“It’s awfully pretty.”
"非常漂亮。"
“Yes, she was.”
"是的，她是。"
The Wasteland is a poisonous place. I don't mean the taint, radiation, and disease; sure, those are problems, but they're not the Wasteland's true assault. All of those can be fought or borne. They could even be defeated entirely… but not by one pony working alone or by warring gangs or small, scattered, distrustful settlements. Red Eye's slave empire might be able to do it, but then the old horrors would just be replaced by new ones. To heal Equestria, ponies needed harmony, true harmony, and that was what the Wasteland fought against most strongly. The poisons that are killing us aren't magical or chemical; they're psychological. And they were killing Equestria even before there was a Wasteland.
荒原是一个有毒的地方。我指的不是污染、辐射和疾病;当然，这些都是问题，但它们不是荒原真正的攻击。所有这些都是可以抗争或承受的。他们甚至可能被彻底击败......但不是被一匹单独行动的小马，或者被敌对的帮派，或者小型的、分散的、不信任的定居点击败。红眼的奴隶帝国也许可以做到这一点，但那样的话，旧的恐怖就会被新的恐怖所取代。为了治愈马驹，小马需要和谐，真正的和谐，而这正是荒原最强烈反对的。杀死我们的毒素不是魔法或化学物质，而是心理上的。他们甚至在荒原还没有形成之前就杀死了小马国人。
Rampage had tried to show me that, but I hadn’t quite gotten it. I was poisoned; we all were. Doubt. Fear. Hate. Regret. Shame. Pride. I was a walking toxic waste dump of mental venoms that were killing me and ponies around me. No wonder I’d taxed Happyhorn’s therapy machines to their absolute limit. No surprise they couldn’t create a simulation that I’d have been content with. The faults lay not with the environment but with myself.
狂暴曾试图向我展示这一点，但我没有完全明白。我中毒了，我们都中毒了。怀疑。恐惧。仇恨。后悔。真可惜。骄傲。我是一个行走的有毒废物倾倒的精神毒液，杀死我和我周围的小马。难怪我把哈皮霍恩的治疗机器压到了它们的极限。毫无疑问，他们无法创造出一个我满意的模拟。问题不在于环境，而在于我自己。
And I’d killed an innocent filly.
我杀了一只无辜的小母马。
I knew I wasn’t Deus yet; I hadn’t gone in there intending to kill Boing and her two friends. They’d been casualties in my fight with the Seekers. But two weeks ago, when I faced the Reapers in Megamart, I hadn’t tried to tear them apart like I had the Thunderhead pegasi in Yellow River. I could have talked my way out, especially with Dusk there. I could have tried to find a better way.
我知道我还不是上帝;我进去并不是为了杀死波因和她的两个朋友。他们是我和搜索者战斗中的牺牲品。但两周前，当我在Megamart面对收割者时，我并没有像在黄河里面对飞马座的雷霆一样试图撕碎它们。我本可以说服自己离开，尤其是在黄昏的时候。我本可以找到一个更好的方法。
Now… now I wasn’t even sure I was trying anymore.
现在...现在我甚至不确定我是否还在努力。
And I’d have to change that. Since I’d gotten back to the Hoof, I’d been falling apart. No. Even before that, when I’d pulled that stunt with LittlePip… would I have done something that reckless if I’d been normal? And everything past that… Brimstone’s Fall… Priest… Chimera… the Harbingers… I was running full out with no brakes or thought at all. Something inside me was wrong, and I needed to find a way to fix it. Pieces of myself had been falling away bit by bit, and I needed to find a way to pull myself together.
我必须改变这种状况。自从我回到霍夫之后，我已经崩溃了。没有。甚至在那之前，当我和小皮普玩那个把戏的时候......如果我是正常人，我会做那么鲁莽的事吗？经过那一切......硫磺降临......牧师......奇美拉......预言者......我全力奔跑，没有刹车，也没有思考。我内心的某些东西出了问题，我需要找到一种方法来解决它。我的一部分已经一点一点地消失了，我需要找到一种方法让自己重新振作起来。
And the first step was finding a place to sleep.
第一步是找到一个睡觉的地方。
I’d wanted to go back to the tunnel with Boing. I’d wanted to give her and her friends a burial like I hadn’t given Scoodle, but that wasn’t possible. I’d gotten into viewing range of the construction site and could go no further without being spotted. The Seekers were using the train tunnel to come and go in their search for me, and without a StealthBuck, I’d be toast. Even with one, I doubted I could sneak out three bodies for burial.
我想和波音一起回隧道。我想给她和她的朋友一个葬礼，就像我没有给史酷德一样，但这是不可能的。我已经进入了建筑工地的视野范围，无法再前进而不被发现。搜索者们利用火车隧道来回搜寻我，如果没有一辆偷来的巴克，我就完蛋了。即使只有一具尸体，我也怀疑自己是否能偷偷地把三具尸体运出去埋葬。
So now I was heading due south towards the western edge of the immense plug of black rock. It had to be almost a mile across and at least that high, disappearing into the clouds above and probably only visible against the dark sky due to my cybereyes. It was funny, though: the more I looked at it, the more boring it became. It was just a rock. Big and black, but a rock. It’s bases were all big blocks of tumbled black stone and lots of thorny bushes that seemed right at home in the Wasteland.
所以现在我正朝着正南方的黑色岩石巨大塞子的西部边缘前进。它的直径差不多有一英里，至少有那么高，消失在上面的云层中，也许只有在黑暗的天空中我才能看到它，因为我的网络眼睛。然而，这很有趣:我越看越觉得无聊。那只是一块石头。又大又黑，但是是块石头。它的基地都是大块的黑石头和许多多荆棘灌木，似乎在家的荒地。
A gunshot made me freeze in my tracks, but a second later I frowned. More gunshots, and not at me. That was just plain weird. They were somewhere behind me. I found a boulder big enough that I could sneak a look back while still staying behind cover. Nothing for it. I activated my EFS and watched red bars flicker to life in my vision. Some were steady. Some not so much, appearing and disappearing, or going from blue to red and back.
一声枪响让我惊呆了，但过了一会儿，我皱起了眉头。更多的枪声，而不是对着我。这真是太奇怪了。他们在我身后的某个地方。我发现了一块足够大的石头，我可以在躲在掩体后面的时候偷偷回头看一眼。什么都没有。我启动了EFS，看着红条在我的视野中闪烁起来。有些是稳定的。有些没有那么多，出现和消失，或从蓝色到红色再回来。
Behind me, a dozen Harbingers were fighting against a barely visible figure several yards off. I could just barely make out the red bars on the edge of my E.F.S. From what little I could see through the gloom, these had to be Seekers, decked out in the finest combat armor and wielding 12.7 mm submachine guns, anti material rifles, and markspony rifles.
在我身后，十几个"先驱者"正与几码外一个几乎看不见的身影搏斗。我只能勉强辨认出我的e.f.s的边缘上的红色栅栏，从我能透过黑暗看到的一点点东西来看，这些一定是Seekers，穿着最好的战斗盔甲，挥舞着12.7毫米冲锋枪，反材料步枪，和射击步枪。
Their opponent? A zebra. Weaponless.
他们的对手？斑马。无武器。
And he was tearing them to pieces.
他把他们撕成碎片。
The closest I’d ever seen anyone move like this was Rampage, and even she was clunky and awkward compared to him. This zebra moved with a fluidity that bordered on dance as he spun through the air towards one, landed perfectly on one hind hoof, and continued the rotation to bring his hind hoof in a crushing strike where armor ended and jawbone began. At the impact, he reversed, his hind hoof coming around in the opposite direction to strike the same spot on the other side of his neck.
我见过的最接近这种情况的人是狂暴，甚至连她都比不上他。这只斑马的动作流畅得近乎跳舞，它在空中向一只斑马旋转，完美地用一只后蹄着地，然后继续旋转，使后蹄在盔甲结束、颚骨开始出现的地方发生粉碎性撞击。在撞击过程中，它倒过来了，它的后蹄朝相反的方向转过来，撞击了它脖子另一侧的同一个地方。
He kicked the Seeker’s head clean off.
他一脚把探索者的头踢下来。
Then, not missing a beat, not pausing to gloat, he whirled and sprang on the next. And the next. And the next... Their bullets seemed utterly useless. Like Rampage, he waltzed through gunfire as if it were rain. Something was happening to his hide, but from this distance, I couldn’t tell precisely what. I could only watch as he obliterated a team of Harbinger commandos.
然后，他一点也没有停下来幸灾乐祸，转身跳向下一个目标。第二天也是。接下来......他们的子弹似乎毫无用处。像狂暴一样，他跳着华尔兹穿过枪林弹雨。他的皮肤发生了一些变化，但从这么远的距离看，我不能准确地说出是什么变化。我只能眼睁睁地看着他消灭了一队"先驱者"突击队。
I crept closer, curious about making introductions, when I realized he hadn’t killed them all. Two lay broken and sobbing. “Why are you trying to kill her?” the zebra asked, punching the pony in the gut. The other was trying to crawl away on four broken limbs.
当我意识到他并没有把他们全部杀死时，我蹑手蹑脚地走近他，好奇地想介绍一下。两个伤痕累累的躺在那里哭泣。"你为什么要杀她?"斑马问，一拳打在小马的肚子上。另一个正试图用四条断肢爬走。
Correction, punching into his gut.
纠正一下，一拳打在他的肚子上。
“We were told! We were told!” the stallion screamed as the zebra hooked out a loop of entrails and started to pull. “Please! She told us to!” I stared in horror, wanting to put a magic bullet in the stallion’s head as the zebra tore out his guts. One thing stopped me.
"有人告诉我们的！有人告诉我们!"当斑马用钩子钩出内脏开始拉的时候，种马尖叫起来。"求你了！是她叫我们这么做的!"我惊恐地盯着斑马，想在它撕开内脏的时候给它的头上来一枪。有一件事阻止了我。
The zebra’s EFS bar was as red as the blood that coated his body.
斑马的EFS棒就像覆盖在他身上的血一样红。
I had no way of dealing with a murderous male Rampage right now. My head wasn’t recovered. I wasn’t even sure how much ammo I had left after Yellow River. Still, I hopped into S.A.T.S., toggled the spell, and managed to put a magic bullet into the poor stallion’s head. This wasn’t an execution; there was no way he’d survive his guts tossed all over the jagged rocks. I had no illusions that the zebra would leave him alive either.
我现在没有办法对付一个杀人不眨眼的男人。我的头还没有恢复。我甚至不知道黄河之后我还剩下多少弹药。尽管如此，我还是跳进了s.a.t.s，启动了咒语，设法给这匹可怜的种马的头上来了一发魔法子弹。这不是处决，他的内脏被扔到参差不齐的岩石上，他不可能活下来。我也没有幻想斑马会活着离开他。
The zebra froze and just turned to stare at me. Though blood drenched him head to toe, he paid no mind to it. It was hard to make out the stripes through all the gore that covered him. He seemed to have bloody stripes rather than black ones. Then he marched right over to the last pony and stomped down hard on the back of his neck, snapping it instantly. One more look at me. His eyes seemed to burn through the dim light as if they had their own internal glow. I readied myself for a fight.
斑马僵住了，只是转过头来盯着我。虽然血把他从头到脚都浸湿了，但他并不在意。他身上布满了血迹，很难看清条纹。他身上的条纹似乎是血色的，而不是黑色的。然后他径直走向最后一匹小马，重重地踩在它的脖子上，瞬间把它摔断了。再看我一眼。他的眼睛仿佛在昏暗的光线中燃烧，仿佛它们有自己的内在光芒。我做好了战斗准备。
Instead, he laughed. Low, deep, and amused.
相反，他笑了。低沉的，深沉的，愉快的。
“Not right now,” was all I heard from this distance, “but soon. I can wait.” And with that he turned and trotted down the rocky slope. I gaped after him, but his E.F.S. stayed red the entire time, the first time I’d know it to be wrong.
"不是现在,"我在这么远的地方只听到这个声音,"但是很快就会了。我可以等。"说完，他转身沿着岩石坡小跑下去。我目瞪口呆地看着他，但他的眼睛整个时间都是红红的，这是我第一次知道它是错的。
I ran. I didn’t even pause to take the Seeker’s weapons.
我跑了。我甚至没有停下来拿走探索者的武器。
Then I found an alcove in the rocks and alternated between hyper ventilating and kicking myself for not saving my enemies from a zebra that scared the piss out of me. Who was he? What was he? Why did he kill those harbingers? If he’d wanted me dead, all he’d have to do was let them catch me. He’d saved me, but I had no illusions that, no matter who he was, he might be an ally. Still, whoever he was, he didn’t seem keen on snapping my neck right now or yanking out my... oooh, that made my insides twinge. Hopefully he’d keep the Seekers off my tail.
然后我在岩石中找到了一个凹室，一会儿呼吸急促，一会儿又踢自己，因为我没能把敌人从一只斑马手里救出来，那只斑马把我吓得尿裤子。他是谁？他是什么？他为什么要杀死那些预言者？如果他想我死，他只要让他们抓住我就行了。他救了我，但我没有幻想，不管他是谁，他可能是一个盟友。尽管如此，不管他是谁，他现在似乎并不热衷于折断我的脖子或者拉出我的...哦，那让我的内心刺痛。希望他能摆脱搜索者的追踪。
So many red bars. Too many! I switched it off. If mister psycho zebra wanted to kill me, I doubted knowing about it would stop him. Not with how he fought. The dark, bar free gloom soothed me. Somehow, just being by this mountain made me feel... at ease. I’d been through so much. I should be a ball of gibbering madness, but in the shadow of this dark mountain, so many anxieties just...
这么多红条。太多了！我把它关了。如果神经病斑马先生想杀我，我怀疑知道这事会阻止他。不是因为他打架的方式。黑暗，没有障碍的幽暗安慰着我。不知怎么的，只是在这座山旁边让我感到......轻松。我经历了那么多。我应该是一团胡言乱语的疯狂，但是在这座黑暗的山的阴影下，那么多的焦虑..。
unravelled. I was grateful, even if it was just a boring, not special at all mountain.
解开。我很感激，即使它只是一个无聊的，一点也不特别的山。
Black Pony Mountain. It should have been interesting, but it wasn’t. Just some kind of black rock forming huge hexagonal pillars and glassy black stone. The blackish purplish hue made me think of Princess Luna. She’d help me, if she could take pity on one worthless pony. Find some way to end this nightmare. Give me a wonderful dream. Any dream that would make this end. I wished Luna or the stars or something would send me something to just make it... better.
黑马驹山。本来应该很有趣的，但是没有。只是一些黑色的岩石形成巨大的六角形柱子和玻璃黑色的石头。紫黑的颜色使我想起了卢娜公主。如果她能同情一匹不值钱的小马，她会帮我的。想办法结束这场噩梦吧。给我一个美好的梦想。任何能结束这一切的梦想。我希望露娜或者星星或者其他什么东西能给我一些东西，让它变得更好。
A little help? Please? Till I could reunite with my friends?
帮个小忙？求你了？直到我能和我的朋友们团聚？
It was an hour later that I pulled myself together to continue along the steep base of the mountain. Around it for several hundred feet was a tumbled field of jagged and broken obsidian. Five minutes spent trying to pick my way around massive hexagonal blocks of stone that had peeled away from the sides of the mountain, and over shattered black volcanic glass, convinced me that this was a good and nasty way to die. The sharp glass edges promised a particularly bloody end at the slightest misstep. There was, though, more life among the rocks, and while it mostly consisted of a low thorny brush that was practically impenetrable, there was also some amazingly green grass.
一个小时后，我鼓起勇气继续沿着陡峭的山脚前进。在它周围几百英尺的地方，是一片参差不齐、破碎不堪的黑曜石。我花了五分钟的时间试图绕过从山坡上剥落下来的巨大的六边形石块和破碎的黑色火山玻璃，让我确信这是一个好的和讨厌的死法。玻璃的锋利边缘预示着哪怕是最轻微的失误都会有一个血淋淋的结局。不过，岩石中有更多的生命，虽然大部分是低矮多刺的灌木，几乎无法通过，但也有一些令人惊讶的绿草。
I found a small trickle of water running out from a gap in the black stone; I followed it for a while and reached a place where the water pooled in a largeish wedge formed by two massive blocks. As I was taking a nice long drink, a thought struck me. I looked around; I'd deactivated my E.F.S. so that the red bars would stop twitching in my vision everywhere I looked. There was no way I could fight them properly if they all were real, anyway, and it was impossible to pick anything useful out of all the noise my wonky brain was throwing in. The night seemed quiet and still, though, save for the soft noise and motion of the water. This was probably still a bad idea, but… I stripped off my armor and carefully waded in; I definitely didn't want to get over my head, as swimming was impossible with my metal legs. The water turned out to be quite warm, somehow; despite everything I'd been through, I smiled at this simple pleasure.
我发现一小股水从黑石缝里流出来，我跟着它走了一会儿，到了一个地方，水汇成了一个由两块巨石组成的大楔子。当我喝了一大口酒的时候，一个想法突然出现在我脑海里。我环顾四周;我关闭了自己的e.f.s，这样我看到的任何地方，视野中的红色条纹都不会再抽搐。不管怎么说，如果它们都是真的，我就不可能正确地与它们战斗，而且在我那摇摇晃晃的大脑发出的噪音中也不可能找到任何有用的东西。然而，除了海水的轻微声响和波动之外，夜晚似乎静悄悄的。这可能仍然是一个坏主意，但是......我脱下我的盔甲，小心翼翼地涉水;我绝对不想越过我的头，因为我的金属腿是不可能游泳的。不知怎么的，水变得相当温暖;尽管我经历了这么多事情，我还是为这种简单的快乐而微笑。
Was there anything more soothing and civilizing than enough hot water to submerge yourself in?
还有什么比足够的热水淹没你自己更能抚慰和教化你的吗？
I washed the accumulated blood, sweat, and grime off my hide and white-enameled limbs, then gave the same treatment to my thrashed armor. Half the ceramic plates lining the back would have to be replaced, but I had some suits from Happyhorn that I could use for repairs. I’d have killed for a block of soap, but just cleaning myself off helped to keep me stable. I was walking a very delicate line; the hospital had helped me face what I’d done, but I hadn’t really processed it yet. Heck, I still wasn’t over Scoodle or what had happened on the boat.
我清洗了积聚在身上的血、汗和皮肤上的污垢，还有那些漆成白色的四肢，然后用同样的方法处理了我那破烂的盔甲。后面衬里的陶瓷板有一半需要更换，但我有一些来自Happyhorn的西装可以用来修理。我宁愿为了一块肥皂杀人，但是仅仅把自己清理干净就能让我保持稳定。我走的是一条非常微妙的路线;医院帮助我面对我所做的一切，但我还没有真正接受它。见鬼，我仍然没有忘记斯库德尔或者船上发生的事情。
The boat… I thought of how I’d been acting. The ghoul scavenger in Brimstone’s Fall… Candlewick’s ass grab… was I even safe to be around males? The thing was, after getting to know P-21 as a person and meeting Priest and others, I liked them. For most of my life, they’d been nothing but reproductive
那艘船......我想起了自己的行为。布里姆斯通瀑布里的食尸鬼......抓住烛芯的屁股......我在男人身边安全吗？事情是这样的，在认识了P-21之后，见到了Priest和其他人之后，我喜欢上了他们。在我生命的大部分时间里，它们除了繁殖外什么都没有
equipment, and I’d used them as such. I hadn’t been much better than the stallions who’d ploughed me on the Seahorse. Out in the Wasteland, I’d realized that they were so much more: friends, enemies... and maybe even something else someday. Oh, sure, Glory had my heart. But I didn’t want to be… reactive. Assertive: yes. Respected: would be nice. Berserk… no.
我就是这样利用它们的。我比那些在海马上耕耘过我的种马好不了多少。在荒原上，我意识到他们不仅仅是朋友、敌人...也许有一天甚至是别的什么东西。哦，当然，晨辉拥有我的心。但我不想被动。自信:是的。受人尊敬:会很好。狂暴...不。
I found a submerged ledge I could sit back on and looked at my mechanical hoof. I extended my fingers and watched them slowly move. There was a special kind of magic there, taking my thought to move and translating it into the motion I wanted. Enchanted to repair itself and to magically translate feeling, pressure, temperature, and damage. Tough. Yet as I stared at the water beading on the white surface, I had to admit that, if I’d been given a choice, I’d have had my normal limbs back.
我找到了一块水下的平台，我可以坐在上面看着我的机械蹄。我伸出手指，看着它们慢慢地移动。那里有一种特殊的魔法，把我的思想变成我想要的动作。被施了魔法，可以自我修复，并神奇地转换感觉、压力、温度和损伤。很难。然而，当我凝视着白色表面上的水珠时，我不得不承认，如果让我选择的话，我的四肢会恢复正常。
But I was a cyberpony. One I’d known had been content to be reduced to a life in a jar. The other had been a sadistic monster. The only other people like me that I’d met weren’t even ponies. That didn’t leave me with a whole lot of definite ground to figure out what I was supposed to do or be. Theoretically, I might live for centuries; the professor had. But what about relationships? Would I outlive Glory? Could I have a family? Should I even want to have one? I still could feel pleasure; hell, it was the last remaining thing I had that was unquestionably organic. Something to live for…
但我是一匹赛博马。我曾经认识的一个人已经满足于沦落到一个罐子里的生活。另一个是个虐待狂怪物。我遇到的其他像我一样的人甚至都不是小马。这并没有给我留下一大堆明确的理由来弄清楚我应该做什么或者做什么。从理论上讲，我可能会活上几个世纪;教授已经活了几个世纪了。但是关系呢？我会比晨辉更长寿吗？我能有一个家庭吗？我应该想要一个吗？我仍然可以感受到快乐;见鬼，这是我仅存的毫无疑问是有机的东西。活下去的理由。
If only the thought of it didn’t make one part of me start to panic and another part of me feel horribly guilty and another part feel ugly and mechanical. I touched the restored left side of my face. Glory had saved my sanity; I never would have lasted if I couldn’t even look in the mirror and not see a machine.
但愿这种想法不会让我的一部分开始恐慌，另一部分感到非常内疚，另一部分感到丑陋和机械。我摸了摸恢复后的左脸。光荣拯救了我的理智;如果我连照镜子都不能看到一台机器，我就不会活下去。
I gave a rueful smile as I played matchmaker in my head. It helped take my mind off other things. If I were to get physical with a stallion, who would it be? P-21? Ohh… that thought opened up a can of radroaches even I couldn’t begin to deal with. I’d had a brief fantasy of a fling with Priest before he’d reminded me that not all stallions were interested in me. What about Brutus? I thought of the massive black earth pony and smiled. Okay, there was a warm and fuzzy tingle. Sagittarius? He was a little older than me but certainly had some possibilities. Splendid? Hmm… if you got past that whole ‘Society slavery’ thing, he was positively delicious. Stronghoof was... a little too intense. Lighthooves…
当我在脑海中扮演媒人的角色时，我苦笑了一下。它让我不去想其他的事情。如果我和一匹种马发生身体接触，会是谁呢？P-21？哦......这个想法打开了一罐水果罐头，连我都不知道该怎么办。在他提醒我并不是所有的种马都对我感兴趣之前，我曾有过和普里斯特一夜情的短暂幻想。那布鲁图斯呢？我想到了那匹巨大的黑土地上的小马，笑了。有一种温暖而模糊的刺痛感。射手座？他比我大一点，但肯定有一些可能性。好极了？嗯......如果你不去想'社会奴役'这件事，他绝对是个好人。斯特朗霍夫......有点太强烈了。轻舟..。
That curdled the buttery feelings churning in my nethers. So much for that little
那凝结了我下面翻腾的黄油般的感觉。那个小家伙就这样了
thought escape. And really, why was I contemplating who I’d like to slap flanks with at a time like this? Shouldn’t I be kicking myself for Boing, fearing myself for what I’d done at Yellow River, berating myself for not following Happyhorn’s advice and finding a way to sleep, or disgusted with myself for even thinking about sex after what happened on the Seahorse? Surely I should be hating myself one way or another right now?
思想逃避。说真的，为什么我要在这种时候考虑和谁搭档呢？难道我不应该为Boing而后悔，为我在黄河上的所作所为而害怕，为没有听从Happyhorn的建议找到睡觉的方法而责备自己，或者为在海马上发生的事情后想到性而厌恶自己吗？我现在肯定应该以这种或那种方式憎恨自己吗？
“Self-destructive impulses… gee… I wonder why the machine would say that?” I muttered with a groan.
"自我毁灭的冲动......哎呀......我想知道为什么机器会这么说?"我咕哝了一声。
I lay back on a rock, staring up. There was a gap between the clouds and the mountain, enough to let a tiny crescent of white moonlight peek through. The pale luminescence turned the black knob of stone into a glittering, ghostly sculpture. I had to admit, I was astonished to find anything beautiful in the Hoof; this place seemed to thrive on ugliness and miser--
我躺在一块岩石上，凝视着天空。云和山之间有一道缝隙，足以让一轮白色的月光透过缝隙窥视。淡淡的冷光把这块黑色的石头变成了一个闪闪发光的幽灵般的雕塑。我不得不承认，我惊讶地发现霍夫有任何美丽的东西;这个地方似乎在丑陋和吝啬中茁壮成长
Oh. Hello…
哦。你好..。
I really could have used a spiking heart rate right now. Two yellow eyes peered out of darkness of the thorn bushes. Vertical pupils cut through yellow irises, coming to points like a dragon’s. At least it wasn’t that slaughter-zebra from earlier. His eyes hadn’t looked like this. The eyes watched me with a very steady stare, and I didn’t dare move towards the gear I’d left dripping on a rock beside the pool. Finally, a minute passed, and I began to get more and more tense. “Can I help you?” I asked as I slowly moved to stand on the ledge.
我现在真的可以用一个尖峰心率。两只黄色的眼睛从黑暗的荆棘丛中向外窥视。垂直的瞳孔穿过黄色的虹膜，形成像龙一样的点。至少不是早期的那只屠宰斑马。他的眼睛不是这个样子的。那双眼睛目不转睛地盯着我，我不敢向滴在水池边岩石上的齿轮移动。终于，一分钟过去了，我开始变得越来越紧张。"有什么事吗?"我边问边慢慢移动身体，站在窗台上。
Step by step it… he… emerged. He was a pony like none I’d ever seen before. His hide was a dark gray and his tail a deep purple; I couldn’t see his mane under his helmet. To my shock, he had wings… but not wings like a pegasus. These wings were leathery skin--similar to a manticore’s--rather than feathered, and his large ears had prominent tufts at the ends. I’d never seen a monsterpony like this before... and I’d thought that Brass had been the last one anyway. He wore dark purple metal armor that appeared almost archaic but also quite intricate and clearly well-crafted and tended. At least that suggested he wasn’t a feral monster...
一步一步地......他......出现了。他是一匹我从未见过的小马。它的皮是深灰色的，尾巴是深紫色的，我看不到它头盔下面的鬃毛。令我震惊的是，他有翅膀......但没有飞马那样的翅膀。这些翅膀是坚韧的皮肤----类似于蝎尾狮的----而不是有羽毛的，它的大耳朵两端有突出的绒毛。我以前从来没有见过这样的怪物......我还以为布拉斯是最后一个。他身穿深紫色的金属盔甲，看起来几乎是古代的，但也相当复杂，精心制作和精心照料。至少这表明他不是野兽。
“Okay… look… Sanguine is dead, so let’s just let bygones be bygones and I’ll be on my way, okay? Okay!” I said with a strained grin. He stood on one of the rock slabs that formed the pool wall. I saw he had a freshly killed radhog slung
"好吧......听着......桑吉尼死了，过去的事就让它过去吧，我马上就走，好吗？好吧!"我紧张地笑着说。他站在一块构成游泳池墙的石板上。我看见他有一个刚被杀死的拉德霍格枪
across his back, bleeding all over his sides and wings. He simply looked at me and then removed the ornate-looking helmet, revealing a short mane the same purple as his tail. Next to it he set his kill.
在他的背上，血流满了他的两侧和翅膀。他只是看了看我，然后摘下了华丽的头盔，露出了和尾巴一样紫色的短鬃毛。他把他的猎物放在它旁边。
Then he took off his armor and I amended one little fact: he wasn’t just a stallion… look past the freaky wings and the eyes, and there was absolutely no denying he was a damned good-looking stallion. Little apprehensive alarms began to sound along with an admiration I just been practicing earlier. I had to admit that from a purely biological standpoint, he was damned fine! Toned flanks sporting a strange heart-shaped gothic shield, strong shoulders, he was big but not too big… I shook my head hard. Okay… not the time for this!
然后他脱掉盔甲，我修正了一个小小的事实:他不仅仅是一匹种马......看看他那畸形的翅膀和眼睛，绝对不能否认他是一匹该死的好看的种马。一点点不安的警报开始响起，伴随着我刚才练习的赞美声。我不得不承认，从纯粹的生物学角度来看，他非常好！健美的侧腹运动一个奇怪的心形哥特式盾牌，强壮的肩膀，他是大，但不太大...我摇摇头硬。好吧现在不是说这个的时候！
Of course, that did nothing for the part of my mind that was screaming and making my nethers clench. Another little part of the crazy that was my brain wanted to get friendly then and there just to prove that what had happened to me wasn’t in control. Fortunately, I had just enough sanity left to seize both impulses and send them into opposite corners of my mind for a time out. “Hey… um… it’s really nice to meet you! At least, I hope you’re nice! I mean, of course you’re nice. We’re all nice here, and--”
当然，这对我的那部分大脑没有任何作用，那部分大脑一直在尖叫，让我的阴部紧绷着。另一个疯狂的部分是我的大脑想要变得友好，只是为了证明发生在我身上的事情是不受控制的。幸运的是，我还有足够的理智来抓住这两个冲动，把它们发送到我思想的对立角落暂停一段时间。"嘿......嗯......真的很高兴见到你！至少，我希望你是好人！我是说，你当然是好人。我们这里人都很好，而且——"
He jumped into the other side of the pool, disappearing under the water. Wow… was it just me or did the water get a whole lot hotter?! It might explain why I was so warm all of a sudden! He emerged just a few feet away, the water cascading off him as those bright amber eyes peered at me. He then sat on the ledge beside me, and I just sat there, ears folded back, staring at him. There was a riot going on in my head as I had parts screaming to attack, parts screaming to run, and parts screaming to rut. Silence was my only hope.
他跳到池子的另一边，消失在水中。哇...是只有我还是水变得更热了?！这也许可以解释为什么我突然变得这么热情！他出现在几英尺远的地方，水从他身上倾泻而下，那双明亮的琥珀色眼睛凝视着我。然后他坐在我旁边的窗台上，我只是坐在那里，耳朵向后折叠，盯着他。我脑子里一片混乱，有些部分尖叫着要攻击我，有些部分尖叫着要逃跑，有些部分尖叫着要发情。沉默是我唯一的希望。
Fortunately, he didn’t speak to the crazy cyberpony sitting with her legs pressed together and her tail so tight between them that it’d take a prybar or a little flattery to get it out. He washed the blood off his lovely charcoal gray coat, his wings stretching out a little. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I had no doubt I could kill him; that wasn’t the point. I wanted to be around a stallion without reacting like they were the ones on the boat. I didn’t want to be a grenade with the stem pulled. He sighed and reclined in the hot spring, and that pulled my eyes in an entirely different direction.
幸运的是，他没有和坐在那里的疯狂的赛博马说话，她的腿紧紧地夹在一起，她的尾巴紧紧地夹在两者之间，以至于需要一根棒子或一点奉承才能把它弄出来。他洗掉了那件可爱的炭灰色外套上的血迹，他的翅膀稍微向外展开了一点。我无法把视线从他身上移开。我毫不怀疑我可以杀了他，但这不是重点。我想和一匹种马呆在一起，而不是像他们在船上那样有反应。我不想成为一个手榴弹的干拉。他叹了口气，躺在温泉里，我的眼睛被吸引到一个完全不同的方向。
I was pretty sure my face was the same color as my mane as I sunk down, staring straight ahead. What the hell was the matter with me? I was just taking a bath
我很确定我的脸和鬃毛的颜色是一样的，我沉下去，直直地盯着前方。我到底是怎么了？我正在洗澡
with a… very… very… nice stallion. One who just looked at me and smiled steadily. This wasn’t 99; he wasn’t on my queue. I wasn’t forcing anything. He wasn’t forcing anything. He wasn’t trying to shoot me… always a bonus! Say hi, Blackjack. Run away, Blackjack. Don’t kill him, Blackjack. Do something, Blackjack!
用一个。.非常...非常...漂亮的种马。一个只是看着我，坚定地微笑的人。这不是99，他不在我的队列里。我没有强迫任何事情。他没有强迫任何事情。他不是想开枪打我...总是一个额外的奖励！打个招呼吧黑杰克。跑吧，黑杰克。别杀他Blackjack。做点什么，黑杰克！
“Gottagohiwhatsyernamebye!” I blurted all at once, and he looked at me in surprise. I covered my face with my hooves. “Look. Thank you for not trying to kill me. Really. I really appreciate it! But I’m just a little bit of a basket case and I’ve been through a lot and you’re really cute… really… but... yeah. Sorry.” And I turned and climbed out of the pool next to my gear.
"上帝啊，什么名字?再见!"我立刻脱口而出，他吃惊地看着我。我用蹄子盖住脸。"你看。谢谢你没想杀我。真的。我真的很感激！但我只是有一点点的篮子的情况下，我已经经历了很多，你真的很可爱...真的...但是...是的。对不起。"然后我转身爬出泳池，身边放着我的装备。
So did he.
他也是。
I froze as I saw him right there behind me. Neither of us blinked as he just looked at me and I stared over my shoulder at him. If he put one hoof on my flank I’d kill him. But I also really wanted him to… and I also felt horribly guilty for wanting him to… and so I just stood there as he sniffed the crazy mare. Ooookay... apparently I smelled good. I didn’t dare move, and if he touched me... oh, I really didn’t want to kill him. Except that I also really did. My brain was zigzagging all over the place; in 99 I was the one who was supposed to fill my queue, make all the moves. This was... new. He lifted his head and smiled at me with a soft nicker. He was game. Oh was he game.
当我看到他就在我身后时，我愣住了。我们俩都没眨眼，他只是看着我，而我则越过肩膀盯着他。如果他把一只蹄子放在我的侧翼，我就杀了他。但是我也真的希望他这么做......而且我也因为希望他这么做而感到非常内疚......所以我就站在那里，看着他闻那匹疯狂的母马。好吧...显然我闻起来不错。我不敢动，如果他碰我...哦，我真的不想杀他。除此之外，我也确实这样做了。我的大脑在这个地方转来转去;在99年，我是那个应该填满我的队列，做所有动作的人。这是...新的。他抬起头，温柔地对我微笑。他是个游戏。哦，他在玩游戏。
Was I?
是吗？
Finally, the assorted crazy that was my brain lurched to a decision as I turned to face him and backed away. As much… as nice… as the idea was, there were way too many unknowns, not to mention the fact I might snap and kill him right in the middle. I was really glad for once that my heart wasn’t pounding in my chest; the noise would have been a dead giveaway. But I didn’t know who or what he was beyond male… Sweet Celestia, was he… but I didn’t even know his name, not to mention species!
最后，当我转身面对他，退开时，我脑子里的各种各样的疯狂突然做出了一个决定。尽管......尽管这个想法很好......但是还有太多的未知因素，更不用说我可能会在中途折断他的脖子，杀了他。这一次我真的很高兴，因为我的心没有砰砰直跳;那声音会彻底暴露我的心意。但是我不知道除了男性之外，他是谁或者是什么......SweetCelestia，是吗......但是我甚至不知道他的名字，更不用说物种了！
“Look. Ah… I need to go. I am… really… not in any condition to… ah… you know. And… thanks for not killing me. Or trying to. It’s just… yeah… okay…” Please don’t follow. Please don’t follow, I mentally begged as I went to my gear. “I’m really flattered but I’m kinda cursed and a little unstable and I really appreciate what you’re doing but really it’s just a bad idea and I don’t even know
"你看。我得走了。我...真的...没有任何条件...啊...你知道。还有...谢谢你没杀我。或者试图这么做。只是......好吧......"请不要跟着我。请不要跟着我，当我走向我的装备时，我在心里祈求着。"我真的受宠若惊，但我有点被诅咒了，情绪有点不稳定，我真的很感激你所做的一切，但这真的是一个坏主意，我甚至不知道
your name or what you are exactly so thanks but…” I babbled a constant stream, hoping that I’d eventually hit the word or phrase that would convince him I was not the kind of mare he wanted to rut with.
你的名字或者你到底是什么，所以非常感谢，但是......"我喋喋不休地说着，希望我最终能说出那个词或短语，让他相信我不是那种他想和之发情的母马。
Rip his head off. Now. Before he has a chance to hurt you.
