“And I saw the most amazing, most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen. I poured myself into learning everything I could about magic.”
"我看到了我所见过的最神奇、最美妙的东西。我全身心地投入到学习有关魔术的一切知识中。"
I’d died. I’d come back. Now, I suspected that that had been my big mistake. I lay in bed feeling like my brain had been squeezed into a jar two sizes too small. My vision, whether my eyes were open or closed, was filled with glaring flashes warning of toxicity levels, interface conflicts... and I could have sworn that there was an actual ‘user idiocy’ warning going off. My mechanical limbs twitched as I sprawled on my side. All I had to do was crawl out… but my metal legs just twitched and jerked again as I went nowhere.
我死了。我会回来的。现在，我怀疑那是我最大的错误。我躺在床上，感觉自己的大脑被塞进了一个两倍大的罐子里。我的视觉，不管我的眼睛是睁着还是闭着，都充满了闪烁的警告，提醒我注意毒性水平、界面冲突......而且我可以发誓，真的有一个'用户白痴'的警告响起了。我四肢抽搐，四肢伸开四肢趴在地上。我所要做的就是爬出去......但是我的金属腿只是抽搐了一下，然后又抽搐了一下，因为我哪儿也没去。
I could just lie here… yes… lie here in this nice soft bed and wait for sweet oblivion to claim--
我可以躺在这里......是的......躺在这张舒适柔软的床上，等待甜蜜的遗忘声称——
“Hey, Blackjack!” Scotch yelled in the perfect filly pitch to make it feel like an icepick had been shoved in my ear canal. I tried to say something about loudness, volume, or killing noisy fillies. I’m fairly certain that all of that went right over the olive filly’s head, though, as she screeched, “Glory told me to come in and ask you about hangovers! She said you probably had a doozy of one, so I should talk really loudly!”
"嘿，黑杰克!"苏格兰威士忌用完美的小母马般的声调大喊，让我感觉像是有人把冰锥塞进了我的耳道。我试着说一些关于响度、音量或者杀死吵闹的小母马的事情。我相当肯定，这一切都超过了橄榄小姑娘的头，尽管她尖叫着,"晨辉告诉我进来问你宿醉的事！她说你可能喝多了，所以我应该大声说话!"
“Ngggghhh!” was all I could reply as I flopped around and finally managed to bury my head under the pillows.
"啊!"这就是我所能回答的全部问题，我四处游荡，最后终于把头埋在枕头下面。
“So, Blackjack, are you hungover? Do you need me to talk louder? Hey, Blackjack! Can you hear me now? Blackjack!” she shrieked as she shook me hard, making my stomach-thing lurch and my bladder (did I still have that?) clench. Urr... I didn’t need to be dealing with this and a hangover at the same time... “Blackjack! Blackjack! Did you really fly around on a wing of alicorns?
"那么，黑杰克，你宿醉了吗？你需要我说大声点吗？嘿黑杰克！你现在能听见我说话吗？黑杰克!"她尖叫着，使劲地摇晃着我，让我的胃和膀胱都感到不舒服(我现在还是这样吗?)握紧。呃......我不需要同时面对这个和宿醉......"Blackjack！黑杰克！你真的是乘着橡树果的翅膀到处飞吗？
Did they crown you? Why were there security ponies asking for you? Oh! And this one black unicorn wanted me to say you were a horrible influence. That was mean, but she gave me a whole bag of candy to tell you really loud, and Glory thought it was a good idea too and she gave me three Sparkle-Colas and Blackjack! Can you hear me, Blackjack?”
他们给你加冕了吗？为什么有保安要找你？哦！这只黑独角兽想让我说你是一个可怕的影响。那是很刻薄，但是她给了我一整袋糖果，让我大声地告诉你，晨辉也觉得这是个好主意，她给了我三颗闪亮可乐和黑杰克！你能听见我说话吗，黑杰克?"
I could kill them. I could kill them all. No court in the Wasteland would convict me…
我可以杀了他们。我可以把他们全杀了。荒地的法庭不会判我有罪的。
* * *
* * *
A trip to the bathroom and a shower later, I was in a far less murderous mood. The real fun was trying to mentally bash and thrash my legs into moving. I distinctly remembered walking and trotting around without a problem! Okay, the memory was a bit fuzzy, but still, I’d been walking better drunk than I was sober! Fortunately, Scotch enthusiastically herded me, preventing me from actually falling on my face again.
后来我去了趟洗手间，洗了个澡，心情就好多了。真正有趣的是在精神上猛击和鞭打我的双腿使其活动起来。我清楚地记得走路和小跑没有任何问题！好吧，我的记忆有点模糊，但是，我醉醺醺地走路比清醒时好多了！幸运的是，苏格兰威士忌热情地驱赶着我，防止我再次摔倒在地。
Once I’d gotten myself clean and flushed out, the alarms died to a few sullen yellow warnings that seemed to be there mostly to remind me not to do anything like last night ever again. I needed food… power… metal… Med-X or something to make my head stop feeling so... ugh… and somepony who could fill me in on what exactly had happened last night… morning… conscious time! A little chronometer in the corner of my eye told me that it was now early afternoon. Hopefully, I’d be able to get my body and brain and everything… and coming out of the bedroom, I tripped on my own feet and tumbled down in a heap.
一旦我把自己清理干净，冲洗干净，警报器就会因为几个阴沉的黄色警告而停止工作，这些警告似乎主要是为了提醒我不要再像昨晚那样做任何事情。我需要食物......能量......金属......Med-X或者其他什么东西来让我的头不再感觉那么......呃......还需要一个能告诉我昨晚到底发生了什么的人......早上......清醒的时候！我眼角的一个小精密计时器告诉我，现在是下午早些时候了。我希望我能够得到我的身体和大脑和一切...走出卧室，我绊倒在我自己的脚和跌倒在一堆。
“Ughhh… walking shouldn’t be so hard…” I groaned, face down on the concrete tiles. Hadn’t I been kicking ass a short while ago? I was fairly sure I had. Somehow…
"呃......走路不应该这么艰难......"我低着头叹息着，脸朝下趴在水泥地上。我刚才不是很厉害吗？我相当肯定我有。不知怎么的..。
“Maybe some more Wild Pegasus?” a mare said in a strange electronic voice. I blinked and looked over at the small collection in the living room. Lacunae was lying on the floor next to Glory on the couch. The gray pegasus was so… neat. So clean and tidy that I had to double check. Next to her, Scotch sat eating one of my birthday cupcakes with a crown of whiskey bottles atop her head. She grinned sheepishly at me. On the coffee table was a large metal drum with a camera on top and a speaker set in the base. There was some sort of generator
"也许再来点野生帕伽索斯?"一匹母马用奇怪的电子声音说。我眨了眨眼睛，看了看起居室里的那些小藏品。空隙就躺在晨辉旁边的地板上，躺在沙发上。灰色的飞马是如此的...整洁。如此干净整洁以至于我不得不仔细检查。坐在她旁边的苏格兰人正在吃我的生日蛋糕，头上顶着一顶威士忌酒瓶的王冠。她怯生生地对我笑了笑。咖啡桌上有一个很大的金属鼓，上面有一个摄像机，底部有一个扬声器。那里有某种发电机
next to it, along with some strange medical-looking equipment that beeped softly. Sitting on the opposite couch were Homage and a strange stallion with a crimson and scarlet mane. P-21 trotted up to help me to my feet. I had to admit, he cleaned up pretty good too.
旁边还有一些奇怪的医疗设备，发出轻轻的嘟嘟声。坐在对面沙发上的是"敬意"和一匹有着深红色和猩红色鬃毛的奇怪种马。P-21小跑起来扶我站起来。我不得不承认，他也收拾得很干净。
“I think she’s had enough Wild P for one lifetime,” Glory said with a somewhat stern smile that told me I was in a bit of trouble. Not that I blamed her, given the condition I’d been in last night.
"我想她这辈子已经受够了野性p了,"晨辉带着有点严肃的微笑说，告诉我我有点麻烦了。考虑到我昨晚的状况，我并没有责怪她。
“Did you really drink all six bottles in four hours? I’m pretty sure that would have killed anypony else,” the odd stallion said. “When Homage told me that you and LittlePip were being flown here by five wings of alicorns, I had to wonder if she’d been drinking too.”
"你真的在四个小时内把六瓶酒都喝完了吗？我敢肯定，这会杀死任何其他的小马,"奇怪的种马说。"当'敬意'告诉我，你和小皮普乘着五只橡子的翅膀飞来这里时，我不禁怀疑她是不是也喝酒了。"
The gray unicorn chuckled and shook her head, then gestured to her companion. “Blackjack? Life Bloom. Life Bloom? This is Blackjack. Also known as ‘Security’ around Hoofington.” Her blue eyes focused on me as she said evenly, “Life Bloom here is representing the Twilight Society and wants to speak with you about Professor Zodiac’s theories regarding your lineage.”
灰色的独角兽咯咯地笑着，摇了摇头，然后向她的同伴做了个手势。"黑杰克？生命绽放。生命绽放？这是黑杰克。胡芬顿周围也被称为'安全'。"她蓝色的眼睛凝视着我，平静地说:"这里的生命之花代表着黄昏社会，想和你谈谈黄道带教授关于你的血统的理论。"
“Oh… yeah. That.” I trotted towards the assembly, P-21 more than once keeping me from falling flat on my face... again. “Look, I know she thinks I’m special… but I’m not. Okay? I don’t know why I can open up the cases, but I’m not related to any Ministry Mare, and I’m certainly not related to Twilight Sparkle!”
"哦......是的。那个。"我小跑着走向大会，P-21不止一次地阻止我再次摔倒在地。"听着，我知道她认为我很特别......但我不是。好吗？我不知道为什么我可以打开这些箱子，但是我不是任何马力部的成员，我当然也不是紫悦的成员
Life Bloom smiled politely. “Why are you so sure you’re not? There’s much we don’t know about the Ministry Mares. The Ministry of Image did an exceptional job obfuscating and hiding the truth. Applejack was the only mare who was ever publicly confirmed to be in a relationship, but it’s unlikely that she really was the only one.”
生活布鲁姆礼貌地笑了笑。"你为什么这么肯定你不是呢？关于魔法部的母马我们还有很多不知道的。图像部在模糊和隐藏真相方面做得非常出色。苹果白兰地是唯一一匹被公开证实正在恋爱的母马，但她不可能是唯一一匹。"
Homage gave me a gentle smile. “It’s possible that your relationship is only tangential. You could have some Apple blood in you. That would explain the cases.” She folded her hooves before her.
敬意给了我一个温柔的微笑。"你们的关系可能只是切线的。你身上可能有苹果的血液。这可以解释这些案例。"她把蹄子叠起来放在面前。
“It wouldn’t explain Project Steelpony being unsealed perfectly,” buzzed the speaker on the can. “While I agree that being Applejack’s cousin might be enough to open a security case, it would not work for EC-1101. The fact that she’s capable of interfacing with that program tells me that there’s more to Blackjack than meets the eye.”
"这不能解释为什么Steelpony项目被完美地解封了,"罐头上的扬声器嗡嗡地说。"虽然我同意，作为苹果杰克的表亲可能足以打开一个安全案件，但这不适用于EC-1101。事实上，她能够接入这个程序告诉我，Blackjack不仅仅是表面上看起来那么简单。"
“There isn’t. Really. I’m not,” I said firmly, shaking my head. I sat down beside the coffee table, and Glory pushed me a bottle of clean water. It might not be whiskey, but it was certainly welcome. “I’m just… me. A security mare from a stable. I’m not special.” I looked from one to the next and felt a stab of irritation at the speculative gazes. “Look, why does all this matter? Why do you want to know so much?”
"没有。真的。我没有,"我坚定地说，摇着头。我在咖啡桌旁坐下，格洛里给我推了一瓶干净的水。这可能不是威士忌，但肯定是受欢迎的。"我只是......我。一匹来自马厩的安全母马。我并不特别。"我从一个看到另一个，感到一种刺痛，对投机的目光。"听着，这一切有什么关系呢？你为什么想知道这么多?"
“Quite honestly, many in my organization don’t want to know,” Life Bloom said calmly. “You must understand that, for two hundred years, the Twilight Society has been responsible for Tenpony Tower and the secrets of the M.A.S. hub.
"说实话，我们组织里的很多人都不想知道,"生活布鲁姆平静地说。"你必须明白，两百年来，暮光协会一直负责TenponyTower和m.a.s.枢纽的秘密。
Many of my order believe this building to be the last remaining bastion of old Equestria. As such, they take anything to do with the M.A.S. and its Ministry Mare very seriously.”
我的许多修道会成员认为这座建筑是旧Equestria仅存的堡垒。因此，他们非常认真地对待与m.a.s.及其部门有关的任何事情。"
“So what does it mean to the Twilight Society if Blackjack is related to Twilight?” P-21 asked pointedly as he looked at Homage and Life Bloom.
"那么，如果《黑杰克》与《暮光之城》有关，那么《暮光之城》对《暮光之城》社会意味着什么呢?"P-21看着《向您致敬》和《生命的绽放》尖锐地问道。
“We’re not sure. There’s a great deal of disagreement in the Society about that,” Life Bloom admitted, drawing a surprised look from Homage. “Some believe that, even if Blackjack is related, she has no right or connection to the Society. And on the other end of the spectrum… there are those saying that, if she is… then she is the legitimate head of the Twilight Society.” He looked at me slightly apologetically. “Most don’t know what to think and/or are reserving judgment until we can verify if you are or aren’t.”
"我们不确定。关于这一点，学会内部存在着很大的分歧。"。"有些人认为，即使黑杰克是亲戚，她也没有权利或与协会有联系。而另一方面......有人说，如果她是......那么她就是《暮光之城》社团的合法领导人。"他略带歉意地看着我。"大多数人不知道该怎么想，而且(或者)在我们能够核实你是否如此之前，保留自己的判断。"
I jumped to my hooves. “Now wait a second! You’re not turning me into your new Ministry Mare!” Wait, how’d I move like that? I wobbled and fell against the arm of the couch. Lacunae’s horn glowed and she steadied me.
我跳了起来。"等一下！你不能把我变成你的新魔法部的母驴!"等等，我怎么会这么动？我摇摇晃晃地倒在沙发扶手上。空隙的角闪闪发光，她使我平静下来。
“Would it really be so bad?” Glory asked softly as she put her hoof out to touch my shoulder.
"真的会这么糟糕吗?"晨辉轻轻地问，她把蹄子伸出来碰我的肩膀。
I closed my eyes as I tried to think of a way to make her understand. “Glory… she was Twilight Sparkle. She was the Element of Magic! She was responsible for an entire ministry and programs and… and everything! I’m Blackjack. I think I’m the biggest screwup in the history of Equestria! I can’t even do magic, period!” I said as I pointed at my dead horn.
我闭上眼睛，努力想办法让她明白。"晨辉......她是紫悦。她是魔法元素！她负责整个事工和计划...还有所有的事情！我是黑杰克。我想我是小马国历史上最大的败笔！我连魔术都不会，就是这样!"我一边说，一边指着我死去的号角。
“Neither could Twilight Sparkle,” Life Bloom said evenly.
"紫悦也不行,"LifeBloom平静地说。
Excuse me? All eyes were on the red-and-red-maned unicorn as he smiled. “Twilight Sparkle didn’t pop from the womb using super-powered magic. In fact, not many people knew it, but she was so bad at magic that she flunked out of magic kindergarten. I understand that there were quite a few magical mistakes made when she was young. She likely would have never gotten into magic at all were it not for her witnessing Celestia raising the sun. After that, she worked hard to learn all the spells she could. Even then, when she applied to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she was by all accounts quite mediocre. It wasn’t until the first sonic rainboom incident that her magical potential showed itself. Only then did she receive Celestia’s personal attention and tutelage. Even then, though, her magic was the product of a lifetime of hard work more than of her admittedly great natural talent.”
你说什么？当他微笑的时候，所有的目光都集中在红红相间的独角兽身上。"紫悦不是用超能力魔法从子宫里蹦出来的。事实上，没有多少人知道这一点，但是她的魔术实在是太差了，以至于她从魔术幼儿园退学了。我知道她年轻的时候犯过不少神奇的错误。如果不是因为她目睹了塞莱斯蒂亚升起太阳，她可能根本不会使用魔法。在那之后，她努力学习所有她能学的咒语。即便如此，当她申请天赐独角兽学校时，她的表现依然相当平庸。直到第一次音爆事件，她的魔力才显现出来。直到那时她才得到了塞莱斯蒂亚的个人关注和指导。尽管如此，她的魔力更多的还是来自于一生的辛勤工作，而不是来自于她公认的天赋。"
“But… I mean… I can’t even do the simplest spell. All I can do is shoot things with my horn.” Make that could, Blackjack.
"但是......我是说......我连最简单的咒语都不会。我所能做的就是用我的号角射击。"可以的，黑杰克。
“Yes, but did you have Princess Celestia as your teacher?” Life Bloom asked. To be fair, Textbook had been about as interested in me learning as in watching paint dry. Even Mom’s endless attempts to remediate me were more embarrassing than instructive. “Twilight Sparkle received the instruction and attention she needed to excel. From Glory’s description, it’s doubtful Twilight would have learned any magic at all were she forced into your circumstances. And before you ask, neither Twilight’s mother nor father were exceptional magic users.”
"是的，但是你有没有让塞莱斯蒂亚公主做你的老师?"生活布鲁姆问道。公平地说，教科书对我学习的兴趣就像对油漆干燥的兴趣一样。即使是妈妈为了补救我所做的无休止的尝试，也只是让我感到尴尬，而不是有教育意义。"紫悦得到了必要的指导和关注，才能脱颖而出。根据晨辉的描述，如果暮光之城被迫进入你的环境，她是否会学到任何魔法都是值得怀疑的。在你问之前，《暮光之城》的父母都不是特殊的魔法使用者。"
For some reason, his assurances were making me feel more and more panicked. I wasn’t Twilight’s descendant! I couldn’t be. I was nopony. A screwup! If I were related to Twilight, then… then I’d be responsible for fixing the entire Wasteland! I’d have to use EC-1101 to do… something! I couldn’t even fix Hoofington yet. Of course, my stupid body felt all calm and still… I needed to get some kind of heartbeat simulator installed.
出于某种原因，他的保证让我越来越恐慌。我不是暮光之城的后裔！不可能。我不是小马。一团糟！如果我和《暮光之城》有关系，那么...那么我就要负责修复整个荒原！我得用EC-1101做点什么！我甚至还不能修复Hoofington。当然，我那愚蠢的身体感觉非常平静和安静...我需要安装一些类似心跳模拟器的东西。
Homage looked at me with a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t we just get it over with, Life Bloom? The door test?”
敬意带着同情的微笑看着我。"我们为什么不赶快结束这一切呢，布鲁姆？门试验?"
“Door test?” P-21 asked with a small frown.
"门试?"P-21皱着眉头问道。
“There's a door in the tower enchanted to only open for Twilight, though we think that a direct descendant could also do it,” Homage said calmly. “So, all
"塔楼里有一扇门被施了魔法，只为《暮光之城》开放，尽管我们认为直系后裔也可以做到这一点,"霍梅特平静地说。"那么，所有人
Blackjack has to do is try to open the door.”
黑杰克要做的就是试着打开门。"
“Right,” I croaked. “Let’s get this over with.”
"对,"我低声说。"让我们把这件事了结了吧。"
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat something first?” Glory asked as she looked up at me in worry. “You look even paler than a white pony should.” I shook my head firmly. With the way my guts churned, I was certain that I was going to puke if I actually had something in my… wait… those were guts, right? Ugh, I wasn’t sure if I needed an owner’s manual or an anatomy lesson! In either case, no. Food was not a good idea just now.
"你确定不先吃点东西吗?"晨辉忧心忡忡地抬头看着我，问道。"你看起来比一匹白色小马更苍白。"我坚定地摇了摇头。看着我的肠子搅动的样子，我确信如果我真的有什么东西在我的......等等......那些是肠子，对吧？唉，我不知道我是需要用户手册还是解剖课！不管是哪种情况，都不是。现在吃东西不是个好主意。
“I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back,” the professor said as the camera turned to face me. “Remember, whatever is inside was Twilight’s. That means that, if you can get to it, it’s yours, Blackjack. Don’t let them take it.” Life Bloom merely smiled and said nothing.
当摄像机转向我时，教授说:"我期待着在你回来的时候听到这一切。"。"记住，里面的东西是《暮光之城》的。也就是说，如果你能拿到它，它就是你的了，Blackjack。不要让他们拿走。"生活布鲁姆只是微笑着，什么也没说。
We trotted out like an execution procession, leaving Lacunae with the professor. I looked around and asked dully, “Where’s Rampage?”
我们像行刑队一样小跑出去，把空隙留给教授。我环顾四周，无精打采地问:"狂暴在哪里?"
“Your friend Rampage is in security till you leave. Somepony pointed out that, since she’s a Reaper… technically, she’s a raider. Normally that would be a death sentence, but… well…” Life Bloom coughed.
"你的朋友狂暴在你离开之前都是安全的。一些小马指出，因为她是一个死神...严格来说，她是一个袭击者。通常情况下，这会是一个死刑判决，但是......好吧......"生命布鲁姆咳嗽道。
“Yeah, good luck with that,” I said as we stepped into the gilt-decorated elevator.
"是的，祝你好运,"当我们走进装饰华丽的电梯时，我说。
“Are you sure you’re okay with this, Blackjack?” Homage asked quietly beside me.
"你确定你没问题吗，黑杰克?"敬意在我身边悄悄地问道。
I sighed. “No, I’m really not. I just came back from the dead. My body… half the time it works flawlessly, and the other half I’m falling on my face. But the Twilight Society helped bring me back… they could have told Glory and the professor to piss off. Then I’d be a tainted cyberpony.”
我叹了口气。"不，我真的不是。我刚刚起死回生。我的身体......一半的时间它工作完美，另一半我摔倒在我的脸上。但是暮光之城协会把我带了回来......他们本可以让晨辉和教授滚蛋的。然后我就会变成一匹受污染的赛博马。"
“Being related to Twilight won’t change who you are, Blackjack,” the blue-maned mare murmured as the car came to a stop and we set off down another corridor.
"与暮光之城有血缘关系不会改变你的身份，Blackjack,"当汽车停下来，我们沿着另一条走廊出发时，那匹蓝色的母马低声说道。
I slowed my pace, letting the others go ahead. Then I looked at her. “Won’t it? You heard the professor and Life Bloom. If ponies find out that I’m Twilight’s… I don’t know… heir or descendant or something… what is that going to mean? I
我放慢了脚步，让其他人先走。然后我看着她。"不是吗？你听到教授和生命布鲁姆说的了。如果小马发现我是暮光之城的...我不知道...继承人或后裔或什么的...这是什么意思？一
can barely handle being Blackjack, security mare, reject of Stable 99.”
几乎无法承受成为Blackjack，安全母马，被Stable99拒绝。"
I wanted to believe her. I wanted to think that, if I opened that door, things would still be fine. Hey, maybe it would make things easier. Except that my life was never easier. “You’re not a reject or a failure, Blackjack. I’ve seen what you’ve done.”
我想要相信她。我想，如果我打开那扇门，一切都会好起来的。也许这样事情就简单多了。只是我的生活从未如此轻松过。"你不是废物，也不是失败者，Blackjack。我看到了你的所作所为。"
“Really? Did you see Fallen Arch? Did you see Clover’s head explode? Or Glory’s wing fall off? Did you kill only Goddesses know how many Rangers to sink a ship? Did you see that?” I asked sharply, my irritation from the morning returning… which made me kick myself even harder. She was trying to help me, and I sighed, lowering my eyes. “I know you told me I did good things, but it all feels like a lie. It feels wrong… like I’m winning some sort of prize I didn’t earn.” The others had realized I’d stopped and were starting to look back. “I really don’t want to do this… but I have to… so let’s get it over with.” I wanted a drink. A whole bunch of drinks, right now.
"真的吗？你看见堕落拱门了吗？你看到克洛弗的头爆炸了吗？还是晨辉的翅膀掉下来了？你杀死的只有女神知道有多少游骑兵能击沉一艘船吗？你看到了吗?"我尖锐地问道，我早晨的愤怒又回来了......这让我更加自责。她试图帮助我，我低下眼睛，叹了口气。"我知道你告诉我我做了好事，但这一切感觉就像一个谎言。这感觉不对......就像我赢得了某种我没有得到的奖励。"其他人已经意识到我已经停下来，并开始回头看。"我真的不想这么做......但我必须这么做......所以让我们赶紧结束吧。"我想喝一杯。一大堆饮料，就现在。
Everypony was gathered before two large doors. They were of sturdy light wood and beset with amethysts. I felt nausea welling up from an organ that didn’t exist anymore. The gems glowed a faint purple. There were other ponies here, watching with grim expressions. I didn’t want introductions. I just wanted this over with. I looked at the doorhandles and sighed.
每匹小马都聚集在两扇大门前。它们是结实的轻质木材，被紫水晶所包围。我感到恶心从一个不再存在的器官中涌出。宝石发出淡淡的紫光。这里还有其他的小马，一脸严肃地看着。我不想自我介绍。我只是想快点结束这一切。我看着门把手叹了口气。
“So… anypony laying odds?” I asked, swallowing hard.
