烫的液体顺着我的脸颊流下来。"黑杰克......"
“What happened to the Celestia? To the Rangers?”
"塞莱斯蒂亚怎么了？游骑兵队?"
“Who gives a fuck what happened to them?” P-21 snarled. “They’re dead, or they should be! Every last one of them!” I winced at the anger in his voice, trembling and tight.
"谁他妈的在乎他们发生了什么?"P-21咆哮着。"他们死了，或者他们应该死了！他们中的每一个人!"他的声音里带着愤怒，我畏缩着，颤抖着，紧绷着。
“I give a fuck, P-21,” I said as evenly as possible.
"我才不在乎呢，P-21,"我尽可能平静地说。
“The ship blew up and rolled over,” Lacunae said softly. “Capri and Pisces were in the water. They looked all over for you. The Rangers had to fall back to the Applejack. Reapers had finally breached the base, and everything was blowing up. I don’t know who else survived.” Was it me, or was there additional worry in that soft mental voice?
"船爆炸了，翻了个底朝天,"拉库奈轻声说。"卡普里和双鱼座在水里。他们到处找你。游骑兵队不得不退回到苹果白兰地。收割者终于攻破了基地，一切都被炸毁了。我不知道还有谁活下来了。"是我的错觉，还是你那温柔的心声又增添了忧虑？
“Where’s Rampage?” I asked as I strained my ears.
"狂暴在哪里?"我一边问一边竖起耳朵。
P-21 said, in a slightly less furious voice, “She chained herself to the front of the boat. She says not to let us let her get within twenty feet of you…” Oh, yes, I imagined that the murderess in her was just aching to give me peace.
P-21用不那么愤怒的声音说:"她把自己拴在船头上。她说不要让我们让她靠近你二十英尺以内......"哦，是的，我想象着她身上的女凶手只是渴望给我安宁。
“And Capri and Pisces are okay?” I asked, then coughed hard again. I still felt like I had water filling my lungs. Ugh… drowning sucked. I gagged and choked and fought for every breath.
"卡普里岛和双鱼座还好吧?"我问道，然后又重重地咳嗽了一声。我仍然觉得我的肺里充满了水。呃...溺水太糟糕了。我作呕、哽咽，每一次呼吸都要挣扎。
“P-21 got us out while you were getting shot at,” came the slightly distant voice of Capri. “We just did what any seapony should do…” she said softly.
"在你们遭到枪击的时候，P-21把我们救了出来,"卡普里略显疏远的声音传来。"我们只是做了任何海港应该做的事情......"她轻声说。
“Shoo be doo…” Pisces echoed quietly.
"嘘，嘘，嘘......"双鱼座平静地回答。
“But how’d they catch you in the first place?” Scotch asked.
"但他们一开始是怎么抓到你的?"苏格兰人问。
“We came down to get some sort of navigation thingy for the Orions. But this time, there were Rangers salvaging shells off the Luna. They had spearguns with tethers, and I got harpooned.”
"我们下来是为了给奥里昂夫妇弄个导航什么的。但是这一次，有游骑兵从月神号上抢救炮弹。他们有带绳索的矛枪，我被鱼叉击中了。"
“I got caught trying to save her,” Pisces murmured.
"我在试图救她的时候被抓住了,"双鱼低声说。
“They said that we were spying for the Reapers, and that Steel Rain bastard said that we were enemies of the Rangers. They were going to shell the Collegiate next. Said they were going to use a balefire shell.” A what?! What, had everypony discovered megaspells and balefire bombs and shoved them into everything they could? What was next, balefire artillery? Balefire tanks? Your own personal balefire gun? Balefire armor? Balefire snack cakes?! “You… you saved us all. The professor… my family… all of us,” Capri said amid the splashing.
"他们说我们是收割者的间谍，钢铁雨那个混蛋说我们是突击队的敌人。接下来他们要轰炸Collegiate。他们说他们要用一种炮弹。"什么?！什么，难道每匹小马都发现了巨型细胞和火焰炸弹，然后把它们塞进了所有能塞进去的东西里吗？接下来是什么，巴雷火炮吗？巴雷火坦克？你自己的螺旋火枪？巴勒火盔甲？巴利菲尔小吃蛋糕?！"你...你救了我们所有人。教授......我的家人......我们所有人,"卡普瑞在水花四溅的声音中说。
“Thanks,” Pisces sniffed.
"谢谢,"双鱼座嗤之以鼻。
I lay there in Glory’s hooves. “Consider it payment for Gemini and Taurus.” From the waves came a sad sniffle, then a splash.
我躺在晨辉的蹄子里。"这是双子座和金牛座的报酬。"从海浪中传来一阵伤心的抽泣，然后是溅起的水花。
Tarboots cleared his throat. “Steel Rain must have been planning a coup like that for months. He couldn’t have used the gun with the elder still in charge. You just forced everything out into the open. I’m pretty sure the Hoofington Rangers are finished now. They don’t have a base to fall back to, and will probably have to pull back to Trottingham or Manehattan.”
塔布茨清了清嗓子。"钢铁雨一定已经计划了几个月这样的政变。他不可能在长者仍然掌权的情况下开枪。你把一切都暴露出来了。我敢肯定胡芬顿游骑兵队现在已经完蛋了。他们没有退路，很可能不得不撤回到Trottingham或曼哈顿。"
I sighed at the stupidity and waste. I’d seen what the Rangers could accomplish at their very best. A hoofful could save the lives of dozens if they were inclined to do so. And some were. I was glad I’d met Paladin Stronghoof, Fruit Salad, and Crumpets. That I’d seen the decency before the callousness and cruelty. I’d wanted to end the war, though, and it looked like I’d succeeded.
我为愚蠢和浪费叹了口气。我看到了流浪者队在他们最好的状态下所能完成的事情。如果他们愿意这样做的话，一个胡夫可以挽救数十人的生命。有些人确实如此。我很高兴我遇到了PaladinStronghoof，水果沙拉和松饼。在冷酷和残忍面前，我看到了庄重。我想结束这场战争，看起来我成功了。
Yay…
耶..。
“What about the Reapers?” I rasped. I imagined I could hear P-21 grinding his teeth that I’d even ask about them.
"收割者怎么办?"我粗声粗气地说。我想象着我能听到P-21磨牙的声音，我甚至会问起他们。
“I don’t know. Some of them were shooting up the base. After the gun fired, though, I think… I think they’re pulling back. I don’t know,” Oilcan murmured. There was a long silence. A terrible silence.
"我不知道。他们中的一些人正在向基地扫射。在枪响之后，我想...我想他们撤退了。我不知道,"油罐公司低声说。沉默了很长时间。可怕的沉默。
Finally, Scotch asked, “What are we going to do now?”
最后，苏格兰人问:"我们现在要做什么?"
Glory gave a little gasp. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to take Blackjack to Sanguine and give him that frigging PipBuck, and he’s going to fix her! That’s what we’re going to do!”
晨辉给了一点喘息。"我来告诉你我们要做什么。我们要把黑杰克带到三吉尼那里，把那该死的皮伯克给他，他要修理她！这就是我们要做的!"
I wanted to protest, but the water still in my lungs turned my objection into a spasm of coughing and hacking. I struggled to tell her not to do it. “No…” I managed to get out. I’d seen what would come of that. Maybe it was a nightmare. Maybe it was something more. I couldn’t let her.
我想提出抗议，但是肺里还有水，把我的抗议变成了一阵咳嗽和咳嗽。我挣扎着告诉她不要这么做。"不......"我设法出去了。我知道会发生什么。也许那是一场噩梦。也许还有别的原因。我不能让她这么做。
“Yes, Blackjack! We are going to make you better! We’re going to fix you! And you are not going to argue with me on that!” Glory insisted as I started to thrash about, struggling. I coughed harder and harder. “Relax, Blackjack. It’s the right thing to do!”
"是的，黑杰克！我们会让你好起来的！我们会治好你的！你不能在这个问题上和我争论!"晨辉坚持着，而我开始挣扎着四处挣扎。我咳嗽得越来越厉害。"放松点，黑杰克。这是正确的做法!"
I’d wished that I’d been left down there. I wished that they hadn’t found me. If I were dead, my friends would move on and not accept Sanguine’s damned offer. But worse, I was sure that there was damage done to me that he couldn’t fix. He might replace my organs, but the taint inside me would just corrupt the new ones too. Something inside me had changed, and this wasn’t a solution.
我真希望自己被留在那里。我真希望他们没有找到我。如果我死了，我的朋友们就会离开，不会接受桑吉那该死的提议。但更糟糕的是，我确信我受到了他无法弥补的伤害。他可能会取代我的器官，但是我体内的污点也会腐蚀新的器官。我内心的某些东西已经改变了，这不是一个解决方案。
I felt something against my horn… something smooth and round. No, not right now… but I wasn’t exactly with it as I coughed and struggled. Once, I’d fallen into memory orbs by accident. Then I’d had to fight my way in. Now I fought to stay out, but some treasonous part of me made contact as I heard Glory and P-21 begin to argue… Don’t do it, Glory… please… just let me go…
我感到有什么东西抵着我的号角...一些光滑圆润的东西。不，不是现在......但是当我咳嗽挣扎的时候，我并没有完全跟它在一起。有一次，我不小心掉进了记忆球里。然后我不得不杀出一条血路。现在我挣扎着想要置身事外，但是当我听到晨辉和P-21开始争论的时候，我的一些叛逆的部分联系上了......不要这样做，晨辉......请让我走吧.....。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
Once more, I was in a memory orb that I didn’t particularly want to be in. I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t worth it. But unlike those other times, I was simply too tired to even try and attempt the impossible task of breaking myself free prematurely. I simply sat back in the mind of some other pony and took a little solace at being able to see again, even if it was through somepony else’s eyes.
我又一次置身于一个我并不特别想置身其中的记忆球中。我想告诉她我不值得。但与其他时候不同的是，我只是太累了，甚至不能尝试去完成这个不可能完成的任务——过早地挣脱束缚。我只是坐在另一匹小马的脑海里，为自己能再次看见东西而感到些许安慰，即使是通过其他小马的眼睛。
At least it was somepony familiar. I knew this stallion well now. His stride. His horn. He felt older, though. Tired and a bit sore. He walked through the halls of Blueblood Manor with a slow and ponderous step. Downstairs were the worried
至少这是匹熟悉的小马。我现在很了解这匹种马了。他的步伐。他的号角。不过，他觉得自己变老了。有点累，还有点疼。他迈着缓慢沉重的步伐穿过蓝血庄园的大厅。楼下的人都很担心
shouts of dozens of concerned ponies. He stood in front of the mirror. There were touches of gray in his emerald mane and shadows around his eyes. Distantly, I could hear the soft wail of the Hoofington air raid siren. He pulled his dress uniform into place, sucking in his gut before letting the belt out a notch. Finally, he nodded with a sigh.
几十匹忧心忡忡的小马的叫喊声。他站在镜子前。他那翠绿色的鬃毛和眼睛周围的阴影中有一些灰色。远远地，我能听到胡芬顿空袭警报器的柔和哀号声。他把自己的制服拉到合适的位置，收紧腹部，然后把腰带露出一个凹口。最后，他叹了口气点了点头。
As he walked back out and slowly down the hallway, the door opened and a young pegasus mare in a white uniform peeked out at him with worried blue eyes. “Master Vanity, everything is going to be all right, isn’t it?”
当他慢慢走出门厅时，门开了，一匹穿着白色制服的年轻飞马忧心忡忡地望着他。"虚荣大师，一切都会好起来的，不是吗?"
He smiled softly at her. “Of course, Harpica.” His eyes looked past her at the foals sitting together in a nervous circle. “How are the children?”
他温柔地对她微笑。"当然，哈皮卡。"他的眼睛越过她，看着紧张地围成一圈坐在一起的小马驹。"孩子们怎么样?"
“Frightened, Master Vanity. Terribly so,” she said in a meek little voice. “As am I. I’m telling them all about Wigglehoof and the Wandering Wolves. They worry about the shouting, though.”
"吓坏了，虚荣大人。可不是,"她用温顺的小声音说。"我也是，我告诉他们所有关于Wigglehoof和流浪狼的事情。不过，他们担心喊叫声。"
“A fine story, Harpica. Keep them quiet. Stay inside,” he said softly, then stepped closer to the door and addressed the fillies and colts. “I expect all of you to be on your absolute best behavior. Listen to Harpica, little ones. She will keep you safe.” He beamed a smile at them and received several nervous smiles in return.
"真是个好故事，哈皮卡。让他们保持安静。"呆在里面,"他轻声说，然后走近门，对小雌马和小马说。"我希望你们所有人都表现出最好的一面。听听Harpica的话，小家伙们。她会保护你的安全。"他对他们笑了笑，收到了几个紧张的微笑作为回报。
“Y… yes Lord Vanity,” they replied, nodding obediently.
"y..是的，虚荣大人,"他们回答，顺从地点头。
“Keep them safe, Harpica,” he said, giving her a little nuzzle between the eyes.
"保护他们的安全，哈皮卡,"他说着，用鼻子蹭了蹭她的两眼。
She sniffed and nodded. “You are better than your name, Master Vanity.”
她闻了闻，点了点头。"你比你的名字更好，虚荣大师。"
Step by step, he made his way down the stairs. The entrances had sandbags and ponies with machineguns in place. From outside, over the wail of the siren, rose the roar of an angry mob. They were screaming to be let in, their shouting filled with frequent insults. Walking away from the entrance, he trotted further in. The shouts dwindled to nothing, and the air raid siren was barely audible over the sound of the orchestra playing. The ballroom was filled with fancy ponies gathered in knots and groups and talking together in low tones. The fear was evident in all their faces.
他一步一步地走下楼梯。入口处有沙袋和小马车，上面放着机枪。从外面，越过警报器的鸣笛声，一群愤怒的暴徒开始咆哮起来。他们尖叫着让人进来，他们的叫喊声充满了频繁的侮辱。他从入口处走开，小跑着进去。喊声渐渐消失，在乐队演奏的声音中几乎听不到防空警报。舞厅里挤满了成群结队的漂亮小马，它们低声交谈着。他们所有人的脸上都表现出明显的恐惧。
A dapper stallion with a snowy mane trotted out into the hall. “I say, that mob outside is getting quite unruly. Shouldn’t we be evacuating to the stable?” A blue
一匹披着雪白鬃毛的衣冠楚楚的种马疾步走进大厅。"我说，外面的暴徒变得相当不守规矩。难道我们不应该撤到马厩里去吗?"蓝色
unicorn mare who looked like she was barely a quarter his age moved up beside him. “The Skyguard ordered us to land before we could reach Canterlot. My little Rosette here is quite terrified.” He sighed, levitating a monocle as he looked down the hall at the barricade. “I fear that everything has gone quite wrong.”
一匹看起来只有他四分之一岁的独角母马，在他旁边爬了上去。"空中护卫队命令我们在抵达坎特洛特之前降落。我的小罗赛特在这里非常害怕。"他叹了口气，把一个单片眼镜悬浮在空中，望着大厅里的街垒。"我担心一切都出了大问题。"
Vanity sighed softly. “I’m sorry, Fancy Pants. I’m going to look into that right now.” He gave a polite nod to the pair and continued down the hall. Soldiers hauling boxes of ammo galloped by.
虚荣轻轻叹了口气。"对不起，花花公子。我现在就去调查一下。"他礼貌地点了点头，然后继续向大厅走去。士兵们拖着一箱箱的弹药飞驰而过。
He trotted into a study. “What do you mean you’re not coming?! We’ve given you a fortune for this very occurrence!” Blueblood yelled at the terminal on his desk. Like his younger sibling, his mane was shot through with gray. “You can’t do this! I demand to speak to the director immediately, Garnet!” On the screen – a color terminal? I guess it made sense for someone as rich and stuck up as Blueblood to have something like that – was a ruby red mare who wore a decidedly smug smile.
他小跑进书房。"你不来是什么意思！为了这件事，我们给了你一大笔钱!"蓝血贵族对着他桌子上的终端大喊大叫。和他的弟弟一样，他的鬃毛也是灰色的。"你不能这么做！我要求立刻和导演说话，加内特!"在屏幕上-一个彩色终端？我想，对于像蓝血王子这样有钱又自命不凡的人来说，拥有这样一匹红宝石母马是合情合理的——她脸上总是挂着自鸣得意的笑容。
“The director is otherwise occupied, Prince Blueblood. As am I,” the mare said with a snort and an annoyed look that slowly turned malicious. “Save your own ass, Blueblood.”
"导演另有安排，PrinceBlueblood。"我也是,"母马哼了一声，露出恼怒的表情，慢慢变得恶毒起来。"救救你自己吧，贵族。"
“You dare--”
"你竟敢——"
Her laugh cut him short. “Of course I dare. I’ve wanted to see this look on your face for years, and now I finally have a chance. By the way, did you like the memo I sent the locals? Have they broken down your door yet?” The crimson mare’s lips curled gleefully. “I hope they all live long enough to string you up.” Blueblood stared at her in stunned silence.
她的笑声打断了他。"我当然敢。多年来我一直想看到你脸上的这种表情，现在我终于有机会了。顺便问一下，你喜欢我发给当地人的备忘录吗？他们破门而入了吗?"红色的母马高兴地撇着嘴唇。"我希望他们都能活到把你吊死。"蓝血贵族目瞪口呆地看着她。
Her dark eyes turned to Vanity, and her sneer faded. “Prince Vanity.”
她黑色的眼睛转向虚荣，冷笑声也消失了。"虚荣王子。"
“Lord Vanity!” Blueblood snapped. “I am the prince of this family.”
"虚荣大人!"蓝血贵族突然崩溃了。"我是这个家的王子。"
Both ignored the seething stallion. “Garnet. Am I correct in understanding that you will not be evacuating us to the Redoubt?”
两个人都忽略了这匹沸腾的种马。"石榴石。你不会把我们疏散到堡垒，我的理解正确吗?"
“That is correct, Prince Vanity. The director apologizes, but he is seeing to other needs of the kingdom.”
""是的，虚荣王子。导演道歉，但是他还要照顾王国的其他需要。"
“You understand that there are children here?” He didn’t shout; he kept his voice even, low, and calm.
"你知道这里有孩子吗?"他没有大喊大叫，他保持着平静的声音，低沉而平静。
She smiled again. “Certainly, but this is a crisis. We can’t save–”
她又笑了。"当然，但这是一场危机。我们无法储蓄——"
“There is enough room for thousands, Garnet,” he interrupted, his voice hardening as he stared at the screen. “Are you saying you are leaving children here to die? We can send them to you.”
"这里的空间足够容纳几千人，加内特,"他打断道，盯着屏幕，声音变得硬朗起来。"你是说你把孩子留在这里等死吗？我们可以把它们寄给你。"
A black earth pony mare ran up behind Garnet. “We have to go! Now!” she said, then darted away.
一匹地球上的黑色母马从石榴石后面跑过来。"我们得走了！现在!"她说完就跑开了。
Garnet sighed, waving a glittering red hoof. “Coming, Onyx.” Then she frowned and then looked back at Vanity. “We’re sealing the Redoubt. I’m sorry. Don’t come here, Vanity. Go die somewhere else.” Then she reached forward, and the terminal went dark.
石榴石叹了口气，挥动着一只闪闪发光的红蹄子。"来了，奥尼克斯。"然后她皱了皱眉，然后回头看着瓦妮特。"我们正在封锁堡垒。对不起。别来这里，虚荣。去别的地方死去吧。"然后她向前伸出手，终端机就黑了。
“This is outrageous! I must contact Auntie Celestia at once! She’ll set this right!” Blueblood stammered as he started to hit keys with his magic. But there was a green flash, and the elder prince was knocked away from the terminal. His round eyes looked up in astonishment. “Vanity? What are you doing? We must…”
"这太过分了！我必须马上联系塞莱斯蒂亚阿姨！她会纠正这一切的!"当他开始用魔法敲击键盘的时候，贵族们结结巴巴地说。但是有一个绿色的闪光，大王子被撞离终点站。他圆圆的眼睛惊讶地抬起头来。"虚荣？你在干什么？我们必须......"
“You must go do whatever you must. As must I.” He began hitting keys on the terminal.
"你必须去做你必须做的事情。我也一样。"他开始在终端机上按键。
A purple and blue icon of three gemstones appeared on the screen, and the terminal began to speak in a familiar voice. “So terribly sorry, darlings, but I’m out of my office at the moment. Leave your message, and I promise to get back to you as soon as I can.”
屏幕上出现了一个由三颗宝石组成的紫色和蓝色图标，终端开始用熟悉的声音说话。"非常抱歉，亲爱的，我现在不在办公室。请留言，我保证尽快回复。"
Blueblood stared in shock as Vanity took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Rarity. It’s Vanity. I’d hoped to speak to you before now. Tell you what I wanted to say. It appears that our time is up, though. We’ve been betrayed… all of us. If you get this message… I’ve gone to Elysium. If you can meet me there, then I’ll tell you what I should have years ago.” The screen flashed and went blue, and a message appeared at the bottom: ‘>Connection interrupted.’
瓦妮特深吸了一口气，闭上了眼睛。"稀有。是虚荣心。我希望在此之前能和你谈谈。告诉你我想说的。不过，看来我们的时间到了。我们被出卖了...我们所有人。如果你收到这条信息...我去了极乐世界。如果你能在那里见到我，我就告诉你几年前我应该拥有什么。"屏幕一闪一闪变成了蓝色，底部出现了一条信息:"连接中断。"
With a sigh, Vanity rose to his hooves. Blueblood stared in shock. “You… you and my Rarity? You betrayed me?”
瓦妮特叹了口气，立刻站了起来。贵族们震惊地瞪着眼睛。"你......你和我的珍宝？你背叛了我?"
Vanity looked down at his older sibling. “She was never yours, Blueblood. She was never anypony’s. She was far too precious for that.” Then he looked at the door. “Now, I suppose I must give some bad news,” he said with a soft sigh.
瓦妮特瞧不起他的哥哥。"她从来不是你的，贵族。她从来不属于任何小马。她太宝贵了，不值得这么做。"然后他看了看门。"现在，我想我必须告诉你一些坏消息了,"他轻轻地叹了口气说。
Without another look back, he walked out the door and towards the ballroom. The musicians played and the aristoponies in their fancy, expensive outfits chatted as if this was simply another party and not the ending of the world.
他头也不回地走出门，朝舞厅走去。音乐家们演奏着，独唱者们穿着华丽昂贵的服装闲聊着，仿佛这只是另一场派对，而不是世界末日。
Vanity walked through the crowd and stepped up onto the platform upon which the quartet was playing. I recognized one of them: a gray pony with an elegant charcoal mane and a familiar instrument. Sadly, though, Vanity looked away from Octavia to the crowd below him. I was glad she got to play somewhere again before she returned to Flankfurt to die.