把他的头拧下来。现在。在他有机会伤害你之前。
No! I’d sooner eat a bullet myself than become that Reaper I’d been in Happyhorn! I could be friendly with stallions. Heck, I could rut them if I wanted to. I wasn’t in that damned boat. I forced myself to be calm. I wouldn’t kill this pony. Not unless he did something to me first.
不！我宁愿自己吃子弹也不愿成为我在Happyhorn的收割者！我可以和种马交朋友。见鬼，如果我想的话，我可以让他们发情。我不在那该死的船上。我强迫自己保持冷静。我不会杀了这匹小马。除非他先对我做了什么。
I looked down. Gear. Guns. Good to go! I just bundled them up in one heap. I’d put them on later when there wasn’t as much penis around me… nice penis on a strange bat-stallion who might just be sizing me up to eat or-- I looked up and he was right there. Just… right there in front of me with his bright eyes and what was the matter with me? What was the matter with him?! Wasn’t there this huge sign around my neck saying ‘Don’t spank flanks with the crazy’? My brain gears locked up. “Hi,” was all I could squeak out. “Please I’m not safe to… ah,” I whimpered as he leaned in. I really didn’t know what I’d do if he…
我低下头。齿轮。枪。可以开始了！我只是把它们堆成一堆。当我周围没有那么多阴茎的时候，我就戴上它们......漂亮的阴茎在一匹奇怪的蝙蝠种马身上，它可能正在打量我吃东西，或者——我抬起头，它就在那里。就...就在我面前，他那双明亮的眼睛，我到底是怎么了？他到底怎么了?！我的脖子上不是挂着一块巨大的牌子，上面写着'不要和疯子打屁股'吗？我的大脑被锁住了。"嗨"是我唯一能说出来的话。"拜托，我现在不安全......啊,"他靠近我时，我呜咽着说。我真的不知道如果他..。
Apparently, it was stop thinking. His lips met mine, and while I was in no condition to be kissed, another part of me came roaring to the front of my mind and with primal rage stomped every last bit of guilt from my crazy. Don’t kill him… please don’t kill him… No doubt I’d be angsting like crazy for this later, but for right now I just let it go. I kissed this strange, utterly anonymous stallion back. No doubt he’d turn out to have some sort of terrible secret or dark past or traumatized soul or… something! But right now, I had to admit he was a damned good kisser. There was just one thing…
显然，这是停止思考。他的嘴唇碰到了我的嘴唇，当我还不适合接吻的时候，另一部分的我冲到了我的脑海里，带着原始的愤怒，把我疯狂的每一丝负罪感都踩灭了。不要杀死他......请不要杀死他......毫无疑问，我会为此疯狂，但现在我只是让它去。我回吻了这匹陌生的、完全不知名的种马。毫无疑问，他会变成某种可怕的秘密或黑暗的过去或受到创伤的灵魂或...东西！但是现在，我不得不承认他是个接吻高手。只有一件事..。
I slugged him so hard he landed in the middle of the pool with a splash. Fortunately, he wasn’t half metal and floated there in a daze as I huffed, inventing all new colors of red. With him further away and my ardor momentarily doused, I was able to sort a few things out.
我狠狠地打了他一拳，溅起一片水花，他落在了泳池中央。幸运的是，他并不是半个金属，而是像我一样发呆地漂浮在那里，发明了所有新的红色。随着他离我越来越远，我的热情瞬间被浇灭，我能够理清一些事情。
I had to admit, I’d really needed that kiss. I might have radroaches in my brain, suffer from self-destructive episodes, and be half metal… but as he pulled away, a little pony in the back of my head gave a little ‘Woot! I’m cute and good enough to get kissed by a cute guy!’ cheer and dance. I quickly backed away, feeling confused and thankful and wary all at once. He blinked at me from the
我必须承认，我真的很需要那个吻。我可能脑子里有胡子，忍受着自我毁灭的情节，而且有一半是金属的......但是当他离开的时候，一匹小马在我的后脑勺发出了一声"呜特"！我很可爱，而且足够好让一个可爱的家伙吻我欢呼和跳舞。我迅速后退，同时感到困惑、感激和警惕。他从窗口向我眨眼
middle of the pool, and I was oddly glad and at the same time alarmed to see him smiling ruefully.
看到他悲伤地笑着，我既感到莫名的高兴，又感到惊恐。
“Um… thanks… but don’t do that again,” I said as the cheer wore off and wariness resumed, but he seemed to be content with just that and backed away. The kiss had rearranged things a little. No, rutting was off the table and I’d smash him if he tried. Panic was shelved for the time being; if he had friends show up, though…
"嗯......谢谢......但是不要再这样做了,"我说，随着欢呼声逐渐消失，警惕性又恢复了，但是他似乎对此很满意，退开了。这个吻让事情有了一些变化。不，发情是不能放在桌子上的，如果他想的话我就揍他。恐慌暂时被搁置了，如果他有朋友出现的话.....。
Hey… I’d just kissed a guy and not shot him! That was progress, right! Right? Ugh… Why now? I didn’t know how to deal with a stallion that was interested in me like that.
嘿...我只是亲了一个人，没有开枪打他！这是一种进步，对吧！对吧？为什么是现在？我不知道如何对付一匹对我那么感兴趣的种马。
First things first. “So… do you talk?” I asked him as he dragged himself out of the pool. He held the side of his face and frowned, but thoughtfully rather than in annoyance. Finally he shook his head and pointed at himself. His mouth opened and closed several times, but then he pointed his hoof at me and covered his ears.
要事第一。"那么......你会说话吗?"他从游泳池里爬出来的时候，我问他。他保持着脸的侧面，皱起了眉头，但是沉思而不是厌烦。最后，他摇摇头，指着自己。他的嘴张开又合上了好几次，但随后他用蹄子指着我，捂住了耳朵。
“You can talk, but I can’t hear it?” I asked in confusion, and then he tapped his nose with a nod and smile. “But I can smell it?” He froze and then sat, waving his hooves in front of him and shaking his head. “I can’t smell it?” He stopped and looked at me now with probably as much confusion as I had. “Okay, okay. The important thing is that you can’t talk in any way I can understand?” He sighed, rolled his amber eyes, then shrugged.
"你能说话，但我听不见?"我困惑地问，然后他点了点头，微笑着拍了拍鼻子。"但我能闻到它?"它僵住了，然后坐了下来，在前面挥舞着蹄子，摇着头。"我闻不到吗?"他停下来看着我，可能和我当时一样困惑。"好吧，好吧。重要的是你不能用我听不懂的方式说话?"他叹了口气，转了转琥珀色的眼睛，然后耸了耸肩。
He stood and trotted to his armor, then pulled out a chalkboard and a piece of chalk. He popped the latter into his mouth and wrote ‘Yes’. Just like Ditzy Doo, as I recalled. Okay, so we had communication… sort of. He erased the board with the tip of his wing and then wrote ‘Stygius’ and grinned as he tapped his chest with a hoof. “Your name?” I asked, and he nodded once.
他站起来，小跑向他的盔甲，然后拿出一块黑板和一支粉笔。他把后者塞进嘴里，写道:是的。就像迪兹·杜一样，我记得。好吧，我们有过交流...某种程度上。他用翅膀的尖端擦掉了黑板上的字迹，然后写下了"斯蒂吉乌斯"，一边咧嘴笑着，一边用蹄子敲自己的胸部。"你的名字?"我问道，他点了点头。
Stygius… okay. I apparently attracted all sorts. “Okay, Stygius. My name’s Blackjack. What are you doing out here?”
冥河...好吧。我显然吸引了各种各样的人。"好的，斯提吉乌斯。我叫Blackjack。你在这儿干什么?"
He looked surprised. He pointed at the radhog, then crouched and pounced the rock a few feet ahead of him, all four hooves hitting the ground at once. He swept his forehooves wide, making a popping noise with his tongue. Then he pranced along the side of the pool, fanning his wings. He stopped, covering his eyes with a hoof as he looked at me. Then he gave a broad and somewhat cocky
他看起来很惊讶。他指了指那只雷德霍格，然后蹲下来，猛扑向他前面几英尺的岩石，四只蹄子同时撞到了地上。他把前蹄往外一扫，用舌头发出砰砰的声音。然后他沿着池边蹦蹦跳跳，扇动着翅膀。他停了下来，用蹄子遮住眼睛，看着我。然后，他给了一个广泛的，有点自大
little smile as he dipped his hoof into the pool and made a little splash. Then he kissed the air and abruptly stood upright on his hind legs, and slowly fell back till he collapsed with all four legs thrust up into the air.
他把蹄子伸进泳池，溅起一点水花，脸上露出一丝微笑。然后它吻了吻空气，突然用后腿直立起来，慢慢地向后倒下，直到四条腿全部向空中伸展。
“So you were out hunting, made your kill, were flying back, spotted me and… decided to flirt?” The batpony sat up, rubbing his chin, and then grinned and nodded. “You didn’t think I was a raider or… bait? Something?”
"所以你出去打猎，杀了人，飞回来，发现了我，然后......决定调情?"蝙蝠马坐了起来，摩擦着下巴，然后咧嘴一笑，点了点头。"你不会以为我是突袭机或者诱饵吧？什么事?"
He grabbed his slate, cleaned it, then wrote, ‘Too sexy.’
他抓起石板，擦干净，然后写道:"太性感了。"
Seriously? “You thought I was… I was too sexy to be dangerous?” Now I was more worried about him than what he might do to me. He grinned ruefully and shrugged, smiling up at me. Clearly I’d need to hit him again if I was going to work that interest out of him. I rubbed my temples and moved on to the next important question on my mind. “What are you?”
真的吗？"你觉得我......我太性感了，不可能是危险人物?"现在我更担心的是他，而不是他会对我做什么。他沮丧地笑了笑，耸了耸肩，对我微笑。显然，如果我想让他对我产生兴趣的话，我需要再打他一次。我揉了揉太阳穴，然后继续思考下一个重要的问题。"你是什么?"
The batpony blinked, then wrote ‘Luna’s guards’.
蝙蝠马眨了眨眼，然后写道"卢娜的守卫"。
Okay… so not a monsterpony. And plural. I certainly hadn’t heard anything about them in school, or the Wasteland Survival Guide, or from DJ Pon3. “You used to guard Princess Luna?”
好吧...所以不是一匹怪马。还有复数。在学校里，在《荒原生存指南》里，在DJPon3里，我肯定没有听说过关于他们的任何事。"你曾经保护过卢娜公主?"
He pointed at himself and then shook his head. He then wrote ‘Great x10 grandma’.
他指着自己，然后摇了摇头。然后他写了'伟大的x10奶奶'。
“Oh. You’re the descendants of Luna’s guards…” I said, and he tapped his nose. I assumed that that was his way of saying ‘yes’. “But… why didn’t they die in Canterlot with her?” He looked at me with a flat expression, and I winced inwardly; I couldn’t blame him. That was a 9.5 on the bluntometer.
"哦。你们是卢娜的侍卫的后代......"我说着，他轻轻地拍了拍鼻子。我以为这是他说'是'的方式。"但是......为什么他们没有和她一起死在Canterlot呢?"他面无表情地看着我，我的内心有些畏缩，我不能责怪他。那是钝度计上的9.5分。
He rolled his eyes and cupped his forelegs, rocking them back and forth. Then he pointed betwixt my legs and tapped his stomach. Then he pointed at himself and held his hoof colt-high in front of him. I struggled a moment, then guessed, “Oh… so there were babies, mothers, and young ponies who weren’t in Canterlot?” He nodded vigorously. “Do you live around here, then?”
他翻了翻眼睛，前腿弯成杯形，前后摆动。然后他指了指我的两腿，轻轻地拍了拍肚子。于是他指着自己，把马蹄高高地举在自己面前。我挣扎了一会儿，然后猜到,"哦......这么说有婴儿、母亲和小马驹不在坎特罗特?"他用力点了点头。"那么，你住在附近吗?"
He froze, then forced a grin and shook his head firmly. He looked a bit too nervous to me, though. He glanced out into the darkness, then waved vaguely off towards the east. “Ah… Well, very nice to meet you, Stygius…” Really, it was nice to meet something interesting that wasn’t trying to kill me. “But I really
他僵住了，然后强作笑容，坚定地摇了摇头。不过我觉得他看起来有点太紧张了。他瞥了一眼外面的黑暗，然后向东边挥了挥手。"啊......嗯，很高兴见到你，斯提吉乌斯......"真的，很高兴见到一些有趣的东西，它们并不想杀死我。"但是我真的
should be on my way.”
应该已经在路上了"
I shook the water out of my barding and strapped it on. Stygius looked crestfallen as he watched me. Suddenly, he darted back to his dark purple armor, put it on in a flash, and soared over and landed in front of me with a broad, cocky grin. But due to his haste, his armor was askew and his helmet was on backwards. He froze a moment, then reached up and turned it around straight, trying to maintain a dignified expression. “You… want to come with me?” He bowed deeply. I sat and looked at him flatly. “Why?”
我把帐篷里的水抖掉，系上了帐篷。斯蒂吉乌斯看着我，垂头丧气。突然，他飞奔回他的深紫色盔甲，一瞬间穿上它，然后飞奔过来，带着一个大大的、趾高气扬的笑容落在我面前。但是由于他的匆忙，他的盔甲歪斜了，他的头盔戴反了。他愣了一会儿，然后抬起手，把头笔直地转过来，试图保持一种庄重的表情。"你...想和我一起去吗?"他深深地鞠了一躬。我坐下来，直勾勾地看着他。"为什么?"
He glanced at my posterior, then grinned and struck a noble pose.
他瞥了我一眼，然后咧嘴笑了笑，摆出一个高贵的姿势。
It might have been a little bit impressive, even with the backwards helmet, if a second dark form hadn’t swooshed out of the night and pounced right on top of him. He slid almost ten feet, looking up at a second batpony with the same dusky hide; her mane was more bluish than purple, but other than that they looked quite similar. This batpony was a mare in the same sort of armor, and she looked pissed as her bright yellow eyes glared down at him. Suddenly, I could just make out the faintest chirps, squeaks, and squeals at the edge of my hearing as she moved her mouth. The lecture was accompanied by her pointing at me and then smacking him upside the head.
如果第二个黑暗的形体没有从夜色中呼啸而出，扑向他的头顶，那么即使戴着反面的头盔，这也会让人印象深刻一点。他滑了差不多十英尺，抬头看着第二匹长着同样暗灰色皮毛的蝙蝠马;它的鬃毛比紫色更蓝，但除此之外，它们看起来非常相似。这匹蝙蝠马是匹穿着同样盔甲的母马，她明亮的黄色眼睛怒视着他，看起来很生气。突然，我能听出她嘴里发出的最微弱的唧唧声，吱吱声，还有听觉边缘的尖叫声。在演讲的同时，她还指着我，然后打了他的头。
Somepony was in trouble…
有人遇到了麻烦..。
Finally, she huffed and stepped back, letting Stygius rise. She glared at his armor and roughly jerked it all into place and buckled it down, then snorted and nodded before frowning at me. Her hoof pointed imperiously away.
最后，她怒气冲冲地退后一步，让斯提吉乌斯站了起来。她怒视着他的盔甲，粗暴地把它们都拉到原位，扣紧，然后喷了一下鼻息，点了点头，最后皱起了眉头。她的蹄子飞快地指向一边。
“Okay. Okay. I get the idea,” I muttered as I backed off.
"好吧。好吧。我明白了,"我后退一步，喃喃自语道。
Stygius launched himself into the air and landed next to me, the batmare looking shocked as he landed. I heard the faintest squeaks and chirps as he pointed at me. She frowned at him, now more in worry than anger. She made the smallest chirp, and jabbed her hoof in my direction. Then she looked at him suspiciously and pointed at me again, making another noise. He suddenly looked nervous, fidgeted, and then assumed the noble pose once more and made what I assumed was supposed to be a gallant sound.
斯蒂吉乌斯腾空而起，在我旁边着陆，这个蝙蝠着陆时看起来很震惊。当他指着我的时候，我听到了最微弱的吱吱声和唧唧声。她对他皱起了眉头，现在更多的是担心而不是愤怒。她发出最轻微的唧唧声，用蹄子向我的方向猛冲过来。然后她怀疑地看着他，又指着我，发出另一种声音。他突然显得紧张不安，坐立不安，然后又摆出高贵的姿势，发出了我认为应该是英勇的声音。
She looked at him flatly, then sighed and shook her head, taking off and soaring in an arc to land before me. Then she reached out and patted my shoulder gently.
她直截了当地看着他，然后叹了口气，摇了摇头，飞起来，在我面前划出一道弧线。然后她伸出手，轻轻地拍了拍我的肩膀。
I just stared at her in utter confusion as she trotted past Stygius with a scornful snort, grabbed the radhog in her hooves, and flew off into the night on silent bat wings.
我只是困惑地盯着她，看着她带着轻蔑的鼻息从斯提古斯身边疾驰而过，抓住她蹄子里的雷德霍斯，用蝙蝠无声的翅膀飞向夜空。
I looked at Stygius. “Sooooo?”
我看了看Stygius。"太好了?"
He sighed, grabbed his chalk, and scribbled ‘Twin sister.’ A moment later, he added ‘Tenebra’ underneath it. Strange names must be a batpony thing. He erased it and then wrote, ‘She mad.’
他叹了口气，抓起粉笔，潦草地写下"双胞胎姐姐"过了一会儿，他在下面加上了'Tenebra'。奇怪的名字一定是件很奇怪的事情。他把它擦掉，然后写道:"她疯了。"
No. Really? “Why?”
没有。真的吗？"为什么?"
‘Rules.’ He made a snapping motion with his hooves, then pointed at me and shook his head. Breaking rules?
规则他用蹄子做了个响亮的动作，然后指着我摇了摇头。打破规则？
“Oh. You weren’t supposed to… ah… join me?” I asked. He smiled and tapped his nose. “Why not?” He blinked, frowned, started to move… stopped, then frowned again. He erased the board and started to write. Frowned… erased it… started again.
"哦。你不应该......啊......加入我吗?"我问道。他微笑着拍了拍鼻子。"为什么不呢?"他眨了眨眼睛，皱了皱眉头，开始移动......停了下来，又皱了皱眉头。他擦掉黑板开始写字。皱着眉头...擦掉...又开始了。
Finally, he huffed softly and wrote ‘Cause’, then nodded once. I supposed that that would have to do.
最后，他轻轻地吸了一口气，写下了"原因"，然后点了点头。我想应该是这样吧。
“And you want to come with me?” He grinned and bowed deeply. “Why?” He blinked and started to strike a pose, but at my flat look he froze, his grin becoming tense. He slumped, took the chalkboard slate in his hooves, erased it, and wrote slowly.
"你想和我一起去吗?"他咧嘴一笑，深深地鞠了一躬。"为什么?"他眨了眨眼睛，开始摆姿势，但是看到我平淡的表情，他僵住了，咧嘴笑变得紧张起来。他瘫倒在地，用蹄子把黑板擦掉，然后慢慢地写起来。
When he’d finished, he hung his head as he held the slate up between his hooves. ‘UR pretty mare.’
吃完后，他低下头，用蹄子夹着石板。我们是漂亮的母马
“Pretty?” I said as I took a step back. He nodded and sighed. “You want to come with me because I’m pretty?” He nodded again, peeking at me. I covered my face with a hoof. “Look… Stygius… I have issues. Balefire bomb-sized issues. I might just snap and geld you because you look wrong at my butt. I just got out of an insane asylum. Heck… I’ve got an army of cultists trying to track me down!” I didn’t mention the worst thing I’d done in the last day. “The smart thing for you to do is go and join your sister. I’m nothing but trouble.”
"漂亮?"我退后一步说。他点点头，叹了口气。"你想和我一起去，因为我很漂亮?"他又点点头，偷看着我。我用蹄子把脸盖住了。"听着......斯蒂吉乌斯......我有问题。巴雷火炸弹大小的问题。就因为你看错了我的屁股，我可能会咬你然后把你阉了。我刚从精神病院出来。见鬼......我有一大群信徒想要找到我!"我没有提到我最后一天做的最糟糕的事。"你最明智的做法就是去找你姐姐。我只是个麻烦。"
He blinked and frowned, then rubbed his chin. “Seriously! I am not safe to be
他眨了眨眼，皱了皱眉，然后揉了揉下巴。"说真的！我不安全
around.” He pursed his lips as he stared at me. I took another step back. “C… come on! You can’t seriously want to come with me just because I’m pretty!” He gave an easy grin and nodded. Nasty, suspicious parts of my head were hissing all kinds of accusations. This was obviously some sort of plot. There was some kind of scheme here. No stallion could want to just trot along for the heck of it. He wanted something, and I was fairly sure it was right underneath my tail.
周围。"他紧闭双唇凝视着我。我又后退了一步。"c..快点！你不能因为我长得漂亮就想跟我一起去吧!"他轻松地笑了笑，点了点头。我脑子里肮脏可疑的部分嘶嘶作响着各种各样的指责。这显然是某种阴谋。这里面肯定有什么阴谋。没有一匹种马愿意只是一路小跑来寻欢作乐。他想要什么东西，我很确定他就在我的尾巴下面。
But was that necessarily a bad thing? Hell yes, roared part of my mind.
但这真的是一件坏事吗？该死的，是的，我的一部分思想咆哮着。
Maybe not, murmured another part.
也许不是，另一部分低声说。
Once upon a time, P-21 had accused me of having trust issues in that I was really, really, stupidly trusting. Now here I was, suspicious simply because a strange stallion liked me, was interested in me, and wanted to come along. I laughed softly, shaking my head and earning a quizzical look from the charcoal batpony. Batpony… there had to be a better name for them.
从前，P-21指责我有信任问题，因为我真的，真的，愚蠢地相信别人。现在我在这里，怀疑仅仅是因为一匹奇怪的种马喜欢我，对我感兴趣，想要跟我一起去。我轻轻地笑了，摇了摇头，木炭做的蝙蝠马给了我一个古怪的表情。巴特波尼......他们应该有个更好的名字。
I sighed and nodded in resignation. “Okay. But please, don’t get killed. Don’t… try anything too friendly.” Then I frowned and added sharply, “And don’t shoot me! Understand?” He looked at me in blank confusion, then gestured to the fact he had no guns. In fact, I didn’t see any weapons on him at all; if I was lucky, that meant that he was such a master of hoof-to-hoof combat that he didn’t need them... but this being me, it probably just meant that he was good enough to take a radhog by surprise and had never needed to fight anything else. “Don’t look at me like that! Just because you don’t have a gun doesn’t mean you won’t find something to shoot me with.” Wait… I froze as I felt myself turning red as he looked at me with a smile that was way too cocky… erm… smug, for my liking. “I mean bullets! Shooting... bullets… just don’t!”
我叹了口气，点头表示辞职。"好吧。但是，请不要被杀死。不要......做任何过于友好的事。"然后我皱起了眉头，厉声补充道:"还有，不要向我开枪！明白吗?"他茫然不知所措地看着我，然后做了个手势说他没有枪。事实上，我根本没有在他身上看到任何武器;如果我够幸运的话，这意味着他是一个如此擅长徒步战斗的大师，以至于他根本不需要这些武器......但这就是我，这可能意味着他足够优秀，可以出其不意地拿下一架雷德霍格机，而且从不需要打其他任何战斗。"别那样看着我！你没有枪并不意味着你找不到可以射我的东西。"等等......我愣住了，当他看着我的时候，我觉得自己脸都红了，他的笑容对我来说太自大了......呃......自以为是了。"我是说子弹！射击......子弹......不要!"
He gave a soft, high pitched chuckle just barely in my hearing range as he flew lazily behind me… and for the first time ever, it was my tail that was feeling all tingly, not my mane. Together, we picked our way along the scree and thorn bushes towards the southern edge of the mountain.
他在我身后懒洋洋地飞着，发出一声轻柔、尖锐的笑声，刚好在我的听力范围之内......第一次，感觉到刺痛的是我的尾巴，而不是我的鬃毛。我们一起沿着山坡上的碎石和荆棘丛向山的南边走去。
* * *
* * *
“And she said she was cursed! Cursed! Just for bumping into me. I mean, I know I sometimes cause trouble for ponies without meaning to, but cursed? That’s a little upsetting,” I rambled as we made our way along. Clearly, travelling with me for almost an hour and hearing my entire life story hadn’t really convinced
""她说她被诅咒了！被诅咒了！就因为撞见了我。我的意思是，我知道我有时会无意中给小马惹麻烦，但是诅咒？这有点让人心烦,"我们一边走一边慢吞吞地说。显然，和我一起旅行了将近一个小时，听了我整个人生的故事，并没有真正让我信服
him that I wasn’t the safest mare to be around. I had left out the worst parts, though, for now… and might have shuffled things up. He was flying after me with a funny look on his face as we crept around the edge of the talus, at least; I hoped that that meant that he was reconsidering.
我不是最安全的母马。不过，我暂时省略了最糟糕的部分......可能把事情往上推了一下。当我们沿着距骨的边缘爬行时，他跟在我后面飞行，脸上带着一种奇怪的表情;我希望这意味着他在重新考虑。
Like the far side of the valley, this area was more sparsely developed. What had been built here looked like it’d been built like bunkers. The homes were made of reinforced concrete rather than wood and stone, and the apartments were like miniature fortresses fighting the creep of nature and water. Most of the buildings looked sunken into the slope, though, and it was often easier to trot over the flat, muddy roofs of the few in our way than it would have been to go around them. None of the buildings were very habitable; if they weren’t bombed or blasted, they were usually filled with mud and reeking stagnant water.
像山谷的另一边一样，这个地区比较稀疏。这里建造的东西看起来就像是掩体。这些房子是用钢筋混凝土而不是木头和石头建造的，公寓就像是对抗自然和水流蠕动的微型堡垒。不过，大多数建筑物看起来都凹陷在斜坡里，我们经过的少数几个平坦、泥泞的屋顶往往比绕过它们要容易得多。所有的建筑都不适合居住，如果没有被炸毁或爆炸，它们通常充满了泥浆和散发着臭气的死水。
And as if matching that style, the two largest buildings off in the eastern edge of the city were of the same brutal architecture, resembling immense concrete blocks with the edges filed off. The larger of the two, south of Black Pony Mountain and all the way up on the slope of the eastern mountains, I assumed was Hightower; it wasn’t quite as tall as the Fluttershy clinic, but it was a wide, square block of a building about the same size as Flash Industries and surrounded by a high stone wall. I could barely make out a garish rainbow-colored glow on the south side.
仿佛匹配这种风格，在城市东部边缘的两个最大的建筑是相同的野蛮的建筑，类似于巨大的混凝土块与边缘锉掉。两座建筑中较大的一座，位于黑马驹山南部，一直延伸到东部山脉的斜坡上，我以为它是海托华;它没有Fluttershy诊所那么高，但是它是一座宽阔的方形建筑，和Flash工业大小差不多，周围有一堵高高的石墙。我几乎辨认不出南面那耀眼的彩虹色光辉。
My sleep-deprived brain was getting weird again, and yet I felt fine. I knew that I needed sleep, hoped I could somehow find it. But I didn’t see anyplace around here. I guessed that whatever state I’d been in at Happyhorn hadn’t counted as sleep. In fact, I couldn’t remember, in any of my memories of that place, having slept. It all just blurred together into one smear. With the shadows getting twitchy and my E.F.S. switched off, I needed to hole up and do something to try and shut down for a few hours. I just couldn’t see any place nearby that sounded like the place the Dealer had mentioned. Somewhere safe?
我那被剥夺了睡眠的大脑又变得古怪了，但我感觉很好。我知道我需要睡眠，希望我能找到它。但我没看到这附近有什么地方。我猜无论我在Happyhorn处于什么状态都不算睡眠。事实上，在我对那个地方的任何记忆中，我都不记得曾经睡过觉。它们只是混合在一起形成一片污迹。随着阴影变得焦躁不安，我的e.f.s关闭了，我需要躲起来，做一些事情，试着关闭几个小时。我只是看不到附近有什么地方听起来像是"商人"提到的那个地方。安全的地方？
Wait? What was that?
等等？那是什么？
Somepony had dropped a giant pink gumball in the low, thorny woods. The gnarly trees obscured it, but from above the sight was impossible to miss. It glowed slightly with a strange internal illumination, and I found myself just staring in shock at it. I pointed down at it with my hoof. “Um… what is that?” Stygius simply shrugged and made a motion of pushing against something, then
一匹小马把一个巨大的粉红色的口香糖球掉在低矮多刺的树林里。粗糙的树木使它显得模糊不清，但是从上面看是不可能看不见的。它在奇怪的内部照明下微微发光，我发现自己只是震惊地盯着它。我用蹄子指着它。"嗯......那是什么?"斯蒂吉乌斯只是耸了耸肩，然后做了个推东西的动作
beating it with his hoof, and then he hunched his shoulders once more.
用他的蹄子敲打它，然后他再次耸起他的肩膀。
Hmm… well, it was the most unusual thing on the mountain slope, so… might as well check it out.
嗯......嗯，这是山坡上最不寻常的东西，所以......还是去看看吧。
Making our way closer to the pink ball, I found myself looking nervously at the trees. These were actually alive, and after my last experience with a ‘forest’, I was definitely leery of timber wolves, exploding apples, anything blue...
我们走近那个粉红色的球，我发现自己紧张地看着那些树。在我最后一次与森林打交道的经历之后，我对森林狼、爆炸苹果、任何蓝色的东西都充满了警惕。
However, aside from a carpet of dead, soggy leaves underhoof and numerous little streams trickling along, there wasn’t much that stood out. I tried eating one of the greener leaves but found it tasted like a mouthful of tart wax. That didn’t stop me from eating it, of course, but it did get me some curious looks from Stygius. He chewed cautiously on one, then spat it out immediately.
然而，除了一片死寂、湿漉漉的落叶和无数的小溪潺潺流过外，没有什么特别的东西。我试着吃一片绿叶子，但发现它尝起来像一口馅饼蜡。当然，这并没有阻止我吃它，但它确实让我从冥河那里得到了一些好奇的目光。他小心翼翼地咬了一口，然后马上吐了出来。
Life endured. Even in the Wasteland. Most of Hoofington might be dead and sterilized, but life was crawling back. This was the result of two centuries, though, and there were other parts of the Hoof that were still just dead forest and struggling yellow grass. Without something like Gardens of Equestria, who knew how long it would take for the land to really recover?
生活还在继续。即使在荒原。Hoofington的大部分地区可能已经死亡和绝育，但生活正在慢慢恢复。然而，这是两个世纪的结果，霍夫的其他部分仍然是死寂的森林和挣扎的黄草。如果没有像马术花园这样的东西，谁知道这片土地要多久才能真正恢复？
Then again, one way or another, recover it would; that was heartening, if only a little. But it raised the question of whether ponykind would recover too... and that looked far more iffy.
然而，无论如何，它还是会恢复的;这是令人振奋的，哪怕只是一点点。但是这提出了一个问题，那就是这种马是否也会恢复......而且这个问题看起来更加不确定。
We found a track through the woods; scraping away the mat of leaves uncovered the cracked and broken surface of a road running along the curve of the eastern valley. Most of the homes here were in the process of being consumed by the dead leaves and detritus carried on the streams that cut along the hillside. Once or twice we saw wagons that had been split and twisted by the growth of the trees. I noticed a radhog family rooting around in one of the heavy concrete homes, but they didn’t seem to notice us, or maybe didn’t care.
我们发现了一条穿过树林的小径，刮掉了一片片树叶，露出了沿着东部山谷弯道而行的一条道路的裂痕和破损的路面。这里的大多数房屋正在被沿着山坡切割的溪流带来的枯叶和碎屑所吞噬。有那么一两次，我们看见那些被树木分割扭曲的马车。我注意到一个叫radhog的家庭正在一个沉重的混凝土房子里寻找食物，但是他们似乎没有注意到我们，或者也许根本不在乎。
Then we reached the pink bubble; it had to be almost a hundred feet in diameter, and the looming trees around it were slowly growing along its surface. Stygius flew overhead and rammed hard into the shield, and to my amazement it indented a great distance before snapping back into place and flinging him away. He flipped end over end before righting himself and shrugging in midair. Then he flew down next to me and stood upright, leaning against it.
然后我们到达了那个粉红色的泡泡，它的直径差不多有100英尺，周围若隐若现的树木正沿着它的表面慢慢生长。斯蒂吉乌斯飞过头顶，狠狠地撞向防护罩，让我惊讶的是，它在很远的地方缩进去，然后猛地回到原位，把他甩了出去。他翻了个身，然后扶正了自己，在半空中耸耸肩。然后他飞到我旁边，靠着它直立起来。
I trotted up to it and pushed my hoof against the surface. There was a ripple, and
我小跑着来到它跟前，把蹄子踩在它的表面上。有一个涟漪，和
he tumbled through. I stepped through beside him and looked at him sprawled out on his back and gaping at me. “Oh, yeah. I’m related to one of the Ministry Mares, apparently. Not Twilight, though…” He just stared at me in bafflement, and I smiled. “Sorry. I might have skipped a few parts.” Then I looked past him and my eyes widened. “Whoa.” He scrambled to his hooves and stared as well.
他跌倒了。我走到他身边，看着他四肢伸开地躺在地上，目光呆滞地看着我。"哦，是的。显然我和其中一个魔法部的母马有关系。不过不是《暮光之城》......"他迷惑地盯着我，我笑了。"对不起。我可能跳过了一些部分。"然后我的目光越过他，我的眼睛睁大了。"哇。"他爬到他的蹄子和凝视也。
Inside the bubble was a house the likes of which I’d only seen above Chapel. It wasn’t an ugly block of concrete looking more suitable for a standoff against the striped hordes, but a place where ponies could live. Long green grass grew in a lawn around a stone cottage, and the dark hexagonal stones were covered in green vines, the delicate pink bells of their flowers filling the air with an indescribable sweetness. The cottage was built back against a natural ledge of dark stone; water poured out of a fissure above to tumble into a wheel beside the house that slowly turned and splashed.
泡泡里面是一座房子，我只在教堂上面看到过这样的房子。这不是一块看起来更适合与条纹成群的小马对峙的丑陋的混凝土块，而是一个小马可以居住的地方。长长的绿草长在石屋周围的草坪上，深色的六角形石头上爬满了绿色的藤蔓，精致的粉红色花铃充满了空气中无法形容的甜蜜。小屋背靠着一块天然的暗色石头边缘，水从上面的裂缝里流出来，滚进房子旁边的一个轮子里，轮子慢慢地转动，溅起水花。
Never, in all my crazy visions of a world before bombs, could I have imagined a place like this. It made my chest hurt to think that any place like this could exist. As we walked along the flagstones, I was struck by the mixing of delicate and thriving life with the hard stone plinths scattered around the home. Some were obsidian, others rusty red, others white marble, others gray granite slab. There were empty spaces for nests and birdhouses that were now vacant.
在我所有关于炸弹爆炸前世界的疯狂幻想中，我从未想象过会有这样一个地方。一想到任何像这样的地方都可能存在，我的胸口就痛。当我们沿着石板路走着的时候，我被散落在家里的坚硬的石基搅拌着的精致而繁荣的生活所震撼。有些是黑曜石，有些是生锈的红色，有些是白色的大理石，有些是灰色的花岗岩石板。曾经有空的地方可以筑巢，还有现在空着的鸟舍。
The one thing that didn’t belong, however, was the birthday presents.
然而，有一样东西不属于这里，那就是生日礼物。
They lay around the cottage every few feet, colorful cubical parcels about a foot on a side. Most were topped with bows and fancy ribbons. One lay right on the steps leading up to the front door, this one with a little handle sticking out of it. I felt a frisson of anticipation as the handle started to turn of its own accord and tinny music issued from the parcel. I reached out a hoof and pushed Stygius back a little.
他们每隔几英尺就躺在小屋周围，五颜六色的立方体包裹着大约一英尺的一侧。大多数都配有蝴蝶结和别致的缎带。其中一个就躺在通往前门的台阶上，这个有一个小把手伸出来。当包裹的手柄开始自动转动时，我感到一阵期待的激动，包裹里传出了微弱的音乐声。我伸出一只蹄子，把冥河往后推了一点。
Suddenly, the top of the box popped open and a pink pony head popped out on a spring. It wobbled a few times, and when it finally slowed I saw it was done up like a grinning Pinkie Pie. It turned, looked right at me, and straightened. “Hi!” a mare said in a cheery voice, “I’m really so very sorry, but this is a special private Pinkie party and I’m afraid you don’t have an invitation. This is a very super secure crime scene, and if you’re here, I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait for a M.o.M. team to say it’s okie dokie lokie to leave! Please sit quietly and don’t make any sudden moves, Naughty McNaughterson. Otherwise, I’ll have to
突然，盒子的顶部打开了，一个粉红色的小马头弹了出来。它摇晃了几次，当它终于慢下来的时候，我看到它像一个咧着嘴笑的小指头。它转过身来，直直地看着我。"嗨!"一匹母马用愉快的声音说:"我真的非常抱歉，但是这是一个特别的私人派对，恐怕你没有受到邀请。这是一个非常安全的犯罪现场，如果你在这里，我恐怕你要等待一个m.o.m小组说它的okiedokielokie离开！请安静地坐着，不要做任何突然的动作，淘气的麦克诺特森。否则，我将不得不
just go ahead and assume that you’re a Bad Pony, and we don’t want that!”