"那么......有什么小马在下注吗?"我问道，用力地吞咽着。
“It’s going to be all right,” Glory assured me.
"一切都会好起来的,"晨辉向我保证。
“Please get on with it,” drawled one stallion, clearly not anticipating anything important happening. I wanted to capture his complete skepticism... but my mind kept going back to that horrible room with that sobbing mare, and the surrogacy spell... I thought back to Twilight saying farewell to Big Macintosh.
"请继续,"一匹种马慢吞吞地说，显然没有预料到会发生什么重要的事情。我想捕捉他完全的怀疑态度......但是我的思绪不断地回到那个可怕的房间，那个有着哭泣的母马和代孕魔咒的房间......我回想起《暮光之城》对大麦金托什机的告别。
“Please… please please please let it be somepony else,” I prayed aloud as I walked to the doors. I closed my eyes, suddenly glad I couldn’t hyperventilate. Slowly, I reached out with a hoof, the limb jerking around a little before I was finally able to rest it on the latch, feeling the oddly warm metal underhoof. I didn’t even have magic to open it with…
"求你了，求你了，求你了，求你了，求你让别的小马来吧,"我一边走向门口一边大声祈祷。我闭上眼睛，突然很高兴我不能呼吸过度。慢慢地，我伸出一只蹄子，在我终于能够把它放在门闩上之前，它的四肢抽动了一下，我感觉到了奇怪的温暖的金属下蹄。我甚至没法用魔法打开它..。
My hoof pressed down on the latch, and…
我的蹄子压在门闩上。
Nothing.
没什么。
Nothing at all.
什么都没有。
I stared, and then jiggled it with my hoof. My jaw just hung open as I tapped the metal hoof against the door latch. Nothing.
我盯着它，然后用蹄子轻轻摇晃它。当我用金属蹄敲门闩时，我的下巴都张开了。没什么。
“Probably related to Rarity,” one of the mares drawled as she turned away.
"可能跟稀少有关,"一匹母马慢吞吞地说着，转过身去。
“What a drama queen…” agreed another as they trotted off.
"真是一个戏剧女王......"另一个人赞同道，他们小跑着离开。
“Well. I suppose that is that,” Life Bloom said with a sigh. I couldn’t look away as I tapped the door latch one last time. Still didn’t budge. Homage looked at me in concern. For a moment there, I’d been… I’d been absolutely sure!
"好吧。我想就是这样吧,"生命布鲁姆叹了口气说。当我最后一次轻轻地敲门闩时，我无法移开视线。还是纹丝不动。敬意关切地看着我。有那么一瞬间，我已经...我已经完全确定了！
“Huh… I guess…” I gave a little half smile as I looked back at everypony. “I guess I got all worked up for nothing, huh?” It was like stepping out from beneath an immense weight… and yet… I looked back at the doors. If I was so relieved… why was I feeling so… so disappointed?
"嗯......我想......"我回头看着每一匹小马，微微一笑。"我想我是白忙活了一场，对吧?"就像是从一个巨大的重物下走出来......然而......我回头看了看那些门。如果我如此宽慰......为什么我会感到如此......如此失望？
“Blackjack?” Glory asked in concern as she walked up next to me and hugged me with her wing. I closed my eyes, relief mixing with the bittersweet sense of failure. I couldn’t tell which was stronger. I should be happy… right?
"黑杰克?"晨辉关切地问道，她走到我身边，用她的翅膀拥抱了我。我闭上眼睛，轻松的心情里掺杂着苦乐参半的失败感。我不知道哪个更强壮。我应该感到高兴，对吗？
“I’m good, Glory,” I said and smiled as I settled on relief. “I’m just surprised. I mean, I know the odds were against it, but I think that, at the end there, I really was convinced it was true. Heh… such an idiot.” I made my synthetic lungs draw a deep breath, despite the little green O2 readout at the bottom of my vision, and looked at the others. “So I guess I’m probably a cousin or something twice removed?”
"我很好，晨辉,"我说着，笑了笑，然后放松了一下。"我只是很惊讶。我的意思是，我知道这种可能性很小，但是我认为，在最后，我真的相信这是真的。嘿...真是个白痴。"我让我的人造肺做了一次深呼吸，尽管视野底部有一点绿色的氧气读数，我还是看了看其他人。"所以我猜我可能是他的表亲，或者是远房亲戚?"
“I suppose. We may never truly understand the circumstances of your lineage,” Life Bloom said, shrugging. “Regardless, now that that’s out of the way, would you care to see the rest of Tenpony Tower?” I laughed and nodded, feeling much better now that that nightmare was over. Scotch trotted on my other side while Homage and P-21 came up behind, talking softly.
""我想是的。我们可能永远都不会真正了解你的血统。"。"不管怎样，既然已经不在这里了，你想看看天马大厦的其他部分吗?"我笑着点了点头，现在恶梦结束了，我感觉好多了。苏格兰人小跑在我的另一边,"敬意"和"P-21"则跟在后面，轻声交谈。
I had to admit, seeing the agricultural chambers designed to grow contamination-free food was somewhat impressive, even if their output didn’t come close to supporting even the population of the tower. Glory laughed in delight at the sight
我不得不承认，看到设计用来种植无污染食物的农业房间有点令人印象深刻，即使它们的产量甚至不能支持塔里的人口。晨辉看到这情景高兴得笑了起来
of the alicorn fountain in the library atrium, and Scotch burst with dozens of questions when she saw the DJ’s broadcast room. Homage made her apologies for the DJ being out at that moment. Then we reached the... I couldn’t even begin to pronounce what the gray unicorn called it, but it was pretty obviously a library. I couldn’t imagine anypony being physically able to read all these books in one lifetime. Maybe P-21 or Glory. Me, I doubt I’d read more than ten books in my entire life.
当她看到图书馆中庭的阿里康喷泉时，苏格兰人问了几十个问题。致敬使她为DJ在那一刻出局而道歉。然后我们到了......我甚至不能开始发出灰色独角兽叫它什么，但它很明显是一个图书馆。我无法想象任何一匹小马能够在一生中阅读所有这些书籍。也许是P-21或者Glory。至于我，我怀疑我一生中读过的书不超过十本。
Just another reason why the idea of me being related to Twilight was such an insult to the former Ministry Mare.
这也是为什么把我和《暮光之城》联系起来是对前魔法部的侮辱的另一个原因。
“Something on your mind?” Homage asked me quietly, making me jump a little.
"你在想什么?"敬意悄悄地问我，让我有点激动。
“Oh… nothing. I never have anything on my mind. I’m not a smart pony, after all,” I said with a grin. “I think you could sum it up as ‘booze, guns, and flanks.’” Oddly, she didn’t appreciate my joke. She looked sad, and even a little bit angry.
"哦......没什么。我从来没有想过任何事。我毕竟不是一匹聪明的小马,"我咧嘴笑着说。"我想你可以把它概括为'酒、枪和侧翼'。奇怪的是，她不喜欢我的笑话。她看起来很伤心，甚至有点生气。
“Why do you always lie to yourself?” she asked me in a low voice. “You say you’re stupid, but you’ve been exposing secrets and conspiracies from two centuries ago. You say you’re a failure when you’ve helped countless ponies and stopped a war. You say you have no magic, but look at what you can accomplish.”
"你为什么总是对自己撒谎?"她低声问我。"你说你很愚蠢，但你一直在揭露两个世纪以前的秘密和阴谋。当你帮助了无数的小马并阻止了一场战争时，你说你是一个失败者。你说你没有魔法，但看看你能完成什么。"
“It’s not lying, Homage. It’s being honest,” I replied, and for some reason that comment seemed to shock her more than anything. “Lying would be saying I’m awesome and ignoring the fact that I’ve gotten ponies killed. That I’ve murdered… so many… who didn’t deserve it. If there were a guidebook for messing up, I’d be the author. And no matter how much I try to tell myself I’ve paid the price and I’m even, the honest truth is that I’ll always be a murderer. The second I forget that or it doesn’t matter… that’s when I’ll be a monster.” I looked at her with a half smile. “The truth… no matter how bad it hurts, right?”
"这不是谎言，是敬意。这是诚实,"我回答，不知为什么，这句话似乎比任何事情都更让她震惊。"说谎就是说我很了不起，而忽略了一个事实，那就是我害死了小马驹。我杀了...那么多...罪有应得的人。如果有一本关于搞砸事情的指南，我就是作者。无论我多么努力地告诉自己，我已经付出了代价，我甚至，诚实的事实是，我将永远是一个杀人犯。一旦我忘记了这一点，或者没有关系......那时我就会变成一个怪物。"我带着一丝微笑看着她。"真相......不管有多痛苦，对吧?"
I looked at all the books. “That’s why I’m so glad I’m not related to Twilight. It was stupid of me to get worked up in the first place. There’s no way somepony like her could be related to a pony as messed up as me.”
我看了所有的书。"这就是为什么我很高兴我和《暮光之城》没有血缘关系。我一开始就这么激动是愚蠢的。像她这样的小马怎么可能和我这样一团糟的小马有血缘关系呢。"
“It’s not like she would be your mother, Blackjack. There would be something like ten generations between you and her,” Homage said quietly. I turned away; she didn’t understand. But the gray unicorn jumped back into my path. “You
"她又不是你的母亲，Blackjack。你和她之间差不多有十代人的距离。"。我转过身去，她不明白。但是那只灰色的独角兽又跳回了我的小径。"你
know what I think? I think that the reason you’re so glad Twilight’s not a part of you is that it would disrupt this perfect little horrible picture you have of yourself. You’re a good pony, Blackjack. You’ve helped so many. You helped LittlePip! She’s so boneheadedly determined to do everything on her own that it’s a miracle for anypony to be able to tell her to hush up and accept aid.”
知道我在想什么吗？我想你之所以如此庆幸《暮光之城》不是你的一部分，是因为它会打乱你自己的这部完美的小恐怖电影。你是匹好马Blackjack。你帮助了很多人。你帮了小皮普！她是如此愚蠢地决定自己做所有的事情，以至于任何一个小马能够告诉她安静下来并接受援助都是一个奇迹。"
I blinked as I looked down at my hooves. She didn’t understand… just like I didn’t understand what P-21 had been through. I didn’t know what to say, and finally she sighed and then hugged me tightly with her hooves. “Someday, you will know the truth. Someday, you’ll know what it’s like to live without hating yourself.”
当我低头看我的蹄子时，我眨了眨眼。她不明白...就像我不明白P-21的遭遇一样。我不知道该说什么，最后她叹了口气，然后用蹄子紧紧地拥抱了我。"总有一天，你会知道真相的。总有一天，你会知道不恨自己的生活是什么样的。"
It was a nice sentiment, but she didn’t understand. Some ponies deserved to be hated. Like Goldenblood. Like Sanguine. Like Deus.
这是一个很好的观点，但她不明白。有些小马值得憎恨。就像金色血液。就像血红。像上帝一样。
Like me.
像我一样。
She sighed as she let me go, then narrowed her eyes at me. “Now… what’s this I heard about you kissing my marefriend?”
她放开我时叹了口气，然后眯起眼睛看着我。"现在......我听说你吻了我的女朋友，这是怎么回事?"
I blinked. “You’re… you mean you and LittlePip are…?” Wait! That actually happened? I jumped back. “I… she… I mean she was… you know… she was looking and I was… you know… and she… we… I…” I waved my hooves before me. “I’d never… had I know… I mean she’s cute... and all… but… ah…”
我眨了眨眼。"你是...你是说你和小皮是...?"等等！这是真的吗？我跳了回去。"我.....。.她...我是说她...你知道...她在看我...你知道...她...我们...我..。。」我在前面摆动我的蹄子。"我从来没有......我知道......我是说她很可爱......而且......但是......啊......"
Homage arched a brow coolly, then smiled. “We are and she did and she is. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to use that kiss for some fun tonight.” Then she looked over at Glory as she trotted towards us. “I’m just wondering if she knows about you kissing on my LittlePip?” Glory’s purple eyes suddenly turned cold as she looked at me.
敬意冷静地皱起眉头，然后微笑。"我们是，她是，她也是。我很确定今晚我可以用这个吻找点乐子。"然后她看着晨辉，向我们小跑过来。"我只是想知道她是否知道你吻了我的小pip?"晨辉看着我的时候，她紫色的眼睛突然变冷了。
Oh shit… “I… merp… jah shek…you… gah…” I struggled as the pair of mares just stared at me.
哦，该死..."我..。.这两匹母马盯着我看，我挣扎着。
Then Glory looked at Homage. “There’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?”
然后，晨辉看着《致敬》。"只有一件事可以做，不是吗?"
Homage nodded gravely. “There is.” This was it. I was gonna die.
敬意严肃地点了点头。"有的。"就是这个。我快要死了。
Glory and Homage stepped closer… their eyes locked on me… and then both smiled in immense satisfaction and lightly smooched each other on the lips. At
晨辉和敬意更近了一步......他们的眼睛紧紧盯着我......然后两人都满意地微笑着，轻轻地亲吻对方的嘴唇。在
which point something in my brain burst and I fell over in a heap, twitching. The pair laughed as they trotted away, talking about evening plans and how silly LittlePip and I were.
我脑子里的什么东西突然爆炸了，我一下子摔倒在地，抽搐着。两人一边笑着一边小跑着离开，谈论着晚上的计划，还有我和小皮普是多么的愚蠢。
Life Bloom trotted up. “She certainly is quite the odd mare, isn’t she?”
生命的花朵小跑起来。"她真是一匹古怪的母马，不是吗?"
“Something like that,” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. Evil was more my thinking… both of them.
"差不多吧,"我叹了口气，摇着头说。邪恶更多的是我的想法...他们两个。
“I love this room,” he said with a smile, looking at all the books with a soft gaze. Then he blinked, “Oh! That reminds me. I think I left a book on the desk in the office over there. Could you get it for me, please?” I looked at his perfectly capable legs, and he added, “It might also give you a chance to lose that flaming red expression on your cheeks.” Ahh. Yes. It would, wouldn’t it?
"我喜欢这个房间,"他微笑着说，温柔地凝视着所有的书。然后他眨了眨眼,"哦！这倒提醒了我。我想我把一本书忘在那边办公室的桌子上了。你能帮我拿一下吗?"我看着他完美的双腿，他补充道:"这也许会给你一个机会去掉你脸上火红的表情。"啊。是的。会的，不是吗？
I walked towards the door he’d indicated, set off in the back corner of the aet… er… big library room thingy! What was it with smart ponies and ridiculous sounding words? Like everything else in the room, it was decorated with a golden unicorn with an amethyst eye. There was a tiny spark, and a little pink pony in my head gave a little ‘ooh’. I glanced back, but Life Bloom was talking with P-21 and Glory was still chatting evilness with Homage. Them kissing each other like that… evil…
我朝他指的那扇门走去，出发去了那个......呃......大图书馆房间的角落！那些漂亮的小马和听起来荒谬的话是怎么回事？就像房间里的其他东西一样，它也装饰着一只金色的独角兽和一只紫水晶的眼睛。有一个微小的火花，和一个小粉红色的小马在我的头发出了一点'哦'。我回头看了一眼，但是LifeBloom正在和P-21交谈，Glory还在用"敬意"聊着邪恶的事情。他们像那样亲吻对方...邪恶..。
I stepped into the study, feeling my cheeks burn. I wasn’t exactly in a rush to get back outside, so I looked around a bit. Surprise, surprise... there were even more bookshelves in here, along with several books sitting on the desk (I probably should have asked which book Life Bloom wanted, but… eh, I could do that later) and, oddly enough, a great number of scrolls. They were stored along one wall in a rack like bottles of wine. I levi… fuck… I looked at them like an idiot before I remembered that my horn didn’t work and instead pointed my hoof at it. “Fingers… on. Thumbs… function? Freaky digit powers activate!” Finally, I sighed and bit the end of one scroll; it easily opened. I wondered if it was on magic paper or something. Slowly, I unrolled it and looked at the elegant script.
我走进书房，感觉脸颊发烫。我并不急着回到外面，所以我环顾了一下四周。惊喜，惊喜......这里还有更多的书架，桌上还有几本书(我可能应该问一下LifeBloom想要哪本书，但是......呃，我可以以后再问)，而且，奇怪的是，还有很多卷轴。它们像酒瓶一样被放在架子上，沿着一面墙存放着。我利瓦伊...操...我看着他们像一个白痴之前，我记得我的号角没有工作，而是指着我的蹄子在它。"手指......放上去。拇指...功能？奇怪的数字能量被激活了!"最后，我叹了口气，咬了一下卷轴的末端，它很容易就被打开了。我不知道是不是在魔法纸上还是什么东西上。慢慢地，我打开它，看着那优雅的手稿。
My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight,
我最亲爱，最忠实的学生，暮光,
You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely, but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books! My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony’s life than studying, so I am sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year’s location, Ponyville.
你知道我重视你的勤奋，我完全信任你，但是你必须停止阅读那些落满灰尘的旧书！亲爱的暮光，小马的生活不仅仅是学习，所以我派你去监督今年夏天太阳庆祝活动的准备工作，地点在Ponyville。
And I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!
我还有一个更重要的任务要你去完成:交一些朋友！
Your devoted teacher,
你忠诚的老师
Princess Celestia
塞莱斯蒂亚公主
I stared at the letter in astonishment, then flushed and wiped away the slobber I’d gotten all over the end of the scroll. I was a little relieved to see that none of it seemed to stick to the surface. Magic paper indeed. This was a royal letter and a historical document! I carefully rolled it back up with my hooves and returned it to its cubby, selecting another scroll. This time, my fingers folded out to nudge it into my hooves.
我吃惊地盯着那封信，然后满脸通红，擦掉了卷轴末端沾满的口水。看到它们似乎都没有粘在表面上，我松了一口气。的确是神奇的纸。这是一封皇家书信，也是一份历史文献！我小心翼翼地用蹄子把它卷起来，放回它的小房间，选择另一个卷轴。这一次，我的手指收起来，轻轻地把它推进我的蹄子里。
My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight,
我最亲爱，最忠实的学生，暮光,
I know that there are no words I can adequately express for the loss of your friend, Big Macintosh. I realize that, in times such as this, words cannot convey any cure for the pain we feel when one of our own dies. I am sorry that he died to protect me from that assassin’s bullet and curse myself that there is no way to undo what has happened. All ponies pass, and I know that one day you will be reunited with him. I am here at the school if you should ever need me.
我知道对于你失去的朋友，大麦金塔，我无法用语言来表达。我意识到，在这样的时刻，当我们自己的人死去时，语言无法表达我们所感受到的痛苦。我很抱歉，他的死是为了保护我免受刺客的子弹伤害，并且诅咒我自己，已经发生的事情已经无法挽回了。所有的小马都过去了，我知道总有一天你会和他团聚的。如果你需要我，我就在学校。
Your devoted teacher,
你忠诚的老师
Princess Celestia
塞莱斯蒂亚公主
I sighed, rolling the scroll up and returning it to the rest. I couldn’t discern any order or other method of filing; Twilight had probably had each one memorized. I pulled out one more. The dark silver ink and the look of the writing had a slightly cold tone.
我叹了口气，把卷轴卷起来，放回原处。我分辨不出任何顺序或其他归档方法;暮光之城可能已经把每一条都记住了。我又拿出了一个。墨色的银色墨水和字迹看起来有点冷。
My dearest, most faithful subject, Twilight,
我最亲爱，最忠实的主人公，暮光,
We wish to express our profound dismay at the lack of progress towards the war effort. Have we not provided you with every resource of the kingdom to your ministry? Do you not have at your disposal the most brilliant magical minds of our time? Yet when we ask what is being done to counter the development of zebra balefire weaponry, we do not hear of our own weapons being devised but instead talks of ethics and discussions about if it is right to weaponize megaspells. You can be certain our enemies waste no time with such nonsense.
我们对战争努力缺乏进展深表失望。难道我们没有将王国的一切资源提供给你们去事奉吗？难道你没有我们这个时代最聪明的魔法头脑吗？然而，当我们询问正在采取哪些措施来对抗斑马草枪武器的发展时，我们并没有听说我们正在设计自己的武器，而是谈论道德和讨论将巨型武器武器化是否正确。你可以肯定我们的敌人不会浪费时间在这种胡说八道上。
We are sure your purification matrices and radiation nullification spells are admirable goals, but they will come to naught under zebra rule. We know your burdens are great, but, while we will do all we can to help you bear them, we must know that you are up to the challenge.
我们确信你的净化矩阵和辐射无效法术是令人钦佩的目标，但是在斑马规则下它们将会化为乌有。我们知道你们的负担是巨大的，但是，尽管我们将尽我们所能帮助你们承担它们，我们必须知道你们能够接受挑战。
We know that you will not fail us. You never have.
我们知道你不会让我们失望。你从来没有。
Your benevolent monarch,
您仁慈的君主
Princess Luna
露娜公主
Wow. The contrast was night and day. Not at all what I’d expected from Princess Luna… but then, why had I expected differently? Luna was running an entire kingdom. If she failed, then the whole country would fall. Even if she won the war, there’d probably be a whole lot of ponies pissed off at her for every little thing that went wrong during the fighting. I frowned as I tapped the scroll softly against my lips. Luna… I suddenly realized that I knew almost nothing about what Luna actually did to run the country. The ministries took care of the war effort. The O.I.A. took care of all the dirty business. So what was Luna doing the whole time? I knew more about Goldenblood than I did the monarch of the country!
哇。对比是白天和黑夜。这和我对露娜公主的期望完全不同......但是，为什么我会有不同的期望呢？卢娜统治着整个王国。如果她失败了，那么整个国家都会陷落。即使她赢得了战争，也可能会有一大群小马因为战争中出现的每一个小问题而生她的气。我皱着眉头轻轻地把纸卷放在嘴唇上。露娜......我突然意识到，我对露娜治理国家到底做了什么几乎一无所知。这些部门负责战争工作。O.i.a.处理了所有的肮脏交易。那么卢娜一直在做什么？我对金血王的了解比我对国王的了解还要多！
I sighed and shook my head. A smarter pony might be able to unravel all of this. I just shot things. Carefully, I put the scroll back in the cubby, walked to the desk, and started looking at the books on it; maybe I could figure out which one was Life Bloom’s. Predictions and Prophecies. Elements of Harmony, a Reference Guide. And most curious of all was the book on top: Magical Exercises for Young Unicorns. I looked at a penned note sitting atop it.
我叹了口气，摇了摇头。一匹聪明的小马也许能解开这一切。我只是拍些东西。我小心翼翼地把卷轴放回小房间，走到书桌前，开始看上面的书;也许我能分辨出哪一本是《生命绽放》。预言和预言。和谐元素参考指南。最令人好奇的是最上面的那本书:《年轻独角兽的魔法练习》。我看了看放在上面的一张纸条。
Dear Marigold,
亲爱的万寿菊:
I’m sorry you’ve been having problems with Tarot. While most unicorn fillies her age have started using their magic, it’s not uncommon for there to be delays. I used to think that my horn was completely useless! Tell her not to be frustrated. This book should provide her with some exercises to get her horn working, as well as a few useful and interesting spells and notes she might find helpful.
我很抱歉你一直对塔罗牌有意见。虽然她这个年龄的大多数独角兽小雌马已经开始使用它们的魔法，但是出现延迟的情况并不少见。我曾经认为我的号角是完全无用的！告诉她不要沮丧。这本书应该提供给她一些练习，让她的号角工作，以及一些有用的和有趣的符咒和笔记，她可能会发现有帮助。
Your cousin,
你的堂兄
Twilight Sparkle
紫悦
I sighed. ‘I need you to get a book,’ Life Bloom had said. Very sneaky, giving me a book on rebuilding my magic rather than letting me kick myself for being a failure… with a note from Twilight to my own ancestor, even. I sighed and slipped the book into my saddlebag. “Okay. I get the message. Stop freaking out, cut out the self-hating, and start doing better. I get it.”
我叹了口气。"我需要你去买本书,"生活布鲁姆说。非常狡猾，给我一本关于重建我的魔法的书，而不是让我因为自己是个失败者而责备自己......甚至还有一张暮光之城给我自己祖先的纸条。我叹了口气，把书塞进了鞍囊。"好吧。我明白了。停止恐惧，停止自我憎恨，开始做得更好。我明白。"
“About time,” the Dealer rasped, and I spun, tripped, and fell on my back looking up at the old pony. His milky eyes stared down at me as he worked his cards.
"差不多是时候了,"商人粗声粗气地说，我转身，绊倒了，仰面望着那匹老马，跌倒了。他那双乳白色的眼睛盯着我，一边玩牌。
“I thought they’d cut you out of my brain!” I shouted as I thrust my hoof at him.
"我以为他们会把你从我脑子里挖出来!"我边喊边用蹄子踢他。
“Oh, I reckon there’s more than enough left you’re not using for me to hide in,” he said dryly with a smile.
"哦，我想你剩下的东西足够让我藏起来了,"他冷淡地笑着说。
“Yeah, well, you missed your big chance. I couldn’t open the door. I’m not related to Twilight,” I said with a smile as I spread my hooves.