瓦妮特穿过人群，走到四重奏演奏的讲台上。我认出了其中的一匹:一匹灰色的小马，优雅的炭色鬃毛和熟悉的仪器。不过，可悲的是，瓦妮特把目光从奥克塔维亚移开，转向了他下面的人群。我很高兴在她回到Flankfurt去死之前，她又能在某个地方玩耍了。
Dozens of concerned faces stared up at him. “Fillies and gentlecolts,” he began slowly. “Five years ago I, my brother, and my nephew came to you with a plan to establish a sanctuary for the elite of the country. Let the bureaucrats scamper away to Stable One; we would have a shelter of our own design and comfort. A place where the Princesses and the aristocracy could retire and live until it was safe to return and rebuild Equestria. You gave generously. Some of you even had the privilege of seeing plans of what we were creating. The majesty and grandeur befitting Celestia and Luna.”
几十张忧心忡忡的面孔抬头盯着他。"小母马和绅士们,"他慢慢地开始说。"五年前，我、我的兄弟和我的侄子带着一个为这个国家的精英们建立庇护所的计划来找你。让官僚们奔向稳定之一吧，我们将拥有自己设计和舒适的庇护所。一个公主和贵族可以隐居的地方，直到安全回来重建马术国。你慷慨解囊。你们中的一些人甚至有幸看到了我们正在创造的计划。庄严壮丽的天堂和月神。"
He paused for a long moment, then said evenly, “We are betrayed.”
他停顿了一会儿，然后平静地说:"我们被出卖了。"
Murmurs broke out, cries and shouts. Vanity simply stood there before them, looking out calmly as he surveyed the crowd. That calm demeanor seemed to spread through the assembled aristoponies; they quickly composed themselves, far more quickly than I might have guessed they would. “The Redoubt is sealed, and those who have taken shelter in it have set this mob upon us for petty revenge. And while we may defend this place for a time, eventually, this manor will fall. There are simply too many ways in. Therefore, I propose that you utilize Fancy Pants’s airship to relocate to the Elysium Resort. It is both defensible and well provisioned. Perhaps there, you will be able to weather what is to come.”
一阵嘈杂的声音响起，哭声和喊声不绝于耳。瓦妮特只是站在他们面前，平静地看着人群。这种平静的举止似乎在整个演唱会上传播开来;他们很快就镇静下来了，比我想象的要快得多。"堡垒被封死了，那些躲在堡垒里的人为了报复而向我们发动了暴动。虽然我们可以暂时保卫这个地方，但最终，这个庄园会沦陷。有太多的方法可以进入。因此，我建议你利用花式裤子的飞艇重新安置在极乐世界度假村。它不仅可以防御，而且供应充足。也许在那里，你能够经受住即将到来的一切。"
The old stallion stepped forward. “I’d be more than happy to, old boy. But… I noticed that you didn’t say ‘we’.”
那匹老种马向前迈了一步。"我非常乐意，老伙计。但是......我注意到你没有说'我们'。"
Vanity pressed his lips together for a moment before sighing softly. “I will
瓦妮特紧闭双唇片刻，然后轻轻地叹了口气。"我会的
remain here. Somepony must pay for this failure. I accept responsibility.”
留在这里。有些人必须为这次失败付出代价。我承担责任。"
Fancy Pants’s monocle popped from his eye, and he chuckled. “I say, but that’s the most rubbish I’ve heard in ages. And I’ve listened to your brother,” he said as he shook his head. “Somepony is going to have to lead us and get us situated, and you seem to have a good horn on your head. Now, if whoever double crossed us would like to step forward… well… I would happily leave them here to rot. But you? You’ve only ever wanted what’s best for Equestria.”
花裤子的单片眼镜从他的眼睛里弹出来，他咯咯地笑了起来。"我说，但这是我这么多年来听到的最垃圾的话了。我也听了你哥哥的话,"他摇摇头说。"某个小马将不得不领导我们，把我们安顿好，而你似乎有一个很好的角在你的头上。现在，如果出卖我们的人愿意站出来......好吧......我很乐意把他们留在这里腐烂。但是你呢？你只想为小马国争取最好的结果。"
Vanity’s mouth worked, but then there was a scream from the kitchens as the work staff raced into the ballroom, a group of shouting, rampaging ponies following on their heels. “Find the stable!” some bellowed. “String up the nobles!” roared others. A cluster charged the stage, wielding knives, improvised clubs, and the occasional firearm.
瓦妮特的嘴开始动了，但是随后厨房里传来尖叫声，工作人员冲进舞厅，一群叫喊着、狂暴的小马跟在他们后面。"去找马厩!"有人怒吼。"把贵族们吊起来!"其他人咆哮道。一群人冲向舞台，挥舞着刀子，临时制作的棍棒，偶尔还有火器。
Vanity’s magic reached out to seize the nearest, largest object he could find: Octavia’s contrabass. The green light surrounded it as it slammed into the charging four like an immense club; the heavy instrument sent them all falling away, and for an instant the invaders’ momentum was broken as the huge bass rammed horizontally into the group. One last mighty swing knocked another outshoot away from the aristoponies fleeing the room. From the screams and shouts and crashing glass and gunfire, though, bedlam had erupted in every corner of the mansion. Some of the invaders turned their guns to the stage, but the contrabass rose, the bullets pinging off the wood.
瓦妮特的魔法抓住了他能找到的最近最大的东西:奥克塔维亚的低音吉他。绿色的灯光环绕着它，它像一根巨大的棍棒一样砸向冲锋的四个人;沉重的乐器把他们都打散了，一瞬间，巨大的低音炮水平撞向这群人，打断了入侵者的动力。最后一次有力的挥击击中了另一个从停车场逃离的突出部分。不过，从尖叫声、喊叫声、玻璃的碰撞声和枪声中，大厦的每一个角落都爆发了混乱。一些入侵者把枪对准了舞台，但是低音提琴站了起来，子弹从木头上飞了出来。
The white unicorn blinked and then looked at the stunned musician. “Quite a sturdy instrument.” He levitated two dropped revolvers from the floor and began to carry out careful and deliberate headshots; faced with such opposition, most of the attackers retreated back to the kitchen. He paused a moment to float the contrabass back to Octavia, who hugged it tightly. “Do you have anywhere safe to go?” he asked as Fancy Pants and his filly walked to the door, the elderly unicorn lifting a dropped sledgehammer.
白色的独角兽眨了眨眼睛，然后看着这个震惊的音乐家。"真是个结实的工具。"他从地板上扔下两把左轮手枪，然后开始小心谨慎地拍头;面对这样的反对，大多数袭击者退回到厨房。他停了一会儿，把这条低音鱼送回了奥克塔维亚，后者紧紧地抱住了它。"你有什么安全的地方可去吗?"他问道，这时花式裤子和他的小母马正走向门口，一只年迈的独角兽举起了一把落下的大锤。
“Does anypony?” she said softly as she looked up at him with dark, sad eyes. Then the chaos flooded back into the ballroom and she was lost; Vanity turned away and raced to join Fancy Pants. The guards were still trying to fend off the surging masses, but the battle had turned as they were overwhelmed and their weapons seized. As the aristoponies raced about, there was an immense crash and explosion that shook the immense manor; the screams built as the chaos
"anypony呢?"她温柔地说，抬起头，用一双忧郁的黑眼睛看着他。然后混乱的人群涌回舞厅，她迷失了方向;瓦妮特转身跑去参加"花式裤子"的聚会。卫兵们仍在努力抵挡汹涌的人群，但战斗已经转变，他们被压倒，武器也被缴获。随着演唱会的进行，巨大的爆炸声震撼了这个巨大的庄园，尖叫声随着混乱而响起
spread even further.
进一步扩散。
Fancy Pants and Vanity reached the upstairs hall where a line of sandbags and furniture still formed a barricade. “Get over! Get over quickly!” Vanity shouted at the panicked servants and aristoponies scrambling for their lives. A few he lifted up and over with his magic as a wave of raging ponies raced up the stairs. Vanity and the few guards left held with bursts of fire from small machine guns for a minute. Then one of the guards ran. Then the other two.
花哨的裤子和虚荣来到楼上的大厅，那里一排排的沙袋和家具仍然构成了街垒。"过来！快点过来!"虚荣向惊慌失措的仆人和反叛分子大声喊叫，他们在挣扎求生。他用他的魔法举起了几只小马，一群愤怒的小马冲上了楼梯。瓦妮特和剩下的几个守卫被小型机关枪连续扫射了一分钟。然后其中一个警卫跑了。然后是另外两个。
And still they came on. They tore at the barricade, their bullets shattering the elaborate mirrored walls and gouging holes in the fancy furniture as they chopped at the obstruction and tore at it with their hooves. Perhaps it was his control and poise or simply that their fire was wild and undisciplined, but, even as bullets skipped around him, not one found Vanity’s hide as he kept his place.
但他们还是来了。他们撕毁了街垒，他们的子弹撕碎了精致的镜墙，在华丽的家具上凿出洞来，他们用蹄子劈开障碍物。也许是因为他的控制力和镇定，或者仅仅是因为他们的火力是狂野的和无纪律的，但是，即使子弹在他周围跳来跳去，没有一个人发现虚荣的藏身之处，因为他保持着自己的位置。
Then he looked over as the door to the nursery opened and a terrified blue eye peeked out. Their gaze met for one second, and then he looked at the mob. “You will not pass!” he yelled as his magic reached out for every dropped firearm and wrapped it in his green glow. At once, every single weapon around him levitated into the air and pointed at the head of the stairs and the stunned faces of the mob who realized too late their folly. Then the guns roared in unison as a stream of bullets and gunfire tore the attackers to pieces. More were coming, though, and, one after another, the floating guns clicked on empty chambers. Bloodied, maddened, they came yet again! Vanity lifted a broken chair leg to meet them as they rushed the barricade.
然后，当婴儿室的门打开时，他向外看去，一只吓坏了的蓝眼睛向外窥视。他们的目光相遇了一秒钟，然后他看着那群人。"你不能过去!"他喊道，他的魔法伸出每一个下降的火器，并包裹在他的绿色光芒。突然，他周围的每一件武器都飘浮在空中，指向楼梯的顶端和暴徒们惊愕的面孔，暴徒们意识到自己的愚蠢为时已晚。随后，枪炮齐鸣，一连串的子弹和枪炮声将袭击者撕成碎片。然而，更多的炮弹还是接踵而至，一个接一个，漂浮着的炮弹在空弹膛里发出咔哒声。血淋淋的，疯狂的，他们又来了！当他们冲进街垒时，瓦妮特抬起一条断了的椅腿迎接他们。
Then a glowing sword swept through the throat of one of the attackers as Blueblood calmly trotted forward to stand beside him. “Touch my collection, will you? Trample your mud all over my home, you filthy peasants! Get my coat all dirty?!”
随后，一把发光的剑穿过其中一个袭击者的喉咙，蓝血王子平静地小跑着走上前，站在他身边。"摸摸我的收藏，好吗？你们这些肮脏的农民，把你们的泥踩得我家到处都是！把我的外套都弄脏了?"
Vanity smiled. “You’ve been working on your swordplay, Brother!” And, side by side, they bashed and sliced the attackers till finally the assault crawled away back down the stairs. Vanity let the chair leg drop as he panted. “Now… let us get the children to the airship–”
虚荣心笑了。"兄弟，你一直在练剑!"他们肩并肩地猛击并切开袭击者，直到最后他们爬下楼梯离开。虚荣心使他喘气时椅子的腿下垂。"现在......让我们把孩子们送上飞艇吧——"
A sharp pain tore through his belly as a foot of steel buried itself in his gut. Vanity fell to his side, hooves hugging the wound as he stared up at the bloody sword floating beside his sibling. “You should have kept your hooves off her,
一阵剧烈的疼痛刺穿了他的腹部，一英尺的钢铁嵌入了他的内脏。瓦妮特倒在他的身边，双蹄紧紧地抱着伤口，他抬头凝视着他兄弟身旁漂浮着的那把沾满鲜血的剑。"你应该把你的蹄子从她身上拿开
Brother. Rarity was supposed to be mine. She was supposed to marry me.” He swung the blade and wiped off the blood as he trotted back down the hall.
兄弟。稀有本该属于我。她本该嫁给我的。"他挥舞着刀刃，一边擦去血迹，一边小跑着回到大厅。
Slowly, Vanity pulled himself to his hooves. He magically removed the uniform and pressed it to his injury as he looked at the terrified eye peeking through the nursery door. Slowly, he smiled. “Keep them safe, Harpica.”
慢慢地，瓦妮特使出浑身解数。他奇迹般地脱下制服，把它按在伤口上，看着从育儿室门缝里窥视的那只惊恐的眼睛。慢慢地，他笑了。"保护好他们，哈皮卡。"
“Master Vanity, you’re hurt…”
"虚荣大师，你受伤了......"
He took a deep breath, his guts on fire, and lifted his head high. “This? ‘Tis only a scratch,” he said as blood trickled down his back legs. “Now, keep the children silent and safe, Harpica. They’re counting on you. Leave when you think it’s safe to go.”
他深吸了一口气，内脏着火了，抬起头来。""这个？"只是擦伤,"他说着，血顺着他的后腿流了下来。"现在，让孩子们保持安静和安全，哈皮卡。他们就指望你了。在你认为安全的时候离开。"
“But…”
"但是......"
He raised his hoof to her lips. “Any pain… any injury… any indignity… is a small price paid in the defense of an innocent. Remember that,” he said with that shaky smile. He nuzzled her gently between the eyes again. “Now, close the door and don’t worry about me. I think I’ll retire to my room. I have a very sternly worded letter I need to write.” He kept the smile, standing there patiently with that calm expression before she finally closed the door once more. His head drooped as he grimaced in pain and trotted back to his room. He tossed the rumpled bloody uniform into the trash as he finally took at seat at the writing desk.
他把蹄子举到她的唇边。"任何痛苦......任何伤害......任何侮辱......都是为了保护一个无辜者而付出的小小代价。记住这一点,"他带着颤抖的微笑说。他又轻轻地用鼻子在她两眼之间蹭来蹭去。"现在，关上门，不要为我担心。我想我还是回房间休息吧。我有一封措辞严厉的信要写。"他保持着微笑，带着平静的表情耐心地站在那里，直到她最后再次关上门。他痛苦地做了个鬼脸，低下了头，小跑回自己的房间。他终于在写字台前坐下，把那件皱巴巴的血迹斑斑的制服扔进了垃圾桶。
The sounds of shooting were dying down now. Through the window, I thought I saw some kind of boat thing suspended from a gasbag making its way east. It was already starting to snow as he drew out a piece of stationery and began to carefully write, the blood from his injury soaking slowly into the seat of the chair.
枪声渐渐平息了。透过窗户，我想我看到了什么船的东西悬挂在一个气囊上，向东行驶。天已经开始下雪了，他拿出一张文具，开始小心翼翼地写起来，他受伤的血慢慢地渗到椅子的座位上。
“I doubt you’ll ever get this, Rarity,” he said softly as he folded the letter and took out a small empty orb. “I don’t know if anypony will ever see this memory, but it is something that needs to be said,” he drew a slow breath as he started to shake, his body growing chill. “I am to die. Let me say that. Let me begin with that. Then let me say that, had things been different we could have been the greatest of lovers. If you were not a Ministry Mare and I not a prince, we could have had a better life. A life that you deserved. I know the mistakes you made… your many regrets… and I will take them all with me into the everafter.”
"我怀疑你永远也得不到这个，稀少,"他轻声说着，折起信，拿出一个小小的空球。"我不知道是否会有小马看到这段记忆，但这是一些需要说的东西,"他缓缓地吸了一口气，开始颤抖，他的身体变得越来越冷。"我要死了。我这么说吧。让我从这个开始。那么让我说，如果事情不是这样的话，我们本可以成为最伟大的恋人。如果你不是牧师，我不是王子，我们可以有更好的生活。一个你应得的生活。我知道你所犯的错误......你的许多遗憾......我将把它们带到永远。"
He groaned at the throbbing buried deep in his gut. “For any other who sees this, I pray that you will forgive a fool. I joined the project with the best of intentions… to save lives. So much money… so much material… and now what does it all matter? I am dying… my brother is mad… Rarity… sweet Rarity… I did it to protect others against the inevitable. My nephew once said... it seemed to him that the only way to save Equestria was to destroy it. I thought he was joking… in one of his moods. He so loved this country. Loved more than any other, I fear. Now all is undone. And damn me... I helped him.”
他对埋藏在内心深处的悸动呻吟着。"对于任何其他看到这一点的人，我祈祷你会原谅一个傻瓜。我加入这个项目是出于善意......为了拯救生命。这么多钱...这么多材料...现在这一切又有什么关系呢？我要死了......我哥哥疯了......稀有......可爱的稀有......我这么做是为了保护别人免受不可避免的灾难。我的侄子曾经说过......在他看来，拯救小马国的唯一办法就是摧毁它。我以为他是在开玩笑......在某种情绪下。他如此热爱这个国家。我恐怕比任何其他人都更爱你。现在一切都完蛋了。该死的......我帮了他。"
“The Redoubt… I don’t know what will become of it now. Perhaps Garnet and the rest of the O.I.A. cower in there still?” He shuddered and closed his eyes. “I am sorry. I wish I could tell you more. Miramare. My old locker. Regret… I am sorry.” He opened his eyes to look at the glossy surface of his desk, at the tears that streaked his cheeks. “Goodbye, Rarity. I pray we meet again… in better… lives…”
"堡垒......我不知道它现在会变成什么样。也许加内特和其他o.i.a.成员仍然畏缩在那里?"他打了个寒战，闭上了眼睛。"对不起。我希望我能告诉你更多。女名女子名。我的旧储物柜。后悔......我很抱歉。"他睁开眼睛，看着桌子光滑的表面，看着泪水划过脸颊。"再见，稀世珍宝。我祈祷我们能再次相见...在更好的...生活中..."
The world swirled away, returning to darkness.
世界旋转着消失了，又回到了黑暗中。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I heard the faint swoosh of the Seahorse’s talisman and the tap of the rain on the roof. Smelled the acrid sweet stench of the bilge and felt the cot around me. My legs felt… like something other than legs. The muscles moved all wrong as I shifted in the bunk. But that was nothing compared to my heart. My lungs didn’t feel like they worked right anymore, either. I wondered if I was turning into some sort of sea creature. Some blind thing that crawled in deep dark places not fit for ponykind.
我听到了海马的护身符的微弱的嗖嗖声和雨点敲打屋顶的声音。闻到了舱底的刺鼻的甜臭味，感觉到了我周围的小床。我的腿感觉...不像腿。我在铺位上挪动时，肌肉都不听使唤了。但是和我的心比起来，那算不了什么。我的肺也感觉不太好使了。我不知道自己是不是变成了某种海洋生物。一些盲目的东西，在深黑的地方爬行，不适合种马。
My PipBuck was gone.
我的PipBuck不见了。
“Glory…” I rasped, my voice throaty and raw. I felt sick, and coughed and hacked as I turned my head about, as if just twisting my neck might magically regenerate my eyes. Then I overbalanced and flopped down onto to the Seahorse’s wooden deck. “Glory!” I rasped again, my chest clenching in pain as if I were trying to expel my own lungs.
"晨辉......"我粗声粗气地说。我感到不舒服，当我转过头的时候，我咳嗽、咳嗽，仿佛只要扭一下脖子就能奇迹般地重新长出眼睛似的。然后我失去了平衡，跌倒在海马的木甲板上。"晨辉!"我再次尖叫起来，胸口因为疼痛而紧闭，就好像我在试图排出我自己的肺。
Then I heard a terrified little sob, a filly’s sob. She sniffed a snotty nose. “She’s… she’s outside, Blackjack.”
然后我听到了一声可怕的小呜咽，一匹小母马的呜咽。她用鼻子闻了闻鼻涕。"她...她在外面Blackjack"
“I need her. I need to talk to her,” I said as I turned towards the sound of Scotch’s
"我需要她。我需要和她谈谈,"我转向苏格兰威士忌的声音说
voice and extended a limb towards her. I felt a leg under my… and I heard her scream a little and jerk away. I shivered as I pulled back. She gasped and sobbed as she shuffled away from me. I simply lay there before saying quietly, “I’m sorry, Scotch. I’m not a monster. I’m not… even if I look like one.”
然后向她伸出一只胳膊。我感觉有一条腿在我的......我听到她尖叫了一下，然后抽搐了一下。我退后的时候打了个哆嗦。她气喘吁吁地抽泣着，拖着脚步离开了我。我只是躺在那里，然后平静地说:"对不起，苏格兰人。我不是怪物。我不是......即使我看起来像。"
She sniffed again. “I’ll… I’ll go get her.” She trotted for the exit, her clopping hooves receding into the distance. I dragged my body after her. I didn’t get very far before more hooves trotted back towards me.
她又闻了闻。"我...我去找她。"她小跑着向出口跑去，她那发闷的蹄子渐渐远去。我拖着身子跟在她后面。我没走多远，就有更多的马蹄向我跑来。
“You’re out? Don’t worry…” Glory said from nearby, “We’ll get you another orb and…”
"你出来了？别担心......"晨辉在附近说,"我们会再给你一个球，然后......"
I then wrapped my legs around hers. “Stop… I’m going to die.”
然后我把我的腿缠在她的腿上。"住手......我要死了。"
“No!” she snapped. “No! We are not talking about this. We’re going to Sanguine and getting you fixed!” She tried to pull away, but I simply held her as she started to shake.
"不!"她厉声说道。"不！我们不是在讨论这个。我们要去三桂医院把你治好!"她试图挣脱，但当她开始颤抖时，我只是简单地抱着她。
“Glory. I’m going to die,” I repeated, and I was amazed at how calm I felt. It wasn’t that I wanted to die. There were so many things I wanted to do that I’d never get to do… but that was the way of things. You got your life until you didn’t any more.
"晨辉。我要死了,"我重复着，我惊讶地发现自己竟然如此平静。不是我想死。我想做的事情太多了，以至于我从来没有机会去做......但事情就是这样的。你有你的生活，直到你没有更多。
“Don’t say that, Blackjack. Don’t…” Hot tears falling on my cheeks. I smiled as I nuzzled her chest… her strong heart. So very strong.