你就把自己当成一匹坏小马吧，我们可不想那样!"
“Right…” I said as I pulled out the riot shotgun I’d gotten at Happyhorn and, after a moment of consideration, slapped a drum of buckshot in. “‘Fraid there’s no Ministry of Morale anymore and we’re not planning to wait here forever, so you can just… not do whatever you were going to do.”
"没错......"我一边说，一边拿出我在Happyhorn拿到的那把防暴猎枪，经过一番考虑之后，把一桶铅弹打了进去。"恐怕已经没有士气部了，我们不打算永远在这里等下去，所以你可以......不要做你想做的事情。"
The pupils of the bobbing Pinkie head suddenly flashed bright red. “Oooooh… some naughty pony’s gonna need a time out, aren’t they?” Suddenly the lids started popping off the other wrapped presents in clouds of confetti, unleashing a swarm of buzzing brightly-colored little spritebots! The winged orbs swooped up over us, their eyes glowing the same ominous red as the Pinkie head’s.
上下摆动的小手指头的瞳孔突然闪现出明亮的红光。"哦......有些顽皮的小马需要休息一下，不是吗?"突然，礼物的盖子开始在五彩纸屑的云层中弹开，释放出一大群嗡嗡作响的色彩鲜艳的小精灵机器人！长着翅膀的球体从我们头顶俯冲下来，它们的眼睛和小指头一样发着不祥的红光。
Okay, if there was ever a time for a shotgun, this was it! I backed towards the house as the robots closed in from either side, blowing cones of lead out at the swirling machines. They exploded into flying shrapnel, but every gap that opened was immediately filled! I wasn’t doing much more than slowing them down, and at this rate I’d have to switch drums really soon. And at that thought, the cloud of spritebots that had now completely cut us off from the shield opened fire. One of their little red bolts of incineration magic did little more than sting, but these sprites were firing hundreds of them and making my armor start to smoke!
好吧，如果说有什么时候需要猎枪的话，那就是现在！机器人从两边靠近，向旋转的机器吹着铅制圆锥体，我向房子后退。它们爆炸成了飞溅的弹片，但是每一个打开的空隙都被立即填满了！我除了减慢他们的速度没做什么，照这个速度，我很快就得换鼓了。想到这里，一大群已经完全切断了我们与防护罩联系的喷气机器人开火了。他们的一个小红螺栓焚烧魔法没有什么比刺痛，但这些精灵发射了数以百计的他们，使我的盔甲开始冒烟！
There was only one thing to do: get inside and hope Pinkie Pie hadn’t left anything else nasty! We ran up the stairs onto the porch that ran the length of the front of the house, and I jerked on the front door. Locked, of course. I gave it a solid thump as the spritebots swarmed around us and the batpony darted into the air. The door sounded very solid and was firmly closed. Stygius swooped and wheeled above me, drawing the robots’ fire as I tried to decide between trying to pick the lock and just trying to batter the door down. Every now and then he’d open his mouth and let out a scream that I could barely hear but also actually barely see radiating out from his mouth. The shimmering screech made the tiny robots in front of him crackle, spark, and drop to the ground smoking, but he had the same problem as my shotgun; no matter how many he took out, there always seemed to be more to take their places.
只有一件事可以做:进去，希望小派没有留下什么脏东西！我们跑上楼梯，来到门廊，门廊与房子前面的距离一样长，我猛地拉了拉前门。当然是锁着的。当精灵机器人围绕着我们，蝙蝠马冲向空中的时候，我给了它一记有力的重击。门听起来很结实，而且关得很紧。斯蒂吉乌斯俯冲下来，在我头顶上转过身来，吸引了机器人的火力，我试图在试图撬开锁和试图把门撞开之间做出选择。他时不时地张开嘴，发出一声尖叫，我几乎听不见，但实际上也几乎看不见从他嘴里发出的声音。闪闪发光的尖叫声使他面前的小机器人噼啪作响，冒着烟，倒在地上抽烟，但他和我的猎枪有着同样的问题;不管他拿出多少，似乎总有更多的机器人取代了他们的位置。
I gave the door an experimental kick. Ow... Okay, lockpicking, then. I tried my best to focus as I knelt at the door, brushing aside the yellow tape printed with ‘Crime Scene: Smart Detectives and Bumbling Assistants Only’ to get at the
我实验性地踢了一脚门。好吧那就开锁吧。当我跪在门口时，我尽力集中注意力，把印着'犯罪现场:聪明的侦探和笨拙的助手'的黄色胶带擦掉
lock. I didn’t have very many bobby pins, and I sure didn’t have time to screw around. Focus… don’t think about the stallion getting shot to buy you time to do this. Don’t think about him turning to ash and drifting from the sky. Don’t think about how handsome he was or that he was nice enough to come along with you in spite of your crazy!
锁。我没有很多发夹，也没有时间胡闹。集中注意力......不要去想种马被射杀的事情，这样可以为你争取时间。不要去想他会变成灰烬，从天上飘下来。不要去想他有多帅，或者他有多好，不管你有多疯狂，他都会和你在一起！
Snap. Well, I did still have more. Break. Two more. Crack. Okay. Last shot, and I could not mess this up. Calm... focus... twist it just like so... turn the lock, and! Broken. I gave a little scream, grabbed the screwdriver with my teeth, and twisted as hard as I could. For a second the lock caught, and then my luck saved our asses again and it popped open. I kicked the door wide. “Stygius! In here! Quickly!”
啪的一声。好吧，我还有更多。休息。再来两杯。可卡因。好吧。最后一张，我不能搞砸了。冷静...专注...像这样旋转...转动锁，然后！破碎的。我尖叫了一声，用牙齿咬住螺丝刀，拼命扭动身体。锁卡住了一秒钟，然后我的运气又救了我们一命，锁突然打开了。我把门踢得很大。"斯提吉乌斯！在这里！快点!"
He dropped down onto the porch in a landing that was just short of a crash, his armor and hide smoking in dozens of places and the swarm not far behind him. I grabbed him by his armor and hauled him in, slamming the door behind him. Good thick, solid door; please do keep the robots out. He collapsed onto the polished wood floor with a raspy exhalation.
他一屁股坐在门廊的平台上，离撞击只差一点点，他的盔甲和躲藏在许多地方的烟雾以及他身后不远处的蜂群。我一把抓住他的盔甲，把他拽了进来，砰地关上了身后的门。厚实的好门，请不要让机器人进来。他倒在抛光的木地板上，发出刺耳的呼气声。
Around me, lights flickered on automatically. I looked around anxiously, shotgun out, but didn’t see anything that looked hostile. What I did see was that the house was, astonishingly, completely clean. Aside from a faint layer of dust, I might as well have been two hundred years in the past. I had to take a second look at Stygius to make sure I wasn’t seeing things... though I still might have been, of course.
在我周围，灯光自动地闪烁着。我焦急地环顾四周，坐在副驾驶位上，但是没有看到任何敌意的东西。我真正看到的是，令人惊讶的是，房子是完全干净的。除了一层微弱的尘埃，我还不如回到两百年前。我不得不重新审视一下Stygius，以确保我没有看到什么东西......当然，我可能还是看到了。
Then I kicked myself in the rump and set to finding some healing potions. With all the grass outside, I doubted there was an Enervation ring here. I ran from room to room and finally spotted a yellow medical case bolted to the wall in the water closet. It was thankfully unlocked and held four bright purple healing potions, and I immediately lifted them and raced back to him. Don’t die… Please don’t die.
然后我踢了踢自己的屁股，开始寻找一些治疗药剂。外面那么多草，我怀疑这里是否有一个衰弱的环。我从一个房间跑到另一个房间，最后发现了一个黄色的医疗箱，栓在抽水马桶的墙上。谢天谢地，门没有上锁，里面放着四瓶紫色的治疗药水，我立刻把它们拿起来，跑回他身边。不要死...请不要死。
You’re cursed, Star Maiden.
你被诅咒了，星少女。
No I’m not. Curses schmurses. He was definitely on the well-done side, but he was still breathing when I reached him. I held a potion to his mouth and he eagerly slugged it down. The burns on his hide lightened only a bit, so I gave him another. The angry red evened out, and after a third potion, his dusky gray
不，我不是。诅咒。当我走到他身边的时候，他还在呼吸。我往他嘴里倒了一剂药水，他急切地把它喝了下去。他皮肤上的烧伤只减轻了一点点，所以我又给了他一次。愤怒的红色消失了，喝了第三杯药水之后，他的暗灰色
hide closed with barely a mark. He groaned and lay out flat, hooves and bat wings splayed wide. I looked down into his eyes with a thankful smile. He was going to pull through.
隐蔽处几乎没有痕迹。他呻吟着，平躺着，蹄子和蝙蝠的翅膀张开着。我带着感激的微笑低头看着他的眼睛。他会度过难关的。
He looked back up at me, gave a wide grin, and puckered his lips. I balked, fighting the impulse to smash his face in. So he was a little flirty… don’t kill him for that. I closed my eyes a moment, then snorted and pushed his face away. “Don’t push your luck.” Please.
他回头看着我，咧嘴大笑，噘起了嘴唇。我犹豫了一下，强忍着想把他的脸打烂的冲动。所以他是有点轻浮...别因为这个杀了他。我闭上眼睛一会儿，然后喷了一下鼻息，把他的脸推开。"别得寸进尺。"求你了。
He looked at me in concern, but now that worry for him was past I was taking a longer look at the house I was in. Like the outside, the inside was decorated in a style that reminded me vaguely of Star House and the Fluttershy Medical Center’s atrium. Most of it was wood depicting butterflies, bunnies, flowers, trees, and birds, but there was also a fascinating collection of gems and metalwork. In the kitchen, the faucet was shaped like a swan’s neck. The wings of the butterflies on the mantle were perfectly cut rose quartz. Copper verdigris crawled alongside ivy carvings and literally popped out off the woodwork. The detail was such that I could see the veins in the metal leaves.
他关心地看着我，但是现在对他的担心已经过去了，我又多看了看我住的房子。和外部一样，里面的装修风格让我隐约想起了星空之家和Fluttershy医疗中心的中庭。大多数作品是木制的，描绘的是蝴蝶、兔子、花朵、树木和鸟类，但也有一些精美的宝石和金属制品。在厨房里，水龙头的形状像天鹅的脖子。壁炉架上的蝴蝶翅膀是完美切割的玫瑰石英。铜铜绿爬行在常春藤雕刻和字面上弹出的木制品。细节是这样的，我可以看到在金属叶片的脉络。
One thing was out of place: there were stacks of bright pink plastic crates piled up next to the door. All of them bore the grinning pink pony icon of the Ministry of Morale. I noticed a checklist on a clipboard resting on top, though, and read, ‘Ministry of Morale Crime Scene Evaluation Checklist for Super Smart Smartypants Detective Ponies’.
有一样东西不合时宜:门边堆着一堆堆亮粉色的塑料箱。他们都佩戴着士气部粉红色的小马图标。不过，我注意到一个笔记板上放着一个清单，上面写着:"道德部犯罪现场评估超级聪明的侦探小马清单"。
1) Know who the bad ponies are.
1)知道谁是坏小马。
2) Arrest bad ponies.
2)逮捕坏马。
Find evidence to prove bad ponies are bad.
找到证据证明劣质小马是有害的。
Question bad ponies to give up other bad ponies.
质疑坏小马，放弃其他坏小马。
Repeat steps 1+2.
重复步骤1+2。
Now, I might not have known a lot about crime scene evaluation, but I found myself extremely grateful that Pinkie Pie hadn’t written the security procedures for Stable 99. I doubt there’d have been a mare left under such guidelines. I dug through the crates, keeping an eye and a riot shotgun out for anything that flew or talked, but they were empty save for dozens and dozens of little envelopes
现在，我可能对犯罪现场评估知之甚少，但我发现自己非常感激PinkiePie没有为Stable99编写安全程序。我怀疑在这样的指导下还会有母马留下来。我从箱子里翻了出来，留意着周围有没有飞来飞去的东西或者说话的东西，但是里面除了几十个小信封之外都是空的
and plastic bags. There was a date written in one of the boxes at the top of the MoMCSEC3SDP that piqued my interest, though. The day the bombs fell.
还有塑料袋。不过，MoMCSEC3SDP顶部的一个盒子上写着一个日期，这引起了我的兴趣。炸弹落下的那天。
Decorations like the Fluttershy clinic and Happyhorn? Searching for evidence in a house that had some kind of magic bubble around it? And who was a prominent figure arrested for treason right before the bombs fell? The book I’d found in Tenpony Tower had said that this place was near Black Pony Mountain, and Dealer had steered me to it.
像Fluttershy诊所和Happyhorn那样的装饰品？在一个周围有魔法泡沫的房子里寻找证据？在炸弹落下之前，谁是因叛国罪被捕的重要人物？我在天马塔找到的那本书上说这个地方靠近黑马山，是庄家带我去的。
Goldenblood’s house.
金血王的房子。
Standing there, I felt a shiver run through me as I stared around the great room. Here was where the stallion himself lived; where he’d hatched his schemes. Where he’d had a brief life together with Fluttershy; clearly he’d done all he could to make this place her home as well. This home had absolutely none of the ostentation of Blueblood Manor. Everything appeared to be simply crafted, yet there was also a quality in the woodwork that I simply couldn’t shake.
站在那里，当我环顾这个大房间的时候，我感到一阵颤抖贯穿全身。这里就是那匹种马自己住的地方，也是他策划阴谋的地方。在那里，他曾与弗特希短暂地生活在一起;很明显，他已经竭尽全力把这个地方也变成了她的家。这所房子绝对没有蓝血庄园的炫耀。所有的东西看起来都是简单的手工制作，但是木制品中也有一种我无法摆脱的特质。
Stygius appeared more concerned about me as I sat there staring at the furniture and decorations. I might find out everything I wanted to know here! If it hadn’t been removed… I simply had to search! Sleep could wait.
当我坐在那里盯着家具和装饰品时，斯蒂吉乌斯似乎更关心我。我可能会在这里找到我想知道的一切！如果它没有被删除......我只是简单地搜索！睡眠可以等等。
The ground floor turned out to consist of a library, some sort of workshop, a water closet, and the kitchen adjoining the great room that the front door opened into; stairs led up to a balcony running along the top of the enclosed rooms, and more doors opened off of that. I trotted to the kitchen cupboards and opened them up only to see that they were devoid of any food. The plates were all neatly stacked, though, the forks and knives polished. The refrigerator wasn’t just bare; it was empty and cleaned.
一楼是一个图书馆，一个工作间，一个抽水马桶，和毗邻前门通向的大房间的厨房;楼梯通向一个沿着封闭房间顶部延伸的阳台，还有更多的门通向那里。我小跑着来到厨房的橱柜前，打开它们，却发现里面什么食物都没有。盘子堆得整整齐齐，叉子和刀子都擦得锃亮。冰箱不仅空空如也，而且空空如也，干干净净。
In the library was a collection of books on history, politics, and other things I had no idea about because they were written in zebra glyphs or languages I didn’t even recognize. The desk drawers had stationery, scrolls, quills, and inks all neatly stacked in their respective places. Everything was clean and, for the most part, clear of dust. I was shocked to see how many pictures he had on his desk. Fluttershy was first and foremost, smiling as she held a little bunny, but next to her was Luna hugging an embarrassed-looking, unscarred Goldenblood. There were Twilight Sparkle and an adolescent Spike in his cave, sitting on his hoard. Applejack and Applesnack looking equally uncomfortable at some fancy
图书馆里有一些关于历史、政治和其他我不知道的事情的书，因为它们是用斑马字形或者我甚至不认识的语言写成的。书桌抽屉里的文具、卷轴、羽毛笔和墨水都整齐地堆放在各自的位置上。所有的东西都很干净，大部分都没有灰尘。看到他的办公桌上有这么多照片，我感到震惊。小鸭子是第一个也是最重要的，她微笑着抱着一只小兔子，但是在她旁边的是卢娜，她拥抱着一个看起来很尴尬，没有伤疤的金色血统。他的洞穴里有紫悦和一个青春期的狼牙，坐在他的贮藏物上。苹果白兰地和苹果麦克看起来同样不舒服的一些幻想
function. An incredibly young-looking Pinkie Pie dancing around a toothless lizard with her friends. Rainbow Dash flying in formation. Rarity wearing a stunning dress in black and red.
函数。一个看起来非常年轻的小手指馅饼和她的朋友围着一只没有牙齿的蜥蜴跳舞。彩虹队列飞行。罕见的穿着惊人的黑色和红色连衣裙。
Yet as I sat and looked around his desk, I also took in what wasn’t there. No notes. No garbage in the wastebin. No half-used-up pencils, crumbs, or dirty dishes. No letters to be answered nor address books nor terminal, even. In fact, the room was so clean that I would have been hard pressed to believe it had ever been used.
然而，当我坐下来环顾他的办公桌时，我也领会到了那里并不存在的东西。没有笔记。垃圾桶里没有垃圾。没有用完一半的铅笔，面包屑，或脏盘子。没有需要回复的信件，没有通讯录，甚至没有终端机。事实上，这个房间是如此的干净以至于我很难相信它曾经被使用过。
The workshop, like the library next door, was neat and orderly. Tools were left hanging on the wall next to a workbench; tiny little hammers, pliers, and eyeglasses mounted on leather headbands were all in order. In the corner was a heavy stone oven of some sort. I frowned and checked inside. Swept clean of ashes. In drawers under the workbench were spools of copper, silver, gold, and steel wire, verified with a nibble on each. Goddesses, didn’t that get a funny look from the dusky batpony. I self-consciously transferred the spools to my saddlebags anyway, though.
工作间和隔壁的图书馆一样整洁有序。工具挂在墙上，旁边是一个工作台;小小的锤子，钳子和眼镜都装在皮革发带上。角落里有一个很重的石炉。我皱了皱眉，看了看里面。扫干净灰烬。工作台下面的抽屉里装着铜线、银线、金线和钢线，每根线都被咬了一口。女神们，那不是从那匹黑色的小马身上得到了一个有趣的表情吗。尽管如此，我还是自觉地把线轴转移到了我的鞍包上。
I looked around again. There were no half-finished projects anywhere. No scrap bits left on the floor. Nothing to imply that anypony had actually lived here long ago. I glanced back at Stygius, caught his questioning look, and sighed. “Sorry. Once upon a time there was a pony who lived here that did a lot of secretive things. I was hoping that I might get some ans--”
我又环顾四周。到处都没有半成品的项目。地板上没有碎片。没有任何证据表明很久以前有人住在这里。我回头看了一眼Stygius，看到他疑惑的表情，叹了口气。"对不起。很久很久以前，有一匹小马住在这里，做很多秘密的事情。我希望我能得到一些答案——"
Why did I hear music? It was distant and tinny, like a bad recording. Slowly, I looked around; Stygius was visibly flickering in and out of sight while by the workbench a yellow shape was moving like a ghost. “Wait a minute…” I murmured as I cautiously moved to the side, towards the corner of the workshop. The further I moved, the more Stygius faded from view and the more Goldenblood appeared. I heard his rasping cough as he struggled for breath. He wore a clear plastic mask over his face as he levitated a length of silver wire before him. Finally, when I was in the very corner, he appeared completely solid.
为什么我听到了音乐？那是一段遥远而微弱的声音，就像一段糟糕的录音。慢慢地，我环顾四周;斯蒂吉乌斯明显地在视线中忽隐忽现，而在工作台旁边，一个黄色的身影像幽灵一样在移动。"等一下......"我小心翼翼地走到车间的一角，喃喃地说。我走得越远，斯蒂吉乌斯就越从视野中消失，金色血液也就越多。我听到他艰难地喘气时刺耳的咳嗽声。他戴着一个透明的塑料面具，把一段银线悬浮在面前。最后，当我站在角落里的时候，他显得非常坚定。
He also looked like hell. He was covered in bandages, some of which were yellowed and dirty-looking. Yet despite the wet sound of his lungs, he still kept his magical grasp steady as he molded steel, gold leaf, and silver wire together as easily as if they were clay. There was a radio on the table beside him playing familiar string music.
他看起来也很糟糕。他全身裹着绷带，有些发黄了，看上去很脏。然而，尽管他的肺部发出潮湿的声音，他仍然保持着他的魔法抓握稳定，因为他塑造钢铁，金叶和银线就像粘土一样容易地结合在一起。他旁边的桌子上有一台收音机，播放着熟悉的弦乐。
“Professor?” a mare asked softly from the door, and like a ghost materializing, a stricken black unicorn appeared. Her silver eyes were wide and shimmered with tears. A lone candle was on her flank. She sniffed and rubbed her nose.
"教授?"一匹母马从门口轻声问道，就像鬼魂突然出现一样，一只受伤的黑独角兽出现了。她银色的眼睛睁得大大的，闪烁着泪光。一根孤零零的蜡烛在她的侧面。她嗅了嗅，揉了揉鼻子。
He didn’t look up from his work. “I’m not… a teacher… anymore… Psalm,” he wheezed in that boiled-sounding voice. Slowly he turned to look at her, stiffly, as if every motion were agony. His eyes fixed on her standing there as she sniffed. “It’s not… your fault, Psalm.”
他没有从工作中抬起头。"我不是......一个老师......不再是......一个诗人,"他气喘吁吁地说，声音听起来像煮沸的。他慢慢地转过身来，僵硬地看着她，仿佛每一个动作都是痛苦。他的眼睛盯着站在那里的她，她吸着鼻子。"这不是......你的错，诗篇。"
It was the wrong comment. “How can you say that? It was my fault! All of it!” she sobbed as she collapsed, hanging her head. “If I… if they… Oh Luna, I wish I’d died with the others!”
这是一个错误的评论。"你怎么能这么说呢？都是我的错！所有的一切!"她一边抽泣一边倒下，低着头。"如果我.....。.如果他们......哦，露娜，我真希望我和其他人一起死掉!"
He slowly rose, hobbled towards where she lay in a heap, and, moving with great pain, gently hugged her. “It is… not… your fault…” he rasped, then coughed that horrid, wracking cough.
他慢慢地站起身来，一瘸一拐地走向她躺成一堆的地方，痛苦地挪动着身子，温柔地拥抱了她。"这......不是......你的错......"他粗声粗气地说，然后咳嗽了一声，咳得很厉害。
“I shouldn’t have done it. I… they did it because of me.”
"我不应该这么做。我。.他们这么做是因为我"
He answered her in short, gasping broken lines that I threaded together. “You are not to blame, Psalm. Not for your kindness. What happened at Littlehorn was not your fault, nor will you wishing to assume responsibility make it better.” He patted her mane. “I wish I could help you understand that.” He held her in his hooves till her sobbing abated. “There... better?” She nodded and wiped her nose.
他用短短的、喘着粗气的折线回答她，我把它们串在一起。"诗篇，你不该受责备。不是因为你的好意。在Littlehorn发生的事情不是你的错，你希望承担责任也不会让事情变得更好。"他拍了拍她的鬃毛。"我希望我能帮助你理解这一点。"他用蹄子抱着她，直到她的哭声平息下来。"还有...更好的吗?"她点点头，擦擦鼻子。
“What about you, Professor?” she asked with a worried frown. “When you collapsed at the speech… I was so afraid.”
"你呢，教授?"她愁眉苦脸地问。"当你在演讲时晕倒的时候......我很害怕。"
He struggled for breath before rasping, “I likely have a month to live. Two at the most. Luna herself is helping to heal the damage to my lungs.” He smiled and gave a little shrug, his eyes distant. “She wants me to help her set up her government,” he said as they shifted, sitting and facing each other. He hung his head as he spoke. Suddenly he arched his back and resumed coughing and retching. He took the mask off and choked a moment, and a thin pink stream trickled out of his mouth and onto the floor, smoking where it met the wood. I remembered how Glory had cut away the environmental suit that had fused to my hide from the Pink Cloud; suddenly I had an unsettling idea of where the stallion’s injuries might have come from. Psalm rushed out and a moment later returned with healing potions. It took four before he finally recovered.
他挣扎着呼吸，然后发出刺耳的声音:"我可能只能活一个月了。最多两个。露娜自己正在帮助治疗我肺部的损伤。"他微笑着耸了耸肩，眼神冷漠。"她希望我帮助她建立她的政府,"他说着，他们坐下来面对面地交换了位置。他一边说一边低下头。突然，他拱起背，继续咳嗽和呕吐。他摘下面具，哽咽了片刻，一条细细的粉红色的溪流从他的嘴里流出来，流到地板上，在与木头接触的地方冒着烟。我记得晨辉是如何从粉红云那里剪掉粘在我身上的环境保护服的;突然间，我对这匹种马的伤口可能来自哪里产生了一个令人不安的想法。诗篇冲了出来，过了一会儿又带着治病的药水回来了。他花了四年时间才最终康复。
“You should be in the hospital, Professor,” Psalm murmured, looking at the hissing pink spittle.
"你应该在医院里，教授,"诗篇看着嘶嘶作响的粉红色唾沫喃喃地说。
He didn’t answer or argue at first, seeming to need to concentrate on breathing. Then, “The future of Equestria might be better if I don’t survive,” he said, so quietly that I almost missed it.
起初，他没有回答，也没有争辩，似乎需要集中精力呼吸。然后,"如果我不能活下来，小马国的未来可能会更好,"他平静地说，我几乎错过了它。
“What… but…” Her horn glowed as she lifted another healing draught to his lips. He suckled on it, coughing wetly again. “But why? You said Princess Luna needs you. Don’t you want to help her?”
"什么......但是......"当她把另一剂治疗药水放到他嘴边时，她的角发出了光芒。他吮吸着它，又湿漉漉地咳嗽起来。""但是为什么呢？你说露娜公主需要你。难道你不想帮她吗?"
He didn’t answer for such a long time that I was sure he wouldn’t. But then he said in his low, raspy voice, “I do. More than you could imagine, Psalm. But she wants a government every bit as grand and powerful as her sister’s. I can give her that. It’s possible. But I fear what will be required to create such a rule. I’m terrified, Psalm. Terrified that if I help her do what she wants, it will destroy her and Equestria.”
他很长时间没有回答我的问题，我确信他不会回答。然后他用低沉沙哑的声音说:"我愿意。超乎你的想象，诗篇。但是她希望有一个像她姐姐的政府一样宏伟和强大的政府。我可以给她这个。这是可能的。但是我担心创造这样一个规则需要什么。我很害怕，诗篇。我害怕如果我帮她做她想做的事，会毁了她和小马国。"
He paused to retch up another stream of the pink fluid into an empty potion bottle. Then he sat back and caught his breath. He looked up at the ceiling. “I can see it now, Psalm. She will be loved… but unlike her sister, she will be feared as well. She’ll have all the power of Celestia in her hooves, but she’ll not need to use it. Misdirection… doubt… ambiguity… these will reign, and there will be none to stop them. Not for centuries, at least.” He sighed as he closed his eyes. A strange calmness seemed to spill over him, and his words became stronger. “It’s like I can look ahead the entire span of a millennium, great and terrible and bloody. There will be murder… slaughter… betrayal. History assures it, a tale wrought again and again all across the world. It will be a nightmare, Psalm. I can see it clearly… as if it’s already happened and old history. Past. Dry. Dead.”
他停下来，把另一股粉红色的药水倒进一个空药瓶里。然后他坐了下来，屏住了呼吸。他抬头看着天花板。"我现在可以看到它，诗篇。她会被爱......但不像她的姐姐，她也会被恐惧。她将拥有塞莱斯蒂亚的全部力量，但她不需要使用它。误导...怀疑...模棱两可...这些将占据统治地位，没有人能阻止它们。至少几个世纪都不会。"他闭上眼睛叹了口气。一种奇怪的平静似乎溢出在他身上，他的话变得更有力了。"就好像我可以展望整个一千年，伟大、可怕、血腥。会有谋杀...屠杀...背叛。历史告诉我们，这是一个遍及全世界的故事。这将是一场噩梦，诗篇。我可以清楚地看到它......就好像它已经发生了，而且是古老的历史。过去。干的。死了。"
He shook his head and said in his rasping whisper, his voice flowing like a hissing steam pipe as he spoke with a look of sad resignation, “I’ve never been so certain of anything as I have this, Psalm. So I must ask myself, would it not be better… more merciful… to help it fail? To try to bring about its ruin swiftly and surely and in the process save the hearts and souls of both Equestria and Luna from that grim future? Or should I embrace audacity and try to steer this bloody calamity towards some yet unknown beneficial conclusion? What is a hundred dead… a thousand… a million… over the span of a thousand years and
他摇摇头，用刺耳的低语说道，他的声音像嘶嘶作响的蒸汽管一样流畅，他带着一种悲伤的无可奈何的表情说道:"我从来没有像现在这样确信过任何事情，诗篇。所以我必须问自己，难道帮助它失败不是更好......更仁慈......吗？试图迅速而坚定地毁灭它，并在此过程中拯救Equestria和卢娜的心灵和灵魂，使其远离那个可怕的未来？或者，我应该放手一搏，试图将这场血腥的灾难引向某种尚未知晓的有益结局？一百个死人......一千个......一百万个......在一千年的时间里
more? What is a few cold betrayals when we’ve all passed into the everafter?” He shuddered and once more broke into great heaving coughs. He spat more of the pink foulness into the bottle and sighed. “Truly, death would be a fine, if cowardly, escape from these questions churning about in my head.”
更多？当我们都进入永恒的时候，一些冷漠的背叛是什么?"他战栗了一下，又突然咳嗽起来。他又往瓶子里吐了一口粉红色的脏东西，叹了口气。"说真的，死亡即使是懦弱的，也可以逃避这些在我脑子里翻腾的问题。"
Finally he relaxed, and Psalm cracked a tiny smile. “Wow… are monologues a side effect of the poison, Professor?”
最后他终于放松下来，诗篇露出了一丝微笑。"哇......独白是毒药的副作用吗，教授?"
Her attempt at humor prevailed. He smiled back. “I’m dying. It gives tremendous license towards the melodramatic.” Then he laughed and immediately broke into deep, wet, heaving coughs. When he’d brought up more pink, he sighed. “I just don’t know what I should do.”
她的幽默尝试占了上风。他回以微笑。"我要死了。它给了戏剧性的极大自由。"然后他大笑起来，立刻开始深深地、湿漉漉地、咳嗽起来。当他谈到更多的粉红色时，他叹了口气。"我只是不知道该怎么办。"
“Professor. She’s… she’s not just Princess Luna. She’s Luna. Our Luna. The one who actually read your papers on petriculture and zebra mysticism? The one who didn’t think that a rock hunters’ club was a stupid waste of a unicorn’s time? We have to help her!” Goldenblood closed his eyes and shook his head. Psalm pressed her lips together, then nudged his shoulder. “If you don’t, Professor, somepony else will.”
"教授。她...她不仅仅是卢娜公主。她是露娜。我们的月神。那个真正读过你关于人文学和斑马神秘主义的论文的人？那个不认为摇滚猎人俱乐部是在愚蠢地浪费独角兽的时间的人？我们必须帮助她!"金色的血液闭上了眼睛，摇摇头。诗人把她的嘴唇贴在一起，然后轻轻地推了推他的肩膀。"如果你不这么做，教授，别人也会这么做的。"
The comment stirred him, his golden eyes opening and his lips pressing together in a line. “You’re right. I can just see… the nobility… wealthy… privileged ponies...” He retched again and then stood. “I can just imagine what my father would do if he got her to listen to him. His lot got us into this war in the first place. ‘A week long war…’ Fools. Worthless fools… they’ll perpetuate the butchery ad nauseum. It’s not as if they send their children to die,” Goldenblood muttered as he paced slowly. “In time, she’d see through the flattery… but it would take years… perhaps generations… before she could be strong enough to rule on her own.”
这番话打动了他，他金色的眼睛睁开了，嘴唇紧闭成一行。"你说得对。我只能看到...贵族...富有的...有特权的小马..."他再次呕吐，然后站了起来。"我可以想象，如果我父亲让她听他的话，他会怎么做。他的命运使我们首先卷入了这场战争。一个星期的战争...傻瓜。一文不值的傻瓜...他们会让屠杀永无止境。他们又不是把自己的孩子送去送死,"金布拉德一边慢慢地踱步，一边喃喃自语。"假以时日，她会看穿这些奉承......但这需要好几年......也许几代人的时间......她才能强大到足以独自治理国家。"
“You have to help her, Professor. She’s Luna. She’s… we have to help,” Psalm said as she touched several strangely parallel scars on the inside of her foreleg. “Please… I know you want to help her. You love her.”
"你得帮帮她，教授。她是露娜。她......我们必须帮助她,"诗篇一边说，一边触摸她前腿内侧奇怪的平行伤疤。"求你了......我知道你想帮她。你爱她。"
Goldenblood smiled, slow and sad. “She’s a Princess… how could I not?” He sighed and looked at her. “And you, Psalm? How will you help the Princess?”
金色的血液缓慢而悲伤地微笑着。"她是个公主......我怎么能不知道呢?"他叹了口气，看着她。""你呢，诗篇？你将如何帮助公主?"
“Me… I…” she stammered, and then closed her eyes. “I think… I’ve been thinking… maybe I should enlist?”
"我...我..。。」她结结巴巴地说，然后闭上了眼睛。"我想......我一直在想......也许我应该参军?"
“Psalm… soldiers kill…” he murmured. “You burst into tears when you saw a hawk kill a rabbit for lunch. Are you sure?”
"诗篇......士兵杀人......"他喃喃地说。"当你看到一只老鹰杀死一只兔子当午餐时，你突然大哭起来。你确定吗?"
“I know. I know it’s wrong… but… they burned my home and they killed my school. I…” she stammered and sniffed. “I… I have to do something, Professor! I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t!” She bit her lip as she fidgeted. “My roommate Twist is going to sign up. We shared a space above her candy shop, and since it was completely destroyed… well… she says she’s going to thump and twist those zebras like they were huge black and white stripes of taffy.”
"我知道。我知道这是不对的......但是......他们烧了我的房子，毁了我的学校。我。。」她结结巴巴地闻着。"我.....。.我必须做点什么，教授！我觉得如果我不这么做，我就无法原谅自己!"她坐立不安时咬着嘴唇。"我的室友特威斯特打算报名。我们住在她糖果店上面的一个空间里，因为糖果店已经完全被毁了......好吧......她说她要把那些斑马当成巨大的黑白条纹太妃糖一样重重地捶打和扭曲。"
He was quiet for a short time, then sighed. “Just, please… if you are going to enlist… Please promise me that you’re doing this for Luna. Don’t do this out of hate.”
他沉默了一会儿，然后叹了口气。"只是，求你了......如果你要入伍......请向我保证你这么做是为了卢娜。不要出于仇恨而这样做。"
“I won’t, Professor,” she replied softly. “Hopefully they need somepony for support. Carrying water or helping the medics or… or something. I doubt I’d ever be able to kill anypony.” Funny, remembering her fighting alongside Big Macintosh, I’d say she’d proved quite able.
"我不会的，教授,"她轻声回答。"希望他们需要一匹小马来支持。搬运水或者帮助医护人员什么的。我怀疑我永远不可能杀死任何小马。"有趣的是，回忆起她和大麦金托什机并肩作战的情景，我敢说她证明了自己的能力。
He smiled and lifted the steel rose with his magic. The glow deepened, and the rose came alive, the petals extending and curling, gold and silver. Finally, he bent the stem and hooked it gently around her ear; it gleamed brightly against her ebony coat. “Here. Take this. For luck.”
他微笑着，用他的魔法举起了铁玫瑰花。火光加深了，玫瑰也活了过来，花瓣伸展卷曲，呈现出金色和银色的颜色。最后，他弯曲茎干，轻轻地钩住她的耳朵;它在她乌木的皮毛上闪闪发光。"这儿。拿着这个。祝你好运。"
“Professor! I can’t. It’s too… too good for me. I don’t deserve something so lovely,” she said, blushing.
"教授！我不能。对我来说太...太好了。我配不上这么可爱的东西,"她脸红地说。
“Indulge me. I’m dying. It’d be rude to not accept,” he said with a raspy chuckle. “Now, help me into the kitchen. The hospital provided some absolutely horrid mush for my meals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have something nice to eat.”
