“This is the greatest day ever! We need to celebrate your birthday, babies, ‘cause you were just born today!”
"这是有史以来最伟大的一天！孩子们，我们需要为你们庆祝生日,'因为你们今天才刚出生!"'
Once, after Hatches got killed, I’d asked Hymnal about what happened when we died. The question seemed somewhat pertinent at the time. The answer she gave was simple: we went into the recycler and somepony took our place. Finding that answer somewhat less than fulfilling, I pressed on. She attempted some muttered comment about how, when you died, you went to the everafter to be reunited with the Princesses and your loved ones. Then she reported me to Mom, and one sore butt later I learned not to harass our stable’s duly appointed spiritual leader.
有一次，哈奇斯被杀后，我问海姆纳尔我们死的时候发生了什么。这个问题在当时似乎有些中肯。她给出的答案很简单:我们走进回收站，一匹小马取代了我们的位置。我发现这个答案并不那么令人满意，于是继续追问。她试图喃喃自语地说，当你去世的时候，你是如何去永恒之后与公主和你所爱的人团聚的。然后她向妈妈告发了我，之后我忍不住要去骚扰我们马厩正式任命的精神领袖。
Personally, I was finding being dead not much different than being alive in the ocean. It was black and quiet and I couldn’t feel anything. I was just… nowhere. I had a vague sensation of motion, but I couldn’t begin to tell you how I was moving or where I was going. I had no limbs to move, no heart beating, no mouth to speak or breathe through.
就我个人而言，我发现死亡和在海洋中活着没什么不同。黑暗而安静，我什么也感觉不到。我只是...无处可去。我有一种模糊的运动感，但是我不能告诉你我是怎么运动的，或者我要去哪里。我没有四肢可以活动，没有心跳，没有嘴可以说话，也没有嘴可以呼吸。
It was at this moment that I had my epiphany: death is really boring. Mom had taught me about how the living dealt with death, but she’d been somewhat lax on what the dead were supposed to do about…
就在这一刻，我顿悟了:死亡真的很无聊。妈妈教会了我生者如何面对死亡，但是她对死者应该做什么却有些松懈..。
A tiny pinprick of lavender light far off in the distance came to life, and with it I heard a single soft note and felt a gentle pull towards it. Now, I know that most ponies say not to head towards the light. Those ponies failed to mention that there weren't actually a lot of other options. Considering how many bad choices I’d made in my life, what was one more?
远处一个小小的淡紫色的光点活了过来，伴随着它，我听到了一个轻柔的音符，感觉到一种轻轻的拉力。现在，我知道大多数小马都说不要朝着光的方向前进。这些小马没有提到实际上没有很多其他的选择。考虑到我一生中做了多少错误的选择，还有什么是更多的呢？
Though, considering how many bad choices I'd made, I looked forward to Celestia punting my sorry ass straight into Hell. I guess I could have fought
虽然，考虑到我做了多少错误的选择，我期待着塞莱斯蒂亚把我的屁股直接踢进地狱。我想我本可以反抗的
against the pull, but… I was tired of darkness.
但是...我厌倦了黑暗。
As I moved, I could hear the tone more clearly. It wasn’t one constant drone but a single musical note that pulsed with the throb of the light. And... another pulse accompanied the first one. I moved closer still and saw a second light, a soft orange point that sang the other sound. And then a third was born, a cheery pink. Another, majestic purple. Teal. A pair, green and gold. A pair of pink motes pranced and tumbled around each other with a tinkling like laughter while a purple and lavender pair hovered attentively nearby. Each with its own note. Its own music. There were hundreds. Thousands. Millions…
随着我的移动，我可以听到更清楚的语气。它不是一个持续不断的嗡嗡声，而是一个随着光的悸动而脉动的音符。另一个脉冲伴随着第一个。我继续靠近，看到了第二道光，一道柔和的橙色光点在唱着另一种声音。然后第三个孩子出生了，一个愉快的粉红色。另一种，庄严的紫色。蓝绿色。一对，绿色和金色的。一对粉红色的尘埃在彼此身边蹦蹦跳跳，发出叮叮当当的笑声，而一对紫色和淡紫色的尘埃则聚精会神地在附近盘旋。每个人都有自己的音符。它自己的音乐。有几百个。成千上万。几百万..。
Wow… stars…
哇...星星..。
They weren’t just lights in the sky. Well… they were. But they were other things as well. Like how, when you took a hoof and held it in front of one open eye, you could see both your hoof and whatever the other eye saw. But I didn’t know what I was looking at. They were luminous things... Strange and unusual and powerful… some kind, most politely indifferent. Some were the shapes of wheels and eyes and brahmin. Others were strange patterns that twisted and seemed to sing notes of music my mind couldn’t understand.
它们不仅仅是天空中的光。他们确实是。但它们也是其他东西。比如，当你把一只蹄子放在一只睁开的眼睛前面时，你可以同时看到你的蹄子和另一只眼睛看到的任何东西。但是我不知道我在看什么。它们是发光的东西......奇怪的、不寻常的、强大的......某种类型的、最有礼貌的冷漠。有的是轮子、眼睛和婆罗门的形状。另一些则是奇怪的模式，它们扭曲着，似乎在唱着我无法理解的音符。
And some were ponies, glowing outlines that frolicked as they sang their music together, their individual notes rising and falling and growing and blending with the notes of the other things that shared this great expanse. They filled the void with song and light and their own strange beauty… their harmony. Other beings flitted among them and spread chaos and discord to stir up new melodies and music they could not create themselves. And I knew that I was home. I could stay here, if I wanted. There was always room for one more. For countless more. And I’d be happy here, I was sure of it. A part of me belonged here.
还有一些是小马驹，它们发光的轮廓在一起欢快地唱着音乐，它们各自的音符起起伏伏，与其他音符融为一体，共享着这片广阔的天地。他们用歌声和光芒以及他们自己奇特的美...他们的和谐填补了这片空白。其他生命在他们中间飞来飞去，散布混乱和不和谐，以激起他们自己无法创造的新的旋律和音乐。我知道我回家了。如果我愿意，我可以留在这里。总有多一个人的空间。为了更多的人。我在这里很开心，我确信这一点。我的一部分属于这里。
Except…
除了..。
I looked back behind me at a round ball orbited by two lights, one pale and beautiful and the other bright and radiant. But the world they revolved around was dark and ominous. What of my friends?
我回头看了看身后的一个圆球，它由两束光环绕着，一束苍白而美丽，另一束明亮而光芒四射。但是他们赖以生存的世界是黑暗而不祥的。我的朋友怎么办？
The song turned mournful. There was nothing I could do now. I should stay. There wasn’t any place there left for me, nothing that could hold me. But I kept looking down at that distant world. I felt one of those giant luminous shapes move behind me and gently hold me in her hooves. Stay, please… she seemed to
这首歌变得哀伤起来。我现在什么也做不了。我应该留下来。那里没有任何地方留给我，没有任何东西可以留住我。但我一直低头看着那遥远的世界。我感觉到一个巨大的发光体在我身后移动，轻轻地用她的蹄子抓住我。请留下......她似乎是这么想的
beg.
乞求。
I saw other worlds with other lights. Some orbited distant radiant orbs. Others had dozens of expectant motes above them as they sang down their own melodies. But all these worlds were bright with countless twinkling specks, like glitter or dew. And I watched as one of these luminary beings grew bright, and in a burst of light and song disappeared. The glowing cloud left behind spread, and new lights began to settle on other worlds or birth new luminary beings. Even these things were not eternal.
我看到了其他有光的世界。一些绕轨道运行的远距离辐射球体。其他人在他们唱着自己的旋律时，头顶上有几十个期待的尘埃。但是所有这些世界都是明亮的，有着无数闪烁的斑点，像闪光或露珠。我看着其中一个发光体变得明亮起来，在一阵光和歌声中消失了。留下的炽热的云彩扩散开来，新的光芒开始落在其他世界或诞生新的光明存有身上。即使这些东西也不是永恒的。
But in that darkness beyond their light, I felt certain there were things that were.
但是在他们光明之外的黑暗中，我确信有些东西是存在的。
I looked back at my world. There were so few glimmering lights, and there seemed to be almost a spider’s web of shadow draped over the entire world. Some light escaped… but most seemed caught in that dark web covering everything. The light of those orbiting spheres couldn’t reach most of the world, try as they might to find some gap in the darkness and shadows.
我回顾了我的世界。那里几乎没有闪烁的光芒，仿佛有一张蜘蛛网的阴影笼罩着整个世界。一些光线逃脱了......但大多数似乎被笼罩在一切的黑暗网络中。那些轨道球体的光线无法到达世界的大部分地方，因为他们试图在黑暗和阴影中找到一些空隙。
What the hell had happened? The hooves holding me tightened, and off to the side I heard another note rise. It accompanied a star glowing with a fierce blue-white corona. A pony… no. An alicorn, proud and regal and glorious. He spread his wings wide and sang his note loud and gloriously across the heavens. He drove back those shadows beyond and all things that dwelled within. Such was he that his song drowned out all others as he swelled with pride. I expected the star to eventually stop and take a break, but he didn’t. Instead, he grew along with his volume.
到底发生了什么事？抱着我的蹄子收紧了，我听到另一个音符响起。它伴随着一颗带有强烈的蓝白色日冕的恒星。一匹小马...不。阿里克松，骄傲，高贵，光荣。他张开翅膀，在天空中高声歌唱。他把那些阴影和所有居住在里面的东西赶回去了。他如此骄傲，以至于他的歌声淹没了其他所有人的声音。我以为这位明星最终会停下来休息一下，但他没有。相反，他的音量随着音量的增长而增长。
It grew to the point where the melody of the those luminary bodies was drowned out. Grew to where it became almost painful. I kept waiting for him to burst as the others had and let something new take his place. The mischievous ones floated about him, trying to trick him and break his onerous note, but he burned them with his scorn. Louder! Louder! It was if he were trying to fill all the universe with the single overwhelming note! He struggled with the strain, the note transforming into a scream.
它渐渐地达到了这样的地步:那些光辉的身体的旋律被淹没了。长到几乎让人痛苦的地方。我一直等着他像其他人一样爆发出来，让一些新的东西取代他的位置。那些恶作剧的人在他周围游来游去，试图欺骗他，打破他那沉重的音符，但是他却用他的轻蔑把他们点燃了。大声点！大声点！如果他试图用一个压倒一切的音符来填满整个宇宙的话！他挣扎着，音符变成了一声尖叫。
Then he exploded. It was not a gentle burst of life-giving light. No, this explosion was raw and violent as his scream echoed to the farthest corners of the universe. Then his cloud fell inward; he would not die as the other luminous ones had, would not share his life. His blue glow contracted and darkened.
然后他爆发了。这不是一束温柔的生命之光。不，当他的尖叫声回荡在宇宙最遥远的角落时，这次爆炸是原始而猛烈的。于是他的云彩落在里面，他不愿意像其他发光的云彩那样死去，也不愿意分享他的生命。他的蓝光收缩变暗了。
Something that was a star hardened and transformed from light to something dark and base. And still it screamed, tearing at the melody around it. No trick by the spirits could stop it. No song from the others could reach it. And as the song died, the darkness encroached.
某种恒星的东西变硬了，从光变成了黑暗的东西。它仍然在尖叫，撕扯着它周围的旋律。灵魂的诡计无法阻止它。其他人的歌都唱不到。随着歌声的逝去，黑暗开始侵蚀。
Finally, a blue radiance altered its place in the heavens and plunged straight at the screaming mass. It sang its own ominous melody as it plunged in faster and faster towards the sullen ember, one song combating the other as they closed together. The impact and the blast of light filled the skies as the blue luminescence died and the screaming ember shattered. Only a dark and twisted core remained, tumbling through the heavens like a heart of black iron. Its scream rendered pitiful and thin, it flew towards that darkness untouched by the stars.
最后，一道蓝色的光芒改变了它在天空中的位置，直冲向那尖叫的人群。它唱着它自己的不祥的旋律，越来越快地冲向阴沉的余烬，一首歌打击另一首歌，因为他们一起关闭。冲击和爆炸的光填补了天空，蓝色的发光死亡和尖叫余烬粉碎。只剩下一个黑暗而扭曲的核心，像黑色的铁心一样在天空中翻滚。它的尖叫声变得可怜而单薄，它飞向那未被群星触及的黑暗。
But by chance a world, green and rife with the tiny specks of ghost light, drifted too near. The twisted remains curved towards it, speeding as they plunged towards the highest snow-capped mountain. The blast shattered the great peak, blasting it apart into flying stone. An immense pillar of cinder and flame shot up, raining down in an ever-widening circle of destruction. More mountains split and shattered, vomiting great torrents of fire and surging floods of magma. The forests transformed into sheets of flame. The seas were poisoned by ash and pieces of the star. The sky was rendered black with clouds. Those fragile motes and their infant songs were snuffed out in an instant.
但是一个偶然的机会，一个绿色的世界，充满了幽灵般的微光，离我们太近了。当他们冲向最高的白雪覆盖的山峰时，扭曲的残骸向它弯曲，加速前进。爆炸把这座巨大的山峰炸得粉碎，成了一块块飞石。一个巨大的煤渣柱和火焰喷射出来，雨点般落下，形成一个不断扩大的破坏圈。更多的山脉裂开粉碎，喷发出大量的火焰和涌动的岩浆洪流。森林变成了一片片火焰。海洋被火山灰和星体碎片毒害。天空布满了乌云。那些脆弱的尘埃和它们幼小的歌声瞬间就被掐灭了。
From the great impact a ring of stone formed, the pieces drawing together to collect the tiny specks of life. Sun and moon orbited the blackened rock. Eons passed before me, and I watched the clouds thin and the first rays of sunlight and moonlight play on the blackened ground. The dead seas lay calm and still, the broken mountains finally silent. Where the dread heart had fallen was a vast bowl filled with black rock. The heart, its spiteful malice sated, slumbered, its hateful note dropping to a whisper. Rain fell, washing out the dust and smoke and filling the bowl with a deep lake of dark water.
巨大的撞击形成了一个石环，这些碎片聚集在一起，聚集起生命的微小斑点。太阳和月亮围绕着变黑的岩石旋转。万古流逝在我面前，我看着薄薄的云层，第一缕阳光和月光在漆黑的大地上嬉戏。死寂的海平静地躺着，破碎的群山终于安静下来。那颗可怕的心倒下的地方，是一个装满黑色岩石的大碗。那颗心，恶毒的怨恨已经消失，沉睡着了，它那充满仇恨的音调变成了耳语。大雨倾盆而下，冲刷掉了烟尘，把碗里灌满了深深的湖水。
Tiny patches of life began to grow beneath the passing sun and moon. The patches became brush and forest. Insects and fish began to populate the world once more, then larger and more complex animals. Mountains rose and fell and the world shifted and changed as life once more flourished. And then those motes of life began to sing their own simple melodies. Their songs became more complex, rising and falling and evolving. Trickster spirits came to mold and
一小块一小块的生命开始在逝去的太阳和月亮下生长。小块的土地变成了灌木丛和森林。昆虫和鱼类再次开始在世界上繁衍，然后是更大更复杂的动物。随着生命的再次繁荣，山川起起伏伏，世界变幻莫测。然后那些生命的微粒开始唱出它们自己简单的旋律。他们的歌曲变得更加复杂，起起落落，不断演变。魔术师的灵魂来到了这里
meddle and inspire. The songs spread to every corner of the world… save one.
爱管闲事和鼓舞士气。歌曲传播到世界的每一个角落......除了一个。
In the dark lake the buried heart stirred. It shrugged, and the mountains broke and the waters drained into the sea. The heart could do nothing but hum its one hateful tone and wait. Life crept innocently into the crater, and soon there was no warning to the rest of the world save for a knot of granite rising like a tombstone in the center. Deep within the earth, the vicious star waited. It could do nothing, its dread power spent.
在黑暗的湖面上，埋藏的心跳动了起来。它耸耸肩，山脉崩塌，水流入大海。心只能哼着它那充满仇恨的声调，等待着。生命无辜地爬进了火山口，很快就没有警告世界其他地方，除了一个像墓碑一样竖立在中心的花岗岩结。在地球的深处，邪恶的星星在等待着。它什么也做不了，它可怕的力量耗尽了。
But then zebras came to it with their songs and their dances. They built their homes and temples and finally a city. Most had no idea what was beneath them...
但后来斑马带着他们的歌曲和舞蹈来到这里。他们建造了自己的家园和寺庙，最后建造了一座城市。大多数人根本不知道自己下面是什么.....。
but for some, sleep was troubled as the star droned its hateful tune. And from the pain it caused came inspiration for magic dark and foul. The songs were silenced. The dances stilled. Dark robes were donned, and the temples soon rang with the resonant drone. The ground was torn away, and fragments were forged into terrible weapons. The zebras went out to silence all other songs and to turn all voices to the star’s dread tone. It grew strong as others sang its song on its behalf, that hateful noise so like a scream.
但是对于一些人来说，当这颗星星低吟着它那充满仇恨的曲调时，他们的睡眠受到了困扰。它所带来的痛苦激发了黑暗和邪恶的魔法。歌声沉默了。舞蹈停止了。他们穿上深色的长袍，两鬓很快就响起了洪亮的嗡嗡声。地面被撕开，碎片被锻造成可怕的武器。斑马们出去让其他所有的歌都安静下来，把所有的声音都转换成这位明星可怕的音调。当别人为它唱歌的时候，它变得强壮起来，那可恶的声音就像尖叫一样。
And the stars perceived.
星星也看见了。
With magic and sorcery, the zebras called forth the fallen star and bade it rise. Return to the heavens. Thousands were offered in sacrifice, their screams rising up until the heavens could no longer bear them, and one star plunged down to silence it forever. Like a great flame it fell and shattered the zebra city, and the broken mountains shuddered and collapsed to bury all beneath their rubble. But the dark heart was still not destroyed; it caught the falling star and consumed the luminescent being within. Only two specks escaped… one rising to the sun… the other to the moon.
斑马用魔法和巫术召唤着坠落的星星，叫它往上爬。重返天堂。成千上万的人被献上祭品，他们的尖叫声不断上升，直到天空再也无法容纳他们，一颗星星坠落下来，永远让它沉默。就像一团巨大的火焰，它倒下来，粉碎了斑马城，断裂的山脉颤抖着倒塌，掩埋了所有的碎石。但是黑暗的心仍然没有被摧毁，它抓住了坠落的星星，并且消耗了里面的发光物。只有两个小点逃脱了...一个升向太阳，另一个升向月球。
Time passed, and the buried star waited. Greenery returned. Zebras shunned the valley, calling it cursed, and did not tempt the stars to fall again. Clouds obscured the sun and moon so they could not see its resting place. But soon, new creatures came to the valley: ponies.
时间流逝，被埋葬的星星在等待。绿色植物回来了。斑马避开了山谷，称之为被诅咒的地方，并且不再诱惑星星再次坠落。云层遮住了太阳和月亮，所以他们看不到它的安息之地。但是很快，新的生物来到了山谷:小马。
The star once more whispered and tempted, ensnaring the heart of a beautiful Princess and turning her against her sister… but the sister wisely banished her from the earth and to the moon where the glowing light could leech out her poison and venom till a chance at redemption was possible. Time, though, was
星星再一次低语和诱惑，诱惑一个美丽的公主的心，使她反对她的妹妹...但姐姐明智地放逐了她从地球和月亮，在那里发光的光可以吸取她的毒药和毒液，直到一个机会赎罪是可能的。时间，虽然，是
forever on the side of something older than the moon itself, and when foolishness and wickedness stirred in the hearts of pony and zebra alike, that thing hummed its hateful note once more. Ponies built their machines and weapons and spells and slew one another in bloody combat. The song was lost to a scream of hate and pain. This time, however, as ponies and zebras died, not all their tiny motes returned above. Many, a small fraction, but still so many, were snared in the spider’s web and whisked to the dark heart, there to scream the dark note. Waiting. Tempting another star to fall and be devoured so that the heart could be freed.
永远站在比月亮本身更古老的东西的一边，当小马和斑马一样的人的心中，蠢事和邪恶激起时，那东西再一次哼着它那可恶的音调。小马们建造了它们的机器、武器和咒语，并在血腥的战斗中互相杀戮。这首歌被仇恨和痛苦的尖叫声淹没了。然而，这一次，随着小马和斑马的死亡，并不是所有的小颗粒都回到了上面。许多，一小部分，但仍然是这么多，陷入蜘蛛网，并迅速到黑暗的心脏，在那里尖叫的黑色音符。等待。诱惑另一颗星坠落并被吞噬，这样心灵才能得到自由。
And now I looked down at my dim world with a sense of horror and sadness. Was this true? A war between stars and monstrous things from beyond? A fallen star humming madness in the ears of the ponies of Equestria? I wondered if I was crazy; I hoped that I was. That all this was just my brain making its last feeble connections before finally expiring. This couldn’t be true! It just couldn’t!
现在我低头看着我那昏暗的世界，心中充满了恐惧和悲伤。这是真的吗？一场恒星与来自远方的怪物之间的战争？一颗陨落的星星在Equestria小马的耳朵里哼唱着疯狂？我不知道我是不是疯了，我希望我是疯了。所有这一切只是我的大脑在最终死亡之前最后一次微弱的连接。这不可能！它就是不能！
It was too big. Too much. Even for me. And the glowing ponies around me agreed in their song.
它太大了。太多了。即使对我来说。我周围发光的小马在它们的歌声中表示赞同。
But that was the point…
但这才是关键。
Of course it was too big for one pony. For one anything! That was why the single star with its single note had failed. Not even these glowing stars could keep back the darkness alone. It was when they worked together, combining their songs and changing… growing… that they could drive that vast and terrible darkness back. Harmony, not power, was their strength. Life, not destruction, was how they won.
当然对一匹小马来说太大了。为了任何东西！这就是为什么只有一个音符的那颗恒星失败了。即使是这些发光的星星也无法单独阻挡黑暗。只有当他们一起工作，结合他们的歌曲，改变...成长...他们才能把那巨大而可怕的黑暗赶回来。和谐，而不是权力，是他们的力量所在。生命，而不是毁灭，是他们获得胜利的方式。
So why didn’t they help us? Here their song changed. Why help a world so close to complete failure? How could they spare more luminaries when every last one was needed? Some calmly, perhaps callously, suggested that we clean up the mess ourselves. The help of others would be of little use; what good would it do ponies to be transformed into spires of singing gelatin? But most stars simply had concerns of their own, and those that could help were helping as best they could.
那他们为什么不帮我们？在这里，他们的歌声变了。为什么要帮助一个如此接近完全失败的世界？当最后一个都需要的时候，他们怎么能够分配更多的发光体呢？一些人冷静地，也许是无情地，建议我们自己收拾残局。别人的帮助是没有用的，把小马变成会唱歌的凝胶尖塔又有什么用呢？但是大多数明星只是有他们自己的担忧，那些能够帮助他们的人正在尽他们所能的帮助他们。
But it wasn’t enough. The dead heart of that star continued to hunger for the souls of its own, and its own dread note was beginning to build. It was intolerable… And with each light that spiderweb captured from my world, its
但这还不够。那颗星的死亡之心继续渴望着它自己的灵魂，它自己的恐怖音符也开始累积起来。这是无法忍受的......随着蜘蛛网从我的世界捕捉到的每一道光线，它
song grew…
宋长大了..。
I had to go back. I couldn’t be here while Glory… P-21… all of them were there. Make me a ghoul. A ghost. A monsterpony. Anything! I couldn’t sing with the others and leave them down there. I had to do something. Anything. Whatever it took. They mattered more than me!
我必须回去。我不能在这里，因为晨辉...P-21...所有的人都在那里。给我做个食尸鬼。鬼魂。一匹怪马。什么都行！我不能和其他人一起唱歌，把他们留在那里。我必须做点什么。什么都行。无论付出什么代价。他们比我更重要！
And the stars’ song turned mournful. No parent wanted to lose their child. But I wasn’t a child any more. I turned to see that glowing lavender unicorn with a striped purple and red mane, and she smiled. ‘Security saves ponies’, she seemed to say. Then she leaned down and kissed my brow, and her gentle light became my world.
星星的歌声变得悲伤。没有父母愿意失去他们的孩子。但我不再是个孩子了。我转过身，看到那只紫红色条纹的淡紫色独角兽，她笑了。"保安救小马"，她似乎在说。然后她俯下身来，吻了吻我的额头，她那柔和的光芒成了我的世界。
* * *
* * *
“Welcome back, Blackjack,” a mare said quietly. I blinked rapidly, and the white resolved into four gray walls. Stable walls. Two rows of desks with the projector in the middle and the teacher’s desk in the corner. Only Textbook hadn’t ever smiled… well, except when she was a psychopath trying to kill me. I was the same age as Scotch. I looked around, feeling disoriented. Hadn’t I just been floating… or something? I had a vague recollection of lights… and before that, being on a ship. No… dying on a ship!