"别这么说，黑杰克。不要......"热泪落在我的脸颊上。我微笑着，用鼻子蹭着她的胸口......她坚强的心。非常非常强壮。
“Let me say it… because it’s true, Glory.” I took another burning breath. “I don’t want to, but I am… and I’m not going to give Sanguine the most dangerous piece of technology in the Wasteland just to save my own life.” She shook her head as she sniffed. “And I know how damn much this hurts, Glory. I know because if it were you… I’d move heaven and earth to find some way to stay with you. And I know that you… you would tell me not to. And it’d hurt like hell… but if you asked me to… I wouldn’t do it. So I’m asking you: don’t trade saving me for EC-1101. I’m not worth the harm he’ll do.”
"让我说出来......因为这是真的，晨辉。"我又深吸了一口气。"我不想，但我......我不会为了救自己的命而把荒原上最危险的技术给桑吉。"她一边闻一边摇头。"我知道这有多伤人，晨辉。我知道，因为如果是你的话......我会千方百计想办法和你在一起。我知道你...你会告诉我不要。而且会痛得要命......但是如果你要我这么做......我不会这么做的。所以我请求你们:不要用EC-1101来交换拯救我。我不值得他伤害我。"
Maybe it had been a nightmare… or maybe something else… but I remembered a row of purple eyes weeping along a gray neck.
也许是一场噩梦...也许是别的什么...但我记得一排紫色的眼睛沿着灰色的脖子哭泣。
“I can’t… I can’t just do nothing. I can’t…” she whispered in my ear. “I love you too much… I wanted to do… to do so much with you.” She sniffed as she shook.
"我不能...我不能什么都不做。我不能......"她在我耳边轻声说。"我太爱你了......我想......和你一起做这么多事。"她一边抽着鼻子一边颤抖着。
“Don’t tell me to do nothing and watch you die.”
"别叫我什么都不做，眼睁睁看着你死去。"
“Well, you could just dump me in the river. One more piece of junk in the water; who’d notice?” I said with a little smile.
"好吧，你可以直接把我扔到河里。水里再多一块垃圾，谁会注意呢?"我微笑着说。
She gave a curious little hiccup before muttering, “You’re unbelievable, you know that?” She kissed softly right beneath my horn. “I won’t just… give up. You never gave up on me… on any of us. You always came for us. Please… let us try and find some way… any way… to take care of you.”
她好奇地打了个小嗝，然后喃喃自语道:"你真是难以置信，你知道吗?"她在我的角下轻轻地亲吻。"我不会就这样......放弃。你从来没有放弃过我...我们中的任何一个。你总是为我们而来。求你了......让我们想办法......想办法......照顾你。"
“All right,” I replied softly, making that concession. “No Sanguine, though…”
"好吧,"我轻声回答，做出了让步。"不过，没有乐观......"
She sighed as she carefully lifted me onto her back and then into a cot. “No Sanguine,” she replied as she laid me on my side. “I’m sorry Scotch was…”
她叹了口气，小心翼翼地把我背起来，然后放进了一张帆布床。"没有。"她把我放在我身边，回答道。"对不起，苏格兰威士忌......"
“I guess I look pretty bad. Did I at least regenerate my cutie mark?” I asked as I smiled again. “I mean, losing eyes is like… whatever… but having my flank shot off? Horrors!” She made another hiccupping laugh and sniffed.
"我想我看起来很糟糕。我至少能再造出我的可爱印记吧?"我再次微笑着问道。"我的意思是，失去眼睛就像......不管怎样......但是我的侧腹被射掉了？恐怖!"她又发出一阵打嗝的笑声，用鼻子闻了闻。
“Yes… but your eye…” she said softly as she nuzzled my cheek.
"是的......但是你的眼睛......"她轻轻地说，用鼻子蹭了蹭我的脸颊。
“Hey. The only thing that sucks about not having eyes is that I can’t see you,” I said as I nuzzled her back. And that I couldn’t see my enemies. And that I couldn’t shoot anything. And that I felt the panic slowly chewing up my brain. I fought to keep it away, because if I fell apart right now, I might as well pass EC-1101 to Sanguine myself. If a cheesy line kept us both together… well… she made another of those hiccupping, laughing sobs.
"嘿。没有眼睛的唯一糟糕之处就是我看不见你,"我用鼻子蹭着她的背说。我看不见我的敌人。我什么都不能拍。我感到恐慌正在慢慢吞噬我的大脑。我努力不让它靠近，因为如果我现在崩溃了，我可能会亲自把EC-1101递给桑吉尼。如果一句俗气的话能让我们在一起......那么......她又打了个嗝，笑着抽泣起来。
“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, but really, I can’t believe that’s the only detriment to being blind. After all, you can’t…” and since my hooves were limp noodles, I shut her up with a kiss instead. To be fair, it was a very nice kiss. Finally, though, she pulled her mouth away. “We’re going to find some way to help you.” She had to say that. Just like not thinking about what had happened to me was holding me together, the thought of saving me kept her together. I couldn’t deny her that.
"这是我听过的第一个甜姐不辣，但真的，我不相信这是失明的唯一损害。毕竟，你不能......"因为我的蹄子是软绵绵的面条，所以我用一个吻让她闭嘴。公平地说，那是一个非常美好的吻。最后，尽管如此，她还是把嘴巴拉开了。"我们会想办法帮助你的。"她不得不这么说。就像不去想发生在我身上的事让我振作起来一样，救我的想法让她振作起来。我不能否认这一点。
“Just no Sanguine,” I repeated. She sighed, then nodded against me, and I smiled. “And bring my PipBuck back. I feel naked without it.”
"只是没有乐观,"我重复道。她叹了口气，朝我点了点头，我笑了。"把我的皮伯克拿回来。没有它，我感觉一丝不挂。"
“Uhhh, Blackjack, I’m not sure how to tell you this, but we don’t normally wear
"呃，黑杰克，我不知道该怎么告诉你，我们通常不穿
clothes.”
衣服。"
I nuzzled her cheek as I said, “You might not normally wear clothes, but I’ve gotten shot enough to consider barding clothes.” Was she always so soft and sweet? Yes, yes she was.
我用鼻子蹭了蹭她的脸颊，说:"你平时可能不会穿衣服，但是我已经中了一枪，可以考虑换衣服了。"她总是那么温柔可爱吗？是的，是的。
“Okay. I need it just a bit longer. Then I’ll bring it back,” she swore before finally pulling away.
"好吧。我还需要一点时间。然后我会把它带回来,"她咒骂着，最后才把手抽了出来。
I sighed as I lay back in the bunk and I listened to her light hoofsteps recede out of the wooden hold. Then my ears twitched as she said, “She doesn’t want us to go to Sanguine.” Given that I couldn’t peek in on their conversation, I could at least eavesdrop.
我叹了口气，躺在床铺上，听着她轻盈的蹄声从木舱里退了出来。她说:"她不想让我们去三桂镇。"我的耳朵抽搐了一下既然我不能偷看他们的谈话，我至少可以偷听一下。
“Well, duh. ‘Cause she’s an idiot,” P-21 retorted. “He’s our best and only bet for saving her life. You saw her legs. You said yourself that it’s only a matter of days before gangrene sets in.”
"好吧，废话。"因为她是个白痴,"P-21反驳道。"他是我们最好的也是唯一的救命稻草。你看到她的腿了。你自己也说过，再过几天就会长坏疽。"
“Her blood circulation’s getting pinched off in her extremities. I don’t know if that’s from the taint or the cancer, but after firing that last silver bullet…” Glory grunted softly. “Why did she have to do that?”
"她四肢的血液循环受到挤压。我不知道这是因为污染还是癌症，但是在发射了最后一颗银弹之后......"格洛里轻轻地哼了一声。"她为什么要这么做?"
“Because it was the only way she could win,” Rampage answered. Apparently she’d felt with it enough to let herself be unchained and join in the
"因为这是她唯一能赢的方法,"狂暴回答说。很显然，她已经感受到了足够的力量，让自己从铁链中解脱出来，加入到这个世界中来
conversation... I was glad. She didn’t deserve to be treated like a monster, even if
谈话...我很高兴。她不应该被当作怪物对待，即使
she thought she was one herself. Nopony did.
她以为自己也是。Nopony做到了。
After a long silence approaching the realm of awkward, Glory sighed. “Well, between the cancer, the… growths… and the brand new case of infection… we don’t have much time. We’re losing her.”
在长时间的沉默接近尴尬的境界之后，晨辉叹了口气。"嗯，由于癌症、......增长......和全新的感染病例......我们没有多少时间了。我们正在失去她。"
Somepony stomped their hoof in irritation as P-21 said, “Then we go to Sanguine and Blackjack can just suck it up.” A long pause, silence broken only by the rain drumming overhead. “Glory, you said it yourself. There’s no other way. Unless you’re reconsidering the pods again.”
一些小马愤怒地跺着它们的蹄子，P-21说,"然后我们去Sanguine，Blackjack就可以忍气吞声。"长长的停顿，只有头顶上的雨声打破了寂静。"晨辉，你自己说的。没有别的办法了。除非你要重新考虑吊舱。"
“It might stop the progression of the cancer, but it would not prevent the taint from contaminating other aspects of her mind… and soul,” Lacunae said quietly.
"它可能会阻止癌症的恶化，但是它不会阻止污染她思想和灵魂的其他方面,"拉库纳平静地说。
“Who cares about that? We’re talking about her life, Lacunae!” P-21 protested.
"谁在乎这个？我们在谈论她的生活，拉库尼!"P-21提出抗议。
“There are worse things than dying, P-21. All of you know that better than anypony,” Lacunae replied calmly, a voice of compassion and kindness. The voice of a real Goddess. I pitied Unity for not appreciating what it had created. “You might save her flesh, and that would be a worthy cause, but what about the cost of the guilt and shame she would feel? Would you see her suicidal again? And what of the magical contamination to her soul?”
"还有比死亡更糟糕的事情，P-21。你们都知道这比任何小马都好,"拉库奈平静地回答，声音充满了怜悯和仁慈。真正女神的声音。我同情Unity不懂得欣赏它所创造的一切。"你可以保住她的肉体，这是一个有价值的事业，但是她会感到内疚和羞耻的代价呢？你还会再见到她自杀吗？那么她的灵魂受到的魔法污染又是怎么回事呢?"
“Soul…” P-21 muttered in disgust.
"灵魂......"P-21厌恶地咕哝着。
“Souls exist,” Lacunae said in a firm, inarguable tone. “Your soul is nothing less than your quintessential self… the pure you. To change that is to fundamentally alter your complete being. The corruption inside Blackjack isn’t simply biological… it is magical, and that magic is changing her soul into something different from a pony.”
"灵魂是存在的,"拉库纳用一种坚定的、不容置疑的语气说。"你的灵魂就是你最典型的自我——纯洁的你。改变它就是从根本上改变你的整个存在。黑杰克内部的腐败不仅仅是生物学上的......它是神奇的，这种魔法正在把她的灵魂变成不同于小马的东西。"
“So you want us to just let her die?” Scotch squeaked.
"所以你想让我们眼睁睁看着她死?"苏格兰人吱吱叫着。
“You should accept the certainty that eventually she will die. Even if she were turned into a ghoul or alicorn, nothing lasts forever. We are born, we live, we wear out, and we expire. Our souls move into the everafter, to be reborn or to find another life. That is the natural order of things. When that order is violated, a mistake is created that must inevitably be undone at great cost and sacrifice. That is what makes life precious. Life persisting simply because it is alive is a fool’s game bereft of meaning. Souls matter infinitely more.” Lacunae said in a gentle, if somewhat lecturing tone.
"你应该接受她最终会死的事实。即使她变成了食尸鬼或世事无常(1979年小说)。我们出生，我们生活，我们消耗，我们死亡。我们的灵魂进入永恒，要么重生，要么寻找另一种生命。这是事物的自然规律。一旦违反了这个命令，就会产生一个错误，必须以巨大的代价和牺牲来撤销这个错误。这就是生命珍贵的地方。仅仅因为活着而坚持的生活是一场失去意义的愚人游戏。灵魂的重要性无穷无尽。"空隙用一种温和的，有点像在说教的语气说。
“Damn it, I don’t want her to die,” P-21 sputtered.
"该死，我不想让她死,"P-21气急败坏地说。
“Of course not. You love her,” Lacunae said simply.
"当然不是。"你爱她,"拉库纳简单地说。
What? Oh, now wasn’t this an awkward silence!
什么？哦，现在是不是一个尴尬的沉默！
“Don’t you talk to me like you know me. Don’t you act like you know what I feel, you freak!” P-21 shouted.
"别跟我说得好像你了解我似的。你别装得好像你知道我的感受似的，你这个怪胎!"P-21大声喊道。
“You love her or you wouldn’t care if she lives or dies. Don’t treat it like an insult,” Lacunae replied.
"你爱她，否则你不会在乎她的生死。不要把它当成一种侮辱。"。
“I love Priest,” he said firmly.
"我爱牧师,"他坚定地说。
“You like Priest because he makes you feel safe and wanted,” Lacunae countered. I winced at that; blunt much, Lacunae? “You love Blackjack. Perhaps in a brotherly way. Perhaps in other ways. Regardless, you love her. And that scares you. Or shames you. I’m not sure which.”
"你喜欢牧师是因为他让你感到安全和被需要,"Lacunae反驳道。我对此感到畏缩;说得太直白了，空白处？"你喜欢黑杰克。也许是以兄弟般的方式。也许在其他方面。不管怎样，你爱她。这让你感到害怕。或者让你感到羞愧。我不确定是哪一个。"
P-21 hissed sharply through his teeth. “Blackjack killed the pony I loved. She beat him to death in front of me! Did you know that? Did any of you?” A horrible silence descended as he panted. “She handed me… and countless other stallions… back to medical, to be raped again and again. Do you know how often she stopped it? How often any of them stopped it? Never. It never happened. Not Blackjack. Not Gin Rummy. Not even Duct Tape.”
P-21从牙缝里发出嘶嘶的声音。"Blackjack杀了我喜欢的小马。她当着我的面把他打死了！你知道吗？你们当中有人知道吗?"他气喘吁吁的时候，一阵可怕的寂静降临了。"她把我......和无数其他种马......送回医院，让我一次又一次地被强奸。你知道她多久停止一次吗？他们中有多少人阻止过这种行为？从来没有。从来没发生过。不是黑杰克。不是金拉米纸牌。甚至连胶带都没有。"
I lay there in that eternal black as he panted, then said in a slower, low voice, “I thought… once we were out here… somehow… she’d change that. Blackjack can do anything. And she would have. But every stallion in there was resigned to the life they knew. Every mare was just waiting for the freaky outsiders to go so they could stop thinking about it and go back to the way things were. Not one of them had the vision or the decency to admit how fucked up it was. No one but Blackjack.
我躺在那永恒的黑暗中，他喘息着，然后低声说,"我想......一旦我们离开这里......不知怎么的......她会改变这一切。黑杰克可以做任何事情。她会的。但是那里的每一匹种马都听天由命地过着它们熟悉的生活。每一匹母马都在等着那些怪异的外来者离开，这样他们就可以停止思考，回到原来的样子。他们没有一个人有远见，也没有一个人体面地承认这是多么糟糕的事情。只有黑杰克。
“I don’t love her. I can’t love her. Because every time I think about her, I think about how she wronged all of us and I don’t know how to forgive that. I don’t think I’m capable of forgetting it. But I can’t hate her, either. I can’t leave her. So I follow her around as she rips herself apart for ponies who are no better than meat, wondering what the hell all of it is for!”
"我不爱她。我不能爱她。因为每次我想起她，我就会想到她是如何辜负了我们所有人，我不知道如何原谅她。我想我不会忘记的。但我也不能恨她。我不能离开她。所以我跟着她到处跑，看着她为了一匹比肉好不了多少的小马把自己撕成碎片，想知道这一切到底是为了什么!"
He broke into harsh breathing once again, and for the longest time there was just silence. Then Scotch said softly, “I’m sorry, P-21. I am. I’m sorry I never did anything to help you. I once got in trouble for saying it was wrong to hurt you just because you’re boys. I said it was stupid. I got whipped. Mom did too. And we never said it again.”
他又突然呼吸急促起来，很长一段时间里只是一片寂静。苏格兰人温柔地说:"对不起，P-21。是的。对不起，我从来没有帮过你。我曾经因为说因为你们是孩子而伤害你们是错误的而惹上麻烦。我说这很愚蠢。我被鞭打了。妈妈也是。我们再也没有说过这样的话。"
His voice relaxed a little. “You don’t know what you’re apologizing for, Scotch. I hope you never do. And neither does Blackjack. So don’t tell me I love her. I just want to help her so she can keep helping others. Because I can’t…”
他的声音放松了一点。"你不知道你在为什么道歉，苏格兰人。我希望你永远不要。黑杰克也不是。所以别告诉我我爱她。我只是想帮助她，这样她才能继续帮助别人。因为我不能......"
I sighed, shaking my head as the rain drummed on and the boat rocked on the water. Tarboots coughed, then said, “Not that all this stable pony drama isn’t fascinating, but the captain’s been unconscious for at least a day. She’ll need
我叹了口气，随着雨点的敲打，船在水面上摇晃，我摇了摇头。塔尔布茨咳嗽了一声，然后说:"并不是所有这些稳定的小马戏剧不吸引人，但是船长已经昏迷了至少一天了。她需要
some unicorn able to snap her out of it soon.”
某个独角兽可以很快把她拉出来
The arguing continued, but it all became fuzzier as I rolled onto my side, coughing hard and feeling knotted muscles struggling and throbbing. My legs hurt like damn and I wasn’t even on them any more. Every breath was a struggle, and I sighed. Maybe I’d die in a little bit and spare them all the trouble. That’d be the sensible thing, right?
争论还在继续，但是当我翻身侧卧时，一切都变得模糊起来，我猛烈地咳嗽，感觉到打结的肌肉在挣扎和搏动。我的腿疼得要命，我甚至不再用它们了。每一次呼吸都是一次挣扎，我叹了口气。也许我过一会儿就会死去，这样他们就不会那么麻烦了。这才是明智之举，对吧？
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
Snow swirled around my black boots as I moved through the drifts towards a massive concrete building... the Fluttershy Medical Center. The light of the city shields painted everything for miles in a baleful green glow that illuminated the still heaps of snow. Thick gray clouds swirled overhead as I moved like a black ghost through the woods and past abandoned wagons towards the distant lights that seemed to beckon ponies for miles. Dozens of wagons lay in the parking lot along with tents staffed with doctors in yellow hazmat suits who hosed the radioactive snow off the ponies as they straggled in.
雪花在我的黑靴子周围盘旋，我穿过漂流物走向一个巨大的混凝土建筑...Fluttershy医疗中心。城市的灯光把方圆数英里的一切都罩上了一层邪恶的绿色光芒，照亮了静止的雪堆。我像一个黑色的幽灵一样穿过树林，经过被遗弃的马车，向远处的灯光招手，那些灯光似乎在向方圆数英里的小马招手，浓密的灰色的云朵在我头顶盘旋。停车场里停着几十辆货车，还有一些帐篷，里面都是穿着黄色防护服的医生，他们清洗着散落在车上的小马身上的放射性雪。
I approached the emergency room doors, and a dozen soldiers at once raced to attention, a few pointing their weapons at me. “Hold! Identify…” one with sergeant's bars on his uniform began. Without a word, I levitated out my badge and flipped it open, and immediately they lowered their guns. “Our apologies, special agent.” They stepped aside as I walked in.
我走近急诊室的门，十几个士兵立刻跑过来集中注意力，其中几个用他们的武器指着我。"等一下！确认身份......"其中一个士官制服上的条纹开始出现。我一言不发地把徽章拿出来，翻开，他们立刻放下了枪。"对不起，特别探员。"我走进去的时候，他们走到一边。
Inside the hospital were dozens, perhaps hundreds of scared and sickly ponies being cared for by exhausted yet still dedicated doctors. One approached me with nervousness. “Healing? Food? Radiation flush?” he asked. In my E.F.S.-enhanced vision I could see the bright red radiation sickness warning.
医院里有几十只，也许是几百只受到惊吓、病怏怏的小马，由精疲力竭但仍然尽职尽责的医生照顾着。其中一个紧张地向我走来。"治疗？食物？辐射冲洗?"他问道。在我的E.F.S.-enhanced视力，我可以看到明亮的红色辐射病警告。
“No. Yes. Yes,” I replied, my voice thick and muffled by the respirator. He directed me over to a spare IV stand draped with pouches of high strength RadAway. I pulled off the rebreather and began to drink, watching the rads fall away.
"没有。是的。"是的,"我回答，我的声音很粗，而且被呼吸器压低了。他指给我一个备用的静脉注射架，上面挂着一袋高强度的雷达导管。我脱下呼吸器，开始喝酒，看着雨伞落下。
“It’s good to see anyone from the government here. Everypony’s been scared to death since the shield went up. Most of them are trying to hoof it to Manehattan; they heard it was still intact.” There was a questioning tone to his voice as he sought some sort of confirmation. I said nothing. I ate a bar of emergency rations and drank the medicine. “What about Fillydelphia?” I didn’t answer again, and
"在这里见到政府官员真是太好了。自从盾牌升起后，每个小马都吓得要死。他们中的大多数人正试图步行去Manehattan，他们听说那里仍然完好无损。"在他寻求某种确认的时候，他的声音里有一种疑问的语调。我什么也没说。我吃了一条紧急口粮，喝了药。"填充的吗啡呢?"我没有再回答
he seemed to get the hint.
他似乎明白我的意思。
“What are you doing in here with those?” demanded a pink doctor as she scowled and pointed her hoof at my armament. I finished drinking the medicine, then calmly took some of the still full RadAway pouches, levitating them into my saddlebags despite the doctors’ outrage. The pink mare’s eyes went wide. “How dare you! Get out this…”
"你拿着这些东西在这儿干什么?"一个粉红色的医生问道，她皱着眉头，用蹄子指着我的武器。我喝完了药，然后平静地拿起一些仍然完整的RadAway包，不顾医生的愤怒，把它们放进了我的鞍囊里。粉红色母马的眼睛睁得大大的。"你好大的胆子！出去......"
The spell was simple. She went completely silent. The next spell was equally simple as her foreleg was twisted two hundred and seventy degrees. She fell to the ground, her mouth opened in a silent scream. The nurse backed away but froze when I looked at him. Finally, I pressed my hoof to the doctor’s throat and cancelled the spell as broken bits of bone protruded from her limb.