"迁就我吧。我快死了。不接受是不礼貌的,"他带着刺耳的笑声说。"现在，帮我到厨房去。医院为我提供了一些绝对可怕的糊状食物，但这并不意味着你不能吃到好吃的东西。"
She helped him to his hooves, and together they walked out of the room. My vision flickered, and suddenly a pair of slitted yellow eyes were staring into mine. “Gah!” I shouted, my forelegs kicking out at him, but he seemed to be wise to me and nimbly darted back. I looked around, then slumped. “Whoa. That is so weird.”
她扶着他的蹄子，他们一起走出了房间。我的视线忽隐忽现，突然一双细长的黄眼睛盯着我。"啊!"我喊道，我的前腿朝他踢去，但他似乎对我很明智，敏捷地冲了回去。我环顾四周，然后垂头丧气。"哇。这太奇怪了。"
He pointed at me, then suddenly swayed as he sat on his rump and let his eyes go glassy.
他指着我，然后突然摇晃起来，坐在臀部上，目光呆滞。
“Sorry about that,” I said with a little frown, rubbing my mane. “I sometimes have…” How to explain this without sounding crazier than usual? “Visions, I guess.” He looked at me skeptically and I waved my hoof at him. “I know, I know. Sounds crazy, but I do.” I looked around the workshop with a sigh, then turned. In the corner of the room, right above my head, was a small hole. I’d bet my horn that there’d once been a camera of some sort there. Why? Goldenblood wasn’t the director of anything back then…
"对不起,"我轻轻地皱着眉头，摩挲着我的鬃毛。"我有时候......"如何解释这件事而不让自己听起来比平时更疯狂？"我猜是幻觉吧。"他用怀疑的眼神看着我，我朝他挥了挥蹄子。"我知道，我知道。听起来很疯狂，但我就是这么想的。"我叹了口气，环顾了一下车间，然后转过身来。在房间的角落里，就在我的头上，有一个小洞。我敢打赌，那里曾经有过某种照相机。为什么？那时候金血王不是什么导演..。
Ugh… add mystery four thousand, seven hundred and two to the list.
额...在名单上加上神秘四千七百零二个。
I rose to my hooves and gave myself a shake, looking at the concerned batpony. He smiled at me and gestured with his hoof like he wanted me to go on. I groaned and shook my head. “You remember the pony I mentioned. The one with all the secrets? Well… he used to be a teacher. He taught at some place called Littlehorn… and apparently one of his students blamed herself when it got destroyed.” I frowned as I looked at the worktable. “He was also an artist…” Funny. I didn’t like thinking of him like that. Bastard. Manipulator. Son of a mule… sure. “He helped Luna set up the ministries, but… he didn’t want to. He really didn’t.” I shook my head. “I guess… he cared too much for Luna to turn her down.”
我站起身来，摇了摇自己，看着那匹忧心忡忡的蝙蝠马。他冲我笑了笑，用蹄子做了个手势，好像要我继续前进。我呻吟着摇了摇头。"你还记得我提到的那匹小马吗。有所有秘密的那个？他以前是个老师。他在一个叫Littlehorn的地方教书......显然他的一个学生在它被毁坏时很自责。"我看着工作台皱起了眉头。"他也是个艺术家......"有意思。我不喜欢那样想他。混蛋。操纵者。骡子的儿子...当然。"他帮助卢娜建立了政府部门，但是......他不想这么做。他真的没有。"我摇了摇头。"我想......他太在乎卢娜了，不会拒绝她的。"
He gave me a sideways, appraising look. He pointed at me, clutched his hooves over his chest, and thumped them rhythmically as he adopted a besotted expression. I noticed he was just a bit nervous as well.
他斜眼看了我一眼，估量着我。他指着我，用他的蹄子捂住胸口，有节奏地捶打着，一脸痴呆的表情。我注意到他也有点紧张。
“You want to know if I have a very special somepony?” I asked, and he nodded. I smiled fondly. “Yeah. I do. Her name is Glory.” At once his smile melted, and he slumped. “What?” He rolled his eyes towards the roof, hooves wide, looking anguished. “What? What’s wrong?”
"你想知道我是不是有一匹很特别的小马?"我问道，他点了点头。我深情地笑了笑。"是的。我知道。她的名字叫晨辉。"他的笑容立刻消失了，他垂头丧气。"什么?"他把眼睛转向屋顶，蹄子张得大大的，看上去很痛苦。"什么？怎么了?"
He pointed at me, then pointed between his legs at his equipment and adopted a disgusted look, thrusting his nose into the air with a snort. He looked so disappointed I couldn’t help myself and smiled.
他指着我，然后指着两腿之间的设备，厌恶地看了我一眼，鼻子喷了一下气。他看起来很失望，我忍不住笑了。
“No no. Glory is strictly mares only, but I don’t mind males like that. No… my issue with males is… um…” Come on Blackjack, admit it. It stuck in my throat a moment, but finally I managed to spit it out. “I, ah… got ploughed pretty bad not long ago. Yeah…” He stared at me in shock and I felt myself flush as I looked away. “That’s why I’m so… nervous… around you. ‘Cause I’m trying
""不，不。光荣是严格意义上的母马，但我不介意那样的雄马。不......我对男性的问题是......嗯......"来吧，黑杰克，承认吧。它卡在我的喉咙里一会儿，但最后我还是吐了出来。"我，啊......不久前被犁得很严重。是的......"他震惊地盯着我，我转过头去，感觉自己脸红了。"这就是为什么我在你身边如此...紧张。因为我在努力
to… you know… not kill you.”
而不是杀了你"
Stygius looked mad and worried. He scribbled on his chalkboard slate, ‘I not hurt U’. Then he growled and stomped what I assumed were my imaginary violators.
斯蒂吉乌斯看上去既生气又担心。他在黑板上潦草地写道:我没有伤害你。然后他咆哮着跺着脚，我以为那是我想象中的违反者。
“Thanks. I know that.” Or he was one hell of an actor. “I’m just… I don’t want to do it with you and have a flashback in the middle.” I smiled crookedly at him. “You wouldn’t want to fool around with me if I might hurt you, would you?”
"谢谢。我知道。"或者他是个了不起的演员。"我只是......我不想和你一起做，然后在中间产生回忆。"我向他歪歪扭扭地笑了笑。"如果我可能伤害你，你不会想和我胡闹的，是吗?"
He seemed to think of it for all of two seconds before he smiled and nodded once. I couldn’t help but laugh… and speculate.
他似乎想了整整两秒钟，然后微笑着点了点头。我忍不住笑了......开始揣测。
It occurred to me then to wonder how Glory would take my behavior with Stygius. I'd only just met him, though, so it wasn't like there was any emotional connection, and she wouldn't be interested in him herself. Probably not even interested in hearing about it. A little ‘recreation’ would be nice; damned nice, if it didn’t involve raping a male on a breeding queue or getting nailed to the floor. Some nice, plain, middle-ground sex.
我突然想到，晨辉会怎样对待我在冥河的行为。不过，那时我才刚认识他，所以我们之间没有任何感情联系，她自己也不会对他感兴趣。可能根本就没兴趣听这些。如果不是强奸繁殖队列中的雄性或者被钉在地板上的话，一点点的消遣会是很好的;该死的消遣。一些美好的，平淡的，中间地带的性爱。
I wasn’t like Glory. What had happened on the Seahorse aside, I liked sex with stallions. A lot. I’d always looked forward to my turn on the queue. Even Vanity’s memory orb had been fun; had it been viewed in private, I probably would have had a new toy.
我不像晨辉。撇开在海马号上发生的事不谈，我喜欢和种马做爱。很多。我总是期待着轮到我排队。即使是虚荣的记忆球也很有趣;如果私下里看的话，我可能会有一个新玩具。
Stygius interrupted my thoughts by pointing at me and then bumping his forehooves together and giving a pointed look. I flushed, but aside from that nagging panic in the back of my mind... it wasn’t an entirely unpleasant proposition.
斯蒂吉乌斯打断了我的思绪，他指着我，然后前蹄撞在一起，用锐利的眼神看了我一眼。我脸红了，但是除了脑海中挥之不去的恐慌之外......这并不是一个完全不愉快的主张。
“Maybe,” I said, making him grin. “But not right now.” From the look on Stygius’s face, though, he’d follow me through a fire for a chance at my hind end.
"也许吧,"我说，他咧嘴一笑。"但不是现在。"不过，从斯蒂吉乌斯脸上的表情来看，他会跟着我穿过火堆，抓住我后面的机会。
Stallions...
种马..。
* * *
* * *
I spent the next half an hour running around the first floor trying to find some flicker or hear something that might be another recording, but the radroach in my
接下来的半个小时，我在一楼跑来跑去，试图找到一些闪烁或听到的东西，可能是另一个录音，但在我的光栅
head was waking up and starting to scramble around. I kept seeing things flickering in the corners of my vision. Every now and then I’d see a red bar, even with the E.F.S. off, and have to fight the urge to shoot randomly into corners. Yet I also felt slow. Before, I’d had a nervous, almost manic energy. Now I felt lethargy slipping over me. Not fatigue so much as an inability to really put things together.
海德醒了过来，开始四处走动。我不断地看到视线角落里的东西在闪烁。时不时地，我会看到一个红色的条子，即使没有e.f.s，我也不得不克制自己，不要随意地在角落里射击。然而，我也感到缓慢。以前，我有一种紧张的、近乎狂躁的能量。现在我感到昏昏欲睡。与其说是疲劳，不如说是无法真正把事情组织起来。
I was wasting time. Procrastinating; wasn’t that the word? I knew what I needed to do, and yet… I didn’t want to. As stupid and illogical as it was, I was certain that if I truly slept I’d wake up… wrong. Completely robotic, or maybe I’d find out that all of this really was a dream and I was really just a mutilated, violated, mutated mare waiting to die. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something fundamentally wrong with me, something more than just the fatigue and the augmentations.
我在浪费时间。拖延症，不是这个词吗？我知道我需要做什么，但是......我不想做。尽管这很愚蠢，也很不合逻辑，但我确信如果我真的睡着了，我就会醒来......错了。完全机械化，或者也许我会发现所有这一切真的是一个梦，我真的只是一个残缺不全，受到侵犯，变异等待死亡的母马。我无法摆脱这样的感觉:我有些根本性的问题，不仅仅是疲劳和增强。
It was like my own mind was trying to kill me… putting off what I needed to do. Happyhorn had gotten me to finally admit that what I needed wasn’t more action but inaction. Not more running around but slowing down and facing what was the matter with me. It was harder; when Harbingers attacked, I just shot back. Killing was easier.
就好像我自己的思想想要杀死我...推迟我需要做的事情。哈皮霍恩让我最终承认，我需要的不是更多的行动，而是不作为。不再四处奔跑，而是放慢脚步，直面自己的问题。更难的是，当"先驱者"进攻时，我只是反击。杀人更容易。
“Goddesses, I am turning into a monster,” I said aloud, sitting down on the great room floor and cupping my face in my cool metallic hands. At least Deus was sane. Brutal and terrible, yes, but in control. Stygius stood nearby, looking concerned.
"女神们，我正在变成一个怪物,"我坐在大房间的地板上，用冰凉的金属手捂着脸，大声说道。至少天王神志清醒。残忍和可怕，是的，但是在控制之中。斯蒂吉乌斯站在附近，看上去很担心。
I needed friends. I needed other ponies. I couldn’t do it alone… and so I smiled at him wearily. “I need to sleep.” If those spritebots outside haven’t come in yet, we should be safe. And I couldn’t imagine Seekers getting in through that shield.
我需要朋友。我需要其他的小马。我一个人做不到......所以我疲倦地对他微笑。"我需要睡觉。"如果外面的spritebots还没有进来，我们应该是安全的。我无法想象搜索者能穿过那个防护罩进去。
He wrote on his slate and held it up. ‘Tired?’
他在写字板上写字，然后举起来。累了
For some reason, the question struck me as incredibly funny, but my laughter was ragged and high-strung. Now he looked even more worried. “Actually, that’s the funny thing. I’m not. I’m not tired at all.” I trotted to the couch and looked at it with a sort of dread. I remembered lying down after Priest died and not being able to get up again. Not sleep… just… lying there. “It’s just, over the last day, I’ve blown up a secret facility, gotten chased by a giant killer robot, had half my face melted off and sewn back together, been attacked a half-dozen times,
出于某种原因，这个问题让我觉得非常有趣，但我的笑声粗糙而紧张。现在他看起来更加担心了。"事实上，这才是有趣的地方。我没有。我一点也不累。"我小跑到沙发上，带着一种恐惧的神情看着它。我记得在普里斯特死后我躺了下来，再也站不起来了。不是睡觉...只是...躺在那里。"只是，在过去的一天里，我炸毁了一个秘密设施，被一个巨大的杀人机器人追赶，我的半张脸被融化并缝合在一起，被袭击了六次,
discovered my best friend was a drug addict, tried to comfort my marefriend, who turned into Rainbow Dash, had a refinery blow up around me, watched a stallion take out a tank with a rifle, trotted through a horrific prison camp, ripped apart an Enclave squad, killed a filly, and was plugged into a mental therapy machine in an insane asylum.” I turned my back on him, rubbing my skull. Maybe it was the fatigue that was making me all flirty and boycrazy?
发现我最好的朋友是个瘾君子，试图安慰我的情妇，她后来变成了"彩虹冲刺"(RainbowDash)，我周围的炼油厂被炸毁，看着一匹种马用步枪打掉一辆坦克，穿过一个可怕的监狱集中营，撕裂了一支昂科雷(Enclave)小分队，杀死了一匹小母马，还被塞进了精神病院里的心理治疗机器。"我背对着他，摩擦着我的头骨。也许是疲劳让我变得轻浮和疯狂？
He tapped his slate, and I looked over at him frowning back at me. ‘Killed a what?’
他轻拍着石板，我看着他皱着眉头回望我。杀了什么
I closed my eyes and sighed. “It was an accident… I didn’t realize who she was till too late… but I still killed her.” The tension in my head was growing again. “I know it was wrong… I want to make up for it. That’s all I can do now.” That made him look a little less angry and more concerned. He pointed at me and then shrugged in confusion. “I… I need to sleep. My brain needs it. I need it.” I just wasn’t sure I could anymore.
我闭上眼睛，叹了口气。"这是一个意外......我没有意识到她是谁，直到太晚了......但我还是杀了她。"我脑子里的紧张情绪又开始加剧了。"我知道这是不对的......我想弥补。这就是我现在所能做的。"这让他看起来不那么生气，而是更加关心。他指着我，困惑地耸耸肩。"我.....。.我需要睡觉。我的大脑需要它。我需要它。"我只是不确定我还能不能做到。
He pointed at the couch, and I lay down. “Hey… Stygius… I was wondering. Where do batponies like you come from?” Ugh, procrastinating again, Blackjack. He blinked and scrunched his brows together. I guessed that that was the sort of question you couldn’t answer in a few words on a blackboard. “Sorry… nevermind. I just…” I sighed and I closed my eyes. “It’s been so long that I… I don’t know how exactly to do this.”
他指着沙发，我躺了下来。"嘿......斯提吉乌斯......我在想。像你这样的蝙蝠战士是从哪里来的?"又拖延了黑杰克。他眨眨眼，皱皱眉头。我猜想这是那种你无法在黑板上用几个字回答的问题。"对不起......没关系。我只是......"我叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。"这么长时间了，我.....。.我不知道到底该怎么做。"
I lay there for a few seconds, then heard the soft click of a door closing. He was a nice guy; the fact that he wasn’t okay with what I’d done to Boing showed that he wasn’t just some killer. Okay, maybe he was a bit of an idiot, following me... assuming he didn’t have some outside agenda. Maybe he--
我在那儿躺了几秒钟，然后听到门关上的轻轻一声。他是一个不错的家伙;事实上，他不满意我对Boing的所作所为，这表明他不仅仅是一个杀手。好吧，也许他是个白痴，跟踪我......假设他没有什么其他的目的。也许他..
Sleep, Blackjack. That’s what you need now. Sleep. Don’t think about anything but that. Though it would be nice for P-21 to have a guy he could… hopefully… relate to. I hoped they could be friends. I know Glory would probably be fascinated by him… unless, of course, the Enclave already knew all about Luna’s guards and the like, bu--
睡吧，黑杰克。这就是你现在需要的。睡觉。除此之外什么都不要想。不过对于P-21来说，如果能有一个可以......希望......和他相处的人，那就太好了。我希望他们能成为朋友。我知道晨辉可能会对他着迷......当然，除非昂科雷已经知道卢娜的侍卫等等的一切，但是.....
I grabbed a pillow off the couch, covered my face, and screamed in frustration. Just… stop! I’d gone through most of my life not thinking about things. Why was it so hard now? Just sleep, Blackjack…
我从沙发上抓起一个枕头，蒙住脸，沮丧地尖叫起来。别说了！我一生中的大部分时间都没有想过一些事情。为什么现在这么难？睡吧，黑杰克..。
If I sleep… I’ll die. I could remember being on the boat, feeling warmth on my
如果我睡着了...我会死的。我可以记得在船上，感觉到温暖
face. The feel of Glory holding me as I slipped away. Goddesses, I wanted it so badly. I remembered… I remembered stars. A vague, fuzzy memory of stars and beautiful music and a feeling of belonging. A feeling of others wanting me to stay.
脸。当我悄然离去时，晨辉的感觉紧紧抓住我。女神们，我太想得到它了。我记得...我记得星星。一个模糊的，模糊的记忆的星星和美丽的音乐和归属感。一种别人希望我留下的感觉。
Self-destructive tendencies… was that why I was so messed up? I’d died. I’d been at peace, and then… I’d come back. Come back as this metal and pony thing. They turned me into Deus; maybe a less clunky Deus, but still a cyberpony. Glory had been right not to tell me. If she had, I wouldn’t have let her. Better some more worthy pony like the Stable Dweller take EC-1101 and try to find out about Goldenblood and Horizons. Instead, she’d plotted with everyone behind my back to save my life! How dare she? How could she? What gave her the right?!
自我毁灭的倾向...这就是为什么我一团糟的原因吗？我死了。我一直很平静然后...我就回来了。以金属和小马的形象回来。他们把我变成了天王，也许不那么笨重的天王，但仍然是一匹赛博马。晨辉没有告诉我是对的。如果她说了，我不会让她这么做的。更好一些更有价值的小马，如马厩居民采取EC-1101，并试图找出有关金色血液和地平线。相反，她背着我和所有人密谋来拯救我的生命！她怎么敢？她怎么能这样？她凭什么这么做?！
I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling, my mechanical fingers about to rip the flowery pink pillow in two. I was angry… at Glory? I was… I really was. I felt hot tears running down the sides of my head. Ever since I’d come back in Tenpony, I’d been trying to tear myself apart because I was angry at the mare I loved. And yet, I did love her, and yet some fundamental part of me was outraged that she had turned me into this. Yes, technically she had saved my life. Yes, she had done so out of love…
我睁开眼睛盯着天花板，我那机械般的手指快要把那个鲜花般的粉色枕头撕成两半了。我很生气...对晨辉？我是...我真的是。我感到热泪沿着头的两侧流下来。自从我回到Tenpony，我一直试图撕裂自己，因为我对我所爱的母马很生气。然而，我确实爱她，然而我内心深处对她把我变成这样感到愤怒。是的，严格来说，她救了我的命。是的，她这样做是出于爱.....。
Life isn’t about what you want, Miss Fish. It isn’t about what happens to you… it’s about how you respond to it. Somepony had told me that a long time ago; a stallion with a candy-cane-striped mane on a long walk to medical...
生活不是你想要什么，鱼小姐。重要的不是你身上发生了什么，而是你如何应对。一匹小马很久以前就告诉我了;一匹长着糖果色条纹鬃毛的种马在去医院的路上..。
How had I been dealing with coming back? I’d bottled it up like P-21. Let it fester. Let it drive me to be reckless. Stupid. I’d turned my back on my friends and turned my back on Glory.
我是如何应对回来的？我就像P-21一样把这事憋在心里。让它溃烂吧。让它驱使我变得鲁莽。愚蠢。我背弃了我的朋友，背弃了我的晨辉。
I lay there and closed my eyes. I imagined a great bank of electrical switches. One by one, I slowly flipped them off. I turned off my thoughts about Stygius and my newly annoying libido. I shut down my uncertainty and worry about the Harbingers, the Core, and EC-1101. I switched off the nagging curiosities of Goldenblood and Project Horizons. One by one, it was like bits of my brain were going dark. I deactivated my newly discovered anger at Glory and powered off my concerns for my friends. Finally I broke the connection to my self-hatred for what I was: a filly-murdering mechanical monster.
我躺在那里，闭上了眼睛。我想象着一大堆电子开关。一个接一个，我慢慢地把它们竖起来。我关掉了关于斯蒂吉乌斯和我最近烦人的性欲的想法。我关闭了我的不确定性，开始担心先兆、核心和EC-1101。我关掉了Goldenblood和"地平线计划"令人不安的好奇心。一个接一个，就像我的大脑的一部分变黑了。我停止了新发现的对Glory的愤怒，为我的朋友们解除了忧虑。最后，我终于摆脱了对自己的自我憎恨:一个谋杀小雌马的机械怪物。
I was left with one last switch in my head. My fear. My certainty that if I pulled it, I would die. I imagined the mare in black from the Happyhorn simulation trying so hard to protect me. Protecting myself from the very thing I needed most. I grabbed the handle of the switch with my magic and started to pull.
我脑子里只剩下最后一个念头。我的恐惧。我确信如果我拉它，我就会死。我想象着那匹来自哈皮霍恩模拟中的黑色母马如此努力地保护我。保护自己远离我最需要的东西。我用魔法抓住开关的把手，开始拉。
You’ll die… a part of me said as everything let go.
你会死的...一部分的我说，当一切都放手。
Maybe. But perhaps you get to dream when you’re dead…
也许吧。但也许你死后还能做梦..。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
“Professor Goldie! I got to go to the bathroom!” Rampage whined, the striped filly hopping about with her hindlegs crossed as we scrambled along the floor of the canyon. The students all carried their own saddlebags and wore hiking boots on their hooves as they made their way along. A beautiful sunny day filled the sky, making the bands in the rock walls gleam and sparkle brightly around us. At our lead was a younger, healthier, happier Goldenblood. The river poured through the curving divide, bouncing and spraying over rocks as the rock hunters’ club made our way along the bank. There were ponies I knew and ponies I didn’t, yet I could see them all so clearly.
"戈尔迪教授！我要去洗手间!"我们沿着峡谷的地面爬行时，横冲直撞的小雌马交叉着后腿，哀嚎着跳来跳去。学生们都背着自己的鞍包，走路时脚上都穿着登山靴。一个阳光明媚的日子充满了天空，岩石墙上的乐队在我们周围闪闪发光。在我们前面的是一个更年轻、更健康、更快乐的金色血统。河水穿过弯弯曲曲的分水岭，在岩石猎人的棍棒沿着河岸向我们冲来的时候，在岩石上弹跳着，喷溅着水花。有些小马我认识，有些小马我不认识，但是我可以清楚地看到它们。
“You know you’re in the middle of the woods? Pick a tree,” P-21 muttered beside me, rolling his eyes. Overhead, Glory and Stygius were hovering over the riverbank where water had polished the boulders until they resembled giant gray eggs. The gray pegasus filly was telling a tan pegasus colt that they couldn’t have been left by dragons.
"你知道你在森林里吗？"选一棵树吧,"P-21在我旁边咕哝着，翻着白眼。头顶上，格洛里和斯提吉乌斯盘旋在河岸上，河水打磨着这些巨石，直到它们看起来像是巨大的灰色鸡蛋。灰色的飞马小母马告诉一匹棕褐色的飞马，它们不可能是龙留下的。
“Don’t fly out too far over the river, Glory, Pound Cake,” I called out in concern as the fliers wheeled about over the boulders. I helped lift a tiny Boo and Scotch Tape up over a ridge of stone, my magic holding them steadily.
"不要飞得太远，越过河流，晨辉，磅蛋糕,"当飞行员在巨石上转来转去时，我关切地喊道。我帮助一个小小的"Boo"和"ScotchTape"跨过石脊，我的魔法稳稳地抓住它们。
“I don’t even know why they’re allowed to go to our school,” a coltish Trueblood said with a snort. “It’s Luna’s Academy for Young Unicorns. I mean really! What are pegasi and earth ponies going to learn about magic?”
"我甚至不知道为什么他们被允许去我们学校,"一个轻佻的楚布拉德说，鼻子里哼了一声。"这是卢娜的青年独角兽学院。我是说真的！飞马座和地球上的矮种马能学到什么魔法呢?"
“While it’s true that most of our students are unicorns,” Goldenblood said quietly but in a tone of voice that made my ears perk up, “there are forms of magic that are beyond most unicorns. For instance, you might spend your entire life trying to learn a spell to tend a garden, while an earth pony could accomplish it with ease. And just as we can learn from them, they can learn from us.”
"虽然我们的大多数学生确实是独角兽,"金布拉德平静地说，但是他的声音让我的耳朵兴奋起来,"有些魔法是大多数独角兽所不具备的。例如，你可能一辈子都在努力学习照料花园的咒语，而一匹地球上的小马却可以轻而易举地完成它。正如我们可以向他们学习一样，他们也可以向我们学习。"
“Besides,” piped a tan unicorn filly beside Rampage, “he’s my brother! So he can come to my school with me if he wants!”
"此外,"狂暴旁边一匹棕褐色的独角马尖叫道,"他是我的兄弟!"！如果他愿意的话，他可以和我一起去我的学校!"
“Well said, Pumpkin Cake,” I said, giving the young mare an approving smile.
"说得好，南瓜蛋糕,"我说，给了年轻的母马一个赞许的微笑。
She beamed back.
她微笑着回答。
Trueblood snorted at me. “Well, fine, but I don’t know why unicorns with less magic than an earth pony are allowed to be here. What’s she going to teach us? How to not do magic?” Suddenly a rock flew through the air and smacked him upside the head. “Ow!” He stared at the filly. “Professor! She threw a rock at me!”
真布拉德朝我喷了一口鼻子。"嗯，好吧，但是我不知道为什么魔力比地球上的小马还小的独角兽会被允许在这里。她要教我们什么？如何不使用魔法?"突然，一块石头从空中飞了出来，砸在他的头上。"噢!"他盯着那匹小母马。"教授！她朝我扔石头!"
“Accident! My magic went off,” Pumpkin Cake retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.
"意外！"我的魔法消失了,"南瓜蛋糕反驳道，对着他吐着舌头。
“Professor!” Trueblood whined.
"教授!"真布拉德抱怨道。
“Unicorn magic is a strange and sometimes unpredictable thing. Especially when you’re insulting said unicorn’s family and friends,” Goldenblood countered.
"独角兽魔法是一种奇怪的、有时难以预测的东西。尤其是当你侮辱所说的独角兽的家人和朋友时。"Goldenblood反驳道。
The colt snorted and muttered, “At least for unicorns that have magic.” He glared at me sullenly. “She shouldn’t even be here. When I tell Father, he’ll write to Princess Luna about me being around deadhorns like her.” I dropped my head a little; I really didn’t want to get fired from this job.
小马哼了一声，咕哝道:"至少对有魔力的独角兽来说是这样。"他闷闷不乐地瞪着我。"她根本就不该来这儿。当我告诉父亲的时候，他会写信给卢娜公主，告诉她我和她一样到处碰壁。"我低下了头，我真的不想从这份工作中被解雇。
“She is my assistant, and her magical ability is none of your business,” Goldenblood countered with a tone of soft yet firm reprimand. Their eyes met, and the maroon colt lowered his head, muttering to himself. Goldenblood’s gaze met mine, and the pale unicorn smiled.
"她是我的助手，她的魔法能力与你无关,"戈登布拉德用一种温和而坚定的谴责口吻反驳道。他们目光相遇，这匹栗色的小马低下了头，喃喃自语。金色的血液凝视着我，苍白的独角兽微笑着。
“Professor Goldie!” Rampage whined as she hopped in place, screwing up her face.
"戈尔迪教授!"她一边跳上车，一边扭曲着脸，怒吼着。
“Tree. Just. Use,” P-21 muttered.
「树木。只是。"使用,"P-21咕哝着。
Goldenblood sighed. “I’m afraid he’s right. Otherwise, it’s a long way back to the toilet at Littlehorn.”
金布拉德叹了口气。"恐怕他是对的。否则，回到Littlehorn的厕所还有很长的路要走。"
“Oooooh!” she whined and then darted off into some brush. “Don’t look!” she shrieked.
"噢!"她呜咽了一声，然后冲进了灌木丛。"别看!"她尖叫着。
“Who’d want to?” P-21 asked as he shook his head, looking around at the others.
"谁愿意呢?"P-21一边摇头，一边环顾四周，问道。
“Hey, what are you doing in those bushes?” Pound Cake called down from above. The filly’s scream echoed up and down the canyon’s walls.
"嘿，你在灌木丛里干什么?"磅蛋糕从天而降。小雌马的尖叫声在峡谷的岩壁上回荡。
With that disaster out of the way, we reached a spot near the end of the canyon. Here the black rock was scoured clean by a torrent of water pouring down from hundreds of feet above. Cool mist played on my hide and dripped off my mane and into my eyes. I wiped the wet strands away and sighed, looking around at the bands of stones in the canyon’s walls, shown so clearly with the wet bringing out their colors.
随着灾难的结束，我们到达了峡谷尽头的一个地方。这块黑色的岩石被从几百英尺高空倾泻而下的洪水冲刷得干干净净。冷雾扑面而来，从我的鬃毛上滴落，进入我的眼睛。我擦去湿漉漉的一缕缕头发，叹了口气，环视着峡谷壁上的一圈圈石头，这些石头被湿漉漉的头发染成了各种颜色，清晰可见。
One particular reddish-yellow band of stone stood out above the others. That was because this one had teeth! The massive fangs of some enormous creature were frozen in place where the profile emerged from the rock. “Whoa, cool!” Pound Cake said as he flew above us all. Whatever the creature was, it’d been two or three times the size of a pony. There were lots of other grayish bones visible in the rock band.
一块特别的红黄色的石头在其他石头上显得格外突出。那是因为这只有牙齿！一些巨大生物的巨大毒牙被冻结在从岩石中露出轮廓的地方。"哇，太酷了!"磅蛋糕在我们上空飞过时说。不管那个生物是什么，它的体型是小马的两到三倍。还有许多其他的灰色的骨头在岩石带可见。
“Thank you, Pound Cake,” Goldenblood said as he smiled at the tan pegasus colt. “If you remember our last session, I pointed out how when sedimentary rocks form, they create bands of stone called ‘strata’. These strata are usually arranged from youngest rock at the top with progressively older and older stone the further down you go.”
"谢谢你，磅蛋糕,"金血王对着棕褐色的小马微笑着说。"如果你还记得我们上一次的讨论，我指出当沉积岩形成时，它们是如何创造出被称为'地层'的石带的。这些地层通常是由顶部最年轻的岩石排列而成，随着岩层的深入，岩石的年龄也越来越大。"
“Like your room, Bro,” Pumpkin Cake teased the pegasus with a grin.
"喜欢你的房间，兄弟,"南瓜蛋糕逗弄着飞马微笑。
“What about those, Professor? Are those b… b… bones?” Rampage stammered as she nervously poked one of the shapes embedded in the wall.
"那些呢，教授？那些是b吗。.B..Bones?"她一边紧张地拨弄着嵌在墙上的一个图形，一边结结巴巴地说。
“Once they were, but now they’ve become special rocks called fossils. Long ago, this creature was as alive as you or I,” Goldenblood said as he gestured at the cliff wall. “Then it died and was buried in this muddy sand. Over a very long time, its bones were transformed into rocks like the ones you see here.” His horn glowed as he levitated out a rock hammer, carefully picked one of the fossils free, and passed it around... or at least passed it around till it got to Boo. The pale earth filly then popped it into her mouth and started chewing on the fossil like it was an extremely stale biscuit.
"它们曾经是，但现在它们变成了特殊的岩石，叫做化石。很久以前，这个生物就像你我一样活着,"金血王指着悬崖壁说。"然后它死了，被埋在这个泥沙里。经过很长一段时间，它的骨骼就变成了你们现在看到的这些岩石。"他拿出一把石锤，小心翼翼地捡起其中一块化石，传来传去......或者至少传来传去，直到它落到Boo手里。这只苍白的小母马突然把它放进嘴里，开始咀嚼这块化石，就像它是一块极不新鲜的饼干一样。
“How? Was there an outbreak of cockatrices?” Trueblood asked with a skeptical
"怎么回事？是不是出现了鹦鹉热?"特鲁布拉德怀疑地问道
scowl.
愁眉苦脸。
“Actually? There’re some theories that the transformation occurred with no magic at all,” Goldenblood said with a smile. The maroon colt snorted disdainfully. “Yes, that’s the typical reaction,” the pale unicorn said with a chuckle.
""实际上？有些理论认为，这种转变根本没有任何魔力。"金血王笑着说。那匹栗色的小马轻蔑地哼了一声。"是的，这是典型的反应,"苍白的独角兽笑着说。
“Oooh! There’s another one, Professor! And another!” Glory cried out as she dropped down to the bottom of the yellowy-red layer and pointed her wing at the darker layer below it. “And even more down here! Only… these look like bugs. And there’s a fish!” the gray filly said, pointing her hoof at the rock face.
"哦！还有一个，教授！再来一杯!"晨辉掉到黄红色层的底部，用翅膀指着下面较暗的层，大声喊道。"下面还有更多！只是...这些看起来像虫子。还有一条鱼!"灰色的小母马用蹄子指着岩石的表面说。
“The magic of pegasus eyesight,” Goldenblood murmured, making the maroon colt glower. “Yes, there are an amazing variety. I know that some books and films talk about ancient monsters like giants and trolls, but really, we know next to nothing about some of the creatures from long ago. What did they look like, for example? What did they hunt? How did they live? Were they intelligent, or not?” As he looked up at the rock face, the sun peeked through the clouds and made several gemstones embedded higher up gleam and twinkle like shards of a petrified rainbow.
"天马神奇的视力,"金血王喃喃地说，这匹栗色的小马怒目而视。"是的，种类繁多，令人惊叹。我知道一些书籍和电影谈论古老的怪物，比如巨人和巨魔，但实际上，我们对很久以前的一些生物几乎一无所知。例如，它们长什么样？他们猎到了什么？他们是怎么生活的？他们到底聪不聪明?"当他抬头看着岩石的表面时，阳光透过云层照射进来，几颗宝石镶嵌在更高的地方，闪闪发光，像石化了的彩虹的碎片。
“Spread out and see if you can find more for your collection. Remember, only one each, and only ones no bigger than your hoof. Leave the larger ones for others to find.”
"分散开来，看看能不能找到更多的收藏品。记住，每只蹄子只有一个，而且只有蹄子大小的蹄子。把大一点的留给别人去找。"
The fillies and colts spread out in little pairs and trios. I made sure that Boo didn’t wander too close to the river. The maroon colt grumbled about stupid rock hunters’ clubs and joining ‘cause Mom and Dad said so. Pound Cake grabbed his sister firmly with his legs and flew off along the rock face, claiming they were going to find the biggest ones of all. I called out for them not to go too far.
小雌马和小马成对成三地散开。我确保布不会走得离河太近。这匹栗色的小马抱怨着愚蠢的摇滚猎人俱乐部，因为爸爸妈妈也这么说。磅蛋糕用他的腿牢牢地抓住了他的妹妹，沿着岩石表面飞走了，声称他们将要找到最大的一个。我呼吁他们不要走得太远。
Glory, however, was staring at the huge snarling fossil in the cliff face and the others beside it. “Professor… I was wondering… well… there’s all these fossils in this band… and the band beneath that… and I even saw some in the layer underneath that one. But why aren’t there any fossils of these big monsters higher up? I mean… did something kill all of these creatures at once?”
然而，晨辉却凝视着悬崖表面巨大的咆哮着的化石和旁边的其他化石。"教授......我在想......嗯......这个带子里有这么多化石......还有下面的带子......我甚至在那个带子的下面看到了一些。但是为什么在更高的地方没有这些大怪物的化石？我的意思是......是不是有什么东西一下子杀死了所有这些生物?"
A few that were listening in stopped picking at rocks and straightened. Goldenblood looked at her with a pleased smile. “An excellent observation. That is quite a good question. The honest truth is that we don’t really know. History
有几个在听的人不再捡石头，直起身子。金布拉德带着愉快的微笑看着她。"非常好的观察。这是一个很好的问题。真实的事实是，我们并不真正知道。历史
fades and blurs the further back one goes. We’re taught the pageant of Hearth’s Warming Eve, but what of the countries that we came from? Where did they come from? Or the Princesses? Or ponykind? Thus, when we get to things happening eons ago, all we can do is make educated speculations. Why so many large creatures in these layers and then such an abrupt stop? Something must have happened.”