"欢迎回来，Blackjack,"一匹母马平静地说。我迅速眨了眨眼睛，白色变成了四面灰色的墙。稳固的墙壁。两排课桌中间放着投影仪，教师的课桌在角落里。只有教科书从来没有笑过...好吧，除了当她是一个精神病患者试图杀死我的时候。我和苏格兰人一样大。我环顾四周，感到茫然无措。我不是一直在漂浮......还是什么？我模模糊糊地记得有光......在那之前，我在一艘船上。不...死在船上！
“Oh crap,” I muttered. “I’ve died and gone to Hell.”
"哦，糟糕,"我喃喃自语。"我死了，下了地狱。"
Textbook laughed. “Well, you’re half right. You most certainly did die. Complete cardiac and respiratory failure for almost eight hours. Fortunately, your pegasus and Reaper friends are resourceful. Since Rampage is effectively immortal, Glory was able to shunt her circulatory system into yours, keeping your body and brain alive long enough to reach your destination.” Considering how Rampage healed… that couldn’t have been pretty.
教科书上的嘲笑。"好吧，你说对了一半。你肯定是死了。完成心脏和唿吸衰竭检查将近8个小时。幸运的是，你的帕伽索斯和死神朋友足智多谋。由于狂暴实际上是不朽的，晨辉能够将她的循环系统转移到你的身上，让你的身体和大脑保持活力，直到你到达目的地。"考虑到狂暴是如何治愈的......那可不是什么好事。
“So… are you Doctor Octopus or something?” I asked with a little frown. “‘Cause you’re using a lot of really big words that make my head hurt.”
"那么......你是章鱼博士还是什么?"我皱着眉头问道。"因为你说了很多让我头疼的大话。"
“You don’t remember us coming aboard?” she asked with a small smile, then sighed. “Well, that’s no surprise, considering the state you were in. We kept quiet for most of the trip. We didn’t want to risk you guessing our plan and stressing yourself with objections. No offense, but you’re remarkably stubborn at times.” Her form shimmered and became an aging gray and white mare with a curious
"你不记得我们上船了吗?"她微笑着问道，然后叹了口气。"嗯，考虑到你当时的状态，这并不奇怪。我们在旅行的大部分时间里都保持沉默。我们不想冒险让你猜测我们的计划，并用反对意见给自己压力。无意冒犯，但你有时非常固执。"她的身体闪闪发光，变成了一匹上了年纪的灰白色母马
striped mane and legs. One that I’d seen teaching in a university before Goldenblood had recruited her.
有条纹的鬃毛和腿。在金布拉德招募她之前，我见过她在大学教书。
“Silver Stripe?” I blinked.
"银色条纹?"我眨了眨眼。
“Nice to meet you brain to brain,” she said as she looked around. “Is this really what you think of when you think of school? I was hoping for some nice lecture hall.” She sighed again and nudged the projector. “Ah well. The concept’s what’s important, not the aesthetics.”
"很高兴认识你,"她边说边环顾四周。"当你想到学校的时候，你真的会想到这个吗？我希望能有一个不错的演讲厅。"她又叹了口气，推了推放映机。"啊，好吧。重要的是概念，而不是美学。"
“This is taking place in my head?” Well, unless I’d inexplicably reverted to a filly… which, actually, I had seen happen before. “If you’re here… then… Steelpony?”
"这是在我脑子里发生的吗?"嗯，除非我莫名其妙地变回了一匹小母马......实际上，我以前见过这种情况。"如果你在这里......那么......Steelpony?"
She nodded, and the projector lit up. “Project Steelpony.” An outline of a mare with three cogs in the center appeared. “One of the O.I.A.’s projects to build a better pony. We’re using it to save your life.”
她点点头，投影仪亮了起来。"Steelpony项目。"一匹母马的轮廓出现了，中间有三个齿轮。"o.i.a.的一个项目是制造一匹更好的小马。我们用它来救你的命。"
I stood on my chair, pointing my hoof at her. “You are not turning me into Deus!”
我站在椅子上，用蹄子指着她。"你不能把我变成上帝!"
She rolled her eyes. “And this is why we didn’t tell you beforehoof…” Clicking her tongue, she shook her head. “Sorry, but it’s all done. We were just waiting to see if your consciousness emerged or if your brain had suffered too much damage.” The picture on the screen changed to a frowning Stable-Tec pony icon with several organs displayed. She pointed a hoof at the projection. “Heart, both lungs, stomach, and some other organs were all irrevocably contaminated and had to be replaced with synthetics.” The bad blackened organs disappeared, and new shiny silver ones appeared. “Your stomach and digestive tract were also removed and replaced with a special processor developed by your friend Rover. Your mouth has also been altered, so you can now eat not only regular food but also gemstones and pieces of scrap metal. According to your friends, this won’t be a big dietary change for you.”
她翻了翻白眼。"这就是为什么我们没有事先告诉你......"她的舌头咔哒一声，摇了摇头。"对不起，但是都结束了。我们只是在等着看你的意识是否出现，或者你的大脑是否遭受了太多的损伤。"屏幕上的图片变成了一个皱眉的Stable-Tecpony图标，上面显示着几个器官。她用蹄子指着凸出的部分。心脏、肺、胃和其他一些器官都受到了不可逆转的污染，必须用合成纤维代替变黑的坏器官消失了，新的发亮的银器官出现了。"你的胃和消化道也被切除了，取而代之的是你朋友罗孚开发的特殊处理器。你的嘴也被改变了，所以你现在不仅可以吃普通的食物，还可以吃宝石和金属碎片。据你的朋友说，这对你来说不会是一个很大的饮食改变。"
“Wait. I can eat metal and gems?” I asked, blinking in shock. This was too much, too fast…
"等等。我可以吃金属和宝石?"我震惊地眨着眼睛问道。这太多了，太快了.....。
“Can and have to. Your systems are powered by an internal microgenerator… we were actually very lucky to find an appropriate gem to run it... but to supplement that and repair damage, you’ll need to ingest gemstones and scrap metal
"可以而且必须。你的系统是由一个内部微型发电机驱动的......我们实际上非常幸运地找到了一个合适的宝石来运行它......但是为了补充和修复损坏，你需要摄取宝石和废金属
occasionally. On the upside, though, you’ll never get tired again.” The stomach on the picture disappeared and was replaced with a tiny generator picture like what I’d seen in the medical center dream. “Though you will still need to sleep occasionally to let your brain rest. There’s a function in the PipBuck interface to let you know how badly you need it.
偶尔。不过，从好的方面来看，你永远不会再感到累了。"照片上的胃消失了，取而代之的是一个微小的发电机图片，就像我在医疗中心的梦中看到的那样。"尽管你仍然需要偶尔的睡眠来让你的大脑休息。Pipbuck界面中有一个函数可以让您知道自己有多需要它。
“You’ll be glad to know you’ll be seeing your friends very soon. You’ve got two full ocular implants; they should look relatively similar to your old eyes… barring a slight glow effect when you look right at somepony. Well, and the lack of a glow from irradiation; you’re a rather unusual patient.” She tapped the screen, and two eyeballs appeared. “You also had some brain damage. While we were able to remove the taint causing it, the damage itself was beyond our ability to repair. However, as far as we can tell, all of the damage is benign, which I’d probably not believe if I hadn’t seen the diagnostics myself. Of course, we won’t know for sure until you’re awake.”
"你很高兴知道你很快就能见到你的朋友了。你已经做了两次完整的眼部植入手术;它们应该看起来和你以前的眼睛相似......除了当你看着一匹小马的时候会有轻微的发光效果。嗯，还有照射后没有发光，你是个相当不寻常的病人。"她轻轻地敲了敲屏幕，两个眼球出现了。"你还有一些脑损伤。虽然我们能够去除造成它的污染，但是损害本身已经超出了我们的修复能力。然而，据我们所知，所有的损伤都是良性的，如果我没有亲眼看到诊断结果，我可能不会相信。当然，在你醒来之前，我们无法确定。"
“Why am I not awake now? And, am I going to have… have pistons and things sticking out of me?” I asked in a rush. I remembered that sensation Deus felt every minute of his life. The feeling of machinery struggling with flesh. I fought to calm down; if this was what they had to do to save me, then… wait. There was something... something Zodiac had said days back... no... I looked at Silver Stripe in shock, and she blinked, then smiled and shrugged.
""为什么我现在没有醒来？还有，我会不会......有活塞和一些东西从我身体里伸出来?"我急忙问道。我记得天王生命中的每一分钟都有这种感觉。机器与肉体搏斗的感觉。我努力让自己冷静下来;如果这就是他们为了救我而不得不做的事情，那么......等等。我震惊地看着银条纹，她眨了眨眼，然后笑了笑，耸了耸肩。
“You should be okay. We neutralized the remaining taint. And no. While Rampage suggested something along the lines of Deus or Rover, Glory thought you’d prefer something less blatantly mechanical.” The legs appeared on the projection. “All four limbs are reconnaissance grade, light and agile with rubber soles to cut down on sound. You can still crack skulls with them, but not tanks.” She sighed. “Though why Rover insisted on adding--”
"你不会有事的。我们消除了残留的污染。而且不是。虽然狂暴让人联想到天王或者罗孚，但晨辉认为你更喜欢不那么明目张胆的机械装置。"腿出现在投影上。"所有四肢都是侦察级的，轻巧灵活，橡胶底可以减少声音。你仍然可以用它们敲碎头骨，但不能用坦克。"她叹了口气。"不过为什么罗孚坚持增加——"
“Professor… you said…”
"教授......你说......"
The professor didn’t look at me, keeping her eyes on the projection. “Now, while your limbs may be powered, you’ll still need to take care of your own flesh and blood. Most of your other biological systems are still intact and functional, and we were able to make a few improvements there, too. So long as you survive and aren’t in truly ridiculous levels of Enervation, your biological parts should regenerate slowly. Nothing like Rampage’s regeneration, but--”
教授没有看我，眼睛一直盯着投影。"现在，虽然你的四肢可能是有动力的，但你仍然需要照顾你自己的血肉。你们的大多数其他生物系统仍然完好无损，功能正常，我们也在那里做了一些改进。只要你活下来了，而且没有处于真正荒谬的能量维持水平，你的生物器官就会慢慢再生。没有什么能比得上狂暴的再生，但是——"
“You said it would take years to make cybernetic organs from Steelpony!” I said as I jumped off the desk. Oddly, I felt myself transform into my adult self as I trotted in front of her. “Did you lie to me about that?” I asked as I stared into her gray eyes. I saw the tired sadness within them. “Please tell me you lied to me.”
"你说过，要用Steelpony制造控制论器官需要数年时间!"我一边说，一边从桌子上跳下来。奇怪的是，当我在她面前小跑时，我感觉自己变成了成年人的自己。"你对我撒谎了吗?"我盯着她灰色的眼睛问道。我看到了他们内心疲惫的悲伤。"请告诉我你骗了我。"
“They’re good parts. Two centuries old… but well made,” she replied softly. “I know you’ll use them well.” Her lips curled in a small, sad smile. “It’s not like I’m planning to die. Rover’s just going to move my head into a jar. Not much difference. Body in a jar. Head in a jar. Really, it’s much more efficient.”
"他们是好角色。两个世纪了......但是做得很好,"她轻声回答。"我知道你会好好利用它们的。"她的嘴唇微微咧开，露出一丝忧伤的微笑。"我又不是要去死。罗孚会把我的头塞进罐子里。没什么区别。罐子里的尸体。把头放在罐子里。真的，这样更有效率。"
I gaped at her. “No… no no no… you can’t do this!”
我目瞪口呆地看着她。"不，不，不，不，你不能这么做!"
“It’s already done,” she replied. “And it was my idea, Blackjack. Believe me, Glory was no happier about it than you are now.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I’ll be stuck in Tenpony until I can get a new body. My life support isn’t exactly portable. Not one of those brainbots… that’s too much crazy for me to deal with.”
"已经办好了,"她回答。"这是我的主意，Blackjack。相信我，晨辉并不比你现在更高兴。"她叹了口气。"不幸的是，在我找到新身体之前，我将被困在Tenpony。我的生命支持系统不能随身携带。不是那种脑机器人......对我来说太疯狂了。"
“But… why?” I asked, my rump hitting the ground, feeling numb all over. “You waited years to get your freedom.”
"但是......为什么?"我问道，我的臀部撞在地上，全身麻木。"为了获得自由，你等了很多年。"
She looked at me for a long time. “I’m more than two hundred and fifty years old, Blackjack. In that time, I was a somewhat decent instructor, the leader of an illegal research project, and not much else. For a hundred and fifty years I sat in Tenpony Tower planning for the day when I’d actually start fixing things… and as soon as I got the chance, all I did was trot around in circles killing raiders and gangs and driving my friends away from me. In the end, I wound up in a jar.”
她看了我很长时间。"我已经250多岁了，Blackjack。在那段时间里，我只是一个相当不错的讲师，一个非法研究项目的领导者，其他什么都不是。一百五十年来，我坐在坦普尼塔，计划着有一天我真正开始修理东西......一旦我得到机会，我所做的一切就是绕着圈子杀死袭击者和帮派，把我的朋友从我身边赶走。最后，我被关进了一个罐子。"
“But what about the Collegiate? What about the Zodiacs?” I pressed, not believing what I was hearing.
"但是学院怎么办？那么生肖呢?"我追问，不相信我所听到的。
“Both fine groups. I have faith that Triage will run things well now that I’m gone. She’s cynical and hard, but she’s a realist who won’t let the rest of her fellows down. And the Zodiacs will support her. I made sure all of them will continue.” She dropped her gaze. “Now that they have Steelpony, I know they’ll have a future to work towards.”
"两组都不错。我相信既然我走了，伤检分类会处理得很好。她愤世嫉俗，冷酷无情，但她是个现实主义者，不会让其他人失望。而且十二宫会支持她。我确保所有这些都将继续下去。"她低下了目光。"现在他们拥有了Steelpony，我知道他们将有一个可以为之奋斗的未来。"
I stared at her hard. “How long?”
我死死地盯着她。"多长时间?"
“Excuse me?”
"你说什么?"
“How long till you have a new body? Till you’re trotting around like normal?”
""你还要多久才能有新的身体？直到你像往常一样到处跑?"
“Oh. That. Yes… well… there are many different factors to consider. The fact is that Steelpony was made to augment an existing body, not replace it outright. I could be shoved into a robot, I suppose, but that tends to degrade one’s sanity pretty darn quickly.” I glared at her, tapping my hoof on the floor as she looked away. “Well, taking into account current technological levels and the fact that most of my body was synthetic... probably… fifty or sixty years…”
"哦。那个。是的......嗯......有许多不同的因素要考虑。事实上，Steelpony是为了扩大现有的身体，而不是完全取代它。我想，我可能会被塞进一个机器人里，但那会很快降低一个人的理智。"我瞪着她，踢着我的蹄子看向别处。"嗯，考虑到目前的技术水平，以及我身体的大部分是人造的这一事实......大概......五十到六十年......"
If I hadn’t already done it, I would have sat down hard. Fifty years? That was two pony generations! “But why? Why me? Why throw your life away when you finally have a chance to get it back? You had Steelpony. You could finally have been… been something!”
如果我没有这样做，我会坐下来努力。五十年？那是两代人的结晶！""但是为什么呢？为什么是我？当你终于有机会找回你的生活时，为什么要放弃它呢？你有Steelpony。你终于可以成为......成就一番大事业!"
But she simply shook her head. “You don’t understand, Blackjack. All my life, I’ve wanted to make the world a better place. That was why I became an engineer and a teacher. To make things to help ponies.” She pointed to her math equation cutie mark and then sighed. “But I haven’t helped anypony at all.”
但她只是摇了摇头。"你不明白，黑杰克。我一生都想让这个世界变得更美好。这就是我成为工程师和教师的原因。制造东西来帮助小马。"她指着她的数学方程可爱的分数，然后叹了口气。"但我从来没有帮助过任何小马。"
“What are you talking about? You helped--”
"你在说什么？你帮助了——"
“No, Blackjack. I didn’t,” she replied firmly. “I didn’t heal a single hurt soul. I didn’t take down a single criminal. I didn’t do anything but sit in a glass jar while ponies like Triage and Sagittarius did the real work.” She then looked at me, and I saw the anger and shame etched on her face. “For two hundred years I watched ponies die. I stood in the background while my friends actually fought to change things. And in the end, I accomplished nothing but losing their friendship!”
"不，黑杰克。我没有,"她坚定地回答。"我没有治愈一个受伤的灵魂。我一个罪犯都没抓到。我什么也没做，只是坐在一个玻璃罐子里，而像分类法和射手座这样的小马才是真正的工作。"然后她看着我，我看到她脸上的愤怒和羞愧。"两百年来，我眼睁睁地看着小马死去。我站在后面，而我的朋友们实际上在努力改变事情。最后，除了失去他们的友谊，我什么也没有得到!"
She gripped my shoulders. “In one month... you...” She paused to nudge my chin upwards so her gaze could meet my downcast eyes. “You have done more to help ponies than I have in a quarter of a millennium. You have suffered and sacrificed and paid in blood, sweat, and tears. Do you understand how incredible that is?”
她紧紧抓住我的肩膀。"一个月后......你......"她停顿了一下，轻轻抬起我的下巴，这样她的目光就能与我垂下的眼睛相遇。"你在帮助小马方面所做的比我在过去25年里所做的还要多。你们经历了苦难，付出了牺牲，付出了鲜血、汗水和眼泪。你知道这有多难以置信吗?"
“It’s nothing. Luck and my friends. I cause more mess than I solve,” I said, now the one feeling ashamed.
"没什么。幸运和我的朋友们。我制造的麻烦比我解决的还多,"我说，现在这个人感到羞愧。
She shook me once, and forced me to look back into her eyes. “It’s not nothing. You’ve changed ponies’ lives for the better. And I won’t let you die, not when
她摇了我一下，强迫我回头看她的眼睛。"这不是没事。你让小马的生活变得更好。我不会让你死的，不会让你死的
you can have a chance to accomplish so much more.” She closed her eyes. “If me spending the rest of my life in a jar is the price paid so you get another shot, then I actually feel like I’ve done something worthwhile. Something not undone by war and death.”
你可以有机会完成更多的事"她闭上了眼睛。"如果我的下半辈子都在罐子里度过，这就是为了让你再尝一次甜头而付出的代价，那么我真的觉得我做了一些有价值的事情。一些不会被战争和死亡毁掉的东西。"
I stared at her for a long moment, and she looked away, her ears folding back. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
我盯着她看了很长时间，她转过头去，耳朵向后缩。"还有别的原因，是不是?"
She closed her eyes. “There is something else… yes.” She took a deep breath. “You may be related to one of the Ministry Mares.”
她闭上了眼睛。"还有一件事......是的。"她深吸了一口气。"你可能和其中一匹母马有关系。"
What?
什么？
“That’s… that’s ridiculous.” I laughed, expecting a smile or something… some hint this was a joke. She wasn’t laughing, though. She simply looked at me, almost with pity. “Completely ridiculous! How could I be related to any of the Ministry Mares? Why would you think that?”
"这...这太荒谬了。"我笑了，期待着一个微笑或什么...一些暗示这是一个玩笑。不过，她并没有笑。她简单地看着我，几乎带着怜悯。"完全可笑！我怎么会和部里的母马有关系呢？你怎么会这么想呢?"
“Two reasons,” she replied soberly. “The first is that Glory told me about the silver bullets and the black security cases they came inside.” A picture of one of the silver bullet cases flashed onto the projection screen. “Each of these are enchanted so that they can only be opened by a very few select ponies or relatives thereof.” I had a feeling that that list neatly matched everypony EC-1101 was supposed to go to. “The ministries used the security cases to transport very secret letters and small objects to each other towards the end of the war.”
"有两个原因,"她冷静地回答。"首先，晨辉告诉了我关于银子弹和他们进来的黑色安全套的事情。"一个银色子弹盒的图片闪现在投影片上。"每一个都被施了魔法，只有极少数的小马或者它们的亲戚才能打开它们。"我有一种感觉，那份清单与每匹小马EC-1101应该去的地方完全匹配。"在战争即将结束时，政府各部门利用这些保安箱互相运送非常机密的信件和小物件。"
“So, what… my great great aunt twice removed was Rarity’s cousin? What’s the big deal?” Certainly not something worth dying over, that was for sure.
"那么，什么......我的曾祖母是雷诺的表妹？有什么大不了的?"当然不是什么值得为之牺牲的东西，这是肯定的。
“If that were it, then it wouldn’t be a big deal. But then there’s Project Steelpony. I expected the data to be damaged. In fact, I was dreading the months or years needed to repair it. After all, trying to force EC-1101 to unseal it when you’re not authorized to do so would hardly be good for Steelpony or the program.” The picture on the projector showed me cutting open a terminal with a chainsaw. The zony began to pace. “However, Steelpony wasn’t damaged. It was unsealed with all its data completely intact. There were files there that even I had forgotten about. The only way that would be possible is if EC-1101 actively removed the seal… and it would only do that for a direct descendant of a Ministry Mare or the Princesses.”
"如果是这样，那就没什么大不了的。不过还有Steelpony项目。我以为数据会被破坏。事实上，我害怕需要几个月或几年来修复它。毕竟，试图强迫EC-1101在你没有授权的情况下开启它，对于Steelpony或者这个项目来说都不是什么好事。"投影仪上的图片显示我用电锯切开了一个终端。这个傻瓜开始走动了。"然而，Steelpony并没有受到伤害。它没有密封，所有的数据都完好无损。那里有些文件连我都忘记了。唯一可能的方法是，如果EC-1101主动删除印章...它将只做一个部门的直系后裔母马或公主。"
I stared as the picture changed to one of me pushing a button with a hoof and the terminal saying ‘access granted’. “But…” I thought of Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight.
我盯着画面，画面变成了我用蹄子按一个按钮，终端上写着"允许进入"。"但是......"我想到了Fluttershy，narrity和Twilight。
She gave a little smile. “But that’s impossible. I know. The Ministry Mares never married or had children. Rainbow Dash was widely believed to prefer the mares, but the others didn’t, and believe me, they were under constant and intense public scrutiny; only Applejack was ever in a confirmed relationship, and even that was often regarded as questionable.”
她微微一笑。"但这是不可能的。我知道。马尔斯部从未结婚或有孩子。人们普遍认为彩虹·达什更喜欢母马，但其他的母马并不喜欢，相信我，它们一直受到公众的密切关注;只有苹果白兰地曾经有过稳定的恋爱关系，即使这种关系也经常被认为是有问题的。"
“Yeah, what was with that?” I asked with a small frown. “I mean, the whole ‘no dating, no kids’ thing.”
"是啊，那是怎么回事?"我皱着眉头问道。"我的意思是,'不约会，不要孩子'的事情。"
The zony sighed and shrugged. “It was a prevailing attitude during the war. So many were giving so much in blood, sweat, and treasure that it was seen as indulgent. The Ministry Mares were supposed to be working on winning the war full time. Towards the end, I’m afraid the public would have been outraged at any act of self-indulgence. I heard Luna herself asked Applejack to postpone her relationship with the stallion she was dating till after the war was settled. The closest one ever came to being married was Rarity to Prince Blueblood. I understand her rejection was quite legendary.”
疯子叹了口气，耸了耸肩。"这是战争期间占主导地位的态度。如此多的人付出了如此多的血汗和财富，以至于人们认为这是一种放纵。母马部应该是工作赢得战争的全部时间。最后，我担心公众会对任何自我放纵的行为感到愤怒。我听说卢娜亲自要求苹果白兰地把她和她约会的那匹种马的关系推迟到战争结束后。有史以来最接近结婚的一次就是罕见地嫁给了蓝血王子。我知道她的拒绝是个传奇。"
“Yeah. He was still feeling it two centuries later.” I sighed as I rubbed my leg. It felt flesh and blood here in my head. “So… what does it matter if I am or not? I mean, if I remember correctly, EC-1101 goes to each of the people in the line of succession and then to a ‘descendant’. And that was broken or something.”
"是的。两个世纪之后，他仍然有这种感觉。"我揉了揉腿，叹了口气。在我的脑海里感觉到了血肉之躯。"那么......我是或不是又有什么关系呢？我的意思是，如果我没记错的话，EC-1101属于继承人中的每一个人，然后是"后裔"。那个坏了还是怎么的。"
“As far as EC-1101 is concerned, I don’t know how or if it will matter. But there are other considerations too.” Great! Lay it on me. I was now part robot and apparently the great great grandkid of one of the Ministry Mares. I could take it! “You see, in order to purge the taint saturating your system, we had to have access to a spell held by the Twilight Society, a group of ponies descended from the M.A.S. researchers who survived the bombs. They control Tenpony Tower, where we, physically, are now, and unlike us, they had some very specific demands.”