咒语很简单。她完全沉默了。下一个咒语同样简单，因为她的前腿扭曲了270度。她倒在地上，嘴巴张开，发出一声无声的尖叫。护士往后退了退，但当我看着他时，他愣住了。最后，我把我的蹄子踩在医生的喉咙上，取消了这个咒语，因为断裂的骨头从她的肢体里伸出来。
I looked down at her, then said softly, “My business here doesn’t involve you. Do not make my business here involve you.” Then I turned to the nurse. “I need access to the generators immediately. I have intelligence regarding possible saboteurs.” He just pointed to a door on the far side of the atrium, and I nodded once. “Thank you. Leave her. Let her learn some new realities,” I said, and with that I left them both behind.
我低头看着她，然后温柔地说:"我在这里的事情与你无关。不要让我在这里的事牵扯到你。"然后我转向护士。"我需要马上接近发电机。我有关于可能破坏者的情报。"他只是指了指中庭远侧的一扇门，我点了点头。"谢谢。放开她。让她了解一些新的现实,"我说，然后我就把他们都抛在脑后了。
I slipped around the perimeter of the massive atrium full of scared ponies. The hospital had multiple redundant power sources, environmental isolation, and supplies to rival a stable for at least several years. Theoretically, it could have become one of the last bastions of civilization. I walked to a door, pulled out a small runed rod, and pressed it to the lock. A surge of magic and the door opened. Slipping it away, I made my way down into the basement and then the sub-basement.
我绕着巨大的中庭溜了一圈，中庭里挤满了受惊的小马。这家医院拥有多个冗余电源、环境隔离以及至少几年可与马厩相媲美的供应设施。从理论上讲，它可能成为文明的最后堡垒之一。我走到一扇门前，拿出一根小小的横杆，按在门锁上。一阵魔法的冲击，门打开了。溜走后，我下到了地下室，然后到了地下二层。
The generators were huge affairs, bigger than commercial skywagons and running the entire length of the room. Beside them were massive cables connecting to the reinforced Hoofington power grid. A half dozen ponies nervously watched both, so it was understandable that they missed my entrance. The noise of the machinery made the silencer superfluous, and six shots later, I was the chamber’s only occupant. From my black saddlebags I withdrew gray bricks of explosives, pressed the remote detonator talismans to them, and placed them against the equipment.
发电机是巨大的事务，比商业空中马车大，并运行整个房间的长度。在他们旁边是巨大的电缆，连接着加固的胡芬顿电网。六匹小马紧张地看着他们，所以他们错过了我的入场是可以理解的。机器的噪音使消音器显得多余，六枪之后，我成了枪膛里唯一的乘员。我从黑色的马鞍袋里取出灰色的炸药砖，按下遥控雷管护身符，把它们放在设备上。
I emerged back into the atrium, returning to where some guards, the nurse, and
我出现在中庭，回到一些警卫，护士和
others were seeing to the doctor with the mangled limb. Two turned towards me, obvious anger and confusion on their faces. “What the hell do you…” one began.
其他人带着残缺的肢体去看医生。两个人转向我，脸上带着明显的愤怒和困惑。"你到底在干什么......"一个人开始说。
“Zebra commandos have infiltrated the hospital. They’ve killed a half-dozen ponies already and placed explosives all over the place. You need to evacuate these people immediately.” The guard’s mouth moved silently. I continued smoothly, “Where is Fairheart?”
"斑马突击队渗透进了医院。他们已经杀死了六匹小马，并且到处放置了炸药。你必须立即疏散这些人。"卫兵的嘴静静地动着。我继续平稳地问:"费尔哈特在哪里?"
“He’s on the fourteenth floor,” he stammered in shock. “Near the hospital administrator’s office.” I turned away, and he called after me, “Wait! Where am I supposed to evacuate all these people to?” That was hardly my problem, and I trotted towards the elevators and magically activated one set of detonators. The resounding boom signaled the severance of the hospital from the power grid. Everything plunged into darkness. From my saddlebags came four grenades, and I sent them magically rolling away into the crowd. Seconds later, the explosions filled the atrium with screaming chaos. The lights flickered to life as the generators came back on. Smoothly, I left the screams behind as I started up the stairwell.
"他在十四楼,"他吃惊地结结巴巴地说。"在医院院长办公室附近。"我转过身去，他在我后面喊道:"等等！我该把这些人都疏散到哪里去呢?"那根本不是我的问题，我小跑着走向电梯，神奇地激活了一组雷管。这一声巨响标志着医院与电网的分离。一切都陷入了黑暗。从我的鞍囊里拿出四枚手榴弹，我把它们魔术般地滚到人群中去了。几秒钟后，爆炸声充满了中庭，一片混乱。发电机重新启动时，灯光闪烁起来。我顺利地走上楼梯，把尖叫声抛在脑后。
On the fourteenth floor, nurses were scurrying about. Foals were crying. Bedlam reigned. Somepony mentioned the weather monitoring station to the north. No matter. They made way for me in my black barding and coat. I said the magic letters ‘O.I.A.’ and got directed to where I needed to go. In the hospital room were two Steel Rangers, apparently ignoring their recall orders, the hospital head, and an elderly stallion.
在十四楼，护士们正在忙碌着。小马驹们在哭泣。一片混乱。一些小马提到了北方的气象监测站。没关系。他们给我让路，让我穿着黑色的外套和大衣。我说出了神奇的字母'o.i.a.'，然后被引导到我需要去的地方。在医院的房间里有两个钢铁骑兵，显然无视他们的召回命令，医院院长和一匹老种马。
The white mare with the medic’s cross was saying, “...backup generators are running and these floors have their own independent power generators if the building’s fail…” she trailed off at the sight of my guns. “What are you doing with those here?”
那匹戴着医疗十字架的白色母马说,"...备用发电机正在运转，如果大楼出故障，这些楼层都有自己独立的发电机..."看到我的枪，她的声音慢了下来。"你拿这些东西干什么?"
I suppressed the urge to repeat my lesson. “Chief Justice Fairheart?” The sober maroon earth pony stallion nodded once. “O.I.A. intelligence. We’re scrambling to pull things together, sir. We believe that zebra infiltrators are attempting to assassinate you.”
我抑制住了重复上课的冲动。"费尔哈特首席大法官?"这匹清醒的栗色地球小马驹点了点头。"o.i.a.情报。我们正在努力重整旗鼓，长官。我们相信斑马渗透者正试图暗杀你。"
“Balefire bombs weren’t enough?” he replied lightly. “I take it the Ministry Mares are dead then, if they’re after me.”
"巴利火焰炸弹还不够吗?"他轻声回答。"我猜魔法部的人马都死了，如果他们在追杀我的话。"
“Unknown, sir. Applejack may be alive, but we will likely never be able to extract her from Stable Two, her last tracked position. Rarity and Fluttershy were both reported in Canterlot, which is a complete loss. Twilight is still being tracked in Maripony. Rainbow Dash’s tracking put her in Cloudsdale around the time of the first strike. Pinkie Pie died in Manehattan.” I said matter-of-factly. “Horse’s tracking was lost in the Hoof. We’re still working to determine the status of the military heads.”
"不知道，先生。苹果白兰地可能还活着，但我们可能永远无法把她从她最后追踪的位置----二号马厩中救出来。稀有和Fluttershy都报告在Canterlot，这是一个完全的损失。暮光之城》仍然在Maripony被追踪。彩虹·达什的跟踪记录显示她在第一次袭击前后出现在Cloudsdale。平奇·派死在了Manehattan。"我说的是实事求是。"马的踪迹在蹄子里消失了。我们仍在努力确定军方首脑的地位。"
“Likely not good. I would have died in Canterlot if it hadn’t been for this damned heart surgery,” he said as he touched his chest with a grimace.
"可能不太好。如果不是因为这个该死的心脏手术，我可能已经死在Canterlot了。"他一边说着，一边做了个鬼脸。
“Do either of you have experience with explosives?” I asked as I looked at the pair of Steel Rangers. Of course they did. All Rangers did. “There are bombs placed on the building’s generators. Careful, though; the zebras are likely still hidden.” The pair looked at the chief justice, who nodded, and together they trotted out.
"你们有人有爆炸物的经验吗?"我一边问一边看着那对钢铁骑兵。他们当然这么做了。所有的流浪者都这么做了。"大楼的发电机上放置着炸弹。不过要小心，斑马很可能还藏着呢。"两人看了看首席大法官，首席大法官点点头，然后一起小跑出去。
“I can’t believe they would attack… why? What do they hope to gain? Hasn’t there been enough death?” Redheart said as she looked out the window.
"我不敢相信他们会攻击......为什么？他们希望得到什么？死的人还不够多吗?"红心望着窗外说。
“The zebras want our total and complete annihilation, Administrator,” I replied. “You’d best see to the evacuation.”
"斑马想把我们彻底消灭，署长,"我回答。"你最好负责疏散。"
“Evacuation to where? There’re so many… where are we supposed to go? And what about the ones who can’t be moved?” Redheart fretted.
"疏散到哪里？有这么多...我们该去哪儿？那些不能被感动的人呢?"红心焦虑。
“Once the basement is secure, you can return. Right now, you have to get to safety,” I said. Safety in the radioactive snow… how ironic. The administrator sighed, chewed her lip, and then slipped out as well.
"一旦地下室安全了，你就可以回来了。现在，你必须去安全的地方,"我说。在放射性雪地里的安全...真讽刺。管理员叹了口气，咬着嘴唇，然后也溜了出去。
“How did you learn of the zebra assassination attempt?” Fairheart asked, and then that question was answered by the sight of my silenced pistol. “So. It’s a coup after all.”
"你是怎么知道斑马企图谋杀的?"费尔哈特问道，然后这个问题被我的消音手枪回答了。"所以。毕竟，这是一场政变。"
“The O.I.A. serves Luna and Equestria,” I replied evenly. “We will not allow it to fall into the hooves of another. I’m sorry, Justice Fairheart.”
"o.i.a.服务于卢娜和小马国,"我平静地回答。"我们不会允许它落入另一个人的圈套。对不起，费尔哈特法官。"
“Just one question. Who’s behind this? Horse? Goldenblood?” he asked. The only answer he received was a silenced bullet clean through the eye. I magically turned his head away, holstered my gun, and trotted out of the room.
"只有一个问题。谁是幕后黑手？马？金色血统?"他问道。他得到的唯一答案就是一颗消音子弹打穿了他的眼睛。我奇迹般地把他的头扭过去，把我的枪装进枪套，小跑出了房间。
Once outside the secure area, I tapped the talisman again. The explosions sounded deep below the building, and another place that could have been a bastion of hope and civility went dark. Using my light amplification goggles, I loaded up on more Rad-X, RadAway, healing potions, and rations from a storeroom. Then I made my way out. I passed by the maimed doctor and the terrified nurse. Their eyes reflected pain, fear, and confusion.
一旦离开安全区域，我就再次触碰那个护身符。爆炸声在楼下很深的地方响起，另一个本来可能是希望和文明的堡垒的地方变得黑暗。使用我的光放大镜，我从储藏室里装载了更多的辐射x、雷达威、治疗药剂和配给物。然后我走了出去。我从受伤的医生和吓坏了的护士身边走过。他们的眼睛反映出痛苦、恐惧和困惑。
It didn’t matter. One more was dead. That just left one other to take care of. Ignoring the yelling and screaming in that radioactive night, I walked back into the darkness. My mission still wasn’t finished… not yet.
没关系。又死了一个。只剩下一个人要照顾了。在那个放射性的夜晚，我忽略了人们的呼喊和尖叫，重新走回黑暗之中。我的任务还没有完成...还没有。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I woke from that doozy with a sigh. Crazy dreams or something else? Given my current state, I supposed I could flip a coin to find out for sure. Had I been asleep for hours? Minutes? I couldn’t tell anymore. I never imagined that with the loss of my eyes I’d also lose my sense of time. I couldn’t even look at my PipBuck to find out. Well, at least I had my PipBuck back again. Somepony had tied a cloth over my eyes. Better than looking at… well… whatever I had.
我叹了口气，从那个怪异的声音中醒来。疯狂的梦还是别的什么？考虑到我目前的状态，我想我可以抛硬币来确定一下。我是不是睡了几个小时？几分钟？我也说不清了。我从来没有想到，随着我的眼睛的损失，我也会失去我的时间感。我甚至不能看一眼我的PipBuck来找出答案。至少我的PipBuck又回来了。有个小马在我眼睛上系了块布。总比看着...好吧...我拥有的东西好。
My friends were still arguing. No… not arguing. It looked like whatever the plan was, it’d come together. They just didn’t like it.
我的朋友们还在争吵。不...不是争吵。看起来不管计划是什么，总会实现的。他们只是不喜欢。
“I can’t go and leave her like this!” Glory protested.
"我不能就这样离开她!"晨辉抗议道。
“You have to. She’s going to need your help. You know what she’s giving up for this,” Lacunae replied evenly. “Seabiscuit will carry the captain. Tarboots, Oilcan, and Scotch will watch the ship. The sooner you get there the sooner you get back.
"你必须这么做。她需要你的帮助。"你知道她为此放弃了什么,"拉库尼平静地回答。"海洋饼干将载着船长。柏油靴、油罐和苏格兰威士忌将监视这艘船。你越早到那里，就能越早回来。
“Meanwhile, I can teleport P-21 there and back and get the rest of it,” Lacunae pointed out.
"与此同时，我可以把P-21传送到那里，然后再传送回来，把剩下的部分拿回来,"拉库奈指出。
“And I will do everything I can to stomp everypony who wants to keep fighting into glue,” Rampage said. “Brutus called a ceasefire, but the Halfhearts are wiping out what’s left of the Flashers. BJ wouldn’t want us to get her her present but let everything fall apart here. So if somepony is shooting, they get rampaged.” So now she was a verb.
"我会尽我所能，把每一个想要继续战斗的小马踩成胶水,"狂暴说。"布鲁图斯要求停火，但哈夫哈特正在消灭闪电侠的残余。Bj不想让我们给她买礼物，而是让这里的一切都分崩离析。因此，如果有小马遭到枪击，它们就会发飙。"所以现在她成了一个动词。
Lacunae gave a delicate cough.
空隙咳嗽得很轻。
“Except for Paladin Studmuffin, provided he’s still alive,” Rampage added.
"除了圣骑士斯塔德马芬，前提是他还活着。"。
“You really think you can stomp enough?” P-21 asked.
"你真的觉得你踩得够狠吗?"P-21要求。
“Now that I got reason to? You bet,” Rampage said, then adopted a reflective tone. “You know, now that I think of it, I never really was very into the whole Reaper thing. But now that I’ve got something to fight for, I’m actually going to enjoy this. Plus, I’ll be able to sit on Psychoshy. Give her the whole mushroom treatment.”
""现在我有理由这样做了？没错,"狂暴说，然后用一种沉思的语气。"你知道，现在我想起来了，我从来没有真正喜欢过整个收魂者的东西。但是现在我有了为之奋斗的目标，我真的要享受这个过程了。另外，我还可以坐在心理害羞上。给她蘑菇一样的待遇。"
“Mushroom treatment?” Glory frowned.
"蘑菇疗法?"晨辉皱起了眉头。
“You know… feed her lots of shit and keep her in the dark,” Rampage replied.
"你知道......喂她很多大便，让她在黑暗中,"狂暴回答。
“That’s how you get mushrooms? That’s disgusting!” Glory retorted.
"你就是这样得到蘑菇的？太恶心了!"晨辉反驳道。
“Glory…” P-21 muttered.
"晨辉......"P-21咕哝着。
“Right! Right. Who cares about mushrooms right now, right?” Glory sighed. “Let me go tell her…”
"对！对。现在谁还在乎蘑菇呢，对吧?"晨辉叹了口气。"我去告诉她......"
“Glory, there’s no time, and she’s sleeping. Let’s just get there and back again,” P-21 said impatiently. I wondered if that tapping hoof was his.
"晨辉，没有时间了，她在睡觉。我们只要往返就好了,"P-21不耐烦地说。我想知道那蹄子是不是他的。
“Right… Okay. Please keep her safe,” Glory pleaded. “We’ll be as fast as we can.”
"好吧......好吧。请保护她的安全,"晨辉恳求道。"我们会尽快的。"
“We will. We’re tied up to the bridge, so short of it falling on us, we should be safe. You just be careful. It’s a long trot out there,” Oilcan said in a soothing tone.
"我们会的。我们被绑在桥上，如果桥不掉下来，我们就安全了。你要小心点。外面是一条很长的小跑,"奥利坎用一种抚慰人心的语气说。
I heard hooves trotting closer and sighed. “So, is there a plan B?” I asked, and there was a little filly gasp.
我听见蹄声越来越近，叹了口气。"那么，有b计划吗?"我问道，她发出一声小母马般的喘息。
“Oh, you’re awake,” Scotch said softly.
"哦，你醒了,"苏格兰人轻轻地说。
“Nope. I’m talking in my sleep,” I replied, then smiled. “So… what’s the plan?”
"没有。我在说梦话,"我回答，然后笑了。"那么......计划是什么?"
“I… I’m not supposed to tell you.” I tried to move my legs and fold them under my chin, but they were too sore and swollen.
"我.....。.我不应该告诉你。"我试着移动我的双腿，把它们叠在我的下巴下面，但是它们太酸痛和肿胀了。
“Scotch…”
"苏格兰......"
“Please. Glory and everypony made me promise not to tell.”
"求你了。荣誉和每匹小马都让我发誓不说出去。"
“Tell me…”
"告诉我......"
“They said… they said you wouldn’t like it.”
"他们说......他们说你不会喜欢的。"
“Tell me.”
"告诉我。"
“But Miss Glory…”
"但是晨辉小姐......"
“Tell me tell me tell me!” I grinned, and wondered if I was making her smile or freaking her out.
"告诉我，告诉我，告诉我!"我咧嘴一笑，不知道我是在逗她笑还是吓到她了。
“All right! She was talking for hours on your broadcaster thingy. She contacted the pegasi and the professor and that big hospital and even a bunch of ponies in some faraway place. I think... they were after some super healy talisman like they had in medical or something.”
"好吧！她在你的广播节目上说了好几个小时。她联系了飞马座、教授、那家大医院，甚至还联系了远方的一群小马。我认为......他们追求的是一些超级健康的护身符，就像他们在医疗或其他方面拥有的那样。"
Another regeneration talisman? Put it in me, disintegrate me, and let me come back? It had… potential. Of course, knowing my luck, I’d be regenerated like this. Something inside me had been touched by the contamination, and now… now I didn’t know what I was. I didn’t feel like a pony. I didn’t feel like anything that belonged in this world.
又一个重生的护身符？把它放进我体内，分解我，然后让我回来？它有...潜力。当然，知道我的运气，我会再生成这样。我体内的某些东西被污染物触碰过，现在...现在我不知道我是什么了。我不觉得自己像匹小马。我觉得自己不属于这个世界。
I sighed as I settled back. I’d told her she could try anything… I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t deny her that. I just hoped that, once I was dead, my friends could find some way to move on.
我叹了口气，安顿下来。我告诉她，她可以尝试任何事情......我不喜欢这样，但我不能否认这一点。我只是希望，一旦我死了，我的朋友们能找到一些方法继续前进。
“Oilcan gave me a memory orb for you. It’s one of the captain’s. She said it’s a good one,” Scotch said from my side. I waited, then smiled.
"油罐公司给了我一个记忆宝球。这是船长的。她说这个不错,"苏格兰人站在我这边说。我等待着，然后微笑着。
“Scotch, if I can’t see it, then I can’t grab it with my magic. You’re going to have to hold it to my horn.” Then I hesitated. “Or am I really that scary?” Now she hesitated, giving me my answer. I bowed my head. “Sorry.”
"苏格兰威士忌，如果我看不到它，那么我就不能用我的魔法抓住它。你得按着我的喇叭。"然后我犹豫了一下。"还是我真的那么可怕?"现在她犹豫了一下，给了我答案。我低下了头。"对不起。"
“It’s your legs. They’re all black and red and… clumpy.” Scotch swallowed. “Glory said your blood’s getting all goobered up in there… she said we’re probably going to have to… to…” She swallowed again as her voice shook.
"是你的腿。它们都是黑色和红色的，而且......有块状。"苏格兰威士忌。"晨辉说你的血液在里面都凝固了......她说我们可能要......要......"她又咽了一口唾沫，声音颤抖起来。
“Sorry. I’m not supposed to say.”
"对不起。我不应该说的。"
“Thanks, Scotch,” I said softly as I stretched my horn towards her. “Well, Thrush’s memories should be interesting... Just hold it to my horn.”
"谢谢，苏格兰人,"我轻声地说，同时向她伸出我的号角。"嗯，画眉鸟的记忆应该是很有趣的......把它放在我的号角上。"
“Okay…” but again she balked. “Blackjack, are we… bad ponies for what happened in 99?”
"好吧......"但她又一次犹豫了。"黑杰克，我们是不是...因为99年发生的事而不合格?"
I wanted to reach out and touch her… but that’d probably just make things worse. “You’re not, Scotch. You’re just a filly. You’re not responsible for what happened in 99. And neither was your momma. Duct Tape wanted a family. She wanted to end the breeding queue and have an actual life on the surface.”
我想伸出手去触摸她......但那可能只会让事情变得更糟。"你不是，苏格兰人。你只是一匹小母马。你对99年发生的事情没有责任。你妈妈也不是。胶带想要一个家庭。她想结束繁殖队列，在地面上过上真正的生活。"
“Blackjack… is P-21…” she started, and I stretched out my hoof… please let that be a hoof… against her lips.
"黑杰克......是P-21......"她开始说，我伸出我的蹄子......请让那是一只蹄子......抵住她的嘴唇。
“Ask him, Scotch Tape,” I said softly. I had enough trouble without eating those rotten food chips. She sighed and a moment later dropped the memory orb into my hooves.
"问他，苏格兰胶带,"我轻声说。如果不吃那些腐烂的食物碎片，我已经够烦的了。她叹了口气，过了一会儿，记忆之球落到了我的蹄子里。
“I did. He told me to drop it. But… he was Momma’s favorite. I don’t think she ever had another stallion on her queue. And he was over a lot… more than any male.” The Overmare’s bribe, I recalled. “It was like that whole… family thing Momma was going on about.” She sniffed a little. “I wish I knew for sure. Maybe then I’d know why he hates me.”
"是的。他让我别管了。但是......他是妈妈的最爱。我认为她的辫子上再也没有其他种马了。而且他比任何男人都要过分。"海神的贿赂，我回忆道。"就像妈妈一直在说的......家庭的事情。"她轻轻地嗅了一下。"我希望我能确切地知道。也许这样我就知道他为什么恨我了。"
I could scream. She wanted to remember. She was unhappy. But if I told her, then P-21 would be pissed! But if I didn’t, then she would be sad… Arrrgh! Was there any way out of this that didn’t involve me fucking up? “I… let me talk to him. Okay?” Please please please let me die before that conversation came up!