"是啊，你错过了你的大好机会。我打不开门。我和《暮光之城》没有血缘关系,"我张开双蹄，微笑着说道。
“Why should I care if you are or aren’t? Makes no difference to me,” he said as he turned a card with a picture of Twilight on it and flicked it at me with his hoof. “Twilight. Applejack. Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie,” he said as he flicked one after the next at me. I collected the cards in my hooves. “They’ve all been gone two hundred years. What do they matter? Why get worked up over corpses?”
"我为什么要在乎你是不是呢？对我来说没什么区别,"他边说边转动一张卡片，上面有一幅《暮光之城》的图片，然后用他的蹄子朝我弹了弹。"《暮光之城》。苹果白兰地。彩虹冲刺。稀有。Fluttershy."小指头派,"他一边说，一边朝我弹了一个又一个。我用蹄子收集这些卡片。"它们都消失了200年了。它们有什么关系呢？为什么对尸体这么激动?"
I looked at the spread of cards and glared at him. “Because they were good mares! They tried to save the country and do good things! They tried to do better.”
我看着扑克牌的展开，瞪着他。"因为它们是好母马！他们试图拯救国家，做好事！他们试图做得更好。"
“Even though they blew the whole damned world to hell? Well, so long as they tried…” he snorted. I’ve known ponies whose fuck ups killed millions. “Trying doesn’t mean shit. Consequences. Those are what matter. Twilight Sparkle and her friends tried, but they ran Equestria into the ground.”
"即使他们把整个该死的世界都炸上了地狱？好吧，只要他们努力......"他哼了一声。我知道有些小马他妈的搞砸了数百万人的生命。"尝试并不意味着什么。后果。这些才是重要的。紫悦和她的朋友们尝试过，但他们把Equestria搞得一团糟。"
“Shut up!” I said as I rose to my hooves. “Trying matters. Even if they failed, there’s something in making the effort. It’s better than giving up!” The six cards returned to his hooves.
"闭嘴!"我一边说，一边站起来。"试试看。即使他们失败了，努力也是有意义的。这总比放弃好!"六张牌又回到了他的蹄子上。
“Pinkie Pie tried to make everypony happy through drugs and eliminating bad memories. Fluttershy modified memories to change other ponies’ very selves in
"平奇·派试图通过毒品和消除不好的记忆让每个小马都快乐。小马修改记忆，改变其他小马的每一个自我
the name of taking away pain and suffering. Rainbow Dash killed only Goddesses know how many. Applejack made the weapons of war that killed millions, including her own brother. Rarity spun lies into truth and made deception into a whole new art form. And Twilight pursued one magic trick after the next hoping to find one that would work. A foolproof spell to win.” I flinched as he flicked the cards with his hoof again. “And all any one of them had to do was quit!”
带走痛苦和苦难的名字。只有女神知道彩虹杀了多少人。苹果杰克制造的战争武器杀死了数百万人，包括她自己的兄弟。稀有把谎言编织成真理，把欺骗编织成一种全新的艺术形式。暮光之城一个接一个地施展魔法，希望能找到一个有用的魔法。这是一个万无一失的法术。"当他再次用蹄子弹出纸牌时，我退缩了。"他们中的任何一个人要做的就是退出!"
“What?” I blinked, staring up at him.
"什么?"我眨了眨眼，抬头看着他。
“That’s all. One resignation. One. That’s all it would have taken. Rainbow Dash quitting would have knocked out the pegasi and forced Luna to surrender. Applejack retiring would have thrown the war production into disarray, the heads of the companies under her fighting tooth and hoof for her position. Fluttershy’s resignation would be joined by hundreds of doctors, nurses, and medical staff. And any of those six quitting would have led to the resignation of the other five.” He gave a dismissive snort. “With the Ministry Mares gone, the whole government would have folded like a deck of cards.”
"仅此而已。一个辞职信。一个。这就足够了。彩虹达什的退出将会打败飞马座，并迫使卢娜投降。苹果白兰地的退休会让战时的生产陷入混乱，那些公司的头头们会为了她的职位拼命拼搏。数百名医生、护士和医务人员也将加入Fluttershy辞职的行列。这六个人中的任何一个都会导致其他五个人的辞职。"他轻蔑地哼了一声。马雷斯部长走了，整个政府就会像一副牌一样垮掉
“But Equestria would have lost the war!” I protested.
"但是小马国会输掉这场战争!"我抗议道。
“So what?” he asked softly, but with a tone of such utter contempt that it made me pause. He gestured out the window. “Are you saying that this is better? The zebras had lost so many people that they were forced to use robots, tanks, and missiles because they couldn’t continue their traditional way of fighting. A victory for them would have meant them returning home and the abdication of Luna from the throne. All it would take was any one of those six… any one… and Luna would have been unable to continue the war.”
"那又怎么样?"他轻声地问道，但语气中透着一种极度的轻蔑，使我停了下来。他指了指窗外。"你是说这样更好吗？斑马失去了很多人，他们被迫使用机器人、坦克和导弹，因为他们无法继续他们的传统作战方式。如果他们获胜，就意味着他们要回家，露娜也要退位。只要六个人中的任何一个......任何一个......卢娜就不能继续战争了。"
“So what are you saying? That they were scum for fighting for what they believed in, or that I should give up?” I asked with a sigh.
"那么，你在说什么呢？他们是为他们的信仰而战的渣滓，还是我应该放弃?"我叹了口气问道。
“I am saying that you are wrong for thinking they were flawless. I am saying that they made mistakes. They did what they did for all the wrong reasons.” He looked around at the office and sighed. “This isn’t a bad place, Blackjack. You could make a life for yourself here. You and your friends, away from the Hoof.”
"我的意思是，你错误地认为它们是完美的。我是说他们犯了错误。他们所做的一切都是出于错误的理由。"他环顾了一下办公室，叹了口气。"这地方不错，Blackjack。你可以在这里过自己的生活。你和你的朋友们，离开霍夫。"
“I can’t,” I said softly. “I sat still for a few hours after coming back from the dead and then went and apparently got myself and LittlePip all shot up. I can’t just stay here in Tenpony, assuming I could afford it and they’d let me.”
"我不能,"我轻轻地说。"我静静地坐了几个小时后，从死亡回来，然后去，显然让自己和小皮普都注射了。我不能只是呆在Tenpony，假设我能负担得起，他们也会让我这么做。"
“Get therapy. Helpinghoof will work with you on that. But you need to do this because it’s the right thing to do. To fight because it’s the right thing to be fighting for.” He lifted the card of Twilight Sparkle. “Because, if you’re doing this because you feel like you have to, then, related or not, you are exactly like Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends.”
"接受心理治疗。副手会和你一起解决这个问题。但你需要这么做，因为这是正确的做法。去战斗，因为这是为之战斗的正确事情。"他举起了紫悦的牌。"因为，如果你这样做是因为你觉得你必须这样做，那么，不管有没有血缘关系，你都和紫悦和她的其他朋友一样。"
I sighed as he disappeared, leaving me alone again. Of all the times for him to show up… why now? I carefully removed that note from the book. Was I taking this because of things that happened two centuries ago? Or was it because I wanted to get my horn to work again? Because I wanted to do magic on my own? I read the note three more times and sighed. No. I’m Blackjack, and no matter how lacking I might be, I was supposed to do magic. A unicorn is more than just an earth pony with a horn.
他不见了，我叹了口气，又把我一个人留下了。他这么多次出现为什么偏偏是现在？我小心翼翼地把那张便条从书上取下来。我这么做是因为两个世纪前发生的事情吗？还是因为我想让我的喇叭再次工作？因为我想自己施魔法？我又读了三遍，叹了口气。没有。我是黑杰克，不管我多么缺乏，我应该做的是魔术。独角兽不仅仅是一匹地球上有角的小马。
I trotted back out and saw Life Bloom waiting for me. He had the oddest look on his face. I tapped my saddlebag and mouthed ‘Thank you’. For a moment, he paused, and then he smiled. Homage was looking at me too, a touch worried. But I smiled back and nodded, and that seemed to put her at a little more ease.
我小跑回来，看到生命的花朵在等着我。他脸上的表情是最奇怪的。我拍了拍我的鞍囊，嘴里说了句'谢谢'。有一会儿，他停顿了一下，然后笑了。敬意也在看着我，有点担心。但我也微笑着点了点头，这似乎让她稍微放松了一点。
* * *
* * *
The rest of the afternoon was spent in an unsettlingly relaxed manner. My friends and I got to enjoy the many splendors of Tenpony Tower. I had to admit, I’d never been anywhere quite so clean before that wasn’t actually some sort of death trap or house of horrors. The sight of ponies trotting around, talking, and trading was soothing. Whether here or in Flank, trade saved the Wasteland. Since Helpinghoof refused to accept most of the chems provided by Caprice, I sold them to a vendor for a decent amount of caps.
这个下午剩下的时间是在一种令人不安的轻松气氛中度过的。我和朋友们一起欣赏了天马大厦的壮观景象。我不得不承认，我从来没有去过一个如此干净的地方，在那之前，那里实际上不是什么死亡陷阱或恐怖之屋。看到小马在周围跑来跑去，聊天，交易，真是令人安慰。无论是在这里还是在侧翼，贸易拯救了荒地。由于helpinghof拒绝接受Caprice提供的大部分化妆品，我就把它们卖给了一个小贩，换来了一大笔钱。
That allowed Glory and I to enjoy a perfectly nice, ridiculously overpriced meal in one of Tenpony’s restaurants. I personally found it more than a little bland… but then, so was everything else. My sense of taste was a little off. I wondered if that had something to do with the whole ‘eating metal’ thing. I bit down on the head of a fork and squeezed my jaws closed. There was that faint tingle, and the metal softened enough for me to chew it. Huh… nope, not much difference at all. The waiter took one look at me holding half an eating utensil between my hooves, and his eyelid twitched. What? It came with the meal!
这样，我和晨辉就可以在Tenpony的一家餐馆里享受一顿美味的、价格贵得离谱的大餐。我个人觉得它不仅仅是有点乏味......但是，其他的东西也是如此。我的味觉有点不灵。我想知道这是不是和吃金属这件事有关。我咬了一口叉子的头，紧紧地咬住嘴巴。有一种微弱的刺痛感，金属软化到足以让我咀嚼。嗯...没有，没什么区别。服务员看了我一眼，在我的蹄子之间夹着半个餐具，他的眼皮在颤动。什么？这是随餐而来的！
There was a sizable crowd eating at the moment; I wasn’t very used to that,
当时有一大群人在吃饭，我不太习惯,
either. Heck, even back in 99, most of my meals were during curfew. Glory was ruminating on a café very much like this back in Thunderhead, but something at the next table over caught my ear. A little phrase that spilled out of the mouth of a mare a little too dirty to be a full resident but a little too clean to be somepony long in the Wasteland.
或者。甚至在99年的时候，我大部分的饭都是在宵禁期间吃的。晨辉正在一家咖啡馆里沉思，就像雷霆岬的这家咖啡馆一样，但隔壁桌上的一些东西吸引了我的注意力。从一匹母马嘴里说出来的一句话，对于一个完整的居民来说有点太脏了，但对于一匹长在荒原的小马来说太干净了。
“If you want to make caps, get to Hoofington,” she said with the faint slur of somepony who’d had one drink more than they should. “A quick in and out and you’ll solve all your monetary problems.”
"如果你想喝啤酒，那就去Hoofington吧,"她说话时带着一种模糊的口气，好像某个小马喝多了酒似的。"快速进出，你就能解决所有的货币问题。"
Glory had noticed me turning in my seat to look at the mare and her three companions. Laughing… joking… but paying her enough attention to hear what she was saying. “Blackjack?” Glory asked in concern. But I stared at the mare with her greenish-yellow hide and her wide smile, and a pink pony hissed in my ear, ‘She’s a bad pony.’
晨辉注意到我在座位上转过身去看那匹母马和她的三个同伴。笑着......开玩笑......但是给她足够的注意力去听她在说什么。"黑杰克?"晨辉关切地问道。但是我盯着这匹母马，带着她黄绿色的皮毛和灿烂的笑容，还有一匹粉红色的小马在我耳边嘶嘶作响,"她是匹坏马。"
“Just want to say hello,” I said absently as I rose from my seat and trotted towards the mare and her friends. They were all tower ponies… well dressed and more or less clean. But there was just something off about the yellow-green mare.
"只是想打个招呼,"我从座位上站起来，心不在焉地说，然后小跑向母马和她的朋友们。它们都是塔上的小马......穿着考究，或多或少还算干净。但是那匹黄绿色的母马有点不对劲。
“It shouldn’t be that hard to set up an expedition,” mused one of them aloud. “A sizable caravan. Twenty ponies, ten brahmin at least. Soon as this beastly siege lifts…”
"组织一次探险应该不难,"其中一个人大声地说。"一辆相当大的拖车。二十匹小马至少有10匹婆罗门。只要这场可怕的围攻一结束......"
“Better to make it thirty. The Hoof isn’t exactly an easy place at times, but once you’ve found a spot, you’ll…” the prospector mare suddenly blinked up at me, then smiled a little too easily. “Oh, hello. You interested in making a fortune out east?”
"最好是三十个。有时候霍夫确实不是一个好去的地方，但是一旦你找到了一个地方，你就会......"那匹母马突然对我眨了眨眼，然后轻松地笑了笑。"哦，你好。你有兴趣在东部发财吗?"
I grinned as Glory trotted up beside me, frowning in worry. “Yeah, you can say that. You just come from there?”
我咧着嘴笑，晨辉小跑到我身边，忧心忡忡地皱着眉头。"是的，你可以这么说。你刚从那里过来?"
“Surely did,” she said with a wide grin. “Came back with trunks loaded with mint condition guns, ammo, caps, and a couple crates of food. Felt bad leaving a bunch behind but I just didn’t have any more brahmin!” She laughed, and the other three joined her.
"当然,"她咧嘴笑着说。"回来的时候，箱子里装满了崭新的枪支弹药帽子和几箱食物。留下一大群人感到很难过，但我真的没有更多的婆罗门了!"她笑了，其他三个人也跟着笑了起来。
“Well, you could have gotten some more from the Finders in Megamart. Caprice’s always happy to help for a good price,” I said, and immediately drew
"嗯，你可以从Megamart的芬德夫妇那里得到更多。"Caprice总是乐于以好价钱帮忙,"我说，然后马上画了下来
the curiosity of the three.
三个人的好奇心。
The prospector’s smile turned a touch sickly. “Well… If you’ve been there yourself, then you’d know…um… it’s sometimes hard dealing with her…”
探矿者的笑容变得有点苍白。"嗯......如果你亲身经历过，你就会知道......嗯......有时候和她打交道很难......"
“No doubt. But, heck, I’ve had the roughest time with the Finders. You ever get over to Flank up in the north?” I asked, feeling something tightening inside me. I had a target on her face and felt my legs humming faintly.
""毫无疑问。但是，见鬼，我和芬德一家过得很艰难。你去过北边的侧翼吗?"我问道，感觉自己体内有什么东西在收紧。她的脸上有一个靶子，我感到我的腿微弱地嗡嗡作响。
“Uh… no. I was more… westish…” She rose to her hooves. “If you gentlemen would excuse me…”
"呃......没有。我更......更......"她站起身来。"先生们，请原谅......"
“So, by Scrapyard?” I asked with a grin as I jumped into her path. “Great place for salvage. One of my favorites.”
"那么，在废车场?"当我跳进她的小径时，我咧嘴笑着问道。"打捞的好地方。我的最爱之一。"
“Yeah, sure!” she blurted as she tried to dart around me. “Now get the fuck out of my--“
"是的，当然!"她想绕过我的时候脱口而出。"现在滚出我的--"
I might not have had a gun or weapon on me, but I certainly knew how to take down a mare. I grabbed a mouthful of the earth pony’s greasy mane and jerked hard, pulling back and making her rear up as she yelled in response. I hooked my left leg around her waist and jerked, slamming her back to the table and sending the fancy meals dancing.
我可能没有枪或武器在我身上，但我肯定知道如何打倒一匹母马。我抓起一口地上小马油腻腻的鬃毛，猛地一拉，把它往后拉，让它立起来，同时大声回应。我用左腿勾住她的腰，猛地一扭，把她的背摔到桌子上，然后让她跳起舞来。
“Quick! Call security!” one of the three stallions yelled.
"快！叫保安!"三匹种马中的一匹大叫。
“I’m right here!” I shouted as I glared down into her fearful piss-yellow eyes. “You’re lying about coming from Hoofington! I know you are! What I want to know is, why are you lying?”
"我就在这儿!"我一边喊着，一边瞪着她那吓人的尿黄色的眼睛。"你说你从Hoofington来是骗人的！我知道！我想知道的是，你为什么要撒谎?"
“Get off me!” she yelled as she struggled. I unfolded my fingers and closed them on her windpipe.
"放开我!"她挣扎着喊道。我张开手指，握住她的气管。
“That place is a deathtrap! Anypony that’s been there knows it.” I looked at one of the three. “Did she mention anything about Enervation fields sucking the life from you?” I looked at another. “How about a plague that turns you into a cannibal? Or the wars and fighting?” I looked down at her. There were ponies coming who were not in a good mood. I grabbed her in my synthetic hooves and slammed her against the table. “So I want to know why!”
"那地方是个危险的地方！任何去过那里的小马都知道这一点。"我看着其中一个。"她有没有提到过什么能量场吸走了你的生命?"我看了看另一个。"瘟疫把你变成食人族怎么样？还是战争和战争?"我低头看着她。来了一些心情不好的小马。我用我的人造蹄子抓住她，把她摔在桌子上。"所以我想知道为什么!"
She coughed and gasped. “They paid us!” she yelled, and I released her enough to breathe properly. “They paid us caps… more gear than I could imagine! Gave it to us like it was garbage! Told us… told us to go out. Find ponies and tell them… tell them to go to Hoofington.” I retracted my fingers and she rubbed her throat. “They found us after we fled Gutterville… said… said we could keep everything. Just had to say we came from Hoofington.”
她咳嗽着，喘着粗气。"他们付钱给我们!"她喊道，我放开她，让她能正常呼吸。"他们给我们的报酬超出了我的想象！把它当垃圾一样送给我们！叫我们...叫我们出去。找到小马，告诉它们......叫它们去胡芬顿。"我缩回手指，她揉了揉喉咙。"我们逃离古特维尔后，他们找到了我们......说......说我们可以保留一切。只能说我们来自Hoofington。"
“We… there were others?” I asked as Tenpony security arrived.
"我们......还有其他人?"当Tenpony警卫到达时，我问道。
She coughed as I moved off her. She didn’t look well at the moment as she stared at me. “They sent us out… Friendship City… New Appleloosa… here… told us to tell folks Hoofington was rich and safe and… and...” She jerked sharply, whimpering and holding her gut. “Said to tell everypony… Hoofington Rises…”
我离开她时，她咳嗽了一声。当她盯着我的时候，她看起来不太好。"他们派我们出去......友谊城......新阿普卢卢萨......在这里......告诉我们告诉人们胡芬顿是富有和安全的......和......和......"她急促地抽搐着，呜咽着，抓住她的肚子。"告诉每一匹小马...胡芬顿站起来..."
“They… who are ‘they’?!” I asked, but she clenched her eyes shut, shaking in pain as she curled up even more.
"他们......他们是谁?!"我问，但她紧闭着眼睛，因为更加蜷缩而痛苦地颤抖着。
“Hurts…” she whimpered as she rolled off the table and suddenly screamed. She rolled in agony, and her mouth puked a bloody foam. Everypony backed away except for me as I looked her over. Her stomach was undulating under her hide. Then there was a pop and her insides burst in a red rain all over us. One of the three lost his very expensive lunch. The rest of the lunch crowd was either screaming and fleeing or looking like their brains were fully tied up trying to explain to their eyes that what they’d just seen could not possibly have actually happened.
"疼......"她呜咽着从桌子上滚下来，突然尖叫起来。她痛苦地打了个滚，嘴里吐出了一层血沫。每匹小马都退开了，除了我，我看着她。她的肚子在皮下起伏。然后砰的一声，她的内脏在一场红色的雨中爆裂了，我们全身都是。三个人中的一个丢了他非常昂贵的午餐。吃午饭的其他人要么尖叫着逃跑，要么看起来他们的大脑完全被绑住，试图向他们的眼睛解释他们刚刚看到的不可能真的发生了。
I looked at Glory, who was staring with mixed horror and interest. The Dealer had said we could leave the Hoof behind. That we could have a normal life away from that cursed city. Maybe we could, but now it looked like the Hoof was drawing more ponies to it. “We need to get back home,” I said grimly. Then I turned at looked at the half dozen security ponies in front of me and dropped my eyes to the dead prospector. “Oh… shoot…”
我看着晨辉，她带着混合着恐惧和兴趣的目光。商人说我们可以把霍夫留下。我们可以离开那个被诅咒的城市过上正常的生活。也许我们可以，但是现在看起来霍夫正在拉更多的小马。"我们得回家,"我冷冷地说。然后我转过身来，看着面前的六匹警卫小马，把目光投向了那个死去的勘探者。"哦...该死..."
* * *
* * *
“So. What are you in for?” Rampage asked me as she stretched out on the bunk in the Tenpony detention cell with her hooves behind her head. Right now, Glory and Homage were trying to clear things up after my little disturbance. The security ponies were trying their hardest to hush up a nasty death before it
"所以。你为什么进来?"当她在Tenpony拘留室的铺位上伸展四肢，把蹄子放在脑后时，狂暴问我。现在，《晨辉》和《致敬》试图在我的小骚乱之后把事情弄清楚。那些保安小马正在尽最大努力掩盖一桩令人讨厌的死亡事件
disturbed the natives’ delicate sensitivities. I was fairly sure there would be at least three new patients needing Helpinghoof’s therapy. The inside of that prospector hadn’t just been blown apart but shredded from the inside. Apparently, that wasn’t common in Tenpony…
扰乱了当地人敏感的神经。我相当肯定至少会有三个新病人需要Helpinghoof的治疗。那个探矿者的内部不仅被炸得粉碎，而且从内部被撕成碎片。显然这在Tenpony并不常见。
Damn, was I really this jaded?
该死，我真的这么厌倦了吗？
“Got in a fight,” I muttered.
"打架了,"我咕哝着说。
“Shouldn’t do that,” Rampage tisked softly. “Puts the locals in a hanging sort of mood.”
"不应该那样做,"狂暴轻声地说。"让当地人心情低落。"
“Then she exploded,” I muttered. Rampage slowly sat up and looked at me for some hint of a joke or sign that I wasn’t serious. I glanced at her and sighed. “Really. I’m not kidding. She started talking about ‘they’ and ‘them’ and popped like a balloon full of red paint.”
"然后她爆炸了,"我喃喃自语。暴跳如雷的人慢慢坐起来，看着我，好像是在开玩笑，或者是在暗示我不是认真的。我瞥了她一眼，叹了口气。"真的。我不是在开玩笑。她开始谈论'他们'和'他们'，就像一个装满红色油漆的气球爆炸了。"
“Why do the most interesting things happen around you when I’m not there?” Rampage asked with a chuckle. I wasn’t laughing, though. Somepony had sent her here with bags full of caps and loot and a story that she’d gotten them from Hoofington. There were at least two others. And whatever had been done to her, she’d been ignorant of it.
"为什么我不在你身边的时候，最有趣的事情就发生在你身边?"狂暴笑着问道。不过我没有笑。有人把她送到这里来，带着装满帽子和战利品的袋子，还有她从Hoofington得到这些东西的故事。至少还有两个人。无论她遭受了什么，她都一无所知。
‘Them’. Conspiracies. Killings. Elusive plots. And somehow, I couldn’t help but think that somepony was pulling together a plan of some sort. With the O.I.A. and Goldenblood and EC-1101. And now it’d just killed that poor clueless mare…
他们。阴谋。杀戮。难以捉摸的阴谋。不知怎么的，我忍不住认为那匹小马正在制定某种计划。伴随着o.i.a.和Goldenblood和EC-1101。现在它杀死了那个可怜的笨蛋..。
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” I screamed all at once, thrashing my metallic limbs as hard as I could against the hanging bunk. The metal screeched and deformed before the frame snapped and dumped me on the floor. “Stop killing ponies, you fuckers!”
"该死！该死！该死!"我突然尖叫起来，在悬挂着的床铺上使劲地拍打着我金属般的四肢。金属发出刺耳的声音，变形了，然后框架折断了，把我扔在了地板上。"停止杀害小马，你们这些混蛋!"
“What’s going on?” the security ponies asked as I rose and proceeded to kick and stomp the frame till it snapped off entirely. Then I applebucked it against the bars, making the pair jump back as I smashed what remained into broken steel. I wanted to be out of breath, my heart to pound, my legs to be sore… and the sensation that I’d pounded whoever was behind all this into twisted metal. Instead, I just sat down on the concrete floor feeling like an idiot.
"怎么回事?"我站起身来，开始踢踢踏踏，直到门框完全折断，保安小马问道。然后我把它扣在铁条上，把剩下的砸成碎铁，这让那两个人跳了回去。我想上气不接下气，我的心怦怦直跳，我的双腿酸痛不已......还有那种感觉，那就是我把所有这一切的幕后黑手打成了扭曲的金属。相反，我只是坐在水泥地上，感觉自己像个白痴。
“Saw a radroach,” Rampage said calmly. “She can’t handle those things.”