"就EC-1101而言，我不知道如何或是否会有影响。但还有其它考虑因素。"太好了！告诉我吧。我现在是半机器人和显然的曾曾孙之一的部母马。我受得了！"你知道，为了清除你身体系统中的污染物，我们必须使用暮光协会(TwilightSociety)的一种咒语，这是一群小马，它们是m.a.s.研究人员的后裔，他们在爆炸中幸存下来。他们控制着我们现在所在的天波尼塔，不像我们，他们有一些非常具体的要求。"
“So, let me guess, I owe them a million bits plus my firstborn?” I asked with a snort, knowing that would never happen.
"那么，让我猜猜，我欠他们一百万比特外加我的第一个孩子?"我哼了一声问道，知道这永远不会发生。
“No. What they want you to do is to try and open a door,” she said grimly. “A
"没有。他们想让你做的就是试着打开一扇门,"她冷冷地说。"a
door that can only be opened by a Ministry Mare. One particular mare.”
只有魔法部的人才能打开的门。一匹特别的母马。"
“Twilight Sparkle?” I wondered if the Twilight Society could have just asked the Goddess. Twilight was a part of it… somehow.
紫悦我不知道暮光协会会不会直接问女神。暮光之城是其中的一部分......不知何故。
“Right. A one in six chance is better odds than they’ve had in ages,” she said quietly. “If you can’t open it, then I’m sure they’ll pat you on the head and send you on your way. But if you can, then they’ll try to get their hooves on whatever is inside.” She looked at me soberly. “But if you do open that door, that means that everything inside is yours by right. I know you’re inclined to give things up, and I know they will plead their need. Trust me, it’s a lie. For a century and a half, I worked with them. Whatever help they need is nothing compared to the help they’ve denied to others. They could have dedicated themselves to improving the Wasteland; instead, they turned Tenpony Tower into a gated community and turned away everypony they couldn’t either exploit or use. And the second you turn the room’s contents over to them is the second they will boot you and your friends out the front door.”
"对。六分之一的几率比他们这么多年来的几率都要大。"她平静地说。"如果你不能打开它，我肯定他们会拍拍你的头，然后送你上路。但如果你能做到，它们就会试图用蹄子踩住里面的任何东西。"她严肃地看着我。"但如果你真的打开了那扇门，那就意味着里面的一切都是你的。我知道你倾向于放弃，我也知道他们会以自己的需要为借口。相信我，这是个谎言。我和他们一起工作了一个半世纪。无论他们需要什么帮助，都比不上他们拒绝给予他人的帮助。他们本可以致力于改善荒原;相反，他们把天波尼塔变成了一个封闭的社区，拒绝了每一匹他们不能开发或使用的小马。你把房间里的东西交给他们的那一刻，他们就会把你和你的朋友从前门踢出去。"
Well… that sounded… pleasant. “But… Professor… I… I don’t want you to be trapped like this.” It felt like she was going to die or something! Was it just me, or was everything starting to get hazy around us?
嗯...听起来...不错。"但是...教授...我..。.我不希望你像这样被困住。"感觉就像她要死了一样！是我的错觉，还是我们周围的一切都开始变得模糊了？
“Looks like the sedatives are taking effect.” She put her hoof to my lips. “I’ve had years to come to terms with this. You saved Capricorn and Pisces. You gave us Steelpony, even after I tried to trick you. By destroying the Celestia, you saved the Collegiate as well. I have no doubt that Steel Rain would have destroyed us if we resisted, and if we surrendered, well...” She closed her eyes as she smiled, looking tired but happy. “By saving your life… I can save more. Isn’t that what you always do, Blackjack?”
"看来镇静剂起作用了。"她把蹄子放在我的唇边。"我有很多年的时间来接受这个事实。你救了摩羯座和双鱼座。你给了我们铁马，即使在我试图欺骗你之后。通过摧毁天堂，你也拯救了大学生。我毫不怀疑，如果我们反抗，钢铁雨会摧毁我们，如果我们投降，那么......"她闭上眼睛，微笑着，看上去疲惫但很高兴。"通过救你的命......我可以救更多的人。你不是一直都这样吗，黑杰克?"
That was different. I’d killed ponies who didn’t deserve it. Deep down, I wasn’t much different from the people I fought, if maybe a little more stupid and reckless. I didn’t want good ponies to die for me. But… that wasn’t what she needed to hear from me right now. “Yeah. It is,” I said as I looked at her. Funny, but did she always look so old and tired? “Thank you, Silver Stripe.”
那是不一样的。我杀了不该死的小马。在内心深处，我和我战斗过的人没什么不同，只是可能有点愚蠢和鲁莽。我不想好马为我而死。但是...她现在不需要听我说这些。"是的。是的,"我看着她说。有趣，但是她看起来总是那么老和疲惫吗？"谢谢你，银条纹。"
“No, thank you, Blackjack,” she said as with a curl of her wrinkly lips. “And happy birthday.”
"不用了，谢谢你，Blackjack,"她说着卷起了皱巴巴的嘴唇。"生日快乐。"
* * *
* * *
My eyes opened, and at first all I saw was a gray haze. Then a black and white picture of a hospital gurney took shape next to me, beyond it a wall decorated with a butterfly motif. A sheet was pulled over a vaguely pony-shaped mound… a mound missing its legs. Black and white gave way to grainy color, and I stared at the pink splotches on the sheet, matching the wings of the butterflies on the wall. A cable trailed from the covered head to my own temple. A dark tan earth pony stood next to some equipment that beeped and bubbled, his hoof disappearing under the sheets. “She’s sedated. We can make the transfer.”
我睁开眼睛，首先看到的是一片灰色的烟雾。然后，我身边出现了一张医院轮床的黑白照片，在那张照片的后面，是一面以蝴蝶为主题的墙。一张纸被拉过一个模糊的小马形状的土堆...一个没有腿的土堆。黑白渐渐变成了颗粒状的颜色，我盯着床单上的粉红色斑点，和墙上的蝴蝶翅膀一模一样。一条电缆从我戴着头巾的头部一直延伸到我自己的寺庙。一匹棕褐色的土地上的矮种马站在一些发出嘟嘟声和气泡的设备旁边，他的蹄子消失在床单下面。"她服了镇静剂。我们可以转账。"
“Pickled pony is best pony,” growled a familiar voice. I slowly turned and looked up at the cybernetic sand dog, Rover. He snorted. “Pony is awake. Pony should still be sleeping.”
"腌小马是最好的小马,"一个熟悉的声音咆哮着。我慢慢地转过身，抬头看着控制论的沙狗----罗孚。他哼了一声。"小马醒了。小马应该还在睡觉。"
I felt hooves on my shoulder, and feathers tickled my side softly. “Welcome back,” Glory said in my ear before she bit the cable and gently pulled it out. I felt something tickle behind my eyeball as it was removed. Oh… that sense of wrongness was kicking in. These legs didn’t feel like my legs. They felt like… like enormous complicated booties glued to my body. I kicked and rolled off the table, and my body moved on its own to put its hooves down. Of course I fought it and went rolling across the concrete floor. Alarms and alerts flashed in my vision.
我感觉到肩膀上有蹄子，羽毛轻轻地挠着我的身体。"欢迎回来,"晨辉在我耳边说，然后她咬了咬电缆，轻轻地把它拉了出来。当我的眼球被取出时，我感到有东西在我的眼球后面发痒。哦...那种错误的感觉开始了。这双腿感觉不像我的腿。它们就像...就像粘在我身上的巨大复杂的靴子。我踢了一脚，从桌子上滚了下来，我的身体自己动了起来，放下了它的蹄子。当然，我和它搏斗，滚过水泥地板。警报和警报在我的视线中闪现。
This was bad. This didn’t feel like me. Every movement I made felt awkward. I flailed on my back. I finally just stopped and looked at every eye on me. My friends all stared at me in shock. I could see their faces as clearly as if I was looking at them through a scope: fear and worry. I gasped… and yet… my heart didn’t thunder in my chest. My pulse didn’t pound in my ears. My body felt unnaturally quiet and still as I stared up at them.
这太糟糕了。这不像我的风格。我做的每一个动作都让人感到尴尬。我仰面拍打着身体。我终于停下来，看着每一只注视着我的眼睛。我的朋友们都震惊地看着我。我能清楚地看到他们的脸，就像我透过一个显微镜看他们一样:恐惧和担忧。我倒抽了一口冷气......但是......我的心却没有在胸膛里打雷。我的脉搏没有在耳朵里跳动。当我抬头看着他们的时候，我的身体感到不自然的安静和寂静。
“Pony is so dramatic,” Rover snorted, rolling his green eyes before returning to the sheet-covered mare. “Doctor Pony. Pegasus Pony. Best we work now, or only have scraps left.”
"小马太有戏剧性了,"罗孚哼了一声，转动着绿色的眼睛，然后回到被单覆盖的母马身边。"小马医生。飞马。我们最好现在就工作，否则就只剩下残羹剩饭了。"
P-21 trotted towards me, kneeling. “Blackjack…” I jerked again, my mechanical hooves driving me back and bouncing over the floor. I fought it, which resulted in me rolling over. My flailing limbs caught him in the gut, blasting the wind out of him.
P-21跪着向我小跑过来。"黑杰克......"我又抽搐了一下，我的机械蹄把我往回赶，在地板上弹跳。我反抗，结果我翻了个身。我挥舞着的四肢狠狠地打在他的肚子上，把他的身体吹得呼呼作响。
“Stay back!” I shouted. “I have no idea what’s going on!” What was my body
"退后!"我喊道。"我不知道发生了什么事!"我的身体是什么
was trying to do? My random rolling knocked over a table; hopefully I hadn’t broken anything.
想做什么？我随意的翻滚撞翻了一张桌子，希望我没有摔坏任何东西。
“This is no way to operate a surgical environment,” the brown stallion said behind his operating mask.
"这样的手术环境根本不适合做手术,"这匹棕色的种马戴着手术口罩说。
I managed to rise to my hooves, but it was tough trying to learn how to walk. My brain kept sending signals that my legs weren’t following right. So I’d move, then I’d correct, then overcorrect, then overcorrect for the overcorrection… and then land on my face. I didn’t walk out of the surgery so much as repeatedly fall over in the general direction of the door. Finally, out in something that looked more like a recovery area than an operating room, I found a corner and collapsed in it.
我设法站起来走路，但是学走路是很困难的。我的大脑不断发出信号，我的腿跟不上了。所以我会移动，然后我会纠正，然后过度纠正，然后过度纠正过度纠正...然后落在我的脸上。我并没有走出手术室，而是不断地朝着大门的方向摔倒。最后，在一个看起来更像是康复区而不是手术室的地方，我发现了一个角落，在里面倒下了。
‘ERROR’ flashed over and over in my vision. That seemed to sum up everything in me right now. Rampage, P-21, and Scotch trotted after me. I wanted to gasp, but my lungs didn’t gasp. I wanted my heart to race, but it didn’t beat at all. They stared at me, P-21 in pain as he held his gut. Rampage stepped closer. “Blackjack…”
"错误"在我的视线中一遍又一遍地闪现。这似乎总结了我现在的一切。狂暴、P-21和苏格兰人跟在我后面小跑。我想喘气，但我的肺没有喘气。我想让我的心跳得更快，但是它一点也不跳动。他们盯着我，P-21一边抓着肚子一边痛苦地看着我。狂暴离我更近了一步。"黑杰克......"
I closed my eyes, then looked at her again. A targeting icon appeared on her head… then I looked over at P-21… and watched the blue crosshairs lock onto his head as well. And Scotch. I clenched my eyes shut.
我闭上眼睛，然后再次看着她。一个瞄准的图标出现在她的头上...然后我看着P-21...并且看着蓝色的瞄准器锁定在他的头上。苏格兰威士忌。我紧闭双眼。
“It was the only way we could save your life,” Scotch said softly. “Sorry I lied,” she added as her ears folded back. I looked at her and gave a small smile.
"这是我们能救你一命的唯一办法,"苏格兰人轻声说。"对不起，我撒谎了,"她的耳朵向后竖着，补充道。我看着她，微微一笑。
Alive. I was alive. My friends had worked their asses off to save my life. I could see. I could -- at least in theory -- walk without feeling like a cripple. I’d been given a second chance. So why was I so upset? Would I seriously have preferred being dead to this?
还活着。我还活着。我的朋友们拼命工作来救我的命。我看得出来。我可以——至少在理论上——走路不会感觉自己像个瘸子。我得到了第二次机会。那我为什么这么沮丧呢？比起这个，我真的宁愿死掉吗？
I’d been given a second shot. Was this really how I was going to treat it?
我得到了第二次机会。我真的要这样对待它吗？
Slowly, I opened my eyes again, and thankfully they weren’t throwing targets all over the place anymore. Things still felt… off. A sort of nagging discomfort where my shoulders and hips met my body. It didn’t hurt… exactly. More like my brain wasn’t sure what to make of it. At least my mutated limbs had been a part of myself. Now it felt like half my body was wrong.
慢慢地，我再次睁开眼睛，谢天谢地，他们不再到处乱扔靶子了。事情还是有点...不对劲。一种挑剔的不适，我的肩膀和臀部碰到我的身体。一点也不疼...确切地说。更像是我的大脑不知道该怎么理解它。至少我变异的四肢是我自己的一部分。现在我感觉自己身体的一半都错了。
But I’d gotten used to faking it.
但是我已经习惯了伪装。
“No problem, Scotch. I probably would have freaked out horribly if you’d told me the truth,” I said as I tried to hug myself. Again, my legs went wonky and jerked spasmodically.
"没问题，苏格兰威士忌。如果你告诉我真相，我可能会吓坏的,"我边说边试图拥抱自己。我的腿又一次摇摇晃晃，断断续续地抽搐起来。
“We weren’t sure you made it,” Rampage said with a little frown. “We were hours away from Manehattan when your heart stopped. Rover had some pipes Glory was able to jam into my chest and yours to keep everything going inside you. Thrush set a new speed record, and once we were at the tower, Lacunae got the army outside to let us in.” She jerked a head towards the window. “Red Eye probably has a thousand troops surrounding this place… but apparently nopony messes with alicorns around here. They stepped aside easy as you please. Then she stayed behind. Said the tower wouldn’t be friendly to her.”
"我们还不确定你是否成功了,"朗格皱着眉头说。"当你的心脏停止跳动时，我们离Manehattan只有几个小时的路程。罗孚有一些管道，晨辉能够塞进我和你的胸膛，让一切都进入你的内心。画眉创造了一个新的速度纪录，我们一到塔上，拉库尼就让外面的军队让我们进去。"她把头转向窗户。"红眼可能有一千人的部队包围了这个地方......但是很明显，这附近没有小马跟海角兽作对。他们随心所欲地退到一边去。然后她留了下来。说塔楼对她不友好。"
P-21 nodded. “They almost didn’t let Rover and Rampage in.”
P-黑杰克头。"他们几乎不让罗孚和狂暴进来。"
“They insisted we turn over all our ammunition,” the armored mare said as she looked at her hoofclaws. “I think they realized at that point that there was a mistake in their security policy. Actually, I think they were going to shoot me on general principle, can you imagine? Nearly had to commit a bloodbath just to be allowed inside,” she said with a little pout. “Fortunately, they reconsidered when I shot myself in the head in front of them. For some reason, that just cut right through all the arguments.”
"他们坚持要我们上缴所有的弹药,"装甲母马看着她的蹄爪说。"我认为他们当时意识到，他们的安全政策存在错误。事实上，我认为他们会根据一般原则射杀我，你能想象吗？几乎不得不进行一场大屠杀才被允许进入,"她撅着嘴说。"幸运的是，当我在他们面前开枪自杀时，他们重新考虑了一下。出于某种原因，这恰好打破了所有的争论。"
Somewhere in Tenpony, I was sure there was a head of security taking either antacids or shots of hard liquor. Possibly both. I made myself smile. “Tell me you behaved yourself.” The three of them clearly relaxed. I hoped that meant that they didn’t see me trying to squirm out of my own limbs.
在Tenpony的某个地方，我肯定有一个安全主管在服用抗酸剂或者喝烈性酒。也许两者都有。我让自己微笑。"告诉我你很守规矩。"他们三个显然很放松。我希望这意味着他们没有看到我试图挣脱自己的四肢。
She inhaled and rolled her eyes. “Please. One pony did say something about zebras and filthiness, but when I asked him to elaborate, he suddenly remembered an appointment,” Rampage said as she tapped her chin. “There may have been claws on tile, too. Hard to say.”
她吸了口气，转了转眼珠。"求你了。一匹小马确实说了一些关于斑马和污秽的话，但当我让他详细说明时，他突然想起了一个约会,"狂暴拍着下巴说。"瓷砖上可能也有爪子。很难说。"
“You’re on Mint-als again, aren’t you?” P-21 asked her flatly.
"你又开始吃薄荷糖了，是不是?"P-21直截了当地问她。
“I’ve been out for days! I finally got to replace my stock!” She giggled as she bounced on her hooves in a very glittery circle. “These Tenpony guys always have the nicest shit!”
"我出去好几天了！我终于可以换回我的存货了!"她用蹄子蹦蹦跳跳地围成一个闪闪发光的圈子，咯咯地笑了起来。"这些天波尼的家伙总是有最好的东西!"
“Yeah. Well, they provided the very nice hospital to put me back together again,” I said as I looked at the clinic. “What about Rover?” I couldn’t imagine being in a tower full of ponies was good for the old dog.
"是的。嗯，他们提供了一家非常好的医院，让我重新复原。"我边说边看着诊所。"罗孚怎么样?"我无法想象住在一个满是小马的塔里对这条老狗有什么好处。
“He’s staying out of sight. He doesn’t like ponies and ponies don’t like him. Apparently, when Zodiac asked him to do the surgery, he was quite… something,” P-21 said as he looked back into the operating room. “He wanted to make sure she was taken care of. I guess there aren’t many folks in Equestria like them.”
"他一直躲在我们的视线之外。他不喜欢小马，小马也不喜欢他。很显然，当十二宫要求他做手术时，他非常......不可思议,"P-21一边回头看手术室一边说。"他想确保她得到照顾。我想，在Equestria，像他们这样的人并不多。"
“When Glory used your broadcaster, she got help from all over the Hoof!” Scotch said with a grin. “Sure, Sanguine made his snotty offer, but so did the professor. Well, not snotty in her case. Dusty Trails sent a box of gems straight quick. Bottlecap didn’t have any parts, but she said the vendors took up a collection for when you were better. Hell, even Caprice sent a whole case of quality chems, plus every chunk of Deus she could find. Apparently, she only sold Zodiac the back half and was still trying to figure what the front end was really worth.”
"当晨辉利用你的播音员时，她得到了所有霍夫的帮助!"苏格兰人咧嘴笑着说。""当然，桑吉尼提出了他那个卑鄙的建议，但是教授也提出了。对她来说不是流鼻涕。尘土飞扬的路径送来一箱宝石直速。虽然Bottlecap没有任何零件，但是她说当你身体好一点的时候，供应商会收集一些零件。甚至连Caprice都寄来了一箱高质量的化妆品，还有她能找到的Deus的每一块化妆品。很显然，她只卖了十二宫的后半部分，还在琢磨前半部分到底值多少钱。"
“You mean I have pieces of Deus in me?” No wonder my insides felt out of it. I could almost hear tiny metal parts inside me screaming ‘CUUUNNNTTTT!’.
"你是说我体内有上帝的碎片?"难怪我的内心感到不舒服。我几乎可以听到我体内微小的金属部件在尖叫'CUUUNNNTTTT!'.
“A few. Apparently she had to extract some sort of metal stuff to strengthen your bones… or what used to be your bones. And there’re some other parts in there too,” she replied softly, not quite understanding my reaction; but then, she hadn’t been chased halfway across the Hoof by him.
"有几个。显然，她不得不提取某种金属物质来强化你的骨骼......或者说曾经是你的骨骼。还有一些其他的部分,"她轻声回答，不太明白我的反应;但是，她没有被他追赶过半个霍夫。
Pieces of Deus. Pieces of the professor. “Is there anything left that’s original?” I muttered, looking at my... hooves and tapping them together idly.
上帝的碎片。教授的碎片。"还有什么是原装的吗?"我喃喃自语着，看着我的......蹄子，懒洋洋地敲打着。
“Can’t you just be happy to be alive?” P-21 asked with a little frown. “A lot of people wanted to help you.” I smiled at his stern tone and looked up at him. He flushed, rubbing his brushy blue mane as he looked away.
"你就不能为活着而高兴吗?"P-21皱着眉头问道。"很多人都想帮你。"我对他严厉的语气笑了笑，抬头看着他。他面红耳赤，把脸转过去，摩擦着他毛茸茸的蓝色鬃毛。
“You’re right. You’re right. I just… it’s a lot to get used to.” A target locked onto his head, and I closed my eyes tight. A lot to get used to. “Speaking of broadcasters, where is my PipBuck?”
"你说得对。你说得对。我只是...要适应的东西太多了。"一个目标锁定在他的头上，我紧紧闭上眼睛。要适应的事情太多了。"说到播音员，我的PipBuck在哪儿?"
P-21 reached over, took my left hoof, and pressed in a plate. It slid away, and there was the familiar screen. “It’s built-in now. You don’t need to cover it up
P-21走过来，抓住我的左蹄，把它压成一个盘子。它溜走了，那是熟悉的屏幕。"它现在是内置的。你不需要掩饰
any more.”
再也没有了"
“They’d have to take your leg off to get it now,” Rampage said with a grin. Then she frowned and rubbed her chin. “Of course, I’m pretty sure Psychoshy and Sanguine wouldn’t have a problem with that, so I wouldn’t get too comfy.”
"他们现在得把你的腿锯掉才能把它弄出来,"狂暴笑着说。然后她皱了皱眉，揉了揉下巴。"当然，我敢肯定,'心理害羞'和'血统'不会有什么问题，所以我不会坐得太舒服。"
“Right,” I chuckled mirthlessly. “Comfy…”
"是的,"我笑着说。"舒服......"
“Blackjack? What’s wrong?” Scotch asked. I sighed and closed my eyes, tapping my head against the wall.
"黑杰克？怎么了?"苏格兰人问。我叹了口气，闭上眼睛，把头靠在墙上。
“Nothing, Scotch. Just been through… a lot,” I said as I tried to sort through my emotions. All this help. All this attention… I was nothing special. Even if what the professor said was true, I didn’t deserve it. I looked at her sitting there with her head bowed. “And none of it was your fault. Understand?” She sniffed again and nodded, pressing her hindlegs tightly together.
"没什么，苏格兰威士忌。只是经历了......很多,"我一边说，一边努力理清自己的情绪。所有这些都有帮助。所有这些关注......我没什么特别的。即使教授说的是真的，我也不配。我看着她低着头坐在那里。"这一切都不是你的错。明白吗?"她又吸了一口气，点了点头，两腿紧紧地挤在一起。
“Well… I got some news you’ll like,” Rampage said, and she used a tone that promised that, if I didn’t like it, she was going to do something unpredictable to me. “Big Daddy is alive, and the first thing he did was thump the gangs into pulling back. He’s got your eyepatch, somehow… not sure if he lost an eye in the shelling or if he just likes the look, though. The peace is holding; it’s been three days, and DJ Pon3 hasn’t announced any new killing.” She looked at me with a cool smile. “Oh, and for blowing up the Celestia, you are now a Reaper, whether you want to be one or not. They’re scrubbing out Deus’s room for you.”
"嗯......我得到了一些你会喜欢的消息,"狂暴说，她用一种语气承诺，如果我不喜欢，她会对我做一些不可预知的事情。"大老爹还活着，他做的第一件事就是强迫帮派撤退。不知何故，他戴着你的眼罩......不知道他是在炮击中失去了一只眼睛，还是他只是喜欢这个样子。和平正在持续，已经三天了，DJPon3还没有宣布任何新的谋杀。"她冷冷地笑着看着我。"哦，为了炸毁天堂，不管你愿不愿意，你现在都是一个死神。他们正在为你打扫天王的房间。"
“Well, so long as everypony understands that I am one lousy Reaper,” I said as I closed my eyes, then frowned and peeked, catching the three of them giving each other skeptical glances. I gave a stern look, and all of them blinked and grinned.
"好吧，只要每匹小马都知道我是一个糟糕的收割者,"我闭上眼睛说，然后皱了皱眉，偷偷看了一眼，看到他们三个互相投以怀疑的目光。我严厉地看了他们一眼，他们都眨着眼，咧着嘴笑。
“Absolutely! Blackjack: Worst. Reaper. Ever,” Rampage said, and Scotch nodded quickly along with her.