我可以尖叫。她想要记住。她很不开心。但是如果我告诉她，P-21会生气的！但是如果我不这么做，她就会伤心......啊！有没有什么办法可以不让我把事情搞砸？"我.....。.让我跟他谈谈。好吗?"求你了，求你了，让我死在这个话题上吧！
“Just tell me, Blackjack. I’m not a baby!” she insisted.
"告诉我吧，黑杰克。我不是婴儿!"她坚持说。
Right. I already tried that! It ended in tears, recrimination, and loads of Blackjack guilt! “Let me talk to him. Please.”
对。我已经试过了！最后以眼泪，相互指责和大量的黑杰克负罪感收场！"让我和他谈谈。求你了。"
“Uggh. Why does everypony keep treating me like a little filly? I stopped being one when Momma died.” She trotted away, muttering sullenly under her breath, “I wish ponies would stop trying to protect me all the time.”
"呃。为什么每个小马都把我当成小母马？自从妈妈去世后，我就不再是了。"她小跑着离开了，闷闷不乐地低声说,"我希望小马不要一直试图保护我。"
She had a right to know… P-21 had a right to keep his secrets… but it was making her sad… but it would make him mad… but…
她有权知道......P-21有权保守他的秘密......但这让她难过......但这会让他发疯......但是.....。
Memory orb! Now! With luck, I’d wake to some horrible monster raping my ass or find out they went through with plan A after all. I rolled the orb up my hide till I tapped it against my horn and swirled away into memory.
记忆宝球！现在！如果幸运的话，我会在某个可怕的怪物强奸我的屁股后醒来，或者发现他们最终还是执行了a计划。我把圆球向上卷起，直到它碰到我的号角，旋转着消失在记忆中。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
Big earth pony… Red… Stallion... Macintosh! I remembered his slow and careful walk, his restrained power and casual grace. He trotted through the Miramare Air Station with an easy smile and saw it respectfully returned from the ponies stationed there. He walked up to an open door and peeked in on half the Marauders clustered around a table. He might not have been… well… anything like me, really, but I really liked being in his memory. It felt comfortable.
大地球小马...红...种马...麦金托什！我想起了他缓慢而谨慎的步伐，他那克制的力量和随意的优雅。他带着轻松的微笑小跑着穿过米拉马雷空军基地，看着驻扎在那里的小马恭恭敬敬地把它送回来。他走到一扇敞开的门前，窥视着聚集在一张桌子周围的半数掠夺者。他可能不是......嗯......任何像我一样的人，真的，但我真的很喜欢留在他的记忆中。感觉很舒服。
“So, what do I roll to hit, again?” Applesnack asked as he frowned at all the funky shaped dice.
"那么，我要掷什么来着?"苹果包边问边皱着眉头看着那些奇怪的形状的骰子。
The yellow earth pony smiled and pointed at the piece of paper. “Since you’re using a heavy gun built into your suit, it’s your dee eight agility skill plus your dee twelve steam armor skill. But you have one penalty for the train rolling towards the zebra encampment, so you’d drop one of those one die sizes. Unless you want to spend a grit; then you’d negate the penalty--”
黄土地上的小马微笑着指着那张纸。"因为你使用的是装备重型机枪，这是你的敏捷技能加上蒸汽装甲技能十二。但是对于驶向斑马线营地的列车你有一个罚款，所以你会减掉其中一个骰子的尺寸。除非你愿意付出代价，否则你就不会受到惩罚——"
“There has got to be an easier way to kill zebras,” the green stallion groaned as he covered his face.
"肯定有更简单的方法来杀斑马,"这匹绿色的种马捂着脸呻吟着。
Twist grinned across the table at him. “Hey, you were the one who wanted to go after them. I was fine taking the bits, but noooo, Mr. Steam Ranger just has to go blowing them all up.” Applesnack snorted as he frowned back at her.
特威斯特隔着桌子对他咧嘴一笑。"嘿，是你要去追他们的。我可以把它们拿走，但是不行，蒸汽管理员先生必须把它们全部炸掉。"苹果包哼了一声，皱起了眉头。
Jetstream sighed from behind a folded piece of cardboard, shaking her head before looking up at Big Macintosh. “Looking nice, Sarge. What’s the occasion? Got a date with your marefriend?”
Jetstream在一张折叠的硬纸板后面叹了口气，摇了摇头，然后抬头看着大麦金托什机。"看起来不错，中士。这是什么场合？和你的女朋友有个约会?"
“Ayup. Taking her to Billiards,” he said with a nod.
"Ayup.带她去打台球,"他点了点头。
“Nice. Didn’t know you were a pool fan. Thought that was more a unicorn
"很好。我不知道你是个泳池迷。我还以为那是独角兽呢
thing,” Twist said with a smile as she nudged a little pyramid-shaped die with her hoof. In front of her was a weird sheet of paper with a bunch of lines and boxes and numbers and things on it, including a drawing of a buffalo filly in one corner.
特威斯特微笑着说，同时用蹄子推了推一个金字塔形的小死尸。她面前是一张奇怪的纸，上面有很多线条、盒子、数字和其他东西，其中一个角落里还画着一头水牛。
“Well, she likes most anything that takes her mind off work. Guessin’ Twilight’s got her tying her tail in knots out there in Splendid Valley.” He looked towards the door. “So, if that’s what makes her happy, then that’s what I’ll do.” Simple as that.
"嗯，她最喜欢任何能让她不去想工作的事情。《暮光之城》让她在灿烂山谷里打起了结。"他朝门口望去。"所以，如果这能让她开心，那我就这么做。"就这么简单。
“When you see her can you tell her to tell her boss to leave the magic with the M.A.S.? Last thing we need is more megaspells bringing our enemies back to life,” Applesnack snorted. “I don’t know what Fluttershy was thinking.”
"当你见到她的时候，你能告诉她让她的老板把魔术留给m.a.s.吗？我们最不需要的就是更多的巨型细胞让我们的敌人复活,"阿普莱斯纳克嗤之以鼻。"我不知道Fluttershy在想什么。"
“She wants to save people, same as any decent pony should,” Big Macintosh said around the grass stalk between his lips. Applesnack snorted again, bit some of the dice, and tossed them. They clattered across the table and came up ‘1’s.
"她想拯救人们，就像任何体面的小马一样,"大麦金托什绕着嘴唇间的草茎说。苹果奈克又哼了一声，掷了几个骰子，然后扔了出去。他们在桌子对面啪嗒啪嗒地走上来。
“Oooh, botch,” Echo winced. “Roll your luck! Maybe you’ll negate it!” The green stallion made another roll. The whole table sucked in their breath sympathetically. “Oooo… critical fail…” Echo said as the green stallion groaned.
"哦，糟糕,"艾可退缩了。"祝你好运！也许你会否定它!"那匹绿色的种马又滚了一圈。整张桌子都同情地吸进了他们的呼吸。"噢......严重失败......"绿色种马呻吟着，Echo说道。
“Great. Knowing my luck, my armor will turn sentient and crazy, or I’ll end up stuck in this stupid can for the rest of my life. Or both.” The green stallion turned back to Big Macintosh. “Well, you go have fun. I need to find out if I explode or not,” he said as he nudged the dice.
"太好了。知道我的运气，我的盔甲会变得有知觉和疯狂，否则我会在这个愚蠢的罐子里度过我的余生。或者两者都有。"绿色的种马转身回到大麦金托什机。"好吧，你去玩吧。我需要弄清楚我是否会爆炸,"他一边轻推骰子一边说。
The creme-colored, buzz-cut mare chuckled. “Look at it this way. Maybe your gun will explode and kill you and then you’ll come back as a Steam Ranger Revenant! Wouldn’t that be cool?” Twist asked with a grin.
奶油色、寸头的母马咯咯地笑了。"这么看吧。也许你的枪会爆炸，杀死你，然后你会回来作为一个蒸汽流浪者复仇！那不是很酷吗?"特威斯特咧嘴笑着问道。
“Right. ‘Cause that’s just how anypony would want to spend the rest of his life: an undead pony trapped in a hunk of metal.” He snorted as he glowered at the incomprehensible sheet of paper in front of him.
"对。"因为这正是任何一匹小马愿意度过余生的方式:一匹不死的小马被困在一大块金属中。"他用鼻子哼了一声，怒视着面前那张看不懂的纸。
“Hurry up and roll, Snack. Let’s find out what happens to Steelhooves. Then it’s Smiling Jack’s turn,” Jetstream said with a nudge of her blue wing. Echo nodded as he flipped open one of the strange ‘Wasteland’ game books. The pegasus looked up at Big Macintosh as the earth pony began to turn the pages. “Enjoy
"快点滚吧，小吃。让我们看看Steelhooves发生了什么。然后轮到微笑的杰克了,"Jetstream轻推了一下她的蓝色翅膀说。艾可一边点头，一边弹开一本奇怪的《荒原》游戏书籍。飞马看着大麦金托什，地球上的小马开始翻页。"请慢用
your date, Sergeant.” He nodded and walked away, followed by Applesnack’s plaintive cry. Macintosh just chuckled as he headed out the exit.
你的约会，警官。"他点点头，走开了，接着是阿普莱斯纳克哀伤的哭声。当麦金托什走出出口时，他只是轻声笑了笑。
A short subway ride later, he trotted towards the grand plaza surrounded by the six ministry buildings. Shadowbolt Tower loomed above all the rest, rising like a spire into the evening sky. As he approached the front doors, there was a bright purple flash ahead of him, the blue mare in a simple, practical blue dress appearing from it and looking only slightly disheveled. Maripony shook herself briskly, nudged her glasses back into place, then noticed Macintosh. At once, she smiled and ran to him. “Macintosh!” She held him close and nuzzled his neck. “Am I glad to see you! You wouldn’t believe what a day I’ve had!” she groaned and covered her face with her hoof. “The entire ministry is crazy!”
坐了一小段地铁后，他小跑着来到被六座政府大楼包围的大广场。影螺塔耸立在所有其他建筑之上，像一座尖塔一样耸立在夜空中。当他走近前门时，一道亮紫色的闪光在他前面闪过，那匹蓝色的母马穿着一件简单实用的蓝色连衣裙，从中显现出来，看上去只是略显凌乱。马里波尼轻快地摇了摇自己，把眼镜推回原位，然后注意到麦金托什。她立刻笑了笑，向他跑去。"麦金塔!"她紧紧地抱着他，用鼻子蹭着他的脖子。"见到你真高兴！你不会相信我今天过得多么糟糕!"她呻吟着，用蹄子挡住了脸。"整个部门都疯了!"
He chuckled and put his leg around her shoulders, giving her a gentle and careful squeeze. “Well, at least it was nice of Twilight to teleport you all the way out here. Or was that your magic?”
他咯咯地笑了起来，然后用腿抱住她的肩膀，轻轻地、小心地捏了她一下。"好吧，至少《暮光之城》把你传送到这里来是件好事。还是你的魔法?"
Maripony blinked, flushed, and smiled. “Oh yeah. Twilight teleported me here. Told me to have some fun. In fact,” she murred, kissing him softly, “she insisted on it.”
马里波尼眨了眨眼，脸红了，笑了。"哦，是的。暮光之城把我传送到这里。让我找点乐子。"事实上,"她轻轻地吻着他,"她坚持要这么做。"
He flushed politely as he said, “Well, I got some decent fun in mind. You should like it. It involves lots of fancy mathematics.” Then he paused. “If you’re interested in the not so decent kind…” Now it was Maripony’s turn to blush.
他礼貌地冲了一下脸，说:"好吧，我想到了一些不错的乐子。你会喜欢的。它涉及到许多精妙的数学运算。"然后他停顿了一下。"如果你对不那么体面的人感兴趣的话......"现在轮到马里波尼脸红了。
“...We can do that later,” she stammered. Ugh… please let this not turn into another marathon sex orb! I couldn’t take another one of those. Not that sex with Rarity hadn’t been spectacular, but… damn… why was I thinking this? I took in how happy she looked to be with him. I wondered if that was how I looked with Glory.
"......我们可以以后再做,"她结结巴巴地说。呃......请不要让这变成又一个马拉松式的性爱球体！我再也受不了了。不是说和稀世的性爱不够壮观，而是......该死......我为什么会这么想？我看出她和他在一起是多么幸福。我不知道这是不是我和晨辉在一起时的样子。
The whole trip on the subway, Big Macintosh received a case-by-case analysis of just what was wrong with everypony in the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. Maripony complained about Luna’s constant ‘hooves off’ approach to governing, leaving Twilight on her own to figure everything out. She complained about Fluttershy keeping her megaspell research secret until a disastrous ‘field test’ required a battle to be fought twice. She mentioned how Goldenblood should have kept her in the loop. And the meetings. A meeting to plan meetings! Endless talk about projects and programs and spells. “I thought I was going to be
在地铁上的整个旅程中，大麦金托什收到了一份关于奥术科学部每匹小马出了什么问题的个案分析报告。马里波尼抱怨卢娜总是用"马蹄踢走"的方式来治理国家，让《暮光之城》自己去解决一切问题。她抱怨说Fluttershy一直把她的巨型细胞研究保密，直到一次灾难性的'实地测试'需要进行两次战斗。她提到金血王应该让她知情。还有那些会议。计划会议的会议！无休止地谈论项目、计划和咒语。"我以为我会成为
able to create new magic! I thought that I’d be a part of something greater. Instead, my whole day seems to be sitting in meetings so that everypony else can talk around me!”
能够创造新的魔法！我以为我会成为更伟大事业的一部分。相反，我整天似乎都在开会，这样其他人就可以围着我说话了!"
“Well, tell Twilight you want to quit. If it’s not making you happy, find something that does,” he replied quietly. “Simple as that,” he said as the subway train arrived at Horizon station. They rode the escalators up to the street level. Horizon Labs was just a big, dark, glassy block.
"好吧，告诉暮光之城你想退出。如果它不能让你快乐，那就找一些能让你快乐的事情,"他平静地回答。"就这么简单,"当地铁到达地平线站时，他说。他们乘坐自动扶梯上了街道。地平线实验室只是一个巨大的，黑暗的，玻璃般的大块。
Her mouth moved before she dropped her gaze, “It’s… not so simple.” She looked at him. “Do you like fighting? Does it make you happy?” she asked as they trotted towards the bar south of the subway station.
她的嘴动了动，然后放下了目光,"这......没那么简单。"她看着他。"你喜欢打架吗？这让你开心吗?"她问道，他们一路小跑向地铁站南边的酒吧。
“Anope. But my friends need me. Equestria needs me to fight,” he replied casually.
"Anope.但我的朋友们需要我。马术师需要我去战斗,"他漫不经心地回答。
“Well… it’s the same for me,” Maripony replied quietly as she hung her head. “At least, that’s what everypony keeps saying.”
"嗯......对我来说也是一样。"玛丽波尼低下头，平静地回答。"至少，每个小马都这么说。"
“Mari? Is there something you need to tell me?” he asked with a worried look.
"玛丽？你有什么要告诉我的吗?"他愁眉苦脸地问。
The blue unicorn just shook her head. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” Then she smiled at him and pulled herself together. “Let’s just have a great night together. I don’t want to think of ministry business or Twilight Sparkle at all tonight.” He just looked at her, then nodded as they strolled into town. Down in the pool hall, she at once lit up in glee at the game; in short order, she was lining up shots… and then she magically produced a chalkboard and slide rule and started to work out shots while Macintosh just looked on.
蓝色的独角兽只是摇了摇头。"没什么。这没什么。"然后她对他微笑，振作起来。"让我们一起度过一个美好的夜晚吧。我今晚一点也不想去想政府部门的事务或者紫悦。"他只是看着她，然后点点头，他们漫步进城。在台球厅里，她立刻在比赛中兴高采烈;很快，她开始排列镜头......然后她魔术般地拿出黑板和计算尺，开始练习镜头，而麦金塔只是在一旁看着。
Of course, executing her precisely measured shots was another matter entirely, and more often than not she sent the cue ball bouncing away from where she wanted it to go. Macintosh, on the other hand, simply gripped the stick in his mouth, braced it against his hoof, and took the shot. And, much to Maripony’s chagrin, sunk more balls than she did.
当然，执行她精确测量的击球完全是另一回事，更多的时候，她把主球从她想要的地方弹开。另一方面，麦金托什只是简单地抓住他嘴里的棍子，把它支撑在他的蹄子上，然后开了枪。而且，让马里波尼大失所望的是，她比马里波尼丢了更多的球。
“Clearly there’s an element I’m not accounting for,” she muttered as he bought two plates of daffodil and daisy salads with apple slices. He just smiled, and she arched a brow and gave a little smile of her own. “Aren’t you going to tell me what I’m missing?” A small knot of ponies in white uniforms who’d been playing cards at a nearby table were watching the pair, nodding their heads in
"很明显，有一个因素我没有考虑到,"她喃喃自语，因为他买了两盘水仙花和带苹果片的雏菊沙拉。他只是笑了笑，她皱了皱眉头，给了她自己一个微笑。"你不打算告诉我我错过了什么吗?"一小群穿着白色制服的小马正在附近的桌子上打牌，看着他们，点着头
our direction.
我们的方向。
“I figure you’d rather just figure it out yourself. If you need me to tell ya, y’all ask,” he replied as he munched on the clean, fresh food. Oh so delicious…
"我想你宁愿自己想办法。如果你们需要我告诉你们，尽管问吧,"他一边回答，一边咀嚼着干净新鲜的食物。哦，真好吃..。
She looked pleased at his reply. “You know, you’re the only person who’ll do that for me. Everypony else, if they know I need to know something, they’ll trip all over each other trying to give me the answers. They never stop to think maybe I’d like to find the answer out myself.”
听到他的回答，她显得很高兴。"你知道，你是唯一一个愿意为我这么做的人。每个小马，如果他们知道我需要知道一些事情，他们会互相绊倒试图给我答案。他们从来没有停下来想过，也许我想自己找到答案。"
“Twilight too?” he asked, and instantly her mood was blown. “Sorry. I’d put a word in with Applejack, if you’d like her to talk to Twilight about your problems at Pleasant Valley.”
"还有《暮光之城》?"他问道，立刻她的情绪就爆发了。"对不起。如果你想让她和《暮光之城》谈谈你在快乐谷的问题，我可以和苹果白兰地谈谈。"
“No...” she sighed.
"不......"她叹了口气。
“Hey, cutie. Is this Miramare mook giving you trouble?” a unicorn stallion asked as he trotted up with his three buddies. He had an anchor for a cutie mark.
"嘿，小可爱。这个叫米拉马尔的家伙给你添麻烦了吗?"一匹独角兽种马和他的三个伙伴小跑着问道。他有一个可爱的标志。
Maripony looked at Big Macintosh and then back at the four sailors. “Trouble? Not particularly.”
马里波尼看了看大麦金托什，然后又看了看四个水手。"麻烦？没什么特别的。"
“Yeah? Why don’t you come over to our table? I know all kinds of tricks we can teach you involving balls and a shaft,” he chuckled. Oh… I knew somepony about to get his rump rearranged. I could smell the booze on his breath. Not enough to make him weak, but probably enough to make him stupid and dangerous.
"是吗？你为什么不到我们这桌来呢？我知道各种各样的技巧，我们可以教你用球和杆,"他笑着说。我知道有个小马要重新整理它的屁股。我能闻到他呼出的酒气。不足以让他变得软弱，但可能足以让他变得愚蠢和危险。
“You need to go back to your game, sailor,” Big Macintosh said firmly. “Everypony’s having a nice time. Don’t need to spoil it.”
"你得回去玩你的游戏了，水手,"大麦金托什坚定地说。"每匹小马都玩得很开心。不需要破坏它。"
The brown unicorn scowled up at Big Macintosh. “You listen here. You come all the way to our pool hall, the least you can do is let us enjoy the company of your marefriend. And in case you didn’t notice, there’s four of us and only one of you.”
棕色的独角兽在大麦金托什机前皱起了眉头。"你给我听着。你千里迢迢来到我们的台球厅，至少让我们享受一下你妈妈的陪伴吧。如果你没注意到，我们有四个人，而你只有一个。"
“Ayup. So I reckon you best go and round up a few more so it’s a fair fight,” he replied. “You might want to sober up, though. Make sure this is a fight you can handle.”
"Ayup.所以我觉得你最好再去找几个人来，这样才公平。"他回答。"不过，你可能需要清醒一下。确保这是一场你能应付的战斗。"
“We should go,” Maripony said in concern, looking around. The conversation had suddenly generated a lot of interest from the other sailors.
"我们该走了,"马里波尼关切地说，环顾四周。这次谈话突然引起了其他水手的极大兴趣。
“Oh, you think I can’t handle you? You think I can’t handle you?” the unicorn laughed and grinned at Big Macintosh. Big Macintosh tensed his muscles as the unicorn stallion whirled around and smashed his rear hooves into Macintosh’s chest. Macintosh didn’t budge. The unicorn went sprawling on his face.
"哦，你以为我对付不了你吗？你以为我搞不定你吗?"独角兽笑着冲着大麦金托什机咧嘴一笑。大麦金托什绷紧了肌肉，独角兽般的种马旋转着，后蹄撞在麦金托什的胸膛上。麦金托什没有让步。独角兽趴在他的脸上。
“I’ll chalk that up to y’all bein’ drunk,” the red pony said evenly. Eyes glaring, the brown unicorn picked himself up, lifted a chair, and sent it flying at Macintosh. The crimson stallion knocked it away with his hoof. “And that to y’all bein’ stupid. Ya don’t get a third.” He nodded to where the sailors been playing. “Y’all go back to your game, folks. Otherwise, this is gonna get bad.”
"我就当你们都喝醉了,"红马驹平静地说。褐色的独角兽瞪着眼睛，站起身来，举起一把椅子，飞向麦金托什。那匹深红色的种马用蹄子把它踢走了。"对你们所有人来说都是愚蠢的。你没有第三次机会。"他向水手们玩耍的地方点点头。"你们都回去玩你们的游戏吧，伙计们。否则，情况会越来越糟。"
“Oh, It’s going to get bad. It’s gonna get real bad!” The brown unicorn yelled as he lunged, rearing to smack Macintosh in the face. Big Macintosh caught the descending hooves with one limb and then powered his other forehoof straight into the sailor’s gut. The unicorn’s breath whooshed out as he doubled over, wheezing and sputtering, and then became violently ill.