"看见了一个雨伞,"狂暴平静地说。"她不能处理这些事情。"
I looked at the twisted remains of the bunk and sighed, feeling like a royal idiot. “Sorry.” I was pretty sure my chances of getting out of here were somehow lower than those of me being related to Twilight Sparkle now.
我看着床铺上扭曲的残骸叹了口气，感觉自己像个白痴。"对不起。"我很确定我离开这里的机会比我现在和紫悦有关系的机会要小。
“Not likely,” one pony said to the other with a soft snort. “You won’t find those things here.”
"不太可能,"一匹小马轻轻地哼了一声对另一匹小马说。"你在这里找不到这些东西。"
“Oh, you might. Darn things are all over the Wasteland. Even get into stables, evidently,” Rampage drawled. The talk of radroaches was distracting them a little from the fact that I’d just thrashed their bunk.
"哦，你可能会的。该死的东西到处都是废墟。很明显，连马厩都不放过。"。说我刚打了他们的铺位，这让他们有点分心。
“Not in Tenpony,” one of the security ponies said as he reached over and tapped a small flat metal box on the wall. “Ever hear of a pesticide talisman?”
"在Tenpony可不行,"其中一个保安小马一边说，一边伸手轻敲墙上一个扁平的金属小盒子。"听说过杀虫剂护身符吗?"
I looked at his hoof and the flat box. Slowly, I crawled to the bars and stared across at the flat little casing. It was simple, nondescript. Something that had been there two hundred years or more. Just one little piece of equipment like thousands of others bolted to subway walls or in the backs of crumbling houses. I’d probably passed thousands of pieces just like it.
我看着他的蹄子和扁平的盒子。慢慢地，我爬到栏杆边，盯着对面扁平的小栏杆。很简单，没什么特征。已经存在了两百多年的东西。只是一个小小的设备，就像成千上万的其他设备一样，用螺栓固定在地铁的墙壁上，或者在摇摇欲坠的房屋的后面。我可能已经传递了成千上万个类似的信息。
The one thing that drew my attention more than anything, though, was the faded name on the case. ‘Roseluck Pest Solutions’.
不过，最吸引我注意力的是箱子上褪色的名字。RoseluckPestSolutions.
“Open it,” I said as I stared at the little box. I looked up at the guards, who were not unjustly looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “Please. Please open it.” The security guards looked extremely skeptical, and I knelt with my hooves clasped before me. “Please, I promise I’ll behave myself and not make another peep. Just please open it.”
"打开它,"我盯着那个小盒子说。我抬头看看那些看守，他们并没有不公正地看着我，好像我疯了一样。"求你了。请打开它。"保安们看起来非常怀疑，我跪下来，双蹄紧扣在我面前。"求你了，我保证我会规规矩矩的，不再偷看了。请打开它吧。"
“It’s locked,” one muttered, tapping the little case. “I doubt anypony knows where the key is.”
"锁上了,"其中一个喃喃自语，敲着小箱子。"我怀疑是否有人知道钥匙在哪里。"
“Call my friend P-21. Great with locks. Blue earth pony. Probably somewhere scowling. You can’t miss him!” I hated this sense of stillness inside me.
"打电话给我的朋友P-21。锁很好用。蓝色地球小马。可能在某个地方愁眉苦脸的。你不会错过他的!"我讨厌这种内心的平静。
“And I thought the striped one was a nutcase,” the guard sighed before he scowled and said to one of the others, “Please see if you can find this friend of hers.” Then the tan stallion looked at me. “And you… behave. Turn off your
"我还以为那个有条纹的是个疯子呢,"看守叹了口气，然后皱起眉头，对其中一个人说,"请看看你能不能找到她的这个朋友。"然后那匹棕褐色的种马看着我。"还有你......乖乖的。关掉你的
eye… beam... things.”
眼睛...光束...东西"
“Huh?” I looked at my hoof and saw the red pinprick light dancing on it. “Whoa… that’s new.”
"啊?"我看着我的蹄子，看见红色针状的光在上面跳舞。"哇......真新鲜。"
The security ponies moved to a healthy distance, talking quietly to each other. I looked at the cot mattress wrapped in twisted metal and glanced hopefully to where Rampage was stretched out. She arched her brow. “Hey, don’t even think about it. I’m not dumb enough to wreck my own bunk.” I sighed. My butt didn’t have enough metal in it for me to ignore how hard the concrete floor was.
安全的小马走到一个健康的距离，安静地交谈彼此。我看着用扭曲的金属包裹着的床垫，满怀希望地瞥了一眼暴怒伸展开来的地方。她扬起眉毛。"嘿，想都别想。我还没蠢到把自己的床弄坏。"我叹了口气。我的屁股里没有足够的金属来让我忽略混凝土地板有多硬。
After one hour, twenty-two minutes, and thirteen seconds… and I had to find a way to turn that off or I was going to go nuts… P-21 came in escorted by the tan security stallion. He looked at the crumpled metal and scowled at Rampage. She sat up and pointed at me. “Hey, she was the one who felt a sudden need to redecorate! Not me.”
一小时，二十二分钟，十三秒后......我不得不想办法关掉它，否则我会发疯的......P-21在一匹棕褐色的保安种马的护送下进来。他看着那皱巴巴的金属，怒视着暴怒。她坐了起来，指着我。"嘿，是她突然觉得需要重新装修的！不是我。"
I pointed with my hoof at the box. “Please. Open that.”
我用蹄子指着箱子。"求你了。打开它。"
“Blackjack… you’re acting crazy…” he said in a tired voice.
"黑杰克......你疯了......"他用疲惫的声音说。
“I just had a pony explode in front of me, okay? Just… open that box. Then I’ll be a nice and quiet mare. Really.” I stared at it as he looked at the tan stallion for permission. He gestured with a hoof for P-21 to get on with it. He produced his tools from his saddlebags and in three seconds popped open the dull metal case.
"我刚刚看到一匹小马在我面前爆炸了，好吗？只要...打开那个盒子。那我就是一匹安静的母马。真的。"我盯着它，因为他看着棕褐色的种马征求许可。他用蹄子示意P-21继续前进。他从他的鞍囊里拿出工具，三秒钟之内就打开了那个沉闷的金属箱。
“Huh… that’s weird. Where’s the gem?” the tan security pony asked in surprise.
"嗯......真奇怪。宝石在哪里?"棕褐色的保安小马惊讶地问。
And as P-21 backed away, I felt my mane stand straight up along my spine.
当P-21后退时，我感觉到我的鬃毛沿着我的脊椎直立起来。
There, sitting quietly in its unsmashed case, was a silver ring about the size of my hoof. Just like in the back room of Silverstar Sporting Supplies and just like the ring that had been tossed at Lacunae during the battle. The Enervation rings weren’t just in Hoofington. Suddenly, I had the feeling they were in a whole lot more places than just Hoofington.
在那儿，有一只蹄子大小的银戒指，静静地放在那个没有摔碎的盒子里。就像在银星运动用品公司的密室里，就像在战斗中扔在Lacunae的戒指一样。衰弱指环不仅仅出现在Hoofington。突然间，我感觉他们不仅仅在胡芬顿，而是在更多的地方。
* * *
* * *
“It can’t be generating Enervation,” Helpinghoof said as he stared at the silver ring on his desk. “Enervation is a phenomenon found only in Hoofington.” Life Bloom had arranged our release and now my friends and I had gathered in the
"它不可能产生能量,"Helpinghoof盯着桌上的银戒指说。"衰弱现象只存在于Hoofington。"生活布鲁姆安排了我们的释放，现在我和我的朋友们聚集在一起
office.
办公室。
“And I’m telling you that the ring in the sporting goods store was just like this,” I insisted. Life Bloom had taken my concerns seriously, though he looked just as confused as Helpinghoof. “And during the battle, somepony had rigged one of these with a spark battery.” Due to her prior experience, Lacunae was staying with Rover. I could only imagine what they were spending their time doing.
"我告诉你，体育用品店里的戒指就是这样的,"我坚持说。生活布鲁姆认真对待我的担忧，尽管他看起来和副手霍夫一样困惑。"在战斗中，有匹小马给其中一个装上了火花电池。"由于她以前的经验，拉库尼留在罗孚。我只能想象他们在花时间做什么。
“Well, while I’m not sure what this ring does, it’s not killing us,” P-21 said. Life Bloom rummaged in Helpinghoof’s cupboards, came back with a battery and two wires, and carefully attached them to the ring. Again… nothing.
"好吧，虽然我不确定这个戒指是干什么用的，但它并没有杀死我们,"P-21说。布鲁姆在助手的橱柜里翻箱倒柜，拿回一块电池和两根电线，小心翼翼地把它们连接到戒指上。再说一次...什么都没有。
Now everypony was looking at me like I was a madmare. “Blackjack, it’s just a coincidence,” Glory said softly as she nuzzled me.
现在每个小马都把我当成疯母马一样看着。"黑杰克，这只是一个巧合,"晨辉轻轻地说，她用鼻子爱抚我。
“You didn’t see the ring, Glory. It was exactly like this. Same shape and size,” I said with a huff, feeling let down.
"你没有看到戒指，晨辉。就像这样。同样的形状和大小,"我怒气冲冲地说，感觉很失望。
“You’ve been through a lot, Blackjack,” P-21 said, trying to comfort me. He was really lousy at it.
"你经历了很多，Blackjack,"P-21说，试图安慰我。他真的很不擅长这个。
“You’re welcome to stay another week,” Life Bloom said, then paused and amended, “You will be welcome after I tell everypony that what happened in the café wasn’t your fault.” I scowled as I stepped away and walked over to the gurney the dead mare lay upon. He gave a sigh of frustration; clearly, me relaxing and calming down was in the script.
"欢迎你再待一个星期,"LifeBloom说，然后停顿了一下，修改了一下,"在我告诉每个人咖啡馆里发生的事不是你的错之后，你会受到欢迎的。"我皱着眉头走开，走到死去的母马躺着的轮床前。他沮丧地叹了口气;很明显，剧本里有我放松和平静的内容。
“What about her?” I asked as I pointed with a hoof at the dead mare. There was a look passed between everypony, and finally, with a reluctant sigh, Helpinghoof trotted to the gurney.
"她怎么了?"我边问边用蹄子指着那匹死去的母马。每匹小马都看了一眼，最后助手不情愿地叹了口气，小跑到轮床上。
“Rusty. We confirmed she was in Gutterville before it was destroyed,” Helpinghoof said. I was glad he didn’t show the body. “Whatever happened to her… it was like a grenade went off inside her. All her major internal organs were all destroyed… it was as if she was torn apart from within before detonation.”
"拉什蒂。我们确认她在Gutterville被摧毁之前就在那里。"。我很高兴他没有展示尸体。"不管她发生了什么......就像有颗手榴弹在她体内爆炸。她所有的主要内脏器官都被摧毁了......就好像她在爆炸前从内部被撕裂开来。"
The Tenpony stallions looked spooked, but I shared a look with my friends. This wasn’t even a bad day in the Hoof. Still, there was no missing the concerned looks being traded. Blackjack was now half synthetic. Blackjack had spent three
Tenpony种马看起来受到了惊吓，但我和我的朋友们分享了一个眼神。今天在霍夫还不算糟糕。尽管如此，交易中并没有缺少关注的表情。黑杰克现在有一半是合成的。黑杰克已经花了三个
days braindead. Blackjack was attacking strange mares who exploded! These were not signs that Blackjack was okay.
脑死亡。黑杰克正在攻击那些爆炸的奇怪的母马！这些都不是黑杰克还好的迹象。
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and paused briefly to mentally thank whoever had left me the ability to do that. “I know… I know I’ve been a little off since I’ve come back. I mean, the whole drinking thing, and then the test and the fight. But… there’s something bad going on in Hoofington, and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s other places, too. So we have to get back. I can’t spend a week just recovering here. I’ll be climbing the walls in no time.”
我闭上眼睛，深深地吸了一口气，然后在心里短暂地停顿了一下，感谢那个给了我这种能力的人。"我知道......我知道自从我回来以后，我有点不对劲。我是说，整个喝酒的事情，然后是考试和争吵。但是......Hoofington发生了一些不好的事情，我无法摆脱这种感觉，那就是其他地方也发生了同样的事情。所以我们必须回去。我不能花一个星期的时间在这里恢复。我马上就要爬墙了。"
“You might have to,” Glory said with a little frown. “Captain Thrush nearly burned out her engine getting us here.”
"你也许不得不这么做,"晨辉皱着眉头说。"画眉鸟船长几乎烧毁了她的引擎，把我们带到这里。"
Oh, wonderful… wait. “Where is Thrush?” I asked, realizing that I hadn’t seen her since we arrived.
哦，太好了...等等。"画眉在哪里?"我问道，意识到自从我们到达后就再也没见过她。
“Friendship City,” P-21 said. “She sort of fell under the same rule as Rampage. ‘Raider activities’.” And who knew how far away that was? The idea of being stuck here was starting to creep up on me. I hated waiting. I needed to do. To act. To get things done. Otherwise, I was going to start thinking.
"友谊城,"P-21说。"她似乎和狂暴一样受到了同样的规则的影响。'袭击者活动'。"谁知道那有多远？被困在这里的念头开始悄悄地向我袭来。我讨厌等待。我必须这么做。采取行动。把事情做好。否则，我就要开始思考了。
“I thought they called that looting and pillaging,” Scotch Tape commented as she fooled around with Helpinghoof’s little ear light thingy. The filly had gotten her hooves on a lot of loot and plunder herself, no surprise when you come from a stable where ninety percent of the property is communal and then go into the Wasteland where you owned whatever you found.
"我认为他们称之为抢劫和掠夺,"苏格兰磁带评论，她与Helpinghoof的小耳光游手好闲。这匹小母马已经得到了她的马蹄大量的掠夺和掠夺自己，当你来自一个马厩，百分之九十的财产是公共的，然后到荒地，你拥有你发现的任何东西。
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Glory asked.
"你不是应该在上学吗?"晨辉问道。
“School?” I frowned in confusion.
"学校?"我困惑地皱起了眉头。
“Boring pony thinks I’m a kid, so she enrolled me in some stupid school thing they have here.”
"无聊的小马以为我是个孩子，所以她帮我报名参加了这里的一些愚蠢的学校活动。"
Glory nodded primly. “It’s important every young filly get a quality education.”
晨辉一本正经地点了点头。"每个小姑娘都接受优质教育是很重要的。"
“Education…” Scotch Tape snorted. “It’s boring and stupid. I told them how to strip and rebuild a steam gauge assembly. They were making sand art. Art… from colored sand…” Her tone left no confusion at all about how she felt regarding that little enterprise. “I told them the only sand I ever played with was
"教育......"透明胶带嗤之以鼻。"这既无聊又愚蠢。我告诉他们如何拆卸和重建蒸汽表总成。他们在做沙子艺术。艺术......用彩色的沙子......"她的语气丝毫不含糊地表达了她对这件小事的感受。"我告诉他们，我唯一玩过的沙子就是
in a high pressure nozzle stripping rust and old paint from parts.”
在高压喷嘴里剥去零件上的锈迹和旧油漆
“So, no colored sand cutie mark then?” I asked with a smile. Her green glare informed me that rusty parts weren’t the only thing she could sandblast. I grinned. “We could call you Sandy.” Scotch growled and tried to tackle me.
"那么，没有彩色的沙美人标记了?"我笑着问。她那绿色的眼睛告诉我，生锈的部分并不是她唯一能喷砂的东西。我咧嘴一笑。"我们可以叫你桑迪。"苏格兰人咆哮着，试图拦住我。
“She goes from a warning about an Enervation device to insisting on getting back to Hoofington to teasing a foal about her cutie mark…” Life Bloom murmured. The fact was that teasing Scotch… who was finding out that biting mechanical legs wasn’t very effective… let me think on the other two. The discovery of a silver ring here in Tenpony had panicked me, but now there wasn’t much I could do. Why it wasn’t causing the eye-bleeding mind screams was beyond me. But if they were in Tenpony, then I knew they had to be elsewhere, too, and the fact that they weren’t projecting Enervation now didn’t mean that they couldn’t start.
"她从一个关于弱化装置的警告，到坚持要回到Hoofington，再到取笑小马驹身上的可爱标记......"生命布鲁姆低声说。事实上，那个挑逗的苏格兰人......他发现咬人的机械腿不是很有效......让我想想另外两个问题。在Tenpony发现一枚银戒指让我惊慌失措，但现在我也无能为力。我不明白为什么它没有引起眼睛出血的大脑尖叫。但是如果他们在Tenpony，那么我知道他们也必须在其他地方，事实上，他们现在没有预测衰弱并不意味着他们不能开始。
Getting back to Hoofington, though, was in the short term a more troublesome problem. As I kept my hoof on Scotch’s head, pushing her back as she swung her front hooves wildly at me, I thought of our options. One… going on the Seahorse, which would be delayed for many days due to the damage. Walking would be even slower, and I didn’t relish the idea of hoofing it clear across Equestria with a Reaper and a purple alicorn anyway. I had no idea how to contact Ditzy to go by air...
然而，回到Hoofington，在短期内是一个更棘手的问题。当我把蹄子踩在苏格兰人的头上，把她往后推，她前蹄疯狂地向我挥来挥去时，我想到了我们的选择。第一条是去海马号，因为损坏的缘故，要延误好几天。步行的速度会更慢，而且我也不喜欢用收割机和紫色的果实在Equestria上空走来走去的想法。我不知道怎么联系迪茨坐飞机去..。
Hmmm… Maybe…
嗯...也许..。
Then that thought was lost as Scotch Tape pulled away and I fell flat on my face… not because my brain didn’t know how to work my legs, but because one of my legs wasn’t there! The filly was trotting away with my right foreleg in her mouth; how the heck had she taken the thing off?! I scrambled back up on my three remaining limbs. “You bring that back!” I yelled as I staggered after her.
然后这个想法就消失了，因为透明胶带拉开了，我摔倒在地......不是因为我的大脑不知道如何运作我的腿，而是因为我的一条腿不在那里！小母马叼着我的右前腿小跑着离开了，她到底是怎么把它脱下来的?！我用剩下的三肢爬了起来。"还给我!"我摇摇晃晃地跟在她后面喊道。
“Come and get it, Queen Stubby!”
"快来拿啊，矮胖女王!"
* * *
* * *
“It may be possible,” Lacunae informed me after I was whole once more. I tried to see how she’d taken it off with just a little wrench; the idea that my foreleg was attached by three pins and a half dozen nuts and some cables was more than a little concerning. “We are outside Hoofington’s Enervation field; we can bring
"也许有这个可能,"我恢复完整后，拉库奈告诉我。我试图看看她是怎么用一个小扳手就把它取下来的;我的前腿被三个大头针、六个螺母和一些电缆连在一起的想法让我非常担心。"我们在Hoofington能源创新领域之外，我们可以带来
more resources to bear. And in return, you will go to Hippocratic Research and get Chimera for us.” I didn’t know if it was being outside the city that gave her the ‘Goddess’ talk or if the hive mind was once more connecting to her.
需要更多的资源。作为回报，你将前往希波克拉底研究所(HippocraticResearch)，为我们找到奇美拉(Chimera)。"我不知道是否是城市之外的地方给了她"女神"的谈话，还是蜂巢思维又一次与她联系起来了。
“Yeah. I won’t trade EC-1101 for it, but I think it’s time I took that Project out of Sanguine’s hooves,” I said, popping a ruby into my mouth. As soon as I closed my jaws, there was a tingle and the sweet, slightly spicy flavor trickled down my throat as it was liquefied. I washed it down with a Sparkle-Cola. Rubies were spicy, emeralds tasted like spearmint, sapphires like peppermint, amethysts were fruity, citrines tangy… aside from your local dragon, who knew? Oh… and rocks tasted like mud.
"是的。我不会用EC-1101来交换它，但是我想是时候把那个项目从Sanguine的蹄子里拿出来了。"我说着，嘴里含着一颗红宝石。我一闭上嘴，就有一种刺痛的感觉，稍微有点辣的味道在我的喉咙里慢慢融化。我用可口可乐把它冲了下去。红宝石很辣，绿宝石尝起来像绿薄荷，蓝宝石像薄荷，紫水晶像水果，柠檬香味扑鼻......除了当地的龙，谁知道呢？哦...石头尝起来像泥巴。
“Thank you,” Lacunae said quietly.
"谢谢你,"拉库纳平静地说。
I looked at her and thought about what LittlePip had said about mind-reading monsters. “Can I ask you something? What’s it actually like to read a mind? I mean, do you look at a pony and just know everything they know?”
我看着她，想着小皮普所说的读心怪物。""我可以问你一件事吗？读心术到底是什么感觉？我的意思是，你看着一匹小马，就能知道它们所知道的一切吗?"
She looked at me curiously and with a touch of amusement. “Oh, no. It is like… staring into a pool of water. The most immediate and active thoughts are on the surface. They flash and flicker before our eyes. This morning, your thoughts were all of inebriation. Deeper thoughts are like fish far within the pool. We may see them, but we do not immediately truly understand their meaning. It takes a great deal of time and effort to extract a memory and understand it.”
她好奇地看着我，带着一丝乐趣。"哦，不。就像...凝视着一池水。最直接和最积极的想法都在表面上。它们在我们眼前闪烁。今天早上，你满脑子都是醉意。更深层次的思想就像池塘里的鱼。我们可以看到它们，但我们不能立即真正理解它们的含义。提取记忆并理解它需要花费大量的时间和精力。"
Like she’d done when I was asleep weeks back. I shivered a little. “Sorry, but that’s just creepy, Lacunae.”
就像几周前我睡着的时候她做的那样。我有点发抖。"不好意思，这太诡异了，拉库尼。"
The purple alicorn smiled sadly. “We are quite used to that sentiment, Blackjack… it is because of that that there are so very few capable and willing to help us freely.”
紫玉兰悲伤地笑了。"我们已经习惯了这种情绪，Blackjack......正因为如此，能够并愿意免费帮助我们的人寥寥无几。"
I sat sucking on the ruby for a while. “Is this coming from the Goddess or Lacunae?”
我坐在那儿吮吸了一会儿红宝石。"这是来自女神还是来自空隙?"
“Yes,” she replied with a small smile. “We wish only what is best for Equestria. We understand that few others can accept this. Equestria is as it is, and it is foalish to deny it. Talk and dreams of fixing and restoring Equestria to as it was before the war are a waste of time.”
"是的,"她微笑着回答。"我们只希望Equestria得到最好的结果。我们明白，很少有其他人能够接受这一点。马术就是这样，否认它是愚蠢的。谈论和梦想着修复和恢复战前的小马国纯粹是浪费时间。"
“So?” I replied with a smile. “If you break it down, anything that’s not putting food in your stomach or breeding is a waste of time. Reading books. Doing magic. Fixing things. If we only did things that mattered to our survival, it would be a really boring world.” I reached out with my fingers, grabbed an opal, and tossed it in my mouth. Mmmm, milky! “Let me ask ya this… say the world were fixed… could you… all of you… exist in it?”
"那又怎样?"我微笑着回答。"如果你把它分解，任何没有把食物放进你的胃里或繁殖的东西都是浪费时间。阅读书籍。施展魔法。修理东西。如果我们只做对我们的生存有意义的事情，那将是一个非常无聊的世界。"我伸出手，抓起一颗蛋白石，扔进嘴里。嗯，牛奶！"让我问你这个......说世界是固定的......你能......你们所有人......都存在于其中吗?"
“Of course. We can adapt to any environmental condition,” the purple alicorn said primly. “But we thrive in a world that is rich in ambient arcane magic.” Aka, the radiation that killed anypony not a ghoul or alicorn.
"当然。我们可以适应任何环境条件,"紫角果primly说。"但我们在一个充满神秘魔法的世界里茁壮成长。"也就是说，辐射杀死了所有的小马，不管是食尸鬼还是恐龙。
“So you’re saying that, even with wings and a horn and the intellect and souls of who knows how many ponies, you still have to have the deck stacked in your favor?”
"所以你的意思是，即使有了翅膀、号角、知道有多少匹小马的智慧和灵魂，你还是必须把牌堆在对你有利的地方?"
“Ponies who join in Unity will survive forever in us,” she insisted. Personally, I was a little skeptical of ‘forever’.
"参加团结的小马将在我们心中永存,"她坚持说。就我个人而言，我对"永远"有点怀疑。
“No doubt… but why not coexist?”
"毫无疑问......但为什么不能共存呢?"
There was a long pause at that. “Have you heard of something called Gardens of Equestria?” she asked politely.
他们停顿了很长时间。"你听说过一种叫做马斯瑞亚花园的东西吗?"她礼貌地问道。
I felt a cold frisson run down my spine and prayed that my mane wasn’t standing on end. I looked Lacunae and the Goddess in the eye and hoped she wasn’t reading my mind right now as I lied through my teeth. “Gardens of what?”
我感到一阵冷颤沿着我的脊柱蔓延，我祈祷我的鬃毛没有竖起来。我看着裂隙和女神的眼睛，希望她现在不是在读我的思想，因为我说谎了我的牙齿。"什么花园?"