"当然！黑杰克:最糟糕的。死神。永远,"狂暴说，苏格兰威士忌也跟着点了点头。
P-21 chuckled. “Things are a little messier on the Steel Ranger side. Apparently, the entire order has gone crazy. A group of them actually attacked the Stable Dweller’s stable. Then there was Rain’s shelling. Some nasty business elsewhere. The whole thing’s blown up in their faces, though. And apparently Crunchy Carrots didn’t make it. Good thing, or she’d probably be shot for having lost their base. Stronghoof rallied the survivors, but he needs somewhere
P-21轻声笑了。"SteelRanger这边的情况有点混乱。显然，整个秩序已经疯狂了。实际上，他们中的一群人袭击了马厩居民的马厩。然后是雨的炮击。其他地方的一些肮脏交易。然而，整件事在他们面前被搞砸了。而且很明显，脆胡萝卜并没有起到作用。这是好事，否则她可能会因为失去基地而被枪毙。斯特朗霍夫召集了幸存者，但他需要一个地方
to operate from.”
来操作"
“What about Steel Rain’s followers?”
"那钢铁雨的追随者呢?"
“No idea. He left things a mess when he died, but their whole order is screwed up at the moment,” P-21 said with a shrug. “They still don’t even know if he drowned or got vaporized when the Celestia blew.”
"不知道。他去世时留下了一堆乱七八糟的东西，但现在他们的整个秩序都乱了套,"P-21耸耸肩说。"他们甚至不知道他是淹死了，还是在天堂降落时蒸发了。"
“So…” I said as I rubbed my head. “That leaves the Enclave… Red Eye… the zebras and their tank…”
"那么......"我摸着头说。"那就只剩下昂科雷......红眼......斑马和他们的坦克......"
“Actually, I don’t think that that was their tank,” Rampage said as she fished out another Mint-al from her pouch.
"实际上，我不认为那是他们的坦克,"朗格一边说，一边从育儿袋里捞出另一只薄荷铝。
“Uh… it was striped?” Scotch Tape said, wisely omitting the ‘duh?’.
"呃......是条纹的?"透明胶带说，明智地省略了'咄?'.
Rampage rolled her pink eyes. “I mean that, while that was a Zebra Behemoth class tank, I doubt it was fighting for just the zebras.” The three of us looked confused as she popped the Mint-al into her mouth and chewed. “Nopony throws heavy armor like that at a bunch of infantry. It’s stupid. They just scatter and call in air support, artillery, or armor of their own. If that were a zebra tank, I’d like to kick the shit out of their commander for not using a fire team to pin us down. Two sniper teams and we’d have been dead meat. Or a melee specialist unit...”
狂暴转动着她那粉红色的眼睛。"我的意思是，虽然那是一个斑马巨兽级坦克，我怀疑它只是为了斑马而战。"我们三个看起来很困惑，她把薄荷铝放进嘴里咀嚼。"Nopony向一群步兵投掷那样的重装甲。这太愚蠢了。他们只是散开，并呼叫空中支援，炮兵，或他们自己的装甲。如果那是辆斑马坦克，我真想狠狠揍他们的指挥官一顿，因为他没有用消防队把我们按倒。两个狙击小组我们就死定了。或者一个近战特种部队......"
“Twist?” I asked softly.
"扭扭舞?"我轻声问道。
“Hmm?” She smiled at me, then blinked. “What?”
"嗯?"她对我笑了笑，然后眨了眨眼。"什么?"
“Just… making sure of who I’m talking to…” I said as I glanced at P-21 and Scotch.
"只是......确认一下我在和谁说话......"我一边说，一边瞥了一眼P-21和苏格兰威士忌。
The striped pony chewed thoughtfully. “My guess is, that wasn’t zebra. So somepony else has a Behemoth class tank after you.”
那匹有条纹的矮种马若有所思地咀嚼着。"我猜那不是斑马。所以有些小马在你之后有一个巨兽级的坦克。"
“Well, that’s so much better,” P-21 muttered sarcastically.
"嗯，这样好多了,"P-21讽刺地喃喃道。
“Actually, it is. One tank is pretty easy to avoid if you’re careful. But you get a few dozen foot soldiers pinning you down so that it can blow you to pieces, and you’d better hope your air support is top notch,” the striped mare said matter-of-factly. “As I was telling Shujaa and Minty, you can’t just throw a single…” Then
"事实上，是的。如果你很小心的话，一辆坦克是很容易避开的。但是你有几十个步兵把你压住，这样它就可以把你炸成碎片，你最好希望你的空中支援是一流的,"这匹斑马实事求是地说。"就像我告诉Shujaa和Minty的那样，你不能只扔一个......"然后
she blinked as she looked around. “Wait… something’s the matter…”
她一边眨眼一边环顾四周。"等等...有点不对劲..."
I saw the pupils contract. “Twist… don’t panic. Please…”
我看到学生们在收缩。"托斯特...不要惊慌。求你了......"
“What’s… what’s happened? Where am I? This isn’t Miramare! Where’s Peppermint? What happened to her?” She began looking around wildly. “Where are they? This is a hospital! Are they hurt? What’s going on?”
"怎么...怎么回事？我在哪儿？这不是米拉马雷！薄荷糖在哪？她怎么了?"她开始疯狂地四处张望。"他们在哪儿？这里是医院！他们受伤了吗？怎么回事?"
I sighed. I couldn’t have her freaking out now, in the middle of Tenpony Tower! “Rampage!” Please don’t make me have to hunt down a gun to sedate you! I sure didn’t want to find out how busted my horn was.
我叹了口气。我不能让她现在在天波尼塔中心发疯！"横冲直撞!"请不要让我找到一把枪来镇定你！我当然不想知道我的喇叭有多烂。
The pink eyes blinked as she stared at me in horror, and then slowly they relaxed. She closed her eyes and slumped, hugging her head. “No blood anywhere… That’s a good sign.”
她惊恐地盯着我，粉红色的眼睛眨了眨，然后慢慢地放松下来。她闭上眼睛，垂头丧气，抱着头。"没有血迹......这是个好兆头。"
“You just went out again. It wasn’t bad,” I added quickly, and she looked relieved for that. “You were talking all military and stuff.” I frowned a moment as I looked around. Scotch suppressed a yawn as I asked, “So where is Lacunae?”
"你又出去了。还不错,"我迅速加了一句，她看起来松了一口气。"你说的都是军事方面的东西。"我环顾四周，皱了一下眉头。苏格兰人忍住了一个哈欠，我问道:"那么，空白在哪里?"
“The professor’s quarters,” P-21 replied. “An alicorn, a sand dog, and a cyberzony’s severed head. Sounds like the start of a bad joke.” I had to wonder about his sense of humor...
"教授的住处,"P-21回答。"一头巨角兽，一只沙狗，还有一颗网络怪人的头颅。听起来像是一个糟糕的笑话的开始。"我不得不怀疑他的幽默感。
“Ponies is all bad joke,” growled Rover from the doorway. “Is done. Is okay.” I rose to my hooves and slowly walked towards the aged canine. His cybernetic eye followed my steps carefully as I staggered. “Pony is doing all wrong. Do not think of walking, pony. Walk. Legs is smarter than pony.”
"小马都是糟糕的玩笑,"罗孚在门口咆哮道。""完成了。没关系。"我站起来，慢慢地走向那只老狗。当我蹒跚而行时，他那双控制论的眼睛小心翼翼地跟着我的脚步。"小马完全做错了。不要想着走路，小马。步行。腿比小马聪明。"
“I can’t help it. My legs want to do something else,” I said as I looked down at them. “I’m tripping over my own hooves!” I protested as the damned things twitched under me. He just sighed and rolled his filmy eye. I sighed too as I looked at him, then past him at Glory and the brown stallion. “Look. I just wanted to say thank you. To all of you, for everything. It’s just... right now, it feels all muddled up. I’m trying to sort it all out.”
"我情不自禁。我的腿还想干点别的,"我低头看着它们说。"我被自己的蹄子绊倒了!"当那些该死的东西在我身下抽搐时，我抗议道。他只是叹了口气，转了转朦胧的眼睛。我看着他也叹了口气，然后在晨辉和那匹棕色种马面前走过他。"你看。我只是想说声谢谢。为了你们所有人，为了一切。只是...现在感觉一团糟。我正在努力解决这一切。"
“Ponies is always whining,” Rover growled, shaking his head, and then shuddered as he closed his eyes. “Always the whining.” Then he pointed a mechanical finger at me. “Pony has better leg now, like dog. Dog make best
"小马总是在呜呜叫,"罗孚咆哮着，摇摇头，然后在闭上眼睛时打了个寒颤。"总是发牢骚。"然后他用机械的手指指着我。"小马的腿现在好多了，就像狗一样。狗是最好的
pony legs ever. Better than professor pony.”
最好的马腿。比pony教授好。"
“Why did you help?” P-21 asked with a small frown.
"你为什么要帮忙?"P-21皱着眉头问道。
He looked at the blue stallion and snorted. “Pony take home. Dog work under city. Many accident. Many. Pony not care about dogs. Professor care. She make new leg. Strong leg. Show dogs how make, too. Make organ and parts so dog can do job and live. When bombs fall, dogs use metal parts to survive. Not become twisted. Not become hellhound. Stay dog. Stay sane. So she say she need dog help, dog help.” He growled and pointed a finger at P-21. “Dog remember promises and favors.”
他看着那匹蓝色的种马，哼了一声。"小马带回家。城市下的狗工作。很多事故。很多。小马不在乎狗。凯尔教授。她做了一条新腿。强壮的腿。向狗狗展示如何制作。制造器官和器官，这样狗就可以工作和生活。当炸弹落下时，狗用金属部件来生存。不要变得扭曲。不要成为地狱之犬。保持警惕。保持理智。所以她说她需要狗帮助，狗帮助。"他咆哮着，用手指着P-21。"狗记得承诺和恩惠。"
“Well, thank you,” I replied as I looked at my body. My synthetic limbs were some sort of light metal painted with a matte white enamel. The forelegs ended all the way up at my shoulders, but the metal of the hindlegs stopped just below my cutie mark. I still had my lucky... well... relatively lucky queen and ace. “I’ll… I’ll try to remember, too.” Then I laughed. “At least I have hooves again. For a while there, I thought I was going to grow--” I froze as four white digits extended from my hoof and flexed before my eyes. “AHH! I have fingers!”
"谢谢,"我看着自己的身体回答。我的合成肢体是某种涂有哑光白色珐琅的轻金属。前腿一直延伸到我的肩膀，但后腿的金属部分刚好停在我可爱的标记下面。我仍然有我的幸运......嗯......相对幸运的王后和王牌。"我...我也会努力回忆的。"然后我笑了。"至少我又有蹄子了。有那么一会儿，我以为自己会长高——"当四个白色的脚趾从我的蹄子伸出来，在我眼前弯曲时，我愣住了。"啊！我有手指!"
Rover snorted, but I swore he was smirking! “Thumbs is better, pony. Pony will see.”
罗孚哼了一声，但我发誓他是在傻笑！"拇指更好，小马。小马会看到的。"
“Come. Let’s get you to the cargo elevator,” the brown stallion said. “Crazy times in Tenpony. I swear.” He smiled though, as if quite welcoming this craziness. Then he pointed a hoof at me. “Stay here, please. At least a few hours for observation. After working on you for three days, last thing we need is for one of those synthetic organs to be rejected.” He escorted Rover from the clinic. Given how dark it was outside I figured most of the tower was asleep. Glory gave a tired yawn, and all my friends seemed likewise bushed.
"来吧。让我们把你送到货物升降机那里吧,"棕色种马说。"Tenpony的疯狂时代。我发誓。"不过他还是笑了，似乎很欢迎这种疯狂的举动。然后他用蹄子指着我。"请留在这里。至少要观察几个小时。在你身上工作了三天之后，我们最不需要的就是那些合成器官被拒绝。"他护送罗孚离开诊所。考虑到外面很黑，我估计塔楼的大部分都睡着了。晨辉打了个疲倦的哈欠，我所有的朋友似乎都很累。
“Do you have somewhere to stay?” I asked as I looked at them.
"你有地方住吗?"我看着他们问道。
“The Twilight Society provided a room,” P-21 said with a little frown. I agreed with his expression; the Twilight Society of Tenpony Tower definitely wanted something from me. I had to wonder what I was going to do about it. He fought another yawn. “We were worried… I mean, after three days we weren’t sure you were going to be coming back. Or if you did, that you’d be… you know… you.”
"暮光协会提供了一个房间,"P-21皱着眉头说。我同意他的表达:天波尼塔的暮光社肯定想从我这里得到些什么。我不得不想知道我该怎么办。他又打了一个哈欠。"我们很担心......我的意思是，三天后，我们不确定你是否会回来。或者，如果你做到了，你就是......你知道......你。"
Glory bit her lip as she peeked at me behind her falling mane. “You said… any
晨辉在她垂下的鬃毛后偷看我的时候咬住了她的嘴唇。"你说......任何
way to save you…”
救你的方法..."
“That didn’t involve Sanguine,” I finished for her. I looked at the white appendages sticking out of the end of my right forehoof and bashed it a few times with my left. Finally, there was a clack, and the fingers retracted. I really wished there was some sort of manual or something: ‘Your New Mechanical Body and You’. Finally I smiled as I looked into her eyes. A real smile. “You did good,” I said as I nuzzled her cheek. “I really thought I was toast.”
"那不关桑吉娜的事,"我替她说完。我看着伸出右前蹄末端的白色附肢，用左手猛击了几下。最后，发出一声咔嗒声，手指收回。我真的希望有一些手册或什么的:你的新机械身体和你。最后我看着她的眼睛笑了。真正的微笑。"你做得很好,"我用鼻子蹭着她的脸颊说。"我真的以为自己完蛋了。"
“You were,” Glory pointed out with a sigh before she kissed me back. “After two days of fiddling with you… I was seriously about to track down some zebra witchdoctor or something to bring you back.” She sighed as she held me in a tight hug, kissing the side of my neck. “Do you remember anything? While you were out, I mean?”
"你曾经是,"晨辉叹了口气指出，然后回吻了我。"在和你纠缠了两天之后......我真的想找个斑马巫医或者什么东西把你带回来。"她叹了口气，紧紧地抱着我，吻了吻我的脖子。"你还记得什么吗？我是说，你出去的时候?"
“No… not really. Something about stars, I think,” I said softly before I pulled back. Blood smeared her forelegs and she looked like she needed a good long day of rest. “Why don’t you go clean up and catch some shuteye? I’ll try and figure out… stuff.” I forced a smile as a crosshair appeared on her forehead. “You know, while it’s quiet?”
"不......不是真的。我想是关于星星的,"我轻声地说，然后退了回去。血液弄脏了她的前腿，她看起来需要好好休息一天。""你为什么不去打扫一下，睡一觉呢？我会试着弄清楚......一些事情。"当一个十字准星出现在她的额头上时，我挤出一个微笑。"你知道，在安静的时候?"
“You promise you won’t get into trouble?” Glory asked. What was I, a foal? What kind of trouble could I get into here in Tenpony Tower? “I think Helpinghoof would be okay if I slept in here.” I sighed, shaking my head as I tried to carefully stroke her cheek.
"你保证不会惹上麻烦?"晨辉问道。我是什么，小马驹吗？我在天波尼塔会遇到什么麻烦呢？"我想如果我睡在这里，助手霍夫会没事的。"我叹了口气，摇着头，小心翼翼地抚摸着她的脸颊。
“Glory. It’s a bed. A clean bed. With a shower and a toilet and…” I sighed again; now I was really wishing that I could go with her. “Nnnngh… maybe I can leave Helpinghoof a note?” I looked at the enamel coating my limbs. Hopefully they were waterproof.
"晨辉。这是张床。一张干净的床。冲个澡，洗个澡，然后......"我又叹了口气，现在我真希望能和她一起去。"嗯......也许我可以给你留个便条?"我看着涂在我四肢上的珐琅。希望它们是防水的。
“Already disobeying doctor’s orders? It’s his clinic. Try to follow…” She yawned and swayed. Rampage caught her before she staggered.
""已经不服从医生的命令了？这是他的诊所。试着跟着......"她打着哈欠，摇晃着身子。在她蹒跚起来之前，狂暴抓住了她。
“I think we should all go,” P-21 muttered as he rubbed his eyes. “It’s late… or early… somewhere between the two.” He pointed to some boxes in the corner. “Your things are over there, along with a bunch of stuff folks gave us to give you. We were going to do a party, but I don’t think anypony expected you to pull through so early.”
"我想我们都该走了,"P-21一边揉着眼睛一边喃喃自语。"时间很晚......或者很早......介于两者之间。"他指着角落里的一些盒子。"你的东西在那边，还有一大堆人们给我们的东西。我们本来要开个派对，但我想没有人会想到你这么早就熬过来了。"
“You all go ahead. There’s not much I can do anyway, beside figuring out complicated skills like walking.” And, according to the refreshingly familiar screen of my PipBuck, I wouldn’t need to sleep again for a few more days, minimum. After watching my friends leave, I walked back to the operating room, every third step sending me staggering as I overcorrected.
"你们都去吧。反正我也做不了什么，除了学会走路这样复杂的技能。"而且，根据我那令人耳目一新的PipBuck屏幕显示，我至少还要再睡几天。看着我的朋友们离开后，我走回了手术室，每走第三步，我就会因为矫枉过正而步履蹒跚。
I felt a stab of guilt at the bloody mess left behind; I had to do something about it. I looked around the back room and found a janitor’s closet. I stared at the door handle and concentrated. I knitted my brows, grit my teeth, and crossed my eyes trying to get my horn to work.
我感到一阵内疚，因为我留下了血淋淋的烂摊子，我必须做点什么。我环顾了一下后面的房间，发现了一个看门人的壁橱。我盯着门把手，全神贯注。我皱起眉头，咬紧牙关，双眼交叉，试图让我的角发挥作用。
Just as much nothing as when Lacunae first regrew it; I was a horn-headed earth pony now. I sighed, opened the door with my hooves, found a bucket, filled it up, and added some Abronco Detergent. I started to clean up the blood that smeared the floor and the operating table. On a counter was a large jar covered with a sheet, a monitor machine next to it. The talisman hummed as it beeped softly.
就像当拉库奈第一次重新长出它的时候一样，我现在是一匹长着角头的土地上的小马。我叹了口气，用蹄子把门打开，找到一个桶，装满了，加了一些阿布龙科清洁剂。我开始清理地板和手术台上的血迹。柜台上有一个大罐子，上面盖着一张纸，旁边放着一台监视器。护身符发出轻轻的嗡嗡声。
I was halfway through cleaning up, and probably making more of a mess in the process, when the brown stallion returned. He looked at me in surprise as I squeezed out the dirty sponge between my hooves. “You know, we have janitors for that.”
我打扫了一半，可能在打扫的过程中弄得更乱，这时棕色的种马回来了。当我用蹄子把脏海绵挤出来时，他吃惊地看着我。"你知道，我们有看门的。"
“It’s my fault there’s a mess. Least I can do is clean it up,” I said softly as I scrubbed the floor. He looked at me curiously.
"一团糟都是我的错。至少我能做的就是把它打扫干净,"我轻轻地擦着地板说。他好奇地看着我。
“Actually, most of it was from Rover removing her head. Say what you will for neatness, those claws of his can sure dismember a pony,” he said as he got a sponge as well.
"实际上，大部分是因为罗孚砍掉了她的头。不管你怎么说，它的爪子一定能把小马撕成碎片。"他一边说，一边拿起一块海绵。
“You don’t have to do that,” I said as he started cleaning up the mess from the other side.
"你没必要这么做,"我说着，他开始从另一边收拾残局。
“It’s no trouble,” he began.
"不麻烦,"他开始说。
“You don’t have to do that!” I snapped. I stared at him in shock. I looked down at the dirty floor, my eyes targeting soap bubbles now. “Nopony should be troubled on my account. I’ll clean it up.”
"你没必要这么做!"我厉声说道。我震惊地盯着他。我低头看着肮脏的地板，眼睛盯着肥皂泡。"小马应该为我担心。我会收拾干净的。"
He just stood there for almost a minute, watching me as I worked. “You really
他在那儿站了将近一分钟，看着我工作。"你真的
hate yourself, don’t you, Blackjack?” I stared at him for a moment, half in confusion and half in fear. “You don’t think we should have saved you, do you?”
恨你自己吧，黑杰克?"我盯着他看了一会儿，一半是困惑，一半是恐惧。"你不认为我们应该救你，是吗?"
“I’m glad Glory did,” I said as I looked back at the mess I was making worse.
"我很高兴晨辉这么做了,"我回头看着自己弄得一团糟时说。
“No doubt. She’s happy, which matters to you. In fact, if Glory wanted you dead, you’d probably shoot yourself just to make her happy,” Helpinghoof said with a little chuckle. “What I mean is, you don’t think you deserved to be saved, do you?”
""毫无疑问。她很快乐，这对你来说很重要。事实上，如果晨辉想让你死，你可能会为了让她高兴而自杀。"Helpinghoof笑着说。"我的意思是，你认为你不值得被拯救，是吗?"
I didn’t answer. I just sloshed around dirty water as I stared down at the sponge. Finally, I said quietly, “There are better ponies… ponies who should be back.” I sighed softly, closing my eyes. “Scoodle. Radishes. Mallet. Tarboots. Elder Crunchy Carrots. Roses. Thorn.” I clenched my jaw. Marmalade. Rivets. Midnight. Mom… “So why is it I get to die and come back but they have to stay dead?”
我没有回答。当我盯着海绵的时候，我只是在脏水里晃来晃去。最后，我平静地说,"有更好的小马......小马应该回来。"我轻轻地叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。"史酷德。萝卜。木槌。Tarboots.脆胡萝卜。玫瑰。荆棘。"我咬紧牙关。女名女子名。铆钉。午夜。妈妈..."那么为什么我可以死而复生，而他们却必须死去?"
I wanted to gasp. I wanted my heart to pound. Instead, everything inside me was still. “The professor… Glory… my friends… everypony… they all think I’m special. That somehow I’m important or better or… or something! How can they think that?” I asked as I stared at him. “I’ve screwed up so many times… how is it that I’m worth giving a second chance?”
我想喘口气。我想让我的心跳动起来。相反，我内心的一切都是静止的。"教授......晨辉......我的朋友们......每个人......他们都认为我很特别。不知怎么的，我变得重要了，变得更好了，或者......或者其他什么！他们怎么会这么想呢?"我盯着他问道。"我搞砸了这么多次......为什么我值得再给一次机会?"
Helpinghoof just chuckled and shook his head. “Because folks like you, Blackjack. You’re a good pony.”
副手霍夫只是轻声地笑了笑，摇了摇头。"因为人们喜欢你，Blackjack。你是一匹好马。"
“Am not…” I muttered, squeezing out the sponge. “I’m not special at all.”
"我不是......"我咕哝着，把海绵挤了出来。"我一点也不特别。"
He sighed and then barely suppressed a yawn. “You don’t feel you’re worth the help others give you. You feel that there’s somepony better who should get it. So you feel guilty, and when half the Hoof springs to action to help you… you feel bad because you think you don’t deserve it.”
他叹了口气，然后忍住不打哈欠。"你觉得自己不值得别人帮助你。你觉得应该有更好的人得到它。所以你感到内疚，当一半的霍夫跳起来帮助你时......你感到内疚，因为你认为你不配得到它。"
I looked at him curiously. I hadn’t thought of that. He asked after a minute, “Do you think your friends show good judgment, Blackjack?”
我好奇地看着他。我没想到这一点。过了一分钟，他问道:"你认为你的朋友们有很好的判断力吗，Blackjack?"
That’s a good question... “P-21 follows me into irradiated tunnels, I’ve shot Rampage in the head on more than one occasion, and Glory loves me.” He laughed as he squeezed out his sponge, and I smiled despite myself. “Honestly, I think Lacunae’s the smartest one of all of us. But on average, I’d say my friends
这个问题问得好......"P-21跟着我进入了被辐射的隧道，我不止一次地向狂暴的头部开过枪，晨辉爱我。"他一边大笑一边挤出海绵，我不由自主地笑了起来。"老实说，我认为Lacunae是我们当中最聪明的一个。但是平均来说，我会说我的朋友们
have better judgment than me.”
比我有更好的判断力"
“Then trust their judgment. If they… and so many others… think that bringing you back was the right thing to do, then trust it. Accept it’s good and worthwhile.” He smiled. “But if you insist on cleaning up, then by all means. I’ll be in my office.” I watched as he stood, dumped the bucket of dirty water into the sink, set the bucket down, and started to leave.
"那就相信他们的判断。如果他们......和其他许多人......认为把你带回来是正确的事情，那么就相信它。接受它的好处和价值。"他笑了。""但是如果你坚持要清理，那就想尽办法吧。我在办公室等你。"我看着他站在那里，把一桶脏水倒进水槽，放下水桶，准备离开。
I blinked as I watched him go. “So… you’re going to let me just clean it up on my own?”
看着他离去，我眨了眨眼睛。"那么......你打算让我自己把它打扫干净吗?"
