“Biting off more than you can chew is just what I’m afraid of.”
"贪多嚼不烂正是我所担心的。"
“So, was that how you beat Deus and Gorgon? By hugging them to death?” Psychoshy drawled as we trotted east along the highway towards Megamart. Despite being out of the woods, so to speak, Scotch Tape was looking at several days’ recovery with regular infusions of healing spells from Lacunae. After a few hours P-21’s body had begun to shake, and we were out of Med-X. We’d left him behind at the medical center, enjoying my selection of memory orbs in the recollector while we got some more chems for him. At least, I hoped he was. It was hard to tell with him just lying there. The trip to Megamart would also be a good distraction while my hide knit back together; it felt like I had little bugs scrambling under my grafts, but the rule for recovery was ‘do not scratch.’ “Something like that,” I replied, looking over at the adolescent Rampage. “There might have been heavy machinery and explosives involved too.” It was early morning… so early that I could see stabs of actual sunlight in the gaps between the mountains to the east. “So where did you two go last night?” Boo gave a little snort and yawn; she hadn’t been happy about being awake at this hour, but I hadn’t been able to convince her that she could stay with Glory.
""那么，你就是这样打败天王和戈耳贡的吗？通过拥抱他们至死?"我们慢吞吞地向东沿着高速公路向Megamart跑去。可以说，尽管已经脱离了困境，透明胶带公司还是在观察几天的恢复情况，并定期注射来自腔隙的治疗咒语。几个小时后，P-21的身体开始颤抖，我们离开了Med-X。我们把他留在了医疗中心，一边欣赏着回忆库里我挑选的记忆球，一边又给他买了一些药。至少，我希望他是。他就躺在那儿，很难分辨。去超级市场的旅行也是一个很好的分散注意力的方法，因为我的隐藏重新连接在一起;感觉就像有小虫子在我的移植物下面乱爬，但是恢复的规则是'不要抓挠'"差不多吧,"我回答，看着那青春期的狂暴。"可能还涉及重型机械和爆炸物。"那是一个清晨......太早了，我可以看到东边山脉之间的缝隙里有刺眼的阳光。"你们俩昨晚去哪儿了?"布哼了一声，打了个哈欠;这个时候醒着，她并不高兴，但我没能说服她，她可以和晨辉呆在一起。
“Up on the roof,” Rampage said, looking at the yellow pegasus as she clicked along on the power hooves. “Somepony needed a hug.”
"在屋顶上,"狂暴说，看着黄色的飞马点击着它的动力蹄。"小马需要一个拥抱。"
“You little striped cunt!” Psychoshy snapped and dove at her, streaking past my nose. My magic wasn’t nearly enough to stop a speeding pegasus, but that was what fingers were for. She jerked to a halt, going ‘Yeep’ as I slid a few feet. Then she looked back at me and bucked my hand away before pointing an accusing hoof at Rampage. “You said you wouldn’t tell.” I retracted my fingers as she glowered at my friend.
"你这个有条纹的小婊子!"变态狂狂狂怒地扑向她，从我鼻子边飞驰而过。我的魔法远不足以阻止飞马，但手指就是用来干这个的。她猛地停了下来，我滑了几英尺，她喊了一声"Yeep"。然后她回头看了看我，把我的手扭开，然后用一只蹄子指着横冲直撞的人。"你说过你不会说的。"她怒视着我的朋友，我缩回手指。
Rampage blinked. “Did I? I don’t remember that. That must have been one of my crazies making that promise.” She looked up at the skeptical mare. “Really! I don’t remember it. Complete blank.” She swished her tail as she looked at me. “Anyway… we were talking about her future.”
狂暴眨了眨眼睛。""是吗？我不记得了。那一定是我做出这种承诺的疯子之一。"她抬头看着那匹怀疑的母马。"真的！我不记得了。一片空白。"她看着我时摇动着尾巴。"不管怎样......我们在谈论她的未来。"
“What future?” Psychoshy muttered. The early morning air was oddly hot and still; it made me feel as if the skies were holding their breath. It felt like rain, but the road east was nearly dry and the skies pressed down upon us as we walked. For once, I wanted the rain to fall; my mane crept of its own accord, giving the sensation of something bad happening.
"什么未来?"心理变态咕哝着。清晨的空气出奇的热和静止，它使我感觉好像天空屏住了呼吸。天好像要下雨了，但是东边的路几乎是干的，我们走着走着，天空压得我们喘不过气来。这一次，我希望下雨，我的鬃毛自动地爬起来，给人一种不好的感觉。
“Yeah, that was it,” Rampage said as she rolled her eyes.
"是的，就是这样,"朗格转了转眼珠说。
“You’re tired of being a Reaper?” I asked in surprise.
"你厌倦了当死神?"我惊讶地问。
Rampage screwed up her face. “Reaper is sort of a dead-end career. Don’t get me wrong: nice perks. Arena housing. Thugs are usually easy to come by whenever you need more hooves. But really… it’s not exactly satisfying work,” she said as we trotted along. “Really, it’s just Big Daddy making sure he’s got the best fighters at his beck and call and keeping the peace between the gangs. I mean, how many cage matches can a girl do before she’s bored with it? So we generally find other ways to pass the time. Deus found new and clever means of buggery. Gorgon trained radroaches to wrestle.”
狂暴使她的脸色变得难看。"收割者是一种没有前途的职业。不要误会我的意思，这是很好的福利。竞技场房屋。当你需要更多蹄子的时候，通常很容易就能找到暴徒。但实际上......这并不完全是令人满意的工作,"我们一路小跑时，她说。"实际上，这只是大老爹确保他有最好的战士随叫随到，维持帮派之间的和平。我的意思是，一个女孩在厌倦之前能做多少次笼中比赛？所以我们通常会找到其他的方式来打发时间。天王发现了新的和聪明的鸡奸手段。蛇发女怪训练水手摔跤。"
“And what did…” I began before I saw Psychoshy’s glower. “Ah. Sanguine.”
"那么是什么......"我在看到"心理害羞"的怒视之前就开始了。"啊。乐观。"
“Yeah. Him. Helping him with… everything,” she said as she looked away.
"是的。他。帮助他做......一切事情,"她说着，转过脸去。
“Well, that sounds like a problem. Have you thought of being a Zodiac? You could get one of those cutie decal things and beat up bad ponies,” I suggested with a smile.
"好吧，这听起来是个问题。你有没有想过成为十二宫杀手？你可以买一张那种可爱的贴纸，然后揍那些坏小马,"我微笑着建议道。
“I beat up ponies right now. Besides, Big Daddy frowns on moonlighting with them. He’s never forgiven Bulldozer for leaving us to become Taurus,” Psychoshy said irritably, and I glanced over my shoulder at the rifle slung across my bags. “But then, he was a Highlander, and they’ve always been a bit funny.”
"我现在正在打小马。此外，大老爹也不喜欢和他们一起做兼职。他永远不会原谅推土机离开我们变成金牛座,"神经质烦躁地说，我回头看了一眼放在包上的步枪。"不过话说回来，他是个高地人，他们一直都有点搞笑。"
“I thought the word was ‘inbred’,” Rampage snorted. Boo tried to eat a mouthful of dead grass, made an icky face, and spat it out. The pale pony immediately nudged my hip; she might not have been verbose, but she definitely knew where
"我以为这个词是'近亲繁殖'的,"狂暴哼了一声。布试图吃一口枯草，做了一个讨厌的表情，然后把它吐了出来。那匹苍白的小马马上轻推了一下我的臀部;她可能不会罗嗦，但她肯定知道在哪里
I kept the food.
我保留了食物。
I floated out a snack cake as we walked, holding it in the air beside me. “Highlanders?” The name sounded familiar. Boo lunged forward to take bites from the cake, and I occasionally lifted it up out of her reach. She seemed to like the game, watching for it to dip low enough for a bite. Psychoshy watched the two of us with an angry little scowl. Hey, if she was jealous, I’d float a cake in front of her mouth too. Practice for me, either way.
我们一边走一边拿出一个小吃蛋糕，把它举在身边的空中。"高地人?"这个名字听起来很耳熟。布冲上前去咬蛋糕，我偶尔把蛋糕举到她够不到的地方。她似乎很喜欢这个游戏，等着它下降到足够低的地方去咬一口。神经病满脸怒容地看着我们两个。嘿，如果她嫉妒的话，我也会在她嘴前放一块蛋糕。不管怎样，为我练习一下。
Rampage chuckled. “Weird pony folk. Always been a twigged bunch. They were crazy even before the war. Lived in the eastern mountains, were way too friendly with goats and sheep, and couldn’t care less what Celestia wanted. Nasty in combat, though. Zebras learned that the hard way. Some fighters think it’s clever to go after an enemy’s crotch in a fight. Highlanders think it’s a hoot and will pound each other all day.” She snickered softly. “They’re the only ponies I know that either were happy the bombs fell or still haven’t noticed.”
狂暴轻声笑了起来。"奇怪的矮种马。一直都是一群软蛋。他们甚至在战前就已经疯了。住在东部山区，对山羊和绵羊过于友好，根本不在乎塞莱斯蒂亚想要什么。虽然在战斗中令人讨厌。斑马吃了苦头才明白这一点。有些战士认为在战斗中追击敌人的胯部是很聪明的。高地人认为这很有趣，他们会整天互相攻击。"她轻轻地窃笑着。"它们是我知道的唯一的小马，它们要么为炸弹落下感到高兴，要么还没有注意到。"
“They’re also the only ponies in the valley who have told Big Daddy to go buck himself. Two years ago, Big Daddy himself led the biggest stomp short of the war with the Rangers to put the Highlanders in their place. Three days later, he was still fighting their chieftain, White Lightning. Nearly killed each other,” Psychoshy marveled, shaking her head. “Hardest damn fight of my life. Great fun.”
"他们也是山谷里唯一一群告诉老爹要振作起来的小马。两年前，老爹亲自带领游骑兵队进行了一场最大规模的战争，让高地人回到了自己的位置。三天后，他还在和他们的首领白色闪电战斗。差点杀了对方,"精神病害羞惊讶地摇着头。"这是我一生中最艰难的战斗。非常有趣。"
“So who won?” I asked with a grin.
"那么，谁赢了?"我咧嘴笑着问。
“Nopony,” Rampage snickered. “The star spawn in Black Pony Mountain came and ate Reaper and Highlander alike. Technically it was a draw. Still, White Lightning called Big Daddy the toughest damn son of a mule that ever walked the Wasteland. That’s high praise, coming from her. And the Highlanders have a spot in the Arena and fought the Rangers, so I guess they’re a part of the Reapers.”
"不是小马,"狂暴窃笑着说。"黑马驹山上的星星来了，吃掉了收割者和高地人。严格来说，这是一场平局。尽管如此，白色闪电还是称老爹为曾经在荒地上行走过的最强悍的骡子的儿子。这是她的高度赞扬。高地人在竞技场占有一席之地，与游骑兵作战，所以我猜他们是死神的一部分。"
“Till they get drunk, bored, horny, or distracted by something shiny,” Psychoshy said dryly. “The only thing they were really good for was fucking up zebras. They really… really… don’t like zebras. During the war the zebras had to push through their territory. Bloodbath every time, for both sides.”
"直到他们喝醉了，无聊了，饥渴了，或者被什么闪闪发光的东西弄得心烦意乱。"。"他们唯一真正擅长的事情就是干斑马。他们真的...真的...不喜欢斑马。在战争期间，斑马不得不穿过它们的领地。每次都是大屠杀，双方都是。"
I was on the fence when it came to zebras myself; I hoped that if I ever did meet more, they’d turn out more like Sekashi and less like Lancer. “So, if Zodiacs are
对于斑马这个问题，我持观望态度，我希望如果我遇到更多的斑马，它们会变得更像Sekashi，而不是Lancer。"所以，如果黄道带上的生命
out... what do you want to do?”
出去...你想做什么?"
“I want to kill you,” Psychoshy growled as she stared at me. “So stop playing nice.” I looked back with a sigh. Was I just going to have to start killing everypony who kept on messing with me, like P-21 suggested?
"我想杀了你,"精神病医生盯着我吼道。"所以别装好人了。"我回头叹了口气。我是不是要像P-21建议的那样，杀掉每一个一直找我麻烦的家伙？
“Annnnnd that’s what we were mostly talking about last night. Her wanting to kill you. You mashing her into pony butter. She’d be dead. You’d be whiny and angsty. Everypony loses,” Rampage said with a roll of her eyes. “And I so want to avoid hearing more Blackjack whining.”
"这就是我们昨晚谈论的主要内容。她想杀了你。你把她磨成了小黄油。她早就死了。你会牢骚满腹，焦躁不安。每匹小马都输了。"。"我不想再听到黑杰克的抱怨了。"
“I don’t whine,” I muttered, flushing.
"我不抱怨,"我咕哝着，脸红了。
“No?” Rampage grinned and mimicked my voice with disturbing ease. “Oh why couldn’t I save them? Why couldn’t I stop it? Why can’t I do better? Why can’t I be the saint pony of the Wasteland? Why can’t we all just get along? Why do I keep getting my ass blown off? Why why why?” she moaned.
"不是吗?"狂暴咧嘴一笑，轻松地模仿着我的声音。"哦，为什么我救不了他们？为什么我不能阻止它？为什么我不能做得更好？为什么我不能成为荒原上的圣人小马？为什么我们就不能好好相处呢？为什么我的屁股总是被炸飞？为什么，为什么?"她呻吟着。
“I don’t sound like that.” I pouted. Why did everypony give me flak about trying to do better?
"我听起来不像那样。"我撅着嘴。为什么每个小马都要责备我要努力做得更好？
“I could take her,” Psychoshy muttered.
"我可以带她去,"精神病医生咕哝着。
“Yeah. That’s what Deus thought. You think you could beat him?” Rampage grinned up at the yellow pegasus.
"是的。天王也是这么想的。你觉得你能打败他吗?"狂暴冲着黄色的飞马咧嘴一笑。
“She didn’t beat Deus! She just got some other pony to do it,” Psychoshy said with a sharp glare. I just sighed again. I was trying to be kind, particularly after everything she’d been through, and this was the thanks I got?
"她没有打败天王！她只是找了另外一匹小马来做,"精神病医生瞪着眼睛说。我又叹了口气。我试着对她好一点，尤其是在她经历了那么多事情之后，这就是我得到的感谢？
“Exactly. That’s just my point. In a one-on-one fight with nopony in sight, sure… maybe if you took her by surprise from behind. But she’s a cybernetic unicorn, Psycho. You’re a pissy pegasus pony with daddy issues. I think she has you outclassed. And even if she didn’t, she has at least a dozen ponies willing to throw themselves in harm’s way to protect her because she’s so gosh darn goodie goodie,” the striped young mare drawled sarcastically. Then she laughed. “That’s the thing you and Sanguine and other ponies keep missing. Blackjack is a good pony. She fucks up, sure. But she’s good. She wants to help. She wants to give folks a second chance. Heck, she’s giving you a second chance right now. And some folks respect that.”
"没错。我就是这个意思。在一对一的战斗中，看不到小马，当然...也许如果你从后面突袭她。但她是一个控制论的独角兽，神经病。你是一匹有恋父情结的小马驹。我认为她比你强。即使她没有，至少有十几匹小马愿意为了保护她而牺牲自己，因为她真是太好了,"这匹有斑纹的年轻母马讽刺地慢吞吞地说。然后她笑了。"这就是你和桑吉尼以及其他小马一直缺少的东西。黑杰克是匹好马。她搞砸了，当然。但是她很棒。她想帮忙。她想给人们第二次机会。见鬼，她现在正给你第二次机会。有些人尊重这一点。"
“If she’s so good, then why do I hate her so much?” the pegasus growled. “She killed my father.”
"如果她这么好，那我为什么这么恨她?"飞马号咆哮着。"她杀了我父亲。"
“You heard it. Sanguine wasn’t your father. Not really. He might have raised you. He might have even cared about you, but you weren’t his family. His family was three ponies in stasis and a memory of a life that was over. If he’d survived, I’d have given him a day before one of his family died and three days before his wife took his kids and ran for it,” Rampage said, looking up at the suddenly stricken pony. “But we’re just rehashing was we said last night, Psycho.”
"你听到了。桑吉尼不是你父亲。也不尽然。也许是他把你养大的。他可能关心过你但你不是他的家人。他的家人是三匹停滞不前的小马，记忆中的生活已经结束。如果他活下来了，我会给他一天时间，直到他的一个家人去世，三天后他的妻子带着他的孩子逃跑。"。"但我们只是重复昨晚说过的话，神经病。"
“Look, Psychoshy… I’m sorry I’ve hurt you. If things had been different, I would have found a better way,” I said.
"听着，神经病......我很抱歉伤害了你。如果情况有所不同，我会找到一种更好的方式。"。
She sniffed. “Shut up! I hate you! You hear me? I hate you, and some day I’m going to kill you!” she screamed, then streaked away down the road in a gust so strong that it nearly knocked me from my hooves.
她吸了一口气。"闭嘴！我恨你！你听到了吗？我恨你，总有一天我要杀了你!"她尖叫了一声，然后在一阵狂风中飞奔而去，差点把我从蹄子上撞下来。
“And to think, her mom wasn’t much of a flyer,” Rampage said, then sighed. “She’ll be back.”
"想想看，她妈妈可不是什么飞行员,"狂暴说，然后叹了口气。"她会回来的。"
“How do you know?” I asked with surprise and a small frown. “She just said she hates me.” Boo suddenly drew up short, her ears twitching, and I stopped walking. Funny, no red bars in sight. “Something wrong, Boo?” But the pale mare sniffed at the air and looked down the road.
"你怎么知道?"我惊奇地皱着眉头问道。"她只是说她讨厌我。"布突然缩短了车距，她的耳朵在抽搐，我停下了脚步。有趣的是，没有红色的条纹。"有什么问题吗，阿布?"但是那匹苍白的母马嗅着空气，看着路的尽头。
“Well, she’ll either be back to kill you, or she’ll be back because you’re the closest thing she’s got to a role model now,” Rampage said with another sigh.
"好吧，她要么会回来杀你，要么会回来，因为你是她现在最接近的榜样,"狂暴叹了口气说。
“What?!” That was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard. “Me? What are you talking about? Why would anypony look to me as a role model? Besides, she hates me!”
"什么?!"这是我听过的最荒谬的事情。"我？你在说什么？为什么会有小马把我当作榜样？而且，她讨厌我!"
Rampage snorted as we resumed walking again. Boo kept looking about the dead, dark woods as if expecting them to rush us... actually, now I was getting a little nervous, too. I’d had trees try and eat me before, after all. “Nah. That’s just the hurt and the hormones talking. Fact is, much as she’s upset with you, she’s pissed off with herself even more. She feels used and duped and a little bit betrayed. Sanguine was just treating her like a trophy or tool or something. She wants to be liked... I think, deep down, she wants to be loved like Fluttershy was. ‘Course, she’s also crazy, so watch out that you don’t push a button that
我们继续往前走时，狂暴的人喷着鼻息。布一直在死气沉沉、漆黑的树林里四处张望，好像在等着他们冲过来似的......实际上，现在我也有点紧张了。毕竟，以前也有树试图吃掉我。"没有。那只是伤害和荷尔蒙的作用。事实是，尽管她很生你的气，但她更生自己的气。她觉得自己被利用了，被欺骗了，甚至有点被出卖了。桑吉恩只是把她当成战利品或工具什么的。她想要被喜欢......我想，在内心深处，她想要被爱，就像Fluttershy那样。当然，她也是个疯子，所以要小心，不要按那个按钮
makes her take your head off and turn it into a hat.”
让她把你的头拧下来变成帽子"
“I thought you said I had her outclassed?” I asked with a smirk.
"你不是说我比她厉害吗?"我傻笑着问。
“Yeah, but never underestimate the capacity of crazy ponies. I mean, look at the ponies who underestimated your own crazy. Deus… Sanguine…” she chuckled.
"是的，但永远不要低估疯狂小马的能力。看看那些低估了自己疯狂程度的小马。上帝......乐观......"她轻声笑道。
“I thought you said I beat them because I was good?” Had I imagined their whole exchange?
"你不是说我打败他们是因为我很棒吗?"他们的整个交流是我想象的吗？
“Good. Crazy. Same difference. Good is just a kind of crazy most ponies like ‘cause they think they can use it. Then you do something good they’d much rather you hadn’t, and suddenly you’re crazy.” Rampage looked in the direction Psychoshy had gone. “Me, I’ll take good crazy over evil bloody crazy any day.”
"很好。太疯狂了。一样的差别。好只是一种疯狂的大多数小马喜欢'因为他们认为他们可以使用它。然后你做了一些他们宁愿你不做的好事，突然间你就疯了。"狂暴看向了心理害羞走的方向。"我，我宁愿选择正义的疯狂，也不愿选择邪恶的疯狂。"
“You sure like pushing buttons,” I said as I looked down at her with a small frown.
"你肯定喜欢按按钮,"我说，低头看着她，微微皱着眉头。
“I don’t like ponies sitting alone quietly falling apart,” she replied, looking up at me. “Seeing P-21 this last week made me want to scream. Scotch Tape is your daughter. Fucking acknowledge it. But no, she needs to nearly fucking die before he finally… finally… admits he’s a mess and a shitty father.” Rampage glowered. “If she’d died, I was going to punt him right off the hospital.”
"我不喜欢小马一个人静静地坐着，四分五裂,"她回答，抬头看着我。"上周看到P-21让我想尖叫。透明胶带是你的女儿。他妈的承认吧。但是不，她需要在他最终...最终...承认他是一团糟和一个糟糕的父亲之前差点死掉。"暴怒怒目而视。"如果她死了，我会把他踢出医院。"
What the fuck? “Rampage! What the… he’s my friend!” I gasped. Were my friends seriously planning to kill each other behind my back?
搞什么？"横冲直撞！什么......他是我的朋友!"我倒抽了一口冷气。我的朋友们真的打算背着我自相残杀吗？
“He’s your shadow,” she replied with a frown. “He’s too weak to live on his own, and if he was strong enough, I think he’d be a bigger monster than Deus without you around. You’ve been keeping him alive since 99. If he doesn’t like the fact he’s a father, then he needs to face it, not hide from it. There’s enough shitty fathers that the world doesn’t need more.”
"他是你的影子,"她皱着眉头回答。"他太虚弱了，不能独自生活，如果他足够强壮，我想如果没有你在身边，他会比天王更可怕。你从99年开始就让他活着。如果他不喜欢他是一个父亲的事实，那么他需要面对它，而不是躲避它。这个世界不需要更多糟糕的父亲了。"
We trotted along past one of the massive MASEBS towers. “I take it Psycho’s not the only one with daddy issues?”
我们小跑着经过一个巨大的MASEBS塔。"看来不止《惊魂记》有恋父情结吧?"
“Now who’s pushing buttons?” she countered, then sighed. “I don’t remember my mother or father, Blackjack. Maybe one of the other ponies inside me does. All I think of when I think of the word ‘father’ is an empty feeling and an urge to kick something.”
"现在是谁在按按钮?"她反驳道，然后叹了口气。"我不记得我的父母了，Blackjack。也许我体内的另一匹小马会这么做。当我想到'父亲'这个词时，我所想到的只是一种空虚的感觉，一种想要踢什么东西的冲动。"
I looked down the road and froze as I spotted a cluster of blue bars ahead. Then, suddenly, they flashed bright red! “Whoa whoa whoa! What’s going on?” From up ahead came a gunshot, then several gunshots! The lone remaining blue bar wobbled a little, and I spotted Psychoshy flying back. Angry shouts filled the night air. “What did you do?”
我顺着路往下看，发现前面有一堆蓝色的栅栏，我愣住了。然后，突然，他们闪现出明亮的红光！"哇，哇，哇！怎么回事?"从前面传来一声枪响，然后是几声枪响！唯一剩下的蓝色横条晃动了一下，我发现"心理害羞"飞回来了。夜晚的空气中充满了愤怒的呼喊声。"你做了什么?"
“I thought every damn pony loves you!” she yelled, looking at a bloody bullet wound in her rear left leg.
"我还以为每匹该死的小马都爱你呢!"她大叫着，看着她左腿后方的血淋淋的枪伤。
“Um, you have kept up with just how many ponies have tried to kill me, haven’t you?” I pulled off the gauze around my neck and shoulders with my horn and wrapped it around her bleeding leg. I had no clue how sanitary it was, but none of us had healing potions and I didn’t want her to leave a blood trail. “What did you say to them?”
"嗯，你知道有多少匹小马要杀我，对吧?"我用我的角卸下缠在脖子和肩膀上的纱布，把它缠在她流血的腿上。我不知道这有多卫生，但我们都没有治疗药水，我不想让她留下血迹。"你对他们说了什么?"
“I said ‘make way for the mighty Security Pony’, and they freaked out!” I saw the pinpricks of torches and flashlights in the distance. “If you’re so good, why does everypony want to shoot you?”
"我说'给强大的保安小马让路'，他们吓坏了!"我看见远处火把和手电筒的针眼。"如果你这么厉害，为什么每匹小马都想射杀你?"
“You tell me,” I asked, looking around. Ironshod R&D was north of here. Or the weather station? On the other hoof, there was a red tunnel in the MASEBS buildings. At least, I’d gone right by a door marked with the tower’s name in my madcap dash. If the worst came to the worst… ”The tower. Hurry,” I said as we raced off the road to the south. Funny, last time I’d been here I hadn’t appreciated just how big it was on top of its hill.
"你告诉我,"我环顾四周，问道。Ironshod研发中心在这里的北面。还是气象站？另一方面，在MASEBS大楼里有一条红色的隧道。至少，我刚好经过了一扇门，门上用我鲁莽的仪表板标着塔的名字。如果最坏的情况发生了......"塔楼。"快点,"我说，我们冲出了向南的路。有趣的是，上次我来这里的时候，我还没有意识到它在山顶上有多大。
Psychoshy flew sideways in front of me. “Uh… why are we running? I mean, even four to one we should be able to mop the floor with them. We can even make a game of it.”