"哦，情况越来越糟了。情况会变得非常糟糕!"那只棕色的独角兽一边冲过去，一边大声叫着，一边站起来打麦金托什的脸。大麦金托什用一只脚抓住正在下降的马蹄，然后用另一只前蹄直接踩在水手的肚子上。独角兽呼出的气息在他翻身的时候呼哧呼哧地响了起来，然后病得很厉害。
“Let’s go, Maripony,” he said as others rose to their hooves.
"走吧，马里波尼,"他说，其他人都站了起来。
“But… I don’t understand? What’s wrong with showing me tricks?” Maripony asked, then frowned. She rubbed her nose, looked at the pool table, then at the sprawling stallion. Suddenly, her eyes popped round and blue behind her glasses. “That… he… was he…?”
"但是......我不明白？给我表演魔术有什么不好?"玛丽波妮问道，然后皱起了眉头。她揉了揉鼻子，看了看台球桌，然后又看了看那匹四肢伸展的种马。突然，她的眼睛睁得圆圆的，在眼镜后面是蓝色的。"那个......他......他......?"
“Ayup. Now, we need to be going,” he said firmly as the pair backed out of the pool hall. It was dark and starting to drizzle. “Let’s hurry up. Some folks don’t have the sense Celestia gave a bag o’ beans.”
"Ayup.现在，我们得走了,"他坚定地说，这时两人退出了台球厅。天黑了，开始下起了毛毛细雨。"我们快点吧。有些人不知道塞勒斯蒂娜送了一袋豆子。"
“But… can’t you just tell them you’re a sergeant and… I dunno… order them to go away?” Maripony asked as they trotted quickly down the street. A glance backwards confirmed that the unicorn and his friends were following.
"但是......你就不能告诉他们你是个中士......我不知道......命令他们离开吗?"当他们快步走过街道时，马里波尼问道。向后看一眼，就知道那只独角兽和他的朋友们在跟踪他。
“There ain’t a rank been invented that could compete with Admiral Drunk and General Ticked Off.” Big Macintosh frowned. “They’ll be right sorry in the morning, but I’m more worried about dealing with them right now.”
"没有一个军衔可以与醉汉海军上将和发飙将军相提并论。"大麦金托什皱起了眉头。"他们明天一早就会后悔的，但我现在更担心的是如何应付他们。"
The pair had nearly reached the subway station when a dozen more sailor
他们俩差点就到了地铁站，这时又来了十几个水手
stallions trotted up the stairs. They took one look at the pair and moved to block the entrance. Maripony and Big Macintosh were forced into the abandoned Horizon Labs parking lot. “I want you to get out of here, Maripony. Don’t worry none about me.”
种马一路小跑上楼。他们看了他们一眼，然后移动去堵住入口。马里波尼和大麦金托什被迫进入废弃的地平线实验室停车场。"我要你离开这里，马里波尼。别为我担心。"
“I’m not going to leave you to a mob!” she cried.
"我不会把你丢给暴徒的!"她哭了。
“Get him!” they shouted.
"抓住他!"他们大叫。
“Sneaky earth pony!” called another.
"鬼鬼祟祟的地球小马!"叫另一个。
“He’s disrespecting the uniform!”
"他不尊重制服!"
“Probably a stripe lover!”
"可能是条纹爱好者!"
“He’s a sergeant! He’s a soldier!” Maripony yelled, but from the fervor of the crowd and the reek of alcohol, they either weren’t hearing her or didn’t care as they surrounded him and knocked her back. The shouting sailors piled on all at once. While he knocked them away at first, even he couldn’t prevent them from piling on. Still, I was amazed that, despite the beating, he really wasn’t all that hurt even as he disappeared under them. Then Maripony let out a yell and all at once Big Macintosh moved.
"他是个中士！他是个军人!"马里波尼喊道，但是由于人群的热情和酒精的臭味，他们要么没有听到她的声音，要么不在乎他们围着他，把她打倒在地。大喊大叫的水手们一下子挤了上来。当他一开始把它们撞开的时候，即使是他也无法阻止它们继续堆积。尽管如此，我还是很惊讶，尽管他被打了，但他并没有那么痛，即使他消失在他们之下。然后马里波尼发出一声叫喊，大麦金托什立刻动了起来。
I’d never felt that kind of strength before as his body lunged and launched half the ponies into the air in rolling arcs. A kick behind him knocked a half dozen flying. Now that powerful frame was all action as he battered the sailor ponies like a force of nature. No. I take that back; there was nothing excessive in his force. For all his strength, he kept his kicks, shoves, and bites controlled and precise. I marveled at the focus and the care he took in preventing severe injury to the sailors.
我以前从来没有感觉到这种力量，因为他的身体突然跳起来，把一半的小马以滚动的弧线抛向空中。他身后的一脚踢飞了六个人。现在，当他像对待自然的力量一样对待那些水手小马时，那个强有力的架子就是所有的动作。没有。我收回刚才的话，他的武力没有过分。尽管力气很大，他还是控制住自己的踢腿、推搡和咬咬。我惊讶于他在防止水手受到严重伤害方面所表现出的专注和小心。
Then the brown unicorn who had started the whole damn thing lunged at him with a drawn knife. There was a purple flash and a shriek as Maripony appeared between his side and that plunging blade. She staggered, glasses falling as a three inch gash appeared in her shoulder, blood spreading along her dress as her purple eyes stared at the injury in shock. “Oh… my… that went differently in my head.”
然后，发动这一切的棕色独角兽拿着一把拔出来的刀子向他扑来。一道紫色的闪光和一声尖叫，马里波尼出现在他的身体和那把刀之间。她摇摇晃晃地走着，眼镜掉了下来，肩膀上出现了一道三英寸长的伤口，当她紫色的眼睛盯着受伤的地方时，血沿着裙子流了下来。"哦......我的......我的想法不一样了。"
Big Macintosh looked at her standing beside him, bleeding, then looked at the stallion holding the floating knife. His body came up and his hooves crashed
大麦金托什看着站在他身边的她，流着血，然后看着那匹手里拿着漂浮着刀的种马。他的身体抬了起来，他的蹄子摔碎了
down. The unicorn was struck with such force that he bounced like a ball filled with crunchy twigs. Then he lay still. “This fight is over,” Macintosh bellowed. “You’ve attacked an officer and injured a civilian.”
向下。独角兽被如此巨大的力量击中，以至于它像一个装满了嘎吱嘎吱的树枝的球一样弹跳起来。然后他静静地躺着。"这场战斗结束了,"麦金托什吼道。"你袭击了一名军官，还打伤了一名平民。"
Now there was muttering as sense began to reassert itself and many of the sailors started to realize the amount of trouble they were in. “You three drag that to the medic,” Mac ordered before turning back to Maripony. “Okay. That’s deep. Take the dress off; we’ll have to use it like a bandage.”
现在，随着感觉开始重新显现，许多水手开始意识到他们遇到了多大的麻烦，他们发出了喃喃自语。"你们三个把那个拖到医务室去,"麦克在返回Maripony之前命令道。"好吧。真深奥。把衣服脱下来，我们得把它当绷带用。"
“Oh no… no no no… you don’t need to do that. I’m fine! It’s just blood… just… a lot of blood…” she stammered as he stared into her eyes.
"哦，不......不不不......你不需要这么做。我没事！只是血......只是......很多血......"他盯着她的眼睛，她结结巴巴地说。
Purple eyes.
紫色的眼睛。
She dropped her gaze, and he slowly lifted the hem of her dress up to expose a purple and pink starburst on her flank. “Twilight?”
她垂下目光，他慢慢地撩起她的裙摆，在她的侧腹露出一道紫色和粉红色的星光。"暮光之城?"
“I… um… I wanted to tell you earlier…” she stammered. He frowned, then looked at the dress. She took it off, folded it over, and pressed it to the injury.
"我.....。.嗯......我想早点告诉你......"她结结巴巴地说。他皱了皱眉，然后看着那件衣服。她把它取下来，把它折起来，贴在伤口上。
“Don’t worry about that now, Ministry Mare,” he replied flatly as he looked around at the sailors. “Can you teleport with that injury? Get yourself to the hospital?”
"现在不用担心这个，魔法部的马,"他一边看着水手们，一边平淡地回答。"带着这样的伤你能瞬移吗？自己去医院?"
“There’s a Quik-Kare back at the corner,” Twilight said softly. “Hopefully they won’t ask too many questions.” Twilight kept her eyes low in shame, her magic holding the makeshift bandage to her wound, as the two walked carefully back.
"街角后面有一辆Quik-Kare,"暮光轻声说。"希望他们不会问太多问题。"暮色使她羞愧地低下了眼睛，两人小心翼翼地走回去时，她用魔法将伤口上临时搭起的绷带固定住。
“So… how’d you magic your appearance? Rarity?” Big Macintosh asked in a low, slightly hurt voice.
"那么......你是怎么把你的外表变成魔术的？稀有?"大麦金托什用一种低沉的、略带伤害的声音问道。
“Yes. She’s developed a surprising number of spells to alter a pony’s coloring and mane. Minor transfiguration magic that… can… ah…” She faltered, her ears drooping as she limped beside him. “I couldn’t get it to change my eye color, so I had to enchant the glasses. And no magic can change a cutie mark, so I had to make sure it was covered.” He didn’t say anything, and she muttered lamely, “Been trying to make a magic decal that would cover it but… ah… it doesn’t quite work right.”
"是的。她已经发展出一系列令人惊讶的法术来改变小马的发色和鬃毛。小小的变形魔法......可以......啊......"她结结巴巴地说，一瘸一拐地走在他身边，耳朵耷拉着。"我不能让它改变我眼睛的颜色，所以我必须给眼镜镶上魔法。没有魔法可以改变一个可爱的标志，所以我必须确保它被覆盖。"他什么也没说，她一瘸一拐地喃喃自语,"我一直想做一个神奇的贴纸盖住它，但是......啊......效果不太好。"
“And you always kept the lights off when we were together in bed. Thought you
"我们在床上的时候，你总是把灯关掉。我就知道
were just being shy,” he murmured.
"我们只是害羞而已,"他喃喃地说。
“I was being shy, Macintosh,” Twilight said with a furious blush on her blue cheeks. “I didn’t… I mean… I didn’t know how… how any of that worked outside of books. The most I knew about a stallion I got from reading the Zebra Sutra. I never… ever… imagined I’d do it, let alone with you.”
"我害羞了，麦金托什,"黄昏说着，蓝色的脸颊上泛起了愤怒的红晕。"我不知道......我是说......我不知道......除了书以外，这些事情是怎么发生的。关于一匹种马，我所知道的最多的就是读《斑马经》。我从来......从来......没有想过我会这么做，更别说和你在一起了。"
“Always wondered where you learned some of those positions…” he murmured as they approached the Quik-Kare 24 hour medical service. “So why the disguise?”
"我一直想知道你是从哪里学到这些姿势的......"当他们走近Quik-Kare24小时医疗服务中心时，他喃喃地说。"那为什么要伪装呢?"
“It was the only way I could get away, Macintosh!” Twilight replied, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “You don’t understand… every minute of my day is scheduled. Meetings, presentations, openings, project reviews… I’m lucky if I can find a few hours to myself! And if I ever go somewhere on my own, everypony who sees me recognizes me. I’m not supposed to go anywhere in Equestria without a dozen O.I.A. security ponies around me at all times. It’s like that for all of us. Rarity and Fluttershy have to clear a spa meeting with fifty ponies just to have an hour off together.”
"麦金托什，这是我唯一能离开的办法!"暮光答道，用恳求的眼神望着他。"你不明白......我每天的每一分钟都被安排好了。会议，演讲，开幕式，项目评估...如果我能找到几个小时给自己，我就很幸运了！如果我独自去某个地方，每个看到我的小马都会认出我。我在Equestria的任何地方都应该有一群o.i.a.的保安小马一直在我身边。我们每个人都是这样。稀有和Fluttershy不得不和五十匹小马一起开完一个小时的温泉会议
“And me?” he said quietly. “Why didn’t you tell me, Twilight?”
"那我呢?"他平静地说。"你为什么不告诉我，《暮光之城》?"
“I… I wanted to…” she said lamely. “I meant to on our first date. A sort of… ‘Surprise! Nice to see you again!’, but we had such a nice time out, and for the first time I… really enjoyed myself. I didn’t feel like I was a Ministry Mare. And you… you were different, too.”
"我.....。.我想......"她一瘸一拐地说。"我们第一次约会的时候我就是这么打算的。一种......"惊喜！很高兴再次见到你但我们度过了一段美好的时光我第一次。.真的很开心。我并不觉得自己是个牧师。而你...你也与众不同。"
“What do you mean?”
"什么意思?"
“Remember when the Marauders helped clear out Splendid Valley? I came up to talk to you. Asked you how you were doing. Would you like to get lunch,” she said as she looked at him, “Do you remember what you said to me?”
"还记得劫掠者帮忙清理辉煌山谷的时候吗？我上来是想和你谈谈。问你最近怎么样。"你想去吃午饭吗?"她看着他说,"你还记得你对我说过什么吗?"
“Said it wasn’t proper for a soldier to be socializing with a Ministry Mare.”
"他说一个士兵和一个魔法部的马交往是不合适的。"
“Exactly. So if I’d told you the truth, would you have kept seeing me? Would you have kept sleeping with me?” she asked pointedly, and his ears folded back as he frowned in worry. Twilight sighed, “Well… I guess that’s all over. Funny… I was looking forward to this date for days.”
"没错。那么如果我告诉你真相，你还会继续和我见面吗？你还会继续和我上床吗?"她尖锐地问道，当他担心地皱起眉头时，他的耳朵向后竖了起来。暮光叹了口气,"嗯......我想一切都结束了。有意思......我期待这次约会好几天了。"
He blinked in surprise as they stepped into the Quik-Kare. The sharp antiseptic smell clashed with the coppery scent rising from the blood. The nurse began, “Welcome to Quik-Kare, for the quickest care anywh– Whoa!” Her eyes popped wide “Oh! Um… this way!” the puce pony said as she gestured for them to come around the counter. “We’ll get some healing potion in you lickety split! What happened?”
当他们走进Quik-Kare时，他惊讶地眨了眨眼睛。刺鼻的防腐剂气味与从血液中升起的铜味发生了冲突。护士开始说:"欢迎来到Quik-Kare，无论如何都是最快的护理——哇!"她的眼睛瞪得大大的！嗯......这边!"那匹深褐色的小马边说边挥手示意他们绕过柜台。"我们马上就能在你身上弄到治疗药水！发生了什么事?"
“Mugging,” Big Macintosh said. “I’ll file a report as soon as we’re done here.”
"抢劫,"大麦金托什说。"这里一结束我就会提交一份报告。"
The nurse got a healing potion, and Twilight drank it as Big Macintosh put a pencil in his mouth and started to write on a clipboard. The silence was palpable, and the nurse kept looking from one to the other. “Um… if you don’t mind, could you please fill that out outside, sir? We normally only allow patients in the back room.” Big Macintosh sighed, held clipboard and pencil in his mouth, and trotted to the waiting room. Ten minutes later, Twilight emerged looking half angry and half confused. The nurse took the paperwork and wished them both well.
护士得到了一种治疗药剂，大麦金托什把一支铅笔放进嘴里，开始在写字板上写字时，《暮光》喝了下去。可以感觉到寂静，护士不停地从一个人看到另一个人。"嗯......如果您不介意的话，请您到外面填一下，先生？我们通常只允许病人进入后面的房间。"大麦金托什叹了口气，嘴里衔着写字板和铅笔，小跑到候诊室。十分钟后，暮光出现了，看上去一半生气，一半困惑。护士拿着文件，祝他们俩一切顺利。
“She thought you’d cut me… with how we were acting and everything,” Twilight said as she turned to face him. “I almost wish you had… then I wouldn’t feel so bad.” She closed her eyes and asked the dreaded question I knew was coming. “So… what now?”
"她认为你会伤害我......因为我们的行为和一切,"暮光之城说，她转过身来面对他。"我几乎希望你有......这样我就不会感觉这么糟糕了。"她闭上眼睛，问了一个我知道即将到来的可怕的问题。"那么......现在怎么办?"
“Nothing. You go back to the ministry. I go back to base. That’s that, Twilight.”
"没什么。你回到牧师那里。我回到基地。就是这样，《暮光之城》。"
She looked as if she’d been stabbed again. “Oh.”
她看起来好像又被人捅了一刀。"哦。"
“I meant what I said ‘bout it being improper. You’re a leader of Equestria and I’m just a common grunt sluggin’ things out in the trenches. If folks know we’re together, then neither of us will be able to do our jobs. I can’t be datin’ the number three most powerful mare in Equestria. You can’t be socializing with a dirt pounder like me.”
""我的意思是，我认为这是不合适的。你是Equestria的领导，而我只是战壕里普通的士兵。如果人们知道我们在一起，那么我们两个就都不能工作了。我不能和Equestria最强壮的三号母马约会。你不能和我这样的垃圾人交往。"
“But…” she began.
"但是......"她开始说。
“No. No buts. And I have to admit that I’m mighty hurt this was how I found out. I never would have thought it of you. Rarity perhaps, but not you,” he said firmly as he looked down at her. “Now, if you feel up to it, you best get yourself back before they worry about you. And I need to make sure that that brown jerk is peeling potatoes till his horn falls off.”
"没有。没有但是。我不得不承认我很伤心，我就是这样发现的。我从来没有想到过你。也许是稀有，但你不是,"他低头看着她，坚定地说。"现在，如果你觉得自己能胜任，你最好在他们担心你之前回去。我还要确保那个棕色皮肤的混蛋正在削土豆皮，直到他的角掉下来。"
Twilight crumpled a little more as he turned away. “Well… then… I’m sorry. Goodbye.”
当他转过身去的时候，暮色又皱了一下。"好吧......那么......对不起。再见。"
Her flash coincided with the rumble in the clouds overhead. He got three steps before the hard Hoofington rain began to fall and six before his rump hit the ground and he turned his face to the sky, hot tears mixing with cold rain as he showed his own broken heart.
她的闪光与头顶云层的隆隆声同时出现。他走了三步之后，猛烈的胡芬顿雨开始下起来，六步之后，他的臀部撞上了地面，他把脸转向天空，热泪与冷雨交织在一起，显示出他自己破碎的心。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
The memory orb ended with me once more in darkness. I stared into eternity as I listened to the gurgle of water around the ship and felt the steady rolling. I let the orb rest on my chest. I could see Big Macintosh in that rain, feeling his heart ripped out as he tried his best to keep up his stoic and calm demeanor. He’d said what he had to drive her away and protect her, I was sure of it. Suffering for the one you love, because caring hurt no matter how you sliced it.
记忆之球又一次在黑暗中随我而结束。我凝视着永恒，聆听着轮船周围水流的汩汩声，感受着船稳定地摇晃着。我让球体停在我的胸膛上。我可以看到大麦金托什在雨中，感觉他的心被撕裂了，因为他尽力保持他的坚忍和冷静的风度。他说过他要把她赶走并保护她，我确信这一点。为你所爱的人承受痛苦，因为关心伤害了你，不管你怎么切它。
But then, so did bullets.
但是，子弹也是如此。
The gunfire outside was sharp and light. Low power carbines and varmint hunting rifles, but there were a couple of them. I heard the pop of a hunting rifle and the boom of a familiar heavy automatic pistol. The rifle fire increased. We were under attack, and I couldn’t do anything.
外面的枪声尖锐而轻微。低功率卡宾枪和恶棍猎枪，不过还是有几把的。我听到了狩猎步枪的砰砰声和熟悉的重型自动手枪的隆隆声。步枪的火力增强了。我们受到了攻击，我什么也做不了。
“Scotch?” I called out as I rolled out of the cot. I didn’t have a gun, barding, or any equipment. My legs folded beneath me, and it was all I could do to crawl forward… whichever direction that was. “Scotch? Where are you?” Somepony yelled in agony up on deck, and the hunting rifle went silent.
"苏格兰威士忌?"我从小床里滚出来的时候喊道。我没有枪，也没有武器。我的双腿交叉在身体下面，我所能做的就是向前爬行......不管是哪个方向。"苏格兰威士忌？你在哪里?"一匹小马在甲板上痛苦地大叫，猎枪也沉默了。
And then I heard the panicked breaths of Scotch Tape staggering in along with the sounds of somepony dragging their hooves in the door before collapsing hard to the deck. “No… no no… Mister Tarboots.”
然后我听到了透明胶带的恐慌呼吸声，伴随着一匹小马拖着蹄子进门的声音蹒跚而来，然后重重地跌倒在甲板上。"不......不......塔布茨先生。"
“Scotch? Scotch, what’s happening?” I asked as I felt around. Then I felt the hot blood rapidly cooling on the wooden deck.
"苏格兰威士忌？苏格兰威士忌，怎么了?"我边走边问。然后我感到木甲板上的热血迅速冷却下来。
“The others are late. And… and there’s ponies. Like four or five ponies. They shot Oilcan and… and now Tarboots. He’s… he’s got a hole in his head…” And from the sound of the hooves on deck, they were coming right here. “Oh… they’re coming… they’re coming.” Her terror ratcheted her voice higher and
"其他人都迟到了。还有...还有小马。比如四五匹小马。他们射杀了油罐和...现在又射杀了Tarboots。他......他的头上有个洞......"从甲板上的蹄声来看，他们正朝这里来。"哦......他们来了......他们来了。"她的恐惧使她的声音越来越高
higher.
更高的。
“Okay. Scotch. I want you to give me my pistol and point my head towards the hatch. Then I want you to find the hatch to the bilge. Get down there and no matter what you do, don’t make a sound. Do you understand?” She panted, and I smacked her. “Understand?”
"好吧。威士忌。我要你把我的手枪给我，把我的头指向舱口。然后我要你找到舱底的舱门。下去，不管你做什么，不要发出声音。你明白吗?"她喘着气，我打了她一巴掌。"明白吗?"
“Y…yes… but what about…”
"y..是的...但是..."
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve had ships fall on me. What are they going to do? But you need to hide. You need to stay quiet, no matter what. Can you do that?” They were almost to the hatch.
"别为我担心。我曾经被船砸过。他们会怎么做？但你需要躲起来。不管发生什么，你都要保持安静。你能做到吗?"他们快到舱口了。
“Y..yes…” she replied. I felt the mouthgrip on my lips and bit down. Then she turned my head. “There. That’s… that’s the door.” I patted her once and pushed her away, then sent a bullet towards the hatch as I sat there, a lump of flesh who could barely move. There was cursing and shouting and bullets were fired in towards me. I couldn’t risk moving. With the creaking sounds the boat made in the river, I couldn’t tell if it was them coming or not. I just used my best guess, firing single shots with enough space for Scotch to get herself hidden.