He looked around at the mess and then at me. “Well, we could talk about it, but you’ll just say you’re not worth talking to. We could fight over it, but you’d just thump my rump.” The brown stallion chuckled as he shrugged. “At least with cleaning therapy, you work off some of your guilt issues and I get a clean operating room.” And with that, he trotted out and left me to my work. I laughed despite everything, shaking my head. Security... blows up battleships and cleans floors. All I had to do was learn to cook, and I’d be perfect.
他环顾四周，看了看乱糟糟的东西，然后又看了看我。"好吧，我们可以谈谈，但你只会说你不值得谈。我们可以为此吵架，但你只会打我的屁股。"当他耸耸肩时，那匹棕色的种马咯咯地笑了。"至少通过清洁治疗，你解决了一些内疚问题，我得到了一个干净的手术室。"就这样，他匆匆离开，让我继续工作。尽管发生了这一切，我还是笑了，摇着头。保安...炸掉战舰，清理地板。我所要做的就是学会做饭，这样我就完美了。
I played some of Mixers’s finest, and an hour later I had the room as clean as I could get it. The constant activity was helping me figure out some of the weirdness in my body, too. Finally, I dumped out the buckets and put everything away. I looked at the covered jar next to the beeping equipment but couldn’t bring myself to look inside. After all, what would I do if she looked back? Instead, I trotted out into the recovery room, glanced into the small office, and turned off the tunes.
我演奏了一些混音师最好的曲子，一个小时后，我把房间打扫得干干净净。这种持续不断的活动也帮助我发现了我身体里的一些奇怪之处。最后，我把水桶倒出来，把所有的东西都放好。我看着仪器旁边那个盖着的罐子，但是我不能让自己看到里面。毕竟，如果她回头看，我该怎么办？相反，我跑进恢复室，瞥了一眼小办公室，关掉了音乐。
The brown stallion had his head on his hooves, snoring brokenly as he slumped over his desk. I sighed, looked around, and spotted a threadbare prewar jacket. I draped it over his shoulders and then closed the door behind me.
这匹棕色的种马把头枕在蹄子上，趴在桌子上时断断续续地打鼾。我叹了口气，环顾四周，发现了一件破旧的战前夹克。我把它披在他的肩膀上，然后关上了身后的门。
So… what was there to do in Tenpony Tower at two in the morning?
那么...凌晨两点在TenponyTower有什么可做的？
I trotted over to the crates. Birthday presents in 99 were usually an extra portion of recycled yogurt and maybe a ‘free bump to the head of the breeding queue’ voucher. I looked at my thrashed saddlebags and shot-up armor. The poor rearing filly patch was stained brown and half peeled off. The word ‘Security’ had so many bullet holes and dings that it was hard to tell if I was Security or Secretary. I looked at the shreds of duct tape still clinging to the legs. I sighed, running my hoof over the chewed and patched kevlar.
我小跑着走向板条箱。99年的生日礼物通常是再生酸奶的额外部分，也可能是免费的生育优惠券。我看了看我被打烂的鞍囊和被子弹击中的盔甲。那块可怜的饲养用的小母马斑块被染成了棕色，有一半脱落了。"保安"这个词有很多弹孔和叮当声，很难说我是保安还是秘书。我看着仍然粘在腿上的胶带碎片。我叹了口气，用蹄子踩着那块被咬过的补过补丁的凯夫拉尔纤维。
I smiled as I saw Vigilance. My horn couldn’t even flicker, but I cradled it in my hooves as I lifted it out. Well, I needed more practice using the mouthgrip anyway. Then I looked down at said grip.
当我看到警惕的时候，我笑了。我的号角甚至都不能摇动，但我把它举起来的时候，我把它放在我的蹄子里。嗯，我需要更多的练习使用口柄无论如何。然后我低头看了看那个握把。
A new name had been carved into it. ‘Blackjack’. I sniffed as I looked at that list of names, from Card Trick to myself. I looked at ‘Tarot’. Could there somehow be some way that Tarot was Twilight’s child? And the gun had been passed down from mother to daughter, to me. I pressed the cool metal slide of the weapon to my warm brow and sighed. Then I set the pistol aside.
它被刻上了一个新名字。黑杰克。我一边嗅一边看着那张名单，从纸牌戏法到我自己。我看着塔罗牌。有没有可能塔罗牌就是暮光之城的孩子？枪是从母亲传给女儿，传给我的。我把武器冷却的金属滑片压在温暖的额头上，叹了口气。然后我把手枪放在一边。
Beneath that box was one box from Bottlecap. By ‘collection’, she’d clearly meant a collection of ammunition. I looked at the box of ammo and then recalled what Rampage had said. Filling up my saddlebags with bullets at this moment might not go over well with Tenpony security. I wondered how they’d gotten the crate in. Panic, rush, and threats? I covered it up. Really… why confiscate ammo, anyway? It seemed a lot more energy-efficient to confiscate weapons… but it wasn’t my show. Besides, I doubted I’d be as easy with the idea of Vigilance taken from me rather than bullets for the gun.
在那个盒子下面是Bottlecap的一个盒子。说到收集，她显然指的是收集弹药。我看了看装满弹药的箱子，然后想起了斯皮格说的话。在这个时候用子弹填满我的鞍袋可能不会让Tenpony的安保工作顺利进行。我想知道他们是怎么把箱子装进去的。恐慌、冲动和威胁？我掩盖了事实。真的...为什么要没收弹药？没收武器似乎更节能...但那不是我的节目。此外，我怀疑我是否会轻易接受警戒从我身上夺走而不是子弹的想法。
Underneath that was a box filled with a bottle of Buck, Party Time Mint-als, some Dash inhalers, Rad-X, and RadAway, as well as a little jar of bright blue dust that I assumed was Moon Dust. It seemed that Caprice had been all out of Med-X. Still, there was a little note: ‘Sorry.’
下面是一个盒子，里面装着一瓶Buck，PartyTimeMint-als，一些Dash吸入器，Rad-X，RadAway，还有一小罐亮蓝色的尘埃，我以为那是MoonDust。看来Caprice已经把Med-X卖完了。不过，还是有一个小纸条:"对不起。"
I’d probably give most of the box to Helpinghoof. Underneath that was some black, reinforced leather barding. I pulled it out and checked it carefully for cutie marks. None. It had a pony skull on the flank, and written on the back was ‘Reapers’ over the number ‘99’: an old hoofball uniform. Sadly, it was in better condition than my combat armor. I looked close and saw that the 99 had once been 66… altered just for me. I wondered if Lacunae was behind it.
我可能会把大部分的盒子给Helpinghoof。下面是一些黑色的，加固的皮革护栏。我把它拿了出来，仔细检查了一下有没有可爱的印记。没有。它的侧腹有一个小马的头骨，背面的数字"99"上写着"收割者":一套旧的蹄球制服。不幸的是，它的状态比我的战斗盔甲要好。我仔细观察，发现99号曾经是66号......只为我改变了。我不知道是不是拉库尼在幕后操纵。
In a small cardboard box were a dozen cupcakes with red and white swirled frostings and a little ‘Happy Birthday’ card from Homage. I tried one. It was good. Really good. I felt a sick little knot in my stomach… or where my stomach had been. Was it now my ‘reprocessor’? Was that where the guilt came from? A old, battered book from Triage: the Canterlot Journal of Medicine. Well, it’d be good reading for Glory in any case.
在一个小纸板盒里，放着一打带有红白色漩涡状糖霜的纸杯蛋糕，还有一张小小的"生日快乐"贺卡。我试了一个。很不错。真的很好。我觉得胃里有点不舒服......或者说我的胃曾经有过的地方。现在是我的"再处理器"吗？这就是罪恶感的来源吗？一本破旧的分诊书:《坎特罗医学杂志》。无论如何，这本书都是《晨辉》的好读物。
Finally, the last box held three things from Chapel. The first was a little note
最后，最后一个盒子里装着来自小教堂的三样东西。第一个是一个小音符
from Priest.
来自Priest。
I’ve known many ponies who have gone to Celestia. Now I’m thrilled to know a pony who’s come back. No matter how black things become, there is always… inevitably… a dawn.
我认识很多去过塞莱斯蒂亚的小马。现在我很高兴知道一匹小马回来了。不管事情变得多么黑暗，总会有......不可避免的......黎明。
I sniffed and felt a sick little joy that I still had tear ducts. I supposed even cybereyes would get pretty itchy without them. Helpinghoof was right… I felt so damned guilty. I didn’t deserve any of this. I sighed, swallowing as I pulled out a small gold and silver pendant in the shape of Celestia raising the sun. I’d give it to P-21.
我闻了闻，觉得有点恶心，因为我的泪腺还在。我想即使是网络上的眼睛没有它们也会很痒。副手霍夫是对的......我感到非常内疚。我不该承受这一切。我叹了口气，吞下了一个小小的金银垂饰，呈现出升起太阳的天堂的形状。我会把它交给P-21。
I set it aside and saw six bottles of Wild Pegasus in all their amber glory. Exactly what I needed right now. And if I was somehow incapable of getting drunk, then I was going to have Glory turn off my liver. But then, at the bottom was the absolute perfect present. It was from Charity, and it was precisely what I needed right then:
我把它放在一边，看到了六瓶琥珀色的野生帕伽索斯。正是我现在所需要的。如果我不知何故不能喝醉，那么我就会让晨辉关掉我的肝。但是，在最下面是绝对完美的礼物。它来自Charity，而这正是我当时所需要的:
An invoice.
发票。
* * *
* * *
I’d just finished sorting the presents and was sitting on one of the recovery room’s beds playing with my ‘fingers’ when the doors into the entry room opened. I glanced over through the open folding divider, expecting Glory. Maybe she’d washed and wanted to finish snoozing here with me? But instead, a young mare poked her head in. She looked like hell, with shadows under her eyes and a definitely frazzled expression. I noticed her stable barding and PipBuck and smiled. She looked over at me and my wiggling appendages. I gave a half smile. “Hey. I have thumbs.”
我刚刚整理完礼物，正坐在恢复室的一张床上玩我的"手指"，进入入口室的门打开了。我扫视了一下打开的折叠隔板，期待着晨辉。也许她已经洗过澡了，想和我一起在这里打个盹？但是，一头年轻的母马却把头伸了进来。她看起来糟透了，眼睛下面有阴影，表情明显疲惫不堪。我注意到她的马厩巴克和皮布克，笑了。她看着我和我摆动的附肢。我微微一笑。"嘿。我有大拇指。"
The little unicorn almost skidded to a stop, and she gave me the look. That look that said that she was assessing whether or not I bore hostile intent and that the color of her E.F.S. would determine if I was about to receive new holes or not.
小独角兽差点滑到停下来，她看了我一眼。这种表情说明她正在评估我是否怀有敌意，她的e.f.s的颜色将决定我是否会得到新的洞。
But after a second, the little unicorn relaxed. “Sorry,” she said as she rubbed her rumpled mane. She’d definitely been through the wringer.
但是过了一会儿，小独角兽放松了。"对不起,"她一边抚摸着皱巴巴的鬃毛一边说。她肯定经历过痛苦的折磨。
“Doc! You got business!” I called at once. The black unicorn and the brown pegasus stallion who followed were only slightly better off. The zebra in the back was the only one who didn’t look half shot to hell.
"医生！你有生意做了!"我立刻打了电话。后面跟着的黑独角兽和棕色的飞马只是稍微好一点。后面的斑马是唯一一个看起来不像被打得半死的人。
I went back to fiddling; it’d take more than a medical journal to make me worthwhile in a situation like this. Besides, none of her friends were really critically injured, though clearly they’d been well-chewed by the Wasteland. The black unicorn had a nasty scar on her leg that bespoke a dire injury. At the moment, though, the friends were more engaged in argument with each other than whatever had brought them to the doctor. I took a long swig off one of my bottles.
我又回到了无所事事的状态;在这种情况下，光靠一本医学杂志是不够的。此外，她的朋友没有一个真的受了重伤，尽管很明显他们被荒原狠狠地咀嚼了一顿。黑独角兽的腿上有一道难看的伤疤，预示着一种可怕的伤害。不过，此时此刻，这两个朋友之间的争吵比他们去看医生的原因还要激烈。我痛饮了一大口酒。
“And that, LittlePip, is why you don’t go trotting right up to Red Eye’s folks to have a chat. And it’s ‘specially why you don’t do it alone!” the brown, winged cowpony said just before he drank down a healing potion. “If we hadn’t been ready…”
"小匹普，这就是为什么你不直接跑到红眼的家人面前聊天的原因。这就是'特别是为什么你不能一个人做!"'那个褐色的长翅膀的矮种马，在喝下治疗药水之前说。"如果我们没有准备好......"
LittlePip groaned. “Red Eye would have done it…” she muttered as she glowered at the purple healing potion before her.
小匹普呻吟着。"红眼睛就能做到......"她一边咕哝着，一边怒视着眼前的紫色治疗药水。
The black unicorn sighed as her own nicks and injuries healed. “Well, while I admire your attempt at diplomacy, I’m afraid that, in the face of alicorns, griffins, and this army, it was a little… ah… overambitious?”
黑独角兽在伤口愈合时叹了口气。"好吧，虽然我很欣赏你的外交努力，但我恐怕，在面对海盗、狮鹫和这支军队时，它有点......啊......野心太大了?"
I then noticed something out of the corner of my eye and turned. The zebra was a hoofreach away and was just watching me. She didn’t glower or frown, but I had the distinct impression that if I sneezed wrong, she’d turn me into pulped pony. “Hi,” I said, blinking. She didn’t respond. I lifted the bottle of whiskey in my hooves. “Drink?” She still didn’t respond. “Okay, am I going to have to kiss you to make you relax?” I’d seen eyes like these before… “That probably wouldn’t be good. She’s had a bad experience with another cyberpony,” the charcoal unicorn said, fighting a yawn. I looked again at the zebra. A bad experience… like P-21 had had his whole life in 99? Like I’d had… my nethers clenched and I dropped my gaze a moment.
然后我注意到我眼角的东西，转过身来。那只斑马是一只能够到的马，它只是在看着我。她没有怒视，也没有皱眉，但我清楚地感觉到，如果我打错了喷嚏，她会把我变成一匹有血有肉的小马。"嗨,"我眨着眼睛说。她没有回应。我用蹄子举起一瓶威士忌。"喝酒吗?"她还是没有回应。"好吧，我是不是得吻你才能让你放松?"我以前见过这样的眼睛......"那可能不太好。她和另一匹赛博马有过不愉快的经历,"木炭独角兽边说边打着哈欠。我又看了看斑马。一次糟糕的经历...就像P-21在99年度度过了他的整个人生？就像我已经......我的下半身紧握，我低下了我的目光片刻。
Then I looked into her eyes and said, “I know what that’s like. I’m sorry.” Because I knew what it was like, and I was sorry any pony or zebra had gone through it. Her expression didn’t soften in the slightest, but she finally looked away from me.
然后我看着她的眼睛说:"我知道那是什么感觉。对不起。"因为我知道那是什么感觉，而且我很遗憾任何一匹小马或斑马都经历过那种感觉。她的表情丝毫没有缓和，但她最终把目光从我身上移开。
Helpinghoof fought another yawn as he passed out a tray of healing potions. “Well, you all made it out alive. It could be worse,” he said as he made sure that the potions went down.
副手霍夫一边打着哈欠，一边递出一盘治疗药水。"好吧，你们都活着出来了。情况可能会更糟,"他一边说，一边确保药水下去。
“It nearly was. I almost lost a leg!” the black unicorn said as she showed off the gnarly scar ringing her foreleg. The healing potion had smoothed its lines a bit, but that was the kind of mark you carried for the rest of your life. I knew; I still had them decorating any part of me that wasn’t metal.
"差不多是这样。我差点失去一条腿!"黑独角兽一边炫耀前腿周围粗糙的伤疤，一边说道。治疗药水的线条稍微平滑了一点，但那是你余生都会带着的记号。我知道;我仍然用它们来装饰我身上任何非金属的部分。
“Just one?” I asked with a small smile, tapping my hooves together. Oh… hello awkward. Welcome to the party! Just take a seat everywhere. She flushed and looked away as I shook my head. “Sorry…”
"就一个?"我带着一丝微笑问道，一边用蹄子轻敲着。哦...你好，笨蛋。欢迎来到派对！随便找个地方坐下。我摇了摇头，她脸红了，把目光移开了。"对不起......"
The pegasus stallion looked at the brown bottle between my hooves. “Is that… shoot, is that Wild Pegasus?”
那匹飞马看着我蹄间的棕色瓶子。"那是...天啊，那是野飞马吗?"
I couldn’t help it. I grinned and said, in my best Dusty Trails drawl, “Surely is, pardner. Only the finest single malt whiskey made from the greatest barley in all of Equestria, stored in oak casks for a minimum of ten years and bottled in custom-enchanted preservation bottles. Guaranteed to ruffle your feathers, curl your tail, polish your horn and get you good and fuckered up.” I knew that from the back of the label. He nickered, his eyes lighting up like he’d just seen the sunrise, and I tossed him the bottle. He blinked as he caught it with his hooves. “Here.”
我情不自禁。我咧嘴一笑，用我最拖长的"尘土飞扬"的腔调说:"当然是，伙计。只有最好的单一麦芽威士忌，由全Equestria最好的大麦酿造，在橡木桶中保存至少十年，并装入有特殊魔法的保存瓶中。保证能让你兴奋起来，卷起你的尾巴，擦亮你的角，让你爽翻天。"从标签背面我就知道了。他笑着说，眼睛里闪着光，就像刚刚看过日出一样，我把瓶子扔给他。当他用蹄子抓住它时，他眨了眨眼。"这里。"
“Yer just givin’ it to me?” He stared in amazement. I nodded. I had more. Why not? “Well, shoot my nuts and call me a mare... this is… really nice, stranger.”
"你就这么把它给我了?"他惊讶地凝视着。我点点头。我还有更多。为什么不呢？"好吧，开枪打我的蛋蛋，叫我母马......这真是......太好了，陌生人。"
“Blackjack,” I replied, digging out a second bottle with my mouth.
"黑杰克,"我回答，用嘴又挖出第二个瓶子。
“Calamity,” he said, “and my friends are LittlePip, Velvet Remedy, and Xenith,” he added with gestures at the appropriate ponies. We tapped the bottles together and shared a drink. Well… it burned smooth and sweet and rested with a warm glow in my... well there was a warm glow somewhere in me, and that was what mattered! He wiped his mouth with a hoof. “Oh my… that surely is the real deal. Can almost taste the sky barley.” Sky barley? “Heh, you can get six months fer possession of this stuff back home. Food waste.” He snorted in disgust, then looked at me holding the bottle between my hooves. “Why are you drinking like that?”
"不幸的是,"他说,"我的朋友是小pip，VelvetRemedy和Xenith,"他对着合适的小马做了个手势。我们把瓶子碰在一起，喝了一杯。嗯......它平滑而甜蜜地燃烧着，在我的......嗯......在我的某个地方有一种温暖的光芒，这才是最重要的！他用蹄子擦了擦嘴。"哦，我的天......这肯定是真的。几乎可以品尝到天空中的大麦。"天空大麦？"回到家里，你可以用六个月的时间来获得这些东西。食物浪费。」他厌恶地哼了一声，然后看着我用蹄子夹着酒瓶。"你为什么那样喝酒?"
“Oh. Yeah. My horn doesn’t work,” I said with a smile and a shrug. “Got chiseled off a few days back.” What was that, awkward? You want to bring your whole family? Well sure, come on in! Now LittlePip and Velvet were staring. “What?”
"哦。是的。我的喇叭坏了,"我微笑着耸了耸肩说。"几天前被凿掉了"怎么了，尴尬吗？你想把你全家都带来吗？当然，进来吧！现在小匹普和维尔维特盯着我看。"什么?"
Velvet flushed, then said to Helpinghoof, “Anyway, enough of our little problems. When can you take care of LittlePip’s… erm… little problem?” she asked with a flush.
维尔韦的脸涨得通红，然后对副手说:"不管怎样，我们的小问题已经够多了。你什么时候能处理小匹普的...呃...小问题?"她脸红地问道。
The brown earth pony looked at the little unicorn. “Oh. Well, unfortunately there’s going to be a bit of a delay. We had to purge another patient’s contamination earlier.” It was amazing to see how hard they tried to not stare at me. I looked indolently back as I took a sip from my bottle. Personally, if she didn’t have jelly legs, I thought she’d live.
褐色土地上的小马看着小独角兽。"哦。不幸的是会有点延迟。我们必须尽早清除另一个病人的污染物。"看到他们努力不盯着我看，真是令人吃惊。我懒洋洋地回头看了一眼，从瓶子里喝了一口。就我个人而言，如果她没有软绵绵的腿，我想她会活下来的。
Clearly, LittlePip wasn’t worried either as she sighed, “It’s not a problem. Look, why don’t you three go up to your rooms, clean up, and catch some shuteye? I’ll just wait here till they’re ready.”
很明显，小皮普也不担心，她叹了口气,"这不是问题。听着，你们三个为什么不回房间去，收拾一下，睡一觉呢？我就在这儿等他们准备好。"
Velvet frowned. “I don’t know. I think one of us should stay with you.” LittlePip scowled slightly. “Calamity or I…”
维尔韦特皱起了眉头。"我不知道。我认为我们中的一个应该和你在一起。"小皮普有点皱眉头。"不幸还是我.....。。」
“I get a bottle of Wild P and yer telling me I have to drink it alone?” Calamity whined, waggling his eyebrows at the black unicorn. She blushed quite rosily.
"我喝了一瓶Wildp，你却让我一个人喝?"灾难呜咽着，对着黑独角兽摇着眉毛。她的脸涨得通红。
“I will stay with her,” the zebra said softly.
"我会和她在一起,"斑马轻声说。
“No offense meant, Xenith, but once the rest of the populace wakes, they might not take well to your presence,” Helpinghoof mentioned. A zebra in a town full of ponies… yeah, I didn’t see that ending well. Particularly this zebra. She reminded me of Lancer rather than Sekashi. At least you could laugh with Sekashi. Xenith scared the piss out of me.
"没有冒犯的意思，色尼斯，但一旦其余的民众醒来，他们可能不会接受你的存在,"Helpinghoof提到。一只斑马在一个满是小马的小镇上......是的，我没有看到这样的结局。尤其是这只斑马。她让我想起了Lancer而不是Sekashi。至少你可以和Sekashi一起笑。氙气把我吓得尿裤子了。
“I’ll do it,” I said as I sat back on the bed I’d claimed for my own. The four looked at me as I took another sip from the bottle. “What? Doc wants me to stay. I’ll keep an eye out for her. No problem.” Velvet looked at me skeptically, and I gave my best ‘trust the strange cyberpony in the clinic’ smile.
"我来吧,"我说，我坐回了我自己的床上。我又喝了一口酒，他们四个看着我。"什么？医生想让我留下。我会留意她的。没问题。"维尔维特怀疑地看着我，我露出了最好的"相信诊所里那匹奇怪的赛博小马"的微笑。
Finally, fatigue or bad judgment prevailed. “All right. We’ll see you in the morning.” LittlePip sighed as she looked at her hooves. Velvet Remedy gave a bedside smile. “I’ll suggest that Homage wait till after the procedure.”
最后，疲劳或错误的判断占了上风。"好吧。明天早上见。"小匹普看着自己的蹄子叹了口气。天鹅绒补救给了床边的微笑。"我建议敬意等手术结束后再说。"
“Indeed. It will be difficult for them to beat her old record if she is not fully restored,” Xenith deadpanned. LittlePip’s depression was overcome by furious embarrassment, and I looked from one to the other. Record? Was I missing
"的确。如果她没有完全恢复，他们将很难打破她的旧记录。"。小皮普的沮丧被愤怒的尴尬克服了，我从一个看到另一个。记录？我是不是错过了
something here? The little unicorn was rendered speechless as her friends left. Calamity had the bottle balanced on his flank as he trotted out singing, “Wild P… Wild P… Got muhself some Wild P…”
这里有什么？当她的朋友们离开时，小独角兽无言以对。卡拉米特把瓶子平衡放在他的侧腹，一边小声地唱道:"野p。.野生p。.得到了一些狂野的体育。。」
I looked back at LittlePip as the doctor went back into his office. “You have some interesting friends, kid.”
当医生回到小匹普的办公室时，我回头看了看他。"你的朋友真有趣，孩子。"
She glanced at me as she slid back into a funk. “Yeah. They’re great…” She clenched her jaw and then smacked her hooves together hard. “Damn it! It should have worked!”
她又陷入恐惧之中，扫了我一眼。"是的。它们很棒......"她咬紧牙关，然后用力地捶打着自己的蹄子。"该死！它应该起作用的!"
“I take it that ‘it’ is whatever got you all shot up?” I asked as I slipped off my bed and trotted over to her. She frowned and nodded. “So what went wrong?” I asked as I held out the bottle.