精神病在我面前横飞。"呃......我们为什么要跑？我的意思是，即使是四比一，我们也应该可以用它们来拖地板。我们甚至可以把它变成一个游戏。"
“Because I don’t kill ponies if I can help it,” I replied as I looked around for the door. Now, getting in might be a catch without P-21 to work his magic... I saw the lights milling about in indecision. I didn’t want to wait to find out which way they were going. They were close enough for E.F.S.
"因为我不杀小马，如果我可以帮助它,"我回答说，我环顾四周寻找门。现在，如果没有P-21来施展他的魔法，进去可能是一件难事......我看到灯光在犹豫不决中转来转去。我不想等着看他们往哪个方向走。他们离爆炸物足够近了。
“Um… they’re trying to kill you, Blackjack. Doesn’t that sort of give you carte blanche to tapdance on their heads?” Psychoshy said in the tones of trying to explain the obvious to an idiot.
"嗯...他们想杀了你，Blackjack。这难道不是全权委托你在他们头上敲敲打打的吗?"精神病患者用试图向一个白痴解释显而易见的事情的语调说。
We reached the landing where weeks ago I’d smashed off Roses’s horn trying to
我们到达了一个地方，几个星期前，我曾猛地把玫瑰花的号角扯下来，试图把它弄碎
free some slaves, one of whom had later raped her. Really, if I could go back to when I left the stable and tell my old self about the things I’d done, I don’t think I would believe it. The broadcast tower loomed overhead, disappearing into the night gloom.
释放一些奴隶，其中一个后来强奸了她。真的，如果我能回到我离开马厩的时候，告诉我以前的自己我做过的事情，我想我不会相信的。广播塔在头顶隐约出现，消失在黑暗的夜色中。
“I don’t care. I don’t want to kill ponies if I can help it. No good comes from dead ponies. That includes you,” I said sharply, finding the door and the terminal beside it. Okay… terminals. Terminals… what were some of P-21’s tricks for terminals? Terminals 101… oh poop. I looked at the screen and its selection of twelve possible passwords all ten characters long, gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and stretched out my hoof. I tapped a key; exploding terminal in Blackjack’s face?
"我不在乎。如果可以的话，我不想杀小马。死马不会带来好处。包括你,"我尖锐地说，找到了门和它旁边的终端。好的...终端。终端...P-21对终端有什么诡计？101号终端机...该死。我看着屏幕和它选择的十二个可能的密码，全部10个字符长，咬紧牙关，闭上眼睛，伸出我的蹄子。我敲了一下钥匙;在Blackjack的脸上炸开了一个终端？
There was a beep, and I peeked at it.
有一声哔的声音，我偷看了一下。
>Access granted.
准许进入。
Huh. That was easy.
哈。这很简单。
I glanced at Psychoshy and Rampage watching me, the former with near pity and the latter with disappointment. “Is she always such a spaz with terminals?” asked the pegasus.
我瞥了一眼Psychoshy和狂暴看着我，前者几乎带着怜悯，后者则带着失望。"她总是这么笨手笨脚地用终端机吗?"帕伽索斯问。
“You should see her with elevators,” Rampage replied as the door clicked open and the pair entered.
"你应该看看她坐电梯的样子,"门咔嗒一声打开，两人走了进来，狂暴回答道。
“You know, given the past month, I think I’m a little bit justified in my paranoia,” I said after them. I slipped in, made sure Boo was inside with me, and pulled the door closed, muttering, “I am not a spaz.” I knelt and held Boo’s shoulders. “I’m not a spaz, am I, Boo?”
"你知道，考虑到过去的一个月，我认为我的偏执有点道理,"他们走后我说。我溜了进去，确认布和我在一起，然后关上门，喃喃自语道:"我不是笨蛋。"我跪下来，抓住布的肩膀。"我不是个笨蛋，对吧，宝贝?"
The pale pony gave a carroty-filling-scented belch and then smiled at me. “I’ll take that as a no,” I said with a grin as I rubbed her ears.
那匹苍白的小马打了一个充满红色香味的嗝，然后对我笑了笑。"我就当你说没有了,"我抚摸着她的耳朵，咧嘴笑着说。
* * *
* * *
When in the Wasteland, when you weren’t getting shot at, you were looting. Once we got past the whole ‘Reapers don’t pay’ attitude, even Psychoshy got in on the act, and I found a pair of utility coveralls that would make do for minor protection and had even more pockets than my saddlebags offered. While we
当你在荒原的时候，当你没有被枪击的时候，你就是在抢劫。一旦我们摆脱了收割者不付钱的态度，甚至心理害羞也加入进来，我找到了一套工作服，可以作为小小的保护，而且口袋比我的鞍包还多。当我们
weren’t exactly hurting on caps, every little bit helped, right? So I cleared out the utility spaces, collecting anything portable and sellable.
虽然不是很痛苦，但每一点都有帮助，不是吗？所以我清空了实用空间，收集任何便携和可销售的东西。
“Reaper to common pack mule,” Psychoshy muttered as she held up a dead spark battery and tossed it over her shoulder. Boo did her best to help out, picking up a wrench in her mouth and bringing it to me. Then a hammer... then a wrapper… then a rusty tin can... I gave her a snack cake, and she ate her reward gleefully and stopped bringing me junk.
"收割机普通驮骡,"心灵害羞喃喃自语，她举起一个死火花电池，扔在她的肩膀上。布尽最大努力帮助我，她嘴里叼起一把扳手，递给了我。然后是锤子......然后是包装纸......然后是生锈的罐头......我给了她一个点心蛋糕，她欣喜地吃着奖励，不再给我带垃圾食品。
“Oh, come on. You’re a flying, sullen, bad-tempered, psychotic Reaper pack mule. Nothing common about that,” Rampage said brightly.
"哦，得了吧。你是一个会飞的，闷闷不乐的，脾气暴躁的，精神错乱的收割者背包骡子。这种情况并不常见。"。
“Big Daddy should just take over the Finders. Honestly, it’d make life so much easier,” the pegasus grumbled as she put a good battery in her saddlebags. Really, what was it with some ponies not wearing barding? “We could just take whatever we wanted from them.”
"大老爹应该接管Finders。说实话，这样生活会轻松很多。"飞马一边在她的鞍囊里装上一块好电池，一边嘟囔着。说真的，为什么有些小马没有穿防护服？"我们可以从他们那里拿走任何我们想要的东西。"
“Right. Because folks dig through dangerous ruins just to turn over valuable goods out of the kindness of their hearts,” I said as stowed some pilot lights in my pockets. Psychoshy opened her mouth. “And when you threaten to kill them if they don’t… well, then you’re a raider. That makes you a bad pony. And that’s bad.” Psychoshy closed her mouth with a sour frown.
"对。因为人们在危险的废墟中挖掘只是为了从他们善良的心中翻出有价值的货物,"我一边说着，一边在口袋里装了几盏指示灯。神经病张开了嘴。"如果你威胁说如果他们不这么做就杀了他们......那么，你就是一个突袭者。这让你成了一匹坏小马。这很糟糕。""精神病"皱了皱眉，闭上了嘴。
“Would still be a lot simpler,” she muttered.
"那样就简单多了,"她喃喃自语道。
“You have to understand that Blackjack wasn’t in a gang, Psycho. She had her own weird, twisted upbringing in a stable where they beat males and did whatever their boss said,” Rampage said as she trotted over, “How’s that so different?” Psychoshy asked in confusion.
"你得明白，Blackjack不是黑帮成员，Psycho。她在一个马厩里长大，在那里，她们打败男人，对他们的老板言听计从,"狂暴一边小跑一边说,"这有什么不同?"精神病患者困惑地问。
“Their boss wasn’t the biggest or the strongest pony in the stable, or even the smartest. They followed her because she was the daughter of the previous boss… who was the daughter of the previous boss… and so on… even though she was nuttier than you,” Rampage said, and I huffed, my ears burning. Really, it hadn’t been that bad... okay, maybe it had. But still, it was better than just taking whatever you wanted.
"他们的老板不是马厩里最大、最强壮的小马，甚至也不是最聪明的。他们跟踪她是因为她是前任老板的女儿......前任老板的女儿......诸如此类......尽管她比你更疯狂。"。真的，没有那么糟糕...好吧，也许是的。但是，这总比你想要什么就拿什么要好。
“Are you serious? That’s crazy,” Psychoshy said, then pointed her hoof at me. “You’re crazy! You seriously let her tell you what to do because her mother was
"你是认真的吗？"这太疯狂了,"精神病医生说，然后用她的蹄子指着我。"你疯了！你真的让她告诉你该怎么做因为她妈妈
boss and her grandmother was boss? None of you were looking around going ‘Uh… maybe we should stomp this cunt and put someone who has a clue in charge’ or something?”
老板和她奶奶是老板？你们没有人四处张望，说'呃......也许我们应该踩死这个婊子，让一个有线索的人负责'或者其他什么?"
“We tried it once and almost killed everypony. Even then, we were getting around to it again,” I replied defensively, turning on her. “It’s just… in the stable, we were told that everything outside was death. We had to play our roles and do what we were told. We shared almost everything because the consequence of fighting was that we might break the stable. We couldn’t do that. The stable was our whole world, and we knew that if something broke or went wrong, then everypony was dead.”
"我们试过一次，差点害死所有人。即便如此，我们还是会再次讨论这个问题,"我防御性地回答，转向她。"只是......在马厩里，我们被告知外面的一切都是死亡。我们必须扮演好自己的角色，按照别人说的去做。我们几乎分享一切，因为打架的后果是我们可能会打破稳定。我们不能这么做。马厩就是我们的整个世界，我们知道如果有什么东西坏了或者出了问题，那么每匹小马都会死。"
“Looks like you were right,” Rampage replied, looking up at me. “Something went wrong and everypony died. So if the gangs are still alive and your stable’s dead, then who has the better philosophy?” I frowned; why was she asking me? Smart ponies were supposed to answer questions like this! I was just a security pony.
"看来你是对的,"狂暴回答，抬头看着我。"出事了，每匹小马都死了。所以，如果帮派还活着，你的马厩已经死了，那么谁的哲学更好呢?"我皱起了眉头，她为什么问我？聪明的小马应该回答这样的问题！我只是一匹保安马。
“We do,” I defended. “Even if it failed, the stable lasted two centuries, longer than any gang… and life was better than out here… at least, for mares, it was. I’m not saying it was perfect. I’m not saying there weren’t things wrong even before Deus broke in. I’m just saying that ponies working together is better than ponies killing, taking, and ruling over others. In the end, that was exactly how the stable fell apart.”
"是的,"我辩解道。"即使失败了，马厩也维持了两个世纪，比任何帮派都要长......生活也比这里好......至少对于母马来说是这样。我不是说它很完美。我不是说在天王破门而入之前就没有什么问题。我只是说小马一起工作总比小马杀人，掠夺和统治别人要好。最后，马厩就是这样分崩离析的。"
Both of them looked skeptical, but I supposed that that was the best I was going to get. I noticed some stairs heading up. “Hey… I want to check something upstairs while we’re here,” I said, nodding towards them. “DJ Pon3 said that the towers in Hoofington were blind. I want to see if we can find out why.”
他们俩看起来都很怀疑，但我想这是我能得到的最好的结果了。我注意到有一些楼梯通向上面。"嘿......既然来了，我想上楼查点东西,"我朝他们点点头说。"DJPon3说，Hoofington的双子塔是盲目的。我想看看我们能否找出原因。"
“You know DJ Pon3?” Psychoshy said skeptically as we made our way up to the MASEBS broadcast room.
"你认识DJPon3吗?"当我们走向梅西广播室时,"精神害羞"怀疑地说。
I glanced at Rampage looking at me in confusion, and opened my mouth… then closed it again. Rampage just knew Homage as a nice Tenpony unicorn who threw us a dinner party. “Well, we’ve met his personal assistant, Homage. That’s kinda like knowing DJ Pon3.” Psychoshy snorted and rolled her eyes.
我瞥了一眼狂暴，困惑地看着我，张开了嘴......然后又闭上了。狂暴只知道《致敬》是一只美丽的天空之神独角兽，为我们举办了一场晚宴。"嗯，我们见过他的私人助理，霍米。这有点像认识DJPon3。"变态狂哼了一声，翻了个白眼。
Meh… Homage was cooler than DJ Pon3 anyway.
不管怎么说，《致敬》比《DJPon3》酷多了。
Inside the broadcast room was the familiar layout of terminals and monitors. On one, I saw a dozen or so ponies making their way further south towards Riverside, carrying a banner marked with the black towers. Another showed several small burned-out encampments. Megamart was in one, and a massive hole gaped right over where Gun used to sit. I could barely make out Chapel in one screen. It looked dimmer and smaller without its little white church, but there was no missing the white dots of the graveyard all over the hillside.
广播室里面是熟悉的终端和显示器的布局。在其中一条路上，我看到十几匹小马朝着河边的方向向南走去，手里拿着一个标有黑色塔楼的横幅。另一张照片显示了几个被烧毁的小营地。麦加玛特就是其中之一，一个巨大的洞正好在古恩曾经坐过的地方。我在一个屏幕上几乎辨认不出查普尔。没有那座白色的小教堂，它看起来更暗更小了，但是山坡上遍布着墓地的那些白点却丝毫没有消失。
Oddly, though, more than half of the screens weren’t pointed at the ground but at the clouds.
奇怪的是，超过一半的屏幕不是指向地面，而是指向云层。
In the middle of the floor, in front of the controls, was something that didn’t belong here… a terminal like the ones I’d seen Lighthooves using. This terminal, though, bore a slightly different logo. I reached out a hoof and watched as it melted around my limb. I swept my hoof back and forth several times, and each time it just pulled back to its original form.
在地板的中间，在控制面板的前面，有一些不属于这里的东西......就像我看到的lighthoves使用的终端一样。这个终端，虽然，带有一个稍微不同的标志。我伸出一只蹄子，看着它融化在我的肢体周围。我来回蹄子几次，每次蹄子都回到原来的样子。
“Whoa,” Rampage gasped.
"哇,"狂暴喘着气说。
Boo tried to pick up one of the cloud cables in her mouth... or she was trying to eat it. Either way, it didn’t work, and she stuck out her tongue and backed away, definitely not liking cloud technology any more than the rest of us.
布试图从嘴里捡起一根云缆......或者她试图把它吃掉。不管是哪种方式，它都没有起作用，她伸出舌头，退开了，肯定不比我们其他人更喜欢云技术。
“Freaky,” Psychoshy agreed. “What is it?”
"怪异"，精神病同意。"这是什么?"
“An Enclave cloud terminal. Only pegasi can touch it. No idea what it’s doing here, though.” I tried pressing the keys with my magic, but that too had no effect. “I have no idea how we’re going to shut it down.”
"一个昂科雷云端。只有飞马座能碰到它。不过，我不知道它为什么会在这里。"我试着用我的魔法按下按键，但是也没有效果。"我不知道我们要如何关闭它。"
“No idea? I thought you were supposed to be a Reaper now,” Psychoshy snorted as she flew over the terminal. “We smash it!”
""不知道？"我以为你现在应该是个收割者了,"心理害羞女飞过航站楼时哼了一声。"我们粉碎它!"
“No, wait!” I yelled, wanting Glory or P-21 to have a look at it. Unfortunately, Psychoshy wasn’t exactly a waiting kind of pony. She brought her rear hooves down, and there was a low boom of thunder and crackle of lightning as glowing rainbow colored circuits and wires disintegrated in a cloud of evaporating color and flickering light. The terminal rolled away in a carpet of mist, snaking along the cables where they connected to the broadcast controls.
"不，等等!"我大叫，希望晨辉或P-21看看它。不幸的是,"心理害羞"并不是那种等待的小马。她把后蹄放下来，伴随着一阵低沉的雷声和闪电的劈啪声，发光的彩虹色电路和电线分解成一团蒸发的颜色和闪烁的光线。终端在薄雾笼罩的地毯中滚动着，沿着连接广播控制器的电缆蜿蜒前进。
“Well, you have to admit, there are some things Psychoshy excels at,” Rampage
"嗯，你不得不承认，有些事情是心理害羞擅长的,"狂暴
said, and the pegasus beamed. I had to add ‘getting on my nerves’ to the list. I looked at the broadcast controls and tapped them a few times. At least I could tell Homage what I’d found.
说完，飞马号发射了。我不得不在清单上加上"让我神经紧张"。我看了看广播控制器，轻轻地敲了几下。至少我可以告诉《致敬》我发现了什么。
The studio lit up, and for a moment I thought it was empty. There was the microphone… the controls… but no Homage. Well, it wasn’t like she was there all the time, right? I didn’t know of any way I could leave a message… maybe I could write a note and tape it to the wall? Write it on a billboard? Something…
录音室里灯火通明，有一会儿我还以为是空的。有麦克风......控制器......但没有"致敬"。她又不是一直都在那儿对吧？我不知道有什么方法可以留言...也许我可以写个便条贴在墙上？把它写在广告牌上？什么东西..。
Then I heard the soft sob over the speakers. I looked around and saw a knob marked ‘volume’ and slowly turned it up. The sound of crying increased. “Homage?” I asked, then looked around at the controls. I spotted the ‘Send to linked station’ button and pressed it. “Homage?”
然后我听到扬声器上传来轻柔的呜咽声。我环顾四周，看到一个旋钮，上面写着"音量"，然后慢慢地把音量调大。哭声越来越大。"敬意?"我问道，然后看了看四周的控制器。我发现了发送到链接站的按钮，然后按了下去。"敬意?"
Then from below the studio control console rose the pale unicorn. She was a mess, a complete and total mess. Her eyes stared at the screen in a heartbroken gaze. “Blackjack?” she asked thickly. There was only one reason she should look like that: something bad had happened to LittlePip. There was bad… and there was Bad.
然后从演播室控制台下面升起了苍白的独角兽。她是一团糟，一团糟，一团糟。她的眼睛带着伤心的目光盯着屏幕。"黑杰克?"她粗声地问。她长成那样只有一个原因:小皮普遭遇了不幸。有坏的，也有坏的。
I looked back at the pair of Reapers. “I need some privacy, please. Right now.” Boo blinked at me, tilting her head. “Well... except for Boo.” I doubted she’d tell anypony Homage’s secret.
我回头看了看那对收割者。"我需要一些私人空间。就现在。"布冲我眨了眨眼，歪了歪头。"嗯......除了阿布。"我怀疑她是否会告诉任何小马《致敬》的秘密。
“Why does that little freak get to stay while I have to go? If she stays, I stay! I don’t…” Psychoshy began when Rampage bit her tail and dragged her out like a fluttering kite. “Hey! Let go! You’re not the boss of me!” I closed the door behind them.
"为什么我要走的时候，那个小怪物要留下来？如果她留下，我也留下！"我不......"当狂暴咬住她的尾巴，像一只飘动的风筝一样把她拖出来的时候，精神害羞开始了。"嘿！放手！你又不是我的老板!"我在他们身后关上了门。
I took a deep breath, remembering the serious little unicorn with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Please, don’t be dead, LittlePip. “What happened to LittlePip, Homage?”
我深深地吸了一口气，想起了那个肩负着整个世界的严肃的小独角兽。求你了，别死，小匹普。"小匹普怎么了，《致敬》?"
She clenched her eyes shut, gritting her teeth as if she couldn’t bear to spit it out. “Oh, Blackjack… I… she…” She hung her head. “I think… I’m afraid… I think LittlePip has… she’s done something terrible.”
她紧闭双眼，咬紧牙关，好像不忍心吐出来。"哦，黑杰克...我..。.她......"她低下了头。"我认为......我恐怕......我认为小匹普......她做了一些可怕的事情。"
I tried to think of what Glory would do. Of what Lacunae would do. Heck, what LittlePip would do. “Just take a deep breath, Homage. What happened?”
我试着去想晨辉会怎么做。空白会怎么做。见鬼，小皮普会怎么做。"深吸一口气，敬意。发生了什么事?"
It took Homage a few seconds to pull herself together. “I got reports of an attack on the Steel Ranger base on the Bucklyn Cross. I… I was keeping an eye out for trouble, with all the fighting between the Steel Rangers and Applejack’s Rangers. That’s when I saw this…”
《致敬》花了几秒钟时间才重新振作起来。"我接到报告，巴克林十字路口的SteelRanger基地遭到袭击。我。.在钢铁骑兵和苹果杰克骑兵之间的战斗中，我一直在留意麻烦的发生。这时我看到了这个......"
She touched some keys, and one of the screens next to me swapped from clouds to a huge segment of rusty suspension bridge still hanging from its tower in the middle of a river. The camera zoomed in, and I immediately saw LittlePip in her thrashed utility barding; wow, she really needed a replacement. There was Calamity and Velvet… I thought I saw another, but I couldn’t be sure from this distance. There were a number of ponies pointing a lot of firepower at her.
她摸了摸键盘，我旁边的一块屏幕从云端掉了下来，变成了一块巨大的锈迹斑斑的悬索桥，仍然悬挂在河中央的塔上。镜头拉近，我立刻看到小皮在她那令人头疼的功能屏障中;哇，她真的需要一个替代品。有灾难和天鹅绒...我想我看到了另一个，但我不能肯定从这么远。有几匹小马用火力猛烈地指着她。
Then suddenly everypony was shooting! The Rangers had clear numbers on their side, but in five minutes they were decimated. Two actually leapt into the water to get away… I had no idea if or how long they’d survive after a fall like that! And just like that, the shooting was done. LittlePip had completely cleaned out the Steel Ranger base. I saw Calamity picking through one of the buildings as LittlePip sat there being comforted by Velvet Remedy.
然后突然每匹小马都开始射击了！流浪者队在他们那边有明显的人数优势，但是在五分钟内他们就惨败了。其中两只跳进水里想逃跑......我不知道它们从那样的高度摔下来是否还能活多久！就这样，枪击结束了。小匹普已经彻底清理了钢铁骑兵基地。我看到灾难穿过一座建筑，小匹普坐在那里，天鹅绒药水在安慰他。
“Okay… well… something must have happened! Somepony shot and… LittlePip defended herself! She wouldn’t just take over a Ranger base like that without good reason,” I said as I looked at Homage.
"好吧......那么......一定发生了什么事！一些小马射击和...小匹普保护自己！她不会在没有充分理由的情况下接管一个游骑兵基地。"我边看着《致敬》边说。
“Wouldn’t she? The Steel Rangers attacked her home. They attacked Stable 29, where the Applejack’s Rangers have been gathering. Maybe she thought that they were loyalists and were fair game,” Homage said, sniffing as she rubbed her eyes. “The only report I’ve gotten on that attack was a distress call they sent out, saying that LittlePip demanded a water talisman. Then it was shooting and screaming. I’m trying to get some sort of… something to explain what she did.”
""不是吗？钢铁游骑兵袭击了她的家。他们袭击了Stable29，苹果白兰地的游骑兵们聚集的地方。"也许她认为他们是效忠者，是公平的猎物,"霍瑞特一边揉着眼睛一边嗅着说。"我得到的关于那次袭击的唯一报告是他们发出的一个求救信号，说利特尔皮普需要一个水护身符。然后是枪声和尖叫声。我试图找到某种......某种东西来解释她的所作所为。"
“There had to be a reason, Homage. She wouldn’t just turn Reaper on ponies, even enemies.” I hadn’t seen a lot of power armor or the like in that fight. Had somepony pulled a trigger by accident? Or had LittlePip decided to cut to the chase?”
"肯定是有原因的，敬意。她不会把收割者变成小马甚至是敌人。"在那场战斗中，我没有见过很多威力盔甲之类的东西。是不是有人不小心扣动了扳机？还是小皮普决定开门见山?"
“I know. I know. I’m looking for one. I’m looking so hard for one,” Homage said, pulling herself together as she typed more keys. “But as bad as that was… it was nothing… nothing compared to this.”
"我知道。我知道。我在找一个。"我正在努力寻找一个,"霍丽说，一边打出更多的键盘，一边振作起来。"但是，尽管情况很糟糕......但是没有什么......没有什么比得上这个。"
The screen changed. The view slowly panned across a village, then zoomed in.
屏幕改变了。视野慢慢地扫过一个村庄，然后放大。
There was the Sky Bandit parked beside some buildings. I could imagine Homage, frowning in worry as she worked the controls and watched LittlePip from afar for trouble or for some explanation for the attack. Who had shot first? Was LittlePip okay? There were two windows in the Qwik-Kare building the camera was focused on; I could see two older ponies and a younger mare around a table. It was hard to make out specifics past that.
有一架空中强盗停在一些建筑物旁边。我可以想象,"敬意"在操作控制器的时候愁眉苦脸，从远处看着小匹普寻找麻烦，或者为这次攻击寻找某种解释。谁先开的枪？小匹普还好吗？在Qwik-Kare大楼里有两扇窗户，摄像机正对着这两扇窗户;我可以看到两匹老马和一匹年轻的母马围坐在一张桌子旁。除此之外，很难说出更多的细节。
Then there was LittlePip in the window facing the other three. I hadn’t known LittlePip long or well. She was a good pony. Serious, but true to making the Wasteland a better place. The LittlePip I saw now was not that mare. Fury was etched in every line of her face. She gazed at the three with a look of profound rage that made me watch in horror. The unicorn mare at the table tried to magically fling a knife… a knife… at LittlePip. Then all three were smashed against the wall by the little mare’s incredible telekinesis.
然后是窗口中面对其他三个人的小pip。我认识小皮普的时间不长，也不熟。她是一匹好马。严重，但真正使荒原一个更好的地方。我现在看到的小匹普不是那匹母马。愤怒深深地刻在她脸上的每一条线上。她带着深深的愤怒凝视着这三个人，使我惊恐地看着他们。餐桌上的独角兽母马试图用魔法将一把刀......一把刀......扔向小匹普。然后这三个都被小母马难以置信的心灵遥感撞到了墙上。
Dangling by the throat, the older stallion kicked over the table. There was a gun or something strapped to the bottom. The mare levitated the table, turned it towards the small unicorn, and fired, but she either missed or else LittlePip was at the point of not caring if she were shot or not. The three writhed as she slowly crushed them to the wall. The stallion pointed a hoof.