走得越远，光线就越模糊。我们学习壁炉城温暖之夜的盛会，但是我们来自哪些国家呢？它们是从哪里来的？还是公主们？或者矮种马？因此，当我们面对亿万年前发生的事情时，我们所能做的就是做出有根据的推测。为什么这么多的大型生物在这些层面，然后这样突然停止？一定发生了什么事。"
He trotted up to the rock layer and peered closely at it. He hummed softly under his breath, then paused. His rock hammer then picked out a lump of rock. Laying it down, he carefully chipped at the stone till it broke open and revealed a tiny metal fragment.
他小跑到岩层上，仔细地观察着。他低声哼了一声，然后停了下来。然后他的石锤捡出一块石头。他把石头放下，小心翼翼地凿开，直到石头裂开，露出一小块金属碎片。
“What is it, Professor?” P-21 asked as Goldenblood lifted it with his magic.
"怎么了，教授?"P-21在金血王用魔法举起它的时候问道。
“Sky iron. Starmetal. Moonsteel. The names vary, but it’s a very special kind of iron that is found only in meteorites, what we also call ‘falling stars’. It has very special properties that vary quite extensively. Some is exceptionally strong.
"天铁。Starmetal.Moonsteel.它的名字各不相同，但它是一种非常特殊的铁，只存在于陨石中，我们也称之为"流星"。它有非常特殊的性质，变化相当广泛。有些是异常强大的。
Other kinds are fairly mundane. It is usually impervious to rust and very difficult to melt or work with. Most ponies don’t even bother studying it as it’s such a bother. But you can find it wherever falling stars have landed.” He tapped the layer. “The upper boundary of this fossil-rich layer is full of tiny fragments of this particularly silvery variety of starmetal, suggesting that once, long ago, a meteorite impacted somewhere in the world. We’ve found fragments of this particular starmetal all across Equestria.”
其他种类则相当普通。它通常不会生锈，也很难熔化或使用。大多数小马甚至懒得去研究它，因为它实在是太麻烦了。但你可以在流星落下的地方找到它。"他轻敲了一下这层。"这个富含化石层的上界充满了这种特别银白色的星状金属的微小碎片，这表明很久以前曾经有一颗陨石撞击了世界的某个地方。我们在整个小马国都发现了这种特殊星金属的碎片。"
“And it killed all those… those things?” Rampage asked as she pointed at the fangy fossil with a hoof.
"它杀死了所有那些......那些东西?"当她用蹄子指着那个长着獠牙的化石时，狂暴问道。
“We suspect it did. Others hypothesize that other changes to the world may have killed these ancient beasts long ago. Perhaps a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. But does anypony notice something else?” He gestured towards the horizontal bands of stone higher up the rock face with his hoof. I stared but didn’t see anything standing out. Certainly no other fossils like the others I’d seen. Just the glimmer of gems studding the rock face in little clusters.
"我们怀疑是这样。其他人猜测，世界的其他变化可能在很久以前杀死了这些古老的野兽。也许是一场灾难性的火山喷发类型。但是，有没有人注意到其他的东西呢?"他用蹄子指了指高出岩石表面的水平石带。我盯着看，但没有看到什么特别的东西。当然，没有其他化石像我见过的那些一样。仅仅是岩石表面一簇簇宝石的微光。
“Boring…” muttered Trueblood.
"无聊......"楚布拉德喃喃自语。
Then Stygius flew up and tapped a ruby with a hoof. Goldenblood nodded in approval. “Excellent. That’s exactly it. Above this stratum of rock, gemstones appear all across Equestria, yet beneath it there is virtually nothing we’d call a
然后斯蒂吉乌斯飞了起来，用蹄敲了敲一颗红宝石。金布拉德点头表示赞同。"好极了。就是这样。在这层岩石之上，宝石遍布整个Equestria，但是在它之下几乎没有我们称之为
gemstone.” We all looked at him in confusion. He floated his hammer up to the batpony, who took it in his mouth and knocked the gemstone free. I caught it as it fell and levitated it over to the gold-maned unicorn as Stygius dropped down beside me. “Gemstones like this are uncommon anywhere else in the world.
宝石我们都困惑地看着他。他把锤子放到小马身上，小马叼起锤子，把宝石敲了下来。当它掉下来的时候，我抓住了它，把它悬浮在金色鬃毛的独角兽旁边，斯蒂吉乌斯也掉到了我身边。"像这样的宝石在世界其他任何地方都是罕见的。
Notice its facets? How clear and flawless it is? We see so many bright and sparkly gems like this across Equestria that they’re mundane and common. Indeed, we cultivate them inside stones. However, if you were to go to another part of the world…” He pulled an ugly reddish-brown stone embedded inside a rock from his saddlebag. “This is a ruby.”
注意到它的方方面面吗？它是多么的清晰和完美？在整个Equestria，我们看到许多这样明亮而闪耀的宝石，它们平凡而普通。事实上，我们在石头里培育它们。然而，如果你去世界的另一个地方......"他从鞍囊里取出一块嵌在石头里的丑陋的红褐色石头。"这是一颗红宝石。"
“Um… I’m sorry Professor, but that can’t be right. That’s a ruby,” I said as I pointed at the glimmering gemstone. Everypony nodded in agreement.
"嗯......对不起，教授，但这不可能。那是一颗红宝石,"我指着那颗闪闪发光的宝石说。每个小马都点头表示同意。
Goldenblood chuckled, “I assure you, this is a ruby. Same hardness. Same crystals. Cut and polished, it would look the same. Yet it would have absolutely no inherent magical energy whatsoever. Also, any gemstones below this impact stratum would be equally mundane and unmagical. This is the conundrum. How is it that we go from ordinary, dirty, unmagical crystals before the event to countless gemstones afterwards? And why are these gems so abundant here, but scarcer and scarcer the further one gets from Equestria?”
金色的血液咯咯地笑着说:"我向你保证，这是一颗红宝石。同样的硬度。同样的晶体。经过切割和抛光，看起来是一样的。然而，它绝对没有任何固有的魔力。此外，任何低于这个影响层宝石将同样世俗和不神奇。这就是难题所在。我们是如何从事件前的普通、肮脏、没有魔力的水晶变成事后无数的宝石的呢？为什么这里的宝石如此丰富，而Equestria的宝石却越来越稀缺?"
The pale unicorn poorly hid his smug expression, and P-21 shared a look with me and Glory before he rolled his eyes and said with not so veiled sarcasm, “Gee, Professor. Do you have a theory?” Rampage snorted and even Glory fought a smile.
苍白的独角兽掩饰不住自鸣得意的表情，P-21在转动眼珠之前，和我还有晨辉看了一眼，带着不那么委婉的讽刺说:"哎呀，教授。你有什么想法吗?"横冲直撞的人嗤之以鼻，就连晨辉也挤出了笑容。
Goldenblood smirked back at P-21 and said, with a touch of singed pride, “Well, since you’re so curious, I guess I can share mine with you.” He looked up at the gems studding the cliff face. “I suspect that when the meteorite struck, so many creatures died so suddenly that the release of all that life energy condensed in the gemstones that are abundant in our land. We see a similar phenomenon occur when potent magical beings, like ancient dragons, die.”
金血王回敬P-21一笑，带着一点点被烧焦的骄傲说:"既然你这么好奇，我想我可以和你分享我的。"他抬头看着悬崖表面镶嵌的宝石。"我怀疑，当陨石撞击时，许多生物突然死亡，以至于所有生命能量的释放都凝结在我们土地上丰富的宝石中。我们看到类似的现象也发生在强大的魔法生物死亡时，比如远古的龙。"
“Is there going to be a test on this, Professor?” Trueblood asked, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t think rock hunters’ club had marks.”
"教授，是不是要对这个进行测试?"真布拉德翻着眼睛问道。"我不认为摇滚猎人俱乐部有标记。"
“Just because you’ve got rocks in your head doesn’t mean that the rest of us aren’t interested! Right?” Glory asked eagerly as she turned to the rest of us. Boo tilted her head and looked up at her as she chewed on her tail, P-21 gave a shrug,
"仅仅因为你脑子里有石头，并不意味着我们其他人不感兴趣！对吧?"晨辉急切地问道，同时转向我们其他人。布歪着头，抬头看着她咀嚼着尾巴，P-21耸了耸肩,
Rampage scratched her head, and Stygius was checking out my rump. Glory drooped in the air. “Well I’m interested.”
狂暴抓着她的头，斯蒂吉乌斯正在检查我的臀部。晨辉消失在空气中。"我很感兴趣。"
“It’s alright,” Goldenblood said as he looked at the students hunting for fossils and then turned back to me. “It looks like Pumpkin and Pound have wandered off again. Can you see if you can find them, Dear? They’re probably further back along the canyon. Tell them we have perfectly fine fossils for them to pick here.” He looked back at the rest of the colts and fillies working on the stone face. “I’ll keep an eye on everypony else here.”
"没关系,"金布拉德一边说，一边看着学生们寻找化石，然后转向我。"看来'南瓜'和'庞德'又走丢了。你能看看能不能找到他们吗，亲爱的？他们可能在峡谷的后面。告诉他们，我们这里有非常好的化石，他们可以在这里采集。"他回头看着其余的小马和小雌马在石头脸上干活。"我会盯着这里的每一匹马的。"
I trotted away with all due diligence and speed, calling out their names as I picked my way through the canyon that arced along the edge of Littlehorn Valley. Seen from far above, it would have created an image of an immense crescent moon. The river slowed as the canyon widened. While the terrain was rough and wild, unicorns had already put their horns into shaping the stone and molding footpaths, slowly but surely transforming the canyon into an immense garden. Where earth ponies would cultivate the land and pegasi would simply ignore it, unicorns simply had to shape the land to their whims.
我带着应有的勤奋和速度小跑着离开，在沿着利特尔霍恩山谷边缘的峡谷中选路时喊着他们的名字。从遥远的高空俯瞰，它会创造出一个巨大的新月形象。随着峡谷的扩大，河流的速度减慢了。尽管地势崎岖不平，野性十足，但独角兽们已经用角塑造了这块石头，塑造了人行道，慢慢地但稳步地将峡谷变成了一个巨大的花园。当地球上的小马可以耕种这片土地，而飞马座则完全无视它的存在，独角兽们只需按照自己的意愿来塑造这片土地。
What would zebras have done with the canyon and the valley? Would they have molded the dark stone into delicate yet sturdy bridges? Tended to the land so that it was lush and green as possible? Or just ignored it? Professor Goldenblood said that the zebras built beautiful and exotic cities while leaving the wilderness wild, but it was difficult to imagine an entire world that was left like the Everfree Forest.
斑马会对峡谷和山谷做什么？他们会把暗色的石头塑造成精致而坚固的桥吗？照料土地，使它尽可能的茂盛和绿色？或者只是忽略它？戈登布拉德教授说，斑马在离开荒野的时候建造了美丽而异国情调的城市，但是很难想象还有一个完整的世界像永恒自由森林一样。
I came around the bend and could see the school built into the side of the cliff face. In less than six months, with magic from the Princess herself, Luna’s Academy for Young Unicorns had been erected. A round curtain wall topped with elaborate towers rose beside a lake in the widest section of the valley. Diamonds enchanted to twinkle like stars would illuminate it once night fell. Built into the wall of the canyon in brilliant black marble was a palace unlike any other outside Canterlot. The structure rose higher and higher till a final black spire soared above the lip of the canyon and into the air over the valley.
我来到拐弯处，可以看到学校建在悬崖边上。在不到六个月的时间里，借助公主自己的魔法，卢娜的青年独角兽学院已经建成。在山谷最宽处的一个湖边矗立着一面圆形的幕墙，上面有精致的塔楼。钻石被施了魔法，像星星一样闪烁，一旦夜幕降临就会照亮它。这座用明亮的黑色大理石建造在峡谷壁上的宫殿与Canterlot以外的任何宫殿都不同。这座建筑物越升越高，直到最后一个黑色的尖顶高出峡谷的边缘，飞向山谷的上空。
“Ma’am?” came a voice from above. I looked up to see Pound Cake fluttering overhead. He looked worried. Not panicked like something bad had happened, but definitely not his usual pugnacious behavior. His brown eyes turned towards a cave in the cliff wall where Pumpkin Cake sat, chewing on a hoof nervously. I
"女士?"上面传来一个声音。我抬起头，看到磅蛋糕在头顶上飞舞。他看起来很担心。不像发生了什么不好的事情那样惊慌失措，但肯定不是他平时好斗的行为。他棕色的眼睛转向悬崖壁上的一个洞穴，南瓜饼坐在那里，紧张地咀嚼着蹄子。一
trotted my way towards the cave, one of the larger ones I knew of. The canyon was full of little nooks and hidey holes. “We found something...”
我小跑着走向洞穴，这是我所知道的最大的洞穴之一。峡谷里到处都是小角落和隐蔽的洞穴。"我们发现了一些东西......"
I trotted to the cave and conjured a tiny star of light. I looked at the tan unicorn and asked in a cautious voice, “What is--”
我小跑到山洞里，召唤出一颗小小的光之星。我看着那只棕褐色的独角兽，小心翼翼地问道:"这是——"
Zebras. I knew that zebras were supposed to be terrible, deadly enemies. What I saw inside, though, were not the fiends we read about in the newspaper but filthy, terrified, and above all hungry people clustered together and wearing rags. A half dozen had rifles, but it was all they could do to remain upright. Many looked too weak to even stand. The reek was abominable, and I balked for several moments before I took a step forward. “Hello?”
斑马。我知道斑马应该是可怕的致命敌人。然而，我在里面看到的并不是我们在报纸上读到的那些恶魔，而是肮脏、恐惧，最重要的是饥饿的人们聚集在一起，穿着破布。有六个人拿着步枪，但他们只能这样才能保持正直。许多人看起来太虚弱，甚至站不起来。臭气令人憎恶，我犹豫了好一会儿才向前迈了一步。"喂?"
They shrank back fearfully from one unicorn mare and two young ponies. An elderly stallion dressed in a filthy rag slowly moved to the front of the crowd as they shrank back. One eye was covered by a bandage, and he had more rags covering other injuries. He turned and addressed the others quickly, then turned back to me. “No hurt, pony. No hurt.”
他们害怕地从一匹母独角兽和两匹小马身上退了回去。一匹穿着肮脏破布的上了年纪的种马慢慢地走到人群前面，他们向后退缩。他的一只眼睛被绷带包着，其他伤口上还有更多的布。他转过身，迅速地和其他人说了几句话，然后又转向我。"没事，小马。没有受伤。"
Was he saying he didn’t want me to hurt them, or that he wasn’t going to hurt me? “No hurt. Good!” I smiled widely, backing off a few steps; indeed, the reek coming off him made that easy. He seemed to relax a little as the sickly, starving zebras talked to each other in their strange language. I took in how wretched they were and though how wrong it was given that the school was well stocked and could feed ten times their number. “Food? Help?” I asked as I pointed back in the direction of the school.
他是说他不想让我伤害他们，还是说他不会伤害我？"没有受伤。很好!"我大大地笑了笑，退了几步;事实上，他身上散发出来的臭气使这一切变得容易起来。当那些瘦弱、饥饿的斑马用奇怪的语言相互交谈时，他似乎放松了一些。我领悟到他们是多么的可怜，尽管学校有足够的食物可以养活十倍于他们人数的孩子是多么的错误。"食物？帮助?"我指着学校的方向问道。
I knew we were at war with the zebras, but these people weren’t in any condition to be at war with anypony. A few that wore filthy cloaks and stared at me coldly gave me the shivers, but could I really blame them? The chief looked at me and then at the starving zebras. “Safe…” he drawled slowly, pointing at the cave. Then he firmly shook his head as he pointed past me. “No safe! Curse!”
我知道我们在和斑马作战，但是这些人没有任何条件和任何小马作战。有些人穿着肮脏的斗篷，冷冷地盯着我，让我不寒而栗，但我真的能责怪他们吗？酋长看了看我，然后又看了看饥饿的斑马。"安全......"他慢吞吞地说，指着山洞。然后他坚定地摇了摇头，指着我身边走过。"没有保险箱！诅咒!"
“Please. Let me help,” I begged. If I left and got food, they might flee to another cave, or worse, try to leave the valley. “We won’t hurt you.” I slowly backed away, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake coming to flank me. Slowly, the mass of zebras began to move towards the exit. As I continued to move, more and more came out. Where I’d thought there’d been only a dozen or so, in the end I was staring at nearly a hundred filthy and scared zebras. Clearly they didn’t like this,
"求你了。让我来帮忙,"我恳求道。如果我离开并得到食物，他们可能逃到另一个洞穴，或更糟糕的是，试图离开山谷。"我们不会伤害你。"我慢慢地后退，磅蛋糕和南瓜蛋糕来到我的侧翼。慢慢地，一大群斑马开始向出口移动。随着我继续移动，越来越多的东西出来了。我原以为这里只有十几只斑马，但最后我看到的却是近百只肮脏而又惊恐的斑马。很明显他们不喜欢这样
but starvation was a powerful motivator for them to trust me.
但饥饿是他们信任我的强大动力。
They moved with grace and care, despite their weakened condition. Some even had wagons of a sort, exotic balanced bisected vehicles with one large wheel in the middle that easily crossed the bumpy terrain. Many more young, old, and sick were loaded on these strange wagons. Other larger two- and four-wheeled varieties carried what meager supplies they had. Most looked fearful, but as they talked to each other in their strange tongue, I hoped my entreaties of ‘Food’ and ‘Safe’ were making it across the language barrier.
尽管身体虚弱，他们还是优雅而小心地移动着。有些人甚至拥有一种特殊的平衡分割车辆，中间有一个大轮子，可以轻松穿越崎岖不平的地形。更多的年轻人、老人和病人被装在这些奇怪的马车上。其他较大的两轮和四轮车载着他们所拥有的稀缺物资。大多数人看起来都很害怕，但是当他们用奇怪的语言交谈时，我希望我关于食物和安全的恳求能够跨越语言障碍。
I sent Pound Cake ahead to the school to tell the dean that we’d found zebras who needed help. With food and help… who knew? Maybe this might be something that they could use to end the fighting! The war wasn’t worth it if it hurt anypony like this.
我让磅蛋糕先去学校告诉院长我们发现了需要帮助的斑马。有食物和帮助...谁知道呢？也许这是他们可以用来结束战争的东西！如果这场战争伤害了这样的小马，那就不值得了。
The front gates of the academy stood wide; there wasn’t really any need for them to be closed. The war was as far from Littlehorn as one could get, and the lone old guardsmare just took in the sight of me and a unicorn filly leading in a filthy, starving horde with disbelief. Then she turned tail and scampered inside. Alarm bells started to ring, and the students began to mill about; nopony was exactly sure what to do when the alarms went off. They watched from windows and doorways in nervous anticipation. The zebras were equally terrified as they looked around at the school.
学院的大门敞开着，实在没有必要关上。战争发生在离Littlehorn最远的地方，孤独的守卫看到我和一匹独角兽小母马带着难以置信的神情领着一群饥肠辘辘的野马。然后她转身就跑了进去。警铃开始响起，学生们开始转来转去;警铃一响，没有人确切地知道该怎么办。他们紧张地期待着从窗口和门口观看。斑马看着学校的四周，同样感到恐惧。
The school dean, a sour-looking yellow stallion with a gray curly mane, poked his head out the front door of the building in terror. His horn glowed a moment, then his voice boomed across the central yard. “Release your hostages immediately and depart! This school is well defended!” From the tops of the towers along the curtain wall, diamond points began to glow an ominous blue. “This is your last warning!”
校长，一匹长着灰色卷发，看起来酸溜溜的黄色种马，恐惧地把头探出大门。他的号角发亮了一会儿，然后他的声音响彻了中央的院子。"立即释放人质，然后离开！这所学校防守严密!"沿着幕墙的双子塔顶端，钻石点开始发出不祥的蓝光。"这是最后一次警告!"
“Wait! Wait!” I screamed as I raced forward and stopped before the front door. Pumpkin Cake stood beside me, and Pound Cake zoomed out of a window to stand beside his sister as well. “They’re not attacking us! They need our help!”
"等等！等等!"我尖叫着向前冲去，在前门前停了下来。南瓜蛋糕站在我旁边，磅蛋糕从窗口飞出去站在他妹妹旁边。"他们没有攻击我们！他们需要我们的帮助!"
“I tried telling them that!” Pound Cake shouted, waving at the dean in frustration. “He heard the word ‘zebra’ and went stupid!”
"我试着告诉他们这些!"磅蛋糕大叫着，沮丧地向院长挥手。"他听到'斑马'这个词就变傻了!"
“Help?” The dean gaped at me in shock. “Are you… did you lead them here?! Are you out of your little pony minds!?”
"帮忙?"系主任震惊地目瞪口呆地看着我。"是你...是你把他们带到这儿来的吗?！你是不是脑子进水了!"
“They’re starving and sick! They can’t hurt anypony,” I said as I stood between the doors and the clusters of wagons and zebras.
"他们又饿又病！他们不能伤害任何小马,"我站在车门和成群的马车和斑马之间说。
“They’ve got a gun!” somepony shrieked. “Fire! Fire!”
"他们有枪!"有人尖叫。"开火！开火!"
“No! Stop! We need to help them!” I yelled as the Cake twins waved their hooves as well.
"不！住手！我们需要帮助他们!"蛋糕双胞胎也挥舞着他们的蹄子，我大叫起来。
“Please, don’t shoot!” Pound Cake begged.
"请不要开枪!"英镑蛋糕求我。
“They won’t hurt us!” Pumpkin Cake yelled.
"他们不会伤害我们的!"南瓜蛋糕响了起来。
“Depart at once! This is your final warning!” The dean’s panicked voice boomed over the yard as the zebras started to break apart. Somepony, however, had closed the gates too late, and now the refugees were trapped within the curtain wall with nowhere to flee. The zebras began to cry out as the diamond spires glowed brighter and brighter.
""马上离开！这是最后的警告!"院长惊慌失措的声音响彻院子，斑马开始四分五裂。然而，一些小马关门太晚了，现在难民们被困在幕墙之内，无处可逃。当钻石尖顶发出越来越亮的光芒时，斑马开始尖叫起来。
Then a shot rang out.
然后一声枪响。
“No!” I screamed as I turned and looked at the zebras I’d wanted so badly to help.
"不!"我转过身，看着那些斑马，尖叫起来，因为我非常想帮忙。
The spires discharged. Blue-white lines flashed out from the tips of six towers and flashed across the clustered zebras. Whatever they touched simply vaporized. I’d never actually seen magic like this at work; in fact, I doubted anypony at our school knew exactly how the defenses worked. We’d never imagined what they could actually do…
尖塔放电了。蓝白色的线条从六座塔尖上一闪而过，穿过斑马群。他们接触到的东西都蒸发了。事实上，我从来没有在工作中见过这样的魔法;事实上，我怀疑我们学校里的任何一个小马都知道防御系统是如何工作的。我们从未想象过他们真正能做什么.....。
A second, and they were being cut to pieces. And it was all my fault. I couldn’t think. I could only move, and that was in the direction of the wagons that were sliced to pieces by the dancing blue beams. It was the only way I could imagine getting the beams to stop. At the very least, I would die beside the zebras I’d foolishly led to their deaths.
一秒钟后，他们就被切成了碎片。这都是我的错。我无法思考。我只能向前移动，那是朝着那些被跳动的蓝色横梁切成碎片的马车的方向。这是我唯一能想到的让光束停止的方法。至少，我会死在斑马旁边，因为我愚蠢地导致它们的死亡。
“Stop! Stop firing!” the dean stammered as I reached the screaming zebras. I found the old zebra with the one eye lying in two pieces and collapsed in front of him. We may not have understood their language, but screams like that didn’t need language to get their meaning across. Young zebras with sliced-off legs were held by desperate parents ignoring their own wounds to tie off spurting
"住手！停止射击!"当我走到尖叫的斑马跟前时，院长结结巴巴地说。我发现那只只有一只眼睛的老斑马躺在地上，瘫倒在他面前。我们可能没有听懂他们的语言，但是那样的尖叫声并不需要语言来传达他们的意思。绝望的父母抱着被砍掉双腿的小斑马，无视自己身上的伤口，用绳子系上
stumps. Others cradled loved ones killed under the promise of food and help.
树桩。另外一些人则是在食物和帮助的承诺下，把所爱的人放在摇篮里杀死。
Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake, to my astonishment and relief, rushed to help me. Despite the blood and smell and screams, those two young ponies raced forward to help with the injured. Pound lifted splintered chunks of wagon from their trapped occupants while Pumpkin worked to tie off injured zebras’ stumps with whatever she could find.
令我惊讶和宽慰的是，南瓜蛋糕和磅蛋糕跑过来帮助我。尽管血迹斑斑，气味难闻，还有尖叫声，那两匹小马还是冲上前去帮助受伤的人。庞德从被困者身上搬走了破碎的大块货车，而小南瓜则用她能找到的任何东西把受伤的斑马的残肢绑起来。
Singularly… then in pairs… then in a swarm… the students and faculty rushed out to assist as well. Healing spells were immediately applied as the school tried to undo what it had done. Half the zebras were dead, and virtually all of them were wounded in some way or another. And once the bleeding was stopped, they started to bring out food and drink.
很奇怪......然后成双成对......然后成群结队......学生和老师们也冲出来帮忙。治疗法术立即被应用，因为学校试图撤销它所做的。一半的斑马死了，几乎所有的斑马都以某种方式受了伤。一旦血止住了，他们就开始拿出食物和饮料。
I sat there, blood smearing my hide, emotionally and physically exhausted. Then I became aware of the dean standing over me. Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake stood behind him, both looking positively grimy. “Well… I hope you’re proud of yourselves. I don’t know what Princess Luna will make of this incident when she returns from Canterlot, but you three are going straight to Celestia while I try and deal with this mess.”
我坐在那里，血弄脏了我的皮肤，情绪和身体都很疲惫。然后我意识到院长站在我旁边。南瓜蛋糕和磅蛋糕站在他身后，看起来都很脏。"嗯......我希望你们为自己感到骄傲。我不知道卢娜公主从Canterlot回来后会怎么看这件事，但你们三个直接去塞莱斯蒂亚，我来处理这个烂摊子。"
“What? Celestia?” I muttered weakly. A pegasus hooked to a skywagon on the edge of the campus looked on warily at the slaughter. “Now? Couldn’t we at least wash the blood off? Take some of the injured with us?”
"什么？塞莱斯蒂亚?"我有气无力地咕哝着。一匹拴在校园边缘天车上的飞马警惕地看着这场屠杀。""现在吗？难道我们不能至少把血迹洗掉吗？把一些伤员也带上?"
“Yes, now! This instant!” he shrieked. “I’ll make it clear that this fiasco was your fault. I’ll leave you to explain to the Princess what madness drove you to be so… so ridiculously reckless!” He snorted and stomped, then turned to some of the other faculty. “No! Don’t let them inside! Uggh! Keep them out here! Honestly!” he said as she trotted out where the faculty was trying the help the injured survivors. “Oh, Luna is going to be absolutely furious when she returns tonight!”
"是的，现在！马上!"他尖叫着。"我要说清楚，这次惨败是你的错。我让你去向公主解释，是什么疯狂使你变得如此......如此可笑地鲁莽!"他哼着鼻子，跺着脚，然后转向其他教员。"不！别让他们进来！啊！别让他们进来！老实说!"他说，当她跑出去，教员正在试图帮助受伤的幸存者。"哦，卢娜今晚回来的时候一定会气疯的!"
“Come on, ma’am,” the blue pegasus stallion said in a low, deep voice. “It’s a long way back to Canterlot.” I gathered up Pumpkin Cake with a feeling of dread in my heart. I wouldn’t even have a chance to tell the professor what I’d done. A minute later we were airborne, leaving the school behind us. “Well, I never thought I’d see it,” the stallion muttered.
"来吧，女士,"蓝色的飞马用低沉的声音说。"回到坎特罗特还有很长的路要走。"我收集了南瓜蛋糕，心中有一种恐惧的感觉。我甚至没有机会告诉教授我做了什么。一分钟后，我们升空了，离开了学校。"嗯，我从来没有想过我会看到它,"种马咕哝着。
“I’m sorry… I just...” I said as I shivered. “I wanted to help them.”
"对不起......我只是......"我颤抖着说。"我想帮助他们。"
“Sorry?” The blue pegasus looked over his shoulder back at me with a wry smile. “Girl, you don’t got nothing to be sorry for. Young unicorn mare like yourself helpin’ refugees like that… jumpin’ in to stop the firing? Getting the whole damn school to help, regardless of what that damned nag said? Girl, I think when Princess Celestia hears about this, and word gets back to the zebras, the war will be over. Y’all might have just saved Equestria.” The feeling of dread lifted as we soared higher and higher into the clouds.
"对不起?"那匹蓝色的飞马回头看着我，苦笑着。"姑娘，你没有什么好抱歉的。像你这样的年轻独角兽母马帮助那样的难民...跳进去停止射击？让整个该死的学校来帮忙，不管那该死的老马说了什么？女孩，我想当塞勒斯蒂娜公主听到这个消息，斑马们也会知道，战争就结束了。你们可能刚刚拯救了小马国。"随着我们飞得越来越高，恐惧的感觉也消失了。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I felt wetness on my cheek, then blinked awake. I’d drooled all over my pillow in my sleep, and now it was soaked. I self-consciously wiped my own spittle off with a smooth metal hoof. Huh… no mare in black senselessly butchering ponies… no horrible dreams of my stable or getting ploughed on the Seahorse. It was almost anticlimactic. I turned the pillow over to the dry side and rolled onto my back, looking at the flowers and birds painted on the ceiling. The details of the dream I’d had were slipping away. Something about an academy and some zebras and Goldenblood being a teacher there.
我感觉到自己的脸颊湿湿的，然后眨眨眼就醒了。我睡觉的时候口水都流到枕头上了，现在枕头都湿透了。我自觉地用光滑的金属蹄子擦去自己的唾沫。嗯......没有穿黑衣服的母马无意识地屠杀小马......没有关于我的马厩的可怕梦想，也没有在海马上被犁翻的噩梦。这简直是虎头蛇尾。我把枕头翻到干燥的一边，翻到背上，看着画在天花板上的花和鸟。我所做的梦的细节渐渐消失了。一个学院，一些斑马和金毛是那里的老师。
My head was… better. The radroach in my skull was gone, and while I wasn’t quite at a hundred percent, I was a lot closer to it than I’d been in a long time. I rubbed my face carefully with my forelegs and then slowly sat up. I cautiously activated my E.F.S. and looked around till I found a single blue bar… along with a sea of red bars on the other side of the door. Too much to hope that the killer robots with nothing else to do would have gotten bored and left, I guessed. I cancelled the E.F.S. and sighed as I sat up on the couch.
我的头...好多了。我脑袋里的雨伞不见了，虽然我还没有完全恢复到百分之百的状态，但我已经比过去很长一段时间里离它更近了。我用前腿小心翼翼地擦了擦脸，然后慢慢地坐起来。我小心翼翼地激活了我的e.f.s.，环顾四周，直到我发现了一根蓝色的棒子......门的另一边还有一大片红色的棒子。我猜想，这些无所事事的机器人杀手会感到无聊，然后离开，这种希望实在是太大了。我取消了e.f.s，坐在沙发上叹了口气。
Now. What to do about him?
现在。该拿他怎么办？
On one hoof, he was handsome and fit. He hadn’t tried to force himself on me, but he was keenly interested. On another, I had no idea who he really was or what he really wanted. I couldn’t treat him as a Stable 99 stallion and just rut him because I wanted to. Besides, even if he had been relatively gallant since we’d met, he might still have an ulterior motive. On another, it would be nice to get a little play. It’d been so long since Tenpony, and since my last decent stallion -- U-18, five months ago -- that a pony ride sounded nice. But still, on the other other rear hoof, I really wasn’t sure if I should wait till I was with Glory or not. Though as fun and wonderful and dear as she was, she wasn’t a stallion. There just wasn’t any getting around that.
一只蹄子上，他英俊健壮。他并没有强迫我，但他对我很感兴趣。另一方面，我不知道他到底是谁，也不知道他到底想要什么。我不能把他当成一匹稳定的99岁的种马，仅仅因为我想这么做就对他发情。此外，即使自从我们见面以来他一直相对殷勤，他也可能还有不可告人的动机。从另一个角度来说，如果能有一点乐趣就好了。我已经很久没有骑过Tenpony了，再也没有骑过像样的种马了——五个月前，我骑过U-18——所以骑小马听起来不错。但是，另一方面，我真的不确定我是否应该等到我与晨辉在一起的时候。虽然她很有趣，很棒，很可爱，但她不是一匹种马。没有什么可以绕过这个问题。
And on a metaphorical fifth hoof, there was that part of me screaming to kill him before he nailed me to the floor and fucked my orifices in alphabetical order.
还有一个隐喻性的第五蹄，在他把我钉在地板上，操我的字母顺序之前，我的一部分尖叫着要杀了他。
“Ugh, I need less hooves,” I groaned, shaking my head.
"啊，我需要更少的蹄子,"我摇着头呻吟着。
A door opened and I looked over to see Stygius, armor off--what was it about the physique of flyers?--trotting out of the library a fold of papers under his wing. He sat beside the couch and held up his slate. ‘Sleep well?’ had been written on it.
一扇门打开了，我看到斯提吉乌斯脱掉了盔甲——那些飞行员的体形是怎么回事？——拿着一叠文件从图书馆里跑出来。他坐在沙发旁边，举起他的石板。睡得好吗都写在上面了。
“You know what’s crazy? I actually did,” I said as I rolled forward onto my hooves, standing upright and stretching my legs. Okay, technically there weren’t very many muscles in them to stretch, but the motion was refreshingly familiar. “It’s pretty sad when a decent nap stands out so much. How long was I out?”
"你知道什么最疯狂吗？我确实这么做了,"我说，同时向前翻了个身，站直了，伸了伸腿。好吧，从技术上来说，他们没有太多的肌肉可以伸展，但是这个动作非常熟悉，令人耳目一新。"一个像样的午睡如此突出，实在令人悲哀。我昏迷了多久?"
He stomped his hoof five times. I sure hoped that that wasn’t in minutes. “And what have you been doing?”
他跺了五下蹄子。我当然希望那不是在几分钟之内。"你都干了些什么?"
He folded his forelegs beside his head and mimicked napping. Then he reached under his wing and pulled out the stack of papers. I took it from him with my magic and unfolded them, reading what he’d written.
他把前腿盘在头边，模仿打盹的动作。然后他把手伸到翅膀底下，拿出一叠文件。我用魔法把它从他手里拿过来，打开它，读着他写的东西。
You asked where batponies come from. We don’t know. We have stories that once we were pegasus ponies who lived in the clouds. Then terrible storm monster came and wrecked home. We hid in deep cave and were trapped. For long time we live eating magic mushrooms and cave things. We become batponies or…
你问蝙蝠战马是从哪里来的。我们不知道。我们有过这样的故事，我们曾经是飞马座的小马驹，住在云端。然后可怕的暴风雨来了，摧毁了家园。我们藏在深洞里，被困住了。很长一段时间，我们靠吃神奇的蘑菇和洞穴生活。我们变成蝙蝠战马或者..。
And here I broke off for a moment and just stared at the paper. νυχτερίδ πόνυ?
我停顿了片刻，只是盯着报纸看。νυχτερίδπόνυ？
What alphabet was that?
那是什么字母表？
...and live and grow in caves. When we finally escape, bright sun hurt eyes and other pony think we were monsters! But moon and stars are bright and make us happy. We met Luna long ago and she lonely and we lonely and so we say we help her. Then she became NiteMar Nightmaer Moon! But shes nicer than dayponies so we try and help. She lose, and many batponies die. With no Nightmare Moon, many many batponies were killed and we hid back in caves. Luna came back from the moon so we sent our strongest to be her guard, but keep families hidden away. Canterlot went boom. Luna died. And we go back to cave. Sometimes think mistake ever leave cave in first place…
在山洞里生活和成长。当我们终于逃脱的时候，明亮的阳光伤害了小马的眼睛，其他小马认为我们是怪物！但是月亮和星星是明亮的，让我们快乐。我们很久以前就认识了露娜，她很孤独，我们也很孤独，所以我们说要帮助她。然后她变成了尼特马尔·噩梦之月！但是她比小马要好，所以我们试着帮助她。她输了，许多蝙蝠战士死了。由于没有恶梦之月，许多蝙蝠战士被杀，我们躲回了山洞。卢娜从月亮上回来了，所以我们派了最强壮的人去保护她，但是把家人都藏起来了。坎特罗特轰然倒塌。卢娜死了。然后我们回到洞穴。有时候想错了就先离开洞穴..。
Other story… Nightmare Moon and Luna made us into Batponies with magic. Turn pegasus pony into batpony. Not know what she did with unicorns and earth ponies. Maybe only need batponies? Dunno. Now we live in caves and fly out at night. Hard to meet pretty mare who isnt family in castle. Very hard. Soooooooooooo hard. Sister think I am dumb for following you cause your pretty but you are with your shiny legs and tight flank and striped mane and your eyes glow and your…
另一个故事...恶梦月亮和露娜用魔法把我们带到了Batponies。把飞马变成蝙蝠马。不知道她对独角兽和小马做了什么。也许只需要蝙蝠战马？不知道。现在我们住在山洞里，晚上飞出去。在城堡里很难遇到不是家人的漂亮母马。非常困难。太太太太太太太难了。姐姐认为我是愚蠢的跟随你，因为你的漂亮，但你是与你的闪亮的腿和紧身侧翼和条纹鬃毛和你的眼睛发光和你的..。
Okay, now he was getting a little explicit. I didn’t see much else beneath that beyond him trying to tell me how beautiful I was. He’d sketched a couple of pictures of caves, a castle, some of batponies, and one of me. At least, I thought it was me; I really doubted my horn had magic sparkles dancing around it or that I had a full moon aura surrounding me. I wondered where the castle was he referred to. Sounded like it was in another world.