“Like Chimera, it was one of the O.I.A.’s secret projects. Somehow, Goldenblood stole staggering amounts of materials, equipment, and arcane supplies for an unknown and unapproved project. Several sub-projects were carried out right under Twilight’s nose, some in this very tower, under the pretext of purifying magical waste or nullifying magical radiation; she had no memory of approving their development. When it was discovered, Luna was furious beyond compare. For Goldenblood to work on such a thing rather than pursue the war effort… well… she sentenced him to be executed for his crimes.”
"和奇美拉一样，它也是o.i.a.的秘密项目之一。不知何故，金血王为了一个未知且未经批准的项目偷走了数量惊人的材料、设备和奥术用品。几个子项目就在暮光之城的眼皮底下进行着，其中一些就在这座塔楼里，借口是净化魔法废物或者使魔法辐射失效;她不记得曾经批准过这些项目的发展。当它被发现的时候，卢娜非常愤怒，无与伦比。对于金布拉德来说，致力于这样的事情而不是继续战争的努力......好吧......她判处他为他的罪行被处决。"
“She… what?!” I stared at the alicorn in shock.
"她...什么?!"我震惊地盯着橡子。
“Oh, yes. Apparently, it was designed to restore Equestria in the event of magical catastrophe. The mere implication of such a catastrophe was intolerable
"哦，是的。显然，它的设计目的是为了在发生神奇灾难时恢复马术国。这样一场灾难的暗示本身就是不可容忍的
to Princess Luna. How dare her subject suggest imminent destruction would claim the kingdom? More to the point, his unwillingness to say what Gardens did… where it was… how it worked… these were all a fundamental betrayal of the Princess’s trust.” Lacunae sighed. “Ironically, the very next day, the bombs fell.”
致卢娜公主。她的臣民怎么敢说王国即将毁灭？更重要的是，他不愿意说出花园做了什么...它在哪里...它是如何运作的...这些都是对公主信任的根本背叛。"空白叹了口气。"讽刺的是，就在第二天，炸弹落下了。"
“So… why would the Goddess care about this Gardens thing?” I asked as casually as I dared.
"那么......为什么女神会关心这个花园的事情呢?"我尽可能漫不经心地问。
“We doubt it was ever completed or worked; else, why hasn’t it been used? But if it was capable of a tenth of what was predicted, then why would it have to revert the environment? Could it not be tasked with expanding and enriching the Wasteland with more radiation?” She asked it very matter-of-factly, but suddenly I realized why ponies dedicated themselves to fighting alicorns.
"我们怀疑它是否曾经完工或者工作过，否则，它为什么没有被使用过呢？但是如果它的能力只有预测的十分之一，那么它为什么还要恢复环境呢？难道它不能用更多的辐射来扩张和丰富荒原吗?"她非常实事求是地问道，但我突然意识到，为什么小马要全身心地投入到与海角的斗争中去。
“You want to use this Gardens thing to make everything worse?” I asked in a horrified voice.
"你想利用这个花园把事情搞得更糟吗?"我惊恐地问道。
“From your current perspective, yes.” I suddenly imagined radioactive fields as far as the eye could see. Surface ponies would be wiped out. Ghouls would thrive, but against immortal and permanently regenerating alicorns, how long before they were blown to pieces? Eventually, radioactive clouds would poison even the Enclave.
"从你目前的角度来看，是的。"我突然想象出了放射性场，远到眼睛都能看到。地面上的小马会被消灭。食尸鬼会茁壮成长，但是他们要对抗不朽的和永久重生的海角兽，多久之后他们就会被炸成碎片？最终，放射性云甚至会毒害昂科雷。
“Yeah… that would make coexistence pretty tough,” I muttered softly.
"是啊......那会让共存变得非常困难,"我轻声咕哝道。
“We are otherwise occupied with our defense and the biological problem. But someday, we would seek out what became of the Gardens.” Well, great, another apocalyptic threat. At least this one wasn’t urgent, though. Maybe I could find another silver bullet and pay the Goddess a visit... but... what would that do to Lacunae? And did I still even have Folly? Probably not. And should I use it if I did? But if nopony stopped the Goddess... urrrrghh! My brain was not meant for dilemmas like this!
"除此之外，我们忙于防御和生物问题。但总有一天，我们会找到花园的下落。"太好了，又一个天启般的威胁。不过，至少这件事并不紧急。也许我可以找到另一颗银弹，去拜访女神......但是......那会对拉库尼产生什么影响呢？我还有愚蠢吗？可能不会。如果我这么做了，我应该使用它吗？但是如果没有小马阻止女神..！我的大脑不是用来处理这样的困境的！
I sat back and stared at her for a long moment... something was different here. Who exactly was I talking to? “You don’t really talk to non-alicorns like this, do you?”
我坐回去，盯着她看了很长时间......这里有些不一样。我到底在跟谁说话？"你不会真的这样跟非海龟们说话吧?"
“In truth, only one other. He was brilliant, but ultimately we could not risk his inclusion in Unity. He swore to aid us in solving our biological issue in return for
""事实上，只有一个。他很聪明，但是最终我们不能冒险让他加入Unity。他发誓要帮助我们解决我们的生物学问题，作为回报
our power, but I suspect that he simply wishes our annihilation.” She sighed. “The rest of the Wasteland is filled with cowardly, craven, cruel ponies who fear our potential or slavishly worship us for our power. They do not respect us. They cannot! And you ask why we cannot coexist with them when they are unable to accept us!” I had to admit, I’d never thought of it like that before.
我们的力量，但我怀疑他只是希望我们被消灭。"她叹了口气。"其余的荒原充满了懦弱、怯懦、残忍的小马，它们害怕我们的潜力，或者盲目崇拜我们的力量。他们不尊重我们。他们不能！你还会问，既然他们不能接受我们，为什么我们不能与他们共存呢?"我必须承认，我以前从来没有这样想过。
“So… why me now? Especially after that stunt I pulled this morning.” To my amazement though, she smiled. I guess I really couldn’t imagine the Goddess as having fun.
"那么......为什么现在是我？特别是在我今天早上做了那件蠢事之后。"然而令我惊讶的是，她笑了。我想我真的无法想象女神的乐趣。
Then she looked out the window. “You kept our secret.” I blinked in surprise. “About the silver ring. You could have told others how horribly it hurt us… tearing our souls out through the connection. You could have informed the tower… they would have been far more interested had you shared that fact. Or told your friends. Or that… diminutive little…” she snorted sharply. “But you didn’t. Nopony realizes just how terribly that hurt us, save you.”
然后她向窗外望去。"你保守了我们的秘密。"我惊讶地眨了眨眼。"关于那枚银戒指。你可以告诉其他人这是多么可怕的伤害我们...通过连接撕裂我们的灵魂。你可以通知塔台......如果你告诉他们这个事实，他们会更感兴趣。或者告诉你的朋友。或者那个......小小的......"她厉声哼了一声。"但是你没有。Nopony意识到这是多么可怕的伤害我们，救了你。"
To be honest, it had slipped my mind. “You might have noticed I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
说实话，我已经忘记了。"你可能已经注意到，我不是最聪明的人。"
“Oh, we have. Indeed, it is unmistakable and somewhat terrifying how unintelligent you are.” Well… thanks! “And yet, you did us a favor and may do yet more. You do not hate us. Do not kill us. And, while we may quibble about certain things, we feel you are… decent. You do not care if a pony is surfacer or pegasus, alicorn or ghoul. That is… commendable.”
"哦，我们有。事实上，你是多么的不聪明，这是明白无误的，而且多少有些可怕。"好吧...谢谢！""可是，你帮了我们一个忙，可能还要帮更多的忙。你不恨我们。不要杀我们。而且，虽然我们可能会对某些事情吹毛求疵，但我们觉得你是...正派的。你不在乎一匹小马是平面马还是飞马，是独角兽还是食尸鬼。这......值得赞扬。"
Well, if there’d been alicorns all over Hoofington fighting me, perhaps I’d have been different about it. Lacunae had made things easier. Really, the Goddess couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador than her. Helpful, polite, quiet, elegant and dignified... and… “This isn’t the Goddess I’m talking to, is it?” I said softly, looking up at her with a little smile.
好吧，如果全Hoofington都有海洋之子在反抗我，也许我会有不同的看法。空白使事情变得更容易了。真的，女神再也找不到比她更好的大使了。乐于助人、彬彬有礼、文静、优雅、端庄......还有......"这不是我正在与之交谈的女神吧?"我轻轻地说，抬头看着她，带着一丝微笑。
She looked wistful as she turned away. “No. It’s not. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were?”
她转过身去的时候，显得多愁善感。"没有。并非如此。但如果是的话，那岂不是很美妙?"
* * *
* * *
The invitation to Homage’s dinner party came soon to both my and LittlePip’s friends. I’d been warned to stay in my room by Tenpony security; at this point, I think Glory was the only one they wanted trotting around, and they were even
我和小皮普的朋友们很快就收到了参加"致敬"晚宴的邀请。我被Tenpony保安警告呆在我的房间里，在这一点上，我认为晨辉是他们唯一想到处跑的人，他们是平等的
nervous about her. Still, she was out, I was in… and I was bored. I lay down and tried to go into another memory orb. Nothing. Zip. Tossing it back into my bags, I rolled onto my back. Should I even try and regain my magic? I was never good at it, anyway. I was a cyberpony now. I needed to learn how to get my body to work and focus of that. And heck, I hadn’t come across many decent orbs to spend time in.
对她很紧张。不过，她出去了，我进去了......我很无聊。我躺下，试图进入另一个记忆球。没什么。拉链。我把它扔回包里，翻了个身。我应该试着重拾我的魔法吗？不管怎么说，我从来都不擅长这个。我现在是一匹赛博马。我需要学习如何让我的身体工作，并集中注意力。而且见鬼的是，我还没有遇到过多少像样的球体可以花时间在上面。
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could make up my mind? What did I need magic for?
如果我能下定决心不是很好吗？我要魔法做什么？
I summed it up in a word: Goldenblood.
我把它总结成一个词:金色血统。
As infuriating as he was, as much as I hated seeing him slime around the corners of Equestria, he was the key to what was happening in Hoofington... and now, maybe, all across the Wasteland. Something had happened to him. Treason? Taking credit for Gardens? Being sentenced to execution? I just didn’t understand it. If he was a monstrous shit, then fine, I could have dismissed it. But he’d apparently protected Twilight from Luna. Why? He’d hit her for making alicorns! He’d taken her memories!
尽管他令人愤怒，尽管我讨厌看到他黏在Equestria的角落里，但他是Hoofington正在发生的事情的关键......现在，也许，整个大荒地。他发生了一些事情。叛国？把花园的功劳据为己有？被判处死刑？我只是不明白。如果他是一个可怕的混蛋，那么好吧，我可以不予理睬。但是很明显他保护了暮光之城不受卢娜的伤害。为什么？他会因为她做了橡子而打她的！他夺走了她的记忆！
And, apparently, gone to the block rather than betray her.
很明显，她宁愿被关起来也不愿背叛她。
Most infuriating of all, I was the only pony who seemed to know about him at all. The O.I.A. had gotten Image to cover their tracks. I found the O.I.A. ‘office’ in Tenpony converted into a cheese shop; the only indication that it had ever been something else were the faded rings and cutie marks next to the door. The emblem had been painted over and only barely bled through the white layer. Only Professor Zodiac had any direct knowledge at all.
最让人生气的是，我是唯一一匹似乎完全了解他的小马。美国国家情报局已经得到图像来掩盖他们的行踪。我发现o.i.a.在Tenpony的办公室变成了一家奶酪店，唯一能表明它曾经是别的东西的就是门边褪色的戒指和可爱的印记。会徽已经被粉刷过了，只流了一点血透过白色的一层。只有十二宫杀手教授对此一无所知。
The three most important things are loyalty, love, and secrets. Who had he loved? What was he loyal to? Why so many secrets? All this thinking was making my brain hurt. But I’d learned the most through memory orbs. To make orbs work, I needed magic.
三个最重要的东西是忠诚、爱和秘密。他爱过谁？他效忠于什么？为什么有这么多秘密？所有这些想法都让我头疼。但是我通过记忆球学到的最多。为了让球体工作，我需要魔法。
Though… maybe not.
虽然...也许不是。
I might not be allowed to trot through the shops below, but I’d been shown where there was a dandy library up above…
我可能不被允许在下面的商店里小跑，但是我被告知上面有一个漂亮的图书馆..。
* * *
* * *
Reading was hard. I’d snuck... well… technically, I doubted that I would be kicked out if I got caught, but why take the chance? Anyway, I’d reached the aerthithingy place, but once I’d gotten in... I was completely screwed. I figured that a library was a place where you just looked at book titles and find ‘Goldenblood: a memoir’ or something. It never occurred to me that, with thousands and thousands of book titles to look at, I could spend years searching and never find a thing!
阅读是困难的。我偷偷地......嗯......严格来说，我怀疑如果我被抓到我会被踢出去，但是为什么要冒这个险呢？不管怎样，我已经到了那个地方，但是一旦我进去了......我就彻底完蛋了。我认为图书馆是一个你只需要查看书名就能找到《金色血液:回忆录》或者其他什么的地方。我从来没有想到，有成千上万的书名可以看，我可以花费数年的搜索，却一无所获！
“Uggh… damn it. There has to be something in here on Goldenblood. He can’t have just disappeared!”
"呃...该死。这里面肯定有关于Goldenblood的东西。他不可能就这么消失了!"
“I’m afraid that most references to Goldenblood were removed by the ‘Intellectual Reorganization Command’ of Princess Luna’s third year,” a mechanical, feminine voice hooted from up above, making me jump and bite down on a book, readying it for throwing. From the roof descended a golden owl that landed on the rail and blinked at me with bright purple eyes. “Need I remind you that biting books is not good for the preservation of the covers, Mistress?”
"恐怕大多数与Goldenblood有关的内容都被卢娜公主三年级的'智力重组指挥部'删除了,"一个机械的、女性化的声音从上面传来，让我跳起来，咬住一本书，准备扔掉。一只金色的猫头鹰从屋顶下来，落在栏杆上，用明亮的紫色眼睛眨着眼睛看着我。"需要我提醒你咬书不利于封面的保存吗，女主人?"
I spat out the book. “Who are you? What are you?”
我把书吐了出来。"你是谁？你是什么?"
“I am Nyctimene, Mistress. I am the keeper of these books,” she replied. I slowly walked around the golden machine, and its head slowly rotated and remained focused upon me. “I am Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle’s personal assistant within Tenpony Tower; second to her number one assistant, of course.”
"我是尼克提梅妮，女主人。我是这些书的保管人,"她回答。我慢慢地绕着这台金色的机器走着，它的头慢慢地转动着，一直盯着我。"我是紫悦部在TenponyTower的私人助理，当然，仅次于她的头号助理。"
“So you are a robot?” Robotic owls. Who knew?
"这么说你是个机器人?"机器猫头鹰。谁知道呢？
“That is a fair assessment,” Nyctimene said with a nod of her head. “You desire texts on the first O.I.A. director, Goldenblood?”
"这是一个公平的评价,"Nyctimene点头说。"你想要第一个o.i.a.主管金色血色的短信?"
“Yes!” I said, glad that I’d finally hit a break. “Tell me you have a biography or something on him.”
"是的!"我说，很高兴我终于休息了一下。"告诉我你有他的传记什么的。"
“I’m afraid not, Mistress. As you know, most texts referring to him were purged following the establishment of the ministries.”
""恐怕不行，夫人。正如你所知道的，大多数涉及他的文章都在各部成立后被删除了。"
“You must have something.”
"你一定有什么东西。"
The owl stared at me for a long moment. Then, suddenly, she winged away to one of the upper shelves. She hovered in front of the bookcase and carefully
猫头鹰盯着我看了很长时间。然后，突然，她飞奔向上层的一个架子。她在书架前小心翼翼地徘徊着
pulled out a book with her claws, then flew back to a reading desk and set down the slim gray tome. ‘Luna’s Academy for Young Unicorns: Get Sent to the Moon!’ I flipped it open and was astonished by a picture spread over two pages. Luna was standing in the middle, looking like she was struggling not to cry. The faculty flanked her, and a hundred or so unicorn foals smiled at the camera...
用爪子拿出一本书，飞回到书桌旁，放下那本灰色的小书。"卢娜独角兽学院:被送上月球!"我把它翻开，惊讶地发现一张图片分布在两页纸上。卢娜站在中间，看起来好像在努力不哭出来。教职人员站在她两侧，一百多只独角兽小马驹对着镜头微笑.....。
save one who was levitating up the pigtails of the filly beside her and a pair of colts down in the front row poking each other with sticks.
除了一个人把她旁边小母马的辫子托起来，还有一对坐在前排的小马用棍子互相戳来戳去。
And there, right beside Princess Luna, was Goldenblood giving a stern look at the two disobedient colts in the front.
就在那儿，在露娜公主的右边，金色的血液正在严厉地看着前面那两只不听话的小马。
I flipped through the pictures. There was an article on the academy being in a remote location, keeping it safe from the war. A short little comment from the Princess about how she’d always had a fondness for young ponies, but she could never gobble more than one. So many pictures of young ponies learning… everything. Unicorns learning magic. Studying. Meeting in clubs. And in the middle of it all was Luna. Luna smiling. Luna teaching. Luna looking happy and useful and loved.
我浏览了一下这些照片。有一篇文章说学院在一个偏远的地方，使它远离战争。公主简短地说了一句话，她一直喜欢小马驹，但从来不会狼吞虎咽超过一匹。这么多小马驹学习...一切的照片。独角兽学习魔法。学习。在俱乐部聚会。在这一切的中间是露娜。露娜微笑着。月亮教学。露娜看起来很快乐，很有用，很受欢迎。
The photographs of Goldenblood were much more difficult to find. The pale stallion might not have been ravaged by poison, but he was still more homely than handsome. Most of the pictures caught him while he was asleep in an empty classroom or staring out of one of the stained glass windows. ‘Professor Goldenblood: History, Culture, Literature, and Psychological Studies’ read the caption. There was one picture of him surrounded by a half dozen colts and fillies. The desk in front of him was covered with rocks of all types. ‘Littlehorn Rock Club’ read the caption.
Goldenblood的照片要难找得多。这匹苍白的种马也许没有被毒药毒害过，但是相比于英俊，它还是显得更加平凡。大多数照片都拍到了他在一间空教室里熟睡或凝视着彩色玻璃窗外的情景。"金血教授:历史、文化、文学和心理学研究"配文如是说。有一张照片是他被六只小马和小雌马围着。他面前的桌子上摆满了各种各样的石头。标题是'利特霍恩岩石俱乐部'。
A rock club? Really? What did they talk about? The merits of igneous rocks? Which rock was stripier than the others? I looked at his hoof resting on a strange fossilized bug. Next to it was a strange twisty stone. ‘Hoofington Meteorite’ read a tiny tag beside it. A unicorn filly and, most curiously, a pegasus colt, both looking far too alike to be a coincidence, held up an enormous geode filled with gems.
摇滚俱乐部？真的吗？他们谈了些什么？火成岩的优点？哪块岩石比其他岩石更锋利？我看到他的蹄子踩在一只奇怪的臭虫化石上。在它旁边是一块奇怪的扭曲的石头。"胡芬顿陨石"旁边有一个小小的标签。一匹独角兽小雌马和一匹神奇的小飞马举着一个装满宝石的巨大的宝石球，它们看起来都太像了，不可能是巧合。
But more than that. Goldenblood looked happy. Tired. Guarded. Older than he probably was, but still happy. From the few other pictures, I gathered he’d been the ‘strict’ teacher. I noticed a young black unicorn mare, a teacher’s aide, it looked like, behind him and stared for the longest time. She might not have been
但不仅如此。金色的血液看起来很高兴。累了。守卫森严。可能比他年长，但仍然很快乐。从其他几张照片中，我推测他是一个严格的老师。我注意到一匹年轻的黑色独角兽母马，它看起来像，在他身后，盯着看了很长时间。她可能不是
in a uniform, but there was no denying that that mare was none other than Psalm! I flipped through a second time, picking her out in the background. Again and again. She was almost more elusive than Goldenblood!
但是不可否认，那匹母马正是《诗篇》中的母马！我又翻了一遍，在背景里找到了她。一次又一次。她几乎比金血王还难以捉摸！
There were pictures of him with the Princess, the pair talking and laughing. A picture of him lecturing a filly with a mask cutie mark who was trying her hardest not to laugh as Luna made faces behind his back. A picture of the Princess drawing a mustache on his face in black marker as he slept. ‘I need you,’ she’d said to him as he lay dying in the hospital. He’d been more than just Luna’s political advisor… He was Princess Luna’s friend.
里面有他和公主的照片，他们谈笑风生。一张他给一个戴着面具的可爱小姑娘讲课的照片，当卢娜在他背后做鬼脸的时候，那小姑娘努力忍住不笑。一张公主在他睡觉时用黑色马克笔在脸上画胡子的照片。"我需要你,"当他躺在医院里奄奄一息时，她对他说。他不仅仅是卢娜的政治顾问，他还是卢娜公主的朋友。
And then, a dozen years later… she was ordering his execution.
然后，十几年后，她下令处决他。
Loyalty, love, and secrets.
忠诚，爱和秘密。
Goldenblood might have been a bastard, but he hadn’t always been that way. He’d been a teacher. Brilliant. Intelligent. From the look of the students around him, though, he’d been respected as well. Had it been Littlehorn that changed him?
金血王可能是个私生子，但他并不总是那样。他曾经是一名教师。太棒了。聪明。但是从他周围学生的表情来看，他也受到了尊重。是利特霍恩改变了他吗？
I looked up for a moment and noticed that three more books were on the table in front of me; Nyctimene must have brought them down while I was looking through the first one. Setting ‘Littlehorn’ aside for now, I pulled the book on the left over.
我抬头看了一会儿，发现桌子上还有三本书，一定是Nyctimene在我看第一本书的时候把它们拿下来的。暂时把《利特霍恩》放在一边，我把书翻到左边。
I opened ‘Dancing with Stripes’ to a number of grainy black and white pictures of a zebra metropolis with marble pillars and white temples. In the front of one of the pictures was a unicorn mare in a frilly, fancy dress that was right up the Overmare’s mother’s alley standing beside a young colt wearing an explorer’s cap. Even as a colt, he seemed a solemn and guarded kid. ‘Sundancer and Goldenblood’ read the caption. My eyes moved to the text beside it.
我打开"与条纹共舞"，看到一些黑白斑马图片，这是一个有着大理石柱子和白色寺庙的大都市。其中一幅画的正面是一匹穿着褶边奇装异服的独角兽母马，正站在一匹戴着探险帽的小马旁边。即使作为一匹小马，他看起来也是一个严肃而谨慎的孩子。标题是'太阳舞者和金色血液'。我的眼睛转向了旁边的文字。
...from our many adventures in Roam and other zebra lands, we have found this a strange and enchanting place. For many ponies, zebras are hut dwelling primitives practicing strange shamanistic magic. It is unthinkable that zebras should have cultural and historical accomplishments that rival, even exceed, those of even Ponyville, much less the greater Equestrian cities. My son and I have explored the vast empty Savannahs, crossed blistering deserts, and explored strange jungles only to be dazzled and amazed by these genial folks and their strange but not unwholesome ways.
在漫游和其他斑马地带的探险中，我们发现这是一个奇特而迷人的地方。对于许多小马来说，斑马是居住在小屋里的原始人，施行着奇怪的萨满魔法。这是不可思议的，斑马应该有文化和历史成就的竞争对手，甚至超过，甚至波尼维尔，更不用说更大的马术城市。我和儿子探索了广阔而空旷的热带稀树草原，穿越了酷热的沙漠，探索了奇异的丛林，却被这些和蔼可亲的人们和他们奇怪但并非不健康的行为所迷惑和惊叹。
While ponies can easily separate ourselves into groups of earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus, zebra affiliation is far more tribal and fragmented into herds and bloodlines stretching back to antiquity. Some, like the Zencori, wander far and wide collecting lore and stories to bring back to their ancestral lands. Others are far more cerebral and mystic like the elusive Achu, who blend hoof fighting with meditation and spiritualistic behavior. The Propoli are every bit as urbane as the most sophisticated Canterlotian pony, placing great stock on lore and education. Indeed, a traveler can find as much difference between an Atori and a Eschatik zebra as between a pegasus and a unicorn!
虽然小马可以很容易地把我们分成地球上的小马、独角兽和飞马，但是斑马属于更多的部落，分裂成可以追溯到古代的兽群和血统。有些人，比如Zencori，四处游荡，搜集传说和故事，带回他们祖先的土地。其他人则更加理智和神秘，比如难以捉摸的阿楚，他把蹄斗与冥想和唯心主义行为结合在一起。普罗波利就像最老练的坎特洛特矮种马一样彬彬有礼，对知识和教育寄予厚望。事实上，一个旅行者可以发现阿托里斑马和埃斯查提克斑马之间的差别就像飞马和独角兽之间的差别一样大！
While most zebra tribes are friendly, if odd, one must take care to avoid ‘star touched’ tribes. The term describes tribes that have dabbled in dark and forbidden magic or performed horrible crimes. The most infamous, of course, are the Starkatteri, or ‘Eaters of the Stars’, tribe, whose dark tales of ritual sacrifice, flaying the skin off still living prisoners, profane rituals, and other dark deeds have become the stuff of trashy adventure tales back home. Others, like the Carnilala, engage in disturbing sexual practices and self-mutilation. These ‘star touched’ tribes are shunned by zebra society as a whole, but sadly they are the first thing many ponies latch onto when thinking of our striped neighbors.