那匹老种马掐着脖子晃来晃去，踢翻了桌子。底部有一把枪或者别的什么东西。母马把桌子悬浮起来，把它转向小独角兽，开了枪，但她要么没打中，要么小匹普根本不在乎自己是否被射中。当她慢慢地把他们挤到墙上时，他们三个扭动着身体。那匹种马的蹄子尖了一下。
Then LittlePip raised a rifle… and lit them on fire with burning bullets.
然后小匹普举起了一把步枪......用燃烧的子弹点燃了他们。
I think if I had had a heart, it would have stopped.
我想如果我有一颗心脏，它就会停止跳动。
I just watched. No… no no no… she turned and walked out, leaving the crushed and burning ponies behind her as she strode into the night like she was bringing all of Hell with her. As she departed, her telekinesis vanished and the guards dropped to the floor, mercifully out of sight below the windowsill... until one of the mares flopped back into view, struggling to put herself out for a few agonizing seconds. Then she lay still at last.
我只是看着。不，不，不，不......她转身走了出去，身后留下了那些被压碎的、燃烧着的小马，她迈着大步走进了夜色，就好像她把整个地狱都带走了。当她离开的时候，她的心灵遥感消失了，守卫掉到了地板上，仁慈地从窗台下面消失了......直到其中一匹母马重新回到视野中，挣扎着让自己出去呆了几秒钟。然后她终于安静地躺了下来。
In the street was a pony… a merchant or something, from the look of his gear. The small unicorn assaulted him, her mouth screaming something. Then he immediately swayed and started vomiting.
街上有一匹小马...从他的装备来看，是个商人什么的。小独角兽袭击了他，她的嘴尖叫着什么。然后他立即摇晃起来，开始呕吐。
And then LittlePip went on a slaughter.
然后小皮普就遭到了屠杀。
The fight with the Steel Rangers had been a fight… albeit a short and terrible one. This wasn’t. This was butchery, plain and simple. Only the young were
与钢铁游骑兵的战斗是一场战斗......尽管是短暂而可怕的战斗。这不是。这就是屠杀，简单明了。只有年轻人
spared, shielded by Velvet Remedy as all who tried to face LittlePip were torn to pieces by flaming bullets. I only had slightly inebriated knowledge of LittlePip in battle... was this how she usually fought? I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen. Finally, the image blacked out. I looked at the stricken Homage and wished there was a way to hug her through the screen. “When?” I asked when I regained the ability to speak.
所有试图面对小匹子的人都被燃烧的子弹撕成碎片。我对战斗中的小皮普只是略微有点醉意......她平时就是这样战斗的吗？我无法把眼睛从屏幕上移开。最后，图像被涂黑了。我看着打击的致敬和希望有一种方式拥抱她通过屏幕。"什么时候?"我问自己什么时候恢复说话能力。
“Just a few hours ago,” she said with a sniff. “I… I can’t bear to look back again. Why would she do that? Why would anypony do that?” I could think of a few reasons, but they all applied to ponies more like Psychoshy than LittlePip.
"就在几个小时前,"她嗅了一下说。"我.....。.我不能忍受再回头看。她为什么要这么做？为什么会有小马这么做?"我能想到几个原因，但是他们都适用于小马，更像是Psychoshy而不是littlepip。
I felt cold inside. Cold and still and dead. “I don’t know. I can’t… mind control? Blackmail? Maybe she was drugged out of her skull on Stampede? Something… something had to have made her do that?” I couldn’t shake the image of her crushing those ponies to the wall. They’d been helpless. Utterly helpless… and she’d burned them.
我内心感到寒冷。冰冷，寂静，死气沉沉。"我不知道。我不能...控制思想？勒索？也许她在Stampede被人下药了？一定有什么东西......什么东西让她这么做的?"我无法摆脱她把那些小马压到墙上的画面。他们很无助。完全无助......她把它们烧了。
“I don’t… I don’t think I want to know. I can’t tell people what she just did. I can’t,” Homage said as she shook her head. “I don’t want to know the truth. I don’t want to imagine a chance that she… Blackjack, she killed everypony! It was just a village. It’d been there forever, never bothering anypony.”
"我不...我不认为我想知道。我不能告诉别人她刚才做了什么。我不能,"霍丽亚摇摇头说。"我不想知道真相。我不想想象她有没有可能...黑杰克，她杀了所有的小马！那只是一个村庄。它一直在那里，从来没有打扰过任何小马。"
I couldn’t blame her. “Homage… you have to know. You have to find out, and you need to be the honest voice. Find out why she did this. There has to be a reason. You know that. Find it. And make sure everypony else knows, too.” It would be better than sitting there getting twisted up in knots.
我不能责怪她。"敬意......你必须知道。你必须找到答案，你必须成为诚实的声音。找出她为什么这么做。肯定是有原因的。你知道的。找到它。还要确保其他人也知道。"这总比坐在那里被绞成一团要好。
Homage rubbed her eyes as she stared at me. “And what if… what if I find out she has broken?”
她望着我，眼睛里流露出敬意。"如果...如果我发现她崩溃了怎么办?"
“You know what,” I replied. For a moment she looked at me, stricken as a tear crawled down her cheek. Then she sniffed and nodded once.
"你知道吗?"我回答。她看了我一会儿，泪水顺着她的脸颊流了下来。然后她闻了闻，点了点头。
“Tell the truth… no matter how bad it hurts,” she answered, clenching her eyes shut and nodding her head. “You’re right. I need to… to make sure folks know. So they can take care if she has.”
"说实话......不管有多痛,"她回答，紧闭双眼，点头。"你说得对。我需要...确保大家都知道。所以他们可以照顾好她。"
I nodded and stared at her. “And Homage… if you find out… if she really has broken… I’ll go find the Stable Dweller, and together we’ll bring her back to you and not let her go till this is made right again. Okay? I promise you that.”
我点点头，盯着她。"还有敬意......如果你发现......如果她真的崩溃了......我会去找马厩住户，然后我们一起把她带回来，直到一切恢复正常。好吗？我向你保证。"
For some reason she looked at me oddly, then broke into a sad smile and laughed softly, “Good one, Blackjack. I think I needed that.” She rubbed her eyes as I blinked at her. Huh? “I’ll take care of that in a bit. Need to make sure folks don’t wonder why DJ Pon3’s been crying his eyes out.” She sniffed and looked at her controls. “You got MASEBS Thirteen working? What happened?” Then she looked more concerned as she looked at me. “And… what happened to your face?”
出于某种原因，她奇怪地看着我，然后突然露出悲伤的微笑，轻轻地笑了起来:"干得好，黑杰克。我认为我需要这样。"我对她眨眼的时候，她揉着眼睛。什么？"我一会儿就处理这件事。我们需要确保人们不会奇怪为什么DJPon3一直在哭泣。"她嗅了嗅，看了看控制器。"你让MASEBS十三工作了？发生了什么事?"然后她看着我，显得更加担心。"还有......你的脸怎么了?"
“Ugh… long and ugly story. I’ll share it with you some other time,” I said as I looked away. Funny, mentioning the gauze suddenly tripled its itchiness factor! “As for the tower, there was an Enclave terminal wired into the controls. I don’t know what it was doing,” I said as I glanced behind me. “The feather head I’m with smashed it to pieces.”
"呃......又长又丑的故事。我以后再和你分享吧,"我边说边转过头去。有趣的是，提到纱布突然增加了三倍的瘙痒因子！"至于信号塔，控制系统中有一个昂科雷终端。我不知道它在干什么,"我说着瞥了一眼身后。"和我在一起的羽毛头把它砸成了碎片。"
“Enclave?” She blinked in confusion, clearly glad to have something to focus on besides what LittlePip had done. “The pegasi? Why would they…” She sighed and frowned, shaking her head. “Mmm… too many mysteries.” Welcome to Blackjackville, Homage; population two! “Still… I’ll have to look into it… after I find out what happened in Arbu. I’ve lost contact with four more towers near the Everfree and two more in the southeast. All far from anypony who’d be interested in them.”
"飞地?"她困惑地眨了眨眼，显然很高兴除了小皮普的所作所为之外，还有别的事情值得关注。"飞马座？她叹了口气，皱了皱眉，摇了摇头。"嗯......太多神秘事件了。"欢迎来到Blackjackville，敬意，人口二！"尽管如此......我还是得调查一下......在我弄清楚Arbu发生了什么之后。我在Everfree附近和东南部又失去了4座信号塔的联系。根本不会有人对它们感兴趣。"
“Who’d be interested in the towers?” I asked with a frown.
"谁会对双子塔感兴趣?"我皱着眉头问。
“I don’t know. Red Eye, or just high-aiming scavengers, I suppose,” Homage said, finally composed. She took a deep breath and gave a wan smile, “Okay. I have a broadcast to do… oh!” She blinked. “Helpinghoof wanted me to tell you something about that wired-up ring you found.” I straightened, leaning forward as she lifted a sheet of paper. “He said there wasn’t any change in the healing potions…” I deflated a little. “Until Mrs. Ivy had a heart attack. She was brought to the clinic, but he wasn’t able to save her. Afterwards though, he checked on the potions. He said there was a slight decrease in their potency. He also heard something… a note.”
"我不知道。"红眼"，或者只是目标高的拾荒者，我想,""敬意"说，最后组成。她深深地吸了一口气，面无表情地笑了笑,"好吧。我有一个广播节目要做......哦!"她眨了眨眼。"helpinghof想让我告诉你一些关于你发现的那个连线戒指的事情。"我直起身子，身子前倾，她举起一张纸。"他说治疗药水没什么变化......"我有点泄气。"直到艾薇太太心脏病发作。她被送到诊所，但他没能救活她。不过后来，他检查了药水。他说他们的药效有轻微的下降。他还听到了什么......一个音符。"
“Like a scream?” I asked, and Homage blinked and looked at the paper, then nodded.
"像尖叫?"我问道,"敬意"眨了眨眼睛，看了看报纸，然后点了点头。
“Sounds like there’s big stuff happening everywhere,” Homage said as her ears folded. “All I can do is sit here…” She trailed off. I knew that ‘getting sucked
"听起来好像到处都在发生什么大事,"霍瑞说，她的耳朵合上了。"我所能做的就是坐在这里......"她慢吞吞地说。我就知道会被吸进去
onto the mattress’ look, and I was seeing it on the face of way too many good ponies!
我在太多好马的脸上看到了它！
“And find out about LittlePip. Right? No matter how bad it hurts?” She sighed and nodded, now looking at me firmly. “Take care of yourself, Homage. And let me know about LittlePip. And make sure the Stable Dweller knows too. She might want to help.”
"去了解一下小皮普。对吧？不管伤得有多重?"她叹了口气，点了点头，现在用坚定的目光看着我。"照顾好自己，敬意。让我知道小pip的事。并确保马厩居民也知道。她可能想帮忙。"
Homage gave me the oddest look again. “Ah… yeah… Um… Blackjack?”
敬意又给了我最古怪的表情。"啊......对......嗯......黑杰克?"
I smiled warmly at her as I leaned forward, putting my hooves on the console. “Yes, Homage?”
我热情地向她微笑，身体前倾，把我的蹄子放在控制台上。"是的，致敬?"
“LittlePip is th--” And then her lips moved silently before me. I blinked, then looked at my hoof resting on a button marked ‘mute’ on the console. I looked up and saw her lips moving. I tapped the button, but the damn thing was stuck. I frowned and tapped it repeatedly and looked up with a slightly tense smile. Please let me not have broken one of her M.A.S. towers! Then she gave a tired, slightly sad smile and a little wave before the screen went black.
"小匹普是——"然后她的嘴唇在我面前默默地动了动。我眨了眨眼，然后看着我的蹄子停在控制台上一个标有"静音"的按钮上。我抬起头，看见她的嘴唇在动。我按了按钮，但那该死的东西卡住了。我皱了皱眉头，重复地拍了几下，然后带着略带紧张的微笑抬起头来。请不要让我弄坏了她的m.a.s塔！然后，在屏幕变黑之前，她露出疲倦而略带悲伤的微笑，微微挥了挥手。
“LittlePip is… what?” I muttered as I saw Homage walking up to the microphone in a different screen. “LittlePip is the one to worry about? LittlePip is... the really cute one? LittlePip knows the Stable Dweller?” I paused, my eyes widening a moment. “Wait... Could it be...? Could she really?” Then I snorted, laughing. Okay... LittlePip was a lot of things, but the Stable Dweller? The biggest, baddest, bestest mare in the whole wide Wasteland? Come on! She was... small! She blushed explosively and was reduced to baby talk if Homage nibbled on the tip of her ear! She couldn’t possibly be the Stable Dweller. Badass, yes, but not her.
"小匹普是...什么?"当我在另一个屏幕上看到"敬意"走向麦克风时，我喃喃自语道。"小皮普才是需要担心的人？小pip是...真正可爱的那个？皮普认识马厩里的居民吗?"我停顿了一下，睁大了眼睛。"等等......会不会是......？她真的可以吗?"然后我哼了一声，大笑起来。好吧...小匹普是很多东西，但是稳定居民？最大，最坏，最好的母马在整个大荒地？快点！她太...小了！她的脸涨得通红，如果把"尊敬"这个词轻轻地放在耳朵尖上，她就会变得像个婴儿似的！她不可能是那个马厩里的居民。坏蛋，是的，但不是她。
I fiddled with the button, trying to unstick it. I only caught the very end of the broadcast. “Bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts,” DJ Pon3 rasped out. I supposed I could have stopped her then and asked what she meant before she got cut off, but she had things to do and so did I.
我拨弄着那个按钮，试图把它弄开。我只看到了广播的最后一段。"给你带来真相，不管它有多伤人,"DJ庞3粗声粗气地说。我想我当时本可以阻止她，在她被切断电话之前问她是什么意思，但她有事情要做，我也有事情要做。
“You betcha,” I said as I screwed up the side of my face and took the opportunity for a little clandestine scratching before going to find the Reaper duo. Since I was half a Wasteland away from wherever LittlePip was, I’d have to leave that up to her. I still had my own trials to face.
"没问题,"我一边说，一边拧紧我的一边脸，趁机在去找死神二重唱之前偷偷摸了一下。因为我是半个荒原，远离小皮普所在的地方，我不得不把这个问题留给她。我还有自己的考验要面对。
Like… shopping.
比如...购物。
* * *
* * *
“Wow. I really would have expected this place to be a lot deader,” Rampage said as we looked around Megamart. “Didn’t Sanguine and Vermilion smash this place trying to draw Blackjack out?” The superstore had a lot more light with a hole punched in the roof. Gun lay on its side beneath the hole, several levers and cables evidence of trying to put it upright. The vendors, however, were swamped with ponies buying and selling ammo, armor, and scrap metal, yelling and hawking their wares back and forth. Apparently the slaughter of the past month hadn’t done much to discourage ponies from shopping.
"哇。我真的以为这个地方会死气沉沉得多。"我们环顾Megamart四周时，兰皮说道。"桑吉和朱砂不是为了把黑杰克引出来才砸了这个地方吗?"那家超市的灯光很好，屋顶上打了个洞。枪在洞底下侧躺着，几个杠杆和电缆证明它试图把它竖起来。然而，小贩们挤满了买卖弹药、装甲和废金属的小马，一边叫卖着他们的商品。显然，过去一个月的屠杀并没有阻止小马们购物。
“Actually, we stopped by your stable first, then here. We figured we’d just hit everywhere you’d been till we found something you cared about,” Psychoshy said as she floated above the crowd. “Of course, the longer things took, the more pissy that griffin became, and the more desperate Sanguine got.”
"事实上，我们先去了你的马厩，然后来了这里。我们以为只要你去过的地方我们都会去找，直到我们找到你在乎的东西。"。"当然，事情拖得越久，格里芬就越恼火，而桑吉内就越绝望。"
“Desperation. Mother of atrocity,” Rampage remarked.
"绝望。暴行之母,"狂暴说。
A herd of a half dozen robed zebra passed silently by. Two goats bleated counteroffers to a pony selling barrels of scrap metal. A posh Society unicorn painstakingly accounted for every cap’s worth of her produce while her shabby servants made sure everypony stayed back. “Vermilion and his boys took out the turrets and blew out the roof. Then they flew around and shot the place up for a few minutes, left, and waited for you to come running.”
一群六只身披长袍的斑马静静地走过。两只山羊咩咩叫着向一匹卖废金属桶的小马讨价还价。一头上流社会的独角兽煞费苦心地清点着她每一件农产品的价值，而她那些衣衫褴褛的仆人则确保每匹小马都退后。"朱砂和他的手下炸掉了炮塔，炸掉了屋顶。然后他们飞来飞去，把那个地方炸了几分钟，然后离开，等着你跑过来。"
Boo was nearly grafted to my side. Clearly, crowds and her were not a good mix. I’d put another bag over her head and tied the straps to my barding. I may have gotten a few odd looks, but other ponies had more pressing issues. “Really… I’m astonished they let you in here.”
布几乎嫁接到我身边。显然，人群和她不是一个很好的组合。我把另一个袋子套在她的头上，把带子系在我的帐篷上。我可能得到了一些奇怪的外观，但其他小马有更紧迫的问题。"真的......我很惊讶他们居然让你进来。"
Then a mottled green mare launched herself out of the crowd to tackle Psychoshy. The pegasus nimbly flipped backwards in the air, but the green mare clung to her tenaciously. “Murderer!” bellowed Keystone. The shoppers in our immediate area backed away, but immediately there were bets being placed.
然后一匹斑驳的绿色母马从人群中冲出来对付"心理害羞"。飞马在空中灵活地向后翻转，但是绿色的母马顽强地紧紧抓住她。"凶手!"凯斯通大学怒吼道。我们附近区域的购物者后退了，但是马上就有人下了赌注。
“Fifty caps on Psycho,” Rampage said, and then nudged me. “Hey, Blackjack? Spot me fifty bottlecaps.” I didn’t respond as I watched Psycho flip upside down and somehow slam the other mare back into the ground with a crash. Keystone
"在《惊魂记》上打了五十个帽子,"狂暴说，然后用肘碰了碰我。"嘿，黑杰克？给我五十瓶。"我没有回应，因为我看到心理颠倒翻转，不知怎么地把另一匹母马摔回到地面与崩溃。拱顶石
still didn’t let go though, and they rolled back and forth. The yellow pegasus smashed the back of her head repeatedly into the earth pony’s face. Keystone bit on Psychoshy’s ear, drawing blood as the Reaper thrashed. I was sure that, any second, Psychoshy’s ear was going to tear completely off.
仍然没有松手，他们来回翻滚。那匹黄色的飞马不断地把她的后脑勺砸向地球上小马的脸。基斯通在心理害羞的耳朵上咬了一口，在死神痛打的时候抽出了血。我确信，在任何时候，精神病害羞的耳朵都会被扯掉。
“Enough!” yelled a familiar voice, and the crowd parted to admit Bottlecap. The mare had swapped her store uniform for blue combat armor; her battle saddle had two automatic shotguns. Suddenly, the fight was a lot less interesting for ponies down range. More security ponies came out of the woodwork. Still the pair continued to struggle.
"够了!"一个熟悉的声音喊道，人群分开让博特莱卡进来。这匹母马已经把她店里的制服换成了蓝色的战斗盔甲;她的战斗马鞍上有两把自动猎枪。突然之间，这场战斗对于小马来说就没那么有趣了。越来越多的保安小马从木制品中跑出来。两人仍在继续挣扎。
So Bottlecap shot them.
所以Bottlecap开枪打死了他们。
I very nearly had Duty and Sacrifice out before I had three sets of guns on me. I froze, partly out of survival instinct and partly because the rapid fire barking hadn’t reduced the pair to bloody sludge. Instead the two parted, shielding their bodies as well as they could. Small cloth beanbags lay scattered around them as they yelped and curled up. I returned the revolvers to my holsters.
在我身上带着三把枪之前，我差点就把责任和牺牲都干掉了。我僵住了，一部分是因为求生的本能，另一部分是因为急促的吠叫声没有把这一对变成血淋淋的淤泥。相反，他们两个分开了，尽可能地保护自己的身体。当他们尖叫着蜷缩起来的时候，小小的布质豆袋散落在他们周围。我把左轮手枪放回枪套。
“What’s the big idea?” Psychoshy bawled as she pointed at the limping green mare rising to her hooves. Even in combat armor, I bet those bags had to sting. “She assaults me and now you shoot me? I thought this was a place of business!” she said as she pulled herself to her hooves.
"这有什么大不了的?"当她指着一匹跛行的绿色母马站起来的时候，心理变态狂大叫起来。即使在战斗装甲中，我打赌那些袋子也会刺痛。"她攻击我，现在你开枪打我？我还以为这里是办公场所呢!"她一边说，一边全力以赴。
“Remember when you attacked us? We do,” Bottlecap replied. “You and that ghoul you were with. I lost three good employees and one hell of a piece of equipment in your attack. Why shouldn’t I switch to flechettes?”
"还记得你们袭击我们的时候吗？我们是这样做的,"Bottlecap回答道。"你和那个和你在一起的食尸鬼。在你的袭击中，我损失了三名优秀员工和一件该死的设备。为什么我不能换成箭头呢?"
“She was a mercenary,” I blurted, drawing a surprised look from the yellow mare. “Sanguine hired her. She’s got caps to spend.” I gave a slack smile. “Business. Trade saving the Wasteland... all that?”
"她是个佣兵,"我脱口而出，那匹黄色的母马惊讶地看了我一眼。"桑吉尼雇用了她。她还有帽子要花呢。"我懒洋洋地笑了笑。「商业。用贸易拯救荒地......所有这些?"
Clearly, both were stunned by my defense of Psychoshy. Bottlecap recovered first. “Blackjack. Glory was able to save you after all.” She stared into my eyes for a moment, then shivered and looked away. Her gaze returned to the yellow pegasus. “Are you saying she’s with you?”
很明显，他们都被我为"心理害羞"的辩护震惊了。巴特勒卡普先恢复了健康。"黑杰克。晨辉终究还是能够拯救你。"她盯着我的眼睛看了一会儿，然后颤抖了一下，转过脸去。她的目光又回到了黄色的飞马上。"你是说她和你在一起?"
“It’s something like that,” I said quickly. “She was just working for Sanguine. It’s something Reapers do. You wouldn’t hold that against her. Not when she has caps to trade.”
"差不多就是这样,"我很快地说。"她只是为桑吉尼工作。这是死神的工作。你不会因此而反对她的。如果她有上限可以交易，就不会。"
Bottlecap pressed her lips together as she glowered at the pegasus. “Fine. She can stay and pay like everypony else.”
博特莱卡怒视着飞马，紧闭双唇。"好吧。她可以留下来，像其他小马一样付钱。"
“But… you mean I got to pay?” Psychoshy scoffed. “Reapers don’t pay.” The sudden cocking of several automatic shotguns gave a pretty convincing counter argument.
"但是......你的意思是我得付钱?"心理害羞的人嗤之以鼻。"收割者不付钱。"几把自动霰弹枪突然上膛，提供了一个相当有说服力的反驳理由。
Bottlecap smirked with evident satisfaction. “Yeah. You do. New times. I can’t count on Big Daddy to keep trouble in line, so now you get to pay the same as everypony else. Don’t like it? Leave,” Bottlecap replied sharply. I smiled, shaking my head, and received a sharp look. “Something funny?”
博特克普带着明显的满意得意的笑容。"是的。你知道。新时代。我不能指望大老爹控制麻烦，所以现在你得付和其他小马一样的钱。不喜欢吗？离开,"博特莱卡普尖锐地回答。我微笑着摇了摇头，接受了一个犀利的目光。"有什么好笑的吗?"
“Hey, I pay my bills,” I replied, lifting my hooves. “Just had a talk about the morality of thug economics on our way here. That’s all.” She relaxed a bit at that and even smiled.
"嘿，我付我的帐单,"我回答，提起我的蹄子。"我们来这里的路上刚刚讨论了暴徒经济的道德问题。仅此而已。"她稍微放松了一下，甚至还笑了。
“Well there goes the neighborhood,” Rampage sighed. “Steel Ranger toys getting blown up. Reapers actually having to pay! What’s next? Enclave actually doing something productive? Alicorns with personality? Sunny days? What’s the world coming to?”
"好了，邻居们都走了,"狂暴叹了口气。"钢铁骑兵玩具被炸飞了。收割者必须付出代价！下一步是什么？昂科雷实际上在做一些有意义的事情？带有个性的海芋？阳光明媚的日子？这个世界会变成什么样?"
“These are interesting times,” Bottlecap said as she looked around. “Never seen business like this, though. You’d think the attack would have put ponies off, but we’ve got more folks coming in all the time. Those Harbingers are swapping loads of fresh armaments and old food stores for information and followers. And yesterday we got a boat from Zanzebra landing at the boardwalk.”
"这是一个有趣的时代,"Bottlecap环顾四周说。"不过，我从未见过这样的生意。你可能会认为这次袭击会把小马吓跑，但是我们一直有更多的人来这里。那些先驱者正在用大量的新鲜武器和旧的食物储备来交换信息和追随者。昨天，我们从Zanzebra搭乘了一艘船，在木板路上靠岸。"
“Harbingers?” I said with a frown.
"预言者?"我皱着眉头说。
“Oh yeah. You’ve got to have seen them around. Green banners with black towers? ‘Hoofington Rises’? They say that soon the city’s going to open up and start a new age. They’ve found so much stuff that folks are saying there’s got to be something to it.” She looked at Psychoshy and Keystone. “Let her shop. If she starts anything, turn her into a pincushion.” The mottled green mare nodded once. Bottlecap looked at Rampage. “Am I going to have to worry about you too?”