"我想'它'就是你们中弹的原因吧?"我一边问，一边从床上滑下来，小跑着走向她。她皱了皱眉，点了点头。"那么，到底出了什么问题?"我一边问，一边把瓶子递给他。
She took it with her magic and then sighed. “I needed something of Red Eye's... but I couldn't convince them to let me speak with him... or whoever is in charge of that army out there. I got frustrated, yelled… and they started shooting. So I shot back… only there were a lot more of them than me. If Calamity hadn’t been ready… I dunno. I know Red Eye doesn’t want me dead yet, but that doesn’t mean some overeager thug of his might not kill me anyway, just to be on the safe side.”
她用魔法拿过来，然后叹了口气。"我需要一些红眼的东西......但是我不能说服他们让我和他说话......或者不管是谁在指挥那支军队。我很沮丧，大喊大叫......然后他们开始射击。所以我反击了......只是他们比我多得多。如果灾难没有准备好......我不知道。我知道红眼睛还不想让我死，但这并不意味着他的某个过于热心的暴徒可能不会杀了我，只是为了安全起见。"
She took a drink, and her eyes bulged as she gulped and then coughed. “And I thought apple cider was bad! What is that stuff?”
她喝了一口，吞咽了一口，然后咳嗽，眼睛肿了起来。"我还以为苹果酒不好喝呢！那是什么东西?"
“Eighty proof,” I replied with a smile as I took the bottle back and took another drink with my hooves.
"八十度,"我微笑着回答，把瓶子拿回来，又用蹄子喝了一口。
“How’d it happen?” LittlePip asked as she stared at my horn.
"怎么会这样?"小皮普盯着我的号角问道。
“Oh… ah… no big deal,” I replied as I tapped my forehooves. “A bunch of stallions were in a raping mood. I was with a filly friend of mine from my stable… good kid… and so I made sure they focused on rutting with me rather than looking for her. Of course, when they got bored with me, they started looking anyway. So I shot one with my horn.” I rolled my eyes. “Needless to say, that blew their mood, so they chiseled off my horn. After that my friend showed up and saved both of us.” I took a drink as she stared at me in horror. “Not a big deal. I mean, the plan still worked. If they'd thought to take my horn off when they nailed my legs down...”
"哦......啊......没什么大不了的,"我拍着前蹄回答。"一群公马正在进行强奸。我和我马厩里的一个小母马朋友在一起......是个好孩子......所以我确保他们专注于和我发情，而不是寻找她。当然，当他们对我感到厌烦的时候，他们还是开始寻找。所以我用我的号角打了一个。"我翻了翻白眼。"不用说，他们气坏了，所以他们把我的号角雕了下来。在那之后，我的朋友出现了，救了我们两个。"我喝了一口水，她惊恐地盯着我。"没什么大不了的。我的意思是，这个计划仍然有效。如果他们把我的腿钉在地上的时候想到要把我的角取下来......"
Funny how I didn’t feel horror at it. I didn’t feel anything at all, thinking back to it. “They nailed your legs down?” she asked in a low voice.
有趣的是，我对此并不感到恐惧。回想起来，我一点感觉都没有。"他们把你的腿钉住了?"她低声问道。
“Yeah. Had to cut them off,” I said softly and tapped my hooves together with an awkward clank. “Then my friends went and got me new ones. New legs… new eyes… new organs…” I sighed.
"是的。我不得不把它们剪掉,"我轻轻地说，然后笨拙地拍了拍我的蹄子。"然后我的朋友们就去给我买了新的。新腿......新眼睛......新器官......"我叹了口气。
“You don’t sound very happy about it,” LittlePip said quietly. “I can’t imagine having parts of me replaced with…” she trailed off, closing her eyes. I gave a sad little smile. I’d mentally kicked myself like that far too often to miss it. I sighed as I swirled the bottle. “I know I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes,” she finished.
"你听起来不是很高兴,"小皮平平静地说。"我无法想象把我的一部分换成......"她闭上眼睛，慢慢地说完。我露出悲伤的微笑。我经常在精神上这样责备自己，以至于错过了它。我摇晃着瓶子，叹了口气。"我知道我不想站在你的立场上,"她说。
“Even if the alternative is being a corpse?” I asked, arching a brow. She looked, then frowned and sadly shook her head. “My friends moved heaven and earth to save me,” I said. “You’d think I’d be all yippee skippy. But I don’t feel like myself anymore. I feel like a… a thing… this thing that was once Blackjack but now… I can’t even do magic anymore. I’m a half-metal horned earth pony now. And all my friends are so desperate for me to be happy and thank them and stuff…”
"即使另一种选择是成为一具尸体?"我问道，扬起了眉毛。她看了看，然后皱了皱眉，悲伤地摇了摇头。"我的朋友们千方百计地来救我,"我说。"你可能会认为我会很高兴。但是我感觉不再是我自己了。我觉得自己像个..。.这个东西...这个东西曾经是Blackjack但现在...我甚至不能再使用魔法了。我现在是一匹半金属半角的地球小马。我所有的朋友都非常希望我能幸福，感谢他们......"
“There was a pony I… knew… she was smart and good, but she made some mistakes and she was dying.” LittlePip shivered a little. “To save her… this thing… this monster I’m trying to fight… absorbed her. Technically… she’s still alive. Or… something.” Clearly, not something good.
"我有一匹小马。.我知道...她很聪明，很好，但是她犯了一些错误，她快死了小匹普有点发抖。"为了救她......这个东西......这个我要对抗的怪物......吸收了她。严格来说...她还活着。或者......别的什么。"显然，这不是什么好事。
“Not that I think--” she said hastily, then paused. “Sorry,” she said, scowling. “It’s just... it’s tough. Celestia’s flaming solar anal probes, why the hell do some ponies do that? Why would anyone do that?! It makes me so mad!” She frowned at me. “At least tell me you blasted those bastards so they’d never do it again!”
"不是我想的那样——"她急忙说，然后停顿了一下。"对不起,"她皱着眉头说。"这只是......这很难。天堂的火焰太阳肛门探测器，为什么有些小马要那么做？为什么会有人这么做?！这让我很生气!"她对我皱起眉头。"至少告诉我你打死了那些混蛋，这样他们就再也不会这么做了!"
She sounded like P-21. I wondered if she understood. “I let them go.” At least, I hoped they were let go. I wouldn’t put it past P-21, Glory, or Rampage to have exacted some vengeance on my behalf.
她的声音听起来像P-21。我不知道她是否明白。"我让他们走了。"至少，我希望他们被解雇了。我不会把它放在P-21，晨辉，或狂暴之外，以我的名义进行一些复仇。
“You what?” She blinked, eyes wide.
"你什么?"她眨了眨眼睛，眼睛睁得大大的。
“I let them go. I was dying anyway at the time,” I replied with a shrug. “Killing them wasn’t going to make me any less dead or my butt hurt any less.” I sighed as I looked out the dark window. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they’ll just do it
"我让他们走了。我耸了耸肩回答说:"不管怎样，那时我已经快死了。"。"杀了他们不会让我的死亡减少，也不会让我的屁股不那么疼。"我望向黑暗的窗外，叹了口气。"也许我错了。也许他们会这么做
to another. Maybe if I catch them, I’ll have to kill them anyway. But at least I could give them a chance.”
敬另一个人。也许如果我抓到他们，无论如何我都要杀了他们。但至少我可以给他们一个机会。"
She smiled and took the bottle, sniffed, and then passed it back to me. “You’re amazing.”
她笑了笑，接过瓶子，闻了闻，然后递给我。"你太棒了。"
“Wuss,” I teased and took a drink. “Amazingly stupid and naïve, anyway.” Was that a buzz? I really hoped it was a buzz. “Amazing at getting ponies killed. Amazing at hurting folks who don’t deserve it.” I sighed. Ugh… was I this whiny before I died?
"胆小鬼,"我开玩笑地喝了一口。"无论如何，愚蠢至极，天真无邪。"那是嗡嗡声吗？我真的希望这是一个嗡嗡声。"能把小马弄死真了不起。令人惊讶的是，他们会伤害那些不值得伤害的人。"我叹了口气。呃...我死前是不是也这么爱发牢骚？
“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown. Then I looked at her PipBuck and her barding and I closed my eyes. I shouldn’t say. Don’t tell her. She wouldn’t want to know. She doesn’t mean it. I took another pull off the bottle.
"什么意思?"她皱着眉头问道。然后我看着她的皮普巴克和她的傲慢，我闭上了眼睛。我不该说。别告诉她。她不想知道。她不是那个意思。我又喝了一口。
“I killed my stable,” I said softly. “Being a stable pony yourself… you can appreciate what that means.” I sighed. Why was I saying this? Why couldn’t I just let it go? Hadn’t I found peace with Gardens? Hadn’t I paid the price on the boat?
"我杀了我的马厩,"我轻声说。"你自己就是一匹稳定的小马......你会明白这意味着什么。"我叹了口气。我为什么要这么说？为什么我就不能放手呢？我不是在花园里找到了平静吗？我不是在船上付出了代价吗？
What was the price of four hundred lives? I looked at the revolver in her holster.
四百条生命的代价是什么？我看了看她枪套里的左轮手枪。
LittlePip was just staring at me in horror and I closed my eyes. “There was a virus. It infected a part of the population. Turned them into psychopathic cannibals. Nasty stuff. We were able to kill them all, but… I was tired. I wasn’t paying attention to what I should. Distracted by… by other stuff. And while I was getting laid and resting and taking care of myself… the remaining four hundred ponies were exposed.” I sighed, grimacing. What did I want? Why did I hate myself? Why wasn’t atonement enough?
小皮普惊恐地盯着我，我闭上了眼睛。"有一种病毒。它感染了一部分人口。把他们变成了精神病食人族。肮脏的东西。我们本来可以把他们都杀了但是...我累了。我没有注意到我应该注意什么。被其他事情分心了。当我躺在床上休息照顾自己的时候，剩下的400匹小马就暴露在外面了。"我叹了口气，做了个鬼脸。我想要什么？我为什么恨我自己？为什么赎罪还不够？
“They were starting to turn. They were becoming more and more aggressive and the population was armed. A few more days and they’d be killing and eating everypony they came across. We got one uninfected filly out… and then… I gassed them.” I mimicked pushing a button with my hoof. Making a clicking noise. “Easy as that. Flooded the whole thing with chlorine gas.” I let it fall. “Of course, I’d planned on gassing myself with them, but Lacunae ruined that. So… yeah. Four hundred innocent ponies.” I looked at her gun.
"他们开始转变了。他们变得越来越具有侵略性，人们全副武装。再过几天，他们就会杀死和吃掉他们遇到的每一匹小马。我们救出一只未受感染的小母马......然后......我用毒气毒死了它们。"我模仿用我的蹄子按一个按钮。制造点击噪音。"就这么简单。用氯气淹没了整个建筑。"我让它掉下来了。"当然，我本来打算和他们一起用毒气的，但是被空隙给毁了。所以...是的。四百匹无辜的小马。"我看了看她的枪。
I wanted justice. I wanted the pony responsible to pay the price. That was why I didn’t feel the horror and shame of being raped. I wanted to be judged and
我想要正义。我希望负责任的小马付出代价。这就是为什么我没有感受到被强奸的恐惧和羞耻。我想要被评判
condemned and punished for what I’d done. Not suicide. That was trying to escape from justice. I needed somepony to call me the scum that I was and to put a bullet through my brain like I deserved. I wanted to find somepony like the Stable Dweller who would do the right thing and kill me like a mass murderer deserved.
因为我的所作所为而受到谴责和惩罚。不是自杀。那是企图逃避法律制裁。我需要一匹小马来骂我是人渣，然后给我脑袋来一枪，这是我应得的。我想找到一匹像马厩居民那样的小马，它会做出正确的事情，杀死我，就像一个杀人狂应得的那样。
I didn’t have four hundred and something lives to atone for four hundred and something deaths; but I could at least surrender one.
我没有四百多条生命来弥补四百多条生命，但我至少可以放弃一条。
Then I closed my eyes and waited for the bullet that I so richly deserved.
然后我闭上眼睛，等待着我应得的子弹。
Instead, I got a hug.
相反，我得到了一个拥抱。
“I… I can’t imagine being… doing… what you had to do. But… it sounds like it was one of those situations where they were doomed either way,” she said softly in my ear. I sighed, slumping. “I know that if I were in that position… diseased… dying… I wouldn’t want to die going crazy or worse. I’d want to die like a pony. And… quick. If you’d sealed it…” I sighed, remembering Stable 90. The shortest-lived stable in Equestria. “There wasn’t anything you could have done.”
"我.....。.我无法想象...做...你不得不做的事。但是......这听起来就像是那些注定要发生的事情之一,"她在我耳边轻声说道。我叹了口气，垂头丧气。"我知道，如果我处于那种境地......患病......死亡......我不想死得疯疯癫癫，或者更糟。我想像小马一样死去。还有...快点。如果你封了它......"我叹了口气，回忆着Stable90。Equestria最短命的马厩。"你什么也做不了。"
I jerked away from her and flailed as I overbalanced and fell on my side. My hooves kicked as I struggled to roll over and find my footing. Finally, I stopped and just lay there. “Why do you say that? Why does everypony? I could have tried telling them! I could have gone pony by pony! I could have… I could have gone to Sanguine… given that murdering bastard what he wanted in exchange for a cure! I could have had the decency to die with them!” Why didn’t she understand? Why didn’t anypony?
我猛地甩开她，失去平衡摔倒在地。当我挣扎着翻身找到立足点的时候，我的蹄子踢了起来。最后，我停下来，躺在那里。""你为什么这么说？为什么每匹小马都这样？我本可以试着告诉他们的！我本来可以骑小马的！我本来可以...我本来可以去找桑吉娜...给那个杀人的混蛋他想要的东西来换取治愈！我本可以体面地和他们一起死的!"她怎么就不明白呢？为什么没有小马？
Then she levitated me into the air, and I blinked in surprise. The little pony looked long and hard at me. “Would you dying have cured them?” I hung there in the air before her. Okay, an alicorn with magic this strong I could understand. This was a little intimidating. I shook my head. “Then all your dying would have done is killed one more pony,” LittlePip said firmly before she set me back down beside her. “You forgave those rapists. Why can’t you forgive yourself?”
然后她把我悬浮在空中，我惊讶地眨了眨眼。那匹小马长长地盯着我看。"你死了还能治好他们吗?"我在她面前悬在空中。好吧，一个拥有如此强大魔法的魔角我能理解。这有点吓人。我摇了摇头。"那么你的死就是再杀一匹小马,"小匹普坚定地说，然后把我放回她身边。"你原谅了那些强奸犯。你为什么不能原谅自己呢?"
“Have you ever gotten innocents killed?” I asked. She looked me in the eye and then shook her head. “If you do… tell me the trick, and I’ll do it.” I sighed, feeling dejected as I rubbed my face with the cool metal of my forehoof. If I stayed here, I was sure I’d start spilling every whiny, angsty thing that’d
"你有没有害死过无辜的人?"我问道。她看着我的眼睛，然后摇摇头。"如果你做到了......告诉我诀窍，我就会做到。"我叹了口气，感到沮丧，因为我用凉爽的金属我的前蹄摩擦我的脸。如果我留在这里，我肯定会把所有牢骚满腹、焦虑不安的东西都吐出来
happened to me. “You know what… let’s go do something.”
发生在我身上。"这样吧......我们去做点什么吧。"
LittlePip frowned. “Huh? What do you mean ‘do something’?” I took a nice long pull on the bottle and smiled. Attention Canterlot, we have inebriation. Take that, super magical synthetic organs! “I thought we were supposed to be waiting here.”
小皮皱起了眉头。"啊？'做点什么'是什么意思?"我轻轻地拉了一下瓶子，笑了。坎特洛特注意，我们喝醉了。接招吧，超级神奇的合成器官！"我以为我们应该在这里等着。"
“You are waiting for a healy taint purging. You can do that anywhere. I am supposed to be observed. You can observe me anywhere! So do you really want to waste time here trading sob stories?” I asked as I slipped to my hooves, a little more carefully this time.
"你正在等待一个治疗污点的清洗。你可以在任何地方这样做。我应该被观察。你可以在任何地方观察我！那么，你真的想在这里浪费时间讲那些伤感的故事吗?"我一边问，一边滑向我的马蹄，这次更加小心了一点。
“It’s two in the morning!” she said with a disbelieving smile.
"现在是凌晨两点!"她带着怀疑的微笑说。
“So? Haven’t you ever worked the late shift? Trust me, there’s always something somewhere… some trouble… that we can get into!” I said with a wiggle of my brows.
""那又怎样？你没上过夜班吗？相信我，总会有一些事情......一些麻烦......我们可以陷入其中!"我皱着眉头说。
* * *
* * *
“How did I let you talk me into this?” LittlePip shrieked as the next wave of screaming, clawing ghouls came charging at us. Her revolver, a sweet custom-modified IF-18 Horseshoe that I slightly wanted to snuggle even while fighting for my life, barked and transformed the head of the monstrosity slashing against my upraised hooves into twitching corpse meat. I heaved the body away from me and into a crowd of three more. It was amazing… think about walking: fall on face. Don't think about it because you're too busy dealing with dozens of shrieking zombies while inebriated: limbs work fine.
"我怎么会让你说服我这么做?"随着下一波尖叫、撕咬的食尸鬼向我们冲来，小匹普尖叫起来。她的左轮手枪是一把甜美的定制修改过的IF-18马蹄铁，即使在与死神搏斗的时候，我也有点想依偎在它身边。我把尸体从我身边挪开，加入另外三个人的人群中。这太神奇了...想想走路:脸朝下摔倒。不要去想它，因为你正忙着处理几十个在醉酒时发出尖叫的僵尸:四肢很好用。
Which was a very good thing. One ghoul opened its mouth wide as it lunged, and I reared on my back legs and punched my hoof into its maw. The combined momentums drove my hoof out the back of its head, rotting brain smearing it as I pivoted on my rear legs and threw the corpse at the three scrabbling to their feet. “Hey! This is your secret passage!” I shouted as another ghoul lunged in low and I leapt over its snapping jaws. All four legs came straight down on its head, and the zombie’s skull popped like a rotten apple.
这是件好事。一个食尸鬼一跃而出，张大了嘴巴，我用后腿直立起来，用蹄子猛踩它的肚子。当我转动我的后腿，把尸体扔到三个人的脚上时，我的蹄子踩出了它的后脑勺，腐烂的脑浆弄脏了它。"嘿！这是你的秘密通道!"我喊道，另一个食尸鬼扑了过来，我从它张开的大嘴上跳了过去。僵尸的四条腿直直地落在它的头上，它的头骨像一个烂苹果一样爆裂开来。
“I wanted to levitate you down from the roof, but no!” The trio of ghouls rose a third time, but three blasts from Little Macintosh transformed their skulls into bony, goop-covered shrapnel. “You don’t like heights!” Spent revolver casings
"我想把你从屋顶上吊起来，但是没有!"这三个食尸鬼第三次出现，但是小麦金托什机的三次爆炸使他们的头骨变成了骨质的、粘糊糊的弹片。"你不喜欢高处!"用过的左轮手枪弹壳
popped into the air and got turned into hot brass projectiles, briefly driving one of the zombies back into the blasted subway tunnel it'd been crawling out of.
突然出现在空气中，变成了炙热的黄铜弹丸，短暂地把一个僵尸送回了它爬出来的地铁隧道。
“I’m sorry! Not all of us fly everywhere in skywagons, okay?” I yelled as another group crawled out of a hole in a rusted sewer grate. I hooked my forelegs into either side of the gap and swung in, my rear legs pistoning wildly as they hammered into whatever soft undead flesh made itself available. “I suggested getting Lacunae, but nooooo! You don’t like alicorns!”
"对不起！并不是所有人都乘坐飞机到处飞，好吗?"当另一群人从一个生锈的下水道栅栏的洞里爬出来时，我大叫起来。我把我的前腿钩在缝隙的两边，然后向里摆动，我的后腿疯狂地活动着，直到它们撞进任何可以获得的柔软的亡灵肉体。"我建议去找拉库尼，但是不行！你不喜欢橡树果!"
“They’re monsters!” LittlePip shouted as her horn flared and scraped a fallen piece of roof along the side of the subway. The block of rubble was easily as big as I was and tore the emerging ghoul in half as she loaded another six rounds into the revolver. “It wasn’t an option, okay?” She whirled and placed three shots into the head of a glowing ghoul; its head exploded like a fountain of luminescent snot. “You were the one who insisted on doing this in the first place!” she yelled as she backed towards me while I scrabbled away from the sewer grate and into the middle of the subway passage, tackling a zombie that had been about to snap at her flank.
"他们是怪物!"当她的喇叭突然响起，刮到地铁边上一块倒塌的屋顶时，小皮普大叫起来。那一大块瓦砾和我一样大，在她又往左轮手枪里装了六发子弹的时候，把这个新出现的食尸鬼撕成了两半。"这不是一个选择，好吗?"她旋转着，朝一个发光的食尸鬼的头上开了三枪;它的头像发光的鼻涕喷泉一样爆炸了。"一开始就是你坚持要这么做的!"当我挣扎着从下水道栅栏逃到地铁通道中间时，她朝我大叫着，背对着我，抓住一个正要咬她侧面的僵尸。
“You said you had to do it… no friends… Remember?” I said as I hooked a foreleg into its mouth like a bridle, gripping it with my hindlegs. I wrenched as hard as I could and was rewarded by the head coming off in my hooves. “So then you say ‘Oh, there’s a secret passage in the basement. We can get out that way! Only a few ghouls!’” She’d worked her arcane sciency magic on the terminal beside the door and managed to override the lockout; neat trick. I’d ask her to teach P-21 if we made it out of here alive! I threw the head as hard as I could into another charging zombie; it broke the creature’s run just enough for me to bring both metal hooves down on its head with a pulpy crunch. “This is more than a few!”
"你说你必须这么做...没有朋友...记得吗?"我一边说，一边把一条前腿像缰绳一样钩进它的嘴里，用后腿紧紧地抓住它。我用尽全力扭动，结果却得到了马蹄里掉下来的头的奖赏。"然后你说,'哦，地下室里有一条秘密通道。我们可以从那边出去！只有几个食尸鬼！她在门边的终端上施展了她神秘的科学魔法，并设法解除了锁定;真是巧妙的把戏。如果我们能活着离开这里，我会让她教P-21！我用尽全力把它的头扔向另一个正在冲过来的僵尸;它破坏了僵尸的跑动，刚好让我把它的两个金属蹄子敲在它的头上，发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。"这可不止几个!"
LittlePip carefully planted three more shots in the zombies coming out of a side tunnel as we moved towards the head subway car. The tunnel was lit by the sickly green radiance of even more glowing ghouls. “Well, you said the more there were, the more fun!” A ghoul scrambled onto her back, its jagged hooves hooked into her reinforced utility barding. Her horn glowed as she lifted the monster into the air, and there was a crack as the entire creature was squeezed. She threw the crushed remains back down the tunnel behind us.
当我们走向地铁车头的时候，小小的皮普小心翼翼地在从侧面隧道里出来的僵尸身上又开了三枪。隧道被更多发光的食尸鬼令人作呕的绿光照亮。"好吧，你说的越多越好玩!"一个食尸鬼爬到了她的背上，它锯齿状的蹄子钩住了她加固过的水电帐篷。当她把怪物举到空中的时候，她的角闪闪发光，当整个怪物被挤压的时候有一个裂缝。她把压碎的尸体扔回我们身后的隧道。
“LittlePip, I’m drunk!” I yelled before biting hard on a length of rebar and
"小匹普，我喝醉了!"我喊道，然后用力咬住一段钢筋
swinging the chunk of rubble on the end like a club. The weight knocked back three more of the screaming monsters.
把碎石像棍子一样挥来挥去。重物又击倒了三只尖叫的怪物。
“No, you’re crazy!” she yelled back as she looked around. Okay, this was rapidly getting past ‘dozens’ and into ‘fucking ridiculous’ numbers. What, had Tenpony been built right on top of Manehattan ghoul central? “Get in the subway car!
"不，你疯了!"她朝四周看了看，还喊了一声。好吧，这个数字很快就超过了"数十"，变成了"他妈的荒谬"的数字。什么，难道腾马就建在曼哈顿行尸走肉中心的正上方吗？"上地铁车厢！
Hurry!” Well, it was better than my plan to ‘hit them some more’. Somewhere in the process of planning this adventure, I’d trotted off without barding, gun, or even saddlebags. No, the only pieces of ‘equipment’ I’d brought were bottles of whiskey tied together around my neck like some sort of tribal good luck charm.
快点!"好吧，这比我的计划要打击他们更多。在计划这次冒险的过程中，我没有随身携带武器，甚至没有背包就小跑着离开了。不，我唯一带来的"设备"就是一瓶瓶的威士忌绑在我的脖子上，像某种部落幸运符。
It’d seemed funny at the time.