虽然大多数斑马部落是友好的，如果奇怪的话，一个人必须注意避免'星碰'部落。这个术语描述的是涉足黑暗和被禁止的魔法或犯下可怕罪行的部落。当然，最臭名昭著的是斯塔卡特里，或者说星星的食客，这个部落，他们关于祭祀仪式的黑暗传说，剥掉仍然活着的囚犯的皮，亵渎的仪式，以及其他黑暗的行为，在家乡已经成为垃圾冒险故事的素材。其他国家，比如Carnilala，从事着令人不安的性行为和自残行为。作为一个整体，斑马社会都回避这些被星星感动的部落，但可悲的是，当许多小马想到我们有条纹的邻居时，它们是第一个被抓住的东西。
I flipped to the next page and looked at pictures of zebras. Some were wearing fancy clothes and dancing on their rear hooves. Another balanced on a pole… upside down. Four calmly discussed things in a library that looked almost identical to the one I as in… only somehow even bigger. Two zebra mares struggled in brutal hoof to hoof combat. A pair of zebra males stared out with dark eyes from a shadowy doorway, their faces branded with a swirling star and other ritualistic scars.
我翻到下一页，看着斑马的照片。有些人穿着华丽的衣服，在后蹄上跳舞。另一个倒立在柱子上。四个人平静地在图书馆里讨论事情，这个图书馆看起来几乎和我在的那个图书馆一模一样......只不过更大一些。两匹斑马母马在残酷的蹄蹄搏斗中。一对雄性斑马从阴暗的门口用黑色的眼睛凝视着外面，他们的脸上印着漩涡状的星星和其他仪式性的伤疤。
Still… there wasn’t much I could see about Goldenblood.
尽管如此，我还是没有看到多少关于金色血液的东西。
I sighed and pulled the next book over as Nyctimene flew down to put away the ones I’d finished with. This one was about the Hoofington reconstruction and had a picture of Goldenblood dramatically speaking before a crowd of thousands as blood ran from his mouth. He looked flayed, the scars barely bandaged and stained pink and red. Other photos showed him talking with Rover, who looked really strange without his mechanical limbs.
我叹了口气，把下一本书拉过来，Nyctimene飞下来把我读完的书收起来。这是一张关于Hoofington重建的照片，照片中的Goldenblood在数千人面前戏剧性地讲话，鲜血从他的嘴里流出。他看上去被剥皮了，伤疤几乎没有包扎，染成了粉红色和红色。其他照片显示他正在和罗孚交谈，罗孚没有机械肢体看起来很奇怪。
The sole book on the O.I.A. was barely fifty pages long and sounded like it’d
关于o.i.a.的唯一一本书只有不到五十页，听起来就像是d
been written for children. It didn’t tell me anything new. The O.I.A. hub was in Hoofington. It worked to keep the ministries going. No mention of secret projects. No mention of creating monsters or cyberponies. Just that it was the hard-working glue and oil that kept the ministries working together and smoothly and reported directly to Princess Luna herself. Damn thing didn’t even mention Goldenblood… Oh, wait. There he was: ‘The O.I.A.’s director resides outside Hoofington near Black Pony Mountain.’ Not even mentioned by name! No wonder everypony else thought I was going crazy.
是写给孩子们的。它没有告诉我任何新的东西。信息中心在Hoofington。它使得政府部门得以继续运转。没有提到秘密项目。没有提到创造怪物或网络小马。正是辛勤工作的胶水和润滑油使得各部门工作协调顺畅，并直接向卢娜公主本人汇报。那该死的东西居然没提到金色血液...哦等等。他说:国际信息自由组织的主管住在Hoofington附近的黑马山甚至连名字都没提到！难怪其他人都认为我疯了。
I closed my eyes and I leaned back, letting the golden owl take the last book away. I wondered if, two centuries from now, somepony (or alicorn, if the Goddess succeeded in her plans for Unity after all) would discover little snippets of my life and wonder ‘who was this crazy mare, and why didn’t she just write an autobiography telling everypony about herself?’ More and more I kept feeling… trapped. Things that happened centuries ago kept creeping through things I felt now. Like I was caught up in a great current and I was helpless to escape it. Heck, I was glad I didn’t have to face crushing waterfalls along the way.
我闭上眼睛，向后靠着，让金色的猫头鹰把最后一本书带走。我在想，两个世纪以后，会不会有一匹小马(或者阿里康，如果女神最终成功实现了她的团结计划)发现了我生命中的一些片段，并且想知道"这匹疯狂的母马是谁，为什么她不写一本自传，告诉每一匹小马关于她自己的事情?"我越来越觉得自己被困住了。几个世纪前发生的事情一直在我现在感觉到的事情中蔓延。就像我被卷入了一个巨大的水流，我无法逃离它。真见鬼，我很高兴我不用一路上面对破碎的瀑布。
“Hey, Blackjack?” LittlePip said, making me jump and fall over. I hit my head on the leg of the reading desk and hissed, rubbing my skull. Why hadn’t they thought to armor that, huh? The little unicorn looked at me in sympathy. “You okay? I didn’t expect to find you here.”
"嘿，黑杰克?"小皮普说，吓得我跳起来摔倒了。我的头撞到了书桌的腿上，发出嘶嘶的声音，摩擦着我的头骨。为什么他们没想到要装甲呢？小独角兽同情地看着我。"你没事吧？我没想到会在这里找到你。"
“I’m trying a new thing… thinking. Seems to be all the rage among wandering Wasteland heroines these days,” I said as she lifted me to my hooves easily. “I heard the Stable Dweller is a master at it.”
"我在尝试一种新事物......思考。这些日子似乎是流浪荒原女英雄们的狂热,"我说着，她轻松地把我举起来。"我听说马厩住户是这方面的专家。"
“Um, I don’t know about that,” she said with a little flush and smile. “Homage sent me to look for you. Her dinner party’s about to start. She doesn’t get to entertain much, and she wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it.”
"嗯，我不知道,"她说，脸上带着微微的红晕和微笑。"我是出于敬意来找你的。她的晚宴就要开始了。她不怎么招待客人，她想确保你不会错过。"
I blinked in shock as I looked out the windows. There were only the dark purples of twilight left in the sky. How long had… I checked the chronometer. Three hours looking at books? At this rate I was going to turn into an egghead! They’d have to start calling me Professor Blackjack or something. “Wow. Time flies with a good book…” I said with a sheepish smile, shaking myself as we walked together towards the door. “So… you figure out how you’re going to deal with your mind-reading nemesis?”
我向窗外望去，震惊地眨了眨眼睛。天空中只剩下黄昏的暗紫色。多久了...我检查了天文钟。花三个小时看书？照这样下去，我会变成一个书呆子的！他们会开始叫我Blackjack教授什么的。"哇。时间和一本好书一起飞逝......"我带着羞怯的微笑说，当我们一起向门口走去的时候，我摇了摇自己。"那么......你想好怎么对付那个会读心术的复仇女神了吗?"
“Already did,” she said with a little, uneasy smile. “I’ve taken out my memories regarding the plan. What I don’t know, she can’t use against me.”
"已经做了,"她带着一丝不安的微笑说。"我已经把关于这个计划的记忆删除了。我不知道的是，她不能用来对付我。"
“So you don’t remember us--” I started, and she raised her hoof in alarm.
"这么说你不记得我们了——"我说，她惊慌地抬起了蹄子。
“Don’t tell me! My brain’s already scrambled enough as is. I don’t want them to have to go in and take the information out all over again!” She sighed. I stared at her, thinking about Doc Oct’s warnings and about what had happened to Scotch. Would ripping holes in her own memory cause reactions and mistakes? Cause her brain to scramble or drive her crazy? She noticed my look and bowed her head. “The only way to do this... the only way for me to be sure... is if I know there’s nothing in there for her to pick out.”
"不要告诉我！我的脑子已经够乱的了。我不希望他们不得不再次进去，把信息从头再来一遍!"她叹了口气。我盯着她，想着奥康德医生的警告和苏格兰威士忌的遭遇。在她自己的记忆中撕开洞会引起反应和错误吗？让她的大脑变得混乱还是疯狂？她注意到我的表情，低下了头。"这么做的唯一方法......唯一能让我确定的方法......就是我知道里面没有什么东西可以让她挑出来。"
I looked at her for the longest time. I couldn’t imagine her going through what she had, facing what she did. Actually sabotaging her own brain to thwart a mind-reader? All I did was shoot, get shot at, and have mysteries thrown in my face. I’d never have it as hard as LittlePip did. “LittlePip...” I began, but she shook her head, cutting me off.
我盯着她看了很长时间。我无法想象她所经历的一切，面对她所做的一切。实际上破坏她自己的大脑来阻挠一个读心者？我所做的一切就是射击，被射击，神秘的事情摆在我的面前。我从来没有像小匹普那样难过。"小匹普......"我开始说，但她摇了摇头，切断了我的话。
“As is, I’m probably going to have to drop a few more memories before I’m sure everything’s set,” she said with a little sigh and roll of her eyes, as if it wasn’t a big deal at all, and the look on her face said that she didn’t want me to treat it as if it was. Wow... she might actually have been able to give the Stable Dweller a run for her money.
"就像现在这样，在我确定一切都准备好之前，我可能还需要留下一些回忆,"她轻轻叹了口气，转了转眼珠，好像这没什么大不了的。她脸上的表情说明，她不希望我把它当成一件大事来对待。哇...她实际上可能已经能够与马厩居民的运行她的钱。
“So,” I asked, “you don’t remember anything about our adventure?”
"那么,"我问道,"你不记得我们的冒险经历了吗?"
“I know it involved me taking a PTM,” she said, her eyes falling. “Again…” Ooooh, I knew that ‘kicking myself’ look. I was a master of that look! And on my watch, I was going to be the only one of the two of us wearing that look.
"我知道这需要我做一个PTM,"她说，她的眼睛垂下来。"又来了......"噢，我知道那种'踢我自己'的表情。我就是这种表情的大师！在我的眼皮底下，我将成为我们俩中唯一一个带着这种表情的人。
I frowned and stopped. “Listen… I was there.” I put a hoof on her shoulder. “I know why you took it. You had to. There was no other way. It wasn’t because you had an excuse to take them. Okay?”
我皱了皱眉，停了下来。"听着......我当时在场。"我把蹄子放在她的肩上。"我知道你为什么拿走它。你必须这么做。没有别的办法。这并不是因为你有借口接受他们。好吗?"
LittlePip brightened a little and nodded. “Thanks…” Still... she wasn’t quite letting go of the self-kicking... I could see it in her eyes. Well... hell if I was going to let her do that! There was only room for one grade A self-recriminist in this tower.
小皮普高兴了一点，点了点头。"谢谢......"但是......她还是没有完全放开自我踢打......我可以从她的眼睛里看出来。好吧...如果我让她这么做该死！这座塔里只容得下一个a级的自责者。
I chuckled as I stepped closer, and instantly her ears perked in alarm. “It’s too bad though. I know I’ll never forget discovering such a wonderful kisser,” I said, giving her flank a nudge with my own as I trotted past and out the door, looking back at a little unicorn inventing whole new shades of red to blush.
当我走近时，我咯咯地笑了起来，她的耳朵立刻警觉地竖了起来。"不过这太糟糕了。我知道我永远不会忘记发现了一个如此美妙的接吻者,"我边说边用自己的肘轻轻推了一下她的侧腹，一边小跑着走出门外，回头看着一只小独角兽发明了全新的红色阴影，让人脸红。
* * *
* * *
When we arrived at the dinner party, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find most of my crew chatting amiably with most of LittlePip’s crew. And since we were arriving late, there was nopony in the way between me and the buffet table! I was feeling positively snacky!
当我们到达晚宴时，我不太确定会发生什么。我发现我的大部分团队成员都在和小皮普的大部分喜欢·一个人亲切地交谈。因为我们迟到了，所以在我和自助餐桌之间没有小马挡道！我当时觉得好吃极了！
I was trotting towards it when my ear twitched at the sound of Glory talking to Calamity. “So… you’re absolutely positive you didn’t kill off your entire squad in a rampage of death and destruction and flee to the surface to avoid lawful prosecution by the authorities?” she asked as she balanced a cup of punch on her outstretched wing.
我正向它跑去，这时我的耳朵听到"晨辉"和"灾难"说话的声音就抽搐起来。"所以......你绝对肯定，你没有在一场横冲直撞的死亡和破坏中杀死你的整个小队，然后逃到地面上以躲避当局的合法起诉?"她一边问，一边把一杯潘趣酒放在她张开的翅膀上。
“Let me think on that…” the brown pegasus drawled as he rolled his eyes in mock reflection. “Mmmm… nope! ‘Fraid not. Said my piece and went on my way, though it weren’t like they were keen on makin’ it easy.”
"让我考虑一下......"棕色的飞马慢吞吞地说，他转动着眼睛，模仿着自己的反应。"嗯......没有！恐怕没有。我说完就上路了，尽管他们并不想让事情变得简单。"
“I’ll say you did,” she said with a little frown. “You know, you completely undermined what we were trying to do in Thunderhead with that display.”
"我就说是你干的,"她皱着眉头说。"你知道，你的表现完全破坏了我们在雷霆队的努力。"
He gave a little shrug. “You Thunderheaders. Always with the great big ideas and stuff. So long as Neighvarro’s got the guns, not much you can do.”
他微微耸了耸肩。"YouThunderheaders.总是有伟大的想法和东西。只要邻居有枪，你就无能为力。"
“Well somepony’s got to have the big ideas,” she replied firmly. “Besides, I thought you were all about helping the surface.”
她坚定地回答说:"好吧，总得有点大创意吧。"。"而且，我还以为你是来帮助浮出水面的。"
“Ah ahm,” he replied. “But sendin’ down some healin’ supplies and takin’ some food back ain’t helpin’. It’s flirtin’. There’s no way yer gonna do more than that.”
"啊，啊,"他回答。"但是送一些治疗用品和拿一些食物回来是没有用的。这是调情。你不可能做得更多了。"
“It takes time. You can’t just do it all at once,” Glory protested.
"这需要时间。你不能一下子全部做完,"晨辉抗议道。
“Sure. Been two hundred years. What’s another two hundred more?” he countered, then saw her ears droop. The brown stallion sighed. “And if it were Neighvarro, it’d probably be two thousand years before they sent so much as
"当然。已经两百年了。再加两百又怎么样?"他反驳，然后看到她的耳朵下垂。棕色的种马叹了口气。""如果是邻居，大概要过两千年他们才会送来这么多
spit. I just ain’t one fer itty bitty steps.”
吐。我只是不喜欢小小的舞步。"
“You sound just like my father,” she said. His expression turned a touch more curious. “Sky Striker.”
"你听起来就像我的父亲,"她说。他的表情变得更加奇怪了。"天空攻击者"
“He’s your father?!” he blurted, then stared at me, then at Glory’s missing wing, then back at me. “Landsakes! He’s gonna take off your head when he finds out you broke her!”
"他是你父亲?!"他脱口而出，然后盯着我，然后看着晨辉失去的翅膀，然后又看着我。"陆地的缘故！如果他发现你伤害了她，他会把你的脑袋砍下来的!"
“He already knows,” I said with a flush as I trotted away, and the two began to talk about the legendary Sky Striker. Anyway, if he wanted to kick my tail, he’d have to come down here and get it. No way I’d ever be heading to Thunderhead any time soon.
"他已经知道了,"我一边说一边小跑着离开，两人开始谈论传奇的天空前锋。无论如何，如果他想踢我的尾巴，他必须到这里来得到它。我不可能在短时间内前往雷霆岬。
Moving around, I spotted Scotch Tape seated next to a giant green flaming bird. Given that nopony in the room was alarmed at this, I assumed it was some sort of pet. It seemed the two were locked in a staring contest of sorts, only from the expression on Scotch’s face she clearly expected to be eaten if she lost. The crackling avian seemed to be having quite a bit of fun with the petrified filly. Both our PipBucks clicked softly.
我四处走动，发现坐在一只巨大的绿色火焰鸟旁边的透明胶带。考虑到房间里的小马驹对此感到恐慌，我以为它是某种宠物。两人似乎陷入了一场令人目瞪口呆的比赛中，只是从苏格兰人脸上的表情来看，她显然认为如果输了就会被吃掉。噼啪作响的鸟儿似乎在和僵化的小母马开着玩笑。我们的PipBucks都轻轻地敲了一下。
“Pour RadAway on her,” I suggested, drawing the look of Velvet Remedy away from P-21.
"把拉达维倒在她身上,"我建议道，把"天鹅绒补救法"(VelvetRemedy)的外观从P-21身上移开。
“Don’t you dare! You’ll make her all sticky!” Velvet protested.
"你敢！你会把她弄得黏糊糊的!"维尔韦特抗议道。
“Oh, we do that just standing here,” Homage said as she trotted up and glanced back at where LittlePip was taking a drink of punch, her eyes locked on all our rumps. She gasped, choked, and fell over coughing and sputtering.
"哦，我们只是站在这里就能做到这一点,"霍瑞特一边说，一边小跑起来，回头看看小皮普喝酒的地方，她的眼睛紧盯着我们所有人的屁股。她喘着粗气，哽咽着，又咳又呛地倒在地上。
“You are evil,” I said in blind admiration, chuckling.
"你真邪恶,"我暗暗钦佩地笑着说。
Then there was a loud sizzling squawk, and the three of us turned back to see Scotch with a ripped open RadAway pouch in her mouth and a smoldering, not-quite-flaming bird dripping orange fluid. The olive filly looked at us and then at the glaring avian and pointed a hoof at me. “She told me to do it! It was her idea!”
然后是一声巨大的吱吱作响的叫声，我们三个人转过身来，看到了苏格兰威士忌，她嘴里叼着一个撕开的RadAway口袋，嘴里还含着一种燃烧着的、不那么火红的滴着橘黄色液体。橄榄小姑娘看着我们，然后看着耀眼的鸟儿，用蹄子指着我。"是她叫我这么做的！这是她的主意!"
“Not sure you noticed, Scotchy, but my ideas tend to get my rump thumped more often than not.” The reigniting bird thing screeched, and the olive filly dove
"不知道你有没有注意到，斯科奇，但是我的想法往往会让我大吃一惊。"重新点燃的鸟发出尖锐的声音，橄榄色的小雌鸽也发出尖锐的声音
underneath the buffet table as the animal stalked atop it, glaring down as only a very grumpy bird of prey can for any sign of the filly emerging.
在自助餐桌下面，动物在上面悄悄靠近，怒视着只有一只脾气暴躁的猛禽，才能看到小雌马出现的迹象。
I trotted around a bit more. I talked with Calamity about the finer points of Wasteland cuisine. My eyes were a little glazed over after listening to Glory and Velvet make medicine talk, and I made my way over towards Xenith. The zebra mare looked over at Glory. “So, you are with a mare as well?” When I nodded, she simply shook her head. “And you two, do you try for the record as well?”
我又跑了一会儿。我和卡米尼特谈论荒原美食的细节。听了晨辉和维尔维特谈论医学之后，我的眼睛有点呆滞，然后我朝克尼斯走去。斑马母马望着晨辉。"那么，你也和一匹母马在一起?"我点点头，她只是摇了摇头。"你们两个，你们也想破纪录吗?"
“Record? What record?” I asked with a little frown of confusion. Calamity trotted up and Glory looked over, her ears twitching.
"记录？什么唱片?"我带着困惑的微微皱眉问道。灾难一路小跑，晨辉抬头望去，她的耳朵在抽搐。
The zebra looked coolly over at the littlest unicorn present and said, “I believe the number is thirty-three?” LittlePip’s eyes went round and she immediately blushed.
斑马冷冷地看着身边最小的独角兽说:"我想这个数字应该是33吧?"小皮普的眼睛转了一圈，她立刻脸红了。
“Thirty-three…?” I asked in confusion.
"33...?"我困惑地问。
“In a single night,” Homage said with a smug smile. Thirty-three… Oh!
"就在一个晚上,"霍梅尔自鸣得意地笑着说。33...哦！
“One night?” Glory asked with a flush. “I’m not sure that that’s medically possible...”
"一个晚上?"晨辉满脸通红地问。"我不确定这在医学上是否可行......"
“Hmmmm… that could be a challenge! Hey, we could turn it into a contest!” I said, and Homage grinned in delight. I looked at the gray pegasus. “What do you say, Glory? I’ve got an itch in my nethers, a non-stick hoof, and these things!” I said, popping out my fingers and wiggling them.
"嗯......这可能是个挑战！嘿，我们可以把它变成一场比赛!"我说，敬意高兴地咧嘴一笑。我看着灰色的飞马。""你说什么，晨辉？我下面发痒，蹄子不粘，还有这些东西!"我说着，伸出我的手指，摆动着。
Glory and LittlePip stared at us, perfect copies of one another, jaws dropped and cheeks flaming.
晨辉和小皮普盯着我们，完美地复制了彼此，下巴耷拉着，脸颊火红。
“Sweet Celestia, there’s two of ‘em,” Calamity muttered, pointing his hoof at one and then the other as P-21 stared at us in disbelief, “Which one’s Lil’pip again?”
"亲爱的塞莱斯泰拉，这里有两个人,"卡拉米蒂用蹄子指着其中一个，然后另一个P-21用难以置信的眼神盯着我们,"哪一个又是李尔·匹普?"
“It’s like looking in a mirror,” Velvet murmured.
"这就像是在照镜子,"维尔韦喃喃地说。
The pair looked at each other, looked back at us with a scowl, and shouted in perfect unison. “S- Shut up!”
两个人互相看着对方，皱着眉头回头看着我们，异口同声地喊着。"闭嘴!"
* * *
* * *
As folks were enjoying themselves nibbling on the repast prepared, Homage trotted up to me. I nearly jumped out of my hooves at her approach. I might like teasing Glory, but the gray unicorn just oozed this sexy confidence that made me… alert. “Are they back to normal yet?” she asked as she looked across the room to where Glory and LittlePip were still fuming.
当人们正在享用准备好的就餐时,"敬意"一路向我跑来。她走近时，我几乎跳起来。我可能喜欢戏弄Glory，但是灰色的独角兽散发出一种性感的自信，让我......警觉。"他们恢复正常了吗?"她一边问，一边看着房间另一头晨辉和小皮普还在生气的地方。
“Definitely pinkish still. They keep sneaking looks at each other and then going red again,” I said with a soft chuckle.
"绝对还是粉红色。他们一直偷偷地看着对方，然后又变红了,"我轻轻地笑着说。
“Mmmm… they’re adorable,” she said with a shake of her head, then looked at me with an arched brow. “You seem to handle it a little better.”
"嗯......它们真可爱,"她摇了摇头说，然后扬起眉毛看着我。"你似乎处理得更好一些。"
“Told you about 99, right? Five hundred mares. Forty stallions. A mare that didn’t like sex with other mares was in for a pretty lonely life.”
"我告诉过你有99个，对吧？五百匹母马。四十匹种马。一匹不喜欢和其他母马做爱的母马将会过着非常孤独的生活。"
“LittlePip would have loved it there,” Homage said softly, but I sighed as I watched her. I knew better.
"小皮普会喜欢那里的,"霍瑞温柔地说，但我看着她叹了口气。我更清楚。
“No, she wouldn’t. Daisy would have picked on her. Marmalade would have helped. I would have turned a blind eye.” I sighed, closing my eyes. “She would have been stuck in her role, whether it suited her or not. She’d never have left and she’d have been miserable. Nopony was happy in 99. Happiness? That was just a delusion.”
"不，她不会的。黛西会找她麻烦的。橘子酱会有所帮助。我会睁只眼闭只眼的。"我叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。"不管对她是否合适，她都会被自己的角色所束缚。她永远不会离开，她会很痛苦。小马在99年的时候很开心。幸福？那只是一种错觉。"
Homage sighed softly. “On that happy note… Hoofington’s gone dark.” I looked at her sharply. “Four days ago, right after the Celestia. I’m not getting any signal from the towers there. Actually, I’m not getting transmissions of any kind from there.”
致敬轻声叹息。"在那个快乐的音符下...Hoofington消失了"我用锐利的目光看着她。"四天前，就在天堂之后。那边的信号塔没有任何信号。实际上，我没有收到任何来自那里的信号。"
“I’ve got to get back…” I murmured. There were things happening, and I was having dinner and laughing and teasing and… I yipped as a tail spanked my ass hard. “What was that for?” I asked as I rubbed my stinging derriere with a forehoof, blushing hard myself.
"我得回去了......"我低声说。发生了一些事情，我正在吃晚饭，大笑，戏弄......我尖叫着，就像尾巴狠狠地打了我的屁股一样。"这是干什么?"我用前蹄摩擦着刺痛的臀部，脸都红了。
“You were getting that whole ‘kicking yourself for having fun’ look going,” she replied with a smile. “You can’t run off this very second and you aren’t a bad pony for enjoying yourself. Just letting you know.”