"哦，是的。你一定见过他们。带有黑色塔楼的绿色横幅？胡芬顿站起来？他们说这个城市很快就会开放，开启一个新的时代。他们发现了这么多东西，以至于人们都在说，这里面一定有什么东西。"她看了看Psychoshy和Keystone。"让她去购物吧。如果她挑起什么事，就把她变成一个针垫。"斑驳的绿色母马点了一下头。博特莱卡研究了狂暴。"我也要为你担心吗?"
“I’m just shopping. Was thinking of picking up a few value packs of Mint-als and Med-X. Is there a sale going on?” she asked with a smile. Bottlecap looked at her a little bit longer, then nodded her head in the direction of the clinic. The
"我只是在购物。我在考虑买几包薄荷糖和Med-X。正在减价吗?"她笑着问道。博特克普又看了她一会儿，然后朝诊所的方向点了点头。这个
young Reaper saluted and trotted away with an angry, confused Psychoshy.
年轻的收割者敬了个礼，带着一个愤怒、困惑的心理害羞小跑着离开了。
Bottlecap looked at Boo quizzically, but then shook her head and gestured for me to move to the side towards her office. Once we were out of the noise, I took the bag off and she blinked and shook her head. “Do I want to know?” Bottlecap asked as Boo started to explore the office.
博特克普疑惑地看着布，然后摇了摇头，示意我走到她办公室的一边。一旦我们离开了噪音，我把袋子拿下来，她眨眨眼，摇摇头。"我想知道吗?"当Boo开始探索办公室时，Bottlecap问道。
“Probably not,” I replied.
"可能不会,"我回答。
“You know that that cult is looking for you, right?” the yellow mare said as she looked at me in concern.
"你知道那个邪教在找你，对吧?"那匹黄色的母马忧心忡忡地看着我说。
“Yup, it’s Deus and the bounty hunters all over again,” I replied with a sigh. I watched Boo wander into the office bathroom. Good. She was finally figuring out where to do her business.
"是的，这又是上帝和赏金猎人的故事了,"我叹了口气回答道。我看着布走进办公室的浴室。很好。她终于想清楚在哪里做生意了。
Bottlecap looked nervous, glancing over her shoulder. “It’s a lot worse than that. Deus’s bounty hunters were generally poor and poorly armed. The biggest threat to you was Deus himself. These cultists, though, are coming up with ordinance I’ve rarely seen before. Anti-machine rifles and markspony carbines that are brand new, out-of-the-crate quality. They’re all wearing Equestrian Army combat armor and they’ve got ample food stores.”
博特莱卡看上去很紧张，回头看了一眼。"情况比那糟糕得多。天王的赏金猎人一般都很穷，装备也很差。对你最大的威胁就是上帝本人。然而，这些信徒提出了我以前很少见到的条例。反机器步枪和马克斯伯尼卡宾枪，这是全新的，出箱的质量。他们都穿着马术军队的战斗盔甲，他们有充足的食物储备。"
“But they’re just… desperate ponies, right?” I asked with a nervous glance at the door.
"但它们只是......绝望的小马驹，对吧?"我紧张地看了一眼门，问道。
“For now, but the more powerful they become, the better the quality of their fighters and the bigger a threat they are. It’s hard to pass up free food and protection. They’re even giving it away for information on you.” Bottlecap sighed. “They haven’t actually gotten smart enough to verify the info... yet. I mean, everypony knows they’ll turn over ridiculous amounts of goods for a rumor you’re out east or west or somewhere between,” Bottlecap said before she chewed her lip. “Or else they’ve got so much they can just throw it all away for the smallest rumor.”
"就目前而言，他们的力量越强大，他们的战士的素质就越高，威胁也就越大。很难拒绝免费的食物和保护。他们甚至免费提供你的信息。"博特莱卡叹了口气。"他们实际上还没有足够聪明来核实这些信息.....。我的意思是，每匹小马都知道，如果有谣言说你在东部或西部，或者在东西部之间的某个地方，他们就会卖掉大量的商品。"。"否则他们就会因为一点小小的谣言而放弃一切。"
Yick, I sure didn’t like that possibility. “How many? Do they have a leader?”
伊克，我不喜欢这种可能性。""有多少？他们有领导人吗?"
“Dozens, at least. They’re following somepony called the Prophet… no clue who that actually is. They’re all broken up into cells. They’re absorbing a lot of the newcomers to the city… but there’s a massive creepy vibe to them. Most of
"至少有几十个。他们在跟踪一匹叫先知的小马...不知道那是谁。它们都被分解成细胞。他们吸收了很多新来的人......但是他们有一个巨大的令人毛骨悚然的氛围。大部分
them give food and care, but others are really well-armed and looking for you. They call themselves Seekers. They want your PipBuck big time.”
他们提供食物和照顾，但其他人确实装备精良，正在找你。他们自称为搜索者。他们非常想要你的PipBuck。"
“Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t work without a Ministry Mare’s descendant.” But I frowned. They weren’t looking for one of those, so… did that mean that they already had somepony related to the Ministry Mares?
"没关系。没有马利部的后代，它就不能工作。"但我皱起了眉头。他们不是在寻找那些，所以...这是否意味着他们已经有一些小马与部里的母马有关？
Bottlecap shrugged. “Whatever. They want your PipBuck really bad. I’m glad you ditched it somewhere,” she said as she looked at my hoof. I decided not to inform her that Glory had rewired it inside my leg.
博特莱卡耸了耸肩。"随便啦。他们非常想要你的PipBuck。我很高兴你把它扔在别的地方了,"她看着我的蹄子说。我决定不告诉她，晨辉已经把它重新接到我的腿里了。
“So is me being here going to be a problem?” I asked nervously.
"那么，我在这里会成为一个问题吗?"我紧张地问。
“No. The Finders are absorbing a lot of these new ponies too. And while we may not be as good as these cultists are at finding treasures, we are making quite a haul the last few weeks. Found some kind of bunker facility up north. Should be loaded with goodies,” she said as she rubbed her hooves together in glee.
"没有。芬德一家也吸收了许多新的小马驹。虽然我们可能不如这些信徒在寻找宝藏方面做得好，但在过去的几个星期里，我们已经收获颇丰。在北边找到了一个地堡。应该装满了好东西,"她一边说，一边高兴地搓着蹄子。
“Bottlecap, that’s my stable!” I cried, wiping the glee off her face. I mean really, did she honestly plan to loot my home? That was just… “Besides, it’s filled tight with poison gas and raider plague.” And soon Steel Rangers as well.
"Bottlecap，那是我的马厩!"我哭了起来，抹去了她脸上的欢乐。我的意思是，她真的打算洗劫我的家吗？那只是..."而且里面充满了毒气和瘟疫"很快钢铁骑兵队也会加入。
“Oh. I… huh…” She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Well… I guess I’ll tell Digger’s crew to move on to picking over the bunkers the Rangers left behind at Ironmare. Funny, he didn’t say it looked like a stable but… eh… I guess one bunker looks like another to a professional scavenger.” She coughed, then sighed. “Look… Blackjack. Could I ask you a favor?”
"哦。我。.嗯......"她笨拙地摩擦着脖子后面。"好吧......我想我会告诉迪格的手下去清理游骑兵队留在Ironmare的地堡。有趣的是，他并没有说它看起来像一个马厩，但是......呃......我猜对于一个专业的拾荒者来说，一个地堡看起来像另一个。"她咳嗽了一声，然后叹了口气。"听着......黑杰克。我能请你帮个忙吗?"
I arched a brow. “Sure. Asking is always free.”
我挑起眉毛。"当然。请求永远是免费的。"
“The Finders really need Paradise Mall back,” she said as she looked at a city map on the wall. A big red circle had been drawn on the east side. “You got the Eggheads, Scrapyard, Rocket Town, Meatlocker, and now even the Enclave out east, and we have zero presence there since Usury lost the mall to Red Eye’s forces. Most of his troops are going back to the Everfree region, but there are some still holding onto the mall and Keeper really needs them beaten back. They’re being commanded by a griffin named Vermilion.”
"芬德一家真的需要把天堂购物中心要回来,"她一边说一边看着墙上的城市地图。东边画了一个大大的红圈。"你们有书呆子、废料场、火箭城、肉库，现在甚至还有东部的飞地，自从高利贷把购物中心让给红眼的部队后，我们在那里已经没有存在感了。他的大部分部队正在返回Everfree地区，但还有一些人仍然坚守着购物中心，守门人真的需要把他们击退。他们的指挥官是一只名叫朱砂的狮鹫。"
“I’ve met him,” I said absently, looking at the map as I rubbed my right temple. My head was running slipshod through memories of that night, my meeting with
"我见过他,"我心不在焉地说，一边看着地图，一边揉着右边的太阳穴。我的脑海里浮现出那天晚上的记忆，那次我和他的会面
Usury, and where I needed to go next. “Well, I’ll think about it; I have no problem helping the Finders so long as you ban that whole slavery thing.” My eyes danced over the east side of the map, drawn more and more to one section. Why was it so hard to focus? My eyes finally locked on a green X north of Paradise marked ‘Meatlocker’. It was drawn over a square labeled ‘Hoofington General Hospital’. And just north of that? ‘Hightower Jail’. “What do you know about this place?”
高利贷，以及我接下来需要去哪里。"好吧，我会考虑的，只要你们禁止奴隶制的事情，我对帮助芬德一家没有问题。"我的眼睛扫视着地图的东边，越来越多地注视着一个区域。为什么这么难集中注意力？我的眼睛终于锁定了天堂北面一个绿色的x，上面标着'肉库'。它被画在一个标有胡芬顿总医院的正方形上。再往北呢？海托华监狱。"你对这个地方了解多少?"
“Hightower? Used to be a prison before the bombs fell. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s not a little ‘jail’ but a serious high security prison. Today, it’s a huge feral ghoul nest. A balefire missile fell on it but malfunctioned. Instead of leveling the place, it just irradiated it. Or, heck, maybe that’s what it was supposed to do. All the prisoners died slow. Most of the sane ghouls set up shop to the south in Meatlocker, the old city hospital before the Fluttershy clinic was built in the reconstruction. You get a few ghouls that try to scavenge there but…” She shrugged.
"海托华？在炸弹落下之前，这里曾是一座监狱。不要让这个名字欺骗了你，这不是一个小监狱，而是一个高度戒备的监狱。今天，它是一个巨大的凶猛的食尸鬼巢。一枚炮弹落在上面，但是发生了故障。它没有把这个地方夷为平地，而是直接照射了它。或者，见鬼，也许这就是它应该做的。所有的囚犯都慢慢地死去。大多数神智清醒的食尸鬼都在Meatlocker南部开了店，那是老城区的医院，那时候Fluttershy诊所还没有建成。你会看到一些食尸鬼在那里寻找食物，但是......"她耸耸肩。
“Probably don’t last too long,” I replied. “Well, I just have to get flown on top, and then I’ll be on my way. There’s got to be a way in from above, right?” I said with a grin… one she didn’t share. I groaned, folded my forelegs on the desk, and buried my face in them. “What? What is it?” Mutant cyber attack dogs? Ghoul ninja guards? Spectral gangsters?
"可能不会持续太久,"我回答。"嗯，我只要飞到上面，然后就可以上路了。肯定有办法从上面进去，对吧?"我咧嘴笑着说......她没有告诉我。我呻吟着，把前腿放在桌子上，把脸埋在里面。"什么？这是什么?"变种网络攻击犬？忍者守卫？鬼怪？
“Well, the prison’s been on lockdown for two centuries. There’re beam turrets all over the roof and walls to prevent jailbreaks, plus sentry robots. They’ve got some sort of repair talisman thingy, so even if you disable them, they’ll just fix themselves. It’s the other reason why nopony scavenges there. You’d have to break in and lift the lockdown to get anywhere.”
"嗯，这个监狱已经封锁了两个世纪。屋顶和墙上布满了防止越狱的梁式塔楼，还有岗哨机器人。他们有某种修理护身符什么的，所以即使你把它们弄坏了，他们也会自己修好的。这也是那里没有小马食腐动物的另一个原因。你必须破门而入，解除封锁才能到达目的地。"
I looked at her for one long moment as my eyelid started to twitch before I waved my hoof at her, as if I could just ward away what she’d just told me. “No! No, I just broke into one death trap! There were killer trees and magic blue death weeds. It had flesh stripping poison gas! And mutating gunk and there was a robot! A giant killer robot with this rainbow beam cannon and this grenade launcher that hosed exploding death at me. No! I just want to fly to the top, go inside, and take it easy.”
我看了她一会儿，眼皮开始抽搐，然后向她挥了挥蹄子，好像我可以避开她刚才对我说的话似的。"不！不，我只是闯进了一个死亡陷阱！有杀手树和魔法蓝死亡杂草。里面有剥肉毒气！还有突变的黏糊糊的东西，还有个机器人！一个巨大的杀人机器人，带着彩虹光束的大炮，还有这个冲着我爆炸的榴弹发射器。不！我只想飞到山顶，进去，放松一下。"
She stared at me a moment, then gave a wan smile. “Your life is so much more interesting than mine, Blackjack.”
她盯着我看了一会儿，然后露出苍白的笑容。"你的生活比我的有趣多了，黑杰克。"
“Yeah! A life. And I’d like to keep it. I’ve lost one already. Are you honestly telling me I have to break into another place where everything is trying to kill me? No! I refuse! I protest! There is no way I can be expected to do this twice… no wait… three times if I count the tunnels. Four if I count 99.” I groaned as I paced back and forth. “Goddesses, what is it going to be this time? Am I going to lose the other half of me? Become Blackjack the Robopony? Securitron? Am I going to become ‘a cyber ghoul unicorn Reaper what the fuck’?!” I cried as I threw my hooves in the air. “And my friends… I almost lost Scotch Tape the last time. And Glory got turned into Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash!” I said as I pointed at her.
"是的！一种生活。我想留着它。我已经失去了一个。你真的要我闯进另一个地方吗?那里所有的东西都想杀了我？不！我拒绝！我抗议！不可能指望我这样做两次......不，等等......三次，如果我把隧道算进去的话。如果算上99个，就是4个。"我来回踱步时呻吟着。"女神们，这次又是什么呢？我会失去我的另一半吗？成为机器人黑杰克？保安？我会不会成为'网络盗尸者独角兽收割者，他妈的什么东西'?!"我把蹄子抛向空中，哭了起来。"我的朋友们......上次我差点把透明胶带弄丢了。晨辉变成了彩虹冲刺。彩虹冲啊!"我指着她说。
“Rainbow Dash?” she asked flatly, as if wondering whether I’d completely lost it. It was fair to say I was rather close to listening to the Dealer, tossing EC-1101 into the river, and trotting out west to help LittlePip or the Stable Dweller.
"彩虹冲刺?"她直截了当地问道，好像在想我是不是完全失去理智了。公平地说，我差一点就听到了庄家的话，把EC-1101扔进了河里，然后跑到西边去帮助小匹普或者马厩居民。
Then we heard a wet gulping noise and both turned to see Boo with her head in the toilet bowl. Slowly, we looked back at each other, and I felt myself going red. “What?” I asked, gesturing at the pale pony with a hoof. “How else is she supposed to get a drink?”
然后我们听到一阵湿漉漉的吞咽声，两个人都转过身来，看到阿布的头伸进马桶里。慢慢地，我们回头看着对方，我觉得自己脸都红了。"什么?"我问道，指着那匹带着蹄子的苍白的小马。"不然她还能怎么弄到饮料?"
“I should probably get back to the floor. I just wanted to warn you… um… good luck,” Bottlecap said with a forced smile, then turned and trotted rapidly from the office. I groaned and buried my face in my crossed hooves on the desk. Again… I was going to have to break into an armored building of death… again… just to find out where EC-1101 was supposed to go.
"我也许该回到地板上去了。我只是想警告你......嗯......祝你好运,"Bottlecap勉强笑着说，然后转身迅速地离开了办公室。我呻吟着，把脸埋在桌子上交叉的蹄子里。再一次......我将不得不再一次闯入死亡的装甲建筑......再一次......只是为了找出EC-1101应该去哪里。
Boo trotted over and gave my uncovered cheek a toilet-bowl-fresh nuzzle. I sighed and muttered, “Thanks Boo. Thanks a lot.” And then I got to thinking of what I’d need.
布小跑过来，用马桶式的新鲜鼻子蹭了蹭我裸露的脸颊。我叹了口气，喃喃自语道:"谢谢，波波。多谢了。"然后我开始考虑我需要什么。
* * *
* * *
“So you’re going to Hightower? Why? There’s nothing in Hightower but a whole lot of ghouls,” Psychoshy said as we made our way back towards the medical center. Ever since I’d filled Rampage in, the pegasus had proven incredibly curious. “I mean, I can understand it if you’re suicidal, but if that’s the case I’d be happy to spare you the trouble,” the mare said with a wide grin as we trotted along.
"所以你要去海托华？为什么？在海托华什么都没有，只有一大堆食尸鬼,"走回医疗中心的路上，精神病医生说。自从我填补了年的狂暴，飞马已经证明了难以置信的好奇。"我的意思是，如果你有自杀倾向，我可以理解，但是如果是这样的话，我很乐意为你省去麻烦,"母马说，我们一边小跑一边咧着嘴笑。
“Thanks, but I swore off suicide,” I replied, wondering just how Spike was doing
"谢谢，但我发誓不再自杀了,"我回答，想知道斯派克怎么样了
at the moment. Being all alone in his cave… Was he watching when LittlePip slaughtered that town? I’d tried to tune in to the radio show, but so far all I’d heard was music and announcements of other things happening abroad. Had he had any better luck finding ponies to bear the Elements of Harmony? I kept coming up empty-hooved every time I even thought about it. Priest would have been a shoo-in for kindness… if he wasn’t dead. Could Bottlecap have been honesty… or was it generosity? Well, there was always Charity as a candidate for that spot, too...
目前。独自一人在洞穴里......当小匹普屠杀那个城镇的时候，他在看吗？我试着收听广播节目，但到目前为止，我听到的只是音乐和国外发生的其他事情的通告。他有没有更好的运气找到小马来承担和谐元素？每当我想到这一点，我总是一无所获。如果普里斯特没死的话，他肯定会发善心的。究竟是诚实...还是慷慨？那个位置的候选人也是Charity。
Ugh… saving the world was hard.
拯救世界太难了。
We’d picked up all the staples we’d needed. I’d traded what P-21 and I had looted from Hippocratic Research and what we’d picked up in the MASEBS tower for Med-X, Rad-X, RadAway, Fixer, fresh food, and ammunition. I’d thought about swapping Duty and Sacrifice, but until my magic could handle bigger weapons, the twin revolvers were my best bet. Since I’d shredded my Reaper barding getting free, I’d bought the best armor I could find: some old combat armor, complete with helmet.
我们把所有需要的订书钉都拿起来了。我用我和P-21从希波克拉底研究公司抢来的东西和我们在梅塞布斯塔里拿到的东西换来了Med-X，Rad-X，RadAway，Fixer，新鲜食物和弹药。我曾经想过交换使命和牺牲，但是在我的魔法能够处理更大的武器之前，两把左轮手枪是我最好的选择。因为我撕碎了我的收割者，为了得到自由，我买了我能找到的最好的盔甲:一些旧的战斗盔甲，还有头盔。
I’d bought Boo a fresh, plague-free apple; I doubted I’d ever trust fresh produce again myself. It’d been a hundred caps, but the look on the pale mare’s face had been worth it. She still trotted along with a blissful look on her face. I’d tried to put barding on her, but she’d freaked out so badly in the store that I’d given it up and bought her a carrot instead.
我给布买了一个新鲜的，没有瘟疫的苹果，我怀疑我自己还会相信新鲜的产品。虽然已经戴了一百顶帽子，但那苍白母马脸上的表情还是值得的。她仍然一路小跑，脸上洋溢着幸福的神情。我试图向她讨价还价，但是她在商店里吓坏了，所以我放弃了，给她买了一根胡萝卜。
I wished I could get more apples for Boo. And something to help revert Glory.
我真希望我能给布买更多的苹果。还有帮助恢复晨辉的东西。
I really wished I could get my hooves on some radiation suits.
我真希望我能穿上防辐射服。
I really, really wished I could peel this gauze off and scratch these skin grafts.
我真的，真的希望我可以撕掉这些纱布，刮掉这些皮肤移植片。
My wish list was getting kinda full, wasn’t it?
我的愿望清单越来越满了，不是吗？
“So if you’re not going for a nasty ghoulification, why go? Hightower isn’t like the Core. I doubt you’re going to find any crotch-moistening salvage or weapons there,” Psychoshy said as she tapped her spiked horseshoes together, something that provided her immense amusement and me incredible annoyance. The two were probably related.
"那么，如果你不打算进行一场恶毒的盗尸，为什么还要去呢？海托华不像核心。我怀疑你是否能在那里找到任何沾湿裤裆的打捞器或武器,"精神害羞一边拍着她的马蹄铁一边说，这给她带来了巨大的乐趣，也给我带来了难以置信的烦恼。这两件事可能有关联。
“Blackjack has her reasons,” Rampage said as she trotted along in her reinforced
"黑杰克有她的理由,"兰帕德一边说着，一边开着她的增援车小跑着
metal armor. It wasn’t nearly as fancy as the spiked, articulated set that’d been blown apart when she detonated outside Hippocratic Research, but it had the attribute she required the most: mass. She’d kept her distance from the zebras the entire time we’d been there, and they’d stayed back from the striped young mare. Still, she spoke in Zebra for half an hour after we left, and I suspected it wasn’t anything nice.
金属盔甲。当她在希波克拉底研究所外面引爆的时候，那个带尖刺的铰接装置被炸开了，这个装置远没有那么花哨，但是它有她最需要的属性:质量。在我们到达那里的整个过程中，她一直与斑马保持着距离，而斑马也一直避开那匹有斑纹的年轻母马。我们离开后，她还是用斑仔语说了半个小时，我怀疑那不是什么好事。
“And those are?” Psychoshy pressed as she flew over my head. Even in the feeble daylight, the clouds still looked particularly heavy and swollen. I just wanted it to rain… even as depressing and uncomfortable as that was, the rain would cut this muggy pressure that was making my ears ache. I wondered if the clouds were just going to fall out of the sky and cover us all.
"那些是什么?"当她飞过我的头顶时，我的心理压力很大。即使在微弱的日光下，乌云看起来仍然特别沉重和膨胀。我只是希望下雨......即使那样令人沮丧和不舒服，但是雨水会削减这种闷热的压力，使我的耳朵疼痛。我不知道那些云会不会从天上掉下来，把我们都遮住。
“You remember EC-1101?” I asked as I looked up at her. She frowned but nodded. “The program is trying to find certain ponies. Really important ponies centuries ago. I want to find out where those ponies are and what they did. And the program says ‘go to Hightower and find where to go next.’ So that’s why I have to go.”
"你还记得EC-1101吗?"我抬头看着她问道。她皱了皱眉，但还是点了点头。"这个项目正在寻找某些小马。几个世纪前非常重要的小马。我想知道那些小马在哪里，它们做了什么。程序说'去海托华，找到下一站去哪儿'所以这就是我必须去的原因。"
She flew sideways, keeping pace with me. “That’s it? That’s your reason for trotting all over the place? You’re just going where the program is telling you to go? That’s crazy! You’re crazy! Has it occurred to you that the program is trying to get you killed?” she asked, then pointed at Rampage. “And you’re actually helping her with this, Rampage?”
她飞向一边，跟着我的步伐。"就这样？这就是你到处跑的原因？你要去程序要你去的地方吗？这太疯狂了！你疯了！你有没有想过这个程序是想害死你?"她问道，然后指着狂暴。"你真的在帮她吗，狂暴?"
“Well, she does take me to some pretty interesting places,” Rampage replied. “You should have seen the screaming room.” Psychoshy mouthed the words ‘screaming room’. Then Rampage grinned up at the yellow mare. “A much better question, Psycho, is why, now that you know why Blackjack’s trotting all over the Wasteland, are you still following us?”
"嗯，她确实带我去了一些非常有趣的地方,"狂暴回答说。"你真该看看那个尖叫的房间。"精神病患者用口型说出了"尖叫屋"这几个字。然后狂暴冲着那匹黄色的母马咧嘴笑了起来。"一个更好的问题，神经病，为什么，现在你知道为什么Blackjack跑遍了荒地，你还跟着我们?"
Psychoshy’s pupils shrunk. “Oh fuck…” She clutched the sides of her head, ignoring the spiked shoes dimpling her hide. “It’s infectious, isn’t it? That’s why all of you follow her. She infects you with her crazy suicidal stupid thoughts and you follow her into places that you know will get you killed.”
精神病患者的瞳孔缩小了。"哦，妈的......"她紧紧抓住头的两侧，完全没有注意到那双带刺的鞋子在她的皮肤上留下了凹痕。"这是有传染性的，不是吗？这就是为什么你们都跟着她。她用她疯狂的、自杀式的、愚蠢的想法感染你，然后你跟着她去一些你知道会害死你的地方。"
“Well, that’s P-21’s most popular theory,” Rampage replied. Boo stopped short, her eyes wide as her ears swiveled. I stopped too, but I couldn’t see any bars, red or otherwise. “Personally, I think that she’s got some kind of freaky mind control
"嗯，这是P-21最流行的理论,"狂暴回答。布突然停了下来，眼睛睁得大大的，耳朵转来转去。我也停了下来，但是我看不到任何栅栏，红色的或者其他的。"就我个人而言，我认为她有某种奇怪的精神控制
powers that constantly broadcast ‘this is a good idea’.”
不断广播'这是个好主意'的权力。"
“Isn’t the heroine embarking on her noble quest to save the city supposed to get a little respect?” I asked in annoyance. The pair simply stared at me a moment, then both flopped on the ground, laughing outrageously. “No respect at all.” I snorted and lowered my head sullenly.
"难道女主角开始她拯救城市的崇高追求不应该得到一点尊重吗?"我不耐烦地问道。两人只是盯着我看了一会儿，然后都倒在地上，放声大笑。"一点也不尊重。"我哼了一声，闷闷不乐地低下头。
The round buzzed so close past me that it had to have been in flight before I moved. I hit the ground as two more zipped through the air above me. Boo flattened herself to the ground in fright.