这在当时看起来很有趣。
I scrambled in first. One ghoul charged down the aisle at me; I hooked my forelegs into the seats, swung my back legs up, and smashed both rear hooves into its head. Then, of course, I landed flat on my back next to the wiggling corpse. I smashed my legs down on its head repeatedly, looking at LittlePip upside down as the small unicorn hopped in after me. “Okay. Now what?!”
我先爬进去的。一个食尸鬼沿着过道冲向我;我把前腿钩在座位上，后腿向上摆动，后蹄撞向它的头部。然后，当然，我平躺在摆动的尸体旁边。我不停地用腿撞它的头，看着小匹普倒立着，小独角兽跟在我后面跳了进来。"好吧。现在怎么办?!"
She tossed Little Macintosh at me; I caught it in my forelegs and transferred it to my mouth, sitting up. A ghoul was thrashing its way through the doors at the other end of the car. “No ticket!” I shouted before hopping into S.A.T.S. and planting one of the revolver’s heavy bullets into its skull. ...Actually, what I really said was ‘nung thhhgkts’ with lots of slobber, but it wouldn’t have known the difference anyway.
她把小麦金塔扔向我，我用前腿夹住它，坐起来放到嘴里。一个食尸鬼从车厢另一头的门里钻了出来。"没有票!"我喊道，然后跳进了s.a.t.s，把左轮手枪的一颗重子弹射进了它的头骨。...事实上，我真正说的是'nungthhhgkts'有很多口水，但它不会知道其中的区别无论如何。
As I pulled myself to my hooves, the subway car lurched. A glow had spread from LittlePip’s horn to envelop the massive vehicle. The wheels underneath squealed, and there was a metallic bang as something broke underneath the car. With a scream of metal and rust, the subway car broke free of the rest and began to roll down the decayed tracks. Of course, there were still ghouls leaping onto the side of the rolling car, trying to pull themselves through the windows; I raced from one to the next, Little Macintosh blasting their skulls to fragments until the hammer fell on an empty casing.
当我使劲踩油门的时候，地铁车厢突然摇晃起来。一道辉光从小匹普的号角上散开，包围了这辆巨大的汽车。下面的轮子发出吱吱的声音，车底下有什么东西破裂了，发出一声金属碰撞的声音。随着一声金属和铁锈的尖叫，地铁车厢挣脱了其他车厢的束缚，开始沿着陈旧的轨道滚动。当然，仍然有食尸鬼跳到车的侧面，试图从车窗爬出去;我从一个车窗跑到另一个车窗，小麦金托什机把他们的头骨炸成碎片，直到锤子落在一个空壳上。
No problem. Have hooves, will thrash! Ghouls fell beneath the screeching, grinding wheels, and chunks of undead spattered at the pursuing crowd. A few more tried to scramble on; I manually persuaded them to get the hell off.
没问题。有蹄，将鞭！食尸鬼倒在刺耳的尖叫声之下，轮子摩擦着，不死的大块尸体溅落在追赶的人群中。还有几个人试图爬上去，我手动说服他们离开。
In a minute, we’d left the undead behind, and I’d finished off anything still
不一会儿，我们就把不死族甩在了后面，而我已经结束了一切
wiggling. LittlePip gasped as she looked at me a touch wild-eyed. She levitated the gun from my mouth, wrinkling her nose at my drool. “This is one of the crazier things I think I’ve ever done,” she yelled over the shrieks as we rolled along.
摆动。当她用狂野的目光看着我时，小匹普倒抽了一口冷气。她把枪从我嘴里抬起来，对着我的口水皱了皱鼻子。"这是我认为我做过的最疯狂的事情之一,"当我们一起滑行时，她在尖叫声中大声喊道。
I took a long pull off one of the bottles of whiskey, watching the text in my E.F.S. warning me of the drug toxicity that my system was trying to purge. “Really? I thought it was Tuesday.”
我抽出一瓶威士忌，看着e.f.s.上的文字警告我，我的身体正试图清除药物的毒性。"真的吗？我以为今天是星期二。"
* * *
* * *
“So… why is it you couldn’t bring your friends along?” I asked as we made our way through the subway station. “I mean, Xenith I can understand. She has that whole ‘I can kill you with one hoof’ vibe going. Calamity seemed okay, though. And Velvet seemed nice… even if she’s got that whole bossy momma bear thing going for her.”
"那么......为什么你不能带上你的朋友呢?"我们一边穿过地铁站，一边问道。"我的意思是，我能理解克尼斯。她有一种'我一只蹄子就能杀了你'的感觉。不过，灾难似乎没什么大碍。而且天鹅绒看起来不错......即使她有那种专横的妈妈熊妈妈的气质。"
LittlePip was drinking a healing potion she’d found locked in a medical supply cabinet. The sight of it had floored me. Healing potions as fresh as you please even after two centuries. Sweet Celestia somethin’ obscene somethin’ (where did LittlePip learn to swear like that?) did Hoofington suck! She sighed as she looked at the empty potion bottle. “It’s… complicated. I’m going up against two monsters, and each one wants me to destroy the other. Both have armies and power, and one can even read minds.”
小匹普正在喝她在医疗用品柜里发现的治疗药水。一看到它，我就大吃一惊。即使过了两个世纪，治疗药水依然如你所愿的那样新鲜。甜甜的天堂某种下流的东西(小皮普从哪儿学会那样说脏话的?)胡芬顿真烂！她看着空空的药瓶叹了口气。"这......很复杂。我要面对两个怪物，每一个都想让我消灭另一个。它们都有军队和力量，甚至可以读心。"
“Ouch.” I winced, then extended my ‘fingers’ to carefully pick up a piece of scrap metal. ‘Eat’, huh? I tried to bite it in half. Nothing. Finally, I stuck the chunk in my mouth and felt a strange warmth. The rusty lump softened to the consistency of taffy… tasted pretty good, too! I smiled as I chewed the lump of metal and swallowed, then caught LittlePip’s shocked stare. Okay, maybe it was a little freaky. “What? I’m on a high iron diet.” She snorted, and I smiled as I took another drink.
"哎哟。"我皱了皱眉，然后伸出我的"手指"小心翼翼地捡起一块金属碎片。"吃"，嗯？我试图把它咬成两半。没什么。最后，我把它塞进嘴里，感觉到一种奇怪的温暖。锈迹斑斑的肿块被太妃糖的稠度软化了......味道也不错！我微笑着咀嚼着这块金属，然后咽了口唾沫，接着看到了小皮普震惊的眼神。好吧，也许是有点诡异。"什么？我正在进行高铁饮食。"她哼了一声，我又喝了一口，笑了。
“Well… if I take Calamity along and he gets too close and gets his mind read, then it’s game over.” She sighed, then floated my offered bottle over and took a drink herself. “Velvet Remedy… well…” A small smile spread on her face. “She’s a special kind of girl. She wants to help everypony she can. Even slavers and monsters and… everypony. So if she knew what I was going to do... well… I dunno. She might try and stop me.”
"好吧......如果我带着卡米拉米特一起去，而他靠得太近，让人读了他的思想，那么游戏就结束了。"她叹了口气，然后把我递给她的瓶子拿过来，自己喝了一口。"天鹅绒药......好吧......"她的脸上露出一丝微笑。"她是一个很特别的女孩。她想尽可能地帮助每一匹小马。即使是奴隶贩子，怪物，还有...小马驹。所以如果她知道我要做什么...我不知道。她可能会阻止我。"
“And Xenith?” I asked with a smile. “Same deal as Calamity? Or would she headbutt the beastie?”
"还有克尼斯?"我笑着问。"和卡拉米蒂一样的交易？还是她会用头撞那只野兽?"
She looked a little sad and a little guilty. “Pretty much.”
她看起来有点悲伤，有点内疚。"差不多吧。"
“So, once you get the bomb, what then?”
"那么，一旦你拿到了炸弹，然后呢?"
“Then?” She smiled. “Then I blow Red Eye’s citadel to the moon. I think that’s the most you should know.” She wasn’t telling me something, but then, she fought mind-reading things. I imagined great big tentacle brain monsters… ooh, or maybe magical computer things! I chuckled, taking a drink. Considering the shit I’d dealt with, who was I to insist she tell me more? Then she gave me a small, thankful smile. “Thanks for helping me with this, Blackjack.”
"然后呢?"她笑了。"然后我把红眼的城堡炸上了月球。我认为这是你最应该知道的。"她没有告诉我什么，但是后来，她和读心术作斗争。我想象着巨大的触手脑怪物......哦，或者是魔法电脑之类的东西！我咯咯地笑着，喝了一口水。考虑到我处理的那些破事，我有什么资格坚持让她告诉我更多？然后她给了我一个感激的微笑。"谢谢你帮我，黑杰克。"
“Thanks for giving me something to do,” I said with a laugh. “Shoot at me, stab me, or fuck me, but whatever you do, don’t let me think.” She blushed… why was she blushing? Why was she acting all… Gloryish?
"谢谢你让我有事可做,"我笑着说。"朝我开枪，刺我，或者干我，但是不管你做什么，别让我想。"她脸红了......为什么她脸红了？为什么她表现得那么...高兴？
“So, next part of the plan?” I asked with a smile as I stood and turned towards the doors leading outside. “We make like the Stable Dweller, you drop a building on them, and I thump anything that keeps wiggling, right?” Then I blinked when she didn’t call me an idiot… or laugh. I looked back at her, and… was she staring at my ass? “Uh… LittlePip?” Maybe she really liked my new hardware?
"那么，计划的下一步是什么?"我微笑着问道，站起身来，转向通向外面的门。"我们就像马厩里的居民一样，你把一栋建筑物扔到它们身上，只要有东西不停地晃动，我就会重重地砸它们，对吧?"然后我眨了眨眼，她没有叫我白痴，也没有笑。我回头看她，然后...她是不是在盯着我的屁股看？"呃......小匹普?"也许她真的很喜欢我的新硬件？
She snapped to and looked at me. Wow… she blushed just like Glory. “Right! Plan. The plan… with the planning things and the… ah… planning… stuff… plan plan plan…”
她厉声说道，看着我。哇......她脸红得就像晨辉。"对！计划。计划......计划的事情......啊......计划......东西......计划的计划......"
Was she actually checking me out? Oh Celestia… something something… she had been, and I couldn’t help smiling. I could count the number of mares interested in me… well… honestly interested rather than planning to sell me out… on one hoof. I turned slowly towards her and watched her eyes get big as she gave a crooked little smile. “LittlePip…” I said as I leaned towards her. “I’m sorry…” Her ears fell… “But I’m just not drunk enough to think this is a good time, with the surgery and mission and everything.”
她真的在打量我吗？哦，塞莱斯蒂亚......某种东西......她曾经是，我禁不住微笑。我可以数出有多少母马对我感兴趣...嗯...诚实地感兴趣而不是计划出卖我...一只蹄子。我慢慢地转向她，看着她的眼睛变大，她给了一个歪歪扭扭的微笑。"小匹普......"我靠向她说。"对不起......"她的耳朵掉了下来......"但是我还没有醉到认为现在是个好时机，还有手术和任务等等。"
Wow… I didn’t know a pony could achieve that shade of red! “Oh... I mean I shouldn’t… I… Homage… and…” she started to babble. So… I kissed her. I was also quite delighted to discover she was an exceptionally sweet and adorable kisser. And despite just how embarrassed she was, she definitely kissed back.
哇...我不知道一匹小马能达到这种红色！"哦......我是说我不该......我.....。.敬意......还有......"她开始喃喃自语。所以...我吻了她。我也很高兴地发现她是一个非常甜美可爱的接吻者。尽管她有多尴尬，她还是回吻了我。
Now she was red and stiff as stone; I imagined breakers blowing in her head. “Celestia’s flaming cuntdrips…” she murmured, then sighed and rolled her eyes. “Have I no fucking self-control?”
现在她脸红得像石头一样僵硬，我想象着浪花在她的头上呼啸。"天国燃烧的阴滴......"她低声说，然后叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"我他妈的没有自控能力吗?"
“But I am drunk enough that one kiss seems okay,” I pointed out with a laugh as I walked to the door. “You grew up in the wrong stable, LittlePip. If you were really into mares, you should have been in 99.”
"但是我已经喝得够醉了，一个吻似乎没什么问题,"我边走向门边笑着指出。"你在错误的家庭长大，小匹普。如果你真的喜欢母马，你应该在99年。"
She snapped out of it a second later. “Yeah… but… didn’t you say it was a horrible, brutal rape factory or something?”
过了一会儿，她突然恢复了正常。"是的......但是......你不是说那是一个可怕的、残忍的强奸工厂还是什么地方吗?"
Did I mention that? I’d told her something about what 99 was like. My brain was a mite fuzzy, but the alcohol was definitely lubricating the whole walking… thing. “Well yeah… it was. But for a mare that really likes other mares… well…” I looked right at her with a wide smile that I think set her blush in stone. “I think you would have fit in just fine. I’d love to have had you in my stable.” Then I took a deep breath. “Anyway… don’t you have a leader to sweet talk?”
我提到过吗？我告诉过她99是什么样的。我的大脑有点模糊，但是酒精确实润滑了整个行走的过程。"嗯，是的......确实如此。但是对于一匹真正喜欢其他母马的母马来说......好吧......"我看着她，脸上露出了灿烂的笑容，我想这笑容让她脸红成了石头。"我认为你很适合这里。我希望你能住在我的马厩里。"然后我深吸了一口气。"不管怎么说......难道你没有一个可以甜言蜜语的领导吗?"
She stared at me, then shook her head hard. “Right… right! Right… with the talky… sneaky… plan… thing.” She thumped her temples lightly. “Next time you wanna mess with me, could you... I dunno... just shoot me?”
她盯着我，然后使劲摇了摇头。"对......对！对......说话......鬼鬼祟祟......计划......的事。"她轻轻地捶着太阳穴。"下次你想找我麻烦的时候，你能不能......我不知道......开枪打我?"
“Kissing you was funner.” Oh my, there she went again! Didn’t anypony ever hit on this mare? Sure, she wasn’t insanely gorgeous, but she was outrageously cute. “Okay. So… we got to trot up close enough to speak to somepony in charge without getting shot at.”
"吻你更有趣。"天啊，她又来了！难道没有小马驹追过这匹母马吗？当然，她并不是非常漂亮，但是她确实非常可爱。"好吧。所以......我们必须小跑到足够近的地方去和负责的小马说话，而不被射杀。"
“Yeah. And the camp’s huge. I dunno if I have a StealthBuck that’ll last that long.”
"是的。营地很大。我不知道我有没有一辆能开那么久的车。"
“So… plan B.”
"那么......b计划。"
She blinked and looked at me warily. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
她眨了眨眼睛，警惕地看着我。"我不确定我是否想知道。"
* * *
* * *
“Last time I did this, my friend shot me. A lot,” LittlePip said as she tied on the red sash of one of Red Eye’s enforcers.
"上次我这么做的时候，我的朋友开枪打了我。很多,"小皮普一边说一边系上红眼杀手的红腰带。
“Last time I did this, I had to eat my friend’s heart,” I said as I made sure my
"上次我这么做的时候，我不得不吃掉我朋友的心脏,"我边说边确认
nice artificial legs were good and covered up before slipping on a pair of battered sunglasses. “She got better.”
漂亮的假腿很不错，在戴上一副破旧的太阳镜之前还能遮住。"她好多了。"
She gaped at me a moment and finally asked the million bottle cap question:
她目瞪口呆地看了我一会儿，最后问了一个百万瓶盖的问题:
“Blackjack, how in Luna’s frosty bits are you sane?”
"黑杰克，卢娜的冷冰冰的部分，你怎么会正常?"
I looked back at her. That was a fair question. “Maybe I’m not. I do what I can to help and I do what I have to do to win.” I looked at her in surprise. “Don’t you?”
我回头看着她。这是一个合理的问题。"也许我不是。我尽我所能去帮助他们，我尽我所能去赢得比赛。"我惊讶地看着她。"不是吗?"
She dropped her gaze. “Some things you shouldn’t do…”
她低下了目光。"有些事情你不应该做......"
“Well, yeah. I mean, you gotta make sure winning’s worth it,” I said as I turned towards her. “And sometimes you screw up big time in the process… but nothing’s worse than losing because you sat on your hooves when you could have acted.” I rolled my eyes and looked at the knocked-out guards we’d gotten the uniforms from.
"嗯，是的。我的意思是，你得确保胜利是值得的,"我转向她说。"有时候，你会在这个过程中搞砸一些大事......但没有什么比失败更糟糕的了，因为你本可以采取行动的时候却坐视不理。"我翻了翻眼睛，看着那些被打晕的警卫，他们是我们从他们那里得到制服的。
“Would you break a promise to a friend?” she asked, not meeting my eyes.
"你会违背对朋友的承诺吗?"她问道，没有看到我的眼睛。
“Look, I’ll explain to Homage about the kiss…” I said with a sigh and a smile.
"看，我会向《致敬之吻》解释......"我叹了口气，微笑着说。
She flushed again, then shook her head. “I don’t mean that.” She adjusted her helmet so it covered her horn. “It… I mean…” She stomped her hooves once… “Damn it, why is this so hard?” I sat as she struggled. “I feel like… like I can’t trust myself.” She closed her eyes. “I had a problem with a drug a while back. Party Time Mint-als. Brain enhancers.”
她又脸红了，然后摇了摇头。"我不是那个意思。"她调整了头盔，使它遮住了喇叭。"它......我是说......"她曾经跺过蹄子......"该死，为什么这么难?"我坐在那里，她挣扎着。"我觉得...觉得我不能相信自己。"她闭上了眼睛。"不久前，我有一个药物问题。派对时光造币厂。大脑增强剂。"
“Right. Rampage chews them all the time. Mellows her out,” I said with a confused smile. Actually, I had no idea if she ate party time or not; it’d never occurred to me that they might come in different varieties.
"对。狂暴一直在咬他们。"让她变得更温和了,"我带着困惑的微笑说。事实上，我不知道她是否在聚会时间吃东西;我从来没有想到它们会有不同的种类。
“Exactly. They make ponies more agreeable. Nicer. Charismatic,” she said. “They’re also extremely addictive... It was a big, big problem for me.”
"没错。它们使小马更讨人喜欢。更漂亮。很有魅力,"她说。"它们也非常容易上瘾......这对我来说是一个非常大的问题。"
“Sounds useful. Got some?” I asked. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together as her magic pulled out a tin from her bags… wow… she must have known precisely where they were. “So… I’m guessing you promised to never ever ever take them again? No matter what?”
"听起来很有用。有吗?"我问道。她闭上眼睛，嘴唇紧闭，魔法般地从她的袋子里拿出一个罐子......哇......她一定知道它们的确切位置。"那么......我猜你答应过再也不吃这些药了？无论如何?"
“Yeah. Something like that,” she replied. “So right now, I’ve got a little pony in
"是的。差不多吧,"她回答。"所以现在，我有一匹小马
my head telling me to take them locked in mortal combat with another little pony in my head telling me to keep my promise and find another way.”
我的大脑告诉我，让他们与另一匹小马进行殊死搏斗，让我信守诺言，另谋出路。"
“Right.” I took a deep, contemplative drink from the bottle. “Let me ask you this… your friend you promised this to… would they want you to die to keep your promise?”
"对。"我从瓶子里深深地、沉思地喝了一口。"让我问你这个问题......你向你的朋友保证过这个......他们会希望你为了信守诺言而死吗?"
LittlePip sighed and looked towards Tenpony before saying, “No.”
小匹普叹了口气，看了看滕波尼，然后说:"不。"
“And if we botch this up, are we going to die?”
"如果我们搞砸了，我们会死吗?"
“You’re helping the wrong pony cheat,” she muttered. “You’re supposed to be helping me keep my promise. That’s the right thing to do.” The little unicorn sighed. “I just… I don’t want it to be my addiction making me take these. I don’t want to fuck up and fail my friends again.”
"你帮错了小马作弊的对象,"她喃喃自语道。"你应该帮我履行诺言。这是正确的做法。"小独角兽叹了口气。"我只是......我不希望我的毒瘾让我吃这些药。我不想再搞砸了，再次让我的朋友们失望。"
“Shows you deserve your friends,” I said with a smile. I took another drink, then sighed. “It’s easier to get forgiveness if you don’t die. So. How about this? You take them till we’re out of here, hand them over when we go, and then spend all day tomorrow apologizing and blaming me for being a horrible influence on you.”
"说明你值得拥有你的朋友,"我笑着说。我又喝了一杯，然后叹了口气。"如果你不死，就更容易得到宽恕。所以。这个怎么样？你拿着它们直到我们离开这里，走的时候交给我们，然后明天一整天都在道歉，责怪我对你的影响太坏。"
“Velvet’s going to kill me,” she said as she lifted out one minty pink square decorated with little balloons and streamers. She popped it into her mouth, chewed, swallowed… and relaxed. Then she opened her eyes, and suddenly I felt like the one about to be kissed as she adopted a coy, cute little smile. “Well… worry about that later. Now… how to get inside to speak to Red Eye…” She looked at me and tapped her lips. “That should be easy enough…”
"天鹅绒会要了我的命,"她一边说，一边举起一个装饰着小气球和彩带的薄荷粉色方块。她把它放进嘴里，咀嚼，吞咽......然后放松。然后她睁开了眼睛，突然间我感觉自己就是那个即将被亲吻的人，她腼腆而可爱地微笑着。"好吧......以后再担心这个吧。现在......如何进去和红眼说话......"她看着我，轻轻地拍了拍嘴唇。"这应该很容易......"
* * *
* * *
The headquarters for this army consisted of three or four old canvas tents strung together and reinforced with sheet metal. If the large broadcast antenna raised on a pile of rubble behind it was any indication, it would be a good place to contact Red Eye if whoever was in charge locally wouldn’t give LittlePip what she wanted. Of course, before we could even find out the answer to that, we’d have to think of some way to get past the power-armor-clad griffin guards.
这支部队的指挥部是由三四个旧帆布帐篷组成的，这些帐篷用金属板连接起来并加固。如果后面一堆废墟上的大型广播天线有任何迹象的话，如果当地负责人不给小皮普她想要的东西，那么这将是一个联系红眼的好地方。当然，在我们甚至可以找到答案之前，我们必须想出一些方法来通过电源护甲格里芬守卫。
“I take the one on the left, you take the one on the right?” I suggested.
"我负责左边那个，你负责右边那个?"我建议道。
“How about we just go in to report a disturbance in the Tenpony subway tunnels?” she replied with a cocky little smile.
"我们进去报告Tenpony地铁隧道发生骚乱怎么样?"她带着骄傲的微笑回答。
“But… they’re in power armor. And I haven’t beaten a griffin in power armor yet.” I wondered if you could fly them as easily as Enclave pegasi. We hid among some nearby supply crates, watching the comings and goings of the headquarters.
"但是......他们穿着力量盔甲。我还没有打败过狮身鹰首兽。"我想知道你是否能像飞马座飞地一样驾驶它们。我们藏在附近的一些补给箱里，观察司令部的来来往往。
“You can do that later,” she said as we watched two ponies approach. The griffin said, “Flange.” The two ponies replied, “Gear.” A minute later, another pair approached. “Strut,” they challenged. “Truss” replied the ponies, and they were admitted. LittlePip seemed to be nodding to herself.
"你可以以后再做,"当我们看着两匹小马走近时，她说。狮身鹰首兽说"法兰"两匹小马回答说:"装备。"一分钟后，另一对走了过来。"昂首阔步,"他们质疑道。"特拉斯,"小马们回答，他们被允许进去了。小皮普似乎在自己点头。
“Yes… that’s it exactly!” the small unicorn said excitedly.
"是的......就是这样!"小独角兽兴奋地说。
“What. What’s it?” I blinked, but she immediately left the cover and walked casually towards the two armored griffins, leaving me scrambling to catch up.
"什么。怎么了?"我眨了眨眼睛，但她立刻离开了盖子，漫不经心地走向两只披着盔甲的狮鹫，留下我匆匆赶上。
“Bolt,” one challenged at our approach.
"博尔特,"其中一个对我们的接近表示质疑。
“Crank,” LittlePip drawled in a bored tone.
"暴脾气,"小皮普用一种无聊的语调慢吞吞地说。
The pair looked at us, then at each other. “I don’t know you,” one challenged LittlePip.
两人先看着我们，然后互相看着对方。"我不认识你,"一个挑战小匹普。
“And why are you wearing sunglasses?” the other growled at me. “It’s the middle of the night.”
"你为什么戴太阳镜?"另一个冲我咆哮。"现在是半夜。"
I paused, then grinned. “I’m just that cool.”
我停顿了一下，然后咧嘴一笑。"我就是那么酷。"
“Wanna bet?” He reached out a claw and flicked the black plastic off my face, then suddenly he stiffened as he saw my cybereyes glowing like two red stars. I think he almost shat himself. “You… what…how...”