"y."是的..."她回答。我感觉到它紧紧地咬住我的嘴唇，咬了下去。然后她转过我的头。"那儿。那是...那是门。"我轻拍了她一下，把她推开，坐在那里的时候，我朝舱口开了一枪，那块肉几乎动弹不得。他们骂骂咧咧，朝我开了几枪。我不能冒险搬家。船在河里发出吱吱嘎嘎的声音，我不知道是不是他们来了。我只是用了我最好的猜测，在足够的空间发射单发子弹让苏格兰人躲起来。
I managed about two minutes before the gun fired on an empty chamber and I sighed and spat the gun out. A moment later, I heard a stallion say, “She’s out.” Yup. I’m out, genius. I just kept sitting there; what else could I do?
我勉强撑了大约两分钟，然后枪就对着一个空房间开火了，我叹了口气，把枪吐了出来。过了一会儿，我听到一匹种马说:"她出局了。"是的。我退出了，天才。我只是坐在那里，我还能做什么呢？
“Afternoon. If you’ve come to steal the ship, well, I’m afraid the captain won’t like that much. And she’s the only one who can make it work,” I said. Who knows; maybe I’d chanced upon practical bandits who were in a charitable mood and highly gullible.
"下午好。如果你是来偷船的，恐怕船长不会喜欢。而且她是唯一一个可以做到的人,"我说。谁知道呢;也许我碰巧遇到了一些实际的强盗，他们心地善良，极易受骗。
“Holy shit, is that… that’s the Security Mare?” one said with a gleeful giggle. It was a familiar voice. As I remembered, he’d been screaming for me not to kill him the last time I’d heard it. “Well, we come back to Fallen Arch, and not only do we find a nice old boat but my family’s murderer too!”
"天啊，那是...那是安全母马吗?"一个兴高采烈地笑着说。这是一个熟悉的声音。我记得，最后一次听到他的声音时，他一直在叫我不要杀他。"嗯，我们回到了堕落拱门，不仅发现了一艘漂亮的旧船，还发现了杀害我家人的凶手!"
“Seriously? That the bitch that killed Sidewinder?” another drawled.
"真的吗？就是那个杀死响尾蛇的婊子?"另一个慢吞吞地说。
“Technically, Deus killed him,” I said, but these ponies weren’t interested in technicalities. The realization of who I was spread rapidly.
"严格来说，是上帝杀了他,"我说，但这些小马对技术细节不感兴趣。对我是谁的认识迅速传播开来。
“She killed my brudders…”
"她杀了我的兄弟......"
“Ransacked our home...”
"洗劫了我们的家..."
“Took our property…”
"拿走了我们的财产......"
“She’s the mare what nicked me in the museum!” one shouted.
"就是她在博物馆里偷走了我!"其中一个喊道。
Oh, this was going to suck…
本来会很糟糕的。
“You’re fucking dead,” a stallion growled as he pushed a barrel against my blindfold.
"你他妈的死定了,"一匹种马用木桶顶着我的眼罩咆哮道。
I swallowed. I couldn’t let this be quick. Once I was dead, they’d rifle the ship.
我咽了口唾沫。我不能让事情这么快结束。一旦我死了，他们就会搜查这艘船。
It would have to be slow…
必须要慢慢来..。
I grinned as wide as I could. “Thanks for doing me the fucking favor, jackass.
我咧开嘴尽可能地笑着。"谢谢你他妈的帮我忙，混蛋。
Go ahead. Put me out of my misery!” I yelled as I twisted my head.
继续。让我从痛苦中解脱吧!"我扭着头喊道。
Their shouts dropped to a dreadful silence broken by low chuckles. The gun was pulled away. “No… you don’t get any favors from us, Security.” And it smashed against my face.
他们的叫喊声变成了可怕的寂静，中间夹杂着低沉的笑声。枪被拔了出来。"不...我们不会帮你的，保安。"它砸在我的脸上。
The fun began.
有趣的事情开始了。
I tried to put up a fight. I did. My legs might have been useless, but I could still swing them around, and my mouth worked just fine. They grabbed my flopping legs and hauled me face down over a crate. “Let’s stop her flopping around once and for all!” one cheered, and the others laughed as they pinned down my leg. Then I felt a sharp stab. “Pin her down, Nails.” Wait… what?
我试图反抗。是的。我的腿可能已经没用了，但是我仍然可以摆动它们，而且我的嘴还能正常工作。他们抓住我耷拉着的腿，把我的脸从一个板条箱上拉了下来。"让我们一劳永逸地阻止她到处乱蹦吧!"一个人欢呼，其他人都笑了，因为他们压住了我的腿。这时我感到一阵剧烈的刺痛。"钉住她，钉子。"等等...什么？
I didn’t scream. Not at the spike of pain that went up my foreleg as the hammer struck the head again and again. Nor did I scream at the second, higher up. No, it wasn’t until the third one, just below where my elbow had been, that I cried out, to their laughter. I called them every variant of ‘fuckers’ I could as my other foreleg was nailed to the floor too. No matter how I tugged, they weren’t coming free. Not without leaving my legs behind. My rear legs were hauled apart, and one… two… three… they were nailed to the floor as well.
我没有尖叫。当锤子一次又一次地敲击我的头时，我的前腿疼痛不已。我也没有在第二个更高的地方尖叫。不，直到第三个，就在我肘部以下的地方，我才在他们的笑声中大叫起来。当我的另一条前腿也被钉在地板上的时候，我把它们叫做各种各样的'笨蛋'。不管我怎么拉，它们都不会自由。除非把我的腿留下。我的后腿被拉开，一...二...三...它们也被钉在地板上。
I squirmed and jerked; I couldn’t help it. Every move hurt, which kept me moving. “How’s it feel, cunt? You took everything from me.” That was the one from Fallen Arch… I was getting better at picking out their voices.
我局促不安，情不自禁。每一个动作都让我感到疼痛，让我不断前进。"感觉怎么样，婊子？你夺走了我的一切。"那是《堕落拱门》里的那个......我越来越擅长分辨他们的声音了。
I was barely able to spit out, “I left you your life.”
我几乎不能吐出"我离开了你的生活。"
“Yeah. Well, let me pay you back for the favor,” he replied. Then my tail was lifted and I felt a tongue. I couldn’t help myself, I started to shake. I knew what was coming. I knew damned well. Hell, I was inviting it… any indignity, pain, or humiliation.
"是的。"好吧，我来还你这个人情吧,"他回答。然后我的尾巴被抬起来，我感觉到一条舌头。我控制不住自己，开始发抖。我知道会发生什么。我非常清楚。见鬼，我是在邀请它...任何侮辱、痛苦或羞辱。
Just keep focused on me.
把注意力集中在我身上。
It didn’t hurt like the nails. Those had hurt more, certainly. No, as it was pushed into me, I cried out… much to their delight. And as they got going, my own biology betrayed me, easing the violation. I hated it, but so long as I didn’t hear Scotch cry out as well, I could endure. I had to. And so I let them fill me however they wanted. And they laughed and called me a slut, as if words could hurt me now. Go ahead, I thought. Take another ride. Shoot another load. I can take it.
不像指甲那么疼。当然，这些伤害更大。不，当它被塞进我身体的时候，我叫了出来......这让他们很高兴。当他们开始的时候，我自己的生理机能背叛了我，缓解了这种冲突。我讨厌它，但只要我没有听到苏格兰威士忌的叫声，我就能忍受。我必须这么做。所以我让他们随心所欲地满足我。他们大笑着说我是个荡妇，好像现在言语可以伤害我似的。去吧，我想。再坐一次。再开一枪。我能承受。
I couldn’t do anything… But I could take it.
我什么也做不了......但我可以接受。
Again.
再来一次。
And again.
再来一次。
And again.
再来一次。
But eventually, even violation gets boring. And then a stallion said from nearby, “Finish her up. I’m going to see if there’s anything else worthwhile in here…”
但是最终，甚至违反都会变得无聊。然后一匹种马从附近说:"干掉她。我去看看这里还有没有其他值钱的东西......"
The fuck you are. I bit hard on what was trying to choke me, making him cry and pull out. Then I jabbed my horn into the side of the one who’d just spoken.
去你妈的。我紧紧咬住要掐住我脖子的东西，把他弄哭了，然后拔了出来。然后我把喇叭猛地插进刚才说话的那个人的身体里。
I blew out his guts all over me with a magic bullet.
我用一颗神奇的子弹把他的肠子都打出来了。
Fun time was over.
欢乐时光结束了。
“Cunt! Bitch! Whore!” Pretty unoriginal, but they were upset as they stomped
"婊子！贱人！婊子!"非常没有创意，但是他们跺脚的时候很沮丧
me. I fired again and again until one of them got a hoof around my neck. I struggled. “Do it! Do it!” they began to cheer.
我。我一次又一次地开枪，直到他们中的一个用蹄子勒住了我的脖子。我挣扎着。"动手吧！动手吧!"他们开始欢呼。
I felt a sharp metal edge press against the base of my horn.
我感到一个尖锐的金属边压在我的喇叭底部。
One blow of the hammer and I screamed like I never had before.
只要锤子一敲，我就尖叫起来，这是我以前从未有过的。
Two blows and I felt blood trickle down my face.
打了两下，我感到鲜血顺着我的脸往下流。
With the third, there was a resounding crack, and I felt a snap within my head like a rubber band breaking. And I wailed like a foal. The pain of the nails was nothing… nothing at all… compared to this. An integral part of myself had been torn away. Finally, I went limp, my body glazed in at least three kinds of bodily fluid as I lay there over the crate. “Enough… fucking end this bitch.” My face must have been masked in blood. Wherever Roses was… I apologized to her.
第三次，有一个响亮的裂缝，我感觉脑袋里有一个像橡皮筋断裂的声音。我像小马驹一样嚎啕大哭。和这个相比，指甲的疼痛根本不算什么...根本不算什么。我身上不可分割的一部分被撕裂了。最后，我一瘸一拐地躺在板条箱上，至少有三种体液浸润着我的身体。"够了...干掉这个婊子"我的脸一定被鲜血遮住了。不管Roses在哪儿......我都向她道歉。
“Come on… I can take… a little more…” I whispered hoarsely, spitting out more than just saliva as I lay there. Just a little longer. Just a little more…
"来吧......我可以......再吃一点......"我用嘶哑的声音低声说，躺在那里吐出的不仅仅是口水。再等一会儿。再来一点..。
…a little more…
再多一点。
Then I felt a sharp and strangely cold pain erupt in my side. Everything seemed to be oozing out of me. What, didn’t I have enough holes? “She’s done. Now toss the ship.”
然后我感到身体的一侧突然出现了一种异常寒冷的疼痛。一切似乎都从我身上渗出来。怎么，我的洞还不够多吗？"她完蛋了。现在把船扔过来。"
“Toss this, motherfuckers,” P-21 said. Then there was a dull thud and the most curious sensation… I couldn’t move at all. “Stun grenade, courtesy of the sand dogs.” Every bit of me was limp and growing colder and colder. “No… no no no…” he muttered softly before he summarized my state nicely with a tell, “Oh, shit! Lacunae! Lacunae, get in here now! She’s been stabbed!”
"把这个扔了，混蛋,"P-21说。然后传来一声沉闷的撞击声和最奇怪的感觉......我完全动弹不得。"电击手榴弹，沙漠犬的礼物。"我浑身软弱无力，越来越冷。"不，不，不，不......"他轻声咕哝着，然后很好地总结了我的状态,"哦，该死！空白！拉库奈，快进来！她被刺伤了!"
…a little more… I just had to hang on a little more…
我得再坚持一下。
There was a faint pop and a presence beside me. “Oh… Blackjack…” was all she said, and her horn touched my side. The warmth of her healing brought home the pain, but the pain reminded me I was alive. It let me hang in there… “You fuckers! You beasts! You… you touched her! I’m going to cut off every piece of you that you put inside her! I’m going to nail your fucking legs to a rock and see how well you can swim, you motherfuckers!” P-21 screamed, and I
有一声微弱的爆裂声，还有一个人出现在我身边。"哦......黑杰克......"她只说了这么一句，她的号角碰到了我的身体。她的温暖的治疗带回家的痛苦，但痛苦提醒我，我还活着。它让我坚持了下来......"你们这些混蛋！你们这些畜生！你...你碰了她！我要把你放进她体内的每一块都切下来！我要把你们的腿钉在石头上，看你们游得有多好，你们这些混蛋!"P-21战斗机尖叫起来
heard a dull thump over and over again. My mouth worked slowly as I fought to speak… but it was hard. I was so tired. So sore…
一遍又一遍地听到沉闷的撞击声。我努力想说话，但是嘴巴动得很慢......但是很硬。我太累了。疼死了。
“Shh… lie… lie still…” Lacunae stammered in my mind. “I… I will try and find your horn. Perhaps it can be reattached…”
"嘘...躺着...躺着别动..."空隙在我的脑海里结结巴巴地说。"我.....。.我会试着找到你的号角。也许它可以重新接上......"
“Don’t…” I rasped softly. I felt her ear on my lips.
"不要......"我轻声地说。我感到她的耳朵贴在我的嘴唇上。
“Don’t? Don’t worry. We won’t let them get away with this,” Lacunae swore.
"不要吗？别担心。我们不会让他们逍遥法外的。"。
“No.” I coughed softly. “Don’t… kill… them…”
"没有。"我轻轻地咳嗽。"不要...杀...他们..."
Lacunae didn’t move an inch as P-21 continued to rave and stomp my prone attackers. “I don’t understand…”
当P-21继续咆哮，猛踩我俯卧的攻击者时，拉古纳一动不动。"我不明白......"
“Let them… go…” I said softly.
"让他们......走......"我轻声说。
Lacunae was so startled she spoke aloud. “Let… let them go?!”
空隙吓了一跳，大声说了出来。"让...让他们走?!"
P-21 finished his stomping. “Let them what?!”
P-21完成了他的跺脚。"让他们怎么样?!"
I concentrated on breathing; it was all I could do. My attackers simply groaned. “Killing them… won’t… make things… better.”
我全神贯注地呼吸，这是我所能做的一切。攻击我的人只是呻吟着。"杀了他们......不会......让事情......变得更好。"
“Blackjack… look at you! Look at what they did!”
"黑杰克...看看你！看看他们做了什么!"
“I know… but I forgive them…” I rasped softly. “I… hurt them too… I… understand now…”
"我知道......但我原谅他们......"我轻声地说。"我.....。.也伤害他们...我..。.现在明白了吧..."
“They aren’t worth your forgiveness!” P-21 erupted. “They’re raping, murdering meat! They’re scum! They’re filth! They need to be wiped out! They need to be killed as slowly as they… they hurt you! How can you spare them?! They killed Tarboots! They almost killed Oilcan. They were going to kill you. And Scotch…” He paused. “Where is she?” he asked in a rush.
"他们不值得你的原谅!"P-21爆发。"他们在强奸，杀人犯！他们是人渣！他们是垃圾！他们需要被消灭！他们需要被慢慢地杀死，就像他们...他们伤害了你！你怎么能放过他们?！他们杀了Tarboots！他们差点杀了油罐公司。他们要杀了你。还有苏格兰威士忌......"他顿了顿。"她在哪儿?"他急忙问道。
I coughed. “Safe… below. Don’t let… let her see… still a kid… no matter… what… she says…” I said with each heavy breath. “P-21… I’m… dying. Please. Let them go… for me…”
我咳嗽了一下。"安全......在下面。不要让......让她看......还是个孩子......不管......怎样......她说......"我深深地吸了一口气。"P-21...我...快死了。求你了。让他们走......为了我......"
“Why…” one of my attackers rasped. “He’s right. We are scum… and… I don’t
"为什么......"一个袭击我的人粗声粗气地说。"他说得对。我们是人渣...而且...我不是
want to die… but… why?”
想死...但是...为什么?"
“A yellow… pony… once said… do… better. And I… don’t want… my friends… to… kill.” I breathed slowly a moment. “If you’re… dead… you can’t… do better…”
"一匹黄色的......小马......曾经说过......做得......更好。我。.不想...我的朋友...去...杀人"我缓缓地呼吸了片刻。"如果你......死了......你不能......做得更好......"
“You’re crazy…” another of my attackers murmured. “How do you know we won’t just do this again?”
"你疯了......"另一个袭击我的人低声说。"你怎么知道我们不会再来一次?"
“I don’t,” I admitted. I could hear P-21 grinding his teeth in frustration. “Just… do better… please… just… do better…” I begged. I couldn’t give back to them what I’d taken… but I could give them two things… a second chance and my forgiveness. I was probably dead soon anyway.
"我不知道,"我承认。我能听到P-21在沮丧中磨牙的声音。"只要......做得更好......拜托......只要......做得更好......"我恳求道。我不能把我拿走的东西还给他们......但我可以给他们两样东西......第二次机会和我的原谅。反正我可能很快就要死了。
I heard the sound of Lacunae dragging them out. “I will… remove them, per your wishes.”
我听到拉库奈把他们拖出来的声音。"我会......按照你的意愿，把它们拿走。"
I saved four more. They might have been scum, completely and totally. They might have been better off dead, and maybe they would do this again. Maybe I’d made a horrible mistake.
我又救了四个。他们可能是彻头彻尾的败类。他们死了可能会更好，也许他们还会这么做。也许我犯了个大错。
But they at least had a chance to do better…
但他们至少有机会做得更好..。
After that there was the problem of removing my legs from the floor. With them gone, Lacunae tried prying the nails out, but they’d been hammered deep and the feeling of them being withdrawn nearly stopped my heart. Oilcan was injured but would recover. Unfortunately, there was no recovering from a case of death. There was only one thing to do.
在那之后，我又遇到了把腿从地板上移开的问题。随着钉子不见了，拉库尼试图把钉子撬出来，但钉子已经钉得很深了，钉子被拔出来的感觉几乎让我的心脏停止跳动。油罐受了伤，但会恢复过来。不幸的是，没有从死亡的情况下恢复过来。只有一件事可以做。
“Get some rope… and make sure that knife is sharp,” I said quietly.
"拿些绳子......确保那把刀是锋利的,"我平静地说。
Four tourniquets and some sawing later and I was free. Lacunae set me in the bunk. My whole body wouldn’t stop shaking. I thought that my heart would stop at any second as I shivered but couldn’t seem to warm. I felt filthy, like some kind of biological discharge.
四次止血带和一些锯之后，我就自由了。空隙把我安置在床铺上。我的整个身体都在颤抖。我以为我的心脏随时会停止，因为我颤抖，但似乎不能温暖。我觉得自己脏兮兮的，就像某种生物排泄物。
But I’d saved Scotch and four others.
但我保存了苏格兰威士忌和其他四种。
For that… I could endure.
为此...我可以忍受。
* * *
* * *
Needless to say, when Glory arrived with the captain and Seabiscuit, the shit hit the fan again. There was a whole new round of ‘what?!’, ‘I’m sorry’, and Thrush telling me how stupid I was for sparing Tarboots’s killers. Fortunately, by then Lacunae and Scotch had washed most of the fluids off me and wrapped me up in a blanket. I’d lost four limbs and Celestia only knew where my horn had gone. Lacunae had healed the gash in my brow and regrown my horn, but it still felt like a useless stub like the rest of my extremities. The Hydra had done nothing for me; I think I was at the point where my body just couldn’t heal anymore.
不用说，当晨辉和船长还有海洋饼干一起到来的时候，麻烦又来了。又是一轮"什么?!""对不起"，画眉告诉我，我是多么愚蠢，竟然放过了杀死Tarboots的凶手。幸运的是，那时候拉库尼和苏格兰威士忌已经洗掉了我身上的大部分液体，用毯子把我裹了起来。我失去了四肢，塞莱斯蒂亚只知道我的号角去了哪里。裂口已经治愈了我额头上的伤口，也重新长出了角，但我还是觉得它和我其他的四肢一样，只是一段无用的残肢。九头蛇并没有为我做任何事情;我想我已经到了身体无法愈合的地步。
It didn’t matter. I just focused on breathing. Scotch had nestled the Fluttershy figurine where my left front leg met my shoulder and let me feel her smooth, pink mane on my feverish cheek. Apparently there were quite a few ponies coming and going all at once. A little bit later, there was talking on deck. Then we cast off again. The motor purred and the water jet talisman whooshed. Octavia played her music on my PipBuck. I felt limbs I didn’t have any more wanting to move and join in the notes.
没关系。我只专注于呼吸。苏格兰人依偎在我的左前腿碰到我的肩膀的地方，让我感觉到她光滑的，粉红色的鬃毛在我发热的脸颊上。显然有好几匹小马一下子跑来跑去。过了一会儿，甲板上有人在聊天。然后我们又出发了。马达发出咕噜咕噜的声音，喷水的护身符飞快地响了起来。奥克塔维亚用我的PipBuck播放她的音乐。我觉得我的四肢已经没有任何想要移动和加入音符的欲望了。
Scotch hadn’t said a word since she’d emerged from the hold. She just waited nearby. If I was thirsty, she provided a sip of Sparkle-Cola. I was sick, tainted, and dismembered, but I worried more about her. “Hey, Scotch. What do you call a mare with no legs who’s in security? Baton.”
苏格兰人从货舱里出来后一句话也没说。她就在附近等着。如果我渴了，她会给我一小口可乐。我生病了，被污染了，被肢解了，但是我更担心她。"嘿，苏格兰威士忌。你怎么称呼一匹没有腿的安全母马？接力棒。"
She began crying. I sighed… “Scotch… that was a joke. You’re supposed to be laughing.”
她开始哭泣。我叹了口气......"苏格兰威士忌......开个玩笑。你应该笑才对。"
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
"对不起,"她喃喃地说。
“For what?” Her silence told me exactly what ‘what’ was. “Look, we were screwed, Scotch. The only way we were going to live was to stall. And, honestly, you got a whole, intact, healthy body. Maybe your head’s been fiddled with a little, but you’re going to have a long life ahead of you. I’m not. If there’s anypony who’s supposed to be put through the meat grinder, it should be me. That’s just simple facts.”
"为什么?"她的沉默告诉我到底什么是什么。"听着，我们完蛋了，苏格兰人。我们活下去的唯一办法就是拖延时间。而且，老实说，你有一个完整的，完整的，健康的身体。也许你的头脑有点混乱，但是你还有很长的路要走。我没有。如果有人要被绞死的话，那个人应该是我。这只是简单的事实。"
“You were screaming. They were doing… things to you. Weren’t they?” she muttered softly, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
"你在尖叫。他们对你做了...一些事。不是吗?"她轻声地喃喃自语,"对不起，我对你大喊大叫。"
“Let me tell you a secret. Come here.” I heard her move closer and nudge the
"让我告诉你一个秘密。过来。"我听到她走近了一点，轻推了一下
cot. “No no, closer,” I whispered. I felt her breath on my lips. Then I stuck my tongue out and nailed her ear perfectly.