圆形的嗡嗡声如此之近地从我身边掠过，以至于在我移动之前它就已经在飞行中了。我撞到了地面，另外两架飞机在我头顶的空中呼啸而过。布吓得倒在地上。
Okay, snipers outside the range of the E.F.S.? I really didn’t like that one bit.
E.F.S.范围外的狙击手？我真的一点也不喜欢。
“What the fuck? Is somepony shooting at us?” Psychoshy said as she crawled away towards the edge of the road.
"他妈的怎么回事？有人朝我们开枪吗?""精神病患者"一边说，一边向路边爬去。
“I dunno,” Rampage said as she rose. Instantly there were three pings made by her metal armor and she jerked. “Yup!” she gagged, puking blood as she grinned. Now I could see the red bars, four in the front and four to the south. More rounds slammed into the Reaper, hitting so hard she staggered back a few steps. “Anti-machine rifles… Fuck!” Her regeneration was keeping up with the brutal onslaught, but sooner or later they’d figure out that they were blasting a pony who couldn’t die. The rest of us weren’t so lucky.
"我不知道,"朗格站起来说。她的金属盔甲立刻发出了三声"砰"的一声，她猛地一动。"是的!"她嘴里塞着东西，一边笑一边吐血。现在我可以看到红色的栅栏，四个在前面，四个在南面。更多的子弹击中了死神，重重一击，她摇摇晃晃地后退了几步。"反机枪...妈的!"她的再生能力跟得上这场残酷的袭击，但是他们迟早会发现他们是在炸死一匹不会死的小马。我们其他人就没那么幸运了。
We were dead if we stayed here. The two teams of four were advancing slowly and carefully, firing wild sprays of automatic rifle fire, the kind of fire of somepony not shy about sharing five millimeter ammunition. Rampage was a decent decoy, but even she couldn’t protect us against that.
如果我们留在这里，我们就死定了。两个四人小组缓慢而谨慎地前进着，发射着野性的自动步枪火力喷射器----这种火力就像一匹小马不怕共用五毫米弹药一样。狂暴是个不错的诱饵，但即使是她也无法保护我们免受这种攻击。
To the north was the gravel pit where I’d fought the radscorpions a lifetime ago; it was the only cover in the place, but it was also a box. I really didn’t want to go inside it.
北面是一个砾石坑，我上辈子就是在那里和雷达蝎子搏斗的;那是那个地方唯一的掩体，但也是一个盒子。我真的不想进去。
A five millimeter round pinged off my helmet, making the choice for me. Psychoshy crawled like an earth pony into the pit, and Boo was right beside me as I wiggled my way to cover. If they surrounded it, they’d be able to chew us to pieces or pin us down. I looked at the crushers, belts, steam shovel, and heaps of gravel. Not a lot of protection. The north and west sides were almost sheer and the east side was sheer and occupied by a giant muddy pit. I could see the radscorpion hole in the north face, but that would be a spot for a last stand.
一颗5毫米口径的子弹从我的头盔上弹了下来，让我做出了选择。害羞的神经病像一匹地球上的小马一样爬进了坑里，我扭动着身子找掩护时，布就在我身边。如果他们包围了它，他们就能把我们撕成碎片或者把我们钉死。我看了看压碎机、皮带、蒸汽铲和成堆的砾石。没有多少保护措施。北面和西面几乎是陡峭的，东面是陡峭的，有一个巨大的泥坑。我可以看到北面有一个雷德蝎子洞，但那将是最后一战的战场。
Rampage trotted down after us with a half dozen holes punched through her armor. The striped young mare spat out a huge bullet; definitely a fifty caliber anti-machine round. Psychoshy took one look at her and shuddered. I swallowed; we didn’t have very long. “Okay. Here is what we need to do. They’re after me. I’ll put Boo somewhere safe and take cover in the cabin of the steam shovel and make sure they see me. Rampage, you take care of the ponies with the carbines. Psychoshy, you take out the ponies with the AM rifles.”
狂暴在我们后面小跑着穿透了她的盔甲打了六个洞。这匹年轻的雌马吐出一颗巨大的子弹，绝对是一颗五十口径的反机枪子弹。神经病看了她一眼，不寒而栗。我咽了口唾沫，我们没有多少时间了。"好吧。以下是我们需要做的。他们在追我。我会把布放在安全的地方，躲进蒸汽铲的小屋里，让他们看到我。狂暴，你用卡宾枪照顾小马。神经病，你用AM步枪干掉那些小马。"
“They put holes in my brand new used armor,” Rampage said, making a face. “And I think I’ve got one of those bullets lodged in my spleen, so I’m in a real bad mood now.” She looked at me, pulled out a strapped injector from her bags, and slapped it on her foreleg. “Mmm… Ragey goodness…” And then she ran off with a laugh.
"他们在我崭新的二手盔甲上打了几个洞,"狂暴说着，做了个鬼脸。"我想我的脾脏中了一颗子弹，所以我现在心情很糟糕。"她看着我，从包里拿出一个捆扎好的注射器，拍了拍她的前腿。"嗯......天哪......"然后她笑着跑开了。
“You expect me to fight ponies armed with guns that shoot that?” Psychoshy asked, pointing at the glistening bullet Rampage had spat into the dirt.
"你想让我和那些带着枪的小马打架?"心理害羞问道，指着横冲直撞扔进泥土里的闪闪发光的子弹。
“No. I expect you to wait till they’re about to snipe my head and then attack them from behind,” I replied flatly as I started for the steam shovel. I needed some place for Boo that was safe. I looked at the metal scoop and carefully lifted her into it. “Stay Boo… stay…” The pale mare blinked at me, and I gently pushed her back down out of sight.
"没有。我希望你等到他们准备狙击我的头，然后从后面攻击他们,"我一边向蒸汽铲出发，一边平淡地回答。我需要一个安全的地方给阿布。我看了看金属铲子，小心翼翼地把她抬进去。"留下来......留下来......"苍白的母马对我眨着眼睛，我轻轻地把她推回到视线之外。
“Oh, well that’s different,” Psychoshy said, and then gave a nasty grin. “What if I just let them take the shot?”
"哦，那不一样,"精神病害羞说，然后咧嘴一笑。"如果我让他们开枪呢?"
I looked at her. “Are you telling me you’re going to let somepony else kill me while you just hover there?” The yellow pegasus frowned as she thought about that, and I turned and clambered up into the steam shovel cabin. I looked down at Boo and tried to give her a comforting smile.
我看着她。"你是在告诉我，你要让其他小马杀了我，而你只是徘徊在那里?"黄色飞马皱起了眉头，当她想到这一点，我转过身，爬进了蒸汽铲小屋。我低头看着阿布，试图给她一个安慰的微笑。
“It’s crazy. Infectious freaking crazy. That’s what it is,” Psychoshy grumbled as she snapped her wings and darted for the trees to the north.
"这太疯狂了。极具传染性的疯狂。"就是这么回事,"精神病人一边拍着翅膀，一边嘟囔着，向北边的树林飞去。
I’d let the murderess take care of the details. I pulled out Duty and Sacrifice, telekinetically loaded them, and got ready. I had a few advantages; the back of the steam shovel pointed south, so anypony coming after me would need to circle around to get a clear shot. Rampage would deal with any in the pit. Psychoshy would bag the snipers. All I had to do was survive… and hope my little mind game with the pegasus paid off. My E.F.S. saw the red bars moving
我会让女凶手来处理细节问题。我拿出责任和牺牲，用意念力装上它们，准备好了。我有一些优势;蒸汽铲的后面指向南方，所以任何跟在我后面的矮种马都需要绕过来才能清楚地射击。狂暴会对付坑里的任何人。神经病会把狙击手包起来。我所要做的就是活下来...希望我和飞马的心理战能有所回报。我的e.f.s看到红条在移动
closer and closer, but much too spread out.
越来越近，但是太分散了。
I popped out around the corner and spotted a mare moving down into the gravel pit, an earth pony in green camouflage combat armor. She had her eyes down, looking at her unstable footing. Then she raised her head, and I saw the green face of a mare not much older than Scotch Tape. Her eyes met mine; she wasn’t a killer. Just some mare who’d put on the barding and the battle saddle, then strapped two carbines to it and came after my head. She stared right at me; I gave her at least two seconds as I raised the revolvers and sighted along the barrels.
我在拐角处突然出现，发现一匹母马正朝砾石坑走去，一匹地球上的小马，穿着绿色的伪装战斗盔甲。她低下头，看着自己摇摇晃晃的脚步。然后她抬起头，我看到了一张绿色的脸，是一匹比透明胶带大不了多少的母马。她的目光与我相遇，她不是一个杀手。只是一些穿上马鞍的母马，然后在上面绑了两支卡宾枪，跟在我的头后面。她直勾勾地盯着我，我举起左轮手枪沿着枪管瞄准，至少给了她两秒钟的时间。
Two seconds was an eternity she let slip by. Then I fired; the range was such that I seriously doubted I could kill her. Not this far away with revolvers. Then the two heavy rounds struck her cheekbones and her head vanished in a spray of red, green, and white. All that fancy armor and weaponry thudded to the ground in a heap.
两秒钟是她错过的永恒。然后我开了枪，射程太远了，我真的怀疑我能不能杀了她。左轮手枪就在不远的地方。接着，两颗沉重的子弹击中了她的颧骨，她的头在一片红绿白的浪花中消失了。所有那些华丽的盔甲和武器砰的一声倒在地上。
I stared at the smoking barrels and then at the heap lying at the base of the slope.
我盯着那些冒着烟的桶，然后又盯着斜坡底部的那堆烟。
“Sorry kid,” I muttered. She’d wanted me dead; I hadn’t wanted the same.
"对不起，孩子,"我喃喃自语。她想让我死，而我却不想。
My shot had given away my position, and they started to strafe the steam shovel cab as I drew back. Every now and then, the rusted metal let out a resounding ‘pong’ as the AM rifles took a shot, the bullets punching through the metal and peppering me with spall and other metal fragments. I just kept my eyes on the E.F.S. One drew close around the west side of the cab, and I stuck my hoof out and back in. Two metallic booms sounded out, ringing the cab like a bell. I leaned out and looked down at the gray old stallion. His jaws tightened on the bit, but he was too close. The rifle rounds sparked off the rusty metal around me.
我的子弹暴露了我的位置，当我后退时，他们开始扫射蒸汽铲车驾驶室。时不时地，在AM步枪射击的时候，生锈的金属发出响亮的乒乓声，子弹穿过金属，溅出的碎片和其他金属碎片不断地向我袭来。我只是一直盯着e.f.s。其中一只靠近驾驶室西侧，我把蹄子伸了出来又伸了进去。两声金属的隆隆声响了起来，像铃一样敲响了驾驶室的门。我探出身子，低头看着那匹灰色的老种马。他的嘴紧咬着钻头，但他离得太近了。步枪的子弹擦过我周围生锈的金属。
I pointed the pair of revolvers far more accurately; I didn’t even need S.A.T.S. Duty boomed and tore off the left side of his face. He fell to the ground, screaming. I felt a twinge beneath my bandages. A second later, Sacrifice punched through his barding and into his chest, silencing him.
我把两把左轮手枪对准得更加准确;我甚至不需要特种部队的责任心爆发，扯下了他的左脸。他尖叫着倒在地上。我感到绷带下面一阵刺痛。一秒钟后,"牺牲"一拳打穿了他的胸膛，让他安静了下来。
It was a second too long. There was a boom, and I was slammed almost completely out the empty front windows of the steam shovel cab by the impact of the fifty caliber round. Then my barding started to sizzle and smoke as the incendiary round burst into flame. It was like a searing brand in my chest, but I didn’t have any time to deal with it.
这一秒太长了。突然一声巨响，我被五十口径子弹的冲击力几乎完全撞出了蒸汽铲车驾驶室的前窗。然后，随着燃烧弹燃烧起来，我的军装开始发出嘶嘶声和烟雾。它就像灼热的烙印在我的胸口，但我没有时间去处理它。
“Die, motherfucka! Die die die!” screamed a ganger with way too much ordinance as he raced around the front of the steam shovel and strafed the cab. Tears ran down my face and smoke obscured my vision. Another armored mare was crawling up into the east side of the cab, this one with a heavy revolver of her own, teeth clenched on the grip.
"去死吧，混蛋！死吧，死吧，死吧!"一个带着太多子弹的长官尖叫着绕过蒸汽铲，扫射了出租车。泪水顺着我的脸颊流下来，烟雾模糊了我的视线。另一匹装甲母马爬到驾驶室的东侧，这匹母马用她自己的重左轮手枪，牙齿紧咬着把手。
I slipped into S.A.T.S. and carefully aimed. Time returned as the pistols fired in unison. Duty tore into the ganger dancing like an idiot in the front. He stopped dancing when one round punched between the plates on left foreleg and shattered the joint. He sprawled on his face in the dirt, and the second round ripped into his gut. He began to scream as he lay there. Sacrifice’s first shot missed the mare. The second tore through her neck like a dragon’s fang. She jerked, firing wildly in the few seconds she had; her bullets hit my chest like hoofblows, but the armor stopped them. I couldn’t risk a lucky shot, though. Both revolvers blasted her fierce and desperate tallow-colored eyes into a memory.
我溜进S.A.T.S.，小心翼翼地瞄准。手枪齐声鸣响，时间又回来了。责任像个傻瓜一样在前面跳舞，冲进了马车。当左前腿的两块钢板之间有一圈被击中，关节骨折，他就停止了舞蹈。他四仰八叉地趴在地上，第二发子弹击中了他的肚子。他躺在那里，开始尖叫起来。牺牲的第一枪没打中那匹母马。第二个像龙的尖牙一样咬断了她的脖子。她猛地一扭，在仅有的几秒钟内疯狂地开火;她的子弹像蹄子一样击中了我的胸膛，但盔甲阻止了它们。但我不能冒险碰运气。两把左轮手枪都把她那双凶猛而绝望的油脂色眼睛打成了记忆。
Only then did I take a moment to pop out my fingers and pry the enchanted incendiary round from my chest plate. I tossed it out the window. Four down. Eight to go. Things were looking up!
直到那时，我才花了一点时间，伸出手指，把那个魔法燃烧弹从我的胸牌上撬了出来。我把它扔出了窗外。搞定四个了。还有八个。情况正在好转！
Then a glowing grenade was tossed around the corner and into the cab. I tried to throw it out the east door as I ignominiously flopped out the west. My magic wasn’t able to manage two pistols and the grenade while I spilled out, though, and since I hadn’t turned into an alicorn in the last few minutes, gravity had me land square on my head as the grenade went off. I sat up and then flipped over as I tried to pull myself to my hooves.
接着，一枚发光的手榴弹被抛过街角，扔进了出租车里。我试图把它从东门扔出去，却不光彩地摔出了西门。我的魔法不能控制两把手枪和手榴弹，虽然我溢出，因为我没有变成一个独角兽在最后几分钟，地心引力让我的土地正好在我的头上手榴弹爆炸。我坐了起来，然后翻了个身，我试图把自己拉到蹄子上。
The flop saved my head, again. Another sizzling incendiary round fizzled against the side of the cab as I struggled to my hooves. I saw two crumpled mares where Rampage had been hard at work, but as I swayed on my hooves, another pony came racing around the corner, carbines blasting. Between the mare in front of me, guns chewing into my armor as her horn levitated another grenade off her bandoleer, and the AM rifle sniper blasting chunks out of the floor of the gravel pit around me, it wasn’t looking pretty. I spotted Rampage far over on the south lip of the pit, smashing a Seeker. Psychoshy hovered over to the west, then divebombed into the trees.
这次失败又一次救了我的命。当我用蹄子挣扎时，另一轮熊熊燃烧的子弹在驾驶室的侧面爆炸了。我看到两匹马被弄得皱巴巴的，狂暴正在拼命工作，但当我用蹄子摇晃时，另一匹小马从拐角处跑了过来，卡宾枪发出了爆炸声。在我面前的母马之间，当她的号角从她的弹带上飘起另一个手榴弹时，枪口对着我的盔甲，AM步枪狙击手从我周围的砾石坑地板上射出大块的东西，看起来不太好。我发现横冲直撞在矿坑的南边边缘，砸碎了一个搜寻者。变态狂盘旋在西边，然后俯冲到树林里。
Only one thing to do. I charged into the carbine mare’s fire, making the
只有一件事要做。我冲进卡宾马的火堆
brownish-yellow unicorn’s eyes widen in shock as I closed the distance. She dropped the grenade back onto her belt as she backpedaled and tried to keep the fire on me, while her magic drew two combat knives. I tried to fire, then cursed as the hammers landed on spent casings. Five chambers. Five. Not six.
当我走近时，褐黄色的独角兽吓得睁大了眼睛。她一边后退一边把手榴弹扔回腰带上，试图让火继续烧着我，而她的魔法则吸引了两把战刀。我试着开火，但当锤子落在废弹壳上时，我咒骂起来。五腔。五。不是六个。
The mare’s eyes widened in excitement as her carbines chewed into my armor. Until I flung both revolvers in her face. An earth pony wouldn’t have moved; there was no way my horn could actually throw something hard enough to really injure her. But the brown mare flinched instinctively, jerking back and spraying above my bleeding neck. I sprang before she could recover and hugged her neck with my forelegs as the rest of my body swung beneath her.
当她的卡宾枪咬进我的盔甲时，母马兴奋地睁大了眼睛。直到我把两把左轮手枪都扔到她脸上。地球上的小马是不会动的;我的角不可能真的扔出足够硬的东西来伤害它。但是那匹棕色的母马本能地退缩了，猛地往后退，溅到了我流血的脖子上。在她恢复过来之前，我跳了起来，用前腿紧紧抱住她的脖子，身体的其余部分在她身下晃动。
I yanked her down face to face, taking the momentary cover she offered from the sniper. There was a sharp grating as she tried to saw and cut her way through my legs gripping her neck. She’d need something a lot more substantial than a combat knife for that, though. I stared into her eyes, and I felt an anger building inside me.
我面对面地把她拉了下来，从狙击手那里得到了瞬间的掩护。当她试图锯开我的双腿，抓住她的脖子时，有一个尖锐的栅栏。不过，她需要一些比战斗刀更实用的东西。我凝视着她的眼睛，我感到一种愤怒正在我的内心积聚。
“Why?” I asked as I stared into her wide eyes. She grinned in anticipation. “Why are trying to kill me?”
"为什么?"我盯着她的大眼睛问道。她满怀期待地咧嘴一笑。"为什么要杀我?"
“I have to. You have to die so Equestria can live!” she yelled in my face. “It’s for Equestria’s future. My future! A better tomorrow!” Maybe it was what I’d seen LittlePip do. Maybe it was the fact that I kept trying to help ponies who tried to kill me. It was probably the knife that had found a gap in my armor’s side and was working its way between the ceramic plates.
"我必须这么做。你必须死，这样小马国才能活下去!"她当着我的面大喊大叫。"这是为了小马国的未来。我的未来！更美好的明天!"也许这就是我所看到的小匹普所做的。也许是因为我一直试图帮助那些想要杀我的小马。可能是那把刀在我的装甲侧面发现了一个缺口，并在陶瓷板之间穿行。
I was sick of being a good pony.
我厌倦了做一匹好马。
“You don’t get a tomorrow!” I shouted as I kicked out with all four legs, sending her flying as my horn glowed. She landed in a roll, clearly used to fighting, and tumbled even further away before rising to her hooves. She pulled the apple grenade from her combat armor with her magic.
"你没有明天!"我一边喊着，一边用四条腿踢着她，我的号角发着光，把她打飞了。她滚到地上，显然已经习惯了战斗，然后又滚得更远，直到她的蹄子动了起来。她用魔法把苹果手榴弹从她的战斗盔甲中拉了出来。
I lifted the glowing pin I’d pulled when I’d kicked her away.
我把踢开她时拉下的发光的别针拿了起来。
The grenade went off next to her face, and she went down in a heap. I stared at her, moving slowly as I looked at the bloody mound. I glanced around, but couldn’t see any more red bars. I lifted the twin revolvers, shook out the spent casings, and reloaded them. I really hoped Psychoshy had taken out all the
手榴弹在她的脸旁爆炸，她倒在地上。我盯着她，慢慢地移动，我看着血淋淋的土堆。我环顾四周，再也看不到红色的栏杆了。我拿起两把左轮手枪，抖出子弹壳，重新装上子弹。我真希望心理害羞已经把所有的
snipers and that one wasn’t lining up a headshot on me as I walked towards the mare. The left side of her face was ground meat, and she gasped for breath as she looked up at me.
当我走向母马的时候，那个狙击手没有对着我的头部开枪。她的左脸是碎肉，当她抬头看着我的时候，气喘吁吁。
“She tried to kill you, Blackjack,” Dealer rasped at my left. His head was bowed, hiding his face as he shuffled his cards. “Rampage was wrong. It doesn’t matter how good you are. It doesn’t matter how hard you try. They’ll always think killing is the right thing to do. And they’ll keep trying to do it.”
"她想杀了你，黑杰克,"庄家在我左边粗声粗气地说。他低着头，一边洗牌一边掩着脸。"狂暴是错误的。你有多优秀并不重要。无论你多么努力。他们总是认为杀人是正确的事情。他们还会继续努力。"
She started making little hitching noises in her throat as I stared down at her. I thought of LittlePip coldly slaying those ponies in that village. What had pushed her across the line? Had she realized that it didn’t matter how hard you tried, and that killing was just easier?
当我低头看着她时，她开始在喉咙里发出一些卡住的声音。我想到小匹普冷酷地杀死村里的那些小马。是什么让她越界了呢？她是否意识到无论你多么努力尝试，杀人只是更容易？
I pointed Sacrifice at the mare’s head. The right side of her mouth curled upwards a little.
我用祭品指着母马的头。她的右嘴向上微微翘起。
“Just pull the trigger, Blackjack. Move on. She’s dead anyway,” he rasped. It would be so easy. Merciful. I caught Rampage staring at me as I stood there. Be kind… Death would be a kindness. Do better… The Hoof would be better without her. Platitudes couldn’t help me anymore. Spare her and she’d just try and kill me again. Stop trying. Stop pretending to be Security. I couldn’t save ponies. Not really... I couldn’t do anything except give her an end to her pain…
"扣动扳机吧，黑杰克。继续前进。反正她死了,"他粗声粗气地说。这很简单。仁慈。当我站在那里时，我发现狂暴正盯着我看。善良......死亡将是一种善良。做得更好...没有她，霍夫会更好。陈词滥调再也帮不了我了。放了她她还会再杀我一次。停止尝试。别再假装是保安了。我救不了小马。不是真的...我除了结束她的痛苦，什么也做不了..。
You take the hard road no matter how damn much it hurts you. Every single time I think you’re going to do what’s wrong and easy, you surprise me.
不管你受到多大的伤害，你都要坚持走下去。每次我以为你会轻而易举地做出错误的决定，你都让我大吃一惊。
I dropped Sacrifice back into my holster and knelt beside the gasping mare. Fortunately, I had an obscene amount of chems on me and jabbed her immediately with some Med-X. Then I lifted a vial of Bonesaw’s own personal healing potion to her lips. “Drink. Come on… drink,” I said, holding her head in my hooves as I dribbled the fresh healing potion into her lips. Finally, she swallowed once and coughed.
我把"牺牲"放回枪套，跪在气喘吁吁的母马旁。幸运的是，我身上有大量可憎的药物，并且立刻用一些Med-X注射了她。然后我把一小瓶Bonesaw自己的私人治疗药水拿到她嘴边。"喝吧。"来吧......喝吧,"我说，把她的头放在我的蹄子里，一边往她的嘴唇里滴着新鲜的治疗药水。最后，她吞了一口，咳嗽了一声。
“Why?” she asked in a raspy whisper as blood flowed thick and red from her nostrils. “Why save me?”
"为什么?"她用刺耳的声音问道，因为血液从她的鼻孔里流出，又浓又红。"为什么要救我?"
“Shut up and drink,” I said sharply. But she wasn’t; she just coughed it up. Her eye kept following me, though. “Drink so you have a tomorrow, damn it! I can at least give you a chance!” The potion dribbled onto the dirt. “At least tell me your
"闭嘴，喝吧,"我厉声说。但她没有，她只是咳嗽了一下。不过她的眼睛一直跟着我。"喝吧，这样你才有明天，该死的！我至少可以给你一个机会!"药水滴在泥土上。"至少告诉我你的
name!” I yelled.
名字!"我喊道。
Slowly, her eye relaxed. The tiny curl in the corner of her mouth remained. My generous second chance lasted all of ten seconds. My horn dropped the vial, the rest of the purple potion trickling into the dirt. My chest burned, the gunshot wounds throbbed, and my E.F.S. was flashing all kinds of warnings and information that didn’t mean anything to me as I slowly laid her down again.
慢慢地，她的眼睛放松了。她嘴角的微微卷曲依然存在。我慷慨的第二次机会持续了整整十秒钟。我的角掉下了瓶子，剩下的紫色药水滴到了泥土里。当我慢慢地把她放下时，我的胸部烧伤了，枪伤在跳动，我的e.f.s闪烁着各种各样的警告和信息，这些对我来说毫无意义。
Psychoshy landed next to Rampage, staring at me in confusion. “Is she… like… upset? I mean… she was trying to kill her.” I saw her expression turn almost to one of horror. “That’s… that’s crazy. Like… really crazy.”
变态狂紧挨着狂暴，困惑地盯着我。"她......是不是......心烦意乱？我是说......她想杀了她。"我看到她的表情几乎变得恐怖起来。"这...这太疯狂了。就像...真的很疯狂。"
“Blackjack’s… complicated,” the striped pony replied softly. Boo wiggled out of the scoop and trotted over to join us. She sat, blinking in confusion as she looked at me.