"想打赌吗?"他伸出一只爪子，弹掉我脸上的黑色塑料，然后突然变得僵硬，因为他看到我的网络眼睛像两颗红色的星星一样发光。我想他差点拉裤子了。"你......怎么......怎么......"
“We’ve got a special report to make. You are wasting our time and delaying our inevitable, glorious future,” LittlePip said imperiously as she tapped her hoof with the perfect stomp for indicating irritation rather than annoyance. The pair looked visibly shaken as they carefully handed back the battered sunglasses and waved us through.
"我们要做一个特别报告。你在浪费我们的时间，耽误了我们不可避免的、光荣的未来。"小皮普用完美的跺蹄声踢着蹄子，表示愤怒，而不是烦恼。当他们小心翼翼地把那副破旧的太阳镜还给我们并挥手让我们通过时，这对夫妇看起来明显有些震惊。
“You should have been an actress,” I murmured. “Are my eyes really that freaky?”
"你应该去当演员的,"我低声说。"我的眼睛真的那么怪异吗?"
“No. But Red Eye has that kind of effect on his followers.”
"没有。但红眼对他的追随者有这种影响。"
The pair that had entered before us were trotting back out again. We followed the sounds of speakers and equipment into a small room with a desk and shelves of papers. Two tired-looking middle-aged mares sat at desks with piles of papers around them. The larger room the communications office opened off of was filled with maps of Manehattan and other cities around the Wasteland. A bunch of symbols had been drawn on them; in particular, the locations of the freaky MASEBS towers were all outlined in red.
在我们前面进来的那一对又小跑着出来了。我们跟着扬声器和设备的声音走进一个小房间，里面有一张桌子和几架文件。两个疲惫的中年母马坐在桌子旁，周围堆满了文件。通讯办公室开放的较大的房间里放满了Manehattan和其他荒原城市的地图。上面画了很多符号，特别是那些奇怪的MASEBS塔的位置都用红色标出来了。
It sure didn’t look like Red Eye thought in small terms. “Your report?” a lime green mare asked us as her eyes went from one of us to the other. Then they went really round as Little Macintosh came out. She opened her mouth to yell, but LittlePip’s magical glow forced her mouth shut. I leapt on the other and got her in a headlock, effectively wrestling her to the ground. My fingers popped out and I held her mouth shut as well.
它看起来肯定不像红眼仔细考虑的那样。"你的报告?"一匹灰绿色的母马问我们，她的眼睛从我们中的一个转到另一个。然后，当小麦金托什机出来的时候，他们真的绕了一圈。她张开嘴喊了起来，但小皮的神奇光芒迫使她闭上了嘴。我跳上另一只，把她的头锁住，把她摔倒在地。我的手指突然伸了出来，我也把她的嘴闭上了。
“Now what do we do with them?” she asked with a small frown as she looked at the pony with earphones on sitting obliviously at the radio with his back to us.
"现在我们该拿他们怎么办?"她皱着眉头问道，看着那头戴着耳机的小马，毫不知情地坐在收音机前，背对着我们。
“Got any Wonderglue?” I asked with a small smile. She smiled back.
"有神奇胶水吗?"我微笑着问道。她回以微笑。
The two mares with their hooves glued together and their lips duct taped shut just glared at me as LittlePip talked to the radio operator with the pistol pointed at his head. I really hoped his loyalty to the cause didn’t make him realize a gunshot would get us killed pretty quick. A few minutes later, he got to join the glue party as LittlePip put on the headphones. “Keep an eye out,” she said as she closed the big canvas flap between the rooms and started talking in a low voice. I looked at the three incapacitated ponies heaped in the corner.
两匹母马的蹄子粘在一起，嘴唇被胶带封住，当小匹普用手枪指着无线电操作员的头时，它们瞪着我。我真的希望他对事业的忠诚没有让他意识到一声枪响会让我们很快死去。几分钟后，当小匹普戴上耳机时，他加入了胶聚会。"留意一下,"她一边说，一边关上房间之间的大帆布口袋，开始低声说话。我看着角落里堆着的三匹丧失了行动能力的小马。
Okay. So… waiting in the middle of an enemy camp. Smart thing to do would be to wait attentively for somepony to approach and intercept them with a story or plan… delay them outside the reports room. But I had to admit that those were some awfully pretty maps. I looked at the one marked ‘Hoofington’. There was the Core. The little districts surrounding it. The Collegiate. Rainbow Dash Skyport. Megamart. Elysium. Arena. Ironmare Naval Base. Grimhoof Army Base, way off to the southeast… that was new. Luna Space Center was next to it.
好吧。所以...在敌营中等待。聪明的做法是专注地等待某个小马接近并拦截他们，告诉他们一个故事或计划......在报告室外拖延他们。但我不得不承认，那些地图确实非常漂亮。我看了看那个标着'Hoofington'的。这就是核心。周围的小区。学院派。彩虹短跑Skyport。Megamart.极乐世界。竞技场。铁海海军基地。格里霍夫军事基地在东南方向...那是新建的。月球航天中心就在它旁边。
Scrapyard. All four broadcast towers…
废料场。四座广播塔..。
Hippocratic Research.
Hippocratic Research.
There wasn’t anything printed on the map, but there was a bright red circle exactly where my PipBuck said it would be located. I reared up on my hind legs, marveling at how they kept me upright like some kind of freaky zebra. They let me get a good look at the top of the map, though. A green line had been drawn from the circle under the Core out to the rail lines that led straight to Fillydelphia. In contrast, Paradise was simply a yellow sticker.
地图上没有任何东西，但是在我的PipBuck说的地方有一个鲜红的圆圈。我用后腿直立起来，惊讶于它们是如何让我像某种奇怪的斑马一样保持直立。不过，他们让我好好地看了一下地图的顶部。一条绿线从核心区下面的圆圈一直延伸到直通Fillydelphia的铁路线。相比之下，天堂只是一张黄色的贴纸。
“Why the hell would Red Eye be working with Sanguine?” I glanced at the leg containing my PipBuck. Brass had said that somepony was holding Sanguine’s hooves to the fire. Somepony like Red Eye?
"红眼为什么会和桑吉尼合作?"我瞥了一眼装着皮伯克的腿。布拉斯说有个小马牵着桑吉尼的马蹄往火里跳。像红眼睛这样的小马？
Oh, my mane was inventing all-new creepy sensations now! I thought of Red Eye getting his hooves on EC-1101. If he was a cyberpony, what were the odds he could get it to work for him for his own nasty ends? I’d been so fixated on the Projects; maybe the real threat was something very here and very now.
哦，我的鬃毛现在创造了全新的令人毛骨悚然的感觉！我想到了红眼在EC-1101上得到他的蹄子。如果他是一匹赛博马，他能让它为他自己的肮脏目的工作的几率有多大？我一直对工程项目如此着迷;也许真正的威胁就在此时此地。
“Excuse me?” a voice said from the door. A pair of runners stared at me and then at the three prone ponies.
"你说什么?"一个声音从门口传来。一对跑步者盯着我，然后又盯着三匹趴着的小马。
I extended my fingers and slowly pulled the glasses from my face. I stared long and hard down at the two stallions and said, as low and cold as I could manage, “Yes?”
我伸出手指，慢慢地把眼镜从脸上拿开。我长时间地凝视着那两匹种马，尽可能地低低地、冷冷地说:"什么事?"
“Ah… ah…” one stammered as he stared up at me. Slowly I walked, step after step on my hindlegs, towards the pair.
"啊......啊......"其中一个结结巴巴地看着我。我慢慢地走着，一步一步地踩在我的后腿上，走向那一对。
“Are you going to trouble me too?” I growled as I looked down at two stallions bigger, stronger, and more heavily armed than I. One reached into his saddlebag and handed over a folded stack of papers. I took them in my freaky metallic fingers. “Thank you,” I said in as deep a tone as I could manage. I was somewhat shocked to feel… well… anything. Somehow, the legs conveyed tactile sensation.
"你也要来烦我吗?"我低头看着两匹比我更大、更强壮、更全副武装的种马，咆哮着。一个人把手伸进他的鞍囊，递给他一叠叠文件。我用我奇怪的金属手指抓住它们。"谢谢你,"我尽量用最深沉的语气说。我有点震惊的感觉...好吧...任何事情。不知何故，腿传达了触觉。
Nodding, they staggered back and trotted for the exit as quickly as they could without running. “Was that thing… drunk?” one asked the other.
他们点了点头，摇摇晃晃地退了回去，小跑着尽可能快地向出口跑去，不用跑。"那东西...喝醉了吗?"一个问另一个。
I rushed to the flap and made a ‘hurry up’ gesture with my hoof. She waved me away and then said, “Give it to me and you get what you want… and I get what I want.” Then she added, “Of course, you don’t trust me.” And… “I’ve seen her. You’ve seen her. Can you think of another way?”
我赶紧跑到门口，用蹄子做了个"快点"的手势。她挥手让我离开，然后说,"把它给我，你就能得到你想要的......我也能得到我想要的。"然后她又说,"当然，你不信任我。"还有..."我见过她。你见过她了。你能想到别的办法吗?"
“Excuse me,” a female said behind me. I slowly started to turn as dramatically as I could. Then I saw the red feathers, the tawny flanks, and the wide eyes of a griffin I’d seen a few days back. A griffin who I’d left glued to the side of a boxcar outside Scrapyard. We stared at each other for a moment. “You!” Scarlet shouted, pointing a claw at me. I supposed you’d remember a mare that cemented you to a wall. “Alarm!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"对不起,"我身后的一位女士说。我慢慢地开始尽可能戏剧化地转身。然后我看到了红色的羽毛，黄褐色的侧腹，还有几天前我看到的一只狮鹫的大眼睛。我把它粘在废料场外的货车车厢边上。我们彼此凝视了一会儿。"你!"斯佳丽喊道，用爪子指着我。我想你应该记得有匹母马把你拴在了墙上。"警报!"她声嘶力竭地尖叫。
Well… time for plan D. I raced and tackled her, and we went flying into the canvas wall behind her so hard that it split. We were rolling, screaming, clawing, and squawking as she scratched at my limbs and I pummeled and kicked like mad. The chaos was spreading by the second as we snapped one of the poles holding a section of the tent. There was more shouting and scuffling, but thankfully no gunshots yet.
好了...计划d的时间到了，我跑过去扑倒了她，然后我们飞快地撞上了她身后的帆布墙，结果帆布墙裂开了。当她抓我的四肢时，我们翻滚着，尖叫着，用爪子抓，发出咯咯的叫声，我疯狂地踢打着。随着我们折断了一根支撑帐篷一部分的杆子，混乱开始蔓延。还有更多的叫喊和扭打声，但谢天谢地还没有枪声。
Then we were out in front of the tent and I finally had Scarlet in a headlock. “Okay… no alarms from…” Slowly, I looked up at the dozens of very armed ponies and griffins surrounding the pair of us. Wow… that’s a lot of guns!
然后我们走到帐篷前面，我终于把斯嘉丽的头夹住了。"好吧......没有警报......"慢慢地，我抬起头来，看着围绕在我们身边的几十只全副武装的小马和狮鹫。哇...好多枪啊！
“HOLD!” boomed a voice that made everypony, including me, jump to their hooves.
"等等!"每匹小马，包括我在内，都为之欢呼雀跃。
Oh… wow. I’d thought, having seen Lacunae, that I understood just what an alicorn was like. Big. Wings. Horn. Pretty standard stuff, really… right?
哦...哇。我原以为，看到了空隙，我就明白了橡实是什么样子。很大。翅膀。号角。非常标准的东西，真的......对吧？
Wrong.
错了。
Fifteen alicorns, purple, blue, and green, hovered around us like a judgment host. They were surrounded in shimmering shields and looked fit to blast me into chunks. Only one thing saved me. The leader of the host pointed her blue hoof at me and boomed in shock, “YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE! THE GODDESS DEMANDS TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING HERE!”
十五颗紫色、蓝色和绿色的海芋像主持人一样盘旋在我们周围。他们被闪闪发光的盾牌包围着，看起来很适合把我炸成碎片。只有一件事救了我。主人的领袖用蓝色的蹄子指着我，震惊地叫道:"你?！你在这儿干什么?！你不应该在这里！女神想知道你在这里做什么!"
I pulled off what shreds remained of my disguise and tossed them away. Then I pulled out one of the last bottles of Wild Pegasus and tugged it free, holding it in
我扯掉伪装剩下的部分，把它们扔掉。然后我拿出最后一瓶野飞马，把它拽了出来
my fingers. If I was going to have to deal with Goddess yelling, I needed more alcohol. The alicorns were so stunned that I was able to take a good long pull off the bottle. “Well. Had to get fixed up… new legs… eyes… that sort of--“
我的手指。如果要我忍受女神的吼叫，我需要更多的酒精。橡树果们都惊呆了，我还能把瓶子好好地扯下来。"好吧。不得不去整容...新的腿...新的眼睛...诸如此类--"
She jerked me into the air before her with her magic. “THE GODDESS DEMANDS TO KNOW! ARE YOU WORKING WITH RED EYE NOW?!”
她用魔法把我拉到空中。"女神要求知道！你现在是在红眼工作吗?"
“Why, is he recruiting?” I asked, seeing the apprehension in her eyes. I reached up and tapped my horn. “Find out for yourself,” I said. Honestly, I had no idea if it would really work while my horn wouldn’t do anything… but then the probably-compensating-for-some-inherent-shortcoming-sized horn touched mine and I immediately felt that sensation of rummaging in my brain. I thought of what LittlePip had said; hopefully after blasting Red Eye to dust, she could do something about the Goddess.
"为什么，他在招人吗?"我问道，看到她眼中的忧虑。我伸手碰了碰喇叭。"你自己去查吧,"我说。老实说，我不知道它是否真的会工作，而我的角不会做任何事情...但然后可能弥补一些固有的缺陷大小的触角碰到我，我立即感觉到我的大脑翻箱倒柜的感觉。我想起了小皮普说过的话，希望在把红眼炸成灰之后，她能为女神做点什么。
“GOOD! NOW WE MAY DISPOSE OF YOUR MEDDLING--”
"好！现在我们可以处理你的干涉了——"
“Red Eye knows about Sanguine,” I thought at her, and she froze. “Which means he might know about Project Chimera. Which means he might know about making monsterponies.”
"红眼睛知道桑吉娜的事,"我看着她，她愣住了。"也就是说他可能知道奇美拉计划。这意味着他可能知道怎么做怪物。"
For several seconds I just hung there as she dug through my head. I finally finished drinking the last drop, really wishing I had some more. “Of course, if you don’t want me to go back into the Hoof to find out, go ahead and kill me,” I taunted, then thought over and over, “Whiskey whiskey whiskey whiskey…”
她在我头上挖来挖去的时候，我就在那儿呆了几秒钟。我终于喝完了最后一滴，真希望我还有更多。"当然，如果你不想让我回到霍夫去发现，那就杀了我吧,"我嘲弄了一下，然后反复思考,"威士忌威士忌......"
“SHUT UP! WHY MUST THE GODDESS SUFFER YOUR MINDLESS, WITLESS PRATTLE? WHY AREN’T YOU DEAD YET? WHY CAN’T WE JUST KILL YOU?! WHY?”
"闭嘴！为什么女神一定要忍受你愚蠢无知的唠叨？为什么你还没死？为什么我们不直接杀了你?！为什么?"
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’d tried to die more than once. You think you can do a better job, take your shot.” I stared into her eyes and somewhere, deep inside Unity, the Goddess blinked and relaxed. “Aww… I was ready to be squished like a radroach,” I thought at her and belched. “You wanna prance around my head some more or talk turkey? You want alicorns with cocks. I imagine it’d do you wonders if you got laid. I really want to smash Sanguine into ghouley goo. All of us want Red Eye gone. And I owe you for 99.” I smiled as I dangled in front of her. “Or you can just kill me and wonder just what Red Eye is up to... your choice.”
"嘿，别看我。我不止一次试图死去。你认为自己可以做得更好，那就试试吧。"我凝视着她的眼睛，在尤尼蒂内心深处的某个地方，女神眨着眼睛，放松下来。"啊......我已经准备好像雨伞一样被压扁了,"我想着她，打了个嗝。"你是想在我头上蹦蹦跳跳，还是想开门见山？你想要带鸡巴的橡子。我想如果你和别人上床了，你会很惊讶的。我真想把桑吉打成古利咕。我们都想赶走红眼。我欠你99美元。"当我在她面前晃荡时，我笑了。"或者你可以杀了我，然后想知道红眼到底是怎么回事......这是你的选择。"
Then LittlePip was escorted out of the tent by a stallion in a big fancy hat that I supposed put him in charge. The effect was immediate, eyes wide and jaws dropped before they howled in near panic, “NOOOOO! THESE TWO MAY NOT BE TOGETHER! THE GODDESS FORBIDS IT!” She waved me in the air like a rag doll.
然后小匹普被一匹戴着大帽子的种马护送出了帐篷，我以为是他负责的。效果立竿见影，眼睛睁得大大的，下巴耷拉着，惊慌失措地嚎叫着:"不！这两个人可能不在一起！女神不允许!"她像一个布娃娃一样在空中挥舞着我。
“Shut up!” I bellowed up at her. “She’s doing what she’s doing and I’m doing what I’m doing and… uggh…” A red warning in my vision flashed ‘purge’ at me.
"闭嘴!"我对她大吼大叫。"她正在做她正在做的事情，而我正在做我正在做的事情，而且......呃......"我的视野中闪现出一个红色警告,"净化"在我眼前闪过。
And then in front of everypony I lost my whiskey. The blue alicorn dropped me to the ground in disgust. The goddess didn’t get puked on often, I suspected.
然后当着大家的面，我把威士忌弄丢了。蓝色的橡子厌恶地把我摔在地上。我猜想，这位女神不常被吐在身上。
The stallion in the fancy hat rubbed his face. “Why can’t we just shoot them all... why?” He pointed his hoof back at Tenpony. “Just… go! Go!”
戴着花哨帽子的种马摩擦着他的脸。"为什么我们不能把他们都杀了......为什么?"他把蹄子朝向Tenpony。"走吧！去吧!"
I rose to my hooves. “Oh no. You’re not just going to throw us out! Forget it! We’re staying put unless we get a proper send-off!” Everypony stared at me in shock and confusion.
我猛地站起来。"哦，不。你不能就这样把我们赶出去！算了吧！除非我们得到一个适当的送别，否则我们就呆在原地不动!"每个矮种马都震惊和困惑地盯着我。
“WHAT… WHAT DO YOU WANT?”
"你...你想要什么?"
I looked at the wing of alicorns and grinned.
我看着橡树果的翅膀，咧嘴笑了。
* * *
* * *
There are… in reflection… many ways to travel the Wasteland. By hoof is most common. Occasionally in vehicles. Sometimes on wings, if you had them. The Goddess had told Lacunae to warn the others of our return, and so they stood on the roof of Tenpony Tower as dawn broke. For a brief moment, the sun peeked through the gap between the distant clouds and the horizon, illuminating us in gold as fifteen alicorns flew in formation around the tower, carrying LittlePip and myself back to our friends. From my PipBuck played the most sweeping and dramatic music of Octavia’s concert I could find as inebriation helped me overlook the very splatty distance below.
有......在反思中......许多旅行荒原的方式。用蹄走路是最常见的。偶尔在车上。有时候，如果你有翅膀的话。女神已经告诉Lacunae警告其他人我们会回来，所以黎明破晓时他们站在TenponyTower的屋顶上。有那么一瞬间，太阳透过远处的云层和地平线之间的缝隙，照亮了我们，十五只小皮普和我回到了我们的朋友身边。我用我的皮布克弹奏了奥克塔维亚音乐会中最宏大、最戏剧性的音乐，因为醉意使我忽略了下面溅得到处都是的距离。
Maybe the crown of whiskey bottles was a bit much…
也许威士忌酒瓶的王冠有点过了..。
The two carrying LittlePip and I set us down next to LittlePip’s skywagon thingy, every jaw dropping as I turned and lifted a hoof to the beasts. “Thank
两个人抬着小匹普，我把我们放在小匹普的天行篷车旁边，当我转过身，抬起蹄子走向那些野兽时，我的下巴都要掉下来了。"谢谢
you, noble alicorn, for our safe arrival!”
你，尊贵的亚里康，为了我们的安全抵达
“GO. AWAY,” the blue alicorn said in disgust, and as one the group flew away from the tower. Was it just me, or was Lacunae trying very hard not to grin?
"去吧。"走开,"蓝色的海角牛厌恶地说，其中一个离开了塔楼。是我的错觉，还是Lacunae拼命忍住不笑？
LittlePip looked horrible… I felt pretty horrible too. I was pretty sure I was really pushing things with the amount I’d drunk in the last few hours. As my friends trotted across the landing pad towards us, LittlePip pulled out the tin of Mint-als. I grabbed it; Rover was right, fingers were useful. “Now you keep your promise…”
小皮普看起来很可怕...我也觉得很可怕。我非常肯定，过去几个小时里我喝了那么多酒，我真的是在推销东西。当我的朋友们小跑着穿过停机坪朝我们走来的时候，小匹普拿出了一罐薄荷糖。我抓住它;罗孚是对的，手指是有用的。"现在你遵守你的诺言......"
She looked at me with desperate eyes, and I flung the tin away before she could take another. Her whole body jerked after the tin, but I held her back and she finally slumped against me. “I… I need Helpinghoof… please…”
她用绝望的眼神看着我，在她再拿一个之前，我把罐头扔掉了。她的整个身体在罐子后面抽搐，但是我把她拉回来，她最后靠在我身上。"我.....。.我需要助手......"
“Who’s that?” P-21 asked.
"那是谁?"P-21要求。
“Blackjack! Are you… what’s… what did you do last night?!” Glory stammered.
"黑杰克！你...你...你昨晚做了什么?!"晨辉结结巴巴地说。
“And why didn’t you take me along?” Rampage added.
"你为什么不带我一起去?"狂暴补充道。
“Did you really drink all of that?!” Scotch pointed at the crown.
"你真的把那些都喝光了?!"苏格兰威士忌指着王冠。
“What?” I said as I swayed. So many flashy warnings on my screen… so many many flashy warnings… “I was just celebrating my birthday… urp...” And then everything went swirly and fell away to black. What a life... but it was mine...
"什么?"我边说边摇摆着。我的屏幕上出现了那么多华而不实的警告......那么多华而不实的警告......"我只是在庆祝我的生日......呃......"然后所有的东西都晕了过去，变成了黑色。多么美好的生活...但那是我的生活..。
Footnote: New Game
脚注:新游戏
New perk added: Cyberpony: +1 Endurance, +10% radiation resistance, +10% poison resistance, +10% damage resistance.
新额外津贴:赛博矮马:+1耐力，+10%抗辐射，+10%抗毒，+10%抗伤害。
Quest Perk added: Calibration needed. -1 Strength, -1 agility, -1 intelligence
任务帕金斯补充:需要校准。-1力量-1敏捷-1智力
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: This chapter was very difficult to write. I wanted BJ to meet LittlePip since I started Project Horizons. I know... I know some
(作者的笔记:这一章很难写。我想让BJ见见小pip，因为我开始了视野计划。我知道...我知道一些
people will hate it or think it’s contrived, and it is and I’m sorry and... just... sorry... The only time that was possible was in the gaps in LittlePip’s memory. There were several ideas I had that just got cut out. Others were very OOC. I’ve struggled to keep LittlePip as much in character as possible. More than 20p were removed or edited. I hope that, after putting all of you through Black, you found Birthday an enjoyable ride.) (In addition to thanking Kkat, Hinds, Bronode, and Snipehamster I would also like to thank Doubleclick for helping me with LittlePip’s dialogue and Hobo for cyberpony issues. You are all incredible and thank you for making Horizons the best story possible.)
人们会讨厌它或者认为它是人为的，它是，我很抱歉和...只是...对不起...唯一可能的时间是在小匹普的记忆的空隙。我有几个想法刚刚被删掉了。其他人则非常有原创性。我一直努力让小皮普尽可能多地扮演我的角色。超过20p被删除或编辑。我希望，在你们所有人通过布莱克之后，你们会发现生日是一段愉快的旅程(除了感谢Kkat、Hinds、Bronode和Snipehamster，我还要感谢Doubleclick帮助我完成LittlePip的对话，以及Hobo帮助我解决cyberpony问题。你们都是不可思议的，谢谢你们让《视野》成为了最好的故事。)
(Finally, if you liked the story and wish to assist the author donations can be made to David13ushey @gmail .com through paypal. Every bit is appreciated and needed. Thank you!)
(最后，如果你喜欢这个故事并希望帮助作者，可以向David13ushey@gmail捐款。通过贝宝。每一点都是值得赞赏和需要的。谢谢!)