好吧，现在他说得有点明白了。除了他试图告诉我我是多么美丽之外，我没有看到其他的什么。他画了几张洞穴、城堡、蝙蝠战车的草图，还有我的一张。至少，我认为那是我自己;我真的怀疑我的号角是否有魔法的火花在它周围舞动，或者我是否有满月的光环环绕着我。我不知道他指的是哪座城堡。听起来好像是在另一个世界。
I couldn’t help but smile. Back in 99, I’d been a lot like him: always chasing after Midnight or some other mare that I thought I could have some fun with. I’d never been the one pursued by another. I always assumed I was simply too much of a screwup to be worth the trouble. Plus there was Mom, head of security, and all the awkwardness that generated. How bizarre that the first stallion I’d ever attract was some strange batpony, but honestly, given all the things that had happened to me since getting out of 99, I supposed I should have been grateful he wasn’t a cyber-ghoul-batpony with a mysterious agenda.
我忍不住笑了。99年的时候，我和他很像:总是追着午夜或者其他我认为可以找点乐子的母马跑。我从来没有被别人追求过。我一直认为我只是太多的一团糟，不值得这么麻烦。另外还有妈妈，安保主管，以及所有由此产生的尴尬。我吸引到的第一匹种马是一匹奇怪的蝙蝠小马，这是多么奇怪的事情啊。但是老实说，考虑到自从99岁以后发生在我身上的所有事情，我想我应该感到庆幸的是，他不是一匹有着神秘计划的电子盗尸马。
“You’re sweet,” I said, and I actually giggled as he seemed to float with his ear to ear grin. I flushed a little. “But you know… if we did it… it would only be a thing. I have a very special somepony, and I don’t think I get two.”
"你真可爱,"我说，我实际上咯咯地笑，因为他似乎漂浮着他的耳朵到耳朵的笑容。我脸红了一下。"但是你知道......如果我们这么做了......那只会是一件事。我有一匹非常特别的小马，我想我没有两匹。"
He looked a bit confused at that. I didn’t see why. It wasn’t like having sex with him would make her any less my special somepony. I needed Glory in my life; without her, I was so empty inside it hurt. But it wasn’t like she’d be the only source of orgasms. I wasn’t the only security mare in 99 that polished the old baton when their marefriend was unavailable. Not that I’d actually had a marefriend in 99.
他看起来有点困惑。我不明白为什么。这并不是说和他做爱会让她不再是我特别的对象。我的生命中需要晨辉，没有她，我的内心是如此空虚，以至于受到伤害。但这并不意味着她是性高潮的唯一来源。我不是99年唯一一个在他们的朋友没空的时候擦亮那根旧指挥棒的保安。并不是说我在99年的时候真的有一个女朋友。
“You also know what happened to me,” I murmured as I looked out the window towards the distant river to the west. “I... I really don’t want to hurt you, Stygius, but I also don’t want to be hurt either. I hate that part of me that wants to lash out before something gets the chance. So I want to be a normal mare with you. I
"你也知道我发生了什么事,"我一边低声说，一边望着窗外西边远处的那条河。"我.....。.我真的不想伤害你，斯提吉乌斯，但我也不想被伤害。我讨厌自己的那一部分想在有机会之前发泄出来。所以我想和你做一匹普通的母马。一
mean it. You’re nice to me. I have to admit, you’ve really been on my mind since we met… but I don’t want to snap in the middle and do something permanent to you.”
说真的。你对我很好。我不得不承认，自从我们见面以来，我就一直在想你......但我不想在中途突然停下来，对你做一些永久性的事情。"
He looked at me in sympathy before he grabbed his slate. ‘I can wait,’ he wrote.
他同情地看着我，然后拿起了他的石板。我可以等，他写道。
I smiled and sighed as I rolled my eyes a little. “Yeah. But I’m not sure I’ll be able to.” If I didn’t get over this… or at least prove I could have some sort of normal physical relationship with a stallion… then those males who’d violated me would have won. I thought how bowel-loosening that ship in the Happyhorn simulation had been, felt the shame that I’d been unable to face it. They’d changed me from who I was. My time in Happyhorn had injected weeks of imaginary time into my consciousness, but imaginary or not, I still remembered those weeks of extra time between me and the boat. That time hadn’t stopped me from balking there near the end, and nor had it stopped the memory from creeping around in my mind like a suspicious beast.
我微笑着叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"是的。但我不确定自己能否做到。"如果我不能克服这个...或者至少证明我可以和一匹种马有某种正常的身体关系...那么那些侵犯我的雄性就会赢。我想到了在哈比霍恩模拟中那艘飞船是多么的松弛肠道，感到了无法面对的羞愧。他们改变了我。我在Happyhorn的日子给我的意识里注入了几个星期的想象时间，但不管是不是想象，我仍然记得我和船之间那几个星期的额外时间。那段时间并没有阻止我在接近结尾的时候犹豫不决，也没有阻止那段记忆像一头可疑的野兽一样在我的脑海里游荡。
I knew what I needed to do. It was just… weird.
我知道我需要做什么。只是...有点奇怪。
And Stygius trotted to a window and wrapped the curtain’s drawstring around his forehooves, tugging it tight and looking back at me with a grin. I stared at him a moment and then burst out laughing. It made his ears wilt a bit, but I shook my head with a wide smile. “No! No no no no…” I repeated. “That’s more… my thing, actually. At least with Glory.” Wow, that sure made his eyebrows arch. “If I do it, I need to do it normally.” Or as normally as sex between a cyberpony and a batpony could be. I trotted over to him and magically undid the string around his legs. “But thank you…”
斯蒂吉乌斯小跑到窗前，把窗帘的拉绳缠在前蹄上，紧紧地拉着它，咧嘴笑着回头看着我。我盯着他看了一会儿，然后大笑起来。这让他的耳朵有点萎缩，但我还是摇了摇头，露出了灿烂的笑容。"不！不，不，不，不......"我重复道。"实际上，这更像是......我的事。至少晨辉是这样。"哇，他的眉毛一定是拱起来了。"如果我这么做，我需要正常地做。"或者像赛博马和蝙蝠马之间的性爱一样正常。我小跑过去，用魔法解开了他腿上的绳子。"但还是谢谢你......"
His amber eyes were bright and round as he blushed and sweated nervously. If he was plotting some horrible fate for me, then he was one damned good actor. “You’re a good pony,” I murmured as I looked into his wide eyes. “I’m going to kiss you now. Okay?”
他的琥珀色的眼睛明亮而圆润，因为他脸红了，紧张地出汗。如果他是在为我谋划什么可怕的命运，那么他就是一个该死的好演员。"你真是匹好马,"我看着他的大眼睛喃喃地说。"我现在要吻你了。好吗?"
He gulped as if I’d just promised to shoot him, then clenched his eyes shut and puckered his lips ridiculously. I smiled and lifted my hooves and held his head gently, extending my fingers to hold him still as I brought my mouth towards his.
他咽了一口气，好像我刚刚答应要杀了他似的，然后紧闭双眼，可笑地撅起嘴唇。我微笑着，抬起我的蹄子，温柔地抓住它的头，伸出我的手指，让它保持不动，同时我把我的嘴凑近它的嘴。
Then my fingers tightened, my legs jerked, and a resounding snap filled the air.
然后我的手指绷紧了，我的腿抽搐了一下，一个响亮的响声充满了空气。
NO! I stomped on that image and impulse with all the force I could. I wasn’t a
不！我用尽全力去践踏那个形象和冲动。我不是一个
landmine that would go off. I could do this because I wanted to! I was in control of me. I was…
会爆炸的地雷。我可以这么做是因为我想这么做！我控制着自己。我是..。
Please be in control…
一切尽在掌握。
He opened his eyes, blinking and frowning in concern as I sniffed and shed a few tears. “Sorry,” I murmured awkwardly and he gave a sigh and a resigned smile. He’d said he could wait, and he would.
他睁开眼睛，关切地眨着眼睛，皱着眉头，我抽着鼻子流了几滴眼泪。"对不起,"我尴尬地低声说，他叹了口气，顺从地笑了笑。他说他可以等，他会等的。
But he wouldn’t have to.
但他不需要这么做。
I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. He was so shocked that he simply let me, kissing back as he could. He had such soft lips and a nicely sweet mouth. The kind I could kiss all day.
我弯下腰，把嘴唇贴在他的嘴唇上。他是如此震惊，以至于他简单地让我回吻，尽可能地回吻。他有着如此柔软的嘴唇和甜美的嘴唇。那种我可以整天亲吻的感觉。
Too bad I lasted about a minute before I slowly pulled away. I was in control, but I didn’t want to push that control too far just yet. Then I blinked at his googly-eyed expression as a slow, almost drunk smile crossed his face. I let him go gently, and he slumped to the floor. “Was that your first kiss?” I asked, a touch concerned. He started to nod and then stopped and touched the side of his face...
可惜我坚持了大约一分钟才慢慢抽身离开。我控制了一切，但我还不想把控制推得太远。然后我眨了眨眼睛，看着他那瞪着大眼睛的表情，一个缓慢的、几乎醉醺醺的微笑掠过他的脸庞。我轻轻地让他走开，他跌倒在地。"那是你的初吻吗?"我有点担心地问道。他开始点头，然后停下来，摸了摸自己的脸。
where I’d laid him flat. Oh, right. I grinned sheepishly, “I mean, the first kiss where you weren’t hit immediately afterwards?” He smiled and nodded as he swayed there. I couldn’t help myself. I gave him one more firm smooch, and that finished him off. He playfully flopped over completely and lay there as a dusky lump of goofiness.
我把他平放在那里。哦，对了。我不好意思地笑了笑,"我的意思是，第一次接吻之后你没有马上被打到?"他微笑着点了点头，身子微微一摇。我情不自禁。我又狠狠地吻了他一下，他就完蛋了。他开玩笑地完全倒在地上，躺在那里，像一个昏暗的笨蛋。
I smiled and patted his shoulder. Then I trotted for the stairs; we hadn’t checked the second floor rooms yet. I got up them and into a bathroom and was closing the door as it hit me. My legs couldn’t shake, my heart couldn’t race, and my breathing wouldn’t gasp, but I could at least sink to the floor next to the toilet and cry as something snapped inside me. It wasn’t painful. Quite the opposite. I pressed my face into a fuzzy pink floor mat as that hideous, suspicious beast inside me roared in pain from the wound inflicted by a simple kiss. My tears were of relief. I’d kissed him and not killed him. He’d liked it… liked me.
我微笑着拍了拍他的肩膀。然后我跑向楼梯，我们还没有检查二楼的房间。我爬上他们，走进一间浴室，关上门，这时我突然想到。我的腿不能摇晃，我的心不能跳动，我的呼吸不能喘气，但我至少可以下沉到马桶旁边的地板上哭泣，因为有什么东西在我体内啪地一声折断了。这并不痛苦。恰恰相反。我把脸贴在毛茸茸的粉红色地毯上，一个简单的吻让我的伤口发出痛苦的咆哮，我体内那个可怕的、多疑的野兽在咆哮。我的眼泪如释重负。我吻了他却没有杀了他。他喜欢...喜欢我。
For the first time in a very long time, I felt like Blackjack the mare. Maybe a little wiser, but still Blackjack. Not Blackjack the cyberpony nor Security the madmare of Hoofington. Just Blackjack. Who knew a little normalcy could feel so good?
这么长时间以来，我第一次感觉自己像母马黑杰克。也许更聪明一点，但仍然是黑杰克。不是黑杰克的赛博小马，也不是安全的母马的Hoofington。只有黑杰克。谁能想到一点正常的生活会让你感觉这么好？
When I’d recomposed myself, I wiped my eyes and took the opportunity to use the facilities. Functional plumbing and a flushing toilet: another miracle in the wastes. Then I stepped out and saw Stygius coming up the stairs. As soon as he saw me, he immediately smiled, but a touch of concern lingered in his eyes. ‘U ok?’ he wrote on the slate.
当我重新镇定下来后，我擦了擦眼睛，抓住机会去了趟厕所。功能性管道和冲水马桶:废弃物中的另一个奇迹。然后我走出来，看见斯提吉乌斯正走上楼梯。他一看到我，马上就笑了，但是眼睛里流露出一丝关切。你还好吗他在石板上写的。
“Yeah. Just not used to it,” I said as I stood and looked at the other three doors up here. If I was lucky, I’d find a flicker or something that would help me refocus my mind. I opened the first, looking at a bedroom. Like the rooms downstairs, everything was neat and tidy and gave no impression at all that anypony actually used it. One wall was covered by four tall transparent display cases, each one with a dozen different rocks inside individual glass compartments. There was a little tag beside each of the samples.
"是的。只是不习惯罢了。"我站起来，看着前面的三扇门说道。如果我够幸运的话，我会找到一个闪光灯或者什么东西来帮助我重新集中注意力。我打开第一间，看着一间卧室。就像楼下的房间一样，所有的东西都干净整洁，没有给人留下任何印象。其中一面墙被四个高大的透明陈列柜所覆盖，每个陈列柜里都有十几块不同的石头。每个样品旁边都有一个小标签。
Gold nugget, Flankorage River. Purple Fluorite, Las Pegasus. Amber, Stalliongrad. Silver ore, Fancee. There were more unusual names that I guessed were from faraway lands. The crystals weren’t like the standard magic jewels I was familiar with. In fact, while there was a selection of magical gems, most of them were strange and exotic-looking. Some were delicate needle-like crystal spires and strange purple cubes that peppered the surfaces of stones. Others were simple rocks, like granite and marble, that I was more familiar with. One section had a dozen different types of ore all arranged alphabetically.
侧面克拉格河的金块。紫萤石，拉斯帕伽索斯。安布尔，斯大林格勒。银矿粉丝。还有更多不同寻常的名字，我猜是来自遥远的国度。这些水晶不像我熟悉的标准魔法宝石。事实上，虽然有一些神奇的宝石，其中大多数是奇怪的和异国情调的外观。有些是精致的针状水晶尖顶，还有缀在石头表面的奇怪的紫色立方体。还有一些是我比较熟悉的花岗岩和大理石等简单的岩石。其中一区有十几种不同类型的矿石，都按字母顺序排列。
Fossil, Crescent Moon Canyon.
新月峡谷的化石。
I slowly opened the case and levitated the horn-sized stone out, then turned it over in front of me. The small spiral shell resembled an extremely old tan cookie. I sighed and put it in my saddlebag. Beside it was another curious rock, a flake of silvery metal. Starmetal, Hoofington. And right beside that was a strangely glowing milky white crystal. Moonstone, Moon. As amazing as that was, it didn’t distract me from something else I found very curious.
我慢慢地打开箱子，把那只角大小的石头悬浮起来，然后在我面前把它翻过来。这个螺旋状的小贝壳看起来像一个非常古老的棕褐色曲奇。我叹了口气，把它放进我的鞍囊。旁边是另一块奇怪的石头，一片银色的金属片。霍芬顿，Starmetal。在它旁边是一个奇怪发光的乳白色水晶。月亮，月亮。尽管这很神奇，但它并没有让我从其他我感到非常好奇的事情上分心。
The glass wall between the two had melted. I opened the door to the case and pried loose the silvery flake and the pale stone. I’d seen these two together before... only they’d been separated by a layer of Flux rather than simple glass. I looked over at Stygius. “Stand back. I think this is gonna do something.” I dropped the stone and flake from my hands into my telekinesis, closed my eyes, and carefully brought the two closer together. As I did so, the metal began to glow and the crystal to glow brighter, and instantly my PipBuck began detecting
两者之间的玻璃墙已经融化了。我打开箱子的门，撬开银色的薄片和浅色的石头。我以前见过这两个人在一起......只不过他们被一层Flux而不是简单的玻璃隔开了。我看着Stygius。"退后。我认为这会有所作为。"我把手上的石头和薄片放进心灵遥感器里，闭上眼睛，小心翼翼地把它们拉近。当我这样做的时候，金属开始发光，晶体也开始发光，我的PipBuck立刻开始探测
magical radiation pouring from the two. Stygius backed away with me. We stepped out onto the balcony walkway overlooking the great room and closed the door almost completely shut. I peeked through the gap at the two floating rocks.
魔法辐射从他们两人身上涌出。斯提吉乌斯向后退了退。我们走到阳台上的走道上，俯瞰着大房间，关上了门，几乎完全关上了。我透过缝隙偷看那两块漂浮的岩石。
Holding the two at the furthest distance inside the room I could manage, I forced them together.
我把这两个放在房间里我能控制的最远的距离，然后把它们放在一起。
The flash and explosion rattled the house, though clearly the building had been built from magically-reinforced materials. The detonation blasted the door right into my face, and only my hastily raised cyberlegs kept the wood from taking my head off completely. The force blasted Stygius into the air as I fell back and nearly crashed right through the balcony railing, chunks of door flying out over me and tumbling down into the room below as I lay there on my back. I had no idea that my radmeter could even click that fast, though the rate was decreasing quickly. Okay, that was a little toastier than usual. When I looked back towards the empty doorframe, I saw cracks spiderwebbed through the walls around it.
闪光和爆炸声震得房子嘎嘎作响，尽管很明显这座建筑是用魔法加固过的材料建造的。爆炸把门炸到了我的脸上，只有我匆忙抬起的赛博腿挡住了木头，没有把我的头完全炸掉。我倒下去的时候，这股力量把斯蒂吉乌斯冲向空中，差点撞上阳台的栏杆，大块大块的门从我身上飞出来，在我仰面躺着的时候滚落到楼下的房间里。我不知道我的辐射计甚至可以点击这么快，虽然速率正在迅速下降。好吧，这比平时多了点。当我回头望向空空的门框时，我看到裂缝像蜘蛛网一样穿过它周围的墙壁。
“Ow… That was really stupid!” I muttered as I slowly sat up, rubbing my head. I pulled out a pouch of RadAway for each of us, smirking around mine at Stygius’s disgusted expression as he drank his, then stepped back inside, looking at the shattered cases and the rocks strewn across the floor. The bed was smoking, and the floor was blackened below where I’d squeezed them together. Embedded in one wall was the moonstone. Embedded in the opposite was the flake of starmetal, still giving off smoke.
"噢......那真是太愚蠢了!"我慢慢地坐起来，揉着头，喃喃自语。我为我们每个人拿出一袋拉达威，看着斯蒂吉乌斯喝酒时厌恶的表情，在我的周围傻笑，然后退回到里面，看着散落在地板上的破碎的箱子和石头。床还冒着烟，下面的地板已经变黑了，我把它们挤在一起。一面墙上嵌着月光石。嵌在对面的是星状金属片，还在冒烟。
I trotted towards the flake’s impact dent and looked at the smoking bit of metal. No, not just smoking. It was melting away before my eyes, shrinking as it made a long, low screaming noise. Glowing white smoke curled up from it as it slowly vanished and that smoke condensed into tiny white motes of light. They were exactly like the motes in the zebra ruins. I saw them disappearing one by one and lunged forward to touch one with my horn--
我小跑着走向鳞片的撞击凹痕，看着冒着烟的金属块。不，不仅仅是抽烟。它在我眼前慢慢融化，缩成一团，发出长长的低沉的尖叫声。发光的白色烟雾从它上面卷起，它慢慢地消失了，浓缩成微小的白色微光。它们就像斑马遗迹中的尘埃一样。我看见它们一个接一个地消失了，于是冲上前去，用我的号角碰了碰它们
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
The unicorn mare I occupied walked carefully up towards the dark cottage on the hillside overlooking the pouring river and knocked her hoof on the front door. “Princess Luna?” she called out in worry. Then she knocked again, then finally used her magic to open the door. The interior was pitch black. “Princess Luna?” she called in a weaker voice. The light of her horn reflected off countless
我住的那匹独角兽母马小心翼翼地走向山坡上那间黑暗的小屋，小屋俯瞰着倾盆而下的河流，它的蹄子碰到了前门。"卢娜公主?"她忧心忡忡地大叫。然后她再次敲门，最后用她的魔法打开了门。车内一片漆黑。"卢娜公主?"她的声音变弱了。她的号角反射出无数的光芒
polished silver stars set in the walls and ceiling. A strange, ominous note rose up from the basement, and she hesitated a moment at the door. “P… Princess?”
墙壁和天花板上镶嵌着闪亮的银色星星。一个奇怪的、不祥的信息从地下室传来，她在门口犹豫了一会儿。"p..公主?"
The basement door was blown open by a dark wind that scooped the mare up and carried her down the steps into the earth, dumping her in a heap behind the glorious dark Princess. A work table was set up in the middle of the subterranean room. Strange and exotic zebra statues loomed on like silent mentors examining their student’s work. Hammers and tongs lay tossed aside next to a cold forge. She shaped the metal with her magic alone. “YES!?” she boomed as the silvery steel twisted in the air before her.
地下室的门被一阵黑风吹开了，黑风把母马卷了起来，带着她下了台阶，来到了地下，把她堆在光荣的黑暗公主的身后。在地下室的中间放了一张工作台。奇特而充满异国情调的斑马雕像隐约出现在人们面前，就像导师们在默默检查他们学生的作品一样。铁锤和火钳被扔在一个冷铁炉旁边。她独自用魔法把这块金属定型。"是的!?"当银色的钢铁在她面前扭曲时，她发出隆隆的声音。
The force of her voice nearly knocked my host over. “P… Princess? Thy… thy sister… she sent us to find thee. She hath been forced to raise both sun and the moon for three days and nights.” The Princess flinched at the word ‘sister’. The hum grew stronger, and the shadows cast by the pale light of her horn moved unnaturally, as though they were peering at us.
她声音洪亮，几乎把我的主人打翻在地。"p..公主？你的...你的妹妹...她派我们来找你。她被迫三天三夜地同时升起太阳和月亮。"公主在听到"姐姐"这个词时退缩了。这种嗡嗡声越来越强烈，她号角发出的苍白光线投射下来的影子不自然地移动着，仿佛它们在凝视着我们。
“SO! IT TAKETH HER THREE DAYS FOR TO SEEK ME. And she didn’t come herself. Surprise surprise,” the Princess said, her boom dying to a normal voice as her horn glowed, that oppressive hum filling the air.
"那么！她花了三天时间才找到我。她自己也没来。公主说。她的喇叭发着光，空气中充满了压迫性的嗡嗡声，她的轰鸣声逐渐变成了正常的声音。
“Princess? Art thou well?” the unicorn asked in fear.
"公主？你好吗?"独角兽害怕地问。
“Nay, we are not!” she said with a stomp of her hoof as her head fell. “She doesn’t need us. Nopony does.” Her eyes glared at the metal as it finished shaping into a helmet. “Well, if she can raise the sun and the moon, why can’t we? Why can’t we do both just as well as she can?” she demanded as she whirled, facing me as tears ran down her cheeks. “We don’t need her. WE can do it all ourself!”
"不，我们不是!"当她的头掉下来时，她跺着蹄子说。"她不需要我们。而Nopony就是这样。"她的眼睛瞪着那块金属，看着它成型成为一个头盔。"好吧，既然她能举起太阳和月亮，我们为什么不能呢？为什么我们不能像她一样把两件事都做好呢?"她转身问道，眼泪顺着脸颊流下来，她面对着我。"我们不需要她。我们可以自己做!"
“Princess!” the unicorn gasped, backing away.
"公主!"独角兽喘着气，退开了。
“NAY!” she said as she magically put the pieces of armor in place. She seemed to swell and grow darker. It was as if she were drinking in that horrible humming scream all at once. Her starry mane grew cold and hard. Her coat turned black as pitch. “WE ARE A PRINCESS NO LONGER! WE HAVE NO SISTER! IF PONYKIND HATES AND FEARS US, THEN LET THEM HAVE OUR NIGHT IN WRATH INSTEAD OF BEAUTY!”
"反对!"她一边说，一边用魔法把盔甲的碎片放到位。她似乎肿了起来，脸色也变得更黑了。她仿佛一下子就沉浸在那可怕的嗡嗡声中。她的星星般的鬃毛变得又冷又硬。她的上衣变成漆黑一片。"我们不再是公主了！我们没有姐妹！如果波妮坎恨我们怕我们，那就让他们在愤怒中度过我们的夜晚，而不是美丽!"
And with that she exploded into a cloud of darkness, and everything went black.
就这样，她爆发成了一片黑暗的乌云，一切都变成了黑暗。
Beneath it all, the hum persisted in its steady, proud drone…
在这一切之下，嗡嗡声持续不断，它的稳定，骄傲的嗡嗡声..。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I lurched and shook my head hard. Whoa… that was… interesting. I rubbed my bleary eyes, trying to pull my head into the here and now. I remembered the terrifying statue of Nightmare Moon that’d been in the Hoofington Museum, but that statue had been cute compared to what I’d seen just now. The sight of Luna transforming into that dark shape made me shiver from horn to… shoulder. Really, it’d be nice if I could get some nice goosebumps going.
我跌跌撞撞地摇了摇头。哇...真是...有意思。我揉着我那双模糊的眼睛，试图把我的头拉进此时此地。我想起了胡芬顿博物馆里那个可怕的梦魇之月雕像，但是和我刚才看到的相比，那个雕像还是很可爱的。看到卢娜变成那个黑色的形状，我从角到肩膀都在颤抖。真的，如果我能起一些鸡皮疙瘩就好了。
In a minute the starmetal had disappeared entirely, the white wisps and flickering motes being drawn westward out the cracked window and fading away from sight. I saw the little bots buzzing about on the far side, but it hadn’t broken. Stygius flew to the other side of the room and dug at the wall, popped the moonstone free, picked it up in his mouth, and carried it to me. I looked it over closely. Unlike the metal flake, the moonstone was intact. Only a small indentation had been made in it where I’d forced the two together. “Whoa…” I murmured as I looked at the faintly glowing white stone.
不一会儿，星金属完全消失了，白色的缕缕和闪烁的尘埃从破碎的窗户向西移动，消失在视线之外。我看到远处嗡嗡作响的小机器人，但它没有坏。斯提吉乌斯飞到房间的另一边，在墙上挖了一下，砰地一声把月长石拿了出来，用嘴叼起来，递给了我。我仔细看了一下。与金属片不同，月长石完好无损。只有一个小小的缺口，是我把它们压在一起的。"哇......"当我看着那块微微发光的白色石头时，我低声说。
He nodded, and I carefully put the crystal away in my saddlebags. I wondered what had happened to the moonstone that’d been extracted from the Folly shell. I supposed it was somewhere in the muck at the bottom of the bay underneath the HMS Celestia. It hadn’t been among the things I’d gotten back in Tenpony.
他点点头，我小心翼翼地把水晶放进我的鞍囊里。我想知道从弗里的贝壳里提取出来的月光石到底怎么了。我猜它应该在皇家海军舰艇塞莱斯蒂亚号下面海湾底部的淤泥里。这不是我在Tenpony得到的东西之一。
Ugh, I came here for answers. Not more questions! Really, wasn’t there a quota on mysteries? Huffing in annoyance, I moved to the second door. Knowing my luck, there’d be something horribly vague and terribly nagging that’d go completely over my head. I sighed and looked back at Stygius. He had my back... well, he at least definitely had my backside in his sights. Then his eyes met mine and he flushed, coughing self-consciously as he looked away. Still, I couldn’t help smiling.
我是来寻求答案的。别再问问题了！说真的，神秘事件不是有限额的吗？我恼羞成怒，走到第二个门口。根据我的运气，总会有一些可怕的、模糊的、可怕的唠叨，让我完全无法理解。我叹了口气，回头看着Stygius。他支持我...好吧，至少他肯定在他的视线范围之内。然后他的眼睛碰到了我，脸涨得通红，一边看着别处，一边有意识地咳嗽。尽管如此，我还是忍不住笑了。
The door creaked open slowly and a stale, lonely smell rolled out over us. I saw the crib in the corner decorated with butterflies and birds. Gems dangled from a mobile above it. Stuffed animals sat in dusty vigil atop a dresser while toys peeked out of a dusty trailer. There were still diapers stacked up on the underside of a changing table next to the door. I gazed in at a room never used... never even entered, from the dust on the wooden floors. Slowly, I pulled the door
门吱呀一声慢慢开了，一股陈腐的、孤独的气味从我们身上滚了出来。我看见角落里的小床上装饰着蝴蝶和小鸟。宝石悬挂在它上方的手机上。填充动物玩具放在满是灰尘的梳妆台上守夜，玩具从满是灰尘的拖车里探出头来。门边的一张换尿布的桌子底下还堆着尿布。我从木地板上的灰尘凝视着一个从未使用过的房间......甚至从未进入过。慢慢地，我拉开了门
closed once more.
再次关闭。
There was no mystery after all, and for once I wished there had been.
毕竟没有什么神秘的，这一次我希望有什么神秘的。
I made my way into the last room, a bedroom decorated in the twined hard/soft motif of nature and metal. Like all the rest of the house, it’d been cleaned and tidied up and all but abandoned. Indeed, unlike the library, there were no pictures of any kind in here. No clothes. No personal items. Nothing that suggested that a pony named Goldenblood had lived in here. It was nearly anonymous.
我走进了最后一个房间，那是一间卧室，装饰着自然和金属交织的硬/软主题。就像房子的其他部分一样，它已经被清理过，整理过，几乎被遗弃了。事实上，不像图书馆，这里没有任何类型的图片。没有衣服。没有私人物品。没有任何迹象表明这里曾住过一匹名叫金血的矮种马。这几乎是匿名的。
I trotted to the bed and pushed down on the mattress. I had to give Goldenblood credit; he definitely had good taste in bedding. I pressed down with my forehooves and felt it give. I looked over my shoulder at Stygius hard at work looking through the dressers. My eyes wandered along his mane, his exotic wings, and his tail. I didn’t know if it was a flyer thing or not, but there was just something about his form that made my eye wander from the gothic black shield on his flank down the backs of his legs and up the front.
我小跑到床边，躺在床垫上。我不得不相信金布拉德，他对寝具的品味绝对不错。我用前蹄踩了下去，感觉到它失去了力量。我回头看了看Stygius，努力地看着梳妆台。我的眼睛沿着它的鬃毛、它那奇异的翅膀和它的尾巴游走。我不知道这是不是飞行物的问题，但是他的外形让我的眼睛从他身上的哥特式黑色盾牌一直看到他的后腿和前腿。
So, could I do this? Should I?
那么，我可以这样做吗？我应该吗？
I groaned and pressed my face into the bed. I just couldn’t decide; there were plenty of reasons to and plenty of reasons not to. I didn’t want to be defined by what those stallions had done to me on the boat. I didn’t want to be defined by that. Didn’t want to be a victim. I also didn’t want to be set off by any stallion that brushed my ass. If I was going to thump a guy like Candlewick, I wanted it to be my choice, not my reaction. But I was also scared to death that if I tried anything, I’d kill another pony who didn’t deserve to die by my hooves.
我呻吟着，把脸贴在床上。我就是不能做出决定;有很多理由不这样做，也有很多理由不这样做。我不想被那些种马在船上对我的所作所为所定义。我不想被这个定义。不想成为受害者。我也不想被任何一匹刷过我屁股的种马激怒。如果我要揍像"烛芯"这样的家伙，我希望这是我的选择，而不是我的反应。但我也害怕死亡，如果我尝试任何事情，我会杀死另一个不应该死在我的蹄子。
He buried his head into one of Fluttershy’s dressers, or, at least, I assumed they were hers from the butterflies carved in the woodwork. I smiled as I watched him over my shoulder... and then I slid my saddlebags to the floor and a moment later sent my combat armor to join them. Please, Luna and Celestia, please let this go right. “Hey…” I croaked, then coughed, and smiled again. “Hey, Stygius…” He pulled his head out of the dresser, a glowing golden memory orb in his mouth. He looked at me stretched half on the bed, his eyes drawn to my posterior. Then I gave my tail a little swish and watched as his eyes popped round. I swished a little bit more, and the memory orb fell from his mouth and rolled slowly along the floor. I picked it up and floated it down onto the nightstand. He slowly approached, looking torn between eagerness and concern.
他把头埋进Fluttershy的一个梳妆台里，或者，至少，我猜想那是木制品上雕刻的蝴蝶的图案。我微笑着看着他越过我的肩膀......然后我把鞍囊滑到地板上，过了一会儿，我的战斗装甲部队也加入了他们。求求你们，露娜和塞莱斯蒂亚，求求你们让这件事过去吧。"嘿......"我用沙哑的声音说，然后咳嗽了一声，又笑了。"嘿，冥河......"他把头从梳妆台里拉了出来，嘴里衔着一个发光的金色记忆球。他看着躺在床上的我，眼睛盯着我的屁股。然后我摇了摇尾巴，看着它的眼睛睁得大大的。我又嗖地一声，记忆之球从他嘴里掉了下来，在地板上慢慢地滚动着。我把它捡起来，放在床头柜上。他慢慢地走近，看上去在热切和关心之间左右为难。
He lowered his mouth to his chalkboard and wrote briefly, not taking his eyes off my swaying tail. ‘U sure?’
他把嘴放低到黑板上，简短地写了几句，目不转睛地盯着我摇晃的尾巴。你确定
“Yeah. I am. If you’re still interested?” I asked, half hoping he’d changed his mind. But he swallowed and nodded. I closed my eyes and bowed my head. “You know what happened to me, though… so, if I tell you to stop… please stop. Okay? For both our sakes.”
"是的。是的。如果你还感兴趣的话?"我问道，有点希望他会改变主意。但他咽了口唾沫，点了点头。我闭上眼睛，低下头。"不过，你知道我发生了什么......所以，如果我让你停下来......请停下来。好吗？为了我们双方的利益。"
He approached till he was right behind me, then wrote something else as he blushed profusely. ‘Virgin’, it read, and he smiled sheepishly.
他走到我身后，满脸通红地写了些别的东西。"处女"，上面写着，他羞怯地笑了笑。
“Well… you can start by touching me,” I murmured softly as I closed my eyes.
"好吧......你可以先摸摸我,"我闭上眼睛，轻轻地喃喃地说。
Don’t kill him… don’t kill him. I want this. I really do.
别杀他...别杀他。我想要这个。真的。
Then I felt his lips on my cutie mark. His muzzle nuzzling my hide. And never, ever, have I been more thankful for having skin. I felt my body twitch in response, and I smiled as that reactive fear remained at bay. I felt his breath on my hide, his hooves touching me in vaguely reassuring ways. He was taking his time, and I didn’t rush him. I needed the time too. Then he moved back further and dared to move beneath my tail.
然后我感觉到他的嘴唇碰到了我的小可爱。他用鼻子蹭我的皮。从来没有，从来没有，我更感激有皮肤。我感觉到自己的身体在作出反应，我笑了，因为这种反应性的恐惧依然存在。我感觉到他的呼吸在我的皮肤上，他的蹄子以一种模糊的安慰的方式触摸着我。他在慢慢来，我没有催促他。我也需要时间。然后他向后退了一步，敢于在我的尾巴下面移动。
It was an interesting touch, nothing at all like Glory’s. She was soft; she knew what to stroke and what to avoid. His was firmer and heavier than hers. His lips more hesitant, his mouth stronger. My mind reduced to two thoughts: ‘Oh yes’, which I expressed in a delighted groan, and ‘Don’t kill him’. I was in control… and with every minute I felt better and better as he helped me feel like a mare… like a pony. Damn me if I didn’t understand Deus now. When you were half machine, you needed something, anything, to remind you that you were also flesh and blood.