"黑杰克...很复杂,"条纹小马轻声回答。布从铲子里蹦出来，小跑过来加入我们。她坐着，困惑地眨着眼睛看着我。
I sniffed and turned the unicorn’s head so her mutilated face was hidden. “I just… like second chances. You screw up… make it good. Do it right. Do better…” I made sure her eye was closed. If I pretended really hard I could almost make myself believe she was simply asleep. “Someday… I hope I figure out how to do it myself.”
我嗅了嗅，转动了独角兽的头，这样她残缺的脸就被隐藏起来了。"我只是......喜欢第二次机会。你把事情搞砸了...就把事情搞定。正确地做。做得更好......"我确定她的眼睛是闭着的。如果我假装很努力，我几乎可以让自己相信她只是睡着了。"总有一天......我希望自己能想出办法。"
* * *
* * *
One good thing about fighting these Harbingers: they had great stuff, and so much of it that I couldn’t carry it all. While the weapons were new, they’d been badly mistreated; I found one carbine that looked like somepony had used it to mix up soup! I repaired my armor as well as I could; even I could swap out damaged plates. When I was finished, I had one anti-machine rifle slung across my back, a couple apple grenades, and a second suit of combat armor. The food I kept; maybe Glory could test it for mind control drugs. The rest was stashed in the cab of the steam shovel.
对抗这些先驱者的一个好处是:他们拥有伟大的东西，如此之多以至于我无法全部带走。虽然武器是新的，他们已经被严重虐待;我发现一个卡宾枪，看起来像一些小马用它混合汤！我尽我所能修补我的盔甲，甚至我可以换掉损坏的盔甲。当我完成后，我的背上挂着一把反机器步枪，两个苹果手榴弹，还有第二套战斗装甲。我保留的食物;也许晨辉可以测试一下它是否有精神控制药物。其余的藏在蒸汽铲的驾驶室里。
Then, much to the complete bafflement of Psychoshy, I gathered up the bodies of the ponies I’d killed and put them into the hole the Radscorpions had used as a nest. The brown mare I’d tried to save was put in last. She had a slice of bread for a cutie mark. What had her name been? Had she been a ganger? A Reaper? Had she lived in a village I’d failed to save? Had she come from some distant place, lured by the promise of a better tomorrow? Family? Friends? Children? She’d known how to fight; she’d been better with her battle saddle than I was
然后，让心理害羞完全困惑的是，我把我杀死的小马的尸体收集起来，把它们放进雷达蝎子用作巢穴的洞里。我试图挽救的棕色母马被放在了最后。她有一片面包作为可爱的标志。她叫什么名字？她曾经是个吸血鬼吗？收魂者？她是否住在一个我没能拯救的村庄里？难道她是受到更美好明天的诱惑，从遥远的地方来的吗？家庭？朋友？孩子们？她知道如何战斗，她骑着马鞍比我骑得好
with mine.
用我的。
She’d tried to kill me. I’d killed her. That wasn’t my fault… but damn how I wish there’d been some better way.
她想杀了我。我杀了她。那不是我的错......但是该死的，我多么希望能有更好的方法。
After laying her on top, I backed away and floated two grenades over the rock face. When they were wedged in place, I flicked away the tabs and ran. The two exploded, and a moment later a chunk of the face tumbled into the hole. I looked on as the dust swirled and stilled. There was no sign at all that anything lay beneath the rubble. The four watched me, Boo in confusion, Rampage in concern, and Psychoshy in wariness.
把她放在上面之后，我退开了，两枚手榴弹飞过岩石表面。当它们被卡在适当的位置时，我弹开标签跑了。两颗炸弹爆炸了，过了一会儿，一大块炸弹面掉进了洞里。我看着尘土飞扬，静止不动。没有任何迹象表明瓦砾下有任何东西。他们四个人看着我，布茫然不知所措，暴跳如雷，而Psychoshy则小心翼翼。
And the Dealer? His pale eyes held nothing but pity.
还有《商人》？他苍白的眼睛里只有怜悯。
“Come on. Let’s go. P-21’s waiting,” I said as I turned and headed for the slope to the south. The gray and yellow rocks lay behind me, now still as the bodies they interred. A thousand years from now, maybe they’d be unearthed. Hopefully… in a better tomorrow.
"来吧。我们走。P-21正在等着。"我转身向南边的斜坡走去。灰色和黄色的岩石躺在我身后，现在还像他们埋葬的尸体一样静止。一千年后，也许它们会被发掘出来。希望明天会更好。
* * *
* * *
Loaded down with the mother of all rifles--seriously, any bigger than the IF-100 Thunderhoof and we’d be getting into Deus autocannon territory--we trotted our way back towards the medical center as rapidly as we could. The ponies at the entrance gave us a pass through at once. I spotted Splendid and Archie talking off to the side, and they waved me over.
我们带着最好的步枪——说真的，任何比IF-100雷蹄更大的步枪，我们将进入天王自动加农炮的领地——我们小跑着尽快回到医疗中心。入口处的小马让我们立刻通过。我看到灿烂辉煌和阿尔奇在一边说话，他们挥手叫我过去。
I paused to pass Rampage the Med-X and Fixer. “Take this up to Glory, please?”
我停下来通过狂暴的医疗x和修理工。"请把这个拿到晨辉那儿去?"
“Aw, do I have to? I was thinking of seeing if I could make myself so numb that my legs would turn to jelly. That’s a pretty fun sensation.” I gave her a firm look. I just wasn’t in the mood for jokes. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Serious Blackjack is no fun. Alright, I’ll get it to her.” She snorted as she trotted for the stairs. “You’d think there was a well-armed cult of fanatics out to kill you, or something.” Psychoshy went with her. Boo, as usual, stayed close by my side.
"啊，我一定要去吗？我想看看能不能让自己麻木到腿都软了。这是一种非常有趣的感觉。"我狠狠地看了她一眼。我只是没心情开玩笑。她叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"严肃的黑杰克一点都不好玩。好吧，我拿给她。"她一边哼着鼻子向楼梯跑去。"你会认为有一个装备精良的狂热分子邪教组织要杀你，或者别的什么。"心理害羞跟她一起去了。布，像往常一样，一直陪在我身边。
Archie looked at me and flushed at once, but Splendid just looked… well… splendid. The blue-maned unicorn brushed his coiffure back and gave me a look that weeks ago would have turned my insides all buttery. Instead, his look made my insides twinge reflexively, and I gave a polite yet firm smile back. His own
阿尔奇看着我，脸立刻红了起来，但是灿烂看起来......嗯......灿烂。那只蓝色鬃毛的独角兽把他的发型拂了回来，给了我一个几个星期前会让我的内脏都像黄油一样的眼神。相反，他的表情让我内心本能地感到一阵剧痛，我也给了他一个礼貌而坚定的微笑。他自己的
smile slipped a little, then shifted to a more friendly and less trying-to-get-me-in-bed look. A smooth operator.
笑容滑落了一点，然后转变成一种更友好，不那么想把我弄上床的表情。一个圆滑的人。
“Blackjack, is everything all right with you and your friends?” he asked calmly as Archie started opening his mouth to speak. The nerdy stallion looked sullenly at the handsome stallion. The Eggheads were restocking their supplies and setting up new beam turrets, and I was glad to see that they were going to try and use this place for healing rather than strip it bare. Of course, if they’d restocked it sooner, it might have saved me a trip to Megamart. From the many strange and sickly ponies hanging around it was clear that there was need. And anything that took recruitment from the Harbingers was good news to me.
"黑杰克，你和你的朋友们还好吗?"他平静地问道，阿尔奇开始张开嘴说话。那匹书呆子种马愁眉苦脸地看着那匹英俊的种马。书呆子们正在补充他们的补给，并建造新的横梁塔楼，我很高兴地看到，他们打算尝试利用这个地方来治病，而不是把它剥光。当然，如果他们早点补货的话，我就不用去超级市场了。周围有许多怪怪的、病怏怏的小马驹，它们清楚地表明我们需要它们。任何从"先驱者"招募人员的事情对我来说都是好消息。
“Everything is fine for the moment. How are things with your father?” I replied.
"目前一切都很好。你和你父亲怎么样了?"我回答。
Boo yawned, curling up on the floor and taking a little nap.
布打了个哈欠，蜷缩在地板上小睡了一会儿。
Splendid sighed and rubbed his nose. “My father had some choice words about the idea of placing him within a stasis pod.”
他叹了口气，揉了揉鼻子。"关于把他放进一个停滞舱的想法，我父亲说了一些有意义的话。"
“Didn’t he say ‘no self-respecting king rules from a fridge’ or something to that effect?” Archibald asked as he adjusted his glasses.
"他不是说过'没有自重的国王统治冰箱'之类的话吗?"阿奇博尔德一边调整眼镜，一边问。
Splendid allowed just a little bit of his irritation to show. “Yes, those were the words he chose, Archibald.”
辉煌只允许一点点他的愤怒表现出来。"是的，他就是这么说的，阿奇博尔德。"
“I believe he also included the words ‘you featherbrained nincompoop’,” Archibald said.
阿奇博尔德说:"我相信他还加上了'你这个蠢货'这几个字。"。
Splendid’s eye twitched a little. “Why yes, Archibald. I think he did say that. How silly of me to omit it. Whatever was I thinking?”
灿烂的眼睛抽动了一下。""是的，阿奇博尔德。我想他是这么说的。我省略它是多么愚蠢啊。我到底在想什么?"
“I think you were trying to improve your reproductive odds with Blackjack,” Archibald said. “I’m fairly sure that you were going to offer blatant and obvious praise of her appearance, ability, or intellect next.” I couldn’t help but smile in amusement as one of Splendid’s perfectly groomed hairs popped free. “Perhaps you’ll suggest some sort of classically romantic venue back in Elysium--”
阿奇博尔德说:"我认为你是想通过玩黑杰克来提高自己的繁殖几率。"。"我相当肯定，接下来你会对她的外表、能力或才智进行明目张胆的赞美。"我忍不住笑了，因为灿烂的一根梳得很整齐的头发掉了出来。"也许你会建议在极乐世界找个古典浪漫的地方——"
“Thank you, Archibald!” Splendid said sharply as he whirled on the stallion, his lips pulled in a tight grimace. Finally, he sighed and brushed his mane back in place. “Anyway, Father refuses to let us put him in a stasis pod, so it will be interesting if he lasts till the anniversary ball. If he’d just pick a successor…” the
"谢谢你，阿奇博尔德!"当他旋转着骑在那匹种马上时，他尖锐地说道，嘴唇紧紧地做了个鬼脸。最后，他叹了口气，把鬃毛拨回原位。"无论如何，父亲拒绝让我们把他放进停滞舱，所以如果他能坚持到周年舞会就很有意思了。如果他能选出一个继任者......"
prince murmured with a frown.
王子皱着眉喃喃自语。
“There’s a ninety-two percent chance he would be assassinated by his successor within twenty-four hours of the announcement,” Archibald replied as he pulled a frame with beads on it out of… wait, where had that come from? He rapidly slid the beads back and forth on the frame. “So I estimate only a three percent chance that he would make any such announcement in the near future.”
"有百分之九十二的可能性，他会被他的继任者暗杀在二十四小时内的宣布,"阿奇博尔德回答说，他拉出了一个框架，上面的珠子...等等，这是从哪里来的？他迅速地把珠子在框架上来回滑动。"所以我估计，在不久的将来，他发表类似声明的可能性只有3%。"
In other words, King Awesome wasn’t King Stupid.
换句话说，超棒国王不是愚蠢国王。
“Well, I’m glad to see that you ponies are trying to make something out of this place,” I said as I looked towards the emergency room and the ponies receiving treatment.
"好吧，我很高兴看到你们这些小马正试图在这个地方创造一些东西,"我一边说，一边看着急诊室和正在接受治疗的小马。
Splendid sighed. “Yes, well… while I’d hoped to use the technology here to help the Society, the Society having an outpost here in the north is useful. And, of course, there’s offering help to ponies who need it.”
美妙的叹息。"是的，好吧......虽然我希望利用这里的技术来帮助协会，但协会在北方设立一个前哨基地是有用的。当然，还有为需要帮助的小马提供帮助。"
Archibald nodded. “And this facility will someday be vital if the Collegiate is ever able to produce Steelpony implants in sufficient quantity. If we can, then both the Collegiate and the Society will profit from sales. The surgical robot is likewise quite priceless.” He put the strange little beaded frame back… wait, where had he put it? Was this some kind of freaky egghead magic or something?
阿奇博尔德点点头。"如果学院能够生产足够数量的Steelpony植入物，这个设施将在未来的某一天变得至关重要。如果我们能做到，那么学院和学会都将从销售中获利。手术机器人同样是无价之宝。"他把那个奇怪的小串珠框放回去......等等，他把它放在哪儿了？这是某种奇怪的书呆子魔法还是什么？
I sighed and gave a little smile at the pair. “Well, we’re done here. I’ll make sure everypony cleans up before we go. And by the way, thanks for taking care of the bodies.”
我叹了口气，对他们微微一笑。"好了，我们到此为止。在我们走之前，我会确保每匹马都清理干净。顺便说一句，谢谢你们照顾尸体。"
Splendid flushed a little as he said, “Well, it was the right thing to do.”
斯普兰迪脸红了一下，他说:"嗯，这么做是对的。"
Archibald frowned up at the handsome stallion. “I thought you said that it was because they were starting to stink?”
阿奇博尔德对那匹英俊的种马皱起了眉头。"我记得你说是因为它们开始发臭了?"
Splendid smiled at me, and then that stray blue lock popped free again. He put his hoof around Archibald’s brown neck and pulled him close. “If you’ll excuse us, Blackjack, I need a word with my Collegiate partner in private.” And with that he hauled the Collegiate pony away.
灿烂地对我笑了笑，然后那把散落的蓝色锁又松开了。他用蹄子围住阿奇博尔德棕色的脖子，把他拉近。"如果你不介意的话，Blackjack，我想和我的大学合伙人私下谈谈。"然后他把那匹大学生的小马拖走了。
I smiled and shook my head. Maybe it was petty of me, but with everything going wrong in my life, I had to admit that seeing another pony flustered was
我微笑着摇了摇头。也许我心胸狭窄，但随着我生活中所有的事情都出了问题，我不得不承认，看到另一匹小马慌张的样子
satisfying. Boo immediately rose to her hooves and trotted after me as I headed into the medical center.
满意的。当我走进医疗中心的时候，布立刻站起来，小跑着跟在我后面。
I trotted past the atrium and began the climb to the fifteenth floor. I hoped that the next time we visited, the elevators would be working properly. Not that climbing the flights wore me out; a few sapphire chips and I was right as rain. It just took a while to make it all the way to the top. That, and after four flights of stairs, I was carrying the tired Boo the rest of the way up.
我小跑着穿过中庭，开始向十五楼爬去。我希望下次我们去的时候，电梯能正常运行。并不是说登上飞机让我筋疲力尽，只是一些蓝宝石的碎片，我就完全康复了。它只是花了一段时间，使它所有的方式到顶部。再加上爬了四段楼梯之后，我把疲惫不堪的布扛上了楼梯。
I started towards Scotch’s room when I trotted by the hospital room I’d found Glory in earlier and noticed a blue bar inside. I smiled, imagining Glory cleaning up her mess. I poked my head into the bathroom. “Say, when’d you get demoted to jani--”
我开始朝苏格兰人的房间跑去，当我小跑经过医院的病房时，我发现里面有一根蓝色的棒子。我笑了，想象着晨辉收拾她的烂摊子。我把头伸进浴室。"你什么时候被降职到jani..."
The yellow earth pony inside the bathroom jumped to her hooves and spun around to face me. Her orange mane was a bit straggly, but not really messy. She looked like a pony not long out in the Wasteland. She wore bulky, reinforced leather armor and a respirator, and a camera hung around her neck. She cupped a leather bag in her hooves. “Don’t shoot!” she shouted in a drawling accent as she raised her hooves defensively.
浴室里的黄色地球小马跳到她的蹄子上，转过身来面对我。她橙色的鬃毛有点凌乱，但并不是很乱。她看起来就像一匹不久就出现在荒原上的小马。她穿着笨重的加固皮甲，戴着呼吸器，脖子上挂着一架照相机。她用蹄子夹住一个皮包。"别开枪!"她用拖长的口音喊道，同时抬起她的蹄子进行防御。
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I replied. She pulled off the respirator. “Who are you and what are you doing up here?”
"我没打算这么做,"我回答。她拔下了呼吸器。"你是谁?你在这儿干什么?"
She licked her lips a little nervously. “Aw, tarnation. I ain’t nopony. Call me Chicken… everypony does,” she said as she looked at the massive AM gun across my back and gulped. “Just poking round, trying to find stuff out. Ain’t been in Hoofington more than a week.” She pointed at the multicolored mane clippings lying all over the floor. “Is it true? Is… is she really here?” the mare asked.
她有点紧张地舔了舔嘴唇。"啊，该死的。我不是小马。叫我胆小鬼......每个小马都这么叫,"她一边说，一边看着我背后巨大的AM手枪，咽了一口气。"只是随便看看，想找出点东西。我到Hoofington还不到一周。"她指着地板上散落的五颜六色的剪报。""是真的吗？她真的在这里吗?"母马问道。
“Who?” I asked with a frown. Boo sniffled at the yellow mare’s saddlebags. Said mare looked at the pale pony uneasily and pulled an apple out of her bag as an offering. After one chomp, she had made a new friend. Boo licked her lips and gave the mare a friendly headbutt that put Chicken a little at ease.
"谁?"我皱着眉头问。布对着那匹黄色母马的鞍囊抽着鼻子。那匹母马不安地看着那匹苍白的小马，从包里拿出一个苹果作为祭品。咬了一口之后，她交了一个新朋友。布舔了舔嘴唇，友好地用头撞了母马一下，让小鸡放松了一点。
“Ya know? Her? Rainbow Dash?” she asked with a nervous little smile. “Heard folks down below say she was up here in one of them there stasis pods. Was hopin’ ta get me a picture,” she said as she lifted a camera from a strap around her neck.
"你知道吗？她？彩虹冲刺?"她带着紧张的微笑问道。"我听到下面的人说她在这里的一个休眠舱里。她一边说，一边从脖子上的带子上拿起相机。
“Oh, yeah.” I really did not want to introduce anypony to Glory in her current state. “We found her in a hidden pod in the back, but she took off for the clouds. Woosh! She sure can fly.” I grinned at the nonplussed mare.
"哦，是的。"我真的不想介绍任何小马晨辉在她目前的状态。"我们在后面一个隐藏的豆荚里发现了她，但她飞向了云层。哇！她肯定会飞。"我对那头不知所措的母马咧嘴一笑。
“Wow! That’s… that’s unbelievable,” she said as she swept up some of the clippings with her hoof. “Just a momento… Otherwise they’ll never believe me back in Appleloosa!” she said with a grin. “Did she say where she was going?”
"哇！那真是......真是难以置信,"她边说边用蹄子清理着一些剪下来的草。"只是一个纪念品......否则在阿普卢卢萨，他们永远不会相信我!"她笑着说。"她说要去哪儿了吗?"
I thought fast. Usually I liked to have a little more time when constructing my fibs. “Uh, yeah. Flying back to the Enclave to buck their butts into gear. You betcha…” She blinked at me in surprise and confusion. “Anyway, sorry you missed her.”
我想得很快。通常我喜欢在撒谎的时候有更多的时间。"呃，是的。飞回昂科雷，全力以赴。你说对了......"她惊讶而困惑地眨了眨眼睛。"不管怎样，很遗憾你错过了她。"
She gaped at me for a second before she shook her head hard. “Me too. I mean… Rainbow Dash. That’s just amazing. Can’t believe I missed her,” she sighed. “I got ta say though, when I came all the way out here, I didn’t know how dangerous this place was. I mean, Appleloosa’s no Tenpony, but sheesh. Wars. Gangs. Crazy cult ponies. Somepony down there mentioned there was some kind of flesh eatin’ plague too.”
她目瞪口呆地看了我一会儿，然后使劲摇了摇头。"我也是。我是说...彩虹冲刺。真是太神奇了。真不敢相信我错过了她,"她叹了口气。"不过我得说，当我大老远跑到这里来的时候，我并不知道这个地方有多危险。我是说，appllooosa不是Tenpony，而是sheesh。战争。帮派。疯狂的小马。那里的一些小马也提到了某种吃肉的瘟疫。"
“Yeah. It contaminates food. If you eat it you can get sick. Soon you’ll be eating anypony in hoof reach. Be careful if you come across mystery meat or strange food. I’d buy from the Society if you can afford it.”
"是的。它会污染食物。如果你吃了它，你会生病的。很快你就可以吃到任何蹄子能够到的小马驹了。如果你遇到神秘的肉或奇怪的食物，要小心。如果你能负担得起，我会从协会那里买。"
The mare frowned. “Not them there Volunteer Corps? They seemed like friendly sorts back in Flank, with good, cheap food. You don’t believe them there tales that they’re behind that plague? I hear anypony with feathers can’t catch it.”
母马皱起了眉头。""那儿没有志愿兵团吗？他们看起来像是弗兰克的朋友，有好的，便宜的食物。你不相信那些传言，他们是那场瘟疫的幕后黑手？我听说任何有羽毛的小马都抓不住它。"
“Not if Operative Lighthooves has anything to say about it,” I muttered, and she widened her eyes even more in baffled shock. I sighed and covered my face with a hoof. “Look, there’s all kinds of… stuff… going on here. Just… your safest bet is to get back to Appleloosa as soon as you can. Hoofington’s really dangerous right now.”
"如果特工·莱特霍夫斯有什么话要说的话，就不会了,"我喃喃自语，而她在更大的困惑震惊中睁大了眼睛。我叹了口气，用蹄子捂住了脸。"看，这里发生了各种各样的...事情。只是...你最安全的做法就是尽快回到appllooosa。胡芬顿现在真的很危险。"
She gave a nervous little grin. “Y’all don’t say. Seems like everyplace down here’s a right tangle o’ peril.” She rose to her hooves. “Well, thank ya kindly fer satin’ my curiosity, Miss…”
她紧张地咧嘴一笑。"你们都不说话。好像这里的每个地方都充满了危险。"她站起身来。"好吧，谢谢你好心地解答我的好奇心，小姐。。」
“Blackjack,” I replied.
"黑杰克,"我回答。
She blinked, then smiled. “Oh… right. The Security Mare. Well… I’ll be on my way. Take care o’ yerself,” she said as she hurried past and left the room, turning to trot straight for the stairs down.
她眨了眨眼，然后笑了。"哦......好吧。安全的噩梦。好吧...我要走了。小心你自己,"她边说边匆匆走过去，离开了房间，转身小跑下楼梯。
I frowned after her, then looked around the hospital room. Even if none of the supplies here were particularly valuable, most of them were useful. She hadn’t touched anything.
我在她身后皱起了眉头，然后环顾了一下病房。即使这里没有什么特别值钱的东西，但大多数都是有用的。她什么也没碰。
Huh. Apparently Appleloosans were a little more twigged than your standard mares. Maybe she’d been too excited by what I told her? First rule in the Wasteland… I stood there for a while as Boo just watched me curiously. Funny, now my mane was every bit as itchy as my face.
哈。很显然，苹果骑士比你标准的母马要多一点。也许我告诉她的事情让她太兴奋了？荒原的第一条规则......我站在那里一会儿，阿布好奇地看着我。有趣的是，现在我的鬃毛和我的脸一样痒。
* * *
* * *
“How is he?” I asked Glory as she carefully peeled away the gauze from my face. I kept my eyes upraised, trying my best not to scratch. Boo had gotten a strip of medical tape stuck on the end of her muzzle and was now wrinkling her nose and doing her best to shake it off.
"他怎么样?"我问晨辉，她小心翼翼地把我脸上的纱布揭开。我抬起眼睛，尽量不去抓痒。布的口鼻末端粘上了一条医用胶带，现在她皱起了鼻子，尽力把它抖掉。
“Better now,” the pegasus said as she peeled the wrappings away from the left side of my face. “He’s been on Med-X for years, though. It’s not going to be a simple fix.”
"现在好多了,"飞马一边说，一边从我的左脸上剥下裹布。"不过，他已经服用了多年的Med-X药物。这不会是一个简单的修复。"
“I thought you could just mix up some sort of chem cure and woosh, all better!” I said with a hopeful grin. She just gave me one of those patient smiles that said she didn’t want to call me stupid. I pouted a little. “Is there some sort of magic spell or something?” I smiled as Boo got the tape off her muzzle… and now shook her hoof in a vain effort to free herself of it.
"我以为你可以混合一些化学治疗方法，然后嗖的一声，就好多了!"我满怀希望地笑着说。她只是给了我一个耐心的微笑，说她不想叫我笨蛋。我有点不高兴。"是不是有什么魔法咒语什么的?"我微笑着看着Boo把胶带从她的口套上拿下来......现在摇晃着她的蹄子，徒劳地想挣脱它。
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a fairy tale, Blackjack. You can’t just trot up, give a doctor a hundred caps, have them wave a magic wand, and be all better. Now, if it was a recent addiction, sure, I could do something to reduce the physical effects, but he’s been on Med-X for so long that his body doesn’t know how to function without it. I could flush every trace of the chem from his body right now. Unfortunately, it’d probably kill him.”
"不幸的是，这不是童话故事，Blackjack。你不能只是小跑着，给一个医生一百顶帽子，让他们挥挥魔杖，然后就好了。现在，如果是最近上瘾的话，当然，我可以做一些事情来减少身体上的影响，但是他服用Med-X药物太久了，他的身体不知道没有它怎么运作。我现在就可以把他体内所有的化学物质都冲掉。不幸的是，这可能会要了他的命。"
“And that would be bad,” I said softly. The gauze pads were slowly pulled away from my face.
"那就糟了,"我轻轻地说。纱布慢慢地从我的脸上拉开。
“I’m glad you feel so,” P-21 rasped from the doorway. Lacunae pushed two glowing wheelchairs before her as she trotted in, with Rampage and Psychoshy behind her. P-21 looked as bad as you get without an Enervation field sucking the life out of you. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot, his normally steady limbs now twitching. Scotch Tape, in the other wheelchair, looked equally pale and tired but gave me a small smile.