帆布床。"不，不，靠近点,"我低声说。我感觉到她的呼吸在我的唇上。然后我伸出舌头，把她的耳朵钉得恰到好处。
She jumped away and fell over something from the clatter, “Ewww! Blackjack!” I chuckled… because I had to. Because if we all started crying now there’d be nothing left. “You’re so weird.”
她跳开了，从哗啦声中跌倒在什么东西上面,"呸！黑杰克!"我笑了......因为我不得不这么做。因为如果我们现在都开始哭，就什么都没有了。"你真奇怪。"
“I’m dying. I’m allowed to be weird,” I said softly.
"我要死了。我可以变得古怪,"我轻声说。
“You’re not going to die,” Scotch replied. “Nopony as boring as her can be wrong.”
"你不会死的,"苏格兰人回答。"像她这么无聊的小马可能是错的。"
“I assume you’re talking about me,” Glory said as she trotted closer. “Blackjack… I’m so…”
"我想你是在说我吧,"格洛里边走边说。"黑杰克......我太......"
“If you say sorry one more time I will soil myself right here and now. And it will be nasty. I mean it! Poop so nasty it’ll sing and tap dance,” I threatened as I turned towards the sound of her voice.
"如果你再说一次对不起，我现在就把自己弄脏。而且会很恶心。我是认真的！大便如此肮脏，它会唱歌和踢踏舞,"我转向她的声音威胁。
“She’s being weird,” Scotch informed her.
"她很古怪,"苏格兰人告诉她。
“She’s always been weird,” Glory replied.
"她总是很古怪,"晨辉回答。
“I have been interrogating Scotch for details on your miraculous plan to save my life.” And if there was a hint of Sanguine in them, I was going to find some way to roll myself into the river. “Something about a healing talisman? If it cures taint, then I’m all ears. Really… hearing’s all I got,” I rasped, my throat still raw from what had happened. I could still taste it. Smell it. I’d almost prefer another deep breath of chlorine to clear it out.
"我一直在盘问苏格兰人，想知道你救我的神奇计划的细节。"如果里面有一点点桑吉尼的味道，我就会想办法把自己滚进河里。""什么治病的护身符？如果它能治疗污染，那么我洗耳恭听。"真的......我只能听到这些,"我粗声粗气地说，我的喉咙还在为刚才发生的事情感到刺痛。我仍然可以尝到它的味道。闻闻看。我宁愿再深吸一口氯气把它清除掉。
“A healing talisman is involved. We’re calling it your birthday present,” Glory replied.
"其中包括一个治愈的护身符。我们称之为你的生日礼物,"晨辉回答。
“Details?”
"细节?"
“No details.”
"没有细节。"
I pouted. ”Aww, why not?”
我撅起了嘴。"啊，为什么不呢?"
“Because if we told you… then you’d stop us.”
"因为如果我们告诉你......你就会阻止我们。"
I sighed at her words. “So Sanguine…”
听到她的话，我叹了口气。"如此乐观......"
“Is not involved. He’s the only pony who isn’t.” She kissed my cheek. “I made a promise to you.”
""没有参与。他是唯一一匹不是的小马。"她吻了我的脸颊。"我向你保证过。"
Okay, good... but it was apparently a plan that I’d still hate. “Okay, now I’m curious…”
好的，很好...但是很明显这个计划我还是很讨厌。"好吧，现在我很好奇......"
“You get to stay curious. For now, we have to take a little boat ride. Thrush says busting her and her crew out of the Celestia is worth one free trip.”
"你可以保持好奇心。现在，我们只能坐小船了。Thrush说把她和她的船员从天堂救出来值得一次免费的旅行
“Free trip where?” I asked with a smile, playfully. Then my lungs spasmed and I started coughing again. Apparently, inhaling water was a very quick way to get a nasty case of pneumonia… even without tainted organs.
"免费去哪儿旅行?"我开玩笑地笑着问。然后我的肺痉挛了，我又开始咳嗽。显然，即使没有受到污染的器官，吸入水也是得严重肺炎的快捷方式。
“Shush. Rest and conserve your strength.”
"嘘。休息一下，保存体力。"
“Mmm,” I replied softly. “I want Rampage to come with us.”
"嗯,"我轻声回答。"我想让狂暴跟我们一起走。"
“She’s doing Reaper stuff… fighting and… doing what she does best.”
"她在做收割者的事情......战斗......做她最擅长的事情。"
“Don’t care. Want her here. She’s my friend and I want her with me,” I said simply and pointed one of my stumps at Glory. “Make. It. So.”
"我不在乎。希望她在这里。她是我的朋友，我希望她和我在一起,"我简单地说，并指着我的一个树桩对晨辉说。"制造。它。所以。"
She tried to sound indignant. “Just because you’re…”
她竭力装出愤怒的样子。"就因为你是......"
“Beautiful? Charming? Witty?” I asked with a grin. Those were all preferable to the truth: mutilated, maimed, and dying. She gave a hiccup, and I added, “No crying either. I mean it. Epic bowel movement of nastiness if you do.” She sniffed and I smiled. “I want her with us, Glory. I know why she left. Me and Scotch on a boat, alone… something bad might have happened. But now we’re together and I want all my friends with me. Okay?”
"漂亮吗？迷人？诙谐?"我咧嘴笑着问。这些都比真相更可取:肢解、残废和死亡。她打了个嗝，我补充说:"也不要哭。我是认真的。如果你这么做的话，肠子会排出污秽的东西。"她吸了一口气，我笑了。"我要她和我们在一起，晨辉。我知道她为什么离开。我和苏格兰威士忌一个人在船上...可能发生了不好的事情。但是现在我们在一起了，我希望我所有的朋友都和我在一起。好吗?"
“It’s going to be a crowded trip,” Glory said softly.
"这将是一个拥挤的旅程,"晨辉轻声说。
“Make sure you have a proper rotation to check my bedpans. The stench will probably peel paint.” I knew it wasn’t necessary. I hadn’t eaten all day and wasn’t the slightest bit hungry. And I was pretty sure my doors were so swollen I wouldn’t be able to go without some heinous screams. But I had to be as Blackjack as I could be.
"确保你有一个合适的轮班来检查我的便盆。这股恶臭很可能会使油漆脱落。"我知道这没有必要。我一整天都没吃东西，一点也不饿。我非常确定我的车门是如此的肿胀，如果没有令人发指的尖叫声，我就无法走出去。但我必须尽我所能去玩黑杰克。
Ah well. I’d just hold it for the rest of my life.
好吧。我下半辈子都会抱着它。
“Alright. I don’t like it. But we’ll get her,” Glory said in resigned tones.
"好吧。我不喜欢。但我们会抓到她的,"晨辉无可奈何地说。
“See, Scotch? You can get anything if you’re sick and pathetic enough.”
""瞧，苏格兰威士忌？如果你病得够重，够可怜，你什么都能得到。"
The filly grunted skeptically. “All being sick ever got me was a trip to medical for a shot in the flank.”
小母马怀疑地哼了一声。"我生病的唯一原因就是去医院打了一枪。"
* * *
* * *
I slipped in and out of consciousness. I really didn’t know if hours were passing or not. Aside from water and Sparkle-Cola, I didn’t drink anything. Glory tried to get me to eat some mashed up and roasted Sugar Apple Bombs mixed with raw egg, but I was too sick for even her cooking. I knew there were ponies sharing the cabin with me, but I could never exactly tell who they were. Soon we’d left the river and were bobbing up and down.
我时而清醒时而失去知觉。我真的不知道时间是否已经过去了。除了水和可乐，我什么都没喝。格洛里试图让我吃一些捣碎的和烤糖苹果炸弹混合生鸡蛋，但我太恶心，甚至她的烹饪。我知道有一些小马和我一起住在小木屋里，但是我永远不知道它们到底是谁。很快我们就离开了河流，上下起伏。
“Are we on the ocean?” I asked nopony in particular.
"我们在海上吗?"我特别问了小马。
“Yes,” P-21 said right at my side, and I jumped. Well, would have jumped. Spasmed, really. He chuckled softly, “I thought that, when you couldn’t see, your hearing got sharper.”
"是的,"P-21就在我旁边说，我跳了下去。要是我就会跳下去。痉挛，真的。他轻轻地笑了笑,"我以为，当你看不见的时候，你的听力会变得更敏锐。"
“Yes, but you’re still one quiet pony,” I muttered. “So…”
"是的，但你还是一匹安静的小马,"我喃喃自语。"那么......"
“I’m not telling you anything about her plan, no matter how badly you shit yourself, Blackjack. I’ve seen the kind of mess you can really make, remember?” he said with a soft chuckle. “I don’t think her plan is going to work… but it’s her plan. Even if you’ll hate it.” He then put a hoof on my brow. “How’s the fever?”
"我不会告诉你任何关于她计划的事情，不管你有多糟糕，Blackjack。我见过你能把事情搞得一团糟，记得吗?"他轻轻地笑着说。"我认为她的计划行不通......但这是她的计划。即使你讨厌它。"然后他把蹄子放在我的额头上。"发烧怎么样了?"
“Blargh,” I muttered sourly. Why couldn’t he be easier to manipulate?
"呸,"我不高兴地咕哝着。为什么他不能更容易被操纵呢？
“And the soreness?” he asked quietly…
"那疼痛呢?"他平静地问道。
For just a moment, I was confused. How had he known… but of course he knew. I went a little red. “Hurts…”
有那么一瞬间，我感到困惑。他是怎么知道的......但他当然知道。我有点红了。"伤害......"
“I’d suggest an icepack, but I doubt there’s an ice machine in the Wasteland,” he
"我建议用冰袋，但我怀疑荒原上不会有制冰机,"他说
replied. “And has it hit you yet?”
回答。"你想到了吗?"
“Has what hit me yet?” I asked with a confused smile. But I knew what… I was just pretending. And he knew I was pretending. “It’s not a big deal…” But it was a big deal. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.” It hurt really bad. I started to shake. But I couldn’t fall apart… not now. Yet I couldn’t stop. “I had to do it. I had to.” But that didn’t change a thing. I could pretend with Scotch and Glory. I could smile and act like what had happened to me didn’t bother me a bit.
"是什么打动了我?"我带着困惑的微笑问道。但我知道...我只是在假装。他知道我是假装的。"这没什么大不了的......"但这是件大事。"没那么疼。"真的很疼。我开始颤抖。但我不能崩溃...至少现在不行。但我还是停不下来。"我不得不这么做。我必须这么做。"但这并没有改变什么。我可以用苏格兰威士忌和晨辉来假装。我可以微笑，表现得好像发生在我身上的事情一点也不困扰我。
But not with him. Because he understood. Because once, I’d done something similar to him; more than once, now that I thought of it. Used him. Sent him back to be used. Sent him back to be the Overmare’s trick pony. And then, slowly, I turned. I tried to keep myself as quiet as possible as I rolled towards him and buried my face in his chest. And he held me close and muffled my sobs with his chest as all the pain and humiliation leaked out of me.
但不是和他在一起。因为他明白。因为有一次，我做了一件和他类似的事情;不止一次，现在我想起来了。利用他。把他送回去被利用。把他送回去当奥佛马的小马。然后，慢慢地，我转过身来。我试图让自己尽可能安静，因为我滚向他，把我的脸埋在他的胸部。他紧紧地抱着我，用他的胸膛压抑着我的哭泣，所有的痛苦和羞辱都从我身上流露出来。
I’d done this to him. Now I really, truly, understood. I could only hope nopony could hear me now. I hurt, and he did all he could to help me bear that hurt. Now I understood why he’d wanted to kill them so badly. To kill anypony who might do this to another. And next time I met those four, or anypony who’d done to another what had been done to me, I prayed to the little yellow pegasus statue that I’d still be able to forgive.
我对他做了这些。现在我真的，真的，明白了。我现在只希望没有小马能听到我的声音。我受伤了，他尽他所能帮助我承受伤害。现在我明白他为什么那么想杀死他们了。杀死任何可能对他人做出这种事的人。下一次当我遇到那四个人，或者任何对别人做过同样事情的小马，我向那个小小的黄色飞马雕像祈祷，希望我仍然能够原谅。
When I finally pulled myself together, I said with utter sincerity, “I’m sorry.” And now… I really knew what I was apologizing for. And he knew it too. “And… I’m sorry for killing him. I was scared and… I screwed up. I… I should have done more. I should have done better.”
当我终于振作起来的时候，我真诚地说:"对不起。"现在...我真的知道我在为什么道歉了。他也知道这一点。"还有......我很抱歉杀了他。我很害怕...我搞砸了。我。.我应该做得更多。我应该做得更好。"
“Shhhh…” he shushed as he stroked my mane. “You know now. You really do… and so… I’m sorry.” He sighed. “Every time I see you and Scotch, I’m reminded of that place… of feeling like… like meat. A thing. Being ashamed of my body reacting to the abuse.” I shivered. Had I… I had. Goddesses, I had… He stroked my mane some more. Now that we were both broken, he could. He could comfort a hurting mare. “Thank you for saving my daughter from being raped,” he said quietly.
"嘘......"他边抚摸我的鬃毛边安静地说。"你现在知道了。真的......所以......我很抱歉。"他叹了口气。"每次看到你和苏格兰威士忌，我都会想起那个地方......那种感觉就像......就像肉一样。一件事。对自己的身体对虐待的反应感到羞愧。"我打了个哆嗦。如果我。.我有。女神们，我已经......他又抚摸了我的鬃毛。现在我们都破碎了，他可以。他可以安慰受伤的母马。"谢谢你救了我的女儿免遭强奸,"他平静地说。
I nodded. “You need to tell her that.” I coughed and amended, “The daughter part I mean.”
我点点头。"你得告诉她这一点。"我咳嗽了一下，修正了一下,"我是说女儿那部分。"
“I can’t. Everything I feel for her is all twisted up inside me. Her mother was
"我不能。我对她的一切感觉都在我心里扭曲着。她的母亲是
kind… but she used me. She never asked me if I wanted to be a part of the family she wanted. She simply assumed that I’d be there to give her the family she desired. I was never a person. Just a role.” He sighed softly.
善良...但她利用了我。她从来没有问过我是否想成为她想要的家庭的一员。她只是以为我会在那里给她她想要的家庭。我从来就不是一个人。只是一个角色。"他轻轻地叹了口气。
“That was wrong, but you’re punishing Scotch for what her mother did. She’s a smart kid. A good kid. She’s already figured most of it out. Talk to her.”
"那是不对的，但你是在惩罚苏格兰人，因为她母亲的所作所为。她是个聪明的孩子。一个好孩子。她已经知道大部分了。和她谈谈。"
“Maybe…” he murmured softly. “When you can, get Glory and Lacunae to wash you… that always made me feel better.”
"也许......"他轻声地说。"当你可以的时候，让晨辉和空白来洗涤你......这总是让我感觉更好。"
But I was already drifting off with a smile on my face. After all, I heard Rampage coming aboard.
但是我脸上带着微笑已经渐渐入睡了。毕竟，我听到了狂暴的声音。
* * *
* * *
It was nice to sleep without dreams. It was what I imagined dying to be like.
没有梦想的睡眠是美好的。这就是我想象中死去的样子。
Nothing bad… good… or otherwise.
没有什么坏的...好的...或者其他的。
Being woken with a hoofclaw at your throat… that wasn’t so pleasant.
被一只蹄爪卡在喉咙上的声音吵醒...那可不是什么愉快的事情。
“About time,” I murmured. “What was taking you so long?”
"是时候了,"我低声说。"你怎么这么久才来?"
“You were expecting me?” the Angel of Death murmured in my ear.
"你在等我?"死亡天使在我耳边低语。
“Expecting? You’re late. I’ve half a mind to not let you kill me after all.”
"怀孕了？你迟到了。我还真有点不想让你杀了我。"
“Very presumptuous,” she chuckled. “What happened to you calling me a monster? A murderer?”
"非常自以为是,"她轻声笑道。"你不是说我是怪物吗？杀人犯?"
“Well, now I need a monster. Glory plans on doing something to save me. P-21 knows I’ll hate it. So… I need to die before it happens. So. Get going. I’m raped. I’m mutilated. I’m ready to cash in.”
"好吧，现在我需要一个怪物。晨辉打算做点什么来拯救我。P-21知道我会讨厌它。所以...我必须在它发生之前死去。所以。走吧。我被强奸了。我残缺不全。我准备好大捞一笔了。"
There was a silence, and then the hoof withdrew. “No.”
一阵沉默之后，蹄子抽回来了。"没有。"
You’ve got to be kidding me. “No? What do you mean no? This is… this is your thing! This is what you do.”
开什么玩笑。""不是吗？不是什么意思？这是...这是你的事！这就是你要做的。"
“I give a gift to end suffering. You spurned that gift,” she purred in my ear. “Take your own damned life.”
"我送出一份礼物来结束痛苦。你拒绝了那份礼物,"她在我耳边咕噜着。"自杀吧。"
Quietly, she left me lying there. I listened to the hum and coughed up a wad of something… raw. Something bloody and dark. “Well… fuck,” I muttered. Why was nothing ever simple?
她悄悄地把我留在那里。我听着嗡嗡声，咳出了一团生的东西。血腥黑暗的东西。"好吧...操,"我喃喃自语道。为什么一切都不简单？
* * *
* * *
I wasn’t sure how long we’d been travelling? Hours? Certainly we should have reached the Fluttershy clinic by now. Glory and Lacunae lifted me up and floated me out onto the deck. I heard the waves and felt the wind… and as I floated there in Lacunae’s magic, I felt something else. A warmth playing all up and down my body. “What… what is that?”
我不确定我们旅行了多久？几个小时？当然，我们现在应该已经到达Fluttershy诊所了。晨辉和空隙把我举起来，让我漂浮在甲板上。我听到了海浪的声音，感受到了风的声音......当我乘着拉库尼的魔法漂浮在那里的时候，我感受到了别的东西。一股温暖在我的身体上下翻腾。"那...那是什么?"
“What’s what?” Glory asked.
"什么什么?"晨辉问道。
“I feel all… warm? But not like it’s from a fever,” I said as Lacunae began to wash me with a sponge. I was swollen and sore like damn, but I had to admit that it felt better than lying in that cot.
"我觉得全身......暖暖的？但不像是发烧引起的,"我说，这时空隙开始用海绵给我洗澡。我浑身肿胀，疼痛难忍，但我不得不承认，这比躺在那张小床上舒服多了。
“That’s the sun,” Thrush said.
"那是太阳,"画眉说。
The sun? But… we must have been far out at sea. “Where are we going?” I asked softly.
太阳？但是...我们一定是在很远的海上。"我们要去哪儿?"我轻声问道。
“Told you. Surprise. We should be there soon,” Glory said. I was set down on a blanket. As I lay there, despite everything, I felt a little more peeved than usual at the Enclave’s cloud cover now that I felt the sun’s warmth playing on my hide. “I always took it for granted,” Glory said softly as the engine hummed. I nuzzled up against her, and her wing slowly stretched over me, keeping me warm. I wasn’t sure how much time passed like that, but gradually, things began to cool off. Then the talisman slowed and stopped.
""告诉你了。惊喜吧。我们应该很快就到了。"晨辉说。我被放在一条毯子上。当我躺在那里的时候，尽管发生了很多事情，我还是比平时对昂科雷的云层感到更加恼怒，因为我感到太阳的温暖正在我的皮肤上嬉戏。"我总是认为这是理所当然的,"格洛里轻声说，引擎嗡嗡作响。我用鼻子蹭着她，她的翅膀慢慢地伸向我，让我感到温暖。我不知道这样过了多长时间，但渐渐地，天气开始变凉了。然后护身符慢了下来，停了下来。
“Need to give it a little while to warm up. Starting to form ice,” Thrush explained. We lay there on the back of the ship as it rocked in the waves. I could hear my heart beating. Thump thump… thump thump…
"需要给它一点时间来热身。开始结冰了,"画眉解释道。我们躺在船的后面，看着它在波浪中摇晃。我能听到自己的心跳。砰砰...砰砰..。
“Is it night?” I asked softly.
"是晚上吗?"我轻声问道。
Glory murred. “Mhmm.” Thump thump… thump thump…
晨辉低声说。"嗯。"砰砰...砰砰..。
“Can you see the stars?”
"你能看到星星吗?"
“Oh yes...”
"哦，是的......"
“A lot of them?
"很多吗？
Thump… thump thump… thump…
砰...砰...砰...砰..。
“All of them,” she replied.
"所有的,"她回答。
“Are they beautiful?”
"它们漂亮吗?"
“Yes…”
"是的......"
Thump… thump… thump…
砰...砰...砰..。
“Thank you, Glory.”
"谢谢你，晨辉。"
“For what, Blackjack?”
"为了什么，黑杰克?"
“Trying…”
"试着......"
Thump… thump…
砰...砰..。
“Blackjack?”
"黑杰克?"
Thump...
砰..。
“Sorry…”
"对不起......"
…
I should have fought. I should have held on longer as she shook me and called my name. But I was so tired, and I could see the stars.
我应该反抗的。她摇着我，叫着我的名字，我应该再坚持一会儿。但是我太累了，我可以看到星星。
They were calling to me.
他们在呼唤我。
I let go… relaxed…
我放手...放松..。
And died.
然后死了。
 
 
Game over.
游戏结束。
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s note: Much thanks to Kkat for creating FoE, to Hinds, Bronode, and Snipehamster for making this horrible chapter readable, and to everypony who leaves feedback. Tips to support the writer can be made through paypal to David13ushey @gmail .com.) (IMPORTANT NOTE FROM HINDS: The story is not, in fact, over. This is not the end. How Somber intends to continue from here I don’t know, but I’ve been assured that future chapters will exist. I just thought that I’d better add this note to make sure that no one got the wrong impression and stopped reading.)
(作者注:非常感谢Kkat创建了FoE，感谢Hinds，Bronode和Snipehamster让这个可怕的章节变得可读，感谢每一个留下反馈的小马。支持作者的小贴士可以通过贝宝转到David13ushey@gmail。Com.)(来自HINDS的重要提示:事实上，这个故事还没有结束。这还没有结束。我不知道Somber打算如何继续下去，但我确信未来的章节会继续存在。我只是想我最好加上这个便条，以确保没有人得到错误的印象和停止阅读