这是一个有趣的触摸，没有任何东西像晨辉的。她很温柔，她知道什么该抚摸，什么该避免。他的身体比她的更结实，更沉重。他的嘴唇更加犹豫，他的嘴巴更加结实。我的脑子里只剩下两个念头:"哦，是的"，我高兴地呻吟着，还有"别杀了他"。我控制着自己......每过一分钟，我就感觉越来越好，因为他让我感觉自己像匹母马......像匹小马。如果我现在不理解上帝的话，我真该死。当你是半机器的时候，你需要一些东西，任何东西来提醒你，你也是有血有肉的。
Very flesh. Very blood.
很有肉感。非常血腥。
And when he entered me, it was all I could to keep myself together. My legs could remember the feeling of the nails, my nethers and throat the burning pain and humiliation. This wasn’t that. He wasn’t them. I was safe. I was in control of myself. And while every second a part of me screamed to get him out before he started hurting me, to rip and tear and kill… I suppressed it. I refused to allow it to set me off as he pressed above me and moved inside me. He huffed as he increased speed and I tensed. He slowed, and I relaxed.
当他进入我的身体，这是我所能做的一切来保持我自己在一起。我的双腿还记得那指甲的感觉，我的下体和喉咙灼热的疼痛和羞辱。不是这样的。他不是他们。我很安全。我能控制自己。虽然每一秒钟，我的一部分都在尖叫着要在他开始伤害我之前把他救出来，撕裂，撕裂，杀害......但我压抑着。当他压在我上方，在我体内移动的时候，我拒绝让它把我引开。他一边加速一边发怒，我紧张起来。他放慢了脚步，我也放松了。
Before too long he made a series of squeaks and I felt hot wetness inside me. Of course, I was nowhere near climaxing myself, but that wasn’t the point. This was about me being able to do this and put what’d been done to me behind me. And as he squirted, I had one more fierce impulse to rip the invading member off. Then his lips met my ears and neck and like that, the impulse was gone. I’d been ploughed badly, but none of them had shown the slightest affection.
没过多久，他发出了一连串的吱吱声，我感到体内湿热难耐。当然，我还没有达到高潮，但那不是重点。这是关于我能够做到这一点，并把对我的所作所为抛在脑后。当他喷射的时候，我又有了一种猛烈的冲动，想把入侵者扯下来。然后他的嘴唇碰到了我的耳朵和脖子，就这样，冲动消失了。我被严重地犁过，但是他们没有一个人表现出丝毫的感情。
I finally collapsed on the bed as he withdrew, an oddly depressing sensation. I crawled the rest of the way onto it, and he moved beside me, his brows furrowing and his eyes concerned. He reached for the chalkboard and wrote ‘Good?’, holding it between his hooves as he looked at me.
当他退出时，我终于瘫倒在床上，有一种奇怪的压抑感。我在余下的路上爬了上去，他走到我身边，眉毛紧皱，眼神忧虑。他伸手去拿黑板，写道:"好吗?"用蹄子夹着它，看着我。
Poor stallion deserved better than me hugging him fiercely and sobbing as that murderous impulse broke apart and flowed out my eyes. “Really good, Styggie. Really… really really good…” I blubbered as I curled up against him and let him hold me and curl his wings about me. He might have looked completely confused and worried, but right now he knew exactly what I needed.
可怜的种马应该得到比我更好的拥抱，凶残的冲动四分五裂，流出我的眼睛。"真的很好，斯蒂吉。真的......真的真的很好......"当我蜷缩在他身上，让他抱住我，用翅膀抱住我时，我哭了起来。他可能看起来完全困惑和担心，但现在他完全知道我需要什么。
When I finally pulled myself together and wiped my nose and eyes, he kissed my horn and then started to pull away. I reached out with my magic for a very specific part of him and froze him in his tracks. “Where do you think you’re going?” I asked with a tiny smile. His eyes grew wide again as I gave a careful tug and leaned forward to kiss him again. “We’ve only just started…”
我终于振作起来，擦了擦鼻子和眼睛，他吻了我的角，然后开始抽离。我用我的魔法找到了他身体的一个特殊部位，把他冻在了他的脚印里。"你想去哪儿?"我微笑着问道。我小心翼翼地拉了拉他，他的眼睛又睁得大大的，身体前倾，准备再次吻他。"我们才刚刚开始......"
* * *
* * *
I. Liked. Stallions. I liked mares too, but right now, curled up with Stygius on the bed, I had to admit that I liked the boys every bit as much as I liked the girls. I pressed my nose to his chest, taking in his musky, sweaty scent as I felt his heart beating. He’d lasted three rounds and now snoozed next to me. I didn’t want to pull away, and for now my itch had been scratched. I’d actually worked up a sweat of my own; even with the metal and synthetic organs, I’d still made quite a workout of it. I probably could have kept going for hours, but why ruin a good time by forcing him to draw it out?
我喜欢。种马。我也喜欢母马，但是现在，和斯提吉乌斯一起蜷缩在床上，我不得不承认我喜欢男孩就像喜欢女孩一样。我把鼻子贴在他的胸前，闻着他那麝香味的汗味，感觉到他的心在跳动。他已经坚持了三个回合，现在在我旁边打盹。我不想抽离，现在我的痒已经被挠破了。事实上，我自己也出了一身汗;即使有了金属器官和合成器官，我还是做了相当多的锻炼。我可能可以一直走上几个小时，但为什么要强迫他把时间抽出来，从而毁掉一段美好的时光呢？
I’m gonna need another bath, I thought, feeling things drying on my hide. Oh well. Showers later. Stygius was smiling in his daze; he’d been good. Not spectacular, but for his first time, he’d definitely put up a good show. I’d even popped once our last round, to my own delight and surprise. I doubted we’d have
我需要再洗一次澡，我想，感觉我皮肤上的东西在干燥。好吧。待会儿再洗澡。斯提吉乌斯茫然地微笑着，他表现得很好。不是很壮观，但是这是他第一次，他一定会表现得很好。我甚至在我们的最后一轮比赛中喝了一杯，我自己也感到非常高兴和惊讶。我怀疑我们能不能
time for a fourth; we couldn’t stay locked up here forever rutting... Okay, for the Wasteland that actually sounded damn inviting, but still! I felt… good. It was something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Good. Not drunk. Not exhausted. Not crazy.
第四个时间;我们不能永远被锁在这里发情......好吧，对于荒原来说，这听起来真他妈的诱人，但仍然！我感觉...很好。这种感觉我已经很久没有体验过了。很好。没有喝醉。不是精疲力尽。不是疯狂。
Okay, I felt guilty. I didn’t deserve to feel this way… but aside from that lingering urge to kick myself on general principle for what I’d done after Yellow River… and at Yellow River… and every other messed up thing I’d done… I felt damn nice to be held like this. The next time I was with Glory, I would do all I could to make her feel this way.
好吧，我感到内疚。我不应该有这样的感觉......但是除了那种挥之不去的冲动，为自己在黄河之后所做的事情，在黄河之后所做的事情，以及其他所有我做过的糟糕的事情，责备自己的一般原则之外......我觉得被这样抱着感觉真他妈的好。下一次我和晨辉在一起的时候，我会尽我所能让她有这种感觉。
So… move and wake him… and be tempted into a fourth round… or just rest here? My eyes went to the memory orb on the nightstand beside us. Mmmm… well… it would pass the time nicely. I floated it over and touched my horn to it with a lazy smile. My horn flared and flickered as I worked to make the connection. Come on... get in there... I can’t spend all day just lying around on Goldenblood and Fluttershy’s be--
所以...移动和唤醒他...并被诱惑进入第四轮...或只是在这里休息？我的眼睛看到了床头柜上的记忆球。嗯......好吧......这会很好地打发时间。我把它漂过去，用懒洋洋的微笑碰了碰我的喇叭。当我努力建立联系的时候，我的喇叭突然闪烁起来。快点......进去......我不能整天躺在Goldenblood和Fluttershy's.....
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
The rain poured down, a heavy, persistent torrent that could only come from Hoofington’s skies. Sometimes I wondered if the sky had some vendetta against the city, doing all it could to drown it and cut off the sun and moon even before the Enclave arose. The pony I was in was a familiar unicorn stallion standing out in the rainy night and looking at a mare isolated in the yellow light of a single streetlamp. She wore a trenchcoat that covered her from head to hoof, and her long black mane hung across her shadowed face from under a dripping cap. All around us were dark trees, and in the distance I could see through the rain the towering city lights of the Core.
大雨倾盆而下，持续不断的倾盆大雨只能来自胡芬顿的天空。有时候我怀疑天空是否与这座城市有着某种仇恨，甚至在昂科雷出现之前就竭尽所能地淹没它，切断太阳和月亮的联系。我骑的那匹小马是一匹熟悉的独角兽种马，它站在雨夜里，看着一匹母马孤零零地站在一盏街灯的黄色灯光下。她穿着一件从头到脚都覆盖着的风衣，长长的黑色鬃毛从一顶滴水的帽子下垂到她阴暗的脸上。我们周围都是漆黑的树木，透过雨水我可以看到核心区高耸的城市灯光。
Something snapped beneath my hoof, and she squealed as she spun around. “Who’s there?” she whispered timidly. There was no answer in the pouring rain. She trembled, hanging her head once more as my host slowly moved closer. The steps he took were slow and tired. She shrank back a little, then cleared her throat. “H…hello? Um… Um… Umgabe bwanka T… T…”
我的蹄子底下有什么东西啪地一声掉了下来，她转过身来，尖叫起来。"谁在那儿?"她怯生生地小声说。倾盆大雨中无人应答。她颤抖着，当我的主人慢慢靠近时，她又低下了头。他走的步子缓慢而疲惫。她往后退了一点，然后清了清嗓子。"h..喂？嗯...嗯...Umgabebwankat。.T.。」
“Trito. ‘May peace favor us all’,” the stallion murmured softly, barely audible over the pouring rain. “You have the package?”
"特里托。"愿和平眷顾我们大家,"种马轻声低语，在倾盆大雨中几乎听不见。"你拿到包裹了吗?"
“Yes!” she said as she turned away and dug a heavy-looking parcel wrapped in
"是的!"她一边说，一边转过身去，挖出了一个包裹在
tape from her saddlebags. “You have no idea how hard I’ve worked to get this to you!” she said as she hugged it in her hooves like it was a precious baby. The stallion in the rain didn’t reply. “H...h…here! Take it! It’s all our notes! Everything you need. Please. I’ve worked so very hard…”
她鞍囊里的胶带。"你不知道我费了多大劲才把这个给你!"她一边说，一边用蹄子抱着它，就像抱着一个可爱的宝宝。雨中的种马没有回答。"h..H..这里！拿着！都是我们的笔记！你需要的一切。求你了。我非常努力地工作......"
The male stayed silent. He simply stood there outside the patch of light.
雄企鹅保持沉默。他只是站在那片灯光之外。
Then he rasped in that unmistakable voice, “I know. First you tried contacting a zebra envoy directly; she met a tragic end with a grenade slipped into her saddlebags. Then you used Nurse Blossomforth to try and get it to a POW who was being sent back to zebra lands in a prisoner exchange. Of course, Blossomforth was a M.o.M. agent, but fortunately she met a bad end with a memory modification spell before she could report in to Pinkie and Luna. You made several subtle overtures to members of the zebra government, all which were rebuffed. So then you arranged a meeting with a member of a zebra sympathizer terrorist cell. At this moment, they’re being raided. Your contact will be killed in the firefight. There’s no way to extract memories from a dead pony.” Her hat glowed gold and lifted off her head; at once the pouring rain began to wash the dye out of her mane. “Hello, Fluttershy.” Goldenblood stepped into the pool of yellow light. The rain poured down over him, matting his mane to his scarred, pale hide.
然后他用明白无误的声音粗声粗气地说:"我知道。首先，你试图直接联系一个斑马特使;她遭遇了一个悲惨的结局，一枚手榴弹滑进了她的鞍囊。然后你用朵朵护士试图把它带给一个战俘，这个战俘在交换战俘时被送回了斑马地。当然，朵朵是一个m.o.m.特工，但幸运的是，在她向平奇和露娜报告之前，她用一个记忆修正咒遭遇了一个糟糕的结局。你向斑马政府的成员提出了几个微妙的建议，但都被拒绝了。然后你安排了和斑马支持者恐怖组织成员的会面。此时此刻，他们正遭到袭击。你的联络人会在交火中丧生。没有办法从一匹死去的小马身上提取记忆。"她的帽子闪着金光，从头上脱落下来，马上就下起了倾盆大雨，把她鬃毛上的染料洗掉了。"你好，小萤火虫。"金色的血液走进了黄色的光池。雨水倾泻在他身上，把他那满是伤疤、苍白的皮毛披在鬃毛上。
“No… no no no… you can’t,” she whimpered as she clutched the parcel to her chest, turned away as if to shield it from him. “Please…”
"不，不，不，不，你不能这么做,"她呜咽着，把包裹紧紧地抱在胸前，转过身去，好像要把它挡在他面前。"请......"
He didn’t say anything at first. He simply gazed at her with eyes that felt tired. “Why are you doing this, Fluttershy? I would have thought that after Blossomforth was exposed, you’d have given up.”
他一开始什么也没说。他只是用疲倦的眼睛盯着她。"你为什么要这么做，小弗？我还以为《朵朵》曝光之后，你就放弃了呢。"
Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut and trembled, sniffling. “I have to. I have to do something. Luna won’t use the megaspells to heal ponies. She wants Twilight to turn them into weapons!”
紧闭双眼，颤抖着，抽着鼻子。"我必须这么做。我必须做点什么。卢娜不会用巨子来治疗小马。她想让暮光之城把他们变成武器!"
“Something Twilight would never do nor authorize,” Goldenblood murmured. “You know this.”
"黄昏之光永远不会做的事情，也不会授权,"金血王喃喃地说。"你知道的。"
“Twilight might think it’s wrong, but what would stop somepony else from doing it?” Fluttershy asked.
"暮光之城可能会认为这是错误的，但是什么能阻止其他小马这么做呢?"小弗特希问道。
“If somepony else does weaponize your creation, I guarantee that the first
"如果有人把你的创造武器化了，我保证第一个
demonstration will have zebra observers. They’ll see what megaspell weapons do. They’ll go home and tell their Caesar to end the war.” But even he didn’t sound convinced.
示威会有斑马观察员。他们会看到megaspell武器的作用。他们会回家告诉他们的凯撒结束战争。"但即使是他听起来也不相信。
“Will they?” Fluttershy asked in return. “Or will we just use the war as an excuse to wipe them out completely?” She gave a heartbroken little sob, then looked at him and asked, “Is the only way for this to end to have everyone die? I won’t accept that. I can’t! Treason is better than that...” Some of the raindrops on her cheeks looked remarkably like tears. Goldenblood reached out to her, but she flinched away.
"他们会吗?"弗特希反问道。"或者我们只是利用战争作为一个借口，把他们彻底消灭?"她伤心地小哭了一声，然后看着他问道:"这件事结束的唯一方法就是让所有人都死去吗?"？我不会接受的。我不能！叛国总比那好......"她脸上的一些雨滴看起来非常像眼泪。金色血液向她伸出手，但她畏缩了。
“I promised I would never hurt you,” he whispered gently in his scarred voice as he withdrew his hoof.
"我答应过永远不会伤害你,"他一边退蹄，一边用伤痕累累的声音温柔地小声说。
“You broke your promise,” she replied, her tone quiet yet unshakably firm. “How could you do that to me? Call… call out her name...” She shivered, and somehow I doubted that it was because of the cold or the wet.
"你违背了你的诺言,"她回答，语气平静而坚定。"你怎么能这样对我？叫......叫她的名字......"她打了个哆嗦，不知怎么地，我怀疑那是因为天气寒冷或潮湿。
“It was an accident,” he replied, but she kept her eyes away. “I know that that didn’t make it any easier, Fluttershy. But it’s true. When I said her name… I wasn’t thinking of doing what we were doing with her.”
"这是一个意外,"他回答，但她把目光移开了。"我知道这并没有让事情变得容易些，小弗。但这是事实。当我提到她的名字时，我并没有想到我们和她一起做的事情。"
Fluttershy pressed her lips together firmly, eyes clenched shut. “I don’t believe you. All those nights you spent with her. All those times you said you were working with her. Alone… and then you do that?” She shook her head and sniffed, “I was going to have a baby… our baby…” She raised her face to the rain, the tears pouring down her face in black rivulets as more dye slowly washed out. “I was going to be a mommy. A real mommy!”
小芙特希紧闭双唇，紧闭双眼。"我不相信你。你和她在一起的那些夜晚。那么多次你说你和她一起工作。一个人......然后你就这么做了?"她摇摇头，嗅了嗅,"我就要有个孩子了......我们的孩子......"她抬起脸对着雨，泪水像黑色的小溪一样从脸上流下来，更多的染料慢慢褪去。"我要当妈妈了。一个真正的妈妈!"
“I know. And you would have been a spectacular one, Fluttershy.” He sighed as he too looked up at the rain, but there were no answers to be found in the falling droplets. “But either way, I’m sorry it’s come to this. You need to stop trying to get megaspells to the zebras. They’re already sneaking around the M.A.S. looking for information. They don’t seem to know it originated with the Ministry of Peace.” He sighed and shook his head. “You need to give this up.”
"我知道。你本来会成为一个非常出色的人，弗特希。"他叹了口气，同时也抬头看着雨滴，但是在落下的水滴中找不到答案。"但不管怎样，我很抱歉事情变成这样。你需要停止试图把megasbell带到斑马那里。他们已经在m.a.s.附近偷偷摸摸地寻找信息了。他们似乎不知道这是和平部发起的。"他叹了口气，摇了摇头。"你需要放弃这一切。"
“I… I can’t… don’t you understand?” she begged as she looked up at him. “I went with the others to stop the war! Not fight it. Not to kill. But… but what have I really accomplished? The fighting is still going on! I see soldiers hurt… maimed… dead. I see ponies injured in zebra terrorist attacks. I see zebras being
"我.....。.我不能...难道你不明白吗?"她抬头看着他乞求道。"我和其他人一起去阻止战争！而不是反抗。不是杀人。但是...但是我到底完成了什么呢？战斗还在继续！我看到士兵受伤...残废...死亡。我看到小马在斑马恐怖袭击中受伤。我看到斑马
forced to live in Zebratown, and that horrible camp they’re making at Yellow River… and I can’t seem to do anything to stop it!”
被迫生活在Zebratown，他们在黄河边搭建可怕的营地......而我似乎无能为力!"
She backed away till she bumped into the pole behind her. “Don’t you see? I’m not like Twilight or Rainbow Dash or Rarity… they all want to win! They like being Ministry Mares! Even Pinkie Pie and Applejack are helping to hurt ponies. Did you know that Applejack’s cousin made a glass antipersonnel bullet that fragments in the wound? It can take days to get all the pieces out!”
她往后退，直到撞到身后的电线杆上。"你还不明白吗？我不像黄昏或彩虹冲刺或稀有...他们都想赢！他们喜欢成为事奉的母马！甚至连小苹果派和苹果白兰地也在帮助伤害小马。你知道苹果杰克的表兄做了一种玻璃杀伤子弹，子弹碎片在伤口上吗？把所有的碎片都取出来可能要好几天!"
“That’s the intention. Tie up their medics with difficult injuries…” Goldenblood murmured, now looking away himself.
"这就是我们的目的。"把他们的医护人员用困难的伤口绑起来......"金色血液低声说，现在他把目光移开了。
“Oh really?” That drew his eyes back to her, and even I was taken aback by the scorn in her gaze. “Do you know what glass bullets actually do? The agony of the wounds?” she asked as she stared at him. “The pieces are almost impossible to detect; they can remain lodged in organs and cause crippling pain. They migrate, tearing holes in tissue as they move! The zebras won’t waste time treating injuries like those. They’ll just euthanize their injured and keep fighting all the harder!”
"哦，是吗?"这使他的目光又回到了她身上，连我也被她那轻蔑的目光吓了一跳。"你知道玻璃子弹的真正用途吗？伤口的痛苦?"她盯着他问道。"这些碎片几乎不可能被检测到，它们可能残留在器官中，造成严重的疼痛。它们迁移，一边移动一边撕裂组织上的洞！斑马不会浪费时间治疗这样的伤。他们只会对受伤的人实施安乐死，然后继续更加激烈的战斗!"
“Fluttershy… we’re at war…” he said lamely.
"小萤火虫......我们在打仗......"他一瘸一拐地说。
“So that makes it okay?” Fluttershy retorted sharply, starting to pace. “We can use glass bullets. We’re at war. We can use airdropped mines that’ll blow up any foal that trots along, zebra or pony. We’re at war. We can kill… and murder… and maim… and do horrible horrible things… ‘cause we’re at war!” She sat and started to sob, “I hate it. I hate everything about it. And I have to stop it! Even… even if that means giving megaspells to the zebras. If Luna’s not good enough to use megaspells to heal battlefields… then maybe the zebras will be better than us!” She finally dropped back to a near whisper. “At least… at least it will help them with dumb glass bullets…”
"那就没问题了?"Fluttershy尖锐地反驳道，开始跟上节奏。"我们可以使用玻璃子弹。我们在打仗。我们可以使用空投地雷炸毁任何小马驹，不管是斑马还是小马驹。我们在打仗。我们可以杀戮......谋杀......残害......做可怕的事情......'因为我们处于战争状态!"她坐在那里开始抽泣,"我讨厌这样。我讨厌它的一切。我必须阻止这一切！即使...即使这意味着给斑马巨子。如果露娜不够好，不能用巨型细胞来治疗战场......那么也许斑马会比我们好!"她终于恢复到近乎耳语的状态。"至少......至少它能帮助他们用哑玻璃子弹......"
She just sat there in the rain, head bowed, sobbing. He said nothing. Finally he murmured softly, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy.”
她只是坐在雨中，低着头，抽泣着。他什么也没说。最后他低声说:"对不起，小萤火虫。"
She sniffed and drew a ragged breath. “Me too.” Finally she straightened. “Well then, let’s go.”
她吸了一口气，吸了一口粗糙的气。"我也是。"她终于挺直了腰板。"那么，我们走吧。"
“Go?”
"去?"
“To… to Princess Luna… or Pinkie Pie… so they can banish me… or throw me in a dungeon… or… or do the things they do,” she murmured as she looked up at him.
"给......月神公主......或者小指派......这样他们就可以放逐我......或者把我扔进地牢......或者......或者做他们做的事情,"她低声说着，抬头看着他。
He just smiled and shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble if turning you in had ever been an option.” He sighed and looked at her. “I love you, Fluttershy. I know you don’t believe that, but it’s true. Yes, I care for Luna too. But she never had my heart. Only you ever did. Only you ever will.”
他只是微笑着摇了摇头。"别开玩笑了。如果有机会告发你，我就不会费这么大劲了。"他叹了口气，看着她。"我爱你，小弗。我知道你不相信，但这是真的。是的，我也关心卢娜。但她从来没有得到过我的心。只有你这么做过。只有你才会。"
She stared at him, shaking, before she looked away. “I’m sorry… I… I don’t… sorry…”
她凝视着他，颤抖着，然后把目光移开。"对不起，我.....。.我不...对不起..."
“I promised,” he rasped softly as he turned aside with a small, sad smile. “I promised I would never hurt you, Fluttershy. I’m sorry I made you doubt me… that I said what I did, when I did. But I won’t turn you in. I beg you to stop this, though. Zebras can’t get their hooves on megaspells. It’ll take the war to an entirely new level. Please?”
"我答应过你的,"他转过身去，脸上带着一丝悲伤的微笑，轻声地说。"我答应过你，我永远不会伤害你的，小弗。我很抱歉我让你怀疑我...我说了我做过的事，当我做了的时候。但我不会告发你。不过，我请求你停止这一切。斑马的蹄子不能碰到巨盾。这将把战争推向一个全新的高度。求你了?"
“I can’t. Don’t you understand?” she said, desperation creeping into voice. “If I don’t do something… I think I’ll go crazy. I have to stop it.”
"我不能。你还不明白吗?"她说，声音里透着绝望。"如果我不做点什么......我想我会疯掉的。我必须阻止它。"
“Perhaps… what if I did something? Made some way for you to help prevent ponies from being hurt?” he asked, then sighed. “You could also take it as a more sincere apology.”
"也许......如果我做了什么呢？让你有办法阻止小马受伤?"他问道，然后叹了口气。"你也可以把它看作是一种更真诚的道歉。"
“Goldenblood… you don’t have to do that.”
"金色血统......你不必这么做。"
“I have to do something, Fluttershy. If you keep this up, you’re going to go to prison. I couldn’t bear to see you in such a place.”
"我必须做点什么，小弗。如果你继续这样下去，你会进监狱的。我不忍心在这种地方见到你。"
“Then help me. Please. If the zebras get their hooves on megaspells, the war will have to stop. If the zebras and ponies both know that battles are pointless, they’ll have to negotiate. Right?” she said with a wide, hopeful, and horribly naïve smile. “I can’t just… just sit on this. I need to do something too.” She smiled slightly. “You can understand?”
"那就帮帮我吧。求你了。如果斑马的蹄子踩到巨盾上，战争将不得不停止。如果斑马和小马都知道战斗是没有意义的，他们将不得不谈判。对吧?"她说，脸上带着宽阔的，充满希望的，可怕的天真的笑容。"我不能坐视不管。我也需要做点什么。"她微微一笑。"你能理解吗?"
“Yes. I do.” He stood perfectly still for a few seconds as the rain poured down upon them both. Finally he said, in a voice barely louder than the rain, “You should write to Professor Silver Stripe. Her father is Doctor Propos at the Zebra
"是的。我愿意。"他一动不动地站了几秒钟，这时大雨倾盆而下。最后他用比雨声还大的声音说:"你应该给银条教授写信。她的父亲是斑马场的普罗波斯医生
Academy of Science, and I know she has some means of contacting him clandestinely. He’s one of a few back channels I use to keep tabs on what’s going on in zebra politics, and he is an outspoken critic of the war. Maybe you two could collaborate on treating the casualties. Try and open up some avenue for peace talks.” He looked back at her, his gaze once again firm. “But please… not megaspells. If you keep trying to pass that to the enemy… sooner or later, Pinkie Pie is going to catch you. Or Luna will. I can’t protect you then.”
我知道她有办法秘密联系他。他是我用来密切关注斑马政治的少数几个秘密渠道之一，他也是一个直言不讳批评战争的人。也许你们两个可以合作治疗伤员。试着为和平谈判开辟一些途径。"他回头看着她，目光再次凝视着她。"但是，请不要......梅格斯佩尔斯。如果你继续试图把它传递给敌人......或早或晚，萍琪派会抓住你。或者露娜会。那我就保护不了你了。"
“I… thank you,” she murmured as she put the parcel back into her bags. He nodded in acknowledgment, and she said softly, “Goldenblood? Do you ever dream that things were different?”
"我.....。."谢谢,"她一边把包裹放回包里，一边低声说道。他点头表示认可，而她温柔地说:"金色血统？你有没有梦想过事情会有所不同?"
“All the time. But then again, if they were different… would we have ever had what time together we did?” He turned away.
"一直都是。但话又说回来，如果他们是不同的......我们在一起的时光会是怎样的呢?"他转过身去。
“Goldenblood?” Fluttershy murmured, and he paused, looking back at her over his shoulder. “Please, get out of the rain.” I felt his lips curl in a smile, and with a single nod, he trotted away.
"金色血统?"小弗特希喃喃地说，他停顿了一下，回过头来看着她。"请不要淋雨。"我感觉到他的嘴唇微笑着卷起，点了一下头，他就跑开了。
oooOOOooo
噢噢噢
I jerked out of the memory and looked at the drowsy batpony beside me as my brain processed what I’d experienced. Fluttershy had tried to give megaspells to the zebras to end the war? Had she succeeded and been responsible for the megaspells that burned Equestria, or had the zebras developed those themselves because she’d failed to give them an alternative? I supposed that, either way, it really sucked.
我猛地从记忆中抽身出来，看着身边那匹昏昏欲睡的小马，大脑正在处理着我所经历的一切。Fluttershy曾试图给斑马巨细胞来结束战争？是她成功了，并且对烧伤小马国的巨型细胞负责，还是斑马因为她没有给他们提供替代品而自己培育了这些细胞？我想，不管怎样，这真的很糟糕。
And they’d broken up because he’d called out some other mare’s name in bed? It seemed… silly. Who cared who he unloaded with so long as, at the end of the day, he still loved her? Back in 99, I could probably name twenty mares I’d been with offhoof. As long as you were off shift and everypony was happy with the arrangement, why not? Sure, mares could grow close -- though if your fondness for each other impacted your stable duties, there’d be hell to pay -- but I couldn’t think of any mare that would want exclusive rights to another mare. The closest I could think of was the Overmare with P-21. That was just… wrong. Selfish…
他们分手是因为他在床上叫别的母马的名字？这看起来...很傻。只要在一天结束的时候，他还爱着她，谁会在乎他和谁分手呢？回到99年，我大概能说出二十匹马的名字。只要你下班了，每匹小马都满意这样的安排，为什么不呢？当然，母马会越来越亲密----虽然如果你们对彼此的喜爱影响了你们稳定的职责，那就要付出代价了----但是我想不出有哪匹母马会想要另一匹母马的专有权。我能想到的最接近的是装备P-21的Overmare。那是...不对的。自私..。
But then, it wasn’t just that he’d been seeing somepony else; he’d called out the other mare’s name when with Fluttershy. He had to have been thinking of her, whatever he claimed. Sure, if Glory had done that to me, I would have laughed it
但是，这不仅仅是因为他看到了其他的小马，而是因为当他和小马在一起的时候，他叫出了另一匹母马的名字。不管他怎么说，他一定是在想她。当然，如果晨辉对我做了那样的事，我会笑的
off. If it’d been the other way around, I’d have a lot of explaining and apologizing to do, but it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. But Fluttershy did seem like the oversensitive sort. It would take a lot of care for her to be intimate with anypony, and I supposed that any betrayal or injury from him would be more than she could bear. And she’d been pregnant...
关闭。如果情况恰恰相反，我会有很多解释和道歉要做，但这不会是世界末日。但是小萤火虫确实看起来是那种过于敏感的类型。她需要很多的照顾才能和任何小马保持亲密关系，我想他的任何背叛或伤害都是她无法忍受的。她已经怀孕了。
I reached down to my own stomach, running my mechanical fingers along my hide. What would it be like to have a filly or colt of my own? In 99 we always knew we’d have one eventually. A few lucky mares might get the opportunity for a second if another mare died before she had a daughter or had fertility problems. I always joked that me reproducing would be a crime against Equestria.
我把手伸到自己的肚子上，用机械手指在皮肤上滑动。如果我自己有一匹小母马或小马会是什么样子呢？在99年，我们一直知道我们最终会有一个。一些幸运的母马可能会得到第二次机会，如果另一匹母马在她有女儿之前死亡或有生育问题。我总是开玩笑说，我再生孩子就是对小马国的犯罪。
Lying here, right now, I wasn’t laughing. I was thinking. Did I want to have a child? Here, in the Wasteland? In Hoofington? Now? Okay, maybe not here nor now. Maybe if I could scrape together a few thousand caps and set myself up in Tenpony. Have a filly or colt in nice safe medical conditions. Give them a few years and teach them how to shoot and take care of themselves.
躺在这里，此时此刻，我没有笑。我在想。我想要个孩子吗？在这里，在荒原？在Hoofington？现在？好吧，也许不是这里，也不是现在。也许我可以凑足几千顶帽子在Tenpony安顿下来。在良好安全的医疗条件下饲养一匹小母马或小马。给他们几年时间，教他们如何射击和照顾自己。
Have a family. A real family, something more than life in 99. I did want that. Given everything that had happened to me, despite it all, I wanted a kid. Kids. Plural. When I was done with EC-1101, I could go back to Spike and do everything to get Gardens to work. Clean up Equestria. Have a kid. Or two. Or three. Hee…
组建家庭。一个真正的家庭，不仅仅是99年的生活。我确实希望如此。尽管发生了这么多事，我还是想要个孩子。孩子们。复数。当我完成了EC-1101，我可以回到斯派克和做一切让花园工作。清理Equestria。生个孩子。或者两个。或者三个。嘿..。
It was all just a fantasy, of course. I wasn’t going to just run to Triage and have my implant removed. I’d also have to pick the right stud. Talk to Glory. Maybe she’d have one as well. I mean, she might not like stallions, but it wasn’t like she’d die if she was with the right one once. Heck, I knew medical ponies could inseminate mares if needed without them ever having to see a stallion during the process. Happened occasionally in 99. Oh, and I’d have to see... well, Triage had said that my reproductive parts had managed to stay functional, but that was before the Celestia and my cyberization. The professor hadn’t mentioned anything about them, but there were a lot of things she hadn’t mentioned. I supposed that, even if something was wrong there, Glory could have the foals or we could adopt... the idea didn’t feel as appealing, but it’d work. Something to think about… talk about... I might not be the smartest pony, but this whole subject was definitely something I didn’t want to rush. It’d be more than my own head if I screwed it up.
当然，这一切都只是一个幻想。我不会就这么跑到分诊室把植入物拿掉。我还必须选择合适的种马。与晨辉对话。也许她也会有一个。我的意思是，她可能不喜欢种马，但是如果她和对的人在一起过一次，她就不会死。见鬼，我知道医用小马可以受精母马，如果需要他们从来没有看到过一匹种马在过程中。99年偶尔发生。哦，我得看看......好吧，伤检分类说我的生殖器官还能正常工作，但那是在天堂和我的网络化之前。教授没有提到任何关于他们的事情，但是有很多事情她没有提到。我想，即使那里出了什么问题，晨辉可以生小马驹，或者我们可以采用......这个想法并不那么吸引人，但是它确实有用。我可能不是最聪明的小马，但是这整个话题绝对是我不想匆忙的。如果我搞砸了，那可不仅仅是我自己的脑袋。
I rolled onto my side and snuggled against Stygius. He was warm, firm, and didn’t mind metal legs. I knew I’d be guilting about feeling this way sooner or later but for now, nuzzling his neck, I really couldn’t help but smile. Glory would like him. Not like-like, of course. But he had a gallant idiot streak I bet she could really relate to. Kissing along his chin and cheek, I moved my hoof downward. A few seconds later, his eyes popped wide as his cheeks went red. I gave his nose a little lick as he gave a meek chirp.
我侧着身子，依偎着冥河。他温暖，坚定，不介意金属腿。我知道我迟早会对这种感觉感到内疚，但是现在，用鼻子蹭着他的脖子，我真的忍不住笑了。晨辉会喜欢他的。当然不是喜欢。但是他有一种勇敢的白痴倾向，我敢打赌她能真正理解。我顺着他的下巴和脸颊亲吻，把我的蹄子往下挪。几秒钟后，他的眼睛睁得大大的，脸颊涨得通红。我轻轻地舔了一下他的鼻子，他温顺地叽叽喳喳地叫了起来。
Round four…
第四回合..。
* * *
* * *
Okay. Okay. Enough. There was getting over a bad ploughing, then there was having fun, and then there was just wallowing in it. I wasn’t over Seahorse, but Stygius had helped me get past it. I could do things and be around a stallion without my brain screaming that they were going to rape me. When I saw Glory next, I was going to make her hooves curl! As I finally slipped off the bed, I was sore and tingly in all the right places. Stygius… he’d need a little more time to recover, but from the grin on his face I was pretty sure he’d be fine.
好吧。好吧。够了。有一次糟糕的耕作刚刚结束，有一次是玩得很开心，然后就是在里面打滚。我并没有忘记锡霍斯，但是斯提吉乌斯帮助我度过了难关。我可以做一些事情，和一匹种马呆在一起，而不用大脑尖叫着说他们要强奸我。当我下一次看到晨辉的时候，我要把她的蹄子弄弯了！当我终于从床上滑下来的时候，我在所有正确的地方都感到疼痛和刺痛。斯提吉乌斯......他还需要一点时间恢复，但从他脸上的笑容来看，我确信他会好起来的。
Stallions… are… awesome!
种马......是......棒极了！
Of course, we both needed a shower; we were positively ripe. I trotted into the bathroom with a smile on my face. Maybe I wasn’t completely over what’d happened to me; there was still that muttering defense mechanism in the back of my head, but I didn’t think that I’d try and kill a male just for making the wrong comment or brushing my rear end. Still… I did a little dance on the balcony. I hadn’t killed him and I’d had a good time!
当然，我们俩都需要洗个澡，我们已经非常成熟了。我微笑着小跑进了浴室。也许我并没有完全忘记发生在我身上的事情;我的后脑勺里仍然有那种喃喃自语的防御机制，但是我不认为我会因为一个男人说了错误的话或者擦了我的屁股就去杀他。不过...我还是在阳台上跳了一会儿舞。我没有杀他，我玩得很开心！
This had to be one of the top five best days I’d had out here in the Wasteland, just behind finding out Glory was alive after Flash Industries and our little concert in Star House before going into the tunnels. Of course, I knew that something horrible would probably happen soon to erase it; my life seemed to inextricably fall into that pattern. But I’d enjoy the great feelings as long as I could.