她笑着回答说:"你那种'为了找乐子而踢自己'的表情越来越流行了。"。"你不能在这一秒跑掉，你也不是一匹享受生活的坏小马。只是想让你知道。"
I nodded; she was right. That had been exactly what I’d been about to do. “I just…”
我点点头，她是对的。这正是我要做的事情。"我只是......"
“You want to help ponies. That’s commendable. It’s what I love about LittlePip,” she said with a laugh. “But you don’t have to go charging east just because I give you some troubling news.”
"你想帮助小马。这是值得表扬的。这就是我喜欢小皮普的地方,"她笑着说。"但你不必因为我告诉你一些令人不安的消息就向东方发起冲击。"
“But I thought that that was what heroes are supposed to do? We charge off into the fray so other ponies can get away,” I said with a touch of sarcasm. I glanced over at Homage, but the gray unicorn wasn’t smiling as she looked across the room at LittlePip talking with Rampage. “Homage?”
"但我认为那是英雄应该做的事情？我们冲进了战场，这样其他的小马就可以逃脱了。"我带着一丝讽刺的口吻说。我瞥了一眼《致敬》，但当灰色的独角兽看着房间另一端小匹普和狂暴交谈的时候，并没有微笑。"敬意?"
“I hope she knows I don’t want her to go,” Homage murmured softly. “I know I tease her… sometimes I think I’m absolutely horrible to her. But it’s only because the alternative is crying and begging her not to leave. I know she has to. She’s just like you; she has to do things. Save Tenpony. Save the Wasteland. Save me. I’m just scared that I’m going to lose her. Sometimes I wish I could go with her… so that if something bad happens, then I’ll be right there with her. I’m so jealous of you and Glory.”
"我希望她知道我不想让她走。"。"我知道我总是取笑她......有时候我觉得自己对她太糟糕了。但这只是因为另一种选择就是哭着求她不要离开。我知道她必须这么做。她和你一样，她必须做一些事情。拯救Tenpony。拯救荒原。救救我。我只是害怕我会失去她。有时候我希望我能和她一起去......这样如果有什么不好的事情发生，我就会和她在一起。我太嫉妒你和晨辉了。"
I closed my eyes. “I wish I could leave her here. I saw her die right before my eyes, Homage. Just a few days back. She was inches from my face, and then she fell. One of my enemies saved her life, but for a while there... It crushed me. And I’m always afraid that some decision I make is going to kill her.”
我闭上了眼睛。"我希望我能把她留在这里。我亲眼看着她死去，向她致敬。就在几天前。她离我的脸只有几英寸，然后就摔倒了。我的一个敌人救了她的命，但是有那么一会儿......我崩溃了。我总是担心我做的某个决定会害死她。"
“I’m just scared something’s going to happen to LittlePip,” Homage said and I looked at her. “Every time I see her, she’s slipped a little further from me. It’s not so much her dying… as terrible as that would be. I’ve had somepony I loved killed before. You live through it, as much as it hurts. I’m afraid that something will happen… something like… like what you had to do in Stable 99. She’ll have to make a choice… or she’ll go too far… or something. I keep telling her to fight the good fight… and she will. She’ll fight till it destroys her.”
"我只是害怕小匹普会发生什么事,"霍梅说，我看着她。"每次我见到她，她都离我越来越远。与其说是她的死......不如说是那么可怕。我以前杀过一匹我爱的小马。你经历了它，尽管它很痛苦。我担心会发生一些事情......就像......就像你在Stable99中不得不做的那样。她必须做出选择......否则她会走得太远......或者别的什么。我一直告诉她要为正义而战......她会的。她会一直战斗直到毁灭她。"
I knew something of the blame game. “I haven’t really known LittlePip all that long, but I think she’d do this whether you told her to fight or to stay. She’s like me like that. Dumb, huh?”
我知道一些推卸责任的游戏。"我认识皮普的时间并不长，但我认为无论你告诉她去战斗还是留下，她都会这样做。她就像我一样。很蠢吧?"
“Mmmm, but it’s what I love about her. She really, truly, will do whatever she has to to help other ponies,” Homage said softly, sniffing and rubbing her eyes. Of course, at that moment LittlePip was trotting over with Xenith and Glory.
"嗯，但这正是我喜欢她的地方。"她真的，真的，会尽一切努力帮助其他小马,"霍瑞温柔地说，一边嗅着一边揉着眼睛。当然，就在那一刻，小皮普带着克尼斯和晨辉小跑过来了。
“I can’t believe she survived being put through a wood chipper,” LittlePip murmured. “Is Hoofington like Freakytown Central or something?” But then she spotted Homage and started to look concerned. “Homage? Are you okay?”
"我简直不敢相信她竟然能活着穿过一个锯木机,"小匹普喃喃自语道。"Hoofington是Freakytown中心还是什么地方?"但是后来她看到了《致敬》，并开始表现出担忧。"敬意？你还好吗?"
“Sure. Absolutely,” I said with a wide grin.
"当然。当然,"我咧开嘴笑着说。
Homage nodded and smiled. “Mhmm.”
敬意点头微笑。"嗯。"
“Hey LittlePip…” I gave my slyest grin. “I just couldn’t help but notice that Homage likes mares… and Glory likes mares… and you like mares… and me, well I think the three of you are the cutiest darn trio of fillies collected in the Wasteland. And, as I recall, Twilight once owned a book called the Zebra Sutra. Not suggesting anything. Just saying…” I grinned as lecherously as possible.
"嘿，小匹普......"我咧嘴一笑。"我忍不住注意到'敬意'喜欢母马......'晨辉'喜欢母马......你喜欢母马......还有我，我觉得你们三个是荒原上收集的最可爱的三匹小母马。而且，据我回忆，《暮光之城》曾经拥有一本叫做《斑马经》的书。没有任何暗示。只是说说而已......"我尽可能地露齿而笑。
Xenith looked at the little unicorn and one-winged pegasus and observed curiously, “I did not know pony hooves could blush.”
色尼斯看着小独角兽和单翼的飞马，好奇地说:"我不知道小马蹄子会脸红。"
* * *
* * *
Things smoothed out a bit after that. There was one little inescapable hitch, though: the alicorn in the corner. She sat quietly, her purple eyes observing us all. LittlePip had done her utmost to ignore her presence completely. I’d explained she couldn’t read anything if she didn’t touch horns, but the little unicorn just grunted sourly and kept her distance. Still, as the night wore on, LittlePip kept looking over at the far corner where the purple alicorn sat silently.
事情在那之后稍微平静了一点。不过有一个小小的不可避免的障碍:角落里的小角果。她静静地坐着，紫色的眼睛注视着我们所有人。利特尔·皮普竭尽全力完全无视她的存在。我解释说，如果她不碰触角的话，她就什么也看不懂，但是那只小独角兽不高兴地咕哝着，保持着距离。尽管如此，随着夜晚的流逝，小匹普不停地看着远处的角落，那里紫色的橡子静静地坐着。
“Are you absolutely sure she’s safe?” LittlePip asked softly.
"你确定她安全吗?"小匹普轻声问道。
“Oh yeah, Lacunae’s an angel as long as the Goddess isn’t possessing her,” I said with a casual smile.
"哦，是的，只要女神不附在她身上，Lacunae就是一个天使,"我随意地笑着说。
The little unicorn balked. “Wait. She can just take over at any time?” I nodded and got that ‘you are crazy’ look again. “Aren’t you afraid she’s just going to take over and kill you?”
小独角兽犹豫不决。"等等。她可以随时接手吗?"我点点头，又摆出一副'你疯了'的表情。"难道你不害怕她会接管你然后杀了你吗?"
“Kill me? Do you realize how much I owe the Goddess?” I said with a snort. “I’m in debt to her up to my horn. She’s not going to just throw all that away.” Velvet stared in shock as P-21 sighed and shook his head. I continued, “Besides, all my friends have tried to kill me at one time or another. You get used to it.” I shrugged, and LittlePip looked at my friends in shock.
"杀了我？你知道我欠女神多少钱吗?"我哼了一声说。"我欠她的债太多了。她不会就这么放弃这一切的。"维尔韦特震惊地盯着P-21叹了口气，摇了摇头。我继续说,"此外，我所有的朋友都曾经试图杀死我。你会习惯的。"我耸耸肩，小皮普震惊地看着我的朋友们。
“I haven’t!” Scotch protested as she peeked out at the balefire phoenix stalking above her.
"我没有!"苏格兰人一边反对，一边窥视着在她头顶上方悄悄靠近的凤凰。
“Oh, right. Scotch hasn’t,” I amended with a shrug.
"哦，对了。苏格兰威士忌没有,"我耸了耸肩。
LittlePip rubbed her chin. “Now that I think about it, most of my friends have tried to kill me, too…”
小皮普摩挲着她的下巴。"现在想想，我的大多数朋友也想杀了我......"
Rampage laughed. “Hey! We could make a ‘Tried to kill our leaders’ club!”
狂暴大笑起来。"嘿！我们可以成立一个'企图杀害我们领导人'俱乐部!"
“Could I get in on that?” I wondered.
"我能加入吗?"我很好奇。
The striped mare nodded. “Sure, Blackjack! You’ve tried to kill you more than anyone!”
有斑纹的母马点点头。"当然，黑杰克！你比任何人都想杀了你!"
LittlePip, Rampage, and I laughed as the black unicorn stammered, “This… this isn’t healthy!” She looked at the blue stallion as she pointed at me and LittlePip.
当黑独角兽结结巴巴地说:"这...这不健康!"她指着我和小匹普，看着那匹蓝色的种马。
P-21 just nodded and deadpanned, “Yes, Velvet. Everyone from the Hoof is like this.” He lead her off. “It helps if you think of her as a foal dropped on her head… repeatedly.”
P-21只是点点头，面无表情地说:"是的，天鹅绒。霍夫的每个人都是这样的。"他把她引开了。"如果你把她想象成一只不断掉在她头上的小马驹，这会有所帮助。"
“Don’t forget the lead paint!” I called after them, getting a look from LittlePip. “What? That stuff’s good.”
"别忘了铅涂料!"我跟在他们后面打电话，让小皮普看了一眼。"什么？这些东西很好。"
LittlePip shook her head. “Blackjack, you are just so… random!” I grinned as we approached Lacunae, Rampage trotting away to talk to Velvet. The purple alicorn looked at her calmly as LittlePip forced a small, tense smile. “Hi.”
小皮普摇了摇头。"黑杰克，你真是太...不着调了!"当我们走近拉古奈时，我咧嘴笑了笑，狂暴的小跑开去和维尔维特谈话。紫色的橡子平静地看着她，小皮普挤出一个小小的，紧张的微笑。"嗨。"
“Hello,” she said telepathically, making LittlePip’s mane stand on end.
"你好,"她心灵感应地说，使小匹普的鬃毛竖了起来。
“Well so nice to meet you! Goodbye!” she said as she turned, and I caught her.
"嗯，很高兴见到你！再见!"她边说边转过身来，我抓住了她。
“She’s not going to gobble you up,” I said firmly.
"她不会把你吃掉的,"我坚定地说。
“Well, duh. I know that,” she said, as if she were trying to convince herself. She slowly turned back around and took a deep breath. “Hi. Lacunae… right? That is your name?”
"好吧，废话。我知道,"她说，好像她在试图说服自己。她慢慢地转过身，深深地吸了一口气。"嗨。空隙...对吧？那是你的名字吗?"
“It suffices…” Lacunae said quietly. “Lacunae is what I am. Something
"这就够了......"拉库奈平静地说。"空白就是我。一些东西
missing.”
失踪"
LittlePip frowned in confusion. “Something missing from you?”
小皮普困惑地皱起了眉头。"你少了什么东西吗?"
“Things missing from others,” she said cryptically. I rolled my eyes.
"别人遗漏的东西,"她含糊地说。我翻了翻白眼。
“Lacunae’s where the Goddess shoves all the memories and thoughts she doesn’t want to deal with in Unity. Apparently, there’s a whole lot of guilt and angst when you blend together the minds and souls of thousands of ponies. Rather than deal with it, it all gets repressed.”
"空隙是女神将她不想在统一中处理的所有记忆和思想推送出去的地方。显然，当你把成千上万匹小马的思想和灵魂混合在一起时，你会产生很多的内疚和焦虑。这一切都被压抑了，而不是去解决它。"
“All in one pony?” LittlePip asked with a note of concern. “How do you… I mean… I would have thought…”
"都在一匹小马里?"小皮普关切地问道。"你怎么......我是说......我以为......"
“That I’d be a complete monster?” Lacunae said quietly. “Like how you see all alicorns you’ve encountered?”
"我会成为一个彻头彻尾的怪物?"拉库奈平静地说。"比如你怎么看待你遇到的所有橡树果?"
LittlePip winced. “Well, you’ve been helping Red Eye and trying to kill me…”
小匹普退缩了。"好吧，你一直在帮助红眼，并试图杀死我......"
“Red Eye was the first to ever come to us with an offer to help. You were in Appleloosa to interfere with his operations. Were we supposed to abandon that allegiance and betray him?” she replied calmly as she stared down at LittlePip.
"红眼是第一个向我们提供帮助的人。你去Appleloosa是为了干涉他的行动。难道我们应该放弃这种忠诚，背叛他吗?"她平静地回答，同时低头看着小匹普。
“Well… yes?” LittlePip said with a sheepish smile. “I mean... all the things he’s done...”
"嗯......怎么了?"小皮普带着羞怯的微笑说。"我是说......他所做的一切......"
“He was the first power in the Wasteland to work with us. We have no desire to perpetuate slavery. We are trying to save all of ponykind through Unity. We tried to send out priests and converts, but they were assaulted and killed by all manner of perils. We were attacked on sight by so many settlements.”
"他是荒原上第一个与我们合作的力量。我们无意使奴隶制永久化。我们正试图通过联合拯救所有的马种。我们试图派出牧师和皈依者，但他们被各种各样的危险袭击和杀害。我们一看到就遭到这么多定居点的袭击。"
“You don’t… you can’t just sit there and try and tell me you’re the victims here! You force ponies to join Unity!”
"你不能......你不能只是坐在那里，试图告诉我你是这里的受害者！你强迫小马加入团结!"
“Would you allow somepony you care for to die because they refuse to take medicine that will cure them?” she replied calmly, making LittlePip balk. “You kill enemies and threats to survivors in the Wasteland, but do you remain to make certain they do not starve next month? Die of thirst next week? In Unity, we transform ponies into a form that does not hunger or weaken in this world. We protect their souls in us. Can you do the same?”
"你会让你关心的小马死去，因为它们拒绝服用能治愈它们的药物吗?"她平静地回答，使小匹普犹豫不决。"你在荒原杀死敌人和对幸存者的威胁，但是你留下来确保他们下个月不会饿死吗？下周渴死？在团结中，我们把小马变成一种在这个世界上不会饥饿或衰弱的形式。我们保护他们的灵魂。你能做同样的事吗?"
“In you?” LittlePip murmured in shock. “You mean… you trap their souls inside you?”
"在你身上?"小皮普震惊地低声说。"你是说......你把他们的灵魂困在你体内?"
“In us, we endure. They are not hurt. They are safe from death forever,” Lacunae murmured softly, then closed her eyes.
"在我们身上，我们忍耐。他们没有受伤。他们永远不会死去,"拉库娜轻声地说，然后闭上了眼睛。
LittlePip frowned, looking confused and a little guilty. “I think I liked it better when you were just trying to kill me.”
小皮皱起了眉头，看上去很困惑，有点内疚。"我觉得我更喜欢你想杀我的时候。"
“You are helping us,” Lacunae said calmly, and that seemed to make her squirm. “Reluctantly. Unwillingly, perhaps. But helping us. With your help, we will stop Red Eye, end slavery, and halt the suffering of all ponies in the Wasteland.”
"你在帮助我们,"拉库娜平静地说，这似乎让她感到不安。"很不情愿。也许是不情愿的。但是帮助我们。在你们的帮助下，我们将停止红眼，结束奴隶制，停止所有小马在废土的苦难。"
But as she spoke, our friends gathered around us, “And what about others?” Homage asked as she trotted up with a small frown.
但是当她说话的时候，我们的朋友聚集在我们周围,"那么其他人呢?"她皱着眉头快步走过来，表示敬意。
“Others?” Lacunae said in confusion.
"其他人?"空白处困惑地说。
“Yes, others. It’s not like it’s just ponies out there! What about zebras?” Xenith looked at Lacunae with that steady, imperturbable gaze.
"是的，其他人。外面又不是只有小马！那斑马呢?"克尼斯用那种沉着冷静的目光凝视着Lacunae。
“They are… not us. We cannot... We do not know…” the purple alicorn started to stammer.
"他们......不是我们。我们不能......我们不知道......"紫果开始结巴。
“And griffins?” suggested Calamity. Doubt flickered in Lacunae’s eyes. “You just gonna kill ‘em?”
"狮鹫呢?"建议的灾难。拉库奈的眼睛里闪烁着疑虑。"你要杀了他们?"
“We would rather... it is not... you don’t understand...”
"我们宁愿......不是......你不明白......"
“And hellhounds?” Velvet Remedy asked as she joined in as well. I blinked at that and Calamity groaned softly. Weren’t hellhounds some kind of monster? But then, weren’t alicorns?
"地狱犬呢?"当她也加入进来的时候，丝绒补救问道。我眨了眨眼睛，卡莱米斯轻轻地呻吟起来。地狱犬不是某种怪物吗？但话说回来，难道不是橡树果吗？
“And dragons?” asked Rampage. “I’m pretty sure there’s still a few of those around. You gonna be able to dip them into Unity as well?”
"那龙呢?"狂暴问道。"我非常肯定，现在还有几家这样的公司。你能让他们也加入联合吗?"
“And ghouls!” piped up Scotch Tape with the phoenix standing on her rump. I looked at her with a smile, and she flushed. “What? Harpica and those other ghoul kids were nice!”
"还有食尸鬼!"她屁股上立着一只凤凰，苏格兰磁带响了起来。我微笑着看着她，她脸红了。"什么？哈皮卡和其他食尸鬼的孩子都很好!"
LittlePip looked at all of us backing her and smiled before she looked back at Lacunae. “That’s why Unity’s just not enough. It’s not enough to save just ponies by turning us all into alicorns. We have to fix this world.”
小皮普看着我们所有人支持她，微笑着，然后她回头看了看拉库奈。"这就是为什么团结是不够的原因。仅仅拯救小马是不够的，还要把我们变成橡子。我们必须修复这个世界。"
“We have to do better,” I said quietly. “No one person… no one goddess… can do it all themselves.”
"我们必须做得更好,"我平静地说。"没有任何一个人......没有任何一位女神......能够独自完成这一切。"
Then Lacunae sighed as well. “We liked it better when you were dropping boxcars on us too.” Then her eyes turned hard. “WE WILL SAVE WHAT WE CAN, HOW BEST WE CAN. WE SHALL THRIVE IN THIS WORLD. REMEMBER OUR ACCORD, AND THEN YOU WILL LEARN THE PEACE THAT COMES THOUGH UNITY!” she thundered at all of us. LittlePip drew Little Macintosh, but I shook my head hard. Lacunae shuddered and sighed. “My apologies for… that.”
然后空隙也叹了口气。"我们也更喜欢你把货车扔到我们身上。"然后她的眼睛转得很厉害。"我们将尽最大努力挽救我们所能挽救的一切。我们将在这个世界繁荣昌盛。记住我们的协议，你们就会学到团结带来的和平!"她对我们大发雷霆。小皮普画了小麦金托什，但我使劲摇了摇头。空隙颤抖着叹息着。"我为此感到抱歉。"
LittlePip put the revolver away, looking on in concern, “Are you all right?”
小皮普把左轮手枪放下，关切地看着,"你没事吧?"
“She hoped to convince you. To truly convince you. She did not expect… that…” she said as she slumped against the wall. “Now she’s feeling shame… and doubt… and questioning herself.”
"她希望能说服你。才能真正说服你。她没想到......那个......"她说着靠在了墙上。"现在她感到羞耻......怀疑......并质疑自己。"
“She is?” Velvet asked in astonishment. “Then maybe…” but Lacunae sniffed softly and shook her head.
"是吗?"维尔韦特吃惊地问。"那么也许......"拉库尼轻轻地吸了一口气，摇了摇头。
“She’s stuffing it all into you, isn’t she?” I asked as I knelt beside her. Lacunae nodded silently and I cursed the coward.
"她把一切都塞进了你的身体里，不是吗?"我跪在她身边问道。拉库奈默默地点点头，我诅咒这个懦夫。
“You mean… anything that might convince her to change her mind is being put into you?” Velvet asked softly.
"你的意思是......任何可能说服她改变主意的东西都会被注入你的体内?"维尔韦特轻声问道。
“All that remains is the certainty of the correctness of her course,” Lacunae said as she looked at LittlePip. “You know she plans to force you into Unity when you uphold your end of the bargain?”
"剩下的就是她的路线是否正确的确定性了,"拉库纳看着小匹普说。"你知道她打算在你履行诺言时强迫你加入团结吗?"
The little unicorn swallowed hard and then gave a grudging little nod. “I figured she’d do something like that.”
小独角兽艰难地咽了一口唾沫，然后勉强点了点头。"我就知道她会这么做。"
“And you have a plan to stop her?” Lacunae asked as I saw, for the first time, tears in my friend’s eyes. LittlePip stood there for the longest time and then gave a single jerky nod. Lacunae gave a small smile as she closed her eyes. “Good.”
"你有计划阻止她吗?"当我第一次看到我朋友眼中的泪水时，空隙问道。小皮普在那里站了很长时间，然后点了一下头。她闭上眼睛，露出一丝微笑。"很好。"
* * *
* * *
The party was pretty well done after that. Calamity and Velvet trotted out. I wasn’t tired… but then, my body didn’t do tired anymore. I wondered if this was how Harpica and Ditzy felt all the time, this stillness within. I wasn’t hungry. Wasn’t thirsty. Couldn’t detect myself breathing. No heartbeat. Was I really still alive at all? I trotted to the window and looked out at the darkness. Red Eye’s forces had withdrawn; whatever LittlePip had said on the radio had convinced him.
在那之后，聚会办得相当不错。灾难和天鹅绒小跑出来。我不累......但是后来，我的身体不再累了。我想知道这是不是哈皮卡和迪兹一直以来的感觉，这种内心的宁静。我不饿。我不渴。我感觉不到自己的呼吸。没有心跳。我真的还活着吗？我小跑到窗前，望着窗外的黑暗。红眼的部队已经撤退了;无论小皮普在电台上说了什么，他都相信了。
“Quite a party,” LittlePip said as she trotted up beside me and looked out as well. “Looks like it worked… whatever we did,” she said with a small expression of confusion.
"真是个盛大的派对,"小匹普一边说，一边小跑着走到我身边，向外望去。"看起来起作用了......不管我们做了什么,"她带着一丝困惑的表情说。
“You did it. I was just backing you up,” I said softly as we both stared out at the night. “Your mind-reading enemy is the Goddess, isn’t she?” LittlePip looked down at her hooves and sighed, then nodded. See… the Blackjack express would arrive… eventually.
"你做到了。我只是在支持你,"我轻声说，我们俩都盯着外面的夜色。"你那会读心术的敌人是女神，是不是?"小皮普低头看了看她的蹄子，叹了口气，然后点了点头。你看......黑杰克特快终于要到了。
I closed my eyes. Should I tell her about the Enervation ring? Should I try and talk her out of it? Help her? Warn Lacunae? I tapped my head against the thick glass window. I couldn’t deal with this now. Why couldn’t it all be simple? It was never… ever… simple!
我闭上了眼睛。我应该告诉她关于"衰弱"戒指的事吗？我应该试着说服她吗？帮她？警告缺陷？我的头轻轻地撞在厚厚的玻璃窗上。我现在没法处理这件事。为什么就不能简单点呢？它从来......从来......都不简单！
“I wasn’t sure I could tell you earlier. Now I’m not sure what I had planned exactly. It’s all… muddled up.” I sighed, wishing I could tweak my own memories as well. Simple ponies like me were not meant for brain-perplexing problems!
"我不确定能不能早点告诉你。现在我不确定我到底计划了什么。一切都......混乱不堪。"我叹了口气，希望自己也能调整一下自己的记忆。像我这样简单的小马可不是用来解决大脑问题的！
“Be careful with that memory manipulation stuff. Tried it on Scotch to remove some horrors. Didn’t work too well,” I warned as I looked out at the night and the few lights that filled it, distant and dark like the black beyond the stars. I sighed. “And I know you’re not going to like this… but the Goddess knows about Gardens.”
"小心那些操纵记忆的东西。在苏格兰威士忌上试试，以消除一些恐怖。当我向外望去，看到夜空中只有寥寥几盏灯，远远的，黑暗的，就像星星之外的黑暗，我警告说。我叹了口气。"我知道你不会喜欢这个......但是女神知道花园。"
“What?” she asked as she stared at me in horror. “How? I thought…”
"什么?"她惊恐地盯着我问道。"怎么回事？我想......"
“She knows it exists, but not where it is or what it does. Spike’s safe. And I’m so brain damaged Lacunae will never pick it up. But you should know the Goddess thinks that it might be able to be… well… repurposed.”