"我很高兴你这么想,"P-21在门口粗声粗气地说。拉库奈一边小跑着进来，一边推着两把发光的轮椅，后面跟着狂暴和精神病。如果没有能量场吸走你的生命，P-21看起来就跟你现在的情况一样糟糕。他的眼睛深陷，充血，他平时稳定的四肢现在抽搐。另一个轮椅上的透明胶带看起来同样苍白疲惫，但还是给了我一个微笑。
“So… how bad is it?” I asked, steadying myself for the blow. Maybe I could fashion some kind of mask if it was hideous.
"那么...情况有多糟?"我问道，使自己在这一击中镇定下来。也许我可以做一个可怕的面具。
“It’s fine, Blackjack,” P-21 said faintly, then hissed through his teeth and writhed with a groan.
"没事，黑杰克,"P-21微弱地说，然后从牙缝里发出嘶嘶声，呻吟着扭动身体。
“Are you okay?” I asked, then smacked myself for the stupid question. “I mean, are you going to be okay?”
"你还好吗?"我问，然后为这个愚蠢的问题自责。"我是说，你会没事吗?"
“I feel like I’ve been dropped down a couple flights of stairs. I’ll be fine. If Glory can do for me what she’s done for your face… I think I’ll be brand new,” he said with a wan smile.
"我感觉自己像是从几段楼梯上掉下来的。我会没事的。如果格洛里能为我做她为你脸上做的事......我想我会焕然一新,"他带着苍白的微笑说。
“Really?” I blinked as Lacunae floated a small mirror in front of me. I gaped at my own reflection. Where before my face had been a mangled mess of meat and metal, there was now a smooth white sheet of unblemished, scar-free hide. I stared, pulling at my cheek. Never before had I appreciated looking like a pony. Maybe it was vanity, but as I stared I felt a great weight lift. “Glory! You’re a genius! You… you saved my face!” Now we just had to go and-- “I like your face,” she replied, and the tired pegasus reached out with her hooves to hold me. Rainbow Dash’s lips might not have been quite like Glory’s, but at this moment I couldn’t care less. Glory’s wings popped up behind her; that was new. Was that a Rainbow Dash thing? Finally, she broke the kiss and started to peel off the rest of my bandages. “Besides, I can’t even take most of the credit. You’ve got a regeneration talisman. All I had to do was replace the missing tissue, and it did the rest.”
"真的吗?"当Lacunae把一面小镜子放在我面前时，我眨了眨眼睛。我目瞪口呆地看着自己的倒影。以前我的脸上是一团乱七八糟的肉和金属，现在是一片光滑的白色皮肤，没有任何瑕疵，没有疤痕。我凝视着，拉扯着我的脸颊。我以前从来没有欣赏过自己看起来像一匹小马。也许这是虚荣心作祟，但是当我盯着它的时候，我感觉自己的重量提升了一大截。"晨辉！你真是个天才！你...你救了我的脸!"现在我们只好走了——"我喜欢你的脸,"她回答，疲惫的飞马伸出她的蹄子来抓住我。彩虹·达什的嘴唇也许不像晨辉的，但此时此刻，我一点也不在乎。晨辉的翅膀在她身后突然出现，那是新的。那是什么彩虹冲刺吗？最后，她撕开了我的吻，并开始剥掉我身上剩下的绷带。"此外，我甚至不能获得大部分功劳。你有一个重生的护身符。我所要做的就是补上缺失的组织，剩下的就交给它了。"
“Sweet. We need to give Blackjack the woodchipper test then,” Rampage said with a grin.
"太好了。那么我们需要给Blackjack一次木片削片机测试,"狂暴笑着说。
“Regeneration, not super freaky come-back-from-a-pile-of-mulch regeneration,” Psychoshy snorted.
"再生，而不是超级怪异的从一堆覆盖物中回来的再生,"精神病患者轻蔑地哼了一声。
“You’re just scared,” Rampage replied, sticking her tongue out at the pegasus. Glory then floated over me and began to scratch my hide vigorously with her hooves. I could have melted like butter then and there.
"你只是害怕了,"狂暴回答道，对着飞马吐着舌头。然后，晨辉从我身上飘过，开始用她的蹄子使劲地抓我的皮。我当时就像黄油一样融化了。
“Oh, I love you so much,” I said as she scratched along my mane.
"哦，我太爱你了,"我说，她抓着我的鬃毛。
“I love you too,” she replied, landing beside me, and we shared a second round of smooches. Psychoshy made a retching noise as Scotch gave an ‘awww’ of delight.
"我也爱你,"她回答，降落在我身边，我们分享了第二轮亲吻。当苏格兰威士忌发出愉悦的声音时,"心理害羞"发出了恶心的声音。
“And how are you feeling?” I asked Scotch as I hugged Glory. I could guess just by looking at her. She appeared a little better than her father.
"你感觉怎么样?"我抱着晨辉，问苏格兰威士忌。我看她一眼就能猜出来。她看上去比她父亲好一点。
“I got a wicked scar,” Scotch said weakly as she lifted her throat and pointed at the shaved strip. “And I’m sick too.”
"我脸上有一道很邪恶的疤痕,"苏格兰人一边抬起喉咙，一边用手指着刮过的疤痕，虚弱地说。"我也病了。"
“That’s just a postoperative infection. You’ll get over it soon,” Glory said with an unvocalized ‘I hope’ that hung in the air. Then the blue mare gave another yawn and slumped against me. “I haven’t been this tired since all-nighters at school.”
"那只是术后感染。你很快就会好起来的,"晨辉说着，空气中弥漫着一种无法发音的'我希望'。然后那匹蓝色的母马又打了一个哈欠，靠在我身上。"自从在学校通宵以来，我还没这么累过。"
“Don’t worry,” I replied with a smile. “A few hours of sleep, and then we can be on our way to Hightower, lickety split!” I suddenly became aware that every set of eyes was upon me, and most of them wore expressions that told me that I’d once again said something particularly stupid. “What?”
"别担心,"我笑着回答。"睡上几个小时，然后我们就可以迅速赶往海托华了!"我突然意识到每一双眼睛都盯着我，大多数眼睛的表情告诉我，我又说了一些特别愚蠢的话。"什么?"
“Blackjack… we’re not in any shape to go anywhere,” Glory said firmly. “Scotch Tape and P-21 are both looking at several days’ recovery in a non-Enervated environment. Both of them are going to need frequent healing treatments from Lacunae and myself. I’d take them back to Tenpony if I could.”
"黑杰克......我们无论如何都不能去任何地方,"晨辉坚定地说。"透明胶带公司和P-21公司都希望在一个没有能量消耗的环境中恢复几天。他们两个都需要经常从腔隙和我治疗。如果可以的话，我会把他们带回Tenpony。"
“Sadly, that is quite outside my range,” Lacunae replied.
"遗憾的是，这完全超出了我的能力范围,"拉库奈回答道。
I sat down hard. “But… EC-1101. The glorious quest! We can’t just… put it on hold…” What, were they crazy?
我重重地坐了下来。"但是...EC-1101。光荣的任务！我们不能就这样...把它搁置..."什么，他们疯了吗？
“Why not?” Glory asked, and I pulled away to look at her for some sign that she was joking. Instead, her eyes were firm, compassionate, and serious. “Are we being chased by somepony at the moment, or need to chase down somepony before they get away?”
"为什么不呢?"晨辉问道，我把车开到一边，看看她是不是在开玩笑。相反，她的眼神坚定，富有同情心，而且严肃。"我们现在是被小马追呢，还是需要在它们跑掉之前追上它们?"
“Well, there are those Harbingers,” I said with a little frown and received a blank look in return. “The cult ponies? We saw them outside Flank? They’re looking for me and they’re packing some serious ordinance. We ran into a pack of their Seekers on the way here.”
"好吧，这就是那些先驱者,"我皱着眉头说，得到的回应却是一脸茫然。"那些小马？我们在外面看到他们了？他们在找我，他们带着一些重型武器。我们在来这里的路上遇到了一群他们的搜寻者。"
“But there’s no deadline of doom looming in the immediate future? No ‘got to get it done or we all die’?” Glory pressed. I shook my head. “Then we can hide out for a while. Go back to Star House where Scotch Tape and P-21 can recover in comfort. Blackjack, we need a rest. If you keep pushing like this, somepony is going to die. It’ll just be a couple of days, a week at the most.”
"但不久的将来没有末日的最后期限吗？没有'必须完成它，否则我们都会死'?"晨辉被压制。我摇了摇头。"然后我们可以在外面躲一会儿。回到星宫，在那里透明胶带和P-21可以恢复舒适。黑杰克，我们需要休息一下。如果你继续这样推，有人会死的。只要几天，最多一周。"
“Why not just stay here?” Rampage asked in confusion.
"为什么不干脆留在这里呢?"暴怒困惑地问道。
But Scotch Tape shook her head and then coughed. “I’d like to go back to Chapel. I want to make sure Precious is alright.”
但是ScotchTape摇了摇头，然后咳嗽了一声。"我想回教堂去。我想确保普莉舍丝没事。"
P-21 looked into my eyes as he said, “It’s only a week, Blackjack.”
P-21看着我的眼睛说:"只有一个星期，Blackjack。"
“Only a week? A whole week?!” I said as I jumped to my hooves. “Are you serious? I can’t just take a week off.” I started pacing back and forth. “Do LittlePip and her friends take a week time out? Does the Stable Dweller? No! I know where I have to go next, and we can’t just…”
""只有一个星期？一整个星期?!"我一边说，一边跳上马蹄。"你是认真的吗？我不能就这么休息一周。"我开始来回踱步。"小皮普和她的朋友们是不是要休息一个星期？马厩里的居民呢？不！我知道我接下来要去哪里，我们不能......"
“Blackjack,” P-21 said softly, making me freeze. I slowly looked at him and his tired, pained smile. “I can’t keep up with you anymore. I’m sorry. I wish I could, but I can’t.” He turned and stretched out a trembling hoof, resting it on the arm of Scotch’s wheelchair. The green filly reached out and hugged his leg between her hooves. “I want to spend some time with my daughter. I need a few days where I’m not being shot at.”
"黑杰克,"P-21轻声说，让我冻僵了。我慢慢地看着他和他疲倦而痛苦的微笑。"我再也跟不上你了。对不起。我希望我可以，但是我不能。"他转过身来，伸出一只颤抖的蹄子，搁在苏格兰人的轮椅上。那匹绿色的小母马伸出手，用蹄子夹住自己的腿。"我想花些时间陪陪我的女儿。我需要几天不被枪击的时间。"
I felt sick as I looked at him. “Come on, P-21… I… You know we can do it. We took on Hippocratic Research and got out alive. We can’t just... stop...”
我看着他，觉得恶心。"来吧，P-21......我.....。.你知道我们能做到的。我们参加了希波克拉底研究所，活着出来了。我们不能就这样......停止......"
But he shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry, Blackjack, but no.” He smiled, and there was no anger or animosity in his eyes. There was a strange kind of calm I hadn’t seen in them before. Like he was finally starting to emerge from whatever shadow had consumed him. I couldn’t make him follow me now... not after he’d finally started to deal with his problems.
但他慢慢地摇了摇头。"对不起，黑杰克，但是不行。"他微笑着，眼里没有愤怒和敌意。我从来没有在他们身上看到过那种奇怪的平静。就好像他终于开始从阴影中走出来。我不能让他现在跟着我......在他最终开始处理他的问题之后。
I saw how ragged everypony looked. Even Psychoshy drooped from her recent
我看到每一匹小马看起来都很狼狈。甚至连她最近的精神病也垂头丧气
experiences. Only Rampage smiled at me and shrugged, ready to fight on. Glory smiled as she moved in front of me and gave a worn smile. “Even I could do with a few days’ recuperation,” the blue pegasus said softly as she walked up to hug me. “And I think you could too.”
经验。只有狂暴冲我笑了笑，耸耸肩，准备继续战斗。晨辉微笑着走到我面前，露出疲惫的笑容。"即使是我也需要几天的休养时间,"这位蓝色的飞马走上前来拥抱我时轻声说道。"我觉得你也可以。"
I looked blankly at her; I wasn’t used to hearing Glory say something so ridiculous. “Me? Me? I’m Blackjack the cyberpony. I’m not sleepy. Heck, I feel jazzed up and ready to go.”
我茫然地看着她;我不习惯听晨辉说这么荒谬的话。"我？我？我是黑杰克，赛博马。我不困。见鬼，我觉得很兴奋，已经准备好出发了。"
Glory looked up at me and brushed my mane back between my ears. “Blackjack, when was the last time you slept?” I stared at her; had she really just asked me that? That was on par with a Blackjack question!
晨辉抬头看着我，把我的鬃毛拨回到我的耳朵之间。"Blackjack，你最后一次睡觉是什么时候?"我盯着她看，她真的这么问了吗？这和黑杰克的问题不相上下！
“I don’t need to sleep anymore, Glory. I’ve got a power core and legs that keep working no matter what,” I said as I jerked back and started to trot back and forth. “I don’t sleep, I eat gems and metal, and you don’t want to know what comes of that. I’m not tired and I don’t need to sleep.”
"我再也不需要睡觉了，晨辉。我有一个强有力的核心和腿，无论如何都能保持工作,"我说着，猛地往后退，开始来回小跑。"我不睡觉，我吃宝石和金属，你不会想知道结果是什么。我不累，也不需要睡觉。"
“Blackjack, sleep is for more than just the body. It’s for the mind as well,” she said as she stepped towards me.
"黑杰克，睡眠不仅仅是身体的问题。这也是为了心灵,"她走向我说。
“Your mind, maybe! My brain is just fine with the whole never sleeping again,” I said as I pointed to the clock. “Look at what I got done… a whole shopping trip while everypony else was sleeping. And now I don’t need to sleep. Why, now I’ve added a whole third of my life of getting stuff done by not sleeping.” I grinned widely as I backed away, staring at them all. Why didn’t they get it? I couldn’t stop for a week while they recovered. I couldn’t even stop for a few hours’ sleep.
"也许是你的头脑！我的大脑对于从此不再睡觉这件事感觉很好,"我指着钟说。"看看我都干了些什么......大家都在睡觉的时候，我却在逛街。现在我不需要睡觉了。为什么，现在我的生活又增加了整整三分之一的时间，通过不睡觉来完成工作。"当我后退时，我咧嘴大笑，盯着他们所有人。为什么他们没有得到？我不能在他们恢复期间停留一个星期。我甚至不能停下来睡几个小时。
Glory just looked at me for a long, sad, tired moment. “Will everypony please excuse us? We need to talk alone.”
晨辉只是看了我很长时间，悲伤，疲惫的一刻。"大家能原谅我们吗？我们需要单独谈谈。"
“Shit! Just when things were getting good,” Psychoshy said as she put her forehooves on her hips. “I was so sure that she was going to snap just then.”
"妈的！就在一切都变好的时候,"精神病医生说，她把前蹄放在臀部上。"我当时非常肯定她会崩溃。"
“Blackjack doesn’t do her crazy by halves,” Rampage said as she bit Psychoshy’s tail and dragged the protesting mare out after her. P-21 just gave me a long, sad smile as Scotch rested her head on his foreleg and closed her eyes. Rather than disturb them, Lacunae levitated both chairs and floated them out in front of her. Then she lifted the baffled-looking Boo and carried her out as well.
"黑杰克不会半途而废,"狂暴一边说，一边咬着精神病害羞的尾巴，把那头抗议的母马拖了出来。当苏格兰人把头枕在他的前腿上，闭上眼睛时，P-21给了我一个长长的、悲伤的微笑。拉库尼没有打扰他们，而是把两把椅子悬浮起来，放在她面前。然后，她举起看起来困惑的Boo，把她也抱了出去。
The sudden silence was overwhelming. Suddenly I wanted to run. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get to Hightower. I couldn’t stop. Stopping would kill me! Glory slowly walked forward and I backed up till my rump hit the pod behind me. I sat down and leaned back, trying to will myself to move away. “Blackjack…”
突然的沉默让人无法抗拒。突然，我想跑。我需要离开这里。我要去海托华。我停不下来。停下来会要了我的命！格洛里慢慢地向前走，我退后，直到我的臀部撞上了身后的逃生舱。我坐了下来，向后靠了靠，试图让自己离开。"黑杰克......"
“What, Glory? What… why are you talking to me like this?” I stammered, glancing at her eyes and looking away. I wanted the Dealer to distract me. “I told you, I don’t need to rest, sleep, or stop. I was damaged and now I’m fixed and regenerated and ready to go. I don’t see why I need to waste a week of time…”
"什么，晨辉？什么......你为什么这样跟我说话?"我结结巴巴地说，瞥了一眼她的眼睛，然后把目光移开。我想让庄家分散我的注意力。"我告诉过你，我不需要休息、睡觉或者停下来。我被损坏了，现在我被修复，再生，准备出发。我不明白我为什么要浪费一周的时间......"
“Blackjack,” she began softly and put out her hooves. “When was the last time you slept?”
"黑杰克,"她轻轻地开始，伸出她的蹄子。"你最后一次睡觉是什么时候?"
“I told you, I don’t need to sleep. I am Miss Blackjack the cyberpony, and I don’t need to sleep. Sleep won’t do me any good anyway. I’ll just have somepony else’s freaky dreams. Or nightmares. There’s no point in stopping to sleep.” I rambled on, looking away and blinking. Funny, I couldn’t stop blinking.
"我告诉过你，我不需要睡觉。我是赛博马小姐Blackjack，我不需要睡觉。反正睡觉对我也没什么好处。我会做别人的怪梦。或者做恶梦。没有必要停下来睡觉。"我继续漫步，目光移开，眨着眼睛。有趣的是，我一直在眨眼睛。
“Blackjack, when was the last time you slept? Was it back in Chapel?” Glory asked.
"Blackjack，你最后一次睡觉是什么时候？是在教堂吗?"晨辉问道。
“Look, I was unconscious for a while in Hippocratic Research. Had some wonky dreams. I figured that was enough sleep for a few days,” I said as quickly as I could. Why couldn’t she just accept that I didn’t need to sleep?
"听着，我在希波克拉底研究所昏迷了一段时间。做了一些不靠谱的梦。我觉得这几天的睡眠已经足够了,"我尽快地说。为什么她就不能接受我不需要睡觉的事实呢？
“Did you sleep at all in Tenpony?” she asked, calmly and reasonably.
"你在Tenpony睡过觉吗?"她平静而理智地问道。
“No, we had sex in Tenpony. Remember? Great fun. Let’s do it again!” But I didn’t want sex. I didn’t want to rest. I didn’t want to stop. “Look, you know me. If I wait around I’ll get all mopey and you’ll be annoyed and everything. Just… let it drop. Okay? Please? Let it drop?” I begged as I closed my eyes. I felt like a stupid foal. If I couldn’t see her then I didn’t have to listen either.
"不，我们在Tenpony做过爱。还记得吗？非常有趣。让我们再来一次!"但我不想做爱。我不想休息。我不想停下来。"听着，你了解我的。如果我在附近等着，我会变得闷闷不乐，你会生气的。就让它掉下来吧。好吗？求你了？让它掉下来?"我闭上眼睛乞求着。我感觉自己就像一只愚蠢的小马驹。如果我不能见到她，那我也不必听她的。
Her legs wrapped around me. I wished I could shake. I wished I could gasp and my heart could thunder. Instead I felt still and calm in every part of me except my mind. That was racing faster and faster with every second. “Why can’t you sleep?” she asked.
她的腿缠住了我。我希望我可以握手。我希望我可以喘息，我的心可以打雷。相反，我感到除了头脑之外，我身体的每一部分都是平静的。每一秒都在加快速度。"你为什么睡不着?"她问道。
“Because I’ll die! I’ll die again!” I screamed at her and shoved her away. I
"因为我会死的！我又要死了!"我冲她大喊大叫，把她推开了。一
hadn’t meant to do that. She slid across the polished floor almost to the far wall. I stared at her as she pulled herself to her hooves. I shrank back. “Oh, Goddesses, I didn’t mean… I… I…” I buried my head in my hooves. “Glory...” I whimpered.
我不是故意的。她滑过光滑的地板，几乎滑到了远处的墙上。我盯着她，看着她拼命地奔跑。我缩了回去。"哦，女神们，我不是说......我.....。.我。。」我把头埋在蹄子里。"晨辉......"我呜咽着说。
Then I felt her hoof on my mane. I sniffed. “I can’t sleep, Glory. Sleeping… I… I drifted off on the boat there and… I just know that if I stop and sleep that everything is going to stop again. I’ll die. I’ll die as sure as if you put a bullet through my head. I’ll go to a bad place. I don’t want that. I don’t want to die again,” I said as I quivered. “I can’t do that. I can’t…”
然后我感觉到她的蹄子在我的鬃毛上。我闻了闻。"我睡不着，晨辉。睡觉...我..。.我在船上漂走了......我只知道如果我停下来睡觉，一切都会再次停下来。我会死的。我死定了，就像你朝我脑袋开一枪一样。我会去一个不好的地方。我不想那样。我不想再死一次,"我颤抖着说。"我做不到。我不能......"
Security… terror of Hoofington… bearer of the coveted EC-1101… complete basket case. Psychoshy was right. This had to be some kind of crazy. Some level of madness that I no longer knew how to deal with.
安全...Hoofington的恐怖分子...拿着梦寐以求的EC-1101...完全没救了。心理害羞是对的。这肯定有点疯狂。某种程度的疯狂，我不再知道如何处理。
“Blackjack…” Glory murmured softly as she stroked me. “You have to sleep.”
"黑杰克......"格洛里轻声地抚摸着我。"你必须睡觉。"
“It wouldn’t make any difference,” I said quietly. “I don’t have my own dreams anymore. I don’t… Glory. I’m falling apart. The only thing keeping me together is that I keep moving. If I stop… I’ll… something. Something bad.”
"这不会有什么不同,"我平静地说。"我再也没有自己的梦想了。我不...晨辉。我快崩溃了。唯一能让我坚持下去的就是我不断前进。如果我停下来...我会...做点什么。不好的事情。"
“I know, Blackjack. But you can’t keep going forever,” she said as she stroked my mane again and again. Finally she curled up against me. I lay still as a sleeping foal. Still as a corpse. But inside, my mind was screaming.
"我知道，黑杰克。但你不能永远这样下去,"她一遍又一遍地抚摸着我的鬃毛说。最后，她蜷缩在我身边。我像一只沉睡的小马驹一样静静地躺着。还是一具尸体。但在内心深处，我的思想在尖叫。
* * *
* * *
Twenty minutes later, she was asleep. I wasn’t. Carefully, I shifted her onto my back and carried her to the room opposite Scotch and P-21’s. She needed to sleep and rest. She’d pushed herself saving the lives of my friends and trying to help me, and now she was spent. I looked in and saw P-21 and Scotch curled up together, with Boo beside the olive filly. Lacunae looked on, a silent sentinel, a protective goddess.
二十分钟后，她睡着了。我没有。我小心翼翼地把她推倒在我的背上，背着她来到苏格兰人和P-21人对面的房间。她需要睡眠和休息。她竭尽全力挽救我朋友的生命，试图帮助我，现在她精疲力尽了。我往里看，看到P-21和苏格兰威士忌蜷缩在一起，Boo在橄榄小姑娘旁边。拉库奈看着，一个沉默的哨兵，一个保护我们的女神。
The next room over, Psychoshy was taking a nap. She twitched in her sleep with little jerks and once whispered the name of the ghoul she’d lost. Rampage looked up at me and raised a hoof to her lips. She trotted out and closed the door behind her. “You okay, Blackjack? You look really spooked.”
隔壁的房间里，精神害羞正在打盹。她在睡梦中抽搐着，有一次还小声地说出了她失去的那个食尸鬼的名字。狂暴抬头看着我，抬起一只蹄子凑到她的嘴边。她小跑出去，随手关上了门。"你没事吧，黑杰克？你看上去吓坏了。"
“It’s nothing. Nothing,” I said as I sat. “Rampage… do you ever need to sleep?”
"没什么。没什么,"我坐着说。"暴怒......你需要睡觉吗?"
“Nope. Don’t really have to, as I never get tired,” she said, and I wanted to cheer. Hah! See, Glory? Not all ponies have to sleep. “But I do, from time to time. I catch little naps here and there when I can.”
"没有。其实不必，因为我从不感到累,"她说，我想加油。哈！看到了吗，晨辉？不是所有的小马都要睡觉。""但是，我有时候是这样的。只要有时间，我就在这里或那里小睡一会儿。"
“You do?” I blinked in surprise.
"是吗?"我惊讶地眨了眨眼。
“Sure, Blackjack. Everypony does. Heck, even ghouls do, and they’re dead. A pony has to turn off the brain occasionally, or she’ll go bouncing-off-the-walls crazy. Even I’ve done that.”
"当然，黑杰克。每个小马都这么做。见鬼，连食尸鬼都知道，而且他们都死了。一匹小马必须偶尔关掉它的大脑，否则它会发疯似的蹦蹦跳跳。连我都这么做过。"
“Really? What happened?”
"真的吗？发生了什么事?"
“No idea, but for a while twenty or so years ago, there was a myth about the Bloody Beast of Hoofington that went around slaughtering all kinds of creatures before it mysteriously vanished,” she said as she shuffled nervously. “Understand, that was before I ran into Priest. But yeah, even I occasionally need to calm down and let my thoughts straighten themselves out.”
"不知道，但大约二十年前有一段时间，有一个关于Hoofington血腥野兽的神话，在它神秘消失之前到处屠杀各种生物,"她一边说一边紧张地拖着脚步。"你要明白，那是在我遇到牧师之前。但是，是的，甚至我偶尔也需要冷静下来，让我的思绪自我调整。"
“But how do you do it?” I asked, chewing on my lip. “If you never get tired…”
"但是你是怎么做到的呢?"我咬着嘴唇问道。"如果你从不感到疲倦......"