这一定是我在荒原度过的最美好的五天之一，就在我们进入隧道之前，闪电工业和我们在星宫举行的小型音乐会之后，我发现光荣还活着。当然，我知道可怕的事情可能很快就会发生来抹去它;我的生活似乎不可避免地陷入那种模式。但是我会尽可能地享受这种美好的感觉。
After a nice hot shower -- Hee! Hot water! Any day with hot water pouring down on me was a good one! -- I emerged, put my armor and saddlebags back on, picked out whatever magical gems I could find in the shattered rock collection, and trotted downstairs. Well… time to start thinking about how we
好好洗个热水澡----嘻！热水！任何有热水泼到我身上的日子都是美好的一天！我出来，穿上我的盔甲和鞍囊，从破碎的石头堆里挑出任何我能找到的魔法宝石，小跑着下了楼。是时候开始考虑我们
were going to get out of here. I alternated between bites of Cram, chunks of gemstones, and pieces of metal from the workshop as I sat on the desk in the library and looked out the window at the bots milling about outside. We might be able to race past them and out the shield, but that would be iffy. I had visions of one of us ending up as a shower of ash.
我们要离开这里。当我坐在图书馆的桌子上，看着窗外的机器人在外面转来转去的时候，我一口一口地吃着补习班、大块的宝石和工作室里的金属片。我们或许可以超过他们，冲出防护罩，但那是不确定的。我预见到我们中的一个最终会化为灰烬。
I tried to peek around at the main Pinkie box, but the angle from the library window wasn’t very good. I needed to get higher. Fortunately, I had freaky zebra balancing legs that let me stand upright on the desk. Ah, there it was. And there were its red eyes. Mhmmm… still not a happy ro-- wait. What was that?
我试图偷看一下图书馆的小指盒，但是图书馆窗口的角度不是很好。我需要变得更高。幸运的是，我有着奇怪的斑马平衡腿，这让我能够直立地站在桌子上。啊，就是这个。还有它的红眼睛。嗯......仍然不是一个快乐的人......等等。那是什么？
In an upper corner of the library was a tiny black camera sensor. Why had he needed so many? I looked from it to the desk and back again, wondering if I might see something if I could get my point of view close enough to its… well, I not only had freaky zebra standing powers but equally freaky cyber thumb powers. I used them to carefully climb up the bookshelves, and pretty soon I realized I was onto something when I heard a faint crackle in my ears. Yes! Another recording. I lifted my head even with the camera, then turned and looked down into the library.
在图书馆的上角有一个小小的黑色摄像机传感器。为什么他需要这么多？我看了看桌子，又看了看桌子，想知道我是否可以看到一些东西，如果我可以让我的观点足够接近它的......好吧，我不仅有奇怪的斑马站立能力，还有同样奇怪的网络拇指能力。我用它们小心翼翼地爬上书架，很快，当我听到耳朵里有微弱的噼啪声时，我意识到自己找到了什么。太好了！又一个录音。我抬起头，连照相机也不放过，然后转过头，俯视着图书馆。
The change was astonishing, from pristine clean to an absolute mess. There were more books piled in stacks around the desk than there were on the mahogany bookshelves. Papers had been taped to the walls, and the wastebin was overflowing with wadded-up parchment. Only narrow tracks to and from the door allowed hoof traffic. Goldenblood was sitting at the desk, rasping softly to himself and hissing an inhalation every three or four words, “Now… Pertinent to Equestrian Command One and the formation of the ministries, the judiciary shall remain under the review of the crown with judges appointed, monitored, and removed by the crown. All ministries retain the right to exclusive internal legal codes of conduct, but any binding ruling of the ministries shall be appealable by Equestrian court--”
变化是惊人的，从原始的清洁到一团糟。书桌周围的书堆得比桃花心木书架上的书还多。纸张被用胶带粘在墙上，废纸箱里堆满了羊皮纸。只有来往于门口的狭窄轨道才允许步行。戈登布拉德坐在办公桌前，轻声地自言自语，每隔三四个字就嘶嘶地吸一口气,"现在......关于马术指挥部一号和政府部门的组成，司法部门将继续接受王室的审查，由王室任命、监督和罢免法官。所有部委保留制定专属内部法律行为守则的权利，但任何部委具有约束力的裁决都可由马术法庭上诉——"
A flash of golden light filled the room, and while I started, Goldenblood remained coolly examining his papers. When it faded, the last person I would have ever imagined appeared. There was absolutely no mistaking that radiant crown or missing that softly billowing four-color mane. Princess Celestia. I only had two memories of her, one troubled and the other regretful. Now I saw another side of the former ruler of Equestria: anger.
房间里闪过一道金色的光芒，我出发的时候，金血王正在冷静地检查他的文件。当它消失的时候，我想象不到的最后一个人出现了。绝对没有错误的辐射冠或失去了轻轻波浪四色鬃毛。塞莱斯蒂亚公主。我对她只有两种回忆，一种是苦恼的，一种是悔恨的。现在我看到了前马术统治者的另一面:愤怒。
“Director Goldenblood.” Her voice was stern, the type of voice Mom used when I was in deep trouble. She looked at the stacks of papers and books, and her horn flashed once. In an instant, the books were back on the shelves and the papers, including the one he was writing on, were stacked on a smaller desk on the opposite side of the room. “I wish to have a discreet word.”
"金血黄导演"她的声音很严厉，就像妈妈在我遇到大麻烦时说的那样。她看了看成堆的文件和书，她的喇叭闪了一下。不一会儿，书又回到了书架上，文件，包括他正在写字的那张，都堆放在房间对面一张较小的桌子上。"我希望有一个谨慎的词。"
“I have an office, Princess Celestia,” he replied in his shallow, rasping voice. His pink scars looked wet and shiny, and he sat neatly on the edge of his seat, pressing his forehooves together as he leaned towards the Princess, peering at her over the tops. “There was no need to come here and organize my controlled chaos.” Then he clenched his eyes shut, coughing deep and wet. Despite her ire, the Princess betrayed a tiny concerned look before stiffening once more.
"我有一个办公室，塞莱斯蒂亚公主,"他用浅薄刺耳的声音回答道。他那粉红色的伤疤看起来又湿又亮，他整齐地坐在座位的边缘，前蹄合拢在一起，斜靠着公主，从上面凝视着她。"没有必要来这里组织我受控制的混乱局面。"然后他紧闭双眼，深深地咳嗽，浑身湿漉漉的。尽管她很生气，公主还是露出了一丝关切的表情，然后又变得僵硬起来。
“It seemed to be the only way I could talk with you face to face. You’re a notoriously difficult pony to meet. That seems to be the way of almost everypony around you,” she said firmly. “I was supposed to speak with Twilight Sparkle today, but imagine my shock when I was told she was busy with ministry business. When I pried, I found out that I wasn’t even on Twilight’s agenda today, per your orders.”
"这似乎是我与你面对面交谈的唯一方式。你是出了名的难相处的小马。这似乎是你周围每一匹小马的习惯,"她坚定地说。"我本来今天要和紫悦谈话，但当我被告知她正忙于政府事务时，你可以想象我有多震惊。当我打探的时候，我发现根据你的命令，我今天甚至没有出现在《暮光之城》的日程表上。"
“Was there a part of that which was unclear, Celestia?” Goldenblood said in his shallow rasp. I would have loved to have known if he was smiling behind those hooves.
"塞莱斯蒂亚，有没有什么不清楚的地方?"金色的血液用他浅浅的锉刀说。如果他在马蹄后面微笑的话，我会很高兴知道的。
“Twilight Sparkle is my most devoted student and dearest friend, and because of you, she didn’t even know that I wanted to see her. You have no right to interfere in our relationship or meddle in our private affairs,” the Princess retorted, her eyes narrowing. If they’d been focused at me, I doubted I’d retain control of my bladder. But Goldenblood looked back with something bordering on contempt.
"紫悦是我最忠实的学生和最亲密的朋友，因为你，她甚至不知道我想见她。"你没有权利干涉我们的关系，也没有权利干涉我们的私事,"公主眯起眼睛反驳道。如果他们把注意力集中在我身上，我怀疑我是否能控制自己的膀胱。但是金布拉德回头看了看，带着近乎蔑视的神情。
“Ah, I’m afraid that that is where you are mistaken,” he replied calmly, his wet raspy voice turning sharper. “Twilight Sparkle isn’t your student anymore, Celestia. She’s now Luna’s Ministry Mare. She has a job to do winning the war. Her time is literally priceless, and I take great pains to manage it and her to be as efficient as possible.”
"啊，恐怕这就是你搞错的地方,"他平静地回答，湿漉漉的沙哑的声音变得尖锐起来。"紫悦已经不再是你的学生了，Celestia。她现在是卢娜的魔法部母马。她有责任赢得这场战争。她的时间简直是无价之宝，我费了很大力气来管理这些时间，让她尽可能高效。"
“Twilight Sparkle isn’t your subordinate, Director!” Celestia retorted. Goldenblood didn’t respond, and for an instant, doubt flickered in her eyes. His remained as steady as steel.
"紫悦不是你的下属，主任!"塞莱斯蒂亚反驳道。金色的血液没有回应，一瞬间，她的眼睛里闪烁着疑惑。他像钢铁一样坚定。
“If you have problems with how I execute my duties, take them up with your sister. I’m sure that she’ll be happy to spare you some time, Celestia.” I suddenly realized he hadn’t been calling her ‘Princess’ anymore. He looked at the stacks of papers, magically flipped through them, and then stopped and yanked one free. “I’m sure that Princess Luna would be overjoyed to hear your concerns about the…” His eyes glanced back to the paper once more. “...diamond dog relocation.”
"如果你对我如何履行职责有意见的话，你可以去找你姐姐。我相信她会很乐意为你腾出一些时间的，塞莱斯蒂亚。"我突然意识到他已经不再叫她公主了。他看了看那一叠叠文件，神奇地翻了一下，然后停下来，拉了一张出来。"我敢肯定，卢娜公主听到你对这件事的担忧一定会欣喜若狂的......"他的眼睛又回头看了看报纸。"...钻石狗重新安置"
“Those are intelligent, thinking, feeling people. They may not be ponies, but it’s not right to simply take their land because we need it.” She trotted right up to his desk, then sat down and glared at him, reinforcing the fact that alicorns were frigging huge!
"他们是聪明、有思想、有感情的人。他们也许不是小马驹，但仅仅因为我们需要而夺走他们的土地是不对的。"她小跑着来到他的办公桌前，然后坐下来瞪着他，强调了一个事实，那就是海龟们真他妈的巨大！
He didn’t shrink back, though, nor look away, as he said in that steamy hiss, “Funny. I recall you using the same excuse of ‘imminent and vital manifest need’ when you gave the order to seize the coal fields southeast of Shattered Hoof Ridge eleven years ago. That led to the zebra invasion at Dawn Bay. Which led to attacks across the Zanzebra Strait. And… well… you know the details better than I. But when Twilight gives an identical order to seize Splendid Valley, it’s wrong.” He tossed the paper onto the desk.
不过，他并没有退缩，也没有转过脸去，就像他用那种潮湿的嘶嘶声说的那样:"真有趣。我记得十一年前，当你下令占领粉碎性霍夫岭东南部的煤田时，你用了同样的借口"迫在眉睫而又至关重要的明显需要"。这导致了黎明湾的斑马入侵。这导致了跨越Zanzebra海峡的袭击。而且...你比我更了解细节。但是，当《暮光之城》发出同样的命令要占领辉煌山谷时，那就错了。"他把报纸扔在桌子上。
“It was wrong twelve years ago and it’s wrong now,” Celestia countered, looking anguished. “Don’t let Twilight make the same mistake I did. Please... let me speak with her.”
"十二年前是错误的，现在也是错误的,"Celestia反驳道，看起来很痛苦。"不要让暮光之城重蹈我的覆辙。请......让我和她谈谈。"
Goldenblood frowned as he lifted the paper again. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Celestia. Twilight needs the gems, caverns, and security to test hazardous spells and talismans. The M.A.S. nearly burned down their Manehattan hub testing incineration spells, as you may recall, and given all the zebra infiltrators and sympathizers we’ve dug out in the last two years…” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry Celestia, but as I said… Twilight’s time is invaluable. She simply does not have the time to be your special student any longer.”
金布拉德再次拿起报纸，皱起了眉头。"恐怕这是不可能的，塞莱斯蒂亚。黄昏需要宝石，洞穴，和安全，以测试危险的法术和护身符。你可能还记得，m.a.s.差点烧毁了他们的曼哈顿枢纽焚化中心测试咒语，还给了过去两年里我们挖出来的所有斑马渗透者和同情者......"他叹了口气，摇了摇头。"我很抱歉，塞莱斯泰拉，但正如我所说......黄昏的时间是无价的。她再也没有时间做你的特殊学生了。"
“Goldenblood, you can’t let her do this. I didn’t step down so my sister and my student could do horrible things!” Celestia objected with a toss of her mane.
"金色血统，你不能让她这么做。我不是为了让我的姐姐和学生做出可怕的事情而辞职的!"塞勒斯蒂娅甩了甩鬃毛反对。
“Well, that’s funny. I was under the impression that that is precisely why you stepped down.” His eyes narrowed. I’d never seen a pony scowl at Princess Celestia like that before. I didn’t think it was possible. “With all due respect,
"好吧，这很有趣。我的印象是，这正是你下台的原因。"他眯起眼睛。我以前从未见过一匹小马如此怒视塞莱斯蒂亚公主。我认为这是不可能的。恕我直言
Celestia, you quit. And you didn’t sue for peace. You didn’t negotiate an armistice. You didn’t even surrender with honor. You… just… quit. And in quitting, you dumped this entire war, which you started, in Princess Luna’s lap.”
塞莱斯蒂亚，你退出。你也没有要求和平。你没有协商停战协议。你甚至没有光荣地投降。你...就...退出吧。你放弃了这场由你挑起的战争，把它交给了卢娜公主。"
“You think I don’t know that? You think I could still rule after what happened at Littlehorn?” Celestia demanded, her eyes blazing like twin suns. “Do you know what I thought when I saw what the zebras had done to my sister’s academy? This is my fault! Mine!”
"你以为我不知道吗？在利特霍恩发生了那样的事情之后，你认为我还能统治吗?"塞莱斯蒂亚问道，她的眼睛像两个太阳一样闪耀着光芒。"你知道当我看到斑马对我姐姐的学校做了什么的时候，我在想什么吗？这是我的错！我的!"
“And you were right. It was your fault,” Goldenblood said in low, deadly tones. “You could have silenced the nobles. You could have told Hippocampus to find another way. Put down energy quotas. Worked to overcome the impasse with the zebras. Instead, you decided to go to war. You, Celestia.”
"你是对的。都是你的错,"金血王用低沉而致命的声调说。"你本可以让贵族们安静下来。你可以告诉海马体另辟蹊径。放下能源配额。努力打破与斑马的僵局。相反，你决定去打仗。你，塞莱斯蒂亚。"
“I had duties and responsibilities to all of Equestria!” she protested.
"我对整个小马国负有责任和义务!"她抗议道。
“And now you don’t,” Goldenblood said flatly. “You should have given Princess Luna a year, at the absolute minimum, for a transfer of power. Five years would have been better. And you should have negotiated peace before stepping down.
"现在你不知道了,"金布拉德直截了当地说。"你至少应该给露娜公主一年的时间来交接权力。五年会更好。在你下台之前，你应该通过谈判达成和平。
Even if it came with penalties… we could have dealt with them. But you didn’t. You quit, and dumped this entire mess on your sister’s back. And now you don’t like what she has to do to win the war? To create her own rule? To run Equestria as she needs to run it? Tough.” He folded his hooves on the desk before him.
即使有点球，我们也可以对付他们。但你没有。你辞职了，然后把这堆烂摊子丢在你妹妹的背上。现在你不喜欢她为了赢得战争所做的一切？创造她自己的规则？来经营小马国，正如她需要的那样？艰难。"他把蹄子叠在面前的桌子上。
“Princess Luna is doing what she must. Twilight Sparkle is helping her by doing what she must.”
"露娜公主正在做她必须做的事。紫悦正在帮助她做她必须做的事情。"
“Even if it’s the wrong thing?” Celestia asked with a soft plea in her voice. I never thought I’d hear a Princess speak like that! “I have to do something! There must be some way I can help them to not repeat my mistakes!”
"即使是错误的事情?"塞莱斯蒂亚用她柔和的声音问道。我从来没有想到我会听到一个公主说这样的话！"我必须做点什么！一定有办法让他们不再犯我的错误!"
“Luna is not interested in your help, Celestia. Neither is Twilight Sparkle. There is no place for you in the new government. I made sure of it.” From the look of shock on Celestia’s face, I wondered if anypony had ever spoken to her like this before. It was a slap in the face.
"露娜对你的帮助不感兴趣，塞莱斯蒂亚。紫悦也不是。新政府里没有你的位置。我确信这一点。"从塞莱斯蒂亚脸上震惊的表情来看，我想知道以前是否有小马这样和她说话。这简直是当头一棒。
“I just want to help my sister and my student,” she whispered. “Please!”
"我只是想帮助我的妹妹和我的学生,"她低声说。"求你了!"
He sighed and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Celestia, but this comes from Princess Luna. She’s adamant on making sure that this is her rule, her land, and her victory. And I am determined to see she gets it.” He levitated up the paper once
他叹了口气，闭上了眼睛。"对不起，塞莱斯蒂亚，这是露娜公主的命令。她坚持要确保这是她的统治，她的土地，她的胜利。我下定决心要让她得到这个机会。"他有一次把纸悬浮起来
more. “But… I’ll see if I can do something for these… erm… diamond dogs, are they? Unofficially and off the record. Just please stop trying to contact Twilight. I think she’s trying to use time spells to create a thirty-two hour day just to get more work done.”
更多。"但是......我看看能不能为这些......呃......钻石狗做点什么，是吗？非正式的，非正式的。请不要再联系暮光之城了。我认为她试图利用时间魔咒创造一个32小时的一天，只是为了完成更多的工作。"
“Yes. That does sound like her,” Celestia murmured.
"是的。听起来的确像她,"塞莱斯蒂亚低声说。
Goldenblood gave her a sympathetic smile. “Please, Celestia. I know you are concerned, but it’s now out of your hooves.” He paused, and for a moment his eyes seemed to size up the magnificent white alicorn. “If I can think of some way for you to help, I’ll let you know.”
金色的血液给了她一个同情的微笑。"拜托，塞莱斯蒂娅。我知道你很担心，但这已经超出你的能力范围了。"他停顿了一下，有一会儿，他的眼睛仿佛看清了那只巨大的白色橡子。"如果我能想到什么办法让你帮忙，我会告诉你的。"
“Oh, that’s quite all right. I’m sure I’ll find something to occupy my time.” Celestia nodded and started to turn away. Then she paused to look back at him. “Goldenblood. Do you remember that time when you told me not to attack the zebras twelve years ago?”
"哦，没关系。我肯定会找到事情打发时间的。"塞莱斯蒂亚点点头，开始转过身去。然后她停下来回头看了看他。"金色血统。你还记得十二年前你告诉我不要攻击斑马吗?"
“Vividly,” he replied.
"生动,"他回答。
“Right now, I know exactly how you felt then. I hope that I may be as inspired as you were. Goodbye, Goldenblood,” Celestia said with a formal bow of her head. He rose and bowed deeply in return. But when she disappeared in a flash of golden light, Goldenblood didn’t smile or sneer. He trotted back to his desk, lifted a brass flask from one of the drawers, and took a pull before burying his face in his hooves.
"现在，我完全理解你当时的感受。我希望我能像你一样受到鼓舞。再见，金血王,"塞莱斯蒂娜正式鞠了一躬说。他站起来深深地鞠了一躬作为回报。但是当她消失在一道金色的光芒中时，金色的血液没有一丝笑容，也没有一丝嘲笑。他小跑回到自己的办公桌前，从一个抽屉里拿出一个铜瓶，拉了一下，然后把脸埋在蹄子里。
I stared at him sitting there. Then he muttered to himself in a voice so low that I nearly missed it. His words, however, made my blood turn to ice. “Damn it... Don’t make me kill you, Celestia.”
我盯着坐在那里的他。然后他低声自言自语，声音很小，我几乎听不到。然而，他的话使我的血变成了冰。"该死......别逼我杀了你，塞莱斯蒂亚。"
A few seconds later, he rose and trotted from the room. I hung there till my vision flashed and reset. Then there was a chirp in my ear; I flailed with one limb, then slipped off the bookcase and tumbled down, landing firmly on my cybernetic butt. “Owww!” I whined aloud, then winced and rubbed my backside before looking up at Stygius, bathed and back in his armor as well.
几秒钟后，他站了起来，小跑着离开了房间。我一直挂在那儿，直到我的视线闪过，重新回到原位。然后我的耳朵里传来一阵唧唧声，我用一只手臂挥舞着，然后从书架上滑了下来，跌倒在地，稳稳地落在我那控制论的屁股上。"啊!"我大声抱怨着，然后皱了皱眉，摸了摸自己的屁股，抬头看着Stygius，沐浴着他的盔甲，又回到了他的身边。
‘U ok?’ he scribbled on his board. Then he pointed at me and stared off into space.
你还好吗他在黑板上乱涂乱画。然后他指着我，凝视着太空。
“Yeah. I am. Just… ow…” I stood with a groan and gave myself a good shake,
"是的。是的。我站在那里呻吟了一声，好好地摇了摇自己
trying to wrap my head around what I’d seen. Kill Celestia? Could anypony do that? I mean, the zebras had, but they’d had their entire war effort to use, and even then they were only able to do it as part of the apocalypse. Goldenblood might have been a sneaky bastard, but he couldn’t do that!
试图理解我所看到的一切。杀死塞勒斯蒂娅？任何小马都能做到这一点吗？我的意思是，斑马有，但他们有他们的整个战争的努力使用，即使那样，他们只能做到这一部分的启示。金血王可能是一个卑鄙的混蛋，但他不能这样做！
Could he?
他可以吗？
The discovery of the camera in the library spurred me to search for others, and we spent nearly an hour looking. There turned out to be at least one in every room, and Stygius was kind enough to, flapping as hard as he could, lift me up to the point where I could see more recordings. None of them were as grave as the one I’d seen in the library, though. Threatening Princess Celestia… that was just… how could he – could anypony – think that?
在图书馆里发现的照相机促使我去寻找其他的照相机，我们花了将近一个小时去寻找。事实证明，每个房间里至少都有一个，斯蒂吉乌斯好心地尽可能用力拍打着翅膀，把我举到可以看到更多录音的地方。但是没有一个像我在图书馆里看到的那个一样严肃。威胁塞莱斯蒂亚公主...那只是...他怎么能让任何小马这么想呢？
The majority of the recordings, in fact, were not just ‘not as grave’ but fairly odd and often boring. Many of them were silent, like one in the kitchen where Fluttershy was trying to make a meal for an obnoxious white rabbit. Another showed a rather infuriated Scootaloo barging in and fairly screaming soundlessly at Goldenblood. I don’t know what he told her, but when he finished the look of horror on her face had her trotting from the room as swiftly as her hooves could carry her.
事实上，大部分的录音不仅没有那么严肃，而且相当奇怪，常常很无聊。很多人都沉默不语，比如厨房里的一只小红毛正在给一只讨厌的白兔做饭。另一张照片显示一个相当愤怒的斯库塔罗冲了进来，对着Goldenblood无声地大喊大叫。我不知道他对她说了些什么，但是当他说完时，她脸上的恐惧表情使她从房间里小跑起来，像她的蹄子一样快。
Others had sound but didn’t seem terribly important. There was one in the guest room where Goldenblood waxed on about the moonstone acquisition for his collection to a vaguely-familiar-looking unicorn and pegasus close enough in appearance that they might have been siblings. They teased him about abusing his authority for a rock. Goldenblood grinned and replied, “Rocks,” and the recording ended with him telling them to take care of Pinkie Pie. Another after it had him complaining to Horse about the ugliness of the Core. The yellow pony laughed about how functionality took priority over aesthetics.
其他人有声音，但似乎不是特别重要。在客房里，Goldenblood谈到了他收集月亮石的事情，谈到了一只看起来很眼熟的独角兽和一匹飞马，它们看起来非常接近，可能是兄弟姐妹。他们取笑他为了一块石头而滥用职权。金布拉德咧嘴笑了笑，回答道:"石头,"录音结束时，他告诉他们照顾好小派。后来他又向霍斯抱怨核心的丑陋。黄色的小马笑着说功能性比美观性更重要。
In the nursery, though, I found a recording I’d never imagined. Goldenblood was slumped against the empty crib, weeping as if it were the first time he would and the last time he could. He clenched his teeth along with his eyes, hissing as if he were being tortured as he sobbed and choked.
然而，在育儿室里，我发现了一段我从未想象过的录音。金色的血液靠在空荡荡的婴儿床上，哭得好像这是他第一次也是最后一次这么做似的。他双眼紧咬牙关，嘶嘶作响，好像被折磨一样，一边抽泣一边哽咽。
“Here you are,” a strange stallion said in a reverent tone. It was a blue unicorn wearing a pince-nez. His mane was a luxurious silver-white, and on his flank was a model of an atom like the drawings I’d seen in textbooks. “It’s been three
"给你,"一匹奇怪的种马虔诚地说。那是一只戴着夹鼻眼镜的蓝色独角兽。他的鬃毛是奢华的银白色，侧面是一个原子模型，就像我在教科书上看到的图画一样。"已经三个月了
days.”
日子。"
Goldenblood turned and looked at him over his shoulder with a blood shot eye. “Am I not permitted to grieve the loss of my daughter, Trottenheimer?” he hissed.
金布拉德转过身来，用一只充满血液的眼睛从肩膀上望着他。"难道我不能为我失去女儿特罗滕海默而悲伤吗?"他嘶嘶地说。
“That requires you to acknowledge that you ever had one,” the blue stallion replied. “Four Leaf put two and two together. Don’t worry, it won’t spread. The M.o.P. is rallying around Fluttershy to protect her. She wants you to come to dinner. No arguments.” He watched as Goldenblood pressed his brow to the crib again. “Sometimes I think you’re trying to commit suicide by overdosing on secrets. It wasn’t your fault.”
"这需要你承认你曾经有过一个,"蓝色种马回答。"四叶把两件事联系在一起。别担心，不会扩散的。民主党团结在Fluttershy周围保护她。她想让你来吃晚饭。没什么好争的。"他看着金布拉德又把额头贴在婴儿床上。"有时候我觉得你是想通过过量服用秘密来自杀。这不是你的错。"
He made another horrible choking sound. At first I thought it was more tears, but then he threw back his head and I saw his sick grin. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he laughed. Trottenheimer’s eyes widened in shock as the scarred stallion rasped, “That’s just it. It is all my fault...”
他又发出一声可怕的哽咽声。一开始我以为是更多的眼泪，但是后来他把头往后仰，我看到了他病态的笑容。当他笑的时候，眼泪顺着脸颊流了下来。受到惊吓的特罗滕海默睁大了眼睛，这匹伤痕累累的种马发出刺耳的声音,"就是这样。都是我的错......"
“What?”
"什么?"
“Fluttershy and I were together intimately,” he said as he sat, gazing into the empty crib. “In the heat of the moment... I... called out the name of another mare.”
"小萤火虫和我亲密地在一起,"他坐在那里，盯着空荡荡的婴儿床说。"在最激动的时刻......我.....。.喊出另一匹母马的名字
The blue unicorn screwed back his lips in distaste as he scowled, and then he sighed in disappointment. “Goldenblood, really?”
蓝色的独角兽皱起眉头，厌恶地抿着嘴唇，然后失望地叹了口气。"金色血统，真的吗?"
“I know. I know!” he hissed in a rush. “There isn’t one part of that stupid thing I haven’t analyzed in detail! I don’t know why I said it. But I did, and... it was at the worst possible time. She’s so terribly sensitive... She’d already had complications... the stress... the pressure... all of it was too much to bear. She left me... then six hours later I got the call...” He started to laugh, but three laughs into it they transformed into ragged sobs. “Ministry Mare Fluttershy admitted to Fluttershy Medical Center for a miscarriage...” And he buried his face in the crib. “I didn’t just lose the mare I loved, Trottenheimer. I killed my daughter with a name!”
"我知道。我知道!"他急忙发出嘶嘶声。"那件愚蠢的事情我没有一件没有详细分析过！我不知道我为什么这么说。但是我做到了，而且...那是在最糟糕的时候。她是如此的敏感......她已经有了并发症......压力......压力......所有这一切都太难以承受了。她离开了我......六个小时后，我接到了电话......"他开始大笑起来，但是三个人的笑声变成了刺耳的抽泣声。"marefuttershy承认在FluttershyMedicalCenter流产......"然后他把脸埋在婴儿床里。"我不仅失去了我所爱的母马，特罗滕海默。我用一个名字杀了我的女儿!"
Trottenheimer stood behind him for a long minute, then finally approached Goldenblood and awkwardly patted his shoulder. “Look... you couldn’t have known... and you wouldn’t have done it if you did. It’s just... just one of those
特罗滕海默在他身后站了很长时间，最后走近金布拉德，笨拙地拍了拍他的肩膀。"听着......你不可能知道......如果你知道，你也不会这么做。只是...只是其中之一
things,” he said as Goldenblood wept. “But you know what’s going on. We’re barely hanging on. Twelve attacks on Hoofington in the last month, and if Princess Luna changes her mind and moves our research to Manehattan, then things are going to get a lot more difficult. We need you, Goldenblood. Either to step up like before, or to step aside. But not to just sit here.”
"他边说边流着眼泪。"但是你知道发生了什么。我们快撑不住了。上个月发生了十二起针对胡芬顿的袭击事件，如果卢娜公主改变主意，把我们的研究移到Manehattan，那么事情就会变得更加困难。我们需要你，金血王。要么像以前那样挺身而出，要么退到一边。但不能坐以待毙。"
The words had a galvanizing effect on the scarred stallion. “You’re right...” he rasped, his voice like a dying breath. “I have promises to keep... and none of them involve a wife... or a child.” He closed his eyes again. “Tell the department heads to meet tomorrow. We need to expand our operations. Take a more active role in bringing this conflict to a close in the right way and at the right time.” He pressed his forehead to the rail. “That... that will have to do. For now... please give me one more night to mourn Whisper.”
这些话对这匹伤痕累累的种马产生了刺激的效果。"你说得对......"他粗声粗气地说，声音像是临死前的呼吸。"我有许诺要遵守......但没有一个涉及到妻子......或孩子。"他又闭上了眼睛。"告诉部门主管明天开会。我们需要扩大业务。在正确的方式和正确的时间，发挥更积极的作用，结束这场冲突。"他把前额贴在栏杆上。"那...那也只能这样了。现在......请再给我一个晚上来哀悼Whisper。"
That was all I could bear to watch; Goldenblood hadn’t just lost Fluttershy to his mistake. He’d lost a child, too… And that bastard Sanguine had kept her survival secret from both of them! If they’d known, would it have changed something? Everything?
这就是我能忍受看到的全部;金色血液不仅仅是因为他的错误而失去了小弗。他也失去了一个孩子......而那个混蛋桑吉尼一直对他们俩保守着她幸存的秘密！如果他们知道了，会有什么改变吗？一切？
Damn it. I didn’t want to pity anypony who’d contemplate killing Princess Celestia.
该死。我不想同情任何想要杀死塞勒斯蒂娜公主的矮种马。
I tried to take my mind off the sight of Goldenblood in such a state, starting by signaling Stygius that we could head back down. The batpony was worn out from being my elevator and landed a bit heavily, taking a moment to catch his breath. I trotted quickly from the nursery down to the living room. He walked after me, his wings dragging along behind him. I sat on the couch, rubbing my face. When I’d discovered that this was Goldenblood’s house... well... I hadn’t exactly thought that I would find a golden memory orb with all the secrets nagging me there for the taking, but I’d expected to find something.
我试着不去想在这样一个国家看到Goldenblood的情景，首先是示意斯提吉乌斯我们可以回去了。那匹蝙蝠马由于是我的电梯而疲惫不堪，重重地落在地上，喘了一口气。我迅速地从育儿室跑到客厅。他跟在我后面走，他的翅膀在身后拖着。我坐在沙发上，揉着脸。当我发现这是金色血液的房子时......嗯......我没有想到我会找到一个金色的记忆球，里面装着所有的秘密，一直困扰着我，等着我去拿，但是我希望能找到一些东西。
What I’d found was Goldenblood the pony.
我发现的是金色的血，小马驹。
A teacher. A lover. Even a father. I didn’t want to think of him like that. I wanted to hate him, think of him as a monster who’d contemplate killing Celestia. I hated the idea of him as a victim. A screwup. ...Normal. I don’t know which was more terrifying; a ridiculously intelligent master plotter with a secret ministry under his command, or somepony who was all that... and who could fuck up too.
一个老师。一个情人。甚至是一个父亲。我不想那样想他。我想恨他，把他想象成一个想要杀死塞莱斯蒂亚的怪物。我讨厌把他当作受害者的想法。一团糟。...正常。我不知道哪个更可怕;一个可笑的聪明的主谋，在他的指挥下有一个秘密的牧师，或者一个小马谁是所有这一切...谁也可以搞砸。
I was distracted from my thoughts by a bit of movement in the corner of my eye.
我被眼角的一点动作分散了注意力。
Looking over Stygius’s shoulder, through a picture window, past the long grass out front and the swirling spritebots, I saw something that didn’t belong: a pony in Steel Ranger armor. She was just standing halfway through the magic field, the glowing surface distorted around her. The red sparks of light from the swarming spritebots fizzled uselessly against her armor. Then a second Steel Ranger stepped through. A third. A fourth. I rose to my hooves and slowly approached the window for a closer view.
透过落地窗，越过斯蒂吉乌斯的肩膀，经过前面的长草和旋转的机器人，我看到了不属于这里的东西:一匹穿着钢铁骑兵盔甲的小马。她正站在魔法场的一半，发光的表面在她周围扭曲了。密密麻麻的飞行器发出的红色火花毫无用处地擦着她的盔甲。然后第二个钢铁骑兵走了过来。第三个。第四个。我站起来，慢慢地靠近窗户，想看得更清楚些。
Then a fifth stepped through. He wore on his sides two massive anti-dragon cannons. As he stepped out in front of the rest and they turned to make way, I saw the black towers lined in green on their armored flanks.
然后第五个人走了进来。他在身体两侧佩戴着两门巨大的反龙大炮。当他走在其他人的前面，他们转过身来让路时，我看到他们的装甲侧翼上黑色的双塔排列成绿色。
You never forgot guns like those.
你永远不会忘记那样的枪。
Steel Rain was here.
钢铁雨来过这里。
 
Footnote: Level 10 Reached.
脚注:达到第10级。
New perk added: Black Widow: +10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue options with certain characters.
新的额外津贴:黑寡妇:+10%的伤害对异性和独特的对话选项与某些人物。
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s note: Ugggggh! This chapter was cursed. Just CURSED. Everything that could delay me or interrupt our attempts to brush did so. It’s also the longest, I think, and I didn’t mean to. So sorry. I really need to keep these to thirty pages or so. Ugggh..... anyway, thanks so very much to Kkat for creating FoE, to Hinds, Bronode, and Snipehamster for spending a RIDICULOUS amount of time trying to make this decent. Thanks to Mint Julep again for keeping me on this track. Thanks to Ilushia for helping me try to get Blackjack’s psychology down... girl brains are hard... Lastly, thanks to everyone that leaves comments and tips are very much appreciated through Paypal to David13ushey@gmail.com. Thank you for reading and I am so very very sorry it’s taken so long to get out.) (Hinds: “I really need to keep these to thirty pages or so.” You know he’s actually serious when he says these things? Yeah.)
(作者注:ugggh！这一章被诅咒了。只是被诅咒了。任何可能拖延我或打断我们试图刷牙的事情都是这样做的。这也是最长的，我想，我不是故意的。非常抱歉。我真的需要把这些保持在三十页左右。呃..。无论如何，非常感谢Kkat创建了FoE，感谢Hinds，Bronode，和Snipehamster花费了大量的时间来尝试这个好东西。再次感谢薄荷朱利普让我在这条轨道上。感谢Ilushia帮助我了解Blackjack的心理......女孩子的大脑很难......最后，感谢每一个留下评论和提示的人，通过Paypal通过david13ushey@gmail.com非常感谢。谢谢你的阅读，我非常非常抱歉，花了这么长时间才出来(Hinds:"我真的需要把这些保持在三十页左右。"你知道他说这些话的时候是认真的吗？是的。)
New note: I hated this chapter because I tweaked a few things here and there. Also, sick.
新提示:我讨厌这一章，因为我在这里和那里调整了一些东西。还有，生病了。