"她知道它的存在，但不知道它在哪里，也不知道它做了什么。斯派克安全了。而且我的脑子已经坏掉了，腔隙菌永远也不会捡起来。但你应该知道，女神认为它可以......呃......重新利用。"
“Repurposed? How?” Then her eyes went wide. “You mean instead of purifying… she could use it to contaminate everything?”
"重新用途？怎么做?"然后她的眼睛睁得大大的。"你的意思是，她可以用它来污染一切，而不是进行净化?"
“Mhmmm…” I said with a nod. “That’s about how I felt when Lacunae let it slip. The Goddess could use Gardens to pick up where the bombs left off.” LittlePip groaned as she buried her face in her hooves. “Well… bombs plus taint, I suppose,” I amended as I patted her shoulder.
"嗯......"我点了点头。"这就是当空隙说漏嘴时我的感受。女神可以利用花园来取回炸弹留下的地方。"当她把脸埋在蹄子里时，小皮普呻吟着。"嗯......炸弹加污点，我想,"我拍拍她的肩膀补充道。
“Everything alright?” Homage asked as she walked up to us.
"一切都还好吧?"她向我们走来，向我们致敬。
“Oh, just talking about fun stuff. Radiation. Taint. The end of the world,” I said with a roll of my eyes.
"哦，只是聊些有趣的事情。辐射。污染。世界末日,"我转着眼珠说。
“Lots of fun,” Homage murmured as she looked at the little unicorn.
"非常有趣,"霍瑞米看着那只小独角兽喃喃地说。
“Personally, I just wish I knew what taint is… I mean, I had a gun filled with the stuff!”
"就我个人而言，我只是希望我知道污点是什么......我的意思是，我有一把装满污点的枪!"
“It’s a potion that was developed by Twilight Sparkle in the years before the ending of the war,” LittlePip murmured dejectedly. “Twilight Sparkle used it to create alicorns. It was her last act before the bombs fell. There were huge vats full of it in Maripony, and the diamond dog warrens underneath Pleasant Valley were full of rejected batches.”
"这是紫悦在战争结束前几年研制出来的药剂,"小匹普沮丧地说。"紫悦用它创造了海角公司。这是她在炸弹落下之前的最后一次行动。在Maripony，有很多大桶装满了这种东西，而在欢乐谷(PleasantValley)下面的钻石狗杂院(diamonddogwarrens)，则堆满了被拒收的批次。"
I blinked as I stared at LittlePip. “Well… that doesn’t make any sense.”
当我盯着小匹普时，我眨了眨眼。"嗯......这说不通啊。"
“Huh?” LittlePip slowly lifted her head to look at me.
"啊?"小皮普慢慢地抬起头看着我。
“Well… I mean, it couldn’t be just the potion. Because taint is all over the place, right?” I asked, looking at Homage.
"嗯......我的意思是，不可能只是药剂的问题。因为污点到处都是，对吧?"我看着《致敬》问道。
The gray unicorn frowned, but then nodded. “Well… yes… but the contamination is strongest around Maripony.” She rubbed her nose, her brows knitting. “But… you can find taint from Hoofington to Trottingham and all over the place in between.”
灰色的独角兽皱了皱眉，然后点了点头。"嗯......是的......但是污染在马里波尼附近最严重。"她揉揉鼻子，皱皱眉头。"但是......从Hoofington到Trottingham，乃至两者之间的任何地方，你都可以找到污点。"
“So did the potion magically teleport itself halfway across Equestria from Pleasant Valley?” I asked as I looked at them, and now LittlePip was looking confused as well.
"那么，药剂是不是神奇地从欢喜谷穿越半个Equestria传送过来的?"我看着他们问道，现在小皮普看起来也很困惑。
“Look, the potion causes massive magical mutation. I don’t know how it got so… so scattered… but it must have somehow,” LittlePip said with a frown.
"看，这药水会引起大规模的魔法变异。我不知道它怎么会变得如此......如此分散......但它一定有某种原因,"小匹普皱着眉头说。
But the old Blackjack express was wheeling along for once. “Except… Twilight made a spell to neutralize taint before she completed the potion, right? Why would she create a neutralizer spell for her own potion she hadn’t even completed?” LittlePip’s frown faded as she nodded. I felt a five watt bulb alight in my brain. “So… whatever taint is… it can’t be the potion… or rather… it can’t be just the potion.”
但是老式的Blackjack特快列车终于开动了一次。"除了......暮光在她完成药剂之前，制造了一个中和污点的咒语，对吗？她为什么要为自己还没完成的药剂创造中和剂咒语呢?"当她点点头时，小匹普皱起的眉头消失了。我觉得脑子里有个五瓦的灯泡在闪烁。"所以......不管是什么污点......都不可能是药剂......或者更确切地说......不可能只是药剂。"
“Maybe… I don’t know,” LittlePip said with a frown. “It doesn’t quite add up…”
"也许......我不知道,"小匹普皱着眉头说。"这说不通......"
“Twilight must have had some hint though as to what taint was and how to stop it before she made the potion. Some… something. And so she made a spell to remove it. Then she used that something to make her alicorns.” I clopped my hooves together.
"暮光之城一定暗示了什么是污点，以及在她制作魔药之前如何阻止污点。一些...一些东西。所以她施了个咒语来移除它。然后她就用这个东西来做她的橡子。"我把蹄子合拢在一起。
“Maybe…” LittlePip said with a sigh as she rubbed her chin. Then she frowned. “Ugh… I hate mysteries.”
"也许......"小皮普抚摸着下巴，叹了口气说。然后她皱起了眉头。"呃...我讨厌神秘事件。"
“You’re telling me?” I laughed, and got a smile in return. Glory trotted up as well with a smile.
"你在告诉我吗?"我笑了，得到一个微笑作为回报。晨辉也带着微笑小跑起来。
Everypony was starting to head for the elevators. P-21 carried Scotch on his back, and I felt a warm and fuzzy feeling in my… magical blood pump thing. We started to drift over as well. “You know what sucks? I’m probably going to have to erase everything that happened tonight in the morning,” LittlePip said with a sigh as the four of us filed into the elevator.
每个小马都开始朝电梯走去。P-21背着苏格兰威士忌，我感到一种温暖和模糊的感觉在我的......神奇的血泵的东西。我们也开始飘飘然了。"你知道什么最糟糕吗？我可能不得不抹去今天早上发生的一切,"当我们四个鱼贯走进电梯时，小匹普叹了口气说。
“Well…” Homage said with a mysterious little smile as she pushed the button and the doors slid shut. “Best make it a night worth forgetting.”
"好吧......""敬意"带着神秘的微笑说，她按了一下按钮，门就关上了。"最好让这个夜晚值得我们遗忘。"
* * *
* * *
It was very late… or really early… when I pulled myself from the sweaty sheets, listening to the snores, marveling in the simple music of unregulated breathing. I felt good… not just content or pain free… but good. And as I walked to the window and saw the faintest glow to the east, I was glad that Glory had saved me. Glad that I’d met LittlePip and Homage. There were good ponies out here…
那时已经很晚了......或者说真的很早了......我把自己从汗湿的床单上拉出来，听着呼噜声，惊叹于简单的无节制呼吸的音乐。我感觉很好......不仅仅是满足或者没有痛苦......而是很好。当我走到窗前，看到东边有微弱的光亮时，我很高兴晨辉救了我。很高兴我遇到了小匹普和敬意。这里有很多好马。
ponies who wanted to help and be friends.
想要帮忙和成为朋友的小马。
“Ponies worth fighting for,” the Dealer said quietly as he sat on the windowsill. I glanced at him. He looked younger; I didn’t know what that meant. He nudged back his battered, wide-brimmed hat as he looked to the east. “So you’re going, then.”
"值得为之战斗的小马,"商人坐在窗台上平静地说。我瞥了他一眼。他看起来更年轻，我不知道那是什么意思。他把那顶破旧的宽边帽往后推了推，向东看去。"那么，你要去了。"
“You knew I would,” I replied quietly.
"你知道我会的,"我平静地回答。
“I knew you would,” he rasped as he shuffled his cards. “But somepony needed to give you a choice… even if it’s one you could never make.”
"我知道你会的,"他一边洗牌一边粗声粗气地说。"但有些小马需要给你一个选择......即使这是一个你永远无法做出的选择。"
“Thanks,” I replied, sincerely. I heard steps behind me, and he disappeared from view.
"谢谢,"我诚恳地回答。我听到身后有脚步声，他就从我的视线中消失了。
“Who were you talking to?” Glory asked softly as she hugged me from behind, snugging her legs against my body and sheltering us both with her wing.
"你在和谁说话?"格洛里轻声地问道，她从后面抱住我，用她的翅膀紧紧地贴着我的身体，庇护着我们俩。
“Just my crazy,” I said as I leaned back against her, thankful for every inch of my hide that wasn’t metallic. I still smelled her in my nostrils and tasted her on my lips, and when we kissed it was the sweetest flavor ever. Finally, I pulled away. “Thank you for last night.”
"我真是疯了,"我靠在她身上说，感谢我身上每一寸没有金属的皮肤。我仍然在我的鼻孔里闻到她的味道，在我的嘴唇上尝到她的味道，当我们亲吻的时候，那是有史以来最甜蜜的味道。最后，我离开了。"昨晚的事谢谢你。"
“I wasn’t sure you’d want to do it… not after… not after what happened on the boat,” Glory said in a soft, scared little voice.
"我不确定你是否愿意这么做......尤其是在......尤其是在船上发生了那样的事情之后,"格洛里用一种温柔、害怕的小声音说。
“You mean when I was raped?” It was a curious word. I would have thought that I’d flinch or something. But it was more like a lead weight on my mind, compressing my feelings under its subtle, heavy load.
"你是说我被强奸的时候?"这是一个奇怪的词。我还以为我会退缩什么的。但它更像是压在我心头的铅块，在它微妙而沉重的负担下压缩着我的感情。
She nodded. “I wouldn’t think you’d want… you know… at all.”
她点点头。"我觉得你不会想要......你知道......一点也不。"
I smiled and kissed her again. “They didn’t beat me, Glory. If they had found Scotch… if they’d touched her… I would have been destroyed. That would have been it for me. So they fucked me good and hard… slimed me up and tore me raw… that didn’t matter. Hurting me didn’t matter. Long as they didn’t hurt anypony else… I didn’t matter.” The whole memory was just one ugly cloud. I couldn’t get rid of it… I didn’t deserve to be rid of it. So I’d just carry it along with all the others.
我笑了笑，又吻了她一下。"他们没有打败我，晨辉。如果他们找到苏格兰威士忌......如果他们碰了她......我就完了。对我来说就是这样。所以他们狠狠地干了我......把我粘了起来，把我撕成碎片......这都不重要。伤害我并不重要。只要他们不伤害其他小马......我就无所谓。"整个记忆只是一团丑陋的乌云。我无法摆脱它...我不配摆脱它。所以我只能把它和其他东西放在一起。
She started shaking behind me, hugging me even tighter. I heard her sniff and give a little sob as she tried to remain as silent as possible. Hot tears trickled down the side of my neck. “Glory… why… why are you crying?” I asked, feeling baffled. I’d just told her it was okay…
她开始在我身后颤抖，把我抱得更紧。我听到她在尽可能保持沉默时，闻了闻气味，抽泣了一下。热泪顺着我的脖子流下来。"晨辉......为什么......你为什么哭?"我问道，感到困惑。我告诉她没关系。
“Because you won’t!” she said in my ear, muffling herself with her mane. “You matter to me, Blackjack. You matter… you matter to so many ponies and you… you died! You were hurt! You… sweet Celestia, why are you so convinced you deserve to suffer? You paid for 99, okay? You’ve paid for everything. So why can’t you accept that you matter and it’s as wrong for you to be hurt as it is for Scotch or me or anypony else to be?”
"因为你不会!"她在我耳边说，用鬃毛遮住自己的声音。"你对我来说很重要，Blackjack。你很重要...你对这么多小马很重要而你...你死了！你受伤了！你...可爱的塞莱斯蒂亚，为什么你如此确信你应该受苦？你付了99美元，好吗？一切都是你付出的代价。那么，你为什么就不能接受自己很重要的事实呢?你受到伤害，就像苏格兰威士忌、我或其他小马一样，都是不对的。"
I closed my eyes and marveled at the silk of her mane, the wet trickle of her tears, the sound of her ragged breathing and the beat of her heart. The most beautiful sound in the world. “I don’t know… like I said. Crazy…” She broke into more sobs as she held me close, shedding tears I couldn’t. I wished I knew a way to make her stop, or a way for me to join her. “Anyway… thank you for last night,” I said softly as I was held by her. “Oddly… I think I understand why Deus acted like he did…” She silenced, and I peeked back at her with a little smile.
我闭上眼睛，惊叹于她鬃毛般的丝绸，她泪水的细流，她粗糙的呼吸声和她心脏的跳动。世界上最美的声音。"我不知道......就像我说的那样。疯了......"当她紧紧抱住我的时候，哭得更厉害了，我流不下眼泪。我希望我知道一个能让她停下来的方法，或者一个能让我加入她的方法。"无论如何......昨晚谢谢你,"我轻轻地说，我被她抱着。"奇怪的是......我想我明白为什么天王表现得像他一样......"她沉默了，我微笑着回视了她一眼。
“You understand him?” There was something in her face; a look both repelled and curious at the same time. I supposed it was the doctor in her. “That’s… I don’t... um... wow...”
"你明白他的意思吗?"她的脸上有些东西，一种既厌恶又好奇的表情。我猜想是因为她身上有医生的气质。"那是...我不...嗯...哇..."
“Sorry for the awkward,” I said with a rueful smile.
"抱歉让你尴尬了,"我苦笑着说。
“You don’t... I mean... do you want... like he...” She was babbling, and I smiled and kissed her.
"你不......我的意思是......你想......像他那样......"她喃喃自语，我微笑着吻了她。
“You didn’t turn me into a cyberpony sexfiend rapist.” At least... I really really really hoped she hadn’t. “I just mean that, now that half of me is mechanical, I think I know why he acted like he did.”
"你没有把我变成一个性欲旺盛的赛博马强奸犯。"至少...我真的真的希望她没有。"我的意思是，现在我身体的一半是机械的，我想我知道他为什么那样做了。"
Glory relaxed a little, and her curiosity seemed to be overcoming the part of her that was horrified that I might empathize with a rapist... having been both a victim and perpetrator myself... honestly, I was getting a little turned around trying to come to terms with it. “What do you mean, then?”
晨辉放松了一点，她的好奇心似乎战胜了她的那部分恐惧，我可能会同情一个强奸犯......我自己既是受害者又是犯罪者......说实话，我在试图接受这个事实的过程中有了一些转变。"那么，你是什么意思?"
“The professor said they had to let him retain his penis. Seems kinda stupid,
"教授说他们不得不让他保留阴茎。听起来有点傻
given what he did…” I murmured softly. “But Glory… what we did together… it was the first thing I’ve really done that made me feel like… like a pony. Like I was more than a machine. And making you feel good… making you happy… it made me feel like I’m more than just a source of misery and pain for you. I know that he was a monster for what he did… but given how he felt… I know how important it was to him.”
鉴于他的所作所为......"我轻声低语。"但晨辉......我们一起做的事......是我真正做的第一件事，让我感觉自己像......一匹小马。就好像我不仅仅是一台机器。让你感觉良好......让你快乐......这让我觉得我不仅仅是你痛苦和悲伤的来源。我知道他的所作所为是个怪物......但考虑到他的感受......我知道这对他有多重要。"
I thought of the professor, stuck in her jar with only a vague hope of getting her body back. Would she last years like that? Months? Weeks? Until I’d had sex, I hadn’t realized what a fundamental need it was for me. It was the last little bit of my flesh and blood equinity. I wouldn’t have survived as a brain in a jar. Nopony could… not with their sanity intact.
我想起了教授，她被困在罐子里，只有一线希望能找回自己的身体。她会像那样持续多年吗？几个月？几周？直到我有了性生活，我才意识到这对我来说是多么基本的需要。这是我最后一点血肉之躯。我就不会像一个装在罐子里的大脑那样存活下来了。Nopony不可能...他们的理智完好无损。
I sighed as I felt her reach down and felt her touch a warm and tender part of me. I groaned, a little part of my mind telling me that this was stupid and wasteful and indulgent and… and I took that part and mentally beat the shit out of it and leaned back and let her help me feel like a flesh and blood mare again.
我叹了口气，因为我感觉到她的手伸了下来，感觉到她触摸了我温暖而柔软的一部分。我呻吟着，我脑子里的一部分告诉我，这是愚蠢的、浪费的、放纵的......我把那部分拿出来，在精神上痛打了一顿，然后向后靠，让她帮我重新感觉到自己是一匹有血有肉的母马。
* * *
* * *
My barding was buckled, the usually simple task now... interesting with no magic and my new fingers. The battle saddle that Calamity had rigged for me yesterday was in place, Taurus’s rifle on one side and a new twelve gauge shotgun on the other. Vigilance was polished to a gleam and set in a foreleg holster. Lacunae had sewn my Crusader filly onto the Reaper hoofball uniform. My saddlebags were in place with an ammo feed to each gun. I was still getting used to the control bit.
我的剑被扣上了，通常很简单的任务现在...有趣的是没有魔法和我的新手指。昨天卡拉米蒂为我装配的战斗马鞍已经就位，一边是金牛座的步枪，另一边是一把新的十二口径猎枪。警惕性被擦得闪闪发亮，装在前腿枪套里。拉库尼把我的十字军小母马缝在死神的蹄球制服上。我的鞍囊里放着每把枪的弹药供给。我还在适应控制位。
“How do you keep from shooting by accident when you talk?” I asked as I looked back at Glory. This whole setup was weird… and just a touch kinky.
"当你说话的时候，你是如何避免意外射击的?"我一边问，一边回头看着晨辉。这一切都很奇怪......只是有点古怪。
“Practice,” she said as she nudged me with a smile. She then looked a little concerned at me working my tongue and reached up to tap a little tab on the side of my mouth. “Also, safeties.” Oh, yeah. That’d probably be smart.
"练习,"她微笑着推了推我。然后她看起来有点担心我的舌头工作，并达到了一个小标签在我的一边的嘴。"还有安全。"哦，是的。那可能是个聪明的主意。
We made our way up onto the roof where the three wings of alicorns awaited, six greens along with three purples. The green alicorns, according to Lacunae, had the ability to boost the purples’ teleport ranges. Rover grumbled nearby as he gave sullen looks and kept his exact opinion of alicorns to himself. LittlePip was staying out of sight, having decided to erase every memory of me and my friends
我们爬上屋顶，等待着三只长角果的翅膀，六片绿叶和三个紫色。根据Lacunae的说法，这些绿色的橡子有能力提升紫色的传送范围。罗孚在附近嘟囔着，一面闷闷不乐地看着他，一面把他对橡子的看法一五一十地留给自己。小匹普决定消除我和我朋友们的所有记忆，所以他一直躲在视线之外
she possessed. And I’d just have to make sure the Goddess didn’t suck my brains out when I was asleep.
她着魔了。我只需要确保女神不会在我睡觉的时候把我的脑浆吸出来。
Homage trotted up to me and gave me a nuzzle. “Be careful. I hear Hoofington’s a dangerous place.”
敬意向我跑来，用鼻子蹭了蹭我。"小心点。我听说胡芬顿是个危险的地方。"
“Be careful yourself,” I replied with a smile.
"你自己小心点,"我笑着回答。
“Please. I live in Tenpony. What could possibly happen to me here?” she countered with a grin. “But really. Be careful. Whatever took down the MASEBS in the valley wasn’t just some overeager scavenger pulling a plug. It was cut off by somepony who knew precisely what they were doing. So watch out.”
"求你了。我住在Tenpony。我在这里能发生什么事呢?"她咧嘴笑着反击。"但是，真的。小心点。不管是什么让山谷里的MASEBS倒下，都不仅仅是一些过于急切的清道夫拔掉了插头。它被一匹精确地知道自己在做什么的小马给切断了。所以要小心了。"
I nodded again and looked at Helpinghoof. He cleared his throat, then said softly, “I’ll keep an eye on your little metal ring. We’ll have the DJ let you know if it comes to anything. We’ll have him call it ‘Blackjack’s science project’ or something.” I thanked him for taking my concern seriously.
我再次点点头，看着Helpinghoof。他清了清嗓子，然后轻声说:"我会盯着你的小金属戒指的。如果有什么需要，我们会让DJ通知你。我们会让他称之为'Blackjack的科学项目'之类的。"我感谢他认真对待我的关心。
Life Bloom gave a cool, if slightly curious, look at the alicorns before looking back to me. “Hope this is a safe mode of travel.”
生活中，布鲁姆给了我一个冷静的，略带好奇的眼神，在回头看我之前，先看看那些橡子。"希望这是一种安全的旅行方式。"
“The Goddess still wants to use me. Till then…” I gave a little shrug. Then I sighed. “Sorry I didn’t turn out to be Twilight Sparkle’s kid.” Homage’s smile faded as she looked over at P-21. I tried to ignore the pink pony going ‘oooooooh’ in the back of my brain as I focused on Life Bloom. And... was it just me, or were the purple alicorns now glancing at each other?
"女神还是想利用我。在那之前......"我耸了耸肩。然后我叹了口气。"对不起，我没有成为紫悦的孩子。"当她看着P-21时，尊敬的微笑消失了。当我专注于生命绽放的时候，我试着忽略在我脑海深处发出'ooooooooooooh'的粉红色小马。还有......是只有我这么觉得，还是那些紫色的橡树果现在互相看了一眼？
“You’ve given the society and myself a lot to think about, Blackjack,” he said with a smile. “Thank you.”
"你给社会和我自己带来了很多值得思考的东西，Blackjack,"他微笑着说。"谢谢。"
“No problem. And thank you for the book.” I smiled at him, and he blinked as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Magical Exercises for Young Unicorns?” I said, giving him a sly wink.
"没问题。谢谢你的书。"我冲他笑了笑，他眨了眨眼，好像不知道我在说什么。"年轻独角兽的魔法练习?"我说，狡猾地向他眨了眨眼睛。
He hesitated, then smiled. “Oh… yes. Of course. You’re welcome.” He really should have gone into acting. He had me almost convinced! Then he trotted away with Homage and Helpinghoof.
他犹豫了一下，然后笑了。"哦......是的。当然。不客气。"他真应该去演戏。他几乎说服了我！然后他带着敬意和帮手小跑着离开了。
The purple alicorn beside me projected into my mind, “WE CERTAINLY HOPE
我身旁紫色的橡子投射到我的脑海里,"我们当然有希望
YOU DO NOT EXPECT TO MAKE A HABIT OF THIS! WHERE DO YOU WISH TO GO IN THAT MISERABLE CITY?”
你不要指望养成这样的习惯！你想去那个悲惨的城市吗?"
I looked at all my friends, new and old, and smiled. “Home.”
我看着我所有的朋友，新老朋友，微笑着。"家。"
The world disappeared in a purple flash.
世界在紫色的闪光中消失了。
 
Footnote: Level 2 reached.
脚注:达到第二级。
New perk: Improved calibrations: rank 1. Removes the -1 agi penalty.
新特长:改进校准:排名1。移除-1agi惩罚。
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s note: I’d first love to give thanks to Kkat for creating Fallout Equestria and to Hinds, Bronode, and Snipehamster on making this something worth reading. I’d also love to thank my readers and their comments. This story is now longer than the original Fallout Equestria. I’m really sorry about that... you’d think 600,000 some odd words would be enough to tell one story. I’d also love to give special thanks to Swicked. He provided some of the grade A material in this chapter, stuff I never even imagined but that kept me in stitches the whole time. Finally, I would like to thank those generous readers who have donated to the bit jar at David13ushey @gmail. com through paypal. Next chapter... back to the Hoof.) (Note from Hinds: To those wondering whether the Gloryjack scene was just a Gloryjack scene or…something else, the ambiguity is deliberate. I personally prefer to think that it's just the two of them…but Somber wanted the readers free to make up their own minds. :) I write this note because there's been some confusion in the comments as to whether the ambiguity was deliberate or bad writing, and I certainly don't want people to think that PH is badly written.)
(作者注:我首先要感谢Kkat创造了FalloutEquestria，并感谢Hinds，Bronode和Snipehamster让这本书值得一读。我也要感谢我的读者和他们的评论。这个故事现在比最初的辐射小马国还要长。我真的很抱歉...你可能认为60万个单词就足够讲述一个故事了。我也想特别感谢swiched。在这一章中，他提供了一些a级的材料，这些材料我从来没有想象过，但却一直让我忍俊不禁。最后，我要感谢那些慷慨的读者，他们为David13ushey@gmail的bitjar捐款。通过贝宝。下一章...回到蹄子。)(注意:对于那些想知道荣誉杰克场景是否只是一个荣誉杰克场景或者其他什么的人来说，这种模棱两可是故意的。我个人倾向于认为只有他们两个人......但是Somber希望读者能够自由地做出他们自己的决定。当前位置我写这封信是因为评论中对这种模棱两可究竟是故意的还是糟糕的写作有些混淆，我当然不希望人们认为PH写得很糟糕