“I just do. I cut out the Mint-als for a few hours. I close my eyes and try and push everything away and imagine a big, tangled knot. Then I slowly unravel it. Eventually, my brain just kicks over.” She sighed and rubbed her mane. “It’s a little bit scary. Sometimes, I have dreams that make no sense… and sometimes I’m scared that when I wake up, I won’t be… me. But the alternative is a bloody beast.” She smiled and shrugged.
"我就是知道。我把薄荷糖剪了几个小时。我闭上眼睛，试图推开一切，想象一个又大又纠结的结。然后我慢慢解开它。最终，我的大脑活动过度了。"她叹了口气，搓了搓鬃毛。"这有点吓人。有时候，我会做一些毫无意义的梦...有时候我害怕当我醒来的时候，我不再是...我自己了。但另一种选择是血腥的野兽。"她微笑着耸了耸肩。
“Right…” I murmured softly, looking away. The Cyberdemon of Hoofington… I didn’t like the sound of that at all.
"对......"我轻轻地低声说，眼睛看向别处。胡芬顿的赛博恶魔...我一点也不喜欢这个名字。
“Are you okay, Blackjack? You’ve got a funny look on your face. You’ve had it all day,” Rampage asked in concern. “Not your shooty look. Just… more crazy than usual.”
"你没事吧，黑杰克？你脸上的表情很奇怪。你已经受够了,"狂暴关切地问道。"不是你那种扫兴的表情。只是...比平时更疯狂。"
I grinned. “Hey. Don’t worry about me. I’m Blackjack the cyberpony. I’ll be fine. I just need to calm down.” She returned my smile a little uneasily, patted my shoulder, then slipped back into the room.
我咧嘴一笑。"嘿。别担心我。我是黑杰克，赛博马。我会没事的。我只是需要冷静下来。"她有点不安地回以我的微笑，拍了拍我的肩膀，然后溜回房间。
My brain, though, wasn’t calm. My thoughts smashed from one side to the other. She was right; I needed to sleep. No, I couldn’t sleep, sleep was bad. But no
然而，我的大脑并不平静。我的思想从一边到另一边粉碎。她是对的，我需要睡眠。不，我睡不着，睡不好。但是没有
sleep make Blackjack go crazy. But Blackjack was crazy already. So then no sleep make Blackjack go crazier. But sleep kill Blackjack. But sleep wouldn’t kill me. Then sleep would bring the bad dreams. But sleep was important; Glory said so. But sleep would bring dreams that weren’t my own. Besides, I wasn’t tired.
睡觉让黑杰克发疯。但是Blackjack已经疯了。所以不睡觉会让黑杰克更疯狂。但睡眠杀死了黑杰克。但是睡觉不会要了我的命。然后睡眠会带来噩梦。但是睡眠是很重要的，晨辉说过。但是睡眠会带来不属于我的梦。而且，我也不累。
My thoughts mashed and crashed and crushed against each other. A flesh and blood pony would get exhausted. She’d have to sleep. But my body just kept on going. I started pacing in the hall. I had to go. I had to. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop. Somewhere in my mind was a certainty that, if I did, I would die. I’d just float away from my body and leave a Blackjack-shaped cyberthing behind.
我的思想相互碰撞、碰撞、撞击。一匹有血有肉的小马会筋疲力尽。她不得不睡觉。但是我的身体还在继续。我开始在大厅里踱步。我得走了。我必须这么做。我睡不着。我停不下来。在我脑海中的某个地方，我确信，如果我这么做了，我就会死去。我会远离自己的身体，留下一个黑杰克形状的网络东西。
I already saw the Dealer. What would happen if Psychoshy was right about how crazy I was? What if I did completely lose it? I saw what had happened to LittlePip. What kind of damage could I do?
我已经看过《商人》了。如果"心理害羞"说我有多疯狂是正确的，会发生什么？如果我真的完全失控了呢？我看到了小皮普的遭遇。我能造成什么样的伤害？
Cyberdemon of Hoofington.
Hoofington的网络恶魔。
Didn’t matter. Wasn’t sleepy. Had to go. Had to go now. I was halfway down the hall before the thought slammed through: couldn’t go. Couldn’t do that to Glory. Not again. I trotted back between the rooms. Couldn’t stay. Couldn’t go. Couldn’t sleep. There was only one thing to do.
没关系。一点也不困。我得走了。我得走了。我走到大厅一半的时候，脑子里突然闪过一个念头:去不了了。不能这样对待晨辉。又来了。我小跑着回到房间之间。不能久留。不能去。睡不着。只有一件事可以做。
Check and see if the bar was open.
检查一下吧台是否开着。
* * *
* * *
“Blackjack? What are you doing?” Lacunae asked softly as she trotted into the storeroom where we’d found Nurse Redheart. I had arranged the five figurines in front of me, set out little paper cups in front of them, and then poured them each a drink. Since they couldn’t drink, I was drinking for them. Their normally bright and happy faces looked oddly sad for some reason.
"黑杰克？你在干什么?"拉库娜轻声问道，她小跑进了我们找到雷德哈特护士的储藏室。我把面前的五个小雕像摆好，把小纸杯放在他们面前，然后给他们每人倒一杯饮料。因为他们不能喝酒，我就为他们喝酒。出于某种原因，他们平时明亮而快乐的脸看起来有些古怪地悲伤。
“I’m having a tea party,” I replied to the immense purple alicorn. “Only I didn’t have any tea, so we’re having booze instead. I guess that makes it a shots party.” I waved the bottle at her.
"我在开茶会,"我回答那只巨大的紫色橡子。"只是我没有茶，所以我们改喝酒了。我想这就是一个狂欢派对吧。"我向她挥动瓶子。
“Blackjack. That is rubbing alcohol,” she said aloud in shock.
"黑杰克。那是外用酒精,"她震惊地大声说。
“Yeah. Stuff is shit compared to Wild Pegasus. I went all the way to Megamart and didn’t pick up some quality booze. Irresponsible,” I said as I lifted Pinkie Pie’s shot. “Come on, Pinkie. Drink up. It’s a party!” I lifted it to the grinning pink pony’s mouth with my magic. “Drinkie drinkie!”
"是的。和野生飞马相比，这些东西简直是狗屎。我一路走到超级市场，却没有买到高质量的酒。不负责任,"我一边说，一边举起了平奇·派的枪。"来吧，平奇。喝光它。这是个派对!"我用我的魔法把它举到那只咧着嘴笑的粉红色小马的嘴边。"喝吧!"
A purple hoof crushed the paper cup.
一只紫色的蹄子踩碎了纸杯。
I slowly looked up at her. Her magic then swept the cups, bottles, and remains into a garbage can in the corner. I stared up at her and sniffed. “I… um… I…” I looked at the five figurines around me and then back at the purple alicorn.
我慢慢地抬头看着她。她的魔法然后扫过杯子，瓶子，并保留到一个垃圾桶在角落里。我抬头看着她，嗅了嗅。"我.....。.呃...我..。。」我看了看周围的五个小雕像，然后又看了看紫玉簪。
What the fuck is wrong with me?
我他妈到底怎么了？
“I… I…” I stammered like an idiot as I looked up to her, like Mom catching me sleeping on my shift or something. My throat closed up.
"我.....。.我。。」我像个白痴一样结结巴巴地看着她，好像妈妈发现我在上班时睡觉似的。我的喉咙堵住了。
She sat beside me and pulled me into her hooves and held me. I clenched my eyes closed, imagining it was Mom holding me in her hooves. “Please… please help me…”
她坐在我旁边，把我拉进她的蹄子里，抱着我。我紧闭双眼，想象着妈妈用蹄子抱着我。"请...请帮帮我..."
“I’m sorry, Blackjack. I can’t…”
"对不起，黑杰克。我不能......"
“Cast a spell. Please,” I begged, like a filly pleading to their parent to make it all better.
"施一个咒语。求你了,"我恳求着，就像一匹小母马恳求她们的父母让一切都好起来。
“Unconsciousness isn’t sleep, Blackjack,” Lacunae said quietly in my ear as she rocked me. “And I’m sorry… the Goddess isn’t interested in helping you anymore.” I heard her sigh quietly. “I wish I could. I wish I could cast a spell to take away your fears and calm your thoughts enough that you can sleep. But I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I can’t help you. I’m so tired of not being able to help the ponies who need it. What kind of goddess can’t comfort a troubled friend?”
"无意识不是睡眠，Blackjack,"Lacunae轻轻地在我耳边摇晃着我。"我很抱歉......女神不再有兴趣帮助你了。"我静静地听到她的叹息。"我希望我可以。我希望我能施展一个咒语，驱走你的恐惧，让你的思绪足够平静，让你能入睡。但我做不到。对不起。很抱歉我帮不了你。我已经厌倦了不能帮助需要它的小马。什么样的女神不能安慰一个陷入困境的朋友?"
“Can you… can you take it from me? Please?” I didn’t even know what ‘it’ was. My fear? My craziness? The anxiety twisting around in my brain like a frantic radroach trying to chew its way out? The parts of Blackjack I didn’t like anymore?
"你能...你能把它从我这里拿走吗？求你了?"我甚至不知道那是什么。我的恐惧？我的疯狂？焦虑在我的脑海里盘旋，就像一只疯狂的花楸，想要咬出一条路来？我不再喜欢Blackjack的哪些部分？
Really… could I blame the Goddess for what she did to Lacunae?
真的...我能责怪女神对Lacunae的所作所为吗？
“I’m sorry, Blackjack,” Lacunae whispered again as I was held and rocked.
"对不起，黑杰克,"当我被抱着摇晃的时候，拉库奈再次低声说道。
I tried to imagine a knotted rope. It didn’t untie. Instead, it became a noose in a cage.
我试着想象一根打结的绳子。它没有解开。相反，它变成了笼子里的套索。
I visualized an IF-88 Ironpony and tried to disassemble it. Instead, I imagined a mare in black gunning down a hospital.
我想象了一个IF-88铁马驹，并试图拆卸它。相反，我想象着一头黑色的母马正在射杀一家医院。
I tried to clear my brain of everything in it, but it was like trying to stop sand with my hooves. I’d just treated all of Twilight’s friends like toys.
我试图清除脑海中的一切，但这就像试图用我的蹄子挡住沙子一样。我只是把暮光之城的朋友们当玩具一样对待。
“I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry,” I murmured quietly into her chest, listening to her slow and steady heart.
"对不起，暮光之城。"对不起,"我轻声地对着她的胸膛说，听着她那缓慢而坚定的心。
* * *
* * *
It was midday when everypony finally started moving out. Glory had all the chems she needed to treat Scotch and P-21. The blue pegasus wore a disguise that was really not much more than hospital linens sewn together into a sort of pajamas and cloak to cover her, but it was better than nothing. Rampage and Psychoshy were talking about what they’d have to do to keep everypony safe… well, Rampage was talking about that. Psychoshy was talking about looking forward to smashing more ponies. Scotch and P-21 rode Lacunae, who carried them both without too much effort or complaint.
正午的时候，每匹小马终于开始出发了。晨辉有治疗苏格兰威士忌和P-21所需的所有药品。蓝色的飞马穿着伪装，实际上不过是医院的亚麻制品缝在一起做成一种睡衣和斗篷盖住她，但总比什么都没有好。狂暴和精神害羞正在谈论他们必须做些什么来保证每匹小马的安全......好吧，狂暴正在谈论这个。"心理害羞"说的是期待着砸碎更多的小马。苏格兰人和P-21骑着拉库奈，拉库奈轻而易举地把他们抬了上去。
The purple alicorn did comment on the anti-machine rifle I’d picked up, though. Her magic lifted the gun effortlessly, and she smiled as she sighted through the scope. “Wonderful high caliber weapon. A bit too much for sniping, though; the accuracy falls off after a thousand yards.” She worked the slide and smiled in satisfaction, loading a magazine. The size of the weapon and the fact she could handle it at all with just her horn reminded me of LittlePip. It must be nice to be able to handle heavy weapons with just your horn.
尽管如此，那只紫色橡子还是对我捡起的反机器步枪做出了评论。她的魔法毫不费力地举起了枪，她微笑着瞄准镜。"绝妙的大口径武器。不过狙击有点太多了，一千码以后精度就下降了。"她在滑梯上工作，满意地笑了笑，装进了一本杂志。武器的大小和事实上她可以处理它在所有只是她的角提醒我小pip。只用你的号角就能处理重型武器一定很不错。
“You like it?” I asked with a small smile as I teased Boo with a carrot.
"你喜欢吗?"我一边用胡萝卜逗布，一边微笑着问道。
“Like… no. But I respect it and admire its craftsmanship and capabilities,” she said as she pointed it up the hillside to the west, looking through the scope. Then she paused with a frown. “We’re being watched.”
"就像......不。但我尊重它，钦佩它的工艺和能力,"她一边说，一边把它指向西边的山坡，透过望远镜观察。然后她皱着眉头停了下来。"我们被监视了。"
I frowned too, extended my fingers, took out Taurus’s rifle, and looked through
我也皱起了眉头，伸出手指，掏出金牛座的来复枪，向外张望
its scope. There, at the top of the low ridge almost a mile away, I could make out a cluster of ponies watching us. Behind them, I could barely make out a banner of green and black.
它的范围。在那里，在几乎一英里之外的低矮山脊顶上，我可以辨认出一群小马在看着我们。在他们身后，我几乎辨认不出一面绿色和黑色的旗帜。
Harbingers, a half dozen, at least, watching me with binoculars and scopes. Had they been watching to see when we left, or were they waiting for more members?
预言者，至少有半打，用望远镜和望远镜看着我。他们是在观察我们什么时候离开，还是在等待更多的成员？
“Want to go smash them?” Psychoshy asked with an eager grin.
"想去砸碎它们吗?""精神病"迫不及待地笑着问道。
I took one look at P-21 and Scotch on the alicorn’s back. “No. If they’re just watching us, they’ll scatter. And if we head towards Chapel, then we’re looking at an ambush… or worse… another attack on Chapel itself.” I couldn’t do that to the Crusaders.
我看了一眼阿里康背上的P-21和苏格兰威士忌。"没有。如果他们只是在监视我们，他们会散开的。如果我们前往教堂，那么我们将看到一个埋伏......或者更糟......另一次对教堂本身的攻击。"我不能这样对十字军战士。
P-21, Scotch Tape, Glory, and Lacunae all needed to go to Chapel. I didn’t. Not in the way that they did.
P-21，透明胶带，晨辉和空白都需要去教堂。我没有。不是以他们的方式。
“We split up,” I said softly.
"我们分手了,"我轻声说。
“I’m going to have to file that under ‘really bad idea’, Blackjack,” Rampage snorted.
"我将不得不把它归入'真是个坏主意'，Blackjack,"狂暴哼了一声。
“Look… they’re after me, right?” I asked as I whirled on them. Having a threat helped me focus and pull my head together. “If they see me leave with you, then they’re going to attack us sooner or later. But if they see me trot off east and you go south, who are they going to follow?”
"听着......他们是冲着我来的，对吧?"我转过身问道。有一个威胁帮助我集中注意力，使我的头脑清醒。"如果他们看到我和你一起离开，那么他们迟早会攻击我们。但如果他们看到我向东小跑，而你向南走，他们会跟着谁呢?"
“You want them to chase you?” Glory gaped and I felt myself grinning.
"你想让他们追你吗?"晨辉张口结舌，我感到自己在咧嘴笑。
“Sure! I’m the one with the robolegs, remember? I’ll lead them away from you till you’re all recovered. They’ll get tired long before I do,” I said as the plan came together.
"当然！我是那个有机械腿的人，记得吗？我会把他们从你身边带走，直到你完全康复。他们会在我之前很久就累了,"计划制定好的时候，我说。
“You should still take Flutternut and me with you,” Rampage said as she looked at me.
"你还是带着弗朗特纳特和我一起走吧,"朗格看着我说。
“I don’t want the Harbingers getting the idea of taking hostages. I need you with them. I know they’ll be safe with you, Rampage.” And I was faster than the steel-clad mare.
"我不希望'先驱者'有劫持人质的想法。我需要你和他们在一起。我知道他们和你在一起很安全，狂暴。"我比那铁甲的母马还快。
“Well then, take Psychoshy, at least,” she pressed. The yellow pegasus grinned wickedly at that suggestion. I gave Rampage a slightly sardonic look, and she sighed. “Okay, maybe not…”
"那么，至少带上心理害羞吧,"她追问道。黄色飞马听到这个建议，邪恶地咧嘴一笑。我略带嘲讽地看了她一眼，她叹了口气。"好吧，也许不是......"
“I need to be sure that you’re all safe. This way, they’ll be chasing me, and then later we’ll meet up,” I said as my thoughts oriented from the dread of sitting around to the plan of action.
"我需要确保你们的安全。这样的话，他们就会追上我，然后我们再见面。"我的思绪从无所事事的恐惧转向行动计划。
“But… how will we know how to find you?” Glory asked.
"但是......我们怎么知道怎么找到你呢?"晨辉问道。
“We have her PipBuck tag,” Scotch Tape replied as she leaned back in P-21’s embrace. Glory looked at the PipBuck she’d purloined from Psychoshy. “We can find Blackjack anywhere in the city.”
"我们有她的PipBuck标签,"ScotchTape一边回答，一边靠在P-21的怀抱里。晨辉看着她从Psychoshy偷来的皮伯克。"我们可以在城里的任何地方找到黑杰克。"
Glory still frowned. “But how will we know if you’re all right?”
晨辉还皱着眉头。"但是我们怎么知道你是不是没事呢?"
“Duh. We’ll listen for her,” Scotch Tape said with a small smile. “Remember on the Celestia, Blackjack? Your PipBuck is a broadcaster. So all you have to do is send a signal, and we’ll know if you’re okay or if you need the cavalry to come.” Glory chewed her lip, and I went to her and held her in my hooves.
"切。我们会听她的,"苏格兰磁带带着一丝微笑说。"记得在塞莱斯蒂亚吗，黑杰克？你的PipBuck是播音员。所以你所要做的就是发出一个信号，我们就会知道你是否安然无恙，或者你是否需要支援。"晨辉咬着她的嘴唇，我走向她，用我的蹄子抱住她。
“This… are you sure about this? All alone, with no friends?” she asked as she stroked my restored cheek.
"这个......你确定吗？独自一人，没有朋友?"她抚摸着我复原的脸颊问道。
I smiled and kissed the end of her muzzle softly. “I won’t be missing any friends, Glory. I’ll have you with me… no matter where you are...”
我微笑着，轻轻地吻了吻她的口吻。"我不会想念任何朋友的，晨辉。无论你在哪里，我都会拥有你。"
She kissed, and I kissed back. Now that I had a plan, all the skittering doubts were scurrying away into the corners of my mind. “Get some sleep… please try…” she said quietly as she bumped her forehead against mine.
她吻了我，我也回吻了她。现在我已经有了一个计划，所有那些瞬间消散的疑虑都跑到了我脑海的角落里。"睡一会儿吧......请试试......"她一边轻轻地说，一边用她的额头撞我的额头。
“I will,” I said with a small smile. But I doubted I was going to get much of a chance in the next couple of days.
"我会的,"我微笑着说。但是我怀疑在接下来的几天里我是否还有机会。
Suddenly, I became aware of a hissing above me and glanced at Psychoshy hovering there. “Don’t move!” she said around the mouthgrip of a spray-paint can. I groaned and closed my eyes. Did I really want to know? Finally, she finished and tossed the can away.
突然，我意识到头顶上传来嘶嘶声，我瞥了一眼盘旋在那里的Psychoshy。"别动!"她说是在一个喷漆罐的口柄附近。我呻吟着，闭上了眼睛。我真的想知道吗？最后，她吃完了，把罐子扔了。
“So… what did she do?” I could always replace the armor with some I’d
"那么......她做了什么?"我总是可以用一些i'd来替换盔甲
stashed.
藏匿。
“She wrote ‘Security’…” Lacunae said softly, “Only she left out the ‘i’.”
"她写的是'安全'......"拉库奈轻声说,"只是她省略了'我'。"
“And she drew a bullseye beneath it,” added P-21 dryly.
"她在下面画了一个靶心,"P-21干巴巴地补充说。
I sighed but smiled. “Well, I’d wanted them to follow me.”
我叹了口气，笑了笑。"嗯，我希望他们跟着我。"
“Wait one moment,” Lacunae said as she lifted the tossed can and sprayed a few more times. “There. Better.” I blinked and looked back at the little white rearing filly she’d deftly painted on my armor’s rump. “Your good luck symbol, as I recall.”
"等一下,"拉库纳一边说，一边举起那个扔过来的罐子，又喷了几次。"那儿。更好。"我眨了眨眼睛，回头看着她在我的盔甲屁股上巧妙地画上的白色小母马。"我记得是你的好运符号。"
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I said with a smile. I wondered what Scoodle would think of the ‘stable pony’ now? I turned to her and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry for what I did with your friends.”
"是的，我想是的,"我笑着说。我想知道史酷德现在会怎么看待"马厩小马"？我转向她，拥抱了她一下。"我很抱歉我对你的朋友们所做的一切。"
“I’m sorry too,” she replied, stroking a wingtip along my cheek.
"我也很抱歉,"她一边回答，一边抚摸着我的脸颊。
“For what?” I asked. For the Goddess being a tool? For not being able to help the craziest pony in Equestria? But she just smiled sadly and shook her head.
"为什么?"我问道。因为女神只是个工具？因为不能帮助Equestria最疯狂的小马？但她只是悲伤地笑了笑，摇了摇头。
It took some time to convince Boo to go along. She looked just as uncomfortable with my plan as Glory. Finally, I’d had to tie a bridle and give the lead to the pegasus. The pale mare looked hurt and confused, no matter how I stroked her milky mane or ears.
我花了一些时间才说服Boo同意。她看起来和晨辉一样对我的计划感到不舒服。最后，我不得不系上缰绳，让飞马领先。无论我怎样抚摸她乳白色的鬃毛或耳朵，苍白的母马看起来受伤而困惑。
“Please take care of yourself. Please, Blackjack. I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”
"请照顾好自己。求你了黑杰克。我不喜欢你一个人呆着。"
“I won’t be. I’ll know you’re safe. And we’ll be together soon. I promise.” The heat and damp pressed down, and the fat, swollen clouds overhead rumbled low and deep as if some great stratospheric beast’s stomach growled in anticipation of the impending chase.
"我不会的。我会知道你是安全的。我们很快就会在一起了。我保证。"天气闷热潮湿，头顶肥厚膨胀的云层低沉而深沉地隆隆作响，就好像有一只巨大的平流层怪兽的肚子在期待着即将到来的追逐。
We shared one final kiss, and then my friends started off to the south. I watched them go with a bit of trepidation. There was no guarantee they’d reach Chapel safely, but right now they were as safe as I could make them. When they were out of sight along the Sunset Highway, I looked back at the hill and saw every set of eyes locked on to me. In spite of everything, I couldn’t deny an
我们分享了最后一个吻，然后我的朋友们开始往南走。我看着他们惶惶不安地离去。不能保证他们能安全到达查普尔，但是现在他们是我能做到的最安全的。当他们沿着日落公路消失在我的视线之外时，我回头看了看小山，发现每一双眼睛都盯着我。尽管发生了这一切，我还是不能否认
unmistakable thrill coursing through me.
显而易见的兴奋在我身上流淌。
“Okay! Catch me if you can, you miserable herd of mules,” I said as I opened the panel in my leg, showing the black screen of the Delta within as I waved to them. Instantly, the six set off down the hill towards me. One fired a red flare into the air as they ran. The heavens let loose a flash of lightning, splitting the clouds, and the rain began to pour. I snapped the panel shut and tore down the road east as fast as my legs could carry me, shouting, “Ante up!”
"好吧！如果你能抓住我，你们这群可怜的骡子,"我一边说，一边打开腿上的控制板，向他们挥手示意三角洲的黑色屏幕。他们六个人立刻向山下走来，向我走来。其中一人在逃跑时向空中发射了一枚红色照明弹。天空放出一道闪电，劈开了云层，大雨倾盆而下。我啪的一声关上仪表板，以我双腿所能承受的最快速度沿着向东的公路疾驰而去，喊道:"下注!"
Footnote: Level 8 Reached.
脚注:达到第8级。
New Perk added: Toughness (rank 2): +3 DT perminently
新帕金斯补充:韧性(等级2):+3DT坚定
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: As always, I want to give thanks to Kkat for creating FoE, Snipe, Bronode, and Hinds for their oodles of hard work and yet another weekend sacrificed to make this actually worth reading. I’d also like to thank everypony who gives me feedback and comments in EqD that helps keep this story going. Lastly, everypony that wants to help support the author can leave bits at the Paypal tip jar. David13ushey@gmail.com. Also, more specifically... at this point PH is longer than the original FoE. It’s well on its way towards being a bajillion pages long. Is this story taking too long. Should I just wind it up and have it done with? Once I break 1.1M words, we’re getting into Harry Potter territory... like... all of Harry Potter. So I just want to know if things are dragging or not. Anywho, I hope you enjoy the story... dragging terribleness or not.) (New Note: Also, I have a . All bits help.)
(作者的笔记:和往常一样，我要感谢Kkat创造了FoE、Snipe、Bronode和Hinds，感谢他们的大量辛勤工作和又一个周末的牺牲，使这本书值得一读。我还要感谢每一位在EqD中给我反馈和评论的小马，这些反馈和评论有助于这个故事继续下去。最后，每个想要帮助支持作者的小马可以在贝宝小费罐里留下一些东西。13ushey@gmail.com.此外，更具体地说...在这一点上，PH比原来的敌人更长。这本书正在朝着长达数百万页的方向发展。这个故事是不是太长了。我是不是应该结束这一切，然后一了百了？一旦我超过110万个单词，我们就进入了哈利波特的领域......就像......哈利波特的全部。所以我只是想知道事情是否在拖延。无论如何，我希望你能喜欢这个故事......不管是不是故意拖累。)(新注:此外，我有一个。所有的部分都有帮助。)